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Hello, Katie here. I am a real food and gut healing advocate that develops recipes to soothe your gut and soul. For me, gut healing recipes should not only be nourishing, but should also tickle your taste buds, food is not only about surviving but to make you thrive. Gut healing is a joyous journey in finding the best you, strengthening your confidence and mental clarity, to build your physical and psychological strength, to build a more positive relationship with food, and most importantly with yourself. I hope in a cup of calm you can find some healing.
I focus on cups of calming herbal teas (hence the tittle), wholefood based recipes, and lifestyle practices for mindfulness. Local and seasonal foods are my favourites as they provide lots of nutrition and juicier bites to eat than out of season, as well as they have less travel miles and supports your local community. A key ingredient to any meal is the use of a variety of herbs and spices, for their flavour enhancing, anti-inflammation and antioxidant properties. Although it hasn't always been easy, my current outlook on diet and lifestyle stemmed from negative experiences with poor health, the impact of stress and processed sugary foods on the gut.
HOW I GOT HERE...
I used to be someone who didn't look after herself, from eating a mostly processed food diet to not appropriately handling stress. I was the so called 'fat' kid in school who was often the victim of bullying and since then allowed those words to live in the back of my mind. They often made me feel I was never good enough, but luckily processed sugary food was always there to support and uplift me, it was always there when I needed it, or so I thought. Come 2016 I was 240lbs and I was slowly developing many gut health related problems. At first I experienced joint pain and clicking, ear infections, acne, and then random episodes of morning sickness. By the winter of that year the sickness was constant, my symptoms included reflux, fatigue, migraines, exhaustion, inflamed sinuses, anxiety, stomach pain, intestinal pain, liver pain, fever, shivers, eczema, dry skin, diarrhea, and constipation. I felt as if I was falling apart.
After many doctor appointments including blood tests, stool tests, endoscopy, and an ultrasound, I found no answers to the cause of my symptoms. Doctors diagnosed me with acid reflux and prescribed acid blocking tablets, a bacterial infection where I was prescribed antibiotics, both of which worsened my symptoms, and on another occasion I was told I had anxiety therefore had to simply calm down. I felt alone and as if no one was really listening to me. By February 2017, I realised the only person who really knew what I was experiencing and who could help me the most was myself.
After much research into other people's experiences, I looked to my lifestyle as the cause and as my way to heal. I gained an understanding of how what we consume reflects within us both in body and mind. To move forward I identified and removed food triggers and inflammation causing foods, learned to cook and consume gut healing recipes, and I focused on building a new positive relationship with myself.
WHAT HELPED ME OVERCOME MY SYMPTOMS AND HEAL MY GUT;
*Important to note this is what helped me and may not be the same for someone else.
Everyone will have varying symptoms, underlying health conditions, and food intolerances.
firstly focusing on an elimination diet to remove food intolerances which for me included gluten, and dairy, but also found I was sensitive to oats, coffee, rice and potatoes. I removed triggering foods such as those which are highly acidic and starchy. Started to manage stress and use mindfulness such as by meditating and drinking chamomile tea.
I kept writing down what I was experiencing, what were triggering symptoms, but also writing positive affirmation to boost my mood and keep up morale.
secondly removed processed and added sugar foods and replaced with a wholefood based diet. Started drinking only filtered water and non-caffeinated herbal teas to soothe my gut. To aid digestion and gut healing started consuming pure aloe vera juice, apple cider vinegar, teas with liquorice root, marshmallow root, slippery elm, and milk thistle. Added gut healing supplements such as l-glutamine and collagen, and homemade organic bone broth.
I found patience was also a key component in healing, removing trigger foods one by one rather than all at once, and adding supplements one by one to not over overwhelm your body. Instead of seeing this experience as a negative one I saw it as one that would improve my health and lifestyle. Instead of stressing out about the limited food options and intense sugar cravings I experimented with recipes and wrote down ones I found enjoyable therefore I had something to refer back to at another time. Researching and preparing meals helped me feel at ease.
Remove
trigger
foods.
Creating enjoyable recipes.
Pre-prepare
meals.
Wholefood diet.
Anti-
candida
diet.
Writing
triggers and symptoms
down.
Gut
healing supplements.
Herbal Teas.
Healing
herbs.
Filtered water.
Positive affirmations.
thirdly followed a anti-candida/anti-inflammation diet starting with a fast/cleanse and then a temporary no carb diet as my gut was sensitive to high carb, high sugar and starchy foods. Signs that I had candida overgrowth not only included this and digestive issues but also the reflux I was spewing was white, thick, and foamy which is a symptom if the upper digestive tract is infected with candidiasis in particularly the oesophagus.
Throughout the diet I also consumed anti-fungals such as oregano and garlic. After a couple of months my symptoms completely subsided, I felt energetic, fresh, and healthy. Several months since starting the elimination diet, I slowly added some wholefood carbs vegetables and berries.
Anti-
fungals.
Eating a
variety and
in season
foods.
Managing
stress.
Patience.
The candida diet is temporary in order to remove any over growth and toxins from the body, it is also important to focus on gut healing to heal leaky gut. After healing it is important to focus on wholefood eating, seasonal is best, anti-inflammation foods, and managing stress practices for your own health and wellbeing.
WHERE YOU WILL FIND ME...
You'll often find me brewing a herbal tea, cooking and eating wholesome food, at the farmers market buying seasonal produce, going for a walk or hike in rural places, and sometimes enjoying illustration and painting impressionistic landscapes. Hopefully within the next couple of years you will find me backpacking across the South West Coastal Path, paddleboarding in amongst the Lochs of Scotland, and travelling to Iceland.
Doing what you love, making time for your hobbies is important in managing anxiety, stress, and for healing. Focusing on the places I wanted to visit and experience encouraged my healing.
CALM
HAPPY
ALIVE
CONFIDENT
POSITIVITY
WELLBEING
NOURISH
ENERGY
THE COAST
WATERFALLS
HIKING
ILLUSTRATION
FINE ART
WHOLEFOODS
A CUP OF HERBAL TEA
FARMERS MARKET
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