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  • Hi, lovely people! And oh my goodness, yes,

  • I've actually made a requested video.

  • You'll have to excuse me if I seem a bit nervy today.

  • I was just reading some more back issues of the Dark Phoenix saga

  • and now I'm really emotional

  • because apparently the X-Men are my life sometimes.

  • You may also have to excuse me if I keep checking my phone, which is on my lap,

  • which I will keep doing a lot

  • because I am waiting!

  • I am waiting for a very important text

  • because I could become an auntie at any moment.

  • No, OK, well - I'll get the text saying she's gone into labour

  • but that's something. Yes. If you didn't know, Claudia's sister

  • is pregnant.

  • We're going to be aunties.

  • Now we've got all of the excuses out of the way, let's get onto the actual meat of this video

  • and that's giving you an update on my diet

  • situation

  • and telling you about the supplements that I am currently taking.

  • Let's begin with a little history lesson

  • in the food that Jessica put in her mouth

  • and whether or not that was a good idea.

  • My parents very much had a policy when I was a child

  • (to be fair, they still have that policy now)

  • that you just eat everything - whatever's put on your plate, you eat it.

  • There's always one thing on your plate that she knows you don't like

  • to make you eat it and make you try it so that you're trying new things.

  • It's a great idea; I'd probably do it with my own children

  • but it wasn't a great idea for me.

  • See, I'm quite happy to eat anything;

  • there aren't many foods that I choose not to eat.

  • Even - like, I hate olives.

  • I hate olives; they are so disgusting.

  • And yet

  • if there are olives

  • at a party

  • handed around or something, I will eat them

  • because I feel like I need to train myself to like them.

  • Even when I was a tiny baby

  • and all I had to eat

  • (eat?)

  • (Drink, I suppose)

  • was my mother's milk,

  • still there was something very wrong with my insides

  • Which I now know is because I have a connective tissue problem

  • and ergo

  • my whole organs...they just don't work so well.

  • They just don't work so well.

  • But as a child, no one knew that.

  • So I would be eating dinner every night, and about twenty minutes after we'd finished,

  • every night I would get horrific

  • stomach pains; really bad cramping.

  • I'd be on the floor like [moans in agony].

  • Doing my homework.

  • "And then the Romans did this - owww."

  • Then, when I was seventeen - as everyone knows;

  • everyone who watches this channel knows, but, hey, you might be new; you might not know -

  • when I was seventeen, I paralysed both of my arms for a year and a half,

  • and the doctors thought that I might have some kind of a brain tumour,

  • so they did various tests on me, one of which went wrong,

  • and all of my spinal fluid leaked out

  • and I was incredibly, incredibly ill.

  • Very, very unwell.

  • And I couldn't eat anything because I was just vomiting - basically, my body just rejected everything.

  • I also got pumped with a lot of drugs.

  • I don't even know what drugs were given to me, largely because I was a child

  • and nobody...

  • Nobody tells you anything.

  • Yeah, seventeen.

  • You're still on the children's ward - believe me, I looked really strange.

  • I was about five times the size of everyone else there.

  • I'm 5'9" and a half.

  • The nurses were probably about 5'2", 5'3".

  • They'd need at least three of them to get me anywhere.

  • But basically, all of the drugs that went through my body

  • stripped me of all the good bacteria that lives in your stomach and in your guts.

  • So my ability to eat got worse and worse and worse,

  • even as I was getting better from this.

  • I - every night -

  • would be vomiting, just...

  • An hour, even. I couldn't--I just couldn't stop it.

  • My body would reject everything.

  • Because I wasn't digesting anything, either; it just sort of sat in my stomach all day long.

  • I'm definitely going to put some kind of warning about vomiting

  • at the start of this video.

  • Warning! now, if you missed that as well.

  • And the sickness seemed, instead of getting a bit better, it just seemed to get worse

  • and worse and worse, and it got down to the point where I was being sick after drinking water

  • and I was getting weaker - and something I now notice is that when I'm tired or weak,

  • obviously my ability to eat gets worse, and the less you eat, the weaker you get;

  • the weaker I am, the sicker I get.

  • So you just tend to spiral, and I still have to watch that; be very careful about that.

  • And at the time, I...I was obviously still a minor

  • and some stuff happened in hospital.

  • Mainly that there were certain doctors who thought that I had an eating disorder.

  • Purely because I was a teenage girl.

  • Like, thanks, guys. Thanks.

  • Not gonna research what's wrong with my stomach? No?

  • Just gonna...

