By Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light
Article copyright Nancy Rynes
Do you know that you can absolutely set yourself up for a more peaceful, joy-filled life by optimizing what you consume? Did you know that artificial sweeteners can cause severe insomnia, even if consumed many hours before bedtime, which sets you up for feeling groggy, irritable, and unfocused? And did you know that excessive amounts of alcohol or sugar can actually cause sleep disturbances, liver damage, more irritability, hormonal imbalances, and a host of other illnesses? And that’s just the start.
But you can absolutely optimize how you feel and function just by being careful with your food and drink. This is especially true for those of us at midlife or older. The bodies of the young seem to bounce back more quickly and tolerate more unhealthy foods. But from my own experience, this innate resilience isn’t quite as strong now that I’m a bit older. But the good news is that you can increase your body’s resilience, just by being a more conscious consumer.
Why bother optimizing nutrition?
• Gives your physical body and brain the raw materials they need to function optimally.
• Eating healthfully prevents your body from getting substances that are harmful to it.
• A healthy diet can ease symptoms of a host of illnesses including depression, certain liver conditions, high blood pressure, and more.
In other words, you’ll feel better if you eat more healthful foods.
Remember, what you consume actually becomes you. The nutrients from your food and drink all go into creating the body and brain that is you. This isn’t limited to just the “material” part of the equation either, since we are energy and everything we consume is energy. What I mean by that is that everything is energy, including you and the food you consume. By consuming “clean” food and drink, you’re adding clean, clear energy into your life. It would be like inhaling fresh, clean, country air into your lungs. Take a moment to imagine how that would feel. In contrast, consuming junk foods is like taking in a deep breath of smoke or smog that leaves you choking and coughing; in time, this can damage your body.
Just to be clear, I am not a medical professional or nutritionist, so I will only share some general guidelines that have helped me in my own life. I encourage you to check with your health care professional in order to determine a plan of eating that will optimize your nutrition.
Keep in mind that how you consume is just as important as what you consume. Slowing down and sharing gratitude for your food, or even blessing it, is critical to bringing healthy energy to the content of what you eat. Consciously consume your food too. Sit down at a table to eat. Take your time, don’t rush, bless your food, and eat slowly. Eating can be another opportunity to unwind for a few minutes, destress, and share a meal with others.
Your gut microbiome (*see #1 in Resources, below) is an incredible source of feel-good neurotransmitters and immune-boosters. (*2) Your gut hosts billions of bacteria that are responsible for a multitude of functions, the most important of which is helping your body absorb nutrients from food. But having a healthy gut biome is linked to good mental and physical health overall. I learned that the hard way when I was stricken with C. difficile in the hospital after my accident. C. diff as its known, is a “bad” bacteria that infects the gut. If you’re otherwise healthy with a healthy gut microbiome, C. diff usually isn’t a problem. But it is for the elderly, those who are battling illness (especially in hospital), or folks overcoming physical trauma. Then it can be deadly. After my bout of C. diff, I no longer take my microbiome for granted!
Each person has many different strains of gut bacteria…some of them are considered “good” or healthy (meaning they help us feel and function better), and others are considered “bad” or unhealthy (they make us feel ill). Overall, what you consume determines what strains are in abundance and which are minimized.
What can you do to maintain more healthy gut bacteria so that you can feel better? Pay attention to your food & drink, medications, water, and recreational drugs.
Healthy Biome
- Eat a diverse range of whole, unprocessed food, including fermented food
- Consume foods rich in polyphenols and fiber (from vegetables and fruit)
- Take a probiotic supplement, especially after a course of antibiotics
- Exercise outdoors
Unhealthy Biome
- Consume processed foods, “franken-foods, sugar, and fake sweeteners
- Drink excessive alcohol
- Medications like antibiotics (take only when necessary)
Having an unhealthy gut biome has been linked to higher rates of anxiety, depression, lethargy, fungal infections, and digestive issues. Consuming both health foods and more of the healthy gut bacteria (repopulating the gut with healthy bacteria) may help to ease symptoms. (*3) Research is still going on, so keep up-to-date by reading the latest science websites or seeing a functional medicine practitioner.
Recommendations from Harvard Medical School (*4):
1. Eat healthy, whole foods.
2. Avoid processed foods, sugars, and artificial sweeteners.
3. Increase consumption of whole vegetables and fruits (as much organic as you can afford), avoiding fruit juices which are concentrated in sugars.
