Biography affects biology

This episode, I share how elements of my biography may have affected my biology, including multiple digestive symptoms and thyroid disease. I’m aiming for what Gabor Maté calls “a clear and honest look at the biographical factors that can disrupt our biological well-being”. And I wanted to consider this in light of my previous two Nutrition With Love interviews, which discussed health challenges from two very different standpoints – one, mainly to do with the ‘mechanics’ of the gut, and the other, mainly to do with mind-body messaging. Were my health challenges ‘mechanical problems’ in the body, or were they ‘formed by the mind’? I think both. But of course it’s also more complicated than that. Covering attachment, bereavement, mould, the HPA axis, digestive health, training one’s brain, hormonal balance and more, my discussion is partly inspired by Gabor Maté’s book Myth of Normal, in which he argues for the intimate interconnectedness of one’s environment, culture, biography and one’s state of health. If my experiences help even one person to unravel some of their biology, or biography, in a healing way – then sharing them will be worth it. Unlike my other episodes, this was recorded while standing in my kitchen and taking care of a lively dog - which close listeners will probably hear! If you’d like to talk more about improving your digestive or thyroid health, do get in touch. Some useful related links: On thyroid health: https://nutrition-with-love.simplecast.com/episodes/why-your-thyroid-matters On testing gut health: https://nutrition-with-love.simplecast.com/episodes/why-your-thyroid-matters Gabor Maté’s book Myth of Normal, from which I quote chapter 7: https://drgabormate.com/book/the-myth-of-normal/ On attachment and stress: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2021.718198/full On mould (video): https://www.transformationnutrition.org/post/anne-pemberton-mould-and-histamine Sleep: https://nutrition-with-love.simplecast.com/episodes/sweet-sleep On HPA axis / allostatic load: Izabella Wentz’s book https://mybook.to/adrenalprotocol / https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-019-0228-0 For other references and any questions, please do get in touch on the link below. Contact Clare via her website: https://www.transformationnutrition.org/contact Theme music is by Chris Marchand. You can find more of his work at https://chrismarchand.bandcamp.com/