My Story Behind Vibrant Health Compass

I would never call myself a “health guru” or “health expert” nor do I have any experience working in the health sector. In fact, my obsession around the topic of health and wellness just began about 1 year ago. So why did I launch Vibrant Health Compass?

Here is my story.

During my childhood days, I was made fun of for being “skinny”.

I was born on 20 July 1992. Though I was chubby as a toddler, I soon grew to be underweight till the point people called me skinny. I was weak, unfit and had asthma. I often had asthma attacks and had to remove the phlegm using a nebuliser in hospital. Being diagnosed with childhood asthma, I also had to use the inhaler twice daily.

Furthermore, I was always far behind my classmates in physical exercise classes in school. I would be jogging and panting, along with my overweight peers. I was never good in sports and even skipped PE lessons.

Growing up as a sheltered teenager, I never had to face much problems. 

Only in my teenage years did I start taking more interest in my health and fitness. Wanting to look more muscular and attractive to the opposite gender, I joined swimming in my junior college to improve my fitness. After that, I even started working out at the gym with a friend.

Due to my childhood asthma condition and ankle injuries I had sustained, I was put in PES C in national service. Which meant the army I went through was not half as rigorous as most healthier 18 year olds. No physical tests, lots of excuses and predominantly desk bound work.

Bored and tasked with mostly admin work, I counted down to the end of my 2 years of national service. At home, mum did all the cooking and housework. I didn’t have any responsibilities nor did I face any real problems. In hindsight, life was easy.

During university, I started my first business.

After joining business school in university, I started The Noteway along with 5 other friends as part of a minor in entrepreneurship program. What started off as a business selling customised notebooks transformed into a t-shirt and apparel printing company.

I remember telling my cofounder that I needed to make this business successful by the time I graduated from university. I was excited by the time and monetary freedom that I thought a business could bring. I also was hoping to help my dad retire.

But then as I delved deeper into my business, I came to terms with the realities of entrepreneurship. Business was far from easy and involved so many moving parts. From finance to logistics and HR, I started feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of running a business while studying in university.

Upon graduating from university, I faced the harsh realities of life. 

When I graduated from university, business started picking up thanks to learning and implementing SEO tactics actively to my business. While I joined a full time job at first, I switched to doing business full time soon after.

We were getting so many enquiries that I was not able to handle the business alone. I got a place to rent and full time staff to join the company.

Me and my other co-founders decided to insource printing. We bought expensive t-shirt printing equipment to print the t-shirts and merchandise ourselves. Our attempt to get a government grant to cover the equipment costs failed.

We also had over-hired and were struggling to pay our staff as sales dipped. We took business loans and used it for overheads like rental and payroll. Sleepless nights followed.

My health started deteriorating rapidly mainly due to stress.

My health started deteriorating rapidly as I took on a lot of stress in my business. From worsening skin conditions to gastritis problems, I was visiting doctor after doctor even before I turned 30.

In 2019, we opened Streaks n Strokes art studio and closed down The Noteway t-shirt printing. We again took business loans for the initial rental deposits and renovation for the studio. Just as our studio revenue was growing rapidly with our SEO efforts, Covid-19 happened.

Government policies such as venue capacity restrictions and lockdowns hit us hard. Our revenue plunged, slumping more than 90%. We were devastated.

We still had accumulated business loans and high monthly overheads to pay for. We vacated our studio, downsized our team and pivoted our business to a 100% e-commerce model.

The next months were tough. 7 team members including staff and co-founders had to leave the team one after another. Only I was left to manage the entire business as I got married to my wife, Tania.

Thankfully, my talented wife had landed a software engineering role in a top tier Fintech company. So we could sustain our household expenses.

But soon after our marriage in June 2021, a few days after my first Covid-19 vaccination, I started vomiting, had heart palpitations and fainted. I was admitted in hospital for the night but was discharged soon after without a clear diagnosis.

I also suffered from chronic back pain, knee pain and other health challenges. My wife thought I had insufficient protein, so I increased my meat consumption. My health did not improve.

In 2021, I lost a close friend to cancer.

