By: Joey Casolaro, CFP®
Your health is your greatest wealth – a principle that rings true figuratively and literally. Just as prudent financial planning and investing safeguard your long-term financial well-being, a nutritious diet is crucial for fortifying your physical health and averting the debilitating effects of autoimmune diseases.
These chronic conditions, where the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its tissues, can inflict devastating consequences on one's quality of life and financial stability. The medical expenses, potential loss of income, and overall toll on productivity make autoimmune diseases formidable adversaries to your health and financial security.
I want to thank Kathy D'Agati, certified nutrition and lifestyle coach specializing in functional medicine, for sharing her thoughts on how we can change to strengthen our body's defense system.
Most people have no idea what normal is supposed to feel like, so we settle for far less than we are capable of.
Do these symptoms describe you?
You consistently feel exhausted, achy, bloated, and constipated.
You feel much older than your biological age.
You get reflux when you eat (Or take a PPI).
You suffer from headaches, migraines, and allergies.
You frequently find yourself unable to focus, concentrate, and remember.
Just because these symptoms are commonplace doesn't mean it's normal.
We have come to accept feeling this way as just a part of getting older, having kids, stressful jobs, long hours, and financial worries. While these are all genuine stressors affecting your well-being, they are not why you feel this way.
As a nation, our health is getting worse with every succeeding generation. People are getting sicker, and it is happening at younger ages. We are raising the first generation of children whose life expectancy is less than their parents.
It is time we started paying attention and doing something about it.
With the correct information and the willingness to change, you can experience a change in your life.
Food sensitivities play a crucial role in most chronic complaints. Unfortunately, food sensitivity can be very challenging to figure out. They can develop at any age. You could be reacting to healthy foods you previously enjoyed without consequences. You may also believe that if you develop a food sensitivity, you will get stomachaches when you eat it. That would make things easier, but unfortunately, that is often untrue. For every one person who has a digestive response, eight others never do.
Sensitivities can manifest in all parts of the body and can look very different from one person to the next. Common signs of sensitivity include:
Skin issues- dry itchy skin, eczema, psoriasis, acne, alopecia
Headaches, allergies, and asthma
Acid reflux
Gas, bloating, chronic constipation, or diarrhea
Body aches and pains
Fatigue- no matter how many hours you sleep, you are always tired.
Insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol
Weight gain (Especially around your waistline)
Lessening ability to focus, concentrate, and remember.
The simplest way to determine if your diet triggers these symptoms is to do an elimination diet. Eliminating one food at a time will not give you the results you are looking for. To reduce your inflammation and experience a sense of well-being you haven't enjoyed in a long time, you must simultaneously remove all the top triggers for two weeks. That would include alcohol, artificial sweeteners, corn, caffeine, dairy, eggs, peanuts, soy, sugar, and all gluten-containing grains.
Equally important is what foods you choose to eat during this elimination period. For maximum results, you must eat a well-balanced diet of fresh foods. Working with a nutrition coach who can provide you with menus, recipes, and shopping lists and has experience with food sensitivities will make this a much easier process.
It may seem a little overwhelming at first, but once you experience how great fresh food tastes, it becomes a way of eating you look forward to. Better yet, your body will start to rebound quickly, and you will feel better than you have in a very long time. It will take longer for your body to heal, but once you discover your power over your future, you will be happy to continue the journey.
Identifying food sensitivities is also critical for another reason that can significantly impact your future.
Through a process called molecular mimicry, food sensitivities can trigger autoimmune disease. There are now over 100 different types of autoimmune conditions, and a quarter million new cases are being diagnosed every year. These autoimmune diseases are being triggered by the foods we are eating.
When you identify and remove the food triggers, the autoimmune process stops, and the body can heal and create a healthy new future.
A lifestyle of eating nutritious foods can impact you before needing to experience a lifetime of medications with an endless list of side effects.
Just as diversifying your investment portfolio protects against market volatility, incorporating a wide array of nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods into your diet can bolster your body's defenses against autoimmune conditions. This strategic approach to nutrition can ultimately safeguard both your physical well-being and your long-term financial prospects, underscoring the profound interconnectedness between health and wealth.
Kathy D'Agati is a certified nutrition and lifestyle coach specializing in functional medicine. Her expertise includes food sensitivities, autoimmune conditions, chronic disease, and food's impact on the brain. She can be reached at Kathy@backtobasicwellness.com or by calling 201-738-8321.
Joey Casolaro is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ at HIGHLAND Financial Advisors, a Fee-Only fiduciary wealth advisory firm that offers comprehensive financial planning, retirement planning, and investment management. Joey graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in personal finance and successfully passed the CFP national exam in 2021. Joey enjoys working out, spending time outdoors, and hanging out with family and friends in his free time.