ANEESHA RAI SHARES HER BATTLES WITH HASHIMOTO’S & PCOS DISEASE. AFTER SPENDING YEARS RESEARCHING ON HORMONE BALANCE, SHE FINALLY FOUND THE CURE: A PLANT-BASED DIET AIDED BY SUPERFOODS.
I was in college then, struggling with tw o jobs and trying to keep my scholarship back in 2010. But no matter what I did, I couldn’t control the eons of weight that I had gained in addition to how depressed I was feeling. There I was, in the middle of Midwestern U.S., without any real family for miles and without any emotional support. And then one day, I missed my period. I marched right to the doctor’s office, who did a series of tests & diagnosed me with hypothyroidism thanks to ‘Hashimoto’s disease’. I had never heard of this disease before, it wasn’t until at least 5 to 6 years later that I understood that the disease was not due to the lack of iodine in my body, but it was an auto-immune condition. The way the doctors describe it, is that your body starts to attack the thyroid gland, thus inhibiting function, leading to either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. It was not curable, and I had no clue what to do about. I tried multiple diets, workouts and researched a lot online and reached a whole new level of cluelessness. Nothing I did seemed to work. The weight kept piling on, I kept losing a lot of hair, my skin was brittle, and I was suffering from bouts of depression. It was only then when I discovered several online blogs written by women with the same condition & how they could manage the symptoms. It was only then I realized I was not alone. I cleaned up my eating habits by quitting fried food, alcohol & sugar and managed to get off the meds for 2 years. I was put back on the pill after my healthy eating habits deteriorated. I was working in Malaysia then and I ate out every day. I do not recall one meal that I cooked at home when I lived there. Since then, a lot has changed in terms of resources available to manage the condition. By 2015, the literature and discussion around Hashimoto’s has been relatively brought to the forefront, with an auto immune diet protocol (AIP) diet being prescribed to help manage the symptoms.
It was an extremely difficult diet to do, as it involved getting rid of all processed food, soy, dairy, gluten, grains, legumes, alcohol, nightshades, & nuts for 3 months with slow reintroductions. It also included drinking a lot of bone broth to heal the gut. I found the entire thing too difficult to grasp and get a hold of, even though I spent a lot of time researching and trying recipes. I discarded the diet, seeing no real results on the scale and a lack of resolve to go through with it. My social life had taken a toll and as most people know- most social outings involve eating meals outside. I then decided to go see a celebrity nutritionist, who put me on a gluten, dairy, soy and legume free diet along with a sea of supplements, ranging from Omega 3 to selenium & zinc. At this point, I was beginning to see and understand that most modern-day health problems are truly born in the gut. It made me question all types of processed food. This helped me for a while, until after 3 months when my weight began to plateau.
This was when again, I missed my period. On visiting the gynecologist, we did a scan and it was clear I had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The symptoms that I faced included painful & delayed periods, masculine hair growth, hair loss, insulin resistance and weight gain. PCOS affects 8 out of 10 women from South East Asia. It causes fertility issues with most women, which is why it’s treated as a taboo. On discovering this, I decided to start the UAE’s first PCOS support group on Facebook called UAE PCOS Warriors. The group has now grown to 300+ members, and I spend a lot of time even now, looking into various alternative methods other than the conventional pills I flat out refused to take. With this newfound information, I went back to my nutritionist and she put me on a fat-first diet. It made no change to my weight loss efforts and I started to have major digestive issues. My body could not digest the large amounts of fat. The diet overall began to affect me negatively, I started to live for cheat days. Food was on my mind all the time, and I was addicted to what the next cheat meal would be, planning a whole week in advance. In the end, I let go of that nutritionist because we didn’t see eye to eye on her methods. I gained all the weight I had lost and lost all the hope that I had. A few months later, a friend introduced me to a new nutritionist called Priyanka Chopra. She and some of my other friends had seen great results with her and she assured me that I would see changes starting day one, with the possibility of reversing both Hashimoto’s & PCOS. I was very weary, tired and skeptical at that point, but then I thought…what more had I got to lose, right?
Turns out, there was a lot I was missing, even though I was very well-read on both Hashimoto’s & PCOS. Based on the information I gave her, including my recent medical reports and intolerance tests, Priyanka introduced me to a whole new world of eating through whole foods and a plant-based diet aided by superfoods. After the first week of prescribing to
the diet, I lost almost 3.5 kgs. This was done without any supplements or protein shakes, only whole foods. That week I threw out all my supplements & protein powders. It was strangely liberating and empowering to do that. I knew this would work. 7 months down the line, I was 24 kgs down and feeling brilliant! I managed to reverse my PCOS in the process and my Hashimoto’s symptoms were almost non-existent. I finally feel I have a control over my symptoms and what to do if things go awry…this sense of empowerment and truly getting to know my body has been truly transformative for me. I still fight with body dysmorphia, but I am so happy to know that I know the right food to eat for my body, which made such a big difference. For that, I’m eternally grateful. It took me 8 years of researching, experimenting & discussing various diets and it feels wonderful to finally be in charge of my health.
BANANA BREAD
INGREDIENTS
• 2 overripe bananas, mashed
• 2 cups oats flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or a little vanilla bean
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
DIRECTIONS
• Preheat oven to 170°C
• Mix all dry ingredients.
• Add apple cider vinegar to coconut milk & stir. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients.
• Mix in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
• Pour on to a standard loaf pan (approx 9”x5”)
• Bake for 40 minutes or until it clears the clean knife test.
Recipe by Aneesha
ANEESHA is the founder of Om Nom Nirvana
(www.omnomnirvana.com), a Dubai-based blog dedicated to living your best life, with a healthy dose of food, wellness & travel. She often writes about dealing with Hashimoto’s & PCOS and is dedicated to helping fellow sufferers alleviate & reverse their symptoms from both a nutritional & mental wellness perspective. She also loves research, which is why you will find her meal planning often and looking for fun ways to incorporate healthy ingredients in non-conventional ways that make them gut friendly. If you don’t find her doing that, she’s probably finding her next travel escape and then jotting it all down in a blog post to make everyone’s travel planning a little easier. During the day, Aneesha is a full-time Editor in Dubai, focusing on writing about luxury real estate, but she hopes to write for herself someday, when she gathers the courage. She is currently undergoing her Yoga Teacher Training certification in Dubai.