Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Beware Of Who You Listen To

 USDA Food Guide Pyramid

In 1992 the United States Department of Agriculture published dietary guidelines in the shape of a pyramid to represent daily serving recommendations. The higher up the pyramid a food group sat the less a person should consume. Well last week I was going through a big huge box of a nightmare of medical bills and records searching for a needle in a haystack and I came across a glossy full color brochure of this pyramid circa year 2000. I was shocked to see a recommended 6-11 servings a day of bread/rice/pasta/cereal. Are you kidding me? I didn't know a person could eat that much in a day and have room for anything else. But what really got my goat was seeing a small order of french fries listed as two servings of vegetables! And we wonder where heart disease came from...

They changed this pyramid drastically in 2005 after America reached epic levels of obesity. Perhaps pasta with a bagel and Honey Nut Cheerios is not a nutritious breakfast after all? I am glad to see current recommendations, the pyramid shown above, are becoming hip to the concept of natural eating. When I got sick it didn't take long for me to realize not every ailment in life came with a pill, procedure or medical cure to fix it. I immediately looked at what I fueled my body with, seeking out an honest to goodness education in clean nutrition and holistic principals. But the more I discovered the less sense how I was taught to eat made. Hell, how I was taught to live made. Things like margarine and diet soda quickly became nothing more than poison to me, things I wanted to avoid at all cost. High fructose corn syrup, oh no we ain't friends no mo'! Years later I have made this my lifestyle. I eat as clean as I can and shun chemicals both in and on my body. It didn't cure my Fibro but is a big component of keeping it managed. On the occasions I decide to go off the reservation boy do I sure pay with an ugly reminder of what a processed diet does to me.  

This experience taught me a huge lesson in life, not to take anything at face value. No longer do I live and die by the doctrine of  massive, interest-driven agencies telling me what to believe as absolute truth. Perhaps this huge misdirection in dietary guidelines is what gave me the courage to buck modern medicine when it failed to offer a treatment or cure for symptoms so severe they disabled me. They told me to live with it. I couldn't and embarked on yet another journey of self-discovery in learning how to get a grip on my life and therefore my illness. Getting sick taught me many things I didn't know before. It will teach the next person completely different things, concepts and realities closely vetted to who they are as a person. We are all not the same but the spirit of survival is inherent to all animals, the human no exception. I refused to be a victim and figured out how to make life liveable again. On my own terms, using knowledge I sought out that made sense to me.

Thanks for joining,
Leah

5 comments:

  1. It took me quite a bit longer to admit that what i eat really does rule who i am. After years of food addictions, I have finally made changes, dropping gluten, dairy, sugar and eggs. It's not a cure all, but I certainly feel better and it's only been since May 1

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  2. I would love to hear more about your clean diet! I have been gluten free for a year and a half, but am still struggling with food sensitivities.

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  3. Leah,

    I agree that my diet is probably adding to my problems, but I have no idea where to start to change it. Maybe you could post up some examples of how and what you changed to eating on a regular basis?

    I asked my husband for a carrot cake this year for my birthday instead of the normal horribly fattening and caloric cheesecake. I thought at least with some vegetables, it's a somewhat healthier alternative. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

    Thanks,
    Chelle

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  4. I dropped dairy, grains, legumes, potatoes and sugar. It has made a huge difference. I have way less pain and don't get colds and flus anymore. The exhaustion is still there, though.
    I'm experimenting with elimimating all nightshades as well.
    Dropping my work stress level way down (by working from home and having a flexible schedule) reduces pain flare-ups also.

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  5. To All Who Suffer:
    I was diagnosed with Fibro last year after being bedridden for a month and suffering from excruciating pain which was unrelieved by any meds. I'm in my 30's a mother, a teacher, a wife. Things got so bad I had to quit my job. I had pain everywhere. Couldn't drive, couldn't watch TV, couldn't even read...sometimes even talking was painful.

    The meds and the diagnosis made me horribly depressed. You all know this feeling.

    I'm here to tell you there is a way out. I haven't felt ANY pain for over one month...the longest, by far, I have ever gone without a flare-up or just normal day-to-day pains. My life, my brain, and my energy are back and I had it bad.

    My brother-in-law gave me a book, The Divided Mind by Dr. John Sarno ( see Amazon) it has saved me. Chapter four has his protocol for healing these types of disorders ( pain with no organic reason for being). YOU CAN HEAL YOURSELF!!!! No, I'm not on crack. I had every test, seen way too many docotors only to be told this is it and this is my life...good luck. I'm not a quitter. I think most of us with Fibro. are type A people...don't give up on yourself or on the idea of being free.

    I have told everyone I've met with this diagnose to read this book. Fibro. is on the first page. It will AMAZE you!!! (No, I don't get anything from the author.) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read it!!!

    I'm actually tearing up right now because of how much it has changed my life. It is possible. You can be free. DO NOT ACCEPT what rheumatologists tell you. They claim they are experts in this disorder but they literally know nothing about it: no causes, and honestly, no treatments... just trial and error. I don't know about you, but that isn't good enough for me.

    It is your body, your future, your choice. READ IT!!!!!!!!!

    Your mind is a powerful thing...use it and take back control.

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