You see, in all the wonderment and magic of our new found vegan lives and leanings toward raw food, I ceased to remember my previous issues with food...issues I've dealt with my whole life! I was moving right along, feeling pretty balanced since my last major cleanse (minus, of course the smoking habit which I am proud to say I STILL have not returned to!--maybe its because I don't have to deny the guilt of eating animal flesh anymore--thank you my darling friend Ciera for being part of my transformation here) and so I didn't stop to think that there are healthy foods that maybe I shouldn't be eating.
For the last 3 weeks or so I've been breaking out, I've felt dizzy, weak, had migraines, my stomach bloated, unable to get out of bed in the morning, problems focusing my vision or remembering things on a short term basis, constant nausea. At first I thought it was just detox. Then it got so bad that my ankles were rolling constantly, my muscles felt like they were atrophying all over my body. All this, and I was still doing vegan, organic, a lot of raw foods. I couldn't figure it out. I spoke to one of my alternative doctors and deemed the culprit to be one of my vitamin supplements. I thought I had solved the problem! Two days later all my symptoms came back with a vengeance. Every time I ate a meal I felt like I was on speed, heart racing, head racing, unable to pinpoint anything at all. So in classic Katherine style I ruthlessly researched...
I questioned my protein intake, my iron intake, my nutrient intake, so frustrated and feeling horrible but other than the breakouts, looking fine. Then, by sheer miracle, my sister emailed me an article on the controversy surrounding agave nectar, and in the article there was a mention of Candida Albicans--
DING! DING! DING!!!
That's when it hit me like a 90 mile an hour locomotive. How could I not have seen this coming? Ah the joys of being human and fallible. (another sigh) I was in the midst of a major Candida Albicans issue, and these were all the fun little symptoms. For those of you (lucky bastards) who have never faced this devious elfin opponent, here's a little info on the subject:
Candida Albicans is a yeast that occurs naturally in the human body. Normally it lives in harmony with a variety of other microorganisms and actually performs a couple important functions. The problem occurs when something upsets the balance of bacteria in the body and this allows the yeast organism to proliferate and take over all the healthy microorganisms.
Somehow when we went on our 21 day turned 5 week cleanse, I denied it. I ate MASSIVE amounts of fruit. Lukas and I bought up bags of fresh mushrooms from the farmers market every week. It was AMAZING!!! I basically ate my way into this, even though I thought I was being the healthiest person EVER. (you can laugh now)
So now I begin healing myself from healing myself. I'm waiting for a book I ordered on Amazon called The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates. I've had a friend follow that book and it really helped her. Meanwhile, I'm sticking to the basic Candida diet I followed in the past and in 48 hours, I already feel better, my heart isn't racing (except when my husband walks in the door but I'll keep that symptom), I don't feel faint, and I'm not anxious. I found the root of the root. There is a lesson here.
Even if something is healthy for the planet on a whole, it may not be healthy for the individual. We all can and should move towards more earth/body friendly diets and lives, but what is good for my neighbor may not be the best solution for me. Once again, I'm letting go... Amen.
