A few months ago I blogged about my chronic fatigue and
muscle pain with remedies I had been trying to manage my symptoms. (See Related
Post) I was already better then but I still took pain medications on days when
my pain just went ballistic. So, I didn’t stop researching for other possible
reasons behind this condition in spite healthy lifestyle. Until I came across
an issue on Women First magazine about adrenal fatigue, a stress induced
shortfall of hormones such as cortisol and DHEA that triggers, exhaustion,
brain fog and mood swings.
Adrenal Fatigue
On an article on Women First magazine, Margaret Christensen,
a doctor herself shared her battle on adrenal fatigue, a theory dismissed in
med school and even considered quackery. But she decided to still get her self
tested and was astonished to find out the results. Her hormone level was low.
With bioidentical hormone treatment, nutrition and spiritual healing for a
period of time, Margaret regained her life back – her career, family life and
the things she enjoys in life.
Reading her story and experiences under her condition, I
found myself engulfed in reading and researching more about hormone imbalance
as factor for chronic fatigue and muscle pain which is actually common among
women. I focused more on the natural remedies such as nutrition to start
with.
Daily Diet
Another article on the same issue features celebrity fitness
guru Jillian Michaels who shares a list of foods to help harmonize hormones
and boost metabolism.
- ½ cup of berries
- 1 cup of dark leafy (spinach, aragula, dandelion)
- 1 cup cruciferous (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bock-choy)
- 5 ½ cup fruits/vegetables (with garlic, onions, chives, shallots)
- ¼ cup nuts/seeds or 2 T seed butter
- ½ cup of legumes (beans)
- 4 oz eggs, lean meat, poultry, fish
- 3 servings of yogurt, buttermilk
- 2 T of healthy oils (Olive Oil, flaxseed, avocado oil) for dressing, soup, sauté veggies, grill meats.
- 3 servings of fiber – oatmeal, brown rice, couscous, whole wheat pasta
Not only these foods can balance our hormones and boost our
metabolism but also increase our immune system and lower our risk of heart
attack and cancer. Even a few servings of colored fruits such as blueberries as
the article says, can make a major difference. I can attest to this myself.
I have come up with a meal plan comprising all the produce
mentioned with the use of healthy oils and probio foods that work with my busy
lifestyle and of course, taste. I don’t like suffering to be healthy and you
don’t have to.
BREAKFAST
Fruit Smoothie
I made smoothie before just because I liked it. But later I
discovered that I could make it more beneficial to my health by mixing it with probiotic
ingredients, healthy oils and instead of sugar, use honey for its antibacterial
and antifungal properties and many other healthy benefits. Fruit smoothie is
also a good yummy, healthy solution if you don’t like buttermilk and yogurt as
it they are. You may
½ cup of strawberries
½ cup of blueberries
¼ cup of grapes
¼ cup of sliced bananas or peaches
¼ cup of buttermilk or a serving of yogurt ( I don’t like
yogurt as it is; same as buttermilk)
1 T of honey
Blend all ingredients
1 T of flaxseed oil mixed in my smoothie – with the blend of
fruits, you can even hardly taste the oil.
Then I later have some Whole wheat bread or oats with
raisins. Then I take my herbal tea with my supplements.
LUNCH
Stirfry veggies (legumes, broccoli, cabbage, carrots,
pepper, onions and ginger- in safflower oil). Serve with fish fillet and brown
rice I don’t like brown rice that much I do this combination: 2 cups of brown
and 1 cup of jasmine rice.
SNACK
Grapes, blueberries, seeds or nuts. Whole wheat bread or
oats with raisins.
DINNER
I sometimes just eat the leftover from lunch and serve with
fresh mangoes or strawberries or a toss of salad. I have lettuce and spinach in
my garden. For dressing, I have this recipe to make use of my buttermilk:
Buttermilk Salad Dressing Recipe
- 2 cups non-fat buttermilk
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 finely-chopped green onions or scallions
Another option I do is whole wheat pasta with homemade tomato
sauce with ground beef. Serve with salad.
In between, I drink my tea with the rest of my supplements.
I work nights in my home office so I have it on my desk to sip on.
I don’t have much of white rice or white break anymore;
instead, I use brown rice (I combine a little of jasmine rice with it), oats
and whole wheat pasta.
I also add sea salt on my water. Just a little bit. In some
countries, iodized salt is recommended due to increase cases of goiter or
enlargement of the thyroid which is commonly attributed to lack of iodine. So I
still use both in my cooking.
This is a DAILY thing. Just a matter of weeks, I have felt
improvement in my sleep and energy. I still have some problem areas in my back
but I no longer take my pain medications as it has become very manageable. The
only thing that bothered me at first was gas but it’s a normal reaction of the
body. As your body gets used to this diet, gasiness will just go away.
