Earlier today, I had the opportunity to appear on Dr. Karen Kan’s popular radio show based out of Lake Placid, New York. Dr. Karen is a medical doctor and acupuncturist whose practice focuses on helping her patients resolve chronic illness and pain using an integrative approach that includes functional medicine, energy medicine, and holistic health counseling.
In addition to a successful medical practice, Dr. Karen is author of the bestselling book Guide to Healing Chronic Pain: A Holistic Approach. Â Dr. Karen’s expertise on chronic pain not only stems from her training as a medical doctor, but also her experience healing her own illness holistically which became so painful and severe at one point that she was partially disabled.
Dr. Karen and I talked about food for the first half of the program – ideas for practical preparation of healthy meals for the family, finding decent restaurants in your area to give you a night off when necessary, and just how bad fast food has really gotten (and yes, it’s about to get even worse).
I hope you enjoy Dr. Karen’s show! Since there wasn’t much time for caller questions, feel free to ask below if something comes to mind you would like to discuss or elaborate on.
I’ve read that using antibiotics when you get whooping cough prevents you from becoming immune to it.I don’t know if it’s true or not. I had 5 children have it. With lots of prayer and herbal remedies we made it through. My youngest was 1 1/2 years old and still nursing. During the worst of it I just nursed her, no solid foods because she threw up so much from coughing so much. It wasn’t easy but I don’t regret it.
Sarah, thank you for posting this. I really enjoyed the interview and the advice you gave. As a mother of 3, going on 4, I am feeling very overwhelmed by the many things I want to do and keep up with regarding nourishing my family through food and natural healthcare. I appreciated the few tips you gave on keeping good meals in the freezer and some quick easy meal ideas, however, I was really surprised to hear you say that you only actually cook 2-3 nights a week. That would be a dream for me! I find myself occasionally doing somewhat nutritious quick and easy meals (nothing awful but not meals that id want to serve every night of the week) when I just don’t have the energy or time to be in the kitchen for 2 plus hours preparing a meal like I do most nights. I would love to see a post on some ideas you have or maybe what a week looks like for you in the kitchen and how you keep your freezer stocked and continue to feed your family nourishing meals day in and out. Thanks so much for all you do!
Hi Darla, all you have to do is cook several things in one night and have in the fridge for using the next couple of days. For example, you can make a big pot of soup, a meatloaf, and a roast chicken one afternoon and then you have filled up the refrigerator with a variety of healthy foods that can be repurposed with little preparation time into healthy meals in the coming days. Some of the food can also be frozen for fast food in a hurry. Hope that helps 🙂 Having to come up with a whole meal every single night is exhausting. Many of us women (me included) have little to no family in the area to support us unlike what existed just a couple generations ago. It’s all on us all the time and this is very hard. You have to make up for this by being extremely efficient and cooking up a lot of healthy food when you have the time.
A really great interview Sarah! Thanks for sharing it on your blog.
Thank you for raising the important and highly personal topic of vaccinations. I wrote about it here as a mom and as a person who values our right to free choice. (I cite many reputable references too.)
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/moms-view-vaccinations-flame-fuels-debate
Keep up the awesome work!
Love your site!
xoxo
Thank you Sarita 🙂
I was wondering the same thing as Anita. What DO you do if your kid gets whooping cough?
I probably need to write a post on this. The options are unfortunately very limited is the truth of it. You just get through it although there were a few things that did help. One thing that DOESN”T help is antibiotics. So, don’t take them. All meds do is eliminate the contagious aspect of it and actually make the cough worse (more phlegmy). Just self quarantine and skip the meds!
Our daughter got whooping cough the first year of her life (she is now 7). At the time my husband and I did not know any better and she had a series of antibiotics (without probiotic supplementation) which did nothing except put her on the path toward massive dysbiosis that we are still healing today with GAPS (thank God for GAPS). She was even given the vaccine during that time which also did nothing but contribute to her gut disorder. Knowing what we know now we would not have allowed antibiotics, or inhalers, or vaccines. We would have supported her immune system with nutrient dense foods, sunlight, and nature.
Thank you Mrs. Pope you presented your information very well and I will share this video with all the young mothers I know. Keep up your outstanding work! You have followers in rural Texas!
Thank you Caren! 🙂
What are your recommendations if your children get whooping cough? Mine are not vaccinated and I do not regret it; however, I dread the day if they get pertussis and do not really have a back up plan. I’ve read that high doses of vitamin c are helpful, but really don’t have any other plan in place. 🙂
This is a time that antibiotics are not anything to be afraid of, if they get it.
And using highly diluted essential oils (that are known safe for little ones) in a diffuser, while the cough persists.
My kids all had it in the summer so school wasn’t a problem. We self quarantined for several weeks until they were no longer contagious. I did not use antibiotics to eliminate the contagious aspect of it in the first couple of weeks. I probably should write an extensive post on the entire experience. Pertussis is nothing to worry about at all for a child that is well nourished. My daughter was VERY young at the time too and still no problems. My Dad also had pertussis at 6 months old. I’ve been told by several old time MDs that getting pertussis as a child is a blessing as it greatly strengthens the lungs making asthma very unlikely with high resistance to pneumonia in later years.
Please do an entire post on this subject! It’s going around again and again!!!!
I wish NY state would truly allow for the religious exemption for immunizations – they say they allow for it but I am going through hell with fillout out multiple forms and having to convince the school district of my wishes.
You just say no … they cannot force you. It’s your decision, not his. There is no law to require this. Don’t get defensive and try to explain .. just say you’ve done your research, the answer is no and that you choose not to engage in a discussion with him. Period. Stay firm and just repeat that your choice is no when/if he pressures you.
Thank you so much. I think that little bit of encouragement from you gives me the support I feel like I need.
I just finished listening to your interview and I really enjoyed it 🙂
I remember this is what I learned years ago in an assertiveness training class. Has worked great for me when standing up for myself against hi -pressure people. Just keep saying no firmly and don’t get upset. I have seen this work over and over again. I am a quiet type , I seem to attract people who think they can push me around. They always seem surprised when they can’t. I agree with Sarah’s great advice!
I am in my 3rd trimester and have an appt next week with my very mainstream ob/gyn. I have decided not to get the rhogam shot while pregnant but I don’t HOW to decline it. I’m not sure if he’ll accept my decision or insist I get the shot. I’m afraid I’m going to come off defensive right from the start in anticipation of his response. Any ideas on how to approach him? (I have read your post on the rhogam shot and that helped, in part, to make my decision.)
I think if you tell your doctor you want to wait until your baby is born to have a blood test to make sure you actually NEED this shot, that is reasonable! This baby may have the same Rh factor as you. Let us know how it goes!
I just had a baby in December and I refused the Rhogam while I was pregnant. I told my dr. that I researched it and did not feel it was necessary because the chance of our blood mixing was so small. I told her that if I were to experience trauma where the blood may have mixed then I would consider it (you have a three day window I think). She was not happy but didn’t get upset over it either. After I had the baby (in hospital, it was a repeat C section) I got the shot because the baby had positive blood type. I am not sure how a refusal there would go. I thought about refusing the Vitamin K injection for the baby but they sent in several physicians to tell me it was necessary. I wish I did home births but it just didn’t work out that way. Good luck!