  • just gonna put me on the psych ward.

  • I will say at the time that I definitely

  • I definitely panicked

  • quite a lot

  • when it came to food

  • because so many things were making me ill

  • I kind of developed like "safe foods"

  • that I knew wouldn't make me so sick.

  • Third vomit warning.

  • Third vomit warning.

  • The safe foods were actually

  • probably less about what didn't make me sick

  • and more about what wasn't awful when you saw it for a second time.

  • So, things like rice pudding,

  • and ice cream.

  • But don't--you know, there are certain things you don't want to eat. I mean, a curry, for instance.

  • That's not fun.

  • And anything involving wasabi.

  • It comes back straight through your nose.

  • So, yeah, having

  • having the safe foods probably didn't

  • help much.

  • So I had the dietitians at the hospital who were putting me on all of these different diets,

  • which were so much worse, and

  • my stomach felt like it was getting more out of control.

  • Some of which helped a bit.

  • And at the same time, I was trying to find ways to protect my stomach

  • essentially.

  • And I was still being pumped with loads and loads of drugs, and I also had this other group of doctors,

  • who were...talking over me

  • and telling my parents that it was essentially my fault

  • that this was happening to me.

  • Anyway. It's a kind of period in my life that is awful and hard, and I guess I don't talk about it

  • that much, because if I think about it too much,

  • I cry like you wouldn't believe.

  • If I one day write a book about my life,

  • um...it will probably feature, and I will tell you everything

  • in that, but maybe it's not something I can discuss.

  • Listen to your kids. There you go.

  • Moral for the day.

  • Eventually, though: adult

  • I got to do some adulting

  • and tell those particular doctors to shove off

  • out of my life.

  • No, no, no.

  • I was like, "No, I'm gonna take control."

  • "I'm gonna find the thing that helps my stomach and save myself."

  • I think it was my hospital's dietitian, who suggested to me the ketogenic diet

  • which is where you

  • have absolutely no carbs or

  • any kind of starches.

  • All you have are fats and proteins, and in fact it's mainly fats.

  • Mainly fats and a little bit of protein. It's something that body builders do quite a lot.

  • And it really works for children who have epilepsy,

  • and it's been shown to help people who have neurological problems.

  • Neurological and neuropathic problems - so, issues with their nerves.

  • Well, hey. That's this girl.

  • So I started that, and it did almost feel kind of magical.

  • The change.

  • The way that it happened. Suddenly I had lots of energy - well,

  • energy compared to what I'd had before;

  • I wasn't being sick all the time.

  • Didn't feel so weak.

  • I felt like I was finally beginning to get my body back on track; I was putting on a bit of muscle,

  • which was really nice.

  • I say "body back on track;" that's because my body

  • looked like this.

  • That's my brother

  • by the way.

  • So, there you go, ketogenic diet. But the problems with the ketogenic diet are that you have to eat

  • constantly.

  • [Quietly] Constantly.

  • So I'd be eating like eight times a day

  • and...it's really expensive, because all you're eating are fats and proteins.

  • Two pounds for your bag of rice

  • and it can last you for an entire week

  • but then if you buy some chicken...thighs,

  • that's like £4

  • and that's two meals.

  • Oh.

  • You basically can't go out, even,

  • because you have to carry your little tub of cream cheese with you.

  • So I did that. I'd go to class with my tub of cream cheese.

  • And because your body's in a ketogenic state, it uses just fat

  • to power you.

  • The only energy you have comes from your own body fat.

  • So, if you've not got much of that to start with, that's not great

  • and if you don't eat enough, you get horrendous headaches.

  • But we pulled that back, and the ketogenic diet morphed into the low carb diet.

  • So, now I also had vegetables -

  • green vegetables; leafy vegetables. Any vegetables that were grown above the ground.

  • Root vegetables I still have an awful lot of trouble digesting; that was just not going to happen.

  • And some fruits, but not sweet fruits - so, berries were fine;

  • but bananas wouldn't be.

  • Even strawberries, if they were too sweet, they wouldn't be.

  • Around this time, I also found that my ability to eat red meat was declining

  • and so it was, you know, turkey; chicken;

  • and fish and seafood. Those are the only...

  • proteins--oh, wait, eggs. Eggs are a protein.

  • Dairy.

  • Well, no, actually. Dairy wasn't that great, either.

  • Yeah, so that was all I was eating.

  • Any kind of carb was a complete no-go.

  • Any kind of sugar, my body would read as "poison," essentially.

