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Episode 159: The Dangers of Giving Up

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the dangers of giving up

Healing is hard, being sick and having symptoms is hard. Why would I share that with you? Friend, you have to choose your hard. Today we are talking about giving up, and more specifically the dangers of giving up and what some other options may be instead.

I hear so often - that my clients before coming to me have run out of hope. They have tried to search for a diagnosis, without success and they feel lost, stuck, afraid, depressed, tired.

The Dangers of Giving Up

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED Episode 159: 

  1. Join the Wellness Circle
  2. Simple Stomach Acid Test (scroll down for download)
  3. Complimentary Case Review
  4. Priority Case Review

Join the Newsletter

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Say HI and join the conversation on social:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/audrey_christie

Facebook: https://facebook.com/audreychristiemsn

________________________________

Wondering if Functional and Integrative Help is right for you and your condition? Schedule a free case review here.

The Dangers of Giving Up

Healing is hard, being sick and having symptoms is hard. Why would I share that with you? Friend, you have to choose your hard. Today we are talking about giving up, and more specifically the dangers of giving up and what some other options may be instead.

Let’s dig in.

Welcome! if this is your first time listening - I’m Audrey Christie - I’m a functional and integrative nurse nutritionist and energy medicine practitioner who helps women heal from chronic illness and autoimmune disease. Helping you to stop chasing symptoms, find your root causes, and heal your body from autoimmune and chronic illness.

I hear so often - that my clients before coming to me have run out of hope. They have tried to search for a diagnosis, without success and they feel lost, stuck, afraid, depressed, and always tired.

Searching for a Diagnosis

One of the main reasons why people give up on feeling better is because they are waiting on a diagnosis, a label for the way they feel.

You don’t need a diagnosis.

Read that again.

You don’t need a diagnosis.

People that are suffering from a symptom or collection of symptoms spend an average of 5 years getting a diagnosis. 5 WHOLE YEARS. Half a decade. And that is the average, which means half of those people spend longer than 5 years. Five or more years of suffering, stressing, and making whatever is there label-less fester and get worse.

You don’t need a diagnosis to heal, in fact, I recommend not getting one for MOST people. It changes absolutely nothing. You still have the same option of conventional medicine to mask symptoms vs. starting your own Root Cause Revolution to heal your body.

I would even go as far as to say, don’t get a diagnosis because once you do - once you do you own that disease. I have worked with people that are so ingrained in their label - even making it their username “autoimmunewarrior” or “psoriasis girl” or “RA Survivor.” Why would you make this your I am statement? You are not your disease, you might have some symptoms, you might have an imbalance BUT you can heal which means you aren’t the disease. And ANY practitioner that tells you otherwise should be fired right away. You deserve better than that my friend.

And a side note on the user names - if you are going to claim something let's claim and state healing, not dis-ease.

What happens when the “expert” tells you it’s hopeless? You give up. I have seen it over and over again, people thinking they are doomed. And it isn’t the case.

I have tons of stories from my practice, people going from doc to doc, spending 1000’s a month on tests, referrals, some even having surgeries, and all for what? To still have symptoms, to be taking medications that cause more symptoms, and to be on the verge of giving up.

What Happens When You Give Up

When you give up, you let the disease win. When you give up trying to heal, you lose. Again, both paths healing and suffering are hard, so which one do you choose?

When you give up midway through root cause rebalancing, you actually cause more problems for yourself and make it even harder to heal. If you have been on a healing journey, you know that healing happens in layers and that it isn’t a pop a pill and get a cure type situation. You didn’t get your chronic illness overnight - it took a lifetime of little damages to your human suit to get there and you won’t heal overnight either.

When you stop abruptly or give up you actually allow whatever it is your fighting to set up something called biofilms. Biofilms are protective networks for microbes, parasites, and fungi. Biofilms allow them to be more resilient to stress. Not like stress like life stress but stress from incomplete treatments. Often I see these forming when people have received multiple rounds of antibiotics, or have attempted to do too many cleanses or detoxes that didn’t support drainage pathways first. When microorganisms are protected by their biofilm shield, they become almost invisible to detection, particularly for less sensitive forms of pathology testing.

Once biofilms form, it makes treatment harder. It’s not your previous holistic team's fault or even your doctors -
When we can’t see the microorganisms or know just how much is there, effective treatment becomes difficult. This is because the quantity and type of microorganisms are what determine the types of antimicrobials required to help you heal. So if we can’t see all the microbes, we don’t know what to address. And now they are more resistant to treatment.
Just so you know, quitting isn’t the only thing that causes biofilms… but biofilms are one of the side effects of quitting.

Life Happens, What to Do

Life happens, right? So what happens if you know things are getting turbulent for you? Rather than quit, talk to your practitioner. Make a plan. Going to the mountains for the summer and need to push pause - okay - you can work a reduced plan before hitting it hard again. But if you just stop...that is what can cause the problems.

How to Get Things Back on Track

As I mentioned if you have quit, if you have taken multiple rounds of antibiotics, or have attempted to do too many cleanses or detoxes that didn’t support drainage pathways first, or if you have given up - then first I want you to know - I understand. I have done it too, and I have worked with 100s of clients who have given up before coming to me.

Now let’s get back on track with a few tactics:

Tune In Journal

I want you to start a Tune in Journal. Take a minute and write down each of your symptoms on a separate page. You can use a little journal for this - I am a sucker for a pretty journal - or just notebook paper. You could even do this digitally if you must but I find there is special magic and scientific evidence that pen to paper works better.

