Minimizing Your Cravings
(Health Secrets Newsletter) In the first article in this series, we discussed the nature of metabolic problems and what is really happening. We also discussed how those problems begin and continue in both primordial and modern situations. All of chronic disease, all premature wear and tear and all problems with obesity, pain and energy are traceable to metabolic abnormalities. In this, part II of this series on healing metabolism, we will discuss the changes in our surroundings that we must consider in order to heal metabolism problems today.
It is said that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. It is also said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So it is with our journey to recover from the modern condition. What we put on our bodies, on our laundry, in our mouths, in our houses and on our lawns are things well within our power to change. We do not have to participate in flooding the world with synthetics, pesticides, herbicides, chemical smells, plastics and electromagnetic pollution. We can make better judgments regarding if and when some modern synthetic is actually necessary. What the world really needs is more individuals quietly doing better, and that change starts with me and the reader of this article. It is not a political agenda, it is a personal choice to do better today than was done yesterday.
So many modern habits have simply become a common groove into which we all fall. If we look over and see our neighbor in the same groove as we are in, it serves as proof to us that we are okay. It validates us as individuals. One of the many problems with this human tendency is that people around us are not necessarily moral or objective enough to never let anything slip by them. Rather, they are usually looking back at us to feel that same validation. They are making sure they are doing what we are doing. We could do so much better than we do, so why not do so? Why not become a standard of being better in some way?
One client recently arranged a Skype consult with me for health problems she is having. She considered herself very wise with diet and lifestyle. Upon investigation, I found many key areas being neglected or overtly done wrong. When it came time to discuss the load of synthetics on her body from her environment, it turns out she wears her cell phone on her body at all times, she uses dryer sheets in her dryer (we know these chemicals get into the brain, cause birth defects and learning disabilities), perfumed laundry detergent and lives in a brand new home with offgassing coming from carpet, paint, tile glue, etc. She had not opened the windows and left them open for fear of bugs (I never met a bug as unhealthy as the environment she had created). Her husband freely sprayed the lawn. Her choice in clothing involved fully synthetic underclothes. She used municipal water without a whole house filter and without even an under-the-sink filter for drinking water. I suspect I could have found other problems that were within her control if I had taken the time to continue investigating. Simply put, she had closed her eyes to horrible toxins in her environment that were under her control, more or less on the basis of what she thought was normal.
Anyone professing that he or she wants to get better but who is chronically sick is without excuse if they have read this article. They should not be using dryer sheets, microwaves, perfumes, synthetics, sprays, etc. They should not be putting chemicals on their bodies or in their homes or clothes. They should have a whole house filter for water and an under-the-sink filter, preferably reverse osmosis, for drinking water. They should air out their home and, if it is within their power, they should remove and refuse synthetic surfaces wherever possible.
We have discovered that many of our synthetic substances (plastics, pesticides, herbicides, perfumes, etc.) actually contain xenoestrogens. These foreign estrogens are pro-inflammatory and create degeneration. The hormonal effect of these may lead to agenesis of eggs in developing females. It has been suggested that widespread complete infertility is only two generations away (my children’s grandchildren). We do not have to wait around for the ill effects of this problem, however. It is happening all around us. The hormone progesterone is the natural balance for estrogen, meaning that it counters the over expression of the effects of estrogen. The use of progesterone creams in males and females alike in my practice has proven to diminish all types of inflammatory response. Typically, I have them use it every other day.
If everyone today stopped using plastics, pesticides, perfumes and all synthetic, xenoestrogenic substances, the levels of these in our environment would actually continue to rise for the next 20 years. This has obvious far-reaching repercussions for all of us. We must each take the matter in hand and do our part by completely removing these from our lives. A mild, conservative approach to making changes will not avert the coming storm of disease that will have no cure.
Some feel that any measure to eliminate synthetics is extreme and out of reason. But in reality, failing to do so is the out of reason approach. At what point does it become extreme to do nothing about a major problem? If the house is burning or flooding, when is it time to fix the problem or get out? We are now in a situation that has passed our ability to manage it. Drastic actions are needed.
In conclusion, we have discussed lifestyle changes that must be undertaken to remove the synthetic, unnatural burden on our metabolism. We have discussed the importance and severity of the problem. In our next article in this series, we will discuss the use of food and diet in regulating and healing metabolism. We will discuss the difference between manipulating metabolism and healing it. We will discuss the most important aspects of diet as it relates to healing metabolism and keeping it well for life.
