Food for Thought

There's a lot of information out there. There's even more products that we are told everyday we have to have and we cannot go on without them. Daily I'm bombarded with information from my email, Facebook, computer, and other sources. There's even more confusion over what we should be doing over what we should stop doing. Good grief! Is anyone else ready to throw up their hands and have a clear head like I am?!

I appreciate good information like the next person. Frankly, my patients expect it and should. It is something that deserves clarity to say do this, not that. To know your sources and all the information out there. But then realize that good information stands firm and sometimes simple. Not a quickly written article or update that some magazine or even newspaper decides to type. Research is worth reading for yourself. Remembering what is truly good for our body and minds is essential. In reality I find myself remembering that foods have been around forever. Don't get me started on all the info about varying diets, plant research/agronomy breeding then and now.  That's another conversation entirely. What I can tell you is that lets remember a few things. From something as basic as inflammation whether it is in your gut, your knee, or a cut, IT exists. Sometimes we see this rampant in different forms. An infected cut: redness, warmth, and inflammation is easy to spot.  To stomach ulcers, IBS, diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's --disease that "hides" within the gut to grace us with their often unwelcome timing into our daily lives. And then a knee. Whether it is the quite knee that catches here and there or the swollen, painful knee that screams with every step, it is one we are less likely to momentarily forget, because after all, how could we?! When we walk it hurts, when we sit it hurts. It hates to walk, but it aches to stop. What must we do?

From all my readings since my personal journey began in 2011, here is what I came to on my own, but I think rings pretty true in general if you go looking through the research and books available. Listen to your body. Think of it this way. We are all different creatures. We know this by what we are allergic to, what medications we tolerate better (or not at all), what foods make our mouth itch when no allergy test showed a thing, to environmental allergies. Everyone has one. Some of us may have seen the reactions sharing this in our circles, families, with our physicians and colleagues.  "Really? That's weird. That's not supposed to happen." Or the blank stare and silence.  Let me clarify one thing. Silence may be an answer because you don't know what to say, but really you are leaving it to the internet with silence. People are scared. They want answers. Honest answers. Something. Anything. Even- I don't know, but we can look it up. Because otherwise this is what adds to the Search.

Searching begins when you start reading and educating yourself. It starts with faith and a refusal to succumb to the card you are dealt. It is a deep knowing within your being that you are made for more than this. And knowing that people have gotten sick forever. Some die. But some get well. And so we search. It's what leads some of us to pursue careers or research things to find out the why and How come, and of course feed the drive to figure it out.

Here is what I know:
Inflammation is bad. It is a breeding ground for bad things. Whether this is a starved cell that multiplies or a genetic flip-switch for the disease that your mom and grandmother had (that you knew you would get one day), we can be sure of this in some cases. You are what you eat. Processed. Sugar. Junk food epidemic.  You might be eating good now but shocked to realize that you are now paying for your raising, your high school after school snacks, or  (let's all be real) all the amazing food you had in college. If you are tired of hearing fibro, chronic fatigue, allergies that you never knew you had, and the list goes on I urge you to go on a health quest of your own. Stop the madness. Take back your health. Exercise. Walk. Jog, Run even. But do something.  Swim even. But exercise for the health of your heart and brain. Pump that blood, spread that oxygen like crazy through every single artery and vein that the Good Lord gave you. Take back your life. Starve the bad cells- whatever form they come in. Stop worrying about the free radicals that damage your hair and worry about the ones on the inside that really matter more! Bad thoughts, depression, mood swings, cancer, stomach upset.........Starve the bad cells. Build good ones. Supply the ones that are mending. Take the bad ones back. Cut your sugar in 1/2 immediately. Cut it totally if you have the guts! Experience your body detoxing while you do it. It may take days, weeks, and yes for some bodies it can take 6 months to notice.  But consider this. As you feed your body the good and healthy, non-processed, low sugar (no sugar), and more water, what is it going to hurt? What have you got to lose besides your cravings, a little energy (only to find your real MOJO), and beat your exhaustion, fatigue, brain fog, after meal sleepiness, joint ache, etc for good. And WAIT FOR IT. What have you got to lose besides your unhealthy lifestyle that is screaming for a change anyway. Your body is screaming at you in some way? What is it telling you? I ache all the time. I'm stressed. I'm tired. I'm really tired. I'm a mess. I'm overloaded. I have no idea what's going on?  Is this my body, I thought I had a different one and woke up with this one day.
Cut things out. Give your body back the anti-oxidants that it needs. Boost yourself with strong anti-inflammatories found in cherries and pineapple. Read about ginger, turmeric, arnica (caution). Find it in your foods. Use your spices. Care about your meals. Put something good in your body. Let that not replace your medications but treat your food like the medicine that it can be if we start putting GOOD in.  And hey, if it replaces your medication then so be it, in some forms. Be smart about it.  If you finding yourself not needing it anymore, discuss that with your doctor. Talk about how much better your stomach or joints feel off the meds if you notice that. Too many cases are unreported where someone stops taking medications they are prescribed because of an intolerance or side effect.  Most people move on to other forms of seeking other answers once medications fail. Tell your doctor, but don't assume they don't need to know what did and did not work in your case. Talk to them. Yes I have my story, but that's another time. I take what I have to. I get off what I can. I cannot tolerate steroids well and I do not need something for my skin daily now since it wasn't working anyway. There are certain things some of us HAVE to take. My real question is how many GI, painful joint/back, ache and pain could we treat if we ate better and did not continue to flood our very cells, tissues, systems with things that make it grouchier instead of happier.  It is with the intention to pay attention and NOTICE that we start to be our own detective and be in tune to our bodies on another level. (I know this does not work for the microwave generation that wants better, faster, stronger, longer, higher, smarter  RIGHT NOW or yesterday AND then does not want to wait for anything or work for it. Since when do I have to lift a single finger to feel better?! News flash, you're not 5 anymore. It really did not work when you were 5 either. If you fell off your bike, you got back up again.)

