Friday, November 28, 2008

Body Language

"If you are driving your car and your oil light turns on, you wouldn't say, 'my oil light's on; I need to get my oil light to go off.....I'll unscrew the bulb. Ah, now the oil light is no longer illuminated.' You haven't solved the problem, have you? You've got rid of a symptom. The oil light is no longer there, but the reason the light went on is still there....If you have a headache, you shouldn't say, 'Let me eliminate the pain of the headache.' You should ask yourself what's causing your body to do that, and find the cause. When you do this, you are addressing the root cause of the problems and not just treating the symptoms." taken from Kevin Trudeau's Natural Cures , pages 112-113

When we had our second child, she was sick for the first 9 months of her life with ear infections, low blood sugar levels and oxygen levels, RSV, & sinus infections. All the while, her body was talking to us, and we didn't know how to listen. Instead of trying to figure it out, we did as everyone else we knew did: took her to the doctor and gave her antibiotics as the doctors prescribed. Why then, did she seem to get worse? Her screaming fits went from an hour of colic in the early evening, to screaming from 11:00 pm-4:00 am, when she usually passed out from exhaustion. What were we doing wrong, and why was God allowing this to happen to us?

So, I took the next step. I cleaned our house with abrasive cleaners, thinking I could kill the "germs" that she was exposed to. I started to use bleach in washing all of her clothing and bedding. Again, instead of getting better, she seemed to be getting worse, and I started having headaches, and sore neck muscles every day as well. "It must be because I'm carrying more laundry baskets up and down our stairs, with doing laundry more often." I told myself. I asked my husband to start carrying them for me, but that didn't seem to stop the body aches, so I wrote it off as being stressed.

I remember one night in particular, that our daughter screamed for hours with a high fever so I took her to the ER. Maybe if I caught her in the middle of a screaming fit while at the doctor's office, they could give us some answers. All I got was a "Sorry, there's nothing I can find wrong with her, other than her fever. Do you hold her too much?" Hhhhmmm, not exactly what I was looking for! When we got home, I cried out to the Lord saying "God, I cannot do this anymore, I have no clue what to do with her, and you know her best. Please help me!"

God answers our prayers in his timing....not ours. He wanted me to hand it ALL over to him, including our beloved daughter. The next day, my aunt told me I should seek out a natural health practitioner...so I did! The lady who owns Health by Choice, told us the first step was to stop using chemicals in our laundry, and instead put vinegar in as a natural disinfectant. I was apprehensive, but I listened because I had handed it all over to God, leaving no room for judgement on my part.

Our 9 month old slept through the night for the first time in her life, and my headaches lessened. She had one more ear infection after that initial natural health consultation, but we used no antibiotics, and instead used an essential oil, homeopathic remedies, heat compressions, and herbs. We have not been to the doctor in over 2 years with another sickness, illness or infection.

What essential oils, homeopathic remedies and herbs help your body with is support. They will not fully get rid of all your symptoms, because when you have a "symptom", it is simply a sign that your body's natural defense mechanism is working properly and there's some sort of "trigger". So, instead, you need to figure out the source or reason behind the symptom. Remember, God gives us resources for dealing with symptoms, but we make our own decisions as to what "symptoms" we choose to deal with (foods, chemicals, etc) by what we do and where we go each day. Everyone has different symptoms to "invaders" because our bodies are all different, but the smaller the person, the more they are generally effected by something.

Our 9 month old had food and chemical allergies. She needed help in developing digestive enzymes to be able to digest foods and break down chemicals. We started her on DIGESTAZON drops (by Amazon Herbs) and ACIDOPHILUS to increase the good bacteria in her intestines. There were several immediate changes (no screaming, not eating as often, no more ear infections, etc.) and yet some problems have taken longer to work out of her system.

