Blessing?

"The problem isn't the problem, it's your attitude about the problem that's the problem" - J. Depp as Jack Sparrow

I don't like "Pirates of the Carribean", but I think this quote is a good one. When I had to go gluten-free in 2005 I didn't think of it as a blessing. An overhaul like this required a complete rethinking of food and ingredients. I became an avid label reader and rarely ate out; but I was still not eating optimally. I got good at the diet and lost 25 lbs. I still had fatigue and trouble focusing, but I much better than I had been.

Fast forward to 2010. I was married and I was still battling fatigue, my hair had thinned, my skin was dry, I couldn't focus and learn well, I couldn't sleep well, I had terrible anxiety and gained 15 lbs. Later that year I got pregnant and had cravings for fresh additive free foods. Consequently I felt healthier than ever. After giving birth my health declined sharply and I was so fatigued I could barely walk across the house some days.

Spring of 2012 I was advised to get a blood test and it came up positive for hypothyroidism. I was offered a prescription for the problem. I saved it as a last resort and started doing research into alternative treatment. I learned that the contraceptives I had been taking made an existing problem worse. Also, once your start taking hormones for thyroid, some peoples thyroid stops producing and they are on the expensive pills for life. I didn't want that.

Now almost a year later I have started to slowly correct the problem. I have a ways to go, since true health is never an easy path, but it's worth it. To be clear I am not anti doctor or pharmaceuticals. But I do believe that the pharmaceutical industry has conditioned us to look for instant answers in a bottle rather than seeking answers through diet and lifestyle.

The condition is more of a blessing as it has helped me be more open minded to alternative health and looking for ways God has given us in the natural world to aid our health.

In subsequent entries I will outline some of the things I have done to help myself back to health. I hope they help or at least get you thinking.