Taking Control of Your Health &
Well-being
By Georgianna Donadio, D.C.,
M.Sc., Ph.D.
Do you ever wonder why, in spite of all your good intentions, you just
cannot seem to take control over your health and wellness the way you
really want to? The answer to that question can be found in the words of
Albert Einstein, who reminded us "you cannot correct a problem with the
same thinking that created it”. In other words, you cannot change old
behaviors without new information.
The Institute of Medicine recently published a study that indicates
ninety million Americans are "health illiterate", which means we do not
know how to interpret or use health information to control or improve
our health, or prevent chronic disease. Data compiled previously
identified, "lack of information as the number one root cause of death".
Understanding that there exists a cause and effect relationship between
what we know and how we behave, we need a model of integrating this
important information to change the behaviors that lead to chronic
disease. According to a 7-year, 1996, Harvard Medical School study,
approximately 70% of all cancers are preventable through lifestyle
changes. Furthermore, our diseases and conditions are primarily a result
of stress, food, environment, attitude, emotions or beliefs that keep us
in behaviors that lead to illness. Which invites the question, are we
consciously choosing to be unhealthy, or do we just not understand
sufficiently the relationship between what we think, how we behave, what
we put into our bodies and how we keep ourselves well or make ourselves
sick?
In a world exploding with health information, especially on the
internet, we are caught in the dilemma of having abundant amounts of
information, without a context through which we can understand and
utilize this information in a way that is appropriate for our own unique
personal health needs. There is, however, good news - making its way
into the mainstream of health care is an integrated model of health
information and education that provides a "whole picture of health"
perspective, allowing each of us to discern and create our own unique
approach to taking charge of our health and well-being. Whole Health
Education, developed over the past 28 years, in cooperation with Boston
physicians, nurses and educators, is an approach to understanding the
cause and effect our behaviors and choices have on our state of health.
Demystifying the five major factors that influence how sick or well we
become, Whole Health Education provides a perspective on human anatomy
and physiology, bio-chemistry, psycho-social, environmental and
spiritual aspects which allows for an authentic understanding of what we
need know to resolve chronic health problems or to stay healthy.
Integrating evidence-based information with the wisdom of various
spiritual teachings and a whole-person overview of behavioral options,
Whole Health Education offers each of us a tool for personal health
management by providing personalized health information that explains
the physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental and spiritual
aspects of a health concern.
For example, Mature Onset Diabetes affects approximately 18.2 million
Americans and is the leading health concern in our culture today. As all
chronic conditions are, Mature Onset Diabetes is a multi-dimensional
disease state and the unique Whole Health perspective, can facilitate
the restoration of health for those with chronic diseases such as
diabetes.
Physical/Structural
What happens on a physical and structural level with Mature Onset
Diabetes? The specialized beta cells of the pancreas, which produce
insulin, become incapable of producing adequate amounts of the
critically necessary secretion. This happens over a period of years and
can begin in our bodies, over time, by eating large amounts of
insulin-provoking foods. These insulin provocateurs, which are sugars
and starches in the form of complex carbohydrates, require the pancreas
to produce more insulin so that the sugars can be carried over the cell
membranes to all parts of the body. Serious disturbances occur when we
do not have enough insulin to carry the sugar over the cell membranes.
Insulin hooks onto the sugar molecule and acts like a lock and key
mechanism to bring that sugar into the cell which is then used in the
energy cycle of cell metabolism. The nervous system, brain and the lungs
cannot function without the proper metabolism of sugars.
Emotional/Social
Just as diabetes is a lack of nourishment on a chemical/nutritional
level, so is it a lack of emotional nourishment on an emotional/mental
level. It relates to the “feel good” nourishment component of your body.
What do we know about carbohydrates and serotonin? Carbohydrates provoke
the production of serotonin. Serotonin is a neuro-transmitter that
produces a feeling of well-being. There is a direct relationship between
what our body is doing chemically and how we feel emotionally. When we
crave or build our diet around carbohydrates, this can be a way of
“self-medicating” our emotional needs by eating carbohydrates to provoke
insulin production.
