(Ash Stork) Diet treated it from the inside out

I’m Ash Stork and I’m lucky enough to play bass for a living. Four years ago I was very different person: riddled with eczema, constant sinus pain, disturbed sleep, irritable, tired, short tempered… you get the idea, I was the best person to be around. However, I had learnt to cope reasonably well, as this was the story for my entire life. I constantly received questions and comments to the effect of:

“Dude are you ok?”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Wow you look like how I feel”

What shortly followed was mild anxiety and depression… not surprising you’re thinking. All my ailments coupled with this social minefield of ‘caring insults’ was enough to make me dread going outside, let alone performing on stage.

Nonetheless, as Oscar mentions, we love music and at the core of it all, that is what runs the motivation station. Sometimes we just need grab the right perspective.

Although all these troubles initially inhibited me, I am now thankful for them. I’ve learned more about physical and mental wellbeing than I ever thought to and my life is a radically different place because of these issues. On the face of it, they’re a complete negative…on second thought, they forced me to look at my diet. Without those ailments I’d never have achieved a life that leaves me feeling blessed just to wake up.

Anxiety, depression, mood swings:

The eczema, sleep deprivation, tired eyes and allergies were one thing, I learned to live as best I could with those… the depression, anxiety and dark thoughts I was unable to tackle. No steroid cream, extra nap, layer of foundation or funny retort was going help what was happening in my head. After an aggressive eczema outbreak where I struggled to move, was a bloody mess and in tears: personally I felt the lowest I’d ever felt…something had to change.

‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.’ Albert Einstein

I learned about my enemy (what makes eczema itchy, how does it form, what types are there, skin ph and irritation), only to find you actually need to treat it from the inside out. My skin was just a genetic weakness that happened to be a marker of an inflammatory and unhealthy diet. I had initially treated my condition topically with creams… then, after days of reading and research, I switched to a healthy diet.

THANK YOU POWERS THAT BE, HALLELUJAH!!!

As soon as I began a healthy, balanced diet and took care of my stomach, depression and anxiety just melted away. I mean they popped up their heads occasionally, but I could say to myself:

“Hey, that’s the same dark thought I always have at 11.11pm on a Tuesday after a hard day… let’s not board that train, it just makes us feel bad.”

***Cycle stopped***

I have mental clarity, alertness, focus and, oh-my-days I’m so much, much, much happier. Just waking up, I can appreciate all the amazing things that I’ve been blessed with. On a down day I now have the emotionally stability to ask ‘why’ and apply more logical thought patterns to control the cycles. With all these new superpowers I was no longer running with my head down…I can look up and it feels glorious.

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