One of my passions has been searching where TRUE health comes from and how to achieve long term wellness. I am not only interested in symptoms, but the reason WHY symptoms are present. If your engine light comes on in your car don't you want to know why it's on, or are you simply interested in finding out which wire to pull so the light goes out? I like to think of the body like a cup with the ability to handle a certain amount of "stress" before it begins to overflow and spill over. I think everybody has a different size of cup, a unique health history and a particular lifestyle that will affect the ability to handle different types and amounts of stressors. In my research, education and clinical experience I have found 3 major categories of stressors that accumulate in the body and ultimately affect your overall health: physical, chemical and mental/emotional. All three categories have the ability to affect your health and the importance of having all three evaluated can not be underestimated. So let's talk about each of these in some detail.
Most people understand physical stressors like accidents and injuries, lifting heavy objects repeatedly, poor postural habits at the computer, repetitive movements, etc. I have many patients that have had a definitive accident at some point in their life that really affected their bodies. Some examples include the birthing process which for many of us is the first injury to our spine, falling down the stairs as an infant, head on car collisions, getting trampled by a horse, falling out of a tree, getting hit by a car, etc. Other less obvious examples such as sitting at a computer all day are not a one time traumatic event but over the years can cause tremendous stress to the soft tissues, joints and nerves in the body. So for these people their "cup" may be mostly full already and they will have very little tolerance for additional stressors. These people will experience flare-ups easily and frequently until some of the cup is "emptied" (more on this process later).
Most people think of chemical stress as exposure to toxic chemicals only, but it could also include foods that a person is sensitive to or foods that don't react will with their particular body or blood type. Another very common chemical stressor is over the counter prescription drugs, the question we all need to ask is which drug is a safe drug? It is shocking to know of all the chemicals that are present in our personal care products like deodorants and anti-perspirants, shampoos, creams, skin care products, toothpastes, etc. I found the book "Ecoholic" was very good at offering suggestions to begin replacing some of the chemical toxins that we are exposed to daily. This category would also include the pesticides and other chemicals in our foods. Choose local and organic whenever possible. There are many people that are sensitive to things like gluten (some sources report an estimated 70% of the population) and we are exposed to a lot of this product in the typical North American diet. Many people are also sensitive to the protein found in cow's milk (casein). Then there are things like chlorine and fluoride in our drinking water. Imagine the typical day of getting up and showering with products that contain chemicals, putting on anti-perspirant with aluminum, skin creams with chemicals, eating a breakfast that for a lot of people is toast and/or cereal (remember wheat and dairy sensitivities) then picking up a Tim Horton's on the way to work (caffeine plus whatever chemicals t hey spray the coffee beans with). You get the point that it is not unlikely we are all bombarded by more chemicals than we are aware of and would like to be exposed to. These all add to the "cup".
Then there are the mental/emotional stressors that consume a lot of conscious time and energy. How much of our days are spent worrying about things we can't do anything about? How much time do we spend fearing the future and/or having guilt or the past? How many of us have "baggage" that weighs us down and holds us back? What I have learned is that even if these issues are not the main cause of the problem, they will prevent healing by continually adding back into the "cup". Another observation I've made in complex cases is that what a person believes about their recovery will dictate how fast they get better. It's like what Henry Ford said, "Whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right." We like to believe that in the right environment, with the right tools, the body has a tremendous ability to heal itself. While it may not be us who addresses these types of mental or emotional stressors it is vital that they are recognized and dealt with appropriately, otherwise it will affect the person's ability to get well.
In closing, all of these things will add to the cup and prevent the body from doing what it was meant to do: BE HEALTHY. We strongly feel that the key to good health will be managing your lifestyle stressors. Everybody has their own cup and we need to be aware of all the things that are adding to our cups. Next time we will discuss some of the strategies to empty the cup once it is full.
Dr. Jason Plotsky
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