*Unbelievable* = HOPE!!!

I have no idea where to even start this post, and fully know it will be rambling as I process what this new doctor just said. I'm completely speechless. And SO EXCITED!

First off, Christi Mintz-Lasher is a master nutritionist at the Denver Allergy Clinic. She made a home visit (which saved money!!) and I think I retained only about 10% of the knowledge she imparted. I'm totally like, blown away.

She started off with a diagram to explain leaky gut to me. She said a LOT of people are walking around with it right now, which makes total sense to me. From the environmental stressors everyone experiences, to medicines that break down the gut, to lots of different factors, a lot of people are faced with this in life and consequently we develop a leaky gut. The stressors put stress on the adrenal glands, which affects the leaky gut too. She showed me a picture of the little thingies that line my gut and are normally tight together. They collect the food, digest it and push it into the blood stream. When there is inflammation from stressors, the "thingies" are no longer tight next to each other and therefore whole food particles can get into the blood stream. The body reacts and fights these off and develops a memory when it continues to absorb the same particles. It develops an antibody to fight it, which creates a food sensitivity.

Something she pointed out was that food sensitivities manifest themselves in 3 ways - digestive tract, skin, or brain... and that they start off as irritants, then become sensitivities, then become allergies, then run into autoimmune issues (celiacs, diabetes, etc)...and can lead to the brain (ie, dementia, etc) That's pretty scary, honestly, but makes sense too b/c of all the issues we have going on in our society.

As a side note, I made a comment that I was wanting to limit the amount of meat/animal products in my diet b/c I had heard that there was a correlation between that and cancer. She said if I get pasture raised chicken/eggs and grass fed beef, that is ok to eat. The other stuff is fed grains, which cause inflammation. Inflammation is what causes cancer! She told me to stay away from oatmeal (which I'd been eating for breakfast) because those who are allergic to gluten are often allergic to oats (and dairy, oddly enough!) (as a side note, she said Applegate Farms is really good sausage and deli meats..and for eggs, we're supposed to get eggs with an orange yolk. That has more nutrients than the yellow yolk...)

She also said to stay far away from soy. All soy in the US is genetically modified and that is SO bad for us. She repeated to stay away from soy.

She told me to get protein in every meal to help me feel full and b/c that was important to have it..so, ok...whether it's animal protein or legumes, I'll try to do a better job of that. She said to drink half my weight in water a day...ok...will up it a bit...She pointed out that sugar is toxic...strong words, but I know I feel bloated and completely nasty when I eat sugar (but it tastes so good!) She told me to stay away from fruits on the high glycemic index (i.e., bananas, pineapple .. sad...) b/c this spikes my blood sugar levels so my body goes high, then low, then high, then low. That's partly why I may have trouble falling asleep at night - my body is so used to going on these highs and lows, fighting off the spikes, that it overproduced cortisol last, so it has to over compensate and produce adrenaline, which is why i can't fall asleep at night...definitely sounds like it could make sense. That's why it's important to eat small meals every few hours - keep myself even keeled and not spiking.

Another side note (told you'd I'd be all over the place)...she said that depending on your blood type depends on if you should be vegan or not... I'm an O+ I think, and she said O's are meant to eat meat. She's an A+ and isn't supposed to eat meat, but she likes it, so she has to take some sort of acid when she eats meat so that she can digest it... This is where I was like hm, this is outside my comfort zone, it sounds kinda wierd...but just b/c it's not western medicine doesn't mean it's not true...just keeping my eyes open.

Ok this is where it got weird. And I prayed for Jesus to protect me the whole time. I had no idea what to think of this, but sometimes I think eastern medicine may have some truth to it. Western meds just drug and address the symptoms, not root problem.

Have you ever had muscle testing? A friend at work told me about it and said someone in her church does it...this lady who tested me goes to a Lutheran church..I'm like, ok...let's give it a shot. It sounds so far fetched. I know this, I know this. BUT IT WORKS AND IS SO SO CRAZY.

So I held my arm out and held a bottle of the pills that the other doctor had given me. This lady quietly in her head asked my body if I liked the pills (keep reading! I know this is wierd!!!) and then she would push my arm down. If my arm went down, it was a yes; if I could resist her pushing down, it was a not. *I could not control it* I "lost" my energy at one point and so she had to rub my chest ribs and stomach to recenter my energy and then I got my "yes/no" back. Can't explain it; she told me I was sensitive...which I already know that I am sensitive to side effects of medicines...so maybe that makes sense?

Anyways, she went through the list of pills the doctor previously had given me. Three of the bottles my body did not like and in effect, one of them triggered me to lose my yes/no arm strength. So I'll stay on the regimen with the pills - except those three bottles - til she starts me on her regimen on Saturday.

As a Christian, I was totally weirded out about the energy thing. I kept praying the whole time that Jesus would protect me, and sometimes I wonder if in our Western culture we think pills is the only way to go...yet, could God, Who created energy in people, have also created ways for us to get healed with energy? I mean...why not? Still praying about this...cuz it's so weird...but...I do think people have an energy about them -  you can tell when someone walks in a room and it's negative energy, or positive energy. I dont' mean that in a new age way...just...think about it...I've learned you can kinda feel it.

The last thing she did for me was "clear" me of a few food things that were sensitivities, not allergies...so, less of an issue but I was still supposed to avoid them... and that was super bizarre too...stay with me for a second. She had these vials that represented the major organs and then a vial that represented the global blood type. So she beat upon my spine and then did accupuncture on my elbows, hands and feet while I held the vials. This is so weird it's embarassing to write about. Anyways, she said it cleared me of the vegetables I"m not supposed to eat; I wait 24 hours and then she'll retest me on Friday and if I'm clear, then I can eat those.

This is part of the journey...I'll keep you posted...but I feel hopeful...She's giving me the first vita-shake thing on Friday, when she gets a new order in (and I get paid!) so I'll start the first round on Saturday. It's 5 days of drinking this shake once a day, and only eating a few things that there are no known allergies to...ie, lots of veggies. This heals my leaky gut in one day, but they do it for 5 to make sure that it's fully restored.

Then I go on a 21 day shake...and add a few things into my diet but this centers my digestive tract again I think? So it rebalances everything, and after that I can add things in, one at a time. If I don't react for 3 days, then it's safe. If I do react, then I keep it out for 5 months and add it back in to try again in 5 months. If I still react, then it's gone for good; otherwise, I can have it again.

She said too that if I get leaky gut in the future - which is possible with stressors- that I just have to do the 5 day cleanse diet to repair it, and get back on a normal eating routine.

She said I'l feel so good after this tho, that I'll probably keep a similarly healthy diet.

OK so that was my disjointed rambling commentary on today's doctor's appt.

In summary, I wouldn't have taken the $1150 ALCAT test or the leaky gut test ($100). I wouldn't have gone to the first doctor ($300) and spent all that money on the supplements ($600). I would have gone straight to this doctor ($120) and taken her shakes ($150 for the *entire 4 weeks*).

Ok, so people, please learn from me. Watch me as I go through this. I think this is the right path finally.

Just need to pray for wisdom b/c I'm not willing to do this if it's off spiritually...so I'll research some things...the Clearings are NAET Allergy Elimination Clearings if you want to look them up online. I'm going to research muscle testings too. Just to see what I'm getting myself into.

My friend at Bible study, who also has allergies, she and I were prayed over last night for healing, so I'm excited to see God using this and working the healing!