It takes a lot of hard work to create health. It takes even more work to reverse a serious chronic illness. Intermittent fasting was one of the most powerful adjunctive therapies that helped restore my health after a 20-year journey of chronic illness. I believe it is one of the best practices that I have adopted to keep Lyme Disease in remission for the last 9 years. You can read everything that I did to heal myself in this article.

Lyme Disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted through the bite of infected ticks, can lead to a range of debilitating symptoms affecting the nervous system, joints, and other organs. While traditional treatments often involve antibiotics, some individuals explore complementary approaches to manage their symptoms. One such approach gaining attention is intermittent fasting. I began intermittent fasting and low-carb eating in the summer of 2014 and have continued with this way of feeding and fasting for the last 10 years.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting. It doesn’t prescribe specific foods but focuses on when to eat. Common IF methods include the 16/8 method (16 hours of fasting followed by an 8-hour eating window). This was the fasting schedule that I maintained for the better part of 10 years. Occasionally if I need to lose a few pounds I will incorporate eating one meal per day. Otherwise known as OMAD. This eat-stop-eat method (24-hour fasts once or twice a week) is a powerful tool in weight loss and gut healing.

What a miracle to have had 6 years of great health after being chronically ill for over 20 years. It is possible to heal yourself by changing your diet, fixing your microbiome, detoxifying and making lifestyle changes. You can read about everything that I have done in this article to completely recover my health.

A year in review

My hiking holiday in Guatemala

Last year at this time I was on a hiking holiday in Guatemala. I was the oldest woman in our group of 50 to climb Volcán Acatenango, the 3rd highest volcano in Central America. We also climbed Pacaya , Indian Nose and walked countless miles exploring Antigua and Lake Atitlan.  I stayed in hostels and explored by horse, chicken bus, shuttle busses and my own two feet. It was a very active holiday and one of my most favorite. The food was amazing and the Guatemalans are such lovely people. I truly felt strong, happy, joyous and free. Hiking is still my most favorite thing to do no matter where I am in the world.

Life in Merida

My most of the time home 1 year ago was  Merida, Mexico. There I enjoyed rich culture, museums, stunning architecture, great food and lovely people. Merida is very inexpensive with both food and housing. The downside was a crippling hot climate, traffic pollution and insanely hungry mosquitos that no amount of natural bug killer could deter. I enjoyed wonderful friendships and an active social life. Life was good!

The beginning of Covid-19

Overnight Merida began to shut down. The Paseo Montejo where I walked every single day just shut down. The cafés, shops and restaurants all closed and this once busy street  now had this eerie silence. No one was out walking anymore. Just me and the odd police car. I didn’t know what to do.  Prime Minister Trudeau, was calling Canadians back to Canada. I began praying for direction. Flights back were insanely expensive and I just couldn’t imagine packing up my entire house and leaving. I didn’t know what to do. So I waited.

At 5 am on Thursday, March 19 I bolted upright out of a deep sleep. I knew intuitively and decisively in that moment that I had to leave Mexico as soon as possible. By 11 am that morning I was deep into a household sale. I posted my things on FB and got rid of everything or gave it away in 3 days. My flight kept getting cancelled and Air Canada’s website kept crashing. I was in a state of panic.

My husband Tony was able to get me a flight booking from Canada. We had been separated for 4 years but we remained close friends and he was always there for me.

There were rumours of the bus lines shutting down so I decided to spend one night in Cancun to be closer to the airport. I stayed in a hotel with over 60 rooms and there were only 2 rooms booked. It was like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. My close friend Stacey spent the afternoon and evening with me. We walked around downtown Cancun and everything was closed. I was so grateful to her.

In shock and exhaustion I boarded my plane on Monday March 23, 2020. I crammed 6 years of life in Mexico into 2 large suitcases and 2 carry on bags. The Canadian government sent extra planes to collect tourists.  It was absolutely surreal and the mood on the plane was low. Not one person dared to cough or sneeze.

