Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink 1 Tbsp honey and 1 tsp cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.
Cinnamon and honey! What’s not to love?
Those of you who are better cooks than I am (i.e. everyone) are probably slapping your screens right now and yelling, “For the love of little green apples, Charlotte, one whole teaspoon is a lot of cinnamon!” You would be correct. (Especially when you buy that specialty extra-potent Saigon cinnamon like I do.) But the poorly worded pin specifically said I could eat a high-calorie diet and still lose weight! And both honey and cinnamon are known superfoods, with research on the former proclaiming its antibiotic properties and research on the latter extolling its ability to improve insulin sensitivity. Besides, everyone knows that badly written instructions on the Internet just mean the writer is some kind of savant who simply can’t be bothered with grammar. Or fact checking.
First up: You’ll be happy to know I did not end up making a bomb. What with all the news these days I’m always paranoid trying out new recipes from weird sources. What if I end up with a kitchen bomb? Or meth? Or Paris Hilton? Sure it’s just cinnamon and honey but the less you understand about chemistry the more likely you are to end up with unintended results, like your own TV show. Science, yo.
Second up: Everything else. And I do mean everything.
It was cold this morning and I wanted something warm and comforting to drink so I decided to give this one a go and mixed it all up. Tasted like dirt. Burned going down. Overly sweet. Nausea. Reappearance. My good morning went from Mr. Rogers to Vietnam in about 0.2 seconds. I’m not even sure the vile concoction had time to hit stomach bile before it kangaroo-ed its way back out. For the record, not only did it look exactly the same the second time around but it tasted the same too. I suppose I ought to consider myself lucky though. If I’d been looking to “kill germs” in my bladder the prescription is “Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it.” Nature’s emetic is what that is.
I’ll tell you what: I will never again laugh at all those “Cinnamon Challenge” youtubes of idiots trying to eat a dry tablespoon of cinnamon powder. (Which, I shouldn’t be laughing anyhow as apparently someone actually died from choking on it.) While I wasn’t quite as dramatic as this chick, I definitely joined the idiot ranks with (brown, burny) water streaming from my eyes and nose.
Despite starting my day with a “good” food that harmed me, paradoxically I ended my day with a “bad” food that healed me. You all remember how bummed out I was yesterday. I started out sad because Steve is still dead and then made it way worse for myself by writing a post that I simultaneously loved and regretted. And then because I stayed up way way too late (?), I ended up sick in bed all day with a fever of 102 and watching Project Runway reruns (don’t judge my sickie TV habits) while Jelly Bean used her newfound freedom to eat every cookie in the house. So by this evening I was feeling pretty craptastic. What I really wanted was to sit in a patch of sunlight and meditate until my breathing evened out. But all I had was rain and I can’t breathe without coughing. (Again! Seriously, does anyone know if there’s anything to that old adage about how when you move someplace new you get sick a ton until your body acclimates to the new germs??) So then my body said, “You know what I really want? Buttered popcorn and a good book in bed.”
“But nooooo!” I argued. “What about the kids? And the chores? I am busy! Besides, buttered popcorn is pretty much the apotheosis of evil according to every diet in print! The only thing worse would be if I deep fried it, wrapped it in bacon and slapped it on a stick!!” (Someone somewhere has undoubtedly already done this I’m sure.)
My body answered, “This is what I want.” (cough, cough, wheeze) “And also a warm drink that does not contain any random super-barf-foods.”
And so I did. I ate buttered popcorn and drank Mint Magic herbal tea (that I got on my tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory!) and immersed myself in The Chemistry of Joy (fascinating book, totally recommend it) until my muscles unclenched and my thoughts stopped racing. I felt soothed in ways I didn’t even know needed soothing.
While the ability of food to heal physical ailments is widely discussed, one does not often hear of food’s remarkable power over mental illness. And it turns out this is the entire premise of The Chemistry of Joy: A Three-Step Program for Overcoming Depression Through Western Science and Eastern Wisdom by Henry Emmons, MD! The author, a noted psychiatrist, focuses on helping his patients reduce their reliance on anti-depressant meds by helping them health themselves through diet and lifestyle changes. I’ll admit it sounds a little quacky at first but it makes a lot of sense.
