What your body is trying to tell you

The human body is remarkable! It is constantly trying to establish equilibrium, harmony or in scientific terms “homeostasis”. Sometimes my clients say to me “I think my body is working against me” or “my body hates me” because they are having uncomfortable symptoms, but this is not the case. Quite the contrary. Your body is simply trying to alert you to an imbalance, a problem or situation that it needs your attention. It’s a yellow or red flag to signal- “Hey! Over here, not coping, need help!” or “Stop doing that, I don’t like it” and most of the time “Please rest, I need to relax and repair now”.

We often don’t like these signals and ignore them because we just want to get on with it, get stuff done and “soldier on”. Sometimes we may pass symptoms off as “normal” because it’s pretty low grade, doesn’t always happen or you know someone else who has it that just pop’s a pill and gets on with it. If we checked in, listened in and gave our signs and symptoms the time of day to tell us what’s going on, we may be able to stop a yellow flag from becoming a big angry red one and halt a disease process in its steps. This is the magic of preventative medicine. We put the pieces of the puzzle together, find the metabolic and physiological imbalances, investigate any dietary and lifestyle contributing factors and come up with a solution to the problem. We help the body to heal itself by listening to it.

So how do you know what your body is trying to tell you? Here are some common symptoms that may be alerting you to an underlying imbalance that needs addressing, and SOME of the MANY possible causes…

• Headaches/migraines–  investigate dehydration, hormone imbalance (oestrogen excess), nutritional deficiencies
• Eye twitches- tired, poor sleep quality, adrenal fatigue, low magnesium, underlying anxiety
• Sugar cravings– blood sugar problems, insulin resistance, gut dysbiosis, adrenal fatigue, nutritional deficiencies (esp minerals)
• Unquenchable thirst- lack of minerals in the diet, dehydration, poor kidney function, omega 3 fatty acid deficiency
• Skin rashes or outbreaks– poor liver clearance, gut dysbiosis, atopic allergy to cosmetics/soaps/environment, hormone imbalance, poor digestion/food intolerances
• Fatigue– poor nutritional status, poor intestinal absorption, low protein low fat diets, gut dysbiosis (intestinal infection), environmental contaminants and radiation, adrenal burnout from prolonged stress, low thyroid function (hypothyroidism), Celiac disease
• Stubborn weight gain– sluggish thyroid, poor liver function, hormone imbalance, dysbiosis, eating at the wrong times of day, energy output is less than energy input
• Excessive hair loss– nutritional deficiencies (esp iron, zinc), low protein diet, stress and anxiety, poor absorption (gut), hormonal/ thyroid imbalance
• Allergies to the environment– lack of protective good bacteria in the gut and mucosal membranes, high histamine, poor liver clearance
• Food intolerances- insufficient production of digestive enzymes, poor microbiome, not chewing food properly, stress, true food allergies, Celiac disease
• Stomach pain– insufficient production of gastric enzymes, overeating, food intolerance/allergy, constipation, intestinal infection, ulceration, Celiac disease
• Indigestion or reflux– thought to be an overproduction of stomach acid but is fact most often underproduction and poor motility of the gut, irritation, food allergies/intolerance, poor microbiome balance
• Period pain- often considered “normal” but is a sign of an issue, anteverted/retroverted uterus, old stagnant blood, hormone imbalance, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease (infection), stress & anxiety (inner tension), food allergies or Celiac disease (causing inflammation), constipation/impacted bowels (pressing on uterus)
• Constipation & haemorrhoids- lack of vegetable fibres, dehydration, mineral imbalances, structural changes in the intestines, lack of exercise, polyps, diverticulosis, intestinal inflammation, food intolerances, Celiac disease, hormone imbalance
• Diarrhoea– stress/anxiety, food allergy/intolerance, Celiac disease, intestinal infection
• Muscle/joint aches & pains- over-exercise, lack of protein, mineral deficiencies, gut dysbiosis (causing systemic inflammation), autoimmunity attacking tissue structures

As you can see there are many possible reasons behind common health complaints! It’s important to consider that your body may need further and thorough investigation. Usually it’s something simple that needs to be changed. Other times, a bit of an overhaul is required. Either way, if you listen in and seek holistic support, the solution and great health awaits.  Our integrative team is here to support you along the way!  

By Lauren Campbell (BHSc Naturopathy, Cert. Fertility Massage)