Healing the Gut and Getting Healthy in the New Year

The first two weeks of the new year and I have been terribly sick for both of them.  

I've had every symptom imaginable - sorest throat ever (even worse than tonsillitis) fevers, body aches, cough, sinus infection, nose bleeds and pink eye (not kidding) ...and now that I'm on the mend I couldn't be happier.  Not just because I'm recovering but because being sick has allowed me to take time to heal my body in ways I hadn't been able to master before.

 Looking back over 2011, I am amazed with what I have learned about my body, my fibromyalgia and the challenges that arise when trying to get well.  

At this point I am no longer troubled with confusion surrounding my chronic illnesses and for that I am so grateful.  Understanding the problem is half the battle.  My main difficulty has been trying to cultivate the discipline to be consistent with my wellness routine.   I don't think I'm alone in this struggle.

I keep coming back to the idea that if I could just remain disciplined in my dietary and lifestyle habits I could probably lick fibromyalgia forever...the problem is 1) I love to eat  2) I like my wine and  3) I don't want to be held hostage to a certain diet or lifestyle...especially during the holiday season.

After the holidays my body was wrecked.  I was seriously nervous about the terrible stomach pain I had been waking with every day for the past several months.  My joints ached and my tendons felt like they had been replaced with boards of knotty wood.  Thankfully the fibromyalgia hasn't returned to my muscles.  I had planned to get strict with my diet but I'm not sure if I would have accomplished what I have without the time away from work.  But it wasn't just taking off that helped me.  I have been too sick to work from home, too sick to write, too sick to do any household projects, too sick to do anything but take care of my body (and reacquaint myself with facebook.)

Healing became my only focus.  

And now two weeks into this practice, my stomach pain is gone.  My joint and tendon pain is almost gone and I have energy, even through the terrible seasonal sickness.  

This is what I've learned.

Ayurveda says joint pain is related to digestive issues.  I understand now.  If our food isn't digested properly it becomes putrid and poisons the body.  Food cannot digest properly if the systems of the gut have been corrupted.  

Probiotics are the key factor in healing the gut, but they have no effect on tissue that is enflamed and has been corrupted.  Think of the lining of the intestines as soil.  If the soil is toxic, the seeds can't grow.  

Not all probiotics are the same.  I took the Trenev brand because they ensure their cultures are live for shelf life - THROUGH THE EXPIRATION DATE.  

Multi strains of bacteria are not as helpful as single strains because bacteria will fight off other strains in order to survive. 

To heal the gut I had to make some major dietary changes.

This is what worked for me:

Gave up gluten. 

Gave up wine :(  and alcohol.  It was the wine that was difficult.  Alcohol is hard on the intestinal tract and damages or kills probiotics.

Gave up caffeine.

Ate mostly whole foods, limiting processed foods to gluten free bread and almond milk.

Limited meat.  Meat is difficult to digest and I needed my digestive system to rest and recuperate.

Limited sugar.  Sugar feeds yeast and I'm trying to inhibit yeast growth.  I've heard that many stomach problems are due to yeast overgrowths.

Limited onions and garlic which Ayurvedics believe damage the delicate probiotics.

Took enzymes after a meat meal to help break down the food.

Ate homemade chicken broth with EVERY meal.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Chicken broth is very healing for the gut.  I drank broth for breakfast, cooked veggies in it for lunch and made soup with it for dinner.  

CHEWED REALLY REALLY WELL.  This sounds so unimportant, but chewing the foods into liquid and mixing with saliva makes it MUCH easier for the digestive system to process the food.   And you get more nutrients from the food as well.

Ate soft, cooked foods (no raw foods) that are easy for the digestive system to process.  Some raw food enthusiasts may disagree with this but from my personal understanding, I needed to soothe my gut before I could re-introduce roughage. 

Took a prebiotic before taking a dose of probiotics.

Took a double dose of Trenev probiotics with every meal.

Didn't eat past 7 to give my digestive system time to rest.  It can't rest if it's constantly trying to process food.

Ate in a relaxed setting, focusing on relaxing my gut while I ate.

Rest.  I went to bed by 10 and got up when my body decided to. 

Didn't eat out AT ALL.  Even the healthiest of health food in restaurants is cooked with unhealthy vegetable oils like canola oil.

Drank bottled water.  I hate admitting to it, but I think it was an important step in healing my gut.  My probiotics brand actually tells you to take the pills with water that doesn't contain chlorine right in the directions.  Chlorine kills probiotics and beneficial bacteria in the gut.  You can smell the chlorine in our water even after being filtered with the brita.  Chlorine can't be boiled out of water.

If you are attempting to heal the gut I would also suggest giving up NSAIDS which cause leaky gut as well as other pharmaceuticals that relate to stomach issues.  Acid reducers and antacids inhibit the body's digestive system.  The digestive systems need to be brought back into balance and that is very tricky when it is being manipulated by outside sources.

So, again, it's only been two weeks, but that consistent stomach pain I have dealt with for so long is gone and my other symptoms are disappearing.  The trick is staying with it and avoiding antibiotics at all costs.  I, like many others, have a tendency to just get well to the point that I'm not in pain.  Once the pain and bodily discomfort become manageable I fall off the wellness wagon and revert back to old habits...so my body never truly heals.  

This year I am committed to achieving wellness.

I want to have a strong and pain-free body and clear mind.   I want to feel what it's like to be 100%.  I'm ready to meet my best me.  I deserve good health.  We all do.  And while I have learned how to heal my gut and get past my chronic health issues, I still have much to learn about wellness.  And so again...

Here's to being well in 2012!