My Intestines and I!!!!
During puberty, my intestines started causing problems. I frequently experienced cramps, and nobody knew why.
What is a normal bowel movement anyway?
My mother discovered that whenever I ate something with sour cream or crème fraîche, the cramps would be at their worst, and I had to find a toilet within 5 minutes.
During puberty, you don't feel very comfortable. So, avoiding sour cream and crème fraîche was the solution at that time. It worked reasonably well for a while, but as the years went by, my intestines became more troublesome.
Puberty passed.
Puberty passed, but my intestines remained. Every few weeks, I would suffer from cramps and diarrhea. And not just once, but multiple times within half an hour. It occupied my mind a lot. Will I be able to go out today? How long will I be in the car? What did I eat? Will I make it? I now believe that the stress itself would trigger my intestines.
Nevertheless, those were years when my intestines dictated a lot.
If we had eaten out, I knew I would suffer the next day. So, it wasn't just sour cream that was a trigger. I stopped consuming cow's milk, which helped a bit, but I have a weakness for cheese. Nowadays, milk is present in so many products that it becomes a search to find items without it. More and more foods started irritating my intestines: fatty foods, cabbage, alcohol, bread, whipped cream, Greek yogurt, and Greek cuisine in general were off-limits. At some point, I no longer knew what was stressing my intestines.
About ten years ago, I had had enough and decided to undergo a stomach and intestinal examination. Nothing was found. The diagnosis was a spastic colon, and I had to live with it.
Spastic Colon.
Spastic colon? Yes, a spastic colon, also known as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is a disruption of the function of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly the large intestine. It is a common chronic digestive disorder, estimated to affect more than 10% of the Dutch population. It's nice to know the name of the condition, but what can we do about it? Nothing, ma'am, just be careful with certain foods.
I love food and find almost everything delicious, so that becomes quite challenging. I have been mindful of it for years, but there are certain things I just can't resist, and I accept that it may result in me needing to visit the restroom within an hour or the next morning. An evening at a local festival with lots of beer would also be a trigger, and I would regret it the next morning.
The solution came!!
The solution arrived!!!! Five years ago, I started taking Zengest essential oil from DoTERRA every day to support my intestines.
Zengest is a blend of essential oils, combining anise seed, peppermint plant, ginger root, caraway seed, coriander seed, tarragon plant, and fennel seed oils. These are all oils that are beneficial for digestion. Since I started using Zengest, I rarely experience such severe stomach pains that even the acid rises. I always carry a Zengest Touch roller with me because when you eat elsewhere, you don't know what's in the food or if it might trigger my intestines. It's better to be safe than sorry. If, by any chance, a cramp occurs, I immediately roll Zengest on my stomach. The cramp subsides within 5 minutes. And that makes me happy.
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