Paving the way for Positive Change
This last week I have become increasingly fed up 'to the back teeth' of the on-going chronic illness symptoms that have plagued me for the past 6 years. The most recent additions to the ever-increasing list of symptoms left me with breathing difficulties and internal pain around the kidneys and liver. This pain was to such an extent that I couldn't sleep between 4am-7am when the pain was at its worse.
These new symptoms were quite severe the other night, to the point where the tightness around my chest had me very concerned that something was wrong with my heart.
This isn't my first rodeo when it comes to mystery symptoms, as similar severe pain has happened to me many times before, always followed by a trip to the doctors and subsequent tests showing nothing that can explain them. It is at times like this that I can either curl up in bed and give up or find the drive to push forward with a combination of health protocols that I haven't tried before.
Health Protocol Step 1 - Low carb/sugar diet
About three years ago the specialist in my local hospital sent me for a Fibroscan which showed scarring on my liver resulting in the 'nothing' diagnosis of NAFLD (non-alcohol related fatty liver disease). So after a little research online, I decided the first thing I should do is to considerably reduce sugar (and refined carbs which break down into glucose) as many alternative health practitioners agree that sugar is a big contributor to 'fatty liver' in people with compromised livers.
Recipes:
Filo Pastry Vegetable Pie:
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium-sized potato chopped into small pieces
- 1 Onion (Diced)
- 2 Carrots (Diced)
- 50 grams of broccoli (I use frozen and it is just as nice)
- Frozen peas (1/2 cup)
- 100 grams of cheddar cheese (or more)
- Black pepper
- Sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of herbs de Provence
- Olive Oil for brushing filo pastry sheets & frying onion
INSTRUCTIONS
Boil the potato and carrot for 10 minutes in a large saucepan.
Throw in the peas and broccoli to the boiling water, and if you're like me and using frozen give it another ten minutes as the frozen veg will cool the water considerably. If you're using fresh peas and broccoli, another 5 minutes should be fine.
While the veg is cooking, line a round 10-inch cooking dish with filo pastry. About 6 sheets should be enough, making sure to brush the base of the dish with olive oil, and then each pastry sheet, leaving some of each sheet overhanging the dish to be folded into the top to create a crinkly crispy lid for your pie.
Drain the veg, and run it under cold tap water immediately to stop it from cooking as it will spend 35 minutes in the oven baking.
Throw the chopped onion into the saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil on a very low heat and sweat them down for 5 minutes or more.
Once the onions are ready, add the herbs de Provence for literally 30 seconds to bring out the aromatics, and then throw the veg from the collider into the pan.
Mash up some of the potatoes with the back of the mixing spoon and then grate copious amounts of cheese into the mix while the heat on the hob is still on low.
Allow the cheese to melt then dump it into the filo pastry construction.
Fold the tops over roughly, allowing them to fold together messily to make a uneven surface and then lightly brush with olive oil.
Pop it in a preheated oven at gas mark 6 for 35 minutes and then check the pie to see if the top is baked, crispy and brown. If it isn't quite done, bake for a further 10 minutes.
Sweet Potato Pakoras:
INGREDIENTS
- 2 small sweet potatoes - grated
- 4 tbsp. ghee (or butter)
- Black pepper
- Sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
- 2 tsp. coriander powder
- 2 tsp. cumin powder
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of plain flour
- 1 brown onion - peeled, cut in half and then sliced
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix all of the ingredients well in a bowl, adding a touch of milk if it is too dry.
Heat 1-2 tbsp. each of ghee (or butter) and olive oil in a frying pan. Once the oil/butter mixture is hot drop individual pakoras, about a tbsp. of the Pakora mixture in making sure they don't touch each other.
Cook on both sides until brown and crispy.
Drain on a paper towel before serving to remove excess fat.
Health Protocol Step 2 - 16 Hour Overnight Intermittent Fast with Metabolic Tonic
I have experimented with intermittent fasting before, with varying results. I honestly think that intermittent fasting can help people who don't have an underlying chronic illness lose weight and improve gut health, but if you suffer from a long-term condition it is much more complicated.
