Getting Used to This New Diet/Lifestyle

You know, sometimes it takes being desperate to make a big change in life.  For me, it took the misery of suffering with an irritating and embarrassing condition called ezcema.  I was definitely desperate enough to make some changes.  After 11 days of an extreme change in diet, I can honestly say it has worked!

The skin on my affected fingers and hands actually is soft now, rather than feeling like hard plastic or tree bark.  I am lovin’ it!  But, some of the nice side effects that I wasn’t expecting are:  weight loss, incredible energy, clear thinking, and best of all — hardly any more hot flashes!!!  I can barely believe it.

For the 11 days I was pretty much a die-hard with the prescribed diet in the Beat Eczema plan (except for a few mistakes), but I have had a couple of events that I’ve gone to in the last few days where I couldn’t eat the right kind of food for my diet.  So, being hungry, I went ahead and ate what was offered, even the desserts.  I wanted to see what happened.  I will say, “So far, so good.”   I think one must be very strict until getting the desired results, then a day off the diet won’t set you back so badly.

But, I will not continue to test this on purpose.  I like the way I feel with this diet plan.  I even went to a European market and bought some Polish fermented food — some sauerkraut, red bell peppers and pickles.  They all taste so good.  I wasn’t expecting to like it all so much, but I was pleasantly surprised.  These do not have any vinegar but are fermented with brine water.

My sprouted buckwheat groats turned out to be really tasty.  Who knew?!  After becoming sprouts and drying out on a cup towel on my kitchen counter, now they will last me about 6 weeks in my refrigerator.  That is good, because as they expanded each day I ended up with a whole jar of them.  It will take me that long to eat them all!

Still can’t believe I have soft skin on my fingers!  If you have eczema, it is worth the effort.  I hope you’ll try it.  To get the entire diet and plan, you can download it from the website:  www.beateczema.com.  If you have any questions about my experience in this fight against eczema, just comment on this blog and I will be happy to share.

5 Responses to “Getting Used to This New Diet/Lifestyle”

  1. Stephanie says:

    Is sprouting really difficult? I bought a special glass jar with a stainless steel mesh lid but haven’t had time to sit down and learn how to actually do something with it yet.

  2. Valerie says:

    What do sprouted buckwheat groats taste like and how do they help the skin?
    Is fermented food better for you because of the high level of enzymes?

  3. bbriscoe says:

    Stephanie, sprouting is not hard at all, but you must be at home to rinse the sprouts every so often. It is a different time frame with each kind of sprout. With the buckwheat groats, I needed to rinse them every 8 hours, and they were ready in about a day and a half (instructions said 1 to 2 days). You can see a sprouting chart at http://www.veggiewave.com/soaking_chart.

  4. bbriscoe says:

    Thanks for asking about buckwheat groats, Valerie. They don’t have a strong taste, but the taste they do have is a delightful, almost nutty taste. They are a strongly inflammatory food, which is the goal of the “beat eczema” diet. They are also rich in vitamins and minerals, especially magnesium and manganese. They provide some fiber and some protein as well.

    Yes, the reason for the fermented food for digestion is because of its high value of enzymes and probiotics.

  5. bbriscoe says:

    Forgot to mention, Valerie, that a good source of info on the buckwheat groats is http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5682/2.