Starting My Personal Journey To Fighting Inflammation

I have lived with inflammatory conditions such as asthma, eczema, and chronic allergies for most of my life, which all fall under the autoimmune umbrella. Unfortunately, the love for consuming sugary/carb-rich food and having difficulties adapting to stressful life situations exposed my body to a chronic state of low to high-level inflammation. 

Understanding and preventing inflammation

Nowadays, inflammation has become a buzzword, and there is an epidemic currently affecting so many different people in different ways. Even though inflammation is a good thing for the short-term measure, as it helps us heal from our injuries or acute illnesses, long-term exposure can create havoc in the body. The problems start when the short-term damage to the immune system has gone, but the body cannot turn off the initial inflammation response.  

So why does this happen, and why are so many people becoming chronically ill? Obviously, the contributing factors are diet, stress, unhealthy lifestyle, exposure to pollutants, etc. We can start taking steps to improve our diet and make lifestyle changes. Some supportive therapies such as Homeopathy, Functional medicines, or even Traditional Chinese medicine can help speed up the healing process and help restore health.  

Dilemmas

Now that we are in 2022 and living through the pandemic, the prospect of having to take two Pfizer vaccine shots with them being only three weeks apart is quite daunting. I had delayed taking the vaccines hoping to obtain further data on how it could affect people living with autoimmune conditions. Some doctors advised waiting for a non mRNA vaccine whilst the authorities were ramping up the vaccination process and getting everyone vaccinated. 

I wanted to be safe and get vaccinated but was worried as vaccines can create an inflammatory response and possibly ignite or worsen an already existing autoimmune disease. After seeing two immunologists who couldn’t offer much advice (because there isn’t much data out there), I took the plunge and went for the first shot (the second one to follow).

Luckily, given the nature of my work with the background in Homeopathy, herbal medicine, and being a wellness tea creator – natural living is already part of my everyday life. I knew post-vaccination I could follow a strict detox protocol, and the thought of healing myself and reducing inflammation came as an inspiring challenge.

Beginning the Journey 

Before starting the Journey, I wanted to ask myself if there were any emotional blocks to my end goal of achieving ever-lasting good health and could I empower myself to stay on this path? Having suffered a huge loss a few years ago, when my baby daughter passed away suddenly, I knew carrying this heavy grief impacted my overall health. Even though the pain of losing a loved one never goes away, I knew I had to take back the control and restore my health so that I could l live happily and energetically for my son, my family and more importantly, “Me”.

Making this commitment to myself, the first thing I knew I had to do was eliminate inflammatory food and choose an alkaline diet to eat and drink lots of water and herbal therapy teas. I am no longer consuming sugar and eat approximately 1 g of 85% dark chocolate or eat a few pieces of dried organic apricots instead. 

To support the process of elimination, I am currently drinking Cleanse tea to help alkaline the body, but more importantly, I am drinking the tea to cool down my body systems. Cleanse tea contains cooling herbs such as nettle, milk thistle and red clover, which are known to help support the liver and blood and have anti-inflammatory properties. I am also taking zinc, vitamin D3 and C supplements.

Daily meditation has become a big part of my life which helps me to destress. I always make a cup of Relax and Recover tea as part of a meditation ritual because I find the floral aroma helps my overactive mind calm down, and the ingredients of chamomile, hibiscus, and rose to soothe my anxious and jittery nerves.

Partnering up with a Functional therapist is probably the best move I made in order not to stray away from this healing Journey. I am currently providing stool samples to find out the state of my gut health. In the meantime, I am taking probiotics every morning and drinking Digest and Energise, which contains burdock and ginger to support gut health and overall energy. 

I am also trying to lose weight (I have 15 pounds to lose) and take daily exercise either on a treadmill or lengthy walks. This is where I am for January, and I am looking forward to learning more about the state of my gut where most diseases stem from with my Functional Therapist.

Summary – How do I heal myself from inflammation?  

• Understand your emotional barriers that may create obstacles on your wellness journey 
• Eliminate inflammatory food from your diet
• Alkaline your body by drinking teas and eating clean
• Drink green tea that contains potent antioxidant compounds
• Work with a health practitioner who can support you
• Meditate and exercise to help with stress and anxiety
• Lose a few pounds if over-weight

Most importantly I feel that being completely self-aware is the key to managing my physical and emotional health. If I continue to bring in the right support systems, no matter how up and down my progress will be, I know that I can continue with the right path to healing myself from inflammation and understanding how to manage my condition moving forward. I will keep you updated on my progress and if you are struggling with a health condition have a look at our Therapy Teas and Dosaged Therapy Teas to see what herbal teas we feature to help guide you on your own personal health improvement and self- awareness journey.