Start healing together
Welcome back!
I hope you have had time to look over the initial assessment… if not take a few minutes to complete it…. it is important. I feel that most of us, myself included, don’t know what we are currently doing that can affect our health, let alone how to change it.
We are going to spend the most time on the “diet” section for the next few weeks. The others are important but the things we eat and drink are the most easily modifiable. Read down through your list, what stands out to you? There is absolutely no shaming here, I just want us to all be aware that food is the one of the key factors in our health. In the US there is not a lot, if any, true education on diet… actually, that word still makes me cringe because of how it is misconstrued. Let’s lay the foundation, diet… is anything you ingest, including food and drinks. It is NOT a lifestyle or “type” of eating in limitation or exclusion for a specific goal (ie weight loss), like is learned. While all foods are not equal in nutritional value, there are no “bad” foods. You will learn here about why we should eat certain types more than others but… there will never be shame or guilt applied to enjoying an occasional soda or candy bar (I’m talking to myself here too), it’s about balance.
Diet is a loaded and dangerous topic and my take, after many years of healing from disordered eating, is very different. We all need to learn to eat for our own bodies and conditions. We are all born with (or develop) changes that cause our nutrient breakdown to be different than others or even to our “old selves” over time. We call these changes genetic variation and they are the ROOT cause of many of our health concerns. These allow our bodies to hold both strengths and weaknesses, so they are not all bad. There are many variants, some can be tested for however, the overall solution is modifying the nutrients we take in. We will get into the specific variants in the future but right now we will focus on a few simple, affordable, and easily modifiable areas.
First, we need to look at the way food and drink, you take in, affect your body. Look at your initial assessment and think about the last few days. Have you felt body aches, fatigue, muscle pain, brain fog, or GI symptoms like gas, bloating, and bowel changes? If so you likely have one or more dietary sensitivities. Many of us are completely unaware of these because “most people have bloating when they eat pasta or bread”… well guess what, you’re not supposed to. That is a warning sign that our body sends saying something is up. Let’s stay with that for a second, when you have that bloating it is a combination of 2 things, gas and inflammation. Gas is typically, very obvious, and is not normal to have frequently, it is a byproduct of the bacteria in your gut (the good ones) having a bad response during digestion. Inflammation, on the other hand, causes many concerns. It leads to actual swelling of the villi (the little finger-like projections that move your food forward) in the intestines which causes weakness in the lining of the gut. That weakness allows larger than normal food particles to move into blood circulation and ends up causing worsening sensitives and “leaky gut” which is often a cause of many physical symptoms. If you’re experiencing skin changes like acne, stomach pains with eating, brain fog, body aches, anxiety or depression, or autoimmune conditions you’re likely suffering from chronic inflammation related to “leaky gut”. But how do you know where to start? I highly recommend dietary sensitivity testing- (check the link tab after reading this to snag yours at a discounted price). I have found it is highly sensitive for my whole family and if you’re experiencing leaky gut there will likely be many things listed. This also checks your vitamin, mineral, and probiotic balance. It is a great place to learn where to start and not be overwhelmed.
Second, cutting out food items that you’re sensitive too. Okay, hear me out, because I said this wasn’t about “cutting out bad foods”, and it’s not. This is about gut healing, taking foods away for the short term to improve overall gut integrity so that you can add them back in over time. The most common sensitives are dairy, gluten, and alcohol. While you can assume and cut out certain ones, I personally found knowing where to start was extremely empowering as well as gives the ability to move through changes slowly. ** I do not want you running out to buy a whole new pantry of food! Start with one substitution at a time or you will become overwhelmed and stop** If you don’t plan to do the testing, you can also create a 2-week food journal and see how you feel after eating certain things. My concern with this is that inflammation from the last meal might interfere and skew the results. Other things to consider is what you’re drinking… this should be a very limited list with most of your intake being plain, filtered water, only. The number one culprit is soda…. And there are so many reasons it is a problem. Primarily, it is full of sugar and if you drink diet… that is worse… artificial sugar substitutes are horrible on your gut and many other areas. For example, aspartame is broken down into formaldehyde…. Yes, embalming fluid, in the blood stream… don’t believe me- check this National Institute of Health article from 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8227014/
The other must avoid is alcohol… I know… but it’s fun…. it’s an actual poison… that’s all I’ll say for now.
Lastly, nutrients from all food interact with the cells and genes in our body and the way they work, this is called epigenetics. That means that what we eat, drink, and do changes the way our genes function. This is good because it means you can “reverse” how your genes are currently working. This doesn’t happen overnight though; with time and patience we can work together to improve how your feel and function at the genetic level. To start looking at how our bodies work with our food I recommend reading/listening to “Eat Smarter”, by Shawn Stephenson for a breakdown. (I’ll link it here and in the link page) https://a.co/d/5kc9D0T
This has been a lot of information, and if you’re like me when I started its all new! It’s not your fault, we are sadly under educated in the US about our health. I believe it is time to take that power back. I believe the more you know the better you can feel and function.
Until next time, take control of what YOU can control.
