The Diet

Disclaimer: Please do not take this post as gospel! It is my interpretation, if you will, of the book by Dr. Natasha Cambell: Gut and Psychology Syndrome. If you think this might be for you, please read the book. I am not a doctor and might be doing it wrong!

As I said in my previous post, I sufer from Rheumatoid Arthritis. I also have psoraisis, another autoimmune disorder. I have always considered myself a healthy person: I've gone to the doctor for antibiotics maybe 5 times since I was 10. I never get sick. Never missed school. Rarely miss work. Why is that? Partly, I've always thought, because my immune system is on overdrive. Isn't that what autoimmunes are?

Over the past year, a friend of mine has talked about fermented foods and how important they are and yada yada. I brushed her off. Someone else mentioned my pain might lessen if I cut sugar out of my diet. Cut sugar?! Are you crazy?!

Then, in the past three months, four different friends -- people who don't even know each other, so I know they weren't conspiring against me -- mentioned this idea of cutting sugar and wheat and eating fermented foods. April even gave me The Book.

I put off reading it.

But I had to admit, four people in a short amount of time -- this must be God speaking to me. OK, I'll read The Book.

I am now sold on the idea of The Diet, and I have been on it (modified) for a week. What changed? As I read The Book, I saw almost every symptom she talked about, things that I had always thought were perfectly normal. Doesn't everyone have bowel irregularity now and then? But the more she explained (and I will warn you, although I am a teacher and consider myself intelligent and fairly knowledgable about the human body, some of Dr. Cambell's information is hard to follow) -- the more she explained, the more I understood the state of my intestine (what she calls "gut") is directly impacting the rest of me.

So, what is the diet? There are three stages. The introductory stage is harsh. For this reason, April, my dear friend who has been doing this diet for years, suggested we start with stage 2. April is not a doctor, either. We will do this for a month, then go back to the intro phase for 6 (I think), then back to stage 2 (for up to 2 years, according to Dr. Cambell), and finally the phase that will take me through the rest of my life.

Stage 2: No sugar, no dairy, no grains (wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice), no starchy veggies.

The idea here is eliminating what the body digests as sugar. Sugar, obviously. Breads, etc, also are broken down as sugar. Dairy, too -- Lactose is a sugar, as is any of those "-ose" words like fructose and sucrose and maltose. Starchy veggies like potatoes and yams are out, but right now I can't remember why! Let me just say, don't bother reading labels. Sugar is in everything.

I CAN eat meat, veggies like carrots and some beans and squash and beets, homemade yogurt and sour cream. There is actually quite an extensive list of what I can eat. The yogurt and sour cream are fermented dairy and therefore the body can digest them differently, but according to Dr. Cambell, they must be homemade because what is sold in the store is pateurized and all good bacteria has been cooked.

That's the other part of The Diet: building up good bacteria using pro-biotics. Somewhere along the way, I had antibiotics that killed off both the bad bacteria invading my body at the time and the good bacteria in my gut that helps digest food. My all-American diet of sugar, processed foods, and pasta (I do love pasta!) provided the perfect food for the bad bacteria that regrew in my gut. Now I have to cut their food supply, and I imagine the little guys aren't going to like it very much, and feed the good guys to make them stronger.

For several days now, for breakfast, I have been eating April's almond flour pumpkin pancakes that are sooooo yummy! They are mushy rather than solid like a normal pancake, almost like cornmeal (not on the list) mush that is fried in little circles. But butter and salt -- and voila! Tonight I will have speghetti squash with tomatoes.

Right now the biggest thing I miss is cheese. I do love cheese!