Once upon a time I had a cooking blog

It is true, I had a cooking blog. I love to cook and enjoyed writing about it. I shared some of my European recipes with my blogging friends. The blog was called “Bringing worlds together in my kitchen.”

Then life threw me another curveball. Three years ago I was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disorder and I knew right from the start that my life would change -in more than one way. I was in agony, wanted to roll up in a ball and stay in bed for days.

I refused the heavy medications right from the start; my instinct told me to look for alternative ways first. I found doctors who agreed with me, sadly, none of them were here in the U.S.

You are what you eat…I couldn’t help but think about the old saying. Perhaps I had eaten too many good meals and had to pay the price now. I stopped my cooking blog at the moment I changed my diet. It was a long road until I found out that too much protein hurt me. All those low carb diets that I had followed over the years were biting me in the butt.

Then, finally, I found a doctor in California who believed what so many all over the word are saying. Food and the way we eat are influencing our overall well-being more than we think.

They say you have to change your lifestyle for six months before you will see any results and turns out THEY are right. Also, come to find out, six months is a damn long time if you give up what you thought you couldn’t live without.

I gave up chicken and eggs; I gave up dairy and caffeine -what was the hardest thing to do. Today we eat fresh fruits and vegetables, lots of fish and no processed food. Luckily, I can buy healthy meat at a nearby farm. Occasionally I slip, mostly around the Holidays, and then I start hurting again within a few hours.

Today I live a good life, there is hardly any pain. I don’t take any medications other that vitamins and supplements. Every six month I go to a checkup, just to piss my doctors off, the ones that didn’t have any time, when I wanted to show them all my research.

I feel sorry for all the patients in the waiting room who have to take heavy medication to suppress a sick immune system even more. Drugs, that work like chemotherapy, with side effects longer than my arm. I have no right to talk to them, but I wish I could.

I am not saying all medications are bad, not at all. Some we have to take, there is just no way around. But I do wish we would eventually acknowledge that there might be alternatives before we fire the big guns.

It’s not easy, but it’s possible. More about my cooking blog tomorrow…