An Inspirational Story!

By Guest Author, Shirley Plant

For years I was constantly ill. I had digestive problems, was always constipated and felt tired most of the day. Finally, a neighbour suggested I go for food allergy testing, something  I had never thought of, nor had my doctor suggested.

Allergy testing revealed that I was allergic to dairy and eggs,  and had an intolerance to wheat, yeast, soy, and corn.

Learning to eat within the confines of my dietary restrictions was quite the learning curve. Most of the foods I ate on a daily basis were no longer an option, like cereal, toast, cheese, and sandwiches. What the heck was I going to eat now?

I started to do a little research and went to my local health food store, where they were happy to help and give me suggestions on what to eat. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to eat the foods they suggested, but I did buy a few, and with trial and error I was able to come up with tasty, alternatives to the foods I could no longer eat.

Dairy-Free Options

I was amazed at all the dairy-free options that were available to me. Rice, flax, hemp,  coconut and almond milk were all products that I could use.

It was simply a matter of trying them out and seeing which ones I liked best. To my astonishment, I liked all of the and coconut milk became a favourite when I made smoothies and baked goods.

Eating Healthier

What started to happen was that I no longer ate food out of a box, can or package. I learned to cook and thoroughly enjoyed it. I made up a weekly menu plan for myself which helped me when I went grocery shopping and meant I wasn’t eating the same thing night after night.

Fruits and vegetables became the bulk of my meals along with organic meats, nuts, and seeds.  I no longer felt bloated and ill and those very embarrassing, smelly toots were a thing of the past.

Through studying nutrition I soon learned that dairy was very acidic to the body.

Once I started to incorporate more greens into my diet it helped my body to be more alkaline and I noticed that my eczema started to improve as well.

Keeping your body alkaline by eating foods like kale, spinach, and avocados is a great way to ward off disease too.

Dairy seemed to be the cause of many of my health issues and once I removed it and changed my diet to a whole, real food diet it became clear that if I had continued eating certain foods I might have become very sick.

Isn’t it amazing how you think some things are such a hardship but end up being a blessing?