Recently, I asked people on Instagram to ask me 10 questions. Eight of the questions were about “I have this illness, how should I eat?” Honestly, I was quite surprised. This is something I talk about most often in my life, but it seems I haven’t reached enough people yet, so that day I decided to write this post. In this blog post, I will share important information with you. Even if the topic doesn’t interest you, please share it with those around you and those who need it, so that this information reaches more people. Everyone is battling some illness, or perhaps they aren’t even aware of their illness, thinking their situation is normal. This post will be helpful.

Also, this information is available collectively on my website in blog posts, on my Instagram account, and in two published books. I explain and demonstrate it in detail in my monthly seminars. I’m not someone who keeps information to myself. I share it everywhere. Those who can, can use my posts, books, and writings (I share this without any financial compensation or expectation), and those who can’t, can attend my seminars and trainings.

This information has reached you with great effort, and I have only one goal: for it to reach many more people. From the universe to me, from me to you. May it bring goodness to everyone who needs it, God willing.

The human body consists of several systems:

– Nervous system

– Metabolic system

– Hormonal system

– Digestive system

– Musculoskeletal system

– Lymphatic system

– Circulatory and respiratory system

– Excretory system

– Immune system

In addition to our physical existence, there is the unseen “self” that is formed by:

– Mind

– Soul

The entire body is affected when one or more of these systems lose their balance because none of them are independent of each other. There is also fascia that holds all these systems, organs, body fluids, joints, and muscles together. A signal from a fingertip is transmitted everywhere like a wave in water. The body is not made up of disconnected, independent parts.

Diabetes, thyroid problems, fibromyalgia, rheumatism, migraines, PCOS, endometriosis, arthritis, constipation, bloating, IBS, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, MS, lupus, vitiligo, fatigue – the list goes on. All these diseases, and all diseases in general, are linked to nutrition.

Let’s imagine a very well-equipped, very fast car. If we put water in it, will it go? No. The human body also needs the right nutrition to function as it was created to. If we feed our bodies with foods that are not suited to our nature, if we fill our stomachs but not our cells, the mill will only turn so far with carried water. It first sends us signals: fatigue, headaches, itching, lack of energy, depression, indigestion, heartburn, constipation, bloating, insomnia, etc. It’s saying, “Things aren’t going well for me, look at me.” If we heed these signals, we’re fortunate. It means we’ve intervened before things get worse. If we ignore the signals, they will increase exponentially until they catch our attention. By the time they do, a disease has probably already begun. Whether it starts or not (hopefully no one starts this before they get sick), it’s necessary to switch to a balanced diet. This is proper nutrition, a diet that benefits the body, mind, and soul all at once.

Let’s start with physical nutrition.

If you have an autoimmune disease, if possible, do a 3-week elimination diet and then switch to a healthy, balanced, non-dietary diet. If elimination diets are difficult, you can directly switch to a healthy diet. In this diet, we satisfy ourselves with the following foods. We stop counting calories and focus on the quality of the food first. A 1000-calorie bag of chips and a 1000-calorie bag of vegetables/legumes do not have the same effects, satiety, and nutritional value in the body. We are not dieting; our primary goal is health, not weight. Weight loss or gain can come later.

Plenty of colorful vegetables, salads, legumes, meats, fruit or fruit-based desserts for sweet cravings, nuts, olive oil, butter, ghee, very little grains (2-3 tablespoons of spelt bulgur, rice, pasta, quinoa, oatmeal, all grains even if they are healthy, 1 slice of spelt bread).

Grains aren’t something that fills us up; they’re a food group we should consume in moderation, even if we can’t resist them. The issue with gluten isn’t so much the grain itself, but rather the frequency and overdose of consumption. You can find my IGTV video on this topic here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CAnVwrYJ2ah/?hl=en

With the food groups I mentioned above, we meet our body’s needs.

