Be Your Own Health Investigator

We have relied on doctors for many years to help us feel better when we are sick, to tell us what’s wrong, and give us advice about how to prevent disease.  Doctors are fabulous.  However; in these crazy times we are living in, I think it is imperative that we do our own health investigation before we go running out to the doctors who are already overwhelmed and at a loss with the events of 2020.

Think back to when you were a kid.  There was a game called Clue.  You and your friends rolled the dice and moved a game piece around on a board to try and solve the murder mystery.  Health and medicine are much like Clue.

When you visit a doctor with an ailment, he/she immediately gets out their prescription pad and they start scribbling a medicine for you to try.  Then, “Come back in a month.”

A month goes by.  You have eliminated the initial symptom, but now another symptom ten times more aggravating than the first is presenting.  “Try this one, it’s different and doesn’t usually cause that side effect.  See you in a month.”  You pay the front desk, then pay the pharmacy for a new medication and go home hoping to feel better.

For some, this cycle continues sometimes for YEARS.  It’s frustrating, expensive and enough to make people avoid doctors altogether. They get tired of the doctors playing Clue with their health and decide that they will just feel unwell.   If you are going to avoid the doctor’s office, you had better get to know your body.  I want to introduce you to your new friend, your gut.

You might not realize this, but your intestines and the friendly (and not-so-friendly) bacteria are in control of your life.  You may say, “I thought my brain controlled my life?”  It does.  BUT:  your intestines have a DIRECT connection to your brain.  Look it up, it’s true!!

Every time you eat something, it travels down to the intestines for processing.  The intestines talk to the brain and say “Stop eating, we are full.”  Sometimes they tell the brain they are empty. When something gets in that is a threat, the brain tells the intestines to get rid of it.  Sometimes, they go silent altogether.  This is disastrous for your health!!  A good investigator goes out looking for answers and asks questions.  They start conversations to find out the exact problem so a solution can be found.  You can be that investigator for your health.  Here’s how;

1. 1. Start asking questions.  You know you don’t quite feel well.  But why?  When is it the worst?  Makes some notes, keep a log of your symptoms.

1. 2. What are you eating?  Do you mostly eat packages foods, or do you prepare your own food with un-processed ingredients?  If you are eating out, do you know how the food is prepared?  Ask questions.

1. 3. Start to interrogate certain foods.  Do you feel bloated every time you eat bread?

1. 4. How is your skin looking? Do you experience break-outs after dairy? Or fruits?

1. 5. You may even have to investigate your poop.  I know, I know.  Just don’t send your friends the pictures.  Your poop says A LOT about your health!  Is it solid? You ideally want it to look like a snake.  I could write another blog on poop.  Maybe someday.

1. 6. Your urine will tell you about your water intake, it should be clear.  Dehydration causes major problems with digestion, thinking, blood pressure and a whole host of symptoms.  It can even cause the brain to shrink.  If it is dark yellow you really need water.  If it is brown or red, go to the doctor ASAP.

1. 7. Finally, when you start noticing a pattern, it’s time to start making arrests of certain foods.  Leave the sugar out of your routine for a couple of weeks and keep notes.  It is certainly a hard task, but see it through.  Notice how you feel once you are in the habit of skipping that sweet snack.  You may find that you really don’t want it anymore.  Then have a cookie and make a note of how you feel.  Are you sluggish?  Do you have pain in your body? You might be surprised!

The easiest way to avoid the doctor is to move your body and feed it quality, balanced nutrition.  No food will ever be perfect and pure, unless you are growing it yourself isolated from other people.  Do the best you can, investigate your health before you turn to the doctors.  Trust your gut.