If pain and discomfort are your silent, often invisible companions, you might have a chronic illness. It’s too broad a topic to cover in one article but you can at least start fighting against its cruel reign. Here are 3 simple ways to do it.
Do you catch a cold from a slight whiff of cold air? Do you tire easily? Does every little setback cause you immense strain?
You may be suffering from a debilitating condition, and you may not even know it.
- Chonic Illness Awareness
- How Do I Know I Have a Chronic Illness?
- Chronic Illness and Mental Health
- 5 Common Signs of Chronic Illness
- Keep Track of the Signs to Detect Chronic Illness
- 1. Eliminating Sugar To Get More Energy
- 2. Eat Dark Chocolate and Blueberries to Manage Stress
- 3. Eat Oatmeal to Beat Depression
Chonic Illness Awareness
You’ve not been feeling that great lately. Come to think of it, you may realize it’s been months or even years since you felt relaxed, content, and energized.
You might think that this naturally comes with age because that’s what we’ve been conditioned to believe by the old narrative.
According to this narrative, once you hit 40 you start sliding down a slippery slope of hunched backs, creaky bones, papery skin, and general decay.
And you’re never going to get out of that ditch.
But…
‘’Each patient carries his own doctor inside him.’’
Norman Cousins
I chose a different storyline because this one just does not resonate with me, thank you very much.
I believe that with a few simple adjustments, you can reclaim at least a little bit of that old mojo.
How Do I Know I Have a Chronic Illness?
While I never thought I had a chronic illness, I knew something wasn’t right.
I was feeling tired and run down all the time, with recurring colds and stomach upsets.
But life happens and we don’t always take the time to take in everything that’s happening, everything that’s troubling us.
Until the shit hits the fan….
Chronic Illness and Mental Health
While I’ve never suffered from a mental illness, the ever-present stress definitely caused me a state of inner unwellness. That’s the only way I can describe it.
It wasn’t until I experienced one major upset that I became acutely aware that chronic stress had been a constant companion in my life, eating away at me, making me physically unwell and somehow weaker inside…
Up until then, I’d had a suspicion that I was nursing that snake, but I ignored him.
And it grew bigger and stronger than me.
And its grip grew tighter and tighter.
Until the serpent grew so strong that when a challenging situation happened in my life, I crumbled and very nearly got crushed under its weight.
‘’Illness is the most heeded of doctors: to goodness and wisdom we only make promises; pain we obey.’’
Marcel Proust
I decided that things must change.
And I knew that to make the change happen and make it last, I’d have to start small and do with what I’ve got.
Millions of people struggle with chronic health issues.
Many of us battle unimaginable battles, big and small, external, or internal.
Dealing with physical afflictions, toxic relationships and the challenges of daily life can drain us of energy and motivation.
As a consequence, the good old armor gets rusty and leaky.
But there are simple ways to start protecting our health.
With so many medical options to choose from, you might be well confused about the best approach for eliminating health problems.
One of the best and simplest ways to improve your health is to change your eating habits. Yes, you can use food to treat various illnesses.
Some people only want to change their diet to lose weight. However, there are more potential health benefits than just weight loss.
5 Common Signs of Chronic Illness
- Frequent colds
- Frequent infections
- Frequent stomach upsets
- Constant tiredness
- High stress levels
How often do you have these symptoms?
So you cough, sneeze, and generally charm others with elephant-style nose-blows.
It’s not a big deal, everyone gets it.
Yes, but every two weeks?
Wounds that take five weeks to heal instead of five days?
Come on!
The sick feeling in the stomach – surely that must be something you ate?
But I don’t believe that your kitchen is teeming with salmonella or that you haven’t learned your lesson from a dodgy takeaway food poisoning?
Barely managing to drag yourself out of bed morning after morning?
Well, at least you get a good night’s sleep if you’re so tired, right?
But then…no matter what you do, the sleep just won’t come.
When it does come, the sleepy time is interrupted, or worse still, twitchy and tense, accompanied by nightmares.
How To Recognize Your Chronic Illness
It’s convenient to fool ourselves into believing that these are just normal minor things we just have to put with.
But I invite you to pause and consider:
When was the last time you felt energized and pain-free?
How long have you been experiencing your troubles, whatever they may be?
Is there a pattern?
Because if your afflictions occur frequently, chances are you’re feeding a poisonous snake like I did, who’s getting fatter by day and ready to bite your rear.
‘’I enjoy convalescence. It is the part that makes the illness worthwhile.’’
George Bernard Shaw
Keep Track of the Signs to Detect Chronic Illness
I am no physician, but I too had suffered from all those symptoms and treated them like a minor, temporary inconvenience.
