About this time 3 years ago, I started my journey to heal Crohn’s Disease with food. It was sometime after Thanksgiving and before the December holidays that I was into my second month of experiencing a flare when my husband found some information for a diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for people with Crohn’s, colitis, celiac disease, and other gastrointestinal diseases.
I wished I would have recorded that date, but to be honest, I didn’t think that the diet would work, and I didn’t think it would ever change me as much as it has. I had tried going gluten-free for a month prior with no improvement in my symptoms. I had already been vegetarian for 10 years, so I thought I was eating pretty healthy to begin with. Plus, I was living in Los Angeles at that time, and I didn’t want to be yet another person on a crazy diet.
Three years ago, mourning the loss of traditional foods that come with this time of year. We kept laughing to keep me from crying.
However, my husband pushed me to give it one month. And, I couldn’t say no because he was going to join me on the diet. I’ll say that month was not graceful. At my lowest point, I was laying in front of the refrigerator crying my eyes out because I was too tired and too hungry to make anything and my usual solution of running to the burger joint across the street to grab a grilled cheese was crushed. I made it through my one month trial, and I was actually seeing improvement. By the time I had my scheduled colonoscopy, the results came back clean!
My journey will always continue, but now I have the strength, knowledge and rhythm to make sure I’m always on the right path.
Although I didn’t film any of my journey, I owe a lot of gratitude to the 3 people I have been following since the beginning of their journeys for this documentary. From behind the camera, I sympathize with their frustrations when they fall of their protocols, busy schedules that leave no time to cook, and isolation felt from social gatherings around food. Through this year, I have admired their persistence and strength to keep battling forward, which I don’t think they know how much that has inspired me. I feel truly honored to be part of their triumphs as they have been reclaiming their health, victory by victory.
Healing is a journey. When you look back at one month, 3 years or 50 years, the reflection of how far you come is a reward as sweet as good health!
-Lenore
foodasmedicinethemovie 