Adventist Health Wake-Up Call

Something to think about in the new year:

I took a few minutes this morning to peruse the December 2015 Adventist World and the January 2016 Outlook (Adventist Publication from Mid-America). Between the two publications, there were 3 articles expressing the same topic, the topic of health.

Adventists are KNOWN for their health message. Ellen White expresses the importance of taking care of our bodies to truly do what we are meant to do for Christ. She expresses the best benefits being from a plant-based diet, but how many of us actually follow that advice?

Since I’ve embarked on my own vegan journey, I’ve watched so many documentaries and so many times Loma Linda is listed – the Adventists are listed – for living longer than any other North American groups because of our vegetarian/vegan diets. If the rest of the world is noticing, then why aren’t we following our own message?

We are so quick to apologize for the many sins we accept: lying, envy, stealing, even having bad thoughts towards another. These sins are obvious. But is it not also a sin to avoid taking care of our own health?

Think back to the Garden of Eden, to God’s OPTIMAL design for us. We all know animals weren’t killed then. Everyone lived in harmony, both human and animals alike. We didn’t eat all of this junk food that we have now. We didn’t eat animal flesh. We didn’t eat eggs or drink milk. We had the beautiful fruit from the earth. That was the diet God intended.

Now, the world has continued to become degraded. Our soil quality is not what it used to be. You do need to eat vegetables, fruit, grains and legumes. But the key is, you can still get all the nutrients, even often better received by your body, with an animal-less diet. God hasn’t left us hanging. His diet is still here.

In fact, cultures and groups who eat minimal to no animal products suffer less disease and illness. Why do we put our bodies through this?

As a child, I thought all of these things were ok. But the more research I do, the more I realize how blind we are. The even scarier part is that we refuse to be truthful with ourselves. We don’t consider the fact that the devil can easily use food to get us. Think of all the junk food society craves. Have you ever wondered why the ingredients list is always 10+ items long? Most of them you don’t even know what they are. The food industry wants to get you “hooked” and they know what ingredients to use to do it. We are a society with a “health message” where the majority ignore the truth.

We all know the phrase we long to hear when Jesus returns, “Well done good and faithful servant”. But how many of us can He say that to when it comes to His very temples? These bodies are not ours and we must treat them as such. These bodies are God’s. We invite the Holy Spirit to live within us, and yet we treat His house like garbage.

I’m an avid exerciser, and no it’s not always fun. There are days I drag myself to the gym. But without exercise, my heart would not function like it should, my body would not carry me around like it should, and my health would not be in continuous progress like it is.

I also was a cheese addict. I went vegetarian cold-turkey when I was influenced by my first vegetarians. I remained that way for years, often considering going vegan, but never actually having the willpower to say no to cheese. If I could double cheese on anything and everything, you can bet that I did.

When I decided to go vegan, I went through cheese withdrawal for about a week. Who could have ever thought you could go through cheese withdrawal? But it happens because of the design of cheese. It is meant to be addictive. At times during that week, I had to make sure I had fruit in my hand to shove in my mouth so that I wouldn’t be tempted to eat the cheese. And now? I would never look back.

So where does this leave our society? In my opinion, uneducated. It doesn’t take an Adventist to see the benefits of plant-based diets. The science is spreading through the world like wildfire. Evidence is springing up with the results in peoples’ lives. Several doctors are realizing their lack of nutritional education and are starting to get involved. It’s time for us to learn it for ourselves, to understand the impact we are having on ourselves and others. Can you imagine rarely getting sick? Rarely having headaches? Rarely having to go to a doctor? It’s possible, you just need to want to embark on the journey that is not going to be fun at first.

We also need to remember that everything we do in life – EVERYTHING – is seen by our LORD. He knows our motives, He knows our hearts. Just as it’s not always easy to walk up to someone to share the message of Christ with them (especially if you’re expecting backlash), it’s not easy to want to change your habits. But as we see throughout the Bible and throughout the world still today, God’s call is not an easy one. God doesn’t even bring you to paths you can handle. Instead, He wants your heart to be earnest, and then to walk with Him on the path He wants you to take, even carrying you part of the way when necessary.

This is not meant to be a controversial topic. It is meant to be a reminder of truth, of a journey that I have been on myself lately. I’m not perfect either. Even though I was able to hear the call to better health, to realizing and beating my addiction to cheese, I need to get better at a whole food diet and ditch the convenient, pre-made vegan food that I have made a habit of eating.

