The alarm clock goes off for the 3rd time this morning, you reluctantly drag yourself out of bed, barely awake, knowing that you can’t afford to hit the snooze button yet again. You shower, brush your teeth and get dressed in a half-awake fog wondering how you could still be so tired after getting a decent amount of sleep last night.

“Oh well, I’m probably just going through a phase; this will get better soon,” you assure yourself, as you rush out the door to get the kids to school; grabbing a low-calorie breakfast bar to pair with your coffee on the way out.

Later on around noon, you enjoy a slight break from the busyness of the day and sit down for a light lunch. That article you read a few weeks ago on Facebook had an 8-week meal-plan that you’ve been trying your best to follow. You lost a few pounds the first week and decided to stick with it; though, as you crunch on your small salad and zero-calorie tea you’re pondering when you’re going to break through this new weight-loss plateau you’ve been stuck at for the past 9 days. “If I’m going to eat like a bird I at least want to see some results” you think to yourself, slightly frustrated.

3:00 pm rolls around and you’re deciding what will give you more energy for tonight’s ZUMBA class, another coffee or an energy drink. You opt for the energy drink, but choose the “light” version to continue your battle against calories.

As you sweat your way to a better body in a group class with like-minded people, your mind wanders to your recent blood-test results: “The doctor said the medication is working and that my thyroid levels are normal, how come I still don’t feel right?” You dismiss the thought as quickly as it entered your mind and push through another set; convincing yourself that this is going to help you get down two swimsuit sizes for beach season.

Cellular Inflammation

If you feel like the person described in the story above… If you are always tired, if you can’t lose weight no matter how hard you try, if you are experiencing brain fog and other unexplainable symptoms, I want to let you know that you’re not just “getting older,” and it’s not just in your head; you may be suffering from a condition known as cellular inflammation.

In 2004, TIME Magazine released an article titled: The Secret Killer. The featured piece went on to describe how a process known as cellular inflammation is the underlying root cause of every chronic disease that we see today in America. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disease, thyroid disorders, you name it, every one of them involves cellular inflammation its core.

Why You Don’t Feel Well

You have approximately 100 trillion cells in your body; cells are our basic unit of life. Cells group together to form various tissues, tissues group together to form organs and organs combine to form systems of the body. You are only as healthy as your cells are. Meaning that if your cells are sick or inflamed it is impossible for you to remain healthy.

To adequately understand cellular inflammation, lets first look at how a healthy cell functions and how it relates to your health.

When I was in school, probably just like you, I learned that the nucleus was the most important part of the cell. After all, the nucleus is where your DNA is stored -your genetic makeup. Well, an exciting field of science known as Epigenetics has discovered that there is actually a part of the cell that is more important than your nucleus because it influences the health of your entire cell and determines genetic expression (meaning if you are healthy or sick). What I’m talking about is something known as the cell membrane.

If you refer to the picture below, every cell in your body has a protective membrane made up of two layers of fat known as a fatty-lipid-bilayer. This membrane is selectively permeable, meaning that it decides what enters and exits your cell. For beneficial nutrients, water and oxygen to enter the cell, they must do so through the membrane. Likewise, for metabolic waste, carbon dioxide and toxins to exit the cell for proper elimination, they must do so through the cell membrane. In a healthy cell this process occurs millions of times per day without you giving it one thought.

Additionally, your cells have millions of tiny, hair-like receptors sticking out from the cells membrane. These receptors are vitally important because they allow hormones and vitamins to bind to the cell and communicate with your DNA -literally influencing your physiology.

Again, using the picture above, lets look at Thyroid hormone. It’s estimated that approximately 80% of women in America have a low or hypothyroid problem. The typical treatment for hypothyroidism in modern medicine seems to be to give a person more thyroid hormone in the form of hormone replacement medication.

But what if lack of thyroid hormone isn’t the REAL problem?

You see, for thyroid hormone to be effective in your body -meaning for you to have a good metabolism, lose weight easily, feel happy, have good energy, proper digestion, strong hair and nails, etc -thyroid hormone must be able to communicate with your cells. It does so by binding to the thyroid cell receptors on the membrane.

But what if it cannot bind? What would happen if a person has PLENTY of thyroid hormone circulating in their body but their cells can’t “hear” the signal?

This is precisely what happens with cellular inflammation.

Cellular inflammation means that the once healthy, permeable membrane has become inflamed and damaged. This type of inflammation is different than inflammation of a sore joint or a cut on your hand. It shows up in the form of unexplainable symptoms when enough cells have become damaged.

Lets look at the second picture, below. When the cell membrane has become inflamed, the good things cannot enter the cell, waste products cannot exit the cell and as a result, toxicity builds inside. At first you may not notice any symptoms, however, just like a pond that has toxic garbage dumped into it daily, your cells will reach a point where they can no longer support health.

When the internal environment of your cells becomes toxic, unwanted genes can become triggered. This is when you begin exhibiting symptoms. It may start with lack of energy, mental cloudiness, or inability to lose weight, but this process of cellular inflammation ultimately leads to diseases like diabetes, autoimmune disease and even cancer.

Going back to our thyroid hormone example, when a cell is inflamed the hormone receptors on the membrane become blunted. This means that hormones such as thyroid hormone can no longer bind to the receptor correctly. The result is symptoms of a low thyroid condition. Remember this because it’s important: A person may have PLENTY of thyroid hormone, but if the hormone cannot get its message into the cell that person is going to have symptoms of a low thyroid disorder.

The same goes with type-II diabetes. The problem is not a lack of insulin, in fact, type-II diabetics have plenty of it. The problem is that the cells cannot “hear” the signal of insulin. When we fix the cell membrane and repair the hormone receptors the signal is restored.

How to Regain Your Health.

When it comes to chronic, lifestyle-related diseases like we see in America, merely treating the symptoms with medication like we do with modern medicine is not considered healthcare, its disease management. If you are ever going to fully heal and feel normal again you have to go up-stream and remove sources of toxic interference that drive cellular inflammation.

I coach my clients on the things they need to do now and continue to do to regain their health. Dietary changes are always a must and for that I utilize ancient healing protocols and something called diet variation. But it doesn’t stop there, unfortunately, simply eating healthier often isn’t enough anymore.

Toxins are, in my opinion, the biggest driving factor of cellular inflammation and chronic disease today. Never before in the history of mankind have we been exposed to the constant onslaught of toxicity such as in today’s modern age. Heavy metals such as mercury and lead, biotoxic mold from wet basements, hidden viral infections like undiagnosed Lyme are major causes of why we’re so sick; combine that with our processed, toxic, GMO food supply that is sprayed with the endocrine-disrupting pesticide, Glyphosate (which is RoundUp) and it’s a wonder we’re even as “healthy” as we are today.

The only way to ultimately reverse cellular inflammation and regain your health is to go up-stream and remove these sources of toxic interference. Only then will your body be able to do what it was designed to do …Heal.

There is a saying I love that goes: “The body needs no help healing, just no interference.”

In my practice I coach clients on how to remove sources of toxic interference through a program called True Cellular Detox. This program is a step-by-step guide that addresses the toxic, up-stream sources of interference, teaches you the foods you need to eat –and eliminate– to heal your body, educates you on ancient healing techniques such as intermittent fasting, and involves 1-on-1 face time with myself to customize the program to your specific needs.

Regaining your health doesn’t happen overnight and it isn’t always easy… but it’s always worth it. You CAN lose the weight and have the energy and metal clarity you desire. It starts with fixing the cell.

To learn more about True Cellular Detox, click here.