RE: How to Eat Like You Mean to be Healthy
Hi @fitinfunfood I'm looking forward to reading these as I'm just about to launch into a serious food regime to try and address an ongoing chronic condition I've suffered for 6 years called SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). I've done a lot of research, and after the last 2 years of the gastroenterologist bombarding my system with antibiotics, all to no improvement, I'm ready to take matters into my own hands. I'm pretty sure that a big part of this will be eating unprocessed foods and eliminating all the chemicals entering my system, along with some pretty strict food type restrictions. I'm not looking forward to it much as food is such a big pleasure in my life and I'm going to have to remove a vast amount of the foods I like. But if I get my energy and focus back it will all be worth it.
Happy new year 🙂
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I'm so happy to get this comment, @raj808 even though it is a difficult time for you.
The best thing I can tell you is to start slow and make one change at a time. Once you master one change - make the next. This is so much easier that making a huge change all at once and gives you a better chance for success.
If you want to try this idea, make a list of your "Top 10" culprits. Then work to get rid of any ONE of them.
At the same time make a list of the "Top 10" "things you should be doing" and start doing ONE of them.
Once either one of those is going well, go on to the next on its list. Over a few weeks or months this all snowballs and you will not believe how good it's going.
I hope it will make you feel better to know that ALL of my food is much more satisfying now than back when I was unhealthy and obese.
What are those foods you need to give up? Maybe I can help you with substitutions.
Feel hope and watch this blog. I really want to help and I feel sure I can :)
Omg... the list is endless. If you are familiar with exclusion diets I think it is the GAPs diet I will be following... Off the top of my head. But it is a good suggestion to exclude food groups one at a time to limit the psychological impact. I have tried elimination diets before for this condition with no success. But this time I'm going to combine it with specific suppliments and eating habits (many small meals & slow deliberate chewing to encourage proper gut motility).
SIBO is such a complex condition to treat. At the moment everything I eat causes my abdomen extreme bloating and I get nausea for around 1 - 3 hours, so there are no particular culprits, as it were. Fatigue is pretty much constant and brain fog which varies in intensity. The tiredness and confusion is so severe that it limits my capabilities to work.
It is a catch 22 situation as the huge majority of success stories I have found on the internet about people curing their SIBO are from people visiting 'functional doctors'. I can't afford the crazy rates that these (private practice) doctors charge - we are talking £400/£500 per consultation - so I'm stuck trying to puzzle it out myself. From all of the research I've done, it seems I need to cut out the food that are feeding the bad bacteria while taking (either regular or herbal) antibiotics & anti fungal medicines to kill everything in the small intestine. This is essential as there should be little to no bacteria in the small intestine, only the stomach and large intestine house the vast majority of the guts digestive bacteria. I've read also that some people take prokinetic medication as the main cause of SIBO is low gut motility but when I told the gastroenterologist about this he was dismissive and said he wouldn't give me them because they could cause other issues. Anyway, after all these treatments reduce the bloating, I'm then meant to start reintroducing good bacteria and then later slowly reintroduce different foods while keeping notes to see how they effect me.
As you can see it is a complex thing and at any one of these stages something could cause my body to react to the new protocol (medicine/suppliment/diet change).
P.s. I do appreciate your suggestions though. The one about cutting food gradually is great and
Is also a great suggestion as exercise is meant to be good for gut motility and I get little at the moment due to the fatigue.
Thanks 🙂
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I'm copying this and will get back to you more completely soon. I do know about GAPS - I eat AIP now which is very similar.
And I know about those "functional" practitioners and have heard great things except for cost.
Two things you can do for brain fog that are not dietary are Lugol's Iodine and Magnesium Oil Spray - both topical, both on Amazon or sold locally, both cheap, and both a miracle for many.
Take a look at my son's blog - @bxlphabet for easy exercise. I would say moderation is key in everything for your issue.
Also - if you are on fb search for sibo groups. There should be some and the peer support would help, I think.
Hang in there. You really can feel better. Small steps really do add up and the big ones will tip you over.
Thanks for taking an interest and helping with suggestions. I will research and look at those products on Amazon.
I've just looked at the AIP diet and it wouldn't be suitable for me as I have been a lifelong vegitiarian (well, piscatiarian... I do eat fish). Meat isn't an option for me as I stopped eating it as a child. The enzymes in meat cause an allergic reaction in me now, as I discovered when I ate it by accident about 15 years ago. Fish is ok though as I started eating it again when I was a teenager.
Dairy... and particularly cheese will be a big problem for me to get rid of our of my diet. Simply because I enjoy the taste so much. I think it's important to mention that in not massively overweight. About 2 stone over my ideal weight. Nearly all of my health issues are caused by this SIBO.
Anyway, thanks again for your suggestions.
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Cheese is my top favorite too and now I cannot eat it. In SE Asia it is terrible. They do not know about good cheese here. Only the imported is any good and I can't afford that.
Lots of people are on aip without eating meat - it's difficult but can be done.
I wanted you to see a recent post I did and get your thoughts @raj808:
https://steemit.com/esteem/@fitinfunfood/freewrite-day-441-list
Are any of these foods things you can eat aside from the fish?