I was thinking about shutting down my blog. Surprisingly, I had some very interesting comments that there are people who want to read what I say!
I mostly write because I like to write about the stuff I think about and I think about some pretty wild stuff that I never write about. If I wrote all that I thought, people would definately wonder how any person could think the way I do, so I try to be as 'normal' as I can.
One of the things I noticed even as a child that some of the things I wondered about and asked questions about were not usual, many things I said were "out of the blue" and I know that some family members may even have questioned my sanity! My mind will follow and explore any new tangent it is set upon...
There is a great advantage to being an odd thinker -- it is not that I am smarter than anyone else, in fact I know I am not, but I am always willing to listen and think about things and I form an opinion (much of them I keep to myself) but that opinion can change with new and improved information.
Now, after having said all that I am thinking about Food. A few weeks back I decided to write about Food on Friday's. I missed my POV (point of view) on food yesterday because I was not feeling at all well.
For about 5 years now, I have been slowly discovering that my 'innards' have become quite sensitive to certain things. For almost all of that time I thought that food was upsetting my system because of bacteria or not washing fruit properly or not cooking things thoroughly. I thought my upset system was my own fault! Or maybe my husband trying to find a way to get rid of me?! (thats a joke--well, it is one of the odd things I wonder about!)
Five years ago, my doctor with the help of some other doctors came to the conclusion that I had/have acute ulcerative colitis, but they only ever said maybe... Maybe it is diverticulitis... Maybe it is Cancer.... They never found anything after digging around in my colon and giving me a variety of tests and as my system slowly healed itself, they never came to a conclusion. There was and still is something wrong though.
As I said, I was feeling quite miserable yesterday and that carried through all night so I was awake and back and forth to the toilet about a hundred times. It was a painful and "feel sorry for yourself" night with a little bright spot of working on a couple of projects, knitting a dishcloth and then making a crochet mat in dishcloth yarn...
Now, Lately I have really been questioning my diet and the diet that my family eats and has eaten for many, many years. You know what you are supposed to eat to stay healthy, I know, or thought I knew what I should eat to be healthy. Well, you think you know, anyway. Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Carbohydrates, lots of water - and don't forget FIBER. Some people even pay for meetings to organizations that will help keep you on track and teach you portion sizes and what your food choices should be. I tried that, but still I had problems and I did not loose weight because what was good for "everyone" was not at all good for me. Alot of what I was told was good for me, turned out to be NOT so good, but no one else ever really noticed because they did not spend the hours I did sitting in a little room staring at a wall and hoping there was toilet paper within reach!
I think I took my first step while I was suffering though yesterday and last night's misery. A "light bulb" went off! I am now beginning to believe that this pain and suffering was not my fault other than not realizing what was happening to me and not correctly connecting it to the actual food I was eating and how foods that should be good for me actually were NOT!
A few days back I read about a study done of how Doctor's often diagnose maladies... Not all doctors, but the study said as much as 50% of doctors will look to the internet and wikipedia for answers! Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes and when I told my doctor that I was learning alot about it by reading the internet he said that I should be careful about what I read there. So I stopped researching medical stuff online.... But HEY! if there are doctors using online research to answer questions from patients, why am i not doing it myself and getting the information direct, instead of translated and condensed.
So I started reading a variety of articles on intestinal problems, all sorts of information, starting with what these doctors said I MAY have -- Well, I don't have what they said! I do believe I am one of thousands, or millions who have IBS, irritable bowel syndrome....
This comes as somewhat of a revelation because so much of what I have experienced is described in how to look after a system that just doesn't treat food as it should be when it goes through the digestive process...
Blueberries, grapes, cherries, an apple a day! Foods that are anti oxidents and have lots of good things including vitamins and fiber. NOT FOR ME!
One article I read said "that most people are unaware that there are two kinds of fiber" SOLUBLE and INSOLUBLE. I definately was not aware that the difference for me could be immense!
So, I spent yesterday and last night suffering because of BLUEBERRIES!!! Yes, healthy, good for you, tasty blueberries. I did not eat more of them than any other person would have eaten, but they are poison to me -- and now as I review some of the other things that I eat on a regular basis, believing that it is good health giving foods, it turns out, they are not. Some of the "good for you" foods are damaging me!
Whole wheat bread, nope - insoluble fiber -- I should eat white bread! or oat bread because oat fiber is soluble and wheat fiber is not (and it is not that i should be gluten free, because that is definately not a problem in my system)
Lots of fruit and vegetables, nope - again insoluble fiber -- doing without veggies is practically impossible so cooking is a good option because it breaks down the fiber that my system has a problem with... Which means that fruits and veg that are normally eaten raw are not particularly good for me -- time to cut out blueberries, but blueberry jam should be okay - do you think?
Oh, and no salads with or instead of a cooked meal! And I thought it was Wendy's (burger place) not safely preparing those delicious salads that taste great going down but cause immeasurable pain coming back out! It is my system, not their food prep...
Well, since this has only been the first step, I have a huge amount to learn yet and I surely will not pretend to know much about it, except what I have learned that makes me suffer.... blueberries, miserable nasty blueberries; rice cakes, popcorn, high fiber cereals, lettuce, cabbage --- OMG I know lettuce is at least as nasty as blueberries! I am learning, slowly....
And I am still trying to learn about my son's diet needs too, so that he does not have to suffer a bout of kidney stones again... Whew! I never imagined food could be so complicated....
I don't think I will stop writing this blog. There are too many things to still learn about and if what I write about helps me, maybe it can give you an idea or two to explore and expand upon and learn about along with me....
Next time.... Pictures and less seriousness.... How about crochet? And not nearly as long!
