My Gut Feeling

My mom was in charge of the kitchen when I was growing up.

We almost always had some kind of home-cooked meal to gather around at dinnertime. Mom cooked as cleanly and healthily as she could and spent hours in the kitchen preparing food for our family of five. She would wash her hands so much making sure they stayed clean that they would dry out and she’d have to regularly put lotion on them.

I learned the basics of healthy nutrition from her example. Every complete meal needed protein, a carb, and some fiber—and the amounts needed to be balanced, much to my childhood chagrin. However, this rule of thumb has been essential to me maintaining a healthy lifestyle as an adult.

When I was a teenager, I experienced symptoms that made me think I was lactose intolerant. I stopped drinking milk and began drinking mostly water. I eventually learned that my gut was sensitive to stress and anxiety, and it wasn’t dairy’s fault. But I never returned to regularly drinking milk because I had learned to associate it with stomachaches and it stopped tasting good. As I’ve mentioned in past blogs, I’ve also given up drinking most sodas except for on special occasions.

Then, as an adult, I contracted Alpha-gal Syndrome, the result of being bitten by one or more ticks. I can’t eat cow or pig products because they give me a tummy ache (to put it mildly). I’m just thankful I never contracted Lyme Disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

This has been a long journey of discovery and recovery. I tried an acupuncture treatment that partially helped and allowed me to eat dairy again (even if it’s possible the treatment was a placebo). But then I got re-exposed to Alpha-gal at some point, and the dairy I’d been able to consume fell off my OK-to-eat list.

I also discovered part of this dietary restriction because of experiencing inflammation-based acid reflux issues. I even underwent an endoscopy to confirm it wasn’t something worse! Being anaesthetized for the first time was a fascinating experience that I’ll probably write about some other time. The only meat I eat now is poultry and fish, and I have to abstain from most dairy so I won’t experience digestion problems. Thankfully, I can still eat certain baked goods; I shudder to think how I’d react if I was suddenly unable to eat cookies.

But this process has taught me to be even more careful with what I eat. Being forced to look more closely at nutrition labels has helped me realize just how much sugar, salt, fat, and other junk ingredients exist in the typical American diet due to mass production.

For example, I love ranch dressing. It’s been amusing to see how beloved this condiment has become recently, since World Cup tourists have been getting in trouble for trying to smuggle whole bottles of it back to their home countries.

I recently had to give up my usual ranch dressing because it contains dairy (along with other ingredients I couldn’t identify). But then I discovered a ranch made with avocado oil and other natural ingredients! It’s more expensive (as most healthy and clean food is, unfortunately), but I think it actually tastes better than the dressing I used to use!

I’ve also had to give up most ice cream, because dairy-free ice cream from the grocery store is far too expensive most days. That’s the biggest tragedy for me. However, I managed to find some good dairy-free cheese brands, and while they don’t taste the same as real cheese, at least I can make myself pizza if I want it. Unfortunately, dairy-free macaroni and cheese just isn’t the same…

I’ve started making more meals from scratch. I use rotisserie chicken, wild-caught salmon, homemade bread that I buy from someone who mills flour, lots of rice and fresh veggies, eggs, tortillas, and other basic ingredients. Many boxed or bagged meals I used to buy are no longer a viable option for my diet.

It takes more time, but doing this food prep work is still cheaper than getting restaurant takeout, partly because I can make so much more of it at once. And whenever I do get takeout, I’ve begun to buy from restaurants that use clean ingredients and include enough food that I can make it last for two meals.

On the bright side of all of this, my gut has never felt better! And I get the feeling my appreciation for clean eating will only increase. I never expected to be so excited about making food that doesn’t come pre-prepared (I was never interested in learning to cook as a young person). But feeling physically good after eating rather than heavy or bloated or even in pain is an excellent motivator.

Scientists say the gut microbiome is more complex and “smarter” than anyone imagines. Doctors and nutritionists say people should listen to their bodies when it comes to determining what’s healthy or not. A lot of this comes down to energy levels and whether people are feeling aches or pains, because inflammation is widely considered a major source of long-term health problems.

I don’t know much about such research, but I feel the truth of it in my gut.

So I’ve been paying attention to my gut feelings. Turns out, they’re more helpful than I’d previously given them credit for! And hopefully this means I’ll be able to stay healthier for longer as I age.