Get access to everything Dr. Cabral spoke about in our interview here: http://stephencabral.com/Ashley The Rain Barrel Effect http://learntruehealth.com/the-rain-barrel-effect/ Have you ever heard about the rain barrel effect? Chances are, you haven’t. Using it to analyze why we get sick, the rain barrel effect is how various factors like lifestyle, diet, and environment contribute to the improvement or deterioration of our health. My guest, Dr. Stephen Cabral wrote a book about the rain barrel effect, and that’s what we’ll dive deeper into in this episode. Younger Years It was a long road before Dr. Stephen Cabral became a Naturopathic, Ayurvedic, and Functional Medicine Doctor that he is today. He says it’s not always the most accessible road to get to this point. Dr. Stephen Cabral says that when one goes into this profession, there might be a lot of times you were suffering from something and you overcame it. You discover what thing you want to share with the world. And that’s fundamentally no different for Dr. Stephen Cabral when he was 17 years old. One morning, Dr. Stephen Cabral got up, and all his glands were swollen. He literally couldn’t walk. His heart rate was about 150 to 160 beats per minute. But doctors had no idea what was wrong with him. Dr. Stephen Cabral’s white blood cell counts were off, but they couldn’t determine exactly what it was. This went on for a couple of years, going to a specialist after specialist and the best doctors in Boston. The Diagnosis Eventually, Dr. Stephen Cabral’s mother heard about an alternative medicine doctor. This person was a medical doctor, but they had training overseas and also studied acupuncture. Dr. Stephen Cabral slowly learned about hormones of the body, food sensitivities, and his gut. He took some of that knowledge back to conventional medicine. Dr. Stephen Cabral was eventually diagnosed to have Addison’s disease. It’s feeling like you’re living with the flu all the time. Dr. Stephen Cabral also dealt with rheumatoid arthritis coupled with type 2 diabetes. This was likely the time when the rain barrel effect started to escalate. “My entire immune system shut down from being a stressed out as a senior in high school, and working a couple of jobs,” said Dr. Stephen Cabral. “But I also took 3,000 capsules of amoxicillin the previous two and a half years because of a dermatologist who thought it would be a good idea to help my skin as well.”  Dr. Stephen Cabral gut was devastated. And it wasn’t a quick fix. It was years of figuring out what was wrong with him. “But I can say now that I have no rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and Addison’s disease,” said Dr. Stephen Cabral. “I now have more energy and vitality than I did even as a teenager. All things are possible if you’re able to dig deep enough and figure out what’s going on.”  Genetics Does Matter Taking too many antibiotics can also do more harm than good. And Dr. Stephen Cabral also believes that genetics do matter. But they honestly don’t matter as much as people think they do. “Because according to a study, 95 percent of all disease as we know it, is diet, environment, and lifestyle. Now a lot of that you can be doing well but then you take something like antibiotics, and it starts to open up the tight junctions in the gut,” said Dr. Stephen Cabral.  He adds, “When those gut junctions open up, you now allow normal proteins from the foods that you’re eating to spill into the bloodstream. And when those spill into the bloodstream, it increases the immune activity that increases inflammation. It can then create an autoimmune-based response.” That’s why more than 90 percent of all autoimmune diseases in the U.S. and the world relate to some intestinal permeability. Dr. Stephen Cabral says sometimes; it’s only a matter of time or degree of intestinal permeability that is separating people from excellent health to potentially suffering from a disease. What Can Be Done Dr. Stephen Cabral says the only step that m