Many people have quoted Hippocrates saying “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. I truly believe food can be medicine or the slowest form of poison. It can be healing to our gut or it can cause inflammation and disease.
Last February, I stopped breastfeeding and started having numbness and tingling in my hands and feet the very next day. The discomfort from this would last about four hours after I woke up. I was scared of what it might be, especially since my mom has Multiple Sclerosis. Would I have to live with this numbness and pain the rest of my life? I decided to get allergy tested with my boys because I had already scheduled this to try to figure out their reflux issues.
I found out that I have high autoimmune food allergies to dairy, gluten and egg. There were other foods on there but these three main ones were all very high. I had known dairy affected me for a while and rarely ate it so this one was easy to eliminate. I only ate gluten occasionally but eggs were a staple around our house because they were quick and healthy. Do you know how many things have egg baked into them? A lot! I cut all three out though. After three weeks of cutting them out, my numbness went away.
This was great because I knew how to solve the problem. It was also not so great in that I couldn’t have these things anymore. It’s like when you tell a kid they can’t have something…they want it that much more. It was easy to eat clean when I was doing Arbonne’s detox program. It’s easier when you are making the choice. When you can’t have something due to allergies though, you feel like it’s not really a choice. I went through a little bit of a pity party for myself when I first found this out. Everything other people were having looked so much better when you knew you couldn’t have it anymore.
If you are feeling this way, I promise it gets better with time. You realize that the food you long for is just not worth the way it makes you feel. I still don’t know if I have an autoimmune disease but I do know that I can manage it with food.
I never loved spending long hours in the kitchen before. It was just a waste of time in my eyes. I would be the one to grab cookies at the store for a potluck. I am slowly but surely learning how to enjoy cooking healthy and tasty meals. My husband and I have joked that I’m becoming like a healthy Betty Crocker. I’m going to post some of my favorite recipes that I’ve found for those that have dietary restrictions like us soon!
Health Drama Mama 