It was by chance, really! Here’s the whole story…
Have you heard of Dr. Daniel Amen? His name is becoming more popular and you may even have come across some of his information through social media. Ten years ago, the neither the mainstream (nor alternative) health community had really heard of him! As a special education teacher, I had heard him speak at a special education symposium. He talked about special needs learners and brain development. I purchased one of his books and ran home to tell my husband who this “brain doctor” was! Not too much later, my husband (whose field of expertise is addiction medicine), heard Dr. Amen speak at an addiction conference. Dr. Amen is a neuro-psychiatrist who uses functional SPECT scan imaging to diagnose brain issues. (My inner nerd LOVES learning about brain science!)
One day, my husband tells me, “You know that Dr. Amen? His wife was a trauma nurse and now designs nutritional plans for his brain patients. She wrote a book.” The words, “She wrote a book!” were music to my nerd-y ears! I wanted to know everything she had to say! At the time, we believed our son was struggling with ADHD and the fact that we may be able to help him with changes in nutrition was something I was immediately on board with. I immediately jumped on Amazon and grabbed her book, “The Omni Diet” by Tana Amen. She walks through the science behind gluten, sugar, dairy, corn, and soy and teaches what each of these foods does to our body and brain. The second half of the book is filled with recipes that became like a Bible to me!
HOW DID WE SUCCESSFULLY MAKE SUCH A MAJOR SHIFT IN OUR DIET?
Here’s what I DID NOT do:
- Cheese: I can’t eat that
- Pasta: I can’t eat that
- Corn: I can’t eat that
- Milk: I can’t drink that (not even in my coffee)
- Bread: I can’t eat that (no more sandwiches)
- OMG!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT!??
Here is what I DID do that made it work for us!
I meal planned before each grocery shopping trip. I chose a few recipes from “The Omni Diet” book. I put the ingredients on my shopping list. I started small….a couple new recipes each week…while we went through and finished the other pantry items I would no longer use. After all, I’m too frugal to do a clean sweep and THROW AWAY all of my bread, pasta, hamburger helper, etc. Each week, I chose a few more recipes. Some recipes called for ingredients I had never even heard of! (Have you ever actually used fenugreek? Lol!) I realized the recipes I was making were so delicious, that I didn’t miss spaghetti, tacos with flour tortillas and shredded cheese, or some of the other “staple” meals I had been used to. We were eating beef stroganoff, Asian Fusion salad, salmon burgers with a gluten free bun, hearty chicken soup, etc.
MY AHA! MOMENT….
A few months after shifting our nutrition and being free of the gluten, dairy, sugar, corn, and soy, I realized something. Prior to the nutrition shift, I had often experienced feeling like my immune system was fighting “something”. I often felt like I was fighting a virus with a low-grade fever and body aches. Since I don’t have a spleen (I lost it in my autoimmune disease battle), I was trained to be aware of fevers that could indicate infection. These fevers never turned into anything…they would go away and I was left to believe that I had “gotten over” whatever I was fighting. After the nutrition shift, the fevers and body aches STOPPED! I felt excellent and full of energy! The next time I ate gluten…fever and body aches! LIGHT BULB MOMENT!! The gluten actually causes systemic inflammation in me that results in a fever and flu-like symptoms!
It has been almost ten years since our family changed our eating habits. It has been beneficial for all of us in different ways. What about the dairy? After eliminating dairy, I stopped having unexplained stomach cramping and digestive discomfort (I'll spare you the bathroom details...lol!) I can have small amounts of dairy (a scoop of ice cream, a piece of cheese...) and be ok. But I can tell if I've had too much.
Last year, I found an anti-inflammatory protocol I have come to LOVE! It combines anti-inflammatory foods and a powerhouse supplement. I'd love to share some more information:
I'm so passionate about planning healthy meals for my family, I created an online Master class to help others: MEAL PLAN MASTER CLASS
If you're in need of some healthy gluten free recipes, I created an E-Book with some of my favorite simple meals: HEALTHY MADE EASY E-BOOK
*As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases*
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