*For the purposes of this post, diet is used in the context of the food I eat, not caloric restriction.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I wanted to post about the foods I’m currently eating for healing, as well as what I am avoiding for healing. When it comes to foods from the earth or that had a mother, I do not categorize any as “bad.” However, as far as it goes for my healing, there are certain foods I must avoid so as to not further aggravate my current situation.
Currently, I am dealing with two tracks of healing. The first being my Epstein Barr Reactivation and the second being my gut microbiome being out of whack.
Epstein Barr Supplementary Diet
For Epstein Barr, the best thing is to avoid anything processed and to support the immune system. For this specific track, I’m doing my best to throw in foods like garlic and onion to really help boost the antibacterial and antiviral support within my body. As with normal living, the best thing to do to fight a virus is provide your body with as many antioxidants as possible - that means lots of fruits and veggies. Nothing too special here. This healing protocol is more reliant on supplements and lifestyle choices.
Gut Microbiome Healing, Leaky Gut & Colitis
Along with a boatload of supplements, this track’s diet is quite difficult for me to grasp on to. Many of the foods I’ve shown to have a sensitivity to are foods that are cooked with often. Here’s a list of some of the top foods I’ve shown sensitivity to. These were all found in my blood sensitivity test through Genova Labs.
Almond
Cranberry
Fennel
Lemon
Lettuce
Pear
Vanilla
Bay Leaf
Broccoli
Gluten
Mushroom
I’ve also shown sensitivity to cabbage, cucumber, beets, and all citrus. Many more are not listed here. These are just the big ones. Let’s not forget I also have a cow’s milk allergy, so I have also been avoiding that as well.
So why have I all the sudden become sensitive to many foods that once didn’t bother me? You may have heard of Leaky Gut. I read about Leaky Gut a long time ago in the book, The Autoimmune Protocol, by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne. Leaky Gut happens when the bacteria in your gut become imbalanced, viruses attack, or bad bacteria cause the wall of the intestine to become loose and allow larger than should be allowed food particles to slip through the barrier into your bloodstream. This incites an inflammatory response as well as a potential for other issues like neurological issues, autoimmune conditions or allergies.
To heal this, I need to avoid the trigger foods, support the microflora, calm the inflammation and soothe the walls of the intestine. A large amount of aid also comes in the form of supplementation, which is for another post.
For now, I'm trying to eat all the foods not on this list that are healthy. Right now, I am trying to let go of any physique goals as healing is taking precedence. I've been trying to prioritize protein, get veggies and fruit at every meal, and drink my goal of 120oz of water daily.
Stay tuned for my supplement routine!
~Tara