HOME    ABOUT    HEALTHFUL PRODUCTS    CLASSES    COACHING & COUNSELING
ARTICLES      BOOKS      VIDEOS      LINKS      EDU PAGE      EVENTS      CONTACT

What is the Specific Cause of my Condition?

by Don Bennett, DAS

All bodily dysfunction, dis-ease, and disequilibriums have multiple causes... it's rarely one thing. All of these causes contribute to less-than-optimal health, which increases the probability of a diagnosis of something serious at some point in our life. Some causes are more primary than others depending on the specific issue, but they all play a role.

The problem is that we as humans have a tendency to focus on one thing in particular; we're looking for something to concentrate our efforts on... looking for the thing to place the blame on; looking for the villain. But this is not an all things considered approach, which I advocate. When taking a whole-istic approach instead of looking at an issue through a narrow lens, your odds of success increase greatly... and here, "success" can mean never going to the hospital unless you're visiting someone.

The list of contributing factors to ill health is long, but here are the major players, in no particular order (and by-the-way, how well you age depends on how well you pay attention to them)...

  • Nutrient insufficiencies and deficiencies

  • Too much protein in the diet

  • Too much fat in the diet

  • An acidifying diet (caused by meat and grain products)

  • A diet containing additives, chemicals, damaged substances from cooking

  • Exposure to environmental toxins (chemicals in water and air)

  • Exposure to mold, parasites

  • Exposure to harmful levels of ElectroMagnetic Radiation (cell phones)

  • Too much unmanaged emotional stress

  • Not enough loving relationships and support

  • Sleep insufficiencies

  • Sunshine insufficiencies

  • Too little physical activity

  • Too much physical activity

  • Chronic dehydration

  • Too much misinformation (and disinformation)

  • Genetic predispositions

Now let's examine how the subject of contributing factors can be misrepresented.

Some health educators like to talk about "the main category that contributes to ill health." The two categories often mentioned are insufficiencies and excesses. And many educators contend that it is the excesses that are mainly responsible for ill health. Some even assign a number, for example 95%. The fact that an educator assigns a specific number to such an indeterminate issue should suggest that we should take what the person says with a grain of salt. I maintain that there is no way to place a number on these two generalized categories of causes, or to even suggest that one is more contributory than another. They both play a role in ill health, so we should combine them into one category, and then pay equal attention to all the items in that category... that's if you want the best odds of regaining lost health and attaining and maintaining optimal health.

Other educators say something similar; that recovering your health has more to do with what you stop doing than with what you start doing. Again, I disagree. This is too broad a statement. If in reality a person's health issues are caused primarily by severe nutrient deficiencies, it doesn't matter what they stop doing, it matters what they start doing. Even people who were eating a typical Western diet who had health issues improved when they added worthwhile nutritional supplements to their diet. Sure, their improvements would have been greater if they also stopped eating the foods we're not best suited to eat as our primary, thriving diet, but you get my point.

Bottom line: The more things you address from that list above, the greater your chances of recovering lost health, vitality, and longevity, and of living to your health and longevity potentials. (Note: You can't do anything about the genetics you were born with, but you can keep from "poking the bear" regarding any genetic predispositions you have by living as healthfully as possible, and in this way, you can do something about the genetics you were born with).

Don Bennett is an insightful, reality-based author, and health creation counselor who uses the tools in his toolbox – logic, common sense, critical thinking, and independent thought – to figure out how to live so you can be optimally healthy. More about Don's first book, which has more delicious food for thought, at health101.org/books

More empowering articles here