Treating Your Ulcerative Colitis with Self-Care Instead of Health Care

Well, one thing's for sure: though having ulcerative colitis hasn't made me broke, it certainly hasn't helped me financially. It can be pretty expensive having a disorder that requires specialized foods and care - that is, if one doesn't consider other options.

For me, I felt that having medical health care and paying for prescription pills was far too expensive for me. Plus, I wasn't happy with the outcomes. Therefore, I slowly weaned myself off of health care and started taking matters into my own hands through self-education. Sure, people are advised not to self-administer health care, but I believe that if you're smart about it, and you're willing to do a lot of self-exploration, you can eventually displace the need for strangers in lab coats handing you medications. This may sound extreme, and maybe even ridiculously dangerous and experimental, but I think about it this way: people have survived for thousands of years without Western medicine, so why can't I? And also, Western medicine has brought along its own bunch of problems, so why should I subscribe to the notion that it's infallible? It's absolutely not! Which is why I vouch for self-care.

As I've said, self-care is considerably cheaper. I think I spend about $100 per two months or so on herbs and supplements, and then maybe a little extra per month for high-quality organic foods. Sometimes I just cannot afford the top-notch foods, so I cut back on meats. I absolutely do not buy packaged foods. Instead, I buy from bulk bins and cook foods from scratch. It's not so hard, and I really like the fact that I can closely monitor everything that goes into my mouth. So when I buy organic fruits and veggies (always buy seasonal, for these are often far cheaper), bulk grains, beans and legumes such as quinoa, chickpeas and lentils, make my own soups and stocks and buy tons of kefir and organic yogurt and butter, I spend about $300 a month. That's not so much, considering that many people spend hundreds more eating out or eating prepackaged frozen meals - you're mostly paying for the eating experience and the convenience, not the quality of the food. This is why I rarely eat out. I recommend never eating out for this reason, as well as the fact that you have no control over what the food is cooked in. I worked in a restaurant for one month and was horrified to see all the rancid oils that food was cooked in. The one I worked at charged $15 for a meal that was fried in cheap soybean oil! Cook your own meals and definitely save.