I caught Diabetes!!!

I previously had a client who was in her early 20's that stated "my doctor told me I caught diabetes." For some of you this statement may seem totally normal and see nothing wrong with it. Others of you may be completely outraged by this statement.

Labeling certain conditions as diseases is not only misleading but it is wrong. These such conditions should be deemed lifestyle pathologies. Lifestyle pathologies are serious medical conditions brought about by environmental, nutritional, and physical stressors. This is unlike a traditional disease where there is exposure to the pathogen and exposure directly correlates to contraction of the disease. Now I understand the definition is not perfect, it is a work in progress and will evolve over time. However, the point is to get you to shift your paradigm of thinking.

Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, kidney stones, Chron's disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, headaches, heart disease, some neurodegenerative diseases, and even many cancers can be avoided, prevented, and treated with simple, effective nutritional changes. Nutrition is medicine from nature, it may not be as easy to swallow as a pill but it does a better job and has very little side effects except feeling better.

People do not seem to understand that the above lifestyle pathologies are caused by the choices that we make everyday. Decide to skip breakfast, or grab that bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel; you contributed to over half of the above listed conditions. You do not simply "catch" these diseases and then be stricken with them for the rest of your life. Most doctor's tell their patients that they need to change their eating habits, exercise more, and then we will look at a medication. However most people are too lazy and stubborn to fix what is wrong. Instead they opt for the pill thinking it cures the condition when in fact it just hides what is going on while this lifestyle pathology is left to wreak havoc on the body unnoticed for sometimes years.

Changing you eating habits is not going on a diet. Going on a diet implies that it is going to end, this change does not end unless you want to go back to what got you to this spot in the first place. Your habits are learned from family and are passed on to your children. This not only creates the "genetic" component but it increases the likelihood of your children suffering a similar fate.

Speaking of the genetic component, I am sure there are some doubters thinking "my condition is genetic and there is nothing I can do about it". Yes there is some genetic predisposition to a lifestyle pathology but you control the expression of your genes. This can lead to a dramatic reduction in the likelihood of your development of the condition. Your health is like a game of poker where you are the dealer who can see all the cards being dealt out. You would always deal yourself the best hand, right? Then why not do so in real life. You know all the right cards, and if you aren't sure we are here to help.