Woman, Heal Thyself – How I cured myself of IBS and Fibromayalgia

Several years ago my doctor told me that most people feel unwell most of the time, and that finding someone who genuinely and continually feels fit and well is quite a rare thing.  This was his response to my long list of symptoms that kept me a frequent visitor to the surgery, and frequently miserable in my life.  I wanted answers and fixes, but instead was told that basically I just had to deal with it like everybody else does. 

  

(Image source: allwallpapersfree.blogspot.com)

I used to think of myself as being pretty healthy: I was slim, walked miles every day, and wasn't a big fan of fast food.  That's why I didn't understand why I felt so unwell all the time – painful muscles and joints, lethargy, digestive issues, insomnia, struggling to concentrate, headaches, light sensitivity, difficulty regulating body temperature, depression, regular colds and chest infections...  I already had been diagnosed with IBS at 17, and eventually I was diagnosed with fibromayalgia at 26, and it seemed I was doomed to feel awful forever. 

The thing is, I wasn't as 'healthy' as I thought.  Hence the ill-health.  But it was several years after seeing that particular doctor before I learned what being healthy really meant, and how to bring myself to good health.  It was all down to something that no doctor ever mentioned – diet.

 
I have become a firm believer that diet is the key to health.  For good health you need a good diet, and I don't mean 'going on a diet', I mean a natural, balanced, and consistent approach to food.    

The simple truth is you can't put any old rubbish into your body and expect to avoid sickness.  Eating isn't primarily about how filling the food is or what tastes nice. Of course these things are important because we need to enjoy what we eat and feel satisfied afterwards, but our primary thought when preparing a meal ought to be is this going to do me good or harm?  

Like most people who work full-time I wasn't usually able to spend hours preparing meals.  So for lunches I would often buy things like ready-made pasta salads or sandwiches, and for dinners it was often ready-made quiches, curries or bolognese made with sauce from a jar, veggie burgers, sausage and mash with instant gravy.  Not as good as homemade-from-scratch, but healthy enough (or so I thought).    

Then one day 4 years ago I ended up helping a friend research her autoimmune condition, and through doing this I discovered a ton of eye-opening information related to the modern western diet.  More specifically, the truth about how our much-loved processed food is actually responsible for a massive proportion of the health complaints we now endure, or take prescription drugs for, or that kill us.  I was horrified.  I couldn't believe the array of poisons we consume daily, without thinking, without knowing.  Needless to say I began to eye the contents of my cupboards with stomach-churning suspicion, and so was left with no choice but to delve further into the facts about what is, and isn't, safe to eat. 

(Image source: http://www.foodrenegade.com/msg-dangerous-science/)

This was the moment I came face-to-face with the realities of processed food, cosmetics, and popular household products.  MSGs, GMOs, artificial ingredients, modified this, that, and the other, pesticides, Monsanto's 'Roundup', fluoride, chlorine, toxic chemicals galore.  After a lot of research I was equipped with the knowledge of what to chuck from my cupboards and what to re-stock them with ... I printed out a list of all harmful ingredients to avoid, and threw out anything containing these ingredients, no matter how tasty.  For the next few weeks I took my list to the supermarket, and time-consuming through it was I diligently checked the labels of every item, until I became confident in recognising harmful ingredients and what products and brands were now off-limit.   

Just to be clear – my intention here wasn't to 'try it and see', but to permanently change what I ate.  Once you discover the truth about toxic chemicals in certain foods, and what they do to our bodies, there is no going back.  You won't want to. 

(Image source: http://eating-made-easy.com/is-there-msg-hiding-in-your-snack-food/) 

It wasn't very long, just a few months, before I started feeling much better.  After about 6 months I realised I no longer had IBS.  After about a year I no longer had fibromayalgia symptoms.  Just gone.  Now, at 31 years old and with my first child, I am symptom free.  Not so much as a cold in 4 years, which is incredible considering I used to catch anything that was going, due to my poorly functioning immune system.  I look back and wonder why on earth I endured all that illness and misery when I didn't have to.  And how many other people there are who would be shocked to discover that their persistent or chronic health issues can be alleviated, even permanently cured, by making different choices about food. And how all this bad food must be affecting our children.    

