Many of you have asked me if taking prescription drugs is actually healthy. Here’s an interesting newletter article from Gary Craig — founder of the Emotional Freedom Technique — one of my favorite techniques for clearing “stuck energy”:
The Menacing Mathematics of Multiple Meds
By Gary Craig
There’s something scary about drugs that concerns a growing number of physicians and should wobble the knees of every patient on the planet. It’s obvious to any mathematician but somehow has escaped the general scrutiny of the health industry.
It has to do with combining meds…
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I came across this interesting article in an online newsletter called the Well Being Journal. The article is by Julia Ross, author of the Diet Cure, who specializes in eating disorders. She’s worked with people with eating disorders and other addictions and in this article, she talks about how our deficiencies in essential amino acids (which make up protein) can cause mood disturbances like depression and OCD and physical issues like fatigue, lack of energy and mental fogginess.
Natural Prozac
I was excited to find this article because it corroborates the theory I’ve had about serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter produced in our gut and used by our brains as a natural type of Prozac. L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid (cannot be produced by our body) that is a precursor to serotonin. If we are born with a deficiency in serotonin, dieting or stress could tip us over the edge and set us up for an eating disorder.
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I found this letter from a recovered bulimic on the Westin A. Price Foundation website. The Weston A. Price Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charity founded in 1999 to disseminate the research of nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston Price, whose studies of isolated nonindustrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets.
Many of you know that I finally recovered from bulimia & binge eating after ending years of digestive distress & candida — and this was made possible by following The The Body Ecology Diet, by Donna Gates. Donna is a big supporter of The Westin A. Price Foundation. Through Donna’s recommendation, I have found many great articles and resources from the website. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning for about healing nutrition. Many of the articles support what Donna writes about in the Body Ecology Diet.
1950’s – Food Changes, Our Bodies Stay The Same
One of the eye-opening things I recently learned was that our diets drastically changed around the 1950’s — to processed foods, like TV dinners — but our digestive systems are still the same. It makes sense that we’d have side effects to processed foods if our bodies were so used to whole foods, a lot of variety, locally grown produce and raw dairy products. Pasteurization and antibiotics brought great advances in technology, but they also created a problem for the healthy bacteria (microflora) in our intestines. If you remember from the post I did on my consult with Donna, microflora help ensure our bodies have what they need to be healthy and disease free.
We have a long way to go before the biology of the digestive system meets the medical field somewhere in the middle. Until then, for those who suffer from cravings, addictions, IBS and immune-related issues that have not been resolved medically, a healing diet may be worth looking into.
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As many of you know, I am currently researching the role of digestion in the prevention & treatment of eating disorders for my graduate studies at Plymouth State (Eating Disorders Institute Certificate). I wanted to share an article I found – it is a link from the Something Fishy website. The article explains a possible connection between celiac disease and eating disorders. I believe most of the reseach talks about celiac disease being present once anorexia, bulimia or binge eating have been diagnosed. The question is, could celiac be a contributor?
Celiac – More Digestive Distress
Since celiac destroys the micorvilli of the small intestine — basically creates leaky gut and malabsorption of nutrients — it is another illness in the category of digestive distress. There are many ways that digestion can be compromised, including eating disorders. And there are many contributors to digestive distress before eating disorders begin.
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It’s funny how doing a project for my eating disorders graduate studies program caused me to pick up a book I had all but forgotten about. This recovery book was written by a woman who recovered from binge eating disorder and, with a master’s in social work, counsels others with eating disorders. Although written in 1993, this oldie is still a goodie (and I think you can get it through Amazon for about a penny). The book is good for people who like a mix of personal stories (which I tended to skip because I’m not crazy about immersing myself in sad stories), actions for recovery, questionnaires and self-reflection opportunities. In fact, Meltsner suggests that you use a journal as you read the book so that you can answer reflection questions at the end of each section.
I tend to like workbook style recovery books because they allow me to move from a passive form of learning (reading) and get active through my own self-reflection. This book does a nice job in guiding the reader through easy-to-understand material and getting us involved in the learning process. Meltsner suggests that recovery happens in three stages: (1) physical recovery, (2) emotional, social & spiritual recovery and (3) undependence (more on this below). I would agree with how she characterized the phases, although I would say that phases 1 and 2 don’t necessarily happen in that order. I do think that putting recovery in phases, as she did, can be helpful in understanding that recovery doesn’t begin and end with stopping disordered eating behavior — but involves mind, body and spirit.
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Scientists have found a bundle of nerves in the digestive system that they are calling the “second brain” because it functions much in the same way that our brains do. It has a lot of control over our nervous systems — which become highly disruped with an ED. Our nervous systems actually control our metabolism and ability to digest, among other very important bodily functions. Just another reason to take care of body & mind. In my recovery, I have learned that through taking care of my body & mind, my body stays strong & healthy — and I feel better. It takes time to find your own “normal” for eating — but it happens. It’s possible. It took me 4 years of recovery/relapse to find out my normal. I’m still getting there, but at least I have a “shut off” switch for when I’m full — which tells me our minds & bodies have an amazing capacity to heal when we take care of them. I am grateful every day that I finally found this. I couldn’t have done it without taking care of mind, body & spirit.
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