How It Starts For So Many Of Us
“After age 35, good health doesn’t come to us anymore. We have to go get it.”
Those were the words my physician said to me, after she informed me that I had Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune condition where the body makes antibodies that attack the thyroid, decreasing its function, and often requiring for medication for life. I sat there, stunned, and fighting back tears. I’d never been sick in my life, and this had robbed me of my energy, sense of well-being, and happiness for the last year or more. I felt like it was threatening my future as well.
How did this happen? I had always eaten well (or so I thought), exercised, slept well, and was generally happy. I had a terrific husband, and a job full of meaning and purpose. It wasn’t fair.
If you’re here, I wonder if you’ve found yourself in a similar boat. Perhaps you’ve been given a similar diagnosis of an autoimmune condition, or maybe it’s heart disease or diabetes, or any of the precursors to these conditions. Maybe you’ve gained so much weight that you feel you can never take it off. Maybe you hurt. Perhaps you have the same sense of, “What did I do wrong, and how am I supposed to manage this now?”
One of the things I can help you understand is that many of our modern-day woes have come about from a mismatch between our genes and our current environment. Despite being tens of thousands of years removed from our cavemen ancestors, we still share most of their genes. Our bodies still think we are hunter-gatherers, but the food we fuel ourselves with is mostly a recent development of the industrial and agricultural revolutions, all within the last few hundred years. This includes processed foods, industrial seed oils (such as soybean, sunflower, or canola oil, all made in factories), sugars, grains, and more.
On top of this, we’re sedentary now. Our ancestors moved for hours each day. We are chronically stressed. We live under artificial lights. We are bombarded with toxins from makeup to pesticides. We are sleep deprived. These are all mismatches between what our genetics require for optimal health and what we actually do.
Starting to see why you are not feeling well? Our bodies can only take this mismatch of genetics and environment for so long before they start to break down (often in mid-life). It’s not your fault! I can help you further understand the factors that may have led to your conditions and can help you take the steps that make sense for you in reclaiming your health, starting with what feels the most important to you. In health coaching, you lead the way, and we go at your pace.
Want to learn more about this evolutionary mismatch? Read more at the links below:
