Can’t afford health insurance? DIY health care
The “Affordable Care Act” has been anything but affordable for millions of Americans—the middle class who are both too poor and too rich for anything but DIY health care.
Premiums and deductibles are obscene. Health care is an organized crime syndicate that has whitewashed reform attempts as “socialism.” Multi-billion-dollar cartel continues to hold both patients and health care workers alike hostage. Medical debt accounts for two-thirds of US bankruptcies, which affect largely insured Americans.
Inaccessibility to health care, which significantly worsened under the ACA, has led many to usurp the medical paradigm and learn how to DIY their own health care.
Looking back over the years, the following trends in a DIY health care have helped my family avoid doctors:
Identifying food intolerances
Food intolerances trigger ongoing inflammation. Chronic inflammation underlies most chronic disorders that send people to the doctor. People can reverse many chronic health problems by removing inflammatory foods.
The most common ones are gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, and/or all grains in general.
Yes, it’s a stricter diet, but one that lowers your risk of medical bankruptcy.
Eliminate sweets and go low-carb
An even more common cause of chronic inflammation is a blood sugar imbalance from eating too many sweets and starchy carbs.
If you can go keto, go keto. Or, go as low-carb as your body will allow. If you can intermittent fast (IF), even better.
But if keto and IF make you consistently crash, don’t do it, you’re just worsening blood sugar problems (despite what countless bloggers assert).
Chronically high blood sugar raises your risk of obesity, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, insomnia, fatigue, and hormonal disorders.
Once you muscle through the first 2-3 days you no longer crave carbs and sugar, so don’t worry about feeling deprived.
You’ll also lower your risk of having to pay for obscene deductibles and expensive doctors’ visits.
Note: If you are recovering from disordered eating and diet culture PTSD, this one is tricky territory. Carbs and sweeteners can trigger physiological cravings and binge eating. Of course, emotional issues, past abuse, and diet culture brainwashing can too.
This topic is beyond the scope of this article, but overcoming diet-culture brainwashing and internalized societal body shaming is key.
Move your body everyday
If there were only one magic bullet to better health, it might be daily physical activity. It activates all manner of chemicals and hormones that optimize brain and body function. This keeps you out of the doctor’s office.
The internet abounds with studies on which form of exercise is the best, but honestly the one you will do every day is the best.
That said, the human body craves and responds well to them all—strength, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), longer aerobic exercise, and walking. In fact, walking alone is great for the brain.
Go organic
I regularly write articles freelance articles about the effects of toxins on human health. People would freak out if they understood the magnitude of the issue. It’s bad.
Although even organic foods are contaminated, you lower your body burden by eating organic as much as possible.
Drink plenty of filtered water, move your body daily, and take supplements that support daily detoxification to help move some of the 100,000+ un-tested toxins in our environment out your body.
Consider these supplements
These bare bones supplement recommendations for DIY health care can help protect your body from stress, toxins, and the industrialization of our food and water:
Vitamin D
Most people are deficient. It’s affordable. Take about 10,000 IU a day, more in periods of extreme stress.
Glutathione
The body’s master oxidant, glutathione is your personal bodyguard for your cells. The ideal form is liposomal glutathione in high doses.
A more affordable option are glutathione precursors like N acetyl cysteine, cordyceps, gingko biloba, and milk thistle.
My favorite glutathione is Trizomal by Apex Energetics. Glutathione Recycler by Apex is another great option. Click here to learn about a 25% discount on Apex Energetics through my FHN Insider’s Club.
Adrenal adaptogens
Herbs that help keep your brain’s stress-handling duties on an even keel include ashwagandha, holy basil, rhodiola, schisandra, maca, holy basil, Siberian ginseng, and more.
My favorite is Adaptocrine from Apex Energetics. Click here to learn about a 25% discount on Apex Energetics through my FHN Insider’s Club.
You can also order a variety of adrenal adaptogen products through Emerson Ecologics at 25% off.
Spore probiotics
Not everyone will need these, but it seems those that do respond profoundly to them. They cleared up my psoriasis after a long, slow introduction of a 1/4 capsule a day. I don’t think you need the recommended two capsules a day for maintenance because it’s expensive, but see what works for you.
I am very excited to offer 25% off a great product called Megaspore through my Insider’s Club.
DIY perimenopausal care
For some women, perimenopause causes severe and debilitating symptoms. Most of these women find their doctors dismiss and gaslight about their symptoms.
That is because most doctors operate on outdated info and stigmatization of hormone therapy. Or they are simply uneducated.
Ideally, you will seek out a practitioner with many years of experience working with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (HRT). If that’s not an option for you, I discovered a whole online world, including on amazon, of women buying low-dose bio HRT and self-administering.
Again, best to work with a doctor because it’s a tricky world and you don’t want to overdose yourself, but that is an option out there. Good DIY sources of info include the book Estrogen Matters, Outliving Your Ovaries, and Menopause Taylor videos.
Skin cancer
If you have basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, check out a product called Curaderm. It seems to work for many people. Naturally, get biopsies and don’t ignore these kinds of skin cancers as they will get worse. But some fair-skinned people report it is more successful than repeat, expensive surgeries (Mohs).
Imagine my dismay when I learned the extra insurance I pay for to cover my obscene deductible does not cover basal cell or squamous cell cancers. Sigh.
I have used this product and it definitely knocked it out but I need to get an (expensive) biopsy to see if it’s completely gone. Repeat treatments are sometimes necessary.
If your cancer is on the lip Curaderm may not work because the tape necessary to cover the cream does not stick to the lip well.
A low-carb/no-sugar diet will are also said to help prevent these kinds of cancers.
Don’t bother discussing with your dermatologist, they naturally do not support a DIY, OTC cancer care. And be smart and realistic in this arena.
Medical tourism, dental tourism, cash pay surgery centers
Millions of Americans travel to Mexico every day for dental care and medical care. Other popular countries for medical tourism include those in those in Eastern Europe, Thailand, and India. I had excellent dental care at American Biodental in Tijuana, where I was not upsold on obscene amounts of unnecessary dental care. In fact, they were shocked at the unnecessary work my American dentist had recommended.
I flew to Utah for a knee surgery because with all expenses included, it was cheaper than my deductible. Cash pay surgery centers are a new and growing service around the US and can save you a lot of money.
If Curaderm doesn’t work for me, I will fly to Mexico for Mohs surgery, which will be cheaper than my deductible with travel expenses included.
Although it’s great these options exist, frankly they still suck. You have to take time off from work, travel, possibly stay in a hot-as-hell country in summer, etc. Although risks exist with medical or dental work in any country, excellent quality health care exists outside of the US for considerably cheaper.
Do your own health checks
Did you know you can order your own blood labs online? Plenty of options exist. You can also monitor your own blood pressure and blood sugar.
Staying out of the doctor’s office and keeping the doctor’s office out of your wallet takes some effort and energy, but if you’ve ever been faced with the extreme medical bills of US health care or been through bankruptcy, you may find DIY health care worth it.
25% discount on high quality supplements
I help uninsured and under insured people doing DIY health care by offering generous discounts on my favorite supplements. To learn more, click here.