Category: Wellness In American

How did we Get Here? - A Commentary on the State of Wellness in America

6/12/2019

A Wordy but important Message!
For some fun stuff go to the bottom of the page

Vanessa Goldeen

I am a Certified Wellness Consultant. I received my wellness certification in 2013 from the American College of Health Sciences after working many years as an artist and designer. But my real qualifications are the 45 years of living a natural lifestyle.

My message is simple. I am not going to to dazzle you with my knowledge and understanding of the chemistry of cellular toxicity, although, I am very excited to see that research scientists are finally delving into the science of the subject of cellular metabolism and autointoxication. Which, I believe is the fundamental cause of most diseases, especially in civilized cultures like ours. But, this is not new information. Traditional healing modalities the world over recognize the issue of toxic congestion and it’s effect on health.

Traditional medical practices such as Ayurveda, traces it’s roots back to 600 BCE arising from from the religious Vedic teachings in Indian. Ayurveda uses observation as it’s standard diagnostic tool, rather than scientific testing. Chinese medicine also evolved through 1,000’s of years observation of the human condition. In Europe, the evolution of Hippocrates healing principles were pursued and renewed into the practice of Naturopathic medicine whose principles are consistent with Chinese medicine, in that the practitioners efforts were design to restore balance to the body and emotions. They promoted the understanding that one cannot separate a person’s being into parts, sending the brain to a psychiatrist, the body to a Doctor and the Spirit to the priest or pastor. The understanding that we are all these things at once and that wellbeing involves a complex set of variables that requires the practitioner to look at the whole person.

I have watch with dismay the failing of “modern medicine” whose bullet approach uses an ever evolving array of medication as it’s primary tool for healing. Many of these medications often leave the patient with serious addiction issues and intolerable side effects. However, modern medicine is not entirely to blame for the state of affairs we now have, in which the majority of Americans are showing signs of premature aging as young as mid-twenties. Where children have fallen victim to imbalances so severe that we now have “spectrum” disorders such as autism, Aspergers, impulse control, ADD and ADHD. Where seniors have for the most part lost any quality of life. When you consider a recent survey authorized by the Federal government you will be shocked to learn that, “Nearly half of all Americans over the age of 12 take prescription pain relievers, tranquilizers, sedatives or stimulants.”

Additionally, research is now clearly demonstrating that the overwhelming use of antibiotics and poor nutrition have degraded genetics and left millions prey to a wide variety of health issues, both physical and mental, and yes, it’s almost all about the gut. Wide spread use of antibiotics began in the US around the turn of the century. For good reasons researchers were looking for cures for some very deadly diseases. Biologist, Paul Ehrlich's idea of a “magic bullet” that selectively targets only disease-causing microbes and not the host was based on an observation that aniline and other synthetic dyes could stain specific microbes but not others. Ehrlich argued that chemical compounds could be synthesized that would be able to exert their full action exclusively on the parasite harbored within the organism. In 1904 he worked with others to find a drug that could cure syphilis.

For purposes such as this these, the “new” drugs were indeed lifesaving, however the resulting side effects would create even bigger problems over time. Unfortunately we began to take it too far. The magic bullet became the model from which modern medicine determined to treat all complaints of ill health. From headaches and tummy aches to cancer, one idea, let’s find a pill or potion that will save you from this attack!

A good question to ask is, how did we get to this place where the lifesaving bullet has now turned against us? Let’s look at the picture from the MD’s perspective. Doctors are faced with patient complaints on a daily basis. The truth is the average individual will fail to follow the advice from a physician to make changes to their lifestyle. In truth a large percentage of the responsibility for the current state of affairs lies with us, the general population. We may want to say it’s a conspiracy between the medical machine and big pharma, but that really doesn’t fly. Yes, we live in a culture with versions of food that are far from the natural diet of humans. But, can we really blame food manufacturers for making a buck? After all the US is the bastion of capitalism which functions via the mechanism of consumer preferences and choices. They wouldn’t make it if we didn’t buy it! No, in truth, we cannot blame anyone but ourselves.

The tag line for my practice, Bridge to Health is, “A Common Sense Approach to Wellness”. Let me repeat the keyword, common sense. I am going to use myself as an example. I do not intend to hold myself up as the perfect know it all, or as one who always makes the best choices for my body/mind all the time. I will not pretend I am a new highly evolved version of a super human being! I will prove my imperfection with one word…ice cream! Oh, not to worry, I can work this rationale out. After all I am a Vata constitution which, according to Ayurveda, is balanced by dairy…Seriously, sometimes you just need ice cream!

But, in spite of my foibles, I have endeavored to live a lifestyle as close to natural as I can, eating a whole foods diet with a wide variety of foods. Eating not according to some dogma, and I have learned to fast and to detox when needed. I have also learned that a BIG part of being healthy is about learning to be happy.

