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My Month of Carbs

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If you're a patient of mine, we have likely talked about how a carbohydrate and sugar rich diet can sabotage your health.

That said, we are all human! And carbohydrates can be almost IMPOSSIBLE to escape or replace at times, especially when traveling.

While I tend to practice what I preach (mostly ;) ), I too am always learning. When I look back at my own health journey, I became less and less able to tolerate carbohydrates in my diet after long periods of stress in my life. And a typical day in the life of me requires a mostly low carb diet, rich in good fats, veggies and protein.

And then my husband and I traveled to France for a month...

And what did I learn from this experiment? Well...

I was faced with bread and cheese and wine and desserts daily. Foods that would otherwise cause me to have digestive upset, low energy, headaches, skin rashes, itchy eyes, puffiness and bloating, irritability, mood swings, hormone imbalances, pain...on this trip DID NOT.

So, why would that be?

I started to think alot about STRESS and how the body ADAPTS.

Aside from the fact that foods are cultivated and prepared differently in Europe, and many would say that the practices are healthier for us, I did react to these foods in a typical way, but only at the beginning of my trip.

When the stress had melted and my nervous system and adrenals had had a good long time to settle, my body began to adapt.

We are, in fact hard wired, to adapt. We get sick when these adaptations of the body can no longer cope or keep up. My favourite analogy is: "when your bucket is full, you're going to get spill over".

So I had time to let my bucket empty. And let me tell you, it had been a while. I truly hadn't stopped for years, and during those years I lost my dad, went back to school, started a practice and took on the grueling nature of building a business, lost another family member who was like my brother and then moved my practice. Full stop. And WOW did I ever need a reset.

Over those years I felt my body's ability to adapt diminish slowly and in subtle ways. Of course there's no way to see that you need to slow down when you're right in the eye of the storm so I crawled out the other side with a smile on my face and alot of pain and illness starting to truly surface in my body.

Having now had a break, I can feel the difference and I continue to recover as I integrate what I learned into my daily life, now back to low carb but with a greater ability to adapt when I slip up.

So my message is that I truly believe that the body is hard wired to adapt, that the body has the wisdom and tools to heal, if we allow it. I strive for a lifestyle that allows my body to be at it's optimal adaptability at all times. And I wish for you to have the same!

We are all in it together! I support you and salute you for all the ways in which you create self care and stillness for yourself and for your health.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and how your summer was!

Dr. Natalie Rahr, ND

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