I think you will love todays post from Susie Olopai, a Registered Nurse and mother....please share. We have also chosen 2 winners (Jackie Kight & Vanessa Jae Comiskey) from yesterdays giveaway of family food and we will give away another book tomorrow. winners stories at the bottom of Susies post and can the winners please email hello@thepaleoway with your address and who you would like the book made out to and I will post this weekend. We will be giving another book or two away tomorrow, all you need to do is share your favourite savoury paleo recipe that you make for the whole family...kid friendly. (Nics bread recipe coming tonight, I promise!) Over to you Susie and thanks for sharing.... Hi Pete, I am not a health coach, nor do I have a business, website or product to promote but I am an emergency trained Registered Nurse, wife and a mother and I do have a story about food that profoundly changed our lives! When my son was 2 years old we moved to a Resort in Guam for my husband’s work. We ate all our meals in the resort and we embraced the American diet of Cheerios (similar to fruit loops) and donuts for breakfast, as well as pancakes, cooked buffet options and some fresh fruit on the side. Lunches were often burgers laden with preservatives and flavor enhancers, processed meats and cheeses with bread. Dinners included casseroles with the same cocktail of artificial additives in the sauces and a selection of high sugar cakes and desserts. After a couple of months, our son began to get sick. It started with fevers, then chest infections, abdominal pains and mucus and blood in his stools. He complained of painful joints and began to lose weight. Soon we were visiting the Doctors every week, he had course after course of antibiotic, with no improvement. Eventually he was admitted to hospital with the highest fever ever recorded in the emergency room, semi conscious. In hospital he was fed only high sugar processed food. I’m not sure a single vegetable was ever on his meal trays. We were subsequently given the devastating news he may have a type of Juvenile cancer and had to be transferred by medi-vac to the nearest Tertiary hospital, back in Australia. We had moved overseas in search of a better future for our family and so far our son had been diagnosed with a life threatening illness and our baby girl was hardly enjoying the attention of happy relaxed parents who were preoccupied with worry. We spent the next few months in and out of hospital. Although his blood results showed extreme levels of inflammation and they even had to abort a colonoscopy due to excessive bleeding, they could not come up with a diagnosis. While in hospital, he was again on the same “recommended” diet of mainly processed foods. He was commenced on a cocktail of steroids, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Over the next year, his health improved a bit but he started to develop asthma and eczema. He was covered in bleeding sores and scabs over most of his body and at times I had had to wrap him in wet bandages at night to soothe the sores and to stop him scratching. He had seizures, sleep apnoea from his enlarged tonsils and continued to complain of painful joints and had ongoing digestive problems. He was only 3 years old, going to the hospital every few weeks. We still had no diagnosis except an auto-immune disorder brought on by an infection he had caught while in Guam. Juvenile Chronic Arthritis was even raised which terrified us, as it is such a serious condition. With this knowledge, we lived our lives to the best of our ability but all the time consumed with worry about his health. When he started Kindy, I was given a DVD by a parent called ”Fed-up” by Sue Dengate. This video had a profound effect on our lives. The video focused on the effect of artificial additives in food on children’s behavior and health. I contacted Sue Dengate straight away and started an elimination diet. I learned about different groups of natural food chemicals and their effect on some people and memorized every artificial food additive off by heart. I started to cook all our foods from scratch. Within 3 days our son’s eczema had cleared up! Within a few more days we noticed how calm both our children were and how their ability to play and concentrate at a task improved. Our son even said to me “ Mummy I feel much better in my head”. After a few weeks his asthma had improved to the point that he no longer had to sleep with a humidifier every night. Fast forward 10 years and we are living in beautiful Noosa and enjoying the wonderful outdoor lifestyle, weather and the wide array of organic produce available and an additive free diet. For the most part my son has enjoyed very good health, has none of his past symptoms aside from some mild digestive issues and very occasional asthma. Earlier this year, I became Paleo for my own health issues and while studying and researching the effects of a Paleo diet on health, I had a lightbulb moment…… Our diet while we were living overseas had just about killed our son! And every hospital admission eating the “recommended” food high in sugar, carbohydrates and artificial additives had made him worse! I now realize that many of his symptoms were a result of inflammation from sugar, gluten and a mélange of artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and food additives! The inflammation in his body was causing his fevers, his bowel inflammation, his joint pain, his asthma, his eczema, his sleep apnoea, his seizures, all of it!!!! I am pleased to report he is now 13, a talented artist and a Captain of his School and although I guess he will always have a predisposition to auto immune disorders, I didn’t realize that over 10 years ago when I cut out artificial additives and started cooking food from scratch that I had inadvertently started a