How Food Heals: A Look into Food as Medicine for Our Physical and Mental Health

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Writing a book is something I never thought I would do. I had always appreciated literature, but writing was never my area of expertise. I am and always have been more enticed to the natural sciences. Writing lab reports was more up my alley, that is of course until I became so passionate about this topic. After I realized my chronic acne was derived from my gut microbiome and it was completely in my hands to fix it, I became obsessed with the idea that food can heal. If my acne, that I struggled with for seven years could be cured with the help of food, then what could this mean for people who struggle with more severe and detrimental health ailments. My curiosity led me onto the path of late night Pubmed searches, YouTube videos, and new recipes. My research started purely due to my curiosity. It wasn’t until quarantine hit and I was presented with the opportunity to work with Brian Bies at New Degree Press and join Eric Koester’s book writing fellowship that I decided to take my research a step further. My amazing and dedicated editors Megan Hennessey and Amanda Moskowitz helped me pursue this project, which was completely out of my comfort zone. When I realized that I had a story to share, research to explore, and a message to spread, I knew I had to write this book. I wish someone had given me a book like this seven years ago. Although I struggled with insecurities from my experiences with chronic acne, I am glad my story happened because if it hadn’t, I would not be able to share this message with you.

I could not have done this alone.

To Jon Stahlman (MD), Darwin Deen (MD), Laurie Lewis (Certified Coach), Patricia Ischiropoulos (MD), Lauren Rosen (MD), Mitchell Cohen (MD), Karin Sargrad (MS), Kevin Skole (MD), Kim Joffe (MSN, CRNP, PMHNP), Myra Woodworth-Hobbs (PhD), and Elle Speed (LE), thank you for being such a critical part of my journey. I am extremely grateful for the insight I gained from our conversations and content reviews. This book would not have been possible without the expertise and knowledge you provided me. I will forever be appreciative of the time you have dedicated to me and this project.

I would like to thank everyone who generously supported me to make this book a reality:

Alana Agron, Anna Alworth, Emily Aronin, Gabbi Artillio, Kris Artillio, Barry family, Olivia Berger, Melissa Zietz-Berke, Leslie Berman, Joshua Boss, Boxman family, Shauna Brandman, Annie Brickel, Brzozowski family, Burak family, Woodley Burrow, Butler family, Cameron Campili, Camelia Carvajal, Missy Chapman, Lori Coffey, Rachel Cohen, Robin Cohen, Susan Cooper, Paul D’Amico, Daniel Deitch, Corina DelCampo, Abby DeYoung, DiCianno family, Mary Duffy, Katie Du Plessis, Marilyn Einheber, Ernst family, Jim and Dot Ettelson, John Everett, David Eyl, Ann Fandozzi, Felgoise family, Sue Friedman, Kevin Geisner, Rebecca Gerber, Anna Glowniak, Jan Gronemeyer, Judy Grune, Donna Harris, Liselotte Harrity, Carolyn Hatoff, Debbie Heuckeroth, Joey Hodson, Gregory Horn, Lisa Kaplan, Kaufman family, Andrew Kelly, Ryan Kenneally, Paige Kokolakis, Karen Kramer, Jaydi Samuels Kuba, Alexis Lambert, Tierney Lanter, Jackie Lazzaro, David and Pam Lear, Ron and Suzanne Lear, Scott Lear, Lena Lerner, Brandon Lindsey, Powell Lowe, Lauren Mahoney, James Marek, Lecia Markowitz, Natalie Meltzer, Ilene Miller, Janelle Morrison, Alex Moskowitz, Ramona Naseri, Kathryn Noonan, Doug Olin, Jill Oster, Paladino family, Isabella Pantano, Brian Paul, Margie Paul, Josh Pardo, Barbara Pfeiffer, Debbie Poisson, Mindy Postal, Phyllis Pottash, Neil Ratna, Lindsey Reina, Melanie Reinhardt, Jackie Rogers, Kayte Rosan, Diane Rose, Rosen Family, Andi Samuels, Jonathan Savdie, Mason Schilling, Lisa Schlager, Kate Shields, Jordan Sternthal, Ben Swanson, Annette Swartz, Avery Topkis, Jamie, Topkis, Logan Van Reken, Remi Weinstein, Jory Weiss, Werther family, Arielle Williamson, Vicki Wolf, Jonathan (MD) and Marsha Wolfe, Maxcine Wyman, Amy Yuter, and Cindy Zhang.

