Part 2: Woman, Heal Thyself - How I Cured Myself of IBS and Fibromayalgia

I have been symptom-free for 4 years now, which I still can't quite believe, because I really thought I would have to feel awful forever.  Even on the happiest of days there was always this little dark cloud with its shadow, never allowing me respite from the pain and all the troublesome symptoms that my conditions entailed.  Now, with no dark clouds in sight and continued good health, I enjoy more happy days than ever before.

Several months ago some friends came to stay with us for a few days.  One evening one of them kindly offered to cook us a meal, and of course I jumped at the chance of being cooked for!  However, as it turned out she was not much of a cook, and prepared for us a ready-made lasagne from the supermarket.  Well of course we ate it... but afterwards wished we hadn't.  Within 15 minutes – no exaggeration – I had abdominal cramps and was rushing to the loo.  My husband, who had eaten the same meal plus a packet of cheese & onion crisps earlier in the day (which we never normally eat), was ill for the ENTIRE next day.  Stomach ache wasn't even the worst of it... He just wasn't himself at all – couldn't think straight, not really with it.  Quite shocking really.  

Such are the toxic effects of additives in processed food, which are many times more noticeable when you're someone who eats only natural, organic, additive-free food – i.e. food in its whole and unaltered state.  When I refer to these harmful ingredients in processed food as 'poison', some of my family & friends just think I'm being dramatic.  No. When I say poison I literally mean poison! I think I've reached a point where I'd actually feel quite offended at being served poison again for my dinner.  

If you aren't already aware of the 'scary seven' food additives, please take a few minutes to read about them here.  They are: high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, artificial flavours, monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial colours, artificial sweetners, and preservatives.      

(Image source:  http://suhanijain.com/2014/08/17/7-worst-ingredients-in-food/) 

As those of you who read my previous post part 1 will know, I endured 13 years of chronic illness and misery before finally discovering the culprit – processed food.  And I'm hoping that by sharing my knowledge and experience of this then perhaps others can be spared illness and misery also.  The sad fact is that the food industry relies upon ignorance in order to continue selling their products, and I for one was indeed ignorant.  

To say “But nobody ever told me,” is a bit infantile, and I'm not trying to offend anybody here as I too was guilty of this for most of my life!  No-one was forcing me to poison my own body with this imitation food, no-one was stopping me looking at the labels and finding out what these ingredients actually are.  Ignorance is not really a good enough excuse. We all should be diligent in finding out the facts about what we ingest, rather than mindlessly shovelling the fuel in, and then wondering why we feel so crappy.  But why aren't we taking more responsibility for our own research, our own education, our own health?  Do we really have to wait for some kind of 'authority' to tell us what's healthy or harmful, rather than listening to our own bodies?     

When we put our minds to it, is it not actually common sense what constitutes real, natural, nutritious food?  Is our problem simply that we don't give enough thought to what we are eating? 

(Quote: Michael Pollan  Image source:   https://twitter.com/hnshah/status/493893764961042432) 

There's an assumption amongst some of my friends that because I have cut out processed food, it somehow leaves me with very few choices.  “But what do you eat?  Just vegetables and rice or something?” A genuine query, but I can't help but laugh.  Truth be told I have never had so much variety, so much flavour, and so much enjoyment from what I'm eating!  There's an endless list of natural foods, an endless assortment of tasty dishes, and so many of them are just as quick and easy to prepare as 'convenience' food.  Best of all, none of them make me feel ill; quite the opposite.  I feel nourished.  

Above: an original recipe I posted - 'Sweet Chilli Chicken Rainbow Salad with Rustic New Potato & Red Onion Salad, and Corn-on-the-Cob'.

My advice for anyone who's had enough of feeling ill, and seriously thinking about switching from processed to natural foods - you must first start by knowing exactly WHY you're doing this. Otherwise you'll likely allow yourself the 'occasional something', or not cut out everything (e.g. “I'll only use stock cubes, they're so small it'll be alright”), or use the 'too busy' excuse and once again fill your cupboards with rubbish.  A little bit of poison is still poison.  Your resolve has to be firmly grounded with an attitude based on truth, and you've got to really grasp the fact that this stuff is not food, it's pretending to be food.  It might be tasty, it might fill your belly, but instead of nourishing it actually does the opposite – it slowly poisons your system, organs, brain, damages the lining of your gut, makes your immune system weak, increases susceptibility to illness, and increases the likelihood of developing chronic and even life-threatening diseases.      