Around that period of time, on 3 November 2021, I lost my close friend Kanesh to cancer. He was the same age as me, only 29 years old, and he was a kind and fun loving friend. Kanesh’s inspiring story was featured on multiple publications:

• 25 July 2018: Fighting Cancer While Pursuing His Dreams

• 6 May 2020: Four inspiring millennials get Generation Grit award

The first time Kanesh underwent cancer treatment and chemotherapy was when he was just 11. Though he battled the disease and recovered at that time, he had a cancer relapse in his late 20s. This time, he lost his life. 

This incident made me question my already shaky belief in God.

Why did Kanesh have to face such a deadly disease in his life? 

Why did God take away his life at such a young age? 

I was left with confusion, hurt and sorrow. And I remember crying as I delivered a eulogy in memory of Kanesh at his funeral. 

I faced more health challenges & started getting answers.

On another stressful day in 2022, I suffered yet another panic attack (heart palpitations, feeling of dizziness, loss of appetite). This time, I was admitted in hospital for almost a week undergoing multiple tests yet again. Again, doctors could not diagnose what was wrong.

My iron was low according to the blood tests but that provided no clue to why I was getting these attacks. I even did a colonoscopy and video capsule endoscopy, which couldn’t diagnose my condition. 

In January 2023, I spotted a brochure advertising a gut microbiome test in the gastroenterologist clinic I was visiting. I asked my doctor about it and he advised me to do the test which required my stool sample. During this Amili gut microbiome profile test, I first discovered that my gut health was extremely poor. 

On the think well axis (scoring 1), it was discovered that my gut microbiome may be producing less GABA, resulting in more stress and anxiety. My gut microbiome was also likely not producing enough serotonin naturally, affecting my sleep quality, feelings and mood. 

On the live well axis (scoring 4), it was discovered that my gut microbiome was not producing enough cysteine and enough indole on its own to maintain my gut lining. My gut microbiome was also not producing enough BCAAs resulting in inefficient muscle building and repair. 

On the feel well axis (scoring 2), my gut microbiome was found to be less able to harvest energy from carbohydrates. My body was found to be less efficient at building and maintaining muscle and engaging in muscle recovery, less efficient at burning fats and not producing enough butyrate to maintain my normal satiety levels and gut lining. 

In summary, my gut health was poor in each of the 3 dimensions of gut health. This partly explained my gastritis issues, low energy and regular fainting episodes. Based on the report results, I was given some expensive supplements and food recommendations, which I could sustain for only a few months after. 

We faced more health challenges, but this time for my baby boy.

In October 2022, my son was born. He brought so much joy in our lives. But unfortunately, my son’s weight was unusually low. Knowing the endless benefits of breastfeeding, my wife struggled to get my son to breastfeed well to increase his weight. 

His weight gain was poor. We visited more than 5 paediatricians, paediatric dentists, lactation consultants and even a feeding clinic in Singapore, some of which were top rated. None could diagnose what was wrong and most told us to give formula milk. One even told my wife that she probably didn’t have enough milk.

My wife strongly believed that there was something the doctors were missing. Thankfully, we decided to make a trip to Chennai, India to consult a top rated lactation consultant named Ramyaa there. As soon as we landed in Chennai, we visited Ramya Ma’am at her MommyTalks Wellness Hub centre and she suspected my son had a posterior tongue tie.

Ramya Ma’am referred us to We Little, a preventive pediatric dentistry clinic where Dr Padminee helped diagnose my son with a posterior tongue tie and lip tie. The doctor explained that a tongue release surgery, after about 2 weeks of body work and suck training using the tongue, could get my wife and son back to exclusive breastfeeding and better weight gain for my son. We went ahead with the online trainings provided, pre-procedure work and subsequent Frenectomy procedure which was done seamlessly. Within 2 weeks after the procedure, my wife got back to exclusive breastfeeding thanks to Ramya, Dr Padminee and team. My son was so much happier and healthier after the procedure too.

My wife had a big health scare, when we least expected it. 

After our trip to India to get my son’s tongue tie diagnosed and treated, my wife got extremely ill. She was coughing and sneezing uncontrollably, and we thought she would recover with some rest. But two days later, her health condition got so bad to the point that she was feeling dizzy. We booked a taxi to Singapore General Hospital together with my baby boy. As we were alighting from the taxi, my wife fainted on the ground. I alighted the taxi with my son and screamed for help. She was admitted for a short while. But the doctors were not able to diagnose what had happened.

