Smita tried everything to get her skin issue resolved, she spent a lot of money visiting the best of skin clinics & doctors. She was overweight, this further added to lowering her self-esteem. She had a big bleeding ovarian cyst, for which she was advised surgery. A casual meeting with a naturopath changed the direction of her life. She learnt that in spite of all issues, her body could heal itself. Today she leads a medicine free and happy life. Here is her story.

Smita Sundararaman
41 years, Founder - NatureHealz
Gurgaon, Haryana

Caring for others, no time for self

Most of my health issues started after I got married around 18 years ago in 2000. I started gaining a lot of weight. I thought it was because I married a South Indian and my eating habits have changed, there was more rice than I usually eat. I think more importantly, what happens after the transition is that you start taking care more of others than yourself. You have a family, you have to take care of everybody, you try to be the best you can be everywhere and somewhere you lose track of yourself. So my health kind of went down the drain and it started affecting every other aspect of my life also. It seemed like nothing was working out, personal or professional life, everything started getting affected.

Health Issues

I had a couple of issues, one was that I had this dermatological problem called Rosacea where you get pimples all over your face. I had Rosacea for a while, it comes and goes, but it suddenly got increased. It is a very obvious thing, it is all over your face, so you can't miss it.

I started gaining a lot of weight, in the first year of marriage I gained 20 kg!! It was a very scary thing, suddenly you are a new person, you don’t recognize yourself anymore. When weight increases, your hormonal profile changes, the periods go haywire. There was a lot of irregularity, for eg the flow changes, suddenly for one month it will run for 15 days and next month it won’t happen at all.

Around 2010, I was diagnosed with ovarian cyst, which many women have these days. But this one was big and it was bleeding and hence I was advised a surgery.

Managing Rosacea pulled me down

When Rosacea started flaring up, I went to some of the best doctors in town. They gave me antibiotics for 15 days and as long as I ate the medicines I would be fine, but the moment I would stop eating the medicines, it would flare up again.

Once I went to the doctor and said this doesn’t work, why is it happening in the first place, what do I need to change, what do I need to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again? But I didn’t get any answers. Then I was told there is a medicine, but I have to take it for at least 6 months. The doctor had to be very sure that I am not planning to conceive because this medicine could cause congenital defects, it was so strong!! Of course, I was not planning to conceive, I had two kids already by that time. I bought the medicine, but I remember thinking about it later that how can the rest of your body remain untouched by something so potent!! After 3 or 4 days of taking that medicine, my lips started cracking and bleeding, my skin became absolutely dry, it was horrendous. So I just had to throw out the whole 6 months of medication, I decided I am not going to do this.

I went to the popular skin care clinics, I did everything that anybody can possibly do. I threw away money everywhere, everybody is conscious about how they look!! I became more and more depressed because nothing was working and my self-esteem went down.

A weak moment that gave me strength

In terms of weight, I hit my worse at 92 kg in 2010, it was 10 years after my marriage and I had two kids by that time. I was pretty fed up. One day I was actually trying to commit suicide. I lost my brother a couple of years ago, he was my only sibling. Everything started playing in my mind, mentally, emotionally and physically I felt so weak that I thought of taking such a drastic step.

My kids were really small, they were 6 or 7 at that time. I think I heard my younger one cry, I ran to see what’s happening and then the moment just passed.

I remember standing in front of a mirror and thinking how does a person like me end up like this. If you are responsible for bringing yourself to this stage, then how can bringing you back from this stage be a responsibility of others? I decided I had to shift my life and I had to change my energies. So I decided to go abroad and pursue studies. I took a dramatic decision to leave my children behind!!

Meeting a naturopath

I shifted to my mom’s place in Lucknow and started preparing for GRE. During this time I met a naturopath. I believed my health issues were quite serious as I had been advised a surgery. So, I was a bit taken aback when he said I could be cured without medicines. He said a few things that stayed in my head. He asked if you get a cut in your skin, is it the doctor who heals you or your body? And I realised it’s the body. He said just because you have a cyst or a skin problem, why do you think your body is not capable of healing itself, what do you do to help your body take care of you? And then I thought I do nothing except cribbing!!

