7 effective tips for (high) sensitive persons to improve health and happiness

To be at your healthiest and most productive, especially as an HSP, you need to really take good care of yourself. Because from taking good care of yourself , your body and mind will be in harmony and this brings the energy you need to feel truly happy, productive and resilient. Life the will not seem so challenging or painful but fun and full of possibilities.3
Most HSPs are very much aware of the subtleties in their environment, which of course also includes their own bodies. They immediately can tell when something is ‘out of balance’. Headaches, muscle and joint pains, and general malaise are all signals from the body saying ‘attention –  we have problem’. And as a true (high) sensitive people you often answer the call. Remember:

 You Are What You Eat — But You Eat What You Are

And what is the only way to change your eating habits such that you indeed become who you want to be, rather than a product of your choices that you’d rather never see again? Well, the answer is quite simple. And it might surprise you. But rather than just giving it to you, I would like to challenge you to find the answer while you read through the x (high) sensitive person’s diet tips below. And at the end of these tips, to come up with your on answer to: What is the (high) sensitive person’s  single most important factor for a healthy diet?
As you’ve already gathered, this article is not about á diet ‘in the strictest sense, as in ‘losing weight’ diet or ‘creating a 6-pack‘’diet
Not at all, in fact.
It is about optimizing your energy level and taking the next (major) step in realizing your full potential. The tips contained here will, if  followed with some discipline, give you a greater sense of meaning by improving your self-esteem, your ‘stamina‘ in reaching out to what you want and your ability to relax at the right time, lean backwards and have a healthy laugh about yourself.
Many people today, (high) sensitive or otherwise, suffer from either food intolerance, fatigue, bad skin, headache, arrest of aches and pains, diabetes, obesity, heart problems … or all of the above. These discomforts are often related to or enhanced by their diet.
Becoming more aware of that certain food types can do with your overall well-being helps to ban those from your diet and in turn get rid of discomforts or at least minimize them.
Does this sound good to you?
Yes?
If it does but you don’t feel like reading a whole article, just continue reading from the brief summary and answer the challenge above. If you manage to integrate these tips in your daily life, you’re all set!

(High) sensitive person’s food dilemmas

Figuring out what to eat can be a challenge of epic proportions for (high) sensitive persons, because everything we eat affects us (high) sensitive folks so much.

• If we eat too little, we feel light-headed, drained, anxious and jittery.
• If we eat too much, or the wrong things, our minds shut down big time.
• If we don’t eat balanced, we might suffer digestive issues, headaches and other inconveniences
• We are strongly affected by processed foods, and refined sugar and caffeine affect us like mind-altering drug.
• A strict, clean, raw diet, however, can render our emotions very pure –  and, well, .. too raw to handle.
• (High) sensitive persons benefit from eating in a way that calms and grounds us. Grounding foods include fats, but do choose the healthy ones. Fats are also essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system.

 

How do I create a supporting nutritional pattern?

Tip 1: Build your diet around vegetables. They are the star of your show and you can enjoy them in many forms (salads, juices, smoothies, soups, stews and other dishes). Vegetables ground you, help you balancing and are full of essential vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Read more
Tip 2: Invite a varied supporting cast to your meals: nuts, seeds, whole grains, fruits. If you opt for animal foods, go for high-quality animal foods.
Tip 3: Treat any type of stimulants as a replacement for your star: they are good to have in stand-by but should not be used on a regular basis. We are talking about the obvious stimulants like cola, coffee and cocaine and include cacao here, since it also has very stimulating effect (not least to the sugar contained in most cacaos). Green tea is a ‘maybe’ since it has a less stimulating effect but also strains the adrenals more than, f.ex. herbal tea alternatives.
Tip 4: Detox from time to time. You can, f.ex. establish one ‘salat day’a week or a day totally free of sugar…. You name it. As a (high) sensitive person, a gentle detox regime should be your choice. Not eating or eating extremely little can deprive you of the biochemical substances necessary for the normal, calm functioning of the nervous system.
Tip 5: Stay clear big time from extreme detox regimes such as water or juice fasts. Such fluid fasts strain the body’s digestive system and organs and are quite exhausting. Being deprived of essential biochemical, the nervous system can end up in in a state of stress and flash on its sympathetic “fight or flight” button, instead of your intended parasympathetic “detox and rest” one. Note: this effect can also occur if you lose much body fluid by sweating extremely, as can occur on a very hot day or after extensive sauna use.
Tip 6: If you feel anxious, light-headed, tired of irritable, your blood sugar level might have gone below ‘acceptable’.  Find something to eat fast, but see to it that it contains ‘good’ sugars that will supply you with pleasant doses of energy for a longer period instead of throwing you in a short sugar high and back again into your uneasy situation. I order to prevent low blood sugar levels see to it that you eat regularly, and opt for grounding and balancing foods such as greens and healthy fats and proteins. If adventurous, you might like to experiment with taking chlorella between meals. Chlorella is loaded with healthy vitamins and can help to keep the blood sugar level balanced.
Tip 7: As a (high) sensitive person you may be easily stressed. Since stress causes the body to use up lots of magnesium and vitamins B, you may find that supplementing those can work (small) miracles. Choose quality multi-) vitamin products. Most good health stores can help you make the best pick for your situation. ( Note: try to get a product that’s free of magnesium stearate. It’s an added synthetic flow agent used to make manufacturing equipment run more smoothly but it does not supplement you with magnesium). AN effective way to add extra magnesium is through the skin. You can do this by using magnesium oil in the morning.

