An estimated 50 per cent of people in the Western world suffer from digestion problems but Van Clayton Powel wants to change that.
The author has recently published a book You Are NOT What you Eat, and with a number of standing-room-only presentations, it seems to be striking a chord with people.
Powel said he suffered with his own digestion problems for years, but today he eats whatever he wants, pain-free.
“It got to the point I thought I was going to have to survive on white rice and simple steamed vegetables. Then I started following the approach I cover in the book — focusing on how I ate instead of what I ate,” he said in an e-mail.
“Today, I’m back eating anything I want again.”
Just because you eat something, doesn’t mean you digest it, Powel explained. And if you don’t digest it it’s either passing right through and robbing you of energy or hanging around, potentially causing serious problems.
So, instead of being what you eat, you are what you digest, he said.
Powel was exposed to the Western medical model as a registered psychiatric nurse and to the ancient medical systems of Asia during three years in Japan and a couple periods studying in India.
He said these places have been following guidelines in order to enhance digestion for years and years, and it was those guidelines that started him on his own road back to good health.
In his book he details the signs and symptoms of poor digestion, how to get the nutrients out of food and how to heal and strengthen the digestive system.
Today, Powel divides his time between Whistler and an Island in the Salish Sea.
He’ll be in Parksville for a free presentation on the topics discussed in his book at the Parksville Library Thursday, Sept. 6 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
For more information about the book, visit Powel’s website www.youarenotwhatyoueat.com.