A Healing Diet for CF: It's Not What Your Doctors Told You
Although your doctors undoubtedly want what's best for you, most MDs are simply not well educated in the role of nutrition in health, and are often miseducated in school with outdated and incorrect information. The synthesis of the latest nutritional research and elements of the wisdom of traditional diets is proving to be more effective in treating chronic disease than what the reductionist Western medical system espouses. All disease is either caused by or exacerbated by poor nutrition. If we want to get at the roots of our problems and treat the causes rather than the symptoms, we must look at what is most fundamental to life: eating. Our bodies are literally made up of what we ingest, so it makes complete sense that the kinds and qualities of foods we eat have a direct impact on how we feel and function.
Unlike most chronic diseases in America that are caused by destructive eating habits and lifestyle choices, CF is not directly caused by poor nutrition (though its epigenetic expression may have been influenced by our parents' or grandparents' diet), so we cannot be "cured" by eating a perfect diet. However, CF is certainly exacerbated by poor nutrition, and many of our symptoms can be improved or completely relieved by good nutrition. I believe that because our bodies are less resilient than the bodies of genetically "normal" people, we are even more sensitive to poor nutritional choices than most people. Thus, it is absolutely imperative for CFers to pay attention to our diets; to eliminate irritating foods and toxins, and to add in medicinal foods and supplements.
Every one of us has a unique disease, so there is no single diet that will heal us all equally. However, there are some simple rules that all of us can follow as guidelines for finding out what foods and eating habits are most nourishing and healing for our particular bodies. I will outline these food rules in the following sections and include more in-depth information on these topics in further blog posts. Some of what your CF docs tell us to eat ends up being exactly the opposite of what we should be eating on a healing, anti-inflammatory diet, and I will explain this with modern science and ancient principles of natural healing. Be aware that you may have to defend yourself to them, as I have, yet the evidence is on our side. Your body is the ultimate authority on what's good for you, so listen to the true expert - YOU!
By the way, these guidelines are useful for all of us, CFers and non-CFers alike. Many of us are suffering from the consequences of eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) or some iteration of it - the most disease-producing, toxic diet ever eaten in the history of life on earth (I'm not sure I'm being dramatic enough here). It would be my unscientific estimate that at least 90% of disease in America is directly caused by bad eating habits (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, cancer, digestive diseases, etc.). We can eliminate or reduce a lot of disease symptoms simply by eating healthy foods in the right amounts, of the highest quality, at the right time, in the right combinations, and in conjunction with exercise and awareness practices. Let's get started!
Unlike most chronic diseases in America that are caused by destructive eating habits and lifestyle choices, CF is not directly caused by poor nutrition (though its epigenetic expression may have been influenced by our parents' or grandparents' diet), so we cannot be "cured" by eating a perfect diet. However, CF is certainly exacerbated by poor nutrition, and many of our symptoms can be improved or completely relieved by good nutrition. I believe that because our bodies are less resilient than the bodies of genetically "normal" people, we are even more sensitive to poor nutritional choices than most people. Thus, it is absolutely imperative for CFers to pay attention to our diets; to eliminate irritating foods and toxins, and to add in medicinal foods and supplements.
Every one of us has a unique disease, so there is no single diet that will heal us all equally. However, there are some simple rules that all of us can follow as guidelines for finding out what foods and eating habits are most nourishing and healing for our particular bodies. I will outline these food rules in the following sections and include more in-depth information on these topics in further blog posts. Some of what your CF docs tell us to eat ends up being exactly the opposite of what we should be eating on a healing, anti-inflammatory diet, and I will explain this with modern science and ancient principles of natural healing. Be aware that you may have to defend yourself to them, as I have, yet the evidence is on our side. Your body is the ultimate authority on what's good for you, so listen to the true expert - YOU!
By the way, these guidelines are useful for all of us, CFers and non-CFers alike. Many of us are suffering from the consequences of eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) or some iteration of it - the most disease-producing, toxic diet ever eaten in the history of life on earth (I'm not sure I'm being dramatic enough here). It would be my unscientific estimate that at least 90% of disease in America is directly caused by bad eating habits (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, cancer, digestive diseases, etc.). We can eliminate or reduce a lot of disease symptoms simply by eating healthy foods in the right amounts, of the highest quality, at the right time, in the right combinations, and in conjunction with exercise and awareness practices. Let's get started!
