The Journey to Digestive Healing

At age 25, I went through an illness after which my digestive system became very sensitive, and almost everything caused various problems. The diets I adopted were extremely restrictive.

It took me 3 years to emerge from the critical state and return to eating fruits and flour (not wheat). The diets helped me avoid unpleasant symptoms, but they didn't heal me.

Letting Go of Limiting Beliefs

What definitely healed me was letting go of the idea that I had candida. First, I read about it, got tested, and consulted experts (I even called a gastroenterology professor at home without permission), which confirmed my hypothesis that the problem wasn't candida but rather an imbalance of bacteria.

But that wasn't the main thing—the key moment was when I visited a friend and talked about "because of the candida this… and because of the candida that…" and she finally said to me, "How do you know? All you know is how your body reacts, maybe you should let go of the idea of candida and just listen to your body?"

It was mind-blowing—that very day I released the idea that I had candida, and within that week I felt how my body began behaving differently. Sensitivities and symptoms I'd had for years disappeared, just because I let go of the idea that I had a problem and decided to simply listen to my body.

Listening to the Body's Wisdom

The healing journey led me to the conclusion that the body knows. Today I'm 41, and for a decade I've been eating "what I want," meaning, without going overboard, with attentiveness, but there's nothing I really deny myself.

Another ability that developed as a result is receiving feedback from my body before I eat. In the past, I had to experiment to see how my body would react, but today it's enough for me to look at food or even think about it, and my body signals to me whether it's a yes or no. As long as I dedicate a few seconds of attention before I eat something, I'm "all set."

This post was inspired by Tinka Naama Atzitz's latest post.nToday I ate curry with vegetables, tofu, and tempeh, which I didn't photograph, but I did take a picture of Naomi with her fruits.

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Read more about listening to the inner voice, which includes listening to the body.

For more on intuitive eating and body awareness, see this article.