Arriving in Canada and Quarantine

Tony picked me up at the airport around 7 pm in Ottawa. He was one of the few that came to meet us travellers. You could see that no one was wanting to go to the airport as people were still unsure of the impact of this virus.
We arrived  home and began our 2 week quarantine. Tony and our son Nick quarantined with me for 2 weeks. Now that is love and I was so grateful to both of them. Nick kept us both laughing and Tony prepared unbelievable meals. We were safe and cosy and I was so grateful for their love and care.

Shock

I was in a complete state of shock for the first 2 weeks of returning to Canada. I woke up every 2 hours, full of anxiety. Every now and then I would just break down and cry. I stopped watching mainstream news and began preparing for my new life in Canada. It took some time but slowly I began to sleep through the night again.

Bought and sold a trailer on Round Lake

Tony and I both figured that I would only stay with him until the lockdown was over. I bought this neglected travel trailer on a gorgeous lake. This was the perfect distraction and we spent many hours painting, sanding, washing and ripping up old carpets. The campground changed rules and was now only allowing children under 18 to stay for visits. I wanted our son to be able to spend time at the lake so I sold it. It really was a special place and it sold in one weekend after a bidding war.

Feeling homeless

I knew I needed to find a permanent home in Canada. This consumed me. Again I was waking up at night. I kept praying and asking for direction. I couldn’t afford to buy anything in Ontario, Canada. I wanted to live as independently as possible without any loans or mortgages. My criteria was clean air, low emf exposure, clean water and the ability to grow food. I widened my search and found a really, really sweet off grid river-front cottage on 1.5 acres in Quebec. I placed a much lower bid and it was accepted. This property is like a dream come true for us. This is the view from our deck. Beautiful and serene.
At this time Tony and I were not reconciled but with time and healing we reunited with much love and commitment.

Our move

In September, 2020 we packed up and moved out to our new home.  It is the most idyllic setting and we absolutely love it. We are completely off the grid and rely on wood heat.  Propane is used for our kitchen stove, refrigerator, and  clothes dryer. A small freezer, dishwasher,  lights, computers are all run off of the solar panels. We also have a generator for the cloudy days, weeks and dark winter months. There is very good fishing and hunting in this area. We had several large pines cut down as several were diseased and  dead. This has completely opened up our land for gardens and fruit trees.

It has been a very steep learning curve. Tony is one of those guys that can fix almost anything. He is the one that understands how this place runs. All I know is that when the sun shines I can slow cook soup bones and wash clothes.

Dealing with Co-vid

Like most I experience a wide range of emotions dealing with this virus. We have made staying healthy our number one priority. We take several daily supplements and live a very healthy lifestyle. I am not afraid of Covid or any other infection, as I make my health my number 1 priority. I will not be getting any  vacks**ine. In my opinion there is no reason to get  an experimental shot for a virus that has a 99% recovery rate. When I left allopathic medicine 8 years ago, I began to heal and completely regain my health. My intuition tells me not to do this. I have seen too many injuries and deaths from this v acks**ine, so have decided it is not the right choice for me. I wear a mask once per week when we shop for groceries as we are mandated to do so.

My faith is stronger

My faith was tested so many times in the last year. But things always work out when I pray and ask for direction. Every day I turn my will and my life over to the care of God. I know that He knows what is best for me even when I don’t. In faith we are walking through this Covid madness. I still believe everything will work out for the best but the world may need to suffer deeply before this happens.

Goals for 2021

We are going to build many raised beds for our vegetable gardens. Set up our greenhouse and get busy raising chickens. It is our hope that we can become as self-sufficient as possible. We eat 6 eggs each day so it would be amazing to have our own healthy free range supply. We go through a ton of veggies and are looking at building some kind of cold storage for next winter. We are really excited about all of these upcoming projects. Food security is very important in these troubling times that we find ourselves in.

Hopefully we can travel again. This is the one thing that I miss the most. But our health and safety must come first.

My maintenance protocol

I would have to say despite the stress of the last year I feel pretty good. I live each day pain-free, fairly fit and active for a 58 year old woman. My mood is good and and my outlook is bright.

