In order to even begin talking about this, I first have to give you a bit of backstory. Don’t worry, I won’t be too lengthy and drawn out- at least I’ll try.
It begins when I was a little girl, I was born with bi-lateral reflux disease. However, it was not discovered until I was about 9 yrs old, and surgery to fix it happened at age 12, but severe damage to my kidneys was already done and I needed a transplant. My wonderful woman of a grandma donated her kidney to me and it would proceed to be amazing for 12 yrs, and get me through 3 pregnancies in which all my babes are healthy and happy.
Fast forward to now, I am currently on Hemo Dialysis, my transplanted kidney has failed and I am in need of a transplant again. Now when my kidney started failing I could feel toxins building up in my body; little things at first, sluggishness, dark circles, acne flair ups. But it turned into extreme nausea and vomitting, hair and weight loss and bumps on my face that still need to be lasered off. The Drs explained to me that this would happen, due to toxins building up in my body, but that hopefully Dialysis will help to ride my body of some of those toxins.
I decided to start doing research after listening to a woman talk about how she healed her kidneys by changing her diet to a clean diet free of toxins-a vegan diet. At the time I ate fast food on a regular basis and picked up easy, ready to heat and eat, meals. I was sick all.the.time. So I learned while on dialysis I need to be aware of potassium, phosphorus, protein, and sodium counts, etc;. I researched what veggies and fruits to eat and what meats were best. Did you know meats when grilled can form potential carcinogens that have been linked with cancers? For someone like me that is particularly concerning.
So I researched my butt off on the cleanest foods, most diets that seemed to coincide with what I was reading, were Vegan. Ultimately being Vegan does provide you with the least amount of toxins, and I do hope to switch towards being Vegan as I know that is healthiest. But chicken and small amounts of some fish is what I consume in my diet now.
I no longer consume fast food, red meats, dairy(cows) milk, margarine, corn syrup, and processed foods. And I cut back significantly on potatoes, cheese, avacado, tomato. I now cook all my own meals and am able to prep healthy snacks like blueberries and mixed nuts-walnuts and cashews are a favorite, to help give my body and brain an extra boost through the day, in between meals.
I actually had blood work done through my diet switch and (even though my kidney was failing) it came down almost a whole point, showing my kidney wasn’t under as much stress or needing to work so hard.
I feel better, and my body feels better. I had also gained about 30lbs during that time of eating unhealthy, which I have now thankfully lost. But it’s not even about how much you weigh, it’s about how you feel, in your body. I could tell I was being bogged down by the toxins, and now, It’s no question in my mind it was the food. Yes I have kidney failure and I have symptoms from that as well, but it’s a much different feeling. I have more energy now and I can breathe better, my hair has started growing back, it’s amazing the differences I see.
If there’s one thing you can take from this, I hope that it is this; your body is your temple, nurture it and love it and it will love you back.
-D Khrysthine