How I Got My Health Back

Written on August 31, 2011 by Cath

This is a really long article, but I’m writing it at the request of many of my Facebook friends and it answers the common questions I’ve been asked…

10 months ago I learned how valuable my body (and its health and strength) is to me. I’m not sure why, because it seems common sense to me now, but I didn’t really make the connection that my body is the only way that I get to experience life, so the quality of my body determines the quality of my life.

For those of you who are new here and don’t know the backstory of this past year, I have an hereditary kidney condition that’s not given me any health problems in the past, until last year when I was pregnant and my kidney functioning deteriorated significantly, resulting in a threat to my life and the loss of our daughter, Juggernaut, at 5 months gestation in October. Between the deterioration of my kidney health and ny grieving, I was both physically and emotionally exhausted:

I slept over 12 hours each night and napped for hours each afternoon.
I could barely walk a few kilometres without getting a sensation like muscle burn in my legs.
I woke with stiffness and tenderness in my arms, hands and legs every morning.
I had such “brain fog” that I couldn’t concentrate for more than about 15mins and felt unable to read more than a page or two at a time. I didn’t have the focus for reading or writing or art-making.
An acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine practitioner diagnosed me with adrenal fatigue.
Because of my fatigue, everything felt hard and took longer to do and I made more mistakes.

At first I cut myself a lot of slack because I knew these were all normal grieving responses. I quit my work altogether and passed the first four or so months being with friends and family, sleeping and making puzzles. I also started walking – just a few kilometres a day, gradually increasing it to about 6 or 7 km over those 4 months. It took a lot of patience and permission to cut myself this slack and not get frustrated with my slowness and lack of energy.

As the months passed, I started to feel the thick grief lift, but the fatigue was still there. I discussed it with my kidney specialist, my physician, my gynae, the high-risk pregnancy team at the hospital… they all just said, “Well, you’ve been through a lot… just go easy on yourself,” and they offered nothing else. They didn’t believe that there was a medical or biological reason for my fatigue or the stiffness and tenderness in my limbs.

So I started googling and searching for other perspectives. I’d like to say that I did a complete review of the research and used this to guide my decisions, but I didn’t. I was still struggling to read, so I skimmed bits and bobs and, much to the chagrin of my logical side, went with a bunch of guesses and intuitions.

Over the next few months I made some dramatic changes to my diet, medication and a few other things. Last week I took my regular lab test and the results show significant improvement of my kidney functioning over the past 6 weeks – even though my kidney specialists have all indicated in the past that improvement of my kidney functioning is not only unlikely, but my kidneys are on an inevitable and unstoppable path of deterioration.

The evidence that my health has improved is indisputable:

At my last lab test 6 weeks ago, my kidney functioning was at 52%. Last week my results were over 60% functioning. Once your functioning is over 60%, they’re no longer worrying about it, so they don’t give a specific figure – they just say “over 60%,” so my functioning could be higher.
I track my blood pressure with a home monitor. For the past few weeks my systolic measurements have been down by an average of 20 points and my diastolic measurements have been down by an average of 15 points.
I can easily walk 20km and have walked over 30km on a few days, without feeling as stiff as I used to feel walking 2km 10 months ago.
I’ve lost 2.5kg, my body is changing shape and I’m wearing clothes 2 or 3 sizes smaller.
I sleep 7 or 8 hours a night and that feels sufficient. I no longer need coffee to wake me in the morning and I no longer need to sleep during the day.
I have my brain back!!! I’m clear, able to concentrate and more creative than ever. I’m also getting a bunch of really cool intuitive hits.

So you’re probably curious what changes I made to get these results…

Here are the changes I made:

1. I started walking regularly

Over the past 10 months I’ve walked 3 to 5 times a week every week. I started out in November, walking as far as I could – about 2km, before I felt a “muscle burn” sensation in my legs. After a few months, once I got up to about 6km, I would walk about 6km, 3 to 5 times a week. I did that for a few months and then I started increasing the distance. I now walk 7km 3 times a week and often a longer walk as well, somewhere between 15km and 30km over the weekend. Next week I’ll walk 100km over 3 days to raise funds and awareness for Kidney Disease.

Heather Plett wrote a really great post about the benefits of walking, highlighting it’s impact on your creativity, awareness, relationships, health and spirituality. There is evidence that walking reduces depression, reduces risk of diabetes, reduces blood pressure, increases bone density and helps osteoporosis, reduces high cholesterol, reduces risk of heart disease, reduces body fat, reduces risk of colon cancer, and helps increase flexibility and coronation. I’d say that’s a pretty cool list of awesome benefits for a form of exercise that’s really easy to do! Walking has helped me so much – which is why I’m now offering “Walk-With-Me” coaching sessions in Calgary.