It's also really important to understand what the symptoms of processed food poisoning are, and how to recognise when your body is having an adverse reaction.  Many people accept their symptoms, perhaps because we experience them so often, and perhaps because most of our peers suffer with multitudes of health complaints too.  Things like headaches, fatigue, sleeping disorders, allergies, abdominal pain/tenderness, excess gas, indigestion, acid reflux, bloating after meals, diarrohea/constipation, hot flashes, dizziness, aching muscles/joints, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, frequent viral infections, UTIs, kidney stones, high/low blood pressure, sore/itchy eyes, nausea, trouble regulating temperature, palpitations, dermatitis... Often we are dismissive of these symptoms, or try to explain them away, e.g. too much/little coffee, not enough sleep/exercise, 'something I ate', hormones, etc.  Other times we convince ourselves we have contracted some serious life-threatening disease and are surely going to die.  But the truth is many of our symptoms are down to dangerous additives in food, and are endured needlessly.  The fact that our children seem to display a lot of these symptoms too as a result of a highly processed diet is very worrying.  

(Image source:  http://www.theironyou.com/2012/01/do-you-know-difference-between.html) 

There are those of us with diagnosed allergies who diligently avoid the things we're supposed to avoid, and yet still eat processed foods.  For example, one of my friends has coeliac disease and is so careful about avoiding gluten, but then laishly pours gravy over his sausages – gravy made from instant granules or stock cubes, and sausages also packed with MSG.  It makes no sense to me, as not only should he be avoiding ingredients that make him ill, but surely he should be eating to heal. 

(Image source:  http://naturalhealthlifestyles4u.com/) 

We all know the person who's allergic to gluten, or eggs, or dairy, and everybody accepts the necessity of avoiding products containing these ingredients, yet we never hear of the 'processed food allergy'.  Why?  Because we're all allergic to processed food!  I've no doubt many people would disagree with that statement, and assure me they have no symptoms, that they feel fine.  But after years of nursing experience, plus continued research for personal interest & wellbeing, I have developed a very good understanding of food, health, effects of toxins, etc, and I know there's no way we can continue putting poison into our bodies day after day, year after year, and avoid damage.  Even if we feel fine, or exhibit no symptoms, I guarantee something somewhere inside is suffering because of it.  And processed food is too profitable in our economies for any 'official source' to tell us not to eat it.  Plus, as long as we all stay sick, the 'healthcare' industry benefits massively too.

Then there are those of us who try to incorporate healthy and nutritious things into our diet because we've heard or read a certain thing is good for weight loss, lowering blood pressure, aiding sleep, reducing indigestion, or simply that “it's good for me”.  But then we have the impudence to complain “it's not working”.  And why is that? Because we're trying to take these natural healing foods in addition to the damaging processed foods... but obviously our bodies can't heal whilst they're still being poisoned!!! It makes even less sense than drinking coffee when having a sleep-promoting herbal bath, or fighting a yeast infection with probiotics yet feeding the bacteria with sugar.  

(Image source:  http://www.womenshealthmag.com/food/artificial-ingredients-in-food) 

This is where the quote I referred to in my last post really resonates - “Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it” (Heather Morgan).  This should be in the minds of us all every single time we make a decision about what we're about to consume, because it's that important.  

(Image source:  https://twitter.com/msbutcherlimk/status/402808759153864704) 

Once we've established a good understanding and basic knowledge of food and how it effects the body, the next step in healing ourselves is actually making the changes.  Getting rid of all the harmful foods and never eating them again. This is where a list of ingredients to avoid comes in particularly handy.  You can simply print it out, using it to check against items already in your kitchen, and then keep it in your wallet for reference when grocery shopping.  It may seem quite overwhelming or a bother to begin with, but I assure you that after a short while you'll become familiar with what ingredients, brands, and types of food to avoid.  I found the list to be a real saviour, as many foods are packaged in healthy-looking ways, but upon closer inspection reveal harmful ingredients.  Even ingredients like 'yeast extract' or even 'natural flavourings' are to be avoided.  There's another helpful site here that allows you to type in the ingredients you're not sure about, and it will tell you what it is, any alternative names, what products it's found in, and possible health effects.

(Image source:   https://www.bariatriccookery.com/processed-foods-bad)  

The next step is establishing replacements for many of the things we consider essential at mealtimes, as it's often the little things we miss the most - like stock, gravy, sauces, dressings, relishes – as most unfortunately do contain artificial additives.  Even canned soup contains MSG, so can't be used to replace stock either.  This is something that threw me at first.  I used stock cubes or stock pots in pretty much everything; gravy or sauces over most of my food.  And I'm not a fan of 'dry dinners', so I couldn't just do without.      

