After my "sick" episode in Korea, I stumbled upon an interesting article on Lonely Planet's website. It had information about fasting retreats in Thailand for those who were looking to detoxify their body.
What particularly caught my attention was the Candida cleanse, which was basically an 8 day fast with no food except for 3 fresh coconut waters, 2 vegetable broth bowls and multiple rounds of fibre concoctions, liver cleanser herbs, and probiotics. I had been diagnosed with a Candida problem when I was a teenager -- likely due to the excessive intake of antibiotics that were prescribed to me as a young boy. So I thought maybe the fast could help me.
The concept of fasting was to bring my body back to it's "normal" rhythm. Being raised in North America, indulging in excessive eating activities seemed to be common place. The availability of processed and refined foods contributed to my appetite for destruction.
I lost literally 20 lbs after my fast.
As I introduced foods back into my diet, I realized that I became more sensitive to certain foods.
I cut back on my meat and sugar intake and focused more on foods that made me feel better.
In general, the fast taught be to be more health conscious about what I put in to my body.
Everything started feeling great until I began to get sick again.
A few months ago I figured out a major contributor to my flareups.
One of the major culprits was Gluten.
According to Wikipedia:
"Gluten sensitivity (GS) encompasses a collection of medical conditions in which gluten has an adverse effect. For individuals with gluten-sensitive enteropathy, removal of gluten generally results in the restoration of villus architecture[1] or lower lymphocyte densities in the intestine.[2] With some sensitivities, improvements may be seen in the neurological state, but a clinical finding may not be clear.[3][4] GS also can affect blood chemistry,[5] treatability of certain autoimmune diseases,[6] and/or an untreated improvement in autoimmune conditions"
But what does Gluten do to me?
Well, looking back in the last few years, I've had some horrible episodes of what I would define as "torture" sessions. Unfortunately, I hadn't the slight idea as to how or why I was being tortured. Many people around me assumed that it was a simple stomach flu and that I would get better over time.
I learned the hard way. And that was more than 10 dreadful years of intestinal problems that no one had any clue about.
Since I only started being more serious in the last few months, my life has changed, for the better.
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