Before my health deteriorated, I used to run. I’ll probably start running again – I’m feeling a desire for more cardiovascular exertion now, but I’ll keep some walking days because I enjoy the calming, meditative benefits of walking.

2. I switched to a blood pressure medication that doesn’t cause fatigue

I got a new Kidney Specialist in January and when I complained about fatigue, instead of saying to me, “Well, you’ve been through a lot…” and talking to me like I was stupid or depressed instead of tired, he looked up the side effects and told me that, considering the dosage I was on, it was amazing that I’d made it into his office that day!

I switched over to a drug that didn’t cause fatigue and I began to see a light at the end of the tunnel again. I was so glad to have found a cause that I could do something about but also angry that the doctors had only been concerned with keeping me alive and not bothered to consider the quality of my life, or to explore and discuss the side effects of the drugs they were prescribing. Most drugs have side effects and some are very significant and disruptive. When doctors prescribe drugs, they’re often just treating one system or even one organ in your body and not giving attention to the overall functioning of your body or the quality of your life. Be sure to ask your doctor about the potential side effects or the drugs s/he wants to prescribe for you.

3. I quit hormonal contraception

After I switched blood pressure medications, I had a few weeks of feeling normal energy-wise and then, having discussed the potential risks of becoming pregnant again, we decided that we would not try to become pregnant again and opted to have a Mirena inserted. The Mirena is an IUD that releases a small amount of hormone (levonorgestrel) into the bloodstream via the uterus. The gynae said that most people don’t experience any side effects from the Mirena. Previously I’ve used an oral contraceptive pill containing levonorgestrel and never suffered any unpleasant side effects from it. A few weeks after having the Mirena inserted through, my fatigue returned with a vengeance, along with a serious case of water retention and “foggy brain.” I was more tired than I’d been when I was pregnant!

I discussed it with my doctors and they didn’t think my symptoms were being caused by the Mirena. Once again I was told, “You’ve had a hard time… it’s probably grief.” After 3 months on the Mirena and some googling that revealed other women complaining of fatigue caused by the Mirena, I followed my intuition and had it removed. The day after removing the Mirena I already no longer felt the need to sleep so much and my mental clarity started to return. At that point, with more normal energy levels, I was able to start increasing my walking distances, and I got my brain back just in time for me to be able to pull together the Kidney Raffle fundraising event in June.

3. I’ve been seeing a chiropractor for adjustments for 7 weeks

Chiropractic is a very controversial treatment. From what I can tell, most other medical and health professionals believe that chiropractors are quacks at best and charlatans at worst. There are differing views within the chiropractic arena, but the approach of our chiropractor is that misalignment of the spinal vertebrae agitates or causes obstructions to the nerve flow from the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS directs the functioning and healing of all of the body, so when it’s obstructed, so is the functioning and healing of the parts of the body that those nerves go to.

My X-rays of my spine and neck showed that I have second degree sublaxations in the thoracic area of my spine. According to chiropractic, this area relates to the functioning of the kidneys, adrenals, stomach, liver, intestines, gall bladder, heart and lungs. Second degree sublaxations indicate that the sublaxation (and deteriorated nerve functioning in that area) has existed for 20 to 40 years. I’m 32 years old, so I’ve potentially had this issue my whole life. I also have serious misalignment of my cervical (neck) vertebrae, with the C1 vertebra being about 10 degrees out of alignment. There is some evidence that correcting the angle of the C1 vertebrae has the same effect in reducing blood pressure as taking 2 blood pressure medications.

As I say, I haven’t got the low-down on all the research on the validity of chiropractic treatment. But I’ve gone with my gut feel. The adjustments are very gradual, so I’ve committed to a year of treatment, at which point we’ll be able to compare before and after x-rays and see what’s changed, alongside comparing my lab tests and the way I feel.

4. I completely quit sugar, grains and toxins 5 weeks ago

After reading a few different perspectives on the causes of high blood pressure, and finding people in a few different pockets of alternative or natural approaches to health claiming that quitting sugar and grains can normalize blood pressure, I decided to give it ago. On 24 July I completely quit:

All sugars. This includes natural sugars like honey and maple syrup. I also limit my fruit intake and stick to mostly berries, which have a bunch of other goodness in them.
All grains, including all wholegrains. I’ve also quit other high GI foods like potatoes and carrots.
Foods with toxins. I’m still learning a lot in this arena, but we no longer eat prepared foods because they typically contain synthetic substances that the body doesn’t recognize as food and substances that are toxic or harmful for the body. For the most part, we only buy foods in their original state, foods that don’t come with labels because they have nothing added (like fruit and vegetables) and foods where all of the listed ingredients are natural and familiar to us.

