I think everyone I see regularly is starting to get a little tired of me babbling on about probiotics. But I managed to brew/ferment/culture my best yoghurt batch yet, bursting with probiotic goodness and I can’t help but tell everyone.
Ok, hands up this picture is well over a week old now but the last two weeks has swallowed me up good and my lifestyle picture game has been pretty weak. Nevertheless, I’m still 100% backing the low FODMAP diet, topped up with probiotics wherever I can get them.
So anyhow, in the midst of the maddest week of my year (yes I know it’s only the third week) I found out that one of my friends has an autoimmune disease. It’s nothing like IBD, but does have some linkage with Crohn’s apparently. I wish I had known before about this because I can’t stand to see people suffer in silence and alone.
I guess this is one of the main drivers behind why online communities for ‘sufferers’ thrive. I put sufferers in air quotes because I still don’t really know what to call these groups of people; I feel like a fighter but there is a sense that others do really suffer. This question of why chronically ill people choose to connect online in particular spaces is something I have been thinking about a lot.
I want to support people just like me by whatever means I can offer. If that’s advice to someone around the world, I want those conversations to happen in truly ‘safe’ and secure spaces. If it is offline, I’d want to make sure the same rules apply.
I am super pleased that I have managed to convince my friend to give probiotics a go; I’ve got a new little jar to decant some of my best batch yet. It truly feels amazing to be able to share what knowledge I have to try and help make a difference for someone else.