Science-fair tummy
I've decided to treat my
funky tummy as a science-fair project. Here's the summary so far, with
technical terms purposefully left out.
Hypothesis 1: Bad bugs
took over my gut.
- Experimental protocol: A week of heavy-duty antibiotics followed
by a bug-friendly diet heavy in probiotics and bland carbs (brown rice,
steamed vegetables, bananas) combined with daily fiber pills.
- Results: After a bit of initial improvement, tummy still funky.
- Conclusion: Bugs are not the issue or are not the only issue.
- Note for further study: When I'm off farm and don't take along a
fiber pill, I seem to have my best days.
Hypothesis 2: Inflamed
gut never gets a chance to heal because I keep stuffing irritating,
high-fiber food down my gullet.
- Experimental protocol: Low-fiber diet of foods that haven't inflamed my gut in the past (hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, bananas, low-fat hotdogs, chicken breast, tuna) in small meals for breakfast through mid afternoon, then juiced fruits and vegetables for supper to give my gut an extended relaxation period. Imodium as needed to slow things down.
- Results: I'm only two days in, but early signs are very positive.
By the way, I continue
to appreciate everyone's kind words and good energy! Hopefully I'll be
back to having fun homesteading information to report in the near
future.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Hi Anna, I'm so sorry you're stomach is giving you such issues. I'm a celiac so I know those feelings well. Have you ever tried activated charcoal or bentonite clay? Healing your gut, in my experience, takes such a long time. Sending healing energy your way.
Susan
I don't have first hand knowledge but have read a lot of good things about healing the gut with bone broth. Might be worth a try.
Hope you feel better soon.