Is diet really helpful and is it all or nothing?

That all depends on who you ask! For some, diet has a LOT to do with their healing and for others, not so much. I healed from a 40 year old set of infections without following any dietary restrictions, even though I have a lot of digestive issues - and I healed in a lot less time than most do.

With that said though, I are very, very healthy. High protein, low carb, almost no processed foods, no eating out at all, and things like that. Tons of probiotics, too.

My diet is very controversial in the Lyme world though, as most believe that you must follow this or that diet in order to heal - which I didn't, even though I did heal.

Sugar is important to cut out because of the risk of Candida sidelining your efforts of healing Lyme and company. There are some that have to stop treating Lyme and company for a month or longer in order to heal candida because it's gone systemic and gotten pretty serious. But there are some healthy alternatives that can be used.

As far as gluten goes, I would encourage you to at least lower the amount of gluten that you normally take in.

I don't believe in restricting grains, just to restrict grains and the same with legumes - but again, that's controversial.

When you are so exhausted that you can't even stand to prepare a meal, just almost any food is better than none, as long as it's something on the healthy side of life.

As you eat a little better, and get some detoxing and treatment going, you will begin to feel a bit better and you should be able to adjust your diet to where you are eating more and more healthy as you go along. Just make it your goal to eat just as healthy as you possibly can. Remember, our health starts in the gut, so making sure we get all we need is going to help us heal faster and better.

You dont have to go all the way with something, once you know your limits.

BUT!......the only way in order to know how far you can go (or get away with) is to test your limits on certain food groups or diets.

Limiting glutan, sugar and carbs will help gut health.

I eat towards paleo, not 100% though. I love paleo, its really just whole foods, very easy to prepare. The problem with mixed dishes, caseroles, "hot dishes" ect is all the stuff holing it together......mostly flour, not good.

The colorfull veggies taste better once you get fake and sugar flavorings out of your "expected" taste buds. Mini- pepers.....yummie. Eliminating. or just less sweets, including no sugar cola, improves the taste of other foods. Once the sweet addiction is gone or less, its easier to eat whats better for you.

k07 they have coconut milk creamer for coffee. I get the vanilla. Non-dairy!! I do stevia too. I love pizza, obviously - hence my name. lol I rarely do it, but there was a point in my life where we had it once a week. I love vegetarian and Amy's Roasted Vegetable pizza is still my fav.

k07 said...
Gluten is actually pretty easy because there's a gluten-free version for about everything anymore.

Actually, gluten free foods are often laden with sugar and other offensive ingredients, so be very sure you read the labels!!!

k07, my best buddy said the same thing. She hates it! She is lactose intolerant and she still puts a splash of real cream in her 1 cup of coffee.

Well I got one think going for me, I drink my coffee black so no dairy or sugar problems there!

I have a 4 year old and 1 year old that I'm home with all morning and then most nights I head straight to work when my husband gets home. Most days I don't eat until my way to work around 3, then end up getting fast food. I can't take food to work because there's no fridge or anything to keep food, our breaks aren't long enough to eat out, so they provide "food" for us there but it's revolting or processed snack food like cup of noodles or cliff bars. Very few options. Most of the time I don't eat at work either, I get fast food after work or go home and snack on something which is never healthy.

So lots of challenges here :(

try preparing something in the crock pot - and taking that with you since you usually eat on the way.

And take in Lara bars - or make your own (lots of recipes online!). Dates is the main ingredient in many of them. It's high sugar, but at least it's all natural and better for you than a 'cup of noodles'! LOL!

And if you are going to hit fast food - go for things like Subway (you can even get a salad there!!) or somewhere that they will offer grilled chicken or fish.

Start by making the healthiest choices you can within your current routines, then start looking for alternatives that you can easily slip into their places. Maybe hubby can even do a bit of cooking too? There are some really great quick recipes out there and using a crock pot will help a lot!

Go to the store with a one year old and four year old? Shoot me now. Not gonna happen.

Sadly I'm supposed to avoid fermented food too because of high histamines or something so no yogurt, kefir, etc. not that I'm heeding that advice.

It's just not in the cards right now, my depression is far too deep at the moment... I shouldn't have asked but I was just curious. It's all just too overwhelming right now, I'd rather just not eat.

I get that way too- would rather just not eat - and have done that all too often. I'm an odd one on this - I don't even like food. I got into serious medical trouble by not eating enough.

Just do your best to make healthier choices right now, don't try to revamp your whole diet. If you have the choice of grilled chicken or breaded chicken, choose grilled.

If you have the choice of salad or fries, choose the salad - or at least a sweet potato.

Instead of a soda (don't even know if you drink them!) drink lemon water. You can sweeten it with a bit of stevia or xylitol to make it more like lemonade too!

Little improvements like that, on a continual basis will make for the big changes that aren't hard.

You need to eat. We need to fuel our body to heal. These are words I have to repeat every day. Today was particularly hard for some reason for me. It would have been so much easier to just not eat today, but I forced myself to eat something even though it wasn't the healthy of choices because if I don't, it's a short road for me to stop eating again - which doesn't help a thing.

Here is what my LLMD had to say on diet changes. She told me to stay as true to it as possible but for a number of reasons may have a slip here and there and out of 21 meals a week if you have one or two that aren't perfect it's not the end of the world. As long as those few slips don't make you noticeable worse and don't become a habit you can still enjoy going to friends and family houses/out to eat without them needing to worry you can't eat with them or need to make you somthing special every time.

I did have to make a few changes to my diet but never did have a horrible diet to start with. Being a beekeeper and maple syrup producer I still will have some honey or syrup in my tea or coffee but have cut back.

Carrot sticks, celery with a nut butter - cheap and easy.

I love artichokes. I cook up 4 and will eat one for lunch the next 4 days. I don't do anything on them. Just cold and nothing. Great fiber and VERY high in antioxidants. Good source of Vitamin K for our brains, significantly reduces levels of lipids and cholesterol and protection against free radicals.

A tray full of veggies. I shop and buy veggies and cut them up and anytime I feel like grazing they are right there and ready. I also buy hunks of turkey - good source of tryptophan. Nice to easily munch. I also love turkey jerky and it is a good snack.

Avacado - gosh it is a bowl and a good source of protein. Just get a lil can of tuna and drain the oil or water and put that tuna in the avacado ready made bowl and that is a quick and easy snack.

My Mom had 3 girls and I was the vegetable cook or uncook because I love salads. I started at an early age and I got veggies because I was the oldest and got to choose first. My younger sister was meat and sides and my baby sister was desert. No one makes a pie like my baby sister.

Stacey if I buy it, I eat it.

This is how I eat good food, I don't buy bad stuff.

When I am lazy I will buy a couple of pre-cooked organic chickens. I debone them and into the fridge.
Great for snacking. Make an extra baked potato. It is great the next day heated up. Hard boiled eggs. Make it so everything in the house is easy, convenient and healthy. That is my secret. Nut butters galore. Just a couple of pieces of orange bell pepper are great snacks. Lots of snacks around because when hubby is working I do not want to cook! Kefir is like liquid ice cream to me. Crystallized ginger is candy. Peppermint tea is like a holiday. But my favorite is garlic. Raw garlic chopped and on just about anything. I don't care if I have smelly breath.