Chronic Illness begins in the gut

It’s Serious Food for Thought

“Your body doesn't live in a vacuum; your heart doesn't live by itself, your thyroid doesn't live by itself, your hair doesn't live by itself. Everything affects everything else.”

Tina Christoudias-Spyrou, Neomed’s Functional Medicine Nutritionist.

When talking about chronic illness, one of the first things to address is the gut because 80% of our immune system resides in our gut – and the first thing that influences our gut is nutrition.

Unsurprisingly then, one of the root causes of autoimmune conditions is food intolerance.

In these modern times, we are bombarded with all manner of inflammatory toxins that are hard to escape, from weed killers sprayed on our wheat to the hormones and antibiotics present in the dairy chain.

So, one of the best ways in which we can take back control of our health is to avoid inflammation-causing foods – such as refined carbohydrates and processed meats – and embrace a nutrient-dense diet – such as legumes and leafy green vegetables – that help the gut to heal.

When Dietary Changes Don’t Work

While cutting out the bad guys – like grains, dairy and wheat – can bring incredible results in up to seven out of ten people, in some cases there is little to no positive health change.

“These are the people who I find are highly toxic,” says Tina.  “They may have other infections going on in the body that could be viral or bacterial or parasitic. All these issues need to be addressed, which is what we do at Neomed; we address all root causes. And then, once we see those root causes being addressed, the diet starts working.”

Once dietary changes have been instigated, in effect placing the first step on the path to wellness, Neomed’s team of wellness coaches and medics typically come together to investigate the bigger picture of a guest’s chronic condition.

Assessments are made regarding the level of toxicity in the body and there are tests to reveal any parasitic or candida overgrowths that can be addressed via colonics and enemas, among other treatments.

Pain issues will also be managed and handled with specific protocols and state-of-the-art machineries such as Papimi therapy, something that has shown great results when dealing with joint pain and mobility issues.  

However, along with physical problems, there are also emotional barriers and triggers that may need to be addressed.

Emotional Toxicity and Chronic Illness

“Toxicity doesn’t only come from environmental sources, but also from emotional sources with toxicity stemming from sad relationships or past trauma,” explains Neomed’s Wellness Coach, Dina Gavarieva.

Over the years, studies have shown that pessimism is directly linked to increased inflammation in the body. In layman’s terms, even thinking negatively can cause inflammation issues let alone battling a toxic relationship or having to deal with toxic people, say, in the workplace. All of this emotional trauma is said to create a state of inflammation in the body and the only way to truly fix that kind of toxicity is to honestly question what's going on in your life and prioritise who you want in it and who you don't. Healthy relationships are important to good health.

“If you cannot change your situation, you can change your reaction,” Tina advises. “A very helpful tool is laughter. I grew up in a family that if we were not laughing there was something wrong. So, I’ve always tried to change a dramatic situation into a funny one.

“In my mind, when I’m dealing with a toxic person in front of me, I envision a funny situation with that toxic person, and that makes me laugh instead of getting angry or emotional.

“We can rewire our brain. We can rewire those neurons to react to a specific situation in a different way. For example, if you take things personally if you internalise everything, that's toxic. So, try to deal with situations that you face every day in a different way. If you do this every day for a month, you will have formed new neurons and you will find that all of a sudden you're reacting to something in a more positive light instead of a negative one.”

The Chemical Messengers of Chronic Illness

Another root cause of chronic illness is hormonal health. If your hormones are under pressure, usually as a consequence of stress, they can create toxicity and inflammation in the body.

“Stress is a huge root cause that is often brushed off,” says Tina. “People go to the doctor and they are told not to worry about something as it is due to stress, and even though that might be an accurate diagnosis, patients aren’t given the tools to address the issue.”

One of the reasons that stress plays such an important factor in our general wellbeing is down to the inherent flight or fight mechanism within us. When faced with a certain situation, such as getting attacked by a bear in the forest, the body stops thinking about digestion or reproduction and starts pumping adrenaline into the system to prepare the legs to run.

Similarly, when people are dealing with emotional stress as well as everyday stress, digestion starts to suffer, the ability to reproduce starts to suffer and eventually the body becomes a feeding ground for chronic disease.

Teething Problems and Scars

An area that is often overlooked in overall health matters, is dental health. Infections can hide behind crowns or stem from root canal treatment or reside within gums, all of which feeds illness.

“We recently saw on our thermal imaging camera how a guest’s problem with one tooth was creating inflammation in the whole body down to the breast,” said Tina. “I think this is really shocking for many people to discover.”

Another root cause of chronic illness can be interference fields in the body. Studies have shown that the electrical properties of skin change if the epidermis is damaged because scar tissue blocks the brain from effectively communicating with the injured area thereby hindering the healing process.

One way that Neomed treats this issue is via microcurrent therapy – a non-invasive, painless and relatively quick way to promote healing at a cellular level. Microcurrent therapy repolarises scar tissue, restores cell membrane function, releases adhesions and relaxes muscle tissue, all of which promotes healing.

A Complicated Process

The body is a wonderful, but complex system and though it works hard to maintain optimum functionality it can get poleaxed by elements beyond its control, such as diet, environmental and emotional toxicity, overgrowths, infections and hormonal imbalances. And these are only some of the major root causes of illness that Neomed deals with on a day-to-day basis. There are, of course, many more issues to consider and that’s why our packages are tailored to the individual needs of each guest following a thorough assessment by our team of experts.