Food as Medicine?

I will never forget the first time I heard about food being a powerful catalyst for healing. I was a newlywed in my mid 20s when an older friend told my husband and I a story about receiving a cancer diagnosis in his youth, and instead of following the traditional medical road of chemo and radiation, he chose to address his cancer through nutrition...and healed. I had never before thought about the impact food could have on our overall health, even though I myself suffered most of my life with digestive issues, allergies, and other chronic symptoms. I became curious: if food could heal someone of cancer, could food heal my own chronic health concerns?

In my experience since then, I can say the answer is YES! Hippocrates is credited for saying "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine thy food." This statement implies that what we choose to eat can either help us or harm us.

Like most 80s and 90s kids, my diet consisted primarily of packaged, processed food, ready-made microwave meals, just-add-water packets, white bread, American cheese slices, soda, Little Debbie snacks, school lunches, and fast food multiple times per week. Rarely did I eat fresh fruits or vegetables, I ate margarine instead of butter, and never EVER did I eat something "healthy" like yogurt. And I paid the price with stomach pain after every meal as well as severe constipation that had me treating hemorrhoids at the age of 13. It was awful! As I grew into womanhood, I dealt with terrible menstrual cramps, chronic yeast infections, skin issues, seasonal allergies, and chemical sensitivities. Certain smells would give me headaches, and I generally coped my way through my days feeling miserable. Looking back, I can say I didn't even know what it was like to feel GOOD in my body. How sad!

My husband and I were newlyweds, and working our way through graduate school on the most meager budget. We would go to our local Sav-a-Lot and see if we could buy a month's worth of groceries for $60. Lots of cans, packets, and instant foods...this was all either of us knew, so this was our food. After that conversation with our friend, my husband and I began visiting our local farmer's market and a whole new world of color, texture, and flavor opened up to us! We were now purchasing single ingredients, which inspired us to use our creativity to make our meals, and I purchased my first REAL FOOD cookbook: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. We began eating more meals made with fresh foods and less processed/fast food. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to begin noticing change. We began to start feeling better. Years later, I would pick up the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ by Dr Natasha Campbell McBride, and read "All diseases begin in the gut" -Hippocrates, 460-370 BC. Through the GAPS Nutritional Protocol, I would be provided a roadmap to support my body with proper nourishment that would repair damage and restore health...with real food.

If you are suffering with chronic health concerns and wanting to know where to even begin to turn things around, here are 3 tips I would give you:

1) Prioritize eating REAL food! This means fresh, whole, single ingredient or at least minimally processed, and as directly from the source as possible. Try to phase out processed foods, fast foods, and ingredient lists you can't pronounce. Focus on meats, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats like butter. Nuts, seeds, and grains are digested best when they are first soaked, sprouted, or fermented (Nourishing Traditions is a great resource for this).

2) Shop Local! Visiting your local farmer's market or finding your closest family farm is a wonderful way to support your local economy and eat food that is local to you, seasonally appropriate, and very fresh. Building relationships with your farmers is a wonderful way to reconnect with where food comes from and the importance of good practices in food production. Your awareness will grow your appreciation for the time, energy, and sacrifice that goes into the provision of true nourishment.

3) When you do go to the grocery store, shop the perimeter! This is where you will find the most single ingredient, fresh foods. Your body recognizes these foods better than the products that are found in the center aisles of the store. This is generally where all the processed, packaged foods live: think chemicals and preservatives that keep food on the shelf longer. Your body does not recognize these chemicals as useful, which means it is burdened to work harder to filter these toxins out.

Our bodies were designed to repair and heal, when given the proper tools. Our food should be the very first quality tools we put into our toolbox.

Here's to the small changes that you CAN make to begin feeling better!

Blessings,

Kyla