The Zebra in Healthcare’s Desert- My Coffee Thoughts

 

All these “healthy” diets are not healthy if they are not the kind your body needs. You might be setting yourself up for failure by picking one because you think it sounds right. And this also goes to healthcare providers, dishing out random dietary restrictions to patients with mysterious symptoms you do not understand is reckless. That is not how you handle a zebra patient in healthcare’s desert.

I have spent 50 years hearing it and living it. People rolled their eyes when I gained weight. They didn’t believe me when I lost it and said I was getting worse. I’ve had people scream that I don’t eat enough. Others assumed I ate too much. Meanwhile, surgeries were piling up. A spine was collapsing before their eyes. And somehow, it was still my fault. Even though I did the anti-inflammatory diet. The low FODMAP diet. Keto. Vegetarian. Vegan. Name it- I tried it. What no one stopped to ask was whether my body could even process those foods correctly in the first place. The Core Is Not a Trend If you are one of those patients still searching for answers, begin at the core: How your body reacts. How it processes energy. How it clears waste. How it responds to immune triggers. Before you eliminate another food group, understand whether your immune system is misfiring. You must first determine: Are you allergic? Do you have increased hypersensitivity? Is your immune system chronically activated? Are inflammatory markers being tracked? Has anyone looked beyond surface symptoms? Those labs may not solve everything. But they begin the process of understanding. Fifty years ago, they should have been run for me. And if they were and it wasn't highlighted, then opportunity for a child to grow healthy, was missed. I would have been armed with information instead of blame. Ask for a referral to an allergist or immunologist if your symptoms are complex and unexplained. Allergies do not always look stereotypical. They are not always hives and dramatic swelling. Sometimes they look like: Chronic fatigue Brain fog Weight instability Digestive chaos Inflammation A nervous system stuck in fight mode Sometimes they look like a body fighting a war no one else can see. When “Healthy” Becomes Harmful In my attempt to eat “clean,” I am learning I was consuming the very things that prevented my system from processing nutrition correctly. My body was in hyperdrive, like it thought it was fighting World War I internally. If your immune system is activated, digestion shifts. Absorption shifts. Hormones shift. Metabolism shifts. You can eat all the “right” foods and still deteriorate if the foundation is unstable. And the domino effect? Devastating. Not just physically. It ripples into work, relationships, finances, identity, confidence. The consequences extend far beyond healthcare, even though the lack of proper investigation may have started it all. A Calm, Clear Reminder This is not anti-doctor. It is anti-guesswork. Diet matters. But it should be: Individualized Based on measurable reasoning Adjusted carefully Reversible if harmful Monitored over time Zebra patients require humility from providers , not assumption. And they require permission from themselves to stop chasing every new dietary trend in desperation. If You Found This While Searching Begin at the root. Start documenting patterns. Ask for appropriate testing. Advocate calmly but firmly. Understand your own physiology before following ideology. That latest fad may be someone else’s medicine. It may be your poison. And that does not mean you failed. It may simply mean your body needed to be understood first. My Monday morning coffee thoughts. Be well.

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Ps, this morning I ran my original writing through AI for editing. My fingers have been sore because I am trying to get back my writing spark - Image above was created using Canva