Figuring You Out: Resources You Should Turn To
I’ve learned a great deal about health and wellness along my 4-year-long journey to healing my body of all its imbalances; the "dis-ease" as my doctor calls it. The best thing I did for myself in terms of getting well was taking matters into my own hands. When doctors (western) were telling me nothing was wrong, and that “maybe this is just how your body is now” and “you know, vegetables make people bloat,” I decided something: they were SO wrong.
Knowing something was off within me, I dove into books. Through them, I was introduced to holistic and integrative medicine. I learned about who I should seek out real help from, terms that were used to describe what I believed I was going through, which symptoms were associated with which imbalances, theories on how to heal each, supplements and diets used to support each, how the body and gut operate, etc… I also read books that supported the one that thing that took the hardest hit over the past four years: my mind. My mind was literally being battered by the frustration and insecurity (caused by both what I told myself and chemical reactions) that came with the bloating and beyond. A few invaluable books helped keep me from totally losing myself.
I will say that there are many resources out there now, and there are many that also include supplements and diet protocols, but take those with a grain a salt. For me, what to eat became the most overwhelming, anxiety-inducing frustration, because each new book I’d pick up or article I’d skim would tell me something completely different from the former. Each doctor and practitioner believes they’ve found the answer. And what they've discovered may work for some. But if all these diets work for some, then they're all right to a degree, which means there's no need to stress over which one is more right and which one you should be following. One way or another, you'll get there. So, before you go insane and fear all food like I did after reading too much (more to come on that later), try this: fully commit to one protocol to start (the one that makes the most sense to you) and give it 3 months of your time and trust. As you do this, continue gaining knowledge through other readings, but disregard the eating suggestions. Fold the page and come back to it for another time, after those 3 months are over. Unless you can read it without panicking that you should be doing that protocol instead. If you can passively read through it, go for it! [Side note: your doctor may have his/her own food protocol for you, in which case, follow that! He/she knows your story best. If you've read through things and disagree with his/her approach, talk to him/her about it!] Sorry for the long spiel here, but I do think this is important to ensure you don’t develop orthorexia and other disorders as I had.
Anyways… when you educate yourself, you empower yourself. Here are the top 6 books I’ve read that I’d recommend, although I’m sure there are a bunch out there. If you have more to add to this list, share them with me in the comments!
Gives you a well-rounded explanation of the microbiome and common gut imbalances. I found this so easy to digest (pun fun), and I recommend it to everyone that reaches out to me on IG who is just diving in. Dr. Chutkan really uncomplicates things. I truly believe that after you read this you'll have a very good idea of why/how dysbiosis occurs and the steps to take to restore balance. Foods are included, but you won’t go mad following the list, as they are very generalized and allow a lot of flexibility. Many people develop fear of foods when given really specific lists. This isn’t like that. In turn, I feel like her approach limits the stress involved, which supports the healing process (stress and healing do NOT go together). A few recipes are included, too!
If you’re wondering where your imbalances even came from and often wonder why this happened to you, this is the book for you. It thoroughly explains the lifestyle, eating, and environmental factors that end up making us sick. You’ll learn about the most common imbalances the body experiences, testing, supplementing, and how to detox your body to regain energy, happiness, and health. This book was written by my doctor! I think it's very straightforward and easy-to-understand, and it includes a lot of resources. By reading this book, you'll know exactly what next steps you should take to heal your body, which is really awesome. Much of the protocol I've followed is actually laid out right in this book! Bonus is that all proceeds go to charity. :)
This is a great one for getting your mental health on track while facing frustrating health struggles, as it encourages to view your struggles in a positive light. It will really help change your mindset, and you'll begin to see how the disease (or any life struggle that your facing) is actually a gift, even if it is hard to see it that way at first. I honestly felt inspired and relieved after reading this book, and I turn to it when the weight of the struggle starts to become too much for me. Diet protocol and recipes are also included. It is AIP—which I tried to follow and enjoyed, but it may be a bit more extreme than necessary, especially if you don't have autoimmune.
If Buddha Had an Autoimmune Disease
While I'm not autoimmune, this is a similar book to the loving diet as far as mindset goes, and because I was really struggling emotionally throughout parts of my journey, I knew I should read this. SO, this is another one that I think everyone should read in order to help the mind throughout your difficult journey in order to reach acceptance and put things into perspective. It guides you through how to balance the body and immune back out through meditation!
This is a beginners guide to everything Ayurveda... please learn about it! I found Ayurveda to be extremely helpful when trying to learn about my body—both physical and mental. Once you become familiar with the doshas, you'll probably very quickly be like, "That's so me!" From there, you'll learn which lifestyle/diet practices you should incorporate to remedy your imbalances. You'll also get a better understanding of what particular habits offset your body to create the imbalance/disease in the first place. As I mentioned in other blogs, Ayurveda immediately made sense to me, and it has been a huge help along my healing process. This book breaks down the major concepts that make up Ayurveda and provides numerous healing remedies and recipes. It also has a modern day spin on it.
This is about how to change the beliefs that limit your health, longevity, and success, as stated on the cover... The sooner you realize the connection that exists between the mind and the body, the better; I really don't know how to stress this enough. Our mind has the ability to manifest disease within the body and limit our healing processes. This book works on rewiring the subconscious and healing inner emotional wounds that are manifesting into disease or holding us back from curing current ones. Honestly, highly recommend. The author was a guest on Shawn Stevenson, which is where I first became aware of this concept. It was awesome. You can listen here. It will be a huge game-changer. Let me know what you think after you listen!
