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C h e c k o u t A B M P 's l a t e s t n e w s a n d b l o g p o s t s . Av a i l a b l e a t w w w. a b m p . c o m . 29 SAVVY SELF-CARE best practices When I was growing up, I remember a public service announcement called "Time for Timer" that would come on during Saturday morning cartoons. In it, a skinny-legged cartoon cowboy reported from inside the digestive system. He talked about carbohydrates, fats, and protein, and sang, "You are what you eat, from your head down to your feet." This seemed like good information. It made sense that what we ate turned into the building material for our physical bodies. However, as time has gone by, and the experiences of life have begun to accumulate, I would adjust Timer's saying to "you are what you can digest." Unfortunately, it is possible to eat healthy food and completely miss the benefits because the digestive system cannot assimilate it. ATTENTION TO NUTRITION After a traumatic experience in my early 20s, I began to recognize how important a healthy diet was for my overall well- being. At that time, it became obvious that what I took into my body had everything to do with how I felt emotionally, mentally, and physically, so I started to pay more attention to my nutrition. I began to carefully craft my meals. I started drinking smoothies in the morning, learned to eat kale, began using healthy fats, and added superfoods like goji berries and hemp protein to my diet. I was spending a lot of time and energy—not to mention money—on my food. Between shopping, preparation, eating, and cleaning up, food was a big deal in my life. However, I wasn't really getting the full benefit of the food. I noticed how at the end of a long day of careful dietary measures, I would inevitably find myself raiding my housemate's ice cream stash or gorging on sugar. The skin on my hands began to break out in itchy eczema spots (and as a massage therapist, it was very embarrassing to have a rash on my hands). Fortunately, my clients understood that it was not contagious and allowed me to touch them, but it was a difficult time in my life to understand what was going on and what I could do about it. This went on for a couple of years. One day, I was at a yoga retreat, and there was a woman there who had suffered from terrible eczema at points in her life, too. Our yoga instructor Improve Your Digestion By Jennie Hastings