The Reluctant Raw Foodist
"I used to be a' foodie' and now I am a "foodist'"
Welcome to my health and wellbeing blog.
I’m not a raw foodist by choice. I was recently diagnosed as having a complicated autoimmune condition including severe Histamine Intolerance and a form of reactive arthritis. I have become hypersensitive to high histamine foods, pollen, dust and some everyday chemicals. My condition affects every area of my life.
I have Mast Cell Activation Disease (MCAD).
I was prescribed a low histamine diet and then a raw food diet to ease my symptoms and over the past 2 years I have overcome my reluctance to a new way of eating and living. I have been experimenting to combine the two diets and I have been learning how to eat a diet comprising mainly of low histamine raw fruit and vegetables and how to change the habits of a life time.
I am starting to feel healthier than I have ever been before. I have also lost 35 lbs in weight.
I will be sharing with you how I got here and I'll be exploring low histamine raw recipes, natural beauty products, how to cope with being "allergic to everything" and generally how to regain health and fitness and live life to the full despite my unusual condition!
Please feel free to message me with any suggestions, questions, or comments. I'd love to hear from you!
Everything I post is the property of its respective owner/creator unless stated otherwise. Everything will have a click-through link whenever possible. If you see something of yours that I have posted and would like me to take it down, please message me and I will remove it.
These are some ads for where I buy my coconut water and stuff like that :
My post about my hair loss and regain. My loss of health and subsequent recovery… :))
Love this! :)
Dotty Jenkins, 48, Effingham, NH Tattoos done at White Mountain Tattoo in North Conway, NH by Adam Mazza
I lost my hair due to an autoimmune disease called Alopecia Areata so I decided that people are going to stare at a bald woman so I would give them something awesome to stare at and when asked about it I can spread awareness of this life changing disease.
(via tangerinaballerina)
Since December 2010, my skin has been washed only in water with a little epsom salts. I oil my face a little about once a week with coconut oil and that’s it. I wear a mild skin make up about once a month, if that now, as it feels very false. I have no rashes or spots. I have skin that feels smooth and silky. My hands are the only part of my skin that get exposed occasionally to mild washing up liquid and soap and my hands are the only parts of my body that occasionally have dry skin which can itch! Time to make a change and look after my hands.
My nails are good and strong. I cannot apply nail polish because I react to it. My nails used to flake and peel and my skin used to show red marks and hurt everywhere the polish touched.
My hair feels clean and silky. It has thickened up since I shaved it at Christmas 2010. I have no bald spots. My hair gets washed in water and epsom salts. No shampoo nor conditioner for over a year now.
I can only conclude that the lack of chemicals and the diet suit my skin and hair.
and my hair definitely looks thicker than it did .. and no holes, no sore spots…. Yeaaay!
…I shaved my head and stopped wearing makeup on a daily basis. I also had to stop using all products on my skin and in the bath and shower. I was forced to do this by my body’s changed reaction to these things. It suddenly became worse for some reason.
My dyed hair started to create red weals where it touched my face. I had bald patches. My skin would react unexpectedly to makeup. My lips would peel, my eyes could suddenly become red and I had ulcer inside my eyelid for months. I had rashes that would come and go on daily basis. I had patches of eczema that would not heal. My skin was sore. I would cough helplessly in the shower. I hurt and sometimes I could not breathe properly. A chemical nightmare.
It has been a year of being taken aback with what I see in the mirror. It has taken time, and is still taking time, and some people’s caring support, for me to start to see what others see and to accept the change in me. It is taking time to mourn the loss of the old me, accept the change, and move on.
It has been a year of having to deliberately work to re-pattern my thoughts. Of examining the power of my mind. Of grasping that I can know one thing as logical in one part of my brain and yet not believe it with another part. Of seeing that this is dysfunctional thinking. Of experiencing for myself the power of destructive thought patterns. Of forgiving myself. Of accepting change.
I am turning that corner. I guess my emotions just needed time to catch up.
This is a journey but I am getting there. I am arriving..
This time last year I had my hair shaved off to get rid of all the hair dye in one go as I was reacting badly to all the chemicals. We found that my hair had gone silver underneath the dye. I started going silver when I was about 14 but it was a huge shock to see that suddenly it had all gone. My hairdresser had said she thought it was all gone white in about a year.
At the time my hair was also falling out in large clumps and I had bald spots.
I have not used shampoo on my hair since. One year without shampoo. I just have my hair cut and shaved short at the barbers and I have saved a fortune in hairdye and products.
My hair is thicker, has stopped falling out and is shiny. No rashes, no itches, no redness.
Should have done this before!
This is a photo of my hair now. It went silver very quickly and I cannot dye it as I react so badly to hair dye. It used to fall out in clumps and i was then diagnosed with alopecia. Now I do not use shampoo, hair dye or other products and my hair is getting thicker and the holes are all filling in! My hair and I are getting to know each other and I am trying to get used to being silver white. I do not like it but I am learning to live with it.
Last year I started to think that I was reacting to hair dye. I loved my dark locks so I asked my hairdresser to change to a semi permanent dye. I became sicker and wondered if visiting the hairdresser was literally killing me slowly. My hair was coming out in clumps and I had bald patches appearing on my head. Finally at Christmas last year I took the plunge and asked my hairdresser to shave my head. I left the hair dressers with 3mm of hair all over.
My hair had gone silver under the dye and I never knew.
Now I cannot use shampoos or conditioners. I get throat constriction and feel extremely sick and dizzy when using any product on my hair. I just wash my hair in water every day.
My hairdresser says my hair is amazingly soft and silky.
I wish i still had my dark hair but hey! I have now got thicker hair again as it has all started to grow back in the bald spots!
I am keeping my hair short and spikey!
I just have to look at the good bits about all this!