I am so lucky to be surrounded by a supportive family. Thank you to my uncles, aunts, and cousins: uncle Andy, aunt Diep, Jade, Dylan, Leah, uncle Mitchell, aunt Maileen, Jordan, Jamie, uncle Brett, uncle Todd, aunt Vicki, Rafe, Lexi, Daniel, Sophia, and Emma, and my loving grandparents Mom Mom (Zena), Pop Pop (Gil), Grandpop (Raymond), Zayde (Roger), Natasha, and Great Grandma Barbara.

Thank you to my incredible friends and family who took the time to read over my chapter(s) and provide feedback: Julie Klein, Frances Dovell, Christina Leonard, Ashleigh Acker, Dario Fucich, Michele Kaufman, Ryan Heaton, Tommy Weinstein, Jocy Spizman, Jordan Taxay, Talya Kalman, Vicki Pilgrim, Jade Bennett-Pham, and Dan SanGiovanni.

To Luke Brzozowski, my roommates Lindsey Grune and Sophie Tenenbaum, Steven Fandozzi, Bella Paladino, Adrien Gay-Bellile, Brandon Cohen, Julia Frangioni, Maddy Fair, and Natalie Paskin, thank you for continuing to support me when the book has been the only topic of conversation for months on end. I am so grateful to have friends like you.

To my dad, Barry, and my twin brother, Sam, thank you for believing in me and for trying all my new recipes. It is so easy to stay motivated and passionate about projects like this when I am constantly being surrounded by inspirational people like you.

Finally, a very special thank you to my mom, Sandy Cohen. You have been my rock throughout my journey, especially during the many days when I felt insecure. You always shared your positive outlook. You have always been real with me, guiding me down the right path throughout my life. This book would not have been possible without the many hours you spent listening to me and helping me put my thoughts on paper. You have inspired me to be the best version of myself and follow all of my passions. Thank you for your unconditional support. I love you.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

ONE.

HOW WE GOT HERE

ONE:

THE RISE OF NUTRITION

TWO:

GUT MICROBIOME

THREE:

INFLAMMATION

TWO.

PRINCIPLES OF THE FOOD-CAN-HEAL MINDSET

FOUR:

GLUTEN AND GRAINS

FIVE:

FATS

SIX:

DAIRY

SEVEN:

SUPPLEMENTS

THREE.

HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR EATING SCHEDULE

EIGHT:

BREAKFAST

NINE:

DESSERT

EPILOGUE

APPENDIX

INTRODUCTION

Billions of dollars are poured into developing medicines to cure our ailments, allergies, and inflammations. However, sometimes these medications don’t work right away or at all. Why does this happen? It’s frustrating. What if it’s not a drug alone that can heal us, but also what we eat? This is an interesting concept, right? Food is often thought of as a source of energy, but it can also be used as medicine for our physical and mental ailments.

I discovered the importance of food beyond simply being an energy source while I was struggling with moderate to severe acne. It took me seven years of obsessing over my skin to realize that the root cause of my acne was originating from within my gut and from the foods I was consuming. I had never previously taken the words you are what you eat verbatim. However, before simply describing my experience and helping others, I needed to pursue a more scholarly and research driven evaluation process of how nutrition impacts our gut health and our overall clinical well-being.

Ultimately, I want you to see this book as a tool to help you become more educated about the science of how our bodies both interact and intersect with the foods we eat. You should learn how to listen to your body to ensure you are eating a diet that aligns with your needs and goals. What I discovered has changed the entire way I see the future of health for our world: rather than starting with the entire list of healthy foods versus foods that raise insulin or increase fat, let’s begin with the simplicity of the peanut. The peanut—and for that matter peanut allergies—has garnered global attention and forever changed the way lunches and snacks in elementary schools are provided.

