MARLENE MCKEE: BODY IQ YOUR LIFE
I think we all can agree life is speeding ahead faster and faster. The technological advances that were created to make life more efficient, has done just that. We’re so efficient we are now expected to do more, be more in that very same time we so efficiently created. It’s as if society is now on this technological supersonic “train,” to the point that no one knows how to slow it down, much less get off. The technology that was to create space for a better life has instead created more stress, havoc and a frenetic energy that is slowly but surely outwitting our health. Stress-induced ailments are on the rise, and the doctors you thought would be there to help you feel your best, become useless when there isn’t a clear cut symptom conveniently tagged to a cute disease. But symptoms are never convenient and the growing number of doctor talk shows during daytime television, à la Dr. Oz or The Doctors, is a big clue that we want to take control of our own health. So, the question becomes: How do we take back our health, life, and somehow stay on the supersonic “train” that is irrefutably the only way to travel in this day and age? With the expertise of nutrition and homeopathic counselor Marlene McKee (N.E., DIHome.), you will find the Body IQ you didn’t know you had and the fail-proof way to stay on top of your game.
It was by Google fate I came upon Marlene McKee and her Body IQ program online, whilst trying to find information on nutritional and supplemental needs for my own stressed-induced ailments. I was intrigued by her Body IQ health evaluation, and the fact the questions asked were not things asked by my own doctor. The questions inquired about elements in my life that at first seem innocuous, but upon receiving back McKee’s evaluation I found there were indeed links between my lifestyle and the triggering of my ailments--starting with not getting enough of the right nutrients to allow me to sustain my busy life. The McKee’s evaluation made me step back and realize there is a huge disconnect between our habits, lifestyles, and the extraordinary mechanism that is our body. More simply, I’ve been letting my body down by not eating the right foods. McKee’s term of Body IQ says it best. The body has its own “innate intelligence,” or IQ, on how to run efficiently, but we so often ignore its needs time and time again, only to wonder why we are slowed down and/or shackled with disease. So, I couldn’t help but scour the Body IQ website even further, reading up on Marlene’s life and her blogs on various health issues and homeopathic tips, all of which led me to think there is a lot I need to address in my quest to reclaim my health on my own terms, and meeting Marlene was first on my to-do list. Though I could’ve done online correspondence with McKee for her nutritional guidance, I was very pleased to find out we lived in the same city and she offered an in-home nutritional mentoring option, where she will come to you and revamp your nutritional habits, go with you to the grocery store, point out what to look for, and set up a plan that is tailored to your busy life.
There is a reason Marlene McKee’s knowledge about nutrition and homeopathy goes beyond her formal degrees in these specialized fields. She is from a lost era. Born and raised in a small, war-torn, agricultural town in Germany during World War II, she understands what it is to live in a time of food rations and how to literally live off the Land, rarely ever needing a doctor. She is also from an era that didn’t have the same kind of preservatives, processed, degraded food that is rampant in today’s food chain, and arguably the root of so many new diseases plaguing children across the country. She mentions the values that were apart of everyday life in her small village, such as the idea of paying for quality and how “quality is everything—it was the way you live.” A view that of course goes into how one should pick their produce and food. She continues: “When you decide on a diet for health it takes planning. A person should resolve to buy certified organic and grass-fed or pastured animal products. If not certified organic, then Farmers’ Market produce, even if not organically grown, [it] is better nourishment than supermarket produce. When you have superior quality of food, not much needs to be done. A salad, a vegetable and a protein. One does not need to embellish something that is naturally good.” And the way Marlene says things, you really don’t think twice about whether to do it or not. Her whole presence lets you know she knows what she’s talking about, not to mention she is in her 70s and whip-smart.
Beyond her nutritional guidance, Marlene is also well-versed in the world of supplements and homeopathy, and was twice an owner of vitamin stores over the years. When I met with her, she actually did more than just go through my eating habits. She asked about my life. She had my evaluation in front of her, and went that extra step to piece together what activities in my life were contributing to my precarious health issues that included being run down, loss of memory, and a touch of depression I was in and out of. I asked her how it was that she was asking about the stresses in my life, when I thought diet was the core of my issues, not to mention my doctor never took the time to do. McKee’s response was enlightening and made me question the whole medical community. She told me how her approach to health is from the homeopathic school of thought, “which treats the entire person--physically and emotionally; [where traditional] medicine only looks at the disease and not how the person got to that point.” She continues, “You owe it to a person to treat the whole person. You have to investigate why one’s immune system would be compromised to create their illness. In homeopathy, the body has many ‘bodies’ [to evaluate.]” Her words rang very true for me. More often than not, I’ve had experiences with doctors where they have such a dismissive quality and such a quickness to throw a prescription pill my way to shut me up. It was so nice to have someone finally listening to me. One who needed to know the patterns of my ailments so they would be able to address some of my maladies without going through drug after drug. In homeopathy, McKee informed me that remedies are made from many different elements such as, animal, plant, mineral, and other organic substances. The potency of a remedy is achieved by the simple act of diluting and shaking, and various degrees of concentrations are obtained by using parts of medicine to parts of alcohol and water. The remedy is matched to the person’s symptom picture. The homeopathic system is based on the principle that diseases can be cured with minute doses of these medicines, which in a healthy person in large doses would produce symptoms like those of the disease. These organic remedies prove to be equally effective, with far less side effects, and far more inexpensive than prescription drugs. It is no wonder why there is quite a resistance to homeopathic integration into traditional medicine—it is actually affordable.
So as Marlene figures out my lifestyle and the foods that will get me back on track, she also puts together a list of vitamins and the brands to trust, as well as a few homeopathic remedies that will get my system realigned and ready to take on the world. The warm and loving hug she gave me at the end was exactly what I needed and made me thankful I had contacted her. I thought I may have been frivolous for having someone come help me with proper nutrition when it seems like something you could just do online, or you something you think you already know from your high school home-ec class. But I realized that Marlene did far more than make some mundane grocery-shopping list, she overhauled every aspect of my health and brought me to understanding my Body IQ in every way. The money I spent with her is actually preventing future costly doctor bills and prescriptions, because what no one seems to realize is that preventative actions are key to living life to the fullest.
It is not often you meet someone whom you trust immediately, but meeting Marlene McKee will make you do just that. Maybe it is her captivating Mother Earth quality and prophetic German accent, or maybe it is her extensive experience in the field of nutrition and Homeopathy that make you want to revamp your daily routine and reclaim your health. Whatever it is, her nutritional feng shui will guide you back to your Body IQ and a healthier you for life.
Originally published in DStripped Magazine
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