REST, REST, REST
When I first saw my doctor with my chronic muscle pain, the
first things that he really addressed was my sleep. He said that sleep
significantly affects our health and yeah including muscle pain. Even machine
needs to rest to get it functioning well. Our sleeping habits will always go
down to our lifestyle – work or our day to day activities. I have obsession in
getting things done before I go to bed or the habit of doing things around the
house while it’s peace and quite at night. Wrong. I pretty much deprived myself
with a good night’s sleep and become like a zombie the day after. As a plan of
action, I changed my work schedule and yeah – I leave what I can do tonight for
tomorrow. Sleep and wake up well energized.
EXERCISE
After addressing the nutrition and sleep, here comes
exercise.
In the comedy movie, Legally Blonde, Elle Woods (Reese
Witherspoon) along with other law interns were assigned a case of a young women
accused of shooting her wealthy husband. Coincidentally, the client was a
former member of Elle's sorority and a famous fitness instructor, facts that
convinced Elle of her innocence. Her reasoning being that: “Exercise
produces Endorphins, and Endorphins make you Happy, so happy people don't shoot
their husbands. They just don’t.”
So, we’d better take Elle’s logic so we don’t shoot our
husbands, huh? Oh, wait mine is not wealthy!
AM YOGA
(google images for each pose)
· Down-ward facing Dog pose
· Upward facing dog Pose
· Triangle Pose
· Warrior Pose
· Half Lord of the Fishes Pose
· Bridge Pose
Simple energy boosting move:
Knee Bending. I stand against the wall and I bend 15 counts for 3xs. You really
feel energized.
Along with my therapy exercise and cardio dance and pool
exercise, these simple daily routines have helped me tremendously in getting
the energy I need each day. It’s also good to pick an exercise that you will
enjoy. I like to dance so I have my cardio dance DVD at home.
To sum it all up:
Six daily servings of fruits and vegetables (colorful fruit
life berries and green veggies and legumes); healthy oils; some meat; spices
like onions, ginger; whole grain instead of white carbs; probiotic food like
yogurt and buttermilk; and sea salt; rest and exercise DAILY.
How about the Red Wine
Some nutrition experts say that A glass of red wine is good
for the heart, increase metabolism, help with sleep and a lot more benefits.
Drinking more than one glass will lead you to …. AA.
Two years ago, resveratrol, a substance found in red wine to
slow aging, was introduced and earned its sensational popularity when it was
featured on Oprah’s episode on Anti Aging with Dr. Oz, whom Oprah calls,
America’s doctor. To get the resveratrol benefits, one has to take 24 bottles
of wine a day or you can just take a pill. Huh?! If drinking more than 1 glass of
red wine a day will take to AA where will it take you when you do 24 or a pill
of resveratrol. As we all knows, tests on the effectiveness of these
supplements have been conducted on mice. I don’t know if it will have the same
effects on humans. Another key point I read on one health website says, grapes
and many other fruits and vegetables and regular physical activities offer the
same benefits for heart as seen in alcohol. Include a variety of fruits and
vegetables in your diet to maximize the heart health benefits.
On Healthy Oils
(Sunflower Farmers Market Magazine: Taste for life, July
2009 Issue)
Read labels of your oil. Some oils are only good for medium
or no heat at all. Flaxseed oil for example should just be taken as it is with
no heat. For sautéing, Canola, Macadamia Nut Oil or Saffflower are good for
medium heat. If you are deep frying or using high heat for your cooking, use
soy oil, sunflower, or avocado oil. For low moderate heat, corn, walnut, olive,
hempseed, sesame, peanut oil sesame are recommended. Do not overheat oil. It
says that when oil begins to smoke, it releases carcinogens into the air and
creates free radicals … these highly reactive molecules can cause cellular
damage and breakdown … I am no expert so I just trust what the experts say,
you know.
Fructose vs. Glucose
(Sunflower Farmers Market Magazine: Taste for life, July
2009 Issue)
Glucose stimulates the hormone leptin, which tells the body
to stop eating white Fructose releases the hormone ghrelin which tells the body
to keep eating.
Drinks containing high-fructose corn syrup, as studies show,
has been linked to obesity. Those who drink on high fructose beverage had
larger increases in abdominal fat which put you to high risk cardio vascular
diseases.
On the contrary, don’t take that against eating fresh
fruits. Nutritionists all agree that fruits contain only a small amount of
natural fructose and have other more important benefits to our health.
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I am no expert but I am just excited to share my improvement
with the hope you might pick up something that might work for you - may you be
planning to lose weight, improve your eating habits, save grocery money or just
trying to be healthy. After all, you can never go wrong with eating veggies and
fruits everyday.
Also as we age, everything else in our body does the same.
So when you see those natural imperfections, frowning will just add to it; make
it less noticeable by smiling that frown away.
Smiles and Cheers to a good life,
- Madame Butterfly