Life is a journey and it’s never easy. If it was so easy to be healthy, everybody would be healthy. It takes determination, acceptance of what needs to be changed, and the willpower to do it. And even so, all of our efforts without Christ on our journey with us are of little use. Christ is the extra motivation that we need. Picture this: You know Jesus is coming to your house today. What would you do? I know I would be cleaning like mad, making sure it looked the best it could, and preparing the best food I absolutely could. Our bodies are no different. We invite the Holy Spirit in, but how many of us have cleaned internally? Are you feeding your body the best foods so it runs the healthiest and is the cleanest it can be? That is a question for serious thought.

I’m going to leave you with some quotes from Ellen White and the author of the article, “Adventists Urged to Examine Their Meals,” Andrew McChesney:

“We have had this information for more than 120 years, ” said Dr. Peter N. Landless, director of the Adventist world church’s Health Ministries Department. “Sadly, many have chosen not to follow the advice that has been given to God’s inspired servant, but it is always reassuring when one sees that that which is given by inspiration proven by peer-reviewed, evidence-based science.”

He added: “Our prayer is that our church will take note, not because this is an issue related to salvation, but because it affects the quality of life and our service to a broken world, the mission to which we have been called.”

“Flesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing,” White wrote in the book Child Guidance. [You would be surprised how much diseased flesh is in your animal products today, since she said this so many years ago! Our world is corrupt and hides many things from us.]

White, who Adventists believe had the gift of prophecy, wrote in the same book that meat would become more contaminated as the earth neared its last days and that Adventists would stop eating it. “Flesh will cease to form a part of their diet,” she said. “We should ever keep this end in view and endeavour to work steadily toward it. I cannot think that in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with the light which God has been pleased to give us.”

I wish you all a happy, healthy 2016 as we prepare for the ever-closer coming of our LORD and Saviour. May we leave ourselves behind and put God first, no matter what journey He asks us to embark on. Because unlike many things in life, we know the end. We know that all the evil of the world will fade away, and Christ will reign in the best lives we can’t even possibly imagine. All of our unanswered questions will be answered, and we will no longer have to watch suffering take place. Our LORD will be with us, face-to-face, with the loving embrace that will bring happy tears knowing that everything we’ve suffered, everything we’ve endured, everything we’ve experienced will have all been worth it. I cannot wait to thank Him for all that He has brought me through, and for all that He has done for me. What a glorious day that will be!

Macklemore Calls Out Pharmaceuticals

I have seen, many times, people who refuse to go to doctors or take medication unless necessary, called freaks. They have been blamed for wanting to be in pain, wanting to be sick, and in some very sad severe cases, wanting to kill their own family and children.

I’m a person that doesn’t believe in going to the doctor unless I absolutely need to. I’m a person that doesn’t believe in taking medication unless I absolutely have to. I don’t believe in NEVER going to a  doctor. I do believe they have their time and place, but that time and place is when absolute necessary.

See, the thing is that I spent a lot of time at the doctor’s and at the hospital as a child. We were sick a lot, always on some form of medication, and quite frankly, I got sick of it.

Not only did I get sick of it, but I also began questioning things, part of which led me to veganism. I know there is an increase of sin in the world, but it did not make sense to me at all that Christians were called to spread the message of God’s love throughout the world, but that our bodies would be constantly plagued with every illness going around.

Another thing that inspired me was the simple fact that there are people who seem to hardly get sick! What were they doing that I wasn’t? Was it really just that I had no immune system left?

What I discovered, through veganism and thoughtful reflection/prayer was that the way we treat our bodies is the way our body treats us. If we feed it absolute crap food, our body cannot be expected to defend us. Just as a bricklayer knows that you have to have quality product to build a strong house, we need quality food to build up our bodies. I kid you not, there are some vegans who have not been sick in years! Did they somehow live in a bubble and avoid the outside world? Absolutely not! Vegans are known for being out in the world, fighting for animal rights. But they’ve treated their bodies well with the healthiest food, plenty of water and sleep, and exercise, the building blocks of a healthy body.

All to often, we do not credit our bodies with the ability it was designed with to save us from sickness. When treated properly, our bodies really can fight off the germs and bacterias around us. But we have to build that ability up as described above.

So what happens when people don’t believe in their bodies and don’t take care of themselves? Hi ho, hi ho, off to the doctor we go.