Our diet remains paleo with intermittent fasting. We either have a soup bowl or big salad for the first meal (11 am)  and some type of cooked organic free range protein for dinner (5pm) with lots of veggies. We bought a side of beef and about 20 chickens. Typically we have organ meats at least once per week. Tony is an amazing cook and loves to eat this healthy way. Almost every meal we look down at our food and marvel at how well we eat. The only reason we have to drive into town every week is to buy more vegetables.

Supplements I take are digestive supports, cod liver oil, magnesium, whole food multi vitamin, dessicated liver pills, Vit d3/k2, nutritional yeast, iodine and a multi mineral.

I still do a thorough parasite cleanse every 6 months with my recipe. You can find the recipe here. 
Every year I do a hair test to keep an eye on my mineral levels.

Despite the cold temperatures we try and get out for a 4-5 mile walk at least 4 times per week. I would say I am better cold-adapted than I was 4 months ago. We love to get a good sweat on at least once per week in our woodfired sauna.

I also try and do some resistance training the other 2 days each week. There are lots of YouTube videos with many different exercise videos.

If you are still sick

You can recover your health. The problem is most humans have strayed so far from a healthy diet and lifestyle. If you are still struggling you may need to find the last pieces of your healing puzzle. There are many pieces to fix before good health can return. You have to take away all of the bad stuff and add in a bunch of good stuff. Take a look at this older article. It might give you some clues. Never give up and keep the faith!!

Blessings and Best of Health!

Brenda

Everything that I have done to regain my health is available for free on my blog. If you would like some extra help I offer health coaching and hair tissue mineral analysis.  Please go to this page  to book a consult.

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The Wahls Paleo Diet is the diet that turned me around in less than a year. This eating plan has kept me in complete remission from Lyme Disease and co-infections since November 2014. I  also treated the Lyme Disease with Stephen Buhner’s Herbal Protocol and had completed an extensive parasite cleanse. My parasite recipe can be found here. You can read about everything else that I did to recover my health here.

My health was terrible when I started the diet. I had been chronically ill for over 20 years and given a CFS/Fibro diagnosis and finally Lyme Disease.  I was completely disabled, housebound, overweight, hypothyroid, weak, exhausted, anemic, had debilitating pain,   chronic migraines, and horrible digestive issues. I had been eating a protein and fat heavy Paleo Diet with very minimal improvements. Just prior I was a raw foodist, near vegan for over 3 years. Hair tissue mineral analysis revealed many mineral deficiencies, which is not unusual for anyone with chronic infections. My digestion was terrible and I could only eat about 5 foods. I had to go on a cooked food diet for the first 6 months. My stomach burned just from drinking water.

I was looking for a diet that would provide me with all of the recommended daily amounts of vitamins and minerals – a diet that would heal my gut so that I could rebuild my immune system. I wanted every single bite of food to be packed with healing vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and essential fatty acids.  A diet that would heal my broken biochemistry.  I already knew that real food was powerful medicine.

I became instantly drawn to the work of Dr. Terry Wahls, whose nutritional research led her to develop a diet to treat her own secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis. The disease had left her confined to a tilt recline wheelchair for four years. She had tried many of the conventional drugs for MS available at the time with little success. As a physician-scientist, she created the diet and lifestyle which brought her out of her wheelchair and able to bike 18 miles within 9 months. The Wahls approach of eating the most nutrient-dense real food made sense to me, and I purchased her book “The Wahls Protocol”.  Watch Dr. Wahls’ Ted Talk, Minding Your Mitochondria! It is fantastic!

Since I was already eating Paleo (with many dairy “cheats”), the transition wasn’t that difficult. This is a basic outline of what I would be eating each day:

• 3 cups of dark green vegetables – romaine is my preference
• 3 cups intensely colored vegetables: 1 cup red vegetables/fruit, 1 cup blue-black vegetables/fruit, 1 cup yellow/orange vegetables/fruit
• 3 cups of sulfur-rich vegetables: Mushrooms, onions, shallots, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and  bok choy 
• Seaweed for iodine and trace minerals- I take 6 kelp tablets per day.
• Omega 3 rich foods – Wild fish and seafood, cod liver oil
• Eat organ meats (offal) once per week. (We eat beef liver covered in onions once per week).
• Regular bone broth – We were already making a slow simmer 48-hour beef broth. My new favorite broth is made from chicken feet for lots of collagen.
• Fermented foods or a probiotic – sauerkraut and beet kvass.

