I recently read a blogpost titled: Is “Eating Healthy” like a new form of religion? Do we have to “believe” to get it? Are we just strange for doing it?
This article was focussed on the strange sensation one goes through when they 'see the light' on how changing your diet can positively impact your health and how you feel as if you are converting other people to a new religion when you try and spread the word about it. I nodded my head in agreement the entire way through reading this article as it really encompassed exactly how I have felt since I myself 'saw the light'.
How I came to see the light
In December 2010, after being told that my only real chance of falling pregnant was with IVF, I decided that I needed to take charge of what was happening with my body. I was not about to sit back and accept an unnatural (not to mention unconventionally expensive both financially and emotionally) method of conception. I felt I had to exhaust all avenues BEFORE turning to what I consider to be a last resort (not a first resort as believed by many doctors). I went and saw a naturopath/nutritionist who specialises in infertility. She asked me many questions about my current lifestyle, eating habits etc. She then explained what she believed I needed to do- I needed to follow a wheat/dairy/alcohol/potato free diet. I also needed to increase my consumption of nuts and vegies and turn to more natural foods in general. I commenced the wheat/alcohol free part of the diet immediately and after 3 days of withdrawals I sprung out of bed on the fourth day full of energy ready to take anything on. I couldn’t believe the huge hit of energy I gained just 1 week after cutting wheat from my diet. I also discovered after just 4 days of being on the diet that my permanent bloating had also gone- I realised that it is actually possible to eat a meal, feel full and NOT be bloated. This was a huge breakthrough for me!
Culling dairy from the diet
After 1 month on the wheat/alcohol free diet (with a slightly reduced intake of dairy) I continued to suffer knife stabbing pain with my period. Curled up on the couch in the foetal position I decided it was time to get serious. If I didn’t want to continue to put up with this then I had to do something about...say goodbye to the dairy for real. From that day forward I stopped all bovine dairy (except Greek style yoghurt as this was permitted by my naturopath). The change was again amazing. I felt even more energetic and lost weight as an added bonus! I found it much easier to cut dairy out of my diet this month as I read the amazing book “Endometriosis: A guide t healing and fertility through nutrition.” In this book Dianne the author explains that dairy is inflammatory to the endo and so contributes to the pain each month.
Converting others to my new religion
My naturopath said that the endo diet would probably take 3 months to take full effect on my period but for me it actually took 4 (probably because I wasn’t committed to the dairy from the start). I am not complaining though!! After following the diet for 4 months I had the first period in years that didn’t require ANY pain relief. I wasn’t completely pain free- I still did have pain- but it was nowhere near the levels I had previously experienced. The other hugely noticeable difference was how light it was (and has been ever since). I came to realise very quickly that there are no down sides to this diet- why isn’t everyone else following it? You get to feel awake, energetic and ‘light’, not have to worry about being knocked out with pain every period AND lose weight. I needed to let everyone know about this. Short of standing on a soap box down the mall with a megaphone I have tried to convert as many people as I can to this religion. To me it is insane- why isn’t everyone doing this? Why are we wasting millions of dollars every year on tablets and doctors visits when we could all be feeling this good? I have found that I even get super frustrated with other people now when I have friends saying how sluggish they always feel and how high their blood pressure is etc while they are sitting there eating a cheese laden deep fried parmagiana drinking a can of soft drink. I often think “can’t these people see the obvious?!”
However, just as mention in the article, when I try and offer snippets of my ‘religion’ I often get told that my diet is ‘insanely healthy’ or ‘ridiculously healthy’ as if it is ME who is the basketcase!
Oh well, I have seen the light and I shall follow it to the end...I will try and ‘save’ as many other people as I can along the way but I cannot force others to see what I now see as the bleeding obvious- your body puts out what it gets in. Junk in = junk out. Hallelujah to my naturopath for converting me and why on earth didn’t I see this light earlier?
