Roots of Dysfunction
Your body is always talking to you. Sometimes it whispers and sometimes it SHOUTS through painful symptoms.
Are you listening? Do you even know what it means to pay attention to to your body?
This blog takes a brief look at the 3 primary roots of dysfunction in any disease state. These 3 roots impact any sign or symptom you may be experiencing.
If you think of your body like a tree, you’ll notice that the roots of the tree reside within a terrain. A tree’s terrain includes soil quality, the microbial environment of the soil and the tree’s environment (rain, sunshine, pollution, temperature). Growing from the root are the trunk and branches unique to that tree. When roots are healthy, the trunk and branches are sturdy and strong. The leaves are green and vibrant. Flowers, if appropriate, are bright and beautiful. Fruit, if appropriate, is abundant, juicy and tasty. Everything that springs forth from that tree depends on a strong root system and a healthy environment (terrain).
When you think about how this applies to your health, you also have a root system that dictates how healthy or sickly you are. You have 3 roots that contribute to health or lead down the path to disease. Your roots are:
Digestion
Inflammation
Genetics
I like to use the mnemonic DIG, which seems appropriate for planting healthy habits around your tree and digging into what’s contributing to your dysfunction.
If any of your 3 roots is diseased, weak or dying, your “health” tree becomes weak. It may blow over on a windy day or in one of the many storms of life. Unhealthy roots contribute to any number of diagnoses or nagging symptoms. Unhealthy roots also lead to unhealthy or sickly branches. Leaves may be yellow or brown instead of vibrant green. You may even lose your leaves. Your tree won’t produce beautiful, flavorful fruit. Your whole tree looks sad and sickly.
In the example of a tree, your branches represent any sign or symptom. Your branches aren’t the cause of disease or dysfunction, they simply represent what’s happening with the condition of your roots and surroundings (terrain). By trying to eradicate symptoms solely by looking at what’s happening to the branches, you’re masking problems. By focusing on the branches, instead of the roots, you may experience some symptom relief, but you’re not fixing underlying problems that reside in your roots and terrain. For lasting symptom relief, and ultimately symptom resolution, you need to fix whatever is causing distress in your root system and the surrounding terrain. This concept may take some time to wrap your head around, but once you get it, you’re on the path to making symptoms disappear by fixing problems at the root.
I specialize in thyroid health. When clients come to me, they often come because of uncomfortable symptoms like weight gain, brain fog, constipation, belly bloat, fatigue, cold all the time, thinning hair, hormonal dysregulations, blood sugar challenges and more. Most practitioners would start by trying to alleviate any of these unpleasant symptoms. I start by focusing on your roots so your entire root system has the power to return to optimal function.
The goal of any practitioner is to help clients feel better. But what if your attempts to feel better are simply masking what’s really going on under the soil? By avoiding what’s happening under the soil and in your terrain (your environmental surroundings), symptoms may temporarily go away, but they often come back because the root problems were never fixed. Sometimes you develop even more nagging symptoms, or because roots aren’t fixed, your symptoms might develop into a new diagnosis.
To find lasting resolution of symptoms, you need to fix what’s happening in your root system and terrain.
That takes us back to the DIG system where we start correcting underlying imbalances in the root system so the body’s amazing capacity to naturally heal has the freedom and ability to flourish.
Let’s start with the D in DIG. Digestive dysfunction is a biggie for most people. If you struggle with any diagnosis or symptom, you likely have some level of digestive dysfunction. It’s important to explore what’s going on for you from top to bottom because dysfunction can occur anywhere along the winding, digestive pathway. Failure to correct dysfunctions in this important system often prevents you from seeing the results you want to see. Poor digestive function is often an overlooked internal stressor contributing to inflammation.
Digestive internal stress can be caused by a number of factors (these are just a few):
Eating poor quality food (fast, processed, damaged oils, GMOs, non-organic, factory farmed proteins)
Eating nutrient depleted foods (organic is best,when possible)
Not getting enough colorful foods in your diet
Medications that deplete nutrients
Poor digestive function (low stomach acid, eating fast, eating when stressed, eating when distracted)
Poor motility (diarrhea or constipation)
Lack of gut microbial diversity
Now let’s turn our attention to I in DIG. Chronic inflammation is a root cause for much dysfunction in the body. While acute inflammation is a necessary process in wound healing, experiencing chronic inflammation often leads to nagging symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, headaches, muscle aches, joint pain, acne, skin rashes, allergies, asthma and so many others.
Acute inflammation is like a raging fire. Flames burn hot and may be intense, but often burn out quickly as your body heals from a wound or injury.
Chronic inflammation is like a smoldering fire that never really goes out. It’s often created by both internal and external heat sources.
The inflammatory root we have most control over is chronic inflammation. This may be exacerbated by either internal or external stressors, and often both. Most people don’t think about internal stressors like poor digestion, poor quality food, eating foods that are reactive for you, nutrient depletions often from food sources or possibly because of medications that create deficiencies. Most people think of inflammatory stressors coming from external environments. They may show up as stress in the workplace, unhappy relationships at home, a frightening diagnosis, being stuck in traffic, hating your job, trouble with kids, lack of spiritual connection and lack of fun or joy in your life.
The list of inflammatory stressors is myriad and unique to each individual. The solutions for reducing inflammation are also myriad and unique to each individual. Getting help from someone trained in how to make the connections for you can shorten the path and make your journey less painful.
Our last letter is the G in DIG. There’s not a lot we can do about our genetics. We are born with that deck of cards. There is, however, a lot you can do to turn genes off or turn them on. Genes are often turned on because of what’s happening in your terrain.
Genes can be turned on or off by nutritional factors - the quality and quantity of food
Genes are impacted by nutrient depletions
Genes are turned on by common toxins or chemical exposures (mercury, phthalates, plastics, GMOs)
Genes are impacted by chronic inflammation throughout the body
Genes are impacted by the health of your gut, from top to bottom
Can you see how all the roots are interrelated. What you do on a daily basis impacts outcomes positively or negatively.
But there’s good news! You don’t need to be a victim of your circumstances. You have a lot of control in creating healthy roots by shifting your internal and external terrain. What a blessing to know that living with chronic pain and nagging symptoms is NOT inevitable. You can shift your outcomes.
Take control of your health by fortifying all of your root systems.
Remember, you don’t need to suffer or struggle alone. Get the help you need to reach your goals quicker.