This article is for you to look back at when you need a reason to continue eating healthy, even if you’re not seeing the health results you hope for. It’s for when you are wondering “why am I bothering?”  So how does the Nutritional Balancing diet I customly design through NW Holistic Nutrition address the concerns of your liver?  Not only is your targeted supplement plan providing you with vital nutrients to rebuild the liver and support its detoxification processes, but the foods we recommend most (lightly cooked veggies!) contain numerous compounds that nourish the liver.

According to Dr. Ann-Louise Gittleman, “One of your liver’s most important functions, and the one most crucial to your weight loss, is breaking down everything that enters your body, from the healthiest bite of organic food to the poisonous pesticides that linger on your salad….it is your liver’s job to distinguish between the nutrients you need to absorb and the toxins that must be filtered out of your bloodstream.”  She goes on to mention that any kind of medication produces extra stress on the liver.

What are some signs of liver stress? 

*elevated liver enzymes
*depression, particularly unassociated with life events
*tendency to wake up between 1 am and 3 am
*loss of appetite
*pain under the right shoulder blade
*excessive, unexplained, or sudden bursts of anger, irritability, or rage
*hemorrhoids or varicose veins
*acne, blemishes, or itchy rashes

The list goes on, but that is a short list of the various signs of liver stress. If you have been on a what you consider a healthy diet for a while and still continue to experience these symptoms, please consider how closely you are following the recommended diet (including eating organic as much as possible)?, taking prescription drugs?, consuming caffeine and/or alcohol? Taking measures to reduce stress (including environmental toxins such as cosmetics, etc.)?   Those are the first things to self-assess.

  It’s also important to keep in mind that it can take a long time for full liver regeneration to occur, and that being patient with yourself and loving to your liver is very important!

Thankfully, diet is one of the things we usually can control the easiest.  The first thing to do is to get the junk out!  Throw away the indiscretions and realize that they are hindering your body’s ability to detoxify. It’s not that I want to deprive you of your coffee or your banana, it’s that these things inhibit the body’s ability to detoxify.  Other detox “detractors” include:

• excess fat such as hydrogenated oils, margerines, etc.
• sugar and all of its relatives including honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, fructose, dextrose, etc.
• artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and sugar alcohols
• refined carbohydrates including white rice and products made with white flour
• gluten
• soy protein isolates
• alcohol, OTC drugs, caffeine, and chocolate
• mold as found on ripe tropical fruits such as mangos, bananas, and melons.

All of the above foods either lower enzyme activity during phase 1 and phase 2 detox (thus interrupting the liver’s ability to transform toxins into nontoxic metabolites) or they contribute to decreased absorption of the nutrients your liver needs in order to do its job.

So what are the best foods for loving your liver?

Group 1: The Crucifers: Strive to eat at least one large cooked serving of these foods each day:

Cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or broccoli sprouts

Group 2: Leafy Greens: Strive to eat at least one large cooked serving of these very nutritious foods per day:

Kale, watercress, chard, beet greens, collards, escarole, dandelion, or mustard greens

Group 3: Sulfur-Rich Foods:  Strive for at least one serving of each per day:

garlic (at least 1 clove), onions (1/2 cup cooked), eggs (2 per day), daikon radish (1/4 cup sliced)

Group 4: The Liver Healers:  Strive to include at least 1 serving of these foods per day:

Artichoke (1 small or 4 hearts, cooked), asparagus (1/2 cup cooked), beets (1/2 cup cooked), celery (2 medium stalks), dandelion root tea (1-2 cups), a good-quality whey (I can only recommend one commercial brand, and that is the Fat Flush whey because it is 100% grass-fed and low-temperature dried), and Lewis Labs nutritional yeast powder (1-2 teaspoons).

Other fabulous foods for the liver include flesh protein from sardines (skin and bones and all are the absolute best, and canned is fine), grass-fed beef, lamb, vension, chicken, or turkey, and organic, raw, grass-fed dairy.

                 Keeping a food journal to track which liver-loving foods you are eating can be very helpful as well.  Your weekly shopping list can even be broken up into the groups of foods mentioned above!If you would like some help in creating a personalized meal plans that include the therapeutic, liver-healing foods listed above that are also kid-friendly, I offer personalized meal planning services that fit your life!  Please inquire by writing to me at carriethienes [at] nwholisticnutrition [dot] com.                 

We all have times when we stray away from motivation to keep our diets “clean”, particularly around holidays when temptations abound.  The good news is that your body is always ready to continue its work when you are!  So if you are feeling a bit “sluggish”, it might be a sign that your liver needs a little more attention and intention!   Besides, what could be more organic and thrifty than taking care of the most important organ in your body?  I see it every day in my practice: healthy livers, healthy bodies!

In my experience as a nutritional therapist (and in my own experience as a mother) I have seen overwhelming clinical evidence to support the hypothesis that the diets we begin with set the stage for our health for the rest of our lives.  There is one common thread among all of my most chronically ill clients.  They were all fed formula as children, and started on first foods that were nutrient depleted, which set the stage for all kinds of metabolism problems throughout the childhood and teen years.

Now, I will be the first to tell you that just because you cannot breastfeed, it doesn’t mean you can’t undo the damage caused by formula.  First of all, you can switch your baby from commercial formula to a homemade raw goat’s milk formula that is highly nutritious, easier to digest, and full of live probiotics and enzymes that the body needs (of which commercial formula is devoid).  You can read about my son’s amazing story with raw goat’s milk formula.  I plan to blog more about the goat’s milk formula and FAQs related to that very soon, as I get several e-mails a week related to that!

If circumstances prevent you from making your own formula, that’s okay too.  My daughter (who is older than Jonathan) was on commercial formula for a year and unfortunately I didn’t know any other alternative at the time.  While we did have to really do a lot of work to reverse the effects on her digestive system, (thank you LORD for the GAPS diet and Nutritional Balancing), after 5 years we are finally seeing some really great results and improvements.   So there is ALWAYS hope, and kids can turn around fast.  But I believe that the window of time is critical because once puberty and adolescence hits, the nutritional deficiencies can really begin to manifest. 

So, what can one do right now to begin to nourish the body and get off to a great start, regardless of whether you were able to give your child commercial formula, homemade, or breastmilk?

First of all, it’s vitally important to understand that all children are born fast oxidizers.  The oxidation rate explains the metabolism, and since babies are growing so fast, they demand lots of fats in the diet.  Breastmilk (ideally, although not all breastmilk is the same quality) has the ideal proportion of fats, carbohydrates, and protein.  In an ideal world, if we could breastfeed, we would keep kids on breastmilk for as long as possible (up to 3 years or more) since it is the perfect food, and it changes and adjusts to perfectly suit the child.  If you can do this, that is GREAT.  Do whatever you can to nurse as long as possible.

Unfortunately, for many of you who find your way to my blog, you were unable to breastfeed for very long if at all, and so this is simply not an option.  And I totally understand and grieve with you about this.  But God was able to turn my grief of not being able to fully breastfeed my kids into a passion.  He lead me down a path that showed me that yes, you CAN nourish your children, NO MATTER WHAT!!!  But the reality is, we need to be serious about working against a nutritional deficit because, let’s face it, breastmilk is best.  But I’m here to tell you that you CAN have vibrantly healthy children who have not been able to be fully breastfeed!  My kids are living proof!  (And obviously, there is more to nourishment than food.  Your love, your intention, and the low-stress environment you can create for your children goes a LONG way towards their healing and nourishment!)

