Buttermilk/Tiehack Mountain, Aspen
It took me nearly 14 years to paint this picture.

I can finally give my son and his wife their wedding present. I went from painting daily throughout most of my life to not being able to paint at all due to the pain of arthritis. Over the past fifteen years the arthritis pain began to increase slowly throughout my spine and into my neck. Four months ago I was so frustrated with the constant pain that I was willing to try anything. I had read testimonials and research on raw food and how it could cure arthritis and joint issues in the body. I was totally prepared to commit to a 100% raw diet for a minimum of four months and I jumped right into the deep end.

I’d been on the raw food faithfully for about a month when I decided to have food allergy/intolerance testing done. The Naturopath/Nutritionist informed me that I had fairly severe allergy and gut issues and that the 100% raw food diet would only irritate my gut more. So, I cut out ALL the foods that I was allergic and intolerant to, cut back to 75% raw food and started on what I called my “NO food diet”. As difficult as it has been to live on such a limited diet I feel that it has made a huge difference in my pain level.

What I’ve learned is that food allergies and intolerances can cause many different health issues in the body, including arthritis. However, with eating a mostly raw food diet, cutting out all food intolerances, daily yoga, pilates and determination my arthritis pain is so much less that I’m able to paint again and walk longer distances. My arthritis pain has dimished to the point that it is not an issue anymore and I’m able to persue my passion of painting watercolours once more…such a blessing!