I never really came up with a theme for this month's challenge. I've mostly been attempting to catch up on things around the house such as weeding the garden -with all the rain we've had that has been difficult, and giving the dog some extra attention since my son left for his grandparents for part of the summer.
Then the strangeness began!
5 bloody noses in the course of 1 week, an absence of my monthly cycle, an exhausting increase in insomnia, and the sudden and strange inability to give blood despite or maybe in spite of staying well hydrated.
Do I panic? Only slightly. Besides contacting my healthcare provider to discuss these sudden changes in my body/hormones/I-don't-know out comes one of my go to books when I feel that my body is undergoing stress -whether I recognize that stress or not- listening to your body is important to catch problems early.
Dr. Eric Berg's Book is a relatively easy to understand and straightforward read, breaking down a different/yet realistic view of what causes issues in the body. In other words things like insomnia and a missing menstrual cycle are more hormone based as a symptom of other things such as stress, poor eating, over exertion (i.e. exercise), etc.... Imbalances that can, if left unchecked, lead to additional illness such as obesity, cancer, autoimmune issues, and chronic pain just to name a few. With all of the training I had been attempting to get in for my 5K, it only makes sense that at some point any additional stress, recognized or not, would tax out my already stressed hormones. A viscous cycle indeed!
Dr. Berg breaks down the causes of most illnesses into the reduced capacity/fatigue of 4 glands/organs that produce hormones which when working properly keep the body healthy. Adrenal, ovaries (women only), thyroid, and liver; and just like the traditional apple or pear shapes that were touted some time ago for identifying body type these I feel are a bit more spot on.
Since the liver is the body's filter all of his diet fixes start with a two week liver "detox" -though to call it a detox is not really accurate, it's more of a liver vacation! Similar to my elimination diet challenge last summer, you eliminate those foods and drinks that are causing the over-taxation of not just your liver but the other organs as well. All sugars and grains are to be kept from the diet for the first two weeks. All the vegetables you could ever want to eat, but he has a very specific list, a limited number of low sugar fruits -so no bananas but all the apples you can eat without getting sick- small amounts of protein one to two times per day depending on how your body does with out protein and even smaller amounts of dairy every other day.
Since I am a juicing advocate I decided that I will do a combination of both eating and drinking my vegetables. I will avoid juicing fruits as much as I can as they can cause blood sugar spikes. As for exercise I certainly wont spend the entire day in the garden as I am still feeling my hamstrings from my 3 day gardening marathon last weekend (muscle pain and inflammation is another symptom of adrenal fatigue). So this morning I started with this deep ruby concoction: 6 Carrots and 1/2 a beet. 2 ounces of summer sausage (I don't want to waste the meat and there's not much left) and an apple. Probably not a typical sounding breakfast but it wasn't bad.
While writing this I received a call from my doctor's office and they will be fitting me in for a visit today. So, while I do like to take my health into my own hands, I do get professional advise too.
Keep watching as I will post some of my other juices and a sample of the types of meals he recommends for the liver vacation.
Stay healthy!
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