Ready.Set.Detox.

If success is measured by gastrointestinal distress then my "farewell to inflammatory food tour" was a major accomplishment. By the time the "Recipe for Repair" cookbook (mentioned in previous post) arrived in the mail, I was eager to read it and get started on my new diet.

Book Summary: In addition to the recipes, the book outlines how the Lyme inflammation diet can control inflammation by aiding in reduction of toxins in the body which help your enzymes stay in balance. Enzymes are a natural therapy for treating chronic inflammation; they help break down your food into absorbable components. We produce hundreds of different enzymes in our bodies with specific purposes and functions. It is essential that we ingest additional enzymes in our foods, but the best sources of enzymes are typically over processed or overcooked causing them to lose large amounts of their enzyme content. Chronic illness increases the body's requirements for enzymes. The combination of illness and an inadequate diet causes chronic inflammation. 

The diet is broken into four phases. There is a list of foods allowed in each phase which include beverages, fruits, nuts and seeds, vegetables, grains, protein, herbs and spices, fats and sweeteners. Phase one is a weeklong detox which eliminates the most common food contributors to chronic inflammation. Each phase that follows builds on the previous one introducing new items into each food group so you can see how your body reacts. The higher the phase, the more likely some of the foods will cause an inflammatory response in your body. Once you make it to Phase 4 you have a good idea of what you need to avoid to maintain a healthy diet with little to no symptoms of chronic inflammation. 

My Detox: On the last day of my food tour I ate a burrito for lunch, a hamburger for dinner, all the M&M's I could fit into my mouth and washed it all down with Pepsi. The next day I started Phase 1. In addition to adjusting to the medication I had recently started, my body was stressed out from my gluttonous activity. For four days as my body went through processed food, meat, gluten, dairy and caffeine withdrawal my brain fog got worse, I had a headache that made my eye sockets hurt and … well to be honest, I am not even sure I remember most of what happened during those first four days. I do know I made coconut milk, cooked a lot of food, made a lot of errors and finally got a firm grip on fractions while altering recipes. 

I started the great diet experiment in early December 2011 and am still going strong. I have yet to make it out of Phase 3 since a lot of the foods permitted in that phase are not agreeing with me in my current state. I hope that once the Lyme disease goes into remission that I will have an easier time with food. So far I’ve found that I have sensitivities to dairy, gluten, soy, red meat, and tomatoes. I am not going to lie, when dealing with fatigue and exhaustion from the Lyme disease, I get extra tired of having to cook and be so careful about what I eat. There have been a few notable occasions where I have fallen off the clean eating wagon and the results fully support everything my doctor, the cookbook and Google searches have taught me. 

Exhibit A: 

Oktoberfest celebrations are usually a great way to celebrate fall, beer and German food. On Saturday, October 6th I was thoroughly enjoying my Sober Oktoberfest experience in Shirlington, VA when I randomly decided to eat a pretzel that was bigger than my face.  

Result: I was glutenized. Within in an hour of eating the pretzel I had an intense headache. The headache didn't stop me from sitting down on my friends couch to watch a DVR'd episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, followed by a two hour nap on the couch. I woke up with the same headache, brain fog and no recollection of lying down. It took another half an hour for me to be able to sit up and focus. I eventually went home thinking I was going to have a hard time sleeping because of my mid-day nap and promptly fell asleep for 15 hours. I woke up with less brain fog, the same headache and extra achy joints. It took me about two days to feel "normal" again. These days “normal” is defined as having a clear mind and the usual amount of ache in my joints from the Lyme disease minus the food related flare ups.

If I had eaten one of the smaller sized pretzels they were selling at Oktoberfest, would the same thing have happened? Yes, but on a much smaller scale. If I eat bread I get tired and achy and wake up the next day with extra joint pain that usually disappears around mid-day. Like I mentioned above, gluten and I are not on good terms. No more gluten experiments for me!