Dear GreenSmoothieGirl for Arizona, part 3 of 4
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
It is so worth a try. I too can personally testify of many severe and chronic issues I struggled with before choosing a raw/green smoothie lifestyle. My eczema, bronchitis, carpal tunnel, restless leg, fatigue, depression, to name just a few are now things of the past. I am able to do things and feel things in life that I never thought possible for me. But now I sleep less, eat less and worry less and I get more done, feel more full, and enjoy so much more in myself and my life.
You think you’re going to have to give so much up and miss out on so many things, when actually the opposite is true. You get so much more and you’re able to do and be a part of so many things that just weren’t possible before mainly due to simply not feeling well enough physically and emotionally.
Thanks Robyn for helping me find the good life I never thought possible.
(I apologize for a side personal note here but speaking of things I’ve wanted to do but never felt I could before, until now. Where can I go (somewhere in Utah County) to become a part of some sort of tennis playing like you do? I love tennis and I’m a decent player but haven’t had anyone to play with for years and I would love to be a part of something like that and just don’t know where to look.)
Thanks for being such an inspiration in so many ways.
Sue
Hi, Not sure how to use this blog service, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a good solution to using your VitaMix (or BlendTec) while camping or on the road when there are no outlets.
Thanks and sorry this is posted in the wrong area!
Sue, well said! You can join the tennis clubs at Ivory Ridge (Highland) or Gold’s Gym 800 North (Orem). That’s all there are, in Utah County, I think. You can join leagues / tournaments on usta.org. 🙂 Have fun!
David, How about a generator?
Robyn, I just wanted to let you know that my friend and I taught a class for church tonight and it went great! Thank you for being the answer to my prayers! I am so glad I had the chance to share this information with other people! You must get such a high from doing what you do!
Sarah, I have the coolest job in the world and I pinch myself every day that I get to do things that make a difference—and I’m thrilled that you got to go be GSG at church! Do it anytime you get the chance—the more voices spreading this message, the better. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Robyn, I gave up meat about 3-4 months ago and i only have fish a few times a month. For my last cycle it was 40 days. and I’m on day 42 for this cycle. Do you think there could be a connection? I’m 38. I’m on bio-identical progesterone days 12-26. And a very low dose of testosterone and dhea everyday. What do you think?
Jennifer, depends on so many things, including how old you are. You’ve changed a lot of things.
Robyn,
I know flaxseed oil is supposed to be helpful for depression and because depression is something I have been struggling with for many years, I decided to try flaxseed oil last year. I bought the Barlean’s brand from Whole Foods but oh my gosh, after taking the first couple does over 3 days (1 or 2 tablespoons each day), I had the worst bout of nerve wracking anxiety I ever had in my life. I don’t know how to describe it accurately except to say I felt an extremely high level of panic-stricken anxiety. The awful anxiety did eventually subside some hours later after the last dose and I returned the product to Whole Foods. I was really dissapointed because I know this is really good for you but I couldn’t cope with the overwhelming sensation and not enough willpower to continue to see if it would “improve” after some adjustment period.
Do you think I just needed to start with a very tiny amount and work my way up? That was one strange experience but because it’s difficult to get plantbased Omega-3 other than from Flax and we need it, I’m kind of stumped for the moment. . .
Anon, so hard to say–but maybe start with smaller amounts of a whole-flax product instead, if the oil gave you such a strange reaction. (On a rare occasion the body reacts in an opposite fashion than expected when it is shocked by a significant change. For instance, the vast majority in my study found that green smoothies improve their digestion, but a small but significant minority experience constipation in the short term. Doesn’t make sense, given the massive amount of fiber. But the human body is a complex organism and finely tuned–so some strange things do happen.)
Anonymous,
I had trouble with the flax oil, too. It messed with my cycle and I was really moody. I switched to doing the ground flax in my cooked cereal in the mornings and I found that 2 Tbsp of that still caused issues, so I am doing 2 tsp now and I feel stable. I am so glad to know I am not the only one having frustrating issues with such awesome positive changes in my diet! Good luck!
Sarah and Anon, when I was developing Ch. 7, I ate so much flaxseed (because I was experimenting with making dehydrator crackers, etc.) that I suddenly had hot flashes every day, which stopped completely a month or so after I slowed the flax intake way down. (I was eating TONS of flax every day.) I think sometimes we have to watch for our own food sensitivities, and we have to note that just because a little is good of some things (especially things that can cause a big detox—including greens if they’re new in your diet, or coconut oil, or flax), that doesn’t mean a lot is better!
