A lot of times when I start talking to somebody
and I tell them what I do, they'll say things
like, oh gosh, I really could have used your
help when I was dealing with whatever symptoms
that used to weigh heavy on them in the past.
Or, huh, that's interesting you do that. I'm
kind of struggling with, and they'll insert new
symptoms here. And I always want to start by
saying, yes, but. Our symptoms are telling us
so much about what's going on, but they are actually
getting rid of those symptoms, not always your
root cause problem. Your symptoms are actually
the roadmap and if we listen and learn how to
listen to what our body is saying through those
symptoms, then we can find out what is the actual
root cause problem behind it and how can we support
that for long -term health and feeling well and
no longer dealing with those symptoms. this a
little bit more because this is something I see
that is very misunderstood in the conventional
space, but also often in the functional medicine
space as well. If you're new here, welcome. I
am Rita Johnson, the owner of Health and Hormones.
Here you will find all things related to fatigue
solutions, period help, hormone healing, and
so much more. Let's dive in. So when I talk about
symptoms as the roadmap, what I really mean is
that if we can do a really good job of listening
and compiling some of these different symptoms
that we're struggling with and putting them all
together, then we can really start to see whether
we need to combine that with lab work or we need
to combine that with your health history, what
it is that is the crux of your feeling unwell.
So for example, I want you to think about this
from a separate analogy. So if I'm in a house
and the fire alarm is going off and I walk up
to the fire alarm and I push the button and I
turn the alarm off, is the problem solved? No,
the problem isn't solved until we find out where's
the smoke. Where's the fire? And we put that
out. Although the body is quieter, if we can
quiet those symptoms, the house is quieter without
the fire alarm going off, we still have a fire
somewhere. So we need to figure out what is going
on. So if somebody came to me and they were saying,
I'm having really bad digestion, I go back and
forth between diarrhea and constipation, and
if I eat certain things, it's better and it's
not quite as bad, so I'm just gonna eat in this
very specific way. Even there, we may find that
things are a little bit better if we avoid certain
foods or we limit certain foods or we eat in
a very restrictive diet. However, we need to
figure out what your body is telling us through
that oscillating between constipation and diarrhea.
And if we don't, then things can snowball, right?
They can get worse over time. And this is why
a lot of times when I work with somebody who's
in their teenage years, it might be a much quicker
fix for them to get feeling better than it would
be for somebody that's in their 60s that's been
dealing with these GI issues for as long as they
can remember. I just had somebody I was talking
to who's been dealing with GI issues for 40 plus
years. And so that might take a little longer
for us to really work on getting her moving forward
and her healing. But the body is amazing. And
the way that it can heal and respond to these
different courses of treatment is incredible.
So I don't want you to lose hope. If you've been
carrying something for a really long time, it
doesn't mean that you're stuck there. It means
that we need to look at this when we're talking
digestively in the matter of thinking about...
Are there inflammatory foods that are the crux
of the problem? That may be the case. However,
it's usually not the whole problem. And a lot
of times when we start there, we end up avoiding
more food than we actually need to be. Those
things may all be causing inflammation to your
body right now, but it doesn't mean that we always
will have to avoid them. We also need to look
at, do you have everything you need to break
food down well? So I like to just summarize this
as digestive secretions, our hydrochloric acid,
our pancreatic enzymes, our ability to break
down healthy fats. We have to be sure our body
has those in good measure. In addition to that
we need the co -factors to be able to make that.
So think of it as the ingredients to make the
cake. I'm not going to start baking a cake in
my kitchen if I don't first know that I have
flour and I have spices and I have eggs and I
have oil and I have sugar. If I'm missing something
the cake isn't going to turn out the same and
very much so. is a true for your digestion. If
you're missing a piece of that puzzle, your body's
not gonna be able to make stomach acid to be
able to take that meat you just put into your
stomach and break it down into the amino acids
and the vitamins and minerals that are present
in that food for you to be able to. Absorb that
have energy to be able to make new cells to repair
and rebuild muscles To have your hormones regulated,
right? All of these other functions are going
to be dependent on this and this is just something
I don't think that we're talking about quite
enough I think that a lot of times when people
come to me and they'll say things like I eat
really good and I'm working out really consistently
But I'm still dealing with all of this excess
weight or I'm still really having an issue with
my hormones being imbalanced. This can be at
the heart of why. Why that is the problem. And
so when I say your symptoms are a roadmap, your
symptoms are telling us where we need to spend
some time, really helping calm down, put out
that fire and helping your body heal and restore
itself. When we do this, it can be very overwhelming.
because we might not know where to start. You
might know that you have some issues or you have
some symptoms that you're carrying that feel
really heavy, but you might not feel like that's
such a big deal, or perhaps it's not painful
enough for you yet. However, what we often find
happen is that as I start talking to somebody,
and I'll mention some other symptoms, it's almost
like these light bulbs start to go off. We've
grown and lived in this place for a really long
time where we're almost told our symptoms don't
matter. Maybe those big heavy ones, but then
we get labs done and everything looks fine. And
we just think, okay, well that actually must
not be that big of an issue for me. The reality
is that if you're having signs that your body
needs support through symptoms that you're dealing
with in your day to day, it's never a good idea
to push that further down the road. road, to
wait for it to get worse, to wait for it to spiral
something else that's going on in your body.
And especially for women that have yet to go
through their perimenopausal transition, if we
can support your body now, before that time,
then we can get through that season with greater
grace, with, God willing, less issues, because
we're arriving there at a better place than arriving
there depleted, worn out, and really struggling
with our overall health. So I just encourage
you, if you have symptoms you've been struggling
with for a long time and you're wondering how
these things could play a part or what are some
warning signs you should really pay attention
to or when should you get some support, feel
free to schedule a free discovery call with me.
That is exactly what I do in those discovery
calls. We talk about what you're dealing with,
what is heavy for you right now. I love anytime
I can throw out some suggestions of support.
If those are big needle movers for you, that
may be all you need to get moving forward. And
if not, you know exactly where you can go. to
get more support and have somebody that can help
you tie together these different symptoms and
what your body is telling you and how then you
can support it in the future.