Healthy Eating for Healing
We all suffer pain at some stage during our lives. Pain can be caused by many things such as recovery from surgery, disease, inflammation, injury, constant physical and/or emotional stress to name a few. A good friend of mine who I have known for many years who is also a practitioner, often says, ‘If there is pain there is inflammation and where there is inflammation there will be pain. ‘
Naturopathically the belief is when the body becomes acidic it creates an environment for pain and disease to develop. Acidity is controlled by the diet and also controlled by emotions which impact on hormone levels elevating cortisol and adrenaline, the two main stress hormones. Dehydration is another factor that will cause the body to be acidic.
Naturopathically when we look at a diet we aspire to balance foods between alkaline and acid forming foods. The ideal naturopathic diet is 80% alkaline foods and 20% acid forming foods. A really easy way to work this out is to categorise fruit and vegetables as alkaline forming (with the exception of oranges and mandarins) and nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes and anything from the animal kingdom as acid forming. There are a few exceptions to the rule but daily if you aspire to use this simple form of healthy eating your diet will become more alkaline and assist in creating an environment for healing.
I also advise my patients of Healthy Eating by choosing vegetables on how they grow. The categories are leaf, flower and root. This is an anthroposophical approach to food which was taught to me in the late eighties in my first year of naturopathic studies. I find it helps patients easily chose the daily serves of cooked and salad vegetables.
Aiming to reduce the acid forming foods and keeping well hydrated and maintaining some form of stress relief will encourage the body to heal. Stress relief is something that needs to be worked out for each individual. Some people find meditation a great healer, others like to run, some like to dance, some enjoy working in the garden, some like to do yoga, some like to listen to music, others need a monthly massage. Whatever it is it will be discovered thru trial and error. Not everyone is the same so not everybody can be advised to do the same type of stress relief.
Some things we do for relaxation can create stress. I veged out on the couch the other weekend ready to watch a movie. Relaxation was soon replaced by vexation from the bombardment of commercials for diets and workouts equipment which promised me the abs and waist I always wanted. I didn’t know I ever wanted any of these and if I did, how did they know? I flicked over to the DVD player and watched Pride and Prejudice again (I love that movie).
What I’m suggesting is if you attend a meditation class and it doesn’t work for you then try something else, either another form of meditation or Yoga. The stress relief which works for me is a combination of running, mediation, karate, stretching and getting a regular massage.
Studies conducted on Omega 3 fatty acids found 2.7gm of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and nearly the same amount of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) daily reduced inflammation found in arthritic conditions. This is found in the animal kingdom in fish such as sardines, salmon and eggs. In the vegetable kingdom it’s found in linseed in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which the body then converts to EPA and DHA.
Celery is another food which aids at reducing inflammation. It clears the body of acidic metabolites via the kidneys. It helps treats the inflammation found in gout, rheumatism and arthritis
Beetroot is a vegetable that not only is full of antioxidants but is also anti-carcinogenic. You can eat this raw grated in soup, wraps or salads, or in a juice. Not much is required and too much will create nausea. I normally recommend about one tenth of a glass of juice mixed with celery, apple and a little ginger.
Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties. It reduces inflammatory prostaglandins. It aids circulation increasing blood flow thru the body increasing oxygen and nutrients to all tissues. Please be mindful this herb is asprin like in its action and will potentiate blood thinners such as aspirin and warfarin.
Vitamin C found in food is not enough to create healing. This is required to be taken in a supplement which also has bioflavonoids. This will reduce inflammation and promote healthy connective tissue and help reduce scarring. Vitamin C absorption can be tested. Testing the absorption levels will ensure the right dosage required for healing.
In my first year of naturopathic studies we listen to a taped lecture about a young girl who had been cured of her allergy to the 21st centaury. She had gone from living in a very remote farm house with her parents eating only organic vegetables and wearing organic clothing whilst seeing many different practitioners in the hope one would cure her, back to living in main stream society. One of the comments she made was she learnt it was important to each chocolate cake with friends rather than eat alfalfa sprouts alone. I am not advocating not to eat healthy food but how reducing stress plays a large part in healing.
Please find link below to a water information site which offers a hydration calculator.
http://www.wateraid.org/uk/get_involved/drink_more_water/1415.asp
