A Healing Diet for CF
Although your doctors undoubtedly want what's best for you, most mainstream docs are not well educated in the role of nutrition in health, and are often miseducated in school with outdated and incorrect information. In the US, a doctor can graduate medical school with one or less classes on nutrition! 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 non-CFers, 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 our 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. The wisdom of traditional medical systems like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as folk cultures throughout the world has much to offer us in the way of knowing what is healthy and not healthy to eat. Modern mainstream medicine rejects this fact, believing old knowledge is inferior to new knowledge, which is not always true. As we study ancient dietary wisdom and experiment with our own diets, we must keep in mind that empirical evidence (i.e. our personal symptoms and the results of blood tests) is more useful information than modern theories that are not backed up with solid evidence. Paying close attention to what our bodies are telling us helps us trust our own authority and resist unfounded medical theories, from modern medicine and other sources as well. The body always tells the truth! That said, we should always be open-minded and non-dogmatic about medical information, seeking truth from whatever sources are most valid, including mainstream medicine.
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). The most common causes of disease and death in the US (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, etc.) are strongly connected to diet. 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 non-CFers, 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 our 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. The wisdom of traditional medical systems like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as folk cultures throughout the world has much to offer us in the way of knowing what is healthy and not healthy to eat. Modern mainstream medicine rejects this fact, believing old knowledge is inferior to new knowledge, which is not always true. As we study ancient dietary wisdom and experiment with our own diets, we must keep in mind that empirical evidence (i.e. our personal symptoms and the results of blood tests) is more useful information than modern theories that are not backed up with solid evidence. Paying close attention to what our bodies are telling us helps us trust our own authority and resist unfounded medical theories, from modern medicine and other sources as well. The body always tells the truth! That said, we should always be open-minded and non-dogmatic about medical information, seeking truth from whatever sources are most valid, including mainstream medicine.
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). The most common causes of disease and death in the US (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, etc.) are strongly connected to diet. 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!
