WARNING: Side Effects of Waiting May Include Death

I didn’t know my mom had diverticulitis until they were removing part of her colon.

I think she knew, but she just never told me and I don’t know if she fully understood what it meant either. I’m not sure if anyone had taken the time to explain it to her.

That's what not having the full picture costs you.

I didn’t plan on going to culinary school, but when I did decide to go, I knew I wanted to start a company to heal people with food. I didn’t know what that fully looked like. Then my mom got sick and died, and the vision got a lot clearer.

Watching my mom’s experience with the healthcare industry, and working as a health coach, has shown me why so many people are sick. I took her in for what I thought was a really bad COPD exacerbation.

Next thing I know, I’m learning about diverticulitis and antibiotic resistance. There is nothing more terrifying than doctors telling you they’re out of options. But that was my mom. That’s not most people.

Chronic conditions don’t automatically equal a death sentence, yet so many people I talk to believe they do. A lack of information keeps people stuck in the mindset that they have less control over their health than they actually do. And that’s just not true.

I used to think people were sick because they didn’t go to the doctor. But most people don’t know they’re sick until they see one. Now, there’s already a belief that going to the hospital makes you sick, so I’m saying up front, this ain’t that. What I’m speaking to is the lack of knowledge people have when they get diagnosed, especially with something chronic, and what that can do to a person mentally when they don’t have the full picture. And not seeing a doctor doesn’t mean you’re okay. It just means you don’t know.

A chronic condition is just something without a cure, yet. Can they be scary and sometimes deadly? Yes. But people diagnosed with diabetes think they can’t eat sugar. People with hypertension are told to not eat salt. All-or-nothing mentality. Too many people think that being diagnosed with a chronic condition is an automatic death sentence, simply because doctors don’t have, or take the time, to explain what a person can actually do to manage these conditions without eliminating every food they love, or giving up entirely.

Before I learned and started educating people on diabetes, I thought diabetics were restricted from desserts and candy too. Turns out, most of the food we eat turns to sugar, not just what we assume. Milk and fruit, bread, starchy vegetables like potatoes, they all turn to glucose and can spike your blood sugar if you overindulge.

The goal is awareness, and that can be as simple as label reading. Check the sugar, sodium, and fat content. This gives you more information than just reading the ingredients. A quick rule is to look at the % daily value column on the label. 5% or less is low, 20% or more is high. You want to stay low on sugar, sodium, and saturated fat, and aim higher on things like fiber, protein, and nutrients. If the daily value for sugar, sodium, or fat is above 5%, it’s most likely not the best thing for you. The ingredients tell you what’s in it. The nutrition facts tell you how it’s going to nourish you. But awareness starts before the label.

A diagnosis is information, not a sentence.

It’s a way to learn what your body needs to heal and how to best take care of yourself. In my opinion, chronic conditions are the main thing that reminds us that what works for someone else might not work for you.

That friend who smoked their whole life without consequences? That’s not guaranteed to be you. Treat your health like it’s individually yours because no one is living in your body but you. So if you don’t want to go to the doctor for anything else, at least go to get screened. Screening works before symptoms appear. Most people like to wait to see a doctor until after they feel sick. That’s literally the worst time. That’s when it’s usually too late and by that point there’s probably more going on than was assumed in the first place.

My mother assumed she was just having another asthma attack, so she kept putting off going to the hospital. She ended up having an entire perforation in her colon that was causing feces to leak into her belly. She kept saying how nauseous she was for a few months and was having trouble going to the bathroom. These were signs she and I ignored because nobody cares about an upset stomach, right?

My goal is to change your relationship with food and your health.

Not because food is magic, but because information is and right now too many people are making decisions about their bodies without enough of it.

Knowledge is always the first step toward control.