Here is my problem with going to the doctor. Most doctors get kickbacks from selling pharmaceutical drugs. Most doctors feel so overwhelmed that they cannot spend the appropriate amount of time to properly diagnose you and give you a healthier treatment. Most doctors do not even get nutrition training, and thus will feel inadequate about giving nutrition advice. Most doctors know that patients want quick remedies. Unfortunately, what most patients don’t understand, is that these drugs are usually treating symptoms, and not the actual problem.

The other danger of most of these pharmaceutical drugs is the side effects and addictions they cause. I shake my head when I see commercials for different pills, and the side effects list takes up half of the commercial. Why are we consuming something so dangerous? And not only that, think of the huge drug market for the addicting drugs. Think of people coming off of these drug addictions. I’ve seen it first hand. My step sister ended up jumping off a bridge because she couldn’t handle her life anymore. I’ve seen her scream bloody murder while being drug away by the police because she just needed one more drink after she finally broke away from drugs but replaced her addiction with alcohol. I saw her weeping in complete devastation when her drug dealing boyfriend was banging his head against the wall and cutting his wrists. I’ve seen her begging outside of grocery stores, and caring about her daily methadone shot more than her own children. Yes, this can be street drugs too, but a lot of addictions start from pharmaceutical addictions. Once you can no longer obtain your addiction, it’s just a matter of finding something else to fill its place. It’s a vicious cycle.

I know, I know, some people may call me delusional, I’ve been called many things for my beliefs before. But if you don’t want to believe me, or do the research I’ve done, then maybe you’ll listen to someone who also has caught on to this misled, multi-billion industry. Here is Macklemore’s song, Kevin, a stand against the world’s pharmaceutical companies.

So what do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

I Could See It Coming…

There’s a thing that as teachers we just know. It’s something we can almost sense when it’s coming. Today, I sensed it.

Yesterday, I had eaten some very spicy, leftover East Indian food. Delicious, but left a silent burn for hours later. It burned not only my mouth, but my throat, my nose, and my stomach too. Needless to say, I didn’t feel the greatest for most of the day, and had what felt like hot flashes for quite awhile. I even considered I might have heartburn, but drinking cold glasses of water seemed to help… for the most part.

This morning, I woke up, and I knew something was off. Knowing how I had felt the day before, I thought nothing of it, and assumed it would go away as I really got into my day. Now, my husband was very tired this morning, and asked if I would drive myself to work. I live literally a minute away from work, yet for some reason, I wanted him to drive. I didn’t say it at first, but I had this feeling that I needed him; the kind of need when you’re young and sick and all you want is your mom. This was totally out of character for me and I had the hardest time figuring out what it was coming from, except the fact that I knew as if it were black and white that I wanted him to go with me and drive me to work.

He did get up and drive me to work, that blessed man I married. He will probably never understand how much it meant to me for such a simple act on a morning like today. Of course, arriving at work, I walked in with my usual “business-like” attitude, ready to dig in, ignoring the signs.

As teacher’s worship began, I figured my problem was that I needed to eat. Simple enough. But at the end of worship, my deepest fears were met. That 4-letter word I had been pushing out of my head… sick.

A review that 2 staff/teachers had been sick to their stomachs on the weekend. A report that 3 of our teachers were out for the day with the stomach flu, one not returning for the whole week on Doctor’s orders. Some students had the stomach flu and were not coming in. And the advice? Make sure you and your students wash your hands.

Do I need to say what I was thinking at that moment in time? “Just GREAT! This is what I need.” It really is that impeding doom. That feeling of knowing that your colleagues are dropping like flies, and you see it coming straight for your door. And it didn’t get any easier.

As I was teaching, my energy wavered. There are times I felt like it was all I could do to just make it through the lesson. The wishy-washy feeling of my stomach kept me alert for garbage cans all day, though I thankfully have not yet had to use one. The only moments of relief I felt were standing outside during recess with my students, the air crisp and cool which felt so nice being breathed deep into my lungs. But sitting in a classroom, teaching, disciplining, dealing with situations, all of these things I am required to do on a daily basis, were not easy. I was never more thankful for my husband to come rescue me at 4:05, the soonest I can leave the school.

And so here I am. I came home and went straight to bed, hoping to sleep it off. My husband went to the gym without me, and stopped at Wal-Mart to get supplies and ginger ale, and to Tim Hortons to get me chicken noodle soup and a bun. Simple food, hopeful remedies, and praying to kick this thing before it truly captures me.

