With a range of personal health issues in the past, I decided to research alternative ways to heal myself.
This began my interest and passion in healing myself through diet and ultimately lead to be part of the team at Amchara Gozo.
Lately, the paleo diet has been getting a bad wrap as being extreme and a fad. However, at its core – paleo is simply a framework advocating “real food.”
And it’s this focus on real food and simplifying my diet which brought healing and happiness back into my life.
Being a hard-core vegetarian for five years I lived off fruit, vegetables, pasta and bread.
Having Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome I was told to eat as if I had hypoglycaemia order to keep my insulin levels steady, as women with PCOS have much higher chances of developing diabetes.
This meant eating low gylcemic index foods and of course, no sugar.
A vegetarian on hypoglycemic diet? It left me eating just lots of grains to feel full, vegetables, selected fruits and a ridiculous amount of dairy.
For a long time I thought feeling exhausted, down and anxious daily was normal.
I became used to dealing with heart burn, feeling bloated and gas after a meal, until one day I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and told by a Doctor to just “stress less” which inevitably lead me to stress even more!
However, I felt like it was a quick diagnoses in an effort to avoid researching what was actually wrong with me.
I was so close to going vegan (thinking dairy was to blame) when I was introduced to The Paleo Solution.
The author Robb Wolf was also diagnosed with IBS eating a strict vegetarian diet and it was then I knew I wasn’t alone.
I decided to take the plunge and just eat “real food.”
I cut out processed foods, grains and dairy and included small amounts of meat in my diet.
After a week I wasn’t bloated after meals and my stomach felt flatter.
After two weeks my IBS symptoms had completely gone and a month later my PCOS symptoms were improving significantly and I could finally wake up in the morning without putting my alarm on snooze 23 times.
I’m not going to blatantly lie to you and say getting back to real food is easy as pie (pun intended)
I had a 20 year addiction to refined carbohydrates to ween myself off.
But I pushed through, avoiding every bakery and even saying no to my Dad’s famous spaghetti bolognaise.
I realised that one of my favourite staple foods (toasted cheese sandwiches) was out of the question.
It was difficult but I was determined to give it a try.
Before I knew it I was at my third week and the thought of eating a vegemite toast (yes, I’m an Aussie) was off putting.
At the end of the fourth week I had trained myself to avoid the aisles in supermarkets and now (almost six years later) it has become normal for me to eat this way.
Processed foods and temptation are everywhere. Living on an Mediterranean island, I’ll admit it is difficult to avoid pastizzi and pizza, so I do allow myself a treat every now and then.
However, I’m not preaching to you to gather your stone age tools and catch a wild turkey yourself but it’s about being smarter and using your intuition about the foods you choose.
Do your own research if you need to (there is an abundance of information out there), don’t ignore what your body is trying to tell you and consider getting back to basics with the paleo framework.
At Amchara Gozo, we also provide paleo options when requested in advance.
Related topics:
- New study: Paleo diet lowers risk of cardiovascular disease
- Is the Paleo Diet Suitable for Everyone?
- Plant vs animal protein: New study shows what to eat for longevity
- Top Tips for Squeezing Extra Fruit and Veggies into Your Diet
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