I’ve had a lot of people say to me that they’d really like to quit sugar and grains too, but they believe it’ll be too difficult. It’s easier than you think, if you set up some basic scaffolding to support your change of lifestyle.

Here’s how I changed my habits:

1. I sorted out my motivation

A lot of people have said to me that they’re amazed at my willpower to quit sugar and grains. Actually, it’s not been that difficult, because I’m really clear about the pain I’ll experience if I don’t sort out my health, and the rewards I want to be able to enjoy by having good health.

1.1. At the outset, I got clear on my motivators: What pain would you experience if you don’t start taking care of your health? Why is it so important to you to avoid that pain? What rewards would you miss out on if you don’t start taking care of your health?

1.2. I got educated about the composition and effects of various foods: If you’re a “why” learner (someone who needs to know the why behind the what), get educated about the impact of sugar, grains and toxins on your body. There’s a pretty good consensus across the various health professions that sugar is evil. This article by Dr Mercola sums up 76 ways that sugar is bad for us. Here’s another good article explaining why sugar is so bad for us.

The central reason why I’ve given up sugar and grains is that high glycemic foods (grains and sugars) cause elevated glucose, which in turn elevates insulin, which leads to degenerative diseases (including hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease). There are also nutritionists that believe that we’re not meant to eat grains, so grains (and other toxins or synthetic ingredients that we’re not meant to eat) cause inflammation in the body, and inflammation makes the body more susceptible to disease. Since the kidneys are responsible for “clearing out” toxins in the body, eliminating toxins from my diet decreases the load on my kidneys.

Once you know the “why,” then start educating yourself about specific foods by reading about their sugar content and reading the labels of prepared foods to check what’s in them. This book I’ve used has been a great resource for this.

1.3. I recognized that it’s all up to me: Doctors and other health professionals are just doing a job, and they can always go and get another job or even another career. You only have one body – the one you’ve got, so you need to be the leader and take responsibility for understanding and advocating for your body’s needs. This is scary, because on some level it requires admitting that health professionals don’t have all the answers, and you may be required to be more assertive in your communications with health professionals. When you have a hunch about your body’s needs and health professionals are disagreeing with you, and when they’re rolling their eyes at you or becoming impatient with your millions of questions, remind yourself that it’s up to you.

2. I created the scaffolding to make these changes the path of least resistance

2.1. I removed all sugar, grains and toxins from my kitchen: If you keep no sugar and grains you’ll have to make an effort to get it and eat it. Make it easy to avoid sugar and grains when you get cravings for them by going through your whole fridge and pantry and removing all sugar, grains and foods containing sugar, grains and toxins.

2.2. I created two weeks worth of meal plans: If you haven’t decided what to eat, you’ll leave the door wide open for hesitation and have to renew your commitment to your new way of eating every mealtime. That’s exhausting and you’ll run out of willpower soon!

Create a 2-week meal plan and buy the groceries for that once a week. The first shop will probably be expensive – you’ll be buying some oils and spices that you probably have never used before, but these will last a long time. Experiment a little over the first few weeks and choose recipes you’ll enjoy. Once you have about 2 weeks worth of meals planned, just rotate those plans. Most of us cycle through just a dozen or fewer different meals anyway, so this is plenty variety and you won’t get bored.

2.3. I cook dinner and lunch at the same time: When you make dinners, make double portions so that you have enough left over for lunch the next day. You’re probably busier at lunchtime and this is the time when most people are used to having a sandwich, so be prepared before the cravings hit. I’m not a morning person, so I know I’ll slip into bad habits if I have to make my lunch in the morning when I’m tired, so this works well for me. You can also consider batch cooking over the weekend, and freezing your fresh home-cooked meals, ready to defrost and eat during the week.

