FAMOUS vs RELEVANT

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist
March 18, 2019

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My Childhood

Thinking back about my childhood, I remember being shy – even somewhat “nerdy”. I had very few friends and had no idea what I would accomplish in life. Self-esteem was not my strong suit.

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My Mom was the dominant figure in my family; my Dad was relatively passive. We struggled financially. Unfortunately, I recall my Mom had a negative attitude about almost everything. It seemed to me that she always saw the glass “half empty” rather than “half full”.

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I certainly was not famous, and I knew I was not relevant.

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Dental School

Fast forward to my years in college. At that time, I began developing a philosophy of helping people through the healthcare arena. Dentistry offered a profession that excited me and would give me the knowledge and experience to be relevant to society. I became a dentist and then a periodontist.

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I still was not famous, but I found relevance in what I was pursuing.

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My Fear

One overriding weakness I had was my inability to speak in front of a group of people. I knew I would need to give talks to groups of patients, strangers, and professionals in the future to communicate effectively. However, just thinking about making a speech or giving a presentation caused my underarms to sweat profusely and my hands to tremble. I had to overcome this panic.

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To help me conquer my fear, I started performing magic for my family and eventually my friends. It wasn’t easy, but I slowly gained some confidence. Then I started to perform in front of an audience. But I needed to hide behind something to “shield myself”. So, I dressed up as a clown in full costume with full clown-face makeup. I called my character “Fonzo the Clown”, and I even had business cards printed. I not only performed at birthday parties but also on stage. I starred in a one-night Vaudeville show at the Dock Street Theater in Charleston, SC and appeared on TV a few times performing my magic.

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Then, I began to do more sophisticated magic in front of professional groups. I had acquired enough confidence and self-esteem that I didn’t need the clown facade any longer as a crutch. I was on a role, and I learned to become comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people. Nothing could keep me down from that point on.

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I was feeling somewhat famous and more relevant – but just in my local hometown.

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Secrets of Health

A few decades passed. After some ups and downs with my health and finances, I began to learn the “secrets” of maintaining a healthy body and repairing a damaged body. I call them “secrets” only because the published medical research to back them up is not well-known or understood by practicing clinicians.

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Learning and experiencing these “secrets” (i.e. the importance of food, lifestyle, and environment) were huge wake-up calls for me. These concepts changed my life and the way I treated my periodontal patients. My mentors in this journey of my enlightenment were Mark Sisson and Chris Kresser.

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These “secrets” are becoming famous and are incredibly relevant.

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My Mentors

Mark Sisson created the first and amazing certified online program, which teaches the essential elements of primal nutrition and lifestyle. His in-depth course is titled the Certified Primal Health Coach program.

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Chris Kresser not only put healthy diet, lifestyle, and functional medicine concepts into an integrative approach for healthcare professionals, but also has been a reliable source for peer-reviewed research. His extensive online program is part of his ADAPT Academy.

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Both Mark and Chris are internationally famous with broad relevance to healthcare.

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Famous vs Relevant

Today, most of my readers know that I am faced with the challenge of my life. When I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of multiple myeloma in September 2018, my oncologist gave me only 3-6 months to live. I rejected any caustic chemicals being put into my body. Instead, I embraced various alternative protocols, which have been proving his prognosis incorrect. However, two weeks ago I had a setback in my forward progress. But I will get over this bump in the road.

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I am relevant in the healthcare community through my writings, interviews, research, and seminars. I have integrated my conventional dental training with evidence-based medical research about nutrition, lifestyle, the environment, and our gut and microbiome. I’ve coined the phrase “Your Gut. Your Health. Your Choice^®”.

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Today, my goal is to “give back” and “pay it forward”. I am sharing my experiences and research about getting healthy and staying healthy in the world in which we live. If you would like any of my articles in the form of PDFs at no cost, email me at: Dr.Danenberg@iCloud.com.

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It’s too late for me to become famous, but I am definitely relevant.

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