The Aquarium

Nutrition and The Aquarium

We have a fish tank in our house. In it lives a plecostomus – an algae eater. He has cleaned the tank faithfully for a year, and grown quite large. A couple months ago my kids told me he didn’t look very good. He didn’t have neuropathy, but on close inspection he had a big ugly red tumor or cyst on his gills, and a blister on his mouth. He seemed to be missing some scales on his underside. Yep. He was pretty sick.

I didn’t expect him to live much longer. He looked bad.

While checking him out, I realized the filter wasn’t running anymore. A quick test of the water showed it was full of nitrite. Obviously the filter  hadn’t been working for quite a while. I disconnected the filter, cleaned it, and replaced the filter media (making sure that the part containing the beneficial bacteria was still intact – more on bacteria in a minute). I reconnected the filter, and started it up again, to clean the water in the tank.

Over the next two weeks I noticed the most amazing thing. The tumour on the plecostomus started to shrink. His blister on his mouth went away. His scales grew back. As I write this he is a fully healthy algae eater, living and thriving in our tank.

Why Are You Sick?

He was sick because his environment was all wrong, and he became healthy again when it was restored.

If you ask someone how to protect an endangered species they will tell you that you need to preserve it’s habitat. Any animal needs it’s natural place, unspoiled, so that it can thrive, and be truly healthy. If you destroy it’s habitat, and stop it from eating and living the way it’s genes need it to, then it will become sick, and eventually die.

I know what you’re thinking. Humans are animals too. Mammals in point of fact. We have a genetic makeup that allows us to be in sync with our environment and be truly healthy. If we are removed from our natural habitat, we will become sick, and eventually die. Over the past 200 years guess what we have done? Exactly that. Because of our current lifestyle, and diet we have had our habitat destroyed – sickness is rampant. Diabetes and neuropathy are epidemic (among hundreds of other diseases)

The way we live has made it impossible for us to have sufficient levels of at least two nutrients, and depending on how you live, perhaps even more.

Two main things EVERYBODY needs.

There are two things you absolutely need to supplement with if you live a typical western life.

1. Vitamin D. – Unless you spend at least half an hour outside each day (including in the winter) you are chronically deficient in Vitamin D. There is a huge list of things your body needs vitamin D for, from immunity, to bone growth, to healthy nerve function. You need it. Get it and take at least 7000 IU per day.

2. Omega 3. – We used to eat plenty of wild meat and fish, which was loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids (EPA/ DHA fat). Your body uses this in every single cell for normal function. If you don’t have it then your cells stop working properly, and you begin to go the way of the plecostomus. You need to get about 370 mg/day EPA 270 mg/day DHA for every 50 lb of body weight.

It’s important to note that if you have been deficient (especially in Omega 3) it typically takes about 90 days for the level to increase in your body. The other important caveat is that there is a very huge span of quality of omega 3. You can buy some that is very cheap (inexpensive and ineffective too) It is not a good idea to save a few dollars in this area. Buy quality supplements, so that you can gain quality of life.

The next two.

That takes care of the big two, but there are two more:

3. One other nutrient that people (especially those that don’t eat much meat or animal products) can become deficient in is vitamin B12. If you don’t have enough B12 one of the effects of that is NEUROPATHY. For this reason, it is wise to increase your intake of red meat, poultry, eggs, and fish, and to take a B12 supplement.

4. I said I’d get back to bacteria, that is one area that we all are lacking as well. The bacteria in the fish tank help keep the water clean and pure. The bacteria in your body help keep you clean and pure as well. Our diet is so sterilized that we don’t have the normal body bacteria in our gut to protect us for pathogens, help us digest and absorb our vitamins, and produce vitamins for us. You need a good probiotic (or to go out and eat some good healthy dirt)

In a nutshell:

To sum up step one, correct your nutritional deficiencies:

1. Vitamin D – 50000 IU per week, or 7000 IU/day

2. Omega 3 fatty acids – 2-5 grams (2000-5000mg) per day.

3. Vitamin B12 – Eat your red meat, poultry, and eggs, and supplement with vitamin B12 as well – especially over the short term until you get more in your diet.

4. Quality probiotic (multiple strains)

This will all be covered in detail in a live workshop coming soon. Want some help now? Grab a free copy of 3 Neuropathy Relief Tips and get the 3 things my patients use to feel better fast when things are at their worst, and I’ll send you a note when the live workshop is scheduled.