You Are What You Eat

As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m moving over posts from my old Holy Sip site to this page. This post is from December 2018. I’ve recently decided to pursue a holistic health coach certification and after reading this I realize that I’ve always been passionate about this and I’m definitely on the right path.

As I was riding the high of getting my domestic life if in order, I got hit with an unexpected health scare (I guess if it was expected, it wouldn’t have been a scare).

It felt like I was having a heart attack even though I was sure (hoped strongly) that it wasn’t the case. A trip to the urgent care had me diagnosed with costochondritis. Basically, my joints became inflamed and caused chest pain. While the experience was terrifying, I’m glad it turned out to be something mild and easily treatable.

What did concern me about the entire thing though was the lack of discussion on nutrition during this whole process. There were no questions about what I’d been eating beforehand (I’d recently eaten way more than my normal amount of red meat and I’ve been drinking alcohol more than usual)) and also no alternatives to keeping the inflammation at bay using anything other than medicine. I understand that sometimes a quick fix is needed to turn things around, but what about long term care.

It’s all very troubling to me. While I did take one of the prescribed medications (really because you have to taper off of it), I quickly abandoned the other two optional ones. Instead, I’ve been drinking a lot of ginger and turmeric tea which naturally reduces inflammation. I’ve also focused on foods that reduce inflammation (fatty fish, leafy greens, tomatoes, etc) while mainly staying away from ones that increase it (meat, alcohol, fried foods, dairy).

I try not to label foods as good or bad and I believe most things can be consumed in moderation. However, I think it’s equally as important to understand the effects of certain food and beware that our bodies are able to heal themselves without being loaded up with pharmaceuticals. Food is medicine. It might take longer, but the effects are often longer lasting.

*Sips more ginger turmeric tea.