Personalized Nutrition
Over the years I've experimented with many types of diets on myself and on my patients. I've tried raw vegetarian, carnivore and everything else in between. In the end, I found that the best approach for people with fibromyalgia is joyful eating. This is eating guided by your heart and not your head. We will explore hydration, ancestral eating, and eating right for your body type.
One of the simplest yet most powerful steps in nutrition is staying hydrated. Water is not only a carrier of nutrients but also the foundation of energy production in the body. When we’re dehydrated, energy drops, stress hormones rise, and symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, or even mood changes can set in. Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, known as “Dr. Batman,” devoted his life to showing how even chronic pain and emotional distress can be worsened by dehydration.
Hydration is more than just drinking water—it’s about balance. Our bodies need minerals, or electrolytes, to properly absorb water. Natural salts from the sea or mountains contain the full spectrum of trace minerals that keep this balance intact. Beginning each day with a glass of water and adding small amounts of unrefined salt can gently restore hydration and help the body return to a state of equilibrium.
Not everyone thrives on the same diet. In the 1960s, Dr. William Donald Kelley discovered that some people flourish on plant-based meals while others need more protein and fat. The difference lies in the autonomic nervous system: some of us are sympathetic dominant, others parasympathetic dominant, and many fall somewhere in between.
Thin, high-energy individuals often do best on lighter foods and plenty of carbohydrates, while sturdier body types thrive on protein-rich meals. Balanced types benefit from a wide variety of foods but should avoid refined and processed products. Kelley’s work teaches us that there is no single “perfect diet.” Instead, eating according to your metabolic type supports your body’s natural rhythm and energy.
This approach is especially valuable for those with chronic illness, where tuning into your body’s signals is more reliable than following strict, one-size-fits-all diet rules.
Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old system of healing from India, approaches food in a uniquely sensual way. Rather than counting calories, it asks us to notice how food feels: heavy or light, dry or oily, warming or cooling. It also encourages us to balance the six tastes—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent—so that eating becomes both pleasurable and deeply nourishing.
For those with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue, Ayurveda offers a path back into the body. By paying attention to taste and sensation, you begin to reconnect with your own inner wisdom. Eating becomes less about rigid rules and more about awareness.
Each person is guided by their dosha—Vata, Pitta, or Kapha—which reflects body type, temperament, and tendencies. When you eat foods that balance your dosha, digestion improves, energy becomes steadier, and food feels like medicine rather than burden.
In the 1930s, dentist Weston A. Price traveled the world studying traditional diets. He found that communities living on unprocessed, seasonal foods were remarkably healthy, with strong teeth, resilient bodies, and joyful spirits. In contrast, when refined sugar and processed flour were introduced, health declined quickly, showing up as tooth decay, fatigue, and illness.
What Price observed is timeless: health flourishes when we eat locally grown, seasonal foods that are dense in nutrients. Whether it was fish and seaweed in Polynesia, raw dairy in the Swiss Alps, or organ meats among native tribes, every traditional diet emphasized whole, natural foods prepared with care.
Ancestral eating is not about recreating the past but about reclaiming a way of eating that is joyful, simple, and rooted in the rhythms of nature. By eating with the heart—seasonally, locally, and traditionally—we reconnect with both our bodies and the wisdom of our ancestors.
I’m Dr. Rodger Douglas, DMH, a South African-born homeopath now based in Osaka, Japan. With a psychology degree from Nelson Mandela University and a diploma from the Hahnemann College of Heilkunst, I specialize in holistic care for fibromyalgia. I serve clients by phone or video across the US, Canada, the UK, and beyond, shipping remedies directly from Japan.