I've read through the book, all the articles, and am so impressed with all the research. I am currently on Day 10 of the diet.
About me: I am a 26-year-old female. I'm used to eating strictly organic food (vegetables, kefir, so-called "health foods") and I go hiking every other day. Because I have a naturally athletic bone structure and am slender, I look very healthy. But, in fact, I am currently very, very unhealthy: I have a totally compromised digestive system. It has been freaking out on me for years. This is what brought me to the diet.
Background (feel free to skip over this part): I was a very strong child, breast fed for two years. I got skinny after that, because I refused to eat most of the food that was served to me. This natural response went away at age 13, when I moved to the U.S. Due to social pressure, I started eating lots of dairy and wheat. I developed insomnia and acne. As a teenager, I had a chronically swollen belly (people said it "looked cute"). In college, I would wake up bloated almost every the morning, though I got good sleep and rarely drank alcohol.
After college, I started getting bad cramps and finding blood in my stool. Scary! My dad, a retired doctor, suspected ulcerative colitis and insisted I have a colonoscopy done (at age 23!); luckily, the symptoms disappeared and I was able to back out of it. The doctor also ran tests and everything looked fine.
Soon, I was throwing up involuntarily; after every big meal, I would have these gross little hiccups. It happened every day. I went to the doctor, but he just prescribed me antacids. I NEVER touched junk food and wasn't an ounce overweight, so why was this happening? He didn't seem to know.
About a month ago, my stomach completely shut down; it refused to digest anything. I got uncomfortably bloated. I was constipated and in pain. I had had enough: I realized that my body was obviously protesting against something, and unless I did something, I would die an early death.
So I definitely have incredible motivation to do this diet. I did some research and realized that I probably have a gluten intolerance (a.k.a. Celiac Disease) which doesn't show up on tests. I've also had an allergic reaction to dairy in the past (which I cleverly side-stepped by slowly introducing it back into my diet). Either way, my body obviously hates the stuff, and has always known it.
I have made a lot of progress on the diet. Enough to know that my problems are certainly food related. It's been exhilarating, really.
My questions: because my digestive/immune system is so fragile right now--I am hardly absorbing anything--will raw fish or yolk be too much to handle? I am craving B12 like crazy (I keep seeing chicken legs dancing around in my dreams), but I do not want to put any stress on my system.
Question 2: Would vitamins, such as in "Vitamin Water," be acceptible, given my lack of proper absorption? I realize that synthetic vitamins have an oxidative effect, but it might be necessary right now. (by the way, please don't hesitate to answer this; I am nowhere close to needing an IV drip, ha ha)
General question: What foods would you recommend for someone who is "healing"? Juices are the easiest to digest, correct?
Thank you all
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