My nutrition journey
In the beginning…
I’ll start way back at the beginning, because I really have to give my parents credit for the way I eat today. We ate a lot of meals together as a family…balanced meals ( entree, vegetable, salad, and milk or water to drink)….food was NEVER forced…soda was reserved for special occasions…and then there were the occasional “ice cream sundae” parties…the indulgence!
Moving on to high school…I was very active (cross country running, track and field, softball), but my eating habits took a temporary turn for the worse during those teenage years (think of Fritos and chocolate cake for lunch, and, on the flip side, crazy liquid semi-starvation diets to lose weight…
Early college was a little better, but not much…I was still very active, but my idea of healthy at that time was eating lots of fat free foods, including fat free candy (not my idea of healthy THESE days!). Fortunately, I took a nutrition class my senior year, and thus started on my journey back towards healthy eating.
Flash forward several years to the birth of my wonderful children. I had easy pregnancies with both, but approximately 3-4 months after the birth of each child, I developed strange symptoms including numbness and tingling in my extremities, muscle aches, joint pain, more frequent migraine headaches, racing pulse, insomnia, extreme fatigue, occasional dry eyes, and exercise intolerance.
After visits to several different doctors, I was finally given a diagnosis -”Probable Sjogren’s Syndrome” and “Possible Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”. Although I was very happy to receive a diagnosis, I wasn’t happy with the advice given to me…”There’s not much we can at this time…” “We’ll watch it and see what happens…” “If it gets worse we can put you on medication…”
Well, that didn’t work for me! I decided to research these conditions to see what alternative treatments were available. Ultimately, I found two supportive doctors at “The Arthritis Center in Riverside”. They were both wonderful physicians who helped start me on the road back to good health. Some of the treatments I used were antibiotic therapy, heparin therapy (Through testing, I found out I had a genetic predisposition towards abnormal blood clotting), and various supplements. These therapies all helped to a moderate degree, but ultimately I decided I didn’t want to remain on antibiotics and heparin indefinitely, so I continued my research…
Eventually I found out about a link between celiac disease and autoimmunity. My blood tests came back negative for celiac, however genetic testing revealed I carry one of the genes linked to celiac disease, plus another gene that may be linked to gluten sensitivity. Around the same time, I also learned about LEAP food sensitivity testing (see more about LEAP testing on my Nutrition Services page). I found I was sensitive in varying degrees to numerous foods, including “healthy” foods such as apples, tomatoes, and almonds, just to name a few. What I did next was pretty challenging. I completely eliminated gluten from my diet. Then for the next 6 months I followed my LEAP diet protocol strictly, eliminating my reactive foods, and slowly adding non-reactive foods in to my diet. After 6 months, I started re-introducing reactive foods in to my diet. I found a few foods that I still did not tolerate, but most of the foods I was able to tolerate again.
Was it worth it? Absolutely! After eliminating gluten and going on the LEAP diet, slowly, but surely my remaining symptoms started clearing up. That was 3 years ago. Today, I consider myself just as healthy as I was before my pregnancies. I still get occasional migraines, but not like I did before. My energy level is back to normal. I sleep pretty well. My body aches and joint pains are gone. I have no more neuropathy, and I am finally able to exercise again!
One great consequence of eliminating gluten from my diet and dealing with food sensitivities is that I have re-discovered a joy in cooking at home. My family still enjoys eating out, but more meals than not are cooked at home with fresh, organic, whole foods. It is my hope that my health experiences and my nutrition expertise can be of benefit to you on your journey towards great health. Bon Appetit!