Before we go further, I want to demystify the “Nourishing My Kids is Too Expensive” excuse.  I want to encourage you to be creative and to be a good steward of your finances, and stewardship means first and formost, providing your children and family with nourishing foods.  Sacrifices do need to be made for this to happen.  Americans pay the smallest percentage of their income on food.  Around the world, many people live to eat.  If you think about it, the earliest Nomads and Native peoples of every culture built their lives around nourishment.  That doesn’t mean you “worship your stomach” or make an “idol out of food”.  God is the giver of all good things.  Food is one of those things.  Sacrificing–whatever that means for you, whether it’s growing more of your own food, or spending more money on organic produce or raw milk and living with a smaller house or less of a wardrobe– is a gift of love for your family. That is what life is all about.  Sacrifical love.  We offer these things on the alter of our lives. 

Obviously we can take this too far and we can be tempted to make an idol out of food.  But nourishing our children and families doesn’t have to be expensive. 

{Forgive me as I switch gears again.}

Understanding your babies metabolism will help you be guided towards the right choices.

Obviously babies are growing and developing at a rapid rate and need food throughout the day.  AGAIN, I will state clearly that breastmilk is best and ideally all that is needed for the first 2 years of life, IDEALLY.  So my recommendations here are to augment a diet that consists mainly of breastmilk OR a quality homemade formula or simply raw milk. 

{Ok, I need to digress again real quick:}

Why do I emphasize raw milk so much?  Pastuerized milk is basically not even a food, in my opinion.  Here are the top 3 reasons why not to even bother with it:

1) Pasteurization denatures the proteins making them unrecognizable to the body and therefore potentially allergy-producing.

2) Homogenization and pasteurization oxidizes the fats making them very unhealthy.

3) Pasteurization kills the live probiotics and enzymes (such as lactase) that allows the body to self-digest the proteins and sugars in the milk, causing more stress on the body.

There are other reasons, of course, like the Vitamin A Palmitate and Vitmin D2 that is added to the milk.  The problems with pasteurization are beyond the scope of this article. But you can read all about the TRUTH about raw milk on the Real Milk website.

Bottom line? If you want to feed your children milk, look into finding a good raw source.  Most all raw dairy farms are small scale operations, and they take utmost care because they know their customers (who all buy farm-direct) will trace any problems directly back to them.  Farmers know they have an obligation to use the cleanest practices for their customers.  All the farmers that I know (and I do know a few!) drink the milk themselves.  Never buy from a farmer who won’t drink his own milk raw!  Our family has been drinking raw milk for over 3 years now and there has never been a single problem in terms of “food poisoning”.  I even purchased my own milking goats last spring because I realized that it would be more economical for me (and a friend who I partnered with) to just milk our own, and it’s not that difficult to keep it clean and sanitary.  So I don’t merely say this as a customer. I say this as a dairy goat “farmer” myself!!!!

{OK, step off soapbox}

So with breastmilk or a good raw milk formula as a foundation, how do we augment an older baby/toddler’s diet?

When to start solid foods really varies based on the individual baby.  A good rule of thumb is that when you sense your older baby (6 months +) just needs something “more” shortly after a feeding, then it might be time to introduce solid foods, if well tolerated.

1. First of all, with FAT.  Here are some great finger foods you can provide for your child:

*Chunks of grass-fed butter cut into little bit sized pieces. (Kerrygold is grassfed, and is cheapest at Trader Joe’s…you can follow that link to see what I love and hate about TJ’s!)

*Mashed ripe avocado.

*Full-fat, plain, whole milk yogurt.  Trader Joe’s organic European style yogurt is great. 

*Full-fat, plain kefir (you can read all about this on my Kefir for Kids post!)

*Sardines (this are full of great omega-3 fats.  If you get them introduced to these early, they will love them!) You can mash them and mix them with a good quality sour cream and make it more of a puree.

*Steamed and pureed veggies (green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes) mixed with a little cream or butter.

*Pureed liver pate (BUT ONLY ONLY ONLY if you can get really good, organic livers from a trusted source).

*Fish eggs (roe or caviar).  Good luck finding these; online mail order is your best bet.  Fish roe is nutrient density at its core, and you can fine affordable caviar, believe it or not.  These are full of brain-building nutrients and were prized by traditional cultures for growing children and pregnant and nursing mothers.  You can purchased Dried Tuna Roe and use it as a condiment to sprinkle on dishes in place of salt.  Or you can serve fresh salmon roe (an affordable choice from Marky’s Caviar online)  Remember that nutrient density is the key. It’s quality, not quantity. So you don’t need a lot of it!

*Egg yolks from pastured, free-range hens.  The yolks should be soft-cooked so as to enhance digestion.

*Meats: Dark meats are best, as they contain the most fats, vitamins, and minerals.  And the good news is that thighs and drumsticks are the cheapest usually!  A nice, tender pot roast or lamb roast is also great.  I do not recommend pork products, as they can harbor parisites even when cooked.

But what about cereals, crackers, and juices? 

I do not believe that these have a place in a young babies diet.  First of all, babies do not produce salivary amylase (the enzyme responsible for digesting starches) until they have their 2 year molars.  Crackers and cereals (even Cheerios) are mostly full of refined flour, and are “enriched” with vitamins that are not the most bioavailable.  They are an unbalanced food and are not suitable for fast oxidizers at all. They don’t really nourish and are certainly not nutrient-dense. It’s like heating the house with paper instead of logs. It works, sort of, but eventually it gets very inefficient, and over time can really unbalance the body nutritionally. 

Juices are way too sugary and really serve no purpose in the diet either. If necessary, you can add a little to “flavor” plain water if your child has already been introduced to juice.  Fresh vegetable juice like carrot juice, on the other hand, is a great choice for little ones; about 3-4 oz. per day.  Unfortunately, babies lack the ability to really convert much of the beta-carotene in carrots into a usable form, but carrot juice is a good source of bioavailable calcium.

What about fruit?

Yes, this is the most difficult one to give up.  I believe that fruit is God’s candy, and we should view it as candy.  Feed it to your baby as much as you would feed your baby candy.  If you would not feed your baby candy, then don’t feed fruit.  Yes, fruit is way more nutritious than candy in terms of minerals, but most modern fruit is full of sugar and should still be consumed in moderation.  Unfortunately, fruits do not contain body-building nutrients and therefore, for optimal health, should be given as a dessert and in moderation.  Fruits obviously are amazing gifts from God, full of enzymes and nutrients. Please don’t misunderstand.  But I believe fruit should be eaten in season and in moderation as a treat after all of the more nutrient-dense foods have been consumed.

Obviously, I take a pretty firm stand in a lot of ways on childhood nutrition.  If what I’m saying totally doesn’t work for you, then that’s totally fine. I don’t judge you. I am simply sharing what I have observed from both personal and clinical experience, as will as through my nutritional studies.  For some additional information that goes much deeper into the Foundation of My Children’s Nutrition Philosophy, you may visit the Weston A Price Foundation Website’s Feeding Babies and Children section and also the website of Dr. Larry Wilson, MD, who has worked with many children and families over the past 30 years developing scientific nutritional programs based on the above dietary principles:  Dr. Wilson’s Article on Feeding Children and Babies.

If you would like to begin to make changes but need some more personalized guidance in this journey, I offer an extremely discounted package for babies. I have such a heart for helping babies (especially those of the dear mamas who tried hard to breastfeed, but couldn’t) get on the right start nutritionally, and I use hair analysis to put together a specific nutritional program to balance your child’s physiology and offer support with meal suggestions and general moral support.  Please inquire by e-mailing carriethienes [at] nwholisticnutrition [dot] com with the Subject Heading “Baby Nutrition”.

Smile! YOU CAN DO THIS.  You are not alone, and you will find help in this journey, and the answers will come when we seek them out of love for our children.  This has been my experience, and may you be blessed in your journey to nourish your family in an organic and thrifty way!

So what are the symptoms of hypothyroidsim?  Fatigue, inability to lose weight, constipation, dry, brittle hair or nails, always feeling “cold”, depression, frequent infections, poor circulation in hands and feet, edema (swelling), and muscle cramps while at rest.  And while oftentimes, patients with a diagnosed hypothyroidism are prescribed hormones to replace the low output of the thyroid, this is often a band-aid solution at best, as it does not truly identify the mechanism by which the thyroid is malfunctioning.  Again, not the purpose of this article. A great book on this topic is by Dr. Datis Kharrazian, called Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests are Normal?

As a nutritional therapist, I work with many women who have functional hypothyroidism, which means that they exhibit symptoms of low thyroid function without necessarily having a clear diagnosis.  This is due in large part to adrenal stress, impaired digestion, mineral imbalances, and use of exogenous hormones.  All in all, this leads to a lowered metabolic rate, and therefore the “ideal foods” we often think about in the Real Food world (grass-fed beef, lots of cream and good fats, etc.) can actually be counter-productive if the woman has a slow oxidation rate. This is very common in post-partum women as well. 

The hypothyroid state is one of slowed digestion, lower body temperature, and oftentimes, decreased cellular permeability.  Therefore ,many women benefit from eating foods that are not only nutrient-dense, but simple to digest, and which also have a “warming” effect on the body.  Raw food diets, while certainly appropriate for certain times and situations, may not be the most helpful in hypothyroidism.  Because of the sluggish metabolism induced by hypothyroidism, eating a high fat diet is often not helpful as well, since the body is unable to digest fats appropriately.  Therefore, proper supplementation and nutritional support to balance one’s oxidation rate is imperative, (and the goal is always a healthy fast oxidation rate), as well as choosing foods that are warming and digestible. 

Warming foods are red, orange, or yellow in color.  Fruit, however, is mostly “cooling” to the body, and therefore should be used sparingly if one is working to balance out one’s body chemistry.  Fruit today is very hybridized and bred to be higher in fructose, and I don’t think I have to list the numerous reasons why we need to limit fructose in our diets!  Let me know if you need some good reasons…..

Stir-frying or steaming vegetables makes them more warming than eating them raw.  Root vegetables and those in the brassica family such as cabbage are also more warming as they take longer to grow.  Even chewing our food completely makes it more warming.  So based on what I see in my practice, most women do better with more lightly cooked vegetables that are warming, and fat intake based on their oxidation rate, and moderate protein consumption from healthy, sustainably-raised animals, and properly-prepared, (preferably gluten-free) soaked grains.

In the spirit of being Organic and Thrifty, it must be pointed out that those foods which are most warming tend to be the ones that grow well through the cold winter climates–so if you find yourself living in the Northern latitudes, I encourage you to resist the temptation to eat those English cucumbers and tomatoes flown in from down south, even if they are organic.  Eating locally grown-food isn’t just “hip and green”, but it actually makes sense physiologically.  The food that grows in the climate in which we find ourselves living is most likely the best food for us to eat! 

In order to keep myself accountable to utilize what’s in season, I’ve joined a Winter CSA. These are harder to find in Portland, but they do exist, and they will supply you with an endless variety of squashes, kales, onions, sweet potatoes, cabbages, and all the brassicas. 

So as we head into fall and we can embrace the new variaties of food brought forth from the Earth and we can be encouraged to know that the food that is grown locally is the healthiest, not only for the planet and our pocketbooks, but for our bodies as well!

(Did you know that I write customized menus for clients based on their personal metabolic type?  Interested in digging deeper into your own health enigma and getting some answers?  Private, web-based  Nutritional Consultations are available to those needing support along the journey ).

Today begins a several-part series on nutritional therapy and healing through diet, based on some notes and reflections on my own and my daughter’s health journey for the last five years.  Her story is a living testimony at how damaging antibiotics and processed food can be, and how healing nourishing foods are!  And my story highlights just how amazing and far-reaching the effects of optimal nutrition for energy, weight loss, positive mood, and healthy skin.

Due to the length of this story, I’m sharing the “cliff notes” verson, as I could literally write an entire book about my daughter’s five short years. 

My first pregnancy was “normal” by all outward signs.  I was planning a homebirth with low-key midwives who were pretty laid back and non-alarmist about much of anything.  Although it’s totally normal to worry throughout your first pregnancy, I had serious concerns about the health of my unborn child. I didn’t feel as many kicks as other pregnant mothers seemed to describe.  I was told not to worry.  At 20 weeks, I had passed out in a restaurant and had to be rushed to the E.R. I had a kidney infection and a routine ultrasound (they do that in the ER when you’re pregnant) revealed that my daughter also had a kidney abnormality.  This added to my worry, and when the due date came and went and she went overdue, I really began to panic.  Long story short, she was born 2+ weeks late via emergency c-section at the hospital. 

And I know, I know, sometimes due dates are off….but this child couldn’t have stayed another minute in the womb.  She was born at 5 lbs, 6 oz and my placenta had completely expired.  Obviously I had some significant nutritional issues during prenancy that were “below the surface” and my body failed to properly nourish my dear daughter. 

After the traumatic birth, my body did what so many do post-partum: the post-traumatic stress response.  I didn’t know this at the time, but my adrenals were working overtime. In the 15 months following my daughter’s birth,  my body remained 60 + lbs overweight due to (what I believe) was a metabolic imbalance resulting from the birth of my child. 

I was completely addicted to sugar and subsisted on cake, ice cream, oatmeal, and crackers.  A very high glycemic diet, to say the least.  My hormones were completely wacky and I could not, try as I might, produce enough breast milk to feed my baby exclusively.

Because of the antibiotics administered during the cesarean, I suffered from thrush and candida, and my sugar and starch-filled diet didn’t help that any. Worst of all, I was depressed, lethargic, and stressed about even the smallest things.  No one ever diagnosed me with Post Partum Depression, but I think I had a pretty significant case of the “baby blues”.  Thankfully, I had the support of my amazing family, including my mother who waited on me hand and foot for 2 weeks and has been so helpful all these years. 

Through my Post-Partum Weight Loss Journey I learned many important lessons about how horrible refined carbs were for me, and as I slowly got back to my pre-pregancy weight, I began to feel better and more energetic.  Just good enough to get pregnant again.  In the middle of my second pregnancy, I discovered the Weston A Price Foundation and Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions which turned my world around.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s an invaluable, eye-opening resource that opened the door to the whole notion of Nutritional Therapy to begin with. The idea that what we eat is healing should have been obvious to me, and perhaps it always was. But what Nourishing Traditions points out is so contrary to the “politically correct” nutritional soundbites and really challenges nutritional misconceptions that are preached as dogma.

At any rate, though Nourishing Traditions I discovered the whole world of Real Food. And what better time than during my second pregancy? I consumed grass-fed, raw milk from local farms, cultured my own probiotic-rich kefir, brewed my own enzyme-rich kombucha, soaked my grains and drank my beet kvass.

My second pregnancy was so much smoother than the first, and although it ended in a cesarean, my recovery was much, much quicker and I seemed to be producing more breast milk this go-around.  Unfortunately, I still did not make enough to sustain my son. Jonathan’s story outlines my search for alternatives to commercial, soybean-laden formula and is a testimony in and of itself to the amazing therapeutic properties of Real Food.

As for me, however, I still felt that lack of energy and internally combustable stress; the notion that at any moment it was all going to explode within me.  I can’t explain it any better than that.  I understand it now as an stress response malfunction due to mineral imbalance and it affected the adrenal and thyroid glands rather significantly.

After lots of trips to a naturopath and lots of guessing based on the symptoms I was describing, and after spending lots of money on herbs that didn’t seem  to be helping, I turned to the internet to do some of my own research.

