Identifying with an Illness that does not excist

Health psychology is a specific area that focuses on how biology, psychology, behavior, and social factors influence health and illness. Other terms, including medical psychology and behavioral medicine, are sometimes used interchangeably with health psychology.

As a private chef coming aboard with new clients, the initial observation is an integrated habitual demonstration by clients that have adopted a mindset of an illness they portray as having. They try to convince with well-rehearsed explanations why they must consume a regiment of unusual foods, pills, liquids, and exercises that seem to benefit, enhance, or even a life essential to their “survival.” 

It is indeed a complex world around us when living in a busy city, glued to the internet, reading flip-floppy updates by celebrated health gurus with social media followers. They feed us mental junk about the (sponsored) essence we must consume. Their journals are filled with isolated facts that do not apply to ordinary life situations but are combined with fear-mongering and underlined with depicted medicinal highlights to appear truthful or contemporary. (Yes, I know this blog is using the same method…) 

I will dissect this below. 

Let us first recap basic, logical facts to understand where this blog is going. Located in a Metro like Los Angeles, Singapore, Paris, Hong Kong, or New York, being concerned about “organic” or acting extremely anti-gluten shows that you are utterly uninformed. Just stop willfully adopting a food fashion trend to feel “hip.”

Unfortunately, some people actually have Celiac disease, a severe immune disorder – gluten is like poison to them, not an ‘I feel better if I do not eat a bagel’ issue. However, those sufferers are not the laughable 1% suddenly claiming they have Celiac disease. Maybe fashion disease people grew up in the 1990s when teachers wanted all kids to be labeled ADD, or they are the types who go to parties today and determine that 80% of other party-goers have Asperger’s. They are used to having something. They want it desperately.

Changing my clients’ mindset from a self-acclimated health issue with no medicinal relevance or verifiable science (on both sides) is a hurdle. The self-diagnosed illness complicates the life of everyone around them, which manifests in odd responses, food consumption, weird discussions, and anguish behavior for anyone not convinced. It is a classic psychological disorder. I can evaluate within minutes if professional input would have a beneficial effect or if I should walk away and protect my sanity. People like that have perfected being toxic while appearing OK, even friendly. It is a food disease!

So, I’m finding myself dissecting my rant (this blog) about a topic that has caused headaches and even prevented me from accepting incredible job offers. It has limited my interaction with people I sincerely love. The idea that I could come aboard in a household to cook for someone who “forces” me to adapt to their confusing lifestyle is bizarre. Imagine you’d find yourself confronted with a flat earther, profusely convincing what is wrong about the science-established planetary views (…its Thanks Giving next month, it might happen…). The topic could be anti-vaxxers or parents raising their children with narrow political perspectives. I will not have a part in it!

I’m picking a few examples below to demonstrate mass disinformation; if you enjoy one of my classes, I will fill your head with the nonsense we do under the umbrella of living healthy! Giggle with me; it is amusing at most!

If one insists on “organic only” in the United States, please read my blog on the topic of Bio Engineered Foods. Organic honey would require the bees to only collect pollen from flowers they know to be organic… (laugh with me). We can train bees to detect bomb-making substances – seriously, read here – but teaching them to void non-organic plants has not been achieved…yet. While we are at it; if you live a strict Vegan-Lifestyle in a big city and void honey because it is from bees, that Vegan should not eat any fruit or veggies that might be “pollinated by bees” – again, just for giggles, please… Organic is a label extended to anyone showing they are using 30% less toxic pesticides (or less…). However, the half-time of toxicity on the earth is about 100 years…! Go, do the math and then giggle again. 

The “organic label” is now attached to tea imported from Africa or coffee blends collected from various sources… Who verifies such claims…? giggle. You are especially fooled if the “organic labels” are printed with ink onto a plastic bottle! Water cannot be organic – it simply exists as two hydrogens and one oxygen molecule. There is no carbon, and it has never been alive – if it is simply pure water. So, “organic” on your pure water bottle is factually a lie!

The average air in the City of Los Angeles is toxic. It contains enough airborne gluten to kill people with Celiac disease… So, any feeble attempt to torture a waiter/chef in a restaurant with self-prognosed ideas of intestinal inflammation is silly. However, the multivitamins we swallow by the dozens (three times a day) are packaged into rice or oat-wheat powder capsules, enough to cause severe digestive damage. Yes, the vast consumptions of glutenous meals are unhealthy.