If you’re thinking, “There’s so much information and so many products out there, I want to start eating healthy but I’m confused about what to buy and where to start,” then you don’t need all those fancy ingredients like nibs, flours, or powders to eat healthily. Let me explain.

I’ll list the essentials of healthy eating. We’re going back to the simplest things.

* Eat what nature makes, not what humans make (here referring to factory-packaged products).

* Consume plenty of vegetables, salads, a reasonable amount of fruit (1-2 a day), and generally colorful foods.

* Cook home-cooked meals; our classic cuisine is actually very healthy.

* Don’t neglect good fats. Olive oil, butter, olives, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc., the way my parents used to eat them. There’s no need for expensive oils, or those expensive hazelnuts, cashews, or walnuts. The simplest is the best.

* There’s no need for excessive amounts of flour or grains, even if they’re healthy.

So, we need to go back to the basics, to the simplest things.

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes 15 years ago and I was changing my life, I ate these things. Back then, the things we have now weren’t available in Türkiye. For example, I heard the word granola for the first time on Instagram; I didn’t know it until then, and by the time I started this account, my 8-year recovery journey was already complete. I recovered without flours, nibs, and powders. The moment you eliminate packaged products, refined sugar, flour, bread, and grains, you’re already 10-0 ahead in healthy eating. So there’s no need to overthink it. 🙂

* Breakfast and lunch combined, late and in one meal. 2 eggs (or egg-based dishes), a large breakfast salad, olives, and 2-3 walnuts or similar (eggs sometimes alternated with gluten-free oatmeal, salad and vegetables are constant)

* A snack of fruit or homemade cookies/cakes.

Early dinner is a legume dish (meat for those who eat meat, I don’t), lentil soup and salad, vegetable soup and salad, vegetables and yogurt.

That’s how it goes. Those who wish can spread this over three meals, but I wanted to give this menu as a general idea.

You can create your own menus with this information. If you can’t, in my second book, Happy Nutrition, I’ve prepared daily menus with the logic behind them and explained how to prepare them.

You can also find many varieties by browsing my Instagram account at this link: https://www.instagram.com/semaozpekmezci/?hl=en

Now I will explain the foods that are not included in those food groups, that is, the balancing part.

I said don’t diet and establish a healthy eating plan for yourself. Functional Medicine never recommends diets that last for years. As I mentioned yesterday, do 3 weeks of elimination and then build a healthy, balanced diet on top of that. This is the key to long-term health. No one should be forced to diet for a year straight. If you don’t see any improvement in your symptoms or signs of recovery with this diet, you should first look for deficiencies in vitamins and minerals, then other elements (mind and spirit, I’ll discuss those below). I saw somewhere yesterday that someone said they’ve been on a gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free diet for a year and it’s very difficult. Of course, it’s very difficult, I understand. I would never recommend continuing something like that.

Dairy products are always a question mark, even a major trigger, in autoimmune diseases. I suggest you try not consuming them at all for two months, then gradually add them in a balanced way (2-3 tablespoons of yogurt or 2 fingers of cheese per day, not all at once or 1/2 kilo of yogurt a day) and see how it affects you. Maintaining this for life is very difficult for some people. I do it this way in my own life.

Practical application:

This is the result I’ve seen in my personal experience and in thousands of people I’ve worked with over 15 years. Always make a healthy version of what you love. Deprivation triggers many problems. Not being able to start at all, endless eating, eating disorders, etc. I’m giving you hundreds of recipes here. Sweet and savory, please add them to your life. Eating the healthy version nine times and the unhealthy version once doesn’t disrupt the balance. The balance doesn’t work if you eat the unhealthy version nine times and the healthy version once 🙂

For most of us, nutrition is important. Believe me, the guilt we feel for breaking off a piece of a bagel on a Sunday morning is more harmful than the bagel itself. No illness is caused by eating a piece of bread, the tip of a bagel, or a slice of pizza once a week. It only becomes a problem when we eat them every day.

Therefore, don’t think it’s impossible, that you’re deprived of everything. Balance is the most important thing in nutrition.

