Hi Reader,
She lost 22 pounds.
Her joint pain disappeared.
Her brain fog lifted within six weeks.
And she told you all about it — her friend, her cousin, the woman in your Facebook group — with so much enthusiasm that you went home that night and ordered the exact same supplements, printed the exact same meal plan, and started the exact same protocol the very next Monday.
Three months later, you feel worse than when you started.
And now you're sitting with a question that's harder to ask out loud than it probably should be:
What is wrong with me?
I want to introduce you to a woman I'll call Michelle. Michelle came to me after years of trying every protocol she'd seen work for someone else.
Her colleague swore by Autoimmune Paleo. Her naturopath had seen remarkable results with Plant-Based in other clients. A woman in her Hashimoto's support group called Low Fodmap life-changing.
Michelle followed every single one of them faithfully.
She was meticulous, disciplined, and utterly exhausted from trying so hard and feeling so little change. When she found me she said, "I'm starting to think I'm just not someone who gets to feel better."
That sentence broke my heart. She wasn't broken. She had just been given everyone else's answer to a question that only her body could answer.
Here's what the science tells us
Research on nutritional biochemistry consistently shows that two people can eat the identical diet and have dramatically different outcomes — in inflammation markers, gut microbiome composition, blood sugar response, and even mood.
A landmark study published in Cell followed 800 people eating the same foods and found that their glycemic responses varied wildly from person to person.
What spiked one person's blood sugar had virtually no effect on another.
What one person's gut thrived on, another person's gut rejected entirely.
The researchers concluded that truly personalized nutrition — based on your individual biology — produced dramatically better outcomes than any standard dietary recommendation.
In other words, the diet that healed your friend was designed by her body, for her body.
And your body has been waiting patiently for someone to actually ask it what it needs.
"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." — Psalm 139:14 (ESV)
Fearfully and wonderfully made.
You were specifically, intentionally, intricately made.
Your gut bacteria are unique to you. Your hormone patterns are unique to you.
Your stress history, your genetics, your immune system's particular sensitivities — all of it uniquely, fearfully, wonderfully yours.
When you follow someone else's protocol and it doesn't work, that is not evidence that you are broken.
It is evidence that you are an individual and individuals need individualized care.
The next time you feel the pull to try what worked for someone else, pause and ask yourself one question:
Does this person know MY body — or just what worked for theirs?
That one question can save you months of frustration, hundreds of dollars, and the quiet heartbreak of wondering why you're still not getting better.
The right path forward for you exists. It's just going to be built for you — not borrowed from someone else.
Hit reply and tell me: what's the protocol or diet you tried because it worked for someone else — and what happened when you tried it?
I ask because when you share that with me, I can often already see exactly what was missing. And sometimes that one conversation changes everything.
You deserve a plan that was made for you.
With care,
Andrea DuMez, RN, CHN, NBC-HWC
Registered Nurse | Holistic Nutritionist | Integrative Health Coach | Certified Metabolic Balance Coach
