This week I have mostly
been having the cold of doom. Like serious doom. Its on its way out,
but has left behind a lingering flare up of chronic fatigue. My
spoons are far and few between... in fact most of them have buggered
off all together and left me with a solitary knife. Needless to say
the delicate house of cards that is my work/health/life/dietary/
physio balance, which is ordinarily teetering on the cusp of collapse
at the best of times, has collapsed in spectacular style.
I am off work, but I
dragged myself to physio (because missing physio is a sin of the
highest degree!) only to be told off for not taking the day off. To
my credit, I did a bit.....well...I cycled at the pace of a snail, I
fell off a bosu board, I stood on 1 leg a few times and managed to
row with such slovenliness that the rowing machine stopped timing me
because it actually thought I had got off it! Sigh! So I went home,
ill try again next week.
Anyway, rant over! I
wanted to write about diet today. I have been advised a high protein
diet. It makes sense, I'm trying to build muscle, for muscle you need
protein....I am vegetarian. Every time I make a meal I have the voice
of my specialist in my head shouting “protein” at me.
Now I'm sure each and
every person with a chronic illness has had a barrage of “ you
should try eating.....” advice, all of which I am willing to bet my
walking stick on being unsolicited; and had little relevance to the
condition that you are actually blessed to be the owner of. I.e. “my
sisters friend has gout, she found apple cyder vinegar useful, you
should try that”......oh thanks.....I HAVENT GOT GOUT!!!
But about a year ago, I
was told about a book, about a girl, that was chronically ill, but
had cured herself by changing her diet. Of course having heard a
million “you should try drinking the blood of a virgin sacrificed
by the light of a full moon” style helpful hints, I was quick to
dismiss this one too.
But, then on my
birthday a friend bought me a Deliciously Ella book, it was the very
book she had been trying to recommend me for the last few months. I
graciously thanked her and had a flick through. As I glanced at the
very first page to my disbelief I saw the words “postural
orthostatic tachycardia syndrome”....could this really be! Actually
advice relevant to (one of) the actual conditions I have! My eyes did
not deceive me. It was true. I didn't get my hopes up too much
though, Ella has POTS as a primary condition and I have is secondary
to Ehlers-Danlos. But I though, hey maybe its worth a shot.
So I started after my
birthday (one last binge!), I decided to follow the dietary advice.
This diet is not for faint hearted! Its is a vegan, gluten free,
refined sugar free, preservative and other artificial ingredient free
diet. It involves making everything form scratch all of the time,
which can be extremely tiring if you're having a tough couple of
days.
I managed to stick to
it entirely for 6 weeks....then we had a holiday! …needless to say
SHIT WENT DOWN..I'm not proud of myself, but I ate and drank
everything in sight (except food with a face). Now up until this
point I had noticed a few benefits form my new diet, but what really
convinced me of its prowess was that holiday!...by the time that week
was up I feel like dog poop!! I really noticed the difference, I felt
tired, bloated and irritable...basically I was a hippo!
So now I'm back home,
back on the diet it is! Now I never followed it to the letter, I kept
hold of eggs! D's (specialist physio) voice kept running in my ears
shouting “HIGH PROTEIN”. On my return from holiday I also decided
to add Quorn pieces and mince back in as well. To relive the pressure
to ensure a high protein diet.
The basic idea of the
diet it to remove substances which might be a irritant to your
endocrine and immune system. There is research that suggests that
symptoms of many illnesses can be alleviated by removing synthetic
preservatives and chemicals from your diet. E.G. synthetic
sweeteners, trick your body into thinking its getting sugar so your
endocrine system reacts accordingly and releases insulin. When the
sugar doesn't show up, you get a low blood sugar. Voila... makes
sense.
I have always had a *
ahem * 'difficult' relationship with dairy, especially following an
apocalypitc vomiting bug I caught a few years back in Bangladesh from
some very suspicious cheese! But I had never really considered the
effects this might be having on my immune system, if I have a mild
intolerance to something, it makes sense that when I eat it, my body
identifies it as a threat and sets of an inflammatory response to
fight the malevolent creamy molecules off....I DONT NEED ANY EXTRA
INFLAMATION!! so cut it out, cut out irritants, cut down on
inflammation.
The same can be said
for gluten, gluten free pasta is alright! gluten free bread not so
much- several failed home baking attempts have taught me not to
bother. Especially after mixing up a batter and putting it on the
oven, only to discover I had added the dregs of my tea to the mix
instead of the yeast solution ( I'd had it in a mug next to my
tea)......TWAT!
As for sugar..well!
Sweet tooth is my middle name ( not really..its Margaret). I love
sugar, I love sweets, cakes (especially with ICE CREAM!), chocolate,
sticks of rock, biscuits, ice cream. You name it, if it sugary I will
eat it! Quitting sugar was the single most difficult thing about
this, but thankfully, Ella is the same. She was a sugar monster too.
So she has supplied a whole bunch of tasty sweet pudding and snack
ideas, sans sugar! Hurrah! Honey, maple syrup and dates are my
friends now. There are some seriously good recipes, my favourites are
the banoffee pies, sweet potato brownies and scones with jam. I have
been guzzling like a beast! I feel like Augustus Gloop in Willy
Wonkas chocolate factory, but in reality there is nutritional value
in them and I've actually lost weight eating like a pig!
WINNNNNNNNINNNNNG!
What's more, we went to
the cinema last week and I 'allowed' myself 10 whole pic'n'mix
sweets....bugger me did my heart go mad! It was racing along so fast
I was sure my husband could hear it (although the sweets can't take
all the credit – we were watching a thriller!) I have decided to
replace sweets with NAKD bars, made entirely form fruit and nuts;
they're delicious and nutritious!
Obviously the key to
success lies with Tupperware! Bulk preparations of meals and freezing
them. Other wise you would spend significant spoons each day cooking.
Ain't nobody got spoons for that! Then you get to enjoy the spectacle
of 'mystery dinner from the freezer'. Is it lentil bolognaise, or is
it bean chilli...who knows!!
Anyway, I've had a
significant environment in my energy levels (pre cold virus!) and my
POTS has calmed down a bit too. Also I am trying out new recipes and
eating real food, instead of processed food like substances, which
fill you up but leave your body craving nutrients. Everyone's a
winner! i figure that eating crap and the expecting my body to be as well as it can be isnt going to work. it would be like trying to polish a turd! if i dont give my body the nutrients it needs it isn'
t going to be well.
I've learned to be a
bit flexible with it though. Eating out can be a bitch
otherwise...and I love eating out! So now every couple of weeks I
will allow myself a cheat meal! I will have the pizza and ice cream
(not together...I'm not a heathen!) I'll have the glass of wine ( if
I have too!* sigh *) and I'll probably enjoy it even more because of
the wait!
You can follow Ella
@deliciouslyella for free recipes!and if you facny a laugh
@deliciouslystella is a brilliant spoof (both instagram)!
Annie X
PS.. tequila is gluten
free and made of agave ( usually sugar free) too! Oh tequila...you
make me happy!!!!
PSS. I'm not a
dietician, just someone who feels a bit better from doing this. If
you're not sure if its a good idea or have been advised against
dietary changes please speak to your medical team before trying it xx
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