Healing my gut by repairing my microbiome after digestive system trauma!
After killing everything in my gut with antibiotics due to a gut bacterial infection, I did a bit of research and decided the best way to rebuild the microbiome is with a plant based diet. In the past I have eaten less meat, not eating meat every day, but I never went a whole week without eating at least some meat! Over the last 3 months while dealing with lots of stomach issues I ate a TON of bananas, toast, crackers chicken and potatoes.... Basically as plain as possible! Its all my body wanted. In fact there were times where I just had no appetite whatsoever and I lost about 10 pounds. I couldn't even look at a green vegetable with my stomach in such distress so the thought of just diving in all Vegan made me a little anxious not knowing how my system would react. I decided no matter what my stomach felt like I would stick with it in order to feed my microbiome and for it to grow healthy and strong with diversity. I thought there was a good chance my stomach would have a bad reaction to the drastic diet change and Id have to be patient. The good news was a few days after I finished my second round of antibiotics my appetite was starting to come back! An important part of my gut healing plan was making sure I was taking some good quality probiotics! I went to Whole Foods and picked up "Gut Restore" (pictured in my previous blog) with over 50 billon CFUs.
So... If its vegan it must be healthy right?! WRONG!!! These days being vegan can be hard to navigate with so many highly processed products out on the market! Many "Beyond" or "Impossible" meats are full of fillers and high in Fats and specifically high in Saturated fats so make sure to read the labels if you are trying different products! Know what's in your food! (Vegan or not!) I decided I would eat very little to no processed foods especially while in the first few weeks of rebuilding the good bacteria in my gut! I would include as many varieties as possible of ALL fruits and veggies, whole grains (quinoa, oats, rice, barley, millet, some wheat), Nuts, seeds and legumes. I want to stay as organic as possible to give my body the best quality without GMO's. I decided to allow my self to drink a Shakeology or K'chava (superfood plant based protein shake) a day even though Shakeology contains stevia and K'chava contains Monk fruit. I need something I can eat after workouts and knowing both of these superfood shakes contain a wide variety of plant based nutrients as well as plant based protein and I often blend it with a couple big handfuls of spinach so I decided it was worth keeping it in my plan despite the processed sugar substitutes.
Week 1; I started with making a batch of granola a recipe from "Fiber Fueled" by Will Bulsiewicz, MD. See Recipe below. Ingredients include; Rolled Oats, Unsweetened coconut, Chia seeds, Walnuts, Flax meal, dried cranberries, sunflower oil, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. It made almost 5 cups so I had lots to eat for breakfast or snack. Ive been rotating between this and oatmeal of different varieties “Qia”, steel cut oats, with a banana or a side of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberrie and grapes for breakfast.
I made a big pot of vegan Chili on day 1! The recipe I just made up as I went along and just kept throwing veggies in; All organic; red beans, navy beans, fire roasted tomatoes and vegetable broth. PLUS fresh diced; parsnips, potatoes, celery, onions, red peppers, carrots, garlic, green chilies and a little jalapeños and seasonings. Best part was having leftovers for the next couple days!
The next day I had chili for lunch and then made onion and rosemary quinoa with roasted root vegetables for dinner! Again just made the recipe up. I cooked the quinoa with vegetables broth instead of water with onions and fresh rosemary. I topped the quinoa with veggies I roasted in the oven; yukon gold potatoes, sweet potato’s, beets and parsnips almost all organic! This meal was SO good! Very satisfying and filling!
Next meal I made tofu stir fry with onions, spinach, baby Bella and shiitake mushroom Ramen (I used a wicked kitchen broth and Annie Chuns organic noodles)! YUM! I admit it had some processed ingredients with the packaged Roman broth and noodles but all plant based and organic so could be worse and definitely a perfect first tofu dish! Loved it! I cut the broth with a little vegetable broth and I could have added more as the flavor was still pretty intense! One of my go to flavors is tacos!!! This taco bowl was absolutely amazing and I honestly didn’t miss the meat at all!! All Organic; Brown rice mixed with cilantro and lime juice, sautéed taco seasoned (homemade seasoning) onions, celery, red peppers and spinach. Topped with salsa, black bean hummus, cauliflower plant based queso, more cilantro and green onions! 4 Days into my All in Vegan I had a follow up with the nurse practitioner at the gastroenterologist. My stomach still hurt the same as it did before my diet change but it wasn’t worse. The main change I noticed was I had a lot more energy. The nurse at the gastroenterologist told me I could take a supplement called IBgaurd (peppermint oil) that helps with diarrhea or IBS if I have any episodes. This “all natural“ supplement contains polysorbate 80, titanium dioxide (for color), yellow 5 and green 3. I decided not to take this product!!! Read the ingredients people! If you don’t know what something is look it up! Read multiple sources and decide for yourself if you want to put it in your body!! Here are a couple articles I found on ingredients contained in that “all natural“ supplement!
I did however take the nurses suggestion of peppermint and I found this AMAZING peppermint tea that has been very soothing on my stomach!
8 Days into my All In Vegan diet and my bowels are regular. I am having normal bowl movements once or twice a day! Very encouraging!! My stomach still hurts daily but there are times it doesn’t hurt at all now! Mostly in the mornings I’m still getting woken up by stomach pain gas/bloated kind of pain but still very encouraged after one week! Stay tuned for more updates!!
Comments