dr nazih

Antibiotics didn't help, it just depleted my gastrointestinal flora. I was, I was told that, look, this is stress, take these steroids, you're a pharmacist, you know how you can manage steroid treatment course and live with it. And I did, I did that, I lost 10 kg, but I told myself, yeah, I'm a pharmacist, I can deal with that. And I continued, I always traveled with my prednisolone, basically steroids, in my pocket in case I feel the pain again, I will take some milligram of it. And that continued. I finished my studies, I met my wife, I got married, and I started working in the pharma industry. My stress level continued. I have more and more growing responsibilities. And I told you I was doing clinical trials across the globe. I was traveling between all the continents all the time and sleeping in airports, in hotels. And when I come back home, I'm literally exhausted. I used all my stamina, my strength to travel, do the job. And when I come back, I'm down, I'm on my fours. Until 1994, I had a severe attack and I was hospitalized, admitted in a hospital in Geneva. And at that time, a very nice, strong gastroenterologist actually looked after me and finally he put a name on it. He said, "Look, I have two news for you, one good, one bad. The good news is that we know what is your disease, it's called Crohn's disease. It's an autoimmune disease." And my mind was going. I know what Crohn's is, I know what autoimmune diseases are, I've been dealing with one autoimmune disease which is multiple sclerosis. And my mind was going, "Wow, autoimmune disease, how can we overcome it?" Because these are lifelong diseases. And he said, "The good— the bad news unfortunately is that we cannot heal it. We can control it." So you have to live with it for the rest of your life and minimize the severity of your attacks because there will be more of them. That was devastating. At the time, you know, I had 3 children and I had huge responsibilities. I, I was about to finalize the, the reports of the studies for submission in Europe and FDA. I mean, yeah, I had to take his words for granted, and he prescribed another treatment. It's sulfasalazine, for those who know. Which is a nasty product. I mean, so the prednisolone was helping me, steroids were helping me to minimize the inflammation, but the inflammation, the root cause, was always there. So I thought, I hope, with sulfasalazine I could really control the disease better without the side effects of the steroids. So I started taking sulfasalazine, 9 tablets a day. I had to introduce them slowly but surely and taper the dose up on a regular basis depending on my condition. I had— I lived my whole life, Hanan, struggling between sulfasalazine and steroids. I kept traveling, my responsibilities continued, the stress level continued, and I was constantly traveling. And when I forget to take my sulfasalazine with me, Crohn's disease always came back with vengeance at me. Because the root cause of the disease is always there. These medications were only controlling the inflammation, but the problem was still there. So when it came with vengeance, I am down on my back, breathing and, and suffering from pain, from aches in my bones, in my joints, in my intestine, in my back. So I need immediately to go on one week heavy dose of steroids. It's 1 milligram per kg. I was taking 80 milligrams a day for 7 days to control it down and then go back with it. And that was my life. I was just struggling between one drug and another. Steroids is not good for your, you know, side effects. It can destroy the bone, it can destroy the kidney functions, but it's an excellent and amazing anti-inflammatory drug. And sulfasalazine.

Sulfasalazine, I remember, well, you cannot be off of sulfasalazine. I remember sulfasalazine was very, uh, was taken, um, was not very much available in the market. So what did you do then? I mean, your body was so dependent on it for not going through this pain and suffering. So what did you—

