Peace in the heart…

Sometimes I find it easy to take in other people’s aggression and difficult to let it go.  There was much anger in my family and I always thought they didn’t like me… It turns out we were all just a bunch of celiacs suffering from the symptoms of delayed food allergies.

I love to joke about this but in reality many people are dealing with aggressive impulses that are perpetuated if not caused by food.

Inflammation can cause pain. Pain can cause… people to yell at each other.  Sometimes it really is that simple.  Sometimes it is a deeper imbalance with methylation or neurotransmitters or LPS from the gut that directly affect our mood without any other symptoms.

What causes inflammation?

In short inflammatory foods, triggers and intestinal dysbiosis cause inflammation.

What are some inflammatory foods?

Some of the most common are sugar, meat and dairy products, coffee, peanuts, chocolate (sorry), gluten and trans-fats. There are more of course.

What can we do about this? Well I know this is unpopular but we are not going to get anywhere by drinking coffee with kale added to it or having a cookie with kale on top or having a kale salad with a dressing loaded with sugar and rancid fats or even trans fats on it. We can replace these foods with foods that are less inflammatory to the body. It is worth it.

Something else to consider is the acid/alkaline forming foods and working toward eating 80% foods that are alkaline forming. This is a great start.

What are some triggers?

Anything could be a trigger. This could be a toxin such as a heavy metal or infection in the body, it could be an environmental allergen like pollen or mould or it could be a food as well. This is specific to each person and environmental triggers including foods are the most common here. It could be a hepatitis B shot too just saying… (one of these days I’m going to get in trouble)

What can we do about this? Identifying the triggers that affect you would be the first step for sure and then eradicating those that are within your control. We are exposed to many toxins and triggers that are outside of our control but even so knowledge is power. The good old food journal or just plain journal is an excellent tool here. If something makes you feel sick/angry/yucky then absolutely avoid it.

What is intestinal dysbiosis?

Dysbiosis is an imbalance in the bacteria in the small and large intestines. There are many types of gut infections that are common that are overlooked or are not tested for effectively so many people are not aware that this may be an underlying cause of their inflammation. Underneath an overt gut infection there are some “bad” bacteria that can grow out of balance and others that are just kind of neutral but opportunistic and will get out of control when they have the opportunity. The bad news about this is that most people do not realize this is going on for many years. The good news is there is something you can do about it.

For a start make the Pomegranate Masala Parfait (or even just the yogurt from this parfait) and start to get some good bacteria back in. This will be more effective than buying store bought yogurts because you can control the quality of the bacteria and you will be consuming it while the bacteria are still live whereas after they sit on the shelf for some time they do die off. You can get waaaaaay more bacteria in a yogurt like this than in capsules as well if you are eating 2/3 of a cup.

Is food the only way to peace in the heart? No absolutely not but it is one gateway that we can control and it is one element that can stand in our way. Do I believe that food can make a difference in building peace in the world? Yes I absolutely do. That is what gets me up every day