Nutrient or Nightmare? Only YOUR Body Knows…

“What is food for one man, may be bitter poison to others” Lucretius.

“What’s one man’s meat is another man’s poison” Proverb.

Historically, each of these statements have been shared by many people over the years, the connotation or intent may have been different under the circumstance and depending on the individual sharing this view. (Many minds, have shared these quotes over the centuries, I neither claim them or their original intent, as my own, simply statements that have, for me, relevance in the context of this article.)

For the intent of this article, it was the journey and experiences I had with the health issues of my children, their food allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances, that gave these expressions such relevancy. While it was, initially, a period of great distress in the lives of our family, these struggles, and challenges became the greatest of gifts! As a Registered Nutritional Therapist, I don’t claim to have all of the answers, nobody does, nor will we ever. However, I have an unwavering respect and fascination with the intricacies and uniqueness of our wonderous bodies, and the clues it shares with us! I also have a commitment to my clients, to assist them in discovering these nuances of self to support their health concerns and goals.

The body, your body, presents symptoms when it is out of balance – what your symptoms will be compared to the next person, may be a very different experience and trigger. These symptoms, they are clues, opportunities to discover what the imbalance is.

Skin irritations, frequent infections, digestive distress, constipation, diarrhea, joint pain, headaches, sleep disorders, behavioral/emotional/mood imbalances, inflammation, asthma, heartburn or acid reflux, auto immune problems, bedwetting, truly, the list of health issues goes on and on.

Science has mastered the art of discovering the nutrient composition of foods – how that food will affect you, personally, that is where the wonderous mystery begins. With chronic health issues, come great frustration, discomfort, and despair. Most of that is due to feeling helpless, powerful and not having the knowledge or tools to do anything other than control or suppress symptoms. Our bodies have so much more intelligence than what we know!

For me, seeing my children struggling was intolerable and I was determined to discover WHY, they had so many health issues. I was preparing them healthy, wholesome, nutritious meals and yet they were always sick. Ear infections, tonsillitis, bedwetting, constant “colds”, eczema, asthma, failure to thrive, stomach pain, fevers, lack of appetite, vomiting, behavioral volatility – these are just some of the many struggles people experience with their children. For me, I was determined to discover WHY.

The tonsils, these are lymphatic tissue, part of the first immune response our bodies can signal with. The standard response is to remove them as if the body is making a mistake somehow, but what if, just what if, your child is only unwell with Chronic or frequent ear infections, enlarged adenoids or inflamed tonsils because of food allergies or intolerances! Take away the triggers with a guided, elimination diet and see what the body can do!

This was the most amazing experience with my children – was it hard, yes, absolutely – huge changes to remove dietary triggers and find substitute, nutritious foods for them to eat instead. Late nights of baking and cooking for holidays and occasions, packing food for lunches or to visit other places, trying to come up with alternatives so that they had food that looked like what their friends and classmates had.

It was damn hard, often exhausting. (Especially in the 1980s when specialty foods were not readily available!) These were my children, – the rewards were extraordinary! To observe the changes in their health with excluding the “trigger” foods and watch the wonderous ability of their bodies to correct the problems they had suffered with for years was astounding. For 3.5 decades, I have helped others, help themselves as well. It’s my passion, my mission.

People suffer globally, on a daily basis, from conditions that may be caused or aggravated by the otherwise “healthy” foods they are consuming on a regular basis. Could this be you or a loved one? Healthy foods can still be the wrong foods for our bodies and be the catalyst or aggravating factor behind the suffering.

With knowledge, we have power, decisions are choices. You can be empowered and apply new nutritional strategies but it does require commitment and patience! It does, very often, mean changing habits and getting out of your comfort zone – but the potential is incredible! NOBODY, will ever know your body like you do – listen to You. There are answers and solutions, will it be easy, likely not. But it will be worth it!

Masking symptoms with over-the-counter products can be a slippery slope. Self-medicating, suppressing or ignoring symptoms can put anyone at risk of very serious, long-term issues. Get qualified assistance and the appropriate support and testing.

This is your life. Each of us will benefit with the appropriate nutrition as our foundation – it is, the very fuel of our cells. Wholesome foods, clean water, quality sleep, time in nature, healthy, supportive relationships, good hygiene practices, healthy stress management techniques, exercise, (mental and physical) activity, quality, therapeutic supplements – all of these are areas we can support our mind, body and spirit.

We are never to old to learn and it is never too late to make even small improvements to support our overall health and wellbeing. As our aging population demographic continues to grow, it becomes ever more important for us to establish patterns that will help us age “smarter and better”.

Hippocrates, Greek Physician and the father of Western Medicine, said: “It is more important to know what sort of patient has a disease, than to know what sort of disease a patient has”. HMMMM, just a thought for you to consider.