Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions? - PaleoHacks.com

Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T17:23:15Z

My personal belief is that patients are frustrated with physicians because they feel somewhat helpless in the current system. I think when people realize that they can control their health when the understand what biologically controls it......it will empower them to seek what they have always wanted.

What say you hackers?

Answer by Futureboy for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T17:34:32Z

I don't have any healthcare. I can't afford it. :(

So yeah...pretty helpless.

Answer by Uggla for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T17:50:14Z

I watched my mother's doctors "fix" her the unnatural way and she died at the young age of 52. She took over 40 doctor prescribed pills to "fix" her mental and health issues which only grew worse and worse and their "help" eventually killed her. So I am no fan of modern medicine. And being Paleo just confirms what I knew all along about conventional wisdom.

Now herbalism in the natural simple form I am all for! That together with healthy eating and activity doctors can be mostly avoided.

Answer by none for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T18:28:34Z

My parents eat more prescriptions than they do food. They do not think their food choices ultimately affect their health. They bought a Wii for exercise, and only play Jeopardy on it. They BOTH work in the medical field.

Frustrated? Sickened? Lost all faith? You bet.

But, through these open online venues I think there is real hope for those of us who wish to take personal responsibility for our health (and who want to teach the next generation how to do so as well).

Answer by Underground Nutritionist for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T18:46:46Z

I agree, but not everyone can have the same level of Nutritional and scientific understanding that the rest of us can.....

So I say, learn what you can....or what you have time to learn....to take control of your own health. And then rely upon Paleo physicians to help you with the rest. Conventional doctors are for the birds. I refuse to visit a doctor who knows less about health and nutrition than I do!

Answer by Marie for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T19:07:24Z

I spent +15 years battling with an HMO regarding my "weird" physiological issues. You can imagine how PO'd I was to discover removing grains from my diet CURED all GI related problems. Blood tests, MRIs, bone scans, x-rays, urinalysis, colonoscopies, and such did nothing to "help" modern medical practitioners diagnose my problems. Then they decided it was all in my head and that I needed severe psychiactric help and "medication immediately".

This is when I got serious about my health. After spending so much time explaining I was not sick while living in rural foreign communities and that I felt "my body chemistry was not right in the US", I knew there was a solution in the food and began researching.

Who knew it would be so easy?!!!

But in those same years I was also battling chronic pain, due to a surgical mistake the surgeon blamed on my genes. (When a plastic object pops through your skin, believe me, genes are NOT the problem.)

I've had a LOT of experience in many different departments/specialties and found that physicians are in an awful position, too. When profitability is the only measure of their success and getting rid of high cost patients is a better maneuver than fixing them, it is no wonder the medical system has become a labyrinth. It benefits their system to let you get lost and to hope you move on and become an other's problem.

So Paleo taught me to LISTEN to my body AND my INSTINCTS. Your instincts are powerful forces serving to protect your vital DNA. The number of times I told my Drs that "it feels like plastic in there." only to have it pop to the surface 10 years later, speaks to the level of detail you know your own body. And these were not the only incidents where I was right and modern medicine was wrong.

Now when I feel a Dr. is no longer listening, I fire them. There is no sense in waiting to see if they'll come around to my opinion that I AM IN CHARGE OF MY HEALTH, not them.

It is actually a pretty powerful feeling to tell an MD "I'm sorry but I have to fire you." and it really reinforces who SHOULD be in charge.

Answer by Rock_Paper_Shirley for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T19:21:32Z

I started taking charge of my healthcare decisions many years ago. Paleo had nothing to do with it.

I got frustrated because doctors rarely were able to help me, so I started researching whatever my ailment was long before I would to any doctors so I knew what tests to request, what questions to ask, and know whether or not they were asking me the right questions. It's about research and self-empowerment, which is more likely what gave me an interest in paleo, not the other way around.

Most people don't want to research and take charge of their own health. It takes time, energy and a lot of background education most people want nothing to do with. They want some one else to be in charge, hand them something and make everything all better. Doing a paleo diet also requires a level of research and education, which also means a high level of interest.

My thinking is that most people who are interested in and stick with paleo principles are the type of people who are interested in learning and being very self-aware. That type of person is probably more likely to take charge of their health and other areas of their lives.

Answer by Shoots for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T21:08:56Z

I learned I cant trust doctors because they can trick you into thinking they really care when really thye want to get you out the door. Paleo has saved me by teaching me to think outside the box.

Answer by Dexter for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T21:10:58Z

Folks have all but surrendered to the health care professionals as being the last word in the fixing field. As Uggla says the fix kills people.

Yes, people are frustrated but as long as we are married to employer and/or government paid insurance for our healthcare, the doctor always knows best. Why, because we don't want to pay out of pocket for any treatment that is not authorized.

The doctor is always right. The person in the white coat is always right because that's the way it is for 99% of the folks. That leaves 1% or 3.2 million of us who take the initiative with our healthcare. Can it really be that many? I doubt it.

And of those 1% how many are paleo?

Answer by sage_ for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-05T23:57:28Z

i feel sorry for my doctor. he's a good man, but he is surrounded by sick people who read XYZ on the net and insist on having the new wonder drug to fix the ailment the internet expert says they have no control over. he has no time for patients who are healthy by comparison.

i decided long ago that i was not going to allow living to kill me as both my parents had. gaining an understanding of paleo diet principles was another step in my evolution. change is good.

Answer by Eric for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-06T05:41:57Z

I know that eating well and exercising will keep me out of the doctors office as much as possible. When I do need to go to the doctor there is usually something better for me healthwise that I can do as an alternative.

Answer by WayfinderAli for Does what you learn about paleo lifestyling empower you to control your healthcare decisions?

2011-06-06T18:10:47Z

I stopped trusting doctors long before I had heard of paleo. I have something called vaginismus (google it if you have no idea what it is) which started around 18 when I started being sexually active. I went to my gyno and told her how much pain I was in when I tried to have sex, and she told me that I wasn't using enough lubricant. Three years and three boyfriend's later, I was in a committed, loving relationship and still having the same problem. I told her again. She told me to "have some wine before hand to help me relax."
Needless to say, I went to another doctor. That doctor looked at me and her suggestion involved minor surgery. I walked out of that doctor's office with 8 stitches in a VERY sensitive area. She didn't bother to tell me before hand that it would take 2 weeks to heal, that walking, sitting, and bending would be extremely painful. I couldn't go to class for a week and couldn't hardly do something as simple as go grocery shopping. Thankfully my boyfriend did everything for me during that time. After it healed, the scar tissue only made everything worse. Finally, after spending YEARS researching on the internet, I found a name for my condition. Vaginismus. I went back to that same practice and told that doctor, "I think I have vaginismus". And you know what she said? "Oh, that would make sense. We actually have a doctor here who specializes in that." excuse me? she cut on me rather than send me to someone else in her own practice?? I realized then that most of us can find out most of what doctors know. Its not as secret as they want us to believe. I know more about my condition than 85% of gynecologists in the US.

With some elbow grease you can know enough to make wise decisions about your own health. I save doctors for if I need something cut out, stitched up or put back in place. But in another 10 years I'll start having to go more often for mammograms and things because my mom had breast cancer.