(Here's some homework. Go look up per year how many people report to the ER with stomach pain alone. That are later hospitalized with some type of intestinal tract bleed. Then look up deaths per year due to chronic addiction to pain pills. Then look up the death rate for GI bleeds per year. Consider that many go unreported or ever make the connection early enough to be treated. See the connection yet. Yes. You cannot flood a system treating one thing for "inflammation" and pain without tearing something else up long term. It just does not work.)

Here's what I've observed within myself. I have allergies. Environmental all my life. Seasonal yes. Plant almost everything (kidding but really it seems like it). Foods- yes. Latex yes. My body does not handle medication well. I don't need much, but you would know that checking the weight/dose chart on occasion. I have been gluten free for 1.5+ years. It was a journey. Fairly desperate and innocent. I found what my body really hates is too much dairy. Specifically Greek yogurt (which almost killed me to part with) and of course regular yogurt. I found the dairy out trying to clear my body and skin or a long line of reactions post thyroid. The signs had been there for eczema, but not in raging form. In the, "oh yeah my skin's a little irritated and its no big deal. I'm rubbing a cream on it kind of way." Dairy was the key to my eczema and clear skin without medications or magic creams. Things helped topically, but really I cut out what my gut was spitting out on my skin. The skin is a window to what really may be going on in the gut on a deeper level. My body simply forced me to finally listen if I wanted it back.
Gluten. Yes gluten. Sob sob. I did not go here because of upset stomach (although I did have this too). I read Grain Brain while everyone else read Wheat Belly. And the light bulb was permanently switched on. Wow. Really? Giving up gluten might be a way of taking my brain back. And not giving into daily fatigue and brain fog for me. Again, everyone is different!! For me, after 2 weeks gluten free I was free of my post lunch slumber state from 2-3pm everyday. I no longer had to unwillingly be not sharp from 2-3 but rather WITH IT without caffeine to charge my afternoon. Yes. I know. WHY did it have to be gluten?! But really, it was worth it.  For work and patients I have to be super human. For my family and self I have to be more than that. And yes, I stayed off gluten because for me it made a difference that was worth parting with. I took my stomach back, body back, and brain back! I've cheated and paid for it a time or two and I'm reminded that my body just does not love it and really does not need it. My sugar spikes throughout the day are controlled better off of it. No I'm not diabetic. (One point Grain Brain makes is speaks to what we normally find gluten in. Breads, sugar sweets, pastas, etc that really drive a blood sugar spike in us. That's why it's called a crash after we eat like that. Our blood sugar may be crashing or dropping. Everyone is different but for me it's healthier to have a controlled level that isn't silently killing my brain cells due to the constant spike/crash relationship. Yes Grain Brain.  Brain Maker is also quite good too!)

Listen to all the little version of inflammation in your body. Don't get crazy. But listen. And then start to wonder, ask questions, and research. Ask your doctor. A great GI doctor is one that once said to me, "Healing starts in the gut. We have to listen to the signals and make a change. Healing can happen from the inside out. You have more power than you think. We will do medicine if we must but first try changing your diet." Inflammation happens. He knew it. The GI tract is the largest organ besides the skin. There's lots of miles in there. What are you putting in yours?

Healthy Brain. Happy Life. Happy Body. Happy Engaged Mind. That can now engage my body into what I need to do. To live, to work, to exercise, to thrive! There's all sort of things that we can take. Yes I use and found some great uses for essential oils along my journey. Most were topical with my skin. Others I've found compare to some wound care products available, but have faster results. But those are for me and my family personally and not to share on this particular blog. Some other supplements are very very good. And natural and high dose form of what we find in foods stuffed with vitamins, mineral, and antioxidants. It's hard and the struggle is real, but it is worth choosing better things to put in our bodies to get a different result for a better outcome long-term. Stop starving yourself of the things your body needs. Stop feeding inflammation with sugar and junk expecting a different result.  You just gave your energy to the Snickers bar that made you momentarily stop acting like Madonna and Marsha(I know the commercial are cute).  Find your balance. Make a list of what you know you can cut. Give something up and replace it with something good. Get to reading. Plan your meals and have a date with your kitchen. Buy an apron and have fun! Exercise so your blood is pumping supplying that brain to all parts so you can engage in thoughts and make better choices for your life. It's yours. No one else can do it for you. It's time make a change! Inflammation is not a game.  It's running it's course. However rampant or quite that may be. Change the game and read it for yourself. This is taking YOU back.