Stop Managing Disease. Start Reversing It. by Roxana Soetebeer, MPHC, NNP, MHP, PFC

Stop Managing Disease. Start Reversing It.

     There is a pill for every ill.

We’re not meant to live in a permanent state of disease management.

If you know what causes disease, like sugar, dairy, or ultra-processed junk, the answer isn’t a pill. It’s removing the cause. Because you want to reverse the disease, not manage it.

I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my late 20s. Diabetes and fatty liver followed. Chronic pain required daily meds. I was told it was genetic. Chronic. Progressive. That I would have to learn to “manage it.” Also, I was warned that if I didn’t follow the medication regimen exactly, the meds might stop working. That was a hell of a scare tactic, and it worked. I didn't ask questions and was the model patient.

No one ever tried to find out what was causing the inflammation. No one asked what I was eating, what I was drinking, and how often and how high my glucose levels spiked. No one told me my lifestyle could be the root of my disease.

I figured that out the hard way.

When I finally removed sugar, grains, and seed oils, everything started to change. I wasn’t “managing” inflammation anymore. It was going away. Not entirely, but I made major strides, like getting off insulin and metformin, and maintaining a healthy A1c without diabetes meds.

You might be told not to rock the boat, and that changing your food won’t help. I heard all that too.

Managing isn’t healing

What healing looks like long-term is not just the absence of symptoms, but reclaiming your health (no meds, energy restored, etc).

But in modern society, we’ve normalized treating symptoms with medication while continuing the very habits that cause them. That’s not healthcare, it's sick care.

Blood sugar too high? Here’s insulin.
Cholesterol “off”? Here’s a statin.
Obesity? Let's get you on GLP-1 agonists.

What if instead of suppressing the symptoms, we removed the trigger?

Root causes are often obvious

Sugar is inflammatory. High blood sugar and hyperinsulinemia drive almost every chronic condition we now consider “normal.” From diabetes to heart disease to Alzheimer’s to many forms of cancer.

Seed oils oxidize. Grains irritate the gut. Dairy, for many, contributes to inflammation.

We act like it’s all a mystery, like chronic disease just shows up one day. It's your genes or bad luck. But chronic diseases don't just appear overnight. They build quietly, with every bite.

Your body wants to heal

Remove the obstacle, and your body does what it’s designed to do.

I’ve seen it in myself. And I’ve seen it in every client who changes their lifestyle instead of managing their disease.
Blood sugar comes down.
Joints stop hurting.
Mental clarity returns.
Weight comes off without being starved.

This is not some miracle. It’s basic human physiology. We must create the right environment for the body to heal. That means removing inflammatory foods, stabilizing blood sugar, improving sleep, reducing chronic stress, and supporting gut health.

No one gets sick from a medication deficiency

You didn’t get Type 2 diabetes because you were low on metformin.
You didn’t develop fatty liver because your body lacked statins.
And obesity didn’t strike because you weren’t on GLP-1 agonists.

Those are tools with side effects. They’re not root solutions. The root is what you’re eating, how well you sleep, how much chronic stress you carry, and the toxic load your body is fighting daily.

Yes, it’s hard. But not harder than being sick.

I get it. Changing your food is uncomfortable. Eating differently from your family is hard. Going without sugar, at first, feels daunting, if not impossible.

But none of it is harder than the decades I spent in pain, on meds, and in fear of the next test result. The next diagnosis.

If you are tired of just managing your condition, you need to know there is another way.

Pick your hard. I chose hard, and it gave me my life back.

Final thought

Stop managing disease. Start reversing it.

Eat like it matters.
—Coach Roxana

Written by Roxana Soetebeer, MPHC, NNP, MHP, PFC
Published May 17th, 2025

---

---

Social Media:
Facebook
YouTube
X Roxana
X Joy
Coaching: Are you stuck on your weight loss journey? Check out our coaching programs. Book a free discovery call to find out if we are a good fit.
Patreon with weekly interactive Zooms.

Recommended Books: