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Dear GreenSmoothieGirl for Arizona, part 3 of 4


Robyn Openshaw - Jul 14, 2011 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


Jenny B: I feel sick if I eat ANY cooked food. (She catalogues her diet and laments how difficult it is to stay almost all raw.) Will I always have to be this careful? Do you ever see people as food-sensitive as me? Will my health problems ever turn around?

GSG: I have seen documentation and heard testimonials of thousands of people who, like me, beat:

Seasonal allergies, eczema, occasional asthma, fatigue and excesses of sleeping, skin problems, elevated blood pressure, hypoglycemia, anxiety and mood instability, hemorrhoids, vision deterioration, food addictions, tumors, repeated viruses and strep infections, overweight, low thyroid, PMS and severe menstrual cramps, infertility, Transient Ischemic Attacks (mini-strokes with migraine, right arm going numb, couldn’t speak or see)

That’s just MY list, from 20 years ago. I now have NONE of those things, 20 years later, except I still battle a mild obsession with chocolate. One of my children was born with severe food reactions, and now has no food sensitivities. I hear about turnarounds in health everywhere I go, and on my blog, and in thousands of emails—when people eliminate gluten, or just shift to whole, mostly-raw plant foods. By the way, my theory based on nothing more than observation is that if you stay away from refined and GMO foods and eat at least 60% raw, you won’t likely develop a gluten intolerance–if you’re blessed to not currently have problems with grains.

Just because you have a condition now (like a food sensitivity) doesn’t mean you’ll have it in a year, especially if you go about the business of healing your gut. The vast majority of problems, wherever they occur in the body, are related to a toxic colon. The blood in the colon recirculates everywhere in the body, so filth there means toxicity everywhere. Our goal with a shift to clean foods is the clean the gastrointestinal system first and foremost, with plant fiber, easily digested with high enzyme content–and build it up with good probiotics, and well-absorbed vitamins and minerals.

If you are patient and a truth seeker, and willing to heal your gut with good nutrition, you have a good prognosis. Obviously I can’t promise you any specific outcome for any specific diagnosis. But I believe there is no other way out, without addressing lifestyle! Taking drugs will not cure the health problems you named. Tapping your forehead will not heal the problems you named. (At least the latter won’t hurt you.)

And while you battle an entrenched, difficult problem (like an autoimmune issue), you may find a dozen other health problems reverse themselves!

Make a big ugly list of all your symptoms, like I just did in the bolded paragraph above. Stare at them for a minute. Maybe you’ve never thought about them all at once. Put EVERYTHING on it, even stuff like your brittle nails, thinning hair, insomnia.

What if you could get rid of them all just by eating fabulous food? I did. Would it be worth a try?

Posted in: Detox, Whole Food

14 thoughts on “Dear GreenSmoothieGirl for Arizona, part 3 of 4”

Leave a Comment
  1. Anonymous says:

    Anon and Sarah,

    I too tried a Barlean’s product 3 months ago with bad results! It was Barlean’s Olive Leaf Complex. I only consumed a tsp (instead of the recommended Tbsp.) on two different days, and will never try it again. I am 35 and have eaten fairly healthy for as long as I was in control. I ended up extremely uncomfortable and scared with a racing heart and anxiety (which I am still dealing with). Ugh! Good luck to you all.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Thanks Robyn. I will keep you updated on what happens. I actually was thinking about doing an elimination diet to see if it helps. I don’t eat much dairy or gluten anyway. I stopped eating it when I began to have problems. I was only eating sprouted wheat bread, Annie’s cheddar bunnies (addictive) and some probiotic yogurt dip from Costco. I’m not eating any of those now. I’d love to go to a natural doctor, but unfortunately I can’t find any that are covered by insurance and I can’t afford it. 🙁 Sad story.

  3. I am new to GSG and have been reading these blogs. Probably everyone knows this but me – what is an N.D. that you asked Amber to go see? Also I just received your 12 Steps Program and was wondering how I get to your blog.

    Thank you so much for all that you do. I have learned so much.

    I have one other question. My friend loves wheat sprouts but I never have noticed you mentioning them specifically in your books. What do you think of wheat sprouts? When I started eating them my knee started hurting a lot, I have problems with inflammation in my knee. I went online and found that wheat sprouts can be inflammatory. What do you think?

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Kim, any wheat can be inflammatory if you’re gluten intolerant, or if your body is particularly toxic and in need of a cleanse. It is said that only 1% of gluten intolerance has actually been diagnosed. (That would indicate, if you believe that statistic, that the vast majority of us are GI.) I do write about wheat sprouts in Ch. 7 (Essene bread, etc.). The blog is on the site: click on the 12 Steps tab. 🙂

  4. http://Amy says:

    I am type 1 Diabetic and find that green smoothies spike my blood sugar and make me feel very weird. Any suggestions? I also had problems with digesting food properly and have kind of given up on eating healthy most of the time. I think I have many sensitivities to foods. Is it worth doing a food panel test to find the sensitivities? I’m feeling lost about where to turn next.

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Amy, you may need a full food-elimination diet supervised by a naturopath? But get some of the fruit out of your smoothies (use lemon and stevia to sweeten/flavor). I maximize the greens in mine. I used to be hypoglycemic and eliminated that condition by never eating sugar on an empty stomach, and eating sugar only rarely, after a very healthy meal. As long as you eat processed foods, the blood sugar and food sensitivities issues will worsen.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Amber, you can try Herbal Fiber Blend by AIM to clean out your colon. And/or Cascara Sagrada (at Wal-Mart, etc) can help clean out a clogged colon. When I first tried the latter, I took one more pill each night until I started cramping, then lowered the dosage by one pill and took it for 30 days. For me, I started cramping at 9 pills, so I took 8 pills each night for 30 days. I was amazed how plugged up I was. Now I stay regular with green smoothies. Robyn has saved my health. Thank you Robyn!

  6. Anonymous says:

    Flax is high or creates estrogen. You have to be careful or you can get too much. Try Krill oil for omega 3’s. Just something I learned from David Wolfe on Best Day Ever.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Hi Robyn,

    I am also wondering what does N.D. stand for?

    What is your stand on sprouted wheat?

    Thanks Robyn

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      naturopathic doctor

  8. Anonymous says:

    Thanks, Robyn, for the encouragement and info.! Much l♥ve!!! I know there are many out there wanting to go mostly raw or all raw… I would LOVE to see you write a cookbook with just raw recipes.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Thanks Gary, I’ll look into that. I would suppose I’d need to drink a ton of water to help myself not get dehydrated if I did that. I don’t have a problem with constipation. I did have a green smoothie with purslane, romaine lettuce, blueberries and raspberries today and it did not hurt my stomach. Then I was stupid and had a few raw almonds because I was hungry and didn’t know what to eat. I had not sprouted them yet. I think maybe the enzyme inhibitors in the skin caused irritation to my already sensitive gut. Anyway, my life as a sick stay at home mom of two babies is not very much fun right now.

  10. Oh my gosh I totally forgot about the lunches recipe book!! Thank you!! I’ll have to dig through that. And thanks so much for your response. It’s encouraging and uplifting!

  11. Anonymous says:

    Sarah, thanks for chiming in, I hadn’t seen your first msg to me. It’s good to know someone else knows what I am talking about. I’ll have to try the ground flax too at some point in the future, starting small, of course.

    Robyn, you’re absolutely right that we have to be on alert for our own food sensitivities. I’m glad I didn’t chug the flax oil as I was initially tempted to do, with it being such a healtful food. I can’t imagine how much worse my reactions would’ve been !

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