Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Masking your Pain Pt 3

“Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Picture this, you are cutting up onions in your kitchen while preparing dinner for your family. You accidently cut your finger. You don’t have to tell your body, “fix my finger”. Your body automatically sends the needed cells to the site of trauma, they stop the bleeding and start the healing process. And once enough little soldiers are at the site to provide healing your body tells your cells to stop sending more. Within a few days or weeks, depending on how bad the cut, it is healed. Our body has the ability to heal ALL sickness and pain within your body. So why are some of us still suffering? We have barriers in place stopping that healing. And guess who puts those barriers there???? WE DID!!!
Many times when our body experiences symptoms such as pain, or high blood pressure or breathing problems, western medicine is designed to give you medicine to alleviate the symptoms, but not fix the problem. Then they put a diagnosis on these problems (migraines, hypertension, asthma), when in actuality they are just your body calling out to you to let you know that you need to get back in balance.

The first line of breaking your holistic healing barriers is diet.

I will be honest, even though I am a nurse, I never understood how eating unhealthy can poison your body. This goes beyond just becoming obese and getting diabetes or high blood pressure. Each meal that we ingest changes our body’s chemistry. According to Heather Tick, MD, author of Holistic Pain Relief, our gut is the gateway between the outside and inside world of our body, and diet is more powerful in preventing disease than either drugs or medical care. Diet can nourish cells or leave them vulnerable to further damage.

For many of us when we think of pain we correlate it to inflammation within our bodies. The truth is our body needs a low level of inflammation at all times in order to function properly. When we take anti-inflammatory medications to relieve pain, we are also wiping out the good inflammation. In addition to that if you are eating unhealthy foods that cause inflammation, then all you are doing is confusing your body between inflammatory and noninflammatory states.

Foods that cause inflammation:

Sugar                                                     Refined flour                                                     Saturated fat
Vegetable oil                                         Dairy products                                                   Processed meat
Fried foods                                           Artificial sweeteners                                          Gluten
Excess alcohol

All the good stuff, I know right???? I thought the same think when I first started studying about holistic healing. But let’s get real for a second. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine. What do majority of Americans eat on a regular basis??? SUGAR! We are a people addicted to food. So next time you judge or question someone who is labeled an addict for what they put in their body for enjoyment, don’t forget about your own poisons. The only difference is that our poisons are cleared by the FDA.

Last week we got our minds in the right place to start healing, now it’s time to make physical changes to maintain our healing. I encourage you all to educate yourselves about eating unprocessed and unpasteurized foods. Last week, I bought some cheese that was a different brand from what we usually buy because I recently started shopping at a Farmer’s Market versus the typical grocery store. My daughter made eggs with the cheese, and it did not melt. I was hesitant about eating it, but she is 8 years old, I thought maybe it was the way she cooked it. Later in the week, we used the cheese again for cooking, and again it did not melt. I looked at the package and it clearly said pasteurized.  It got thrown away, if my cheese does not melt when being cooked it has no place in my body because then my body will not be able to break it down properly, and all those chemicals that were put into it to make it that way are now in my body!

For many of us, breaking our sugar addiction may seem difficult. It still is for me. One of the most effective ways I have found in changing my eating habits was to start with a fast. I fasted for one day and during my lunch break at work and any time I would feel tempted I would find a quiet place, pray and remind myself why I am doing this. Remind myself that I am tired of being in pain, and spending money on doctor’s visits and medicine, and tired of being a food addict. God should be your go-to, not food. After my fast I started shopping at a Farmer’s Market buying all fresh vegetables and meats. There are many “diets” that you can use as a starting point, but personally I do not work well with following diets and they are more easily broken than followed. So I just told myself I would only buy raw, natural foods and only eat limited carbs. Some diets that can work well when trying to make a lifestyle change include:

Mediterranean diet                              Alkaline diet                                                       Gluten free diet
The Specific Carb diet                        Nightshade free diet                                            Blood-Type diet
Elimination & 4 day diet                                

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reigns be consumed within me” (Job 19:25-27).

Remember my friends that change may not always be easy and may not feel good. Job suffered tremendously and still kept his faith that God would restore him. You can also make the changes needed in your life to receive holistic healing but you cannot look to God to do all of the work. Next week we will discuss exercises that promote holistic healing. Until then I encourage you to really look at your eating habits and start to make changes that will benefit you in the long run. For some people slowly taking away foods will be easier than just stopping cold turkey, but whatever your preference, is perfectly fine as long as you have an end goal. Holistic healing will only be possible if your diet is changed. You cannot put old oil in your car and expect for it to run well. The same goes for your body, you cannot keep ingesting poison and expect to be healthy.

References
Adams, M. How to Heal Yourself in 15 Days. http://www.manataka.org/page2037.html

Tick, H. Holistic Pain Relief.  

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