For those of you who have just joined us in the past year, I would like to share the story about how one of the beautiful ladies in my practice changed her life through her diet. With her permission, I’d like to re-share with you her miracle story (one that is completely do-able for all of you, too!)
And, the reason I want to share her story with you is because, I have so many people ask me what I recommend they do to help them with their health, whether it’s arthritis pain, Multiple Sclerosis, a skin condition like Eczema, or cancer. I’m not able to recommend a specific course of treatment for anyone. However, I can share food, lifestyle, and home remedies that have helped with improving health and well-being. Ultimately, I feel like we are all our own best healers. When we attune our bodies to really feel how our food, our environment, our lifestyle is really affecting us, we can then then become clear on what we can either do or not do to support our own best health practices.
I tell this story over and over to help inspire people and to let everyone know how simple (and, I know this may sound easier said than done to you) changes can make a world of difference in one’s health.
For her privacy I’m going to call her “Marissa”.
Marissa came into my office in April of this year after several of her teacher friends told hear that I would be able to help her (just letting you know that all of these women just happened to have great results with me, but that was my luck). She did not want to come in to see yet another doctor. She was tired of doctors, tired of getting poked by needles, tired of not getting any help, and tired of feeling so badly all the time. She didn’t think that I could do anything differently for her that she had not been through before.
You see, 2 years prior, Marissa had been diagnosed with Scleroderma. This is a disease, in which, all of the body’s connective tissue calcifies.. it gets hard. This means the ligaments and tendons all over the body, including the organs and the muscles. She was 44 years old at the time and already constantly hurting, unable to work a full day (she is a special education teacher) without feeling tired and in pain, and unable to participate in life at home and with her family.
That evening, I suggested that she completely eliminate gluten from her diet. I explained to her that gluten can cause inflammation in the body and that the immune system will begin attacking the body with the added gluten. Because Scleroderma is already an Auto-Immune disease, I felt like added inflammation and Immune response would not be beneficial. In addition, I suggested that she go get a copy of the book ‘Eat Right for your Blood Type’. I like this diet because it guides people on what is the best diet for their own blood type and is based on your genetics.
Now, to be honest, I doubt that most people follow my advice. I didn’t actually think that Marissa would go get a copy of the book, let alone follow the advice on the pages. I was wrong.
She came back to me 9 days later almost in tears. This is what happened in the days since I had last seen her:
She told me that she had gone out to get the book that night after leaving my office, followed the recommendations exactly… eliminating foods that were not right for her blood type (this included eliminating gluten) and just eating the foods that they recommended for her. She did this for 4 days straight. On the 5th day, she went in for a blood test that had already been scheduled.
The morning of her appointment with me, she received a call from her doctor. Her doctor was calling to give her results from the blood test, which were as follows: they could find not any antibodies to the Scleroderma. This was the first test that had come back negative in 2 years for her. The doctor gave her the ‘go ahead’ to start exercising again.
I have to say, the two of us were in tears, by the time she finished telling me all of this. She told me that she knew then that she was going to live long enough to be able to see her kids graduate from high school and to get married and that she was going to be able live a long life. Before that point, she and the doctors didn’t know how long she was going to live. All of that has since changed.
Since then, Marissa came in every week telling me about some new task that she was able to perform… mopping the floor, doing the laundry, moving her daughter’s furniture around in her room. I know these sound mundane to most of us, but consider not being able to do these things.. the things that make life worth living and enjoying and then having all of that taken away and being in constant pain and discomfort.
I’m sharing this with all of you because it really is a miracle. Marissa is no longer on drugs, she is leading a normal, pain-free life, and she looks forward to many more years of working in a job that she loves and being with her wonderful family. She comes in to get adjusted regularly and she can feel when she ‘cheats’ on her diet. Other than that, she’s living a normal life. I am so happy to know this beautiful woman, the joy that she brings to the world, and I am so happy that she was courageous enough to make the changes in her life so that she can be here to share her gifts with all of us.
I would like everyone to be able to
experience this kind of joy and vitality.
My challenge to you
Start becoming aware of your aches and pains, digestive difficulties, level of fatigue. Have you ever considered that it could be diet related? You might want to consider an elimination diet. Take one food and completely eliminate it for 10-15 days. The older you are, the longer you will need to keep it out of your diet. Years of eating a food that wreaks havoc on your body will take some time to clear out and then heal.
Try picking up a copy of Eat Right for Your Blood Type by Peter D’Adamo. I highly recommend this book as a great place to start, if this is a new frontier for you.
After you read the book you can use one of the mobile apps to help you list the beneficial, neutral, and avoid foods for all four blood types. Available for Apple (iPhone, iPod, iPad) and Android mobile devices.
If you would like some help getting started, I am available for consultations. Email me with your questions about how to make that happen.
Yours in health,
Dr. Arjan Khalsa