Get a Handle on Overall Wellness
– 7 Pathways to Success –

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist

February 19, 2023

Wellness is a state of mind and a state of being. Your attitude can dictate your path leading to health or disease. And your state of being is the manifestation of your overall wellness or illness.

You and only you must get a handle on the pathways that can guide you to happiness and wellbeing. I’m going to offer 7 specific pathways for you to consider. Think of each as part of a “To Do” list.

But first, here are some ‘Don’ts …

• Don’t depend on health insurance to make you healthy.
• Don’t depend on the medical community to pave your way.
• Don’t depend on synthetic, mass-produced supplements for prevention or cure.
• Don’t deviate from our species’ specific needs for nutrition and physical activity.
• Don’t dismiss the benefits which conventional medicine can offer when you find yourself in an acute situation that requires allopathic treatment to overcome a medical emergency.

Get a handle on your overall wellness as naturally as possible. Do your research and make your decisions.

 

7 Pathways to Success

Here are seven “to-do” pathways that can lead to success or lead to failure if not followed. These are pathways that I have followed personally along my cancer journey …

1. Feed your body with bioavailable nutrients, which are required to thrive
2. Avoid all toxic elements in your food sources and your environment that you can control
3. Exercise efficiently
4. Sleep restoratively
5. Control emotional stress
6. Have a support team or a partner to share your ups and downs when necessary
7. Believe in a superior power that offers guidance and spiritual enlightenment

 

Do Your Research

Scour the available references to learn what is working and what is hype.

• Use key search words on PubMed to find abstracts from peer-reviewed medical papers published all over the world to read and understand what is out there.
• Read medical results of patients treated with unconventional methods by medical practitioners.
• Be careful when you read various healthcare “professionals” who tout their products for sale. Their conflicts of interest may ultimately cloud their judgement and their motivation. I’ve written about conflicts of interest in the world of nutrition.

As you do your research, you may want to search my website. I have written extensively about these pathways to success. You can go to my website Blog page and use the “Search” box to enter the keywords for what you are interested in. The search engine will bring up all my published content that I have created on my website regarding your search.

 

Links to 7 Pathways to Success

I have selected several links that go into detail about these specific pathways. Check out the ones that interest you …

#1. Bioavailable nutrients

• Kenyan children excelled in school when they ate animal-based foods but did poorly when they ate predominantly plant-based foods.
• Total meat intake is positively associated with increased life expectancy in an analysis of 175 contemporary populations.
• Animal-based foods improved the physical growth in 6 to 24-month-old children.
• The 2020-2025 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) includes guidance for feeding infants and toddlers from birth to 24 months old. These evidence-based guidelines emphasize the vital role of foods rich in iron and zinc. Iron-rich red meat, such as beef and lamb, are ideal first foods to help meet an infant’s nutrient needs starting at approximately 6 months old.
• Introducing animal meat to children following breastfeeding is critically important for their overall development.

 

#2. Avoid toxic elements

OXLAMS is an acronym for Oxidized Linoleic Acid Metabolites. OXLAMS are bad stuff.

• They are destructive byproducts of an element in the food which most of us eat every day.
• They create metabolic dysfunction and mitochondrial dysfunction over time.
• They are the elephant in the room that could be killing us slowly.

Humans have adjusted gradually to a change in diet over the thousands of years of evolution. But our DNA has not kept up with the dramatic and rapid changes in the foods we eat. Some of these foods have inherent substances, which can accumulate little by little in our body. The slow accumulation of these unhealthy elements can and will be our downfall metabolically.

The more we educate ourselves of all toxic elements in our food system and our environment, the more we can take appropriate steps to prevent serious chronic diseases that become debilitating and life-threatening as we age.

 

#3. Exercise efficiently

In August 2017, I wrote a blog about high intensity interval training. Before that in May 2017, I published my article titled, Connecting The Dots: HIIT, Mitochondria, Gingivitis. I explained how science has demonstrated a positive link between high intensity interval training (HIIT) and overall health. Specifically, I described the link between HIIT and the health of the mitochondria relating to improved mouth health.

Here is a 2022 peer-reviewed article about high intensity interval training as well as a 2022 article about vigorous intermittent physical activity. Both explain the benefits of this type of exercise.

 

#4. Sleep restoratively

The lack of sleep or poor-quality sleep can produce damaging effects on a variety of essential day-to-day functions. Memory consolidation, body healing, and metabolic regulation occur during the sleep cycle. The lack of sleep or poor-quality sleep can negatively affect a person’s ability to properly function and can result in many chronic disorders such as diabetes, obesity, depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and many other chronic diseases.

There are noninvasive ways to balance your brain waves to improve your sleep naturally and to check if you have other breathing issues that can affect your sleep.

 

#5. Control emotional stress

You might imagine my stress level went through the roof in 2018 when I received my cancer diagnosis and devastating prognosis. I feared my career was over, my quality of life would end, and the ability for me to provide for my family would stop abruptly. All that did not happen!

But now I have the stress from the repercussions of having COVID, which include the reactivation of the multiple myeloma.

Many of the people with whom I coach have experienced increased levels of emotional stress. A major cause has been the pandemic and all the collateral damage this destructive force has had on their daily living and their ability to maintain an income. But chronic emotional stresses can be caused by many things.

Consequently, increased stress levels can significantly influence a person’s eating habits, gut health, pocketbook, and overall health. Working on a Game Plan to address any emotional stresses has been helpful for many people. In fact, my Game Plan has delivered solutions for me. I know it can help you.

 

#6. Support team

I am only human. And being human, I have had significant but short bouts of depression. But I owe my strength to my wife, Sue, who always has been there to lift me up by my bootstraps and out from the abyss of depression. When she had some personal medical complications, I tried to be her support pillar.

She and I are a team, and she has helped me regain my focus whenever necessary. I refuse to be a victim.

I am extremely fortunate to have Sue in my life, and I know that not everyone has a “Sue” in their life. That’s why I’ve created this online community. Facing illness is tough, and I want each one of you reading this to know you are supported in your journey.

 

#7. Spiritual support

Most of my followers know that I was placed in a hospice hospital in late August 2019 to die. But most don’t know what happened to me during those hospice days of deep depression and preparing for death. And then how my spirituality lifted me up to where I am today.

Here’s a sweet story that affected me deeply and challenges you to think about life through the lens of a child.

 

You Have Power Over Your Own Health

You have the power to be your own advocate. Your wellness is up to you. You may not agree with all my recommendations and opinions, but these may be important steps for you to take control.

We come into this world alone, and we leave this world alone. Our existence during our life is under our control. But we are social beings. Although we can do this alone, it may be better and easier with the help of a support team. However, never give away your right to make your own health decisions and to follow your wellness pathways.

If you need guidance, set up a free 30-minute consultation with me. No sales pitch, no obligation. I’ve been through it all with my journey, and I want to use my knowledge to help others make their health journeys less confusing and less complicated. Your path won’t be the same as mine, nor do I expect you to follow the same plan. What I can do is provide you with reputable resources and tools to create a foundation of health that will serve you for years to come. Schedule your consultation here.

 

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