The Great Food Divide
Monday, April 3, 2006 at 11:28PM There's lots of talk in the U.S. about the digital divide, the gap between the computer haves and have-nots. But I wonder if there isn't a more serious divide--the gap between people with and without access to healthy food.
Because I live close to places with healthy food, I tend to take it for granted when I haven't traveled for a while and tried to buy food elsewhere. I can easily go to Whole Foods, the supermarket chain with lots of organic produce and food sans corn syrup and chemical sweeteners. I can also easily travel to a place like Kripalu, in Lenox, MA, and stay at a retreat that serves beautifully prepared mostly vegetarian meals.
But then you travel outside the Bostons of the world, and you find a much different situation. I'm spending a few days in Albany, NY, on business, and finding wholesome food is no easy task. I roamed a Price Chopper in Albany, not far from SUNY (State University of New York), and it was nearly impossible to find soy milk or cereals without sugar. I'm not even talking about the long aisles stocked entirely with sodas and snacks. So I just wrote a complaint/suggestion at www.pricechopper.com.
But even at SUNY, the situation isn't much better. On its Albany campus, the student center has a food court highlighted by a Burger King. There is a pasta place to go with an Au Bon Pain, and Zepps, which are high-end sandwich places, but they are just that, sandwich places. Once again, finding food without sugar, pasta, and bread is practically impossible.
It's tough to ask people to change their eating habits if they can't find the ingredients to make the transition.
Reader Comments (1)
“Ten years ago I did not believe I would have been alive today. Symptoms were occurring which I had never experienced before and those I had had were worsening. There were afternoons where I was totally exhausted and would have to put on an alarm clock for a nap just to get me through the evening. A new symptom of depression was creeping into my life which I had not experienced before. I was constantly cold, hair was thinning, gaining weight, had heart palpitations, fibrocystic breasts and could not sleep at night. I prayed to live long enough to see my children into their adulthood.
At that point in time, one-half of my thyroid gland had been removed (turned out to be a benign goiter) and there was discussion of a possible hysterectomy due to very heavy menstrual flow. I was placed on Synthroid, Prozac, various antihistamines and pain medications without relief. I then decided to investigate functional medicine options where more in-depth labs would be done to evaluate my hormones for imbalances. Once identified and treated with bio-identical compounded hormones and a more natural thyroid medication, my life changed dramatically for the better. It was at that time that I questioned why patients were not offered what seemed to be a more logical option in investigating and treating imbalances in one’s health…simply by working with one’s biochemistry.
As I pursued my Master’s in Nursing in the late 1990’s at the University of Iowa, I immersed myself in the international medical literature addressing bioidentical hormones. I conducted a retrospective, descriptive research project of 100 subjects using compounded bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) and found 96 out of 100 subjects still happy and using BHRT 12 months after initiating treatment. This is rare in the world of commercially available HRT where only a meager 20% of women may continue long-term use of HRT due to side effects. There were 37 different presenting symptoms amongst the 100 subjects and 25 of the symptoms were statistically significant in their resolution over time using BHRT.
During my education at the University of Iowa, I also proposed that the compounding pharmacist (who helped me to initially understand BHRT) and I pilot an Adult Education class on BHRT to women. We would teach them about female physiology as well as the difference between various hormone preparations and how they work in our bodies. Since January 1999, we have addressed BHRT to over 4,000 women as we have continued to offer BHRT classes through local Adult Education and other venues.
I became a licensed Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner in 2000 and developed a steady practice serving men and women with nutritional and hormone imbalances.
My practice broadened to incorporate other facets of functional and environmental medicine when in 2001 I found that our son and I suffered from undiagnosed heavy metal toxicity (mercury, aluminum & lead). I discovered this by ordering a nutritional panel which included a heavy metal screen amongst 100 other metabolic markers. Since heavy metal toxicity will always disrupt hormone function, it then made sense as to why my adrenals, ovaries and thyroid glands were struggling against the odds of heavy metals in my body. With detoxification, my health continued to improve. With detoxification, our 25 year old son’s energy level has dramatically improved along with significant improvements in his lifelong focus and concentration problems which could not be helped with allopathic modalities during his school years.
Today, my husband often comments that I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago. A few months ago he wondered if I had an “off switch” as I seemed to have so much energy. One of my dreams has come to fruition as co-owner of “Prevention & Healing of Iowa” to provide functional integrative medicine and healing.
My testimony is now being replicated over and over in others as I assist my patients in identifying and treating their nutrient and hormone imbalances, as well as environmental toxicities.”