It’s been a year and a half since my bout with asthma. It’s under control, I’m working out hard again, and my husband no longer puts fertilizer on our lawn when we reseed. I’m as healthy as can be. It’s all good, right? Wrong. For some silly reason, I forgot to tell our gardeners that when THEY reseed the lawn they can’t use fertilizer. Ever! I think because I was feeling so healthy and my lungs were so strong, it didn’t dawn on me to tell them.

So one Saturday, the gardeners are working on the lawn and fixing some sprinklers. My son and I take off to do whatever fun thing we were doing that day, and when we get back I notice the lawn is covered in fertilizer. It still hasn’t hit me that this might not be a good idea. That is until I’m inside and I can feel my lungs tightening up and my airways constricting! I remember this feeling. And the last time it happened, I was rushed to the ER several times. I was very worried and didn’t want to repeat that incident. I also didn’t want to start needing the meds again.

I quickly emailed my nutritionist, Craig, in a panic, “Help! I’m having trouble breathing!” Luckily, he got back to me quickly and gave me a list of things to do. Drink apple-cider vinegar in water along with a few Standard Process vitamins. Drink wasabi in water several times a day. Drink peppermint tea. Drink radish tea–basically slice and steam radishes in water, then drink the tea and eat the radishes. So I did everything he suggested. And you know what? Asthma attack averted! Wow, I could not have been happier. Asthma was actually thwarted by using vitamins and natural ingredients from the earth! Do people know about this? And if they don’t, don’t you think they’d want to? I think it’s the most amazing thing ever. Keeping asthma away naturally! How come this isn’t something you see on the news?

By getting well this way, not only am I avoiding meds and who knows what side effects, I’m also saving money. Just one of the prescriptions costs $500 a month! So after a few days, I can tell my lungs are strong enough to start working out hard again. And after a few weeks, my lungs are feeling pretty healthy.

After all I’ve been through, here I am a year and a half later. I have healthy lungs, and I don’t eat sugar or wheat. I’m happy to be living a super-healthy life, and I’m thrilled that I keep my body healthy with the foods I eat. Plus I’m teaching my son to live a healthier life too. I may not have thought I’d ever want to get off of sugar and wheat. But I must say I really like eating this way, knowing that I’m healthier and stronger than I ever imagined. It’s been a journey, but one I wouldn’t trade for the world.

My son was about six when I got off of sugar and wheat. I saw how great it was for me, so I thought, “What if I could do the same for him?” But how do you tell a six year old: No more sugar? So I used Craig’s suggestion. I told my son, “We’re going to try to not have any sugar and wheat for one week and see if your allergies improve.” He wasn’t thrilled, but I said, “It’s only for one week.” He didn’t argue with that.

My son’s allergies are not bad. He rarely needs an inhaler, but he takes an allergy pill daily. The symptoms usually surface when he gets a cold and it goes into his lungs. Then he needs the inhaler, antibiotics, or maybe a trip to the doctor for an extra-strong inhaler treatment. Once he had to go to the ER for this treatment. That was scary. No parent should have to worry like that. So what if getting him off of sugar meant that wouldn’t happen anymore? I had to try and see.

I had to look at the ingredients in everything my son ate. I was already doing this for me, but there’s so much sugar in the things kids eat. And then finding food that didn’t have wheat or gluten too? Most products have one or the other. It meant I cooked a lot more, which was fine because I like cooking.  We also upped his intake of veggies. Luckily he likes eating carrots and celery as snacks. It requires a lot of planning, but eventually becomes second nature.

After a week, my son got a cold. Probably his body’s way of detoxing. But this was the first cold in six years that went away on its own and didn’t turn into a visit to the doctor’s along with antibiotics or extra inhaler treatments. I was amazed. When I told him what happened, excitedly he said, “Mom, I hate antibiotics!” He was so happy that being off of sugar and wheat meant no antibiotics and no meds, he was ready to be a partner in giving up sugar. I didn’t have to make him. He wanted to live this healthier lifestyle too.

After the first week, I let him have gluten and sugar on weekends. I figured, he’s not allergic to them, he should be able to have them in moderation, because it doesn’t cause any problems for him. I figured a kid needs to be able to enjoy “normal” foods at times and not feel like they’re missing out. Since we’ve changed to this diet, every cold he’s had hasn’t turned into anything serious where antibiotics or extra inhaler treatments were needed. And minimizing his wheat intake has helped his stomach immensely. Whenever he goes overboard, like on vacations, he regrets it because he gets a bad stomachache or needs the inhaler.

As for me, it had been over a year and I was still med-free. At my check-up, my pulmonary doctor was almost in shock when I toId him I didn’t need meds anymore and I was back to my active lifestyle. So after all I went through, you’d think I’d learned my lesson with the fertilizer. You’d think…!

The day after my macrobiotic meal, I was determined to do everything Craig suggested. That meant eliminate sugar and wheat from my diet, and add about 70% organic vegetables and some fruits as well as organic healthy proteins. He said when I’m able to get off the meds, then I could add healthy sugars like honey, stevia, or coconut sugar back into my diet. But no more than a tablespoon a day. A tablespoon?

