Body Systems and My Health Journey

Your genetic weaknesses usually determine which system or organs will be affected.

The Candida Cure Cookbook by Ann Boroch

This quote stopped me in my tracks as I came across it.

When I talk about the sicknesses* I have and have had, I look to my parents and what issues they’ve had with their bodies. My dad said as a young boy he was nearly never healthy, always carrying an upper respiratory issue (but I do wonder how much of that may have had to do with where he lived: a house without indoor pluming) and he has some identical symptoms to some of the bowel issues I have. While I compare myself to my mom, she has some of the digestive issues I’ve had, but the solutions to ours have each been quite different. Mine has more or less been diet and lifestyle management while she found alkaline water and avoiding some foods, some of the time, and using pills to help when she wanted to cheat on her diet.

Back to that quote, I know we share DNA which makes me wonder if some of the issues we share are genetic. I’d decided at a fairly young age that I wasn’t going to have children because I didn’t want to pass my sick DNA to them, but as I’ve grown older and generally more healthy, especially with my habits, I’ve come to wonder if I’m not genetically destined to be sick, but rather the environment and dietary choices are making me sick.

I have a sweet tooth, there’s no doubt. I didn’t gain the freshman 15, but right after college, I did. It was probably…