Ruth,

You and I have somewhat similar journeys. I wanted to pass along a book which may be of interest. Reading it now. While you didn’t say you had chronic pain, the connective tissue here is anxiety. We are as a people sick with it- that’s another article. However this might be of interest to you and yours: Unlearn Your Pain, by Dr Howard Schubiner. This is a workbook. Started this week. I will note anything of worth in articles to come.

I agree wholeheartedly that food is a player. However based on my research it appears that it may have considerably more to do with emotional trauma. Eating food that our bodies neither like (based our our unique preferences) nor can process (most popular American foods) adds kerosene to the fire.

When we are traumatized, we often turn to food for comfort. Often, bad food. In that regard I think that food is a really a huge contributor, and that our anxiety is fed not only by bad food but also by our innate knowledge that we are feeding our body badly. That’s just a hunch. My guess is that we are only touching the tip of the iceberg here in our understanding of what constant anxiety does to us.

This is such a huge, multifaceted issue that we could likely write a War And Peace on it. Anxiety is the illness of our times, and America is #1 worldwide in it. Thanks for your article.