Obviously, this isn’t touching on every single thing, just some of the major and what I’m comfortable sharing. I also want to preface by saying a lot of my story is where modern medicine failed me, but it has also saved me and my child, so I want to make it very clear that I am in no way against modern medicine. I AM against the God complex many drs have and if it’s not something they learned in med school or if they don’t know it, it must be wrong. This is not how all drs are, but it is how many I have dealt with have behaved. It’s also frustrating to me that many natural practitioners think modern medicine has nothing to offer and visa versa. I personally like to try natural first for ALMOST everything, then proceed with modern if needed. I think SO much more could be accomplished if both fields respected the other and worked together instead of trying to discredit the other. I truly believe both have a place and should work in harmony.
For example, researchers have found that lavender has a similar effect as Valium (source). Or that diet and exercise has an enormous impact on anxiety (source). We also know inflammation and food intolerances can have a massive impact on anxiety (source). So, I personally would take IG tests to pinpoint food intolerances and work on healing that inflammation and supplement with products that heal the gut, while trying lavender and ensuring I have a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. Then, if needed, I wouldn’t hesitate to go on medication. However, I know that sometimes, medication is needed to even get to that point of exercise and processing life. I also know sometimes things are too urgent to try natural remedies first, but it boggles my mind that often medication is prescribed without looking for other links (food sensitivities, diet changes, exercise), or at least doing those along with it. It also bothers me that so many natural practitioners turn up their noses at some of these medications that have saved so many. So my personal feelings are just that both sides need to foster more respect between the communities.
When I was pretty young (cant remember the age, but I think it was abt 1st or 2nd grade.) I threw up once a month for I don’t know how long and had many other health problems. My dr’s all said I just wanted attention and dismissed my health problems simply because they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. Finally, my mom took me to a naturopathic practitioner who quickly discovered I had parasites and helped me quickly heal.
After healing, I gained weight since suddenly the nutrients were going to my body, not the parasites and my body clung on for dear life. Due to this and other influences, I began really struggling with body image.
During a difficult time in 8th grade, I developed an eating disorder. I stopped eating in a disordered way, but my disordered thinking didn’t stop and developed one again during part of my sophomore year of high school. At this point, my eating disorder symptoms combined with the abdominal pains and low energy is had for years and the only way I can describe it is my joints began to feel like I was swimming through water, my memory was struggling, I was losing hair, and had zero energy (walking up the stairs or taking a shower made me feel like I needed a nap). In addition to this, my digestion was completely screwed up. I went to many drs who couldn’t figure out what was wrong or just dismissed me and said I was fine. This went on for a while. Finally my mom took me to clinic co-owned by a dr and naturopathic practitioner. In roughly an hour, they discovered I had candida overgrowth and leaky gut which in turn meant I had an insane number of food sensitivities. They put me on just a few natural supplements, and had me cut out everything I was sensitive to. I was on this for about three months and completely healed. Sometimes this is shorter, sometimes longer. I was able to re-introduce everything back into my diet except gluten. After this, I was sold on natural medicine and food’s healing properties.
Later in college, i decided I was going to eat gluten again and began struggling with cysts rupturing on my ovaries (feels like appendicitis- I’ve had both!) and skin issues. A Dermotologist put me on antibiotics for abt 3 months and I had candida overgrowth again. Again I had to do a strict diet (not as bad as before), got it under control and my skin issues discontinued and the cysts on my ovaries also stopped rupturing (this isn’t always the case).
My disordered eating stopped, but disordered thinking continued. When my husband and I were married, I got the IUD and very quickly noticed insane changes (mood swings, weight gain, feeling down, etc.) we then moved across the country and he was in training from 6 am-10 pm for his new job and as newlyweds trying to save money, we stopped buying the food to eat as healthy as we were used to and bought not horrible, but not living, organic, wonderful food. The big changes, combined with the hormonal changes, combined with not eating the way my body was used to, landed me in depression and it was a couple months of not being able to get out of bed.
I got the IUD out, switched to condoms, and resumed our extra healthy eating a little while later and have never felt like that ever again. Disclaimer: I am not saying that is what will cure it for everyone and am not giving medical advice, just sharing my experience. I was not suicidal or anything like that. If you are, please seek help immediately. Your dr, therapist, or 911 if you are in immediate danger.
I was recently put on antibiotics during an emergency surgery (I didn’t realize). And am once again dealing with inflammation, so I am back to a very restricted diet and will hopefully be able to add those foods back down the road. The point of all this is to say why I got into all this. I have seen time and time again that my body responds best to natural remedies and how healing and miraculous eating good foods and using the plants and herbs that God gave us. Just because we take great care of our bodies doesn’t mean we won’t have any health issues, it doesn’t mean we’ll be super skinny, it also doesn’t mean we won’t have any mental health challenges. What it does mean is that we can advocate for ourselves. We can help our body to heal itself by giving it what it needs and work in harmony with modern medicine in whatever way you feel comfortable/what works for you.
I am forever grateful to the homeopathic clinic that figured out my candida overgrowth, leaky gut, and gluten intolerances and gave me my life back. I don’t believe I’d be where I am today without treating my body with nutrition and I really don’t believe I’d have my children without that knowledge and that effort to enable my body to heal itself. That’s what this blog is about. Empowering you to advocate for yourself and feed your body in the way that will enable it to heal itself and ridding our lives of as many physical and emotional toxins as possible that get our bodies and minds to that diseased point. As mentioned above, I’ve struggled with that disordered relationship with food the majority of my life, and it wasn’t until this past year that I realized I can feed my body healthy food, workout, etc., but that I will never truly be healthy until I can have gratitude for and love my body at each and every stage. I truly believe health is just as important mentally as physically and you have to do all you can to nourish both ❤️
The Best Jam