With my wife, we have always been looking for alternatives. Always. Alternative in traditional Chinese medicine, alternative in acupuncture, alternative in, you know, diet, change your food hygiene, you skip this, skip that. We tried, believe me, we tried everything possible. But I could never take myself off sulfasalazine. As you said, this is a medication that you become— your body become dependent on it. Until one day my brother-in-law called me and he said, look, I want you to come and see this beautiful presentation by a company who specializes in food supplementation. They are holding a big meeting, big event, scientific events. You love science, come, come and join me in a few weeks' time. And we did, we went to Bangkok and we attended that huge conference, basically. There were thousands of people there, and I, I, I was listening with a lot of interest to this chief scientist officer talking about the, the name, the natural product this company is developing to help people strengthen our body and our immune system. Basically, I listened there. I listened to doctors coming with their testimonial Testimonials, they did clinical trials. There were patients also coming, people coming from different sorts and just telling how they found a lot of freedom and help and support to their health just by using food supplementation. With my mind of evidence-based medicine, you know, I was sitting there and said, I want the science, I want the science. So I did ask, can I have the science? You said you have clinical trial. And I think somebody at past midnight came and knocked on my door, because I was traveling the following morning back to Geneva. And he gave me a thick book like that called The Doctor's Guide. And I spent the whole night reading it. So this is a food supplement company producing evidence-based clinical trials to support their natural approach to human health Globally. And before I know, I find myself buying a huge stock. I wanted to try on myself, and I started taking those food supplements. And without noticing, I started with a cleanse, I started nourishing myself with a lot of antioxidants, vitamin C, omega-3, spirulina, good quality protein, soy protein, what have you. A lot of, you know, good natural extract of white, of vegetables and fruits. And before I know, Hanan, with the steroids, my body was full of, you know, liquid retention. And before I know, I lost 13 kg that were extra. In probably 6 weeks, I lost a lot of weight and I recovered a huge energy level. I found myself alive again, and I was so happy. Until one day, sulfasalazine was out of stock in Dubai. That was 4 years ago. I freaked out, to be honest with you, because I know if I stop it— every time I stop it for 3 days, Crohn's comes back at me with vengeance. And I have always my stock of steroids, so I was talking to my wife, "Honey, what do you think? Shall I take steroids in prevention?" I don't have any, any more sulfasalazine. You cannot find it anywhere. And she said, look, you're doing well. Why don't you wait? If you start feeling the symptoms, you start your steroids. If nothing happened, well, you're okay. Because I honestly was feeling well, and I waited. I waited one day, I waited two days, I waited three days, I waited three weeks, I waited three months. That was like two years ago. Nothing happened. Crohn's never came back to hit me hard without sulfasalazine, without steroids. I can say today my life has completely changed simply because I found a way to feed this beautiful machine, our body, with what probably was lacking in my food, in the food I was eating, with those antioxidants and natural food supplements. I find myself today, you know, at 60 almost, have more energy and more stamina than when I was 30. Imagine that. And because of that, you know—

Amazing story. Yeah, and go ahead, continue your story. It's very interesting because it's— I love the part where you mentioned that the clinical trials, the science, the evidence, you know, people like us, we would not just, you know, take something that doesn't have the backing of the numbers and statistics, right? So that's kind of— but to come from being on sulfasalazine for most of your, you know, for such a long time and cortisone, and we know what cortisone and all these other, you know, the sulfasalazine does to your body, and actually, relieve all the side effects, because it does have a lot of side effects, relieve all the side effects and get your body working better than it's ever been, masha'Allah, before. That's quite, you know, it's unheard of, right? Autoimmune diseases, you make a turnaround like that without being on any medication is quite what we call it, well, the conventional medicine methods will call the placebo effect, right? But you are saying we know it's not a placebo effect. It's actually an alternative way to get to the root cause, nourish that root cause and heal it, and be able to let what our body, like you said, the machine we're born with already has a program that it needs to do what it needs. We just need to get out of its way. We need to get to the root cause, heal it, and be able to nourish that which needs to operate to do what it needs to do best. We'll continue. Yeah, this is amazing. This Crohn's disease is very unheard of to have any reverse, especially in such a short time like that, and get off the drugs altogether is an amazing defeat. Congratulations on that. And I know Dr. Nazeem very well, masha'Allah. He's always working out. He's always in the gym. I mean, yeah, masha'Allah, I can't even do some of the weight he does. And he's, masha'Allah, swimming, he's active. And I must say, and masha'Allah, you've come a long way and congratulations on that. And Dr. Noosh, of course, his wife, don't— age is a number, trust me. When you meet these two, you believe it. And they're very active couple, very energetic and focused. Now they're like I, we are all bringing this awareness to people that please don't be dependent on just third party or things, resources outside of yourself. Try to find out what is happening, what's going on that you could do and take control of your health and well-being. So Dr. Nazih, yeah, please tell us what you're going to say next.