He starts out by saying that what we call “depression” is actually three different illnesses: anxious depression, agitated depression and sluggish depression. He then associates each type with an Ayurvedic type of, in order, Air, Fire and Earth. Mine is definitely in the first category (so now you can call me an airhead with impunity) and as I read through his food prescriptions (all very sensible stuff) I was surprised to see that he encouraged people with my “type” to eat crunchy warm comfort foods when they needed soothing. Which is exactly what my body had chosen for itself!
I have to admit that this is particularly appealing to me since I’ve felt pretty much ever since we moved from Minnesota to Colorado that I’m teetering on the edge of a major depressive episode (that I’m fighting off valiantly!). And not only am I already on an anti-depressant but I’m on the highest dose. Since I know this depression is situational, brought on by the huge change we just went through, I’m pretty motivated to find a way to mitigate it without more meds. (Tangentially related: I’ve also started taking a daily probiotic after several of you pointed out to me in the comments that over 95% of our bodies’ serotonin is made in the gut!)
Another book I recently read – Michael Greenberg’s Hurry Down, Sunshine, a memoir of his daughter’s psychotic break and subsequent struggles with Bipolar Disorder (fantastic read, totally recommend it) – gives another poignant example of the ability of food to help heal the mind. The doctors in charge of Greenberg’s daughter Sally’s fragile mental state recommend she follow “the manic-depressive diet” described as “as little refined flour as possible, but potatoes are okay. Lots of vegetables and protein. Two tablespoons of flaxseed oil per day, nine hours of sleep without interruption, and no naps.” The special diet, along with some other things including a large helping of fatherly love, completely heal the girl.
Sometimes food is medicine. Although, like I’m constantly reminding my kids about those gummy vitamins, medicine is NOT food. Ahem.
I’m curious – have you ever eaten something “healthy” that in fact made you sick? Conversely, have you ever found a food that acted as a cure, particularly for a mental health problem? And yes, of course, chocolate counts;) Got any good book recs for me??
Oh yes, wheat grass. And Kombucha! First time I tried Kombucha was after a hot yoga class in NYC. It was sooo good and I was soooo thirsty (and hungry), so I had two bottles. Fast.
I spent the rest of the weekend in my hotel room, close to the toiled, had a terrible flight back to Sweden, and had to go the hospital when I came back. It was a typical “Kombucha-poisoning”. And I just thought I was being healthy and New Yorkish…
Haha I’ve never tried kombucha but knowing what the active ingredient is I can see how too much would be “poisoning”! I’m so sorry you had to go through that!!
McDonald’s French fries cure my nausea better than prescription medicine (for nausea).
Lettuce makes me unbelievably sick to my stomach!!!
Out of the blue during dinner last night, my son asked if I would ever make and force him to eat liver! Um, no…never ever. 🙂 Have you ever tried popping the corn in just coconut oil? Needs very little salt and no butter after. And your house will smell heaven-ly!
Usually I melt the coconut oil and pour it over the top of air popped corn as I like to really taste it;) But yesterday for whatever reason I just wanted buttah! Ahh!
I am a linguist, but English is not my first language, so I have to ask, and only then I can get back to reading your post, Charlotte. Please, tell me, why is “saving a patient from heart attack” grammatically incorrect? A brief Google search did not yield satisfying results, but I MUST know! The phrase looks kind of alright, I have many theories, but I’m sure they are not right. Please!
Oh it’s a little thing! They wrote “saving patient from heart attack” as one sentence. It could be correct as part of another sentence. As it stands it should probably be “Saving A patient from A heart attack” (capitalized for emphasis). And your English is fabulous – I would never have known it wasn’t your native tongue!
Love cinnamon in thick stuff like pumpkin filling or cookies, but it’s nasty in drinks; the stuff just doesn’t dissolve properly. Which is why I never buy cinnamon-flavor drinks at Starbucks or elsewhere, because I figure they must use a weird ingredient to get it to blend in.
