I Haven't Always Been Crunchy...

I have been thinking lately how crazy and weird it must seem to people that I am always writing, posting, talking, or thinking about things like nutrition, medicine, agriculture, etc.

The reason for my sudden interest in all things herbal, medicine-y, healthy, nutritional, etc. etc. is because I got sick. Worse, I am sick with some sort of ill-defined autoimmune melange of symptoms that aren't bad enough for Western medicine to really care and were horrible enough that I bascially stayed inside all day. Diarrhea, arthritis, and fatigue will do that to you...

In any case, I remember those not-so-long-ago days when I ate whatever I wanted and loved every bite. Gooey, caramelized cinnamon rolls, those super-sweet frosted cookies from Wal-Mart, fast-food, delivery pizza. Yum. I even remember eating popcorn (oh, the horror) with wild abandon, which I can no longer do. Something changed drastically after I had my last baby. Even though the process was started earlier (arthritis is weird for a 24-year-old), it was a second baby, moving, and living with my in-laws that really kicked my butt.

My neighbors know we don't drink cow's milk, but probably don't realize that it wasn't always that way. We try to buy organic produce but I used to buy whatever produce Wal-Mart had on hand. I don't eat wheat or corn now, but that's only because numerous bouts of DIARRHEA kind of put me off of those staples.

In any case, I feel that there is good reason for me to care about what we eat, where it comes from, how it's processed, and how our bodies react to it.

Recently my son has had a nasty, nasty outbreak of eczema. After much head-scratching and deducing, we realized that peanut butter was the likely culprit this time. It was starting to clear up and today I let him have a bunch of cheesy pizza--renewed outbreak. To me it's a simple solution--he doesn't get to eat peanut butter or milk. At least, not any significant amount of it.

I know that some people think that eczema isn't a big deal and that he might grow out of it. What I have learned recently, though, is that eczema is an indicator of some inflammatory process. What worries me the most isn't the eczema, but the internal process going on that could be setting my son up for some more serious health concerns later on. Inflammation can lead to everything from arthritis to diabetes, after all.

In any case, I have solid proof that the attention we're paying to our diet is doing us good--my husband's A1C (some fancy indicator of diabetic health) is going down and he is losing weight. Success!