Today’s special edition post is a follow-up to our previous post regarding the “Detox Workshop” offered by Anne Angelone (M.S., LaC) which I (RS) participated in.
I must say… WOW! In just a short period of one hour we learned a wealth of practical and relevant strategies to better understand what our body is trying to tell us. Anne provided each participant with a “Metabolic Assessment Form” in which you answer on a scale of 1-3 whether you experience particular symptoms (ex: Get lightheaded if meals are missed, unexplained itchy skin, etc.). There are about 150 different items to rate which are broken down into 17 categories. High scores in each category reveal evidence of particular conditions (ex: Hypoglycemia, Hyperacidity, adrenal conditions, etc.).
We even learned the basics of eastern medicine’s “tongue reading” and each had a chance to learn what our tongues were trying to tell us. The tongue serves as a diagnostic map which, at least in my particular case, was in-line with what other doctors and lab tests have been saying thus far.
A very interesting fact which I personally took away from the class is that the existence of a food allergy could have all along been the reason why I constantly felt like I was over-heating and always had extreme difficulty in hot weather. During the workshop, the light-bulb went off that ever since I have been gluten-free, I have actually begun to feel cold just like everyone else.
Following this class, I embarked on my “10-Day Detox” diet and am currently on it. The idea behind the 10-day diet is to eliminate as many known types of allergens as possible. Even if you don’t think you are allergic to them, you eliminate them during the ten days. This should, in theory, give the gut a break from inflammation/irritation and thus give it a chance to begin healing. So for these ten days, not only will I be gluten free, but here are some examples of what else I will be avoiding:
- Soy
- Corn
- White rice
- Diary / eggs
- Peanut
- Tofu
- Refined sugars
- Artificial coloring, flavoring, sweeteners
- Caffeine
- Certain fruit: grapefruit, oranges, banana, pineapple, watermelon
- “Nightshade vegetables” (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell peppers)
- Any non-organic chicken or beef (which by the way must be grass-fed, not corn fed)
So there go all my current gluten-free alternatives! Back to the drawing board we go. She did provide some wonderful recipes that I look forward to trying. Organic meats, quinoa, and brown rice will be my new best friends for these 10 days.
Sounds disconcerting, but she is giving us a lot of resources so we can still maintain a healthy balanced diet and get all the nutrients we need. She is even giving us restaurant and café recommendations that can accommodate our diet!
I welcome the change in eating routine and I really hope to see some of the results some of her previous patients have seen:
- Better digestion and elimination
- Fewer symptoms of Chronic Illness
- Improved Concentration, Mental Focus and Clarity
- Improved Mood
- Increased Energy
- Less congestion and fewer allergic symptoms
- Less joint pain
- Increased sense of relaxation
- Enhanced sleep
As I mentioned, I will be posting the results of my 10-day Detox diet in part 3 of the “Detox/Cleansing Diet” posts. In the meantime, if you’d like to find out more about what Anne does, you can visit her website at http://www.expandingqi.com/. She not only does in-person consultations, but also does phone, email, and Skype sessions with her patients
If the 10-day diet proves to be a success for me, we are going to see if we can work with her to offer this same workshop via Skype so that our interested readers from around the globe can take advantage of the opportunity.
Stay tuned till next time where I will share my experiences through the 10-Day Detox Diet.
