The second piece to the puzzle - getting a tummy flu

I ate something bad and came down with food poisoning once some years back. I wasn't keeping solid food down so I decided I would try fasting .. more of my usual crazy, self experimenting behaviour. I just wanted to know what a fast would feel like, as I had heard that certain spiritual people do it and wanted to understand why. I did drink water of course, I'm not suicidal. After hours of diarrhea and vomiting there was eventually nothing more in my system. My gut was empty. I recall quite clearly vomiting one final time and then within just minutes of clearing everything out the pain started dissolving away. It was surprisingly fast! I continued the fast for a while before eating and I have to say it was a wonderful experience. I think that the fact my digestive system was completely cleared out is what made the fast so enjoyable. I was happy, creative, my mind & body felt bright and effortless, had no hunger pains (drank plenty of water though!).. life like this was really a joy.

Obviously this was not going to be a long term solution though, and as soon as I started eating again the pain came back in a matter of hours. That was when the penny dropped and I realised something in my diet was causing me pain. I hopped on an internet forum (kickas.org) and mentioned this experience to others also suffering from my condition. To this "DragonSlayer" responded and pointed out that my experience illustrated the purpose behind the No Starch Diet (NSD) that he follows. He pointed me towards the appropriate sub-forum where the diet is discussed. Well, up until that time I had carefully avoided the "loonies" on that part of kickas.org. If only I had listened when I was younger instead of being so arrogant and closed minded.


So to sum all that up, I realised that something in my diet was causing my inflammation and returning to my usual eating patterns brought back the pain. Hope returned, now it didn't matter how much pain I was in, I had something to fight for.

Where to from here?

If you are interested in learning more about this diet, I can suggest the following places to start:

• No Starch Diet forum on KickAS - Folks are very helpful here so don't be afraid to ask a question - http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=7&page=1 
• This is my food list showing what foods I can eat, and which I cannot eat - https://sites.google.com/site/cureankylosingspondylitis/no-starch-diet---food-list
• The starch content of foods: http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=143543
• And some more resources here