Grand Gesture for Health


By Ayelet Connell, PhD, PT, IMT,C


about fi xing acute problems, and very likely about the short-term result. But what about long term health, and actually healing from the metabolic disorder? Is there a way to improve our blood sugar on a constant and consistent basis? Absolutely! But this involves, what I like to call, a ‘Grand Gesture’. For us to make grand changes in our body, it requires big changes in our life.


D


There are many ways to improve our health, and certainly shifting our diet is a big one. But in addition to making big dietary changes, there are other factors to consider as well, in particular, lifestyle changes to reduce stress, and also body work to improve the structural health of our body so that it ‘works’ better. As we all know by now, stress is a major contributor to disease, largely because it can cause infl ammation in our body which is at the root cause of most illness, including metabolic disorders, auto-immune conditions, and more. In reality, it is completely impossible to live without stress in our lives, given our current climate in the US and in general, life stressors relating to family and friends and com- munity and so on. I recently bought a magnet that really reso- nated with me. It read, “Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” (Appar-


Award Winning


As seen in the New York Times and the Boston Globe Organic European Chocolates


by Master Chocolatier Diane Blanchette-Wagemann


Gluten Free • Corn Syrup Free • Cholesterol Free • Vegan • No Dairy Used


Pure Ingredients • N


Gift a chocolate journey with one of our delicious gift boxes or stackers!


Be sure to try the Perfect Duo if you love luscious caramel and dark chocolate!


Gift boxes start at just $10 Order today!


860.643.2552 • dtchocolates.com 28 Natural Nutmeg - November/December 2017 Handcrafted in Manchester, CT


o you have a metabolic disorder? Do you have sugar handling problems? For many of us, we get stuck in the system—a traditional allopathic system, that is primarily


ently, an unknown author!) I truly believe that for most of us, we are not meant to create a life of seclusion. We are meant to be in our community and fi nd peace within the boisterous space that occupies our life.


Where does that leave us with the correlation between stress


and infl ammation? Well, it’s all about resilience… How high is our threshold to stress? Can we maintain our health while still living our lives? The answer to this has to do with our lifestyle and whether we can create an environment without low stress, but rather ‘healthy’ stress. This is where we get back to the concept of the ‘grand gesture’. What will it take to reduce infl ammation in our body and generally promote greater health? Here are some sugges- tions on how to make this grand gesture. Consider the following categories:


1. Shift your diet to an anti-infl ammatory diet: Eating foods that are healthy for you and avoiding foods that promote greater infl ammation in the body.


2. Body work: By getting regular body work such as holistic physical therapy and manual therapy, you can restore structur- al health to your body which can help to reduce chronic and acute pain—this can help to increase our threshold to stress and also promote pain-free activity in our life.


3. Lifestyle changes: To increase your threshold to stress, such as meditation and mindfulness exercises, and regular daily movement.


Anti-Infl ammatory Diet: A Diet to Promote Health and Reduce Infl ammation Knowing that infl ammation is at the root of most illness today, it makes sense to eat a diet that is rich in foods that are non-in- fl ammatory. Here is how to do it!


• Go gluten-free! Gluten has been widely researched and show time and time again to induce infl ammation in the body—this is a simple way to get started.


• Avoid dairy. Dairy can be mucous producing and for many of us, we have respiratory issues and allergies throughout the year, or maybe we constantly get sick in the winter. By avoid- ing dairy, we can create an environment in our body that is less triggered during these times.


• Avoid refi ned sugars. Processed/refi ned sugar is toxic. By avoiding refi ned sugar, we can promote our general health and also help to create a healthier sugar metabolism in our body. Also, by avoiding refi ned sugar, we can reduce pain.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44