How-I-Healed-From-A-Decade-Of-Chronic-Illness
Amie Valpone, Guest
Thyroid Nation

A guest post from the lovely Amie Valpone of TheHealthyApple.com – How I Healed From a Decade of Chronic Illness


Rather than enjoying the youth and virility of my twenties, what many people call the ‘best years
of their life,’ I suffered from a decade of chronic illnesses– everything from Lyme disease to
Colitis. On top of that, I was plagued by horrible digestive issues that left me feeling sick,
lethargic and foggy. This is how I felt before I started my journey of detox on my blog TheHealthyApple.com, which led me to where I am today living my life energized and feeling
amazing in complete wellness. (and my chronic illness no longer interferes)

eating-cleanI wrote my new cookbook Eating Clean: The 21-Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation and
Reset Your Body because I don’t want anyone to go through what I dealt with for 10 very
expensive and painful years trying to figure out how to be healthy in a REAL way. Even though
doctors in many ways helped save my life, the fact is that nothing changed until I changed my
environment and my lifestyle. I want to show you that eating and living clean feels amazing. Not
because you should do it but because when you see life this way, you’ll never go back. When
you figure out what works for you and makes you feel amazing why wouldn’t you do that every
day?

Don’t you do what makes you feel good?

This book is filled with over 200 recipes free of gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, refined sugar, corn, all-
purpose flours and processed foods. It’s also a guidebook on how to detox your home, cleaning
supplies, beauty products, personal care products and environment from toxins- which was one
of the main missing links to my recovery. I also included 3 full pages of Functional/Integrative
Medicine Testing—the tests that finally gave me the answers to my ailments and led me to the
root cause of my unwanted chronic illness symptoms. I wish I had a resource book like this 10 years ago when I was starting my wellness journey and now I want to hand over the keys to you so that you can navigate your life and your health free of ailments and feeling fantastic.

I poured my heart and soul into this book and I know you’re going to love every recipe! Kick your chronic illness to the curb.

Golden Bell Pepper Soup

Text excerpted from EATING CLEAN, © 2016 by AMIE VALPONE. Reproduced by permission of HoughtonMifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Healing-My-Chronic-Illness-Thyroid-NationGolden Bell Pepper Soup
Serves 6 to 8
Dipping your spoon into this bell pepper–sweet potato combo is like dipping into a bowl of sunshine. It’sstunning—and the perfect antidote to a gloomy winter’s day. This soup also freezes well, so if you’re notserving a crowd, store the leftovers for a later date (or make a double batch). I like to enjoy this soupaccompanied by my Massaged Kale Salad with Spicy Hazelnuts
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil½ small onion, diced2 medium carrots, peeled and diced1 celery stalk, diced Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste8 yellow, red and/or orange bell peppers, chopped1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth3 teaspoon finely chopped fresh marjoram1 recipe Gluten-Free Herbed Croutons, for garnishSliced avocado, for garnish; optionalFinely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish; optionalDrizzle Seriously Sensational Sriracha Sauce, for garnish; optional
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and a pinch of salt and blackpepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook until soft,about 6 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and broth. Season with salt and black pepper, cover the pot,and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and add the marjoram. Simmer until the vegetables are tender,about 20 minutes.Let the soup cool slightly, and then, in batches, transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. If needed,thin the soup with water. Adjust the seasoning with salt and black pepper if necessary. Return the soup to the pot to keep warm until serving. Serve garnished with the Herbed Croutons and, if desired, the avocado and cilantro on top and Seriously Sensational Sriracha Sauce on the side.

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About the Author

AMIE-ValponeAmie Valpone – HHC, AADP, a Culinary Nutritionist, Professional Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Personal Chef and Writer specializing in simple Gluten-free, ‘Clean’ recipes for the home cook. She has continuing education certifications from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and Columbia University as well as the Drugless Practitioners of America. She started The Healthy Apple after suffering with digestive issues for years and healed herself from years of chronic illness and pain that changed her life for the better. After years of being told nothing was wrong with her, through the help of Integrative Medical Doctors, she learned that she was suffering from heavy metal accumulation, hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), chronic fatigue, an IGA deficiency and was born without the gene, MTHFR which is key in detoxification. After 10 years of medical mysteries, she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. I learned that her body couldn’t digest gluten, soy, sugar and many other foods. She began to realize quickly that medicine could only do so much – it wasn’t offering her body what it needed to heal. She needed to overhaul her lifestyle.

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Questions or anything to add or do you also suffer with a chronic illness?  We want your thoughts in the comments section–Please!