Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Long Answer

I get lots and lots of emails from women with health issues either for themselves or their children. From my end of it, it seems like almost everyone is dealing with something ailing somewhere in the family. I am sure that history didn't have what we have now. I know there were terrible plagues and diseases but not the type of self-inflicted problems that we have now through our diet and medicine. When I get these emails or phone calls, I run into to two different sort of people; those wanting the short answer and those wanting the long answer.


The short answer is the answer many are looking for. It is the pop the pill, take a nap and all your troubles are over type of answer. I can promise you will never get the short answer from me. Short answers yield short lived results. That is our world. We want it all now without the work. 


The long answer is hard. I can usually tell when I start the long answer if I have the short answer mom or the long answer mom on the phone. The long answer causes anxiety. The long answer usually brings tears and lots and lots of questions. The long answer is just that....long and involved. I know lots of people who asked me years ago about their child or themselves and didn't want to hear the long answer. They tried the short answer; the multi level type miracle supplements or medicine and most of them are worse off for the wear at this point. I do not know ONE SINGLE CHILD on the autism spectrum who was every recovered with a short answer. I do not know ANY SINGLE WOMAN with endometriosis, MS, depression, IBS, chronic Fatigue Syndrome or any other auto immune disease that was ever healed with the short answer. Barring a miracle, it won't happen.


So what is the long answer? It begins with understanding where the problem began. For kids, it will begin with the gestation and health of the mother. By getting this history, it is often quite easy to understand where the problem began. Lots and lots of times I hear about mothers with yeast infections during gestation. A child born who would vomit everything they ate as an infant. Bowel issues. Chronic ear infections and antibiotics. Allergies and eczema. Sleeplessness. The list goes on. Their is always a trail but usually we wait until the trail is long before it is addressed. Boy how I wish I knew all this 6 years ago. I see children on this trail and I want so badly to tell this mother what needs to be done to stop the train wreck. But, so , so many only want the short answer.


For moms, the trail to demise has been going on for years. We are good to neglect ourselves and not listen to what we need. We can add so many things to the mix to really mess up our systems. After thousands of dollars spent at Naturopaths and Dr.s and thousands of hours spent on research, there are always basics that almost everyone of these health issues we are plagued with can be linked to: yeast, bowel issues, allergies and protein issues and diet. The problem is that these situation don't heal themselves. The problem starts small and builds until we now have no energy, depression, stomach issues, etc. The problem is that when we get to this point, the energy to fix it seems to be a problem.


What do we do? Take heed of the small signs. If you think there is something wrong with a child or yourself, take action. Don't just wait and see. Stay off the antibiotic train. Change your diet. Get sleep. Address allergies.


Don't take the short answer. I believe there is a natural way to heal about anything, especially if addressed early. You don't have to live with ailments; unless you want to. If you don't want to take the hard road to fix the problem, you will stay on the hard road of living with the problem. I promise it is much easier in the end to do the hard work now. 


If you want the long answer, I would be happy to talk with you. I will never profess to know all the answers but I will be happy to tell you all I know and point you in the right direction. Everything in babysteps. You can do it! Let's end the trail of destruction in our society. Start by cleaning up your diet. It is the single best thing you can do for yourself and your family. If you aren't willing to do that very first step, you will always, always pay the price. Everytime.


My speech for the day.







15 comments:

Cindy said...

Amen!

Shell in your Pocket said...

Great advice-
sandy toe

allie said...

I needed this... I'll be emailing you when I get a minute to breathe... Thanks!

Suni said...

I am so thankful for your knowledge and your willingness to share it! You have helped my two girls so much, I am grateful!

Moore said...

I am an avid all natural girl. Green drinks, raw foods, some steamed veggies, sprouts, exercise, sunshine, good sleep, etc. I was diagnosed with Leukemia in February during my OB visit with my 7th baby. I am in my 30's. I didn't want to believe I could be sick. I started the hard road to getting better. I found out I have to 'clean' my blood and body by detoxing even more than I thought I was. Organic supplements, parasite and heavey metal detox, etc.
Results~ No chemo, my blood counts are reversing in the good direction, and one very healthy baby! TAKE THE HARD ROAD to avoid a harder outcome- chemo or even dying.

Shari Goodman said...

I am super impressed, Trish! What an inspiration to us all that it can be done! The hard road is so very worth it!

Marie said...

I have been learning about this for the last 4 years and it isn't easy! BUT it is so worth it! Thanks for all of the information that you share, it is very much appreciated :)

Kathy Habel said...

