In my mid-20’s I started not to feel so well. It seemed to come on overnight, but you start to think you’re crazy sometimes when you try to remember what normal was…
Did I always feel this way?
Was I always this tired?
It got bad enough to the point where I really was struggling to function in my day.
I did what any normal person would do in that scenario and I went to the doctor. It’s never a bad thing to get a check-up, run some labs and rule obvious things out.
This situation was BN (Before Nutrition).
He asked me some questions about my health lately. I was young, no kids at home, just working full time in a moderately stressful job (not too high stress). He did some labs and I went back for my follow up.
He ran a complete blood count (checks for red and white blood cells), a complete metabolic panel (electrolytes, liver and kidney function, etc.), and a thyroid panel. Everything came back in normal lab range.
Here’s what he said to me:
Doc: Well, everything is normal, there is nothing wrong with you.
Me: Stares Blankly. Um, well, I don’t feel normal.
Doc: You’re probably just stressed and tired from work.
Me: My job isn’t that stressful.
Doc: Well, you’re not a teenager anymore.
Me: I’m not exactly OLD, I’m not even 30.
Doc: You might be depressed.
Me: I’m not depressed, I’m just exhausted. I get enough sleep, I exercise multiple times a week. This just doesn’t make sense to me.
Doc: Well…I don’t know what to tell you, there’s nothing wrong with you.
The really sad thing is because I didn’t know any better at the time, I wouldn’t have answers until 7 years and 13 doctors later.
You may have had a conversation like that or maybe another scenario below where your doctor dismissed your health concerns. You may relate to my journey in some way, but one thing’s for certain: you know your body the best and you know when you’re not feeling like your optimal self.
Clearly, I kept trying to find help because I knew what he said was wrong, I just didn’t know what the answer for myself was yet.
Unfortunately, this story makes up the majority of our clients’ experiences by the time they find us. The nutritionists at Hopewella got into this to help clients avoid experiences just like this because many of us were gaslit causing us to seek out real answers. For us it was functional nutrition.
Below are some things Providers tell our clients that we generally disagree with:
Everything is Normal/There’s Nothing Wrong With You
The fact that any Provider would dare say this to a patient complaining of not feeling themselves is nothing short of gaslighting. It’s at it’s finest your doctor dismissing your health concerns. What they might actually be trying to say, and should actually say, is “I don’t actually know what’s going on and I’m not sure where to look” and then refer you to us at the very least while they think of next steps.
They might take a guess and refer you out to someone in the field of what you’re complaining about, but for a lot of our clients that doesn’t lead them super far. In some cases they do find SOMETHING, but often even that something that can be diagnosed has a nutritional component to it outside of a prescription that can help their symptoms.
Something the general public doesn’t realize is that Docs are generally not taught much, if any, nutrition in medical school. Those that do have nutritional knowledge (let alone expertise) have to do a LOT of extra training and legwork that they choose to do in order to learn about it and THEN figure out how to bring it into their practice where they were taught how to diagnose diseases and prescribe medicine.
Nutritionists cannot diagnose disease or prescribe medicine, so we need to work with docs who can do that part of the work and then have us do our nutrition thing.
Providers of all kinds that are not Nutritionists are often telling our clients things that are untrue, incomplete or outdated science that is no longer accepted or used in the field of nutrition (more on that later).
The most successful patients/clients we work with are clients that work alongside us WITH their doctors. These are doctors who know their field super well and know that we know nutrition super well.
You’re just a Mom/You’re Just Working Hard/You’re Just Getting Older
There isn’t much to add to this from the previous myth except that you know yourself. There are 70 year olds running marathons and 50 year olds doing crossfit. If they can have vitality in their golden years, it’s not out of the question that you could potentially too. Heck, there is just a 71 year old as one of the oldest contestants in the Miss USA Pageant! There ARE aspects to aging that are legit. You’re likely still going to go through menopause in your early 50’s, you can’t run away from all aspects of aging, but it doesn’t have to define your longevity, your energy, or your vitality. There is nothing worse than when as a mom your doctor dismissed your health concerns.
