Paige for Wellness

I’ve been gone quite a while, since I hurt my neck in August of 2024– the pain was severe– the worst I’d ever experienced. I couldn’t turn my head at all; no position gave relief. But I had a lot of faith in the body’s resilience with little doubt about my fairly near- future recovery. 

As weeks passed, I became increasingly concerned with how bad I felt. Instead of the pain going away with time, it went down my arms, making minimal use of them painful.

When you’re going through long- term, intense pain that you feel like you can’t necessarily control, though, that can become disempowering.

I hold dear the idea of the body’s ability to heal and recover– I believe when it is given the “right” things, it knows how to take care of itself.

Yet I started to wonder if my body and I were still on the same taskforce. What played a role in my injury was pushing past what my body was “okay” with at the time– I subconsciously wondered if because I did that, our relationship (of me listening to its biofeedback) was harmed. 

Trying to listen to my body in this condition, without feeling as in- control as I have before, has been a process and lesson in patience. 

One of the milestones, though, didn’t actually involve pain relief, but rather a cue my body was giving me– without initially realizing it. 

See, I was craving peanuts– in any form. I’ve never had peanuts take up so much mind space. Constantly, I wanted anything with peanuts, particularly peanut butter. Often when I would normally make a meal, peanuts were at the front of my mind instead. 

Being curious, eventually– it dawned on me: there must be a reason.

Upon looking into their nutrient profile, I discovered peanuts to be quite the dark horse. They’re a great source of:

Manganese- supporting collagen in bones and joints, feeding disc (what I injured) health and structure, increasing circulation via vasodilation. 23% in just 1 ounce!

Copper- supporting collagen, cortisol regulation and anti- inflammation as well as immune health, 34% in 1 oz. 

Vitamin E- anti- inflammatory, increases circulation and supports healing- hormone progesterone for metabolic health and recovery 16% DV 

Magnesium- Muscle, nerve, and bone health (feeding the nutrition to the disc). 12% DV.

Niacin- pro- circulation vasodilator, supports NAD for cellular regeneration, metabolic health and recovery. 28% DV in that 1 oz!

Though this discovery was made in the face of intense, unresolved pain, it was a very sweet reminder of what my body still knew, nonetheless. 

My body/ brain axis was guiding me.

And you can be guided by yours, too.