My Story – Gutfeelingla

My name is Tina. I was born and raised in the north of Germany, where so called “healthy meals” were common sense. As a child I experienced a lot of “mystery illnesses” as they used to call it. I had severe migraines, anemia and regular colds. I missed quite a few school days but no doctor ever diagnosed anything major. My grand parents had a garden where they grew a lot of organic vegetables. My family’s roots are German but my parents and grandparents were born and raised in Russia. So we always had lots of pickled vegetables, potatoes, meat and home baked goodies on the table. My favourite meal was spinach with boiled eggs and potatoes, which made my mum happy. My health got better when I started working out in school. I played basketball, volleyball and did gymnastics. I ate wholesome for the most part.

When I turned 19 I decided to leave my home town in order to see the “world”. I signed up with an aupair agency to find me a family in the US. I never really thought about, if food has an impact on our health, until I moved to Connecticut. My digestion was always good up until then. I was eating healthy enough, I was young and sporty. In the US I gained weight really quickly and always felt hungry. My hair was dull and my skin constantly inflamed. Almost all of my au-pair friends experienced the same issues. We ate a lot of processed and sugar containing foods and didn’t move enough (drive through everything). This 18 month au-pair experience was very important for my development. I fell in love with my au-pair family and met many amazing people. Most importantly I got to know myself and become the person I wanted to be. Still working on it every day, as this is a life long process.

After I returned to Germany it took me about 1 year to lose the extra weight. Just by eating the same way I had before I had left. My digestive issues started to really bother me at that point though. I started to research about digestion and visited different doctors and gastrointestinal specialists. They did a few tests and weren’t able to find anything substantial that was causing my symptoms. They finally told me that I had IBS (Irritable Bowl Syndrome). One sentence that one of the doctor’s said really stuck with me after I did the colonoscopy -“Your body is pretty inflamed on the inside, but there is no cancer!”.

My beloved grandfather Erwin had just passed from colon cancer before I left to the US and my grandma Elvira had it a couple years later. Fortunately she survived and is now eating a very healthy diet. When they moved from Russia to Germany they ate a diet that included lots of meat, vegetables, dairy, sugar (she is an awesome cook). Overall considered healthy. Little did my family and I know how much influence processed foods really have on our bodies. I was always interested in health but really started to read up on different topics when no doctor could tell what was wrong with me. I lived with the discomfort for over 10 years and tried countless diets, detoxes and pills. Nothing worked. I was eating vegetarian since shortly after I returned to Germany and overall a lot healthier. But the issues were still present. I had an itchy, irritated spot on my right shin for a couple years and it kept getter better and worse on and off. My german friends send me a book for my birthday called “Darm mit Charme” (it means charming gut) by Giulia Enders where she also stated the same symptom on her leg. So it turned out this was linked to her gut issues. Just like in her story I was able to get rid of this issue only by fixing my gut. It hasn’t returned in many years.

In 2011 I went to an alternative health practitioner and she said I had candida, an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut. As well as some heavy metals in my body (Teflon and Aluminium), which explained the constant headaches. I was so glad to finally have a specialist tell me that I was not crazy. And that my symptoms were in fact real. After the 6 month treatment with the zapper (helps to activate the natural healing powers of the immune system and kills parasites), natural pills, colon hydro therapies I was doing great. All my issues had vanished. Since that period I have managed to maintain a good health and increased my well being more and more. I still have periods where my skin gets a bit inflamed and I obviously don’t always digest “life” and certain foods as well as I wish I would. But that is alright with me. I am not perfect and I don’t try to be – just be myself. I love my fries every now and then and I eat them with joy (#no regrets). All it takes in my opinion is to find your own individual “healthy state” and maintain it for a fulfilled life!

Today I incorporate a lot more greens, super foods, fermented foods (prebiotics) into my diet. I use anti-inflammatory spices and plants whenever I can. I drink more water, move my body more and most importantly am a lot less stressed and worried. I started to love and accept myself and have finally cleared up my acne as a result of it! Now I want to help others find their own path to good health.

Tina Jordan

Certified Health Coach “Gut Feeling LA”