3 Practices That Boost the Body’s Natural Ability to Heal

Part 1 of 3

God has given our bodies the ability to heal. Just think about getting a cut on your finger, the body immediately goes to work to stop the bleeding, seal the wound, and heal the injury. When you get a cold, the body produces mucus to contain the infection, your lungs begin to expel the invasion causing you to cough, then your body may begin to increase core temperature, inducing inflammation (fever), to kill off whatever is intruding.

Many times, the body will signal that it is in need of support. One of the phrases that I have held onto from my days as a personal trainer is, “The site of pain is not always the source of pain”. For example, a tight upper trapezius muscle could be the result of a weak Latissimus Dorsi muscle. Weak glutes or weak core muscles can cause lower back pain.

The same is true for other ailments. Anxiety can be a signal that there is something you are burying that needs your attention or it can be a sign of low progesterone (in women). Chronic joint pain can often be a symptom of unregulated stress or it can be a gluten sensitivity.

When the body expresses itself through pain, anxiety, hormone imbalances, etc, it is simply a signal that something is unregulated. We typically mask these things with medication to dull the pain, reduce the anxiety, or cover and silence the symptoms of a body in need of our attention.

The site of the pain, or the distress of the organ, is not necessarily where it all started. Symptoms expressed by the body are usually caused by a full system breakdown.

There are 3 main topics that address many of our physical and mental issues: Food Quality, Parasites, and Nervous System Regulation. Each of these subject matters, when done consistently, support the body in healing itself – like it was designed to.

I would like to state that I am not anti-medication. There are some cases where medication is needed. We are all unique individuals and not everyone’s health journey will look the same. I am, however, in full support of trying to heal without medication when at all possible.

Food Quality

What does healthy food look like to you? You might say, low sugar, low fat, low carb, more vegetables and fruit, carnivore only, vegan, or minimally processed foods.

I would describe healthy food as food that nourishes the body with vital vitamins and minerals. Foods that are nutrient dense. Nutrient dense foods have vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, polyphenols, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds – just to name a few benefits – all of which help the human body fight off disease.

So, what are the most nutrient dense foods?

Apples, blueberries, broccoli, garlic, kales, legumes, nuts, salmon, sweet potatoes, eggs, avocado, and quinoa.

Does this list surprise you?

Now, these are not the ONLY foods that are full of vitamins and minerals. All of the fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, and protein are going to be beneficial for your health. The list above are just the ones that have the most ‘bang for your buck’.

The quality of your food matters. You may be eating a diet that consists of skipping breakfast, eating a sandwich of deli meat turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo with baked chips and a diet coke, then dinner that consists of grilled chicken, a loaded baked potato, and half cup of broccoli.

Does this sound like a healthy diet to anyone? I would say quite a few people would agree that this is a pretty healthy diet. From a caloric perspective, this day of eating is low in calories and if eaten consistently would lead to weight loss for most people.

Take another look at this day at eating and identify the nutrient dense foods: Lettuce, tomato, grilled chicken, baked potato, and broccoli. I am not saying this is good or bad. I don’t want us to think of food in that way. I do invite you to consider how we can make this even better.

Let me suggest a few adjustments to lunch:

• Replace the lunch meat with left over grilled chicken from dinner.

• Add in some avocado as a healthy fat substitute to mayo.

• Assuming the sandwich was on regular white bread, let’s substitute that for sourdough.

• Instead of baked chips we are going to have carrot sticks.

• Lastly, instead of diet coke we will substitute a fizzy probiotic beverage.

For dinner: I wouldn’t change a whole lot other than increasing the amount of broccoli to one cup.

A slight increase in whole foods and a few intentional substitutions can turn your daily meals into power packed dishes. With these small tweaks we have increased protein, healthy fat, vitamins/minerals, and probiotics.

This means that we are lowering inflammation, increasing lean muscle mass, supporting nutrient absorption, healing the gut, and regulating hormones.

You might be wondering if food can really make that big of a difference in your present situation.

Below is a screenshot of the calories, macronutrients (proteins/carbohydrates/fats), a few micronutrient values (vitamins/minerals) of the first day of eating description and the adjustments we made.

In the pictures on the left the calories are 1445 with 80 grams of protein and hitting vitamin A and vitamin C goals.

In the pictures on the right, which is where we made a few adjustments. Calories are 1410 with 94 grams of protein, and exceeding the vitamin A and C goals, plus hitting the folate and potassium goals. It is also worth mentioning that the fiber goal is at 91% from 49% in the first meal example.

Small changes make a difference. These vitamins and minerals work synergistically with the body to fight off free radicals, heal cells, support organ function, balance hormones, and supply energy to the body. It’s not just how much you eat, but what you eat that matters most for health.