This morning, while visiting other blogs and catching up on the news of my fellow bloggers, it occurred to me that I have not followed up on the February 1st visit to my Rheumatologist. In my post, Just Get Moving, I had shared with you that due to returning back to my bad eating habits, I was in a great deal of physical pain. My doctor was not at all on board with my view of treating my RA through diet and wanted me to inject myself weekly with an RA treatment. I absolutely did not want to add another medication with the many side effects, so we made a deal that I would eat right and return to him on February 1st to show the results. Of course, any challenge is quite motivating to me, so once again I completely overhauled my diet.
I am very pleased to say that I am pain free once again. My doctor was absolutely in shock and thanked me for showing him that nutrition can make a huge difference in healing. It is quite a challenge to eat for healing and sometimes I fail. As long as I remain true to eating correctly the majority of the time, I feel great.
There is one thing that is so very important in nutritional healing where RA is concerned. People talk to me about the changes they have made and yet they do not notice a big difference. The problem is that they make a few dietary changes, but still hang on to some of the old eating habits. It has to be all or nothing. If you truly desire healing you can not just dip your toe into the water and expect results. You must jump in all the way. For instance, let's say that you switch to whole grains and make a fantastic oatmeal cookie recipe that has whole wheat flour for added fiber, plus cinnamon and ginger that are anti-inflammatory. Those are wonderful choices! However, if you use shortening or margarine in the same recipe you are sabotaging your efforts because those are both very inflammatory.
Look through your cupboards, pantry, refrigerator. What do you see? If it is processed, full of omega 6 fats, white flour, white sugar, or if you simply cannot pronounce or recognize the ingredients on the label....don't eat it. Eating whole foods that nourish and strengthen your body can be delicious. God created our bodies and gave us the food to nourish it. Man has processed and changed the food so much that our bodies are breaking down. If you want to make changes and feel alone and need encouragement, please feel free to contact me. I am definitely not an expert but I am on a lifelong journey to wellness.
I am closing this post with a quote I have used before from Kevin R. Stone, MD, "The way you live directly affects your joints. The healthier your lifestyle, the healthier your joints."
