Imagine your check engine light comes on in your car… What do you do?
Do you drive to the dealership and ask them to turn off the light or do you ask them to fix the problem?
You rely on your car to get you to work, to carry your children, to pick up your groceries, to get you to your families house for the holidays, so you know that you want to fix the problem, not just turn off the light, right?
You want to know that the root cause is fixed. Why then, is it when our body sends out a SOS and turns on a check engine light, that we run and pick up a synthetic “turn the light off fix” and never get to the root cause? Is our body not vitally important to us? Does our bodies not take us from point A to point B?
As you all know, I have many titles and many jobs. I work Urgent Care Medicine, I teach at Cardiovascular conferences, I own the Med Spa and so much more. One thing that bothers me most is the fact that people run to the Urgent Care for trifle things and want a chemical to make it instantly better.
When I did my doctorate, my dissertation was on the Judicious use of Antibiotics, when I finished I thought I would make a difference in the world. Try as I might to educate, it seems that very few people understand that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
If your body is tired and run down, if you have a headache, if you have aches and pains, if you are breaking out with acne, why is it that people want to get a script to turn off the check engine light, instead of getting to the root cause of why the body is sending out SOS signals?
I believe in the quote from Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food“. Let’s think about that a little more… Inflammation is the root of all evil… it is produced by oxidative stress. What relieves or counteracts oxidation? Antioxidants.
Where are antioxidants found? Food. Good, healthy, pure, clean, food. Blueberries, black berries, pomegranates, apples, pineapples, leafy greens, the list goes on and on. Do you realize that the incidence of digestive issues (Crohns, IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, Polyps and even colon cancer) have increased in recent years? What about things like fibromyalga, Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis? Do you also notice how processed foods, fast foods, fried greasy foods have increased? The link is there.
So with all linear thinking problems, if you see the answer or the end, you can work backwards to find the factors that caused the issue to begin with. How does this work? Simply, change one thing at a time. It is very difficult and nearly impossible to stick something if you go cold turkey.
Let’s start by replacing one heavy meal with a light veggie/fruit filled meal. Feel the way the body responds after the course of one week. Start with either breakfast or dinner. Make 2/3rd of the plate veggies. Good clean healthy veggies. Protein should be about the size of your palm. In the morning try some juice, but not like store bought OJ. Lets try something with some kale, cucumber, apple and lemon. You skin will glow, your body will respond, you will feel your vitality return.
Next start cutting out the sodas. These are evil little things… Increase your water intake to at least 64 ounces a day. Add a fresh slice of lemon, lime or cucumber. As you begin this process your body will begin to detoxify, removing some of that oxidative stress. Then get out and move your body. Feel it strengthen, feel it come alive! I am not a big fan of being all sweaty… so I love yoga. It stretches your muscles, brings awareness to your body, brings connections to your mind and body, and detoxifies as your wring out your organs.
Give it a go… what do you have to lose? Nothing. What do you have to gain? EVERYTHING…