And That's What Healthy Eating Gets You ...

This summer I watched a few documentaries on the whole foods trend. I saw studies of people who had amazing dieting results by cutting out all processed foods and eating more raw vegetables and juicing. I was having pretty good results on Weight Watchers but, I thought it would not hurt to eat even more healthy with the possible bonus of speeding up the weight loss. So I decided to give it a try ...

On Tuesday I ended up in the ER for a good portion of the day ... I had awoken at 3AM with horrendous stomach pain - nothing I had ever experienced before. I took 12 tums in the period of just 3 hours with no relief. Thankfully, we were seen quickly and within a few hours had a diagnosis - Gastritis. Apparently, all this healthy eating had eroded the lining of my stomach - the acid receptors were working overtime to digest all the veggies and nuts plus, the acidity of the spinach drinks were causing even more pain. What no one in any of these documentaries seemed to clue me in to was that apparently it is not good for your body to just jump into this way of eating. Of course, you would not think eating veggies, nuts, and drinking spinach drinks would hurt your body but, as my doctor and son reminded me, too much of a good thing is not always good.

So, for the next month, I am on a very bland diet - jello, bread with butter, potatoes, applesauce, bananas, water ... plus, a few medications that are supposed to help heal my stomach lining. I have a follow up with a specialist on Monday and hope to have a more definitive answer to how long this process will take. Right now, it hurts when I don't eat, it hurts when I do eat ... I am starving all the time but, can eat only small portions of approved foods. For now, no vegetables, no acidic fruits, very little protein and bread that is not whole grain. Crazy right???

So ironic, by eating healthy I end up in the ER. I am sure I will look back at this experience one day and laugh ... some day.