What I was gonna say next is that it was a gift for me. I would have never thought about stopping sulfasalazine alone. Although it was destroying my liver, I had to go regularly, constantly check my liver function just to make sure that my body is still coping well with it, and luckily, alhamdulillah, I was coping well with it. But nothing happened for no reason, right? Everything happens for a reason. It was out of stock. I, you know, pharmacist with my connection, I tried to purchase it everywhere. It was out of stock. My destiny was stop taking it. And I was forced to stop taking it. I stopped taking it and then only then I discovered, Subhanallah, my body has everything now it needs to heal itself. Just give it the resources, give it the nutrients, give it the building blocks it needs, and magic will happen. And, and because of that, you know, I— we had a long reflection with my wife. We decided to take it as a mission for us to spread the word about alternative medicine. We need to tell the world, as you just mentioned, don't rely only on medicine. Medicines are needed, medicines are essential, we need them. But what is best than prevention? Nothing's best than prevention. Medicine deals with the disease when it is too late, right? Prevention is better than a cure. We know it.

Um, yeah, I definitely agree. I always tell my clients— sorry about that— that, um, and there's actually an American saying, it says an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And what we're both trying to say, the best cure out there is don't get it. Don't get the condition in the first place and prevent it as much as possible.

Absolutely. We have the same saying in Arabic, you know, if I'm going to say it, that's exactly what you said. Prevention is better than a cure. So we have spent all our life, both of us, in the pharmaceutical industry looking after sick people. And then we decided today, there is a lot of people, the sick people, we can't help them. But the medicine, you know, the healthcare system is taking care of them. I want to create the healthcare system, the real healthcare system, not the sick care system, taking care of the sick people. Real health starts with prevention. So look at people before they fall sick, and help them to understand, educate them, create awareness about how we can strengthen this beautiful gift that is our body to live a better life. Strengthening it at all levels, mind and body. It, it is key to know that the blueprint of any cure, of any illness, or even of, you know, a smart you open your, your skin, you don't notice it heals itself. You know, how does it work? It's in there, it's in our blueprint. Just thinking about it mentally will empower our body to go and heal itself. And that is true for any disease. We've been spending a lot of time learning, educating ourselves about You know, the power of the natural therapy, natural approaches, the power of the brain, the power of the body. We've been studying a lot. We, you know, I'm a big fan of your book, Healology. My wife is following and doing Healology with you. She's gonna be my personal Healologist as well, for that matter. So yeah, and since a few years we've been Helping hundreds of people to prevent diseases, to prevent any health condition, annoyment they are living with, simply by cleaning this machine. Just clean it, clean your mind, clean your body, believe in your power, believe in, in the creation that is in your fingerprint of every single cell of your body. It can heal itself, just empower it and deal with it.

You remind me of the Blue Zone. I don't know if you ever heard of Blue Zone research, where in the US scientists have decided to go and search for these populations across the world who live 100 and beyond. And these people are in countries, they're living a simple life. They're eating to live, not living to eat. And they're actually just living to, to nourish. They're not really doing anything that's, you know, medicine-wise or anything like that. And it's, believe it or not, these 7 countries, Okinawa in certain areas, it's not really first world countries or like advanced countries. Like, but the statistics shows, I mean, even the advanced countries are going up and up in obesity, in diabetes, in cancer, and yet these people are living the simple, you know, nourishing their body and taking care of themselves are the ones who are really living the life. I mean, they're the ones who are living beyond 100.

Yeah. I can relate to that, Dr. Hanan Selim. There is a place in Pakistan up in the northeast of the country, in the mountain, in the hills, called the Hansa population. And they live only on natural resources, organically. They live there and they, you know, average age for them, so you know, is above 100. It's 110, 120, they all centennial, they all live 100 years. And they eat naturally, they work together, they have a sense of community. And they don't rely on the stress of the world around us. They don't. They only eat natural food from their own harvesting. And they have a big sense of societal festivities. They are always happy. They are always celebrating, dancing together. Even if they go out to harvest, they live actually a lot on mishmish. I forgot it. Apricot. Apricot. They dry it, they harvest it. Even when they are going and harvesting, they are singing, they are chanting, they are dancing. So this lifestyle, you know, you don't need to go to the Amazon. It's just a few, you know, few hundred miles away, maybe 1,000 kilometers away from here, and you find them. Then you find a lot of people living long, just simple, simply just eating the essential. Today with our food industry, you know, all the processed food we are eating, all the sugar added and hidden in everything we eat, that our body doesn't need. We eat it without even knowing it. Even if we want to take fruits and vegetables, although, you know, they are, if they be genetically modified, they look great, but when you taste them, when you eat them, they have no taste in them. They lost all the essential nutrients that our body needs to function properly. So this is why I said being healthy, looking after your health, being active, doing a lot of sport, work your mind, and provide the proper nutrients, the building blocks for your body, and, and you will, you will live happily. You will not recognize or see diseases.