A lot of you will be creative-minded enough to solve these issues on your own, or may have the time to experiment or to simply look up recipes as and when you need them.  For those of you who haven't the time or inclination, I intend to provide some easy ways to substitute these all-important ingredients with all-natural ingredients, so if you're interested please follow me on Steemit and look out for future posts, which I will do in the next week or two I hope.  (I'm bringing up a baby as well so please bear with me!)  

One of the biggest problems is we don't or can't spend much time in the kitchen preparing meals.  When we consider how important nutrition is, it's crazy we try to make the whole process as quick and easy as possible.  Either we haven't the first clue about cooking from scratch, aren't interested enough to take the time, or don't have the time because of work or family-related commitments.  Of course these are valid reasons, but honestly if we're really serious about ensuring our food is natural, nutritious, and won't cause us physical or mental damage, we have little choice but to make more time for food perparation.  Unless you're wealthy enough to employ a cook that is, in which case please pay them well, as good food is good health, and good health is life!  

(Image source:  https://www.facebook.com/joinwakeupworld/) 

In time much shorter than you think, you'll have established dishes and methods that you can prepare and vary without it being troublesome.  Plus once you start to notice how much better you feel, you'll not mind giving that little bit extra thought and time to meals.  Like I said in my previous post, within 6 months of switching from a highly-processed diet to a completely natural one, I no longer had IBS symptoms, and within a year I realised my fibromayalgia had gone too.  See - not only was I no longer poisoning my body, I was also providing it with medicine to heal... in food-form.  What a relief!      

Now I have much more energy, I don't ache, I don't feel 'foggy' in my head, I don't get bloating or stomach pains, no crazy mood swings, none of the many symptoms that seemed to rule and ruin my days.  My skin is clearer than it ever has been, my hair healthy-looking... I don't even sweat much anymore.  And the best thing of all (thank goodness) I was equipped with the knowledge to eat well during pregnancy, and I know how to keep my child well and toxin-free now he's eating solids.  I don't put anything into – or onto - our bodies unless it's 100% natural, organic and safe.      

(Above: a sample of things from my kitchen)

Now you're armed with the list of ingredients to avoid, I feel I should give examples of the types of foods that are likely to contain them.  Some will surprise you, others are extremely obvious.  But the point I'm making is – don't assume, check everything.  Not ALL brands of the following will have harmful ingredients, but many do:  

Crisps/chips, flavoured snacks e.g. nuts, cheese blocks, cheese slices, cheese spread, cheese snacks for kids, sliced ham, baked beans, spaghetti-in-sauce, tins of macaroni cheese etc, fish in sauce, salads with dressings, pasta salads, dips, dressings, sauces, custards, jams/jellies, stock cubes, stock pots, instant gravy, canned, packet & 'fresh' soup, marinades, hummous, coleslaw, sausages, bacon, minced meat, fresh/canned meatballs, meat-in-marinade, meat & veggie burgers, pate, battered/breaded fish or chicken etc, onion rings, quiche, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, pies & pasties, yoghurts & fromage frais, fresh & frozen desserts, puddings, cakes, muffins, biscuits, bread, bagels, pancakes, waffles, diet or low-fat products (e.g Weight-Watchers, Coke), diet sodas,  juice/squash, packet noodles & pasta & rice & couscous etc, sandwich spreads, sandwich pickles, candies/sweets, chocolate bars & boxes, take-away and fast food items, microwave meals, ready-made sandwiches, vegetarian, vegan & soya products, packet mixes e.g falafels... jars, tins, packets, boxes of anything ready-flavoured.  

I will continue to post recipes regularly – for lunches, dinners and snacks - and you can be sure they will contain only safe ingredients.  I'm also going to include easy and organic recipes good for babies and infants, the same as I feed my son, who is a very healthy and happy boy.  

A lot of the recipes I'll share will be very straightforward - I know many of you struggle with ideas and/or time - as I hope to show you just how easy preparing natural meals can be.  Any questions or information you'd like to be included, please comment here or send me a direct message on Steemit Chat, where you can find me as @woman-onthe-wing. 

If you enjoyed this post please follow me on Steemit and you can look forward to more yummy and (mostly) healthy recipes!   

Many thanks. 

For extra tips on health and weight loss, you can also support me as Natural Health Mama at https://www.facebook.com/naturalhealthmamma and https://naturalhealthmamablog.wordpress.com/  

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