In an earlier article I mentioned (okay, ranted) about how I don’t love labels including medical diagnoses even as a doctor.
Hold on to your toques ladies and gents, I’m about to get ranty (again) up in here!
This time it’s about reductionism and science. I have a tiny little (cow-sized) beef with the notion of looking for ONE factor that is involved with a cause and effect relationship.
Our bodies and the universe is made up of gazillions of atoms and sub-particles. Things so small it’s as if they are only concepts. (My brain has trouble believing that they are more than just concepts.)
However these tiny bits and pieces are not influenced by one ONLY factor. Heck no! Our world is incredibly complex and at any given moment we are adapting to countless stimulating or inhibiting factors.
Does the garden grow only by the sun? No.
The air? Nope!
Just from the soil? Of course, not.
One of these factors won’t do it alone. It also needs the help of the bees to bear fruit, and the micro-organisms in the soil to provide nutrients. The garden does not exist by its lonesome in a vacuum. It needs a community of resources.
And then there is my favorite example. Human health.
Can you exist on one food only? Of course not.
What if your diet was perfectly balanced but you didn’t drink any water. Would your body be healthy? That’s preposterous!
Say your diet is balanced and you’re hydrated but you don’t feel loved… would you be well? Probably not.
You see I’m a wholist. I am trained and took an oath and promised to treat the WHOLE person AS an individual in the context of their unique environments.
The reality is the world can’t be reduced to single factors or interactions. (Tweet it!)
Sadly the current and widely accepted Cartesian model wants us to believe that we are made up of separate bits and pieces which have no interaction with each other. We have a brain and a body. And they are distinctly separate.
Hogwash. Everything is connected, and vital to the whole.
We must consider all of the factors that are affecting the health of our bodies, minds, and spirits. I describe this more with the use of a bucket analogy.
For example, when I was working with clients for The Plan. It’s amazing how much variability there is from day to day.
Even for myself. I eat a day full of food that got me positive weight loss results in the past – but this time I gain weight. Was it too much or too little water? Was it too much or too little protein? Did I over-salt my soup? Did I have too much wine? Too much chocolate? (Admittedly that last example is like true in this case.)
Did I fall short on sleep? Did I take ibuprofen? (A very rare occurrence for me but it can lead to weight gain.)
Did I have a day of incredible bowel movements?
And we can’t forget about stress, thyroid function, and reproductive hormone fluctuations.
Nor can we overlook feelings of joy, love, abundance, and safety when it comes to weight loss potential.
And not to mention toxicity or exercise!
There is a lot to consider! And it’s all connected.
These are just some of the many influences our bodies are constantly responding to. Not to mention one’s unique genetic and epi-genetic predisposition as their baseline.
And for each of these possible “causes” there might be a bajillion other combinations of reasons.
So you see, to reduce an effect to one cause is nearly impossible, strictly against the laws of nature, and frankly obscures reality.
Don’t get me wrong. I love science. It has taught us a boatload (or two) of stuff about how the world we live in works. It’s just… as mentioned, I’m a wholist. And a synergist. I believe there are several contributing bits and pieces that when added together have a greater impact than the sum of the individual parts.
Imagine your health progress (weight or otherwise) if your diet was balanced, you were well hydrated and you felt loved and safe?
The Plan retaught me that failures aren’t the end of the world but just information. It’s your body saying “Try something else.” . Look over here. Explore a new idea. Consider another (combination of) factor(s).
The program provides real time feedback about about which variables are working for you and which are working against you. That’s ONE of the reasons why I love it so much. You can find out more about The Plan here.
Here’s to your synergistic, thriving, delightful, healthy life!
Dr. Tonia
