No, it's not normal

No, it is NOT normal
“No, it is NOT normal”. I keep repeating this to myself time and time again while I browse through Facebook Groups where people, specially mothers, share their questions, doubts and worries about their or their loved ones health. I might not always comment on it, I might not always send links to research papers and articles that prove how not normal the condition or problem is, but I confess that I do rant about it (both in my mind and to my loved ones) and I keep repeating my mantra: “No, it is NOT normal”.

The issue is that health and wellness is a low bar now, VERY low, not only because we have a medical system that supports disease and not health, but also because, due to many cultural, social and lifestyle changes we have gone though as a society in the last centuries, illness has become a symptom of being alive, and saying otherwise dooms you a hippie, a crook, a misfit.

But, let me get this straight from the get go: Common doesn’t not equal Normal. Brunettes that suddenly are blond are common thanks to hair dyes, but this is not normal from a biological perspective. We don’t just start growing lighter colour hair out of the sudden (ombre effect added and all). That is not how our bodies work.
So saying that: low milk supply in breastfeeding moms, colic and reflux on babies, unexplained infertility, constant ear and sinus infections, constipation and gas, ADHD and autism, frequent colds, food allergies and intolerances, eczema and skin conditions, sleep disturbances, and issues when growing babies and delivering them vaginally, are normal, we’re basically negating what we are biologically, what our anatomy dictates, and sadly our cells and genes listen to this.

Let’s think about it for a minute, as cavemen, if any of these conditions were so normal: How did we make it as specie here? How did we survive? I mean, being realistic, how would that work out? Cave-Mom and Cave-Dad struggled with fertility, in fact they tried for years to conceive without much success, until finally, it happened! Then Cave-Mom had a very complicated pregnancy and needed a C-section and this disrupted her milk supply so Cave-Baby, who had several food allergies, including to lactose, needed formula, which gave him gas and made him colicky, which called predators at night, which came and feast on our “super normal” health Cave Family. Then what?

And let me be clear, I am not saying that these conditions aren’t real, much less am I blaming anyone for them, what I want to say is that they aren’t normal. We, humans, are the best of the best from a biological perspective, our bodies have evolved, perfected themselves and polished their flaws so that we, as specie, are as good as it gets. Being sick, depending on pills and chemicals, living half-fulfilled lives isn’t part of our genetic makeup, regardless of what people can say.

We pride ourselves on the fact that life expectancy has risen considerably in the last century, that conditions that were “fatal” before can be prevented and treated now, that what used to kill us when we were cavemen (like a broken bone) only “makes us stronger” now; but, are we sure of this? Do we really feel healthier than our ancestors were?

In my practice and daily life, I constantly see undernourished individuals live a life that is beyond average, walking half awake through the world, accepting labels and conditions thrown at them, believing that is just “it”. What if I say it doesn’t have to be this way? What if I encourage you to question the normalcy of our world so that you can regain your wellness, happiness and health?

I’m a firm believer on the perfection that our bodies are, on the fact that we are resilient and strong healing machines, that we are made (by nature, evolution, biology and destiny) to live big bright beautiful lives, transform ourselves and our world with our actions and thrive, even through hardship.

This doesn’t mean that we never get sick, live always smiling and go along singing tunes from Mary Poppins. No, that’s unrealistic and pointless (although could be highly entertaining).

What I mean is that if we get sick, we trust our bodies to heal and recover, we look for the sources of the problem instead of attacking symptoms randomly with chemicals that cause more side effects than improvements, we look for holistic options for our ailments and focus on nourishment always, covering nutrition, stress, emotional balance and rest.

I mean that we ask questions (LOADS of them) to our physicians and caregivers about the labels they want us to wear, and then we challenge those labels, we study them, revise them and continue questioning them always, because diagnosis are just that, labels, and the more we focus on supporting our bodies into healing from them, the more we believe in its capacities to recover and carry us, the more we feed our cells, our genes and our essence with the fuel we need to achieve optimal gene expression and live the life we were meant to, no compromises needed.

So, next time you read or hear about certain condition (or label) being normal, ask yourself: “Is it really?” and dare to question our society’s low bar on Wellness and Health, dare to question your own illness and health paradigms and dare to change them so they can support you while you thrive through life as healthy, joyful and purposeful as you were meant to be. Always.