Monday, July 27, 2015

summertime, and the livin' is ... what?

See, that's the difference between fiction/movies and real life.  Summertime, here, and the livin' is hectic, uncomfortable, edgy, and anxious.

It's been a "funny" spring and summer in the Midwest.  It stayed cool and damp for a long time after the early spring flowers came and went.  Since we got back from our cruise it's continued mostly cool and damp, and the worst part has been the atmospheric allergens.  By the time the tree-pollens faded away we started having constantly-high mold readings -- weirdly constant!  The rain stops, leaving lots of puddles in our torn-up back yard, and the temperature gets high for a few days, till the next storm-front rolls in to dump another load of rain -- Nature's ultimate "rinse and repeat" cycle!  Most days are in the "high" to "very-high" range for mold, with two separate "moderate" days ALL SUMMER so far!

I'll bet a lot of people don't realize how this affects them.  The sneezing may stop, but the more subtle allergy symptoms don't go away.  Inflammation in the upper and lower respiratory passages remain, plus gut problems -- bloating and signs of candida overgrowth.  There's not a prayer of losing weight when the bowels are fighting to keep inimical fungi and bacteria at bay.  The dull ache over my eyes and behind my ears, my throat either rough from the drainage or dry from antihistamine....  Mostly, though, I just find it drains me out and when it's hot, it's exhausting.

I feel fortunate that the gelatin has helped my joints so much.  People with weather-sensitive arthritis must be very uncomfortable indeed, with the frequent pressure- and temperature-changes. 

Weather has unseen impact upon us, beyond hot and cold, dry and wet, dark and bright.  When things are otherwise going well in our lives, an unfortunate heat wave or arctic stream can invisibly spoil our moods;  a pressure front can make us feel crummy without any idea why, if we're not alert to the possibilities. 

So cut your loved-ones some slack -- and yourself, too!  Pamper yourself a little, and don't try to do too much when you don't feel like it.

...But remember that sugar isn't the answer.  When thunder is in the air, the last thing you need is a sweet cocktail or added-sugar treat.  Those are just encouragement for the worst processes already going on in your body.  If iced tea or coffee isn't a favorite with you, maybe a Norcal Margarita can be relaxing without stirring up the candida or other irritants.  Yeasty things like wine, aged cheese, salami, nuts, or mushrooms might not be as good a choice as clear spirits or mineral water, plain (rather than flavored) pork rinds or crudités with fresh-mozzarella or cottage-cheese based dips.

The second Atkins book, the New Diet Revolution, was an eye-opener to me about how dietary and environmental allergy issues affect our bodies' processes, impacting weight-loss as well as sense-of-well-being.  We can't do anything about the weather, but we can ameliorate our discomfort significantly through what we choose to eat and drink.

14 comments:

  1. Ugh, there too? Some allergen was so bad here in Denver recently that I had a toothache where my wisdom tooth comes close to my sinuses.

    I was stress-eating sugar for a while and noticed it made me tired. It feels good to be back on track.

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    1. No kidding! :-) Anytime travel or holidays or ... whatever ... cause me to relax my routine a little, and I get too much sugar or starches, my digestive system starts getting unhappy. Stomach issues, intestinal issues, sinus issues too -- not fun! It just feels so much better to eat VLC on a whole-body basis!

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  2. Reading around ... it does seem that wherever we live this years weather patterns have been a little different, and it is true we have to cope with this as best we can.

    Heat / humidity is never easy and whatever the weather perhaps as you say , " cut your loved-ones some slack -- and yourself, too! Pamper yourself a little, and don't try to do too much when you don't feel like it." Good advice.

    Sit down and relax with a Norcal Margarita ... I'll make one for you and send it over virtually speaking of course!

    Take Care

    All the best Jan

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    1. lol -- thanks, that NCM really hit the spot! ;-) I hope YOU had one, too!

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  3. In Florida we have a hotter summer , and so far is not very wet. I hate summers here anyway - that relentless sunshine chases me indoor.
    Tess, I think you can do one more thing for your allergies - make sure that your D is not low and correct it if it is.
    I am truly sorry that you suffer from allergies. It is on the list of things I scare of the most.

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    1. thanks, Galina! I think i'm replete -- my multi contains a decent amount, and I try to get some sun every day. The weather this year has just been WEIRD, but it's finally settling down into more typical summer weather ... although it's AUGUST already! Where is this year going???

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  4. I'm in Florida, too. But, we've had tons of rain. Lots of blooms and pollen. I had a scratchy throat about a week ago, low carb keeps me from going into full blown allergic rhinitis like so many others. They all think they have a cold...just because they ache and have a higher temp...nope similar symptoms but still AR. ;)

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    1. I have to additionally use a garden hose watering on some especially sunny grass areas because two times a week irrigation was not enough at the absence of rain most of summer.Last week we did got several downpours. I live in the very NE corner of Florida three miles from ocean, and we often see on a radar that people who live more inland get way more precipitation.

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    2. Somebody in my office is coughing like they have TB.

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    3. I am a life-long warrior with allergies, and I see current health situation as a perfect storm. More people take medications daily nowadays due to different side effects of a general worsening of metabolic health. From my experience, most if not all medications make allergies worse (antibiotics, all painkillers aspirin included, NSAIDs,ets ), especially when being taken long-turn.A worsening metabolic health makes allergies worse as well. Also, there are a lot of recent health recommendations which worsen allergies like eating a lot of spices, consuming chocolate daily, eating strawberries and citruses often.Not to mention the wide-spread of vegetable oils and other diet follies.
      Imagine in a such climate a person who has some worsening of allergies, thinks he has a persistent flue, and trying to get better .

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    4. :-) do you all suppose the bizarre weather is combining with bad diet to make everybody in this country so CRAZY? During that creative-thinking period while I was waking up this morning, I was pondering the combination of fluoride in the water plus "grain-brain" to account for some of the completely irrational thought-patterns and behavior we're seeing these days!

      I literally mean IRRATIONAL, in a clinical sort of way.

      Adding the systemic viral, bacterial and fungal loads the weather is heaping on parts of the country: adding the drug-induced dullness, from the antihistamines and painkillers ... atop the statins, blood-sugar adjusting drugs antidepressants a lot of people take: adding nutritional deficiencies: adding dehydration in the hot dry areas: has America been poisoned to the edge of reason? I'm serious! For once in my "career" I wish Emily Deans were a reader here!

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    5. I suppose without a weather the current combination of a bad diet, too much medications and a wrong health advise are all doing a number on the population in well-developed countries. On another hand, there is always something which complicates well-being of people.

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  5. Hi Tess, well I've made you a Norcal Margarita ... have a look at the low carb diabetic blog !! LOL and thanks for the idea.

    All the best Jan

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    1. awwww -- you're such a sweetie! :-D I saw that in passing on my smartphone but hadn't gotten over on the laptop to have a good look and to comment! THANK YOU!!!

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