I have had a good week since writing my introductory post. The highlight of it was seeing Hugh Jackman live in Melbourne on Sunday night! What a talented entertainer! Triple threat (sing, act, dance) showman! Hugh sang and danced his favourite songs from The Greatest Showman, Les Miserable, The Boy From Oz and other big broadway musicals. Keala Settle came out and sang an incredible live version of This Is Me in bare feet and a sparkling jumpsuit, and then sang a new song called Harder from her upcoming debut album, which I can’t wait for! Along with shopping with my soon-to-be mother and sister in laws, the two nights away were just what I needed to recharge mentally and musically.

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Where Am I Up To In The Book?

For the purposes of not having a ridiculously long blog post, I have created a separate post that gives you my summary and understanding of what I’ve read so far from the Thyroid Healing book by Anthony William. You can view it here.

The very very short version is: There are four parts to the Thyroid Healing book, and within each part there are several chapters (see photo below of Contents). Anthony William suggests that a virus called the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) (a member of the herpes family) is the cause of many chronic illnesses, including Thyroid-related illnesses. By starving the virus, cleansing your body and healing the thyroid, you can essentially rid your body of the virus and curing yourself.

Due to my trip to Melbourne (and having vertigo periodically), I am only up to Part 1, Chapter 4. But I also skipped ahead to read Part III, Chapters 21 to 24, so I could work out what was involved with the cleanse, what I needed to start/stop eating, what appliances I needed, ie juicer and blender, and to prepare a shopping list (I elaborate on this more further down). I also booked an appointment with Dr Sally Chapman, my integrative medicine doctor, for 9th September to go over with her what I’m doing and to track my thyroid and other levels where needed*.

(I am also not weighing or measuring myself as I am not worried about my weight and am not doing this for weight loss purposes. I am doing this to try to heal my body fully from many years of stress, fatigue, mental illness and thyroid dysfunction. But I have no doubt I will fit into my clothes a bit easier by the end of this, after a long cold winter here in Tasmania 😉).

How I Relate To The Book So Far

Everything in the book rings true to me so far. I have Hashimotos Thyroiditis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and in the last six months tested positive for the Rheumatoid Factor after I developed stiff, sore, swollen and hot fingers on and off. Doctors have given me various reasons why I have these medical issues. Thyroid problems run in my family, on both sides. My mother, sister and two Aunts on my father’s side have either hypothyroidism or Hashimotos.

CFS developed while caring for my husband in varying degrees for five years before he passed away in 2015 (see my Introductory Blog for background). I am unsure why I began to developed Rheumatoid Arthritis but the foods to avoid (which I outline further down) may have contributed to feeding the virus.

If I do have EBV**, I can’t pinpoint for sure a specific time that I would have contracted it. But based on Anthony’s suggestions, I am guessing it was when I was born, during child-birth. Mum also has thyroid issues and she has managed CFS for at least 30 years (Mum is also making her way through the Thyroid Healing book after I recommended it to her). I also had numerous bouts of tonsillitis growing up but stopped short of having my tonsils removed.

Doctors have never been able to give me a reason why my body suddenly produced antibodies that attack my thyroid, or why I may never fully recover from CFS. There have been suggestions of various foods that contribute to symptoms and cause inflammation such as gluten, but nothing concrete.

The Cleansing Process

In Chapters 21-24, Anthony writes in detail about foods to avoid, plus powerful foods and supplements that heal the Thyroid, along with a 90 day cleanse ritual of juices, smoothies and some suggested recipe ideas. The cleanse is designed to starve the virus and then rid the body of any toxic EBV ‘corpse’ cells that are left over once the virus cells die. As you do the cleanse and support your thyroid, your symptoms should reduce and the body return to a generally normal function. It may take three months or even up to 18 months depending on what stage you’re in or even how your body responds, as our bodies and circumstances are all different.

Foods to Avoid During Cleanse

To summarise, whatever food regime you subscribe to or believe in, Anthony suggests to remove eggs, dairy products, gluten, canola oil, soy, corn and pork from your diet. Why? These foods feed EBV which in turn causes inflammation and allows EBV to grow and prosper, and your viral symptoms to stick around. Eggs are EBV’s favourite food to feed off. Interestingly I haven’t come across any references to sugar or alcohol yet and whether they are bad or good for EBV. I will let you know if and when I find out.

