If you’ve ever had a parasite, you might know that it is a
little difficult to get rid of.
To put it bluntly, there are too many bugs and too many eggs hidden in
the tissue of my digestive organs to get rid of with a quick dose of
antibiotics. Depending on the bugs, it can be a very slow and tedious. You have to slowly make an inhospitable
environment for the little buggers over time. And if too many of them leave at once, everything else
you’ve eaten goes with them, and you lose important nutrients like
electrolytes, etc. Fun, huh?
After I found out that I had one almost a year ago, I went
to several different doctors, nutritionists, and friends that all had different
advice. But I finally found a
nutritionist this summer whose advice really rang true for me, and I’ve been
feeling really good ever since!!
I’ve been holding onto more meals and not feeling weak or migrainey. Woo hoo! I definitely think that I had this parasite during my
chaotic 2009, and a lack of nutrition greatly influenced everything that happened
that year. (But of course, I have
no regrets. Thank God for my Saturn Return!)
So part of my regimen includes eating a LOT more than I used
to. I eat at least 5 meals a
day. There’s a TON of things I
can’t eat, so it’s easier to say what I am eating, which is: hella protein including animal and fish
protein, nuts and eggs, gluten-free grains, hella low-sugar vegetables, and the
only processed food I eat is almond milk and almond butter. I’m also trying to get rid of Candida
(yeast overgrowth) at the same time so I’m eating very minimal fruit. The food that I’m adding to my diet
that slowly kills parasites and yeast are: probiotic/fermented food (saurkraut,
kefir, yogurt, etc.), garlic, onions, coconut oil, ginger and pretty much any
and all spices.
It’s challenging to have an extremely strict diet as you can imagine. I miss chips most
of all. And I’ve been gluten-free
for a few years now, but I still dream about garlic bread and pancakes. Mmmmm. It sucks going out to eat, and a couple of times I’ve felt
like crying trying to find something on the menu to eat. Everyone is watching while I try to
find something I can eat, asking,
“Can you eat this? Can you
eat that?” And I keep having to
say, “No . . .no . . .no” It’s made me really feel for the
hardcore vegans and better understand why they have to be so militant about it
sometimes. It takes a lot of
discipline and confidence to have a different diet than everybody else.
But it’s not all woe-is-me! I’m learning how to eat healthy, and I think this diet would
be good for anyone even if they didn’t have a parasite. I can’t imagine ever going back to a
processed gluten diet in the future.
And at times, I’ve resented the fact that shopping and preparing and
cooking food is such a gigantic part of my life. But what the fuck else would I be doing? Eating keeps us alive. It’s kind of important. And of course, in tons of other
cultures their entire day revolves around cooking and eating.
So since it IS such a huge part of my life now, I’ve been
forced to enjoy it. :) And appreciate it. And ritualize the grocery
shopping. And ritualize the
cooking. And get creative with my meals.
And learn to use spices.
And slow down when I eat.
And most of all, be thankful.
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