In 2015, researchers from the United Kingdom and the United States (US) released a groundbreaking study on peanut allergies prevalence.¹ Having a peanut allergy is extremely detrimental to a child’s overall health. A child with a peanut allergy must constantly be wary in order to avoid associated skin rashes, digestive problems, shortness of breath, and even anaphylactic reactions. Peanut allergies limit children more than you might imagine; they cause them to struggle with emotional, social, and spiritual health. It is hard enough for a child to avoid desserts but having to decline cake at a friend’s birthday party, carry an EpiPen everywhere, and sit at isolated lunch tables takes a toll on their overall health. Parents became consumed critically assessing the ingredient list on food labels before purchasing and asking the servers at restaurants if peanut-free meals are available in order to avoid an emergency health situation. It is a formidable task to manage this issue in toddlers and to have your adolescent be mindful of the importance of paying attention to such details.

The prevalence of peanut allergies in 2008 was determined to be ten times higher among Jewish children in the United Kingdom (UK) compared to those in Israel.² This correlation likely points to an environmental cause to partially explain the geographical difference. Research later found that peanut protein was introduced, on average, at least four months earlier in Israeli children compared to English children: at seven months in Israel versus twelve months in the UK.³ From 2000 to 2008, recommendations were made to pregnant women and new mothers to avoid peanuts when feeding their newborns.⁴,⁵ During these eight years, rather than seeing a reduction in peanut allergy prevalence, US peanut allergy cases tripled!⁶ In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed this recommendation.

The leading cause of death related to food-induced anaphylaxis in the US is peanut allergies. The American College of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology in Seattle, Washington, reported that the US has one of the highest prevalences of peanut allergies in children around the world (2.2 percent or 1.25 million Americans).⁷ To put this statistic in perspective, the number of children with peanut allergies in the US is higher than the total number of children in Philadelphia. Other countries, such as the UK, have a high prevalence of peanut allergies, as well.⁸ However, this is not the case for every country. Israel, for example, has a peanut allergy prevalence of 0.17 percent.⁹ Why do we observe such a stark difference in the prevalence of peanut allergies between different countries?

An ongoing joke in Israel is that the first three words out of every toddler’s mouth are abba (אַבָּא), which means dad; ima (אִמָא), which means mom; and bamba (הבמב), which is a popular peanut snack consumed regularly by children.¹⁰ With an earlier introduction of peanuts into an infant’s diet, peanut allergies decreased by 70 to 80 percent in the 2015 Learning Early about Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study.¹¹ Since common comorbidities in peanut allergy patients include eczema (63 percent) and an additional food allergy (35 percent), the study focused on infants between the ages of four to eleven months with either severe eczema, egg allergies, or both.¹² These specific conditions classify these infants as high-risk for peanut allergy. 

Allergy organizations and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) agreed on the new guidelines that emerged from the LEAP study, which included the recommendation of introducing peanut-containing foods early to prevent peanut allergies.¹³ The FDA treatment option of Palforzia, used to treat peanut allergies, was approved in early 2020.¹⁴ This drug may help reduce the risk of allergic reactions in children with peanut allergies. Currently, peanut allergies cannot be cured. Dr. Gideon Lack, MBBCH, MA, FRCPHC, a professor of pediatric allergy at King’s College of London, discusses the prevention of peanut allergies: It is much better to prevent the disease in the first place, and this is something we can now do for peanut allergies. . .much in the way we can vaccinate and prevent infectious diseases from occurring in children.¹⁵

National poor health outcomes and medical communication are suggesting that something is missing. The problem is that we all think of food as fuel but don’t realize that some foods have the power to heal as well.

Have you ever thought about or perseverated on a problem, over and over, for days, months, and years? You think of this problem so much that it even shows up in your dreams. Then, you suddenly have a revelation, and something triggers insight within you to understand or solve the problem. This is exactly what happened to me. I thought about the same problem every day for almost seven years. And the problem was my acne.

I developed acne—which itself was not uncommon—at the age of thirteen, earlier than most of my peers. I remember being very self-conscious and desperately wanting to hide my blemishes from the world. The only luck I had was with the Studio Fix MAC powder makeup, but it still could not fully disguise the amount of acne there was on my face. Unfortunately, my acne became more severe over time, and four, five, six years later, I was wishing I still had the acne I had when I was thirteen. 

My family knew that I had sensitive skin the day I was born. I constantly had issues with my skin, from common heat rashes to eczema and rosacea. I started seeing a dermatologist at eleven years old to deal with my follicular and cutaneous predicaments and was prescribed countless ointments and topical corticosteroids to treat my dermatological nightmares.

