Much overdue update

Thought I'd give an update for anyone who follows my journey through this.

Last I posted in regards to my health about a month and a half ago, I had just started the reintroduction phase of the elimination diet I'm on. I had also recently started a new herbal protocol instead of antibiotics for my Lyme Disease. One or both of those changes caused me to decline. Since then a lot has happened.

I'm at 83 days of eating only organic, non-gmo, antibiotic/hormone free. 83 days of not eating outside of home even once. 83 days of pretty much meats, veggies, healthy fats, and a bit of fruit.

I told myself I'd be extremely strict through at least 90 days. Just so happens day 90 is my day of travel in which it will be harder to eat so strict. I'm still going to stick to it as much as possible but I'm no longer going to pass up on a social opportunity in order to stick to my diet.

So what I've discovered after the 1 month of completely eliminating and 2 months of reintroducing foods is my body reacts to almost everything in different ways. Since I obviously can't live off of nothing, it's decided what is best for me for now is still all organic, non-gmo, antibiotic/hormone free- meats, veggies, healthy fates and a bit of fruit... but I can add to that a couple types of beans and a couple types of nuts. What I am to continue to not have due to worse reactions are nightshade veggies (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant), lime (I had no idea that bothered me until doing this!), dairy, corn, oats, some beans, some nuts. Gluten was an absolute no and not even a reintroduction.

I have to re-re-introduce some things again to figure out if I can tolerate them or not. That's because with my ongoing symptoms it's hard to determine what was food affecting me and what was lyme/MG/etc. Those foods I reintroduced but have to again are peanuts, soy, other gluten free grains, other legumes and pork.

Through this I discovered one more thing, bigger than all this other stuff. You see, I've had this huge bubble like thing in my stomach for probably years now. No doctor can tell me what it is or what to do about it, nor has anyone ordered any testing on it. It's like a bunch of sloshing water that doesn't go anywhere except staying in my stomach. Sometimes it's worse, other times it's better. Other people can hear it. A lot of times it affects my breathing by putting pressure on my diaphragm, that was the worst part. During this diet, it got worse. Well I finally decided google was in order, and my doctor agrees I seem to have figured it out...

Fructose intolerance! Who knew such a thing even existed? What this means is my body cannot tolerate/digest fructose properly. So as I was going through this diet, due to such restrictions, I was eating more fruit than normal, that means more fructose. I was also eating more avocado and broccoli than normal, more fructose. I had no idea how fructose is in so many things naturally. So now in addition to this very limited diet, it is becoming more limited as I have to very much watch my fructose. I have a list of foods that are high in fructose, and those are the foods I need to avoid. I've already seen the benefit, but it's hard because I feel like I'm lacking nutrients. Back to taking a multi-vitamin on top of everything else.

I'm not trying to lose weight but I'm down 9 lbs from when I started... and I was already eating healthy before that, this just took it up a notch! People may think I'm getting too thin but the thing is this is probably what normal is if everyone ate this way. And hey if you are looking to lose weight, skip all the fad diets, and stick to this! Aside from a cold or something I have going on now, I was starting to improve a little bit. My doctor thinks the longer I keep with this the greater benefits I will see.

And so I conclude...

You see, none of us should be eating the garbage mistakenly called food, pretty much anything in a box or from a restaurant. The benefit to not eating that stuff, not eating anything GMO (genetically modified) is that it will help your health in the long run, maybe even immediate if you make a drastic change. It will be harder at first as it was for me, as your body adapts, but it's worth toughing it out. Regular chicken, beef, etc. most of the time was treated with hormones and antibiotics. That means we are ingesting that. Too many antibiotics is what leads to resistance and then you can't treat a serious illness. Too many antibiotics also leads to yeast overgrowth/candida which can ultimately harm every and any organ or system in your body. Ingesting additional hormones will mess with our own hormones. Ingesting non-organic means that stuff was sprayed with pesticides and who knows what other toxic chemicals. These chemicals are harmful to your health and can cause serious illnesses over time. Ingesting gmo foods means that "food" was genetically modified/processed, you aren't even eating food anymore. All of this adds up and contributes to a wide range of illnesses, obesity, mental health and a weakened immune system that won't be able to fight as well if something bad does hit.

One thing that REALLY bugs me is this. This is a "fix-it" society. Why not prevent it before it starts?? YOU have the power to do so. Eating truly healthier in the ways described will help you take care of the one and only body you were given. Giving up those sweets, snacks, hot chocolate, soda, candy, fast food, etc. is investing in your health and probably giving you more years of life. It will almost certainly help you from getting sick as often or as serious. I wish I knew all this before I got sick. But now instead I have to try to reverse it by doing this after the fact. If you aren't yet sick, do it now!

And if I don't write again before then, Merry Christmas!! God bless and eat healthy!