Who knew vitamins could be so useful??

                     

For my independent field trip I went to Vitamin Cottage, real exciting I know I know.  It honestly had not been what I had originally had in mind, but it worked out perfect.  I have recently learned how super important vitamins are for you, especially when your body is incapable of making them.  For example, I have night blindness and had never made the connection that it might actually have something to do with a vitamin deficiency in my diet.  After learning, by way of my fiancé and his nutrition class, that night blindness in fact occurs because of a deficiency in vitamin A.  Interesting right??

While we were at Vitamin Cottage looking for vitamin A, we ran into James Lewis who just so happens to be a certified Clinical Herbalist.  I had no intention of interviewing at the time, however our quick question turned into an hour-long discussion of vitamins, nutrition and their benefits.  I feel especially lucky having run into James because just two days before I had changed my mind, for about the tenth time, on what exactly I wanted to do my final paper on.  The information I gathered while talking to James directly relates to my paper, because everything he talked about is what I will attempt to cover in my paper.

It was a cold spring afternoon, the kind of weather where it is perfect to be out shopping spending all your time inside in a nice warm slightly funny smelling place.  We have just recently decided to start eating healthier and start shopping at more natural grocery stores.  The layout of the store was unfamiliar and odd to me.  As luck would have it we’d run into James who looked like he is wearing his best causal Friday clothes and a semi-balding red hair comb over. This chance meeting was not originally going to be part of my research, but he did give me lots of support for the ideas I had already had.  He gave me a better foundation on where to start my paper.  The most interesting part of this experience was all the information I thought was new and brilliant, like taking vitamin A for night blindness, in fact isn’t a new concept.  This was something that James already knew, he was able to expand my horizons and inform me that we are in control of our own health, and that it is up to us to decide how we want to live.  

Vitamins, Nutrition and Superfoods, Oh My!

Vitamins are interesting little things.  They are too often over looked by physicians as well as the general population for every day benefits.  Most people have the tendency to think that vitamins are good for too many things, and surely they cannot that effective. For instance, vitamin E is good for a variety of aliments such as it can reduce heart disease, heals burns and it is good for helping teenagers with epilepsy.  Just like it isn’t common knowledge that vitamin C is a anti-toxin, anti-histamine, anti-viral, it helps regulate blood sugar and it helps act as a mood elevator.

There are so many reasons why nutrition is important besides maintaining a healthy weight.  Good nutrition is essential for the body and sustaining all of the body’s systems for a lifetime.  The benefits of good nutrition are both physical and mental, because a healthy diet provides energy, promotes good sleeping habits, as well as many others functions.

Many people have heard of superfoods, but they still aren’t clear on exactly what superfoods are or what their benefits are.  Superfoods just mean that they have phenomenal nutritional value because they are packed with loads minerals and vitamins that the body needs.  Also, they are very low in bad fats and more importantly they are not processes (yay!). 

So the process begins...

Well, the original ideas I have for this paper won’t do me any good for this particular assignment.  Though I have back round information on the subjects that interest me the most, I don’t have any personal experience with them, which makes it difficult to write a creative non-fiction paper.  I have to admit early that though I Do Try, I am not by any means a creative person.  So I anticipate this paper will be more difficult for me to write to ensure I get my story across to my readers.  

            With that being said trying to come up with topics that hold my interest while attempting to make my story relatable/creative has been complicated.  For some reason I cannot entirely explain I seem to love topics that are completely foreign to me, like substance abuse. I have spent the entire weekend brain storming and trying to think outside the box to come up with something that I’m familiar with, something I can tell from my personal experience.

            I have recently started doing yoga on a regular basis, and I think researching the benefits that yoga can have one’s body and mind will be interesting.  I think telling my story of why I needed an outlet; especially a meditative/relaxing outlet will support me in my quest to become a better person.  My plans for constructing this paper are approaches that will be new for me.  For example, I will be interviewing a friend and will be creating questions that relevant for my paper.  Also, I have never cited anything out of a magazine, and I plan on finding fascinating articles for my paper.  I will use my yoga class for my independent field trip, and I am still brain storming ideas of how exactly to tie that into my paper.

New Questions? Or New Topic?

New Questions? Or New Topic?

            I thoroughly enjoyed the subject of my last paper, substance abuse and mental illness and how they are often dually diagnosed in an individual.  However, I didn’t enjoy doing the works cited page nearly as much. :) With that being said I really felt I covered all the questions I thought of when I was first brainstorming.  I wanted my paper to be as conclusive as possible so every question I could conjure up I did the research and eventually found the answer.  As of now I have a sound understanding of how and why these diseases are connected. 

To be perfectly honest, I have a whole new set of questions floating around in my brain due to the work of the previous paper.  I wonder the effects that both mental illness and substance abuse have on relationships.  How exactly does being dually diagnosed affect the dynamics of family relationships?  Are family members more understanding of
”chaos” that can be created by the individual who is dually diagnosed?  What is the attitude of the family and friends of the individual?  Are they accepting of the diagnosis? Or are the family and friends skeptical of the diagnosis, thinking of it as more as an excuse for bad behavior than an actual diagnoses.  

Also, I learned that people who are diagnosed with bipolar and schizophrenia are more than double likely to develop a substance abuse addiction because of their mental illness. And though I’m familiar with these mental illnesses I would however benefit from learning more about them.  What does it mean exactly to be bipolar or schizophrenic?  When is the onset?  Are there genetic factors that can help facilitate these diseases? How often do they occur together?  What is the best treatment for these diseases?  What are the characteristics of each of these diseases?