eat right for your blood type

I recommend everyone see a holistic doctor. It's changed my life.

However, if for some reason you are unable, do yourself a favor and find out your bloodtype. Then google "eating for your bloodtype" and you can find tons of free information on the topic!

For almost a year, I have been seeing a holistic doctor. When I first came to him, I was experiencing some pretty intense digestive issues. He tested my body through applied kinesiology to find out to which foods I am sensitive... which foods I was eating that my body couldn't process that were therefore completely running down my immune system.

I cut out gluten, dairy, soy, and corn (among others) and my immune system skyrocketed - as did my overall health. I felt better, slept better, and had more energy.

Then, just recently I found out what my bloodtype is, and I was shocked to find that virtually all the suggestions made by my holistic doctor were supported by this method/theory.

So do yourself a favor! Find out your bloodtype. Begin incorporating changes according to the foods your body likes, is neutral toward, and doesn't like. And I guarantee you will notice a difference in your health!

Here are some direct links I have found for a few of the types:

O negative blood type diet. (This list is the most extensive with detailed categories on which foods are "highly beneficial," "neutral," and which you should "avoid.")
B positive blood type diet.A positive blood type diet.

And if you are in the LA area and want to visit my holistic doctor, you can do so here.

...........................................................................................................................................................................

If you liked this post, you may like  "sometimes you have to reach the bottom," "a decade of pain," and "from the inside out."

from the inside out

I took zyrtec every day for fifteen years. Pretty certain that can't be healthy. Quite certain it wasn't cheap.

I tried to ween myself off for years, but each time my throat would itch like crazy. So I continued taking that little white pill. Every day.

And then one day, I stopped taking it. Cold turkey. With no problems or symptoms.

What changed, you may ask?

Well, when I started seeing my holistic doctor, I learned just how much the body has an incredible ability to heal itself... as long as you are putting the right foods in it to begin with. Turns out my "healthy" diet was really depleting my immune system. Turns out I had been filling my body with all sorts of "trigger" foods that made it impossible for my body to combat these so-called "allergies." Turns out I was highly sensitive to gluten, soy, dairy, corn, and a short list of other foods.

Turns out I needed to be healed from the inside out.

With Western medicine, all too often doctors will tell you to "take a pill" for anything and everything - for weight loss, for depression, for anxiety, you name it. We are always looking for a quick fix. But oh, how we are prolonging true healing! 

Similarly, this world is full of people walking around consuming all sorts of pills for all sorts of issues. They are ignoring the root of the issues they have. They are ignoring the deeper longing of their souls.

See, we are all eternal beings created to know our Maker. Therefore - whether we are aware of it or not - we all have an innate longing deep within us to know Jesus Christ.

Seeing a holistic doctor has truly changed my life. Not only am I now relieved of having to take a pill every day after fifteen years, I have been relieved from the debilitating back pain that I had for a solid decade.

Both of these issues required getting to the root of these problems.

For my back pain, all the physical therapy, spinal decompression, acupuncture, and chiropractic treatments were never going to help. I was taking a slew of "pills" if you will - albeit lousy ones - until I faced the true cause of my pain (which stemmed from repressed emotional trauma).

The deeper issues of our lives will manifest sooner or later and in some form or another. I encourage you to take a look at your own life. Is there some physical pain you are in? Some emotional pain you are facing?

Do yourself a favor. Stop listening to this world. Stop "taking a pill" for everything. Evaluate what you are putting into your body - both physically and emotionally. Take a closer look at your heart, get in touch with your soul a little more clearly, and seek the help of your Maker, your Savior, along the way.

He is our light in the dark, our hope when we're hopeless, the giver of life when our souls feel dead. And most importantly, he wants to heal us from the inside out.

"You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something." - Psalm 139:15

..................................................................................................................
If you liked this post, you may like: a decade of pain, sometimes you have to reach the bottom

does your "clean" diet cause cancer?

This is a question everyone should ask.