Seek and you shall find.  I came into contact with wonderful people like Cheeseslave who was on her own journey of adrenal recovery, low milk supply, and nutritonal healing for gut and digestive issues.  I started to look into the whole notion of Adrenal Fatigue and the benefits of theraputic diets such as the GAPS diet for digestive healing.  In short, I uncovered something that would change my life: Nutritional Therapy.

How does Nutritional Therapy Differ from Naturopathic Care?

Nutritional Therapy is somewhat unique in that it really addresses the Foundations of Optimal Health, and doesn’t focus so much on symptoms. Masking symptoms with herbs can be helpful, but if that doesn’t work, or stops working, it’s critical to go to the Foundations and restore balance.

The 5 Foundations of Optimal Health:

*Proper Digestion: The first thing to address is digestion and to make sure that the body is properly breaking down the food and properly assimilating it. Without proper digestion, nutrients can’t get to the cells!

*Proper Blood Sugar Handling: This is huge.  Due to very poor USDA food pyramid guidelines, and the prevalance of refined carbohydrates as well as a fast-paced lifestyle that is stress-inducing, a majority of Americans have poor blood sugar handling. This leads to a myriad of problems, including obesity, malnutrition, diabetes, endocrine problems and fertility problems.

*Fatty Acid Balance: Did you get the memo that fats were good for you? Certain ones aren’t, but most natural ones are!  When I started eating more fat and less carbs, my energy levels changed in a very short time.  My weight started to normalize, and *gasp* I wasn’t hungry all the time! Proper fats are needed to make healthy cells, healthy hormones, and for energy.  They can even prevent sunburns!

*Mineral Balance: Essential minerals are needed for all bodily functions, particularly hormone functions. For mothers, healthy hormones are essential for our energy levels, moods, and health.  Our bodies cannot make minerals, we must obtain (and assimilate!) them from food.  Refined foods are depleted of minerals, and futhermore they deplete our bodies of minerals when we eat them.  The importance of minerals cannot be overstated when it comes to restoring balance and rebuilding the body!

*Hydration: Adequate hydration is the missing link in so many of our diets. I’ll admit, I don’t even remember to always drink as much as I should.  You should aim for half your body weight in ounces of water per day. Water is crucial for a healthy blood pressure, toxin removal, cell communication, joint health, body temperature regulation, gastric juice production, and proper nerve function.  Drinking enough water is the cheapest way you can reverse your health in a short period of time.

Once these five foundations are in place, and assuming that the diet is nutrient-dense, full of properly prepared whole foods, you can then work from that point to continue to address specific symptoms that might still be troubling to your health.

I didn’t have my personal “turnaround” until I begin to really address these foundations. Diet is critical, but even the best diet won’t heal you on its own if the foundations are not in place.

My Personal Plan:Here’s what has worked for me, and of course I will expound and elaborate on these in upcoming posts:

*Giving up the grains and focusing on a paleo/primal diet and following the GAPS guidelines.
*Ridding my diet of fast foods and processed foods
*Adrenal Support (A blend of adaptogenic herbs)
*Vitamin D supplementation
*Fermented Cod Liver Oil (See my Resources page for Sources)
*Coconut Oil, Grass-Fed Butter, and cold-pressed extra virgin olive and flax oils
*Mineral Supplementation, including Molybdenum (who knew?)
*Drinking “alive” beverages such as beet kvass, kombucha, coconut water kefir, etc.
*Drinking alkalized, ionized, microclustered water
*Aiming for a a 1:1 ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 Fatty Acids.

A personalized nutritional plan is key to healthy motherhood, and healthy is thrifty.  Healthy equals “no copays”. Yes, there are some supplements to buy in the short-term, but eventually once you restore balance you should do pretty well with a nutrient-dense diet.

This post is not intended to be taken as medical advice, rather you should see a qualified heathcare professional who practices Nutrition-Based Therapy. There are several Chiropractors, Naturpaths, and Nutritional Therapists who utilize this foundational approach. You can find one in your area by going here. 

If you have difficulty finding a Nutrition-Oriented practitioner in your area, I am pleased to say that I am now offering remote nutritional consultations via phone and internet. If you would like to know if my skill set matches your needs, please read about my Nutrition Consultations!

This post has been a part of Real Food Wednesday!

If you have teenage children, consider offering this ecourse to them as a great “summer enrichment” exercise in Nourishing Foods.  This would be an AMAZING resource for parents whose teenage children attend schools where Home Ec has been cut.  I can’t tell you how much I would have appreciated a course like this as a teen!

If you would like to take the ecourse, here are some details you should know:

Classes Begin: June 1
Cost: $120 for 12 weeks (that’s $10 per class!)
To Register:  The Nourished Kitchen E-Course

You’ll never look at food the same again!

Please note: I don’t promote anything on this blog that I don’t fully endorse or agree with. This course may include some instruction that is not completely relevant for those on a grain-free diet (there is one lecture on grains), but all of the information is very valuable and foundational to healthy eating. If you or someone you know could use this information, please encourage them to take the class!  I am required by the FTC to also disclose that I earn a small commission for every reader that signs up for the E-Course through my blog. In spite of this, please know I am very selective about what I promote, regardless of whether I get compensated! Thanks!

As parents one thing we all face, is keeping our energy levels up, as we keep up with our children.  This month Whole Foods Market’s current podcast series suggests tips and action steps to support our energy levels naturally and safely.  

Pop over to the Whole Foods Market blog for a great health podcast series!  This week’s feature is a look a healthy energy boosters.

Pictured above, by the way, is a delicious, simple energy-boosting beverage I whipped up the other day in my Vita-Mix, with the help of my sweet daughter!

Sugarless Strawberry Lemonade

3 cups filtered water
1 whole lemon, peeled
1-1.5 cups frozen, organic strawberries
3-4 packets of Truvia or other Stevia-based sweetener

Place all ingredients, in order listed, in a Vitamix (preferably) or blender.  Blend until totally mixed. 

Enjoy this delicious low carb kool-aid alternative on a spring day. In my opinion, this tastes exactly like the expensive strawberry lemonades you can purchase at the Health Food Store or even at restaurants, and is much more healthy!

We have come past the middle-mark of Lent, the days are getting longer. Spring is certanly in the air and all around us.  The world is renewing; apple blossoms and tulips open forth and the old, dead leaves and branches of winter are suddenly transfigured in green.  I love spring.  Lent can often be thought of as a time of depravation, especially at this point in the fast…and perhaps, if you’re like me, you’ve slipped up a little bit and had a bite or two of meat (or whatever it was you were fasting from!).

Well, there are a little over 2 weeks left, and if you’re tired of spending gobs of money on shrimp and scallops (oh, the irony!) to try and stay low-carb and nutrient dense, then I have some ideas for keeping the fast in a thrify, ultra-simple way:

This past weekend I stumbled upon an inspiring quote about fasting:

“fasting in a larger context, means to abstain from that which is toxic to mind, body, and soul.  A way to understand this is that fasting s the elimination of physical, emotional, and menta toxins from our organism, rather than simply cutting down or stopping food intake. Fasting for spiritual purposes usually involves some degree of removal of oneself from worldy responsibilities. It can mean complete silence and social isolation during the fast which can be a great revival to those of us who have been putting our energy outward.”  -Dr. Gabriel Cousens, MD

I also love the idea that fasting for spiritual reasons literally allows our lower, digestive energies to be released and move up into the heart, where our focus and energy should always remain.  As a devout “ortho-foodie”, I must confess this can be a core struggle for me.  With that in mind, I decided to take this week and really do a liquid fast with one meal per day. 

I will share my favorite list of ideas for healthy liquid fasting and simple, thrifty meals.  I don’t advocate imposing this on small children or unwilling spouses, however.  I’ve found that by not worrying about what I’m going to eat at each meal that’s “kosher” for Lent, I can allow my energy to focus on that which my children need to eat (which usually involves lots of eggs, dairy, and meat) and I just drink my liquids or eat very simple meals. Here are my thrifty meals during the fast:

Liquids

*Fresh juices in the blender or vita-mix: 1 avocado, a few handfuls of fresh greens such as dandelions, turnip, collards, or kale, 1/2 of an apple, 2-3 cups of filtered water, juice of 1 lemon, and a 1/2 cup of  berries.  This is a little bland and somewhat bitter, but I’m going for low sugar. Very filling and cleansing.

*Green Tea or Herbal Tea with a spoonful of melted coconut oil to provide nourishing fats and help regulate metabolism.  Herbs to consider drinking in the springtime include dandelion root, nettle leaf, peppermint, or your favorite!  Green tea is especially high in antioxidant and has calming properties that cancel out the effects of the caffiene to some extent.  During the day, when I’m feeling the need for something warm and filling, I turn to tea with coconut oil instead of food first.

*Kombucha is one of my favorite cleansing drinks, made by fermenting sweet tea.  Kombucha totally curbs my hunger cravings, provides energy and vitality, and is a great liver detoxifier.  Kombucha can be made very simply at home for about $0.50 per gallon.  Check out my resources page to invest in a starter and get brewing! If you prefer to purchase kombucha, Fred Meyer(a Kroger affliate in the NW) has them on sale 2/$5 this week!

*Miso Broth: My hubby makes the absolute best simple, miso soup in the world. He begins with a hefty tablespoon of miso, 1/4 tsp of  thai red curry paste, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and some seaweed flakes.  He places the ingredients into a bowl and pours boiling water over all.  This is pure comfort food, and mineral-rich, low carb comfort food at that!

*Master Cleanse Lemonade- Take 8 oz of filtered water and add the juice of 1-2 lemons.  Add 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper and 1 tsp. of Grade B maple syrup (or more to taste).  This is said to be very helpful for liver congestion and has even helped people to shed some unwanted pounds!

Sensible Dinners:

To break the “fast” (either in the morning or evening, or to bookend the days) I chose simply prepared, in-season vegetables such as asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, or squashes and either roast the veggies and eat them alone, or cook them in a soup.

I’ve also been doing a lot with navy beans and lentils.  Sprouted, especially, these GAPS-friendly legumes can be eating lightly steamed on salads, in soups, or pureed and cooked as “patties”.  But I especially enjoy a simple soup of navy beans, garlic, and wilted greens. Laden, of course, with my favorite spices and chopped seasonal veggies. 

Here are some other simple ideas:

*Roasted Vegetables: Seasonal veggies are always the cheapest, and frozen works just fine too. I love to toss cauliflower or asparagus with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast and roast in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes.  The kids LOVE it and devour their veggies when made this way!

*Simple salad: I love to take lettuce and top it with creamy chunks of avocado and sprinkle with baby shrimp. I also top it with a bit of my homemade PurpleKraut (available to Portland area folks to order!)

*Almonds or Pistachios with Raw Veggies and Hummus:  Nuts alone can be a simple meal for me, but with some fresh raw veggies (carrots, peppers, celery, etc.) dipped in a lima-bean hummus (if you’re on the GAPS diet, otherwise the traditional will do, just substitute cooked lima beans for garbanzos).

*Apples and Nut Butter: Is a delicious and simple meal or even dessert, due to the extra sweetness.

*Sauteed Scallops with Garlic and Green Beans is utterly simple and delicious.

*Shredded Veggie Stir-FryThis involves simply shredding cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, and onions and whatever else suits your fancy and sauteing in a bit of oil and herbs of choice. I even add a few Tablespoons of hummus to make it “creamy”. 

What are your favorite simple, real-food Lenten meals that you can fix easily without much stress? 

If you missed parts 1 and 2 of Celeste’s Journey of Adrenal Recovery, you can find them here and here.

So now I was suffering the repercussions of the unfortunate combination of events that led me to this place.  My choice to not go the conventional route in treating this condition was met by incredulous reactions from family and friends.  No one knew what to think because, besides my mom and Ellen, no one had ever experienced this before.  Most had the mindset of my husband, which was that when you are not well you go to a doctor and they fix you. 

I don’t blame them for disagreeing with me because I was obviously very incapacitated and there should be an answer out there.  They just wanted me to get better.  But God had plans for me. The process I would be going through would absolutely rock my world so much that I had no choice but to trust Him to guide me through.  I had never in my life been in a position where I had absolute dependence on others and God to get me through something. 

As you will see, God strategically placed others in my path at the perfect time to help pull me through in such a way that I had no choice but to see God’s hand in the process.  The other gift He gave me in the healing process was not to take the pain away, but to give me the big picture to see what He was doing as He was doing it.  Often with God we won’t see that He was intervening until after the fact and we look back at a situation in awe.  But this divine perspective I was given gave me hope.  And “hope does not disappoint” (Romans 5:3-5).  It showed me that I was not alone (and this is the loneliest experience I have ever had) and that I would get through it and be a richer and more understanding person when I was through.  Sometimes that glimmer of hope was very small and I didn’t know how I would pull through, but I hung on  and somehow I made it to where I am right now, writing my story.

                As I said before, I have always been health conscious and besides my absolute craving for sweets (something I later learned could be fixed by diet changes) I was pretty disciplined in that area.  I majored in Health Promotion and Education in college, thinking that even if I never found an ideal job in corporate wellness, I could always use my education for my future family.  This general direction I had for my life was refined and fueled by my need to figure out what was going on inside my broken body.

                Physically, I was pretty limited because my eyes couldn’t focus well and my hands couldn’t grip a pen well enough to journal for long, but in short spurts I would read and take notes about things that would be helpful to me.  I also depended on the ongoing advice from Ellen.  She was learning right along side me, but her nursing background gave her a leg up in her understanding (later I found out she was actually going through another bout with the same thing because of some stress in her own life). 

                Eventually I switched to a local doctor who, in a general way understood adrenal fatigue.  She recommended the same book I had been reading (“Adrenal Fatigue, The 21^st Century Stress Syndrome”), which helped to confirm my decision to see her.  Just to have someone with some expertise directing my recovery was a huge support to me, even though the process I was in required patience for my body to heal itself. 

My doctor helped set me up with some supplements that would be supportive and strongly encouraged regular protein snacks and meals to help with the hypoglycemia that goes along with adrenal fatigue.  I learned all about cortisol and how it is produced by the adrenal glands along with adrenaline, to get us through short bouts of stress (i.e. an emergency situation that eventually has an end).  The way our society operates is to ignore fatigue and use stimulants such as caffeine to keep going, all the while this continual revving of our engine is breaking our bodies down. 

I also learned that my only chance at a real recovery would be to listen to the fatigue and rest.  Rest and diet were the answer.  My body had depleted itself so drastically of many of its nutrients, that supplements were also essential to boost it back up more quickly than diet alone.  There are many distressing symptoms in addition to the fatigue that go along with this depletion of the body’s hormones and nutrients.  Because of the intricacies involved with taking the supplements and the need to have ongoing tests to check levels, a knowledgeable doctor is essential, though hard to find.  Most traditionally trained doctors have one semester on nutrition and nothing on hormone balancing.

  MORE TO LEARN

The fatigue continued until July, about 6 months, when I decided I wasn’t getting any better and my doctor couldn’t give me the detailed answers I needed.  One of the books Ellen had given me was called “Chronic Fatigue Unmasked”, by Gerald Poesnecker.  He was a naturopath doctor from Quakertown, PA at a place called Clymer Healing Center, who had done research on chronic fatigue patients for 30 years.  In his book, he basically said that chronic fatigue was an issue of the adrenal system.  Although his perspective was slightly different from the Adrenal Fatigue book, his findings were basically the same and he had a clinic in which he successfully treated those with chronic fatigue.  The phone number for his clinic was in the book…so I called. 

