When we talk about sustainability we often think about products, farming and lifestyle but my focus is sustainable health. In this blog, I’ll introduce the Six Phase Homotoxicology Table and its relationship to sustainable health.  

What is sustainable health, and where can it be found? Health is relative, and not merely the absence of disease. It’s a progressive march, a distinct, six phase evolution of the human body’s 14 organs and systems.

I often hear from new patients, “I’ve always been healthy and now I have cancer (or other disease process). How is this possible?” The body communicates through all 14 organs and systems every minute of every day. However the day to day downward degradation of the organs and systems can be invisible…Are you paying attention?

The Six Phase Homotoxicology Table is a disease symptom progression table. In Stage One the symptoms experienced are mild. Examples include: episodes of sweating, nervousness, difficulty concentrating, mild joint pain, or heartburn. In each successive phase the symptoms get louder until you reach Stage Six which is where various cancers appear.

Stage Two – symptoms include acne and acute infections, such as a UTI or bronchitis

Stage Three – symptoms include heart disease, kidney stones, and depression

Stage Four – where allergies, migraine headaches, chronic infections and auto-immune diseases occur

Stage Five – includes Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, liver cirrhosis, diabetes, and schizophrenia

Stage Six – manifests solid tumors and blood cancers

I recently had an acquaintance die from stage four cancer. He died only four weeks after his diagnosis. Though he appeared perfectly healthy, brewing in his tissues was the disease process. He neglected signs and symptoms because they happened a little at a time, making them nearly invisible.

How does this progression work, why does it happen, and most importantly how do we slow it, stop it, and turn it around to achieve sustainable health?

All disease processes are created by excesses and deficiencies. Excesses are things in the body that do not belong. Deficiencies are things that are supposed to be in the body tissues that are not. And excesses and deficiencies influence immune system function

Let’s consider the power of vitamin A. Vitamin A, also known as retinol, has several important functions, including helping your body defend against illness and infection (the immune system) and supporting vision in dim light. When there’s a Vitamin A deficiency, vision and immune system quality are diminished.

In addition to Vitamin A and other vitamins, deficiencies may include: minerals, amino acids, oxygen (resulting from shallow breathing and chronic stress), water / chronic dehydration (I’m continually surprised at how many of my patients tell me they only drink 1-2 glasses of water daily), enzymes, unbalanced hormones due to chemical endocrine disruption, and nutrients that used to be commonly present in the soil that are no longer there.

Now, consider glyphosate (RoundUp) as an example of an excess. In 2017, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic in humans…glyphosate effects on the immune system appear to alter a few key immune system functions including the complement cascade (which enhances antibody response), phagocytic function (ingesting of harmful, foreign or dead/dying cells), lymphocyte responses (immune cells binding to foreign invaders) and in addition increase inflammation”. An excess of glyphosate can result from eating conventional fruits and vegetables treated with RoundUp.

Examples of other excesses are: 

• man made items – other insecticides, agricultural chemicals, food additives, amalgam fillings, chlorine, fluoride, EMFs (electromagnetic fields, from cell phones, microwave ovens, etc.), medications, personal hygiene products, chemical warfare, indoor air pollution, and plastics 
• lifestyle activities, habits and resulting biological states – smoking, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets or sleep patterns, blood sugar levels, unresolved emotions, trauma, Leaky Gut Syndrome, surgeries, scar tissue, constipation, continuous stress, and artificial light
• God-made critters – fungal or bacterial overgrowth, parasites, viruses, and all other pathogens that are taking up space in your body and eating your food

“All disease begins in the gut”

A quote attributed to the Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates nearly 2500 years ago.

In the early 1680s, Antonie van Leewenhoek, a Dutch merchant who first observed the diversity of the human microbiome, formally  pioneered this field of study, noting a striking difference between microbes found in samples taken from the mouth versus those in fecal stools.

More recently, Rob Knight, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego; Jeffrey Gordon, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; and Norman Pace, PhD, of the University of Colorado, Boulder, shared the Massry Prize for their collective efforts in expanding the medical and scientific communities’ understanding of the importance of microbiomes in relationship to the immune system.

We now know that sustainable health starts with a rich and diversified gut microbiome — the community of microorganisms and approximately 70 percent of the immune system which are housed in the gut. Every time we eat, drink, or expose ourselves to chemicals and hormones, we are either feeding disease or fighting it. 

So, making sure our digestive system is in tip-top shape is key to addressing many of our bodily woes. Let’s break this down into digestible, bite size pieces for a better understanding of how to identify a weakened immune system, then use this information to strengthen your gut microbiome and navigate your path to sustainable health.

6 Signs You Have a Weakened Immune System

1. • Your stress level is high
   • You frequently have colds
   • You have lots of tummy troubles
   • Your wounds are slow to heal
   • You have frequent infections
   • You’re always tired 

There are four tenets that can be used to address the above, and more significant, concerns. Integrating them will improve your gut health, strengthen your immune system, and restore your organs and systems back to health. None is more important than the others, and many of their implementation facets align with environmental sustainability. They include:

Diet and Lifestyle

1. • Lower your stress level. Chronic, high levels of stress are hard on your entire body
   • Eat more fiber; and whole, quality foods, particularly fresh fruits and vegetables
   • Increase your anti-inflammatory fats (walnuts, almonds, avocados, hemp and ground flax seeds)
   • Eliminate foods that feed bad bugs, i.e. sugar and processed foods
   • Feed your good gut bugs, i.e. eat more fermented foods and consume more fermented drinks (kambucha and kefir)
   • Exercise regularly 
   • If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation
   • Doing what’s recommended in 1-7, will help you maintain a healthy weight, which is also beneficial
   • Don’t smoke

Detoxification

1. • Take steps to make sure your bowels move daily
   • Sweat through sauna, if not achieved through exercise
   • Deep breathing exercises
   • Lymphatic massage
   • Proper hydration to flush the body clean, preferably avoiding water from plastic bottles and other harsh chemicals
   • Juicing
   • Dry skin brushing
   • Rebounder (small, firm mini trampoline exercise)

Restoration

1. • Quality, uninterrupted, adequate sleep at night
   • Naps
   • Vacations
   • Meditation
   • Yoga
   • Gratitude

Supplementation

• Prebiotic
• Probiotic
• Vitamin C 
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin E 
• Vitamin D3

The above lists may appear daunting. If so, I recommend choosing one or two items to work on at a time. I also like the 1% rule… be 1% better when you go to bed tonight than you were when you got up this morning. Your gut and immune system will respond, and sustainable health will be yours.

—————————

Lynne Lavers is a Natural Health Practitioner who has spent a lifetime educating herself in alternative health therapies, and since 1987 has been actively involved in Nashville’s holistic health community. She holds a degree in Biology and a Masters in Holistic Nutrition, as well as a Doctorate of Natural Medicine from Clayton College of Natural Health, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Integrated Medicine. She is a Certified Lymphatic Therapist and CranioSacral Therapist with training through the Advanced Level under John Upledger and The Upledger Institute. She has completed the Gerson Institute Practitioner’s Training Program, is a Gerson Trained Practitioner, and currently serves on the American Nutriceuticals Medical Advisory Board.

At her private family practice in Nashville, Tennessee, Lynne works with individuals of all ages. She provides consultations for maintaining health and wellness, as well as managing disease and health challenges. One of Lynne’s areas of expertise is assisting individuals diagnosed with cancer and supporting their families.

Disclosure: Nothing in this blog is intended to diagnose, treat, offer to treat, cure or attempt to cure any physical or mental disease or disorder, or any physical deformity or injury. Please consult your health care provider before embarking on any new health journey.