Will I ever heal from autoimmune disease? What are truly my barriers to healing? How can I breakthrough these barriers and achieve my most optimal health and wellbeing?
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Think of the gastrointestinal tract like a river.
When the GI microbiome is out of balance the river becomes toxic, seeping with bad bacteria and unable to sweep food through at an effective rate.
When our digestion falters the body becomes sick and the liver grows weak from being overburdened.
Digestion further slows due to reduced bile production from a weakened liver and more bacteria breeds along the lines of the intestines. This is when disease and disorder begins to ensue within the digestive tract. Gas, pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhea are common symptoms from bacterial overgrowth. If you’re struggling with autoimmune GI disorders like colitis there is viral infection in your gut to be eradicated through various nutritional and herbal therapies.
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My name is Jen and I am a recovering food intolerance sufferer.
But for real. I have had such intense food allergies in the past that eating gluten would keep me in bed the entire next day. I am happy to report that my reactions can be much less extreme, however, they still happen and I am incredibly grateful for my food allergies! Why on earth do you ask? Keep reading..
First, let’s address what is the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance? Technically speaking, you can really use these two terms interchangeably as food allergy operates on a scale, the most extreme being I just ate a peanut and now my airway is swelling shut “PLEASE GET ME AN EPI PEN STAT.” On the contrary, maybe certain foods just make your eczema a little extra flaky or your joints a bit more stiff. In all actuality, your body is reacting to what is taking place within after you consume this food. The response may be an IgE immune mediated response (think anaphylaxis, can’t breath, and epipen) or an IgG immune mediated response which will give you cold/flu like or other unpleasant symptoms from eating your body’s forbidden foods. Either way, your body is having a reaction so the term you use doesn’t really matter. When you’re ordering at a restaurant just call it an allergy to avoid feeling lousy either way!
If you look deeper into most food allergies, what is happening is..
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Acne, hair loss, low libido, irregular menses, painful menses, hirsutism (excess body hair), mood swings, bloating, and fatigue are all symptoms of very common conditions so many of us ladies suffer from today! Either you, yourself, or one of your closest gals is struggling with a chronic condition listed above.
You know what? I am sick and tired of women just having to deal. These symptoms are not normal, and being told to live with these conditions is unacceptable. The healthcare system has to do better with treating chronic hormonal imbalance than how it is managing women’s health now. Giving us the pill or calling us “moody” is projecting the system’s ineptitude on the woman, which deflects responsibility.
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Have you ever been told to avoid fruit? If you’re trying to resolve chronic conditions such as candida overgrowth, hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, or gut dysbiosis you’ve most likely heard that you should avoid sugars including fruit.
Let me rewrite that myth for you today! This is a common misconception in the wellness space. We are told to avoid fruit because “the sugars are BAD and will feed pathogens or spike our blood sugar.”
When in reality this couldn’t be further from the truth.
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Are your hormones out of whack? Maybe you just feel a little “off” or you lab work came back concerning. If there is an abnormal fluctuation in your hormones chances are your likely feeling the effects on your body. For women we notice changes in our monthly cycle, low energy, weight loss resistance, hot flashes, brain fog, thinning hair, brittle nails, dry skin, low libido or mood and energy irregularities. Men may notice low energy, weight gain in hips, pecs or thighs, thinning hair, low libido, impotence and oftentimes anger/irritability.
So what causes our hormones to go into disarray? Often times we think “my hormones are out of whack so now I have this chronic condition. PCOS, endometriosis, infertility, endocrine disorder, low testosterone, etc.” What came first the hormone imbalance or the diagnosis? The chicken or the egg? Instead of playing the blame game to infinity, let’s examine the real culprits of hormonal dysfunction.
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Eczema, acne, dermatitis, psoriasis, dark circles, rosacea, urticaria, itchy skin these are all skin conditions we may view as disruptions to our external body requiring topical treatment. To truly heal your skin, we must look within the body. Our skin is really just our largest organ, an accurate depiction of our internal health. It is possible to have clear skin, poor internal health, and a great deal of inflammation. However, it is impossible that an eczema flare, cystic acne breakout, or fungal infection of the skin is not a result of an internal infection, inflammation or overall disruption of the body’s homeostasis. You can achieve that clear, youthful glow of your skin you desire at any age! The path to get there begins with examining your internal health, with the vehicle being nutrition.
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Looking to lose weight, heal your thyroid, fix your digestion, improve your brain health, or reduce the levels of inflammation in your body? Are you not sure where to even start?
Start right here. With my top 5 FAVORITE healing foods, including ways to eat them in your diet..
Disordered Eating
Restrictive diets, cheat meals, and binging were a common pattern of my past that quickly led to a struggle with disordered eating, a struggle that would go beyond the desire to control my food intake and body size. This pattern in my life fueled the fire of my autoimmune disease and made healing nearly impossible for a very long time. Not only were my physical eating habits alarming, but my mental health and thought patterns concerning food were in a desperate need of a paradigm shift.
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