I know you're out there...

I know you're out there...Even though you guys and gals aren't commenting on my blog! :) I see that I get hundreds of visitors here every day. Maybe I'm helping someone!


Hi! I got an email from a fellow IC-er and I thought my response to her may be helpful to you all. I know I post so many posts in the IC network, so I think the following information will be a great 'summary' of what I'm doing to heal my IC...(drum roll please...)


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I'm a strong supporter of the Weston A. Price diet. I did not just 'believe' in them haphazardly. It was through all my research that I later found them, studied them, and saw that they were in agreement with all I learned.

If you go to the Weston A. Price foundation's website, you will learn and read so much. Barring food intolerances, I eat according to their principles. So for example, I'm not able to tolerate any grains as of now, but I hope to be able to do so in the future. The autoimmune protocol diet that I've been doing over the past couple of years is a close cousin to the Weston A price diet; I just stuck with the AIP Paleo plan because it automatically excluded all of the foods I was intolerant to. The AIP diet had go-to recipes for me and it made my life MUCH EASIER as I navigated food intolerances. As I healed my gut (how? read on), I've recently added 2 very exciting ingredients to my diet: eggs and raw unpasteruized milk.

So here is my plan in a nutshell to heal my gut right now:

1. Eat lots of gut healing foods. This includes fresh bone broth. The fatty and gelatinous qualities of the broth will help to heal and seal the leaky gut. My family and I eat a nice soup each week made from this broth, and I drink a large cup of it in the morning. My secret ingredient to making my broth taste divine is to add 1/2 a cup of raisins to the broth as I'm simmering my bones/meat. It makes it taste superb. I promise. I'd invite you all over to try it if I could. You'd be a believer! :)

I have learned to can my own broth so I don't take up freezer space. It's nice to not have to thaw yet another ingredient! :) I found the big 1/2 gallon jars at Walmart (left)...they save a lot of space too!

2. Protect the gut flora, at all costs. I've spent countless hours learning about alternatives to antibiotics. Most recently, I have arrived at the incredible, and very reputable medicine of homeopathy. I've faced 2 bladder infections and one very serious strep throat infection ever since I 'swore off' antibiotics, and I've been able to treat each fully and completely with homeopathy. I have the before labs and after labs to prove it. I am currently taking an online course with a lady named Joette Calabrese called "the Drug Free Family". This has been instrumental in helping me devise a real plan to avoid antibiotics. I feel like I'm really learning the discernment needed in order to know when I can treat me/my family via homeopathy and when I will need to actually seek medical intervention and possibly antibiotics (in life-saving, heroic circumstances). I no longer make fear-based decisions to rush to the doctor and get stuffed with prescriptions. I know have the tools I need to make meticulous choices regarding my health and my family's health. I am in charge, and I don't just run to the doctors office for every little ailment. But, as I've said before, I'm grateful for these amazing doctors and their antibiotics should I need them in life-saving, heroic circumstances.

I now own 2 kits of 100 remedies each. The 1st kit is in 30 potency and the other kit is in 200 potency. I feel very prepared to make decisions and deal with my family's health. Discernment is key, and I'm growing more confident each day!

3. Rebuild the gut flor via probiotics, digestive enzymens (which aid in breaking down the food, thus giving the probiotics a break), eating pre-biotics (in particular unheated potato starch), fermented veggies (I don't tolerate beneficial yeast very well, which is in fermented veggies/kombucha/kiefer etc, so I'm going slow on this), and raw milk and raw milk yogurt.

I think my fermented veggies look pretty in their jars, just like these ones.

4. Maintaining my REAL food anti-inflammatory diet which includes lots of organic vegetables, grain-free meals made from scratch, soaking and dehydrating nuts/seeds, homemade yogurt, and eating minimal sugar (even honey!)

This is an actual picture of last night's dinner: home made 'tortillas' made from eggs and coconut flour (they are light, fluffy, and a rave with my family), shredded pasture-raised organic chicken, raw cheddar cheese (we get ours from an Amish farmer), homemade organic guacamole, organic cilantro, organic onions, plain homemade raw milk yogurt as a sour cream, and extra garlic for good immune boosting properties. Dessert was fresh organic orange wedges. It was a modern farmer's dinner alright!

5. Homoepathy for my CHRONIC illness (not just acute). So yes, I'm doing homeopathy for my acute problems (strep throat/bladder infections and the like), but I'm also doing it for my long-term IC issue and body itching (dermographia) autoimmune problem. I'm working with my Joette Calabrese on this, and I'm following the Banerji Homepathic Protocols (which my homeopath knows). For me, diet and gut-healing alone was simply not enough. It wasn't until I added homeopathy that I was able to actually start reintroducing foods. It has significantly sped up my healing. If you look through my previous posts, you can find 1-hour video that discusses what homeopathy is and how I'm using for both acute and chronic issues.

This is a picture of my homeopath Joette Calabrese (middle) with Dr. Prasanta Banerji (Left). She has done fellowships in India with Dr. Banerji learning his amazing form of homeopathy that has been clinically proven to cure even Cancer. She does Skype appointments.

So this above information is my current plan. Most of this I have learned by reading the information from Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF).

I was also asked to share some good books to read: 
I don't think they actually have one single 'book' you can read. Much of my above plan was pieced together myself. I just kept finding others (WAPF people/Paleo people/ GAPS diet people) who each had very similar plans to address their chronic autoimmune issues. But a few books do come to mind:

The Weston A Price foundation has a great recipe book that has lots of ethnic foods which promotes great guts and healthy digestion. Intertwined is in this book is a lot of WAPF information.

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

Another great book is GAPS diet by Natasha Campbell McBride. Technically, I am on the GAPS diet because I eat soaked nuts, milk (raw), and eggs but follow a grain-free diet. The GAPS diet is a  cousin to the Weston A Price foundation, and it is actually the diet that WAPF promotes for those who are suffering from Autoimmune diseases.

The GAPS diet by Natasha Campbell-McBride

Finally, another great book is the THE PALEO APPROACH by Sara Ballantyne. Sara Ballentyne is not necessarily a WAPF person, but much of the paleo principles are Weston A Price principles. They believe in drinking bone broth to heal and seal the gut, they believe in a grain-free diet, and they believe in good gut flora. So People who are Paleo or Auti Immune Paleo (AIP Paleo) pretty much another cousin to Weston A Price.  I think the main difference is that people who are Paleo choose to never again eat grains ever again in their life, ever. However, someone like me (a diehard WAPF) believes that good, organic, soaked and sprouted grains when prepared properly are good for you and that you should eat them in great moderation. I cannot eat these right now due to the gut troubles, but I'm not going to give up until I can eat a more diverse diet (and as a result have reversed my IC!). I hope to become a full WAPF.

The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne

I just wanted to give you a quick 'recap' in case you weren't able to read the dozens and dozens of messages I've posted in the forum! Ha. I just really want this info to get out to anyone who is interested in healing IC via gut healing. I hope I'm not the only one who experiences massive success from my plan. I think that I found the root of my IC problem...and I dare say this is the same for many others.

PLEASE PLEASE stick around on my forum, and post comments to anything interesting you experience/find.

Xoxo,

Paola
Paola