Yeah, I love that because I speak about the chronic bio-disruptors that are in our environment. And people think everything is stress, but it's actually a lot of stuff that's under the current that we're actually doing every single day. Like you mentioned, the pesticides and hormones in our food, the electromagnetic sensitivity, the gut issues that really we think we're doing our best by eating well and sleeping well and thinking, you know, you know, and going on the science that come out, right? But actually, it's really getting rid of those chronic biodestructors that are in your environment that compound and create havoc in your health. So let's move into— now that we're in the COVID-19 pandemic and people are really curious from healthcare professionals, like, what kind of tips you give during this time for people to, to use to be, you know, taking care of their own health and well-being?

Very good, thank you. I'm gonna put back my microphone.

We are live.

Oh, Facebook, Facebook Live of Hanan has stopped. Maybe we need to ask Charmaine to launch it again.

Yeah. Oh, okay.

Oh, thank you, Hanan. Well, Hanan will— hopefully, Charmaine, if you are listening, please, uh, check us back on, on online.

You continue to talk?

Yeah, I will continue to talk.

We had one recording, we'll, uh, post it later.

Um, in, in this period of, uh, fear and uncertainties with the COVID-19, Our best ally is our own immune system. It's a no-brainer. You know, we have, we have an army, hundreds of thousands, billions of all those white cells ready to prepare and to defend us against any intruder. Humanity survived millions of years, and all those millions of years humanity coexisted with viruses and bacteria. We depend on each other, we live together. The good bacteria, the good viruses help us, but there are some bad guys from time to time, they show up. And when those guys show up, our immune system is our best ally to deal with them. So what to do now in, in, in, in the midst of the COVID-19? First of all and foremost, you know, follow the guidelines of your local health authorities. You know, social distancing is key to minimize and control and contain the pandemic. That is a must-do. If you have, if you feel you have the disease, get in touch with the authorities. Everybody in every country, whether they are under pandemic lockdown or not, you have a contact number. Follow the instructions. After you have done that, or before, even if you're doing great, you're not feeling anything, what can I do to protect myself and my loved ones from, uh, from COVID-19? Strengthen your immune system. Take your immune system to the next level, and all those immune boosters, naturally, you find them in a lot of food, in garlic, in, uh, you find them in ginger, you find them in yogurt, You find them a lot in a lot of resources. I mean, there are multiple publications about what you can eat to boost your immune system. Funny, we were making some shopping yesterday, and now you can see even on the ads wall where you have the tag of the price, you also have this mention, immune booster. Now you start seeing it everywhere. Immune boosters are everywhere. Fruits, a lot of them. Our immune system. There are also food supplements that I am taking, my wife is taking, my mom and dad are taking, my children are taking. We're doing well, but yeah, help the system, prevent it. Immune boosters, we're talking about product like Immunizen, which is, you know, extracted from colostrum, from cow milk. It's so powerful and so rich of immunoglobulin. That's the only source of it. It's It's only in mother's milk, basically. We eat it, and believe me, I know a lot of people who have been taking it on a regular basis. They have never caught a flu for 16, 18 months since they started. We have another product, Noni, Hawaiian Noni. It's a fruit that grows in Hawaii. It is well known for millennia by the local people. People there for its strong anti— sorry, strong immune booster. It can help them fight any sort of diseases, and they don't use only the fruit. They use the fruit, they use the leaves, they use the roots of the tree. It's amazing, and we have it available at our disposal even here in Dubai. Organic vitamin C is your best ally. That is a most powerful antioxidant that can work with your immune cells to defend you against the aggression of any, of any virus. That said, be contained to be, continue to be active physically. Even if you are contained and confined at home, keep moving. It's so important to give, to keep the blood flowing. It's so important to start a day with some sort of activity. You know, make it a sort of a habit. Start your day, start this machine. You know, when you do exercise, there are hundreds of thousands of chemical produced by your cells, starting from your brain, and it will go and set you in the right mood, in the right level of preparation to start your day, live your day, and be so powerful to resist any of the diseases. And last but not least, meditate. Take the time to reflect. You know, we thought that we never had time, we are always busy, and now suddenly with the confinement everybody's saying, oh, I'm finding I have a lot of time. You know, the last time I checked, I don't know if— what about you, Hanan? Do you think, do you feel, do you have the impression you have more time?

