Our Bodies are Begging for Help

And we are the only ones who can save ourselves. Every ache and pain, every abnormality, every symptom and sign, is a cry for help from our bodies. Hippocrates said, "Let thy medicine be thy food, and let thy food be thy medicine." Nutritional therapy is widely recommended for illnesses in pets and all animals. Elimination diets are used to find food sensitivities in humans. So many people are lactose intolerant and/or have celiac disease. Doesn't it make sense that if such a huge percent of our population are having serious problems digesting this food, that its really not good for us to begin with? I mean, these people live perfectly fine for years without needing supplements of any kind because they had to cut out several food groups. My point is, people need to start listening to their bodies, and tailoring their diets to their body's needs. 

The information is out there, but it can be hard to find. I have fibromyalgia and have been told since my diagnoses that its incurable, chronic, and I will be on medication for the rest of my life to try to control the pain. I went into such a deep depression. I wanted to die every day because I saw no use in living like this. I did research but it all came back to the same things that were not helping me to begin with. I felt like the medical community was failing me and all other patients with this disorder. I felt like no one else understood because they all said it was in my head. I couldn't hold a job and had to apply for disability, which was extremely disappointing to my father. My fiance had to take on two full time jobs to support us. How shitty does that feel when her coworkers say, "What is Melynda doing?" and she has to reply with, "She's sick." People look at me as a leech, a mooch, and in all honesty, useless to society. I reached the end of the line because there was no hope, no light in my future, a hope for a medical cure maybe? But doubtful. 

I started being more conscious about what I put in my mouth because I became a vegetarian for ethical and environmental reasons. I knew there were health benefits, but didn't know what they were or how to take advantage of them, so I just kept eating what I did before, without the meat. When about a year passed with no change in my health, I felt that all hope was lost. I was never destined to lose weight or be healthy, and I accepted that.

When I watched my first health food documentary, I was completely blown away. The answer to all of my questions was staring me in the face the whole time and I didn't realize it. I knew organic was better, I knew GMO was bad, I knew MSG was bad, I knew fresh fruits an veggies were the best thing for you. But I had no idea why. I honestly didn't know how our cells work, what they need to work properly, and how to give that to them. Now that I understand this, it makes sense that every time we order pizza, I get a headache. 

Our bodies have evolved over millions of years to survive on fresh organic plant food, so of course that's what we need to give it to thrive.  

You Are What You Eat

And I am leftover booze and munchies from my New Years Eve party. I'm forcing myself to write this one so bear with me. Now that the holidays are over(Yes, I go with "Happy Holidays" because there are more than one. There are several. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Yule type holidays, and New Years.) all that stocks my fridge is a sad drawer of weepy veggies and all the wonderful, bad for you foods that we save stockpiled in the kitchen. If we didn't, we would be living off of water after all the veggies we bought on payday are gone and the bank account is dry. So this evening I'm eating a wonderful dinner of instant mashed potatoes, cashews, and(Mmm!) organic dark chocolate covered raisins.

It'll be another 8 days before payday comes. We have several root veggies that should last a while in the fridge so I can spread out my veggie consumption throughout the week. I just need to take it day by day. Christi said something to me the other day that really stuck with me, "I'm going to eat only the things that are either really good for me, or taste really good. French fries don't taste good enough to justify eating them." This really rings true, but for me, it can feel like those french fries ARE worth the health risk most days. I fight with myself constantly about this. I will go entire days not eating until 8 or 9 o'clock because I feel so guilty about what is in my cupboards. Then, because I am so hungry and have given in to eating the only food we have in the house, I binge until I can't eat anymore. The problem is, this is all food bank food. So we get white bread, donuts, sugary cereal, eggs, canned soups and veggies, and half of the food has meat in it so I have to give that away. Then on top of all that junk food, they give you a bag of potatoes or onions and maybe a seasonal fruit like a melon or pumpkin. The ratio of fresh, organic fruits an veggies to processed poison in our culture's diet is completely destructive. Trying to get out of the rut every other poor person is in is the most difficult thing to overcome. Of course we are going to eat at the drive thru and have hot fresh pizza delivered to our doors for only $12. It's cheap and is exactly what our taste buds want. That's the sick part of this whole thing. Processed foods are made to taste like they are the most nutritionally sound thing your body is eating. The only conscious part about digestion is actually eating the food, and when our tongue tells us to keep eating what we are eating, we just do. This is how we run into trouble, high volumes of high calorie, nutrient deficient food.

I am trying to solve this problem by growing an indoor organic vegetable garden. This doesn't seem too promising right now. None of my plants have sprouted yet, even though I am using seeds that are "guaranteed to grow!"  I will keep my fingers crossed. I planted two blackberry seeds today and I ran out of soil. When the next bag of soil comes in the mail, I am going to use my leftover disposable cups as make-shift pea pots to start my plants and hope that by the time they are too big for the cups, I will have big enough containers to re-pot them.

I think what frustrates me the most is that I have all this knowledge, but no funds whatsoever to try to fix the problems in my diet. If more and more people start eating fresh, organic food, then industry will turn to it as a  money source and it will ultimately become cheaper. We just need to change our habits and beliefs about food as a society and culture.