By Ian Kennedy
In the Bioregulatory Medicine approach to health, it is well understood that illness and the onset of many diseases can be attributed to multiple causes. Illness and disease are almost always brought on by a combination and accumulation of many different stressors and toxins that overwhelm the body and stunt its ability to naturally compensate. Some categorize these causative factors as either antecedents or triggers.
It is this inability to compensate and regulate that allows the body to move into dis-ease. The list can be long regarding the many stressors and toxins that build up over time. However, we can make it easy for both the patient and practitioner of Bioregulatory medicine to address and understand these. We can simply categorize them under three groupings:
Environmental, Dietary, and Psychoemotional Issues
Environmental toxins refers to the load that comes from outside the body such as air and water contamination from industry as well as municipalities that use chlorine or other water treatment chemicals. There are also air pollutants often from indoor air in homes which don’t allow for good air circulation and therefore mold build-up. Electromagnetic fields from cell towers, cell phones, and computer use further pollute our environment. Natural geopathic stressors, such as underground flowing water, geopathic fault lines, and radon gas; chemicals used in body and hair care products; chemtrails, pesticides, and herbicides are all examples of environmental toxins. We can also put bacteria, fungi, and mold into the category of environmental as well since these too are part of the external environment. The list can go on and on when one starts to delve deep into the personal toxins from the environment. Lumping all of them together under environment, however, can be a way to have the client look closely at their environment and make some effort to clean up what they can. Water and air filtration as well as body care products including the environment of the oral cavity is a good place to start.
Diet is a category that can also be a little overwhelming at first for those seeking an alternative to allopathic medicine. Generally, it is best to make small and consistent changes over time to the diet. Today the standard diet is full of chemicals and preservatives, colors, and artificial flavorings. The other issue is that many people today get hooked on diets that have little diversification. The lack of flexibility is as bad for the body as fast food. Variety is key to keeping our diet not only clean but also interesting and rewarding. The best diet is one full of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and meat made up of fish, small birds including turkey, and even some organ meat. A good place to start when it comes to diet is to cut out fast food of any kind, white flour, white refined sugars, and white potato, these are particularly inflammatory.
If we are over forty years old, it is best to eat only twice a day with at least six to eight hours between meals. If one is very active, it is alright to eat fruit between meals. Giving the digestive track a break like this is very beneficial. Learning the difference between having energy on an empty belly and needing food for body energy is a heightened perception that is most beneficial and takes a little time to acquire. The cells of the body receive more energy through oxygen than through nutrition. Breathing is far more important to the body than food is. It is no surprise that the overconsumption of food leads to dis-ease in many ways for the body and is responsible for the dulling of the senses.
Last on the list of toxic stress is emotional toxins. These are detrimental as any environmental or dietary stress. Our emotional state has as much to do with our healing or lack thereof. I once worked with an ambulance squad, and it was common knowledge that we would be dealing with more heart attacks on Sunday nights and Monday mornings than any other day of the week. This is because of the stress that the person is under when facing a new workweek coupled many times with overeating and drinking throughout the weekend. If there is no joy in ones’ occupation, if there is no purpose that drives us into action that leads to a sense of worth in how we make money, the body will find ways to get out of that situation.
Bioregulatory medicine avoids a one-size-fits-all approach. There is no single cause of fatigue, for example. It may be hormonal – thyroid insufficiency or adrenal stress. Or it may be linked to a gut health problem or a deficiency of important vitamins or minerals such as B complex or magnesium. It may be from a lack of joy in life.
We are taught to work hard instead of to work joyfully. We are told that we need to work for a living instead of living for a livelihood. Trading our time for money is never an equal exchange regardless of how much money is made. Time and health is our only true wealth. You will only care about the amount of time you had not how much money you had when death comes.
Poor and unequal relationships are also a huge toxic stressor. Loveless marriages, loneliness, isolation, and negative self-talk stress the immune system and is another cause of inflammation. It is well documented that lung cancer can have a link to grief from the loss of a loved one or the loss of love in one’s life. Anger and constant frustration damage the liver and people do die from broken hearts. Finding joy and meaning in our life is a cure for many ills. Having a reason to be and a deep involvement in life is powerful medicine. It has even been noticed that a man who has a spouse fifteen years his junior tends to live seven years longer on average. Loving what we do, who we are with, and having a deep appreciation for life down to the air we breathe the water we drink the sun on our face and the time we have leaves little room for dis-ease.
Environment, diet, and psychoemotional issues are three categories that should be researched when evaluating a client and their illness. Often it will be found that all play some role in the degeneration of the body. Enlightening the person to these three primary categories can help the client begin to take control over each without making it overwhelming. Thus, evaluating the environment for toxic exposures, reviewing the diet and what it is composed of, and making sure there is satisfaction, meaning, and joy in one’s life are all important. Lastly, making sure relationships are supportive and not toxic or controlling will also provide a starting point to the journey back to wellness.
Ian Kennedy