What's Your Body Trying to Tell You?

This is a long post and if you don't feel like reading it (I forgive you) definitely DO watch the amazing video I've included at the end. Then you'll get the gist of what I'm really trying to say here.

Hi, I'm Uma and I'm a chai-aholic. It's been three weeks since my last cup of chai.

Sigh.

Actually, kicking the chai habit hasn't been as difficult as I'd feared. I am fascinated by the healing power of food, and were I not so miserably poor at math and chemistry I could imagine studying to be a nutritionist. An Ayurvedic nutritionist, now that sounds nice...(staring off into the distance)...

But I digress.

Here is a list of what I've been working to cut down on or eliminate from my diet over the course of the past three weeks: caffeine (including the green tea), most dairy, all alcohol, gluten, sugar and any food that comes out of a can (with the exception of organic canned coconut milk). I already don't consume fried food, meat, processed food, or soda so those things aren't an issue.

I've added: South African Rooibos tea, a high-quality whole-food multi-vitamin from New Chapter, 4 ounces of Aloe Vera juice a day, and am testing an all-natural topical product from Kopec Naturals called Rosacea Remedy. I also continue to take my usual curcumin supplement and use a good amount of turmeric in my cooking.

Fingers crossed, I think I'm starting to see a little improvement. The condition doesn't appear to be worsening, certainly. You know, in and of itself rosacea isn't some horrible, deadly disease. As far as health issues go, things could certainly be so, so much worse. To me, however, it does raise a great big red flag that something is not right. With that attitude in mind I see the red mess on the side of my face, (as unsightly and itchy as it is) as more of a blessing than a curse. Why? Because my body is communicating with me and telling me that something needs to change — and I am able to hear that message. Maybe it's saying "you're suffocating me with all that bread!" or "Hey, I'm allergic to milk!" I don't know exactly what the issue is yet, and that is the challenge. But I'm convinced the rosacea can be controlled if not completely eliminated through dietary changes, and it's my responsibility to figure out what my body needs to regain balance and health.

The dermatologist I saw years ago was not interested in helping me regain balance. He was interested in helping me eliminate the symptoms of rosacea. He gave me a tube of metronidazole and told me I'd most likely have to use the prescription for the rest of my life. Really? That's an acceptable outcome, an acceptable answer? And when the inflammation currently manifesting as rosacea on my face continues unchecked in my tissues and begins to manifest as something even more serious somewhere else will I receive another prescription and be told to just keep taking that for the rest of my life? My best guess is yes, I don't know about yours.

Doesn't it seem a lot more logical to do some investigation and figure out what the root cause of the inflammation is? But that approach takes time and work and a willingness on the part of the patient not only to change their habits but to begin slowing down and taking the time to listen to what his/her body is trying to tell them. And that in itself takes practice because one has to turn inward in a world where it's much easier to have your attention turned outward constantly.

But that's a bigger topic.

Anyway, as I sat looking over the literature that came with the small bottle of Rosacea Relief (a 30 day sample of which is free, by the way, on the Kopec website) I was struck by a reference to the product helping to restore the natural ph balance of the skin (from acid to alkaline). If the goal is alkalinity, will simply dabbing a topical solution on my face really be enough? What about a two-pronged approach of establishing alkalinity internally as well as externally?

This question led me down a new path in my online research of rosacea, and brought to mind the vivacious and inspiring cancer survivor Kris Carr and the raw-food alkaline diet she outlines in her book Crazy Sexy Diet. If her nutritional approach is good enough for stage 4 cancer, it's definitely good enough for rosacea. I immediately ordered a copy and plan to try out her 21-Day Cleanse as soon as it arrives and I've gathered the necessary ingredients (and appliances...juicer here I come) for doing so. Meanwhile I've been concocting crazy salads in the kitchen for the last few days, using recipes from the wonderful Kripalu Cookbook as my inspiration.

So this is where I'm at — and though some of you are probably thinking "poor Uma, she can't eat anything!" Though I'd make a horrible dinner guest at the moment, I am actually not craving any of the foods I've had to cut out,  and am kind of excited in a nerdish- health-nut way to be conducting an experiment on myself. Which reminds me of a video I watched last night on TedX by Dr. Terry Wahl, a medical doctor with MS who decided to conduct her own experiment when her symptoms progressed to the point of making her wheelchair bound by disease. I'm sure you're going to be as inspired by it as I am.