The combination of foods makes us bloated or “feel” uncomfortable. Celery is grown by farmers to “turn the soil” – a farmer’s practice to quickly prepare the soil from root harvest to above-ground planting. The 2020 Dirty Dozen list ranks the 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticide contamination. Celery is ranked #3 on the list. Yes, organic labels were included. They registered 67 different pesticides discovered in celery samples across the board. Consuming high amounts of freshly squeezed celery juice is a guaranteed avenue for kidney stones and calcium deposits around beauty implants. I forbid people in cancer recovery to consume Celery stalks!

The long-term consequences of consuming fiberless juices have been linked to bone damage and depression in young adults. Any parents forcing their kids to gulp these daily should be cited for child abuse! Celery juice contains chemicals called psoralens, making your skin more sunlight sensitive. Drinking large quantities of celery juice could raise the chances of skin cancer and other skin problems. The biggest problem with “organic” celery juice is that it interferes with western medicine (blood thinners) and reduces the absorption of the vitamins you over-consume… I can’t giggle about this! Celery in small amounts is super healthy!

Gee is butter without water. There is no “healthier” in consuming either. As a chef, Gee turns brown a little less fast because the lack of water molecules allows chefs to use higher heat… that is it! Organic Gee is a joke… Cows would have to consume organic wheat and pasture on “organic land” all year round while the farmers divert any planes from flying above their land and filter the streams of water running down from the mountains. Yes, This is about as silly as claiming the cow eats vegetarian, therefor that steak must be a vegetarian. Think about it and giggle! What is disturbing about the “organic cow meat” is the required levels of hormones and antibiotics added to ALL cows sold in the US – a major cause for concern when claiming to eat healthily. Do not fool yourself about organic chicken or turkey meat. Any “organic” claim is unimportant when the actual culprit is not even required to be listed. A free-range chicken might never actually “live” outside. Hint: What do grass-fed organic cows eat in the winter? (Not in Los Angeles, silly.)

Yes, I’m doing the opposite of what your health gurus, nutritionists, and favorite trend magazines do: I’m going way beyond “dark” – the purpose of this exercise is to balance out your idea that a high-gloss lifestyle magazine is your ideal choice for health information is as misleading as my cynical blog.

So, in conclusion: If you want to live healthy, embrace that we live in a toxic world:

1. Consume a fair amount of foods that please you.
2. Eat small but color-rich choices.
3. Void mixing dairy, fruit, and meat.
4. Consume plants in their “natural state” because fiber is vital for good digestion.
5. Become more aware of how you think, act and feel.
6. Do not concentrate on your own truth because it “fits” into a narrow ideology. Be open to discovery and facts.
7. Eat in the company of kind people.

Enjoy chocolate when needed, and use food wisely when sensing a need for balance. Substituting vitamins and minerals should only be an addition to eating varieties and not replace the primary source of essential nutrition. Here too, a combo of minerals and amino might

 be unhealthy.

Do not drag others down your “health path” – we are individuals not aligned with each other’s issues. Although we share similar DNA, the concept of “medicine for all” is bogus. Her skin issue, with the exact definition, is not being treated correctly without understanding her mental history or exposure to climate, food, and emotional choices. I had clients reciting books printed in 1970 while claiming how excellent their cure had been for their daughters – utterly ignorant to how science has leaped in the last 50 years to be able to DNA sequence plant essence and the effects they have on the human gene. Head shake, ironic giggle… I am mute when confronted with such garbage!

If you struggle balancing meditation, a joy for life, and being informed by reliable sources, ask for help. Any “off balance” about your self-adapted dilemmas can lead to long-term dysmorphic abuse: seek help! Start with embracing that Mother Nature sufficiently provides humans with the essence we need to feel happiness by boosting gut health. Modern science can still not fully copy her marvelous ambiguity.

I do not have a fancy title or a doctorate in any field. Read the blogs about Covid and Foods and discovered that early in 2020, I was on target about how to prevent, suggested care for infection, and provided solutions while recovering after a severe virus infection. I have dedicated my life to researching food as medicine, and as measured by the many friends I have in research and science, one could assume I’m well-informed. (I do not have Asperger’s syndrome either) Maybe, I read the tea leaves better than most; whatever makes you giggle… The many clients under my supervision that have trusted me are doing excellent and have super achieved.

Feel free to reach out and “test” me… in the least, I will make you giggle!

TCMchef Raphael