The Story of Martin Pytela,

Founder of Life Enthusiast Co-op

I wrote this article in a response to an inquiry.

I received a forwarded e-mail from a friend with a simple request: "Send Me Your Health Care Horror Stories... An Appeal from Michael Moore." Michael was working on the movie "SiCKO" that was to explain, or at least expose, what is not working in our health care (an oxymoron in itself) industry. Although, judging by the shape he was in when he made Bowling for Columbine, he needs a whole lot of help from the natural healing community to work on himself ... I wrote:

Dear Michael,

I can give you my horror story if you like, but more importantly, I will also give you some clues about what is really wrong with the whole health care system. For that you will need to read the latter part of this e-mail:

I was 25 when I stepped into a dentist's office with my freshly earned full dental plan from my unionized job at a sawmill. I needed a checkup and a small filling. I ended up with a full exam with x-rays, and a sell job: according to the x-rays my molars were getting weak, and needed improvement. They needed to be loaded with mercury amalgams, a total of 12 sizeable fillings. It is very strange that the teeth that were not filled with mercury are still intact 25 years later.

I should have clued in, but I was a fresh immigrant from Eastern Europe, and trusted the kind dentist implicitely. I should have known that he was serving his (economic) interest, not mine.

The fillings were installed in 4 sessions, one week apart. After the second session I came down with a massive herpes breakout blister on my lip, the first one I ever had. I should have clued in then.

Within a year I started having back problems. I was a strong young lad before, but now I was on workers' compensation. The injuries were not really caused by my job, but by my poisoned body falling apart. But we did not know that.

In year two I was so debilitated that I was having to crawl on all fours to go to the bathroom, several times a year, for a week or two at a time. After my back went I was also having problems with my feet and wrists. I started having carpal tunnel syndrome, and the arches of my feet were collapsing. I had to change jobs to something less physically demanding.

I was seeing a chiropractor twice a week regularly. Out of curiosity I had my hair analyzed (to check for toxins), and it came back with mercury toxicity. I should have clued in then, but did not. I was just puzzling over where I might have gotten mercury poisoning, not at all connecting it to the dental upgrade I received.

In year three I started having serious dental problems - periodontal disease, gum recession, loose teeth.

I was successful in my career and was earning well. I was spending lavishly on dental care to save my teeth and gums. I had a number of tissue graft operations done, some worked, and some did not. I still have all my teeth, but what an ordeal that was!

True to the indoctrination I received as a regular member of this society and culture, instead of looking for the cause I was trying to fix the problem - my ailing body parts, not the whole system. It is curious how conditioned we are by our society in which we interact with others, and learn from them how to handle "problems". I was seeing medical doctors, orthopedic surgeons, chiropractors, naturopaths, physiotherapists, and a good range of more esoteric therapists, including Rolfing, Bowen, Feldenkreis, cranio-sacral, McKenzie, Alexander, and more. Each of them worked on me and produced some relief, although I was still suffering a relapse several times a year, during which I would be unable to sit in a chair, sleep in a bed, drive a car, or do many other activities we take for granted. Oh, I also had to crawl on all fours to go to the bathroom, because I could not stand up straight.

The decline continued. I was still eating the Standard American Diet, and I was beginning to put on some weight. In year ten I came down with severe allergies, debilitating me for several weeks each spring. I went to my doctor for help. He offered me Sudafed. I asked if that was going to cure me, and he said no, I would have to take it for the rest of my life. There was no cure for allergies, he told me.

Not one of these well trained people suggested mercury poisoning, and yet, that's what I was suffering from. Not one of them tried to find the cause, they were all just treating the symptoms.

I finally hit the proverbial wall. I realized that I would have to help myself, because the professionals were not going to do it for me. I started studying books about health and healing. I read books by Bernard Jensen, Herbert Shelton, John Tilden, and also Harvey Diamond.

I started the Fit For Life regimen - mostly raw food, lots of detoxification with algae and proper food combining. After five years of that my back problems subsided, and after ten years my allergies went away. By that time I was at least as well read as any naturopathic doctor or nutritionist, and I decided to start a health and wellness company to help others who were afflicted much the same way as I was.

