Hello and Happy New Year!
If you are one of the few who have ever followed my blog or stumbled upon it, you may have wondered why I haven't put anything new on here for....a like a year? Well, it is mostly that my family does not eat all raw anymore and I just could not bring myself to change the blog.
I have had recipes I have wanted to post on here that our family has come
to love that are plant-based and cooked, but just never either took the
time or felt like they were really "healthy" all around.
However, we have stayed completely plant-based for the last 7+ years. We have enjoyed much health balanced weight, get well quickly and have added more family members- we are now at 8!
Since I believe in celebrating the good that happens in life, here is what we have done well.
1. We have not eaten meat or dairy and very minimal white sugar or flour.
2. We have eaten thousands of fresh fruit, veggies, green smoothies, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
However, we have eaten a lot more baked goods with whole wheat flour, corn chips/tortillas, peanut butter, coconut palm sugar, and LOTS of tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes.
That sounds pretty good right? I thought so too. Well, recently my knees started to hurt more and my wrists, though a
different area than years ago, started to swell slightly and be sore. I had also noticed that whenever we had spicy foods (that I love) and
taco soup or curry the upper part of my stomach felt a slight burning. I
have really bad heartburn when I am pregnant, and now not being
pregnant and still having a burning was really noticeable and uncomfortable.
I love to run, so a big part of my problem may be that I am working out more now that we live in a warm climate during the winter, but part of me had to ponder on if I still had some sort of imbalance going on in my gut!
So you start with what you know, right? What I know was that I had similar symptoms in the past and I have tried orthopedics in my shoes, so I got those out. I also know that the only times I feel free of any stomach issues is when eating completely raw, although I had noticed that when eating raw, my favorite tomato soup still made me feel funny.
Here I am on another health adventure. Dealing with 2 issues, joints and stomach. Are they related? Maybe, maybe not. If they are great, if not, great. What I know is that we are given tests and trials in life to LEARN! I am not a afraid to learn, change, and learn again. I love it! Learning is a gift and so is this body that I have been given!
I was just thinking this morning how we are motivated to change when we
are AWARE of a problem and the problem is interfering with comfort in
life. I also believe that once we know something, we are accountable
for that knowledge.
So I went completely raw again, but this time I felt to do some self-allergy testing first. After testing I found results that I did not necessarily like, but did not find surprising.
My list of intolerance or weakness in the allergy testing included:
* Wheat, wheat flour, millet, yeast, corn, corn chips, corn tortillas, mold, cows milk, cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, white-sugar, AND Tomatoes, Brown Potatoes, Red Bell Peppers, Jalapenos, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Egg Plants, and Gogi Berries.
WOW! What I realized was that when we went raw 8 years ago, it immediately eliminated some of the major known allergies, but ones that I never thought about having issues with, only knowing that when I ate a lot of bread I felt bloated. So at that time, it was probably one of the best things we did and has definately not hurt us! Slowly we added back in cooked vegetables and grains and we felt it was a good place to stay.
I thought that my list was kind of odd when it got to those vegetables until I made the connection that they are all what are considered "Night-Shade" foods. I had heard many years ago that sometimes inflammation can be related to night-shades, but thought it odd because these are fruits and veggies we're talking about, not something that "hurts" us.
Over the years of our health journey I have learned many things. Recipes, diets, fads, intolerance, allergies, I have been to classes and read books, read blogs, talked with many people about health- what is "good", what is "bad" but I know one thing for sure. No BODY is the same. What feels bad to my body, is fine on my husbands. While others people cannot eat nuts, my body feels great eating them.
Talking to my husband the other day I decided that I love the Word of Wisdom given in Doctrine and Covenant 89. It is a definite guideline! Here is what to avoid and here is what is better for you. After that, our bodies are all different from genetics to lifestyle choice and I believe we need to learn for ourselves what is best for us individually.
So here I have new-found knowledge. I almost take it on as a challenge. A way to have a fresh start, literally. A way to find new recipes that feel good to me. It's time to add to the blog, find new recipes and share what I learn with others. A time to learn more about the body, zoning, allergies, and more. If one day I am free from those intolerances, great, but if not I will always go on faithful in the Lords plan for me and continue to learn what I can and share with others.
May YOU gain knowledge and have a Fresh Start to your health this year!
Angela
