Food is Medicine

Have you ever had any personal experiences with a doctor(s) in our traditional medical system that made you question W T F is really going on here? I have, a few times, back-to-back in 2016 and it was through those horrible experiences that my awareness opened and I was drawn towards Functional Medicine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so thankful we have healthcare covered in Canada. But our system is not perfect and like every system it has some MAJOR flaws.

Functional medicine seeks to determine the root of health issues and provides way more than symptom relief  through personal changes in lifestyle, which includes: DIET*, exercise, sleep, etc. Our traditional medical system is more concerned with covering up your symptoms, a classic example is the use of birth control for painful periods, acne, etc. When you logically think about it for a second, doctors and our entire medical system are part of a multi-billion dollar industry. Would they be making any money if we weren’t sick? What if all of us changed our entire lifestyle for the better, would the system survive?

I’m going to start with some simple background knowledge to get the blog going. In our gut, there is so much bacteria, and if we are healthy the bacteria is mostly helpful. We have around 500 different strains of bacteria in our gut. When we take antibiotics, over-eat processed foods, are stressed, sleep less, etc, our healthy gut microbiome decreases significantly. If our body is balanced, around 85% of the species of bacteria will be healthy.  There’s evidence from scientific studies now that gut microflora can even be altered up to 4 years after antibiotics are taken. Not to mention there are many  herbal remedies for bacterial infections that are equally or more effective for healing our bodies but we don’t even know about them because our first steps when we are sick are into a conventional doctor’s office. Did you know that 70-80% of our immune system is connected to our gut?  But students in med school get LESS THAN 20 HOURS OF EDUCATION IN NUTRITION. SO WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY IS IT NOT DOCTORS NUMBER ONE PRIORITY TO PASS ALONG INFORMATION ABOUT NUTRITION, NOT ONLY TO ERADICATE PEOPLES SYMPTOMS BUT ALSO TO PREVENT DISEASE? If we know that so much of our immunity is directly linked to our gut health then why is that not a priority in our education systems, through media outlets and through medical centers? I don’t know how to answer those questions because it’s absurd. Heart Disease and Diabetes are epidemics in this generation and the advice doctors give, even if it is given with the best intention, is missing so much important information.

The disconnect is actually so mind-blowing it infuriates me writing about it. Chronic constipation increases risks of health issues and diseases because your body is harbouring bacteria that is meant to be expelled as soon as possible. On a positive note though, the widespread use of probiotics is growing because the benefits are more documented now. Fermented foods are also a great source of healthy bacteria, such as kefir, kimchi, tempeh, etc.  Based on my personal experience, probiotics have significantly helped my digestive health. But when I first started taking them I had horrible stomach issues- pains, diarrhea, bloating and more. I almost convinced myself my body was too sensitive for them but I stuck it out for a couple months and I have never felt better. I can’t accurately say whether this period of detox was only related to the intake of probiotics though. At the same time I had cut out meat, most of gluten and most dairy as well. I had also started to eat fruits again (which have a lot of fibre) daily, which I hadn’t done in years. I had a fear of fruits, one doctor once told me to “cut out fruits they’re too high in sugar.” I already had an eating disorder at that point, so that recommendation was easy for my brain to accept as the ultimate reality, and to be honest I feared fruits for like two years. I possibly would eat one type of fruit, once or twice a week and that was it. That is such a myth, a  horrible misconception. Our body does not take the fruit from sugar to harm us, the same way table sugar does. I’ve noticed based on my own experience with that hell year of health issues that I knew more about nutrition than two doctors did themselves just based on my own curiosity and online pub-med research. 

This blog is basically an introduction because I plan to write more on health-related topics after I spend time researching and documenting the data from studies. I feel like a purpose I have in life is to spread truth, and now that my eyes are so open there is no possible way for me to close them and look the other way without at least getting some of the knowledge out there for others to absorb and reflect on. Movement is medicine. But MORE importantly, food is medicine. Doing your own research for your health when you feel something is off, or when you feel like the answers you are getting aren’t the full truth should be your priority always. There are natural cures well documented for so many ailments, our ancestors believed in our connection to Earth’s  gifts for healing.

I do not have any formal education on these subjects, however I have started to personally research in my own free time out of interest and self-love. @thehealthymelissa (INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT) is a student of functional medicine and I have learned so much from her posts as well as her blog account. Likewise, the @medicalmedium has written 3 great books so far on natural healing, how foods are medicine, and how our medical community is often unaware of how much dormant viruses are to blame for a lot of medical mysteries, such as thyroid disease. I will continue to follow natural health practitioners to learn more and I encourage you to open up to the possibility of doing the same, for you and your families well-being. Knowledge is power. Some other great accounts to follow are:

Instagrams: @organicolivia @wellfedwomen @cleanbeanie @wholefoodwholeyou

I’m going to be writing more about health topics going forward on many subjects! Many of the things we deem “normal” are only normal because they have been repeated and accepted as just the way things are. Sometimes it takes critical examination of  your habits to really see what’s normal is always changing, and just because something is normal, does not mean it is helping us heal. Just because conventional medicine is what we’re used to now, that doesn’t mean we should depend on it. I know what it’s like to crave foods, to want dessert, to eat packaged meat every day, to think doctors know everything. I also know what it’s like to be mimicked in peer groups on the subject of health and in terms of eating disorders as well. But the more I become aware of how much authority we have in our lives to create wellness, the more I only care how I feel and how I think, regardless of what others have to say. You can take steps every day, focusing on what you put in your body to completely transform your way of being  and how you experience life- not only to impact the way you feel, but also the way you think and look. I’m excited to keep learning, and I'm excited to keep writing.