In the video below I share the two most common misconceptions I see in my practice around digestive health; however, these two misconceptions are true for most any health condition. Sometimes when what you are doing isn’t working and your health condition and symptoms are persisting, you need to start over and re-evaluate your strategy.
Western medicine has taught us to compartmentalize our body and our symptoms–drawing correspondence between specific symptoms to specific organs. But we are not just a conglomeration of parts, we are an interdependent system that all works in unison and together. It is not possible to separate how our body works into pieces because each supposed piece works in combination with the whole.
Henry Miller said “Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders which make no sense. “ Sometimes stillness and listening to our body is what is needed. Our symptoms are a clue to the dis-ease in our body. Medicating our symptoms does not answer our body’s call.
What is your body trying to tell you? Are you paying attention to your symptoms or to your health—your being—your whole system of life?
We have been conditioned to look for the ‘magic pill’ and expect immediate results instead of acquiring patience and doing some planning. When it comes to health…well….this is one good reason we are creating a generation that is being predicted will die earlier than the generation before it. Our life expectancy is now reversing in age and we desperately need guides like YOU Katie, to help turn things around. It’s a tough job, but keep on keeping on, Girl!
Thanks so much Lynn! Isn’t that the truth about our expectation for a magic pill. We want everything fast… Fast food, 10 minute abs, minute rice, etc. and well our health just doesn’t work like that. There is no magic pill. There is no quick fix for our health. It takes work and commitment to our health to build it up, but it’s oh so worth it! Thanks for stopping by Lynn!
I suspect food allergies and food sensitivities contribute a great deal. As well as the wide use of antibiotics, not only as medication for what ails us but also in the meat that we consume. 🙁 And you’re right — if we don’t fix the problem, we’re simply applying bandages.
Such great points Colleen! It is so frustrating that our animal protein sources are so often contaminated with hormones, antibiotics and fed their non-natural diet, which is often GMO grain. We are all being experimented on and I am so worried about the final outcomes. Thanks for commenting!
It’s so great that you are getting this education out to the public, Katie. When I went to medical school in the 70’s, we weren’t taught anything like this and I don’t think that has changed much. And now the pharmaceutical companies can speak directly to the public through persuasive advertising of their remedies so it’s definitely an uphill battle. I worked in preventive medicine, so my interest has always been in treating the cause not the symptoms. The more people know about their health, the wiser their choices can be, and maybe their doctors will get a new perspective along the way!
Thanks Dorine! I so appreciate your insight as a doctor. I think you are right that it is difficult to fight against the pharmaceutical companies for educating the public, but more and more it seems as though the public is seeking ways to educate themselves and look to more preventative medicine instead of just drugs. Thankfully, I’m also meeting more and more doctors that are supporting nutrition and healthy eating as a critical component to health.
I have to say I think I’ve fallen into the same problem as most of society. I believe that if I am experiencing this symptom it means I have this problem. I don’t typically look beyond that and think about how that same symptom could be from a myriad of different problems. This is something that a lot of people need to know because it could really mean the difference between finding out the problem and never knowing.
Such a great point Lyn! And it is so easy to fall into the compartmentalizing our health symptoms.
Katie Bauer recently posted..Declare Your Independence Today
I decided to eliminate gluten from my diet in an attempt to address symptoms I have had most of my life. The first 3 weeks were life changing. I felt great! Now I’m in week 6 and the “high” is gone and fatigue is back. What would be the next step in this process of addressing the cause? I live in a small town in the great lakes so my resources are very limited–thanks for your life line!!!!!
Hi Pat, Congrats on taking steps to get to the root of your fatigue! Going gluten free is definitely a great first step, but often isn’t enough. There can be many reasons why your fatigue is back:
1) You are still consuming gluten through cross-contamination and now that the majority of it is out of your system, you are still being plagued by small amounts. Common culprits include oats (about one-third of people that react to gluten react to even gluten free oats as they share a similar protein), foods in bulk (cross-contamination abounds between spoons getting mixed-up and more) and often gluten free grains are cross-contaminated.
2) Some people need to go grain-free, not just gluten free to fully get their health back on track. All grains are inflammatory so if you are loading-up on gluten free grains or gluten free processed foods, you may be doing yourself a disservice. You can sign-up for my free 4 part Digestive Health Video Training Program: An Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Lifestyle to learn more about which foods to avoid, which ones to add in and how to live an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. I’m actually filming part 2 and 3 today! I haven’t added the sign-up everywhere on the site yet, but you can sign-up for it in the sideline of this page: https://www.nourishedhealth.com/nutrition-therapy/.
3) As you decrease your consumption of grains, you body has to become fat burning as opposed to sugar burning. Most of us are pretty reliant on sugars, grains and refined carbohydrates for our energy source. There is a transition in which you might find that you are hungry all the time, can’t get full and are extra fatigued when decreasing or eliminating your refined carbohydrate and grain consumption. This is common when someone goes gluten free and in doing so eliminates most of their refined carbohydrate and grain consumption. It can take a month or so for the body to flip and get used to burning fat for energy (which is much more sustainable). During this transition, eating more root vegetables, especially sweet potatoes and even white potatoes can be very helpful.
4) You may have other health concerns that going gluten free helped, but didn’t eliminate. Common causes of fatigue include having an overgrowth of candida, bacteria or parasites; imbalanced blood sugar; and hypothyroidism. Without looking at your other symptoms, it is difficult for me to give you a better idea of what is going on. Given reduced availability of time, I am eliminating providing complimentary nutrition strategy sessions, but I haven’t fully removed them from my calendar. So if you are interested in understanding where the root of your fatigue is, you can still sign-up for a Complimentary Vitality Strategy Session. These are done by phone, so it doesn’t matter where you are and we can discuss what is at the base of your fatigue, but you’ll need to sign-up for this soon as they will stop being complimentary at some point this month I expect (all depending on my time to make website changes!): https://www.nourishedhealth.com/strategy-session/
Again, congrats on taking steps to get to the root of your fatigue. Best of luck and feel free to ask more questions here as they come up for you.
Katie Bauer recently posted..Declare Your Independence Today