I Made Food My Medicine

How I Healed… 

After years of unresolved health issues, changing my lifestyle changed my LIFE!

As a Registered Nurse for over 30 years, I have always been interested in health and well-being. As a Labor-and-Delivery nurse, I have worked with women through their childbearing years, teaching them about childbirth, and helping them through the most difficult and exhilarating time in their life. While I still work as a Labor-and-Delivery RN, as I entered my 50s, and menopause began to creep in, I developed many health problems I was not prepared for.

I have dealt with digestive issues for over 25 years, without any real diagnosis or treatment except pills. I tried to deal with it the best I could, but it never settled down, and I never got it under control. Alas, I then developed a new set of health problems: arthritis in my knees as well as a herniated disc in my back – both associated with spending 30+ years of long hours on my feet!  The treatment I received for these problems was steroid shots in my knees ( 3 rounds)and epidural steroid injections in my back (2) rounds. These where temporary fixes since they would only last a few weeks. Additionally, I had unexplained weight gain (10 pounds in one year), skin issues, and the worst: very low energy.

I was going to the gym and seeing a trainer three times a week, and thought I was eating healthy – but nothing was working! I was an empty-nester, as my twin girls had both gone on to college and began living on their own. I wanted to enjoy this time in my life, but I just never felt well enough. Everyday, I would wake with aches and pains in my knees and back, low energy, itchy dry skin rashes and digestive issues.

Finally, I would soon learn, by doing some research, is that food does not just contain calories, it contains information. Every bit of food you consume broadcasts a set of coded instructions to your body. These instructions can create either health, or disease. I never would have thought the food I was eating was affecting me so drastically. I transitioned into a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle.

By eating a whole food plant based diet, incorporating some vitamins and herbs, and eliminating processed foods that were causing my symptoms, I have eliminated all my ailments naturally, and have more energy now than I did in my 30s. I even lost 20 pounds without even trying! This health transformation  led me back to school to learn more about how food and other factors affect our health.

I now want to teach people how to use food as medicine and stay healthy. My hope is that others will feel as great as I do!