Wellness Warriors Winning

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Wellness Warriors Winning!

Bera Dordoni, N.D.

I’m back! And I’ve got great news! We’ve—

…hmmm. Maybe we should catch up first before I tell you my great news.

You may recall – or not – an article I wrote for the Gallup Journey back in March 2015, asking for those who are diabetes-challenged to come join our group – the Wellness Warriors Project.

Wait—you say you don’t even remember who I am? Okay, let’s take one giant step back.

Who Am I?
I’m a native New Mexican, a Naturopathic Doctor for BASTIS Foundation where I conduct workshops, counsel patients, help people save their lives with a bit of nutritional tweaking, and before going full tilt into BASTIS’s Wellness Warriors Project last year I was honored to write the column Words of Wellness (all about natural health) as the “Wellness Whisperer” for the Gallup Journey.

I’m also very lucky. My mom was a foodie who loved to create magic in the kitchen, and I followed in her footsteps. There were no microwave ovens when I grew up, and she believed in real food, so no processed foodstuffs for us.

My biggest shock up here in our part of New Mexico has been encountering so many people under the age of 40 who don’t know how to cook and eat only fast foods and microwaved meals! And wonder why they’re sick. Microwaves! Once they alter your food’s molecular structure, it’s dead.

Does that sound healthy to you? It isn’t! It destroys all the nutritional value in the food. You take a perfectly healthy potato, loaded with potassium and a plethora of vitamins, “nuke” it for eight minutes, and what do you get? A potato-like lump devoid of any nutrients. Oh, and free radicals. Microwaving food generates free radicals. I know you’ve heard of those.

They’re the unstable, highly reactive atoms that damage cells, proteins, and even our DNA when we ingest or inhale them. What else is there to say? They hurt us.

Next time you want to heat up something, think “stove” or conventional oven, NOT microwave.

*pant, pant* Okay, end of rant. Let’s get back to the Wellness Warriors Project. So in 2014, I knew it was time for me to step in and do my part educationally to help eliminate the diabetes epidemic that is so outrageous in this area. That’s right—it’s a growing epidemic. Eighty percent of our population has been diagnosed and is currently struggling with pre-diabetes or diabetes—and our younger generation is in line to continue the trend! It can’t get better if some alternatives to the current solutions aren’t offered.

Why alternatives? Because many people said their doctors told them with the kind of final authority many allopathic practitioners are known for: “There’s nothing you can do about your diabetes except manage it with the proper medications. You’ll be diabetic for the rest of your life.”

Excuse me?! Are they saying people don’t have a choice???! WHAT GIVES THEM THE RIGHT TO TAKE AWAY PEOPLE’S CHOICES??!

Statistics have shown that close to 200,000 Americans die from type 2 diabetes yearly, according to Lenore Guariguata, epidemiologist and project coordinator for the Diabetes Atlas, and there is no apparent stabilizing or any kind of reversal; in fact, it’s increasing beyond previous projections.

Oh yeah? Well, let’s put it in reverse. Why go for the traditional healthcare approach… pharmaceuticals for maintenance, dialysis in response to kidney disease, amputation to “solve” gangrene, and red-tipped canes for diabetics who go blind?! What choices are those other than directives for a slow, painful path to hospitals, to hospices, to cemeteries!

*okay, breathing, centering, calming down…*

That’s why we developed the Wellness Warrior Project. Our purpose? Alleviate, and when possible eradicate both symptoms and underlying causes of a preventable (at least for type 2) lifestyle caused/therefore-lifestyle curable condition.

Why should people spend the rest of their lives struggling with the effects of diabetes or watching the clock to remember when to take their next pill?

Why should they lose their toes, their fingers, parts of their legs? Why live with neuropathy spasms or high blood pressure or gastroparesis?

Or die young from heart attacks or strokes or kidney failure?!

Why not destroy the darn thing at its roots and live a diabetes-free life for the rest of their long, healthy lives?!

Grrrr.

So we invited folks from the area to join us to witness, learn, and practice making and eating natural foods in a comfortable, home-based setting.

The Proof is in the Pudding
Pudding without white sugar or other toxic sweeteners, that is. That’s right: over the last eighteen months, our Wellness Warriors have learned that real food is medicine, and not-real food, or food-like substances, are disease-delivery systems. The whole trick is to eliminate diabetes-fostering non-foods and so-called “fast” foods and replace them with delicious, satisfying, organic plant-based foods.

They’ve learned how to cook and prepare healthful foods without using health-killing microwaves. They now know this type of eating is no more expensive than consuming conventionally grown and prepared foods. And here’s a real excuse buster…if you use an EBT card for purchasing food at La Montaňita Co-op in Gallup there is a program called “Double Up Food Bucks” where you can purchase local organic New Mexico produce and each dollar is really worth $2.

Side Effects for Wellness Warriors

  • The need for new, smaller-sized wardrobes.

  • Increased energy and mental clarity.
  • Feeling better all over about themselves, inside and out.

But you know what the most exciting part is? Our Wellness Warriors never feel deprived when they eat!

Thanks to the Wellness Warriors Project, I’ll live to see my kids grow up and have kids.

Martha M., Gallup, NM

I feel so good for the first time in so many years. It hasn’t been easy. It hasn’t been hard. But now it’s a way of life and I won’t go back to my old ways ever again after what I learned in my Wellness Warriors Class.

S.C., Gamerco, NM

Some people come in thinking they simply cannot live without their favorite food or snack, but they soon discover there’s always a healthful substitute. Take it from one who’s been a junk-food-junkie and finally got sick-and-tired of feeling sick and tired. I’ve learned to enjoy healthful substitutes for my comfort-food cravings. For example—

Oops. Out of room. More next time. For now, don’t give up hope. Your body has the power to heal itself. You just have to give it the right foods so it can. Bon appetit!


Dr. Bera “The Wellness Whisperer” Dordoni, N.D.

Running the Wellness Warriors Project here in New Mexico, Dr. Bera specializes in immune system rehabilitation, restoration, and maintenance through nutritional counseling, life-style coaching, and the laws of attraction. To join the Wellness Warriors visit www.bastis.org or call 505-783-9001.