I talked to a young man the other day. He told me that he has diabetes. I was surprised as he looked healthy, fit, and showed no typical signs of an unhealthy lifestyle. I asked him whether he had diabetes 1 or 2 and whether the treating physician ever advised him on his diet. He replied that he does not know which diabetes he has and that no one ever talked to him about his nutrition.
I am always astounded by such answers. I understand that especially young people may have the tendency of not caring too much about their health as they are feeling well anyway. I have been no exception and I think worrying too much about health is not good either.
Always Start With Food
But we must start and give food, nutrition, and digestion the attention it deserves as a society. Food is medicine as Dr Mark Hyman is consistently telling us. It is no surprise that specialists in functional medicine always start by treating the gut if they have no clue what the patient is suffering from. I am convinced that it all starts with a bio-individual diet and a functional food approach. What are we made of? Exactly, what we consume every day. You got the idea.
“One person’s food is another person’s poison.”
Joshua Rosenthal
Seek Help
Besides finding out the best diet for yourself, we can also demand a little more support from our health care system. Look for functional practitioners and professionals following an integrated health approach. Ask a health coach for help. They’ll support you in the transition process to a new healthy lifestyle and eating habits.
„One of the only true shortcuts in life is finding an expert and apprenticing under them.“
James Clear
Educate Yourself
And never let the opportunity to learn from an uncomfortable diagnosis fade away. Read about the topic. Seek advice from specialists and general practitioners because only a holistic picture of a health problem builds the foundation for comprehensive healing. Draw your own conclusions from your knowledge and experiments based on what works for you. Remember: You are what you eat.
Blogpost photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash.
