The Fork In The Road

Our country is seeing dramatic increases in obesity and chronic illness.  In fact, upwards of 50% of Americans have at least one chronic disease. We are facing record obesity rates in both adults and children. 68% of adults are overweight or obese 25% of children.  YIKES!

Just 7 years ago I had a mile long list of health problems. I couldn’t sleep, I had major digestive issues, I didn’t have any energy, my waist line was increasing, my back hurt and I caught every cold that walked past me. Almost every cold I caught turned into bronchitis and required antibiotics.

According to my doctor, other than my asthma, there was nothing wrong with me. I saw a few specialist and they performed expensive tests. Not one of them addressed my diet or nutrition. All of them were very willing to write me a “band aid” prescription that calms the symptoms of the problems I was having, instead of helping me get to the bottom of what was actually causing the problems. I decided prescription drugs were not the route I wanted to take.

I started seeing a Chiropractor for my back problems and he suggested cutting dairy and wheat out of my diet, plus taking special vitamins and supplements. I thought he was crazy, I had been eating wheat and dairy my whole life without any problems and I had good vitamins. All of those years growing up I was taught you need 6-11 servings of breads, cereals, pastas and eat low fat. That’s exactly what I did. So why is my health failing me in my twenties? I didn’t know that my diet was slowly killing me.

The Chiropractor explained to me that the vitamins and foods I was eating were not working for my body anymore. Most of the vitamins out on the market aren’t tested for absorbency and I wasn’t absorbing the vitamins I was taking. He suggested 5 different bottles of vitamins and supplements. He told me my liver was stressed and I needed to take this particular supplement each day at the cost of $30 per month – or I could save money and eat a couple slices of beets each day. I hated beets. But the price tag for these 5 bottles was well over $125…ouch. Since he offered to save me money by offering a food alternative, I agreed to buy beets, save $30 off the $125 total of the remaining vitamins. I went home with my 4 bottles of vitamins and wondered if I’d been duped by a quack doctor. I bought a fresh beet, washed it, sliced it and gagged. The smell made me ill – I couldn’t eat it. I tossed it in the trash and spent $30 per month for 6 months on his pills. Some of my symptoms went away but I was still experiencing a lot of problems. I didn’t eliminate dairy and wheat or eat more veggies like he suggested.

After a year, I started researching health and nutrition. I read a lot of stuff about diet, detoxing, gluten and dairy. I found a book called The Detox Box by Dr. Mark Hyman. I followed his detox and it changed my life. It was a very comprehensive diet/detox that involved several vitamins, supplements and a specific diet. This was quite different than the suspect Hollywood fads such as the “Master Cleanse”, instead of depriving your body of crucial vitamins and nutrients it allowed you to fortify yourself with them. I completed the detox in 7 days and felt awesome. This prompted me to buy his other books and I followed his programs for 4 months.  After 4 months 95% of my symptoms went away, I dropped weight and I even learned to like beets and other foods I didn’t dare touch before. Plus I learned how to prepare and cook healthy foods - bonus!

A few years later, I slipped back into old habits due to my budget and stressful job at the time. Eating healthy is more expensive. After 1 ½ years of eating poorly, my weight ballooned and most of my symptoms returned. I realized I needed to spend money on my food now, or I’ll be spending more money later in medical bills.

I came to a fork in the road of life with my health. One road is flat and easy but it led to a dark forest. The other road is uphill, downhill, it had twists and turns – it’s definitely more difficult, but it’s the scenic route.

We all have a choice; we can take the easy road - cheap easy foods, unnecessary prescription medications and poor health. Or we can choose the road that requires strength, endurance and healthy choices. We can choose to pay more money for healthy foods now or more money in medical bills later.

We are all faced with forks in the road of life. Some people can skate through life on the flat road and not run into any major problems. Some people think they can take the easy road but later they find their choices have caused permanent damage. Others are more sensitive and need to address their health and nutrition their entire life.  Are you on the right road?