Awareness is the greatest invitation to change
Meagan O'Leary
Customer Success Leader | Vitality & Wellness Advocate, Coach & Motivator
...Plus Cancer Hacks & Links
Hippocrates said, “Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against Nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear.” Looking back over the past several years, I now see clear signs that things were out of balance. The first sign came from my gut.
It started with a slight sore throat that continued to get worse. Visits to doctors resulted in a few different diagnoses: strep throat for which they prescribed antibiotics, acid reflux for which they prescribed proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), post nasal drip for which they prescribed over-the-counter sprays and pills. I took the antibiotic first and it only made things worse. I took the PPI and was nauseous so I stopped. I took the over-the-counter solutions and nothing changed. I eventually visited a naturopathic doctor who diagnosed “low stomach acid” and recommended enzymes and supplements to take with meals.
The supplements helped my sore throat, but over the next several months I received more signs something was off, including new intolerances to foods, transient brain fog, difficulty sleeping, and weight gain. Looking back at my sleep tracker, there were many nights when I slept less than 5 hours and I was starting to feel the effects.
Yet, even with these new symptoms, nothing was big enough to cause alarm or concern. I continued to believe I had low stomach acid and perhaps it was time to rethink my diet. I started reading books about the importance of healthy fats, how insulin resistance impacts weight gain, how gluten influences our gut health, and the impacts of proteins in certain vegetables called “lectins” (Gundy, 2017). My initial library focused on the following books:
Jason Fung, MD’s The Obesity Code: Unlocking The Secrets of Weight Loss
From my research, I determined I would benefit from drastically changing by diet. While I exercised daily and I thought I was eating healthy, I discovered the green smoothies I had been drinking every day were not as healthy as I thought (Gundy, 2017). I was also eating too much sugar, gluten and protein and not enough healthy fats (Mercola, 2017). What’s more, I realized I was probably exercising too often and not allowing my body enough time to recover between intense workouts (Fung, 2016).
By 2017, I had removed all gluten and refined sugar from my diet and was eating less protein and more healthy fats. However, I mistakenly replaced gluten-laden foods with high-carbohydrate, gluten-free foods and steadily gained weight. By September 2017, I decided I needed a physical reset and completed a five-day fast recommended by my naturopathic doctor. Immediately following the fast, I started Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns’ program from their book The Keto Reset Diet: Reboot Your Metabolism in 21 Days and Burn Fat Forever.
Eating keto changed my life. I had more energy, was sleeping better, had reduced brain fog, and was losing weight. Though I wasn’t feeling as good as I do today, I WAS feeling much better than previously. I also realized reaching my ideal weight meant dropping 25 pounds; I was on a steady path to achieving that, losing 2 pounds a month. By the time March rolled around, I had lost 15 pounds through a high-fat, low-carb and moderate-protein keto diet.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2018 (for the backstory go here … and here), I took my learnings from the previous year and expanded upon my research. I also found naturopathic doctors to help me learn more about the origins of cancer and to identify the root cause of my personal diagnosis. A key reference for me during this time was Dr. Nasha Winters and Jess Higgins Kelley’s book The Metabolic Approach to Cancer: Integrating Deep Nutrition, the Ketogenic Diet, and Nontoxic Bio-Individualized Therapies.
One of the principles behind Winters and Kelley’s (2017) approach is a ketogenic diet. This is based on the work of Otto Warburg from the 1920s. Warburg was a medical doctor and Nobel laureate who described a theory for the metabolism of cancer cells, now known as the Warburg effect. Recently, several researchers and scholars unearthed Warburg’s theory that cancer cells use glucose to create energy and grow (Winters & Kelly, 2017, 67). To learn more about Warburg and the effects of glucose on the growth of cancer cells, see Travis Christofferson’s book Tripping over the Truth: How the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Is Overturning One of Medicine's Most Entrenched Paradigms. To learn more about a keto diet for targeting cancer, see Miriam Kalamian’s book Keto for Cancer: Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy as a Targeted Nutritional Strategy.
After reading The Metabolic Approach to Cancer and working with my new naturopathic doctors, I embraced the metabolic approach to healing my body. The metabolic approach provided “a nutrition program that utilizes the medicinal powers of traditional foods, therapeutic diets and nontoxic lifestyle as cancer counteragents and preventatives” (Winters & Kelly, 1). In addition to a ketogenic diet, for me this meant thinking and acting systemically about techniques to improve my immune function, repair my gut, decrease inflammation, maintain healthy glucose levels, manage how I react to stress, improve hormone levels, and prioritize rest, recovery and sleep. It took me a year to find the right balance of practices to dial this in, and it is still a work in progress. I continue to try new techniques and I periodically monitor my progress through various tests (I will provide more details behind the specific approaches and how I measure progress in future articles).
As Eckart Tolle said, “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” When faced with a health crisis, disease or diagnosis—regardless of the name given to it—expanding our awareness is critical. The heart of this awareness is seeing that illness arises from a conversation between us and our world. This interaction between our bodies, minds and environment can make us sick…or help us heal.
While the first complaint from my body came from my gut, over time I learned there was more going on with me systemically, creating the terrain for cancer to develop. I also learned that illness is always systemic; to truly heal requires addressing the entire system. This is power—it is empowering. In the words of Winters and Kelley (2017):
“Viewed in a positive light, cancer, or a concern about cancer, can act as a messenger bringing a strongly worded invitation to explore how your life may be out of balance. Then it is up to you to decide if you want to change it.”
REFERENCES
Fung, Jason. The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss. Greystone Books, 2016.
DISCLAIMER
I am not a medical doctor. The ideas and recommendations in this article should never replace medical advice. The ideas and recommendations are made with the intention of sharing what I learned and what worked for my specific situation and biology. While the information in this article may inform your own decisions, any decisions you make in your own healthcare and healing should be done in consultation with a medical professional.
The Art of Vendor Management - Don't wait until the red flag is costing you money!
5 年Meagan, you continue to amaze and enlighten me even after all these years! ? Thank you so much for sharing your story and the path you have traveled. ? I have experienced many things in my life but learning to be mindful and aware have been the most profound and life changing. ? Reading this article reminds me to pay attention and to address some things that I've set on the back burner, thank you for the reminder!!? Best to you!?