My Story

To start out, I want to give a little more background into why I got into the natural health field...

When I was young, my dad had a whole lot of health problems. His dad had died young of an enlarged heart, and my dad was a little worried about his own. He also had hypoglycemia, ulcers, H. Pilori bacteria, allergies, gallbladder troubles, and other digestive problems. My mom had watched her own father and sister die of cancer, and another sister die of diabetes. As she looked around at her other family members who were also suffering from various health issues, she was scared for them and for my dad. My dad had gone to doctors regularly for many years and never had any relief from his health issues. His stomach ulcers had become so bad that he had given up meat, even before the rest of my family decided to, because it would hurt his stomach so much. But aside from that he ate a pretty standard American diet.
My mom decided to search out other means of health care in hopes of finding answers. She was led to a company called Sunrider, which is a Chinese herb company, first.
As she began to put my dad on these Chinese herb supplements, he began to improve quite a bit. She was excited, but continued to search for more information. She and my dad went with my dad's company down to St. George where they attended The National Institute of Fitness for a week. It was at this fitness institute where they were introduced to the vegan lifestyle. They were placed on a vegan diet for their whole time there, and got to attend classes on the benefits of not eating animal products - especially meat and dairy. Diet for a New America by John Robbins was presented to them on video and in book form. This book talked about the negative environmental impact of raising animals for food, the health concerns linked to the consumption of animal fats and animal protein, and showed evidence that protein requirements could easily be met without consuming animal products.
This fitness center had people come and stay there for weeks at a time, living on the vegan diet plan, and exercising daily. People were getting rid of their Type 2 diabetes, their blood pressure was going back to normal, and all sorts of health problems were balancing out.
Though my parents were only there a week, it impacted them enough to want to continue this type of diet. They returned home and told our family what they were going to do, showed us the video, and then told us we could choose if we wanted to eat this way or not. Interestingly enough, all of my 5 siblings (and some of their spouses) decided we would follow the diet as well.
This decision made one of the biggest impacts on my dad's health for the better, and on mine as well, as I wasn't a very healthy kid either.

Another important step in this growth/healing process was when my mom came across The School of Natural Healing. Founded by Dr. John R. Christopher, this school taught the foundational principles of health & wellness, combined with herbal medicine. My mom attended the school and graduated as a Master Herbalist, then I followed in her footsteps and graduated as well. Through this school we were taught about the importance of internal cleansing - cleansing the body from the toxins that accumulate from our foods, poor elimination, and other toxins we are exposed to. The school also taught us about the Mucusless Diet - which follows closely to the vegan diet we were already living. This diet encourages living foods (fresh fruits & vegetables, whole sprouted grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes) and steers you away from food that creates an acid environment in the body, which is the foundation for disease. Along with cleansing and nourishing, herbal products are used to support, strengthen, and rebuild various areas of the body. This understanding is a solid foundation for knowing how the body works and for dealing with any and every disease.
Taking my dad through various cleanses, following the diet plan, and using herbs for support has given him a clean bill of health for the past 10 years. Following the diet, doing cleanses, and using herbs has also improved my health in many ways.

I wouldn't trade my schooling for anything. As I've spent the last 12 years working in the natural health field, I've watched all sorts of new information pop up - new products, diets, and other fads. People without this foundational understanding are pulled from one thing to another, and eventually overwhelmed, not knowing who or what to believe in this field. What I have learned has given me a foundation that doesn't waver because they are true principles. When you understand true principles, everything else you learn is based around that and weighed against those principles. I will get into a deeper understanding of the body and these principles in the next entry or two.

Here is a link to the school's website:
http://snh.cc/