One day I was talking with a friend telling her I wanted to run a heavy metal toxicity test on myself. She asked “why, are you sick?” My reply was “I don’t know, I don’t think so, but that’s why I want to run the test.”
Did you know that any little symptom is the body’s way of telling us that it is out of balance somewhere? That doesn’t necessarily mean that we are sick or diseased, but something isn’t functioning optimally. When sitting with a patient or doing a wellness workshop, I can’t help but talk about the spectrum of health. If you draw a horizontal line across a piece of paper, on the left end of that line is 100% health. On the right side of the line is 99% disease (100% we would be dead!). We have been taught that unless something falls into the disease reference range (the right end of the line) on lab work for example, we are “fine,” implying to the patient that they are healthy, “everything is fine, nothing is wrong.” I have had people report to me all the time that is what they had been told – and yet they are standing in front of me, knowing something isn’t right and seeking help. This type of assessment overlooks the whole big place in between those two ends of the spectrum, where most of us all are. First of all, no one is 100% perfect. And second of all, not all of us are diseased – at least not yet, so we have to be somewhere.
As an example of this, I once had a patient who already knew she had cancer but wanted me to run some more specific immune markers on her along with my standard, fairly comprehensive blood panel. If I had only run the standard panel, which is far more comprehensive than I usually see being run by someone’s primary care physician for their annual physical, there would have been no sign that there was cancer that had metastasized going on in her body – scary! She would have been told she was “fine.” But because we ran even more specialized labs, we could see the level of progression of the cancer.
My Mom was another example. She was not feeling up to par for about a week – stomach hurting, feeling weak, back aching – the usual 81-year-old symptoms, right? Her neighbor just happened to see her, noticed she was jaundiced, took her to the hospital and two weeks later Mom had gone home to Jesus. She had cancer of the bile duct. No indication that she might have something life threatening going on – two weeks! I promise you, the cancer didn’t just develop and kill her in 2 weeks-time – it had been going on much longer, way before she “felt” anything.
Sadly, the majority of the population is like the old fable of the frog in the pot of water. If the frog was immediately immersed in boiling hot water, he most certainly would jump right out! Just like if we had an acute injury or illness, we would immediately seek care. But if the frog was put in a lukewarm pot of water, he would sit in there, and maybe even enjoy his environment. And if the temperature of the water slowly increased, he would be too busy enjoying his time in the water, and not even be aware that the temperature was reaching a boiling point. This is known as adaptation. It’s like having any number of symptoms – perhaps mild or occasional at first. We don’t think anything of it. But the frequency and/or severity, over time increases. We just brush it off as “nothing” or “old age.” We just “live with it” – not giving the attention that those symptoms rightfully need. And before you know it, you are walking around, head turned down, shoulders slumped, the bounce in your step, gone. Your mood has turned foul and you don’t even know why. You can’t stand to be around yourself let alone subject yourself to others. But, even if you are aware this is taking place, you think the only choice you have is to “live with it.” You are like the frog, slowly boiling in the pot.
My point here is this: don’t let how you “feel” dictate whether you are healthy or not. We absolutely want to feel fine – in fact better than fine, we want to feel great! But don’t be like an ostrich with its head in the sand, be wise and keep a finger on the pulse of your health. Give attention to the minor symptoms you might be experiencing. After all, your health IS in your control, and that is empowering!
If you are wondering “okay, so where do I go from here if I don’t want to be like the frog?” I would encourage you to sign up for my monthly newsletter, and pick up a copy of my book “Are You Being Deceived About True Wellness, Unveiling the Confusion, Myths and Deceptions that Prevent You from Achieving True Health” – it will give you a ton of information about approaching your health wholistically by getting to the root cause of the imbalances in your body and restore your body back to good health using natural approaches.