We all know what works for one person, may not work for another. How often do we feel standardized and statistically categorized in our quest for health? Even now, most of our procedures and diagnoses are based on others experiences, not on our individual needs. What’s worse, is the very limited use of preventative options in managing our health. Mostly, we wait till the diagnoses, and then we treat the symptoms. This is inadequate and can be very unproductive if we are planning on healing. The nature of this healthcare equation is dependent on disease being present, not healing.
My personal journey to understand nutritional needs has been nothing but a bumpy road. Prevention wasn’t easy to find at times and I made some choices based on biases that didn’t win me any favors. For instance, as a teenager, I decided it was a good conscious animal loving move to become vegetarian. So for the next nine years I avoided all meat and became a scrawny version of what you know me to be today. Like 20-30 lbs scrawny comparative, with the same amount of spunk, of course! I felt yucky and tired all the time. I also made the ill-suited choice to eat tofu everyday for my protein needs, because everyone was doing it and it was good for you, right? Worst mistake ever. I felt like crap! It wasn’t until my mid-twenties, I discovered eating for my blood type, through my acupuncturist actually. I am O- which is best fed carnivorously. The first month I added meat back to my diet I gained 10lbs and immediately felt a million times better and had the energy that was missing for so long. A lot of my chronic ailments balanced out over time. Most noticeably my hormones regulated. Not to mention that wheat allergy ended up being Celiac Disease, (a gluten allergy) which I did not discover for another 20yrs! Tofu and soy products are often processed using wheat products making them unsuitable for a Celiac. So, constant gluten contamination, and don’t forget the beer of course, continued to be a source of sickness I didn’t understand for way too long. I went from poisoning myself with “good” foods, to finally understanding my inflammation was an autoimmune reaction. I was doing it all backwards.
Another personal blunder came in my 30’s when I started experiencing severe abdominal pain that stopped me in my tracks. What we thought was appendicitis, was actually my gallbladder. After multiple doctors and imaging I was informed I had “sludge” in my gallbladder, a sciency term used to describe the onset of gallstones, and was encouraged to schedule my cholecystectomy. I was told statistically, it was only a matter of time before these symptoms would turn severe and my gallbladder must be removed. I was advised it would be best to “prevent” that and remove the organ. And with my family history it just couldn’t be avoided. But, I didn’t agree and left the doctors office feeling angry that I was clumped into a category that seemed unrelated to genetics. I decided it wouldn’t hurt anymore than it already was to try gallbladder/liver cleansing, an old school method of fasting and increasing elimination, and low and behold, I passed hundreds of stones naturally within the week. I repeated this process quarterly until the issue was resolved, which took about a year. Even though my grandmother, my mother, and my aunt all had the same pains in their 30’s and subsequent removal of their gallbladders, I cut the contract on hereditary illness, and to this day, some 15 yrs later, I still have my gallbladder. And I don’t have the knifing pain in my gut anymore.
There is never only one way to health. In fact, the best way to heal is uniquely. When you choose based on others' experience, you miss out on your own. By seeing through the lens of the group, you lose sight of Self, separating you from your individual needs. In our quest to know our own truth, the best approach should be special, because you are special. We have to take into account the nuances and base our decisions on what feels right, what we know to be true from our own due diligence and perceptions, not on statistics alone. Pursue your truth as if it is just being discovered for the first time. Ask questions and do your research. Or risk leaving your health and wellness in the hands of someone that might not value you as much as you deserve to be valued.
Our health, and our chosen therapy, should be an individual process. If we are looking for resolution or methods of managing our health, this is accomplished best by knowing who we are individually, and responding to our needs in that same way. This Self knowledge gives us agency and mobility in our health goals, empowering us in our journey. If anyone is telling you otherwise, you are being asked to assimilate, removing choice from your treatment plan, and sending you down a path not your own. I want to encourage curiousity about who YOU are, and become the best version of your healing. We are drawn together in this journey to inspire and create our ideal self care practice. It is this Oneness that creates the Wholeness we are all a part of.