Mondays started for Zoey Harris with stiffness in her fingers and knees. She wrote it off as age or too much time on her feet, but as the pain continued she started looking at the possibility that diet may help.
Zoey read more and more it clicked when she came across studies connecting chronic inflammation to joint discomfort. Processed basics and sugary fast fixes abound in her cupboard, however handy but not doing her body any good. She so chose to approach things differently, grounded in anti-inflammatory foods and nutrients.
The change was not particularly significant. Zoey skipped throwing everything out or following a limited diet over night.
She started instead progressively substituting some meals. Whole versions took front stage from refined grains. Olive oil took in place processed oils. She started noticing small changes, so she included more leafy greens, berries, and fatty fish into her weekly meals instead of strictly adhering to a diet.
“I woke up one morning and realized my hands did not feel that typical ache,” Zoey says. That was the moment I realized something was changing.
Not less crucial was her attitude toward eating. Zoey started cooking more at home, slowed down during meals, and focused on how her body reacted following meals. Cooking became a kind of caring, not only a task. She also experimented with naturally anti-inflammatory herbs and spices to still appreciate tastes she enjoyed.
What started as a search for alleviation evolved into a new way of life that supports her general well-being as well as her joints. “Food is not only fuel,” she argues. “Your healing is part of this.”