So how was I going to eat 9 cups of fruit and vegetables each day? The addition of a green smoothie every single morning would boost my fruit and vegetable intake easily.

Note- Dr. Wahls suggests eliminating eggs for a 30 day period and then re-introducing them if there is no reaction. I stopped eating eggs for about 2 months and added them back without any negative symptoms. I continue to eat pastured eggs almost every day.

My Typical Day

Breakfast/Lunch –  11 am – This first meal is usually one of the following:

1/Super healthy Green Smoothie. In addition, I often have 3 boiled eggs on the side.

2/ Real Food Rebel Soup for Chronic Illness. 

3/ Large Salad– A large salad with lots of different greens, carrots, purple cabbage, cucumbers, olives, onions, peppers, slivered beets, jicama, boiled eggs or leftover meat. I top this off with my Easy Salad Dressing Recipe.

Dinner – 5 pm – This is usually a completely cooked meal of grass-fed meat,  organic free-range chicken, or wild-caught fish along with lots of cooked sulfur-rich vegetables. I love cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts. If these are steamed I cover them in butter.

Intermittent Fasting –  This eating/fasting schedule is what comes most naturally to me now. I really try not to eat anything in between these meals. I have the most energy and clarity when I stick to this schedule.

Additional supplements that I take with meals –  Betaine HCl, digestive enzymes, magnesium, whole food multi-mineral/vitamin, kelp tablets, cod liver oil, desiccated liver pills when I travel, copper or manganese (according to hair tissue results) and moringa in my smoothies.

Within one month of integrating the green smoothies into this diet I began feeling better; I was warmer, less fatigued and my head was clearer. I was hooked! I have never measured out my food but eat until satisfied and try to fulfill many of Dr Wahls’ dietary suggestions.

Within 6 months I was able to walk five miles, swim daily, begin resistance training, and lost over 20 lbs. Constipation, intestinal pain and chronic infections are no longer a problem.

This is my very first hair analysis from December 2011. I was housebound at this time and extremely sick. My mineral levels were almost nonexistent.  I was a near vegan and raw foodist from 2009 – 2012.

The results of my hair tissue mineral analysis were much improved after one year on this diet. If you click on the test it will enlarge. The levels on the bottom show the results from Sept/2014. The upper value shows the most current levels taken Aug/2015. You can see how several minerals have improved in only 11 months. My mineral levels are now within the acceptable range.

Here is my most recent hair test from August 28, 2019

Although this test is good it might have been a little different had I  not backpacked for a month in Peru.  I completed the 4 day Inca Trail and climbed Rainbow Mountain. Physically challenging to say the least and my adrenals were screaming for weeks afterward. I’m sure I burned through a lot of minerals. Currently, I am working on boosting levels and trying to get manganese a bit higher. My thyroid function has improved and body temperature is normal since incorporating this way of eating.  My hair, skin and nails have greatly improved. My last blood results showed an excellent red blood cell count and ferritin levels. Prior to this, I  had struggled with anemia my entire life.

Initially, I went from 165 lbs to 115 lbs. The second picture was taken in 2015. My weight stays steady now between 120 and 125lbs. This weight is a good one for me at 5’4″.

Today!

There is no doubt that I am now enjoying the best health and shape of my entire life. I have had 5 years of amazing health. At age 57 I hike, swim, bike, carry all of my groceries home by hand and lift weights. In 3 weeks I will be climbing volcanoes in Guatemala. I am so grateful to Dr. Wahls, for sharing this diet with us! It is exciting to heal and regain my health using nutrient-dense real food and other natural therapies. I love eating this way and hope to for the rest of my life. Go ahead and give this a try! You have nothing to lose except for some extra pounds, toxins and illness!

My passion lies in helping others with similar health issues.  If you would like a little extra help, I offer nutritional therapy consultations and hair tissue mineral analysis for a fee. Please go to this page for a list of my rates and to book an appointment for health coaching.

Blessings and Best of Health!

Brenda

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