Dr. Eric Zielinski seeks ‘Garden of Eden’ lifestyle

Let's try to get back to the Garden of Eden as much as possible,” Dr. Eric Zielinski said. It sounded simple: God provided what his people need, and we should rely on nature to meet our needs. … The reality: We have strayed.

Dr. Zielinski grew up in Michigan. He graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit, and then moved to Atlanta and received a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree from Life University. He currently is on sabbatical from Emory University, where he is working toward a Master of Public Health.

“I had one of those ‘I was blind, now I see' moments 13 years ago when I became a Christian,” he said. “It became so abundantly clear to me that honoring my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit was an act of worship.”

Dr. Z's approach to his work is multi-disciplinary, believing that no “one source” exists for people to use to solve all of life's challenges.

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Dr. Zielinski was chronically sick as a child, he notes — gastrointestinal (GI) issues, acne, depression, suicidal ideation. “I just wasn't a well-functioning person,” he admitted.

Enoch DeBus became Dr. Zielinski's mentor, and his life changed at 23. “I have poured myself into biblical health, poured myself into natural solutions.

“Science has been able to achieve unbelievable feats within the past 150, 200 years,” Dr. Zielinski said, “but unfortunately science has replaced wisdom, science has replaced common sense for a lot of people.”

“We have all the creative genius of God within us,” Dr. Zielinski said. Among the solutions for natural home gardening, he noted container gardening and hydroponic tower gardens are viable in the desire to overcome the system.

“The reality is that there is no ‘perfect,' ” he said. “I get the fact that our water has been tainted, our air, our soil. We have polluted our planet. … It's impossible to separate ourselves from the toxicity. In my opinion, we need to do our best to minimize the toxicity.”

From 2003 to 2015, Dr. Z helped serve people seeking a healthier lifestyle through his Abundant Life Coaching program. This Christian-based health & wellness coaching program was designed to enhance the 7 pillars of Abundant Life: spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, financial, occupational, and social. Because of the great demand for Dr. Z’s services, he decided to stop individual coaching and is currently working on a new project, Biblical Health University, where he will be equipping the next generation of Biblical Health coaches to reach the masses.

“My No. 1 request is that everyone realizes they are accountable,” he said. “Not my doctor, not my father, not my wife, no one — I am. … And it's baby steps. I've been living this way for 13 years, and every so often I learn something new, and I change.

“It's a process, it's a journey. I'm going to ask everyone not to give up, start at the low-hanging fruit, and continue to better themselves.”

“I realized, ‘This is the real deal' ”

Dr. Zielinski wrote Using God's Medicine for the Abundant Life: An Evidence-Based Approach to Essential Oils, which is rooted in Revelation 22:2: “And the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations.”

“I grew up in an abusive home, very dysfunctional,” he said. However, meeting DeBus was a life-changer for Dr. Zielinski. “To me, normal was not good — but [when I met DeBus] I realized it was possible to have a good, balanced life in Christ. My heart was softened to receive Jesus as my savior, and it's led me to where I am today.”

With his life on track, Dr. Zielinski's eyes were opened to a world of possibilities, including nature and its relationship with God. And body odor was the catalyst. “I was doing some research and I found out that the aluminum in my antiperspirant was connected to cancer.

“Being the radical person that I am, I just stopped using antiperspirant — and no substitution, no deodorant, nothing,” he said. “I noticed shortly thereafter that there was an odor about me. It wasn't very pleasant.

“So again, I started doing research on what causes body odor, and I stumbled upon sugar — and the dangers of sugar and how it can produce body odor, and then how it actually affects the immune system and is connected cancer. That was a lightbulb in my mind's eye.”

Dr. Zielinski's research led him to natural solutions for his problem. As a result of relying on nature to address the problem, his complexion also cleared up, and he lost weight. People took notice and asked him what changes he'd made in his life.

“I started teaching people, health-coaching people over a decade ago,” he said. “It was very humbling. … I felt the call of God in my life to be a source of information.”

Understanding that plants are medicine within God's divine plan, Dr. Zielinski realized essential oils are important to everyday health. “I never used them. Quite frankly, being a typical guy, I marginalized aroma therapy as something my wife did — it was the smelly stuff!

“Then I realized. ‘This is the real deal,' ” he said. “I started using it. I became a believer. My wife taught me a lot about aroma therapy,” and now he is researching and studying the chemistry behind essential oils and their benefits.

• To learn more about Dr. Eric Zielinski, visit his website.