Love in Christ, Sack-n-soul sister

******The information in this BLOG is strictly for educational purposes. It should not be used to treat, diagnose, or prescribe for a condition you feel you may have. If you have any health concerns, you should see a competent medical practitioner. ******

Friday, November 21, 2008

Pass Me the Salt Please!

Verses from the Bible:

Leviticus 2:13 Shalt thou season with salt
Luke 14:34 Salt is good

Salt....ahhh....such a controversial topic! Some people say it's bad for your health; others say it's good; what is our Creator's view on it? Well, before even diving into the research, my gut feeling is this: what God creates is perfect, and then the human race begins to change things. And even though our hearts are in the right place, our appetites and priorities are not always. People have changed not only salt, but fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar cane, corn, meat, dairy products, the whole works. However, since the topic today is salt, I plan to stick to that!

I will first start by addressing what the definition of salt is, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt reads in a somewhat condensed version:

Salt.....is essential for animal life,
Salt is involved in regulating the water content (fluid balance) of the body.
Salt for human consumption is produced in different forms: unrefined salt (sea/mineral ), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt.
Salt is an important preservative.

AND THE PART THAT IS MOST RELATIVE TO THIS BLOG: Chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, are necessary for the survival of all known living creatures, including humans.

At the end of the definition, as if thrown in there as an afterthought, is the following: Conversely, over- consumption of salt increases the risk of health problems, including high blood pressure.

Well, I am one to check the Bible when unresolved with an issue, and if God says salt is good, and tells us to season with salt, I'll be the first one in line to do it! Next, if the free online encyclopedia tells me it's necessary in the survival of all living creatures, I'm going to bet that salt is necessary, rather than something to avoid.

The preservative comment got me thinking, up until people invented refrigerators, they used salt to preserve meats and other food items. People of the Bible, people of the middle ages, people who settled America used it daily in their foods--it was on the top of their "grocery list", you might say! What's on the top of ours nowadays (figuratively speaking, as an ingredient in our foods)...sugar and/or corn syrup. Sugar used to be hard to come by, and now it's difficult to come by something without sugar or corn syrup in it.

SO, if salt used to be such an important staple until about 50-100 years ago, what happened, and why do some people get high blood pressure because of it? Remember, there are 3 different forms of salt, one of which (iodized) can be included as part of either of the other two . Unrefined Salt and Refined Salt can both come as iodized, and, iodine is essential to human life as well, so the problem must lie within one of the other 2 salts. God made the sea salty, and that is how the people back in Bible times got their salt, so you can eliminate Unrefined Salt as being the culprit. Everything God makes is perfect in its original state.

ABOUT REFINED SALT:
I stumbled upon this excerpt in an all-natural article packet of information I got from a friend: "About 50 years ago, the major salt-producing companies in America began to dry their salt in huge kilns, where temperatures reach as high as 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. This changes the chemical structure of the salt, which adversely changes the effect on the human body. It was at this time that heart disease, arthritis, and other chemical diseases began to increase at an alarming rate in this country.

In other countries where people dry salt from the ocean with the sun (India, Mexico,China), many doctors have never seen heart disease, etc, because it is so rare. Since natural (untreated Sea/Mineral) salt dissolves in water naturally, it will dissolve in our bodies as well, moving freely about until flushed out as waste. Refined salt that has been treated will not dissolve in a glass of water, will not dissolve in your body, and therefore collects in body organs, causing health problems!"

So, we have now answered our question...is salt good for you? The Unrefined Salt God gave to us is pure and perfect in it's original, untreated state. Our body uses Unrefined Salt to make hydrochloric acid (an essential digestive fluid), which in turn, digests any invading microbes, parasites, viruses, and bacteria that enter into our body with our food. It will help your stomach, your immune system, regulate fluid balance in your body, along with many, many benefits only our Creator knows. According to Doctor Tom Brewer, "the transport of oxygen and nutrients into the cells, as well as the transport of waste out of the cells, requires sodium; the health of our mucous membranes (stomach, uterus, intestines, sinuses) requires sodium; adequate amounts of sodium are required for proper use of protein and amino acids (the building blocks of our cells), and every cell in the body requires sodium to survive. "

Pass me some unrefined GOD Salt,

Snack-n-Soul Sister :)

For the majority of us, unrefined salt is good, but, in certain health situations, where our bodies are in a diseased state to begin with, our bodies will not know what to do with such a nutrient, and may get more problems as a result--such as with weak kidneys, or a missing kidney.

