Helping Your Body Heal Itself: Better Living Through Better Diet
Having been schooled as a personal trainer, I feel I have some standing on matters of nutrition. However, there are more authoritative sources on the subject and I highly recommend consulting a registered dietician, a nutritionally-oriented physician, or other qualified professional before making any major dietary changes, especially if you are considering going vegetarian or significantly reducing any other major source of nutrition. That said, I aim to provide a good jumping-off point for healthy change.
Chronic & "Unexplainable" Disease
The working theory here is that chronic medically unexplained disease states are the body's way of telling you that it is in a state of imbalance. To fully address an imbalance, one should incorporate all of the "3 Free Therapies": Diet, Exercise, & Prayer/Meditation into his or her daily life. For the purposes of this article, we are going to focus on eliminating our ingestion of environmental toxins and pollutants as a mode for restoring balance. We will be discussing how to go about doing this by replacing common, harmful, dietary options with healthier alternatives. This will jump-start your bodie's natural capacity to detoxify itself. The process can be aided by herbal supplements, vitamins, etc., but reducing the intake of harmful foods should be the highest priority.
In fact, this advice or something similar, is given as a starting point for most health complaints by herbalists, naturopaths, and practitioners of Eastern Medicine. If you don't have chronic health issues already, this advice can be considered preventative. If you do have health issues, improving your diet never hurts and usually confers a noticable change for the better.
"Let Food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food" ~ Hippocrates
"When diet is wrong medicine is of no use, when diet is correct, medicine is of no need" ~Ayurvedic Proverb
Better Options
A good starting-point is to, first, know what you're eating (ALWAYS READ INGREDIENTS) and then start choosing healthier options.
1. CHOOSE WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FOODS OVER PROCESSED FOODS: Whole grain rice over white rice, whole wheat pasta over bleached or enriched flour pasta, whole wheat bread over bleached or enriched flour bread. If you eat meat, choose lean cuts over processed patties, dogs, sausages, etc. Ready-made meals that you just put in the microwave or oven are generally full of preservatives and highly processed, but if you shop in the organic section of your grocery store, that's a big improvement. Potatoes are great (assuming you don't have an allergy), potatoes in a box, not so much.
2. CHOOSE ORGANIC PRODUCE OVER "THE REGULAR STUFF": If your fruits and vegetables don't come from your local farmer's market or say "Certified Organic", they are probably genetically modified and definitely contain pesticides. Choose organic tortilla chips. Corn that doesn't say "organic" is genetically modified.
3. SWEETS, PASTRIES, AND CANDY: If a sweet tooth is out of control, choose fruits and seeds over candy. If you're going to treat yourself, pick candy that specifically says that it doesn't contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. If it doesn't say, it contains it. Pick pastries that specifically say they don't contain high fructose corn syrup or bleached/enriched flour. If it doesn't say what's in it, there's stuff in there you don't want to eat.
4. BEVERAGES: Most people don't drink the recommended 8, 12 oz. glasses of water per day. Improve that by replacing juice and the like with water. Try to only drink distilled or reverse osmosis filtered water. Tap water is bad for you. "Spring" or "Stream" water is unregulated and is not purified.
5. MEAT: The meat and dairy industry is TOXIC. A vegetarian diet is perfectly healthy for people of all age groups and there are many good reasons to be vegetarian. If you're going to eat meat, only eat organic, grass-fed beef. Only eat poultry that specifies that it is organic and raised on a vegetarian diet. Bonus points for: "Pastured"(not pasteurized), "Humanely Raised and Handled", or "Cruelty Free".
6. DAIRY: Dairy products are a concentrated source of antibiotics, artificial hormones, and radiation. There are many soy and almond substitutes for dairy products. If you're going to continue to eat dairy, only eat dairy products labeled, "Organic" and supplement your diet with kelp, apples, and sunflower seeds.
7. EGGS: Choose eggs that are produced locally or that are labeled "Organic", "Pastured", and/or "Humanely Raised and Handled". These eggs are healthier.
8. INCLUDE SUPER FOODS: Seeds, sprouts, hemp seeds, kelp, hempseed oil, and honey just to name a few.
9. JUST SAY "NO!" TO: High fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, white sugar, artificial colors/dyes, monosodium glutamate (MSG), carrageenan, energy drinks, fast food, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, nitrates, anything "ultra pasteurized", anything "modified", maltodextrin, textured protein, hydrolyzed protein, gelatain, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast, flovors, flovorings, seasonings, natural flavors, soy protein isolate, bullion, malt extract, barley malt, powdered milk, anthing "protein-fortified", and anything "enzyme-modified". In general, stay away from anything that sounds like a lab experiment. A long list of ingredients is a red flag.
10. HEALING CRISES: If you have made the above changes and experience a worsening of symptoms, you are probably experiencing what is known as a "Healing Crisis". As your body cleans itself up, the internal organs' expulsion of wastes can make it appear that the problem is getting worse. In skin disorders, the condition of the skin may become worse. In rheumatic complaints, joint pain may increase. This is only temporary. Stick to the program and when the body is fully detoxified, you will see an improvement.
11. ALLERGIES: If 2-3 weeks have passed and the symptoms persist, you may have a food allergy. A physician can identify allergies for you or you can cut out all foods that have been known to cause allergies and wait for symptoms to go away. You can then reintroduce foods back into your diet, one at a time, one week at a time. When symptoms reappear, you have identified an allergen. Meat, dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, corn, potatoes, gluten (wheat), and shellfish, cause a high incidence of allergic reactions.