Under each symptom- write down or brain dump ANYTHING that comes up. If you are stuck, start with everything you know about the symptom when it started, what it is, when it occurs, and then as you free-write you will notice more and more coming out on to the paper.

When you are done, you get to play the role of zygologist and draw lines or conclusions as to what might be related. Or take it to your health practitioner appointment.

Make an Appointment

I want you to grab an appointment with me. I have free mini-consults if you haven’t been seen before (there is a little waiting list for that) and I have $20 mini consults that give you a priority consult appointment). We are going to go over your history and see what it takes to get you back on track. These do fill up fast!

Simple Stomach Acid Test

Before Your Appointment - I want you to do the Simple Stomach Acid Test. Stomach acid plays a role in much of the function and physiology (the what and the how) of nutrients getting into our bodies or nutrients triggering our immune system to go haywire, especially if fatigue is on your list. It also has a really important role in the protection of our body, serving as a primary defense system against parasites and foodborne bacteria.

Here is a simple test you can do at home - to determine if you need to increase or improve your stomach acid. You can grab that here by clicking the button and entering your name and email address:

More questions about not giving up?

If you have more questions about not giving up and healing from the root cause of what you are going through I would love to have you join us in the Wellness Circle, my exclusive and free community to help women pursuing holistic wellness, body, mind, and spirit and discussions around the Root Cause Revolution Podcast and even some free office hours on Fridays to get your private questions answered - friends chronic disease is a preventable and autoimmune disease is capable of being healed or put in remission (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise you deserve to feel good!) You can get the direct link on the show notes page or at audreychristie.com/facebook

To wrap this up - I want you to leave this episode knowing 2 things: first, don't give up, second, you don't need a diagnosis to heal, and 3rd if life happens speak up there are ways to pivot and keep going without doing damage!

If you want to learn more about me, about how to implement these things into your life to feel better in simple practical, and sustainable ways - head over to AudreyChristie.com there’s free downloads, online courses (on this VERY topic), programs, and tons of resources to help you create your own health and wellness revolution.

And don’t forget to register so you don't miss the drainage and energy class! 

Remember that I am always rooting for you, friend and I am so grateful for you listening! See you next time!

Be well,

Episode 158: Do parasite cleanses work?

By

do parasite cleanses actually work

We are still tackling the topic of parasites this episode, so far we have learned that you for sure have them, we have learned what parasites are (an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets their food from or at the expense of their host), we learned that parasites live in all body tissues (not just your gut), and we talked about the top mistakes that people make when trying to get rid of parasites.

In all of that,  I overlooked telling you about one very important aspect - do parasite cleanses work? And you may be thinking - that if we talked about the mistakes then they must. You wouldn’t be wrong but we are looking at the science.

Today we are talking about it. Do parasite cleanses work? Are there times when they don’t?

Do Parasite Cleanses Actually Work?

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED Episode 158: 

  1. Join the Wellness Circle
  2. Drainage and Energy Webinar
  3. Parasite Info
  4. Top Parasite Cleanse Mistakes

Studies:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6023319/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4345089/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5316320/

Download Autoimmune Revolution Kickstart

Join the Newsletter

Complimentary Case Review

________________________________

Say HI and join the conversation on social:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/audrey_christie

Facebook: https://facebook.com/audreychristiemsn

________________________________

Wondering if Functional and Integrative Help is right for you and your condition? Schedule a free case review here.

Do Parasite Cleanses Actually Work?

We are still tackling the topic of parasites this episode, so far we have learned that you for sure have them, we have learned what parasites are (an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets their food from or at the expense of their host), we learned that parasites live in all body tissues (not just your gut), and we talked about the top mistakes that people make when trying to get rid of parasites.

In all of that,  I overlooked telling you about one very important aspect - do parasite cleanses work? And you may be thinking - that if we talked about the mistakes then they must. You wouldn’t be wrong but we are looking at the science.

Today we are talking about it. Do parasite cleanses work? Are there times when they don’t?

Let’s dig in.

Welcome! if this is your first time listening - I’m Audrey Christie - I’m a functional and integrative nurse nutritionist and energy medicine practitioner who helps women heal from chronic illness and autoimmune disease. Helping you to stop chasing symptoms, find your root causes, and heal your body from autoimmune and chronic illness.

So if you weren’t too excited about the last couple of episodes, don’t worry this is the last episode dedicated to parasites and parasite cleanses/detoxes for a bit. In the last episode, we talked about the top mistakes people make when detoxing parasites but we didn’t talk about the science - does it even work?

Do you need a parasite cleanse?

Are you feeling bad, unwell even? Having symptoms that may not seem connected? Having gut issues? Skin issues? All of this going on but having trouble tracing the source? First - check out episode 156 and see if parasites are a possibility for you. Or I can save you the trouble - yes parasites could be to blame, but you should still go listen so you understand the what and the why. Knowledge is power friends.
The problem with trying to get an official parasitic infection diagnosis is that (well you know how I feel about the D-word), the official stool tests are unreliable, and the symptoms are super vague.

Conventional vs Natural Approaches to Cleanse Parasites

From a conventional perspective, the plan is generally to test, kill the parasites, test again, kill again if needed THEN go to a parasite cleanse. And that isn’t the wrong way, especially if you have an acute and potentially life-threatening infection. Where I see this fail most often is in not ensuring to strengthen the body and making sure the drainage/elimination pathways are flowing before killing and cleansing.

The one thing conventional and naturopathic medicine agree on is that these critters must receive an eviction notice I just prefer a more cautious, safer, and more effective path of treatment.

