How it all started...Allergies and illness...

After the birth of my son and after 3 months of breastfeeding, I very suddenly found myself with excruciating joint pains. It started in my hands but rapidly moved around my body. At first, it would be agonising in one or two joints each day, for example in one elbow and one knee...and very quickly took over my whole body. Within two weeks I was debilitated, couldn't sleep for the pain, couldn't take pain killers as I was breastfeeding, could barely walk and couldn't lift my baby out of his cot, hold him properly, cook, clean or anything!
Obviously, as per usual, GPs were no help, aside from a very useful blood test that proved the severity of the inflammation and pointed towards the onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis. I read about treatments for Arthritis and concluded that it's a bit of a nightmare - the medication is rarely much help and very toxic with many side-effects. To start such treatment at such a young age is really not a good idea and wouldn't solve anything. So I consulted a doctor who works mainly with homeopathy and he concurred with my plan of action and also told me I needed to detoxify. For this, he prescribed me a course of daily bicarbonate in water, Rosemary and Thyme oil and some other homeopathic granules to detoxify the liver (if anyone wants to know, I'll look up the name) I think this really helped to flush some toxins out of my body and away from my joints, got things circulating again. The inflammation went on for months and months but gradually got better and better...
How?
Well, after much research, I realised that diet can have an enormous effect on the body - it can help to heal it, but it can also be the cause of whatever illness you suffer from. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) or any poly-arthritis of an inflammatory nature is actually an auto-immune disease! This is commonly unknown, and it is wrongly labeled as a disease that affects the elderly....but there is a reason for that!
Basically, many auto-immune (body attacking itself as it tries to protect itself from something it considers as bad for it) diseases actually originate from a gut problem.
The gut is an extremely important part of the body, it must be treated with respect and kept in balance. I started to look into this when I twigged that RA is auto-immune and quickly realised that my symptoms pointed to what is commonly known as Leaky Gut Syndrome (Not a pretty name, I know! I wish people would refer to it as a perforated gut lining - because that's what it is!!) Anyway, basically, already existing allergies, intolerances or just sensitivities attack the lining of your gut, causing damage that eventually allows food stuffs to pass through the gut wall and into the bloodstream... these substances are then recognised by the body as foreign and therefore dangerous, and the body does everything it can to protect itself - -but in reality is actually attacking itself. In this case, attacking soft tissues.
So my arthritis is actually a secondary disease!
So my plan of action was to cut out certain foods- with the aim of detoxifying, purifying and identifying anything that causes inflammation. And wow, did I??!
I started by cutting out all dairy, meat, anything processed or de-hulled (i.e.white flour, pasta, white bread and rice etc.) and after just a week or two felt a slight difference. So I continued but added natural anti-inflammatories into my diet - such as fresh ginger, curcuma spice, olive oil, sweet potatoes, red onions, green tea, fresh berries (including Strawberries which I HAD to eat in massive quantities, obviously - YAY!)
When I realised it wasn't having enough effect I decided to go extreme and cut out everything that could be having a negative effect and that way, I could cleanse my body then work backwards and find my allergies quicker. So I cut out all Gluten containing foods- bread, cereals (including oats-massive cross-contamination), pasta, all wheat products basically and watched out for ingredients. I will post about that oneday, you wouldn't believe what is added into your food these days! My diet became vegetables, fruit, pulses and oily fish. I even cut out nightshade vegetables (see 'My Allergies' post).
These food allergies often have a delayed effect on the body because the illness or pain caused is secondary. So you have to be rigorous and very strict when experimenting to find wat you're allergic to.  As it turns out, I am allergic to a LOT more stuff! Everyone's different, Everyone - don't listen to people who tell you it's absolutely fine to eat rice and millet when gluten sensitive - not if you are still suffering! Try cutting them out, you'll soon see if it affects you. The body can decide it's allergic to literally ANYthing!
There have not been enough funded studies on Gluten - basically, gluten is the proteins found in grains, so by definition, a grain of rice or millet has gluten in, they are just different proteins that not everyone is sensitive to. It is just one particular type of gluten that is a problem for celiacs. "Gluten is one of the most complex proteins consumed by man. It is a very large molecule relative to other food molecules and for that reason is difficult for the human digestive system to break down (digest). Problems begin when it reaches the small intestine. In sensitive individuals partially broken down gluten actually tears holes in the lining of the gut, leading to Leaky Gut Syndrome. This allows foreign particles (and whatever else is in the gut, including bacteria) into the bloodstream. Of course that sets the body's immune system on 'high alert' - resulting in your symptoms" (foodintol.com)
Also, gluten intolerance testing, it seems, is almost totally pointless! Apparently you are only tested for one type of gluten - there are apparently hundreds (if not thousands) of types!
So as crap as it is, if you're brave enough to do it, try an elimination diet, just to see what is harming you - and do it well, with determination- I promise you, it's worth it, even if it just shows food is not harming you, in which case you will be liberated from the deprivation diet!! (lucky you!)
So enough talk about me and enough boring explanations! I will now try to just share any original ideas I have for cooking, flavour associations, substitutes, practical tips and any useful or interesting bits of info I have or come accross - and I remain always very open to anyone elses ideas and suggestions! I want my blog to be a place to exchange ideas and encourage each other to be positive in the face of illness and allergies! We must all pull together!! Here goes....