I say this as someone who came down with a psoriasis-like illness in 2018. I take meds to control it and have read at least three books about nutrition. At first I didn't want to deal with any changes to my diet--full of sugar and diet soda--but eventually decided there was too much at stake not to try.
A lot of autoimmune diets (which I call the autoimmune police) are too draconian for me, but a functional medicine doctor I saw recommended The Wahls Protocol to Treat All Chronic Immune Conditions with Paleo Principles by M. D. Terry Wahls. Admittedly, I messed up the past year and am now trying to get back to it, but Wahls's plan is at least something I can follow without feeling deprived. I'm NOT telling anyone else to follow it--but I have my own reasons for liking it, and that's what I want to share.
What I like best is that it's not about dieting to lose weight; it's about getting clear of chronic illnesses that debilitate you and steal your life. And it's made me think about how I grew up and how my family has been eating--which has not been good.
My mother was a spectacular cook and we always had fresh fruit and salad, which was great. Unfortunately we also had boxed and processed foods with every sort of additive and diet soda throughout my childhood. I don't blame my mother at all for any of this. The food industry is exceptionally adept at selling us toxic substances--the most obvious one being sugar.
We all know how toxic sugar is--and yet somehow it's in everything we eat. I keep wondering why there aren't more treats made with honey or agave--which may not be great but are at least less toxic than sugar--and think the only reason is that sugar lobbyists must be lobbying endlessly. Because finding something made with honey instead of sugar can take years, if not months of your time.
I'm not saying (and would never say) you should try any specific diet if you have a chronic illness. But overall, I think if we can eat ingredients we can pronounce and limit sugar, we and our kids will be healthier. If I'd never had diet soda and drank water instead, I believe I'd be a lot healthier now. If I ate a lot less junk and the cookies or ice cream treats I had growing up were made with maple syrup or honey, I believe I wouldn't be battling with acid reflux now, either.
I'm also saying I hate how the food industry markets junk to kids and by extension to us, our parents. I bought Pop Tarts and other awful stuff because my son demanded it loudly and I gave in. He got into weight lifting as a teenager and his coaches helped him change his diet--thank God. But as a parent, I did little or nothing to insist on good nutrition at home, and I feel really bad about that.
I understand I was overwhelmed by work and life a lot of the time and didn't pay attention to what I or anyone else in our family (of two guys) to insist on better eating habits. I look at labels all the time now and am appalled at the ingredients of almost everything I see.
A friend once told me there are 21 ingredients in an Oreo cookie that are put there just to make you want another one. I have no doubt what she said is the truth.
I grew up being manipulated to eat sugar from day one, and the older I get, the higher the price tag gets in terms of the quality of life I get. But eating well isn't easy because the world conspires against it.
WHY is it so hard to find good food, even for your cat? WHY is it so expensive? I need a whole other post to try and figure that out--but today's takeaway is just that we need to eat food with ingredients we can pronounce--and dial down the sugar.
Easier said than done, I know--so the earlier you can start with kids, the better. We also need to keep encouraging ourselves and finding healthy ways to reward ourselves when we eat better. I'm not trying to sound preachy here. I mainly want to encourage you so I can encourage myself.
That's why I found some eating ideas to share with you. I hope they give you some ideas and most of all, encouragement:
8 Things that can Happen to your Body when You Cut Out Sugar
Stress, Food and Inflammation: Psychoneuroimmunology and Nutrition at the Cutting Edge
Healthy plate photo: Ella Olsson
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