Day 15-------Stop the "Leaks"

Now if you have been taking any of the baby steps in the previous blogs, you are already on your way to repairing the leaks by eating healthier, God made foods. But it is hard to repair if you are not stopping the cause.  And as before, I am not trying to tell you what to do, but I will take you on MY journey. I am, though, always open to questions and might can steer you in the right direction if my journey does not take you to your destination. So let's get started. I am going to give you a list of inflammatory foods that you can test---by eliminating them. As you know, I was fighting GERD. My entire GI tract was inflamed. This is when I told you I read the book by Dr. Osborne who had countless patients cured of GERD and diseases much more serious than Gerd. ( And I'm sorry but I have to express my JOY---I AM CURED!!!! )



It is unbelievable the diseases he cures in his practice---I mean serious diseases that people tell you are incurable. And he does it through eliminating all inflammatory foods. It is in the process of curing these diseases that patients got ride of GERD, IBS, and other autoimmune diseases that I mentioned yesterday. So here are the inflammatory foods that he said would heal my leaks and give me my life back. This is where you have to make it YOUR JOURNEY. It is amazing how your body will let you know you are on the right track. You experience energy and weight loss. I even read in another source that it will automatically take you to your ideal weight----not what the weight charts say or what Cindy Crawford weighs,--- but what Dereatha Rice needs to weigh. It really is not the same for everyone. I lost 20 pounds and have been at the same weight now for 2 months without dieting at all--just eating healthy. And I must say, just letting all of that take care of itself is so nice. I have put stress and pressure on myself all my life to "look good"----whatever that means. So here goes the list of foods that causes inflammation, and you can tailor it to YOU. I'll tell you what I did.




Inflammatory foods that I totally gave up

• Refined carbohydrates such as bread and sweets (actually all sugar).
• Artificial sweeteners
• Fried foods
• Sodas and any sugar-sweetened beverages
• Bad fats--margarine, vegetable oils, shortening, etc
• Processed foods--in a box or bag

Inflammatory foods that I limited:

• Red meats (I cut my portions way back and did not eat meat every meal).
• Processed meat (Still held onto bacon but only when we occasionally had jalapeno poppers)
• Dairy ( I quit drinking milk and only eating small amounts of cheese on salads or in omelets)

I immediately felt better, and one by one the symptoms of leaky gut began to disappear and my GERD was coming under control. The bloating after eating was gone, gas after eating (burping) was gone, and indigestion was mostly gone, especially during the day. I will tell where I think the total cure came, but I want to finish the with foods for those of you who are facing more and different symptoms than I did.


Now for some reason I had not developed a full blown autoimmune disease or had anything that had affected any of my organs that I know of, so I did not follow a complete--non-inflammatory diet.  But I am going to tell you what it is in case you have any unexplained pain or any of the problems or diseases that I mentioned in day 14. If you do, then here are some things you might want to consider.


Eliminate:

1.  All grains and pseudo grains(buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa) and all foods that contain them
2. Only meat where animals are grass fed/pasteurized  and free range/organic poultry and eggs--No grain fed meats or meats that have been fed hormones or antibiotics
3. All farm raised fish and shellfish
4. All dairy products including fermented dairy products such as yogurt and kefir, as well as dairy derivatives (whey or casein protein powder)
5. All processed and GMO foods including so-called gluten free products and any other artificial ingredients
6. All soy products, including fermented soy products such as soy sauce and tofu
7. All manufactured sugars
8. All artificial sweeteners
9. Eat all organic foods (where possible), especially fruits and vegetables. If not organic, wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly with a solution of water and a little apple cider vinegar.

As I said I did not go this complete route, but I have it in case it comes to that some day and I will not hesitate. In fact I am transitioning into a lot of the above, but it is a journey and I will let you know what that is in later blogs. The thing that I added to MY list above that I am convinced cured my GERD and that was intermittent fasting. If you remember way back--on the blog Breakfast of Champions, I told you that I did not eat breakfast, or anything until around 12--at least 16 hours after my last meal. The great benefit of this was to give my body more time to heal before you added food that required digestion. The digestion process takes so much energy, and that virtually stops the healing process.  So I was putting healthy food in my body from approx. 12-6, and the rest of the time it was healing the leaks. It was not long after that routine that my GERD completely went away. I was free!!!! And the great thing about this is that I can occasionally eat some of the foods I eliminated without it giving me the symptoms back. I think my body is fighting those toxins on its own---God's way!!!


Enjoy the trip!!! you won't be sorry