A detox diet
Home » Blog » Sarah Jefferies » A detox dietSarah Jefferies is taking her health into her own hands. Follow her progress every fortnight.
Mmmmm chai. Photo by House of Sims at Flickr
After being diagnosed with any condition, the smart thing to do is research and more research!
What exactly is my condition and what can I do to understand how my body works best? What have other sufferers have found useful? What works for them?
There is absolutely no point in starting at square one when you don’t have to! With all the resources I have available (a good easy access point for most of us is Google) I start my research and end up buying and downloading an e-book on one sufferer’s journey with PCOS. (Note to self: Feeling very eco-friendly right now as buying an e-book definitely better for environment than traditional printed books!)
I seem to constantly come back to the point of diet … which both a doctor and a naturopath have recommended changing. The question I have to ask myself at this point is, ‘Am I what I eat?’
Does that bite of chocolate here and there really affect my body? That bit of bread, the afternoon chai latte, the odd burger … they all come to me in a jumble of food thoughts scarily turning in my mind into one big food ball. Is this what I am? A great big churning food ball?
Right, I am getting down to business. It has to be simple—I’m not one for elaborate diets with too many hard-to-follow instructions. What I need is a core plan to try to stick to.
- Eat organic, fresh food. There are many advantages of eating food free of sprays and pesticides—less toxins for your body to get rid of, for one. Someone once said, ‘If it grows, it's good’! So I’m going for less packaging, less processed food and more whole unrefined foods. I am even going to start shopping at an organic whole foods store (though I cringe at the mental picture I have of hippies chanting whilst free-form dancing around me as I enter their store.)
- Eat low glycemic index foods. For more info on the low GI diet check out www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods.
- I’m also going to avoid gluten, cane sugar and artificial sweeteners, dairy, eggs and red meat. If this sounds rather extreme, it’s so my body can detox and hopefully heal. These foods have been proven not to be good for sufferers of PCOS. I am not saying this is forever; I will be re-assessing my diet and condition at the end of 2009.
- I aim to eat at least two-thirds of my food and juices raw—food is in its best state then! I have even enrolled to do raw food classes with the lovely Renata at From Grey to Green (www.fromgreytogreen.co.nz). I will keep you posted on how those go!
Finally, in the spirit of honesty, I’ll tell you all what I weigh in at today. Gulp, okay, well here goes: I am a whooping 82kgs (and a not very tall 160cm) which together puts me very much above my BMI. Now that that’s public knowledge there’s even more accountability and every incentive to stick to the plan. I will be keeping you posted for sure!
Thanks to you all for your comments and wishes—I feel like one very loved new vegan.
Tue April 28, 2009 @ 11:43 AM