Later, we consulted a gastroenterologist in Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where she was admitted in hospital for nearly a week. During her admission, she was diagnosed to have volvulus - twisting of the intestine due to violent coughing. And she was also diagnosed to have severe fecal impaction, which had caused my wife constipation for years.

The report showed something strange. My wife had a 5cm inflammation/tumour in her caecum. The doctors at Mount Elizabeth hospital were worried this could turn out to be something sinister and advised doing a surgery to remove it. However, a doctor at a public hospital told us otherwise and that it didn’t need to be removed for now. We were confused and worried.

As for the fecal impaction and long term constipation, the doctors did not have a permanent solution other than laxatives which my wife was already taking.

Again, we knew there should be a fix to her poor health condition. We just couldn’t put our finger on what exactly to do. 

We reached a turning point that finally transformed our health.

At that point of time, we decided to call and speak to Ramya Ma’am (the lactation consultant we had met in India) about my wife’s health and whether she knew anyone that could help my wife. Thankfully, she did and my wife booked a consultation call with Effath Yasmin Ma’am, a leading Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist trained in Naturopathy and the founder of Nourish and Nurture.

Speaking to Effath Yasmin Ma’am was mind blowing, as she showed us proof that even the most severe diseases (including cancer) have been reversed without medicine. She gave my wife a strict regimen to follow given her health condition. This included alternate day juicing, intermittent fasting, daily enema and a 100% vegetarian diet which had to be followed for at least 6 months.

As my wife was so afraid to do the daily enema that Effath Yasmin ma’am told us to do, we decided to search more online and stumbled upon this YouTube video about Enema by the Satvic movement. This was our very first time hearing about the Satvic movement.

I decided to follow Effath Yasmin ma’am’s regimen along with my wife to improve my health too. We were only able to follow the enema and alternate day juicing regimen for about 2 months as we were migrating to Sydney, Australia from Singapore after that. Despite that, with the diet changes alone, my wife’s constipation improved significantly.

We also delved into other content from the Satvic movement and joined their 21 day Ultimate Health Challenge.

Soon after, we attended the Heal Yourself Challenge by the Satvic movement.

We also seeked the help of our yoga teacher, Tameem ma’am, and Dr Anu Handa, in our journey towards better health. Dr Anu is a leading Ayurvedic health practitioner at AyurHealthcare clinic in Sydney. She was the first one who managed to diagnose that me and my wife were suffering from autoimmune disease using key markers in our blood test reports. An autoimmune disease happens when your immune system attacks your own body instead of defending it.

Using a combination of dietary changes, yoga exercises, stress management techniques and recommendations from Effath Yasmin Ma’am, Satvic Movement and Dr Anu Handa, my health improved significantly. Especially my energy levels, pain symptoms, gastritis problems and immunity. My wife’s constipation problems are mostly gone and she has more energy throughout the day too. 

Despite significant improvements, there are problems we still want to fix with regards to our health. Currently, both me and my wife are working with Dr Dixa Bhavsar, an Ayurvedic doctor who helps people across the globe to reverse diseases.

Now, we are moving towards life with more meaning and purpose.

Since my wife’s dad passed away from heart disease at the age of 53 in 2016, my wife had considered stuyding medicine. But she also faced the financial pressure to earn as soon as she graduated to support her family. So she took up software engineering roles for the sake of earning money. 

Early this year, my wife was facing intense pressure at her workplace in Sydney, Australia. During this time, she reflected and connected with God and realised her strengths and interests were not in software engineering. She wanted to pursue her passion in medicine rather than working in a role she disliked. 

She studied hard for the MCAT examination for nearly 6 months, scored an outstanding 519 out of 528 for the exam and got admitted into the MD program at Duke NUS Medical School in Singapore. 

For me, I have been doing business for the past decade. But never have I done business around a product or service I loved. Instead of working on doing “anything” that could bring in money, I should have been focusing on doing something I was truly passionate about. 

With SEO With Senthil, I want to work on offering a service I love (SEO) in an industry I am deeply passionate about (Health & Wellness). 

