Adopting an anti-inflammatory way of eating
How do you know where to start?
A couple of years ago I shared a podcast on adopting an anti-inflammatory way of eating and to this point, haven’t ever written too much about the dietary changes I made back in 2018 – even though some of you have asked me to.
In engaging with Nicole at
on her post re Diet & Long Covid Recovery part 2, it seems my resistance comes from a place of “not enough”.I’m not a trained nutritionist. I didn’t study and wasn’t taught the changes to make in the same way that Nicole was. Although I made changes to reduce inflammation in my body and cut out certain food groups (over time) like gluten and sugar (well, drastically reduced intake of them), I didn’t do a right lot.
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In many ways, this was to my advantage.
In respect of my own goal being to reduce inflammation in my body.
But when it comes to sharing with you – even though on a logical level, I know I have a lot of wealth of how to’s to share with you, I don’t have the background knowledge beyond being able to share the resources with you to look into yourself.
Though in writing this, I realise that surely, that is enough?
My job here, is to inspire you to take action that aligns with what it is you want.
What is it that you want?
What I wanted
Early on in my research, I came to understand that migraine disease was an inflammatory condition. In my mind, it stood to good reason that my initial goal would be to reduce inflammation in the body through making changes. I came to find this is not necessarily popular medical opinion.
When I asked my neurologist about making dietary changes, making specific reference to cutting out gluten (having heard through a migraine sufferer that this would help), his response was “I wouldn’t bother”.
In many ways it was a blessing that I wasn’t permitted to see a specialist until after I found myself disabled by the very illness I’d been reporting to have. By this time, I’d experienced some kind of awakening and had identified my needs (1. support and 2. to find a way to generate an income).
Once it was confirmed the NHS (UK National Healthcare Service) couldn’t help me meet my needs (I asked “what support is available to me?”. I was told “there is none), it freed up time to explore other avenues and look into other options. At this time the other options were mainly around self-education and finding ways to support myself.
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I found a migraine support group on Facebook but later had to come out of it because I could feel everybody’s pain in addition to the severity of my own. But not before being recommended the book, The Migraine Miracle; A sugar free, gluten free, ancestral diet to reduce inflammation and relieve your headaches for good.
It was here that I discovered that not only was removing gluten from your diet recommended, it was also listed number one! Alongside cutting out sugar. What I loved about this book was the introduction on how our ancestors ate and how disease such as cancer wasn’t prevalent back then. I get the notion that we didn’t live as long back then and that this could be a possible logical and statistical explanation but I do not personally believe that disease is age related. Not when factoring in the complexities and exploring it on a deeper level with a greater depth of understanding.
Being migraine specific, The Migraine Miracle is also a great introduction to migraine research and understanding at a basic, introductory level.
Best of all, to simplify matters, the dietary changes listed are step by step in order of what will make the biggest difference. Sending the message to me that I didn’t have to do it all at once. Thank f*ck for that, I was disabled and living as a single person surrounded by well-intentioned loved ones who thought I was mental for going against medical advice.
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Roundup
This is the end of part 1. I will return next week with part 2. It seems there is ALOT to share on this matter. So far we have covered:
Getting clear on your goal. What is it that you want? Beyond losing weight and seeing a different number on the scales, what is it that you really want?
Research: Asking questions and finding resource(s) that aligns with what it is you truly want.
Simplifying the process. Break it down. Take it step by step.
Over to you
What has been your biggest takeaway so far? Either in this piece or on your own journey to reducing inflammation in your body. Whether that is through dietary changes or otherwise.
This is the first post in a series of 5 that I’ve written so far. Why not check out the following?
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Yay, you're writing about it! Thanks so much for sharing, and can't wait to read pt. 2.
Would love to know your thoughts as you continue exploring what works for you. For me mainstream medicine fails many regularly. When I suffered migraines I was prescribed three different medications which culminated in a perfect storm … a stroke.
What I have come to learn is that our physical health is deeply tied to our mental state of being. If we are stuck in fight or flight or freeze modes our bodies become inflamed with cortisol - the stress hormone- and we acquire chronic dis-ease in a variety of places in the body.
Working with my own traumas in various modalities including diet, has opened my eyes to ways to heal far beyond modern medicine’s take. I am healthier now in mind body spirit and heart than ever before. ❤️