  • It's a thing where you basically get a whole body

  • muscle spasm.

  • But, essentially, for ten years of my life,

  • that worked.

  • A bit.

  • I just had to avoid any of the stuff I couldn't have

  • and I was OK.

  • And people were like--

  • I made a video about this, and people were saying, "How can you eat? What can you eat?"

  • Looking back - excellent question.

  • So, yeah, from the ages of seventeen to twenty-seven,

  • I...just didn't eat carbs.

  • And then I met Claudia, and she was like, "OK..."

  • "I can kind of get behind this, but also...weird."

  • "Really weird."

  • "Have you considered maybe that you might have some kind of a bigger problem that needs fixing?"

  • "When was the last time you even saw a doctor about this?"

  • And I kind of had a problem, obviously, when it came to doctors

  • relating to any kind of food or stomach issues.

  • For obvious and very fair reasons.

  • Sorry if the camera angle just changed; there was a dog issue.

  • So, I met Claudia.

  • Claudia's family are medical,

  • so she took me to some new doctors.

  • A new gastroenterologist; to see a new dietitian

  • and they were like, "OK, I think your issue, with not being able to eat any kind of starches

  • or sugars, probably isn't something that you should just ignore for the rest of your life.

  • Maybe we should try and fix it?

  • And then you can eat more stuff."

  • I was a little scared. I was a little scared; I was apprehensive.

  • Because, you know, if you've done something for ten years,

  • changing that kind of feels like a big leap. A very big leap.

  • And I was pretty terrified of just being so sick all over again.

  • So Claudia took me to these new doctors and they discovered that my problem was that the good bacteria

  • in my stomach and my gut had been

  • basically just decimated .

  • And I also have a thing called candida, which is a type of infection

  • that lives in your gut.

  • And you can blast it with lots of good bacteria, or you can go on the candida...diet.

  • Which is when I made those videos about starting the candida diet.

  • I did a whole, like, "Week one on the candida diet!" and I was gonna do the whole--

  • every single week, and... Because I think it takes--I can't remember now, actually.

  • Is it six weeks?

  • And there are just these side foods that you can eat, blah, blah, blah, blah.

  • Mm, I guess for some people, it does work really well, but, for me,

  • I've already got an illness; I've already got an energy condition,

  • and I can't run on no food.

  • So, yeah, the week one on the candida diet was the most

  • awful thing.

  • Hello, sweetie.

  • I... And I was so low, emotionally, as well!

  • I sat in the bath and cried.

  • Every evening.

  • And Claudia came back like, "...What's happened to you?!"

  • So Claudia was like, "Just stop this, this is ridiculous."

  • "You're not even functioning as a human being right now."

  • So I stopped it. And - one of the things, though:

  • This broth involves a lot of onions and celery

  • and throughout this week, I still had the terrible bloating and pain

  • and just really bad stomach ache.

  • So I went back to the gastroenterologist, who was like, "Well, your candida's gone, so yay!"

  • "Pills you gave me, as well

  • and now everything sucks."

  • "I hate my life."

  • I didn't, that's very melodramatic

  • "So, OK, well there's this thing you can try; it's called the low fodmap diet"

  • - I actually made a video that explains the ins and outs

  • of the low fodmap diet.

  • And what that is is basically taking away different types of sugars,

  • but it's not just sugars as you'd think, like cane sugar or fruit sugars;

  • it's also...sort of carbohydrates that turn into sugars.

  • I made a video that kind of explained this a little bit more

  • but it's things like onions.

  • So I cut these things out of my diet, and she was like, "Well, you know, now your candida's cleared,

  • you can try to eat some other foods

  • and even some carbohydrates."

  • I was like, "I can't. M'lady, I've not eaten carbs for ten years, how will I cope?!"

  • But, a little bit a day, starting an inch at a time and getting more and more,

  • I was introduced to this magical thing called a sweet potato.

  • Oh, it was so good.

  • Ohhh...yeah.

  • I still eat sweet potato every day.

  • Through eating a little bit of sweet potato,

  • I then started to introduce a little bit of rice -

  • like a tiny little bit of rice grains.

  • Little bit of rice flour.

  • So it's a year on, and I can probably eat just under one portion of rice.

  • Now, it varies on the type of rice.

  • I do find the brown rice - like darker rices - are actually much harder for me to digest.

  • That's not necessarily a fodmap thing.

  • That's just that the actual--

  • I have a very delicate digestion.

  • But it means that I can eat this wonderful thing called dim sum.

