ATTENDING TO YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN'S UNIQUE NEEDS
FOR THRIVING AND HEALING

​By Janice Carlin, PhD
Copyright © 2018 Janice Carlin

We are unique beings from our spirits to our minds, our personalities, and our genetics. We have unique needs. What works for one person well, will not necessarily even benefit another. So how can you attend to your and your children’s unique needs for thriving?

First, you have to establish and maintain a foundation of clean living. You can read what this entails HERE.

With this foundation in place, you may find that your original issues have shifted. Some people’s health issues disappear once a clean lifestyle and diet have been established and maintained consistently for some time. Other people may see improvements or the cessation of just one or a few symptoms. If all that you need is to attend to this one foundational piece, that is wonderful! I know that for myself and my son and many other highly sensitive people I know and have worked with professionally, there are many other pieces that have to be implemented on top of this basic foundation. And yet, between all of us, the needs differ. This is due to our uniqueness.

I would love to be able to tell you that there is one diet that works for everyone in all of our highest good. However, it isn't the truth. The truth is that there is not one best way of eating, and not one best healing method, or one best kind of spiritual practice for everyone on this planet and here is why:

1. Our genetics differ. 
2. Our exposures to toxins in the environment differ and affect our DNA and our well-being in different ways.
3. Our life experiences differ, with emotional and physical traumas and daily stress affecting us all differently.

Our DNA is the blueprint for how we experience life in our bodies. How our DNA expresses itself has direct connection to who we are in this lifetime. Some of our genes can have variants based upon what we inherit from each of our parents. If we lived in a toxin-free world, these variants would not cause as much difficulty with our health as they do. However, we live in a world filled with chemical toxins in the air, water, and food supplies. Additionally, there are pathogens of bacteria, viruses, molds, and fungi all over the place. Each exposure to toxins requires that our bodies get rid of the harmful elements and then return to state of homeostasis. Our bodies are supposed to be able to do this by design. However, due to the ever-increasing amounts of toxins we are exposed to, our bodies are significantly struggling to keep up.

Some people have little to no variants in the genes that work through the detoxification and methylation pathways. However, many people do have significant variants, resulting in anywhere from a 20% - 70% or more reduction in the body’s capacity to detoxify itself. When toxins remain stuck in the body, they effect and harm the body. This is the reason why some children are severely affected by vaccines and some are less affected. Everyone’s body is different.

Variants in some people’s genes result in hypersensitivity to all kinds of stimuli that they experience. Therefore, certain experiences will be ungrounding and upsetting to them, while the same events may seem wonderful to someone else. Listening to Tibetan Singing Bowls, crystal bowls, or any music that is played through speakers, being in bright sunlight, using a sauna, getting a massage or other type of body work are a few examples of this.

Some people are more highly reactive to chemicals due to their gene variants. So while one person may enjoy the smell of air freshener or potpourri, another person may experience feeling sick, allergic, or emotionally upset around the chemical fragrances. Everyone is different and there is nothing to judge about it. Chemicals are harmful to everyone – some people are just more immediately reactive to them than others.
 
Other variants result in not being able to tolerate eating certain foods. Popular ways of eating that you may hear and read about may not apply to you due to your own genetics or to physical damage that your body has already experienced during your life. Although certain ways of eating may appeal to you for their purported health benefits, you may find that you simply cannot thrive while following them.

My recommendations for the best practices for eating are as follows:

1. Maintain a clean diet of all organic foods and clean water sources. No chemical additives and preservatives or artificial sweeteners. No MSG.
2. Make sure to get the proper balance of nutrients that you need.
3. Avoid eating grains. They are highly inflammatory and very high in carbohydrates. They cause the body to gain weight and experience insulin resistance due to their high carb content. At the very, very least, avoid eating gluten containing grains.
4. Eat plenty of vegetables, especially non-starchy ones.
5. Avoid eating foods to which you have allergic or sensitive reactions.
6. Avoid eating sugar. Use pure stevia.

On top of these best practices, you can choose specific healing diets to support your health. Based upon your own, personal, unique needs, here are the basic ones I recommend for healing. All of the following will support you in healing your gut, losing weight, and reversing Type 2 Diabetes. Additionally, they will support healing heart disease, ADHD, autism, autoimmune diseases, depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety.  As your health improves, you may find that you need to shift into eating differently:
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• Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s GAPS Diet
• Dr. Mark Hyman’s Pegan Diet
• Dr. Terry Wahls, The Wahls Protocol Diet

Even though the above diets are nutritionally sound and supported by science, some people will still not be able to tolerate them. Due to inherent genetics and toxic exposures, many people’s bodies are significantly damaged. They may not be able to effectively process or digest the fats and proteins in these healing diets. In this case, you must follow the protocol for best practices that you read above and then do your very best to find foods that you can tolerate eating. Honor yourself and don’t allow yourself to eat grains or sugars because they will only cause further damage to your gut, cells, arteries, and organs. Your body has the capability to heal. Some people take longer than others to accomplish this. Believe me, I know from personal experience that this is true.

I highly recommend you knowing your own and your children’s gene variants. You can read my article with instructions for doing this yourself HERE. When you know your own body, you can more easily attend to your needs without going through unnecessary suffering. Empower yourself by knowing that you are unique and that what you need to do in order to thrive on this planet is personal to you. Your kids are also unique. Each generation is being exposed to more toxins. Protect your children by knowing their gene variants and keeping their environment clean and safe so that they can live to their highest potentials in their lives.
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