“When health is absent wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, wealth is useless and reason is powerless.” -Herophilies, 300 B.C.
It has been 4 days since I started taking Slippery Elm and Fish oil (EFA). I am hesitant to say that these have fixed my problems, but so far so good. They definitely haven’t hurt anything. But let me explain a little about what these magic substances are for:
Slippery Elm
Slippery Elm is the (totally awesome) name of a tree most often found in North America. When the bark of this tree is dried and ground into powder, it can be used for medicinal purposes. According to my NP, Slippery Elm coats the digestive tract when ingested. This soothes the inflammation of my insides and makes things feel generally happier in the tummy area.
Since it comes in a powder and isn’t the best tasting thing ever (it’s tree bark for crying out loud), my NP recommended that I put a teaspoon of it in yogurt or applesauce. I have been doing this twice a day to get my body on the road to recovery. Once my body is more stable, I will only have to take it once a day. This will maintain the feelings of rainbows and love in my tummy. Hopefully.
Fish Oil (EFA)
Fish Oil is (shockingly enough) what it sounds like… oil from fish. Fish oil has a plethora of health benefits, including heart health, a reduction in inflammation, better brain function, reduction in depression, and reduction in incidence of breast, colon and prostate cancer. So hopefully this will help my body in many ways, but I am mainly taking it to reduce my inflamed innards.
Fun fact: certain groups of people are predisposed to have essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiencies. In other words, some people need more EFAs than others. These people are most often of Irish, Scottish, Welch, Scandinavian, Danish, British Columbian or Eskimo descent (essentially all the super pale people). Aaaaand there we have the description of my heritage in a nutshell.
So once a day, I take one teaspoon of liquid EFA. It actually doesn’t taste half bad. There is kind of an orange-y or citrus taste to it. Downside alert—it does have to be refrigerated. So if you’re traveling or have a complicated life, you may want to stick with the tablet form. My NP didn’t want me to take the tablet form because it takes longer to work… and adding extra jobs (like dissolving the capsule) for my stomach to do, would probably not be the smartest life choice. It has enough going on already.
I have been taking these two supplements for 4 days now. In addition, I have been drinking 10 glasses of water a day… or trying to, at least. Without being graphic, here are some changes that I have noticed:
1. NO stomach pain
This was my main reason for trying this whole Experi-month! I have not been free of this stabbing pain for 5 years. All I can say is: it’s about freakin’ time something worked! I can eat food without feeling like I swallowed a small rabid animal, which is then trying to claw out of my body. Now if feels like I swallowed nothing… or maybe just tiny bites of bliss and wonderment.
2. Regularity (if you know what I mean)
This also has been absent from my life for 5 rough years. I forgot how lovely and strangely satisfying it is.
3. I have to pee constantly
I’m sure my co-workers think I have (a) a bladder disorder or (b) bulimia. But I care not of their incredulous assumptions so long as my stomach is behaving itself.
If the other supplements on my plan work as well as these, you all will be introduced to a new Stephanie. She will be happy, able-bodied, and not preoccupied with the searing pain in her abdomen. But above all, she will always have a water bottle in hand and (hopefully) always be in close proximity to a bathroom.
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