Brief summary

1. Eat regularly and resist any urge to undereat.
2. Base your diet around vegetables.
3. Be sure to get plenty of healthy fats.
4. If you need extra help balancing your blood sugar, take chlorella between meals.
5. Steer clear of stimulants.
6. If you’re feeling stressed, give yourself extra magnesium and B vitamins.

A diet which accounts for all of the above points is a whole foods diet. And I would suggest that you experiment to find the amount of raw that works for you, and also the foods that you feel best on. Make it a little self-study: you’ll learn a lot about yourself, feel better and better and it’s fun!
And last but not least: in the end you will enjoy the great feeling that you found out all this by yourself. Nobody has ‘just told you’ what to do. You did it Yourself, and it’s your own truth. And that is always stronger, truer and lasts longer than anyone else’s.

Challenge

Now that we’ve worked through these tips, back to my initial question: What is the (high) sensitive person’s  single most important factor for a healthy diet?
What is your conclusion?
You’ve just learned a lot about how (high) sensitive people are different in what they need in their daily diet as compared to less sensitive fellows. You might have realized that underlying all those tips is one main factor that determines the success or failing of your quest towards a more resilient life.
And this factor is: awareness!
Yes, that’s right. Awareness is the key. Your whole world will change when you increase your awareness! Whether you suffer from either obesity, food intolerance, fatigue, bad skin, headache, arrest of aches and pains, diabetes, heart problems … or all of the above you will experience great benefits from conscious adjustments of what you eat. Becoming more aware of how your body reacts to specific types of food types can do wonders for your overall well-being.
Therefore, awareness is paramount!

Become (more) aware

If you want to increase your awareness the first step is to consider that YOU may be part of your problem. If you follow an inclination that your discomfort is to be blamed on someone or something outside of yourself you will not get a step closer to better health.
Therefore, you need to work on your own awareness. Become aware that the solution lies in your own hands. That you can increase your body’s ability to get rid of all these inconveniences. You need to be very determined and take the full responsibility yourself.
The next step is to be aware that the fastest and easiest way to change your nutrition pattern is to find someone who supports you when the going gets tough. You don’t want a happy critic or even a cynic by your side when you are close to giving up.
Thirdly awareness can be increased through a number of different techniques (mindfulness, meditation, yoga, prayer ….). If you choose to include any one of those to govern your mindset in such a way that it helps you to strengthen the self-healing ability of your body you can experience empowerment in all areas of your life.

NOW is the time

I’m secretly wondering if you feel like whizzing off and clearing out your cupboard of all ‘replacement products’ that you don’t want to star in your ‘happy and healthy’ show any more!

And now that you know what my choice for single-most-factor for a healthy (high) sensitive persons diet is:

 -> Did you come to the same conclusion?
-> What is your choice for the single-most important factor for a happier and healthier life?
->Which tip did you find most surprising?
->Which tip did you like most?
->Any tips that you dismissed right after having read them?
 -> Choose one tip to consciously implement in your daily routine for one week and see what it does to your well-being.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little challenge. If you liked this article, mark the following data in your agenda:
If you liked this article, mark the following data in your agenda:
‘Holistic medicine – Superpower or superstition?’ (Part 1 of the trilogy) (July 20th)
‘Holistic medicine – Where today’s scientific methods fall short’ (Part 2 of the trilogy) (August 3rd)
‘Holistic medicine – Science dilemma and way forward’ (Part 3 of the trilogy)(August 17th)
’10 practical and fun tips for living with high) sensitive children’ (August 31th)
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