Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com Andrea-Piacquadio-pexels.com-photo-credit.
June 15, 2022,
In this ever increasingly volatile life, we are learning to never take anything for granted. If your body systems are functioning properly, be thankful for that.
Give thanks, every day.
Think about the stomach.
When it is working fine, food tastes delicious and food drains and moves through your system on a regular basis.
We have a friend in our circle who we will call Eric who found out what it like when your stomach is not working properly.
This is a true story, where all of it is true.
All of it.
Eric had been diagnosed with diabetes. He struggled to change his eating habits, especially to stop drinking sugary drinks and eating fast foods.
It was a process.
It took Eric at least five years to have a semblance of getting it under control.
One day he went to visit relatives where one of them had a stomach virus and he caught it.
It was awful.
Once over, he began to notice something strange.
When he ate late at night, watching a good movie and falling asleep, he would wake up in the middle of the night and the food in his stomach had not drained making him extremely nauseated. Instead it had liquefied and he could literally feel it swishing around.
He would sit up to settle his stomach.
In one case when he went to get sick, he didn’t, but burped and his stomach drained, literally while he could feel it.
This began to get worse. He looked the symptoms up.
He had gastroparesis.
Oh, no.
What a horrible affliction.
Gastroparesis, also called delayed gastric emptying, is a medical disorder consisting of weak muscular contractions (peristalsis) of the stomach, resulting in food and liquid remaining in the stomach for a prolonged period of time.
Stomach contents thus exit more slowly into the duodenum of the digestive tract. This can result in irregular absorption of nutrients, inadequate nutrition, and poor glycemic control.
Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, feeling full soon after beginning to eat (early satiety), abdominal bloating, and heartburn.
The most common known mechanism is autonomic neuropathy of the nerve which innervates the stomach: the vagus nerve. Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus is a major cause of this nerve damage; other causes include post-infectious and trauma to the vagus nerve.
There is no cure. Absolutely none. Medical or otherwise.
Sounds pretty bad, right?
Worse than it is?
No, gastroparesis is far worse than it sounds.
Eric compared it to plumbing. You know how your kitchen sink gets stopped up. If you leave it alone, it will slowly drain to empty but it takes about two hours.
Then you call a plumber.
With gastroparesis, there is no plumber to call. You just have to live with a slow draining stomach, all day.
Side effects?
Eric could no longer eat and drive.
When he used to go on road trips, one of the enjoyable aspects to it was to stop off at some small diner with local home cooking and eat some tasty for, bring along a snack and hit the road.
No more of that.
He literally had to wait 6 hours after eating very small portions before he could drive or feel really sick.
He also had to stop eating by 5pm, so he could go to sleep at 10pm. He would just drink water until it was time for breakfast.
When he met with specialists, in a very nice way, they told him he should be preparing for death.
Research indicates only 200,000 a year get this affliction. That’s it.
Eric thought, why him?
We were nice to him and said he looked better than he did. He had lost 50 pounds and looked gaunt.
Have you ever seen someone dying of cancer about three months before they die?
That’s how Eric looked. Skinny arms and legs. All of his clothes looked baggy on him. He wore three T-Shirts not to look so skinny.
Eric wasn’t ready to die.
Then he started doing things that he should have done all along.
Live more holistically.
He tried acupuncture. To his delight, it mildly worked.
Let’s say that with 100 percent being the highest, his stomach function had dropped down to 10 percent.
Acupuncture moved it up to 15 percent.
Sounds like a little, but that is progress.
Then he started going to the gym to build some muscle tone, which had completely gone away.
He worked out 7 days a week.
Eric researched foods that specifically would help.
Much of the research spoke about healthy probiotics.
None of that worked.
Then he found out about papaya and mango were very good for digestion.
Drinking lots of water too.
Excessively.
Then he found the pot of digestive gold. You won’t believe it because you probably never heard of it.
Daikon.
Daikon is a mild-flavored winter radish usually characterized by fast-growing leaves and a long, white, napiform root.
The team at webmd.com educate, “Radish is used for stomach and intestinal disorders, liver problems, bile duct problems, gallstones, loss of appetite, bronchitis, fever, colds, and cough. It is also used for high cholesterol. Radish root may stimulate digestive juices and bile flow. Radish root contains chemicals which might kill cancer cells and reduce levels of cholesterol and sugar in the blood.”
Research after research said the same thing about this wonder food.
Then one day Eric got a wonderful surprise.
One day he ate too much daikon and felt sick.
He rested. Then slowly fell asleep. When he awoke?
For the first time in one year?
His stomach completely emptied.
Eric couldn’t believe it.
He ate more and more daikon.
Eric could slowly eat again and his stomach would drain.
He was ecstatic.
Eric continued to work out at the gym, drink lots of water, eat mango and papaya and of course, daikon.
About six months later, Eric looked normal again. At his normal weight.
Eric feels fortunate to be alive and he will never take his digestion for granted again.
He used to go to fast food places about 3 times a week and thought he was balanced.
Now, he goes once a month at most.
He shops regularly at natural food stores.
He drinks tons of water.
We are super happy for Eric that, at least for now, his stomach story has a happy ending.
Please remember, this is a true story. Completely.
We love the female grappling community more than anything.
We love to share our stories with you, with the hope that it can improve your lives.
We sense the female submission wrestling industry contains health oriented and athletically inclined women far more than average.
Good. Keep it up.
If your body is functioning well, keep up the good work. Keep doing research.
Great health is absolutely nothing to take for granted.
Just ask Eric.
~ ~ ~
OPENING PHOTO Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com Andrea-Piacquadio-pexels.com-photo-credit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroparesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikon
https://www.janapapajova.com/blog/2019/6/2/top-5-health-benefits-of-daikon-1
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-502/radish
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
Note: Before trying a new diet, please consult with your physician.
