Knowing yourself can be enhanced through genetic testing. I have read so many books that have taught me about genetics that I have not tested myself. One example that I recommend is reading Dr. Ben Lynch’s book Dirty Genes. This book helped me understand many things about the way my body handles stress. I am a highly sensitive individual that is very sensitive to the effects of stress. I need to exercise to manage stress and I need to meditate to handle my stress.

I have a Slow COMT based on his self tests. This makes absolute sense to me. I feel best when I avoid caffeine in the form of coffee. I drink a home-made Matcha Latte daily which feels much more calming and energizing to my body. Matcha which is green tea powder has theanine in it which helps calm down the nervous system. Coffee revs me up too much and interferes with my sleep. I occasionally will go out for coffee with people early in the day. In that case, I would drink an oat milk latte and might use raw honey to sweeten it.

I have been an athlete my whole life. I understand how important that was to manage my stress hormones my whole life and why I needed a high degree of directed exercise to maintain my calm demeanor. I jogged my whole life until the past few years when I had a bad MS flare. I do hope I can run in my future but in the meantime, I walk, swim and do Pilates for exercise. It is a must for me to regulate my stress hormones and I derive great joy from being active.

With a Slow COMT, it is recommended to watch how much protein you eat at your evening meal. He recommends eating protein earlier in the day so it does not keep you up at night digesting it. Pay attention to how you feel. If you eat a higher protein meal at night and have no issue sleeping then carry on. Developing self awareness if the key here. Trust your intuition and follow it.

To book in with me for telemedicine go to www.robinvinge.com click on the contact me button to link to my Jane booking site. Have a great holiday and be well!! Dr. Robin Vinge, ND

Reference: Dirty Genes, Dr. Ben Lynch, ND

 

One of the most important things that you can do, for yourself, in terms of your health is to know yourself. I have been on that journey for my whole life. The more you know yourself, the more you can tap into unbridled joy, for love and acceptance of self. Then, you are fully present for other people around you, with your heart wide open to bless those you love, around you.

So, looking through the lens of health, start with your diet. Do you feel better eating a diet higher in protein or not? I eat mainly a vegan diet (free of dairy products but am flexible to eat chicken, turkey, fish, free range eggs or even red meat on occasion). I try to consume wild fish twice a week to get omega 3 and also supplement with omega 3 oils daily. I am eating more servings of vegetable protein in the form of beans. I cook them in my pressure cooker to get rid of the lectins as per Dr. Stephen Gundry’s advice. I do watch when I eat more protein in the day. If I eat a higher protein meal, I eat it earlier in the day so it digests well before I go to bed (3 hours). When I mention genetics, this will make more sense.

Having MS necessitates that I eat a diet low in saturated fat. I keep my level of saturated fat under 25 grams a day. I am quite liberal with using raw flaxseed oil. I use it on my toast instead of butter and I use it on air popped popcorn along with nutritional yeast. I use some olive oil in cooking but it is minimal. I make homemade vegetable broth and sauté with that on occasion.

I am strict with elimination of dairy and gluten and eat sugar only on occasion, if at all. This keeps me the healthiest. Sugar, I do not miss as I feel it ruined my health in my past. I know because I am in remission from MS doing this. I feel vital and strong, tapped into my intuition about my daily food choices.

I eat a lot of vegetable servings. I aim for 6 to 10/day. I make one or two servings a day be leafy greens, in the form or organic kale, gailan greens, organic collards, or organic lettuce. I eat about five servings of fruit daily and try to get a variety when it comes to my food choices.

I notice how much my gut health has improved over the years. I used to see a lot of undigested food in my stools. That has completely gone away. I believe that is due to the amount of fiber I am consuming on a daily basis and how long I have been working on my gut health (years). I do not feel my gut is leaky like in my past. I eat grains that are gluten free as mentioned but not as much as in my past. I still enjoy rice and gluten free pasta, quinoa, gluten free oats when I choose to eat grains.

If you need more help with your help, please book in with me. Go to www.robinvinge.com and then click on the contact me button to be led to my Jane booking site. Hope you had a good holiday! Dr. Robin Vinge, ND

Healing is about loving your entire mind, body and spirit. It is about engaging and spending as much time in the parasympathetic nervous system as possible versus the sympathetic nervous system (which is all about fight or flight and the stress response). To engage the parasympathetic nervous system, you can lie down and focus on slow deep breathing which will relax you. Dean Ornish, who is a well-known medical doctor in the U.S., recommends spending and hour on relaxation practices once a day. Doing this you can began to activate healing in your body. Dr Joe Dispenza who is a leading expert in the mind/body/spirit field recommends focusing on your heart and then to create a unified healing field, to focus on things that elevate your vibration like appreciation, gratitude, compassion, generosity and love for others/pets/plants etc. in order to help your body heal. Being a spiritual person, I like to quote Scripture here Philippians 4:8 ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. And the God of peace will be with you’. So, there are so many nuggets here to help you heal. I would say self love and self acceptance and cultivating those qualities in every moment is a key for me. Wishing everyone a happy holiday full of love and healing. To book a session with me I have my Emotional Freedom Technique and counseling rate at $85.00 for the hour right now. Go to www.robinvinge.com and then the contact me button to book on my Jane booking site. Much love, Dr. Robin Vinge, ND