Eat to Live

My life changed after reading the book Eat to Live by Joel Furhman. For as long as I could remember I had always suffered from hypoglycemic, or low blood sugar, attacks. These would be awful at times! It would start in my arms, feeling weak and shaky from the inside out, then progress into visibly trembling. I would get really hot and clammy, but look white as a ghost. I would be very weak some times to the point it would be hard to get food in my mouth. At the same time, I could not shove enough in or fast enough. There would be many times I felt so weak I was unsure I would even be able to walk two blocks home from sports practice. Doctors always said to drink orange juice and eat peanuts, but come on, that takes too long to hit the bloodstream. I would, in my not so healthy habits, chug a Mt. Dew as fast as I could. It was an instant fix and it worked well. I had three blood tests to see if I was diabetic and all of them came back normal, but these attacks would still happen. It was always frustrating not knowing when it would hit or why it was happening.

My sister suggested I read this book to learn more about nutrition and get some healthy recipe ideas. It was more a guide to plant-based living (not that I am a vegetarian... far from it) and basic nutrition. There it was, the answer to so many questions I had for so long... he said many people who have hypoglycemic attacks are actually having a toxic reaction to gluten! GLUTEN!! That was the answer to all these years of suffering! I started to greatly reduce my consumption of gluten, but since I was not allergic (I was tested, no celiac here) I would still eat it occasionally.

A year or so later, about the same time I was beginning to look into having the endometriosis diagnosed, I also noticed a random feeling in my throat. It would feel like it was constricting and I was going to choke but I never actually did. I had an endoscopy performed, it came back normal. That is when I looked into the food allergy test I had completed and realized I had a positive reaction for all ingredients relating to gluten; gluten, wheat, rye, barley, brewers yeast, bakers yeast. Somehow I over looked this or chose not to pay attention to it. This was my magic solution! My hypoglycemic attacks ceased to occur and the feeling in my throat completely went away. It has been a little over 3 years now since all of this took place. There has been quite the learning curve but I feel so much better not eating it. When I try to cheat, that little feeling in my throat returns with the second or third bite to remind me to stop. I am very thankful for this book and my sister for recommending I read it.