I have a very special someone I'd like to introduce you to..YOU!! In our crazy busy processed world many of us have become so disconnected to our bodies and what they can tell us, yet our very health depends on it. Today we explore the ground zero of good health..YOU!

Thanks to everyone for the huge response to April's article "Stuck on the Sugar Rush Rollercoaster" We had so many "that's me!" comments I thought it might be worth exploring  the fine art of listening to our bodies. Now I know a few wives out there will be saying "no thanks-I hear hubbies body enough as it is!!" but that's not exactly what I mean. It's about learning how to listen to your own body and recognizing what it's trying to tell you. 

The word symptom often gets a bad wrap -all too often symptoms are seen as an inconvenient fear producing sign with the our main response being on just "making them go away". 

But what if I was to tell you your symptoms are far from being a curse but in fact a gift- important messages sent from your body about your health. 

Symptoms are actually messengers - cries for help from your body and learning to listen to these rather than suppressing is truly the key to unlocking long term optimal health. Of course there are overt symptoms that demand to be heard. For example spraining your ankle is often accompanied by pain, swelling and the inability to weight bear. Your body is saying this region is injured and cannot be used until it is healed. Those messages we tend to know very well..listening on the other hand is an entirely different story. 

But I'm more interested in drawing your attention to the signs from the body that are not so loud. Actually the ones you have no idea are going on simply because we've never been taught how to recognize them. In fact some of these symptoms many people believe is just "who they are". 

Areas of the body that we see every day are our greatest messengers. Our  skin, nails, hair, teeth often tell us months to years in advance when the systems of the body are losing normal function. Persistent dry flaky skin  may be a sign you require more healthy fats in your diet or other key nutrients. Look at the shape of your nails are they flat, bowed, spooned or do your fingers swell every time you eat pizza or some other food? Similarly what's on the inside that's coming out of you can also tell us many signs of dysfunction. No..chronic constipation is not just who you are or an inherited family trait.

One of greatest indicators of nutritional imbalances and inner dysfunction are cravings. Is it you who really has that sweet tooth or something else residing within you? Pathogenic microbes need to eat too! 

My favorite saying, which anyone who knows me can quote verbatim is this. The body does not waste it's time with useless information. Signs and symptoms happen for a reason but most importantly is that they are clues to helping us find the underlying cause. Trust your gut instincts about what your body tells you..most times you are probably right.