Oh Food, What Ya Do to Me

Not feelin' so hot today. I had a sodium-overload last night and a lot of caffeine this morning, so I've got myself a migraine! Joy. If I take my pills ASAP it's definitely managable, but still not fun. Especially not at work.

If there's one thing I've learned from keeping a food diary, it's how food affects my body. I don't mean calorically speaking, although certainly that was the point of starting the whole thing, but rather how certain foods (and their quantities) make me feel.

If you are a migraine-sufferer, allergy-sufferer, asthma-sufferer, zit-sufferer, gas-sufferer, general-intestinal-issues-sufferer, take heed - what you eat is directly linked to how your body makes you feel. Sure, the weather, your big mean coworkers and your sleep patterns matter too, but the biggest control that I have over all of the aforemention afflictions is what I stick in my mouth.

If I find myself eating junk as a snack or as one meal, it's totally fine. It appears that my body agrees with the philosophy of "everything in moderation." If, however, I am consistently eating junk, particularly for a couple days at a time, bad things happen!

Migraines: Although there are a large variety of foods that are generally cautioned as triggers, I haven't personally found most of these as related to my own migraines. My migraines usually occur as a "hangover" the day after I've consumed either too much sodium or red wine (other alcohol doesn't seem to affect me here). Or, they'll happen about 1-2 hours after I've consumed caffeine on an empty stomach. If I eat something along with it, there usually is not a problem. Or... sometimes they just happen. C'est la vie.

Allergies: I have itchy eyes and sniffles/sneezing pretty much every day at least to some extent (woe is me), but if I'm sticking to "real" food they seem to be better. If I eat a lot of chips, processed junk like candy or frozen meals for a few days in a row, I seem to get even worse. It's bizarre, and logically I do not understand it, but I've watched the patterns. Eating things that don't come with an ingredient list just seem to agree with me.

Asthma: I've got both exercise-induced, cold weather-induced and allergy-induced asthma, so like the allergies I am affected by it daily no matter what I do. I also, however, seem to get asthma after a big meal. If I get Thanksgiving-full, it's triggered. I've yet to determine if what I eat affects this too... generally if I'm stuffing my face like that it's some sort of special occasion where there's bound to be treats, but I couldn't say for sure right now.

Breakouts: Pretty much the same as the allergies. A couple days worth of cookies and cake and potato chips will send my skin into Uglyville. I only get 1 or 2 little bitty issues a month if I'm good... and 5-6 in a day if I'm not. Big incentive.

Gas/bloating: The worst offender here is beer. If I have a beer, I instantly feel 9 months pregnant. It's ridiculous. Fortunately I'm not especially into beer, so this is easily avoided. Next on the list is gluten; pasta, bread, crackers, etc all are fine if I have one serving, but one serving is generally one piece of bread or one cup of pasta. Not really that filling, quite honestly. Not for a ravenous monkey like me. Which is why it's easier to try and just avoid it completely. Not to mention, I notice that if I eat bread or pasta, I crave more. Like, crave more food, so at the end of a day started with toast I have consumed 1000 extra calories because of the way it makes me feel starving. I'm assuming this has something to do with blood sugar, but who knows.

Intestinal distress, I'll call it: I'm lactose intolerant, so it's pretty easy to find the offenders here. Fortunately certain cheeses that are aged longer (cheddar or parmesan, for example) are essentially lactose-free. Goat's milk and products also naturally have lower lactose levels, so they're easier to digest. I find it not quite as delicious as cow, but it's still good. It's just more pungent. But it's just not worth it to put myself in that uncomfortable state, so if I am going to indulge in regular ice cream or alfredo or something I have to take a couple of lactose enzyme pills. I feel like I still have issues, but it's lessened at least.

Moral of the story: if you've got unfortunate and unexplained maladies, watch what you eat. It makes a bigger difference than you think. But! Give it more than a day to see results. Give it at least a week, if not a month of clean eating (real foods! Veggies, fruit, meat, poultry, fish!) and note how you feel. It's surprising.