Killing Myself with Food and Chemicals

Research shows that what you eat has a direct effect on your health and well being. Processed food is full of chemicals, dyes, preservatives, and artificial ingredients that our bodies were never designed to consume.  For decades this truth had no impact on my lifestyle at all.  I ate things that came in packages and boxes and cans - Oh my! - without giving it a single thought.  I have been thinking a lot lately about why it didn't occur to me sooner that this type of eating could be harmful.

The only reason I started investigating the relationship between what I eat and how I feel is because I had fibromyalgia complete with just about every symptom associated with this horrible disease: severe pain in multiple muscles and joints, frequent bouts of spiking pain in my knees, elbows, and feet, pain that increased with changes in the weather, pain so severe it woke me up at night, difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, never feeling rested even when I managed sporadic sleep, unremitting fatigue, difficulty completing even the simplest tasks of daily living, loss of focus, an inability to concentrate, and feelings of hopelessness.

The most hopeless feeling of all was that I would have to cope with the consequences of this disease for the rest of my life.  After an entire year of misery and despair, I started looking for a way to feel better.  I got rid of chemicals in my home, cleaning products,and personal grooming products.  I stopped eating processed food that is full of chemicals and started eating whole foods rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.  I read everything I could find hoping to discover a way to feel at least well enough to function each day.  I was amazed that I not only found a way to feel better but my symptoms completely disappeared.

Is this a cure or is the disease just in remission?  All I can tell you is that when I made these changes in my life I got well.  I have been symptom free and feeling great for over six months.

Researchers are studying the relationship between exposure to chemicals in our environment and chemicals in our food and have found links to a host of illnesses including almost every inflammatory illness such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, lupus, Sjogren's syndrome and other illnesses like heart disease, depression, and cancer.

So why isn't every person with fibromyalgia or another chronic illness getting rid of chemicals in their environment and food and eating whole foods?  I suspect it is for the same five reasons I was slowly killing myself with food and chemicals for over half a century. 

Habit.  When you are used to doing things a certain way, it seems simpler to keep on doing them that way than to change. So we keep using the same cleaning products and personal grooming products.  We keep eating things out of packages and boxes.  We drink soda and stuff our faces with candy, cookies, and chips.  It is what we are used to doing.

Lack of Information.  We don't educate ourselves about the harm processed food and environmental chemicals can cause.  In the past maybe this information was hard to find.  Now it is everywhere.  You can get on the internet, type whatever you want to know in your favorite search engine and have hundreds of scientific articles right in front of you in a matter of minutes. The truth is out there.  

Disbelief.  Even when we have the information and read every article and book about the harm environmental chemicals and processed food cause our bodies, we just don't want to believe this could be true.  We had rather believe there is some other cause, pop a pill, and hope for the best. Even some physicians are still not paying attention.  I am grateful to have met many who are wholeheartedly behind the movement to eat well to live well. Wondering where you are in the process?  Check out this list and see how many of these foods you are currently eating.

8 Foods We Eat In The U.S. That Are Banned In Other Countries
This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "food poisoning." Original list found in Dr. Jayson Calton and certified nutritionist Mira Calton's new book, Rich Food, Poor Food.

False Sense of Trust.  If it is available on our grocery shelves, we think it must be safe to eat. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Giant food corporations have only one motivation for producing processed food products.  And it is not our well-being.  It is profit.  Read the book
Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss for an eye opening look into the world of manufactured food.

Unwillingness to Change.  Even when we know the truth and believe the truth, sometimes we just don't want to change our lifestyle.  We don't want to give up soda or packaged cookies.  We don't want to switch to safe organic chemical free cleaners.  We just don't want to change our ways.  It took me six months after I started finding out the truth to be willing to make the changes I needed to make.

If I had not made those changes I would still be dragging myself out of bed every morning just hoping for a low pain day, glad if I had the energy to take a shower and make it to the couch. Instead I am traveling, writing, camping, playing with my grandchildren, and living each day with joy and gratitude.  Don't let chemicals and processed food rob you of a life that is full of hope, promise, and possibilities. 

If I Had the Energy, I Would Go Sit Down.

Constant fatigue was making me feel really tired..all the time.

They don't call it chronic fatigue syndrome for nothing.  I was one of the many fibromyalgia sufferers who also had debilitating fatigue symptoms.  Feeling so wretchedly tired all the time was a prime motivator for me to find some way to get better. The constant severe pain was awful but the unremitting fatigue was even worse.  When I first started on this quest, I was merely looking for a way to cope and improve enough to be able to get through the day.  It never occurred to me that the symptoms could be completely eradicated.

By now I had made my home environment as chemical free as possible.  I had stopped eating foods that contained trans fats, dyes, additives, and other chemicals.  I googled all the super foods lists I could find.  I started adding foods to my diet that were thought to help pump up the immune system, had anti inflammatory properties, and were in general supposed to be good for my body. 

Meanwhile, I kept coming across articles that said even whole, real, natural foods contained chemicals.  Fruit and vegetables are sprayed with pesticides.  Beef and poultry are stuffed with hormones and antibiotics. I thought, "Oh great!  What in the world does that leave for me to eat?"  Starvation didn't seem like a logical option so I searched for a better way.

I learned that washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly with soap and water gets rid of some of the pesticides. Just giving them a quick rinse under the faucet will not do the trick.  Peeled apples have less chemical residue than unpeeled apples.  I started looking for places that sold organic food.  Some organic foods can be found even at the big chain stores.  Local farmer's markets sell fresh produce.  Although it may have been sprayed with chemicals during the growing cycle, at least it does not have the added preservatives often used when foods have to be shipped long distances.  And some vendors sell truly organic chemical free food.  

Certain fruits and vegetables are not as readily penetrated by chemicals. Fresh pineapple, for example, has such a thick hard skin, that the fruit itself doesn't absorb as much chemical residue as say strawberries which have no protective skin, absorb anything that is sprayed on them, and are impossible to scrub.  So I eat fresh pineapple almost every day but strawberries only occasionally and preferably when I can find ones that have been grown organically.

Even if you live in an area without much access to organic food, you can still make smart food decisions.  Fresh blueberries, even if they have been chemically sprayed, will be a better choice than blueberry flavored something that comes in a box. 

Later I will discuss specific anti inflammatory and immune boosting foods.  For now maybe it will be enough to share that my mantra became:

Eat whole foods

Eat lots of fruit and vegetables

Eat less non organic beef and poultry

Add nuts

Dried cherries are my friend

Buy locally grown produce

Use fresh ginger and fresh garlic in everything