2.4. I told my friends and family about the changes I’m making to my diet and lifestyle: This helps in two ways; if you’re anything like me, integrity is a high value and once you’ve told your friends and family about your new commitment, you’ll be motivated to keep your integrity by sticking to your commitment. I started a G+ group and committed to posting photos of everything I ate for the first few weeks. I added friends who wanted to be a part of it and their watchful eyes and the increased mindfulness of photographing everything I ate helped me stay committed in the first few weeks when it was hardest to make the change. Now that I’ve experienced the benefits of these changes I don’t need this accountability anymore – the rewards are motivating enough. It also helps from the perspective that your friends and family will (hopefully) support you by not tempting you with foods you’re choosing not to eat.

2.5. I’m prepared for eating out: Decide what you’ll eat before you go out and choose restaurants that will have options for you. It can be tough to find restaurants with good, fresh, yummy vegetables – most serve their vegetables are a small, flaccid garnish! And most vegetarian foods have lots of grains, salt and sugar in them. Restaurants also often choose cheaper food sources, which often means they’re using synthetic oils that are toxic for us and farm-raised food that’s fed grain or packed with hormones, pesticides or antibiotics. Steak or grilled fish and vegetables or a salad are usually the easiest option for eating out.

Many people have said to me that this way of eating is too expensive. For us it’s worked out about the same because we don’t eat out as often as we used to. Also, since planning our meals we now go to the grocery store with a shopping list and we only buy what we need, so we’re spending less on groceries and grocery shopping is quicker and easier now (we only shop about 3 of the aisles these days!). Our meal plans and weekly shops have also resulted in less wasted food.

2.6. I’m prepared for eating at other people’s homes: This is the bit we’ve found most challenging. Sugar and grains are such a big part of most people’s diets and food is such a big part of bonding. We worry about appearing rude or pernickety if we let people know that we don’t eat sugar or grains when they invite us over for dinner. I have a few friends who don’t eat sugar or grains either, but for the rest, some people get it and some people don’t and probably think we’re pernickety pains in the asses! We love sharing meals with friends, so we’d hate to be the picky people that nobody wants to invite over because we’re too much trouble to cook for!

I’m still negotiating this and figuring out the best ways to deal with it. I guess it’s different with each person, and some people probably need to see that this isn’t a fad thing – we’re doing it for life. Something we’ve done is we’ve started inviting our friends for dinner at our house and serving them the food we eat. When we tell people we don’t eat grain and sugar, they usually think this is very restrictive and tricky to provide meals for, but when we serve people sugar- and grain-free meals at our home, most people don’t notice the missing grain or sugar and enjoy the meal.

Andy prefers to stay a bit flexible and will eat some sugar or grains at other people’s homes, but then he hasn’t struggled with fatigue quite the way I have and having seen the improvement in my kidney functioning since I made these changes, I feel it’s too big a sacrifice for me to eat sugar and grains just to be polite. I usually let people know what I can eat and offer to bring my own food if it’s a large gathering, or I help them understand that, since I do still eat meat, vegetables and dairy, there’s still lots that I can eat.

2.7. Don’t deprive yourself or restrict calories: As soon as you feel deprived, your cravings will increase (especially cravings for carb!) and you’ll have more of a battle with your willpower every time you eat something. Make sure you stabilize your blood sugar and energy by eating regularly and eating enough. We eat a lot more natural fats that we ever used to, we’re eating large portions and we’re still losing weight on this diet, so if weight-loss is a goal for you, put that aside and just focus on your health and energy – the weight will likely fall away anyway, especially if you add exercise.

Some final thoughts

The most significant changes in my energy and health results were around 5 to 7 weeks ago. This was around the time that I started seeing a chiropractor and made the changes to my diet. Since my dietary changes were made at around the same time as starting chiropractic treatment it’s possible that the improvement at that point was from chiropractic only, dietary changes only, or both. My guess is that it’s both, as well as the build-up of the benefits of all the walking I’m doing. I’m thrilled that my kidney functioning has improved, but actually, these changes I’ve made will be protecting me from a whole host of diseases – it’s an incredible return for a relatively small investment!

I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, and food production and health/ drug marketing are both incredibly political arenas. I’m well aware that some people might think this is inaccurate information and I’m okay with that. I’m not sharing this to try to evangelize you into my lifestyle practices or to sell you anything health-related. I’m simply sharing the results of my personal experiment – what I did, how and why I made those choices and changes and what results I got. Be sure to liaise with your doctors and qualified health professionals as you consider what changes you might like to make to optimize your health, and remember that everyone’s body is different, so ultimately you need to tune into your body’s needs and notice what results you get when you make changes to your diet.

I’d love to hear your experiences with any and all of these lifestyle changes I made. Does my experiment line up with your experiences? And if you have recommendations for resources for great recipes that are grain- and sugar-free, please post them here too!