There are tons of parasite cleanses on the market but not all of them are legit. If you are thinking of DIY-ing it - at a minimum I recommend taking my drainage and energy class. It is a critical first step. And then I recommend doing all the research, start with listening to all of my podcasts on parasites because it is critical that you have the knowledge to know when to push through and when to pull back to ensure that you do this safely.

The best option is to get the help of a qualified practitioner to help create a custom plan for you. Many of the natural and conventional preparations that help to cleanse parasites can interact with other supplements and medications.

What to Look for in a Parasite Cleanse

When assessing natural options, it is important for you to know what products work, what natural supplements are studied and we know they have antiparasitic effects. Ingredients to look for include:

Garlic (Allium sativum). Garlic is the original food as medicine. In addition to all the other cool things that garlic helps with, it also works as a broad-spectrum antiparasitic. It kills both parasites and eggs. This is another study-backed but ancient remedy, in 2018 a study confirmed garlic’s effectiveness to cleanse parasites.

Barberry (Berberis vulgaris). Medical researchers have known since early 2014 that this plant medicine is heavily anti-parasitic.

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) Goldenseal contains a compound called berberine - yep the same one that you have heard me recommend to naturally heal that UTI. (link) Most of the studies are test tube studies, but Berberine kills a wide range of other types parasites and other germs such as those that cause candida (yeast) infections and parasites such as tapeworms and Giardia. These studies haven’t been done in humans but this plant has a long history of successful and safe use in chinese and ayurvedic medicine. And by long use, I mean hundreds of years.

Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium) reduces IBS and diarrhea symptoms thought to be related to parasitic infection.

Wormwood (Artemisia annua). A 2017 study found wormwood to be effective in eliminating 17 different parasitic infections. The parasite fight activity is linked to the thujone compound found in the herb. Although we are beginning to develop studies NOW to prove these things work - this particular herb has been around for this purpose since ancient Egypt. And like most ancient remedies, if it it has stood the test of time it is worth looking into as it will likely stand the scientific test too.

Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) are super nutritious and have been long been used and studied for their antioxidant and antibacterial compounds in their outer shells, or hulls, make them useful for naturally treating parasitic and bacterial infections

This isn’t an all-inclusive list - but it is a list of some of the most effective ingredients required to ensure your parasite cleanse will work.

More questions about parasite detox?

If you have more questions about parasite detox and healing from the root cause of what you are going through I would love to have you join us in the Wellness Circle, my exclusive and free community to help women pursuing holistic wellness, body, mind, and spirit and discussions around the Root Cause Revolution Podcast and even some free office hours on Fridays to get your private questions answered - friends chronic disease is a preventable and autoimmune disease is capable of being healed or put in remission (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise you deserve to feel good!) You can get the direct link on the show notes page or at audreychristie.com/facebook

To wrap this up - it is possible and necessary to detox or cleanse parasites from your body - just make sure you are using a method that works and that those drainage pathways are flowing!

And don’t forget to join me for the drainage and energy class!

If you want to learn more about me, about how to implement these things into your life to feel better in simple practical, and sustainable ways - head over to AudreyChristie.com there’s free downloads, online courses (on this VERY topic), programs, and tons of resources to help you create your own health and wellness revolution.

And don’t forget to register so you don't miss the drainage and energy class! 

Remember that I am always rooting for you, friend and I am so grateful for you listening! See you next time!

Be well,

Episode 157: Top Mistakes When Detoxing Parasites

By

parasite detox title image

Last episode we talked about parasites and about how only everyone has them. We learned that parasites are organisms that live on or in a host organism and get their food from or at the expense of their host. We also learned the wild truth that parasites don’t just live in your gut...

Today we are talking about the top mistakes people make when detoxing parasites. You know when you go to get rid of them and you either have MAJOR symptoms increase or you give up because you feel worse - those are easy missteps to avoid.

Top Mistakes When Detoxing Parasites

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED Episode 157: 

  1. Join the Wellness Circle
  2. Drainage and Energy Webinar
  3. Parasite Info

Download Autoimmune Revolution Kickstart

Join the Newsletter

Complimentary Case Review

________________________________

Say HI and join the conversation on social:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/audrey_christie

Facebook: https://facebook.com/audreychristiemsn

________________________________

Wondering if Functional and Integrative Help is right for you and your condition? Schedule a free case review here.

Top Mistakes When Detoxing Parasites

Last episode we talked about parasites and about how only everyone has them. We learned that parasites are organisms that live on or in a host organism and get their food from or at the expense of their host. We also learned the wild truth that parasites don’t just live in your gut...

Today we are talking about the top mistakes people make when detoxing parasites. You know when you go to get rid of them and you either have MAJOR symptoms increase or you give up because you feel worse - those are easy missteps to avoid.

Let’s dig in.

Welcome! if this is your first time listening - I’m Audrey Christie - I’m a functional and integrative nurse nutritionist and energy medicine practitioner who helps women heal from chronic illness and autoimmune disease. Helping you to stop chasing symptoms, find your root causes, and heal your body from autoimmune and chronic illness.

So if you weren’t too excited about the last episode this one may be more your speed. Last time we talked about what parasites are, and how we usually think of them as something you pick up when you are traveling. But now we know despite the ick-factor, they are energy-depleting body damaging symptom causing little buggers, right?

We also talked about conventional and holistic/natural treatments right? Regardless of the path you choose, if you want to feel better - not worse - when you detox these parasites, then you need to know how to avoid these parasite detoxing mistakes.

When Parasite Detoxing Goes Wrong

Sometimes clients come to me as only one of their practitioners. Meaning I work with as one member of a healthcare team versus other times when I am the sole practitioner they are seeing.

Recently, I had a client where I was but one of the practitioners she was seeing, one of which, a very conventional medical doctor. When we decided she had parasites, this physician decided that eradication with prescription medication was the only route to go. Unfortunately, he didn’t address drainage pathways first, and so this patient took 2 rounds of prescription antiparasitic medication.

She did pass a bunch of parasites which is good, but she gave up and wasn’t able to finish the medication because she felt so much worse during and after the treatment. We are still working to undo that damage now as she is still experiencing extreme symptoms.

You see her body was in a weakened state OR she wouldn’t have landed with a parasitic infection, to begin with...and then her drainage pathways weren’t opening and functioning (beginning with not pooping), and that led to stagnation, which led to recirculation of all of those toxins and the doc was trying to get rid of.

This has led to the creation of this episode, if you are going to detox parasites, there are some things you must no - some mistakes you must avoid.

Parasite Detoxing Mistakes

Mistake #1
You don’t strengthen the body’s energy centers. This is done physically and energetically. If your body has a low vibrational energy field, low functioning mitochondria, and/or a low immune system then you can detox parasites but it won’t last because your body isn’t strong enough to fend them off. Not to mention you will have the most severe fatigue you have ever experienced as your body pulls from energy reserves to try and release the parasites.

Mistake #2
You don’t ensure drainage pathways are flowing. Yep, I am talking about pooping, and no, Magnesium Citrate isn’t enough. Your drainage pathways are critical and while it does start with your bowels,  it also includes your kidneys, liver, lymph system, and even your cellular drainage.

If your drainage pathways are not functioning properly or worse are blocked then all of those parasites you just worked so hard to detox and the chemical soup they live in are re-absorbed.

It is critical for you to be able to poop 1-2 times per day, to be able to sweat well and have proper bile flow prior to starting a detox

I have had many of you reach out to me and ask about a class on this - we are having one! Here's the link to the Drainage and Energy Class! (just like the class on getting off of heartburn medications). It is free to attend and the replay is less than a copay. Just click here to register - if you have missed the live class or want to keep it forever,  you can purchase it after.

This class is on energy and drainage, the first phase of any healing journey. You will learn what it is, why it matters, and what you can do via lifestyle and nutrition to ensure that you are thriving in these areas and not allowing stagnation to cause sickness in your body. You will also get the Supplement When Needed handout with a specific healing supplement protocol. Once you get those drainage pathways moving you will be all set to start working towards getting rid of parasites.

Mistake #3
You don’t take advantage of the full moons. Parasites are more active during a full moon, in fact, if you have flares in your symptoms or new symptoms during a full moon that is a key sign you have parasites.

The moon cycles have a big effect on our circadian rhythms. Specifically, the drop in melatonin (ever have trouble sleeping during a full moon?) slows down the immune system and allows for serotonin to spike meaning party time for your parasites!

That is why it is the full moon is an important time to ramp up your parasite cleansing work so you can evict those little suckers.

Mistake #4
You don’t cycle your treatment. Parasites have a life cycle just like every cell in your body. Most commonly, you want to cycle your parasite treatment on for 14 days - then off for seven days and repeat that for a total of 6-8 weeks on your first phase of parasitic cleanse.

Sometimes, this needs to be different depending on your condition, but 7/14 is pretty common. Don’t forget to support the gut with a good spore probiotic in between.

Mistake #5
You don’t use a binder. Parasites love a soup of heavy metals, radiation, other toxicities that are in your body. So when you start evicting them, it stirs up these other things that ALSO need to be evicted from your body. Not to mention the parasites are dying but how do they get out of your body? Often they are removed in your stool but not always, that is where a binder comes in.

There are several different kinds. If you need a recommendation based on your specific situation, reach out and I can make a quick recommendation!

Mistake #6
You don’t peep the potty to see what passed. While some parasites are obvious - tapeworms, hookworms, etc. When we are talking about parasitic infections, we are also talking about parasites that cant be seen with the naked eye. Many parasites like amebas, for example, are microscopic in nature.

I encourage all of my clients to pay attention to their bowel movements, to peep in the potty, because it is an important assessment of your health and wellness. If you are detoxing parasites, it is even more important to take note of the changes in your bowel movements.

More questions about parasite detox?

If you have more questions about parasite detox and healing from the root cause of what you are going through I would love to have you join us in the Wellness Circle, my exclusive and free community to help women pursuing holistic wellness, body, mind, and spirit and discussions around the Root Cause Revolution Podcast and even some free office hours on Fridays to get your private questions answered - friends chronic disease is a preventable and autoimmune disease is capable of being healed or put in remission (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise you deserve to feel good!) You can get the direct link on the show notes page or at audreychristie.com/facebook

To wrap this up - whether you are going after parasites alone, with a conventional medical doctor, or alternative practitioner, make sure you don’t make your condition worse by avoiding these detox mistakes!

And don’t forget to register so you don't miss the drainage and energy class! 

Remember that I am always rooting for you, friend and I am so grateful for you listening! See you next time!

Be well,

Episode 156 Parasites

By

parasites as a root cause

Creepy crawling parasites – only about 100% of people have them, but not everyone has symptoms. And those that do often don’t realize they are connected to parasites. Wild right?

Parasites are organisms that live on or in a host organism and get their food from or at the expense of their host. What is even wilder is that they don’t just live in your gut.

Today we are talking about parasites, what are they, where do you get them, and can you test for them?

Parasites as a Root Cause

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED Episode 156: 

  1. Drainage and Energy Class
  2. Join the Wellness Circle
  3. Mitochondria Episode
  4. Drainage 101 Episode
  5. Ashwaghanda Study

Download Autoimmune Revolution Kickstart

Join the Newsletter

Complimentary Case Review

________________________________

Say HI and join the conversation on social:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/audrey_christie

Facebook: https://facebook.com/audreychristiemsn

________________________________

Wondering if Functional and Integrative Help is right for you and your condition? Schedule a free case review here.

Parasites

Creepy crawling parasites – only about 100% of people have them, but not everyone has symptoms. And those that do often don’t realize they are connected to parasites. Wild right?

Parasites are organisms that live on or in a host organism and get their food from or at the expense of their host. What is even wilder is that they don’t just live in your gut.

Today we are talking about parasites, what are they, where do you get them, and can you test for them?

Let’s dig in.

Welcome! If this is your first time listening – I’m Audrey Christie – I’m a functional and integrative nurse nutritionist and energy medicine practitioner who helps women heal from chronic illness and autoimmune disease. Helping you stop chasing symptoms, find your root causes, and recover your body from autoimmune and chronic illness.

Okay, be honest…are you super grossed out right now? It’s okay. Most people are at the thought of having a parasite or 2. You likely have more than that. We all do. And while you can’t get them to go away, you CAN work on aspects of your health to keep them in check so that you have fewer to almost none and so that they don’t cause symptoms.

What are Parasites?

As I mentioned, these pesky little critters officially are “an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host.” That is the official definition.

There are three main categories of parasites, protozoa, which are tiny, one-celled organisms that typically live in the intestines, blood, or tissue; helminths, which are parasitic worms such as tapeworms, roundworms, and thorny-headed worms; and ectoparasites, which are ticks, fleas, lice, and mites that attach or burrow into the skin.

Do I have them?

The short answer here is yes. Research shows us that 99.9% of Americans have parasites. That breaks down to about 1 billion people with roundworms, 1 billion people have protozoa (like amoebas – perfect for that summertime dip in the lake), ½ billion people have arthropod infections, about 300 million have tapeworms, and 300 million or so have liver flukes (those look like tomato skins in your bowel movements).

Parasitic infections are not isolated to 3rd world countries.

They tend to go unnoticed unless there is an obvious issue (like a tapeworm poking out of your bum or severe itching in the bum region) because, much like any other problem in the body, the signs and symptoms of being infected with a parasite really mimic other illnesses or health issues. Parasites mimic IBS, blood sugar dysregulation, SIBO, candida, adrenal fatigue, thyroid disorders, autoimmunity, etc.

Are you ready for a real kicker? Autopsies have proven that parasites can invade every signal tissue in your body. Nice right? I have personally had people in my practice have parasites come out of their noses during a detox. Fun, huh? They can live in all the tissues in the body.

How to Test for Parasites?

Pulse Test

There is a running joke in my industry – where a person comes into the practice and says, “Hey, can you test me for parasites?” The response is, “sure! Give me your arm!” And the practitioner places their two fingers over the inside of the wrist and begins to feel for a pulse…
You might be thinking, “oooh, Audrey is about to tell me some cool Chinese Medicine trick for checking for parasites with pulses!” Sorry to disappoint, but the punch line is “if you have a pulse, you have parasites.”

Stool Test for Parasites

In reality, there are some lab tests directed specifically at parasites. There is a stool test; it tends to be cost-prohibitive and comes with some major limitations. The main problem is that it is only conditionally successful. It requires three separate stool samples that must be sent to the lab for the pathologist to view under a microscope. In order for it to be identified as a parasite, the parasite must remain alive as the sample ships to the lab.

This test can be used for some, but it cannot identify dormant parasites or parasites living in tissues outside of the digestive tract. This test gives off a high number of false negatives.

Blood Test for Parasites

You can look for some key markers in a standard blood test. You are primarily going to look at the Complete Blood Count and Complete Metabolic Profile. These are two tests that I recommend having run 1 per year at a minimum and having them checked functionally, not just conventionally.

Remember that functional values are different. They aren’t what you see on your sheet from the labs. Functional values tell us what we are heading for, trends, and blips in the radar that point to root causes of issues we are having or will have soon, and conventional lab values tell us whether or not something is acutely wrong in our body.

For parasites, you are looking at the Eosinophils and the Basophils. Eosinophils is a white blood cell that is primarily involved in fighting allergies and parasites. Numbers in the functionally high range indicate an allergy or parasite causing illness.

The second number to look at on that CBC is Basophils. Basophils are white blood cells that can be seen in certain parasitic infections.
Other labs to look at in correlation because parasites can cause nutrient deficiencies to include Iron, Zinc, Magnesium, Copper, B12, and vitamin A.

What symptoms do parasites cause?

As I mentioned earlier, parasites can look like several diseases. Think of all of the disease processes caused by just the labs and nutritional deficiencies mentioned? There’s a ton! Here are a few more parasite infection symptoms:

  • Digestive problems, including unexplained constipation, diarrhea, or persistent gas
  • Skin issues, including unexplained rashes, eczema, hives, and itching
  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Fatigue, even when you get enough sleep
  • Never feeling full, even after eating a big meal
  • Constant hunger, even when you are eating enough
  • Iron deficiency anemia (lab tests show abnormally low iron level)
  • Grinding your teeth during sleep
  • Unexplained feelings of anxiety
  • Recurrent yeast infections
  • Itching of the anus or vagina

How did I get parasites?

