Can Diet Cure My…?

Can diet cure my…

…diabetes?

…high cholesterol?

…PCOS?

…arthritis?

I hear family, friends, & clients all the time say things like this:

Diabetes is just genetic. Everyone in my family has it, so it’s just inevitable.

OR…

I have high cholesterol but it’s ok, I’m on medication.

Is it possible that diet can cure these issues?

And by “diet”, I mean simply changing what we eat.

Are we aware of the immense power that food has in our body, for better or for worse? Our bodies are literally made up of what we eat. They have intricate systems & pathways that need to work in an effective manner to help us do all of the amazing things we do each day. Do we want to build our bodies with materials that can resist the initiation of chronic health conditions? Or would we rather build with faulty materials, the foods that hinder or at least don’t help, leaving our bodies defenseless when battles come our way?

What we eat is arguably the biggest determinant of our health. Optimizing what we eat can solve many of our health issues and enable our bodies to function in the way in which they are so wonderfully created to do.

While working in supermarket retail, I remember one client said this to me: “I’m diabetic, but a lot of people in my family are diabetic, so I try to eat healthy and the medication helps keep my blood sugar around 120 mg/dL. So I know what I have to do. Thanks for your help though!”

(Note: 120 mg/dL is still very much over the range of healthy levels for a fasted state (no recent eating), although our current medical system tells people that this is “management”, as if simply managing our health issues is sufficient. And this customer was also still quite overweight with abdominal obesity in particular. I could see that her idea of “healthy” eating was not really all that healthy. And I don’t think she is the only one with that false view.)

I explained to her that, yes, oftentimes diabetes (I’m talking Type 2 diabetes here) does run in the family, but think about family meal traditions and the social nature of families. Perhaps diabetes runs in the family because a similar eating pattern & lifestyle habits runs in the family.

But what about genetics? Sure, family members may have similar genes that predispose them to a greater potential of developing a health issue, like blood sugar dysregulation (which is what type 2 diabetes is). But this doesn’t mean that it will inevitably occur one day. One can eat & treat one’s body well so that it never gives into their genes’ potential for certain diseases. Like a light switch, genes can be turned “on” or “off” by the foods we eat.

Food as Medicine

There are countless examples of how foods directly reduce inflammation or risk of chronic conditions. Omega-3 fats in foods like salmon, sardines, walnuts, flaxseeds, and fish oil supplementation, for example, directly work in the body to turn down inflammation. Some medications, like NSAIDs (like aspirin and ibuprofen), also reduce inflammation, but they come with hefty side effects like stomach ulcers and bleeding. If someone is experiencing chronic pain, they may be taking NSAIDs often and the side effects can be detrimental. On the other hand, most functional foods have no side effects and may even have some “side benefits”, or bonus nutritional benefits. If we increased the amount of omega-3 fats in our diet and decreased omega-6 fats, we may effectively reduce inflammation below the unhealthy threshold.

Why would we not take advantage of these amazing foods? There may be a lack of knowledge on how the foods or nutrition supplements actually work in our bodies. For example, fish oil has been well-documented as a potent anti-inflammatory and worthy and safer alternative to NSAIDs especially for conditions like arthritis, but ignorance of how it works may be to blame, as stated in this Arthritis Research & Therapy article, as well as the power of the pharmaceutical industry and its marketing.

Chronic Conditions

Also, let’s clear up this other notion that diabetes/high cholesterol/high blood pressure and many other chronic health conditions are diseases that you just contract all of a sudden, like a virus. Rather, the truth is that these are chronic conditions of lifestyle and have actually been building up over time. And diet’s control of inflammation is a huge player in this, as described in this 2018 article.

And so, when the health problems happen, do we just accept our fate? Accept the medications and hope that they should suffice?

But really, who wants to live with a band-aid on them forever? They get sticky and icky. Let’s peel away the band-aid and find some real healing.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes, changing the way you eat can help you kick meds to the curb and get your body back to a clean bill of health.

If you are a young woman who is having issues with getting your period, don’t just accept that your body has failed and therefore medication is a necessity for the rest of your life. Some meds might be necessary in the short-term. BUT….

Your body has not failed you. It just needs to be cared for in a new way.

Caring For Our Bodies

Care. That’s what we need. Better care of our bodies. Better care in deciding how we will fuel them and how we will use them each day.

You are NOT broken. You CAN be healed.

If you have a chronic health condition & are inspired by the idea that food can greatly impact your ability to heal from it, then PLEASE take action.

Book a FREE call to discuss working with us via functional nutrition coaching or through one of our other program offerings.