By about day five, edema set into my legs and feet, brought on, I expect, by the excessive amount of sugary and wheat-laden foods that dominated the buffet lines. And of course, I must confess that I probably overindulged in the rum punch and sugary cocktails. I normally confine my alcoholic beverages to wine at dinner, but on a cruise? Caution hits that sea breeze, and away it goes. Eight days later, when I arrived home and got on the scale I had gained a whopping nine pounds. Not fat. Fluid from inflammation created by my body in the process of trying to detoxify from all the crap I was eating.
As I pondered my edema, I looked around at others on the ship and noticed for the first time that just about every other man and woman middle-aged or older was walking (or hobbling) around on swollen feet and legs.
If that happened to me in eight days, imagine what a life-time of eating crap will do to your body when you don't have the sense to know what's causing it? In all fairness, it's not our fault entirely that we don't know anything about nutrition. After all, the medical experts who go to school to learn about microbiology and nutrition come away with all the old out-dated and incorrect information (why is that?), which they then pummel us with. If you dare to suggest they may be wrong--let's be kind and say "misinformed"--, we get that familiar condescending look (you know the one) accompanied by a well-memorized speech on low-fat diets and exercise. So, unless we go outside the box and study or at least read about the current research, we continue to eat all the wrong things in the firm belief we're doing all the right things. And chronic illness creeps in and becomes a way of life without our ever having a clue what's causing it.
Upon returning home and getting back to a mostly "paleo" nutrient-dense diet, free of sugar, grains, and junk food, I'm almost back to normal...three weeks later. Given the right building blocks, the body can heal itself, even from the worst abuse. In my case, the cruise week was a case of deliberate abuse, because I knew better.
So, now the question is, why do we do it? Why do some of us eat the bad food knowing what it will do to us? Perhaps because the pull of taste and visual presentation is so strong. This is the reason that marketing tactics work so well. Don't you just love the pictures plastered everywhere in a fast-food joint (every fast-food joint) of their burgers and sandwiches and tacos? Then the cashier hands you your bag, you open the wrapper, salivating with the expectation of that beautiful image you see on the poster, only to be disappointed by reality? How about the bakery experience? The cake is decorated like a chocolate masterpiece. Then you slice it up, take a bite, and find a dry cake with a waxy frosting and little or no real flavor. My favorite, however, is the frozen dinner. No commentary required. We all know what those really look and taste like.
The worst trap, however, is the food that not only looks good, but tastes good too. Only it's basically empty of nutrition. And it usually comes with built-in toxins like wheat, sugar, artificial flavors, and sundry chemicals added for taste or longevity.
How do you fight that kind of battle?
First, by arming yourself with knowledge. Learn the truth about nutrition. There's a new book coming out that I plan to read, called The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet. I'm sure it will reinforce the conclusions made by other authors whose research has concluded pretty much the same thing-- Gary Taubes, Sally Fallon, Mary Enig, and Drs. Catherine and Luke Shanahan, to name a few in a growing list.
Second, by making healthy decisions based on truth, rather than establishment doctrine (i.e. "low-fat-diets-are-good" bunk). Baby steps are better than no steps at all, and when you fall off that proverbial wagon (and you will), get right back on and keep going.
And third, learn to cook from scratch. It's not as hard as you think. Buy whole foods and avoid products with labels. Every manufactured food on the market--even many organics--are filled with unnecessary additives like soy lecithin (in chocolate), xanthan or guar gum (in salad dressings, ice cream, pickles, ad infinitum), and wheat and corn by-products disguised by their chemical name. Cooking the right foods from scratch will reduce the toxic load on your body and improve your health over time.
Will I succumb to the cruise food next time? I hope I'll do better, but I'm only human. Eating a few bad foods now and then (we call them "treats"--weird, huh?) won't cause anyone's health to break down. In His wisdom, God equipped us with the capacity to heal from occasional indiscretions. What gets us is a lifestyle of bad food.
Now that I've seen how eating the right foods makes me feel, as opposed to eating the wrong ones--even for eight days--, I'm in for the long haul. Sugar, grains, beans, most milk products and just about all processed foods are off the table on a day-to-day basis for me.
What about you? Be your own expert. A Nutrition Degree or Certificate does not make one smarter than you. Educate yourself. Experiment with an elimination diet and find out what foods your body doesn't like. Then design a lifestyle diet that will optimize your health.
You can do it!
