Unexpected catastrophic volcanic eruptions rarely happen, just like rare and sudden diseases do not just show up out of the blue. Still, an epic disaster happened in my family when my 7 year old niece Lilly got diagnosed with a rare brain tumor DIPG, and there was nothing we could and could have done to prevent the catastrophic “eruption “and to save her life. A, what we thought was, perfectly healthy child turned out to be carrying catastrophic genetic mutations. That was a rare disease just like rare are unexpected volcanic eruptions. Usually, there is steam coming out of the crater at least before an eruption. 

Most volcanos do not just all of sudden start spewing lava, and most diseases also do not happen overnight. They creep up on us over time and are usually preceded by symptoms that are not yet recognized as illnesses or diseases and ones that are even often too soon to be treated by doctors. There might not even be an approved treatment for something that might be bothering you at the time being, and your doctors might not even know what to do about it or choose not to until something more serious happens down the road they will have an ICD -10 code or conventional treatment for.

An example of it might be an overweight person with a fasting glucose of 99 at one annual appointment, but full-blown diabetes 2 years later. Had the doctor checked the patient’s insulin levels, he or she would have known that the patients’ beta cells were about to become exhausted from pumping too much insulin to keep that blood sugar down at 99. Before lava spews (e.g. diabetes type II in this example), there can usually be fumarolic activity detected earlier (e.g. high insulin). There might even be smoke or steam coming out of the crater, or even an earthquake (e.g. obesity) that are signs that an eruption is about to come. In this example, it is a diagnosis of diabetes type 2.

Detecting “fumarolic” activities in the body and paying attention to symptoms that might indicate future eruptions is very important in preventative care and if you want to live a long life and most of it in health. Weight issues, low energy or fatigue, low mood, headaches, migraines, mucus, congestion, dizziness, faintness, brain fog, memory loss, itchy eyes, blurred vision, gas, bloating, belching, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pains, irritability, anxiety, being overwhelmed, depression, sad for no reason, sleep issues are only some of those signs of some sort of pressure building up in the “volcano”. This pressure is to the volcano what stress is to the body.

You want to make sure you keep that “pressure” down. Lots of pressure can cause even the toughest body or “volcanic rock” to crack causing lava or diseases to spew out. No matter how solid and tough your body is and how good your cells, tissues, and organs are, high stress or pressure can break them down causing illnesses. This pressure is caused by stressors that include not only the emotional and mental stress in our life, or subconscious stressful thoughts, but also bad inflammatory diet, smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise or too much of it, lack of sleep, environmental toxins, pollution, heavy metals, bacteria, candida, parasites, inflammation, mold, extra weight to name a few. They all add “pressure” to the volcano.

If you want to live a long and healthy life, you need to make your body rock and keep the pressure down, so you can prevent or nip diseases in the bud and not allow for the lava to spew out. Most of the time it is possible even if you have a genetic makeup that is predisposing you to diseases. Your genetic makeup is like the rocks that volcanic magma is made out of. These rocks when melted in high temperature (methylation and de-methylation that tell your DNA to read or not to read genes), become volcanic magma or your epigenome. You can turn the heat up and down and regulate its consistency making your epigenome more or less susceptible to diseases. The sticky and thick magma is the most dangerous and explosive kind, but even this kind, without a trigger or a stressor, will not spew lava out.

Even if you are predisposed to certain diseases by your genetic makeup and its modifications known as your epigenome, or the sticky hot volcanic substance called magma, you can change the trajectory of your health and aging by understanding that you can regulate the temperature and change the consistency of the magma by making improvements to your epigenome and giving instructions to your genes (the rocks magma is made out of) how to read your DNA. By keeping the temperature up or down, you can make your epigenome (magma) less sticky and thick and the less dangerous one. Your thoughts, mindset, digestion, detoxification practices, your connections to people and environment, they can all influence how your genes read the instructions in your DNA and make your magma more explosive or not. Understanding this will influence your wellness mindset and how much of a control you can have over your health. You are in control even if not always.


Even if your genetic makeup (the rocks) and epigenome (the volcanic magma) are of a thick and sticky consistency that is more explosive than the thin one, by paying extra attention to it and keeping pressure down and removing stressors from your body, you can change the trajectory and age less, feel and look better as well as delay or prevent future volcanic eruptions. By making sure and trying to keep your body solid like a rock, so it can withstand the pressure, you can build healthier cells, tissues and organs that will help you withstand more pressure. This takes much more than resistance training and having big muscles but many other components of wellness that can  help your cells and your body function better longer. By remembering that even the toughest and most solid rock will crumble under a lot of pressure, you want to make stress reduction your health & wellness priority. As an Integrative Health Practitioner, I am here to help you make "your body rock" and find out what causes stress to it, and finally help you destress it. Whether it is helping you lose weight the healthy way and getting rid of not only extra pounds by inflammatory cytokines, or by getting to the root cause of your digestive issues, headaches, low energy, fatigue or sleepless nights, my goal is to help you lay foundation for your healing to take place, and optimize your body by making investments in many areas of wellness that will support your overall balance and create strength in your physiology. 

This cake or even birthday cake is not only guilt free, but also nutritious and delicious. It rich in healthy fats, fiber, protein, and many other nutrients. Instead of spiking your sugar and insulin, this dessert will most likely help you lower it. It will also help you reduce your inflammation and possibly cholesterol. Instead of making you feel sluggish, this treat will give you energy and prolong feeling of satiety. Are you ready to try it?


 YOU WILL NEED:

1.   2 cups of CASHEWS (soaked in water overnight or at least for 4 hours)
2.   1 cup of WALNUTS or PECANS or a mix of both
3.   1 cup of ALMONDS or CASHEWS (so you would need 3 cups of those total)
4.   About 12 DATES
5.   1/3rd cup of COCOA POWDER(UNSWEETENED)
6.   1.5 cans of COCONUT MILK
7.   COCONUT OIL
8.   VANILLA EXTRACT
9.   Maple Syrup (optional)
10. 1 tsp of unflavored Gelatin
11. Salt
12. FRUIT of your choice


HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Mix walnuts and almonds and 6 dates with 1/3 of a cup of coconut milk and 1/3 of a cup of coconut oil and a pinch of salt in a food processor. This is your base. Press it into the bottom of the prepared spring form.  Flatten the surface with your hands (or using the bottom of a glass/cup). Put it to the freezer while preparing the rest.
2. Heat up 1.5 cans of coconut milk and slowly add gelatin to the mix and 1 tsp. of vanilla extract and maple syrup to the taste. I only use 2 Tbsp, but you might want more. Stir the mixture while on a very low heat until it all dissolves. Let the mixture cool off.
3. In the food processor, combine together the cashews, 6 dates, 1/2 of a cup of coconut milk and 1/3 of a cup of coconut oil, 1 Tbsp. of maple syrup and 1/3 of a cup of cacao powder and vanilla extract. Mix all the ingredients until silky smooth, rich, and creamy. This will yield a lovely cheesecake like filling.
4. After the gelatin layer cools off, pour it over the nutty base and put it in the freezer for half an hour or just a refrigerator until it sets. Then, spread the chocolate layer over and put in the freezer for half an hour and then keep it in the refrigerator.
5. Dress it up with more nuts and/or fruit to your liking and enjoy this healthy, delicious, and nutritious cake without any guilt. If you are following keto diet, you can use monk fruit or nothing in place of maple syrup.

Enjoy!