Strawberry Season... Yay!

It is that time of the year, supermarkets are overflowing with delicious red. Over here in Florida we are big on strawberry plantations and these delicious fruit is affordable, readily available and best of all they are very versatile!

If anything positive could be derived off Lupus is that it forced me to take a good look at my nutritional patterns and gave me the opportunity to explore healthy eating, like that share of fruits and veggies, we make a point of avoiding in our daily lives.

Fruits and veggies are full of wonderful nutrients that help us achieve a balanced lifestyle and improve our function.

In the case of strawberries, they work as anti inflammatories. Try it, one cup a day for two months, and I can guarantee, based on experience that those C Reactive protein numbers will start going down!

Strawberries, combined with other fruits will work wonders on your kidneys also. As a patient of Lupus Nephritis, it is hard looking for food and beverages that will sit well with your kidneys. However, a natural smoothie comprised on strawberries, cantaloupe, honey dew and cherries ( along with your immunosuppresants of course) can help to bring those protein counters down.

Strawberries are also great immune boosters, as we tend to lack on that aspect, because of the medications to treat our condition. They also increase HDL, (the good cholesterol).

It's strawberry time, but through the year, we have all kinds of fruits and vegetables that will help us with different aspects of our condition, so enjoy what nature has to give!

It is important though, to always check with your doctor/nutritionist in regards with any food choices, specially when you are starting to introduce them to your diet.

I'll leave you with the recipe for a Strawberry Smoothie that will do good to your kidneys and liver :) (IF YOU HAVE KIDNEY STONES STRAWBERRIES ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU :( )

1 cup of strawberries

1 cup of honey dew

1/2 cup of cantaloupe

1 cup of cherries

(You can dilute it in 24 onzs green tea, orange juice or water, to your liking)

You can enjoy this three times a day, using an 8onz serving with each of your meals.

And what about those times when grief sets in?

 

Proverbs 13:12

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Hope is defines as "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best."

It is so true, because hope becomes the motor of our lives, for all of us who are waiting for something to change for the better in our lives, be it to heal, to obtain stability or to be granted that wish we have put all our yearnings on.

Even for those of us who believe in faith, is our hope is deferred, as the proverb reads, if that which we have set our sights on is delayed, it becomes some type of torment. This is the case for many people who are waiting to he healed; if the process takes too long, of if there are not enough breakthroughs, despair sets in. Holding on to faith, however, keeps hope in the horizon. I found myself getting desperate, even as I prayed for reaching a stability, until I finally acknowledged that for everything there is a season.

There will be a time to heal, not only physically, but emotionally as well. To me, the "tree of life" is an opportunity to heal in ALL aspects, to know that we will see the fruits of our labor, knowing that it takes patience. The greatest trees didn't come to be all of a sudden. It all starts with a seed that through a process, becomes stronger and finally brings forth life on its ownright. So is faith, we need to nurture it, make it active, so that it will keep us in constant sight of our hopes and their fulfillment, in time.

Let's wish for each day we will be able to perceive our greatest hopes closer to fulfillment and let's have faith that it will all come in due time. Despair has no place, so let's toss it aside and let our hearts enjoy the better things.