By Dr. Rosa Kincaid, MD
Staying healthy is not that easy. This I found after trying to avoid gluten for the past two years. It can mean: not getting to eat any of your own birthday cake, restriction of most comfort foods and not having much to drink when at a party. So, like many of my patients who have had this problem, I just “cut back” on the gluten and those mild symptoms escalated.
Those mild symptoms of bloating and headaches escalated to migraines, attention deficits, and joint pain, which eventually prompted an upper GI to see what was going on. So here I am back again; no white flour, no wheat flour, gluten-free oats and “Titos.” It feels like deprivation but much better than the pain.
So is it healthy to remain “dietarily” isolated in our social lives? How much fun is it to have to eat at home before attending dinner out with your family or bringing your own food out to the lake? At what point does a person start acting like a fanatic?
It is good to be isolated thusly in your social life if those around you are suffering with any medical problems that can be associated with diet. It’s not fun to have to eat before you go out but less fun when you do go out and eat something after which your stomach inflates like a blow-up toy. Although you may appear to be a fanatic to someone else, they are not living in your body and they are not experiencing the dis-comfort and dis-ease that you are when you take in something that you know is not agreeable to you.
So how do you know when a food or product is healthy or unhealthy? If you can get tested for food intolerances and allergies, than that will help greatly. If you are unable to do that at this time, just think about what could be the cause.
If you have a chronic disease or get sick frequently, make an honest assessment of your diet and lifestyle. Pay careful attention to the amount of animal protein, white sugar and flour you eat. Do you get 8 hours of sleep? Do you at least walk 20 minutes per day? Do you have a spiritual life? Do you listen to your body?
Pain, headaches, itchy skin, boils, blurred vision are warnings that your body is giving to tell you that something is not right, inside of you? Check yourself. Be observant and the answer will come. You wouldn’t break out the engine warning light on your dashboard would you?
For more information contact Dr. Rosa Kincaid at Kincaid Medical Associates, 314-531-0008 or visit online at www.drrosakincaid.com.