The logic behind intermittent fasting as I understand it is twofold; as a fast it allows the body to change its digestive state to a fasting mode where stored fat is burned for energy (the early stages of ketosis), also it gives the digestive system a 16-hour break, allowing a reset of sorts, often providing space for beneficial bacteria to crowd out bad pathogens.
But when you've lived with SIBO and other gut conditions for more than 2-3 years intermittent fasting isn't enough to make any difference to the gut biome as the bad bacteria have taken over already.
In the case of entrenched chronic illness, I'm sure that a multi-pronged approach is needed to find the answer. How am I so sure? Six years of being told by traditional doctors that you've got a medically incurable condition, and seeing a tone of supplement touting 'alternative doctors' on YouTube claiming they have the definite answer is what makes me so sure.
I have gone through hundreds of protocols and spent over a thousand ££££ on supplements all with no improvement. It would be easy to give up and conclude that there is no answer - and believe me I've been there - but so many people on the internet provide anecdotal evidence that they have healed through various protocols that the only logical conclusion is that alternative treatments are like throwing a spear into a hay pile to catch a mouse... eventually, someone will get lucky.
After spending a long time researching, and thinking about what could boost the effectiveness of my intermittent fasting and zero sugar/low carb diet, I stumbled across this 'metabolic tonic' recipe online.
Don't get me wrong, I trust this YouTube 'motivational doctor' as much as I do any other doctor at this point, which is very little. However, I know from my own research that the ingredients in this tonic certainly have some evidential proof of their benefits, and they are all store cupboard staples.
For example, cinnamon has been studied and shown to increase metabolism, and chamomile tea has loads of studies showing how it effectively calms the nervous system to improve sleep and reduce stress.
In regards to this tonic, which is drunk 30 minutes before bed, there are no ingredients that could cause you harm and plenty in there that make sense to try to speed up metabolism (and help balance stomach acid), which could be beneficial for someone with a long-term gut condition.
Despite my doubts about Dr Mandell, the reasoning behind this tonic seems sound to me. If the digestive system is slow and sluggish, which mine most definitely is, then it will take so much longer for any dietary changes or benefits of intermittent fasting to manifest. By this reasoning increasing the effectiveness of overnight digestion with this tonic by speeding up the metabolism could help kick-start my body's self-healing mechanisms.
So, I thought I would take another shot with my spear into that hay pile... and see if I can catch myself a mouse this time.
It is too soon to tell yet, but I have started to feel more energised over the past few days 🤞
Wish me luck.
Thanks for reading 🙂🌿
All media in this post was created by me using a combination of GIMP photo editing software and canva.com. If you have enjoyed this health/food blog, please do check out my home page @raj808. Thanks for reading.
Find us on twitter by clicking the banner above.
Interested in trading, buying or selling crypto?
Sign up to Bittrex: https://bittrex.com/account/register?referralCode=3X3-FEG-WJE
Sign up to Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/join/joyce_pa
Sign up to Swissborg app to instantly buy crypto: https://join.swissborg.com/r/rowanKC4M
Use my referral link to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD: https://crypto.com/app/vk6qzgsu98
If You Have Found Value From this Post and Want to tip extra, Crypto Donations Are Welcomed:
►Donate Ether and ERC20 Tokens: 0x32321615174AF3Da6074Cf79DED8269cA7a8eB24
►Donate Bitcoin: bc1q8wutj8u6ush7s8mucphfxf7gzrexeywmuqm8g3
►Donate Bitcoin Cash: qzt7c0czw0q988h93jvcz2rq5gy0s3h9pg2pk700ev
►Donate Litecoin: Lfsnz3pbT5V9N6WWGRaBsgKs9EvFeqzcPm
►Donate BNB: bnb1xeu94exteel9w3g8g44e6g595kvrqlgzm0crq4
►Donate Monero: 49PovXGcM9Y7JYeRJ35W9xZGrdivvLaMbVtGc3WDv6amCm5wqA854SvJNWxaEqjTz18K5YVPj5D6619C3bvNHsrG7oD1whb
►Donate Tezos: tz1SJUkpeznKE6bEhbX81YFdUQS5BprA4ot8
►Donate XRP: r35quYTThThN7yNvkJxyhLFAPyju3tsT35