Health

Note: I originally wrote this in February of 2011, but didn't publish it until now. We are still working out some things, but are feeling much better. I plan to add more later.

Have you ever had something rock your world altering your life in the most profound way?

In my case, it has been the early onset of old age. Ok, you can stop laughing, I am (mostly) serious. In years, I might be just 35, but in energy levels, stamina and other measures of well-being, my 82 year old father pretty much has me beat.

My wife and I both are suffering from symptoms that are generally consistent with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. In our case, there was a gradual onset over a period of about 10 years until we could no longer ignore the symptoms. Although we looked fairly health and doctors couldn't find anything significant wrong, we were just too weak to even function on a basic level.

We were serving as missionaries in the Dominican Republic. I had to resign my position as pastor of the church in Santo Domingo. For me, that was the most difficult thing I have ever done, but I simply had no choice. I knew if I wanted a chance to be able to raise my family, it was absolutely necessary. Besides that, I wasn't doing the church any favors by trying to do a job I wasn't physically capable of. Moreover, I somehow felt God was leading us towards something else.

We continued working with the church as we were able and spent the next year preparing for furlough. It was made much more difficult because our energy levels were so low and we had so many loose ends that had been let go for so long due to our health.

Finally, last September, we returned to the US on medical furlough. It seems that we have been able to pretty much stabilize our condition in the sense that we are showing some improvement and the flare ups aren't as bad. Also, we are currently working through some treatments we are hopeful will yield some meaningful improvements.

So what does it all mean? In our case, we really just don't know what the future holds, but who among us does?

We know who holds the future. That is all.

—Luke Townsley

Disclaimer: I am not a medical practitioner. These thoughts are my personal observations and in no way constitute professional or specific medical advice.

Medicine and health is truly a bewildering world that leaves even the best of us scratching our heads wondering where to start and how far to go. Here are some thoughts. They may not be appropriate for you.

1. If you are sick, go see your doctor.

But don't expect your general practitioner to know everything or have all the answers to all of your problems. In my opinion, part of being a good general practitioner or doctor of any kind is knowing when to send your patients to another doctor and figuring out which doctor to send them to.

Doctors may only see their patients once or twice a year and often aren't familiar with how they are when they are healthy.

Family and friends can see long term trends and pick up on things that doctors may not. On the other hand, family and friends can get used to things an observant doctor will pick up on immediately. Understand this and try to document your issues and let your doctor know how they are affecting you.

The corollary to this rule is to stay away from the doctor's office as much as possible. Being around sick people and taking too much medicine isn't good for your health.

2. Perfect health is a concept that exists only in heaven. None of us are going to make it out alive.

3. Start with the common. Chances are, if you aren't feeling on top of your game, you have a common cold, the flu, or any number of common maladies.

You almost certainly don't have one of those rare diseases that only afflict one out of a billion.

Trying to convince your doctor you have Bugabugabuga disease is usually a bad plan. If you are convinced you have it, tell your doctor your symptoms and ask if he thinks it is appropriate to test for it. If you push him, he may test for it just to put your mind at ease even knowing it is impossible that it could be your problem.

4. Rule out the dangerous. So there is a 1% chance going to the doctor could save your life and a 99% chance you will end up looking silly. A lot of people take the chance. Some of them die. Don't be one of them.

5. Start with the known and proven. If you are looking to improve your health through diet or supplements, try to stay with the known and proven as much as possible. For instance, it is widely accepted that whole wheat bread is better than white bread. Eat whole wheat. It is widely accepted that excess salt is bad. Don't consume excessive amounts of salt. It is not widely accepted that avoiding all grains is the best course for most people. Be careful.

6. Eat healthier. Minimize your shopping time in the prepackaged food aisles at the store. Eat fresh. Learn to mix herbs and spices instead of relying on grease for flavor.

Stay away from fad diets. Eating is a lifestyle, not a fad. Even if the latest fad diet was good for you, to be really successful, it has to translate into long-term success and foster good eating habits.

