Depending on who you read, there are a variety of methods and like most things, many ways to skin a cat. But who is right? I like the phrase that a peer of mine Josh Rubin used there’s no right or wrong way, just what works for the client?
Some are more open to this approach than others, I remember once Nick Mitchell barred me from commenting on the Ultimate Performance page for suggesting that rather than using a suggested supplement such as B12 one might focus on restoring gut health to enhance B12 uptake. He also accused me of pretending to be a Doctor and for any advice relating to these matters that he would speak to a real Doctor instead of “CHEK practitioner pretending to be a Doctor”( I am still barred from said site). I am not suggesting anything malicious about Nick, I am sure he’s nice guy, but it’s Pete Williams who made an interesting point to me a couple of years ago that Trainers are the new Doctors and he’s got a real point.
I recently completed the Applied Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice with the Institute of Functional Medicine and combined with my studies with other Functional Medicine organisations I have to say Pete is onto something. That’s probably why he is considered one of the Instigators of FM in the UK. IN fact it’s not just trainers who are the the new age Doctors, as there were a wide range of people who were on the course, nutritionists, Doctors, Chiropracters and Physios who can all offer something to the population who are suffering from a myriad of health problems such as liver, gut, thyroid and adrenal problems.
There are some people who think that health and fitness is a simple solution.. Eat clean, exercise and you will lose weight. Well it use to be like that but given that most humans have been exposed to thousands of environmental pollutants, its no wonder that issues such as weight loss in some people is just more challenging. That’s why obesity, diabetes and cancer are on the rise, not just inactivity and poor food choices. Health and exercise specialists need to adapt to these problems. Skills such as reading blood analysis (Dicken Weatherby’s CBC analysis is excellent), utilising urinalysis and DNA gut tests (Clinical Laboratory analysis by Lord and Bralley also great!) as well as toxicity profiles should be in the tool box of any health, fitness and well being specialists toolbox for amazing results. thats why many of my clients have often seen at least 6 other practitioners before they end up at my door.
Sure some will be experience great results with the less is more approach, however the net is getting smaller as complexities with neuro-psychiactric cases mediated by heavy metal toxicity from arsenic or mercury, or depression and fatigue from Hypothalamus/pituitary/adrenal/thyroid axis dysfunction are all very real. it may seem a daunting start, and it’s a bit look looking at Mount Everest, and there are days when it still does, as every client you see will be different. In my opinion it’s time to start utilising these techniques so that the cycle of Doctor/patient/medication can be broken sooner rather than later.
Don’t get me wrong there is a place for medicine but it doesn’t mean a life committed to taking pharmaceuticals, after all there’s more than one way to skin a cat isn’t there?
