My Journey with Food Sensitivities and Gut Health + Where I’m at Today

Throughout high school, I was eating semi-healthy. I was playing high school and club soccer, so I was extremely active and in very good shape. Food wasn’t something I ever thought deeply about. I pretty much would eat whatever was in my house or what the cafeteria at school had. I definitely wasn’t eating the healthiest I could have, but I would say I ate more or less 50% healthy.

Right after high school, I had stopped playing soccer and was not active whatsoever. Soccer was never something I did for the exercise; it was always because I genuinely enjoyed it and when it was no longer a part of my life, I didn’t know how to become active in a different way. And because I didn’t know where to start, I just did nothing instead. Once I started college, I would tell myself I had no time because of my busy schedule, which I can now see was just an excuse. Nonetheless, my inactivity along with having a diet of college dining hall food including mac n cheese, coffee, bagels, and other unhealthy options, caused my body to react in a very drastic way. While in high school I had maintained a very healthy weight due to soccer, but at this point I had started to gain more and more weight and developed very severe stomach issues.

When I returned home that summer, I was suffering from excessive bloating, stomach pains, nausea, and sometimes vomiting. I constantly felt gross and uncomfortable in my own body because of these issues. So, I decided to consult my doctor to see if there was anything she could do to figure out and hopefully treat my problems. My doctor ended up ordering some baseline blood tests checking for things such as the thyroid hormone, electrolyte composition, and white blood cell counts. When I received the results I was confused. My doctor told me that my test results all came back normal and that there wasn’t much she could do from here because it wasn’t a food allergy.

And this was such a frustrating point in my journey because I had always believed that this was something that the doctor could cure, but I was left feeling as if this was something I would have to deal with for the rest of my life. I couldn’t bear the thought of having constant nausea, stomach pain, and bloating so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I started to keep a mental diary of the food I ate each day and how I would feel after eating it. And after a few months of doing so, I had narrowed it down to gluten and dairy being the main causes of my problems. And I was set on cutting out gluten and dairy. Me being my naïve self didn’t understand how many foods contained both gluten and dairy. When I realized this, it was very overwhelming and sort of stopped me in my tracks. I would not be able to eat the foods I was used to anymore and felt as if my options were extremely limited.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of having constant nausea, stomach pain, and bloating so I decided to take matters into my own hands.”

And so, I decided to wait it out and see if my body would magically cure itself from these food sensitivities. Throughout this time, I was taking lactase pills to help with the dairy sensitivity while still dealing with the repercussions of gluten. The lactase pills somewhat helped but it got to the point where I was taking these on a daily basis which could not have been good for my body. After a couple months of this I decided enough was enough. At this point, I had gained 15 pounds and felt uncomfortably bloated and nauseous most days. I was not happy with who I was and especially not happy with how I felt on a day to day basis.

At this moment, I experienced a moment of clarity where I decided that I didn’t want to keep living like this anymore and that I needed to take that first step to feeling better about my body and ultimately myself. So, I started by googling all the different ways to cure the stomach issues I was having, as well as gluten and dairy free recipes. It was a lot of information and very overwhelming but after a little while I was able to use this information to create a plan for myself. And I do want to remind people that this was not just an overnight change, but a series of small changes over the course of almost a year that compounded into a very drastic effect.

The first part of my plan was to do the thing I thought was the easiest, which was exercising. Since I played soccer for the majority of my life, this seemed like the easiest thing to do because I was familiar with being active and it also involved adding something into my life, rather than taking something away. So, I committed to working out 3 days every week and experimented with workouts that I liked. And after a couple of weeks of working out consistently, I started to add a healthier diet into the mix. I slowly started to cut out processed foods, while adding more whole, nutrient dense foods that were both gluten and dairy free.

Once I made this adjustment to my life, everything completely changed. I no longer was dealing with nausea, vomiting, and stomach pains. Although I was still dealing with bloating, this was such a huge step in the right direction. For the first time in my life, I could physically feel my body thriving because of the nourishing food I was consuming. I felt so light and energetic. And to some people this might seem a bit weird, but those who have struggled with gut and stomach issues can understand how much of a struggle it is to have that feeling of disgust and discomfort right after eating a meal. And this is a feeling that I will never forget and that I am forever grateful for. For the first time I felt great in my body, which transferred to my confidence with myself. I felt like there was light at the end of the tunnel for me and I was ecstatic.

“For the first time in my life, I could physically feel my body thriving because of the nourishing food I was consuming.”

As time went on, I was able to cultivate a meal plan full of gluten and dairy free recipes that made me feel amazing and that I was excited to eat. And at this point there was only two other things that I wanted to see if I could change, which was eliminating the bloat and my caffeine intake. I started with the bloating by adding simple habits to improve my mental health and well-being into my daily routines gradually and it resulted in the outcomes I had hoped for. Once this was under control, I decided to take on caffeine. And let me tell you, this was not easy. I had been a big coffee drinker for the past 2-3 years because it gave me the energy I needed. But at the same time, I could tell it was irritating my stomach. So once summer came, I decided that this was the time for me to cut out caffeine, mostly because I couldn’t use the excuse that I needed the energy to do my schoolwork. It took me a total of 4 days until I no longer had the symptoms of withdrawal from coffee, but I am so glad that I made this change because once I did, I felt better than I ever thought I would. I thought just cutting out gluten and dairy, eating healthy, and working out could make me the feel the best I ever could. But once I cut out caffeine, I had eliminated all of my stomach issues and my energy levels were replenished in a natural way from the foods I was eating. I had developed such a sense of gratitude for my body because of its ability to naturally generate the energy I needed every day just from the foods I was consuming.

 And at this point, I had created a lifestyle around my food sensitivities and overall health that I was truly happy with and I was fully prepared to live this way for the rest of my life. But after about 9 months since starting this journey and at such a good place in my life, physically and mentally, I got a little bit curious. I was curious if maybe I wasn’t still sensitive to gluten and dairy or not and there was no harm in trying. So the first thing I tried was dairy and immediately I did not feel good, which meant I was still sensitive to it, but I wanted to try gluten, so when I felt back to normal I tried a slice of bread. And I had gone on with my busy day and had not even realized that I hadn’t had a bad reaction. I was shocked but kind of thought it might have been a fluke so a couple days later I tried another slice of bread and there was no reaction again. Then I started to have other foods containing gluten a couple days a week and still had no reaction. From there I was so surprised that I had cured my gluten sensitivity on my own. That was such a proud moment because I had struggled with it for so long and to know that I was able to heal my gut of my own actions was extremely empowering. And from then on, I have incorporated healthy sources of gluten back into my diet, which brings us to where I am today.

My current lifestyle consists of exercising 5 days per week, eating a diet of whole, nutrient dense foods that are dairy free, journaling, meditating, and taking care of my mind, body, and soul. And I have never felt better about myself. I am here writing to you all because I want to share my story and experiences in hopes of showing that those struggling with food sensitivities or gut issues are not alone. I want those to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel whether it be to cure sensitivities fully or to give my advice on how to create a lifestyle around your food sensitivities or stomach issues that is sustainable and enjoyable!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest