After finishing up my herbology course, my belief in food as your best medicine solidified. God has literally given us all we need to be healthy. Our ancestors and especially our Native Americans knew this and how to use the amazing herbs and spices that grow for our benefit. It is sad that this knowledge has been replaced with drugs with a myriad of side effects. The very drugs themselves we use to feel better actually make us sicker. There are so many God given foods that are every bit as powerful as drugs without the harmful side effects. I want to share some of these amazing herbs and spices over the next little while.

     Today let's talk about garlic. We all know garlic is good, right? Nothing new. But, how many of us know how good and what to use it for? Let me share: Garlic is right up there with being one of the most prized foods on the planet. Not only does it keep vampires away, it is an incredibly immune boosting plant full of antioxidants and heart healthy properties. Garlic works by boosting the bodies immune cell activity. When you chew garlic, or eat it in a grinded form, the release of allicin acts as a powerful antibiotic that inhibits germs to grow. 1 milligram of allicin has a potency of 15 units of penicillin!! Dang. And it won't mess up your gut!! Why don't we all have this in our arsenal? Here are some other fun facts for you: garlic lowers blood pressure, kills cancer cells, helps defend against allergies, regulates blood sugar, eliminates parasites, reduces the common cold by over 50% and thins blood similar to aspirin. Garlic helps the production of bile to help reduce the fat in the liver, lowers cholesterol and helps keep the blood and vessels healthy. There are a plethora of studies about garlic which have stood the test of time. Garlic should be our go to for sore throats, ear infections, colds, infections, etc. We should gravitate to the natural before ever reaching for the synthetic and harmful. If we did that, really we shouldn't even need the synthetic. There are many garlic supplements out there if you don't want to chew on a clove raw. I love Allimax. It comes in liquid as well for the littles. Stay healthy my friends! 

     I actually don't like these letters. They are made up. There isn't a blood test or lab at all that confirms this ailment. They are acronyms to label something that isn't working as it should. Same goes for Autism. ADD/ADHD and autism weren't even in the dictionary not too long ago and now they are labels thrown around cheaply. The problem with getting that cheap label is that you start to believe it is actually a sentence or a disease you can't come back from. The truth is when you have this label, it means that there is something not working right in the body and when something isn't working right, there is something you can to do to fix it. The world today is different than the one we grew up in. There are so many things thrown at little ones today that literally change the way the brain functions. It makes me crazy and frustrated and those things will never change. Our world is full of toxins we never had before. Kiddos get 4 times the vaccines we ever had. There are chemicals and food dyes banned in other countries that invade our food supply. Little, developing minds are handed electronics before they can even say "mom" and the outside play and discovery has been reduced to a fraction of what used to be the norm. If we want healthy, functioning brains, we have to treat the whole person. If someone is telling you a magic pill or oil will cure this crisis, keep moving on. While there are some good things out there to help, healing a mind requires looking at the whole picture. Each picture is different since each person is different. Where do you start?? First off, always, always examine what goes into the body. As a teacher, I can promise you that my little ones who show up with candy in their hand or sugar cereals in their bellies can not sit and focus. Our bodies are a chemical process. What goes in affects the outcome. No other way around that. You have to get rid of the junk and change the diet. That's not easy, but incredibly necessary. Food allergies need to be explored, Candida and bacteria treated and malabsorption issues addressed. The brain needs nutrients and nutrients will not be absorbed in a gut that is compromised. If you are spending your money at a doctor that doesn't understand this correlation, keep looking. There are great tests now to help explain what is going on inside of the body. The Organic Acid Test has been an amazing tool for me and so many others. I so wish every doctor understood these tests. Maybe one day. Many of these little people have heavy metal toxicity, pesticide toxicity, liver stress, etc.  There are supplements to help clean out the toxins and to help the body to work properly.

     Another critical part of brain function is getting play time! kids are constantly on electronics. Adults as well! Electronics, especially video games change the way the the brain works. So hand those to a little, developing mind and you will develop a brain that functions like a rapid moving, jumbling and busy video game. Kids need to develop a brain by exploring, touching, feeling and by example from real people and situations. Get rid of the games and get them outside. Kids get hardly any recess time at school anymore which is ridiculous! The schools with more recess have higher scores. We aren't meant to sit. Many kids need to learn tactically, especially these days. There are schools now that allow for this. Search for a school that fits our child if possible. In any case, foster a world where your child can learn from the world and not on a device. 
  Lastly, drugs. This is a tough subject. Many parents are at their wits end. Schools also pressure parents as they aren't geared to teach these distracted minds. The serious trouble with these drugs, that are so often handed out way too easily, is that they not only change the child's very person but that at some point stop working altogether. At that point, you have a child that will have an even more damaged body and is older and harder to change. Many times all it takes is changing a diet and clearing out yeast and bacteria. Some times there are many more steps. Adults may also need to address these issues. My plea is that you take the hard steps. Do the hard work now. You can't always make a child change but you can change what you do and allow in your house. Start with baby steps. Start with breakfast and get rid of the junk. Just keep doing your best and don't give up. There are always answers. 