It sounds simple, but it wasn’t.  I was so far out of my comfort zone by that point that one more step out just made sense.  A phone call sounds pretty harmless until you start taking medical advice from someone whom you’ve never met, never seen or heard of the clinic and have no idea how legitimate this doctor is, who has never seen his own patient.  If there ever was a time for faith, now was it.  In my logical, rational world it didn’t make sense.  It was something I would have never done before.  But as far out of my comfort zone as this was, I felt very peaceful about it. 

The minute I heard Dr. Neville’s voice (Dr. Poesnecker’s predecessor) telling me he could help me, I had this sense that this is who God has provided to walk me through this mess.  I still asked lots of questions and tried to find reasons why this wouldn’t work.  I couldn’t find any.  It didn’t make sense to do it this way and I would sound crazy when I told my conservative families and friends, but I didn’t care because I knew this was what I needed.  There was a ray of hope.  I prayed my way through my conversations with Dr. Neville, always aware that if his advice ever became questionable I would lose my peace about him.  I never lost it.

So for the next 2+ years, Dr. Neville played a large part in getting me through the darkest days of my life.  His knowledge of the adrenal system and my wacky, disturbing symptoms continued to give me hope.  Just knowing that what I was going through was a “normal” process and someone had been through it before me, meant everything to me.  And it wasn’t just his knowledge that gave me support.  Dr. Neville had literally felt what I was feeling when he experienced his own time of adrenal fatigue.  He had been there and gotten out of it. 

In our very first conversation, he said some words that were very hard to hear, but following them was the beginning of feeling real improvement:  no sugar/low carbs, lots of protein and lots and lots of rest.  As hard as I had been trying to eat well with my current diet, it wasn’t good enough.  The sugar and carbs were doing me in.  I had cut back on sugar but hadn’t cut it out.  My body’s sugar metabolism was so sensitive that when I cut out sugar and reduced the carbs, I felt dramatic improvement. 

It was early on in this process that Dr. Neville introduced me to the Weston A. Price way of eating.  It was very overwhelming at first because starting a whole new outlook on eating was a huge undertaking for anyone, let alone someone who could barely get up to cook a meal.  And it wasn’t exactly a quick way to cook either.  I tried things as the energy came, my poor family suffering dramatic diet changes that were so foreign at the time.  At first I wasn’t so sure about the full fat thing and fermenting and eating organ meats.  Then the more I read, it starting making lots of sense.  It was food the way it was supposed to be eaten.  I’m still working on the organ meat thing, but not because I disagree.  It’s because for so many years I was so repulsed by any meat not perfectly sanitized and fat free and pretty, it’s hard to get out of that mindset.  (I figure I get my organ meat through the glandulars Dr. Neville has me taking!)

The better I ate, the better I felt.  I discovered a sensitivity to preservatives which made life eating meat much more difficult, but much healthier.  Also during that time we discovered some food sensitivities in my other family members.  Because of that, we had to become basically gluten-free in our household and many meals are dairy and egg free as well.  I have been thankful for Carrie’s yummy recipes on her blog as I have had to create a new way of eating for my family.  Many of my meals have been downright boring, but when I get the energy and focus enough to attempt a new recipe it is always an exciting time. 

NOT THE END

 My story of recovering from adrenal fatigue is not over, but not because I haven’t tried everything I can do for myself.  Unfortunately, life doesn’t let up even when you’re down.  What’s the deal with that?!  I keep asking God for a season of rest, free from difficulties but I am still waiting.  There have been times where I felt like I was getting my head above water and then life sends something new to knock me down again.  And in those times I just keep moving forward, knowing that I don’t always understand why things happen as they do and God is giving me extra fortitude to continue on.  But even with all of that, I have been ever-so-slowly improving.  I can go about my daily tasks now and even play with my kids. 

My energy is pretty consistent under normal conditions.  It’s those knock-down times I need to have a little extra reserve on hand and don’t always have it.  And since life hasn’t let up on me yet, I’m ready for the next stepping stone in my recovery.  Recently, I began taking a bio-identical cortisol replacement.  It should give me some of that reserve that life hasn’t allowed for and finally let my adrenal glands rest fully for awhile.  If all goes well when my adrenals have had their rest, I will gradually wean off the cortisol replacement and learn to live within the limitations of my own body. 

One of the most difficult aspects of my condition has been the isolation and its  effect on my relationships.  The effort that it took to maintain relationships was so great that my conversations with people were few and far between.  As much as I wanted to give to those relationships, I had to limit each interaction pretty strictly if I wanted to keep my energy from taking a nosedive.  Unfortunately, just talking itself was a drain. 

There were many misunderstandings as I had to cancel plans and in the beginning couldn’t even explain why I would suddenly become unavailable if my energy crashed.  Over time others learned to understand why I was limited as I learned brief ways to prepare them for my unreliability.  Even my husband was in the dark at first, until we sorted out what was really going on. 

Because of the personal nature of this condition, no one will ever fully understand it if they have not been through it personally.  That is something that I have had to become okay with, since limiting my energy output and getting better has been my primary goal. 

I know I have been supported by family and friends, even with very little to go on, and I have appreciated all the remote support I can get.  It’s not so remote anymore and I’m finding several of my relationships that were basically put on hold are becoming even richer than they were before.  It is in a huge part because of my own new perspectives. 

Relationships really are some of the most important things in life, but the drain happens when I allow others’ needs to become more important than my own.  I am a doer and a helper and I am much closer to finding the balance of taking care of myself first before helping others.  It’s like the oxygen mask on an airplane.  You need to put yours on first or you won’t be able to help the one next to you.  There will always be people in need of my help, especially my family, but I have learned first hand that I am no good to anyone when I don’t listen to my gut instincts and give myself what I need first. 

I feel like the process I have been through has successfully altered my lifestyle.  Life is much simpler than I was making it before.  I hope as I make a full recovery I will continue to follow the principles of a truly healthy lifestyle, however unconventional it might be. 

I am seriously considering completing the same certification that Carrie is currently undertaking to become a Nutritional Therapist.  The timing will depend on many factors – my body’s readiness as well as my family’s readiness.  I feel that my “calling” is definitely in the health field and look forward to being able to help others who have had to go through their own personal trials.  I don’t feel like a person has to be in the same position I have been in to be empathetic because going through this has given me a very strong understanding for others who are hurting in many ways. 

My story is as much of a spiritual journey as a physical one.  However horrible the physical and emotional side has been, the process has all been worth it for the spiritual strength and character building that I am still receiving through this process.  Even my relationships with my husband and children are richer because of what I (we) have been through.

We want to thank Celeste heartily for sharing her story. Unfortunately, she does not [yet] have a blog, but perhaps this act of writing about her journey will inspire her to keep writing!  Please keep Celeste, and all others who suffer this silent disorder known as Adrenal Fatigue, in your thoughts and prayers!

I’m grateful to report that Celeste recently returned home from a two week vacation in Hawaii! Now that sounds like an appropriate Rx for adrenal fatigue!

If you missed Part 1 of Celeste’s Story, you can find it here.

VISIT TO THE DOCTOR

                 After the first month of my disturbing symptoms and in response to my husband’s pleas to see a professional, I went to a women’s wellness clinic 2 1/2 hours away that specialized in hormone balancing.  A blood test revealed that my progesterone was at rock bottom and I had a quick education on the myriad of symptoms that go with low progesterone.  I also found out that the birth control pills I was on the prior 4 months had actually replaced my natural progesterone with a synthetic form called progestin.  Progestin’s only purpose is to regulate a woman’s cycle.  It took the place of my natural progesterone and all of the protective and helpful things that progesterone did for my body were gone. 