Honestly speaking, I didn’t quite believe that he’ll be able to turn things around for me. But as I had to do changes mainly around food & exercise, I thought at least I would lose some weight because he would keep a tab on my habits. So, I decided to give it a try.

A new journey begins

One very important thing when you go for something like this is to ‘unlearn’. All of us think we have too much knowledge about what works and what doesn’t, we have our own set of prejudices. Thankfully I didn’t have any and was open to explore what the naturopath had to offer.

Fruits, vegetables and dry fruits were a very big part of my daily diet. I learnt it’s not about stuffing your stomach with roti or rice, it’s about the right kind of nutrition. It’s important to know what the best time for you to eat is. I had always known that we have to eat a heavy breakfast in the morning, but my naturopath used to give me dry fruits. In terms of volume, this was nothing, but it gave a lot of nutrition to my body. It gave me a lot of energy, without putting digestive burden on my system.

In naturopathy, fasting has a very big role because when you are fasting that’s when the body heals and cleanses the most. Your body doesn’t have to waste any energy for digestion or nutrition absorption. So, with time, I was off-grains and slowly salt also went and in the end, I was only on lemon honey water throughout the day. Lemon is a great alkaline source, the body heals in an alkaline environment. Honey gives you instant glucose for your day to day functions, you don’t feel low on energy. Of course your body will tell you if you are doing well or not and you must listen to it and act accordingly. In my case, my energy levels were high in spite of the fact that I was not eating. My naturopath made me fast for 13 days and then gradually got me back on a regular kind of diet.

Empowered for life

In 3 months time of doing these changes, I got an ultrasound done. My cyst had disappeared, my skin became much clearer, I was feeling great.

By now, plans to go abroad for studies had firmed up. I would be away from home for a year and a half, I would be alone there and studying after 11 years. I knew my attention will be more on studies now, but I had learnt what I needed to do for my health once I finish my studies & get back.

Back to nature, back to health

I came back to India in December 2012. I decided to spend the next 6 months with my children and focus on my health.

I didn’t go back to my naturopath because I knew what I had to do. I followed the same routine that he had given me. Since I was not working, I was quite well rested physically & emotionally. Plus with the kind of food I was eating, I used to feel very energetic. I used to workout a lot, my body was able to support that. I lost 30 kgs in 6 months of time. My skin became flawless. I started looking much younger, my immunity went up. Life took me in a different direction. By the end of 6 months, my body was completely transformed from inside out.

Healthy lady, healthy family

Natural living was very transformational for me. I realised you just have to give the right tools to your body to do its job and you will be fine. So, I began making changes for my family members too. Anything with preservatives went out of the window, in my house there is no jam, butter, biscuits, frozen stuff, bread or juices - nothing that has a chemical added into it. We eat only seasonal and fresh food.

My husband lost 45 kgs, he had many health issues for which he used to take medicines. But now he recovered without medicines.

My kids had low immunity. They had inherited Febrile Seizures from my husband’s side of the family. This meant that the moment fever crossed 100 degrees or so, they could get seizures. I faced a lot of challenges with my elder son, but one day the same thing happened to my younger son too. He was in the ICU and the doctor kept saying the fever was not going down, the child was not responding to antibiotics!! I didn't quite understand what it meant at that point of time, I was very scared. But through my own experience I realised immunity is the key. Today, we don’t have any medicines in the house and my kids are much better in terms of health.

Living on with content & happiness

It’s been a very long and fulfilling kind of journey. I can still get a pimple on my face. But now I know what that means, I know my body is trying to remind me to take care. I have seen the transformation in myself and family members. This inspired me to start my own company NatureHealz in 2013. We have worked with more than 3,000 people in five years, the ones who follow it well, they are transformed for life. It takes a level of consciousness to be on this path, but it beautifully opens up all kinds of possibilities, it’s a way of life.

(About Smita Sundararaman: After completing Masters in Marketing Communications from MICA, Ahmedabad, Smita worked in the corporate sector for 11 years. In 2013, she founded NatureHealz, a naturopathy treatment centre in Delhi NCR. Smita is a doting mother of two boys. Her hobbies are trekking, reading, crystal healing, tarot, cooking, adventure sports, sketching & watching movies.)

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