Restrictions are inevitable. Which one will you choose? The restrictions that diet change brings or the restrictions that limit because you didn’t choose the diet change? I choose diet restrictions today to raise the limit for my future.
It has not been an easy decision to make dietary changes for myself. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so there are days I find myself thinking, “I’ll pay for this tomorrow, but it’s okay, I’ll start again tomorrow.” But I am starting to run out of tomorrows. Today is here.
In all honesty, what we hear in our culture is incredibly confusing, so we don’t think that we really need to make food changes because it will all swing back around again anyway. For example, wasn’t it just a couple of weeks ago that eggs were controversial? Then suddenly they’re good for you. Now they’re in question again. What are we to believe?
One thing to remember is that we are living in a day when information and research is in constant motion. There is bound to be new information about what is good for us. During this season, research does point to a few key things that we can pay attention to and change in our diet.
For example, I have just been catching up on Dr. Steven Gundry, one of the biggest names in functional medicine and author of The Plant Paradox, who shares current research about something called lectins. Who would thought?There are some amazing sources of information available, and he is just one of the many well researched voices.
Making simple restrictions of whole food eating is a huge step in the right direction for most people. If you’ve already made that shift and aren’t sure where else to go from there with your symptoms, find a good functional medicine doctor who can help you address your concerns. They will help get to the cause of your symptoms. Pay attention to yourself. Don’t ignore signs that something might be wrong.
The question I ask myself is whether or not what I’m doing is actually helping? If the answer is yes, then I keep going. If I’m not sure, then why do it at all. For me, I know for sure that when I stick with the diet restrictions, my hair stops falling out and my joints quit aching. I could choose to eat what I want, take drugs to help ease my pain and start Rogaine. But is that just masking the real problem? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” And the reality is that we have enough information and resources today to get to the root problem so I can avoid more issues as I get older.
Is it fun to limit my foods? No! But, I love the freedom of feeling good. Are you doing what you can to make sure you are not restricting your future?