Thanks Robyn, I think I’ll give ground flax a whirl the next time and start with very small amounts.
This is exactly me too! I have been sick for oh…30 1/2 years. Oh and I’m 31 years old by the way. Yes since I was a baby! I have many allergies, fatigue, bouts of depression (especially during my cycle) and I got to a point where the more healthy food I ate the sicker I got.
So I’d give up and eat crap because I would think “what’s the point?” and then I’d not want that lifestyle because I actually LOVE veggies and fruit and nuts and beans and I’d try again. Then I’d get super sick. I never…after all of my years of reading and reading and researching and doctors thought…oh…if I eat healthy my body may have a bad reaction at first.
And I never thought…this is happening because I really haven’t been as healthy of an eater as I thought all these years and I’m really malnourished. I had green smoothies for five days with great pain and then on the sixth day I was fine. Now I crave them…I can’t go a day without them. I’m working the 12 steps as best and fast as I can (but I have trouble finding things to eat for lunch) and my life is CHANGING!! Last year on my 30th birthday I prayed that I’d find a way to heal my body without dealing with one more doctor trying to push an anti-depressant at me and telling me to follow the food guide (milk makes me super sick and I’ve never been a huge meat eater!) and because of you I’m way better on this past birthday then I have my entire life.
Sorry so long winded but I’ve been meaning to send you a message about all of this and I’ve found myself in a moment when my baby and pre-schooler are content…but I had to comment here because I am so this person as well. And I still am fighting the battle. I have a really really REALLY bad sweet tooth. And I have a really bad habit of not eating before I get too hungry and then I fail and go get subway or something. But there’s a bunch of us here in Manitoba doing this and I tell EVERYONE I know about GSG and will be chatting about it on my blog soon. And I told my 3 year old that Green Smoothies makes him super strong and now he drinks them everyday just so he can “pick up” Mom and Dad off their feet. He loves that! I have a million questions for you but I won’t bombard you here. Thank you so much!! I hope I can get to one of your events someday!
See you later the last 30 years of my life!!! I’m moving on! 🙂
Kristi: thanks for writing this. I was in terrible health most of my 20’s and I can honestly say that my 40’s have thus far (4 years) been the most energetic, healthiest of my life–after spending the last few years of my 20’s, and the entire decade of my 30’s, searching for answers and truth through nutrition and natural healing. You are on a great path and how exciting that you get to do things differently for your babies! Very proud of you. I fell off the wagon and got back on, over and over again, those first few years. Not any more–it isn’t worth the setbacks!
Oh, and Kristi, note that in your 12 Steps kit is a recipe collection called 101 Healthy Lunches–hopefully that helps you with that little dilemma. It’s all just a matter of developing a repertoire of even a handful of things you like, that are easy, to replace whatever you’ve been doing.
I’ve been eating a lot of raw and green smoothies every day… for about 3 months or longer but the last 3 weeks it has been very hard because something is wrong with my body. It is not digesting food properly. I get really bad stomach aches every time I eat anything healthy. It’s definitely not a detox thing. It really stinks because I”m so into it all! I’ve been so excited and it’s like I can’t get enough information about it, I’m a sponge for nutrition and health. I’m even doing more natural things like using baking soda and vinegar for my hair, and badger sunscreen, etc… My babies who are 11 months and 2 1/2 love green smoothies. My husband who’s not into all this is even willing to have green smoothies. I had a colonic done and we weren’t able to get through the whole colon because it is so clogged with undigested food. The lady said that she had never seen something like it the whole time she had been doing it. (She’s the instructor at colon care in San Juan Capistrano). I finally went to the doctor to get some tests done to see what else it might be… don’t know if it’s an ulcer or parasites or some sort of food allergy relating to latex maybe… Anyway… I’m so disappointed because I’ve lost 35 lbs and all I want to do is continue being healthy. I would appreciate your prayers and any advise you have would be awesome.
Amber….please find a really excellent N.D. to go through a food-elimination diet and appropriately diagnose. When it goes beyond a typical detox, it is often a degenerative gut issue. Estimates are that only 1% of celiacs / gluten intolerances have been diagnosed, so that is one thing I’d do immediately: eliminate gluten. PLMK how you are doing!