Finally seeing benefits of healthy (ish) eating

Either my body likes me more in my old age, or I am blinder, or I am finally seeing all the health benefits folk claim come with healthy eating.

10 years ago when we got married we ate fairly normal for America.  Plenty of junk food, pop, and a good deal of eating out.  We had the occasional veggie.  I was raised to believe dinner is not cooked without a veggie.  But I also rarely cooked.

When I got pregnant I went out of my way to find a fruit or veggie for most meals.  But those meals were still white flour, and plenty of convenience.  And I rarely found veggies when eating out anywhere but Asian food.

Over the next 8 years we added more fruit and veggies, and more whole grains, and less convenience.  Plus the number one useful health food - water.  I drink a lot of it. Nothing happened all at once, and we still have a long way to go before we can say the whole diet is healthy.  I am not sure we will ever get there though.  (I am not giving up my peanut butter!  Though I have considered healthier versions.)

At first I ate healthy for the kids, I wanted the best for my baby, and for the rare couple of months in those years where I wasn't nursing or pregnant, I wanted to be a good example.  I knew, and know, intellectually all reports say eating healthy is better for you.  But until this past month or so,  I hadn't noticed anything personally.

This winter our usual round of 'snots'  (in winter we are often so mildly sick I wont call it a cold, just snots for a week or two). anyway the snots were much diminished, Baby Girl was the worst, and she was just well....snotty.  I kept her away from most other kids for the duration, just in case it got worse (or others gave her worse).  But really it was a very easy winter medical wise.

But even more personally, I always have severe eczema shortly before and after each birth.  Except this time I don't.  I have slightly dry hands and one flaky spot.  Compared to the cracked bloody agony I usually suffer, this is amazingly easy to deal with.

I also usually have a 'acne of a teen', only recently with new found wrinkles.  Not right now, oh it isn't perfect, I have plenty of sins regarding going to bed with a sweaty face, and in general ignoring my skin.  I don't even know the last time I put sun screen on.  Or did anything besides wash it.

 I stopped to consider my own face during the late pregnancy to see if I was getting fat there.  (yes that marked the first time I actually considered my own features in months), and was surprised to notice no major acne.  It kinda snuck up on me.

The one thing we did notice fairly quickly was a reduction in the number, and duration of headaches for both my husband and I.  That change happened rather quickly.  Not that we never get any, just that 10 years ago, it was once or twice (or more) a week.  A year or so later and it was more like once or twice a month.   Now we both can go months without a headache.  We actually had to throw away Ibuprofen because it expired.

When you add these little visible changes to the pile of research saying we will apparently have less cancer, heart disease, strokes, and who knows what else.  I guess all those changes were worth it.