MY JUICING PROGRESS – June 2015 (30months on...)

MY JUICING PROGRESS – June 2015 (30months on...)

Well, nobody is more surprised than I….

I have continued with my dietary changes and juicing regime, which I started in December 2012. The drive for me, being that, I wanted, and want, to feel better.

I have previously written articles about my ‘juicing epiphany’ and ‘juicing progress’, which were published in Hot News and I posted on my blog, Click here.

Having lived with a diffuse systemic sclerosis and Raynaud's diagnosis since 1997, along with years of immunosuppressants, steroids and antibiotics, my GI system had almost gone into lock down, accompanied with the constant lethargy and tiredness.

My body felt very heavy, and clothes had to be baggy and loose, prompting a juicer purchase as a desperate last resort.

Fast forward 30months…. I have reduced my acid attacks by avoiding certain trigger foods.

I have reduced my constant bloated feeling by cutting out starch (bread / pasta / rice / potatoes / wheat / gluten), caffeine, milk, alcohol and meat.

At first this dramatic alteration was quite difficult to get used to, but the desire to feel better, kept me going.

A typical day for me is: juice of half lemon with warm boiled water to start.

I then go and indulge in my mermaid duties to moisturise my skin, warm my joints and kick start my circulation.

I will then have a bowl of unsweetened muesli with almond milk and half a banana.

At lunch time I will juice ¼ grapefruit, 1 orange, 1 inch thick slice of pineapple and strawberries or blackberries or blueberries, and then mix this juice with ½ banana and organic natural yoghurt to make a smoothie.   

I use the yoghurt to neutralise the acid from the vitamin c packed juice as well as to control my internal candida – a result of years of antibiotic consumption (since changing my diet, I have only had one course of antibiotics).

Mid afternoon I will juice pineapple, 2 golden and delicious apples (they are the juiciest), cucumber, ½ lime, and then mix this juice with 1tspoon of spirulina, 1tspoon of wheatgrass and a probiotic capsule. 

Then later on for my evening meal I will have salmon or a vegetarian option with steamed vegetables, or a fresh salad, including avocado a few times a week.

Sugar is my biggest challenge… cake / chocolate.

Not only have I noticed a welcome increase in my energy, but an improvement in my skin elasticity and an improvement in my pain management, also. I was hoping to be at the recent EULAR world congress in Rome, but unfortunately my Raynaud’s symptoms still remain a challenge.

However, I was delighted to hear of the evidence based medicine which was presented on the final day, confirming that patients with systemic sclerosis have a distinct colonic microbiome that might contribute to clinical manifestations of the disease - According to a new study, led by Elizabeth Volkmann, MD, from the University of California at Los Angeles.

The timing of this presentation coincided with a fellow patient, Kelli Schrag, based in Kansas City, US, setting up the facebook page ‘Healing and Loving Scleroderma with Real Food’ and inviting me to be her assistant, so that we could share our personal experiences as to how our diet choice changes, have helped improve our symptoms.

If you use facebook – please ‘like’ our page! And as if by magic, this all happened on my 42nd birthday, so I took it as perfect confirmation that my dietary changes of the last 30months was the best present that I could have given, and continue to give myself.

I hope my experience can help anyone else who may be feeling as I did, before I turned my kitchen into a mini pharmacy.

I have written ‘my personal experience survival guide of living with systemic sclerosis and Raynauds’, where I include more detail as to my day to day routine, and I posted on my blog. 

Read more, Click here  

VITAMIN C SMOOTHIE JUICE INSTRUCTIONS:

Ingredients : ½ pineapple, 1 big orange, 1/4 (quarter) red grapefruit, 100g strawberries, 100g raspberries, ½ banana, 225g natural organic yogurt - rinse the pineapple / strawberries / raspberries - peel the orange - peel the grapefruit quarter - place the above in the juicer - mix the juice with the banana half, yogurt and ice in the blender.

GREEN JUICE INSTRUCTIONS:

Ingredients: ½ pineapple, ½ lime, 2 golden delicious (they’re the most juicy) apples, 1inch thick cucumber, 1tsp spirulina, 1tsp wheatgrass powder. - rinse the pineapple, cucumber and apples - peel the lime - add the above in the juicer - mix the juice with wheatgrass, spirulina, and ice in the blender AND LOTS OF ICE IN BOTH :)

18th June 2015 

PLEASE DONATE to the ROYAL FREE CHARITY, to help fund desperately needed MEDICAL RESEARCH at the SCLERODERMA UNIT, THE ROYAL FREE NHS HOSPITAL.  

 

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