Today I am excited to introduce guest blogger Matt Riemann, founder of ph360 and Shae, a new techology coming out this year that can help you make better health choices tailored to your personal needs and in real time.
Matt is a personalized health expert and has addressed both the United Nations and the World Health Organization at their request, advised the US Army and recently did a TED Talk on personalized health in Los Angeles.
“My Healthy Habits were Making me Sick”: Three People Share Their Stories
By Matt Riemann, founder of ph360, entrepreneur, changemaker
If you’ve ever had symptoms that won’t go away no matter what you try, prescribed or over-the-counter, physical or mental, big or small, then I think you’ll enjoy reading the stories of Janna and Diana. Though their stories are very different, they have something very important in common: each woman, either suddenly or over time, was faced with a slew of physical symptoms that persisted despite her leading what she considered a healthy lifestyle – eating right, exercising, and managing her stress. More importantly, what these women’s stories share is a triumphant conclusion! Read on.
Janna
My life. I‘m a 63-years young proud mom of two beautiful daughters who love to travel the world. I spend a lot of time on my own, with my nose in a book, my arms deep in soil while I garden in the sun, or discovering new places, cultures and foods on my own travels to far off lands.
My challenges. Just a few years ago, I went for my annual physical. One week, one biopsy, and many tests later, it was confirmed: I had inflammatory breast cancer, Stage 3. Immediate chemotherapy, a full mastectomy, radiation; my body went through it all. I felt extremely weak and constantly ill. My hair and nails were gone, as was the sensation in my hands and feet from the nerve damage. And to top that off, all the treatment was also killing my liver. All I wanted was the strength to complete treatment and regain my strong body.
My triumph. I was blessed to be given personalized lifestyle recommendations via a health program my daughter discovered and suggested to me. Little by little, I changed what I was eating, and slowly, my liver values returned to normal. All I knew was that I was happy to have my liver and my body back. To be feeling new, and that I had personalized health to thank for it. I notice that when I follow my diet closely, my lymph flows freely and the swelling that sometimes shows up in my arm (a function of several lymph nodes being removed along with my left breast as part of cancer treatment), goes down.
Diana
My life. I’m 49 years old, an avid skiing, hiking, and health enthusiast. I have three daughters and three grandchildren who are my world. My life’s passion is helping others get healthy, which I’ve done as a health coach for the last twenty years.
My challenges. Out of my 49 years of life, I’ve been extremely healthy for 48 of them, maintaining a slim, strong figure with only a few grey hairs visible on my head. That all changed a few years ago, when I began to get aches and pains, and soon after muscle weakness, joint pain, memory loss, mental fog, ringing in my head, sinus issues, extreme hand dryness, shingles, fatigue and constant heart palpitations. If that wasn’t enough, I was waking up with nosebleeds and rarely did a severe headache pass up the opportunity to greet my afternoon. The vibrant, energetic woman I considered myself to be was all of a sudden physically debilitated and unenthusiastic about life.
My triumph. I sought help from various health professionals and, though well-intentioned, none could tell me what was going on with my body. Then came the long-awaited solution that at first threw me for a loop. I discovered, thanks to personalized health solutions recommended to me by a friend, that my particular bodily constitution benefits from living at low altitudes and warm, dry climates. I also discovered that kale, touted as the nutrient-rich “superfood,” was good for me in very small quantities or not at all. Here I was living in the cold, windy mountains, drinking green smoothies packed with kale every day for the past two years. Pessimistic yet hopeful, I went to stay with my daughter, who lived in an environment that mimicked what I was being told was ideal for my body, to give this latest recommendation a try. After nearly 3 weeks, all of my symptoms were gone! My soft hands, supple joints, and clear head and sinuses were back! I felt like a completely new woman! One who was and is so grateful for finding the right things for her body when she did! Thanks to personalized health.
Can you relate to Janna and Diana? I can. In 2006, I awoke in severe and excruciating pain – a sensation that felt like I was being stabbed in the chest and soon enough in my spine too. I was doing everything I thought I was supposed to be doing – eating right, exercising every day, managing my stress, spending time with loving, supportive family and close friends, and leading a passionate career as a physical therapist working with Olympic athletes. Needless to say, I was surprised by the constant, severe pain I was all of a sudden having. I tried every available treatment option. Everything from physical and hydro therapy to pain and anti-inflammatory medication. Nothing helped. After months of confusion and frustration, I found out I had familial amyloid polyneuropathy. A condition caused by a mutation in my TTR gene. I was told that l would be alive for a maximum of 9 more years, most of which I’d spend in a wheelchair.
I spent the following year researching and meeting with clinical geneticists and genetics researchers and I learned something life changing. Our genes, like my TTR gene, can be activated or deactivated by way of our lifestyle and environment. All I had to do was find out and enact the lifestyle and environment that were right for me. The solution recommended for my unique biology and genetics by some of the greatest minds in the world, led me to making some unexpected changes to my diet and lifestyle. Soon enough I was completely pain free!
You too can triumph over your health challenges. That’s because we now know that our genes, whether for illness or health, obesity or thinness, acne or clear skin, can be activated or deactivated, turned on or off. Our environment and lifestyle is what controls the switch. What Janna and Diana have in common is that the cause of their triumph was personalized. They each made changes specific to them.
The wisdom of epigenetics has revived in society a new hope that each one of us can get and stay optimally healthy by learning to operate our personal epigenetic on/off switch. That’s why the real triumph for me wasn’t in becoming pain-free myself but in creating a way for everyone in the world to have their unique epigenetic wisdom work for them. Developed alongside a global team of doctors, researchers and scientists, it’s a wellness platform known as Personal Health 360 that applies personalized health to give each person insights specific to their unique body, from the point of view of the many facets of epigenetics.
The solution to your quest for optimal health lies in the ways you eat, exercise, think and sleep. The ways you socialize, work, and live, and anywhere in between. So I hope you’ll join Janna and Diana and thousands of other men and women all around the world who are reclaiming their health and wellness by discovering what is right for them with Shae™, the next generation of ph360 and the very first application to customize health specifically for your unique body and circumstances in real time.”
I am looking forward to trying out my own device this Fall. (Shae has a Kickstarter campaign you can check out here.) Here’s to better health for all of us!