By Jennifer Whitmire, MS, MEd, MH, CHES, NEP

I hear people say it all the time, “I just want my body to heal,” and maybe you’ve said it yourself.

Sometimes they’re talking about chronic pain. Sometimes it’s digestive problems, an autoimmune condition, fatigue, high blood sugar, or recovering from surgery. Whatever the situation, the desire is the same, “I just want my body to heal.”

The truth is, your body has probably been trying to heal all along.

That may sound surprising, especially if you’ve been struggling with a health issue for months or even years. If that’s where you are, it may feel as though your body has turned against you. (In autoimmune disease, isn’t that what’s actually happening?  The body is attacking itself?)

When I study the body’s systems, that’s not what I see. I see a body that is constantly working to keep us alive.

Healing Is Happening Every Day

Think about the last time you accidentally cut your finger. You probably rinsed it, maybe put on a bandage, and then went on with your day. (I would put cayenne on it, then wrap it up).

• You didn’t have to remind your blood to clot.
• You didn’t tell new skin cells where to grow.
• You didn’t consciously direct your immune system to protect the area while it healed.

Your body knew what to do and simply got to work. The same thing happens when you catch a cold.

While you’re resting on the couch feeling miserable, your immune system is coordinating an incredibly complex response. Millions of cells are communicating with one another. Proteins are being produced, and damaged tissues are being repaired.

Even while you’re sleeping tonight, your body will be replacing old cells, repairing proteins, balancing hormones, rebuilding tissues, and carrying out thousands of jobs you’ll never have to think about.

Healing is what living bodies do all the time.

Then Why Do We Get Sick?

This is the question that fascinated me when I first began studying nutrition and human biology.

If our bodies are designed to heal, why do so many people struggle with chronic disease?

The answer isn’t as simple as one thing causing one disease.

Our bodies are incredibly resilient, but they’re also constantly adapting to the environment we create for them.

Every cell needs nutrients and oxygen, our hormones need the right building blocks, our immune system depends on adequate sleep and a healthy gut, and our digestive tract depends on the foods we eat to fuel both us and the trillions of microorganisms that live there.

When those needs aren’t being met, or when we’re continually exposed to things that interfere with normal function, our body doesn’t stop trying. It adapts, and it adapts really well for a short while.

If we don’t give it relief, our body may create more of the symptoms we’re trying so hard to eliminate.

Our Job Isn’t to Create Healing

Healing isn’t something we do to the body, and our doctor doesn’t heal us. The new drug or supplement doesn’t heal us.

We don’t make wounds close or tell bones how to mend. We don’t tell the liver how to regenerate or the immune system how to respond to a virus.

The body already knows what to do. Maybe the doctor or the new meds help us talk to the body, but the body does the work.

Our job is to figure out what’s getting in the way? What do I need to change?

• Is it chronic inflammation?
• Poor sleep?
• Nutrient deficiencies?
• Blood sugar that’s constantly on a roller coaster?
• Too little movement?
• Too much chronic stress?

Sometimes it’s one thing, but it’s usually several small things adding up over time. Instead of trying to force the body to heal, we can begin removing the barriers that make healing more difficult.

That’s Why Lifestyle Matters

This is one of the reasons I love teaching nutrition.

I don’t believe food cures everything.

There are times when medications, surgery, physical therapy, or other medical interventions are exactly what’s needed. I’m incredibly grateful we have those options.

Every day, regardless of our diagnosis, we have opportunities to support the work our body is already trying to do.

Food is medicine, so choose more colorful vegetables, eat another serving of beans.

Focus on healthy habits and take a walk after dinner, focus on getting high quality sleep by giving yourself more time in bed, and take a pause and choose to breathe instead of staying stuck in stress.

None of those things heal us on their own, but they do provide our body with more of what is needed and fewer of the things that stand in the way.

The Bigger Lesson

The more I learn about the human body, the more amazed I become. It’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong.

Been there, done that. Yes, I’ve done that myself.

When I step back and look at the bigger picture, I’m reminded that my body is  trying to work for me, and it does this every single day.

That doesn’t mean healing is quick or complete or that we can avoid every illness or reverse every condition. It does mean we can stop thinking of the body as broken.

We can begin appreciating something remarkable.

Our body was designed with an extraordinary capacity to repair, adapt, and protect us.

How can we better support the healing it’s already trying to do?