Journey to Healing {Part 1: Essentials}

Shortly after the new year, I blogged that this WILL be the year I heal. Even though I've done a Candida detox twice before without success I am still determined and sure this will be the year of regaining my health naturally. It is only the beginning of March and I have seen so much improvement already and such nasty things coming out of my body! Yay!!! Nothing is more exciting than seeing advances when you have worked so hard for so long.

First and foremost my praise goes to the Lord for the healing. I don't know how many prayers I have said for healing but still tried every so called health tip I came across. After eating so clean for such a long time and not seeing a big improvement I became really frustrated. It wasn't until I really asked God for guidance on what I needed to do/take that helped me on my healing journey. The end of last year/the beginning of this year I have done my best to listen to Him. As always, he answered and led me to two crucial products that have helped me significantly!

The first product is organic Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. What is that you ask? Diatomaceous Earth is finely milled silica shells of ancient microscopic freshwater plants called diatoms. What is so amazing about these little silica shells is that when you mix the powder with water and drink it, the diatoms run through your body attracting and absorbing fungi, protozoa, viruses, endotoxins, pesticides, drug residues, E.coli and heavy metals! The good stuff in your body is left unharmed. Pretty darn amazing if you ask me and it comes from the earth, made by God! You can get a lot for not much money. It kinda tastes like drinking sand but I have no problem taking it as I can see it working. After two months of use I noticed/saw the biggest changes so far. So it isn't something that is going to happen overnight... like everything good, it takes time. I worked up to taking 1 flat tablespoon mixed in spring water. I actually mix it in half of a glass of water, drink it right away and then drink a big full glass of plain water right after that. It is a good idea to drink a good amount when you take the Diatomaceous Earth to get it moving throughout your system. 

I just have to note that it was the day I asked God for guidance that I came across the Earthworks site who sells this stuff and what I thought was so awesome was their About Us page actually talks about God and Heaven! I knew in my heart this stuff was going to help me. So far I have not been disappointed and it even has so many more uses! So anyone who is struggling with health issues and not seeing the results they would like to see even after drastic diet changes, I strongly encourage you to look into taking Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. Make sure it is FOOD GRADE! If it isn't food grade it would harm your health!

The next big essential is good, strong probiotics. You have probably heard the importance of probiotics by now. Your body needs plenty of healthy bacteria to crowd out the bad guys in your gut. Every time an antibiotic is taken, the good bacteria is being killed. You need to repopulate the good! If the bad guys out number the good, sickness and disease will overcome you. One of the problems I found was finding a good probiotic to take. Even the ones my doctor recommended didn't seem to do anything for me which made me feel like I was wasting a lot of money. Since many health conditions are caused by the imbalance of beneficial bacteria, one needs to restore a good balance. Again I prayed about it and came across Saccharomyces Boulardii and Bio-Kult. Saccharomyces Boulardii is recommended for those struggling with Candida/yeast issues. Clinical and holistic nutritionist Christa Orecchio has had Candida herself and successfully overcame it with Saccharomyces Boulardii (and Diatomaceous Earth). After listening to many of her health talks I was excited to give Saccharomyces a try and it has worked well. After using Saccharomyces for about 3 weeks with no other fermented foods, I added in Bio-Kult which comes from the UK. It contains 14 live strains of good bacteria. (My daughter also takes this as it is safe for children too.) Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is one who helped formulate this probiotic and I trust her work as she has helped heal many. I currently use both of these probiotics and upped the amount towards a therapeutic grade level per Campbell-McBrides recommendation. After taking them in combination with the DE, I have seen and feel great results. Sure, I have gotten some die off reactions, which are the not so fun feelings of the toxins dying in my body... head spinning, not feeling so well, fatigue... but it is fairly short lived and since I know what it is from I can control it by backing off a bit if I need to. Knowing my body is working on removing the nasty stuff keeps me focused on pushing forward to restored health. Praise the Lord for allowing our bodies to heal themselves given the right conditions! I am currently starting to make my own sauerkraut to get in more fresh probiotics. I have done many kitchen experiments already this year... water kefir, sourdough and now sauerkraut. It has been fun, but sadly our bodies weren't quite ready for everything we tried. In time...

A clean diet free of all processed food is a huge and helpful step. For quite awhile I wasn't seeing a big benefit from it. My doctor suggested I try Betaine HCL to see if my stomach had enough acid to break down the beneficial food I was eating. Sure enough I wasn't getting the good nutrients from the food I was eating. I kind of knew my body was missing important nutrients due to the horrible ridges on my fingernails but at the time didn't know much about Hydrochloride. I thought I was missing some vitamins. Slowly my nails are becoming smoother! Anyway, if you think your body isn't breaking down food properly ask your doctor if you can do the HCL test. You simply take a pill after you eat a meal with protein; you should then have a warm burning sensation in your stomach which means you have enough acid. If you don't feel anything your digestion is needing some help. I got up to the max amount of seven pills and didn't feel anything. After time and more healing I have been able to cut down to one a day and sometimes don't even need any!

