Visualize (or, for fun, try)
the following experiment: Take a dozen sheets of paper and throw
them in the air. Now, as they fall, place your attention on all of
them at once, all the way to the ground. What happened? A bit like
being in a blizzard, isn’t it?
Talking to all the expert
sources about your health is much the same: the more experts you
speak to, the more possible approaches for addressing your symptoms.
You can easily become confused and overwhelmed when searching for
answers about your health condition. Who do you believe? There can
be many things going on, but which one of those is the main problem
and likely root cause of the other symptoms? How do you find and fix
the right thing?
First of all,
you should be very clear on
your
treatment goals. Are you simply trying to alleviate a symptom? Or,
is your goal to restore an activity or level of health? Secondly,
take a look at the resources available to you when seeking
solutions.
In our biweekly public
education programs, I often address the concept of “whose thought is
really in your head?” I think it’s crucial we realize that we have
all been flooded with information and opinions since our birth, that
possibly 99% of all our thoughts on something really belong to
someone else. Perhaps the most common opinion flooding the
healthcare scene today is which drug to take to solve which symptom.
That is the majority of information we receive.
Throughout medical school,
students are taught to use pharmaceutical drugs to relieve symptoms
and kill germs. Universities receive huge grants from pharmaceutical
companies to research pharmaceutical solutions to every pain or
problem. We read about the results of the next “blockbuster drug” in
the news and see hundreds of advertisements per week claiming the
benefits of this or that drug.
If you inspect the results
obtained with drugs, the sad fact is that whereas pharmaceutical
drugs such as antibiotics are very effective for some infectious
diseases, they have not proven to be similarly effective for heart
disease, diabetes, cancer and other lifestyle diseases plaguing us
today.
And here inevitably come the
words, “Well, what you have is (insert medical name for symptom
here) and let’s try (insert drug name here) at this dose and see
what happens.” Some people even try to put together their own team
of experts to solve their problem or have been sold that idea by a
larger complex of health care providers as the way to handle their
problem. Kind of like adding more sheets of paper to your pile
though, isn’t it?
While naming the symptom and
then taking steps to alleviate it may seem to offer a sense of
stability among the whirling pieces of paper, it often simply
results in more confusion.
In 1900, the top three
causes of death in the United States were pneumonia/influenza,
tuberculosis, and diarrhea/enteritis. At that time, such
communicable diseases accounted for about 60 percent of all deaths.
Since the 1940s, most deaths in the United States have been from
heart disease, cancer, and a completely different category of
disease called lifestyle diseases. Currently, lifestyle diseases
account for more than 60 percent of all deaths. So, what changed?
It is interesting that since
1909 in the United States, the variety and types of food we eat —
along with the nutrients they provide — have undergone significant
changes. In the 1930s, food-processing technologies introduced
canned, frozen, and packaged soups, vegetables and fruits, cereals
and grain products. During the second half of the century, corporate
farming and livestock practices replaced locally-grown vegetables
and animal husbandry. While our current food supply includes a far
greater variety of grains, fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy
products, our food supply also includes record-high amounts of
sweeteners, added fats, stabilizers, emulsifiers and more. Worse,
current farming and processing practices strip our food of the very
vitamins and minerals we need for survival.
When your body doesn’t get
enough of one or more nutrients, its ability to make the molecules
needed for all of its functions is dramatically slowed down. When
your body gets too much of the wrong things, it becomes stressed.
At the same time, your body
is extremely resilient and you may not notice the effects
immediately. But obesity, chronic fatigue symptom, diabetes, many
common aches and pains, and even mood and anxiety can be traced to
not giving the body enough of a nutrient in a form it can use. After
a while, you have symptoms of the “lifestyle diseases.”
“But Doc,”
you say, “I eat really well, never any donuts, cut back on caffeine,
no alcohol, low-fat, no red meat.” Or maybe you’re thinking, “My
son/daughter will
never
give up their treats.”
Finding and
fixing what is really wrong means identifying that
one
correct sheet of paper and following only it. There is
the
one
sheet that is senior to all of them. This senior sheet contains the
solution that will restore your health. It is there and can be found
by the healthcare practitioner who is trained to listen to what your
body is saying.
The basic definition of Art
is “communication,” and the great thing about the body is its innate
ability to communicate. A great way to find and fix what is wrong
with the body is to not guess as to what the body needs, but instead
to ask it what it wants. The true Art is in communication! And there
is the single sheet of paper you can watch all the way to the floor.
What we want to do is listen
to your body. It can tell you what it needs more of, less of, and
what is just fine to keep on eating. Whether you are trying to solve
a health problem, get your body into high athletic performance, or
anything in between; if you listen, your body will tell you what it
needs.
Want to find
out the cause and solution to your health problem? Find one health
care practitioner you can communicate with about your specific
treatment goals and who will pay attention to what your body is
communicating. Follow that practitioner’s plan long enough to get
results. Don’t mix practices and plans; rather, choose
one
and
do
it. Guessing with dangerous drugs, their side effects, piles of
expensive inconclusive diagnostics, and “let’s try this or that and
see” has never truly worked at long-term health.
Dr. Greg Sternquist is an
advanced Nutrition Response Tester with 19 years private practice
experience in Nutritional Therapy and Chiropractic. He can be
reached at his office 743-3040 or via his website,
www.nutritionalhealthimprovementcenter.com.
