Without going into too many details, I’m the only kid I know who had to take a monstrous fibre tablet ground up in her yogurt and a tablespoon of mineral oil shaken in a cup of apple juice before bed every night, just to keep things moving at a slow and painful grind. You get my drift.

Things only got worse as I grew older. By the time I was 16, my mom was convinced I had an eating disorder. I knew I didn’t have “issues” with my weight or how I looked – I just didn’t like eating because I knew I’d be carrying that food around with me for days (or weeks) at a time! Food just made me feel crappy.

Finally, at age 17, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, which is an allergy to gluten (also known as everything yummy). I promptly embarked on a strict gluten-free diet, saying goodbye to normal bread, fluffy semolina pasta and Oreo cookies. My gut started feeling a little better.

Fast forward a few years. I was going through tubs of cortisone cream to relieve a stubborn eczema-like rash, which was spreading like wildfire across my arms, legs and torso. I had been to several skin specialists, who all got mad at me for scratching; they said they couldn’t help because my fingernails had done too much damage to tell exactly what it was. Excuse me, but if you felt like you had just rolled around in poison ivy, you’d friggin’ scratch too!

Eventually, I just stopped using cortisone cream. I was afraid of the long term effects on my skin, so I just suffered through it and another uncomfortable year went by. My gut was still finicky and my energy level was abysmal but according to the doc, “everything checked out fine.”

Then a few months ago, a friend told me she was seeing a naturopath – her skin was absolutely glowing, she looked great and claimed to feel much better; I said, “Okay, what the hell? Book me.”

Naturopathy is based on the belief that the body is self-healing and will repair itself if given a healthy environment. The goal is to treat the underlying condition of a disease, which differs from traditional medicine, which focuses on treating the disease itself. This alternative approach to medicine has long had its critics, who call naturopathy a “pseudoscience” and point out most naturopathic treatments have not been tested for safety and efficacy using scientific studies or clinical trials.

Basically, a lot of people think naturopaths are quacks who charge way too much for bogus treatments/supplements/consultations. But I have to tell you, pretty much anything is worth a shot if you’re feeling crappy enough. There’s also something appealing about learning the difference between what your body needs, and what it wants. I doubt Dr. Joe Smith will teach you that.

My first visit was nothing special. The naturopath asked all kinds of really personal heath questions, which I actually appreciated, because traditional doctors these days have one hand on your chart, and the other on the door handle. I liked that she took the time to note ALL of my complaints.

She drew blood for a food sensitivity test, and I came back in a month for the results. I was not prepared for what she told me.

Off the menu for the rest of my life was dairy (including goat’s milk and casein), corn (which was a staple for me since I went off gluten), beef, asparagus, avocado and garlic. GARLIC. Sucks to be me.

Off the menu for at least the next three months: Anything with yeast, sugar, legumes (no soy) and gluten, most vegetables, eggs and some fruit. Then, at three-month intervals, I could start to phase back in certain foods depending on the severity of my reaction detected in the original blood test.

Anyone who has tried cut out one or more of these foods/food groups knows that things like yeast have a trillion different names and are in just about everything. This was going to be a monstrous challenge, even for me, who had been meticulously reading labels and avoiding many pre-prepared foods for almost 10 years.

I actually did quite well for the first two-and-a-bit months. I made some homemade apple sauce (unsweetened) and explored some new spices to season my meat. I grazed on raw nuts as a snack, and downed a rice-protein shake for breakfast and lunch. I discovered a renewed appreciation for simple flavors. I lost about six pounds of fat and gained a few back in muscle. I no longer had that bloated look and finally saw my true body. I felt like me again. And my eczema cleared up on its own in a matter of weeks.

Pretty amazing results in a relatively short period of time – I was impressed, and feeling great! But two weeks shy of that magic three-month mark, the craving for variety really kicked in.

I snuck a few gluten-free cookies made with eggs, yeast and sugar over Christmas. Then I indulged in a few sugary gummy treats, and couldn’t resist a sandwich made with lettuce and tomato.

Then I started “cheating” on a regular basis. I made homemade spaghetti sauce (gasp), pureeing fresh tomatoes because the canned ones were made with garlic. And then I made a chicken dinner with mushrooms and green onions. And then I went out for Greek food and ate cooked carrots! And green beans! And a Greek salad, minus the feta but with the cucumber, tomatoes and green peppers! I was living large, people, and enjoying every mouth-watering, guilt-wracked bite.

I’m due at my next naturopath appointment in a few days. She had said if I kept to the diet and my energy levels were up, we’d discuss how to integrate new foods. So when she asks me how I’ve been doing, I’m gonna lie. I still feel pretty good, and I’ve only cheated with things I know were scheduled for the first phase of re-introduction – and frankly, I just don’t feel like listening to her “tsk-tsk” me for wanting more than spinach and beets.

I know – I’m the one who ends up losing by lying, right? Well, not really. I now know that certain conditions are directly related to me eating certain foods, and if I ever feel the need for a system cleanse, I know what foods to stick to for a while.

For what it’s worth, I would recommend naturopathy to anyone who just doesn’t feel like they’re operating at full speed and can’t get a satisfactory answer from a traditional doc. You don’t have to have something outwardly wrong with you to know you could be feeling a whole lot better - and there's always room for both traditional and alternative approaches to medicine.