I still have the amalgam fillings in my teeth. By the time I finally read the reports written by Dr. Vickery that clearly linked mercury poisoning to all the symptoms I was experiencing I no longer had the extra funds I would need to get the mercury out of my teeth, having started a new business, and having started helping my daughters with their university education. I now run a business that helps people find the solution to their health problems and help themselves.

Now here is the solution I would like you to grok:

The biggest enemy of your health is your behavior. We dig our graves with our teeth, and with our stupid habits. Nutrition, exercise, clothing, makeup, air, water. We fill and cover our bodies with dead food and toxic chemicals. We eat food that is devoid of nutrients our bodies need: enzymes, minerals, trace elements and a long list of necessary nutrients.

When you eat food bought in your grocery store or cooked in your fast food restaurant, you are eating food stripped of nutrients, yet filled with toxins. You can never eat enough to feel nourished. No sooner you finish a meal your body screams for more nutrients. So you eat again. You consume lots of calories, but not enough nutrients. Your body screams for more. No wonder you are gaining weight and can't keep it off!

When you get sick, the health insurance is your worst enemy. People with insurance go for procedures not because they are needed, but because they are covered. And doctors compound the problem. Their entire belief system about health, illness, its causes and cures, is based on the wrong premise that healing comes from without, rather than from within. As if lack of health could be caused by lack of some concentrated pharmaceutical poison. A headache is NOT caused by a deficiency of a pain killer. That would mean that we evolved in a chemical factory, not in the tropical forest.

The only insurance solution that has a chance of working is when we establish universal coverage for catastrophic illness and couple it with high deductible on annual claims that allow us to claim all health and fitness related expenses as tax deductions. These would include drugs, supplements, therapies, fitness, and possibly even organic food and clean energized water - all expenses related to care of our body. Consumers would soon enough figure out what works, and do the right thing. They are not stupid, they have only been taught to do stupid things.

Imagine what it would do for the employers when they would no longer have to pay health insurance coverage. They could just hand the same money to the employees. The insurance companies would have a fraction of the claims to process that they do now, thanks to the high deductible.

You need to meet Paul Zane Pilzer, and get his take on this situation. He will give you an interview you will not want to miss. http://www.paulzanepilzer.com

Good luck. Do the right thing - empower people. Learned helplessness feeds the corporations. Feel free to call.

Martin Pytela
www.life-enthusiast.com

So there you have it! In my quest for health I have learned to use kinesiology (much the same way as David Hawkins describes it) and dowsing. I have grown emotionally and spiritually through the adversity. I can honestly say that if I were not made so sick by the mercury poisoning, I would not be in the wellness business today.

Apparently Michael either did not read my letter, or did not heed my recommendations. His movie ended up being a tirade about the health insurance industry, completely missing the point. It is not nearly as important that we are insured, but what procedures are insured. It would be nice if we had universal high quality affordable coverage, but it will do very little for our health if we do not start changing the health care model from emergency room medicine to functional medicine, instead of chasing symptoms to focusing on cellular terrain management.

Martin Pytela Bio

Martin grew up behind the Iron Curtain, in Czechoslovakia. He studied Business Administration and Computer Science at the Institute of Economics in Prague in the 1970s. He came to Canada as a refugee and worked in sawmills and warehouses for a few years. After a short career as a Clinical Hypnotherapist Martin moved to the computer industry and worked as a trainer and as a sales professional. In later years he worked as a manager, a management consultant and information technology consultant. Martin is happily married to the mother of his two adult daughters.

Soon after he received a dozen of mercury amalgam fillings as part of his introduction to modern western medicine, Martin's health started a sharp decline. Martin's documented mercury poisoning was behind his multitude of problems that neither the medical professionals nor the alternative practitioners he worked with identified as a possible source of his problems. In his quest for health, Martin explored dozens of mainstream and alternative modalities with only temporary success. Only after he decided to apply the strategic thinking skills he learned in his management consulting practice to his medical problems he was able to turn the tide and begin reversing his health problems.

In the process of discovery he has learned most of what a naturopathic doctor would learn at school - anatomy and physiology, hormonal function, nutrition and detoxification, exercise and emotional therapies. Martin continues his study to this day in order to improve his ability to advise the customers of Life Enthusiast Co-op in his capacity as personal coach.

Martin is the CEO of Life Enthusiast Co-op, an on-line source of natural solutions for your health and wellness.