Yes, actually I am. A lot of people, when they get out, when they break old habits or their old routine, they're like, okay, what do I do now? I mean, then they just get stuck. They say, hello, you could do a new routine, you could do new habits. I mean, Just like you said a minute ago, everything happens for a reason. This is an opportunity rather than a challenge. Try to take challenges as opportunities. You said the sulfasalazine, when you couldn't find it, was an opportunity, not a challenge, right? For you to stop the medication and then search for that which will make your health and well-being better. Amazing. So we've come to the end of the show. I'm sorry about all the technical difficulties today. I did record, by the way, the show, and I will be posting again the recorded version so you could see the whole show with no issues. But I want to— what I usually do with my guests, Nazia, I want you to pick out a quote from the Second Chances book that resonated with you. I know you, Anoush, read the book many times. I have. Yes, thank you. And let me know what, to sign off with a nice quote from the book that resonated with you.

All right. Well, actually, I went through it. One of the favorite parts of the book, I found it on page 67, right? And you specifically asked that question: if you had all the money in the world, if you had all the time, and the energy and the focus, what would you be doing right now? The last time I checked, we had 24 hours a day before COVID-19. If I check today, we still have 24 hours a day. But suddenly what happened? We released ourselves from the pressure of going to work, of waking up, of the stress of meetings, of the stress coming from the boss, and suddenly We slowed down everything. And when you ask yourself this question, if you had nothing, if you had no limits, no restriction of money, time, health issue, anything in the world, what would you be doing? If you find that answer, you said it, this is the area where you are happy. And happiness, this is the area, you said, back to your true significant self. What would make you happy? What makes you jump out of bed? Because this passion mixed with compassion— this is my quote, I love it— this passion mixed with compassion unlocks the vital ingredient to reverse your disease. The diseases become your friend and not your enemy, allows you to learn patience, strength, and your purpose. It's time to reflect on the big picture, not on the temporary time of, you know, teaching from the experience. You wrote this book before COVID-19. It's so relevant to what's going on today, Hanan.

I know a lot of people who read the book said, oh my God, did you write this for COVID-19? I said, no, I wrote this actually 3 years ago. It resonates with a lot of people because it gives the understanding of, listen, don't worry about the environment of what the flu or everything that's in your environment. Worry about what you have in your hand right now that you can control and make it worth your while. Thank you. I really appreciate you mentioning that part, and it's a very nice part of the book to sign off on, especially during these times. It's food for thought for people to think about what is their passion, what drives them, what's— why they wake up in the morning, what they love about life, and it really changes their perception on not the challenge but the opportunity that they have in front of them and to grab it and run with it. Thank you so much, Dr. Nazeeh, for this time and your wonderful story and sharing it. You're so authentic. You and Dr. Noosh are very— I I connected with you right away because I feel you guys are so passionate and very, very positive about making an impact and leaving a legacy in the world. And God bless you both. Thank you. And Ramadan Kareem.

Thank you, Hanan. Thank you very much. Thank you. The same to you. All the best.

Thank you, Dr. Nizzi. Okay, so unfortunately we ran out of time and, you know, the technical problems Do write down any questions that you have on the group, and we will still be following the links and the questions, and we'll be glad to answer it for you. Until next time, next week I have a wonderful guest. He's going to be sharing his amazing story, how he also naturally healed without any invasive measures, and understand all the opportunities and the options that we can use and control our health and well-being. Till then, see you next week. Signing off, this is Dr. Hanan Selim. Take care.

Bye-bye.