Diets vs. Lifestyle
As someone who grew up in an Italian American home, I was always eating cheese in so many forms, plus lots of tomatoes. And as someone who's also allergic to dairy… Specifically whey protein… this was somewhat of an issue through most of my life. I grew up being told I was allergic to milk. I was never breast fed and they found out quickly because of the formula. For some reason, my family didn't necessarily equate that milk was in cheese - a sign of the lack of knowledge around how we get our foods. I just knew the “milkier” or softer the cheese was (higher in whey protein) the more it bothered me. I struggled with allergies to a lot of things in the world, from all animal danders to a wide variety of pollens and allergens, from grass to dust mites. This made being outside difficult and exercise difficult because it would induce an until later undiagnosed asthma attack. That, plus it being the 90’s and us kids were raised on TV, snacks, and games, led me to be very sedentary and very inflamed in my teen years.
Because ontop of it, I walked on my toes and no one could figure out why. We know now adays that toe walking is a common sign of autism, but they didn't really know back then. I was an outgoing child and energetic. The way my autism manifests was often missed in those days. Neurodivergency is beautiful and is part of my excitement over the human body and it's wonders.
Becoming a dental hygienist opened my eyes to a whole different world. In practice I got to learn and explore how things affect our bodies and how we can change that. I credit my Dentist that I've worked with since my first day of private practice, Dr. Jerald Matt, DMD, FAGD, owner of MainLine Dental Health & Wellness in Bryn Mawr, PA, for driving me to talk about the oral systemic link. For showing me there was another way to treat disease in someone's mouth. For introducing me to kale 😂. This set me on the journey towards who I am today, I had such a wonderful mentor in him that most other clinicians mistake me for a dentist. I just believe this is how engaged us hygienists should be. It's what I've seen through the ADHA since being involved as a student when I attended Harcum College’s Dental Hygiene program. I was one of two students selected to be admitted to the program right out of high school. Everyone else either had taken 1 year minimum of classes - usually in dental assisting - or were coming from other careers. I was then later awarded the Golden Scaler award from HuFriedy for Top Clinician in my class. An honor I still hold in high esteem today! All of these things came as a surprise to me. I was just really enjoying learning all this dental stuff that I could actually do in people's mouths. HOW COOL IS THAT?! I always loved the experimentation aspects of science, and our practice is a science and an art that is constantly evolving and changing with our further knowledge and understanding of how our bodies work. They don't come with a handbook, but we are learning how to build it. Realizing that your body has its set of functions outside of your cognitive conscious mind - regardless of how HARD you think or believe it - is an act of surrender that will free up so much stress from your life. However, it comes with its own set of stresses. This includes the genetic markers we have that we can’t necessarily control - we’re not quite at that level of live gene editing, but we’re getting there. Or things such as chronic and invisible illnesses and disabilities.
Writing this brought me to thinking about invisible disabilities. Just because someone “looks fit” or “seems healthy” doesn’t mean their body or mind isn’t betraying them, regardless of how they’d like to move through the world. I have a difficult time owning that I have disabilities and limitations. Not that I think it’s bad, I think everyone should be seen and have these things respected. I just know how hard it is for others, so I don’t want to ‘take away’ from them. However, this comes from a scarcity mindset - that the abundance and joy that can be found in being fully understood doesn’t take away from anyone else’s experience. I see a lot of this rising from our systemic issues of stigma around those who seek or need government support and the common welfare of peoples. We need to honor that all of us struggle, not a one of us is perfect.
Speaking of scarcity mindset, this brings us back to the concept of diets. As young adult trying to get my pain management under control, being minimized by doctors because of my age, and the lack of full-body integrative medicine, I turned to ‘diets’ to help me lose weight or deal with my pain. From these explorations, I came upon the Paleo diet. My partner at the time also seemed to have a dietary allergy but could not pinpoint it - grain seemed to be the trigger (spoiler: it was barley) so we went on this exploration together. In my research, a lot of nutritionists were talking about this paleo diet. How eliminating particular foods could reduce inflammation. They were talking about the gut microbiome and things like leaky gut. All of these things lined up with a lot of my understanding of microbiomes and inflammation in the mouth. It’s as if the mouth and gut are tied together and part of the same system (spoiler: they are). These nutritionists talked about treating systemic diseases through food as medicine. This is a concept I am firmly behind, as we are made up of what we eat. If we put fuel into our body that is not ideal, we won’t process it efficiently and there will be a lot of waste - both in terms of energy expenditure and toxic byproducts. They also spoke about shifting the concept of diet to a lifestyle change. When we make a lifestyle change, it’s easier to adapt. You’re not losing something, you’re doing something different. The rewards are health, energy, and a more functional body!
It made sense, what they were talking about. So my partner at the time and I worked to learn these new ways of cooking that we did not grow up with and experimented for years. We both found great relief in these changes in our health.
It was hard though, not slipping back and sneaking ice cream or some other dairy treat that would set me back. Ice cream was always my weakness. However, since then Ben & Jerry’s and many of companies have expanded to offer non-dairy options. I’m you’re go-to-gal for any non-dairy recommendations. I can talk all day about this!
Since being much more strict to my dairy-free lifestyle, I’ve noticed things that were issues since I was young clear up more fully. I believe I had difficulties losing weight when I was young because of the inflammation caused in my entire body from routinely having dairy. I believe my allergies were worse for the same reasons. If you are dealing with chronic health issues, look to your food. There is often an association.
I spend a lot of time talking to patients and clients about making lifestyle changes that can positively impact their lives so they can achieve their goals. What are YOUR goals? Let’s work together to achieve them! Let’s get rid of this scarcity mindset and embrace our own individual potentials. Together, each drop can become a wave. Let’s start asking ourselves the questions WHY! Ask WHY! And search for the answers. Questions open a world of possibilities. Statements are finite. How do you want to see the world?
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