I share these items with hopes it will help someone else going through a similar situation. I wish I would have known about them and tried them on my first Candida detox round, but I remain hopeful that the third attempt will be a charm. :) I linked to the actual products I use and think are amazing. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions about the items. I will do my best to answer.

With these healing essentials I also continue to focus on these points that I previously shared. I haven't been doing the best with spending time outdoors since it has been so cold around here lately, but that will soon be changing... warmer weather should be arriving this weekend. Yay! So excited to get outdoors! I love being out in nature and breathing the fresh air. The photos above were taken on a ride back home. The sky was amazing. A South Dakota landscape can be quite beautiful. ♥

TRUTH: The Cause of Sickness & Disease

For you and your loved one's health PLEASE read. 

If you don't want to read my ramblings fine, but I beg you to listen to the youtube links in this post. It has been placed on my heart that everyone needs to know this information. What you do with it is up to you but I urge you to seriously think twice about what you are feeding your body, your children, your loved ones...

God did an amazing job of designing our bodies, to fix/heal themselves, to run smoothly, to be healthy and strong. He provided us with good food to nourish ourselves. We have to do very little to this good food and it will provide us with amazing benefits, both physically and emotionally. What is sad is God's design and purpose is constantly being pushed to the side, which makes our lives so much more complicated than they need to be. When it comes to food we have the choice to eat something that comes directly from nature or we can eat something that is artificial, man made, genetically modified. Some or many pay no attention to what they are putting into their mouth or onto their body. I admit, I was that person for many years. As long as the so called food tasted good that is all that mattered to me. I never thought of the effects the food could have on my body. Besides some skin issues, and not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, I was thin and felt fine, so why should I worry? Life is very busy, I get that; people don't want to take the time to read labels, to cook "healthy" meals, but what they aren't realizing is that by not doing so there will be detrimental effects to their health. Food is either medicine or poison!

Do you know that the more man gets involved with the food process, the unhealthier it becomes? It can be literal poison to your body, causing inflammation. After an extended period of use, the toxic chemicals overwhelm your gut health and the body no longer has the ability of healing itself unless you make significant changes on moving away from the offending products. If no action is taken on your part, sickness and disease will keep multiplying until you die. That sounds fun, doesn't it? Medication is just a bandage, it does nothing for the root cause.

I am no doctor, have had no professional health training, but I have EXPERIENCED many health issues and have also EXPERIENCED some wonderful healing. I have witnessed many people die, all different ages. I've watched my great grandma live into her 100's, my grandma just turned 92 and is doing fantastic. When I hit my early 30's I felt as if my 90 yr old grandma was running circles around me. Why I thought? Why do I feel stuck in an old person's body? Brain fog came after having my daughter. After dealing with secondary infertility and being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and Graves Disease I had a strong feeling it was the food... my diet. But the specialist told me, food has nothing to do with it, so I pushed my feelings aside. From that day on my health issues only got worse UNTIL I significantly changed my diet! There are thousands of people who have seen the same results. Before I changed my diet my little girl had a horrible allergic reaction after eating nutella. Her tongue and throat were swelling shut, her heart rapidly beating. I was in shock. I took her to the clinic where she got shots to counteract the allergic reaction and to normalize her breathing. I had this crazy sense of calmness that my daughter's health was not in my hands but the Lords, even while the panicked doctor had another higher up doctor on the phone. What scares me after that incident is hearing about other children who die from a peanut/nut allergy. Allergies are becoming more and more common. WHY? Some people think doctors are just more aware of symptoms and diagnosis now. Is that really the truth? I beg to differ as I have witnessed our own health turn around almost completely after changing to a healthier diet. I've heard other people's stories of both healing and sickness and it all comes down to FOOD!

