Everywhere I go, all I hear is everyone complaining about how badly their head hurts, how tired they are, or how gross their stomach feels, and I am sick of it.
Let’s be honest, you’re starving your body and you know it. I am not going to sit quietly while people beg for attention because they are hurting their own bodies. The reason you are experiencing these awful symptoms is simple, you are purposely bringing yourself malnutrition.
Malnutrition includes deficiencies, imbalances, and excess of nutrients. When your diet profoundly affects your health, you can not afford to throw your nutrition away.
Choosing what to eat is not rocket science. Every P.E class we have taken always had a small section about general nutrition. By now, we should all have a general understanding of what our bodies need to function. If even after all of the classes we’ve taken and all of the advice you get from others, you still go for the chips instead of the apple there is no way either of us can say you did not know or you had no choice.
The problems you are facing such as acne, fatigue, headaches, an achy body, and even depression (I am by no means saying depression is directly correlated to your diet but for people struggling, it could potentially be a component to your mood), can be prevented or improved solely by changing your diet.
Acne goes hand in hand with dairy, oily foods, and high sugar diets. Now of course there is hormonal acne, but these foods are very prevalent in many people’s diets. To help reverse these effects, you should not only be cutting these foods out of your diet, but replace them with more antioxidant rich foods, along with fruits and vegetables.
When you are tired, more times often than not you are hungry. Because your body is lacking the nutrients or food in general, it can not keep up with the energy needed to complete its daily functions. That is why it is extremely important to eat three meals a day. Food energy is measured in calories, now this by no means is telling you to eat 10,000 calories a day because the extra energy you haven’t burned off will be stored as fat for tomorrow, but having a small snack when you are tired could potentially help you immensely.
Migraines, believe it or not, are also related to your diet. Certain foods such as dairy (cheese specifically), alcohol, nuts and seeds, wheat, and highly acidic foods can trigger migraines or amplify them. Lack of food also is a huge factor in headaches, but if you are eating the wrong foods it will not do you much.
Having an achy body used to be a struggle of mine before switching my diet. After cutting out red meats and severely cutting down on high fat foods, there has been a noticeable change. Along with cutting back on said foods, also try to add colorful fruits, root vegetables, and lots of omega 3’s!
Your diet can actually be partially to blame for your depression symptoms. Before I get into the topic, I would like to quickly address that I in no way am saying it can cure your diagnosis or that it is the only reason you are feeling the way you are feeling.
I want to make clear that a healthy diet could help you out with the symptoms, not fix them. If you are in need of help, please talk to your counselor and reach out to your loved ones.
That being said, fried foods, candies, and dairy products are scientifically proven to make you feel heavy, slow, and unmotivated. To combat those effects, try to eat a balanced diet and stay away from the junk food.
Without giving your body what it needs, do not expect it to meet all of your needs. It is very frustrating to hear and see you all struggling with these common problems, when in reality all you need to do is fix your diet. When you have good dietary habits, the symptoms you are experiencing could be either completely eliminated or greatly decreased.
The consequences now will be the least of your worries in the distant future. Eating a poor diet has long term effects much worse than the headaches you are experiencing currently.
So, quit ignoring your body. Quit being lazy. Quit making excuses, and change your diet.