As such, my goal for 2025 is to find 2 clients in the health and wellness industry (that I share the same values with) to do SEO for them. I will be providing Done For You SEO services to these clients. 

My other goal is to grow my health and wellness blog, Vibrant Health Compass, to over a million website visitors. For this goal, I do not have a hard deadline. But I want to write for at least 2 hours every single day and keep adding new and valuable content here.  

As I launched Vibrant Health Compass, I lost another family member.

As I was launching vibrant health compass in December 2024, my 76 year old aunt passed away. Here is a rough sequence of events leading to my creation of this health blog (including my loss of other family members):

• 25 April 2016: My wife’s dad passed away from heart disease at the age of 53. 

• 3 November 2021: My close friend, Kanesh, passed away from cancer at the age of 29. 

• 25 November 2024: My wife got admitted into the MD program at Duke NUS Medical School in Singapore. Following the offer, my wife resigned from her job in Australia. 

• 10 December 2024: I published my first article on Vibrant Health Compass around 7 real truths behind a healthy diet food companies don’t want you to know. 

• 12 December 2024: My 76 year old aunt, who had stage 4 breast cancer, was admitted in Sengkang General hospital due to breathlessness. Her condition was worsening as her heart had failed and water had entered her lungs. 

• 15 December 2024: We returned from Sydney to Singapore.

• 17 December 2024: Just a few hours after my wife and I visited her at the hospital, my aunt Sarasvathi passed away. 

• 18 to 20 December 2024: We attended and helped with her funeral and prayers across the next 3 days. 

• 24 December 2024: I publish my story for the first time on Vibrant Health Compass. I am sure my deceased family members and friends will be happy as I grow this blog. They suffered a lot of pain and suffering in and out of hospital during their last years. 

While a healthy diet is 1 crucial factor to lead a long and healthy life, I realise there are other factors that are equally, if not more important. Similar to my wife’s dad who lost his job and underwent huge amount of stress in his last days, my aunt also was facing a lot of stress from her business in her last days. Which is why I have centred my content in Vibrant Health Compass around adopting a healthy diet, stress management techniques and a diverse range of other health resources. 

People I Am Eternally Grateful For 

These are souls without whom Vibrant Health Compass could not have been born. I would like to thank: 

• God for introducing me to all the wonderful souls below who have made this website a reality. 

• My wife, Tania Chattopadhyay, who supported me during every step of my entrepreneurship journey. She encouraged me to do this and even helped me come up with the name and logo of Vibrant Health Compass. I can’t wait for her to complete her postgraduate degree in medicine and verify all the scientific facts that I share here!

• My dad, Periakaruppan Subramanian, for buying me a $3000 SEO program in late 2014, which helped me grow an irreplaceable skill that I am putting to good use till today.. 

• Ramya ma’am & Dr Padminee from We Little, for diagnosing and healing my son’s tongue tie which helped him improve his health and build a stronger bond with his mum. For introducing me to Effath Yasmin ma’am. 

• Effath Yasmin ma’am, the first person who made me believe in God after just 1 call. She encourages me to find time to connect with God up to 5 times a day. She showed me the power of scriptures across different religions, and how they hold similar answers to all our questions about life. 

• Subah Saraf, Harshvardhan Saraf and the entire Satvic Movement team, for their life changing health resources that they share in their paid courses and free social media content. I want to meet them in person one day. 

• Tameem ma’am for encouraging me to do yoga exercises regularly, since I joined her yoga sessions from mid 2023. 

• Dr Anu Handa from AyurHealthcare clinic for first diagnosing my health condition.

• Dr Dixa Bhavsar who is working with me and my wife closely now to help us achieve our peak health .

• My mother in law, Sujata Chattopadhyay, for introducing me to BK Shivani. 

• BK Shivani ma’am, for lifting my spirits and giving me strength through her Youtube content whenever I am feeling down. For strengthening my belief in spirituality and helping me connect with God better. I want to meet her in person one day. 

These souls have not just helped me in my health. But they have helped me live a happier and more meaningful life. A life of purpose.

I want to use my skills in SEO to pass on my transformative learnings around health and happiness to people all around the world. Which is why I started Vibrant Health Compass.

As I continue to create more and more content, I know this blog will impact the lives of more and more people for years to come.