My Health Tips
When I first fell pregnant I gained weight quickly. After my little boy was born I was big, yet I lived in denial about my weight. I believed I could get back into shape and that I’d lose the weight with no problem, but everything I tried didn’t work and most of the time I was left feeling miserable.
- My main symptoms were:
- Recurrent vaginal thrush
- Recurrent urine infections/cystitis
- Bloating / IBS
- Food Intolerances
- Gas
- Irregular stool movements
- Low mood
- Intense sugar cravings
- Weight problems
It took me 3-years to step away from the NHS and find my way but that’s when I started my research. First, I discovered Candida overgrowth. It sounded like I had many symptoms, especially recurrent fungal infections. I read more about Candida and once I understood how it had grown in my body, I looked at ways to get rid of it. I already had a good understanding of nutrition and fitness, so I designed my program to cut out high-sugar foods to stop feeding the fungus.
I also had symptoms of leaky gut, a condition I learned about from Dr. Josh Axe [1], so I decided to treat for that also and that’s when I discovered bone broth. I read online that bone broth is good for gut health, particularly leaky gut syndrome [2]. Many of the symptoms of leaky gut mimic that of Candida and poor gut health, so I got hold of some digestive enzymes and took one with every meal to help aid the digestion of my food.
Knowing that the liver would be under constant pressure due to high amounts of toxins in my body, [3]. I decided to take milk thistle to support my liver and discovered Bentonite Clay to help draw toxins out of my body (I swear by Bentonite Clay).
Digestive problems
I rarely had digestive problems until this happened to me. Having done my research, it seemed that my digestive problems were caused by several different things such as taking antibiotics, having a high-sugar diet, stress and being pregnant [3]. As soon as I started to take the digestive enzymes and eat my bone broth, I found instant relief in my digestive system. My bloating reduced and I started to feel better.
Liver support
During my research, I learned more about the liver and how important it is in the function of the human body. The liver’s main job is to get rid of toxins and it made logical sense that my body was full of toxins. As I continued my research, this began to make more sense as I stumbled across the symptoms of a sluggish liver [4]:
– Sluggishness and fatigue
– Weight problems
– Indigestion
– Inability to concentrate
To support my sluggish liver, I discovered milk thistle. Take three tablets daily. I did this for 3 months.
Probiotics
As I learnt more about gut health, I discovered probiotics; what they are and why we should take them. As I had many antibiotics over the previous three years, everything began to make sense about why my health was the way it was. Every time I had a UTI, I went back to the doctors for more antibiotics but at the time I didn’t know about probiotics, so when I learnt they help to replace the bacteria killed by antibiotics I decided to give them a go. I tried lots of different probiotics first but as I delved deeper into understanding gut health and our gut microbiome, I decided to look for a high-strength probiotic to give my friendly guys the best chance they could of colonising. Over time, taking probiotics became expensive. I looked for a natural way to feed my body with probiotics and that’s when I discovered fermented foods, in particular water kefir juice. Somewhere online, I read that kefir was a good source of probiotics [5]. I had never heard of it before so began researching kefir. I was left with the option of milk kefir or water kefir. I chose to explore water kefir because I try to limit my dairy intake and already I had a sensitivity to dairy. Once I began making and drinking the water kefir juice daily, I started to feel good and the weight continued to drop off me.
Toxins
When I was suffering from Candida overgrowth, I felt like I was heavy; my body was a weight and I was dragging it around. Yes, I was overweight, but my body felt gross and I can’t help but wonder if that was the toxins in my body. Very much the same as the liver function, I discovered by including Bentonite clay as a supplement it would help to pull out the toxins in my body, so accompanying Bentonite with milk thistle and I had a good chance of pulling the toxins and then releasing them through the aided function of the liver. Bentonite clay is volcanic ash from the Wyoming Mountains in America. The clay has been reported to have many health benefits so I thought I would give it a try [6]. Every day for three months I added two teaspoons of clay to a long glass of water, stirred and then drank it. I must mention here to only drink the Calcium kind of Bentonite. I think Bentonite played a big part in my healing.
If you would like further information about how I cured myself of Candida overgrowth, then you can buy my book on Amazon.