Later, a saliva test revealed that my cortisol levels were extremely high.  The doctor had me continue the tryptophan and GABA and progesterone she had prescribed.  She also gave me a prescription for Xanax in case the panic attacks got overwhelming.  My first inclination was that I didn’t need it, but I had been swallowing my pride a lot lately and decided to do it one more time just to have something in my back pocket in an emergency.  Another opportunity for me to rethink my judgment of those in distress.  Then, I was sent on my way.  I went back 1 or 2 more times before finding a local practitioner to continue my treatment. 

My adrenaline-induced panic attacks continued through my daughter’s 2^nd birthday in October and the holidays.  Then, shortly after the holidays, the racing feeling that I was continually fighting just stopped.  It was replaced with a deep fatigue that, at first, was a restful peace.  I started sleeping through the night…and the day.  Before, I had to rest because of a weird combination of “wired but tired” (it’s a feeling that only those with adrenal fatigue can fully comprehend), and I was up and down depending on which one was more  dominant at the time.  Now I was always tired.  The ceasing of the constant revving that sat in my chest was a huge relief, but what it meant was that, except for a spurt here and there, my body was almost depleted of cortisol.  And the deep fatigue that it brings can barely be described in words. 

The only thing I can use to compare the fatigue to is the flu my family recently experienced (probably the swine flu).  As I laid on the couch with a fever and the kind of fatigue where you can’t move a muscle and don’t even want to get up to get a drink of water, I had a flashback of how I used to feel.  Minus the fever, but including some of the aches, slight nausea, “brain dead” thinking and dizziness, the comparison is pretty close.  Except for me it never went away. 

Month after month, my body was “resting”, regenerating, trying to build itself back up again.  The problem was that in an ideal world I would sleep all day and eat perfectly.  My world involved two very active young children and a life that couldn’t just stop because of me.  I did my best to rest as much as possible, but the rest of the time I was using the little bit of energy that the rest gave me.  I was back to forcing myself to function, without the coffee.  But I did discover that green tea was “good for me” and the small amount of caffeine it had I used as much as possible to get me through my days.  My husband still helped as much as possible, but he had to make money to pay for all my supplements and other expenses. 

 LIFE BEFORE…

                About 6 months prior to all of this, my husband had quit his job of 13 years as an engineer/project manager at a mill to start a new career in land development.  He had set up an office in our home to build his new business.  Now if there is one thing I never had to worry about during this time it was my husband’s ability to keep us financially stable.  His is gifted in that area and has never let us down. 

Unfortunately, even though the timing was good for me to have him close, it was not good for building a brand new business.  Somehow, however, he kept us afloat.  And, aside from hiring a nanny to watch the kids, the only option was for him to do it.  With me in bed and on the verge of panic much of the time, he had to be on stand-by 24/7.  For that I can never thank him enough.  It wasn’t the way he had planned starting his new career, but he did what he had to do.

                I continued to cook our meals to the best of my ability and he watched kids when I needed help, working in his down time.  As I read more books and talked with Ellen, I finally decided that adrenal fatigue was what I was dealing with.  The book “Adrenal Fatigue, the 21^st Century Stress Syndrome” was my 2^nd Bible. 

I went through that book with a fine-toothed comb, trying to do everything right to get myself well.  The nutritional info was very helpful to me even though I have fine-tuned quite a bit since then.  One major thing I realized through the book was how much my diet affects the process of adrenal fatigue.  Essentially, the condition is brought on by an overload of stress to your body-internal and/or external.  One of the many stressors I had been experiencing was my diet.  Prior to having kids, I had always been careful about what I ate (at least what I thought was a healthy, low fat diet).  I tried at first and finally gave in to the pre-packaged easy way out.  It really was easier and everyone else looked okay doing it.

                Unfortunately, that was only one straw on the camel’s back.  The more I thought back to my lifestyle and thought patterns and the stresses that had been out of my control, including my own weak adrenal system (a hereditary thing), it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.  The human body is resilient to a point, but every body had its limits.  And I had found mine.

                As far back as I can remember, I got stressed easily but kept it internalized – the worst combination.  I think my otherwise healthy lifestyle kept me out of the woods most of my life.  I loved the outdoors and grew up as a tomboy riding horses, helping my dad cut firewood, avoiding the indoor domestic duties as much as possible.  I also always had exercise to fall back on as a way to wind down.  Another thing I loved was playing the piano – my parents used to laugh at me growing up as I pounded the piano for hours to get rid of the stress from life.  Time to myself was always another major need I had to regenerate and relax. 

I have always been independent, and very self-sufficient.  My husband, being of the same mindset, took it in stride as we went through our new marriage.  All of my coping mechanisms worked for me until I had a baby.  My world got turned upside down.  Not only was I recovering from a C-section and the emotional regrets and physical healing that went along with that (I always planned on a natural delivery), but the sudden responsibility of a newborn added quite a bit of emotional stress, as it does to many. 

The bigger problem was that all of my stress-relievers were taken away in one fell swoop.  Exercise became more trouble than it was worth, alone time was non-existent and the piano playing only happened briefly in between nursing, diaper changes, sleeping and cooking or cleaning.  Eventually I found a routine that sort of worked for me until the second child was born. 

The elation that came with my successful VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) delivery was quickly thwarted with real life.  The same issues came up again, but compounded this time.  My second child slept very little, had the loudest scream I’ve ever heard and between the two I never found that balance again.  At 6 months old she also had RSV, which was the beginning of a viral asthma that occurs with every cold.  The first year of her life I was in a total daze. 

                When the baby was born my oldest daughter started experiencing some extreme behaviors in reaction to the baby.  She became more and more difficult to control and would have extreme tantrums with no warning, which confused and disturbed us as parents.  We had a feeling these tantrums were more than just power struggles but couldn’t put our finger on what was wrong.  Even as we gained more insight, this would continue to be an ongoing source of stress in my life. 

To complicate things more, when my youngest was about 1 ½, I was in a car accident in which I hit black ice on the freeway and totaled the little pickup I was driving.  Literally, because of the grace of God and guardian angels, no other cars were involved and I came out of it with little more than a huge knot on my forehead and some achy muscles.  This traumatized me more than I knew.  I thought I was going to die but had nothing physical to show for it. 

                About 3 months after the accident was when my husband quit his job, which for many would be a negative stress.  However, this was actually a positive change for me because it meant a husband who was not on call and leaving in the middle of the night.  He set his own hours and his whole demeanor was more relaxed because of this change.  Still, there was the unknown of how we would make it financially, but we had money saved and the future looked good in that respect. 

                A couple of months later, against my better judgment, I went on birth control pills.  I had been on them before having children without any problems, but never liked the idea of messing with my hormones like that.  The next 4 months were a hormonal nightmare.  As I tried to act normal while my insides were freaking out, I could definitely feel the internal stress rising.  The doctor didn’t want me to make any changes to the birth control until I had tried it for 4 months.  If I had listened to my gut, it would have said “to heck with the doctor, something is not right”.  But, I didn’t listen because I had trained myself to push through no matter how I felt if I thought it was what I was supposed to do. 

                That same summer, everything was coming to a head with my oldest daughter’s emotional issues (by then she was 4 years old).  We were at the end of our ropes with her and ready to figure out what was really going on.  When we finally made the appointment with a professional at the end of the summer, we had a month’s wait – way too long for parents who had already waited too long…

                A month before my body gave out on Labor Day Weekend, we had planned a family vacation to visit relatives who live on Lake Michigan (we live in Oregon).  I tried hard to make the vacation a positive experience, but unfortunately everything that could go wrong, went wrong.  It started with a major meltdown from my 4-year-old in the airport before we even got on the airplane.  When we arrived in Michigan is was the hottest and most humid weather they had experienced all summer and we just happened to be staying in a rental cabin with no A/C.  Our relatives’ house didn’t have it either.  And the water in the bay was like warm bath water.  The local café and iced coffee became my only respite on that trip.  Because of the heat, I don’t think any of us ever slept more than 2 hours a night the whole week we were there.  On the plane ride back I felt like the walking dead.  I remember thinking, “How long can the human body function in this state?”

