Ideas in the Wild: Dr. Isaac Eliaz On The Key to Unlocking Our Body’s Healing Potential
Cancer. Organ failure. Accelerated aging. Can a single “survival molecule” fuel our most deadly and devastating health concerns? The truth is, the very biochemical mechanisms the body uses to survive are actually making us sick.
This is the survival paradox. When our body’s survival response is triggered, there is a cost: pain, inflammation, and life-threatening disease. But there is a way to overcome it.
Drawing on inspirational healing stories and cutting-edge research, integrative medicine expert Dr. Isaac Eliaz presents a roadmap to master our biochemistry and overcome this paradox. The result? Healing and transformation on every level: physical, mental, and emotional.
The Survival Paradox offers a groundbreaking new perspective in medicine — and the key to unlocking our infinite healing potential. I recently caught up with Dr. Eliaz to learn what inspired him to write the book and the biggest lesson he’s learned along his journey.
What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment you realized these ideas needed to get out there?
I experienced some challenging moments in my life that triggered the survival response and survival paradox to the fullest extent. So I had to choose between getting caught in a damaging loop of struggle and reactivity or using the crisis for transformation and growth. I saw my patients going through similar struggles, feeling helpless and hopeless, as they searched for something to help them overcome disease.
And when I discovered the destructive secret of the “survival molecule” galectin-3, I realized that blocking it was the key to reversing and preventing chronic disease. That’s one of the main reasons I wrote this book. Because by deactivating unhealthy galectin-3, we can stop damaging processes like inflammation and halt the disease cycle.
This makes blocking galectin-3 one of the most important therapeutic strategies for treating a vast array of conditions. But many practitioners — and certainly most patients — don’t know to look at this. And if they’re not looking at it, they won’t be trying to block it. Providing doctors, practitioners, and patients with this knowledge in this book gives them better tools they can use effectively to fight disease and promote wellness.
But even more important, after decades of training, practicing, and teaching meditation and healing, supporting the healing journey of so many, and going through my own healing journey, I discovered that the key to unlocking the survival paradox is in each one of us. It’s an open heart, boundless love, and compassion for self and others, without judgment. It’s who we really are. In The Survival Paradox, I introduce the reader to this idea and offer the initial door into this vast transformative exploration, what I coined open heart medicine.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned going through the journey you share in the book?
Constant education is foundational to holistic mind-body healing because medical research and findings are always changing. Of course, everything is always changing. It’s the only absolute certainty you can count on. The key is to use this constant change to your advantage, to learn from it and grow. This opens up new healing pathways and gives us the opportunity to discover new practices. I believe that there is always a pathway for healing because we have choices.
And when you harness the incredible power of choice, true miracles begin to happen. In order to truly learn we need to be willing to unlearn, to shed belief systems and preconceived ideas. And then, anything and everything is possible.
That’s why I choose to empower patients, practitioners, and anyone looking to achieve greater wellness, with the information and tools they need to make more successful treatment decisions. And as I continue to change and learn and grow, I will always share my discoveries.
How will you apply this lesson in your own life and business moving forward?
My whole life has been a journey of learning and I intend for that to never stop. Especially now as we live in a time rife with chronic disease and challenging infections.
But it is also a time when advances in medical research have uncovered new ways to harness both our genetic capacity and our cellular pathways to promote health and alleviate disease at the molecular level. This ties in directly with galectin-3, a truly destructive molecule. We have the tools and methods available right now to block galectin-3, but not enough people know about them and use them. Once they learn this, it will change everything for them — their physical health, mental health, brainpower, and rate of aging.
It’s my mission — my calling — to teach people about the survival paradox. On the physical level by understanding and addressing galectin-3, and on a deeper level, by opening our hearts to each other and to ourselves. When I work directly with patients in my practice, I can pour all of my education and knowledge into their treatment. I can lead them to discover their own holistic healing journey. But the number of patients I can treat is limited.
My book, The Survival Paradox, allows me to reach more people and introduce to them more effective ways they can help themselves heal. And what leads all of my work, with patients, when I teach, and in the book, is sharing my heart with others.