I know it seems like a lot to remember, but there is an easy-to-remember under-riding theme here: The less altered and the closer to nature your food is, the healthier it is. Don't be discouraged, anybody can do this!
Chronic & "Unexplainable" Disease
The working theory here is that chronic medically unexplained disease states are the body's way of telling you that it is in a state of imbalance. To fully address an imbalance, one should incorporate all of the "3 Free Therapies": Diet, Exercise, & Prayer/Meditation into his or her daily life. For the purposes of this article, we are going to focus on eliminating our ingestion of environmental toxins and pollutants as a mode for restoring balance. We will be discussing how to go about doing this by replacing common, harmful, dietary options with healthier alternatives. This will jump-start your bodie's natural capacity to detoxify itself. The process can be aided by herbal supplements, vitamins, etc., but reducing the intake of harmful foods should be the highest priority.
In fact, this advice or something similar, is given as a starting point for most health complaints by herbalists, naturopaths, and practitioners of Eastern Medicine. If you don't have chronic health issues already, this advice can be considered preventative. If you do have health issues, improving your diet never hurts and usually confers a noticable change for the better.
"Let Food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food" ~ Hippocrates
"When diet is wrong medicine is of no use, when diet is correct, medicine is of no need" ~Ayurvedic Proverb
Better Options
A good starting-point is to, first, know what you're eating (ALWAYS READ INGREDIENTS) and then start choosing healthier options.
1. CHOOSE WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FOODS OVER PROCESSED FOODS: Whole grain rice over white rice, whole wheat pasta over bleached or enriched flour pasta, whole wheat bread over bleached or enriched flour bread. If you eat meat, choose lean cuts over processed patties, dogs, sausages, etc. Ready-made meals that you just put in the microwave or oven are generally full of preservatives and highly processed, but if you shop in the organic section of your grocery store, that's a big improvement. Potatoes are great (assuming you don't have an allergy), potatoes in a box, not so much.
2. CHOOSE ORGANIC PRODUCE OVER "THE REGULAR STUFF": If your fruits and vegetables don't come from your local farmer's market or say "Certified Organic", they are probably genetically modified and definitely contain pesticides. Choose organic tortilla chips. Corn that doesn't say "organic" is genetically modified.
3. SWEETS, PASTRIES, AND CANDY: If a sweet tooth is out of control, choose fruits and seeds over candy. If you're going to treat yourself, pick candy that specifically says that it doesn't contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. If it doesn't say, it contains it. Pick pastries that specifically say they don't contain high fructose corn syrup or bleached/enriched flour. If it doesn't say what's in it, there's stuff in there you don't want to eat.
4. BEVERAGES: Most people don't drink the recommended 8, 12 oz. glasses of water per day. Improve that by replacing juice and the like with water. Try to only drink distilled or reverse osmosis filtered water. Tap water is bad for you. "Spring" or "Stream" water is unregulated and is not purified.
5. MEAT: The meat and dairy industry is TOXIC. A vegetarian diet is perfectly healthy for people of all age groups and there are many good reasons to be vegetarian. If you're going to eat meat, only eat organic, grass-fed beef. Only eat poultry that specifies that it is organic and raised on a vegetarian diet. Bonus points for: "Pastured"(not pasteurized), "Humanely Raised and Handled", or "Cruelty Free".
6. DAIRY: Dairy products are a concentrated source of antibiotics, artificial hormones, and radiation. There are many soy and almond substitutes for dairy products. If you're going to continue to eat dairy, only eat dairy products labeled, "Organic" and supplement your diet with kelp, apples, and sunflower seeds.
7. EGGS: Choose eggs that are produced locally or that are labeled "Organic", "Pastured", and/or "Humanely Raised and Handled". These eggs are healthier.
8. INCLUDE SUPER FOODS: Seeds, sprouts, hemp seeds, kelp, hempseed oil, and honey just to name a few.
9. JUST SAY "NO!" TO: High fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, white sugar, artificial colors/dyes, monosodium glutamate (MSG), carrageenan, energy drinks, fast food, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, nitrates, anything "ultra pasteurized", anything "modified", maltodextrin, textured protein, hydrolyzed protein, gelatain, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast, flovors, flovorings, seasonings, natural flavors, soy protein isolate, bullion, malt extract, barley malt, powdered milk, anthing "protein-fortified", and anything "enzyme-modified". In general, stay away from anything that sounds like a lab experiment. A long list of ingredients is a red flag.
10. HEALING CRISES: If you have made the above changes and experience a worsening of symptoms, you are probably experiencing what is known as a "Healing Crisis". As your body cleans itself up, the internal organs' expulsion of wastes can make it appear that the problem is getting worse. In skin disorders, the condition of the skin may become worse. In rheumatic complaints, joint pain may increase. This is only temporary. Stick to the program and when the body is fully detoxified, you will see an improvement.
11. ALLERGIES: If 2-3 weeks have passed and the symptoms persist, you may have a food allergy. A physician can identify allergies for you or you can cut out all foods that have been known to cause allergies and wait for symptoms to go away. You can then reintroduce foods back into your diet, one at a time, one week at a time. When symptoms reappear, you have identified an allergen. Meat, dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, corn, potatoes, gluten (wheat), and shellfish, cause a high incidence of allergic reactions.
I know it seems like a lot to remember, but there is an easy-to-remember under-riding theme here: The less altered and the closer to nature your food is, the healthier it is. Don't be discouraged, anybody can do this!
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