The long road is hard and full of twist and turns and setbacks! I certainly wished the short answer would cure but it doesn't. It is trial and error and trying something new over and over again for us but hopefully one day soon we'll get there.

Ashley said...

Shari, I have read your blog and have enjoyed your posts on eating more healthy and naturally. However, this blog post for me was strange. As a woman with MS I find it appalling that you suggest that it is "self inflicted." I think that puts a lot of unneccesary guilt on people thinking that they caused their illness or even worse caused their children's illness. Seems a bit harsh. I'm also baffled by your claims that you have the "long answer" to help cure it, or can point us in the right direction. That's a pretty hefty claim that researchers haven't even been able to do yet. I'm skeptical to say the least. Do I think that eating healthy and naturally will help my condition? Absolutely. Cure it? Not so much. I am grateful for the medication that they have develped to help me and others like me, and I will continue taking it in conjunction with eating naturally and healthy. Thanks for your other posts on eating naturally, recipes, etc.

Shari Goodman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shari Goodman said...

Ashley,

I am sure sorry to offend you.

First off, I never do profess to know all the answers. Ever. What I do know that is in every single situation, you will always help disease by diet and healing the gut. Every time. It always begins there. It is the first step. Very little times when someone comes to me do I find that they are taking care of themselves by eating right. They almost always have gut issues. If you were in my shoes, you would see the parallels.

As far as "self-inflicted", many of the times this is the case. Not intentionally but it is the route nonetheless. How many women live on diet drinks and slimfast and eat horribly then are baffled why they have chronic fatigue or MS? There are so many links now and I know with all my heart that the body turns on it self, ie auto immune diseases, when we are unkind to it. With that said, I am sure there are situation when someone is born with a body that is lacking in certain areas and will be more prone to disease. I get that. However, I believe that we can recover most of our diseases, not always cure. Cure is different than recover. Recovering can still leave the underlying disease but the symptoms can be removed. I see it all the time.

Those of us that live perfectly healthy lives will not go unscathed many times as we live in a toxic world. However, we can do our best and when that doesn't work, that is where medicine comes to play. Those who just want the pills and not do the work are those that take the short route. When you do all the work and still need the medicine to help, you are doing the hard road.

Hope that clears it up.

Ashley said...

Hi Shari,
Thanks for responding back. I couldn't agree more about people wanting quick fixes. There are so many preventable diseases out there that could have and still could be prevented by taking care of yourself.

The reason that I read your blog is because I believe that by taking care of myself I am doing my part to help my disease. By reading your blog I get ideas about how to eat more naturally and healthy. I really enjoy it.

I do think that a disease as complex as MS should be taken in two parts. The first part being the modifiable part. By asking myself what I can change. By making myself more healthy and doing it. There is a part of MS (and some other diseases, not all) that is completley uncontrolled. I think that medication can help bridge that gap that I can't control. So for me I am using a medication/ healthy eating approach. I'm not saying that you would agree with me, but that's the great thing about having our own opinions.

I guess the reason why I originally wrote my comment was because I interpretted the words self-inflicted badly. To me self-inflicted has such a negative connotation to it.

It should also be noted that I have never been a soda drinker, nor have I ever tried a slim fast :) They look pretty disgusting.

Keep up the good posts on healthy eating.

Shari Goodman said...

Ashley,

Thanks for responding and I do agree with you on the medication when you do all that you can do naturally. There is certainly a time and a place. I am glad you take care of yourself and there are things beyond our control. I totally agree with that. When I say "self Inflicted" , I mean more as a society meaning what the world does to us to pollute our food etc. Some people certainly add to that themselves. There are so many things we cannot control. I know we are blessed when we do all in our power to change our circumstances. Sounds like you are doing just that.

Keep it up!

Kara said...

I am unwilling to submit to a life of side effects!! Masking dysfunction is completely different than healing dysfunction. We are doing the GAPS diet and learning the whole process of gut phychology. I have heard lots of interviews with people who have healed from the most complicated issues on this diet. It takes a lot of searching and an extreme amount of effort, but I am like you, Shari, the work is worth it because health is valuable.

Shari Goodman said...

I have been following you on the GAPS diet, Kara. I did that with Tate for 1 1/2 years. One kid was hard, but doing a whole family even harder! But, glad you are doing it when they are young. It is so hard but it works. We did end up with an egg allergy after it so I was a little leery about that but it did resolve after a while. It did clear up a majority of his food allergies though. You will never go wrong with real food. Ever. I can't wait to see the end results for you and your family.