Popcorn is also my not-health food that makes me feel good (physically and mentally) if I’m feeling out of sorts-I guess that means I’m also an airhead. (I’ve never read anything about Ayurvedic types; maybe you could do a post on that!)
Ha – good point! I always assume it’s some time of “cinnamon flavoring” as in a bunch of artificial colors and flavors because you are so right, real cinnamon just stays in dirty clumps. Ok, now I want to barf again…
And yeah, I’d love to a post on Ayurvedic types! I’m just learning about it for the first time (despite all my years of yoga I’ve never got much into “that” side of it) but it’s super interesting!
Coconut water makes me want to vomit. Something about the flavor reminds me of an episode I had with warm Gu many miles into a training run that had me gagging over a park garbage can while the kids on the playground looked on in horror.
There is something mentally soothing to me in Diet Coke and chocolate. I have tried to kick the Diet Coke habit many times because nowhere else in my diet do I consume processed crap but then one stressful day like yesterday (2 out of 4 kids sick and barfing) and I am immediately craving a Diet Coke. I think part of it is that stress makes me want to eat, when I had my ED stuffing myself with food and then vomiting actually relieved anxiety, and while I don’t do the ED stuff anymore, I am still pretty controlled about my eating and so I assuage the stress with Diet Coke instead of food.
Coconut water tastes awful! Once I heard that people used to use it as an early substitute for blood plasma that’s all I can think of when I drink it! Just warm, salty, bloody… ew.
And I’ve totally retched on a Gu before! I actually refuse to use them when I race. I either go for straight liquid or something I can legit chew. But something about the gooeyness of the Gu just makes me gag!
Years ago at a moms group I went to, we had a guest speaker – a DR who specializes in women’s issues of all sorts (that really isn’t a specialty I guess but…). Anyway he was talking about ways to help prevent the little funks that we all slide into and one of his tips was to eat a little bit of chocolate every day. He said that it really is good for the soul!!!
Mmmm… chocolate! You don’t have to tell me twice! 😉
I convinced my mom to take probiotics after looking at some of the research you shared too! She said she definitely feels less anxious and stressed and noticed a difference recently when she ran out for a few days.
I can’t eat kale chips anymore. I used to make them all the time but last time I ate them I got super nauseous (not from them I think) and they were the last thing I’d eaten. Tasting that for the next 6 hours was not pleasent. Now I feel sick anytime I think about kale chips. Like right now…
Yay! I’m so glad they’re helping your mom too! I learn so much from you guys!
I used to add cinnamon to my tea because it was supposed to be so good for you. But it never fully dissolved and I always ended up choking on a big blob of it at the bottom of the mug. I also tried apple cider vinegar for a while (also in my tea). While it actually didn’t taste horrible, I was getting terrible allergy-like symptoms (my eyes were so itchy and watery that I couldn’t see sometimes!). I finally realized that it started right around the time I started drinking the vinegar and stopped. Since I’ve stopped, I can finally see again!
Those two books sound fascinating to me, as someone who has suffered from depression and is always afraid that I’m teetering on the edge of falling back down the rabbit hole. I’ve definitely found that exercise helps, a lot, but never considered that what I ate and other areas of my life could make a difference too. I’ll have to add them to my (incredibly long, ever growing) book wish list on Amazon.
A small bag of popcorn w/about 1 tbsp melted butter and some salt on it is my go to snack when I want something decadent that won’t break the calorie bank. I ignored all the chores and to dos on Sunday and stayed in bed most of the day (I was just exhausted) and it was exactly what I needed. Oddly enough, the world didn’t end, and the house will get clean when it gets clean, and I think I staved off getting sick by not pushing through.
When I had a stomach bug earlier this year, I lived on crackers, mac and cheese, and gatorade. My tummy didn’t want anything remotely healthy, and after trying too hard to force in some fruits and veggies and feeling really yucky, I just went with whatever didn’t make my stomach turn and I was better(ish) in 2 days.
