The Best Gift
The BEST GIFT you can give yourself (and your loved ones)!
In 2017, I had symptoms of heart arrhythmias (a condition where your heart beats super fast, or super slow or flutters) and mine did all that. For years and years, I thought I had inherited this genetically from my mom and grandma. I went to a Cardiologist because I was convinced I would soon have a heart attack or stroke! I told my husband one night – if I don’t wake up, tell them it was my heart. As you’ll see later on, some simple diet and lifestyle interventions were enough to alleviate most of my symptoms.
Sitting in the Cardiologist’s office, I explained everything that was happening. We did an ultrasound on my heart, which was clear, and then spent 24 hours wearing a heart monitor, and again everything looked normal. I tried to explain that what I was feeling was not “normal”. So, after hearing me out and not sure exactly what to do – the doctor decided a blood pressure medication might help with my irregular heartbeats. WHAT? My blood pressure was fine, and I wanted to know WHY this was happening so I could fix it. He didn’t know why. He also didn’t know where to look to find the why.
I’m sure many of you can relate. Along your own health journey, you may have already gone through the experience of jumping from specialist to specialist without experiencing any kind of relief. So why do so many of us struggle with seeing any improvement, despite following the doctor’s orders? To answer that, let’s break down the differences in approaches between traditional Western medicine, and functional medicine approaches.
Traditional Western Medicine
Acute care
Treat the Symptom (Allopathy)
Prescriptions & Surgery
Compartmentalization of Body Systems
Symptom is the Cause of the Problem
Diagnosis as Life Sentence
Genetics
Diagnosis Occurs Only After Patient Presents with Disease
Diet & Lifestyle Minimally Regarded as Contributing Factors to Health
Average Doctor Visit – 7 Minutes
and my approach ….
Functional Model
Preventative Care
Identify Causal Factors & Restore Body Systems to Normal Function
Diet, Lifestyle, & Herbal Protocols
All Body Systems Are Interconnected
The Symptom is the Result of the Problem
Conditions are Temporary States Resulting From “Hidden” Dysfunction and/or Imbalance
Epigenetics (Genes Are Not Destiny)
Functional Lab Work Assesses Risk Factors Early on to Prevent Disease
Diet & Lifestyle Foundational to Heath
Hours of Continual Support Over Several Months
As shown above, there is a strong foundation within the functional approach that focuses on identifying root causes while restoring imbalances with diet and lifestyle. Furthermore, the nature of the client-practitioner relationship allows the practitioner to develop an impression over repeated consults, course-correcting over time to educate, inform, and guide the client through diet and lifestyle changes. I totally understand that a specialized Doctor cannot spend 45 minutes educating their patient on living a healthy lifestyle. They barely have 7 minutes with each patient. I get it, they are helping a lot of sick people and there is definitely a place in the world for traditional medicine. If I were to break my leg or have a heart attack – please take me to the hospital, not the herbalist. But, it should also be noted that the traditional medical model is not set up to understand or evaluate the underlying conditions that contribute to chronic health complaints.
Perhaps it’s human nature, but most people wouldn’t think to go to the doctor until they start experiencing symptoms. Naturally, the doctor issues out some prescription drugs for the patient’s symptoms. The patient proceeds to carry on with life, increasing dosages proportionally with the severity of their symptoms. And then being put on a new medication when other symptoms arise in addition to the ones that were previously noted.
I never started the blood pressure medication that he suggested, instead, I kept searching. By the time I visited the third doctor, dysfunction was so rampant that I had developed a full-blown chronic condition, Hashimotos. Symptoms continue being suppressed while the root cause(s) of malfunction lie hidden from view. The 2 functional medicine doctors that I repeatedly had appointments with did some testing and understood the functional model of wellness, but didn’t have the time to really get to know me or my case. They also didn’t do the right tests – they just ran the same tests on everyone. And then everyone got the same protocol. Once again I was left with no answers, still not feeling right, and in debt!
After finally finding a practitioner who would dig a little deeper and run the right functional lab tests – we uncovered the root cause and several hidden stressors contributing to my symptoms. I had H. Pylori, which is a bacterium that resides in the parietal cells of the stomach, impairs digestion, and results in multiple nutritional deficiencies. We uncovered out-of-whack hormones, low stomach acid, depleted minerals, leaky gut, and gut infections along with Hashimotos. As I began this journey and started making lifestyle changes, including changing my habits and the foods I ate, I started noticing a big difference. I was supporting my body in ways that I never knew before. I started rebuilding my gut and balancing my minerals. I learned that Magnesium deficiencies can be a cause of heart palpitations, so I started digging into WHY I was deficient in Magnesium and several other macro minerals. My body needed support and I was finally very clear on exactly how to support it!
Today, I am living nearly symptom-free, but don’t get me wrong – the functional approach towards healing is a process, and often requires some sacrifices. There is no silver bullet or magic pill. It took time and commitment towards diet and lifestyle changes before I was able to restore my body to normal function.
Today, we’re so accustomed to such a low baseline for health that we barely even seem to notice it. In fact, “normal” lab ranges – from the functional viewpoint – are based on large populations of people who are in fact, unwell. As a result, symptoms are either disregarded or suppressed with medications until we present patterns of full-blown disease, or until lab results fit within the conventional model’s “acceptable” range for treatment.
This is why we see so many people struggle for years – sometimes decades – without ever experiencing relief from their symptoms. In the words of Krishnamurti,
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
The moral of the story here is that while symptoms may be common, they are not normal. The next time a health professional tells you that you’re “fine”, but your intuition tells you otherwise, promptly thank them for their “advice” and move on. Take your symptoms seriously – they are signs from your body that something is wrong.
When your check engine line comes on, you don’t tell the engine light that it’s normal and give it medication, right? There’s something wrong underneath the hood.
The best gift that you can give yourself is a commitment towards your health, as you’re not much without it. Build a positive community around you that includes the support of friends and family, who will support you in your mission to restore your health. And finally, work with a functional practitioner that can help you stop chasing symptoms, get to the root cause, and properly coach you through diet and lifestyle changes. You are worth being healthy, and your symptoms don’t have to be something that you merely just “live with” every day.
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