Sugar problems can affect us emotionally. Let's say you have a pancreas
that is not working properly. What can happen somatic/psychically from
the pancreas to the brain? If we are feeling the ups and downs of
hypoglycemia, and its biochemical/neurological symptoms, it may
undermine our sense of security, self esteem, and produce anxiety and
fear.
What is the emotional component of diabetes and the pancreas? Often, it
can be a poor sense of self-esteem and a fear of not being “good enough”
or not belonging. These feelings, medicated by the serotonin foods, can
lead us to not look deeply enough into what is causing our health
concerns and allow the feeling/feeding cycle to continue.
Chemical/Nutritional
On the nutritional side, the treatment for people with Mature Onset
Diabetes is to decrease the stress on the pancreas by making changes in
their diet -- decrease starches and sugars and decrease calories. Eat
less, eat right. What kind of a diet would be best for preventing Mature
Onset Diabetes? Vegetables, vegetables, and vegetables combined with
lean proteins such as fish, chicken, water, a little fruit and a little
fat. In a hypoglycemic situation, it is wise not to eat grain or sugar,
but sprouted grain bread, and other substitutes can be healthy and
satisfying.
Because hormones are chemicals, diabetes and hypoglycemia are both
hormonal-based problems. What we know about the hormone system is that
it works as a balanced interdependent system. Diabetes is an
endocrine-related, systemic problem. With a systemic problem like
diabetes, you have a body system problem--you do not just have a
condition by itself. It is known that the pancreas is related, through
hormone interaction, to the adrenals, and the adrenals are in turn
related to the reproductive system. It is known that these glands are
related through hormone interactions to the pituitary and the pituitary
is related to the thyroid gland, the thyroid is related to the thymus,
and the thymus is related to the immune system.
Environmental/Internal & External
The environment that we work in, live in, walk through, live near -- how
does that environment have an impact on the way that we feel and the way
we feel about ourselves?
How do we learn to trust in the order of the universe? By behaviors that
come from trusting the order inside ourselves. We do this by setting
boundaries -- codes of conduct of how we are going to behave, eat, work
exercise and live. If we don't violate our own boundaries, we are less
likely to let anybody else violate our boundaries. We have to start with
ourselves. Our experience of victimization can begin with our own
self-victimizing behavior.
Spiritual/World View
A Hindu Vendata truth is that “the whole world is one family”. It is
said that there is only one disease, the disease of separateness,
separating oneself from the awareness that we are one living organism.
Competition creates isolation. The spiritual challenge presented by
hypoglycemia and diabetes appears to be involved with over- or
under-valuing the self: judgment of self and then others. Where are we
in the process of getting to the truth that we are all equally
important? The drama created by a one-up or one-down dynamic that we may
allow to be part of our experience can lead to psychophysiology and the
behavioral issues which can contribute to and create Mature Onset
Diabetes.
Whole Health Education can transform our experience of taking care of
ourselves. It can provide an understanding of our health concerns and
conditions from this multi-dimensional perspective that makes sense in a
way we can utilize the information directly and in a meaningful way. In
addition, having the information provided in a mindful, respectful way
that invites each of us to discern what we know about our health and
condition, how to choose to resolve the problem and what kind of care we
choose to have, allows each of us to experience whole-person health care
through whole health information. Then, WE become the center of our
health and healing process, rather than the doctors or practitioners we
go to for guidance.
Georgianna Donadio D.C., M.Sc., Ph.D., has conducted a private practice
in Whole Person Care since 1976. She is the Founder and Director of The
New England School of Whole Health Education, the pioneer of Whole
Health Education and a provider of patient and healthcare professional
education since 1977. For more information, visit
www.wholehealtheducation.org or call 1-888-354-HEAL (4325).
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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