4. Eat a good amount of fiber.
5. Eat probiotic-rich foods like fermented sauerkraut, fermented pickles, and unsweetened yogurt.
6. Eat a balance of healthy proteins and less red meat.
7. Mind your own food allergies and intolerances. If you think a particular food may be making you feel ill, stop consuming it for a while or try an elimination diet
There are myriad eating programs out there and I won’t get into them in detail as they are full books on their own. My new favorites, because they works so well for me, are the “Eat Dirt” program by Dr. Josh Axe, and Dr. Daniel Amen’s protocols as outlined in his many books. I also follow Dr. Eric Berg and Thomas Delauer on YouTube.
So what are my health challenges and what works to help keep me feeling great and functioning even better?
I have underlying, genetic, autoimmune conditions that I control with diet and exercise. I’ve also dealt with dietary intolerances and allergies that include legumes, dairy, gluten, and grains.
My eating plan that helps me feel my best:
• Organic as much as possible
• Omnivorous but mostly plant-based
• Avoid grains and legumes
• Good amount of protein
• Limit/eliminate refined carbs
• Avoid sugars (all sugars and fake sugar substitutes)
• I avoid all dairy (cow, sheep, goat) due to allergies
• Only healthy fats, and in low-ish amounts
• I don’t eat if I’m not hungry
• I exercise pretty much every day: walking/hiking, cycling, and weights
• Get a little sunshine every day
• Dig in the dirt, make contact with the soil and nature
• I drink filtered water (filtration system that removes chlorine, fluoride, and a host of other contaminants but leaves minerals in place)
Do I eat this way 100% of the time? No, not always 100% but pretty close to it. The more I eat this way, the more I want to eat this way because I feel better. I might “cheat” once or twice a month but when I do cheat, I pay for it. When I consume sugars and simple carbohydrates, for example wheat flour, I feel shaky, weepy, and irritable the next day. When I consume grains of any kind, the joints in my hands and feet ache for days. Legumes cause me to feel like I have the flu and give me an immediate and very painful headache that takes about two days to resolve. Needless to say, I try to avoid anything to which I’m sensitive so that I feel as food as possible.
For me, feeling ill isn’t really worth the perceived pleasure of a cheat item so I practice avoidance of anything that negatively impacts my health, and make sure that I give myself a healthy diet that makes me feel good.
Only One Thing
If you do only one thing for yourself, my recommendation is to work toward a more healthful way of eating. (*5) Eating a healthy diet, with organic food6 if you can afford it or grow it, will set your body up for to function as healthfully as it can.
Processed foods contain a huge number of artificial chemicals. Junk oils and fats
How to eat more healthfully: You can take a gradual approach or go cold-turkey.
Try one of the eating plans laid out in the books I mentioned above.
As always, take care and many blessings to you,
Nancy
*Resources
1 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/gut-microbiome-and-health#section4
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/improve-gut-bacteria
2 This is a new area of study so I won’t get into a lot of details here but I encouragce you to keep up to date on the latest by staying current with online public health forums like the Mayo Clinic’s website, or individual physician’s blogs such as Dr. Josh Axe.
3 Clapp M, Aurora N, Herrera L, Bhatia M, Wilen E, Wakefield S. Gut microbiota's effect on mental health: The gut-brain axis. Clin Pract. 2017;7(4):987. Published 2017 Sep 15. doi:10.4081/cp.2017.987
Lucas G. Gut thinking: the gut microbiome and mental health beyond the head. Microb Ecol Health Dis. 2018;29(2):1548250. Published 2018 Nov 30. doi:10.1080/16512235.2018.1548250
4 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/gut-feelings-how-food-affects-your-mood-2018120715548
5 For some ideas on getting started, see Additional Resources at the end of this section.
6 There are more benefits to consuming organic foods than just your health. Proper organic farming builds up the health of the soil, whereas chemical-laden, commercial farming destroys the soil’s health. Organic farming is more healthful for the farmers and people living around the farm (they are not exposed to nasty herbicides and pesticides.)
Archive: Past Newsletter Issues
TODAY Show: Nancy's Interview on NBC TV's TODAY
Messages of Hope with Suzanne Giesemann: Exploring NDEs with Nancy Rynes
Article: Seven Lessons That Dying Taught Me About Truly Living (Aspire Magazine)
Article: Lives Changed by NDEs (Boulder Daily Camera)
Article: Awakening to Life(Pages 6-10, Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology, Summer 2016)
Article: The Meaning of Life (Excellence Reporter)
Simply Peace Part 1
Simply Peace Part 2
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