How did I heal my gut? Going outside my comfort zone was the beginning of my journey. I went to a wellness seminar and took my first urine ph test the following morning. My strip was BLACK. Wow. That scared the living daylights out of me, my uncle had died from colon cancer, and I was already high risk. Take a look at how you can heal your gut.
The wellness seminar’s recommendations were simple.
- Stop eating processed foods
- Start eating “organic” foods
- Try internal body cleanses
I jumped right in with both feet. I cleaned out my pantry, bought my organic food and tried out a 10-day raw food whole body cleanse. All in the same week. DON’T do what I did.
Oh my gosh! I knew I was going to give up my cokes, so I drank 3 the day before I started my cleanse. DON’T do what I did. I had caffeine headaches, body aches for 5 days and leg cramps; it was horrible but in my case the end result was an awakening of a body that had been fueled with so much crap that my reactions were similar to being jolted back to life. There’s an easier way to begin.
I recommend you start slow by quitting junk/processed food and start eating organic food.
How to start healing your Gut
First Step: Figure out what your goal is
My goal was simple: I wanted to stop taking my medication and feel more energetic. Find out what is important to you. I wanted to be around and know my grandchildren. My dad died when he was 64. Way too young.
Second Step: Talk with your doctor and family
Talk to your doctor about your goals. Discuss with him/her your plan of action to heal your gut and understand the consequences if you get off your meds too soon. Ask your doctor if it’s alright to start taking a probiotic daily.
Talk to your family, this will impact them too. I had to tell my two teenagers no more junk food in the house. Instead, I committed to making them homemade snacks. Bread, cookies, lots of fruit and cut up carrots and celery. I didn’t get upset if they ate processed food snack outside the house but I was clear: No processed snacks in the house. Get everyone on your team!
Quitting Processed Food will help heal your gut
Third Step: Clean out your refrigerator, freezer and pantry
It’s hard to stop eating processed foods; it tastes wonderful and it makes life so much easier in the kitchen. Throw away your opened packages, donate or give away the rest to friends, family or charity.
Any boxed, canned, and bagged foods containing artificial flavoring, preservatives, and additives are considered processed. Organic potato chips are not on the menu. No junk food. If it’s not in the house, you won’t break down and eat or drink it. Learn more about eating Organic here.
Fourth Step: Keep your condiments
Don’t worry about throwing out your condiments, Worcestershire sauce, salad dressings, mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickles. Use it up and then decide if you want to buy organic or make your own.
Planning makes it easier to heal your gut
Fifth Step: Make a menu and a shopping list
Learn how to plan. Read my post on planning here. Create a menu for a week – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Make sure you have all the ingredients for the recipes. Only buy what’s on your list! Stay focused! Take a look at a Sample Menu.
Sixth Step: No Alcohol
You want to put good fuel into your body. In the past drinking a couple of beers or glasses of wine two days in a row and I’d have flare up. You’re in the process of healing your gut, only good fuel in your body. Beer (made from wheat/grain) doesn’t agree with me, but now I can drink wine without any issues. While you’re in the process of healing I would recommend no alcohol!
Seventh Step: Listen to your body
Everyone has food that your body doesn’t like – even healthy food. My body doesn’t tolerate flax meal very well even though it is a “healthy” food. Start listening to your body.
You might have a few withdrawal symptoms. That’s normal. Your body loves junk food and it will not be happy with you for taking it away. Just plow through it. Learn more about a detox reaction here. The reason I recommend taking it slow I hope you avoid a detox reaction. Take your normal pain reliever for your symptoms. That’s it for the first month. Don’t worry about cleanses until your body has gotten used to clean food. Baby steps!
Good luck and keep me posted!
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