Why do I focus on this and not a specific diet? (Ex: Keto, Mediterranean, Vegan, etc.)
The first answer to this, is that men and women's' bodies are wildly different when it comes to training and nutrition. This comes down to hormones, but also how much muscle a female can build versus a male.
Inflammation as a definition is when a part of the body becomes reddened, swollen, hot, and often painful, especially as a reaction to injury or infection. Now when that happens in the gut it is sometimes termed IBD "Inflammatory Bowel Disease."
Food sensitivities play a part in keeping that inflammation high, so does cortisol (stress), and not eating enough fiber.
So when I approach someone's' health and nutrition, I have to consider more than just macros (proteins, fats, and carbs) and calories.
Healing starts in the mind, this one is harder for me to touch on as I am not a talk therapist, nor can I understand the chemical imbalances that may be happening in the brain. A wonderful neuroscientist who touches on these issues is Dr. Caroline Leaf, her app "neurocycle" is a fantastic tool to help "Clean up the Mental Mess," as she puts it in her book.
From there I work down my list. Does this person need to slow down and lower that cortisol spike. What are some ways I can help them incorporate that?
Sometimes it's getting the body moving, but slowly. A great example of this is functional movement, yoga or Pilates. This helps the body slowly strengthen and get the lymph flowing around, without causing extra stress on the body and mind (doing everything perfectly, hard and fast).
Then I touch on what might be causing the symptoms (acne, bloating, brain fog, fatigue, eczema, hair loss, etc.) this can be traced back to the food most of the time. Food sensitivity testing through FITLabs Canada is the lab I use to give my clients an exact list of foods that are causing their inflammation. A cheaper option is doing an elimination diet, which works, but is time consuming and sometimes very frustrating to follow.
During this whole process I usually get everyone lifting some weights, even if it is just from home. This helps strengthen the body, and building that muscle helps burn fat faster rather then just jumping on the treadmill. I build programs from scratch for everyone I work with, which is why I can only take on a certain number of clients at a time. This is all built inside my app so that my clients can access it at anytime and if they're at home I put it on a timer to follow along with. It's so good I build programs for myself to follow consistently.
The beautiful thing about hormones that people don't understand, is if you focus on the food changes and lowering inflammation... the body naturally evens out your hormones. There are odd times where a Dutch Test may be helpful and the extra boost from supplements to help that process along; but if you are before menopause and working on the above mentioned you are well on your way to healing your body.
So why inflammation? Well, it's the body telling you something is wrong, and it's time to make some changes so that your body can heal and flourish!
--Raelle Housek
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