It was only after someone had pointed out to me the frequency with which I fell ill, that I sat down and looked at my diary.
A day here, two days there, an odd week…you get the idea.
The total number of my off days astounded me.
Looking back through my notes, I realized that those days of malaise usually followed difficult episodes in an ongoing challenge I was facing.
I became alarmed.
I understood that the situation I was in was causing me to be ill.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like there was much I could do to change my circumstances at the time.
But I also realized that if I didn’t do anything, I’ll pay for doing nothing dearly one day.
So I started with the simplest improvements to my diet.
What helped me was switching to a more balanced diet.
1. Eliminating Sugar To Get More Energy
Sugar is in nearly every processed food. Various studies indicate that overeating sugar can cause numerous health issues.
Eliminating sugar from your diet can provide multiple health benefits.
Some people notice an improvement in their energy levels and strength after removing sugar for several days. Although you may see an initial decrease in energy, you will feel better over time by eliminating processed sugar.
‘’The wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings. Let food be your medicine.’’ Hippocrates
A full elimination diet can be hard to follow. As a result, many people have better success by slowly phasing out sugar from their diet.
If this sounds like an impossible feat, please believe that you can do it.
Take this from a former chocolate addict!
From eating a whole mega chocolate slab a day, I now have a little bit of chocolate or a piece of cake maybe once a week I do not miss the sweet treats at all!
When I do treat myself to a dessert, I make it a special occasion and really relish the experience.
How did I get here?
I decreased sugars in my diet gradually, replaced the bad sugars with good ones, and I didn’t vow NEVER to eat anything sweet.
Because, you know, a delicious cake makes me happy and when I’m happy, my mind is happy and my cells are happy, and when my cells are happy, they’re doing a happy dance and that gives them the energy to work better on other keeping me healthy.
That’s my take on the mind-over-matter theory, applied to health.
However, if I feel like sweetening my day, the best choice is stevia or xylitol. These are natural sweeteners full of good natural stuff, very low in calories, and with no carbs.
2. Eat Dark Chocolate and Blueberries to Manage Stress
One of the biggest enemies, if not the biggest one, that causes chronic illness is stress. Many people have chronic stress that is difficult to deal with. Although taking a prescription can help with this issue, changing the diet is a much better approach.
Several food choices are available for you if you want to reduce or eliminate stress from your life.
For instance, Dark chocolate has numerous health benefits. Not only does it taste great, but it provides multiple vitamins and minerals. Some people wrongly assume that chocolate causes health issues.
Quite the contrary, you’ll be pleased to hear. Dark chocolate improves memory, lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease, lowers blood pressure, and helps prevent cell damage caused by free radicals, just to name a few benefits.
Interestingly, and you may want to take note of this – dark chocolate contains way more antioxidants than blueberries or any other fruits and vegetables.
To get the most out of this healthy indulgent treat, remember: the higher the cocoa percentage, the better.
Worried about the sugar content?
Good news – dark chocolate does not contain a lot of sugar. Adding a small amount of dark chocolate to your EVERYDAY diet is an excellent way to add variety.
Blueberries have also been proven to reduce stress. These indigo blue yummy gems contain numerous vitamins and minerals. They are especially packed with Vitamin C.
This food is one of the best sources of antioxidants that you can eat. While the antioxidants repair the cells damaged by stress, Vitamin C provides anxiety relief. Anyone who is struggling with stress should consider adding more blueberries to their diet.
3. Eat Oatmeal to Beat Depression
Millions of people struggle with anxiety and depression. If you feel anxious and depressed, living a healthy lifestyle can help improve these symptoms.
Oatmeal is an excellent option if you struggle with depression or anxiety. Eating oatmeal releases serotonin in the body. This is the same chemical reaction that occurs from taking an antidepressant.
Oatmeal has also been proven to help regulate blood glucose. It is a complex carbohydrate that provides a lot of energy to the body.
An additional benefit you might want to know about – oatmeal is great for the skin!
About two years ago I started incorporating oatmeal into my daily diet and now my breakfast every single morning consists of a bowl of oatmeal or porridge and my skin has never been better.
‘’To heal illness, begin by restoring balance.’’
Caroline Myss
Although enduring a chronic health issue can be challenging and even crippling, there are numerous healthy food options that you can choose.
Replacing sugar with maple syrup, eating dark chocolate, blueberries, and oatmeal are simple and affordable ways to increase energy, reduce stress and nourish your body and mind.
Disclaimer:
This article was written by Zuzana Halliwell. I am not a doctor or health professional and cannot be held liable for the information written here. This article is meant to provide information about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. The content is based on my own personal experience and on information provided by medical professionals that is available to the public. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Do not use it as an alternative to seeking help from a medical professional.