Teachers? I feel your pain. Nurses and doctors? I’m sure it’s similar. Anyone else that works with children? I respect you. To anyone that doesn’t understand, be thankful for your health. It’s never a good moment to experience those sickly and what may feel like, deadly moments.

Mystery Illness…. #127?

Have you ever been sick and nobody has been able to identify what you were really sick with? Seems to be a habit of mine. Well that and one other habit. Either the doctor doesn’t know what it is, or it is something extreme like the pneumonia and bronchitis that I’ve had several times each. Oh, and can’t forget the quinsy I almost died from that the doctor hadn’t seen in 20 years! Yes, I am that person; the tiny percent of a chance that can catch these rare things.

So once again, I must report that unfortunately, I’m down with something again. I would love to say that it is teacher related, and that I got it from one of the kids. However, it is usual for me to get sick once or twice a year, so even though it may be legitimately something I caught from them, it is expected.

I haven’t gone to the doctor. I actually prefer not to go to the doctor. Not that I don’t trust doctors, but simply because I try to stay away from prescription meds unless necessary and they usually give me the same thing every time which never works.

Right now, my symptoms go hand-in-hand with allergies. Funny thing is, I don’t have allergies. It started in my sinuses (the one place anything usually starts), spread to my eyes (watery), and constantly want to sneeze. It’s a miserable mess. But of course, add in the sore throat and fever shows it is not allergies. I am prone to sinus infections, and the dry climate probably doesn’t help. So I’m trying to use herbal remedies and allergy medicines for the symptoms. 

There was one time, that I was sick, and a doctor actually prescribed me allergy pills. Simply to treat my symptoms, and not because I was diagnosed with allergies. Weird eh? This doctor was known for treating and working with inner city drug abusers and alcoholics, so her methods were a little out of the ordinary…

I can remember another time, a couple of years ago, I had just gone to the gym to workout. I felt like I pulled a muscle in my neck during my workout, and had to stop from soreness. It wasn’t long, after I went home with my husband (boyfriend at the time, visiting) and I just felt like I needed to have a nap and was very cold. So I took a nap, and then proceeded to get up and take a hot shower.

The most unusual thing for me to do is to vomit. I have to be incredibly sick in order to do it. No amount of sticking my finger down my throat, thinking of gross things, stomach upsetness, can make me throw up. So when I do, you know I’m seriously sick. Of course, after my shower, I continued to shake uncontrollable, completely frozen, and up it came. I was in a terrible shape!

My husband packed me into the car and drove me to emergency. What was hoped to be a short visit turned into an all night event. When I went in, the nurse told me to calm down as I was talking too fast and short of breath (I had not noticed this at this point), my chest hurt, and my shaking with a fever was a concern. I don’t quite recall my fever, but it was high.

They took me in, put me in a cot, and brought me a heated blanket. After all of the questions they asked me, they started ordering tests. But first, an IV. Now I have NEVER had an IV before. And after this experience, I really hope to never have one again. It was incredibly painful, and it took 3 nurses, 1 doctor and 7 tries to finally get my IV in properly! How ridiculous! That to this day has been my worst hospital experience.

Then, they came to do blood tests. I’m not sure how much blood was drawn, but I remember wanting to do nothing but sleep. Of course, trying doing that when they come in every few minutes to see how you are doing. Sleep is next to impossible…

The one funny memory I have of this whole experience, was this one nurse. She was not a new nurse, probably middle-aged. She seemed to be convinced that I was pregnant! I told her that there was absolutely no way, but she for some reason was not convinced. After 3-4 times of asking me, I thought she had finally given up. Only to later find out that when she came in with my blood test results, she announced I wasn’t pregnant. Wow, thanks for the information I already knew… Guess this is a perfect picture of someone who is strong-headed!

So at the end of this mess, and I think two bags of IV fluid later, home I went with not a single diagnosis. Not kidding. Not a single diagnosis. Nothing. Completely a mystery…

I am happy that I can at least say, whatever it is I have right now, is not near as bad as whatever I had then. I’m not going to the hospital, I’m not laying around in misery. I may not be the happiest teacher lately, but I am able to teach. 

Be thankful for your health. It is so important. You never know what each day will bring, so bring your best to each day. Live life to the fullest!