I’ve been inspired to do a cleanse for a couple of months now. A series of events made me hopeful that I could reverse my celiac disease and various food intolerances. After an expensive allergist, testing negative for H. Pylori, a Prilosec prescription and negative reaction and trying home-fermented probiotic rich foods, I got desperate. A few books helped me spawn the idea that I could spend a few months really restricting my diet and healing my gut to possibly reverse my current food intolerances and negative reactions.
I can’t eat gluten and adapted to that life style change fairly easily. However, I would kill to be able to eat pizza and beer again… or just not have to worry about being sick for three days if something accidentally got in my food. I also started to have bad reactions to dairy and my stomach was constantly hurting. My throat frequently gets raw and I lose my voice every time I eat large amounts of dairy. Having lived in Wisconsin for 5 years, I love cheese more than is humanely natural and the thought of cutting out dairy forever is very, very upsetting.
So I made the plan: It’s fluid and has the potential to change, but there are a few large goals that I hope to keep and a few smaller more flexible ones.
Large Goals:
- No Dairy, Corn, Soy, Gluten, Grains, Natural and/or artificial Flavors
- No alcohol, chocolate or caffeine (this one is going to be hard)
- The first drink of the day will be Celery Juice – this is supposed to stabilize acid levels in the gut
- Eat primarily raw fruits and vegetables. Don’t feel abashed about high-sugar fruits and veggies. Drink herbal naturally caffeine-free tree (peppermint, ginger, fennel etc).
- Track everything! Heal the gut and learn what I can and cannot eat long-term.
Smaller Goals:
- No night shades – for the first 2-4 weeks
- Try to eat only RAW fruits and vegetables for 2-4 weeks
- Juice a lot – the core ingredients should be apple, celery and cucumber. Apparently this is a good mix of electrolytes to keep you stable and stave off hunger
- Slowly reintroduce things to the diet. The first things are avocados, sweet potatoes, bone broth, nightshades, pasture-raised all natural meat.
- Make it 2-3 months
- Don’t eat right before bed
- Drink lemon water in the mornings
I’ve made it a lot easier by planning out meals for a couple weeks at a time. I’m hoping to plan meals a couple weeks in advance and stay consistent with the goals. If I feel awful or can’t maintain my activity level, I’ll introduce potatoes and broth quicker. If I’m feeling great, I’ll try to go longer.
I love this! I am healing ulcerative colitis using a similar approach – the autoimmune protocol (aip). Since celiac is also autoimmune, I’m hoping you have similar results! I hope things are going well. I guess I should read on to find out 🙂
I love lemon water in the AM – I have been doing my own personal experiment, and if I drink at least 24oz of lemon water in the morning, it curbs my night time snacking completely! It’s bizarre how it has that effect. I don’t think I can get on board with the celery juice though. Sounds…interesting… 😉
That’s amazing! I’d never have expected a morning drink to impact the nighttime habits. That’s great! 24 oz is a huge amount so I give you kudos for drinking that! I think you should give celery juice a try! It’s not nearly as bad as people think or as it sounds 😉