THE ANTI-INFLAMMATION DIET HEAL YOUR BODY
The Road to Balance
Your body is talking to you every day, transmitting clues as to how things are really going on inside. Paying attention and responding the right way is the key to a healthier happier you.
The fast-paced culture we live in today can be exhilarating and captivating. But our brains and bodies didn’t evolve for this constant, heightened level of sensory arousal, or the increasingly toxic inputs environment is providing, and the resulting stress can wreak havoc on our body’s immune system. The effects can be physical, emotional, or both. Our quick-fix environment has conditioned us to seek relief on a symptom-by-symptom basis, a “pill for an ill.” But a better long-term plan is to find everyday practices and habits that can address the root causes of our distress, and solve our modern day maladies on an ongoing basis.
Our bodies are constantly communicating with us. When you’re feeling satisfied after a healthy meal, or energetic after a good workout, or beset by headaches or indigestion, these pleasant and unpleasant sensations are the language of our bodies. Learn to pay attention to this language, and you’ll start to understand the difference between what truly nourishes us and what just pushes hunger away for an hour.
Eat a large organic salad with leafy greens and a rainbow of new chopped veggies, beans, nuts, and a fresh lemon and olive oil dressing, and you’ll likely walk away feeling satisfied and energized. Choose the deep-fried special instead, drowned in some kind of sugary sauce, and your taste buds may enjoy it but you’ll feel heavy and lethargic, you may experience runny nasal passages; your joints may ache later. This is your body doing its best to change your behavior. Listening to these subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) messages is the first step toward finding true, long-lasting relief.
Tiredness, achiness, digestive issues, a stuffy nose, and a “foggy” brain are increasingly common complaints. They can be caused by many things, and you should always seek a doctor’s advice before changing your nutrition or exercise routine. But underlying factors that contribute to these conditions may well be in your control, and some solutions may be simpler than you think.
A quick morning meditation can start off your day with a sense of calmness and improved focus that keep stress at bay all day. Incorporating gentle forms of exercise revs up your metabolism and releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones that improve your mood. And perhaps most important of all, the food you eat directly correlates, sooner or later, with your health. There’s a reason we call junk food “junk” focusing on fueling your body with truly nourishing foods is one of the best investments you can make in yourself. Think of it this way. Every time you eat or drink anything, you’re either feeding disease or fighting it. It’s as simple as that.
In this guide I hope to introduce you to a wide range of simple practices, founded on expert advice, that can have a great impact on your body, mind, and soul. Chronic inflammation may be distressingly common these days but the path back to balance is right in front of our eyes.