About Me
Hi, I’m Danielle. I am a wife, mother, a Certified Holistic Health & Wellness Coach, avid researcher, ingredient detective, queen of rescue dogs, and lover of all things Bravo TV.
This is long, so grab a cuppa-something and get comfy.
When I was younger, even though I have been sick for the majority of my life, I never really thought twice about what was in my shampoo or my eye cream—I couldn’t care less about the pesticides that were sprayed on my strawberries—and I certainly never gave one single solitary thought as to what my WIFI was doing to my brain or sleep patterns. I never considered the fact that my body was possibly absorbing more than just calories.
Then one day 10 years ago, everything changed. My perspective was turned upside down. My sister got sick, and I spent 2 months living in the hospital with her—watching her die and seeing how toxic her body was. I saw first hand how self-inflicted toxicants caused her kidneys, liver…her whole body to shut down. It was the most eye-opening experience of my life. Sadly, we lost her in August 2009. My time in the ICU was spent researching alcoholism and the affects it has on the body. I learned that, when overloaded with toxicants the body loses the ability to detoxify itself.
My family and I were a mere 3 months into our grieving process when we received a call that my brother had died, at 41 years old, of a massive heart attack. Atherosclerosis. At 41. What? That’s an old fat man’s disease- not a young, thin guy’s disease. He drank socially, smoked like a chimney, and would eat 3 McDonalds cheeseburgers for lunch. *sigh* Retrospect is tough sometimes.
There I was: heartbroken, newly pregnant, and full of anger, fear, and questions: why did this happen? HOW did this happen? Did it have to happen? Inquisition lead to research. What made my sister and brother die—aside from the obvious? Was it just crappy genetics and lack of willpower or were there other factors involved? Was there something else? As the popular saying goes, “Genetics loads the gun and lifestyle and environment pull the trigger.”
Then I read something that stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t exactly related to what I was going through but it made that little lightbulb above my head light up! 💡
According to www.cancer.gov only 5-10% of all cancers are genetic, whereas 90-95% of all cancers are environmental/lifestyle. Neither of my siblings died of cancer but when you have gone through such emotional trauma your own mortality is suddenly beating you over the head. If cancer is predominantly caused by environmental/lifestyle, then what we are eating, drinking, breathing, and lathering on our bodies is potentially ‘killing’ us. I don’t mean to sound alarmist, but seriously, WTF?! Maybe it IS time for some alarms to go off. I placed my hand on my growing belly and vowed then and there to do whatever it takes to give my baby the best chance possible for a healthy life…and to have her mother there with her to see her grow. All mothers and all children deserve this!
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Fast forward to a few years later, when my own body just up and broke!
Still grieving, I started to develop some pretty severe health issues of my own. I started getting sinus infections every 6 weeks. The sinus infections turned into strep throat. I took antibiotic after antibiotic and just kept getting sicker. I had my tonsils removed (and having your tonsils removed as an adult is just pure fresh hell), thinking it would put a stop to all of this, but it didn’t. The sickness just shifted to bronchitis…then to pneumonia. I had 2 babies in diapers, and I was sick every 6 weeks!
I remember waking up one morning, and my husband looked at me with horror on his face. What he saw wasn’t his wife. It was a fragile broken shell. We both cried and decided we needed to get to the bottom of this.
I saw doctor after doctor. Specialist after specialist. I heard it all. “you have IBS, Fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease; it’s all in your head—you need to see a psychologist; you have hysterical deafness” (I also, suddenly, lost my hearing in my left ear—which can actually be kind of handy when dealing with little ones—amiright? I’m kidding). I heard a lot of crappy (albeit well-intended) medical advice and tore up a lot of utterly useless prescriptions.
Then…I found a naturopathic healer and it was like the angels sang!
I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, candida over growth, leaky gut, SIBO, severe vitamin and nutrient deficiencies, thyroid issues, Celiac disease, 3 different heart issues. You name it, I had it!! It all made sense. After years of being in “hell-th” I finally found the root cause of my health issues: trauma, mold poisoning, and environmental toxicants that my body couldn’t naturally detox due to a wonky gene called MTHFR (and this gene mutation truly is a motherf*cker!).
Triggered by my inquisitive nature, I learned that our every day products contain thousands of untested chemicals- from our TV’s to our toilet bowl cleaners, to our skincare and our kids pajamas. Our current regulation system does not protect us against this. These chemicals find their way into our tissues, our blood, our brain. Heavy metals like lead, mercury, and aluminum are also in abundance in our cereal bowls, our baby bottles, and our coffee mugs. You can read more about what body burden is here.
Despite all that was thrown at me, I realized that I had control. I had the ability to HEAL MYSELF. I have the ability to choose healthier options for my body. I have the ability to make self care a priority. I have the ability to change my mindset. I have the ability to live a long and healthy life. It is up to me!! No one else. Me.
A long and healthy life. Isn’t that what we all want? Isn’t that why you’re reading this?
I truly believe that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. My lemonade is knowledge and power to change my life and yours!!
My job is to help you lower your body burden- which is the total accumulation of toxins and toxicants in your body. We will aim to reduce the toxic load that we all carry in the 21st Century and to not allow ourselves to be part of that 90-95%. Together, you and I will walk through the tips and techniques to lower your exposure.
Each week, I will post a tip—some super easy, some requiring, work but hopefully, I will make it as easy (peasy lemon squeezy) as possible for you.
I’m so glad you’re here!!