Stress can impact our nutrition status and our nervous system in a way that can make us feel draggy, affect hormones, sleep, and any number of other things. If they tell you that you’re stressed, that might not be totally wrong, but we can help there too. Genetic testing has been really helpful for many clients because the older we get the more genetics can start to show us places for opportunity to make adjustments.
You Need to Lose Weight To Be Healthy
I could get on my soap box on this one alllllll day. When you specialize in nutritional genetics you know that this is one of the biggest loads of 💩💩💩. In fact, Providers perpetuating this myth can cause a lot of psychological damage and even metabolic damage if their patients desperately seek extreme weight loss methods.
We see both good and poor health outcomes in those of all body sizes, including those who are naturally thin. Although there can be certain risks to bones, joints, etc., there are those in larger bodies that have fine health outcomes and are just genetically in larger bodies or genetically put on weight easier and lose weight less efficiently than others. There are also those that really do need to improve their health, but one doesn’t automatically equal the other.
Nutritionally, we need to do a deeper dive. Are you moving your body? Are your labs looking good (both for nutritional markers, stool testing and conventional labs)? Are you sleeping well? How’s your hormone health?
Being in a larger body does not automatically make you unhealthy as much as being thin doesn’t automatically make you healthy. Working with a functional nutritionist (which we think should be part of your prioritized foundational primary healthcare) is helpful in keeping an eye on things alongside an informed Provider. In fact, when your doctor dismissed your health concerns, they might have overlooked a real problem by just focusing on your body size, and that’s not cool.
You Should Try ______ Diet
Another common thing that happens is nutritional recommendations are given by Providers who either are not adequately trained on the proper application of specialty diets or do not have adequate capacity in their practices to support patients as they learn a new nutritional normal. These kinds of changes can be life altering and take a lot of time and support to do successfully, especially with good long-term results.
This takes time, education, and coaching. Not only that, there may be a personalized portion we have to take into account when making these recommendations such as food allergies or sensitivities, food chemical sensitivities (histamine, oxalate, salicylate, etc.), taste preferences, kitchen/cooking skills, habit change, how busy your life is, what’s available where you live, etc.
Common diets suggested to our clients without proper oversight are things like the Low FODMAP Diet, Low Food Chemical Diets, Ketogenic, Intermittent Fasting and even common ones from cardiologists like the Mediterranean Diet. Personalized nutrition needs to be part of the conversation as well as the support and education that go along with implementing these recommendations. Some of them have to be done a very specific way or length of time to avoid doing long term harm.
Not all diets are right for everyone. Did the Provider check for your ability to digest and utilize fats before suggesting Keto? Probably not. Skip the trial and work with those who know how to look for these things and help support you as you try to learn a new way of doing things and change your habits.
Not 💩 Every Day is Fine
No. It isn’t. It is very NOT fine. 💩is what we consider Phase 3 detoxification of the body. If you’re not detoxing in this manner daily (and we mean a full 💩, not tiny, hard rabbit poops) with soft, well-formed 💩, then, Houston, we have a problem.
Detoxification is foundational to removing toxins our body creates as well as toxins in our environment. If you’re going less than 1 good 💩 per day (and up to 3x is ok if they’re normal, soft, well-formed BMs) we consider you constipated and that is no bueno. Estrogen, for example, is removed via the stool. You don’t want excess estrogen hanging around.
If you’re frustrated, confused, and nothing is working. It’s time to get on a free call with us because we’ve been through it and we were tired and confused too.
If you’re reading this and haven’t reached out for the support and accountability you need by having an nutritionist on your side: THIS IS YOUR SIGN! Book a free optimal wellness call and let’s talk about what we can do to support you.
Want to read more? Check out our past articles HERE.