Here’ my story, to prove a point about having a choice. At the age of 20 I was sick. I had been sick for sometime. When I was in middle school I developed a staff infection in my blood and was given massive doses of antibiotics which I reacted to severely. I was raised on a combo of 1960’s junk foods and Midwest diet, I was allergic, chronically constipated, suffered from spastic colon, with a very stressful home life. No wonder I got so sick! By the time I reached 20 years old I had had one thing after another, including a raging case of candida and serious gut issues. A ray of light came into my world when a friend gave me the best gift I have ever received… a copy of the book Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss. Jethro Kloss was Seventh Day Adventist, by the way, the Seventh Day Adventist are the original vegans and they ranked on average as the longest lived people in the US. Jethro was also an herbalist and a Naturopath of sorts that really believed the body could heal its self given the right foods, herbs and manual therapies. Unfortunately, he was dismissed by many, especially in the medical field. But he was on the right track. He was truly, a man ahead of his time. I devoured his book and began to seek to educate myself about the body, how it worked, what it needed. My original goal was to feel better that’s for sure, but more important to me at the time was to have beautiful hair! You see mine was dull and lifeless from lack of nutrition and clogged cells. I wanted long glossy hair..please remember I was only 20!

So, I began a process of detoxification and fasting. Relying on the books of Ann Wigmore, NW Walker, Bernard Jenson, Raymond Dextreit the French naturopath whose book, “Our Earth, Our Cure”, still stands apart as a monument to COMMOM SENSE! I was supported in my efforts by our humble hometown chiropractor, Dr. GI Jones, on whose recommendation I undertook a series of colonic irrigations, learned about the power of vegetable juices and raw foods, detoxification and supporting the liver. I was literally transformed with the most beautiful lustrous hair you could imagine! I got absolutely hooked on this new understanding.

I went on to have two children, whom were raised on a natural foods diet, at least until their teens! What are you going to do when they become teens…. calories, calories, calories! Teens are eating machines and they will eat junk food. They survive, turn thirty, returning to their roots they realize their mom was right, you gotta eat your veggies!

My kids were born all natural delivery with no meds during labor, breast feed and had antibiotics only once each in their formative years. They have gone onto to birth three amazing grandchildren who also were natural delivery with no meds, breast feed and raised on a whole foods diet. My grandchildren are physically and imaginatively active, they powerful specimens of what common sense can produce in spite of all the temptations to not do the right thing with one’s diet and lifestyle choices!

My poor kids! I’m telling you, I made my kids swallow goldenseal tincture and every other decoction which I made myself. Some of you, a few maybe, remember back in the early 80’s you could not buy herbal tinctures. So I learned to make my own, taking herbal courses and torturing my kids! There were many nights I sat up nursing them through whatever it was, fingers crossed and praying that I was doing the right thing. I had to stand up to those who wanted them to have antibiotics, including my mother, trusting what I knew. Seriously, back in those days, I drove over 2 hours to the nearest whole foods market to buy natural foods, herbs and what organic produce I could find. I was committed and now I truly appreciate my own efforts. I see it has left a legacy of understanding that will carry on through my children and grandchildren.

Back here in 2019, in spite of the advances in research and the growing understanding about inflammation, cellular function and the importance of a healthy gut, there is a persistent tendency to fall back into that the allopathic model. Many ND’s are using intense and expensive nutrient supplementation or IV infusion therapies along with antibiotics and other medications with little focus on lifestyle and dietary changes. In short, I believe we are still a nation looking for the quick fix outside ourselves.

I am not debunking what a well educated and dedicated practitioner such as an ND or an MD can bring to the table. But, I am saying that when the focus is on the SELL, with a cure that will cost more than what the average consumer can afford to pay. We have to ask is this the answer? The terms Holistic and Natural Healing have, in some cases been high jacked by modern practitioners cashing in on desperation. Let’s face it, the new concierge model of health care is for the wealthy.

My message is this, that with a little common sense and a dedication to ones self much can be done to improve health and wellbeing. The wellness consultant is in a unique position to offer unbiased information to educate the consumer about the options available and that the true natural medicine which is, living a health promoting lifestyle. The wellness consultant can affordably coach someone through a major diet change, helping people recover from the addictive foods they have chosen to eat and regain their balance. Giving people the opportunity to be guided into the truth that once you get through the withdrawal it becomes so much easier to give yourself the healthier thing simply because it feels better! I encourage everyone who is listening to join the thousands of Americans who have finally gotten sick of being sick. Who stand up and say, “I don’t have to go down this path, I can choose differently”. Reversing disease and creating wellness is an ongoing consistent daily journey. When we find our own inner healer and the people to support that process, we are truly on the path.

With this kind of empowerment the MD or ND, Acupuncturist, massage therapist, chiropractor, psychologist or counselor become supporting cast members and the individual, powered by an evolving sense of intuition becomes aware that they are their own best healer.