Why is this issue so important to me? I don't want others to suffer when they don't have to. I don't want children being sick when it can be prevented. God willing, I want to live a good, long life... feeling happy and energized and I want that for my family as well. I have had lots of health experiences, sadly a lot of my issues were passed onto my daughter at birth. I don't want this to happen to other mom's to be. I want their babies to be as healthy as possible right from the beginning. There are plenty of other environmental toxins people have to deal with. Many readers know a lot about my health journey ~ secondary infertility, hyperthyroid, Graves Disease, hypothyroid, body tremors, heart palpitations, fatigue, weakness (hard to even climb a few stairs), anxiety, hormone imbalance, ringing in ears, constant congestion, swollen lymph nodes, lumps, allergies, intolerances, acne, rashes, spitting of blood, spasms in intestines, Celiac Disease, Candida, leaky gut, hypochlorydria... Saw several doctors, many tests ~ Brain MRI, cancer tests, spit tests, x-rays, unltrasounds, SIBO test, countless blood labs, radioactive iodine, some antibiotics, medications. Since my thyroid was killed I do need constant medication (which is man-made and contains harmful fillers) and if the dose isn't right my health gets much worse, but other then that nothing but diet has helped. If I would have listened to my gut feelings I would still have my thyroid and am sure I would be back to feeling 100% by now. I made a mistake and took a doctors advice without knowing what I was getting into. Which honestly good has come from that too, because I found a new passion in health and food and probably best of all, my relationship with God has become so much stronger. I know who to rely on now and I thank Him for His grace daily. I am healing! I hope my story will give others hope. I hope it will make another person's life a little easier.

Let my struggle be used for good!

But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." ~John 11:4

If you still don't understand the food/health connection I will open up myself entirely and share something I haven't shared with anyone but my husband. A year ago when I was really struggling I also had a large breast lump, (yeah, something I didn't want to share but now its like who cares because if my story helps someone else then awesome!) anyway, it was big enough that the doctor's eyes got real big when it was felt and I was rushed to the hospital for immediate x-rays and set up for cancer screening shortly after. Luckily since the lump was movable it was believed to be non-cancerous but I was supposed to have check-ups and x-rays done every few months. The doctor/nurse said the lump would more then likely grow more during different stages of the month, never saying it will or can dissolve. At that time I knew how important food was and I knew with the work I was doing to rid my body from the excess Candida that my body would heal itself in time. I never returned to the cancer facility or to the hospital for more x-rays. I knew God was in control and guess what, with food and His amazing design, the lump is GONE! Completely gone! Praise the Lord! I have seen so much healing in my body from where I used to be. If my daughter and I are around sick people and catch a bug it does not last long (we eat all organic, clean food), where as my husband can get it and be sick for days (he eats clean food and man-made, plus has a flu shot). I might not get sick if I wouldn't kiss him. Ha! I'm not worried, I believe in my body's ability to heal and His nourishing food. My body fights off sickness quickly now. God is good!

If you don't want to believe me on how serious your health is connected to the food you eat, I beg YOU to listen to these two talks. And if you do believe me, thank you, but still listen to them!!! The one by Jeffrey is lengthy but very good so try listening when your getting supper ready, cleaning up or riding in the car...

TEDxMileHigh - Robyn O'Brien - Patriotism on a Plate

309 - GMO Food Allergies & Gluten Sensitivity - Jeffrey Smith

After listening to these talks, I know my health issues were caused by the genetically modified food. Not realizing it back then, I was addicted to the processed junk, macaroni and cheese - all time favorite, tv dinners with the brownie, chicken nuggets, pizza, pasta, bread, desserts, m&m's, ice-cream, specialty iced coffees... that is what my taste buds craved. Veggies were not on my list. Now I assure you they are and I LOVE them! My daughter does too and actually told me she was glad she had allergies so she could eat this good food. A couple days ago she also told me she feels yucky if she eats the "other" food. (Other meaning processed food, artificial candy from school.) I don't let her eat that junk any more. It turns my stomach seeing all the artificial candy kids get at school and at parties. When Kaelyn wanted a piece of candy she brought home from class I read her the ingredients list on the back and she went and threw it in the garbage!!! This mama's heart skipped a beat with pure happiness. No, it is not always so easy but I know how precious health is and I will do everything in my power to keep my child as healthy as possible.

The main GMO foods to stay away from: corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, & sugar beets. (90% of sugar beets in the US are genetically modified and a lot of it is made into table sugar.) Remember all these can come in different names on ingredient lists. Over time consumption of these foods will cause inflammation and autoimmune diseases unless it is only in small amounts, with the majority of your diet being clean veggies and meats. I am all for supporting organic grown foods and small farms that don't alter nature. As Jeffrey Smith stated, a GMO is like saying God Move Over. GMO's are like a silent war going on in our country. The outcome is devastating, not everyone knows about it. I urge you to be skeptical of man-made products that you use in/on your body. Someone may be just making a buck off you and harming your health. It is sad! Please watch what you feed children. They don't realize what is good vs. harmful. Teach them early on. It will be hard at the beginning but it will get much easier and they will thank you for it in the future. God created everything so perfect and good, His works should not be changed! I pray that people will change their focus of money to doing good for others.

