1/12/16
It was my fiftieth birthday in November, shhh… and no, I did not have a big party to celebrate the half century milestone. I simply could not be bothered with all the extra work involved in getting the house ready for visitors, shopping to get the expected snacks and the cleaning again after. I decided to treat myself and have a quiet one instead. After all it is just a number, right?

Many years ago I observed older people and decided to never grow old, but only grow up without losing my inner child. It did not appeal or make sense to me becoming set in my ways, lose all playfulness and not being able to relate to younger generations. I have worked on and prepared for that ever since, learning how to stay healthy naturally, keep fit, flexible and focus on what makes me happy rather than what is expected of my age. I’d rather be a silly old cow having a ball than a stuck up grumpy one, bothered by mental and physical restrictions!

It does help to know what I have learned so far, that no matter what life throws your way you always have a choice in how to respond and deal with it. It helps to know that there will always be someone that does not agree with you no matter what you try, so why keep trying to conform to their ideas? It also helps to know that there is an Infinite Source available to everyone of us that provides all the answers, if we know how to ask and listen to it. This same Source also helps us continuously, turning our dreams into inspired action and reality. Another secret to growing old gracefully, I think is to never stop learning and pushing your boundaries as well as appreciating the good things in our lives, no matter how small they may seem.

Over the past Winter I started having some so called ‘old age related symptoms’ that were bugging me a little. I immediately identified it as Arthritis, for my mother also suffers from it. I decided to not focus on it and hoped it would ease when returning home to the warmer weather again, just like last year when another finger got affected over Winter by the cold, or so I thought.

This one was more red, swollen and painful though, to the point where l could not bend it or put pressure on the knuckle at all without pain which developed stronger towards the end of Winter. The knuckle bones also got much bigger and felt like they were grinding against each other whenever I tried using it. Being a right handed person, I was glad it was only the index finger on my left hand!

It did not ease when the weather warmed…This is where I started to feel a bit more concerned and bothered by it. After all, I am aiming to get the free season ski lift pass when I turn 70 and become a ski bum when I get my retirement! What is my body going to be like then? What am l doing wrong? Something needed to be done and I knew from experience and self education that conventional methods merely ease the symptoms and do not cure.

It is generally accepted that so called ‘old age’ problems are chronic and cannot get cured! Are they,… really???

I refuse to accept that as a fact and am determined to prove that statement wrong! Not a small task, I know… However, after having overcome other so called ‘incurable’ problems like eczema and hay fever, enabling me to ditch all medications over the past 15 years, adhering to the guidance received, I am now much more open to possibilities rather than restrictions and settling for accepted norms. Especially when these myths are told by a medical system focused on keeping shareholders happy and patients dependent on chemicals, that may relieve the symptoms, but also come with nasty side effects, the rebel inside me arcs up again.

Don’t get me wrong, I still go and see a doctor when in need of a check up, diagnostics, serious illness or if my body would suffer damage that needs patching up.
Where in my opinion the medical system lacks, and falls terribly short is the complex problems where the cause is located in a whole different part of the body to where the symptoms appear. Skin specialists do not learn much about digestive problems as that is another department altogether in a normal hospital.

Thankfully the answers were found not long after in the shape of a video interview/transcript that landed in my emails:

https://theurbanmonk.com/autoimmunity-is-now-the-1-killer/

After watching/reading it all became clear, why as a kid l never really liked bread and would only eat a sandwich if it had chocolate sprinkles on it. It now made sense that as a toddler I spat out the porridge mum tried feeding me and why whole meal bread made my saliva disappear and turned into a lump of clay in my mouth, impossible to swallow without flushing it down with a cup of tea…It also makes sense now that I always craved yoghurt, the pro-biotics of which soothed my digestive system again after eating wheat. Why would you consider that something that is meant to be essential to good health may not be so?

Thinking back at my diet over the past Winter, I realised that my wheat intake had increased dramatically with eating lots more pasta meals, pizza and bread on top of multiple muesli bars to have a ‘healthy’ snack when hungry in between. Perhaps it was also the reason for my obviously compromised immune system that gave me another unexpected virus that knocked me out of action for a week, despite my freshly squeezed lemon/orange juices every morning, banana for morning tea and an apple and mandarin with lunch.

Needless to say I decided to try a wheat free diet just to test if this was a solution for my problem.

Within two weeks my lingering shoulder injury vanished and I could feel more ease in trying to move my finger. The pain eased a little too.

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15/5/17
Now five months later l am almost able to straighten my finger and it seems a lot less swollen, although the bones of the knuckle are still enlarged . I have done a bit of stretching and massaging it with different natural substances such as Coconut Oil infused with Frankincense and liquid Magnesium. There is hardly any pain now and l am able to use that finger again to pick up small items and do up buttons.

Another fact l noticed over the past five months is that my back and neck feel smoother and do not need as much straightening every day with stretching and rolling around, as l find so helpful normally.
It simply does not click in and out of place as much.

The fact that after sinning this past weekend with Potato Wedges (dusted with flower for that crispy taste) for lunch on Saturday and some wheat flower in the white sauce on the Cauliflower last night l woke up with more pain proves to me that indeed, cutting out gluten was a good move on my behalf. Curious how my immune system holds up coming Winter…but so far so good, feeling great! l did not catch a cold from some affected friends that l spend time with in enclosed areas during the last few months, which is a great start.

I am so glad I listened to my feelings and picked up the hints pointing to the answers in the video as well as the book that was recommended twice to me in two days.
It’s a good one for everyone suffering any inflammatory issues with a relatively easy to understand explanation of how it all works in our body, backed up by scientific research and recipes to get started. Dr. David Perlmutter’s ‘Grain Brain’ has changed my world for the better so far. I hope it may give you too some insights. Please share your thoughts!