Tag: turmeric

Posted in food

Meal time

Posted on by nlchronicles

I have been asked by some family members and friends a lot – what do you eat?! I think the misconception is that I barely eat or eat “weird” food. One person asked when I was going to go back to eating real food. I thought that’s what I had been eating! 🤷🏽‍♀️

So I’m including today’s meals. Breakfast was a homemade smoothie. I’m dealing with a flare up with my joints so I try to really focus on nutrients more at this time. I don’t have a picture but I just included –

  • Vitamins (I just open them up and dump into the blender)
  • Collagen powder
  • Flax seeds
  • Turmeric powder (have to get this inflammation down)
  • Cinnamon powder
  • Parsley
  • Dollop of walnut butter
  • Frozen berries and cherries
  • Coconut milk
  • Ginger root
  • Splash of honey and vanilla extract

Breakfast is super easy and I tend to have smoothies when it’s warmer or when I’m managing a flare up. Lunch was just a protein bar. I run errands on Saturdays and need something that I can have on the run. Not the best nutrient wise but it’s so much better than crying over fast food! True story!!

This was Saturday dinner. Weekend dinners tend to be different than what I eat during the week as I try to find something I wouldn’t get during the week. I happened to go to a particular grocery store and snow crab clusters were on sale 🤩🤩 the pic is 👇🏽

Trying to focus on nutrients and reduce this inflammatory response, I decided to have blueberries for antioxidants, black beans for fiber to get toxins out, roasted collard greens chips to capitalize on nutrients and crab legs for protein. I eat seafood wayyyyyyy more than any other protein so sale prices are always welcome 🤗 And I try to get at least 6 servings of vegetables and fruit each day. Again, focusing on nutrient density.

If I’m feeling up to it later, I may have a square of dark chocolate. Your thoughts on the food choices? What would you recommend? Until next time…

Posted in food

Trying Turmeric- Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Turmeric. For years, I never even knew what it was so I was blown away by what this spice has been used for over the years. Never heard of it? Let’s take a closer look.

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

I think I first really heard news about turmeric the first time I lived in North Carolina. My goal was to cook more and I started seeing this spice listed in recipes. Now, I had eaten at Indian restaurants for years and didn’t realize that it is used in various dishes especially since turmeric doesn’t have an overpowering taste.

Then I read that turmeric can behave similarly to pain killers and relieve inflammation. That was a game changer! I started using turmeric every time that I cooked 😂. When I started working with the nutritionist, turmeric was one of the supplements that was included in my list of vitamins. I even drink turmeric teas frequently, my latest find is a combo of turmeric and green tea.

But really, what does it do? I’m including info below from earthclinic.com

“Regular use of turmeric has been found to reduce the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease and may play a role in its treatment. It is also being studied as a natural remedy for arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and similar conditions, as it has anti-inflammatory characteristics. Turmeric is also an effective remedy for skin conditions like cystic acne, boils, hidradenitis suppurativa and MRSA.”

Amazing right?? I’m not claiming that turmeric is a cure all, but I can definitely tell when I’ve not used it for some time versus daily use.

Have you tried turmeric before? Did you notice any benefits? I invite you to share your thoughts below 👇🏽. See you next week!

Posted in Overall health

Losing Inflammation- Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Everyone deals with inflammation. You get a cut, a bruise or some other bodily harm and your body has an acute inflammatory response to help heal the area. But what do you do when the body has a low level chronic inflammatory response that doesn’t turn off?

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health. But I do want to provide further info on inflammation that can be found at https://inflammationresearchfoundation.org/inflammation-science/inflammation-details/time-cellular-inflammation-article/

So when I found out that I had osteoarthritis, I was blown away. I mean, I wasn’t even 40 and one of my knees was near bone and bone?! Well, after doing research, I found that one of the ways PCOS can affect women is to cause low grade chronic inflammation. And it can happen in so many ways – being overweight, lifestyle choices, eating too many inflammatory foods – the wrong oils, processed foods etc- not getting quality sleep which means that your body doesn’t have a chance to repair from inflammation. I could go on and on.

When I started with the nutritionist, one of the markers for inflammation, C-reactive protein was SKY high. So we started changing what I ate, making better lifestyle choices, losing weight and doing gentle exercise. Exercise can be tricky because the body can think that higher intensity is a stress which can result in higher inflammation. Ugh! 😩 what to do??

My nutritionist recommended using vitamin c. Vitamin c has been researched and shown to aid in reducing the C-reactive protein level. So I started taking that 3 times a day. Below is the link for one of the articles that I read- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18952164/

I also started using spices that have been shown to reduce inflammation – ginger and turmeric. A note if you try turmeric: to activate it, you have to use it in conjunction with black pepper. I drink hot ginger or turmeric teas on most days as well as take turmeric supplements. With the lifestyle and food changes, my C-reactive protein has been cut in half. I haven’t checked it recently but hope to sooner rather than later. Hopefully, my continued efforts will decrease the level even more! 🤞🏾 the earthclinic website has so many details on both spices.

Lastly, I made lifestyle changes to incorporate more holistic long term adjustments. Yes, making changes this way can take longer but I’d rather not keep taking ibuprofen or nsaids. I also take Epsom salt baths weekly, do yoga and have started grounding. If there is a possible natural remedy, I’m going to try it.

What recommendations do you have to tackle inflammation? Has anything worked for you? Leave a comment below and let’s chat. Until next time!