"For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you." ~Proverbs 2:10-11

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." ~Proverbs 1:7

"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." ~Isaiah 1:19

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please, please listen to the links!

Ready for the Worst {Health Scare}

It is no secret that my health has been one big roller coaster for the last few years. The last year and a half I've been spending a lot of time working to heal my own body through food and herbs. There has been a lot of improvement but there continues to be bumps in the road. When you work so hard at something and then still have a problem, frustration and discouragement set in. Over the Fourth of July I had another big health scare... probably the biggest so far. I knew my thyroid medication wasn't right as body tremors were racing through me once again. I absolutely hate the shaking feeling, sometimes you just feel it under the skin and other times your body (arms, head, legs) will literally be shaking. Heart will race. Legs weren't wanting to work right. Not fun. I knew what was causing it though, my thyroid medication was off and all I could do was wait for blood work results. Then came the night I was spitting up blood once again. I had tried to bring back a food and then this happened. I always get a bit scared when I see blood and it is discouraging. I was also having stomach pain that was getting worse. That night while laying in bed I felt a big hard lump right under my rib. I quickly felt my husband to see if he had one in that location and no, he didn't. I was SCARED! I've had other lumps in my body. They've been checked and not believed to be cancer since the lumps move. A doctor wanted to cut the neck lump out but I've been able to gradually shrink it by eating healthy food and taking oil of oregano (powerful herb!). I have had so many health problems already the only thing left on the list was cancer, so I was thinking the worst. That weekend I was researching every free moment I got. The more I read about Chemo the scarier it sounded. Spending tons of money to kill all the good cells in my body, among many other things did not set well with me. I truly believe our bodies can heal itself given the right foods (vitamins, minerals, herbs). The doctors office was booked for a month but with my issues I was rushed to same day appointment. On the way there I was thinking the worst news but I trusted God. I even told my husband, I trust God more than any human. He can heal me from food He provides. If I have cancer I might allow them to cut out as much as possible but I wouldn't do Chemo. I was following my heart. Of course I didn't want it to be cancer and I was praying God would take care of me, and I had some family praying. (Thank you guys!) And my appointment came and Thank the Lord there wasn't cancer. My large intestine was not happy and going a bit crazy with a squeezing pain. Body is still fighting Candida in my gut along with the food intolerances from leaky gut. Apparently my intestines are scratched easily and this was the reason for spitting blood. The lump was actually the back of my rib that you could feel from the front. My thyroid levels were off so much that I was having my Graves Disease symptoms and was losing weight again... so much I was under 100lbs. Blah!
But thank God, I was so happy for that news!!! I thought with my thyroid symptoms I was getting too much thyroid medication but turns out I was too hypothyroid. Crazy body! So my thyroid medication was upped. I'm currently doing better and so very thankful.
I wanted to share the praise. I believe no matter what is going on in your life, good things will come if you put your full trust in the Lord. Even if I had cancer and if the worst came, I was okay with the Lord taking me home to the most magnificent place. It would have been extremely hard saying good bye to my daughter and husband and thankfully I don't have to at this time. Right now I can continue to fight the demons in me... the Lord will help and guide me! :)

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." 

~Isaiah 41:10

Going Against Doctors' Advice {Thyroid & Gut Health}

I've learned that it is often better to go with your own gut feeling rather than an "expert's" advice. In the health department, we know our own body better than anyone else. Here is my story in hopes that my journey will help someone dealing with similar health issues.

It has been four and a half years since dealing with secondary infertility and exactly four years since being diagnosed with Graves Disease and having my thyroid killed by radioactive iodine. I wish I would have gone with my gut feeling of following a natural, healthy diet alternative back then. (I actually blogged a little about this HERE.) I believe my journey would have been a lot smoother if I had.

