I’ve a new found love for gardening and I’m fist pumping the air when I tell you, I’m actually winning at life with my green thumb skills (not to be mistaken for ‘green hand’ as I told my mum… seems we only need a thumb and not a full hand of fingers ….).  Anyway, just a few mornings ago, I was watering my precious strawberry and mint pot and I noticed somebody had gone to town on the leaves.  Closer inspection revealed the culprit – teeny tiny little green caterpillars, munching away at my hard earned foliage.  My initial reaction was to pull off all the leaves because my plants no longer looked like they were healthy or thriving.  They looked sad and full of teeth marks and damaged and no where near as beautiful as the day before.

It got me thinking, how often we do this with our health.  How often we go into overdrive to try and remove the evidence of a problem with actually addressing the core issue.  Because of course simply removing the leaves of my gorgeous plants would only provide a temporary solution until the little critters had their way with my leaves again.  For me, the only sure way I knew to get rid of these hungry little caterpillars would be to go at my plants with my trusty (and never fail so far) solution – garlic water spray! (trust me it works – and without nasty hormone disrupting chemicals)

Time after time I see patients in my clinic who have taken the cover up approach, almost always because they were never told there was another option.  Think cervical dysplasia as an example (I’ve written about my journey and transition to remission in my Debunking Ovulation e-course and there are a few posts on how you can treat it here and here).  It’s common practice for us to have any abnormal cells removed but very little (if any) regard for what’s driving the pre-cancerous cells in the first place.  If we simply remove the evidence of the problem, what’s not to stop its return?  Nothing!  But more to the point, what’s not to say your body can (and will) actually transition itself to better health with the right approach and environment.  No matter what the circumstance, removal of the evidence can begin the life saving process no doubt, but looking at who’s in the drivers seat of any health condition is an absolute must if we want to overcome poor health hurdles over a lifetime.

I can think of hundreds of examples where we do this daily.  Think using the pill to cover up acne, period pain (dysmenorrhea), PMS, missing periods (amenorrhea), long cycles, ovulation pain, spotting, anxiety, oestrogen dominance, Endometriosis, PCOS, and a host more.  These are all symptoms of a deeper issue.  The pill can’t actually solve the issues – it never has been able and as it stands, it never will.  Just like my little strawberry plants, it begins to act as a means to cover up the symptoms at hand.  These signs and symptoms are in fact an amazing gift your body is serving up to you, to act.  Do something different, expect a different outcome.  Do the same thing over and again, you can never expect change.

If you’re scared out of your undies to stop the pill because you’re freaking out that the crazy acne that once was will return or your mood swings and PMS will come back with a vengeance , ask yourself, what have I done to treat my symptoms whilst taking the pill?  What have I done different to support my body and take it towards better health?  This is the future of our health and wellbeing – fixing the core issue can only ever take you towards your best.

Have you fixed something and transitioned off the pill?  Perhaps you’ve over come cervical dysplasia or something similar?  I’d love to hear about your experience in the comment section below.  Like, share and spread the word – simply by sharing this post you can help changes others lives for the better.

Nat xx