I’ve gotten sick on sushi (must not have been fresh), and gotten better on French fries.
I still love both. 🙂
Have you read The Serotonin Power Diet? I too suffer from depression (and the weight gain from SSRIs). I’m finding it helpful.
I love popcorn with butter, and as far as I’m concerned there are way worse things one could eat.
I think comfort food is given that label for a reason, we sometimes just want to be comforted.
My father was a manic depressive and he grew up in an era and a family in which mental health care was not addressed (which is ridiculous because most of them desperately needed it) and unfortunately his pride got in the way of his life. Every time I hear about ways to help treat depression without medication I wish that he could have known them, but I am so grateful they’re coming to light now because that pride still unfortunately gets in the way of many people seeking help (my brother included) and it seems easier to change your diet than to take a medication for some people.
Das Energi by Paul Williams for knowledge.
The Book of Qualities by J Ruth Gendler for enjoyment.
” . . .one whole teaspoon is a lot of cinnamon!””
Indeed. And the whole thing is rather short on coffee.
“I’ll admit it sounds a little quacky at first . . .”
You never knew your grandmothers? Real popcorn, with real butter on it, washed down with a cup of real hot cocoa is an antidepressant recipie known to grandmothers around the world for hundreds of years.
You know what really sounds quacky at first? Those diet books. They ought to sound quacky at second as well. Get rid of them. If you can stand the ethics of it, sell them at your next yard sale and use the money to buy some quality dark chocolate and bacon.
Real popcorn with real butter and real hot cocoa….*droooolllll* I am not depressed, but I am absolutely going to make some popcorn and hot chocolate right now.
Oh, I so want to tour the celestial seasonings factory! I almost got to go when I was in Boulder a few years ago, but it just didn’t work out.
My go to comfort food is potatoes. Baked, fried, mashed, oven roasted… I’ll take them any way I can get it. When I’m not feelin well I can’t kick the Pepsi craving.
The slide towards depression seems to be going around at the moment. I’ve taken a week off work next week because I know if I don’t it will be harder to get back on an even keel.
I’m stopping at the health food store for more probiotics this afternoon – thanks for reminding me ! I’ve been craving fudge, english caramel fudge. It is so full of sugar that I know I shouldn’t eat it as it makes things worse but I can’t get it out of my head.
I haven’t had popcorn in years. I might buy some of that too on my way home. I’ll try the coconut oil someone suggested. I wonder if I could add some lime juice ? Might be interesting.
When I saw the mouse in the picture above I thought the Superfood you were going to talk about was going to be mouse pee or something – so glad I was wrong !
I tried Apple Cider vinegar but hated it, nearly throwing up. I also tried Kale and it doesn’t seem to matter what I do it just tastes vile.
I have tried eating something “healthy” that made me sick and it was bitter gourd. I would vomit every time I eat that vegetable. My mom would get mad because I am not eating healthy foods according to her 🙂 Now, what I am doing is, every time I feel sick, I do some exercises and drink a lot of water; and after that I feel totally okay.
Awesome post! Thanks for this. I have been researching the subject a lot lately and what you are saying here aligns perfectly with my findings.
A life changing book for me was ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’ by Brene Brown. Simply amazing. I love love love your blog!
Healthy foods that make me sick? Crappy food that makes me feel better? At sixteen weeks pregnant this is pretty much my life right now.
Have you ever read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin? If you are trying to figure out who “just Charlotte” is I’d really recommend it. A lot of her experiments would be helpful for anyone but she talks a lot about how important it is to figure out what makes us happy and then let ourselves enjoy those things (for example, she comes to terms with the fact that she just prefers pop to classical music and it’s ok for an adult to really love YA fiction).
Pingback:What I’m trying Wednesday: ProBiotics | Lifeducation
I’m gone to say to my little brother, that he should also visit this website on regular
basis to take updated from hottest information.
Hello my family member! I want to say that this post is
amazing, great written and include approximately all vital infos.
I’d like to peer more posts like this .
Can someone please explain to me why after drinking bitter melon I am so Nauseated and I also am Vomiting like Crazy?