Parasites are in the soil, you can get them from swimming, they can enter through your skin or, more commonly, through your mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. You can get them from your drinking water. You can get them if you live on a farm, and especially if you have animals that are indoor animals, get up on furniture, lick you, or sleep in your bed.

How do I get rid of parasites?

There are a couple of options. There are anti-parasitic medications that your conventional doctor can give you, BUT I have seen time after time in my practice that they aren’t successful in ridding the patient of all the symptoms causing parasites, AND they have so many uncomfortable consequences.

The second aspect of anti-parasitic medications is also a problem when well-meaning practitioners sell you a “parasite cleanse,” and that is the drainage pathways aren’t open, the body’s energy centers (mitochondria) aren’t open, and therefore you end up stagnant, sick and in more trouble physically than you were when you started. Your metabolism is in the dumps.

The strategy to get rid of parasites isn’t to eradicate them. That always backfires. You must strengthen the host (YOUR BODY) and make the environment inhospitable to the little buggers, and THEN you can do the work to eradicate anything that is hanging on.

Steps to Get Rid of Parasites

  1. Open your drainage pathways.
    If your drainage pathways are not functioning properly or, worse, are blocked, then all of those parasites you just worked so hard to detox and paid a lot to detox too don’t have anywhere to go, so they are recirculated and resorbed. And that makes you feel so much worse. You have to support and open the drainage pathways FIRST because stagnation breeds sickness.
  2. Strengthen the body’s energy powerhouses, your mitochondria.
    This allows your body to fight off parasites naturally, upregulate your detoxification, perform apoptosis of damaged cells, repair DNA, and many more functions.
  3. THEN and only then do you go after parasites with a plethora of herbal remedies. Otherwise, you end up even sicker.

Since I have been sharing more about these healing steps, I have had many of you reach out to me and ask about a class on this – so I have scheduled a class on Drainage and Energy, the first phase of healing. (just like the class on getting off of heartburn medications). It is free to attend, and the replay is less than a copay. Just click here to register – if you have missed the live class, the replay will be there for you.

This class is on energy and drainage, the first phase of any healing journey. You will learn what it is, why it matters, and what you can do via lifestyle and nutrition to ensure that you are thriving in these areas and not allowing stagnation to cause sickness in your body. You will also get the Supplement When Needed handout with a specific healing supplement protocol. Once you get those drainage pathways moving, you will be all set to start working towards getting rid of parasites.

You might be thinking, “but Audrey, I have SIBO or candida or Lyme or heavy metal toxicity…” and it’s true you might, but in order to return your body back to wellness, in order to heal the root cause, you have to follow the order of operations.

Think back to elementary school PEMDAS right, Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract? If you don’t follow those steps in solving a math problem, then you won’t get the right answer.

It is the same with healing your body. If you don’t follow the order of operations, then you don’t release dis-ease from the body. You end up further wrecking it and constantly starting over. You have to tackle Drainage, Energy, Parasites, AND THEN move on to the other stuff like SIBO, Candida, Metals, Lyme, etc. because these little buggers hold on to and hide these in your body. If you skip a step, you have to circle back and start over.

More questions about parasites?

If you have more questions about parasites and healing from the root cause of what you are going through I would love to have join us in the Wellness Circle, my exclusive and free community to help women pursuing holistic wellness, body, mind, and spirit and discussions around the Root Cause Revolution Podcast and even some free office hours on Fridays to get your private questions answered – friends chronic disease is a preventable and autoimmune disease is capable of being healed or put in remission (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise you deserve to feel good!) You can get the direct link on the show notes page or at audreychristie.com/facebook

To wrap this up – parasites, yuck right? But we all have them, I hope I haven’t totally grossed you out here and instead inspired you to get your drainage inline, get your energetic health on point, and then go after these buggers so you can finally heal.

Remember that I am always rooting for you, friend and I am so grateful for you listening! See you next time!

Be well,

PS: I would love for you to attend this class live with me. Here’s the class to link Drainage and Energy. See you there!

Episode 155: Stress as a Root Cause

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stress as a root cause title pictures

Stress as a Root Cause

Oxidative stress, mental stress, emotional stress, EMF stress, chemical/toxin stress, oh my goodness if there is something out there it stresses the body, right?!

The truth of stress is that we can’t avoid it, and it does have negative effects on our energetic, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Instead of focusing on how to avoid stress because it is unavoidable, let's take a look at how to mitigate it, how to relieve it, and what aspects of stress your can influence or control.

Today we are talking about stress, what is in your circle of influence and what is in your circle of control and what you can do about it.

Let’s dig in.

Welcome! if this is your first time listening - I’m Audrey Christie - I’m a functional and integrative nurse nutritionist and energy medicine practitioner who helps women heal from chronic illness and autoimmune disease. Helping you to stop chasing symptoms, find your root causes, and heal your body from autoimmune and chronic illness.

Ever heard stress kills?

You have probably heard a million times now - stress. Stress kills. Stress hurts. Stress causes physical health issues...am I right?

And now you're even more stressed because what are you supposed to do about these things? Should you use CBD? Should you drink? Should you exercise? Should you journal? Meditate? Take a supplement? Should you hide in bed?

And if you were to avoid all stress - well I don’t know what if because it just isn’t possible. Looking at all of the science and all of the studies I can say that the best way to deal with stress is to learn a few simple practices.

Most importantly, learn what is in your circle of influence and circle of control. Learn what tools work for you to manage stress when it happens and learn tools to prevent stress. Sounds easy, right? Well, it can be with practice.

Stress in Healthcare

There is not a client or patient that comes to me with a chronic health issue or autoimmune disease that stress does not play a major role in it. It could be something like zapping their immune system, squashing their mitochondrial health (hello fatigue), even preventing them from having normal drainage pathway function - like not having BMs or having a nervous stomach.

You see stress can affect your body, mind, and spirit. Not all stress is bad though - stress acutely is what allows our body to fight, flight, freeze so that you can react appropriately in an emergency. That is the good kind of stress - right?

There was a doc back in 1936, Dr. Hans Selye who said “to be totally without stress is to be dead.” It is kind of a play on words that symbolizes not only that stress is unavoidable but that acute stress is a necessary function of survival.

But stress that keeps hitting our body and mind repeatedly or in a sustained fashion becomes problematic.

Some of the early symptoms of an extended stress response include irritability, headaches, insomnia, and even anxiety and depression. But it doesn’t stop there, the longer your stress-out lifestyle continues the more problems you have, eventually touching every system in your body.

Did you know that 75% of primary care visits are stress-related? Crazy right? I would say in my practice that 100% of my clients have stress as a root cause - but like the doc said back in the 30’s stress is unavoidable.

Let's Build a Stress Toolbox

So let’s build a toolbox, shall we? Because the good news is that there are a lot of lifestyle changes that are very simple and sustainable to add to your toolbox for stress. When combined with a few energetic and micronutrient practices you can lead a really balanced vibe. Which leads to mitigating all of that health drama!

Some of my most recommended stress tools include:

  1. Meditation. Have you heard me say this a million times? No, it isn’t as easy as some of the other tools that I am going to give you but it has more benefits than anything else I can give you. I have a free meditation guide here no opt-in required. It will get you going in the right direction with the meditation stuff. I also highly recommend Tapping meditations too for acutely stressful situations (works for chronic stress too but if you can try it on acute stress - see the benefits then it will be your new fav. You can check out The Tapping Solution app and follow along for big benefits.
  2. Ashwagandha. Love love loves some plant power here. Ashwagandha is an adaptogen. Adaptogen supplements are natural herbs that help your body adapt to stressors in your environment. It was a wide set of benefits and has a really long history of being safe and effective. Only in recent history has it made it through the rigors of a clinical trial. In 2017 a study showed that ashwagandha reduces the effect of stress on the brain and body, but also helps to stop food cravings related to stress.
  3. Strain-specific CBD. Forget your grandma’s random CBD blend - have you tried strain-specific CBD? It is amazing! There is literally a plant for everyone. Trouble focusing? There’s a strain for that. Trouble sleeping? There’s a strain for that. If your CBD oil doesn’t taste like the plant it is derived from - you’re not taking the right stuff.
  4. Get outside. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that going outside reduces stress and inflammation, especially when you kick off your shoes and get in touch with the earth. You can add in all sorts of fancy things to this but just getting outside can also do the trick.
  5. Unplug. Step away from TikTok and Instagram, get off of Facebook, close the laptop. Technology is such a beautiful gift but we have to know when to turn it off - and the reality is that being connected 24/7 does not serve your health and does not serve your stress.
  6. Move. It doesn’t have to be anything athletic, some simple stretches and breathwork all the way to running. Movement releases endorphins, which are natural compounds in your body that reduce stress and pain. You don’t have to do strenuous or intense workouts to experience this benefit.

Now there is a catch here, because in order for these 6 items to work - you have to use them. And it can take a little bit to get into your awareness space so that you recognize what triggers a stress response in you and recognize that you can use these tools. If you have a partner - definitely get them on board to help guide you.

You will notice something is missing here - one of my recommendations that helps with just about everything. Eat more plants. And it isn’t that it won’t help - because it will - eating plants also helps your endocannabinoid system (yep that same one CBD does) BUT if you are in a state of chronic stress that is having major impacts on your health then you aren’t digesting what you eat properly REGARDLESS of how good it is for you. So my advice is to work on this first THEN work on the nutrition aspect. Sure make good choices when you can but don’t add to your stress level here. (include rest and digest in audio and video)

More questions about stress?

If you have more questions about stress and healing from the root cause of what you are going through I would love to have join us in the Wellness Circle, my exclusive and free community to help women pursuing holistic wellness, body, mind, and spirit and discussions around the Root Cause Revolution Podcast and even some free office hours on Fridays to get your private questions answered - friends chronic disease is a preventable and autoimmune disease is capable of being healed or put in remission (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise you deserve to feel good!) You can get the direct link on the show notes page or at audreychristie.com/facebook

To wrap this up - Stress is unavoidable so you have to have the tools to cope, mitigate, and have a healthy stress response.

Remember that I am always rooting for you, friend and I am so grateful for you listening! See you next time!

Be well,

Episode 154: Mitochondria and Your Health

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mitochondria and your health

Mitochondria and Your Health

Have you ever heard of mitochondria? What about mitochondrial health? Think real hard, maybe back to middle school science (coulda been highschool the first time I heard about them).

If you were able to vaguely scratch from your memory that they are the powerhouse of your cells - you are correct. Our cells are made up of “parts” called organelles. Think of them as tiny organs inside each cell that have specialized functions (kind of like a smaller version of you).

There are approximately 10 million billion (yeah that is a number) in the human body and they cycle through life and death fairly rapidly. Mitochondria are like tiny factories that take what we eat and the oxygen we breathe and turn it into energy that powers our organs.

Today we are talking about these little powerhouses of the cells, these mitochondria, and what impact they have on your health. With this little glimpse into what mitochondria do - you can bet they are important for your health. In fact, mitochondrial health is one of the first things that must be addressed BEFORE jumping into any healing protocol. I like to address it right alongside drainage. Let’s dig in.

Have you ever been talked to about your Mitochondrial Health?

Has anyone in your entire medical history talked to you about those little mitochondria? We know that mitochondria have a huge role in things that have an effect on your daily life - like aging, disease, immunity, cancer, and fatigue. They are part of your stress signaling pathway, mitochondria are part of your energy production and metabolism too.

It has been determined that mitochondria play a huge role in tumor suppression and oncogenes with studies indicating that altered cellular metabolism via mitochondria is both contributory and causative in cancer.

Mitochondria also play a role in viral immunity - the condition, formation, and function of these billions of cells are both critical to maintaining your health.

And lastly, in 2011, studies confirmed that a defect in mitochondrial function in one single tissue in the body has consequences for the whole body. This study was done in mice and confirmed in humans. So rather than thinking of them as powerhouses for the cell - think of them as powerhouses for your entire body, that not only produce energy but also help to detoxify, fight infections, regulate immunity, repair DNA, store calcium, and generate heat! Usually, when I spill all of this info - people want to know - why haven’t I heard about this before?!

So what does all this mean for you? Mitochondria power nearly everything we do, I have only mentioned a few things here so far - this would be far to long to list them all. And mitochondrial health is critical - absolutely critical for your expression of wellness. And it is one of the first things (alongside your drainage pathways - to work on to balance your health).

Mini-Case Study

Recently I had a client, early 40s, previously super active, had some immune system insults in the form of a virus (ya know THE virus), and even though they had officially been recovered for months - they just didn’t have the oomph to start working out again, in fact, they didn’t have the endurance for much of anything.

One of the first things we looked at was their energy and drainage - are all the drainage pathways functioning as they should AND let's look at these spectacular little powerhouses!

We found through routine bloodwork (a CBC and CMP) that her mitochondria were not healthy - specifically because the virus had likely wiped them out. This is a typical post-viral syndrome that is occurring with THIS virus.

Once we started nursing those cells back to health and ensure that the drainage pathways were functioning again we were able to get her from zapped to moving again in about 6 weeks!

Why healthy mitochondria?

Having healthy mitochondrial function helps your body to:

  • Produce and metabolize oxygen and energy
  • Prevent disease
  • Regulate immunity
  • Detoxify properly (including EBV, heavy metals, lyme, mold, HPV, parasites just to name a few)

These things damage our mitochondria:

  • Oxidative stress
  • Mental/Emotional Stress
  • EMF Stress
  • Chemical/toxin stress
  • Prescription and over-the-counter medications and illicit drugs such as acetaminophen, antibiotics, aspirin, NSAIDs, Statins, Cocaine, Methamphetamine (including ADHD meds), and many other commonly used medications.

This shows up in our human suits as fatigue, sleeplessness, catching many viruses, infertility, hormones out of whack, inability to lose weight, premature hair graying, overactive appetite, lack of motivation, exercise intolerance just to name a few.

7 Steps to Healing Your Mitochondria

  1. Sunshine. You are solar powered by the sun. Just like the plants. You need sunshine every day and when you can’t get sunshine every day - you must supplement with sunshine in a bottle (Vitamin D3 - make sure it has k2).
  2. Magnesium. Your mitochondria need magnesium. Did you try magnesium and it didn’t help with your other symptoms? Doesn’t matter because you need it for your mitochondria.
  3. Sleep is critical. You can find my 2 sleep episodes: sleep hygiene here and when you need extra sleep help here. Restorative sleep allows the brain to clear the waste and maintain healthy mitochondria.
  4. Avoid toxins. Easier said than done - but you must do what you can, there are simple changes that go a LONG way such as swapping out those toxic household cleaners, detergents, and cosmetics and avoiding plastics as much as possible.
  5. Grounding or Earthing. This can be combined with getting your sunshine! Grounding or earthing is the practice of applying bare skin to the Earth. This allows the body to draw in electrons to neutralize free radicals and enhance positive physiological responses. Sounds crazy but there is reliable scientific data behind this practice. Aside from all of the benefits for your body and there are a ton - grounding impacts the health of your mitochondria by allowing them to do less work to get rid of accumulated waste.
  6. Work on your polarity. When the polarity is off in your body - just like when you put the battery in the remote upside-down - things just don’t work right. I will be sharing in the Wellness Circle this week about some simple energy tricks to fix your body’s polarity in a flash!
  7. Get Help. Sometimes you need more than just the above to recover from a mitochondrial deficit. Don’t suffer, ask for help with your mitochondria and energy levels.

More questions?

If you have more questions about mitochondrial health and how this might be affecting your ability to heal from chronic illness and heal from the root causes of your troubles, I would love to have join us in the Wellness Circle, my exclusive and free community to help women pursuing holistic wellness, body, mind, and spirit and discussions around the Root Cause Revolution Podcast and even some free office hours on Fridays to get your private questions answered - friends chronic disease is a preventable and autoimmune disease is capable of being healed or put in remission (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise you deserve to feel good!) You can get the direct link on the show notes page or at audreychristie.com/facebook

To wrap this up - your mitochondrial health is one of the keys to your health and vitality (and maintaining your natural hair color). I encourage you to tune in and notice if your mitochondria need support - might this be your missing link?

Remember that I am always rooting for you, friend and I am so grateful for you listening! See you next time!

Be well,