What we get wrong about dis-ease

There is no hiding from the fact that diseases, auto-immune conditions, learning difficulties and cancer are all on the rise, and it is therefore no wonder that more and more people are interested in health, as you are. Many are now understanding that these conditions and diseases aren't just random, they are the body's reaction to its toxic environment.

But many are still searching for a magic pill or putting it down to random happenstance that we are seeing a rise in cases of ill-health. So what is the alternative? How do we approach disease from a more holistic viewpoint and truly understand where we may be going wrong? In this article we'll dive into the mistakes many make about getting sick and how to approach healing in a holistic way.

Disease vs dis-ease

A key distinction to make is that diseases or conditions aren't just random, you don't feel great one day and get diagnosed the next. Disease is exactly that, a state of dis-ease, the body is under stress, whether from endocrine disruptors, ultra-processed foods, chronic mental stress from work, or anything else that taxes the body more than is comfortable.

Our bodies are incredibly resilient, they can handle an immense amount of stress before breaking, but they are also adaptive, and we will adapt to our environment and food in order to keep living with them. The problem is that these have become so stressful and toxic, that new conditions are being discovered every day.

But the true cause is a misalignment with nature, an environment that yes, has stress, but also has rest. When we fuel our bodies with ultra-processed food, bombard it with endocrine disruptors and then also ask it to work hard, go all day and night (since most don't sleep well) it is no wonder dis-ease has risen to searingly high levels in modern society. We are disconnected from nature and we are paying the price for it. The cure to dis-ease then isn't a magic pill, it's returning to nature, to what was once normal. The ease returns and our bodies heal when we give it what it needs.

Inflammation

The root of all illness in my eyes is inflammation, our body's reaction to something it does not like, something that isn't natural, or even too much of one thing and too little of the other. When we sprain our ankle it swells up, that is inflammation taking place to heal the sprain, but what is modern advice for a sprain? Mask the inflammation with ice and compression, we do the same with medications.

Inflammation can be at a high level where we feel puffy, fatigued, worn out, aching joints, but it can also be low level with brain fog, inability to fall asleep or get good sleep, a subtle loss of energy.

In short we need to reduce inflammation through our diet and environment. The more in line with nature we are, the more our bodies recognise the fuel and surroundings, the more it can be at complete rest.

Seed oils are a key example of inflammation, they are everywhere, in most foods and therefore consumed at every meal for most people, yes of course seed oil won't kill you from one tablespoon of it, but it raises inflammation, it isn't natural to eat something so heavily processed, bleached, deodorised, and you'd never be able to eat that many seeds in one go. So in turn a low grade of inflammation takes hold and wears your body down over time. The same can be said for glyphosate and other chemicals or ingredients that are so often consumed or we are exposed to.

Magic pill vs lifestyle

The idea of cures and magic pills that take all illness away isn't going to come without side effects, and won't ever truly heal the issues since they'll come right back as soon as the magic pill stops being used. The real cure and magic pill is your diet and lifestyle.

You are what you eat and you are what you do. If you eat junk and move very little, your body will follow the trend. The greatest tool for health is eating real food and staying active, even if that's just pottering around your garden and walking in old age. If you don't use it, you'll lose it.

Noticing how you feel is a crucial skill to have, if you notice more fatigue, aches, unexpected weight gain, weakness etc, then paying attention to the last few weeks and months of your diet and lifestyle is incredibly helpful to understanding why something feels "off."

Once you realise all the healing can come from real food and a healthy lifestyle, you stop outsourcing your health to pills and quick fixes and instead start supporting your own health through what you do and what you put in your mouth.

Cancer

More and more cancer doctors are now saying how cancer starts 10 years before you ever notice symptoms, meaning how you live today is going to affect your future health - obvious I know, but something that is worth highlighting.

But again, cancer isn't something that you randomly catch, it's the body's reaction to a state of dis-ease. It's our body's way of coping when things become too toxic, inflammation becomes too high and it simply cannot cope any longer without developing cancer, after all the cells are already there, it is simply a mutation of these cells.

The same can be said for other conditions that people develop as they get older, the body responds to the environment in which it lives and the food it lives off. Understanding this empowers you to take control of your health and gives yourself the best chance of a life full of health, it's not just about living longer, it's about living every day full of energy and nothing holding you back.

Why we need to change how we think about disease

As mentioned earlier, this article is mainly about changing how you approach health and disease, we live in a toxic world and we simply cannot avoid every single toxin there is, but we can live well and be healthy, nature is still here, real food is still here, the sun still shines and we can do the best with what we have. Your mindset towards health is equally as important as what you do, over-worrying and stressing about toxins you can't avoid isn't helping, choosing to avoid what you can is helping.

You can't outrun a bad diet, like you cannot magic pill your way to good health. It seems simple, but once you make this distinction, better health flows so much easier to you.