I didn't know I even needed to ask it until my sister sent me this article entitled:

"Watch out for this carcinogen in your organic food."

For me, particularly, it's the coconut milk and coconut water that really got me. I put these in my smoothies every morning and will sometimes sip on both later in the day as well.

That adds up.

This past year I started seeing a holistic doctor - truly one of the best decisions I have ever made. Not only has he nearly cured me from a decade of back pain, he has helped with some serious digestive issues I was having.

I have "cleaned up" my diet tremendously - ridding myself of all gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and grains (except for brown rice), and limiting my intake of certain seeds and nuts. I eat plenty of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables and lean protein. One would think I had an extremely healthy diet that would provide my body with the healing capabilities it needs.

One would think.

Well, like I mentioned, all those carrageenans are sure to add up. And while they may not be giving you cancer (yet), it's highly likely they are harming your digestive system - and therefore entire body - and causing any unexplainable digestive problems you may have. Especially if you are ingesting a lot of a certain item every day (in my case, coconut water and coconut milk).

When I first "cleaned up" my diet, I saw some positive changes, yet I have recently had some returning issues. Which is so frustrating. Here I am thinking, "Literally, there is nothing left for me to cut out."

Oh, but there is.

It's a little known cancer-causing agent called carageenans hiding in my so called "clean" diet.

I was so enraged by this article that I had this fantasy vision of making neon signs that read "causes cancer" and taking them to the grocery store and placing them in front of these items. I literally feel as if I have been tricked, duped, made a fool. I feel ignorant, regretful, ill.

I am not trying to be a drama queen. I am an actress, I know, and I love me some drama. But seriously, I feel so passionately about getting this message out there.

We only get one body. 

Here I was thinking that I was putting all good things into my body, trying desperately to heal my digestive system, and lo and behold it turns out I was adding to the issue, possibly even creating more harm than good by switching to "healthier" options.

Here is a complete list of organic foods with and without carrageenans. 

I believe that I deserve to know what I am putting in my body. I deserve to know why I have unexplainable digestive problems. And I truly believe this could be the root of my recent stomach issues.

I believe you, too, deserve to know what you are putting in your body. And I hope you will share this information to help spread awareness and start a reformation in our food industry.

I hope I live to see a day where we are no longer "duped" by corporations and unknowingly poisoned with cancer-causing substances. 
.........................................................................................................................
If you liked this post, you may like: a decade of pain, sometimes you have to reach the bottom

sometimes you have to reach the bottom

As I mentioned in my decade of pain post, I had reached my wit's end, I had reached my "rock bottom" when I finally found my way to a holistic doctor. Or should I say, when the Lord directed me towards a holistic doctor?

Isn't the Lord always directing our path, whether we know it or not? Isn't he always putting people and events in our lives that will help shape us for the better?

I believe so.

And I believe he can redeem any situation, no matter how dire the circumstances may seem.

I still don't know why I had to experience ten years of back pain before I finally started my road to recovery. That seems like an awful long time to have to learn a lesson. But ultimately, I trust the Lord. I know that His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, and there is no way we can even comprehend the love He has for us.

I took this photo of this rainbow. The most incredible rainbow I have ever seen. I was on a road trip. And I can't help but think of the metaphor this is for life. We are on this road in life - we can only see a little ways ahead, we can't see the ultimate destination, but despite all the twists and turns, ups and downs, sunshine or rain, the Lord never leaves us. He is always guiding us. He is always keeping his promise of faithfulness.
"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." - Genesis 9:13

It was an overwhelming first appointment with Dr. Byrnes to say the least. It was pretty clear that I had a lot of emotion to deal with that I had repressed over the last ten years.

While I may have known I tend to repress emotion, especially such serious emotion such as the grief of losing a loved one, what I did not know was that my repressing of this emotion was the cause of so many other physical problems I was having. And it was also the root of a lot of emotional stress and anxiety I had been carrying around.