7. Mental illnesses are real and often treatable. Some Christians avoid psychiatrists and psychologists faulting them for attempting to treat issues with medical science that are really spiritual issues. Mental issues are not necessarily spiritual any more than physical issues are spiritual.

Understand the risks involved with any medicine you take and take necessary precautions.

In my opinion, mental illness requires a level of trust that isn't required for other doctors. My suggestion for spiritual counselors is to make the acquaintance of doctors and psychiatrists in your area and have the discernment when you are counselling to know when to recommend their services. Sometimes, it isn't an either/or scenario, but rather a both/and situation.

Remember that suicidal tendencies constitute a medical emergency.

8. Vitamins and supplements can play an important role. Multivitamins, fish oil, Vitamin C, and so forth are commonly accepted as helpful. Be careful with herbs, vitamins, amino acids, and other treatments that can be harmful.

A number of things are beneficial to certain people in correct dosages but potentially very harmful if misused.

If you feel the need to explore the fringes, be very, very cautious, and try to understand the risks.

9. Rest. Take a "Sabbath" every week. A lot of people are addicted to adrenaline. They crave pressure, action, and excitement. Sure, it makes them feel good, but they are ruining their health. Downtime is absolutely necessary to good spiritual, mental and physical health.

10. Excercise. Do age and condition appropriate excercise for strength, flexibility, and aerobic capacity.

Conclusion

In spite of our advanced understanding of health issues, we live in an increasingly unhealthy society.

Good health requires rest, excercise, good food, fresh water, clean air, and inner peace. We can all work towards improving and bringing those things into line even if we don't understand the blizzard of other information raining on us.

—Luke

This is a personal letter that Hannah's sister, Kelly, recently sent knowing she was struggling with energy issues and had been diagnosed as having Fibromyalgia. It was so good, I edited out the personal details and got permission from Kelly to post it.

There are a lot of diet tips and ideas that will interest those of you who want to improve your energy levels through better eating. Some of these ideas will not be applicable for everyone and could even be dangerous for some people. Please check things out and get medical advice from a trusted doctor if you need it.

Dear Sis,
I have attached here some helpful reading for you with some ideas for how to convert some of your eating to a higher protein, less processed food diet. I can tell you from my personal experience that this really works for a lot of issues including losing weight, inflammation, food allergies, and low energy as well as brain fog.

I think that you can modify this to what you want to do. If you don't need to lose weight, no need to cut out on starches or fruits, but I would recommend that everything you put in your mouth have some good quality to it.

I have found that if I eat more consciously with the intent to fuel myself I do a lot better. Getting rid of the caffeine, sodas, etc. actually helped my energy level increase once I got over the withdrawal period!! I did for about two weeks and felt awful as I was detoxing from all the junk but then it was like I woke up one day and my brain cleared. It was awesome.

I also recommend at least 20 - 30 minutes of some kind of exercise 4-5 times a week. Make it part of your routine. You'll see your energy levels go up and your stress levels decrease.

There are some very good protein bars etc on the market which are actually good for you and really taste good too.

In some places, a brand called Ezekiel bread is available. They make sprouted grain bread without preservatives that is very high in protein. They also make a cold cereal that I find very good. Though it isn't gluten free, if you find you are not allergic to gluten, this is a great alternative for breakfast and very filling.

I love making stir fry and the kids enjoy it. I also make everything I made with hamburger with ground turkey and have cut our sodium way down by looking at labels. Sodium makes you feel awful, and if you start reading labels, a lot of the canned diet foods and lean cuisines are completely full of the stuff. It's no wonder people are dying of High blood pressure.

Look at grains that you have available. Quinoa, millet, and steel cut oats are great sources of amino acids, protein, and fiber. Combined or by themselves, they make a wonderful hot cereal in the rice cooker that you can sweeten with agave nectar, blueberries, almonds and it's wonderful. I got mom and dad hooked on this stuff and dad's problems with his blood sugar have really significantly improved.

For elimination diet to see what you might be allergic too, I would definitely get off of any red meat or pork right away and get wheat out of your diet first. Start there and see what happens. If you are trying to lose weight, lose the milk products too and get your calcium from other sources. Goat cheese is awesome and does not have the high rate of allergy that cow products do.

