Dear Lace,
I am jumping around the Forums and see your post regarding joint pain and swelling, --also the foods you are eating. In many ways, your diet is very yin and missing elements that would alkalize your system and detox inflammatory reactions. We can look at yin/yang in many ways and one of them is acid/alkaline. Yin being acid and yang being alkaline. An overly acid bloodstream, which bathes our cells and the inner workings of our bodies, can certainly cause joint pain and swelling. You are wisely avoiding caffeine, which would exacerbate your symptoms tremendously.
Given the fact that you have listed many foods that you are now eating, I am going to pinpoint those that stand out to me as extremely yin/acid.
Firstly, the alarming elements that stand out are your regular and high dose use of supplements and drugs (anti-depressant medication). Pills made chemically in a laboratory are extreme yin and highly acid. Do not be afraid to wean yourself off all supplements and drugs as soon as you possibly can. Use your own wisdom in eliminating these substances. Do not shock your body, but do not take an overly long time with it, either. As you learn macrobiotic principles of eating, you will learn that the addition of sea vegetables (various seaweeds) to your diet will give you an excellent supply of nutrients and minerals that will replace the need for pill supplements and be a natural foods addition that your body will assimilate with much more ease.
As you begin to eat whole grains, --go to a natural foods store and check out the bulk bins, you will see grains like brown rice, buckwheat, wheat berries, etc. upon learning how to cook these grains you will see visually that they are round whole grains that take a lot of chewing locally in the mouth to break down as a first digestive process. You will know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are consuming, healthful whole grains, with all the goodness of the ---whole grain--- intact and not processed by man-made machines or broken down nutrient-wise (i.e. white rice and worse yet, white bread!) --these wonderful whole grains are food that cause an even burning of fuel for your body that gives long sustained energy for hours after consumption. This equals a very balanced state of blood sugar that is not spiking continually with simple sugars like fruit juice or donuts.
The balanced blood sugar levels equal emotional balance,
sustained concentration, and emotional peace. Once you are off the up and down jag of poor eating habits, and adding whole grains, you will find any need for anti-depressant medication sharply curbed or eliminated completely.
The healing macrobiotic diet includes whole grains that equal 50-70% of your complete food intake. This shows how important a large consumption of whole grains is to healing disease conditions. Your plate should visually show 50-70% whole grains. The higher your whole grain consumption the quicker your healing will be, and the faster your system will alkalize and detox from the acid that is hurting your joints, causing pain and swelling.
You are fortunate to be lactose intolerant, because dairy foods are not healthy for human consumption as a food group, contrary to advertising by the Dairy/Milk Advisory Board. Got Milk? --no, and don't need it. Brocolli, beans, nuts, grains, sea vegetables, and many other vegetables supply an adequate amount of calcium and protein from natural sources. As many say, cow's milk is for baby cows/calfs, in order to build a cow's muscled body, --not for humans! It is amazing the fractured logic that human's practice apart from the intentions of the creator.
Regarding your Meatloaf Dinner: The following foods are too yin for your condition: tomatoes are a nightshade vegetable which you should completely avoid, as are sweet potatoes and white potatoes. These are particularly acid foods, as well as, green peppers, eggplant, and spinach. Your logic tells you tomatoes and green peppers are very acid. Those not so well known are the other nightshades.
The ground beef and egg are very yang foods, what would be classified as extreme yang. When healing any disease condition the optimum is to stick with balanced foods in the middle range, which is where whole grains and most root vegetables fall. Eating at the extremes is not healing. This type of eating creates dis-ease in its many varieties.
English Muffin Breakfast: An English Muffin is a white flour denatured product, without the nutrition of whole grains/bread.
This is empty calories/nutrition that are not contributing to your overall health. The grape juice is again, a highly sugared/acid item and not a good choice for your overall condition. Alpha-Hydroxy Acid Creams are made from fruit acid for the skin, which tells you fruits have acid that effectively peels the rough outer layer of the skin. On the other hand is the extreme yang again, of maple-flavored sausage links. This is a conglomerate of meat by-products and has no doubt undergone a curing process, as ham and cured meats do.
The good news is that in MA, you are in an area to connect with many others practicing a macrobiotic lifestyle and have access to the Kushi Institute in Beckett, MA. Continue to look, learn, and grow, --you are now on the healing path and able to reverse your current condition. There are many wonderful sites available on the Internet regarding macrobiotics, tons of books to self-educate, and many case studies available, by just putting the word " macrobiotics" into your search engine and clicking "go".
Look into meeting people in your area who are long-time macrobiotic practitioners and definately look into one-on-one cooking classes or group classes, as Roy Collins suggests.
A good book to begin with and master is "The Macrobiotic Way" by Michio Kushi. If taken to heart and practiced faithfully, you will learn much and be well on your way to a healthy, new, lifestyle peopled with some the world's most responsible and concerned citizens.
Enjoy,
Nancy