Now, let’s talk about nourishing the mind. I’m sorry, this is the least-noticed part, but it’s impossible to separate physical health from mental and spiritual health because we are a combination of all three.

The biggest enemy of our immunity is stress. In this life, it’s as if we’re wearing a sweater woven from stress. We can’t turn our backs on the events we experience, and stress is always with us. It’s impossible to eliminate it, but it’s possible to manage it.

Unmanageable high stress keeps our nervous system in a long-term fight-or-flight, or danger, mode. This disrupts the entire system, from heart rate and breathing rate to hormone release. In other words, our nervous system feels threatened all day long. It constantly thinks it’s fighting something vital, but there’s actually no life-threatening situation. There’s traffic, economic problems, relationship and communication issues, but no threat of death. The nervous system can’t distinguish between these two because our stress levels are so high that our reactions to these daily events have intensified, and on the other hand, we’re not doing anything to calm that part of the system.

When the nervous system is under threat, the body’s functions, including digestion, don’t work at full capacity. High cortisol and adrenaline disrupt the balance of other hormones. We’re trapped in a vicious cycle, and the nervous system, which is connected to the systems in our body as mentioned in the first post, continues to function imbalanced.

Since high chronic stress impairs the immune system, making it vulnerable, autoimmune diseases start appearing rapidly, even if we eat the healthiest food in the world. There are hundreds of studies on this subject. You can find this research with a simple search.

So how do you balance your nervous system? Simply put, with breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga. These aren’t some silly things, folks. I used to think so too, but they’re not. They’re extremely scientific. Meditating doesn’t mean thinking about nothing, and yoga doesn’t mean standing on your head. There’s incredible science behind both. Do them online; even 10 minutes a day is beneficial. Leave your prejudices behind and think about what’s important to you in this life.

You don’t need anything special to meditate. Now, take a big

breath in and out. Keep your attention on your breath and repeat this 5 times. There you go, you’ve already done your first

meditation. 🙂

Where do I see myself in 10 years? (Not career, but health :))

And now we come to the end of the writing, the summary part.

Well-being is possible as a whole. You don’t need to be sick.

A car needs the right fuel to go. If we don’t put gas in it, it won’t go. We weren’t created to be sick; our body, soul, and mind are healthy when functioning correctly. Please don’t accept illnesses and feelings of unwellness. If the body is saying something, it knows something. It doesn’t need to be confirmed with test kits. Now I’m writing down the simplest things that are necessary for well-being.

First of all, close your ears to excessive information. Too much information makes application difficult.

The common health prescription of world-renowned doctors. I have received training from many different schools of thought and continue to do so. They all converge on these points.

The balanced nutrition I described to you includes:

Sleep

Meditation and Stress Management

Movement (Yoga and walking. Mindfulness yoga is very beneficial for the fascia that holds all the systems and parts of the body together, as well as for balancing the nervous system)

Emotions

Biological rhythm (waking, sleeping, eating, and relaxing with the daily cycle)

I’ve explained the methods for all of these except emotions. I suggest you start somewhere, think 1 > 0, and let go of perfectionism.

My books, the tips and methods I share on my Instagram account and website will all help you. If you say you can’t do it, my EF seminar (5 live broadcasts) starts on January 3rd. You can find the program details at this link: https://semaozpekmezci.com/post/eliminasyondayim-farkindayim-semineri. Also, starting January 3rd, my yoga and meditation classes begin under the name “Meetings with My Free Self” (8 classes per month). You can find more information about this program at this link: https://semaozpekmezci.com/post/ozgur-ben-le-bulusmalar. I explain and demonstrate everything as a whole. I happily share all my knowledge so you can do it. You can take the first step by reading or by seeking support.

What do I want for myself in this life? Not your loved ones, not your family. Think about your true “self.” If your closest friend were yourself, what would you want for them?

Sending you all my warmest love.

Sema