Today I’d like to share a text from HPUandYou partner edubily with you, which I fully endorse. HPU therapy isn’t about suppressing every emerging symptom with tons of supplements and pushing the body to extremes. Rather, as people with HPU, we should listen to our bodies and learn to feel what’s good for us and what isn’t. And even that isn’t set in stone .
Here is the text:
When it comes to working with one’s own biology or biochemistry, there is one thing one absolutely must understand:
Never oversteer!
Often, we see the opposite. People who want to lose weight slip into eating disorders and later perhaps into anorexia. It happens often enough. People who want to get healthy punish themselves and forget that enjoying life is also healthy. People learn that they have a magnesium deficiency. So, from now on, they’re taking a gram of it every day. Anyone who thinks this only happens to individuals who might be a bit extreme… is sorely mistaken! What our society and government are currently doing in response to a local virus is also an overreaction, but on a massive scale.
However, there is a fundamental concept called “ Minimum Effective Dose “—we need to find the sweet spot for optimal effect . The principle “more is better” or “more is more” simply doesn’t apply. In other words:
Stop sledgehammering your biology.
But what does that look like in practice? In everyday life?
We agree that nutrition is a major factor, a key to being healthy (and fit). Anyone who has dealt with nutrition for any length of time also knows: there is perhaps nothing more complicated.
It’s not our fault. We modern humans can’t do anything about it: We’ve often talked about how our very early ancestors were pure herbivores for millions of years. Then they weren’t anymore – and then increasingly so again.
This means that today, for example, every European has ancestors who were hunters and gatherers just a few thousand years ago – but also a (large) genetic component of early farmers who have existed for many thousands of years.
It’s obvious that these things are contradictory. We are, after all, imperfect hybrid beings. Be that as it may, nutrition is important. But this is where people make big mistakes. They discard too much too soon.
Sometimes it’s seemingly small changes that can have a huge impact.
Take heavy metals, for example. It could be a single heavy metal that cripples the entire human chemistry system. Perhaps you’ve tried every diet imaginable for nothing? Maybe it’s a tiny metal you’re somehow ingesting? Consider veganism. Why do people have to go from one extreme to the other? First, they shovel down currywurst, then later it’s just a lettuce leaf and a goji berry. Maybe animal products aren’t even harmful to you? Maybe you should just try eating lean, high-quality meat. Which brings us to… another example of animal products. Perhaps some animal products really are harmful to you. Maybe you’re one of those people for whom eggs simply aren’t healthy. Maybe dairy products are bad for you. But that doesn’t mean all animal products are bad for you – on the contrary, we need many of them to be healthy in the first place. Take carbohydrates, for example. Maybe white bread really is unhealthy. But that doesn’t mean potatoes are also a plague. Or that you have to limit your fruit intake. Maybe the sugar in cola really is bad for you – but that doesn’t mean you have to stop eating bananas. Got it? A little bit of common sense…
Of course, we know what objections will come up. “ But how am I supposed to find that out… But life is complex… But I already eat this way and that… ” – People often spend years looking for a shortcut, for the one miracle solution, instead of really taking the time, perhaps even years, to examine themselves.
That means: Try cutting out dairy for 30 days. Then grains for 30 days. Maybe both together for 30 days. Try not eating fish for 60 days. Give up fries for 8 weeks. Try not eating eggs for a while. But don’t make the mistake of saying “never again animal products,” or “only plant-based,” or “only ‘no carb’,” or “never again sweet fruit.” That’s a conceptual way of thinking that will almost certainly make you sick again—or even sicker. So: Be careful! Also important: Stay away from people who tell you otherwise. Differentiation is crucial. If this is no longer part of the worldview of your information source, then walk away! Otherwise, your thinking will also be poisoned, and your approach is doomed to failure. Always remember:
There is no failure, only feedback. And it’s all about feedback (from your body).