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jesseneufeld · 5 years

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Focusing On My Gut Health Has Transformed My Life

It’s Monday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Monday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

I am so excited to share my story with you, and I hope you enjoy reading it! I have always been the health researcher, fitness enthusiast and nutrition-focused one in my family. My whole life I followed the “healthy diet”—low fat, whole grain, lots of fruit, etc. I did research in nutrition as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, and published a paper in dental school on the dangers of BPA. I have always been investigative and wanting to know the truth behind what is told.

It was during my second year in dental school when my good friend and colleague, Jake, introduced me to CrossFit and the paleo lifestyle. After a workout he said, “OK I’m off to eat half a dozen eggs!” He recalls the look I shot him was one of disbelief and disgust. Shocked was an understatement. “EAT SIX EGG YOLKS!?!?! Have you lost your mind, Jake, seriously, all that cholesterol!” I am sure he tried to reason with me, but I was so skeptical. So that night, I’m sitting in my apartment studying, and Jake sends me a link to www.marksdailyapple.com. It was the first paleo blog I ever read, and is still my go-to today. I remember that I got so caught up reading that I got less studying done, but it was one of those monumental life shifts for which I will always be grateful.

However, I did not immediately jump to 100% strict paleo in 2010. I chose to eat mostly whole foods, but would eat gluten and wheat a few times a week, which I considered balanced. I had graduated from dental school, and I was practicing dentistry in a small boutique, traditional dental office. I was placing and removing significant amounts of amalgam fillings. I had also gotten married, moved in with my husband, and we had bought a house. The emotional, financial, and physical stress I could handle had surpassed my threshold, and in 2015 I became very sick.

After months of bloody stools, running to the bathroom for the tenth time in one day, I finally got over my denial and went to a GI doctor. A colonoscopy confirmed that at age 27, I had ulcerative colitis. My doctor proceeded to recommend that I start six medications. One of them had a chance of landing me in the hospital for months from internal organ swelling. He also said that I had an 80% chance of needing surgery in my lifetime. I looked at him, and said, “Well, wait, what if I change my diet?” His response, “No, changing your diet won’t do anything. All your large intestine does is reabsorb water.” I just stared at him in disbelief. I worked at the opposite end of the body, but even I knew that your gut housed your immune system, and did WAY more than just absorb water!

I refused to let a bunch of drugs and surgery be my fate. I was not going to let anybody put me in a box. I was determined to find another way. And I did. I went 100% paleo, even focused on AIP for a few months. Within 2 weeks of transitioning to a whole-food, gluten-free diet, I came out of my terrible flare and have not had one since.

Getting a grip on my UC symptoms was a miracle, but I still had a long way to go with my healing. I was still sick, malnourished, fatigued all the time, had amenorrhea, couldn’t exercise, always wanted to rest, became socially anxious, etc. I saw multiple doctors from 2015-2016, even getting into National Institute for Health in Bethesda, MD. The top endocrinologists and fertility specialists in the world looked at tens of thousands of dollars of tests, and told me I was the “healthiest unhealthy person we have ever met” and “they didn’t know what was wrong with me” and to “just go back on birth control to make sure you don’t develop osteoporosis.” I refused. I was determined to get to the root cause of my health problems.

I finally found Jessica Flanigan. I did not understand why my Candida antibodies were so high, since I was not eating sugar. I asked Jessica this during one of our appointments, and she said, “Well you know, Mercury feeds off of Candida.” The lectures at dental school had reported that amalgam was safe, and that the mercury becomes “inactivated” once you burnish it. Jessica proceeded to give me information on biologic dentistry through the IAOMT and IABDM. I felt like a precious secret had just been revealed to me, one that I knew was going to change my life forever. I discovered that conventional dentistry was not safe. In fact, mercury is one of the most dangerous neurotoxins on this planet. I still wonder if mercury was the environmental trigger for the UC diagnosis. On Mark’s Daily Apple, you talk about the dangers of amalgam fillings. My functional medicine doctor, as well as Chris Shade from Quicksilver Scientific, confirmed my mercury poisoning. In addition, my functional doctor diagnosed hypothyroidism, HPA-axis dysfunction, vitamin deficiencies, chronic infection, certain genetic snps, and more.

I felt terribly guilty that I had placed amalgam and unsafely removed amalgam fillings in patients. As a doctor you take an oath to do no harm. It was impossible for me to continue working in a conventional office after seeing how damaging mercury was to my health and to my patients’ health. As quickly as possible, I moved from a conventional office to a biologic dental office. In 2016 I pursued additional degrees, graduating from American College of Integrative Medicine and Dentistry with certifications in Integrative Biologic Dental Medicine (IBDM), and as a naturopathic physician (NMD) in 2017. Since working with my functional practitioners, and getting into a safer working environment I am well on my way to being healed from a long list of diagnoses.

