Thursday, February 11, 2010

Warning lights

My friend, let's call her Anne, had a new teenage driver in the house. This teenage driver took out the family van to cruise the town. This teenage driver didn't really know all that much about vehicles being that he was new to the situation. He didn't know that when a warning light came on in the vehicle, it should be paid attention to. This teenage driver came home, and drove it again later. Same light on. When the light was finally paid attention to, it was too late. The engine was unrepairable. The damage was done. A simple repair was now a very costly replacement. Teenager learned a lesson. (perhaps).

What is our lesson here? We all have our warning lights. I can think of very few diseases in life that do not come with some precursory warning lights. The problem is, most of us don't pay attention until we are totally broken down. Until it requires an urgent trip to the Dr. or until medication is almost necessary. The teenager in each of us would rather just cruise the town in a borrowed car without looking at the warning lights. Unfortunately, by not paying attention to the little warnings, we may end up broken and diseased.

Our bodies have an amazing way of letting us know what is working for it and what is not. Too bad most of us don't listen. Usually it begins as a whisper.
"Hey, I don't really feel good when you eat ice cream, can we stop with the dairy...please?"
or, "Those headaches you have regularly are not normal, a Tylenol is not the solution."

Those are the whispers. They become shouts like:

"Hey, I think you have Colitis from a continuous intake of that dairy you were warned about! Keep it up and we are going to loose an intestine!"

or, "That over consumption of Tylenol has now destroyed your liver! And...you still have headaches, thanks for listening."

If we all just stop and listen to our bodies, we can prevent so much disease, so much heartache for our families. Think about how you feel when you eat something. Maybe even something that is even relatively on the healthy side. Different things trigger responses in different people. Disease begins after repetitive infractions. If it is stopped, chances are, the disease can be stopped.

What things should we be listening for?

Stomach upset. What foods make you react?
Stool. Are you regularly constipated? Have diarrhea?
Headaches. Do you suffer from regular headaches or only occasional?
Skin. Do you have eczema, acne, dermatitis?
Immune system. Do you easily catch a cold, flu, sinusitis?
Allergies. Do you have multiple allergies? Reactions?
Fingernails. Do they look smooth and of normal color or discolored and malformed?
Weight. Do you have too much weight around the middle?
Fatigue. Are you general out of energy? Crash at midday?

If we were cars, we would get regular maintenance check ups. We don't want our cars to break down leading us to costly repairs so we go in for preventative maintenance. We all need to go through the checklist. Ask yourself the questions above. See how you really feel instead of just covering them up. Start to journal your responses to try to figure out triggers. If you have regular headaches, write it down. Try to figure out why. Did you eat something that triggered it? Did you chew gum before getting a headache? Go without water for too long of a period? If you have skin problems like eczema, chart down when you get a flare up and what may have contributed. Listen to your stomach. By repeatedly offending your stomach, you will pay. Guaranteed. An offense now and then will not really cause a long term effect. The day to day will.

It is not normal to have a continual runny nose. That is a warning sign. It is not normal to have headaches. It is not normal to get a stomach ache. It is not normal to have eczema. All things that people just live with or just medicate for.

LISTEN. PAY ATTENTION. FIGURE OUT A SOLUTION. PREVENT DISEASE.

IF NOT, THE DAMAGE MAY BE IRREPARABLE. YOU DON'T GET A NEW ENGINE. ONE PER CUSTOMER. TAKE CARE. HEED THE WARNINGS.



10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a GREAT post-thank you!!

Pricilla said...

