Building Health
Getting healthy is a lot like renovating an entire house.
For nearly a year, I have been in the process of renovating and updating a very old home for our family in Tampa, FL, where I live. I've been around construction my whole life, but have never undertaken a project nearly this large. It’s been a huge learning experience. To get a permit, I was required to provide architectural plans and structural engineering plans to the city. This is because the city wants to ensure that I have a proper plan to correctly complete the project. The plans show everything: what kind of material we will be using, what kind of fasteners will be required, dimensions, and more. To complete a project like this, you need great plans and the right material.
Because this is my first time doing a project of this scale, I put a lot of confidence in the architect and engineer who had made the plans. They both visited the location, took measurements, and reviewed everything. Their plans were detailed. When I submitted them to the city for building permits, they were reviewed and approved. I felt confident, knowing that all I had to do was follow the plans carefully, and everything would work out. If you have experience with home renovations, you might be shaking your head right now, saying, “unfortunately, that’s not how it works.”
We demoed the house with the plan in hand and began to make the outlined structural changes. As I did the work, some things didn’t make sense to me on the plans. Things that I would have done differently; however, I knew the plans were correct. So I did not question it. After all, they were given by people who knew much more than me and had been approved by the building department. What could go wrong? We completed all the structural work and called for an inspection. I felt somewhat uncomfortable calling for inspection because certain things did not look right to me. But hey, what do I know? We did it how the plan required.
When the inspector arrived, he wasn't happy. He told me that the plans did not cover the scope of work. He wanted new plans drawn up and submitted to the city and changes made to our work.
I called the engineer and the architect, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. They both were certain that it had to be my fault. There was no way that they would have made mistakes. After hours of going back and forth with the inspector, architect, and engineer, I finally figured out the problem. My house is built out of brick, and the given plans were meant for a wood-framed structure. How the engineer and architect both came on site to look at the house and did not note that the house was brick is beyond me, but it taught me an important lesson. When the wrong materials are used, it doesn't matter who made the plans or approved them. It was still wrong. If I am the one doing the work, I am the one responsible. The fact that I was not experienced enough in construction to look at my house and realize that the plans were created wrong cost me thousands of dollars and a lot of wasted time.
Trust Your Doctor
I share this story because there are so many parallels to our health. We have all been taught to trust our doctors. They are the professionals, the authorities, but they are not responsible for your health in reality. If your doctor gives you the wrong plan for your health, and you follow that plan, it will cost you your health. If your doctor gives you a pill to cover up symptoms, rather than giving you a plan to help your body heal and recover, it is your health that will deteriorate. Your health is your responsibility. Not your doctor’s or anyone else’s. If you try to build your health with the wrong materials, it will fail. Just because you do not know much about health, diet, nutrition, etc., does not mean that you will be immune to poor health effects. Unfortunately, your doctor may not even know how to help you regain your health.
It’s sad, but nutrition is not even part of their education for many medical doctors, and those who do study nutrition usually do so on a fundamental level. They may know less about nutrition than you.
In a study of 106 medical schools, the average four-year medical student received only 23.6 hours of nutrition education. 32 of the 106 schools required no nutritional training at all.
Medical Doctors are great at critical care and interventions and at times needed, but if you are going to the doctor trying to get healthy, you probably won't. You might be given a pill that makes you feel better or eliminates the symptoms, but removing symptoms is dangerous to your health. Pain and sickness are signs from your body that something is not right. Blocking the signals for long periods and not taking care of the actual problem always leads to larger issues.
If your house’s foundation is crumbling, putting plaster and paint on it might make you think everything is better for a little while, but over time it will always get worse. Most medication is designed to do for your body what a healthy body should do for itself. The longer your body does not have to do it for itself, the more your body forgets how to do it for itself. For instance, the longer you take insulin, the less insulin your body will make on its own and the more dependent on the medication you will become. If you take antibiotics to deal with an infection, the more susceptible your body becomes to future infection. A recent study showed a single round of antibiotics could disrupt your gut health for up to four years!
If you have been in that downward spiral and worried about your health, remember, you are in control. You can step away from the system. Find a functional medicine doctor or holistic doctor and ask them to help you plan to rebuild your health. It is always possible. By all means, do not continue to do more of what has not worked.
The Right Materials
Everyone wants health for a different reason. Maybe you want more energy, more mental clarity, less pain, better sexual health, or weight loss. Whatever your reason, it all starts with learning how to care for your body to create health. Rather than focus on taking care of the problems, we focus on making your body truly healthy and problems start to disappear as the self-healing machine that your body was created to begin to function properly. Once again, just like a home remodel, if there is a problem with the foundation, instead of plaster and paint, we use the right materials for the strength we need.
So what are the right materials? I think about it in two parts: What is true for everyone and what is true for you? There are the basics and then what your body needs.
The Basics
I won't go into a lot of depth here on each point, but if you make these changes in your health, you will feel better in almost every way and give your body the tools it needs to begin its healing journey.
Eat real food and avoid all processed food. If you cannot recognize the ingredients you are eating as food from nature, such as animals and plants in their whole state, don’t eat it.
Radically avoid sugar. It’s addictive and acts like a drug in your body. It is detrimental to almost every part of your health. Eat whole real fruit, a little honey, and moderate use of natural sugars.
Eat meat and eggs from good sources, local farms, and grass-fed if possible, maybe even consider raising your own. Wild game is even better. Organ meats are incredibly healthy, so save the heart and liver. Meat is good, just don’t over consume it. Palm sized portions are great. Avoid dairy products as much as possible with exception of grass-fed butter. Milk and cheese are very hard to digest and lead to a lot of health issues for most people. If you do drink milk, try to get it raw from a local farm that pasture fed their cows and don’t over do it. Pay attention to how it affects your body.
Avoid anything made with wheat as much as possible. Find substitutes for bread, cakes, pasta etc. Almost everyone is somewhat allergic to gluten due to the way modern pesticides have deteriorated our gut. Plus it has very little nutritional value.
Eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Try to eat a good percentage of them raw so you get the enzymes that would be lost in cooking.
Eat healthy fats, and avoid unhealthy fats. The general rule is to avoid all oil that comes from seeds, such as corn, soy, vegetable, and sesame oils. These oils are toxic to your body. Eat pure olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oils. These oils are great for your health and will make you feel great.
Your Individual Needs
Every person is different. What positively impacts one person can, negatively affect another. You see this most clearly with allergies and food sensitivities, but it can go far beyond that. My brother, Daniel, for instance suffered from severe asthma for many years and used medication until he got an in depth allergy test. He learned what worked with his body and what didn’t and was able get off all medication and almost completely eliminate his asthma with using only supplements and diet. This completely changed how he feels. This has been the story for many many people.
Learn to listen to your body. As you start to clean up your diet you will start to see what makes you feel good and what does not. Listen to your body. What is good for others might not be good for you. The signals your own body gives you are the best guide.
Health is a journey, no matter where you start. Little consistent changes in the right direction always pay off and add up much fast than you would imagine.