The Power of Food

HeatherAsh and Nerissa

Every once in a while I meet someone who so inspires me that all I can think of is "How can I share this person's wisdom and heart with our community?"

A couple of years ago I met Nerissa. She was shaken up by a bad pap test and a doctor telling her she needed to have a hysterectomy immediately. She decided she wanted to first see if she could heal herself. Six months later the doctor was astonished that she had a completely normal pap test, and Nerissa was amazed to find that many of the health issues she was having disappeared.

What Nerissa did was simple: through a blood test she found out what foods she was sensitive to, and shifted her diet.

While that sounds simple, we all know that changing our diet, even when we know what is good for our body, is not always easy. It takes a lot of will, dedication, and what I've found truly helpful is community support. It is much easier to stick to a plan when you are accountable to other people, and with the energy of the group behind you.

So I did my Pixie thing: I gathered people together. For this summer I'm part of a group of ten people that are working with Nerissa to discover what our food sensitivities are, and to then support each other in making changes to our diet. We met for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and after taking our blood tests and sending the food sensitivity kit to the lab, we are all not-so-patiently waiting for our results to come in.

I am massively curious to see what food sensitivities I might have. Food sensitivities are different from food allergies, and are much more difficult to track because while a food allergy shows up almost immediately, a reaction to a food you are sensitive to might now appear for three days after you eat the culprit. As Nerissa said: Eliminating food sensitivities is the fastest way to get relief from common health complaints, most ailments disappear by the fourth day and don't return unless an offending food is eaten. Also, removing offending foods is a great way to boost your immune system naturally resulting in the body's ability to handle environmental based irritants (pollen for example) far more easily resulting in less obvious symptoms and often times no symptoms.

I'll keep you updated on my progress! A few days ago I started a cleanse, and I'm working my way up to cutting out the eight main food allergy/sensitivity culprits: eggs, nuts, dairy, soy, wheat, shellfish, peanuts, and fish. Well, actually I am slowly working my way up to only eating fruits and vegetables for a bit. I've found that when I cleanse in this way (I use Arise and Shine), cutting out anything but fruit and veggies I can feel my system saying "Thank you!" for giving it a break so it can clear out accumulated toxins. Already my body feels less lighter internally and my intestines are very happy with me.

To read a ton of articles, case studies, and more, visit Nerissa's website at http://www.foodpowers.com. She has a great FAQ page...

If you are interested in getting tested for food sensitivities Nerissa offers info about two different tests: the Alcat and the Elisa. Most of us are doing the Elisa test, which costs $10 for the kit. You then take the kit to a doctor to get your blood drawn and sent to the lab. Cost is about $100 to test for sensitivities to 100 foods or $200 for 200 foods. Here is the link to the Alcat and Elisa test information:
http://www.foodpowers.com/tests.html

Now to go in and take my morning herbs!

Blessings and happy conscious eating....

My Teacher Today: A Thirteen Year Old Girl Named Claire

A couple of months ago, on one of my rare surfs through the mysterious and sometimes treacherous waters of Facebook, I came across a video that made me love the human race even more.

The video was of thirteen-year old Claire Wineland sharing about her journey with cystic fibrosis (CF).

Those big doctor words don't mean much until you meet someone that is carrying the label around, usually weighted down by the heaviness of the diagnosis.

And with CF the diagnosis is difficult: cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that causes heavy mucus buildup in the lungs and digestive organs, causing infections, digestive issues, and often early death.

For most of her life Claire has traveled in and out of hospitals, and she spends literally hours everyday clearing her lungs and taking special medications. Last year she spent 17 days in a coma.

But her illness is not a weight to this little girl. She is not resigned, she is on fire to educate and help others with CF, and to enjoy her life to the fullest. The girl has more spunk and heart and vision than most healthy adults I know, and her capacity to make things happen on a huge scale catches me on fire about the immense potential each of us has to make change.

This morning I found a new video Claire did on You Tube, sharing her five steps to following through on goals. She recorded the video right before going into ICU for a lung infection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKY_owo4PO4&feature=channel_video_title

In her words: "Why are we here? I don't know the answer to that. But what I think is that we are here to affect other people's lives."

And this is one thing that Claire does daily with her blog posts, video, and by sharing her story.


Today I'm going to print out a picture of Claire and put on my altar, both to use as an anchor to pray for her and all children who have chronic illness, and as a reminder of the power of faith and the power of setting and completing goals. I'm going to bring Claire into my heart in the places where I get stuck, or scared, or pull back from my goals because of fear.

May she inspire you, too with her wisdom, courage, and faith.

Here is the original video I watched about Claire's story, which I posted in a newsletter a few months back:

http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/lessons-from-claire-20101124

Bright blessings