Jeanne Deumier – Her Fight Against Crohn's Disease

When thinking detox, I think after celebration fixes like after New Years, after a big night out, after a heavy meal…but detox is nothing like this as I have learned from talking with Jeanne Deumier. She is a survivor of a heavy inflammatory disease called Crohn’s disease. What she did to heal and thrive you can read in her heartful interview here. 

I’m ready to jump on board her nutrition program!

Can you introduce yourself to the tribe? Where are you from, what do you do for a living and for passion?
Hello Abi, thank you for welcoming me to your nice blog. My name is Jeanne, I am 27 years old, I have been a patient expert for almost 3 years. My passion, my long-term project, is to accompany people towards a change of diet, to transmit all my knowledge, my experience, to try to give a different vision of the disease. Indeed, I knew this one well since I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease at the age of 18. I changed my diet, my life, at the age of 20. And I have no regrets. At 24, I was given the chance to write a book to testify to all these changes. From there, I built my social networks, to provide daily solutions. I share my shopping, my recipes, my vision, but also the advice of health professionals with whom I constantly talk. We weave a canvas that supports all those who wish to take charge of their health.

While waiting to become a full-time health coach, I am also a press attachée.

Tell us how you experienced your inflammatory disease and what brought you to the awareness that food was the solution?
Yes of course. The announcement of a diagnosis so young was not well taken. I first denied the idea of ​​being sick. But above all I denied for a while the idea of ​​having hurt myself for many years. My symptoms and pain started long before I was "diagnosed with Crohn's". The inflammation had been installed since I was 14 years old. I suffered from eczema, dermatitis, chronic fatigue, joint pain. I had a disjointed, violent diet and lifestyle at the time. Lots of excess and / or restrictions, packaged and processed food, light sodas, protein bars, animal products from factory farming, high-dose cardio or nothing. It was as if I threw oil on the fire or poison in my body every day. One day, after yet another consultation with my gastroenterologist, I come face to face with a trash food distributor. Candies, cakes, sodas are highlighted in a service dedicated to what I thought was health. I had a huge ‘click’. And I decided to change everything, starting with food.

It must have been very hard going through this illness with so many odds against you. How did you keep a clear mind and focus in all this?
In fact, everything came very naturally. The knot of complications unraveled very quickly when I felt the first benefits of a completely different way of life. Eat less but better, stop snacking and wonder about my connection with food, stop shopping at supermarkets, consume less. My mind just became much clearer, I had the energy to overcome everything. I talk about it a lot in my book, I dedicated a chapter that I called the body instinct. I listened to it after years of abuse, and the magic worked.

Were you supported in your courageous choice to leave the chemicals behind you and take the leap of faith of what Mother Earth gives us to heal?
Honestly? No. No one in 2011 believed in what I was doing. Besides, I didn't talk about it. You have to imagine, 20 years, the gangs of friends, a generation hyper addicted to everything that "destroys" without knowing it. I discovered vegetable juices in secret and most of my friends laughed when they asked me about my new way of life. But I held on. I knew I was heading in the right direction, even if I took it on my own. Around me, the void was quickly made, I have a few relatives. I learned to live with loneliness and the fact that everything takes time.

I know you are sharing your know-how from your first-hand experience with the desire to help others who struggle with health issues which can be solved or reduced by the right nutrition. You took this disease as an opportunity, which I bet had never crossed your mind before. How was your interest in food prior to your illness?
I had a complicated relationship with it, like many women. For me, food served to display weight on the scale, to give me a more or less suitable figure. I was thinking in terms of quantity, calories. The less I eat, the thinner I am, the more I eat, the bigger I am and therefore "ugly". Apart from that, I have no idea what I put on my plate at the time. I didn’t care about the living. I got sick and then, in my selfishness I started to develop an interest in the way I ate.

We met at a detox wellness event I curated for One Trainer in Paris. It was so great to have you part of that team. When we think detox, there are many aspects that we have to include: physical, mental, emotional. What were the top 3 general pieces of advice to the guests of Detox January?
Yes, a great time to talk about healthy eating to people who do not necessarily feel concerned since they do not have any declared pathologies.

Tip number 1: Just because you feel healthy doesn't mean you are. Simple tiredness, sleep problems, skin, hair issues, mood loss may indicate that there are digestive problems.

Tip number 2: Do not think that the detox is done in one shot then we can resume things as before. It would be very violent for the body to attack the intestinal mucosa after a fast or a detox with vegetable juices.

Tip number 3: You have to work on all levels by putting the body in a gentle way and being aware of the impact of your emotions on your health. I always tell my coaches that there is no point in having the Gisèle Budchen food routine if you are unhappy in your life because of a relationship or a job. You have to accept that the road is long.

Tell us about your book. How did you structure it? Where can we buy it and which recipe is your all-time favourite?
My book released last September (here) is a guide that will suit anyone who wants to change their diet. I designed it into three major parts; understand, accept and act. It was important for me to call upon health professionals in order to deliver the best to start an anti-inflammatory diet. We find there, a biologist, an immunologist teacher, a yoga teacher, a chef specializing in healthy, local, vegetable cuisine and more.

I believe that if I could give you a recipe that I love very much, it is that of a juice that I love to make in the summer. The feeling in the body is divine. It is a watermelon juice.

Here’s how it goes: I pass a slice of watermelon in the extractor with half a cucumber, fresh mint. That's all. In the morning on an empty stomach. You will find it boosts your immune system and energy like nothing before.