My Journey
Born in the late 60’s, my food story was not unlike most. Though we had vegetables and salad most nights with dinner, we also stocked our cabinets with all the new packaged convenience foods that were now available. The FDA was recommending lots of grains, so pasta and casseroles were commonplace on our dinner table. School lunches included peanut butter and jelly with an apple, chips and a packaged dessert. Breakfast was sugary cereal. Though my siblings were able to eat this and remain thin, I quickly became overweight. Was this my personal genetic makeup, the result of ongoing antibiotic use for ear infections, etc. or an addiction to sugar? Probably a combination of all the above and more. Through the lens of functional medicine, we would even go back to the fact that my mother gained 60 lbs when pregnant with me, delivered me via c-section and then fed me formula with rice cereal added from birth. When I got to be a teenager, I decided to take my weight into my own hands. I ended up exercising excessively and starving myself until I got to “my ideal” 8% body fat. That didn’t last long, though I was able to maintain a relatively healthy weight through yo-yo dieting and exercise. This continued till the birth of my beautiful children. After pregnancy I would exercise excessively and eat a balance of fat, carbs and protein. I would lose 10 lbs here and there, but, never all of my pregnancy weight and it was always short term. I was frustrated and having increased GI issues as well as greatly increased allergies. I also got sick very easily with school aged children. I didn’t begin to put all these things together until several years later.
Life felt good. I had a wonderful husband, 2 amazing children and a dog to care for. I was working as a Physical Therapist running my own practice for infants and toddlers. I loved to bake, read, ride bikes and have fun with my family. I didn’t have time or energy to worry too much about my own health, so I focused on those around me and they seemed to thrive. Until my 12 year old son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. In the grand spectrum of diagnoses, this was a great one. Easily managed through diet I was told. What I didn’t expect was the emotional toll it took on my son or the amount of time and effort to relearn all the cooking/baking skills I had developed, now through the lens of gluten free living. We also went through a fairly extensive home remodel at the same time.
Two years later, the renovation was completed, I had a good handle on my son’s health and his dietary needs and how to cook all the things he loved gluten free. I finally made time for myself to go to the doctor and get a physical. After several questionable blood tests, I was sent to a Hematologist who diagnosed me with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. There is no preparing your 48 year old self for a Cancer diagnosis. I thought I was living a fairly healthy life. How could this happen? I felt out of control and embarrassed to ask for help. After all, I could figure this out on my own, right? Thankfully, in the 15 years prior to my diagnosis, a targeted chemotherapy drug was developed that allows me to live a full and normal life, despite my Cancer. I could have easily stopped there, taken my meds and gone on living my happy life. However, I needed to know what I could do to prevent myself or those I loved from further illness. I quickly learned that both autoimmune disease (like Celiac) and Cancer both stem from chronic inflammation. I started to read, listen to podcasts and follow medical professionals who were in the functional medicine space to learn all that I could about preventing chronic disease. It so happens that our fate is not spelled out in our genes, but, rather in our lifestyle. It turns out that our gene expression is only partly determined by how our cells read our actual DNA. An even larger factor is how our lifestyle affects that gene expression. Factors like what we eat, how much we sleep, how we recharge mentally, if we exercise and our environmental toxins can make a huge impact on whether certain genes in our DNA are “turned on” or not. I wanted to make sure that I did everything I could to ensure that my genetic predisposition for Cancer and inflammation, and that of my family, did not affect our genetic expression any more.
I went on an elimination diet and found that I too was sensitive to gluten (though no Celiac) as well as dairy. Once I removed those from my diet, I felt much better and my GI issues began to improve. I also began to care for my body through reducing toxins in my food (buying organic), beauty and cleaning products, as well as through the water in our home. I began an exercise program that was gentle to my body including walking my dog and yoga. I began to learn about meditation. Soon, my allergies and skin problems began to heal. I felt better and was better able to help my family on their journey to optimal health. As I continue to learn, I am hoping to bring this information to you and your family as well. We can all make strides to affect our epigenetics for a long and healthy life.