journey toward a Paleo lifestyle. As a family we have enjoyed a diet rich in fresh, unprocessed food with plenty of fresh, locally grown organic produce and lots of outdoor activity and connection to nature. Whilst my son is so much better, I am now trying the last phase of his cure which is to help him towards a fuller Paleo diet. So this story continues, as I am now able to take my new knowledge of the Paleo way and start adapting it to my family. I have also decided after 10 years of hesitantly giving dietary advice to friends, family and being so frustrated with the current guidelines for my patients’ serious health complaints like diabetes, heart disease, asthma, ulcerative colitis and more, that this is indeed a passion of mine. I have learned so much through my own research over the years but have decided to formalize my study in Nutrition and work toward teaching patients and clients about diet, healthy lifestyle and indeed “Food as Medicine”, with a personal interest in children’s health…(watch this space!) And to you Pete Evans, I would like to thank you for educating and inspiring me and getting the message out there and instigating change because everyday I see patients with serious illnesses who are being “fed” the current dietary guidelines which from personal experience is only making their conditions worse and because for some, just like my son, it could quite literally save their life. Susie Olopai RN, mum and grateful x For those interested I do have a blog https://myislandstyle.wordpress Vanessa Jae Comiskey I am a PCOS sufferer with insulin resistance who has ALWAYS struggled to lose weight, eat the right foods and understand the importance of nutrition. Just 5 weeks ago it all came to a head. I was forever feeling bloated, suffering constant headaches, feeling like a fog was covering my entire forehead and eyes, extremely fatigued and could barely concentrate. I was generally sick and tired of looking and feeling like crap. My light bulb moment came when I decided to participate in a study through a local university which was about comparing 50 people in the healthy BMI range to 50 people in the OBESE BMI range (yes that is me). The study consisted of doing blood tests and a 1 hour cognitive ability test via a computer. I rocked up at the university that day feeling BEYOND tired and barely able to keep my eyes open. During the test I found my concentration levels at an all time LOW. My mind was continually wandering and I found that I was not completing tasks as well as I would have expected. The exercise person in charge of the study was amazingly understanding and I told him just how much I hated myself for neglecting my health and continuing to not look after myself. It was in that moment a light bulb went on for me. I realised that I was in CHARGE of myself and it was time to change my LIFESTYLE! Not go on a fad diet but for REAL change the way I thought about food and the way I looked after myself. I just happened to get into a conversation with someone that week on Facebook via a slow cooking site and she mentioned the word Paleo. I had no clue as to what it meant etc so I asked her. The lady willingly obliged to explain it all to me and how it is getting back to basics with food and cutting out all the unnecessary processed foods, preservatives, additives, colourings, flavourings etc in order to gain better health. I started doing my research and found this page in the process and decided that Paleo is exactly what I need and what my family needs. That day I started the Paleo diet and within 2 weeks of cutting out the sugars and crap that I used to eat I felt like that FOG I spoke about earlier had LIFTED in the first time in what seemed like FOREVER! Yesterday I went to the doctors for the first time to have a check up after starting the Paleo Diet and alongside taking some medication to help regulate my insulin levels I have lost 5kgs! I jumped up and down and squealed with excitement! I havent felt this good in a long time!! Yes I have a long way to go but as I keep telling people this isnt a fad diet it is a LONG TERM Lifestyle CHANGE for the better. I am still trying to fully transition my kids and hubby over to Paleo eating (fussy eaters) but I have managed to create beautiful tasting dinners every night which are healthy & full of flavour (INCLUDING Caulirice) and some paleo snacks with the help of almond flour, coconut oil and lots of other PALEO ingredients. The coconut oil is my NEW BFF and I now get excited every time my husband tells me that the HEALTHY recipes taste better then the standard non paleo recipes! Including the Cauliflower fried rice I made the other night with Paleo cabbage rolls in the slow cooker. Anyway that is just a snippet of how Paleo has changed my life for the better! Cheers Oh and P.S. people are noticing the change in me and how I seem so much happier lately. Who would have thought??!!? The information on this page is general information and should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease. Do not use the information found on this page as a substitute for professional health care advice. Any information you find on this page or on external sites which are linked to on this page should be verified with your professional health care provider. Pete Evans does not make any representation or warranty (express or implied) as to the accuracy or completeness of the information set out on this page, and shall not have any liability for any misrepresentation (express or implied) contained in, or for any omissions from, the information on this page. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury whether based upon consumer law, negligence or any other cause of action.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 18:39:17 +0000
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