******The information in this BLOG is strictly for educational purposes. It should not be used to treat, diagnose, or prescribe for a condition you feel you may have. If you have any health concerns, you should see a competent medical practitioner. ******

Monday, November 17, 2008

God Designed our Bodies to Heal Themselves!

Verses for faith:
"The Lord will keep you from disease" DEUTERONOMY 7:15

"(King Asa)...was afflicted with disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but instead Physicians....(2 years later) he died" 2 CHRONICALS 16:12

"A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She had suffered a great deal under care of MANY DOCTORS and spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak....immedietly she was freed from her suffering" MARK 5:25

Have you ever been told by somebody:
"It's just in your head!",
"There's nothing we can find wrong with you",
"There's no cure for it",
"You'll be on this medication for the rest of you life"?

GOD DESIGNED OUR BODIES TO HEAL THEMSELVES!

Yep, you read that right, GOD DESIGNED OUR BODIES TO HEAL THEMSELVES!

God also gave us all the resources to do this. Most people would not accept that idea anymore because we look towards resources other than God when we have a health problem. We watch ads on TV, we talk with friends who have the "same problem", we pay co-pays to get advice, we pay for chemically-made drugs that shut off sensory systems in our body, and we write off any attempts from the natural world as not working after the first try. All the while, forgetting to ask God how he intended for us to heal our bodies from diseases and sickness.

I used to be dependent on an inhailer for asthma, decongestants for allergy problems, several dermatologist lotions for skin problems and irritations, muscle relaxers for backaches, pain relief prescriptions for migranes and body aches, antacid prescriptions for acid reflux, over the counter medications for colds/flus/viruses, ...the list could go on! It wasn't a very good feeling to be so dependent on something, because without them, I would be miserable. Do you know what I have in my medicine cabnit now? Nothing! I do not need any of these medications anymore because I have set myself free. IF I get a problem, I can fight throught it by supporting my body with an herb, oil, tea or remedy and then go on with life afterwards! With my BLOG I plan to give you ideas, resources, information and education on how God made our body systems, and how he gave us plants to treat them!

When we have a symptom that doesn't feel right, it means we need to figure out what is going on in our body that gave us a warning sign, or a "symptom". We should pray, wait, and seek GOD'S WAYS. Far back in history and in other cultures, people used to look for the Medicine man who had herbs to heal with. In Laura Ingalls books/shows they would look for a remedy from the doctor, I even remember at the end of the book Peter Rabbit, his mom gave a tea of chammomile to settle nerves. Interestingly, the chammomile remedy works great with our daughter, Sierra for teething! Why have we gone away from these ways, and turned towards medications that either make us dependent on them, or else mask the problem? Yes, they may have immediete drugging effects, but are they only a temporary fix? Or do our bodies get hooked on them to enjoy continued relief? God has given us alternative resources so that we can seek out HIS ways to heal. There are aternatives....one just has to keep an open mind and be patient to see the effects. It takes 3 times as long to heal our bodies than it took our bodies to get to the point of disease in the first place.

I will be adding tidbits weekly/bi-weekly so that you may have the same resources that God gave me, to make our bodies a LIVING sacrifice for him, instead of a diseased, drugged, or hurting sacrifice. I have included books and websites along the side for you to read, while having an open mind and a softened heart. I remember how defensive I was when someone first approached me about all-natural ways, so please pray about it before discounting it!

With Love in Christ, Snack-n-Soul Sister