What else… really ridding your kitchen of anything with high sodium, high fructose corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated oils is so important. They are in everything. You have to be super vigilant not to buy things with it because they hide it in everything from your loaf bread to children's apple sauce. It's really horrible.

Since they started adding the HFCS to everything in the '70's we have begun having the epidemic of obesity in the US and also ADD and ADHD in children. Just removing HFCS from kids' diets seems to help tremendously in calming them down as I have definitely seen with my son. I was horrified when I found out how much he was getting each day even though I thought he was eating pretty healthy. It was in the Peter Pan PB and the Smuckers jam, it was in the white bread, and it was in the applesauce. Also in the juice box. So… kids take only water bottles to school now. They get unsweetened apple sauce, peanut butter without the junk in it (I read the labels), jelly that is actually fruit without the sugars in it. Phew, what a difference in their attitudes, energy levels, calmness, and even concentration in school.

Well, this is getting very long. I'm so sorry, but I am so excited about what changing our eating has done for my family I just want you guys to get excited too and whatever you do, don't get discouraged. It was so hard for me at first because I had to undo everything I had ever learned about cooking and eating (no offense, mom!). I prayed daily that the Lord would show me yet another way to cook chicken. I really don't like to cook so this has been a challenge. He did help me and after about 6 weeks, it got so much easier because we were getting used to it and my taste buds didn't want all the sugar anymore. Coffee actually tastes horrible to me now and daddy said the same thing. Now I used to be a huge gourmet coffee fan. Grinding etc. I love my herbal teas now and try to drink plenty of green tea hot or cold.

I am convinced that maintaining a healthy vital "temple" is the foundation for being able to truly be effective for God. He brings sickness to our lives to help us grow spiritually, but a lot of our problems we make for ourselves. I knew that if I didn't get this area in my life under God's control, I would not be able to go on to further effectiveness in His service. Once this area of my life came under His control the doors started opening for me to go back to school and the rest is history. It was so funny because our professor actually commented on this very area in one of my counseling classes. I was so grateful that God had already dealt with that in me.

Please call me if you have any questions, or if you get discouraged. I am so eager to share anything that I have learned to help others get more healthy. We are killing ourselves with our fast food, fast paced, overly committed lifestyle and little by little with God's help we can get things back into balance.

Love and prayers,
Kelly Stephenson BSN, RN, CCRA

The truth is no one seems to know what we are really eating. A recent article in the Washington post confirms our suspicions.

We aren't eating what we think we are eating.

Here are a few quick notes from the article:

• Expensive "sheep's milk" cheese in a Manhattan market was really made from cow's milk
• A jar of "Sturgeon caviar" was, in fact, Mississippi paddlefish
• Some honey makers dilute their honey with sugar beets or corn syrup… but still market it as 100 percent pure
• "Food fraud" has been documented in fruit juice, olive oil, spices, vinegar, wine, spirits and maple syrup
• "Operation Rotten Tomato"… accused of disguising millions of pounds of moldy tomato paste as a higher-grade product
• Scientists at the University of North Carolina estimated that 77 percent of snapper sold in the United States is mislabeled

The Washington Post lays a lot of blame with the FDA for failing to act due to being underfunded.

Perhaps they would do better if they had more money. Perhaps drug and alcohol abuse could be stamped out with vigorous enforcement and more laws. Perhaps terrorism could be stopped by deposing terror leaders. Perhaps schools would educate better with more funding.

And perhaps it wouldn't work out so well after all.

Regardless of what Washington does, it seems clear it is high time to eat simpler, healthier, and closer to home. In short, it seems it is high time to start growing our own food and to buy and share with our friends and neighbors.

Is growing your own food realistic for you? In the coming weeks, I plan to post some ideas and suggestions on how to garden without spending more money in supplies than you "earn" in produce.

While you are waiting, check out the great forums at www.idigmygarden.com. It is a free service by heirloom seedsman, Gere Gettle.

—Luke