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)
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!
One brave lady The Reluctant Raw Foodist
During the years of 2007-2011, Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonnagall) continued to film the final Harry Potter movies, all while battling breast cancer. During the filming of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Smith had shingles and was forced to wear a wig in order to continue filming. On the subject, Smith said, “If there’s work to do I’ll do it. I’ve still got to stagger through the last Harry Potter. The cancer was hideous. It takes the wind out of your sails and I don’t know what the future holds, if anything. You feel so ghastly, you wouldn’t mind dying a lot of the time. The last couple of years have been a write-off, though I’m beginning to feel like a person now. My energy is coming back. Shit happens. I ought to pull myself together a bit.” If anything, she’s a truly incredible and inspiring woman, and should be admired greatly.
I read this in my quest to discover why my skin was reacting so badly!
