A Journey Toward Healing

This journey started a long time ago when my mother touted constantly that we should make our plates colorful.  She taught us well.  But even so, a mostly healthy lifestyle didn't prevent me from having significant health challenges.  I had everything from heart issues to serious fatigue to illnesses that were debilitating and nearly took my life - all by the time I was 31.

Health is a mystery, elusive at times yet wholly attainable.  I think the first hurdle is our diet, i.e., our daily food intake.  It is important that we view ourselves as uniquely designed, high-performance machines that need constant fueling.  That fuel takes on many forms.  A few examples would be: 

For the Body: a wide variety of nutritious, chemical and antibiotic-free foods (organic if possible)

For the Mind: knowledge, information, challenges, reading, relaxation, vacation

For the Spirit: prayer, meditation, deep breathing (from the diaphragm), relaxation, vacation, rest

This is not a comprehensive list, but it is a good start.  We need fuel, nourishment, rest - and lots of it.  Finding healthy foods that work best for you as an individual is a good place to begin.  According to research by William Wolcott and a few others, even foods that are healthy may not be healthy for certain individuals depending on how our bodies process these foods.  I encourage you to keep a food journal and document how you feel after eating.  Sometimes it can be about striking the right balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat.  Sometimes it can be about eating certain foods at certain times of the day.  Sometimes it is about cutting out as much toxicity from our diets as possible.  Look for foods and food combinations that energize and satisfy you.  It takes time to figure out some of these things, but it is worth it.

Also, there is a sea of information out there telling us to eat this and not that or that and not this.  It is often confusing and overwhelming.  While there is no one diet that will work for optimal health, here are a few rules of thumb:

Variety - meats, poultry, fish, lots of fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains.  We need a variety of foods loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and other good things for us.   As we vary the types of foods we eat, we increase our chances of getting the nutrients we need in order to function well.

Think color - Generally, the more color a food has the more antioxidants and other nutrients it has.

Eat whole foods - Shop around the perimeter of the grocery store - fresh foods.  Cut out processed foods - items in a box - loaded with chemicals and preservatives.

Drink plenty of water - Dehydration is a common occurrence.  When severe, it can cause flu-like symptoms and feelings of fatigue.  Cut out pop and caffeine.  They may give you an initial boost, but these are pure poison - the pop especially - and the caffeine wears out your adrenal glands which produce the hormones that give us energy.

Things we don't need - growth hormone and antibiotic residues found in conventionally raised meat, poultry and dairy; pollutants/pesticides found on conventionally raised fruits and vegetables.  Go organic whenever possible.

If going organic seems overwhelming, focus on what I consider to be the top three: meat, poultry and dairy.  Cutting out this toxic load is important and the benefits are innumerable.

Whatever you decide to do, don't stress about it.  Take your time.  Baby steps are the best way to achieve lifelong change.  And you are entirely worth it!