“The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well.” Hippocrates
Although I didn’t know it at the time, my health journey began at an early age. I grew up with an alcoholic parent; the other one was verbally abusive. Both were addicted to sugar. So I became intimately acquainted with sugar addiction in its various forms (e.g., alcohol, patisseries – my mother was French – honey, dried fruit, yogurt, breads, pastas, grains, hot and cold breakfast cereals, processed foods, etc.). I was malnourished and suffered from blood sugar imbalances, headaches and gut issues (early emotional traumatic stress leads to gut problems).
I was also hooked on caffeine (e.g., double expressos, hot chocolate, Red Bull, Diet Coke) and cigarettes. While I quit smoking at age 18 because it conflicted with my track, running, volley-ball and tennis competitions, it wasn’t until many years later, while working as a tax lawyer, that I could no longer deny my adrenal exhaustion, poor sleep hygiene, stress, underactive thyroid and weakened immune system. I craved E-N-E-R-G-Y!
In 2001, I gave up alcohol and diet soda after breaking my jaw and multiple teeth (this accident further impacted my gut because it disrupted the communication flow between my brain and brain stem, which communicates with the gut through the vagus nerve). While my skin cleared up and I had less headaches, I was still tired.
In 2014, I started working with a chiropractor, and then later a naturopath. After various tests, I learned I had gut dysbiosis (bacterial imbalance) and a “leaky gut” (leaky gut or intestinal permeability is a condition where the gut lining is damaged, thereby allowing large particles of undigested food, bacteria and environmental toxins to seep into the bloodstream, and trigger the immune system to attack my body, including the thyroid, skin, brain and the gut lining itself, and lead to food allergies and sensitivities, nutrient malabsorption and malnourishment). I also learned I was hypoglycemic and headed towards type 2 diabetes and other illnesses if I did not immediately course correct on the sugar front. As I lost my mother and grandmother to Alzheimer’s a/k/a Type 3 diabetes and my father to esophaegal cancer, I was motivated to change.
Being curious, I also did gene testing. It is said “genes load the gun but diet and lifestyle pull the trigger.” I had HLA-DQA2, one of the Celiac genes. While I did not do an endoscopy, my naturopath told me to assume my Celiac gene had expressed itself from my long list of symptoms, poor diet and lifestyle, poor gut health and auto-immune thyroid condition. I also learned I had a heterozygous C677T gene mutation (i.e., my body does not process B12/folic acid) so my methylation and thyroid require added support. What I found the most fascinating was that the gene test highlighted all of the sugar, antibiotics, birth control pills, stress and Glyphosate (Round-Up weed killer that is pervasive in our conventional food supply) in my GI tract and that all this had opened my intestinal barriers! I also did food sensitivity testing and discovered that my body reacted to many different foods (i.e., I was inflammed on the inside).
So I followed a detox program, did a parasitic cleanse, went organic and gave up coffee, sugar, gluten, dairy, casein, soy, corn, eggs, fast food, and processed foods. I ate “real food.” I eliminated the roller coaster ride of blood sugar swings and exhaustion! I finally had energy! Even my teeth and gums improved! Lesson learned: our diet and lifestyle has a profound impact on our health!
What brought me to health coaching? The desire to heal myself and help others do the same. It’s never too late to make a change and heal yourself!
“All disease begins in the gut.” Hippocrates
“If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten.” Tony Robbins