What happened after my first 30 strict days? How do I feel now? Have I managed to heal my leaky gut? This is a description of how to reintroduce the eliminated foods and how to create a long-term sustainable diet. It is also a personal evaluation of "Healing leaky gut: days 31-90 (4 Feb-3 April)".
I started by reintroducing eggs first. It's smart to introduce one thing at a time in increasing amounts over 3 days. I started with one egg the first day, increased to 3 the second day and then ate 5 eggs the third day. I didn't notice much difference, which is a good sign!
Theoretically, the following order is preferable when reintroducing what you previously eliminated:
- Eggs
- Starch (potatoes, rice)
- Nuts
- Nightshades (e.g. tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant)
- Fermented milk products and raw milk
- Caffeine
- Cocoa
- Legumes (such as peas, beans and lentils)
- Alcohol
It is always important to remember that the quality of the food is important. Organic, locally produced food, prepared in the best possible way is always recommended. The majority of nutrients should always come from the diet. Each meal should contain protein (meat, fish, chicken) and high quality fats (olive oil, avocado oil, etc.). Otherwise, vegetables, fruit and berries should be varied daily. Keep in mind that food should preferably be colorful, which is a simple way of thinking when planning the week's menu.
I chose to reintroduce caffeine after I started eating eggs again, because it's something I missed tremendously during my first 30 days. It was also correct to make this choice based on what I craved the most. After all, I was extremely strict during my first 30 days, so this was big! Next, I reintroduced cocoa. I bought the best chocolate on the market, 85% cocoa content and organic of course. Super good! But easy to eat too much. Even if you are not intolerant to a food, you can of course react if you eat too much of something. All the more reason to vary your diet as much as possible within the permitted limits (these limits are being extended these days).
After reintroducing eggs, caffeine and cocoa again, I decided to start using milk in my coffee again. Unfortunately, I think milk is a big culprit in my life, I started to have similar symptoms as before I started the project "Healing Leaky Gut" even though I only had a small amount of milk every day (0.5 dl) in my coffee.
I've tried wine and sherry again, but I don't feel very good about it, so it might be a glass of wine every two weeks or so. But it doesn't bother me much at the moment.
Then I tried cashews and that didn't go so well either. Furthermore, I have tried yoghurt with the same negative results.
As you can see, I have not followed the order above and that is only because I have been trying to make my diet work in a normal everyday life. After all, the idea is to create a diet that works in the long run for me and my family. I have adjusted the order in which I have reintroduced foods according to what my schedule has looked like.
The other groups I have chosen not to introduce yet, as I notice that I felt much better last month than I do now and I see no reason to reintroduce foods that could create inflammation in my body.
So after 90 days, I eat just as I did on my strict diet with the following additions: eggs, caffeine and cocoa. I also no longer follow a 100 % strict diet but 90/10, where I allow myself to "cheat" (wine, nuts, milk etc) 10 % of the time and the rest of the time I follow the diet that works for me.
So am I happy with the result? Both yes and no. I feel that I have a fresh start, more energy and I feel better, but I also feel that I may have just extinguished the worst fire in my belly and that the embers are still there, smoldering, ready to flare up at any moment. So I haven't been able to heal my leaky gut just by changing my diet. It may be that I need to give myself more time! 90 days is a very short time. If I continue to eat as I do now, I am sure I will slowly but surely heal my leaky gut.
Before the project started, I had already decided to also try supplements for a while to see if it was worth the money and if it worked. This would happen after I had tried "just" changing the diet. From the beginning, I had thought that it would be after the summer, as every change you make takes energy before you get new energy and I have a lot on my agenda now in the spring. Nevertheless, I have decided to continue with the same diet as I have now and also take special supplements to heal my leaky gut right now starting tomorrow (day 91-forward).
I will continue to use of all my new, tasty and inspiring recipes from day 1-30. I'm super glad I started this project, because I really needed it! It usually takes 3 weeks to change something and create new habits. Eating the way I do feels natural and me and my family, I look forward to every meal in a whole new way compared to before. And I feel so much better, although of course I wish I could eat everything!
So the next goal will be to try to extinguish the embers (get rid of as much inflammation as possible) using a strict diet together with supplements.
Update: I managed to extinguish the embers with a healthy diet and supplements. I am extremely happy with the results! I feel like a brand new Johanna!
Background information on the project can be found in my latest series of articles:
- What is a leaky gut? part 1
- Do I have a leaky gut? part 2
- Why do I have a leaky gut? part 3
- How do I heal my leaky gut? part 4
See you soon!