Living An Anti-Inflammatory Life: Amanda's Story
One of our main goals here on Glam & Gluten-Free is to share information about food allergies, intolerances and the like.
So when our friend Amanda Luberto reached out to explain her new lifestyle, we said heck ya!! Here's her story:
My dad thought I had a thyroid problem. He’s a doctor and I’m stubborn so this wasn’t the first time I’d heard it nor the first time I’d ignored it. I had treated a lot of my health issues, especially regarding my weight with a heavy dose of ignorance for most of my life. I guess it was easier than facing the music.
But now I was living under their roof in the internum time between college and employment with nothing to do so I found myself at an endocrinologist getting prodded, trying to figure out why I generally felt crummy, tired, and couldn’t lose weight if I tried. My doctor let me know after 30 minutes back in the waiting room that my thyroid was perfectly normal, but after hearing my symptoms and how I had been feeling, she felt we should do more tests.
That day I spent three hours in the endocrinologists office --- drawing blood, waiting 30 minutes drinking a juice to get my blood sugar back up while they ran the tests, and drawing more blood.
But eventually we figured it out. My last blood test showed that my inflammation was through the roof. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said my Italian-American doctor, the most trusted of course. My inflammation was so high that it was causing high thyroid symptoms without actually having any thyroid issues.
So what is high inflammation? What does this mean?
When you get your blood results back, inflammation should be between 0.1-0.9 but the American diet makes most people’s inflammation between 1.5-3.0. Mine was 16.9. SIXTEEN POINT NINE. My doctor explained to me that there aren’t really inflammation medicines I can take like there would be if I had a thyroid problem.
Reluctantly she said “stick to a strict anti-inflammatory diet, take turmeric every day and let’s see what happens.” I couldn’t believe it. I had always felt a little lethargic, but I had clinical depression and never thought that it could be worsened by what I was eating. Some of the foods she mentioned that were now on my bad list weren’t even “bad foods.”
And then she said something to me that changed my whole perspective: “You need to give your body what it needs, not what you think general bodies need.”
Here are the foods that were suddenly on my bad list:
- Dairy
- Fried food
- White sugar
- Excessive alcohol
- Processed foods
- High amounts of gluten
- High amounts of coffee
Here are the foods I had to make sure to get enough of:
- 5 servings of fruits daily
- High fiber vegetables
- Fish and other Omega-3 foods
- Whole grains
- Healthy fats (avocados, nuts, etc.)
- Turmeric and ginger
I had to give up a lot of things I love, but ultimately were not good for me. Things that generally aren’t good for me anyway but now learning that my body simply doesn’t digest these foods properly no longer made it a choice. Choosing a salad over a burger was no longer a matter of trying not to eat junky food at lunch but a matter of making sure my whole day wasn’t ruined.
Now, even though your body probably does fine with some of these foods, an anti-inflammatory cleanse is still good every so often. The body needs a reset and like I said earlier, the American diet has some pretty inflammatory foods in them naturally so a ginger shot at a juice place or an extra serving of veggies over red meat can only do you some good.
You can follow Amanda on instagram @amandluberto, or her photography account @transparentnegatives.