Hi, I love your blog. I admire your enthusiasm about nutrition. So my question is, what if you do have the warning lights, but don't know how to fix it because you don't know what is wrong? I just had my 5th baby 3 months ago and have had constant migraines since then. I have also been so run down and tired that I can barely function. I feel like something is wrong, but doctors just give me perscriptions which I am hesitant to take, but if you have ever had a migraine that makes you wonder if it is possible to die from a headache, you will do anything to take the pain away. I am fairly certain it is hormonal imbalance because it has happened after some of my other babies, but this is much more intense. I have never been so wiped out before in my life though. So tired after a full night of sleep that if I didn't have responsibilities, I would probably stay in bed all day. My head feels like I am in a fog and I can't concentrate on anything either. Frequent sore throats made me think it was Mono but I was tested and it came out negative. I have also had my blod, thyroid, and blood sugar tested. I have also wondered if it is PPD, but I have experienced that before and I feel that my outlook on life and family are good. I have googled so many things, but can't seem to find an answer or a way to heal myself since doctors will only treat my symptoms. Sorry to unload so much, but I am desperately wanting to feel better and feel like myself again. I am already taking a very good whole food multi, extra vitamin D3, milk thistle to help my liver with all the migraine medicine(mainly exedrin), st johns wart for any PPD that may be happening and fish oil. I am only 30 and do not have a lot of extra weight on me(just a few more baby pounds). I plan to start exercising, but have felt too sick so far(I know this would help). I am trying to eat nutritionally, but could probably do better. So, I feel that I am listening, but I just don't know what to do. What would you do? Any advice would be so apreciated.(sorry this is so long, but I have come to trust your advice from following you for a while)

Shari Goodman said...

Pricilla,
If you want to email me, I would be happy to chat with you. I would definitely suggest getting on B12. Either the nasal form or shots. It is huge for many if not all of your symptoms. In any case, it will help with your energy level. Hormonal issues , stress, lack of sleep all deplete your B12 which is vital for basic functions. I swear by the stuff!

Heidi said...

Pricilla... I may know someone that can really help you. His name is Troy Albright at rxformulations in Mesa, AZ. He is an expert on hormones and helped me when I was feeling much like you. If you go to rxformulations.com, you will find his phone number. Make an appt. for a consultation and he will get you back on the path to health. He is totally natural and deals in bioidentical hormones. He is heaven sent for a lot of people in Arizona. If you have any other questions, you can e-mail me at heidijacks@yahoo.com

Cindy Sage said...

Pricilla-I have gone to Troy Albright and he helped me alot, but I still had issues... However, I just went to Kara's class about soaking your whole grains and have learned that if you are not soaking your whole grains and flours, beans , etc. before you use them, then your body is not absorbing the minerals and vitamins and can actually be pulling out B vitamins from your body. I too suffer from migraines and take lots of extra B vitamins to try to help with energy... However, it seems that it is never enough... (i have type A blood and it is much more difficuult for a person with type A blood to absorb B vitamins...we need to take twice as much). I think this soaking thing might be the key! Check it out in Nourshing Traditions (Book) By Sally Fallon...

Kara said...

One of my readers sent me this link to an ebook that is really inspiring about health as a blessing and how you have to earn it/hold up your end in order to be blessed. http://www.steven-horne.com/Downloads/OtherFiles/Blessing.pdf

I think you would enjoy it as I have.

Great post, I am always curious how people can call themselves healthy when they live day to day with all sorts of conditions and have a virus every other week. It is not bad luck, it is the laws of nature!

RPH said...

Great post. I wish we could shout this out to the world.

Love your blog Shari.

kami said...

wonderful post! i am a new reader and just love your blog. you're an inspiration!

Tammi said...

Shari, Hi! First, I would like to say that I love your blog. I am trying to move closer to live my life healthy. You give me some great information. You mentioned that eczema is not normal. I would like to know your thoughts on what to do when an infant is getting it. My 5 month old nephew is getting it in patches all over. He had it so bad on his face, that it got infected. My children used to get it at a young age also. Back then I would use whatever the doctor gave me. Like you said that just covers the problem! He is brest feed only. Any suggestions? Thank you for your time, Tammi

Shari Goodman said...

Eczema is a huge sign of allergies in a child. You can have allergies from what a mother eats. I would first recommend the mother going off dairy and eggs. If that doesn't help in a week or two, go to corn,soy, wheat, etc. It is no fun but the earlier you remove the allergens, the quicker the bodies overcome the allergies. Once you show sign of a few allergies, your body is more likely to create more allergies. This time of year is also big for seasonal allergies as things are blooming. It is hard to control the outdoor allergies but I love a New Beginnings product called A & I (allergy and inflamation) that help the flare ups tremendously. They also have a children's chewable. It is great and has helped my son with seasonal eczema flareups.
Sometimes when the eczema gets out of hand, you need to use a little topical steroid cream to calm it down. But, like you said, this isn't a solution. Just a little help now and then when you can't control it with the out door stuff.