Things started with a doctor visit for a sore throat. I ended up talking to her about fertility issues at that appointment and feeling that something was wrong. She quickly pushed that off and said I just needed to be patient. Before leaving the room I had a tremor which then made her decide to do a blood test to check my thyroid levels. Turned out I was significantly hyperthyroid and was rushed to a thyroid specialist where I was then diagnosed with Graves Disease. The specialist told me that the best and easiest solution was to kill the thyroid with radioactive iodine. When I asked if foods could help my situation he pretty much laughed at me and said no, it wouldn't make a difference. (RUN if any doctor says diet doesn't make a difference in any health situation!!!!) He proceeded to say killing the thyroid would be the best option for having more kids and that 6 months after the procedure he believed I would conceive easily. I didn't have much time at all to think about different options; my health was quickly declining. I hadn't even heard of thyroid issues before being diagnosed with hyperthyroid. When the specialist's nurse called me and said I needed to hurry and make a decision on treatment or I would become infertile for good it scared me. I ended up going with what my doctor suggested because he was the specialist who I thought knew what was best and I really wanted to grow our family. I'll never forget the day of the treatment. There was a nudging on my heart not to go through with it but I pushed the feeling aside. What a HUGE MISTAKE! After treatment you go hypothyroid which involves more issues. Not only have I not been able to have more kids but my health became much worse after treatment! The specialist was quick to push me on to a fertility specialist... as if that was going to fix all my problems. I was still hopeful at that time. But immediately after my husband and I visited the fertility specialist I hit rock bottom emotionally. The doctor should not have said some things he had that day... I pretty much felt like a squished ant! Turning Point... Thankful for God's grace, even after not listening to His nudging on my heart before the thyroid treatment, He still came through to pick me up. Finally I started to let Him lead me. He was all I had to turn to to lift me up. Looking back at the situation I believe God allowed me to make the mistake I did, to draw me closer to Him, to learn more about Him and trust Him and not someone else. This time when I felt the nudging not to go back to the fertility clinic I listened. I didn't go back to the thyroid specialist either. I had most of the health issues from before the thyroid treatment plus more and I needed help. My heart wasn't racing as bad but I still had body tremors, was losing weight no matter how much I ate, body aches, brain fog, stomach pains, weakness, hard to even climb a few stairs, fatigue, felt extremely cold, lumps, hormone imbalance... I went through a couple more doctors and a lot more tests... brain scans, countless blood tests, SIBO, cancer, the list goes on. All I wanted was to feel good, "normal", again. The doctor I ended up with did believe in natural alternative medicine plus western medicine. Since being with her she has diagnosed me with Celiac Disease, Leaky Gut, Candida, and hypochlorhydria. We are still working on the right thyroid prescription due to my many food intolerances. But better than any prescription I have ever been given, FOOD HAS BEEN THE BEST MEDICINE! (I've turned down more doctors recommendations like having lumps cut out and biopsied because I really believe food can heal me... and it is working!) It has been a ton of work on my part to eliminate foods, entirely change my diet and learn to cook good, organic food. I was never one to spend much time in the kitchen and now a big part of my day is spent there. It has been a rough road both emotionally and physically; one I would never want to repeat and one I wouldn't wish upon another.

The biggest lessons I have learned is:
* Find the root cause for your health issue. Don't let a doctor simply treat the surface problem or you may have bigger health issues coming your way.
* Most if not all health issues start with the gut. Keep in mind what you are feeding it. Eat healthy, organic food. Food is the best medicine!
* With food being the best medicine you have to know what foods are toxic to your body. Sugar is poison for everyone. I had been a sugar lover so know how hard it is to give up. It is addicting! Be sure to limit your amounts if you don't cut it out completely.
* Find out if you have food intolerances. Take out a food group for a minimum of 2 weeks then bring it back in and see if you feel any different. (dairy, gluten/wheat, eggs, corn, fructose, nightshades, nuts and seeds)
* Don't have your thyroid killed without researching the risks of it. Many people who have had their thyroid out are struggling with several health issues. Whether it is trying to find the right dosage of medication or the brand (synthetic or natural) that will work the best with their body, they have to take at least one prescription for the rest of their life and be dependent on a doctor and pharmacy for this. You don't even know what fillers are being put into your medications! You will also be having lots of blood tests for the rest of your life to make sure thyroid levels are normal. Tons of fun I tell you.
* Secondary infertility can be a blessing in disguise. It can be your body telling you it isn't healthy enough to create another child. You don't want health issues passed on to your child. It would break my heart to see my child suffer.
* Prayer and time with God and His Word can be very uplifting. You can find hope with Him and allow Him to guide your heart. I often have to remind myself, "With God all things are possible." Mathew 19:26 This message keeps me going.

Currently I am still working on regaining my health. I believe I am doing more healing now than struggling which is exciting and gives me hope for good things to come! I'm working on getting my stomach acid up so my body can really use the good nutrients I'm giving it. I'm also trying a natural thyroid medication rather than a synthetic prescription. (Most doctors give patients the cheaper synthetic drug that has more fillers so you may want to look into other options if you are having issues.)

I want to say a special thank you to the blog reader who sent me a thoughtful email sharing some of her similar health struggles. You pushed me to finally get my story posted and you gave me even more determination on fighting my illness and overcoming it. I don't want others to struggle the way we have!

If you have suffered with any of the health issues above and know things that have helped you, 

please share in a comment. You may help and inspire someone else!

More health and foods posts will be coming!