I would say the hottest topic I address daily in emails is about Candida, aka yeast. How do you know if you have it? What are the symptoms? How do you get rid of it? Yeast is a tricky little bugger that causes an enormous about of grief for its hosts.  To catch you up if you missed my post before, Candida goes hand in hand with gut problems but also so much more; arthritis, chronic sinus issues, fogginess, hormone issues, food sensitivities, hypothyroidism, allergies, autism, ADHD, ADD, sugar cravings, yeast infections, reproductive issues, bronchial issues, brain problems and poor immunity to name a few! It lives among the good bacteria but it can overtake the good bacteria and fill in the crevices in our bodies, like joints and sinuses and cause massive problems. It overgrows with sugar, processed foods, antibiotics, hormones (pill and pregnancy as well), steroids and poor immunity. With kids, I can spot yeasty kid right away; goofiness, almost drunk like, toe walking, spacey, lack of focus, etc. Yeast wants to be fed so you crave the sugar and carbs it desires. Yeast is HARD to get under control and the longer you have had it, the longer it takes. For me, I know yeast is acting up when I get bloated from a little sugar or fruit. I feel spacey when I even eat a little. If I catch it quick, I can heal super quickly. If you have had issues for a while, it's going to take a while to heal. It's just the way it works. So how do you treat yeast? First, you have to stop feeding it. You need to get off sugar asap. Limit the starches and fruit sugars as well. After you can commit to changing your diet, there is a combination of supplements that work amazingly to heal and kill. You want a package deal that cleans the colon, kills the yeast and helps put the good bacteria back where it should be. If you do it right,healing can happen. My son was off the chart with yeast! It was a tough process but he has been healthy and happy for years now. If there is anything I know, yeast is it. I studied it more than I have studied anything else in my life. To rid your body of yeast overgrowth, the best recipe for success is based upon these elements:

​Cleaning up the diet that feeds the yeast!! Always the most important!
Cleaning out the colon 
Using natural anti-fungals to kill the yeast
Replenishing the gut lining and good bacteria in the stomach and intestines

To do this, I have some great supplements I can package up for you. Every body is different and each person needs a plan that will work best for them. I am happy to help you find your way to better healing! Email me at goodman-7@cox.net to get
started on your path to better healing today!

     Warts are actually a virus that will lay dormant deep in your body, ready to pop out at the perfect moment. With 5 kids, you can bet we have battled warts. Sort of goes with the territory of childhood. But, darn if I didn't know in the beginning what I know now, I would have saved lots of money and lots of pain. One child in particular had lots of warts on her hands. We did what everyone does and went to the dermatologist. We began the rounds of freezing the bigger ones off and did this for months, with weekly visits. They just kept returning. So, we went to the next step; injections. It's actually a chemo drug that goes into the wart. I was assured that it just stays in the wart but it didn't feel very right to me. Anyways, trusting this to be our only hope, we continued, every other week for a year. Still, warts remained. 50 of them. I started doing my research (mind you it was harder then without all we have now on the internet) and after a simple trick in ONE WEEK, they were all gone! It cost me less than $20 dollars without any pain for this child and they were gone, never ever to return. We killed the virus in her body, not just the wart on her hand. Warts have deep roots. If you just take the top off, the roots keep spreading and more will pop up. Always get to the root of the problem and here is how very simply you can do it. I don't know anyone who this hasn't worked for. Go get yourself some Bragg's Apple Cider vinegar or any Apple Cider Vinegar that has the "mother" in it. Now take a cotton ball and pull off a section that will cover the wart. If you have several, start with the biggest ones. At night, dip the cotton ball in vinegar. You want a good amount. Put it right on the wart and then put a bandage over it. Take it off in the morning, repeating this nightly. It will get big and puffy, white then black. You may wonder what you are doing to your child but it is actually pulling up the virus. It will then dry up and fall off. Interesting fact is that after treating the biggest ones, the little ones just disappear! We added L.lysine also which is very helpful in killing the virus and amazing for cold sores as well. It's all the Herpes virus. Taking Buffered C is also very helpful if you are prone to cold sores. How I wished I knew all this earlier in my mothering journey. This poor child has damaged nail beds because of those horrible shots. Good news is that I can save you from the trauma, and the money.

     Acne!!! Ugh. As a mom of teenage boys, I know how horrible of a plague acne can be. Out of all the skin issues we have dealt with, this one was our toughest battle and hardest burden to carry. It is a self esteem destroyer. It is scarring. It hurts, physically and emotionally. My oldest had acne beginning in the 8th grade. We tried every topical treatment we could. We went to dermatologist and naturopathic doctors. Each one told us to use a topical treatment or antibiotics. And we tried many, but nothing worked. We were 100% against Accutane. Horrible, horrible stuff. My anguished mommy heart wanted to fix him so desperately and I firmly believed that it could be done with work and determination. Some kids have more hormones than others and most will get some acne. You actually want those hormones to surge! It's important for the rest of their life. But, there are things that antagonize the hormones and create a perfect storm for bad skin. It's no secret that teens don't have the best of diets. It's usually around this age that they get more freedom to go out and buy junk food. Combine that with hormones and BAM!! Skin issues galore. Finally, after much prodding, being desperate enough, my son decided to trust my gut and go off dairy and sugar. I knew that those had to be key. Dairy creates sebum production and sebum causes acne. It's that yucky white junk coming out of your pours. Sugar causes the reactions as well. Now add in some Biotin and guess what? Darn it if his skin didn't clear right up. After 4 years of suffering, it was gone. Now that he is older and the hormones have calmed down, he can have dairy without any effect. You just have to get through the rough years first. Acne can happen to anyone and I have seen this treatment work over and over. Many women experience it when they get a little older and the hormones change. There are other things to add if the initial treatment doesn't work like doing a liver cleanse or treating for yeast but, ALWAYS start with dairy and sugar. Sure seems to be a protocol for about everything.