For the past year and a half it has always felt like I’ve been going two steps forward and one step back…until now. It really feels like I’m moving forward. Now that I know how to treat the three root causing culprits of these food allergies and failing health – missing good gut flora, sticky ileoceacal valves, and Candida – healing is overcoming the drastic ick. There have been many days – praise God! – where I am now feeling fantastic and everything is clear and energetic.
On my most recent food test, I challenged dairy, nuts, and (accidentally) wheat. Turns out that I am still ridiculously reactive to wheat (but can now touch it without a reaction – so there is some improvement -- and can have an extremely small fraction once a week through oats), I can have a little more nuts (still on a rotation diet), and (the most exciting) I can have dairy again! In all seven trials of dairy servings, I barely had any reactions. I thought that I would have to rotate dairy in (as in, like, once every 3-4 days), but I am actually allowed to have one serving a day.:-D
I can’t find the words to say how amazing this is. It’s all so surreal and incredible. When I could rotate in corn that was just corn chips, corn itself, and on rare occasions corn syrup products (a rarity to due their sugar and high-processed nature). With dairy, it opens up so much more! Ice cream, yogurt, gluten free mac and cheese (I won’t let this be a staple in my house, but it’ll be nice to have every now and then), real milk, cheese, and so much more!
But, this healing is more than being able to have more food options. It’s one less hassle when eating out or when someone else cooks for me. It shows so much healing at work, too! It’s freedom; and, suddenly the other foods that I still must avoid, or have in strictly regulated dosages, don’t seem as constricting as before.
I had often found myself saying: Dear God, when I said I wanted to be healthier, being allergic and sensitive to over eight food groups is not what I meant! And there have been many nights were I’ve lost it – overwhelmed by the fact that I can’t eat (fill in the blank food that every one else can have) and if I do I’ll get really sick for a week. And there’s also the bazillion alternative and alterated names food now has to check every time I go grocery shopping (for example, dairy is also case-in, whey, lactose, lactaid, carmel color, curds, lactoferrin, and on and on). Yet, through it all, what often felt like seeds of adversity, have bloomed into healthful prosperity.
There is a taste for life and enjoyment of God’s provisions in a while new way. I’m eating the best meals I’ve ever had for the most part. Yeah, there are some flops, but you have to learn from them. And let me tell you, healthy does not mean revolting food and it still means chocolate :). And, some day, it will mean less medical expenses (seriously cannot wait for that day!!!).
I often wonder why I never really stopped to truly enjoy food before. God gave us taste buds to enjoy and savor food, not shove it in our mouths on the run (which also is very hard on the digestive system…). There’s such an abundance of earthly grown, minimally processed great tasting food out there. If you doubt that, go without your favorite fruit, vegetable, nut, or whatever else for a year. Then savor the flavor. Taste buds are beautiful and awesome things!
You learn who your real honest friends are – those who have respected my diet, those who don’t brag or laugh about what I can’t have in front of me, and especially those who try to cook for me! -- mean more than I could ever express. Being supportive is active, not passive. A challenge, such as food allergies, can make you enjoy the things you have taken for granted and focus more on experiences and moments, rather than stuff. You have to acknowledge that there is more to life than food, less you be suffocated – figurative and literally.
Seeing a naturopathic doctor has really opened my eyes to how poisoned the food industry is becoming and how all these medications we have may be helping us in one way, but giving seed and light to many other health risks and factors. To me, there is a clear link between western illnesses and the western diet. I am blessed by an incredible ND doctor – two actually – who honestly care about my health over the act of just making money. No matter how many curve balls my health has thrown – trust me, there’ve been many – they are committed to furthering my optimal wellness and health education.
God has had a plan all along. It’s not a coincidence that when food allergies were suspected, that my aunt called that weekend and opened my eyes into the world of naturopathic care. Ailments – more than I can list on all my fingers and toes – that doctors told me to forget about are now being healed. It’s amazing how much more alive you feel when burdens that have nailed you down are released, and you didn’t even know how heavy they really were.
I still have a long road ahead of me, and there may be many more days where I travel backwards against my will or just want to sleep the stress/pain away, but perseverance and faith is what I rely on.
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Recipes:
Gluten Free Potato Italian Sausage Gnocchi
Though they suggest using a tomato-ish type sauce, I found butter and minced garlic to be quite delightful.
Because all sausage has some form of case-in (a dairy protein) I made my own sausage. Mix all dry ingredients below together and then add to 1 pound ground beef (or turkey):
- 2 tsp dried sage
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8+ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- a pinch ground cloves
- a very generous dash of turmeric
