In various situations either in clinical practice or just in my daily interactions with people, I invariably get asked - “What can I do about X condition?” It might be arthritis, or diabetes or one of any number of chronic health problems.
Unfortunately, this is a question that I find really hard to answer, because there isn’t just one simple quick fix pill that someone can take and heal themselves of their problems. To really heal, not just cover up the symptoms with medication, or even push the body in a certain direction with high dose herbs or supplements, takes a change of eating and lifestyle habits that most people are just not willing to do.
When someone is in a desperate health situation they often say they would be willing to do ANYTHING to get better. Yet “anything” comes with conditions. “Anything, except change the food I eat, the drinks I drink and the lifestyle habits I’ve become accustomed to.”
The crunch is though, that the food and lifestyle habits that the person is engaging in has led them to develop the chronic condition in the first place, so continuing to do the same things and expecting different results, is completely irrational. Even when you do use alternative methods to treat the problem, often once the treatment is completed, slowly the same condition or another one appears because the underlying causative factors haven’t been addressed.
Chronic health problems are not just a “disease” we catch, or an isolated problem in one area - they are a whole body condition and because of that, the whole body needs to be treated. You can’t just say “I’m really healthy except for this pesky arthritis”. To have created the arthritis in the first place means that there is an imbalance in the body that just taking glucosamine is not going to fix. Of course it can help, but it is not the full picture.
So when I am asked that question “What can I do to fix X ?” I hesitate.
How can I, in just a few minutes, explain how the body needs lots of fresh whole living food, full of an abundance of nutrients, to function at its best? How do I tell busy people that they need to make real food one of the priorities in their life and that they need to give up convenience, packaged, processed, and takeaway foods? How can I tell them that a 30 minute stroll a couple of times a week is not enough exercise? How do I say that they need to address their attitude, their outlook on life, their limiting beliefs, fears and thought patterns? Where is the quick fix in any of that?
The real answer is that there’s not. Healing chronic illness does mean a change in all of these areas and more, but that doesn’t mean that it needs to be viewed as a punishment or as a life full of deprivation, because that’s not what a healthy lifestyle is meant to be.
Embracing changes in habits can be daunting at first, but once new habits are in place, then they are no more difficult than the habits we already had, they are just different! And because the benefits are so enormous, once someone FEELS the improvements within themselves, then they wholeheartedly take it on.
Exploring new food choices (you can do so many yummy things with raw food!), learning to get in touch with your physical body again, and working through your emotional issues, brings with it such self-empowerment. The confidence you gain from treating yourself with care and respect, flows through into all areas of life.
So if someone is really searching for answers and not just a quick fix, then I love nothing more than guiding them towards the simple truths about food and lifestyle that can make profound improvements in their health.
Just being here reading this shows you that you one of those special, open-minded people willing to explore these ideas.
Welcome to the club!. I hope I can keep inspiring you and encouraging you to keep on this path of creating extraordinary health!
