Still feeling a little under the weather? Can’t quite shake that cold that has been hanging on for weeks now? Missing out on activities because you can’t seem to generate the energy to join in?
Maybe it’s time to look at what you are doing instead of waiting for something better to happen.
Our fun lifestyle choices (think: fast food and lots of couch time) always seem to come back to us in other forms. Usually as fatigue, poor body function, and generally feeling run down.
As mentioned in this blog before, chronic inflammation is a natural process occurring at an unnatural time. Our bodies will forgive us the occasional guilty pleasure, but make a bad choice a habit, and we end up with symptoms we would really prefer not to endure.
Here’s a quick and painless tutorial on the science behind the symptoms:
- Our biology is founded on the relationship between acids and bases. As you see on the chart, there is lots of familiar substances that are involved.
- Our biology is very particular in that it likes to keep our pH around 7.4. Get too far away from that number and the problems can get very serious.
- Our biology can manage pH balances on its own for quite a while. But abuse the privilege by loading up your diet with lots of foods from acidic sources (i.e. processed foods) and the imbalance can take its toll over time.
The problem and solution become a question of balance.
No magical cures or special diets here, though there are plenty to choose from on the Internet, eh?
The science on many of those claims has just not arrived yet. When you are playing with body chemistry, there are so many players in the game (like organs, hormones, stress, environment, etc.) that it is very difficult to rule in or out that magic bullet that solves your problems.
So let’s try tinkering with a few of the things you are doing. Nothing big at first. Once you start, you are probably going to start feeling the positive changes that will motivate you to keep going.
| Decrease or Remove | Increase |
| Processed foods | Fresh fruits |
| Saturated fats | Fresh vegetables |
| Sodas | Fish, especially salmon and tuna |
| High Fructose Corn Syrup | Whole grain breads |
| Artificial Sweeteners | Nuts and Seeds |
| Alcohol | Water |
| Tobacco | Exercise |
Start with baby steps.
It took you a long time to develop these bad habits, so expect that it will take a little while to correct them. Start by substituting healthy options for not so healthy. In time you will start to feel the positive effects. Aches that used to be a regular part of your routine will gradually disappear.
Stay on the lookout because these missing symptoms show you that you are regaining your Health!
“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.”
― Steve Maraboli
pH chart courtesy:Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/
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