I have been so moved and transformed by my journey, that I am launching my business as a functional dental and holistic health practitioner consulting with patients who have not been able to find healing through conventional medicine. I focus on using the latest research and scientific protocols to help my clients heal autoimmune conditions, adrenal dysfunction, diving in deep to the microbiome, and the oral-systemic connection at www.beyondpearlywhites.com. The gut is the largest organ with multiple common insults that can lead to dysfunction. Normalization of the gut results in the most effective clinical outcomes across all disease states, which is why I am focusing on the gut, head to tail. Focusing on my gut health has transformed my life, and I am back to my energetic bubbly self, sharing my knowledge, helping my friends and family, exercising, socializing, and enjoying every moment of our beautiful world.

I often think back to that day that Jake introduced me to paleo, and how God blessed me with information on where to go for the truth. My sickness and my journey have been an absolute gift, for I would not be where I am without these difficult experiences. My mission is to help as many people as possible overcome what appears to be impossible, as I have overcome it. Thank you, Mark and Mark’s Daily Apple for being a cornerstone in my journey, providing life-saving information, and for creating delicious whole food products that keep us all living, loving, and enjoying life. I am so hopeful and excited to see what our futures hold in shaping the lives of our readers!

The readers featured in our success stories share their experiences in their own words. The Primal Blueprint and Keto Reset diets are not intended as medical intervention or diagnosis. Nor are they replacements for working with a qualified healthcare practitioner. It’s important to speak with your doctor before beginning any new dietary or lifestyle program, and please consult your physician before making any changes to medication or treatment protocols. Each individual’s results may vary.

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cynthiamwashington · 5 years

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Focusing On My Gut Health Has Transformed My Life

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amali-aisaka · 7 years

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#inktober2017 (whithout ink) 4th: #underwater Warning: Very Long Post #pencil #pencil2b #inktober #unfinished #drawing #drawingart #art #artinprogress #learning #actuallyborderline #actuallybpd #artasterapy #weed. #cannabis #medicalcannabis #borderline #bpd #selfesteem #knowing_myself #cats #cats_of_instagram #verylongpost (en Lima, Peru)

