It sucks getting older. It's like walking a tightrope - if you don't look after yourself perfectly, there you go, hurtling to the pavement below. Splat. Tendons torn, liver overwrought, adrenals underfunctioning, hormones fucking with you in all kinds of ways, sleepless nights, aching joints, and so on.
My mate Deb and I compare notes at the beach in the carpark, pulling on wetsuits to surf despite our complaints, or perhaps because of them. Hers this month is ongoing vertigo. Mine is a cold - my immune system aint what it used to be. My gluteal tendonopathy is pretty good at the moment, thanks to the physio regime. I'm getting stronger, working harder at muscle strength and taking creatine to help with that. I recommend she take ashwanghwa, particularly the one with lemon balm and B5, as that really helps me sleep.
As far as I can figure out, my gut health is probably the most important thing to address a few complaints at the moment, if not all of them. Miso in probiotic yoghurt dressings, sauerkraut, kimchi. A decline in estrogen and progestrone affects the gut microbiome which apprently leads to digestion issues that I've never had before. And it's not like I haven't had a diet that supported gut microbiome all my life, it's just that I seem to have to up the ante now, like think about it every day.
Here's some porridge I made earlier, because I am not home as I write this and didn't think to take a photo of my breakfast.
So, breakfast is turmeric porridge - because turmeric's antiflammatory and oats are prebiotic, helping feed good probiotics in the gut - with berries, often, for the liver, and a good dollop of prebiotic rich yoghurt, and some psyllium with added probiotics for good measure and a drizzle of local honey, the only concession to sweetness. Bam. The day begins.
You also can't think about hormones and the gut microbiome without thinking about the liver - they work hand in hand to process estrogen. And don't even get me started about my adrenal glands, which have never been really good players in my life. When everything is off balance, they like to flood me with cortisol, which results in debilitating anxiety, poor sleeep, week long migraines.
So this is all about broccoli and leafy greens, lots of which I have in the garden. As I'm detoxing this week as I've had far too many migraines, it's all about lentil soups - green, red, split peas, whatever, and loaded with greens. Stir through miso as it cools, some probiotic yoghurt, and some pepitas, and it's a complete meal - plus it's next level with a ton of lemon squeezed on it, trust me.
This week I also made another kick ass soup I really enjoyed. It was broccoli and kale, with some tofu to add the protein and make it creamy, but cooked with asian herbs - a ton of coriander, some lemongrass, ginger and thai basil. I also drizzled crispy chilli oil on it because I bloody love it. I'm a massive believer in soups when you're detoxing or have a cold. It's a lot of good food in one pan.
This all sounds like I'm a mess - which I can be, if I don't perfectly look after myself. If I drink, have too many fats and sugars, maybe don't exercise for a week, lose a few nights sleep, have a big of stress - just normal imbalances - I end up falling off that darn tightrope.
It's frustrating, but this is my life now.
And you can't complain about good food I guess.
With Love,
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