Last week I had a visit with my doctor at the Riordan Clinic. Formally known as The Bright Spot for Health. Most of my friends in Wichita had never heard of this clinic and some knew it as "the weird-looking white domes on north Hillside". Well, those "weird-looking white domes" have changed my life. Big time.
My snow-bird parents head for southern California when the weather turns cold and nasty here in the ICT. Last year after returning in the spring, they just weren't quite feeling up to par. One would think after spending the past few months in sunny, warm California would make them feel wonderful, especially returning to Wichita when spring was in full force. After a few recommendations from friends, and I'm sure countless hours of research done by my lovely dad, they took a trip to what I'll call "the Center".
The Center's philosophy is based on integrative medicine, meaning they attempt to treat the human body as a whole and not just the parts. They focus strongly on nutrition and food sensitivity testing, along with strong research in cancer, intravenous vitamin C therapy, vitamin and nutrient deficiencies, subtle energies, and psychoacoustics in the emerging field of adult stem cell research. Wow, that was a mouthful! After my parents had such a wonderful experience, I felt extremely blessed to be able to become a patient along with them.
Typically when we visit our good old family medicine doctor we show up, wait for 30 minutes (sometimes longer!) and see the doctor for about 10-20 minutes (sometimes less!). When becoming a patient, or a co-learner as they like to call it, your first appointment actually lasts all day. You then return on the second day for a few hours to review lab tests from the day before and start a plan with your doctor. How wonderful is that?!?
Now, given that my first appointment was about a year ago, I might not remember all of the details. I do remember feeling like I was given all the attention in the world and that my doctor really cared and wanted to help me. And I guess it wasn't just my doctor that I got those feelings from, it was the entire staff. I spent a good two hours initially with my doctor and from there we developed my own personal path to overall wellness. We went through my complaints and concerns. We reviewed family histories and personal histories. I had lab tests done and also went through some mental exercises. To say the least it was a very full day. Day 2 was shorter but even more powerful than Day 1. Day 2 was when I got to discover the key to feeling better than ever! I learned about food sensitivities I have and I also learned about vitamin and mineral deficiencies that appeared on my lab tests.
When I say food sensitivities I don't mean "allergies". So if I'm sensitive to grapes, when I eat a grape I don't break out in hives or swell like a balloon. It's all about identifying how I feel when I eat grapes. (I was sensitive to numerous things I was eating on a daily basis!) Once I discovered all of my food sensitivities it was time to start the elimination diet. Yikes, that sounds scary. Basically I completely eliminated all of the food that my lab tests showed I was sensitive to. Trust me, those first few days were not very fun. Especially when you are sensitive to cow's milk, corn and yeast. That meant no cheese (which I love!) and if you haven't noticed, corn is in EVERYTHING!!! Yeast is actually in quite a few things too. It was a bit overwhelming reading so many food labels. But the positive nature took over and I decided to approach it as "Let's try new foods!" time. Just after a few days of eliminating my sensitivities, I felt like I had more energy. I wasn't getting my end-of-the-day daily headaches and I wasn't feeling like I was ready for bed at 8:00pm. Tim even commented on how he could see the changes.
The interesting thing to me is that some of us are sensitive to foods that are considered "good" for us. Healthy foods. I am sensitive to grapes. Grapes are fruit. Grapes are healthy. But anytime I eat a bunch of grapes or have one-too-many glasses of wine, I start to slip back into my yucky feeling of blah. Blinding headaches and zero energy. Who wants that?!?
What so many people don't realize is that food is medicine. What goes in your mouth affects every part of your body. It might taste wonderful going in, but is it really worth the damage and not feeling your best? Living in a society that struggles with weight and awful health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, why can't we focus more on nutrition and less on pills that temporarily fix these problems? This is extremely frustrating to me. I'll have to save another blog to go into that...
To make a long story short, after a year of a complete dietary overhaul I am feeling better than ever. Sure, I still "indulge" in foods that I'm sensitive to but maybe not everyday as I was in the past. As I said above a few times, I'm sensitive to grapes but I LOVE wine. So if I want wine, I'll drink a glass. Every night? No, but probably a few times a week. To me it's about knowing what you are sensitive to, and making sensible choices about what to put in your body. What a great year (in SO many ways)! I'm feeling better than ever, I'm making conscious choices about what goes in my body and I don't feel like I'm missing out on any great food. If anything I've discovered so many wonderful and delicious foods that I probably would have never tried. Another thing I always think about is how I never really knew how awful I felt. When you change your diet to fit YOUR body, you realize how wonderful you can really feel! And that is something to smile about.
Another bonus...I'm 20 pounds lighter than I was last year. Wow.
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