This is my first really long post ... on Instagram at least. I leave you guys the link if you'd like to see more random so called "art" stuff: https://www.instagram.com/cartujaeyescats/ I am not really very good expressing what I feel or experience in text so I can still be somehow dense or tiring, but even that, if you’re still interested in my other texts (they’re just a couple more) just keep scrooling :) Okay, to the point. I think for this moment at least 1 of my 77 followers on Instagram and MAYBE any of my 5 followers on Tumblr know or have quickly read that I have #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder (in fact it's in my description, lol!) And I always go back to this subject because in short, it is part of me. I don’t seek to contradict those who think or have as a way of life not to let their psychiatric illness define their lives; it is not my intention to create a debate about the whole thing. It’s more like my personal decision to "embrace" my borderline condition and accept its presence. I have spent so many years with this syndrome that I don’t really remember my life without its presence anymore and I tried to eradicate the syndrome or ignore it or leave it in the hands of psychiatrist and psychologist, but it does not work that way, at least not in my particular case. So ... How does all of this #Borderline thing relate to #Inktober ??? Well, I heard about Inktober a couple of years ago. I saw some post from my Facebook contacts with photos of his drawings inspired by this annual challenge and I felt very ... envious. Healthy envy. I saw all those beautiful drawings of people around me and I really wanted to participate, to live the entire process of drawing from when it was born in my mind until when it materialized its presence in the paper and to be proud of my work and to have all those positive comments: "Oh! How beautiful you draw! ", "That looks beautiful! "," Hey! Pass me your portfolio to work together! ", Etc. I never tried it. Borderline compromises several aspects of your life and between them there are two quite important: Self-esteem and will. In my head, seeing those pictures with beautiful drawings and pure creation, only echoed phrases such as: "I don’t draw that good ", "how embarrassing to publish my work and not have a single "like"," My pulse is terrible "," I have too many mistakes and my drawings have a poor finish ", etc, etc, etc. Only a little less than 2 years ago I began to "emerge" from that “cave” under my own “mental ocean”, so deep that the light barely touches the walls. The psychiatrist, psychologist, medication, my brother, my cats, a few friends, and cannabis have helped me not only to deal with the pressure of “my own ocean” but to enjoy the enlightened corners around me. Anyway, the details on these help elements is topic for another post. So... This year, days before October began; I again saw a post about Inktober (most likely while I was high, I don’t remember that detail) and I said ... “Fuck it! Let’s do this!”, “Gather all the knowledge you remember from your few workshops of illustration and drawing (digital and traditional), see what art materials you have so far and do it!”, “Even if you do not want to leave the bed all day long to take 2 steps to your "work table", look for something to support the paper, put a chair to the side of your bed to place what you need, fit your pillows to sit as accurate as you can. But fuck it! Just do it!” I never tried it… Until now. And ... I must say I've never felt so good in a long time. Until today. So far my "illustrations" (attempts at illustrations rather) are the product of my memories, my experiences and much introspection regarding my past, present and future. But not “underwater”. I love swimming in the sea. It's the ONLY physical activity I enjoy. I am not at all a fitness person or sports fan, but the sea is a separate issue. My connection with the sea began at some beach in the district of Ancon (north of Lima city) with a wave that seemed more innocent than it really was. I would be 8 or 9 years old and still did not know how to swim, and the wave fell on me. It wasn’t dramatic at all from a technical point of view. I was playing just a little beyond the coast and with adults nearby, but anyway the wave knocked me enough my body dropped to the bottom, my back hitting the sand. My heart quickened. I could not breathe and salt burned my eyes. But some sea spirit must have entered inside me because despite all my fears I opened my eyes under the water and, very blurry at first, my surroundings became clear. I could even see the sunlight’s “playing” under the water and I fell in love. I remember being less than 10 years old and thinking, "If I die like this, right now, right here, it would not be bad at all. This is the most beautiful thing I ever see" (and yes, even under 10 years old, I already thought about death, topic for another post) That’s the only vivid memory I have with the subject "underwater". I can swim, not dive. I really hope to learn. Soon (the economic issue is also a constant severe shit, but I want to learn to dive. For real) So ... I did what I do best: read, investigate, look for photos… in short, surf the net. I learned and remembered a lot about the Peruvian sea: the Humboldt Current System, the extraction of oil and its economic-legal aspect in my country, as well as researches around this area rich in marine flora and fauna and how wonderful it is that even its "residents" use the oil rigs as home and food zone. I also learned about the efforts of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian governments to protect the manta rays that inhabit these zones and the #HopeSpots movement. I wanted to express all this on paper. How the needs of nature and man's could coexist, against all odds (like my 2 "Me" I've talked about before in previous posts) But the research took me all Tuesday’s afternoon and evening so I could not start drawing until well advanced Wednesday morning. Before I also read some post on Instagram about how wonderful Inktober is for lots of people, a time of creation expected by many artists. I also read a few comments about how many artists neglect their health and get depressed because they can’t reach the goal of 31 drawings in 31 days. On Wednesday, this last point struck me and my anxiety was triggered: "The day is passing and I can’t finish this drawing", "The structure of the columns under the sea is so intricate!", "Fuck! I'm ruining the paper with so many blots and errors ", etc., etc., etc. (I think smoking pure Sativa did not help to calm my growing anxiety, I must take note of this last point for future relapses) After lunch I couldn’t take it any more. My mood was again "sunk" and the "mental ocean" was so dense that the light did not reach. Sad and angry with myself, I put everything aside. I gave up everything in that moment and used my last known resource: I went to sleep. It was not a pleasant or deep dream. Still asleep, I was aware of the passage of hours and unfinished drawing. Finally about 6 o'clock in the afternoon I got up, still disappointed, still not willing to resume work. "I have to sort this out," I said. I closed my eyes and tried to identify what was going on with me this time: I was still anxious ... and hungry. I prepared a large cup of steaming anise, a cream cheese sandwich and smoke again. This time a mix of Indica with a few touches of Sativa. And while the plant was taking effect in me I gathered my last hopes, I took the laptop with all the photos of references that I had collected, I put my poor advance of "drawing" in front of me and face it. As I began to work again, the mixture of anise, cannabis and #Lorde latest album ("Perfect Places" is such a precise song) helped me identify my problem with the drawing: "I must look for the structure of the oil columns" "My anxiety causes me to put too much force in my hands, I think I need a softer pencil", "If I shade while I outline the structure I will have a better idea of its volume" (so far I didn’t used to shade before the outline) Slowly the drawing was taking shape as well as my self-esteem. Yet I made other mistakes, but I no longer felt them so important. The daylight was gone long ago so the final photo would not turn out the way I wanted it anyway. It was obvious that "underwater" would not be finished on Wednesday. But I learned a lot that day. I discovered new tricks for my drawings and new tricks to find the light in my "mental ocean", even when I no longer have any will in my system. This is my #Inktober2017 number 4: "underwater". No ink. Unfinished. But it is not the end for it. No for “Cartuja-AmaLi” either.

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