Eating Healthy But Still Getting Sick
You are eating healthy, exercising and doing everything right, but still getting sick. It is a frustrating yet common occurrence, especially in today's toxin laden world
Here is why:
Our food supply is depleted of essential vitamins and minerals. Why? Cost cutting agricultural practices, combined with mineral depletion in soil, acid rain that further leeches the minerals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and genetically modified seeds that further strip the nutritional content from the produce being grown. This is all costing us valuable nutrients in our bodies.
A cup of spinach 50 years ago would have given you all the potassium, iron and minerals that you need. Now, you would need to consume 30 cups of spinach to reach the nutritional equivalent of that one cup.
On top of that, the clothes we wear are heavily sprayed with chemicals, artificial dyes and laundry detergents. The electronics surrounding us all emit EMFs (Electro magnetic frequencies) that further disrupt our bodies and minds. Our everyday products are almost all created in factories that spew hundreds of chemicals to come up with the end product, let alone the toxic air we breathe from factory and auto fumes, our tainted water supply filled with chlorine, fluoride, and even birth control and other medications.
Think about that!! It’s no wonder people who eat healthy and practice healthy living still find themselves with health issues. They eat right but they still suffer from anemia, low energy, adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalances, recurring colds, weak immune systems.
We all know one person who never smoked, rarely drank, exercised regularly and ate healthy, and still ended up with some form of cancer or disease. It is important to recognize that it is not just the food we consume, but a holistic combination of factors; the toxins we are exposed to from our clothes, fragrances, cosmetics, carpets, houses, our stress levels and emotional and mental wellbeing, the water we drink, the quality of the food we eat, how the food is prepared and more.
I will outline some health, diet and lifestyle tips to help maximize your absorption of nutrients and minimize your exposure to chemicals and toxins.
Diet tips:
Eating healthy may not often be enough to ensure your optimal health. If you are feeling constantly fatigued, low mood (depression, irritability etc.), have cravings for fatty, sweet and processed foods, it could be an indication that your body is asking you to tune in, to either change something or add something to your diet.
Solutions?
- Get blood work done to ensure your thyroid, iron, calcium and nutrient levels are at healthy levels. Recently, I’ve been feeling fatigued despite sleeping well, and my skin was pale with really dark circles under my eyes. I got blood work done to check on the state of my inner health and it turned out that my iron levels were alarmingly low! That explained so much as to why I was looking and feeling the way I did. As such, I took proactive action to be conscious of what I am eating, and am now taking an iron supplement and focusing on iron rich foods such as lentils, beans, and dark leafy greens.
- Limit your exposure to conventional fruits and vegetables. Try to get organic whenever it is affordable and convenient. You don’t have to purchase organic everything. The Environmental Working Group has a list of chemically laden food items that get exposed to most pesticides, herbicides and fungicides These chemicals are created to kill and destroy bacteria, fungus, insects and other pathogens. Think about that. The same chemicals get absorbed into your body, leading to long term health issues such as digestive problems, neurological issues, and overall toxicity. If you only invest in organic products among the dirty dozen list, you can reduce the pesticide load on your body by over 80%.
- Supplementing with a good quality multi-vitamin and multi-mineral will help balance the missing nutrients. Please keep in mind that supplementing alone is not enough. You should first and foremost focus on getting your nutrients from the source itself.
- Focus on a diet rich in whole foods. What does that mean? It means foods that come straight from the source; fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, unrefined and unprocessed ancient grains. Eat things that come from a plant, not are made in a plant. Our food can be our medicine. If we eat right, we give ourselves the chance to potentially mitigate, or even avoid health issues down the line.
- Increase the good gut bacteria in your digestive tract. By improving your gut bacteria, you improve your immune system and overall bodily functions. Foods rich in probiotics are fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, natto, kefir and kombucha.
- Focus on improving your immune system. By strengthening your immune system, you will be less prone to catching viruses and when you do good sick, you will be more adept at fighting it.
Immune promoting foods:
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Elderberry
- Ecinachea
- Astralagus
- Calendula
- Vitamins C, D and E
- Brazil nuts
- Green tea
- Berries
Health tips:
Overcooking or heating your food kills off valuable enzymes and nutrients. Our goal here is to maximize your absorption of nutrients.
Solutions?
- Instead of boiling veggies, steam them. Less nutrients will be leeched this way
- Eat raw whenever possible.
- The skins of fruits and vegetables contain a lot of valuable nutrients. Try to keep the skin on whenever possible, but first soak with sea salt and white vinegar to remove some of the waxy layer and chemicals
- Allowing your vegetables to become fully tender means that you may have lost a lot of vital nutrients. A good rule of thumb is making sure your greens don’t turn a dark brownish green, but rather stay bright
- If you are boiling vegetables, use the broth in smoothies or as a drink (given that the foods you are boiling aren’t filled with chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides)
- Cook your food on low heat and not for too long
- Opt for a toaster oven or a pan to heat your food as opposed to microwaves, which kill a lot of the enzymes and nutrients
Lifestyle tips
In today’s world, there is only so much our bodies are able to digest and absorb. Exposure to chemicals, emotional and mental stress, and other practices take a burden on our body, inhibiting us from maximizing our health. There are hundreds of chemicals all around us. These toxins accumulate in our bloodstream and organs, leading to things like allergies, asthma, respiratory issues, mental disorders, digestive problems and more. Eliminating our exposure is nearly impossible, but we can do our best to limit our exposure.
Solutions?
- Stress depletes the vitamins and minerals in your body, vitamins that are especially vital for your wellbeing such as B Vitamins and magnesium. Make sure to supplement or increase your intake of B vitamin and magnesium rich foods, such as raw cacao, dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds and fruits. Reduce your stress levels by indulging in activities such as yoga, surrounding yourself with positive and happy people, pet therapy, reading spiritual and empowering books. taking walks, spending time in nature, exercising, meditating,listening to spiritual audiobooks and podcasts and repeating positive affirmations to yourself. Gabrielle Bernstein & Louisa Hay have written some wonderful books that will help guide you and heal you.
- Avoid using anti microbial soaps and products such as hand sanitizer, soaps, body wash etc. These products kill off beneficial bacteria that help to keep the bad microbes in check
- Turn off your phone and laptop at night to reduce the radiation emitted from your devices.
- Limit your exposure to harmful plastic like BPA found in everyday plastic bottles. These tend to disrupt your hormones and endocrine system. Instead, use glass mason jars & Tupperwares, and stainless steel bottles to store your food and liquids
- Invest in 100% cotton or sustainably made fabrics & non toxic laundry detergents.
- Invest in an home air filtration system to filter out chemicals like formaldehyde, benzene and more. HEPA filters are great and can be purchased online on Amazon.
- Invest in green cleaning products. Why? Just like you wouldn’t want to ingest toxins, you inhale these toxins and are in contact with them. Toxins get easily absorbed through the skin and into your bloodstream. They can contribute to many health issues, such as genetic defects, hormonal imbalances, adrenal fatigue and more.
- Seventh Generation has great dish wash liquids. Live Clean is a great plant based non toxic brand that carries shampoos, conditioners and other personal products. You can find many more alternatives at health food stores, such as Healthy Planet and Whole foods, and even online.
External factors affect our internal ecosystem. However, that is not to say that we do not have the ability to control some of the things we are exposed to. You have the power to take control of your life, NOW.
“The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick.”
P. T. Barnum
Wishing you a blessed, healthy and wonderful week ahead!
Love & Light
Ranim
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