                Apparently not long.  About 1-2 weeks later we went camping with family and didn’t sleep for those 2 nights because of our screaming children in the middle of the night.  The next weekend was Labor Day Weekend. 

                There was the answer to my question.  My body could hold out no longer.

I hope you enjoy and appreciate the difficult journey and the significance of her being able to put so much energy into writing her story.  I invite others who have experienced healing through nutritional means to share their stories with me. I would love to publish them, and I know my readers will enjoy reading them as well!  Now, without further delay, here’s Part 1 of Celeste’s story:

                 It all started on Labor Day Weekend, 2006.  My two girls were almost 2 and 4 years old.  The church campout was in the mountains about 2 hours from our home.  My husband had taken our oldest daughter up the night before to have a little time with just the two of them.  The plan was for me to come the next day with our youngest daughter and a good night’s sleep behind us.  Just the weekend before we had been camping with my husband’s family.  We had two extremely uncomfortable little girls in a tent in the middle of the night and none of us slept either night (we ended up in our pickup half the night just to tone down the screaming for our neighbors).

                So the morning came when we would go up to meet the rest of the family at the church campout and the plans were that we would all attempt the second night together, hoping and praying that it would not end up like the weekend before.  My daughter and I loaded in the car and I decided to treat myself to a double mocha at the local coffee stand (I had become accustomed to these “treats” since she was born, justifying them as helping my sanity level with my lack of sleep).  With the jolt of caffeine in my system I was focused and ready to tackle another camping trip.

                We arrived at the campground and eventually found my husband and other daughter, who had been having a great time together.  By that time the buzz of the caffeine had turned into the jittery, nervous feeling that I was used to dealing with.  From that point on, the details get a little fuzzy.  All I know is that when we arrived and got out of the car I immediately smelled the smoke from a forest fire.  When I asked about it, I was told there was one nearby but that it was still safe to camp. 

                No one else seemed to be bothered by the smoke so I tried to deal with it logically and tell myself I would be fine.  However, my body started responding in a way that I didn’t like.  My heart was racing a little and my breathing was restricted.  I tried to go along with the program, ignoring my body’s responses and joining what everyone else was doing.  My husband had decided to take the kids swimming in the river so I went to watch. 

I needed to walk back to the campsite for some reason and on the way there it hit – a full blown panic attack – the scariest thing that had ever happened to me.  There was no logical reason for it in my mind.  I suddenly felt like I was about to die but I didn’t know why, so I blamed it on the smoke.  My heart was palpitating, I was sweating, I was dazed and confused, and couldn’t catch my breath.  I was frozen in fear and didn’t know what to do. 

Since I figured it was the smoke, I decided to go to my car and turn the A/C on, hoping that would help.  It did.  Sort of.  With the smoke smell gone, my breathing calmed down a little but whenever I tried to get out of the car and smelled the smoke, the whole process was triggered again.  So my solution was to drive around the campground to keep the A/C working.  At one point I stopped at the camper of someone from church and asked for help, but they didn’t know what to do to help me except let me sit in their camper to get out of the smoke.  It didn’t help much so I was back in the car. 

I finally made my way to the swimming area, which is a bit of a walk from the car, to tell my husband what was going on.  Of course, he didn’t know what to do because nothing was obviously wrong with me.  I had just been “perfectly fine” just a half hour before and now the world was ending for me.  I got him to talk about options with me and the only thing we could come up with was for me to just go home.  The last place I had felt “normal” was at home so logically if I went there I should be okay.  And since I didn’t want to ruin my husband’s camping trip, I offered to drive home with our 2-year-old by myself. 

  THE TRIP HOME

                So off we went, me in a semi-panicked state and my daughter, totally oblivious to what was happening, headed for a 2-hour drive home.  My mind was racing with all the things I could do to calm my body down.  I have always been health-conscious and had never been one to use any type of drug unless absolutely necessary (even ibuprofen).  I also didn’t drink alcohol, but the first thing that popped into my head at that time was to get to a store to buy an alcoholic drink to calm myself down.  I was shocking myself even with the thought.  Not only did I NEVER do this, but I was driving so it would be illegal to drink it even if I bought it!  Besides, I had a 2-year-old child in my car. 

I found a store anyway and bought 2 wine coolers-the only kind of alcohol I could get down.  Well I was panicked but I wasn’t stupid, so I had to muscle my way down the freeway for the whole drive home, telling myself that I could have the wine coolers when I got home if I wasn’t better.  In those moments, I had a sudden compassion for people who turn to drugs and alcohol for lack of another resource to help them in a difficult situation.  How can I ever judge anyone again for turning to this stuff when I have two bottles sitting next to me in my car, and I don’t even drink?!

                On the way home I called my mom and my sister, freaking both of them out, just so I could have someone to talk me home.  My daughter in the back seat was a pretty strong motivation to get home safely.  Of course, looking back it was the stupidest thing I could have done.  But my logic was not rational at that point.  With lots of prayer we made it home, my heart racing the whole way. 

Once home, there was no more smoke, but my heart was still racing and I was having a hard time breathing.  I found an inhaler from when I had been sick and used it to help my breathing.  It helped, but just made my heart race faster.  I finally tried part of a wine cooler.  It’s hard to believe I had any rationale at that point, but my practical nature pulled through and kept me from going down the path I could have gone down.  Although it did start to calm my nerves, I got scared because of it, knowing what alcohol does to people in desperate circumstances.  I can’t take the credit away from God’s quiet little voice in that situation. 

 MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL

                The next two weeks were like a living hell.  My racing heart never slowed down.  I couldn’t sleep.  I watched movies to distract myself, played the piano to calm myself down in the middle of the night (I have headphones), used the inhaler if necessary and couldn’t leave the house.  Any attempt to leave the house made my symptoms worse.  Finally, my mom’s friend, Ellen Stroud (a RN who has her own online health consulting business) contacted me and told me about something called GABA that could calm my body down.  Somehow I got in the car and drove to the local health food store to get GABA and 5HTP (another thing Ellen suggested after she read the book “Mood Cure” – a very good book by the way!). 

With Ellen’s help, I figured out how to use those two supplements.  And they saved my sanity.  The 5HTP was to increase my serotonin levels and help with the panic long term, and the GABA (a naturally occurring amino acid in our bodies that acts like valium) helped in a more immediate way to calm everything down when I started to have a panic attack (which happened several times a day).  I eventually switched to tryptophan from the 5HTP because I thought it wasn’t working well for me (looking back, I don’t know if it really was or wasn’t).

                I fought panic attacks daily.  I was able to sleep if I took GABA and tryptophan, but often awoke in the morning extremely hypoglycemic and on the verge of panic.  The GABA made me spacey and tired so I was often in bed.  But even in the wired state, I had a strange combination of “wired but tired”, which is a feeling that is unique to this condition.  And anything remotely stressful brought on the panic (like getting in the car to go somewhere or hearing a screaming child), so insulating myself from stress was the only answer. 

                Ellen suggested several books for me to read and she, along with my mom encouraged me to not go the conventional medical route with this new condition I had.  They had both been down the same path I was going down in their past and knew the only answer conventional medicine had would be tranquilizers and antidepressants.  The cure was something deeper than that and I knew it.  I knew covering my symptoms was not the answer. 

Stay tuned for the next installment of Celeste’s Story!  If you are not yet a subscriber, please send an e-mail to carrie [at] organicthrifty [dot] com with the subject heading “subscribe”.