I was constantly trying new medications, hoping one of them would be my savior. I tried oral antibiotics, topical antibiotics, gels, and acidic washes. Nothing worked! At fifteen, I was prescribed Accutane (F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Basel Switzerland) for six months. The side effects I experienced included, but were not limited to, extremely dry skin, unrelenting nausea, loss of appetite, and signs of apathy/depression. It was horrible but it also did not work. After using Accutane, I didn’t know what to do. 

It is common for everyone to have acne in some shape or form. I know many illnesses are more severe than isolated teenage acne, but this condition was negatively affecting my self-esteem. Compassionate friends and family were constantly telling me how beautiful I was, but all I saw and thought everyone else saw were the big, disgusting, pus-filled dots all over my face. I went on birth control, norgestimate-ethinyl estradiol, specifically to slow down the progression of pustules and pimples. I started wearing makeup on my face every day to school, despite knowing that even though the foundation may have eliminated the redness, it made the bumps more prominent and the inflammation worse. 

Two years later, my skin had not changed. I still had moderate-severe acne. My friends had almost outgrown their acne phase, and, adding fuel to the fire, my twin brother’s skin was perfect. The summer before entering college, I started seeing an esthetician, Elle Speed, for oxygen and HydraFacial therapy. Oxygen facial therapies are designed to promote collagen growth by spraying high concentrated oxygen molecules into your epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. HydraFacial therapy uses patented technology and medical-grade devices to cleanse and clear dead skin cells, hydrate and loosen pores, and extract impurities from the skin using a mix of glycolic and salicylic acids. HydraFacial delivers an instant glow. You can see and feel the results, according to Elle Speed. Elle was right, the treatments helped unclog my pores, but unfortunately, they did not eliminate my acne. I went to college thinking that my acne couldn’t get any worse. 

As a biology major on a pre-medical track at college in Atlanta, Georgia, I was immersed into a high-stress environment. Those factors, combined with the humidity of living in the South and the loss of home-cooked meals, caused my acne to worsen. At this point I was wishing I had the acne I had when I was seventeen. Everyone told me how beautiful I was and how they saw past my skin, but I couldn’t. I lost confidence in myself and was constantly embarrassed. 

During my sophomore year of college, despite my persistent and never-ending facial acne, I started to develop some confidence. I was passionate about my studies, I had amazing friends, and my relationship with my family was great. I regained the motivation and hope that I hadn’t felt in years. I wanted to be healthier. My lifestyle became active. I worked out five to six days a week. I changed my eating habits. Thanks to a combination of a healthy lifestyle, a change in diet, and common acne medications (a round of doxycycline and Tretinoin cream, both of which I had tried before and failed), I was able to clear up my skin. For the first time in seven years, I had healthy, unblemished, clear skin. I remember looking at myself in the mirror, crying, a couple of months before my twentieth birthday. I never thought that day would come. 

Although I don’t doubt that leaving my teenage years in the rearview mirror helped facilitate such a change, I truly believe that my dietary changes and exercise routines contributed to this positive outcome. While the doxycycline antibiotic contributed to clearer skin, it was likely not the sole factor responsible for this newfound state of facial purity. When I took the medication five years earlier, my hormone levels were constantly changing and were now more balanced at the age of nineteen than they were at fifteen. However, I was on doxycycline months prior to changing my diet, and during those months my acne had not improved. Many acne treatments can worsen your skin at first, but this is generally not an issue with doxycycline. 

I believe my lifestyle change regarding exercise was a major factor in clearing my skin because exercise produces endorphins, reducing stress. At the time of this journey, I was in a constant state of school-related stress. Stress-related hormones, such as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), can drive up oil production in the skin, which causes acne. Additionally, small factors may have included the change in my location from the South to the North during the COVID-19 pandemic, the temperature change as seasons passed, and a reduction in makeup usage. There is no possible way to determine what single change caused my acne to clear up, but I believe it is a combination of the aforementioned shifts, with an emphasis on my change in diet.

During this time, I noticed the importance of food beyond an energy standpoint. I never felt like I had an unhealthy diet. Every person has unique trigger foods that cause their body additional stress. It took me a while to identify mine and to adjust my diet. In my case, most dairy, refined grains, and red meats caused my body to become inflamed. I believe the major factor in getting rid of my acne was cutting down on these foods and introducing a high-fiber diet to have a healthier gut