I came across a quote recently - “When we eat, we're either feeding disease or fighting it”. No-one can hope to attain good health by eating more vegetables if the vegetables they eat are laden with pesticides, and likewise there's little point sweating in the gym three days a week if you have a toxic diet.  Skinny or muscular or beautiful isn't indicative of good internal health. Our bodies need the right kind of fuel in order to work effectively or they will eventually start to wear out, break down, like putting the wrong kind of fuel in a car.  The key to good health is providing the body with what it needs to function well, through the choices we make about what we consume, what we absorb (through our skin and lungs), and how much activity we incorporate into our lifestyles.  Our immune systems are super sensitive to what we ingest, and since 80% of our immune systems are in our gut, it stands to reason that we should only be putting good stuff in there.  And by good stuff I mean clean, natural and free of toxins.   

Learning about what happens to our bodies on the inside is crucial to maintaining good health. It's not enough to know 'this is good and that is bad', we have to understand why.  For example, ingesting harmful toxins damages the lining of our intestines, and can cause what is known as 'leaky gut'.  This is where the intestinal lining becomes more porous, allowing the toxins to flow into our bloodstreams. This shouldn't happen in a healthy body, and it is due to the mistreatment of our bodies by eating unnatural foods. Our digestive systems simply can't handle these toxins, can't eliminate many of them, and they build up eventually causing immune dysfunction... So we get ill, and stay ill. 

Only by cutting out ALL harmful toxins are our bodies able to heal.  Immune health has to be restored.  Human bodies can only recognise and process natural food. The funny thing is, when you have something like leaky gut, you can start to find that even natural foods can cause adverse reactions, such as tomatoes, (which are acidic).  In a healthy gut, natural acidic foods shouldn't be a problem, but in a leaky gut all sorts of foods can make you feel unwell. 

Similarly when we make choices about what our children eat – and our children are more sensitive to these things than even we are - the foremost thought again has to be will this do them good or harm?  Not what will they eat, what do they like, what will avoid a tantrum.  Our responsibility is to bring them up in good health, to make sure their immune systems work well. Some people seem to hold onto a mistaken idea that giving children a good diet is about avoiding obesity, rotten teeth and spotty skin.  Whilst these are very real and concerning side-effects of certain diets, they are not the biggest worries we should have.  Disease due to poor immune systems is the biggest worry, along with developmental problems from prolonged exposure to toxins. In the eyes of some, denying your child sweets and crisps makes you a mean Mama, but in the eyes of others that makes you the best Mama in the world. 

Upon learning that I eat no processed foods, many people have commented that they would “really miss” things they consider to be essential and enjoyable in their diets.  Things like sausages, bacon, cheese, bread, pies, sauces, gravies, dressings, flavoured snacks (crisps, nuts), ready-made dinners, sweets & desserts, the list goes on... But I don't find it difficult at all to avoid these things,  Why?  Because I don't view them as food, so I don't feel like I'm missing out. The only thing I feel is sorry for the people who are still consuming that rubbish, particularly the people who continue to suffer ill-health because of it.  To me these kinds of things may as well have a skull and crossbones on the labels warning of their hazardous poisons.  I can now spot them a mile off and rarely even have to check labels anymore.  If something is advertised as being 'packed with flavour' it is just another way of saying 'packed with poison'.  

(Image source: http://occupy-monsanto.com/tag/boycott/)

For me, the only option is un-processed, whole foods, in their natural unaltered states. And thankfully I am now armed with the knowledge and means to give my 1 year-old son proper nutrition and safe foods.  I make everything from scratch that I used to buy such as breads, sauces, gravies, snacks... It took a while getting used to doing this, and involved a bit of creative thinking, but now it's normal and not a bother at all.  I just LOVE feeling well, fit and healthy for the first time in a long time!

These days when I consider personal health, I think of it this way: if you don't find time to be well, you'll have to make time to be sick.    

World, heal thyself.
 
 x

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