The best thing about healing with a plant-based diet is that you can do as much or as little as you want, moving as quickly or slowly as it suites you. There is no one right way to do it. Most people like to gradually ease into it and this is the way I did it. I found it was more practical for my lifestyle, my money limitations, and it was the best for my body at the time. You must be aware that when transitioning to a plant-based diet, you will experience detox systems. The symptoms vary with each individual and the speed of detoxification they are doing. My detox symptoms were like common cold symptoms, ie stuffy nose, tired, mood swings, etc. They are never too severe and it is completely normal! Your body accumulates toxins from unhealthy foods, chemicals, preservatives, artificial ingredients, chemical-filled products and environmental pollution. Your body is flushing out all of the toxins you have built up over the years, so of course it's going to feel bad for a little bit! The part to remember is that you will feel 10 times better once it's all gone. Detox times vary from person to person depending on how toxic their body is.
I started the transition into a plant-based diet with green smoothies and salads. These are simple meals that anyone can make and you don't need any special kitchen equipment (besides a blender, which most people have already, or you can get a standard one for pretty cheap at any store). The main idea of the natural, plant-based diet is to eat primarily fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, sea vegetables, and other organic/natural foods that have not been processed. Focus on eating natural, living foods and eliminate (or severely limit) processed foods like meat, dairy, gluten, sugar, etc. You can do this all at once, or gradually shift your diet, but eventually, you will want your diet to be as raw and natural as possible. You will only heal as much as you work! For example, if you slowly start adding things like veggies into your diet and you decrease your meat consumption to every other day, you will heal far less quickly than someone who goes on a veggie juice fast for a week. You will still heal, but the results will take much longer and will be less noticeable.
Cutting out meat & dairy
I highly recommend eliminating meat, dairy, and sugar from your diet while you attempt to detox. These food products are acidic and will get in the way of your healing! You can add these things back into your diet once you are feeling better. If you feel like you can't do it, that's ok, just try to limit them.
Why Buy Organic
When buying produce, you should always try to buy organic when possible! Organic produce and conventionally grown produce are different. Organic is superior to conventional because the soil is handled properly. It hasn't been overworked, the crops are rotated which makes for more mineralized soil, which in turn produces a more nutrient rich fruit or vegetable. Also organic produce hasn't been sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, larvicides, fungicides, nor have they been treated with other harmful chemicals or inorganic fertilizers. In addition, buying organic guarentees that you are not consuming Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO's. Your body deserves the very best you can afford, so please buy organic and local whenever possible. :)
Here are some recipe ideas to get you started on a plant-based diet. I usually have a smoothie or veggie/fruit juice in the morning. Then a nice big salad for lunch. Then I try to have something fun and different for dinner. This is where I get creative and research recipes to try online!
Breakfast
IC Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 Thai coconut (use water & meat)
1 pear (or apple if you can tolerate it)
1 banana
3 stalks of celery
1-2 cups of spinach
1 tbsp spirulina powder
It's hard to always have a fresh coconut, so sometimes I use IC friendly coconut water. If you can't find this, coconut milk or almond milk from a carton will do. Be careful with these though because they are not raw, they are pasteurized, so they will not be as nutritious. Also, make sure you get the unsweetened kind because most other flavors have added sugar, which contributes to candida growth, weight gain, acidosis, and disease! I find that a fresh, natural coconut is always the best to use. Or just use water!
I know our fruit selection is limited with IC, so this is a good starter smoothie. But I encourage you to get creative with this recipe! The focus here is to keep the smoothie alkalizing. That means more greens than fruit (which has sugar and is acidic)! Change up the fruits, add in green powder, protein powder, seeds, probiotics, bee pollen, etc. But only do so when your body is ready to take that step.
Lunch
Alkalizing Salad!
This salad is one of my favorites. Spinach, cucumber, celery, carrots, avocado, and sunflower seeds!
The choices are endless here. Most vegetables are IC friendly, so eat as much of them as you can! The hard part is finding a salad dressing. I usually just went without one (having toppings like avocado & sea salt made it bearable). You could use a little bit of olive oil or make your own fresh, natural dressing with things you can tolerate. You can get more creative with the salad dressings once you are feeling better. :)
Dinner
This meal is hard for people to remain raw. There's tons of great recipe ideas out there! I would recommend trying to stay as raw as you can while you start the initial detox period. But of course, you can have something cooked every now and then! Listen to your body. (Of course, you will be craving things you shouldn't have like sugar or junk food, and you should try to fight those urges, but don't make yourself suffer uncomfortably). Just make sure your meals involves lots of LIVING food - veggies & fruits!
For a raw dinner, I like to make something fun, like veggies and a dip (hummus, pesto, guacamole), veggie wraps, zucchini pasta, raw veggie soup, etc.
There's tons of great recipe ideas out there. Do some research and see what you can find!
Also, don't forget to use youtube for recipe videos. Here's my favorite: Dan the Man's youtube page.
Snacks
In between meals, I snack on veggies, fruit, homemade granola (nuts, seeds, dried fruits), or something fun like an apple slathered in almond butter with raisins and honey on top. Yum. Be creative with your meals! Throw stuff together. Enjoy it.
Beverages
The most important thing to drink is water! Make sure you are drinking at least 64 oz a day. I also drink coconut water (delicious & promotes alkalinity) and teas with no caffeine. IC safe fruit & veggie juices are great and you should always try to get them freshly pressed. Fruits & veggies start to loose nutrients as soon as they are juiced, so you should always try to drink it right away. Also, if you buy processed juices they most likely have IC-unsafe additives and are pasteurized so they are not as nutritious. Try to avoid acidic drinks like soda, alcohol, coffee, etc. during this detox time!!!
I followed this plan for a couple months. I was pretty strict in the beginning because I was desperate to heal (plus my bladder couldn't really tolerate much). Almost immediately, my pain levels dropped from about a daily pain level 7-9 to level 1-3. Eventually, they disappeared completely. Same with all my other IC symptoms, as well as my digestive issues. Once I started feeling better and like my body could handle it, I started adding things back into my diet. I still remain a raw vegan and my diet is about 80-95% raw foods. But now I can have things like acidic fruits, tomatoes, some alcohol, cacao (raw chocolate), painless sex, etc.! It's worth it but you have to do the work.
A year later, I feel like I have learned a lot during this healing journey. I recommend you do a lot of research! Google & Youtube should be your best friends. Knowledge is power. Try to learn how to listen to your body and read symptoms, then think back at what could have caused them. Healing is holistic and you need to do much more than simply change your diet! Add in exercise, meditation, yoga, herbs, supplements, dry brushing, massages, acupuncture, etc. Whatever you feel will help you. Try things and see if they work. Talk to others with IC and see what they are doing and how it is helping. This is the time to transition into a life of health. 70% of diseases are caused by lifestyle choices. So now's the time to change your lifestyle. See what happens. Eat LIVING foods and feel ALIVE. Your body has the natural ability to heal itself. When you treat your body right, it begins to heal itself. There's no "one way" to heal. There is no magic pill. It's a process. It takes a lot of work. But you can get there.
Please check out my post, "Great resources", for good sources of info to help you get started in this journey.
My yoga teacher quoted this from a book, sorry I do not have the original source:
"If you want to analyze the past, look to your present condition. If you want to see the future, look to your present actions."
Aa always, I'm here if you have questions.
Good luck. Get rawkin.
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