Food to Include During Cleanse

Artichokes and celery are two of the best foods to help restore your thyroid (artichokes) and cleanse your body of EBV toxins (celery). The other food allies for the thyroid (as Anthony describes them) are: aloe Vera, apples, arugula, asparagus, Atlantic sea vegetables, avocados, bananas, basil, berries, cauliflower, coriander (cilantro), coconut, cruciferous vegetables, cucumbers, dates, fennel, figs, garlic, ginger, hemp seeds, kale, lemons and limes, lettuce, mangoes, maple syrup, nuts, onions and scallions, oranges and tangerines, papayas, parsley, pears, pomegranates, potatoes, radishes, raw honey, sesame seeds, spinach, sprouts and micro greens, squash, sweet potatoes, thyme, tomatoes, turmeric, watercress, and wild blueberries. There are also many healing herbs and supplements which I have captured in the below pics from the book:

Preparing For The 90 Day Cleanse

I decided to give myself this week to prepare for the cleanse while I continue to read the book, by slowly introducing healing cleanse foods, and remove foods to avoid from my diet.

Firstly, after reading Chapters 22-24 and seeing all the juices and smoothies recommended for the cleanse, I’ve gotten out my Magic Bullet and Thermomix! I also made the doctor’s appointment for 9th September*.

When I looked at the recipe quantities for the juices, I decided that it will be more productive and easier to make larger batches of juices every three days rather than every day. The 450ml (16oz) of celery juice recommended to drink first thing every morning, requires approximately one whole bunch of celery alone. Bigger batches will mean less frequent trips to the supermarket and potential money savers due to buying in bulk. As I’m dealing with fresh foods I think shopping every three days will suffice without anything going off.

So every three days I’ll look at what juices and smoothies I’ll need, along with designing a menu around what foods I can and can’t eat, and create a shopping list. I am gluten free already but only lactose free (other than cheese 🧀). So I will be shopping for vegan based dairy products, bread with no soy, gluten or dairy, and stop eating bacon and eggs or corn on the cob! There are also five of us in our household, so I’ll shop separately for my cleanse juices/smoothies and then try to adapt our regular main meal recipes to something I can eat also. For example, last night the family had a Chicken Tonight dish of chicken, mushroom, the jar of Chicken Tonight Mushroom Sauce (dairy-based) and rice. I decided to fry a portion of the chicken breast and mushroom in olive oil with a clove of garlic and paprika and make a fajita in a vegan wrap with spinach, tomato and lime. It was yummy!

I bought some celery, apples and oranges last Friday to try juicing and see how I liked celery juice. I had my first 450ml ‘almost plain’ celery juice this morning (I added an orange). Celery can have quite a bitter flavour and I am told the more bitter it is, the better it is for your body! So I will try to embrace Celery juice for this reason during the cleanse.

My biggest challenge in regards to the food, will be taking out sour cream and cheese. Thankfully being gluten free for the last year and lactose free, I already have alternatives for my morning toast and chai lattes. In my next blog post though I will go through in more detail what foods and brands I am choosing to eat as alternatives, and share some recipes as I start the cleanse.

Beginning The 90 Day Cleanse Process

I aim to be 100% prepared and ready to start the 90 Day Cleanse by this coming Monday (as good a day as any!), 26 August 2019.

I’ll admit that the thought of what I need to do and what’s involved for the next three months at least, is tiring! But what I currently lack in energy, I have made up for in pure determination to stop feeling like CRAP! I am also finding that sharing my thoughts and journey via this blog is helping me hugely to stay motivated and on track.

Don’t forget to leave a comment below if you’d like to share something or relate to my story, or share my posts if you’re enjoying what I have to say 😍💚 Thank you to those that have liked and shared already!

Until next week…look after yourselves!

*It is very important when you are making a major change to your diet for health reasons, to check in with your doctor at the beginning of the process, throughout if needed and at the end. They can review what you’re eating along with checking your levels against any medications you’re taking. This is my advice only but I have been advised this by my doctor in the past, and will do so now for the thyroid healing cleanse process. If my thyroid function does improve then I may need to amend the medication I’m currently taking and only blood tests can show the hormone levels.

**The views expressed in my blog posts are my own. I am not being paid by anyone to write these posts. The concepts written about in the book, Thyroid Healing relate to me on a number of levels and so I choose to go through this process freely, with hope and an open mind. You are also free to make up your own mind about Anthony William, his ideas and beliefs, and this blog may or may not help you. That is the wonderful thing about the freedom of Choice.