My Nutrition Surprise

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m seeing a nutritionist again. Maybe it’s an inevitable consequence of getting older and accumulating medical specialists. This year I added a neurologist and a urologist. For a while, it seemed that I was being MRI-ed every other day. When I accompanied Dee on her search for a holistic practitioner, sitting in on her initial consultation, I was still a week away from the follow-up with my urologist, still awaiting the results of a prostate biopsy. I wasn’t expecting cancer. I was worrying about bladder surgery. I’ve had enough surgeries, including one complication, to be open to medical alternatives which I’d previously scoffed at. Before we left Cori Stern’s office, I’d signed up for my own evaluation, the day after my urology appointment. I was lining up my alternative. Just in case.

Dr. Cori was more than a surprise. I’m shocked. This is a plunge I never expected to take. Have you ever heard of Nutrition Response Testing, a chiropractic-based approach to diagnosing and treating health challenges? The idea that someone could identify what my body needs by having me hold different bottles of pills was always hokey, but now with another surgery hovering, I’m giving it a try. I’m taking new supplements three times a day. I’m keeping a food journal. I’ve given up my favorite morning yogurt, first for organic and then for full fat. I can’t believe I’m doing this.

In my second meeting, Dr. Cori reminds me of organic wines. I figure I can do that, was actually doing it for a while last winter. Then she wonders if my wine with dinner might be contributing to my frequent waking to pee. That night I skip the wine. Maybe it makes a small difference in my wakings. I skip the wine again the next night. The third night, I’m wondering, could the wine really be waking me? I want to find out. I have a very small glass of wine with dinner, barely a couple of sips, and I’m up more frequently. This is crazy. It can’t be the wine. It must be my suggestibility. I’ve told myself a story, or Cori has, and the story is waking me.

But I’m thinking about the fifth Buddhist Precept, Not Using Alcohol. I feel the synchronicity of Cori arriving at this moment in my Zen practice. I still haven’t given up my wine. I’m deciding each night. Do I want a glass of wine?  Last night, I thought I was going to have a glass of wine. Setting the table, I put the wine bottle and a wine glass at my place. When I sat down, I ate some salad – I’m not supposed to take my dinner supplements on an empty stomach – and then I took my supplements, four and a half pills, fifteen drops. The wine bottle was sitting there. It just sat there. It was a good dinner. There’s no craving, but I feel the habit energy.

I am fascinated by this way of working with my wine habit. I’m also working with another habit, another way of dulling my awareness of the moment. And I’m working with it very differently. We’ll get to that habit soon.