  • And I'm obsessed with dim sum.

  • So, yeah, let's see. I would say, in the last year,

  • my energy levels have--have actually dramatically increased.

  • I mean, it's so difficult to notice because it changes day by day...by day

  • and it's such a small thing, but looking all the way back now,

  • I can see just how much

  • of a difference being able to eat a little bit of rice and...a little bit of root vegetables has made to my life.

  • I used to take a nap

  • every single day for about two hours

  • and yeah, chronic--I can't say that I don't have chronic fatigue any more,

  • but it is greatly reduced.

  • My immune system is a lot--oh, I love it, I keep

  • swiping my nose because I have a cold right now,

  • well, this year, I've managed to get through from November to where we are now

  • with only - let's see - three colds,

  • one chest infection, and sinusitis.

  • And that is amazing.

  • That is doing really, really well for me, OK?

  • I used to be the girl who got bronchitis and pneumonia at Christmas, so...

  • we're doing well.

  • It's also really handy to be able to eat carbs when you go out.

  • Dim sum.

  • Or sushi!

  • And actually, pain - that's something I've noticed that is a huge difference now

  • a year later.

  • My stomach used to constantly be bloated,

  • painful; I'd get excruciating cramps,

  • and now - it's so rare, guys!

  • It's so rare!

  • So root vegetables and I, we're still a work in progress.

  • Regular potato, not so good.

  • Not so good. Work in progress there, as well.

  • Sweet potato...

  • that's my friend.

  • Would I recommend the fodmap diet? Yes.

  • To everyone.

  • I don't care if you think you don't have stomach issues.

  • Try it. It's awesome.

  • Would I recommend a low carb diet?

  • Yes, if you have a stronger digestion than me.

  • I think it actually really does work

  • if you've got chronic fatigue.

  • I think it's great. I think I had some of the most energy of my life

  • when I was just living on fat.

  • Is it sustainable?

  • No. No. No, it's not.

  • But, of course,

  • one thing I should stress more than anything else is the importance of research.

  • Research your stuff. Talk to doctors.

  • Read some books. Maybe even go on the internet - but, you know, internet: pinch of salt.

  • Definitely don't listen to random YouTubers.

  • But...

  • (Me)

  • There are options out there. Don't be like me.

  • Don't just, for ten years,

  • stick in one box.

  • Another thing that has really, really helped me are the supplements that I take.

  • Claudia researched the hell out of these

  • and made me a little plan of what I should take.

  • And...and I follow that religiously.

  • She's a great wife.

  • And so here are the supplements that I now take.

  • It also contains a relatively high amount of Vitamin A and Vitamin D.

  • Eating with a meal helps to slow the breakdown of carbs into sugar.

  • It helps to relieve joint stiffness

  • and I've actually really noticed, when taking it in higher quantities than you are supposed to,

  • it helps repair my nails, hair, and skin.

  • Also linked to improved cognitive performance.

  • So, yay.

  • [Struggling to spell and pronounce supplement name]

  • OK, I can't spell that.

  • Thanks, Google.

  • Echinacea is a very popular herbal remedy

  • that Claud's mother always made her take, and I've found it works for me, too.

  • I'm currently living off Lemsip, as I've had a constant cold for the past two months,

  • but it is way better than in previous years, so I've definitely noticed a change.

  • Also helps with my eczema and apparently tinnitus, but I haven't noticed a difference.

  • So...pinch of salt.

  • It also should improve athletic ability and strength, but...but how would I know?

  • And, you know, I have to take it because I'm a woman...

  • and I need that stuff, OK?

  • I like to think it's helping my energy levels, but it's hard to tell.

  • [Laughs]

  • This stuff smells like hell!

  • It's sap mixed with bee spit.

  • It supposedly helps my ligaments, tendons, and synovial fluid,

  • which, thanks to my connective tissue disorder, are rubbish.

  • I take it to help digestion, because it is easier than soaking flaxseeds every day of the night.

  • It's also very useful for a whole list of things I don't have.

  • A pretty vital ingredient for my muscles.

  • It's also good for organ regulation, including my heart, which occasionally does weird things.

  • Just for the hell of it.

  • There you go! A "quick"

  • (when is there a thing I ever do quick?)

  • a quick update on my current eating

  • and my supplement regime.

  • If you have any questions, please, do let me know

  • down below in the comments.

  • If you've been through a similar thing,

  • to any of the stuff that I discussed,

  • let me know, largely so I don't feel so alone.

Hi, lovely people! And oh my goodness, yes,

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