Hello everyone, sorry it’s been so long since my last post (although I did make a point of saying how I’m being gentler on myself and that includes putting study, fitness, family and friends first before this blog … not that I don’t highly value you all, but I’m sure you can appreciate the pace of life and needing to prioritise. I’d be a pretty shocking role model if I was telling all of you to look after yourselves and yet running myself into the ground wouldn’t I?).
Anyways, for today, my pharmacology assignment can wait (I’ve only got 400 words to go and I may or may not be procrastinating … it’s a pretty heavy report and I’m brain-dead just thinking about it) and besides …I’ve got some news to share! Guess who’s liver is basically 100% regenerated and only has a bit of scar tissue remaining that will peel off over time? ….. MY LIVER that’s who’s!!!!!!!!!
As most of you know, in December 2010, when I was 14, I was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease of the liver and there were times where it seriously looked like I needed to have a transplant. Just over 5 years later and 7 months before my 20th Birthday, I can proudly say that I’ve turned this illness around beyond what was ever expected. I was one of those “you’ll be on medication for the rest of your life” cases (and as you know this did NOT sit well with me).
I was told by my well-meaning doctor that there was nothing that I could do when it came to food/lifestyle, other than abstaining from alcohol (and let’s be honest I was 14 … it wasn’t like I’d even reached an age where I drank on a regular basis … mum may have made me some sneaky rum and cokes at home but that’s as wild as it got). I couldn’t accept this though, and went in search of anything and everything sans the medication that would improve the state of my liver (and this was a time where I was deliriously clueless about nutrition … we’re talking about a sadly manipulated young girl that thought flora proactive was healthier than pure butter and that “wholegrain” breakfast cereals were “healthy options” … I had a lot of learning to do).
It took me a year and a half to actually understand what “healthy” was. It also wasn’t until this point that the ridiculously high dosage of medications I was on began working. As soon as I got onto whole foods and ditched the processed breakfast cereals (even if they were “wholegrain”), muesli bars, flavoured milks and questionable frozen yoghurts the improvement in my liver function tests were amazing. At this point I wasn’t even gluten or sugar free … but I was mostly eating real food and my body was responding exceptionally well to all the subtle changes.
By the time I made the decision to give up all refined sugars, food additives, modern wheat, vegetable oils and GMO foods (it can take a while to understand just how many things these guys are in … as well as why they’re necessarily bad for you) my liver was consistently improving in leaps and bounds. Then I added a St Mary’s thistle supplement and boom … my blood tests were in the “normal” range!
I was loving my new diet (I mean banana pancakes for breakfast, chicken and mango salad for lunch, crispy salmon for dinner, and snacks of bliss balls and fruit with nut butter … who’s going to complain about that?) and, liver aside, I noticed that I was a happier, more resilient person when I wasn’t weighed down with refined carbohydrates and processed trans fats, that I’d unknowingly been consuming in what I like to call my “past life”.
As I’m sure you’ve either heard on a podcast or read in my “transitioning to whole foods” series, everything was a transition and I’ve never stopped learning or evolving things. Ever since I made the decision to heal with food and environment, I’ve had this inner voice telling me that I can do it … guess this intuition was right!
The point of this little rave … your doctors are amazing … and when you’re in a crisis they know just the pill that will save the day (I don’t think the medication would’ve worked without me changing my diet, but I also don’t reckon the diet would’ve worked (initially) without the medication being there to prevent autoimmune flare ups). However it’s just not in their training to expect alternative therapies (such as nutrition) to assist in the healing process. So if you find yourself in some hot water (or preferably before then guys … prevention is so much easier than cure!), don’t be afraid to trust your instincts and clean up your lifestyle … even if a professional with years of clinical experience laughs you off.
So here’s to the power of food as a medicinal option in it’s own right (you can’t see but I’m holding up a bottle of coconut water in celebration as I finish this post). And here’s to autoimmune hepatitis … for scaring me enough to change my world for the better (I clearly needed a good ass-kicking … let this be a lesson to you all … wake up and kick your own ass to make the change before autoimmunity strikes you down!).
Yours in medication-free clarity,
Rachie xxx