But there’s sugar in everything! From ketchup, to pasta sauce, to packaged rice, to cereals, to granola bars, to…I could go on and on! The average American adult consumes about 7 tablespoons a day. And now I’m supposed to give it up–cold turkey! I love sugar. But not if it’s causing health problems that land me in the ER. So what if giving up sugar and wheat means I can get off the meds and back to my active lifestyle? There was no way to know for sure unless I tried. Craig said when you give up something in your diet, don’t tell yourself you’re doing it “forever!” Just tell yourself, “This week I’m going to stop having such and such.” This way it doesn’t sound as scary. So that’s what I did.

I was also giving up wheat and gluten because Craig said most people are probably allergic to wheat and have health problems as a result without knowing it. There’s something about the way wheat is harvested in our country that even organic wheat now causes health problems. So I figured why not give it up and see what happens?

Usually when you work with any nutritionist, you let them know you’re doing the “diet” they told you about. But I just dove right into it without telling Craig. Little did I know that when you give up wheat and sugar cold turkey, your body goes into a detox. I had the worst headaches for about a week! I finally contacted Craig and he said, “Wow! You don’t just start unless you tell me.” Oops! Turns out there are foods to offset the detox and headaches. Live and learn! Brown rice was helpful in stopping the detoxing effects, and so was the beet kavas drink. To strengthen my lungs, Craig suggested radish tea, plus wasabi in water. Yes, wasabi! Peppermint tea was also a huge help for the lungs, along with drinking apple-cider vinegar in water. He also added plant-based vitamins by Standard Process to my diet.

Within a few days, my eyes were sparkling like never before. And my skin was almost glowing! I kept staring at my eyes and skin in amazement! Is this really from giving up sugar and wheat and eating better? Within months, my lungs were clearing up and I’m starting to get off certain meds. Yes, I’m giving up the meds!

Next I turn my attention to my son’s stomach and allergy problems. And I’m thinking, hmmm…I wonder what would happen if he gave up these foods?

During winter 2010, my friend Debbie, an acupuncturist, kept bugging me about going to some macrobiotic dinner at her house. All I could think was “macro what”? The only thing I knew about macrobiotics was that a lot of celebrities who seemed uberhealthy were believers. And yes, being healthy was a big interest of mine. But come on, I didn’t want to be extreme. I already ate organic food and whole grains and stayed away from GMOs. What else did I need to do? But Debbie insisted.

I showed up a little late while Craig the nutritionist was already midtalk about foods in season, blah blah. I tried to be inconspicuous, but that wasn’t easy as I had a lingering cough due to the recent onset of asthma. My lungs were weak and the cold I had just stayed in my chest.

I sat and listened as Craig gave amazing health information while whipping up vegetable and fruit smoothies with things I never thought of drinking: kale, radishes, beets, raw eggs! At first I tasted a few and thought, “It’s not horrible, but I’m not loving it.” But by the end of the night, I was loving them all!

Now I’ve always been a low blood sugar person. So I need to eat round the clock or look out! I’d been invited to a “dinner” and it was 9:00 p.m., and all we’ve had is veggie this or fruit that. But you know what? I wasn’t hungry! Turns out eating this kind of dense fiber was filling me up better than anything I’d been eating up until then. And it was delicious! Craig made a beet kavas drink that he promised helped with a range of health issues. I had never been a beet person before, but it was good!

Craig made everything from scratch–like raw crackers, fresh pesto made with arugula or parsley instead of basil, homemade hummus with flax oil, and a veggie dish topped with mochi. That was the best vegetable dish I’ve ever eaten! I didn’t understand how eating healthy could be so wonderful! And if that wasn’t enough to sell me on this kind of lifestyle, by the end of the night my cough was completely gone! The cough I walked in with, that I had for many weeks, was gone from one night of eating this way.

What Craig really stressed was the need to eliminate all sugar from our diets. Fruit is allowed, but he claims other types of sugar are toxic and cause a lot of health problems. Me? Off sugar? I’ve always loved my desserts! I watch my calories and work out regularly so I’m thin, but desserts are my reward! But after seeing how one night of eating this way could help, what other choice did I have? I was determined to get off of the four asthma meds I was on. So I was going to listen to this man who introduced me to macrobiotics. I was scared but determined. I had to give this a try.

Let me start off by saying, I don’t have asthma. Well, I don’t normally have asthma. I haven’t had it for most of my life. I only had it for about two years of my life when I was around 22, which I treated naturally with acupuncture and got rid of it. That was until a few years ago in October 2009, when it came back. I decided to put fertilizer on my lawn, by myself. No help from the hubby or the gardener. Good idea, right? Wrong!

Little did I know that the day I did this, I was damaging my lungs and starting a horrible case of asthma from breathing in the toxins in the fertilizer. I won’t mention which brand in case that’s a no-no on here, but all I know is that it seemed safe. It even said on the package, “Safe for kids and pets.” Hmmm…Maybe I should have found the bag that said, “Not harfmul to parents”?

Now, being that I’m into natural health. I normally use acupuncture, essential oils or homeopathics to treat most illnesses. So the thought of being on asthma meds was horrifying to me. But avoiding the meds put me in urgent care three times. The last time I was so close to death, I wasn’t sure I could make it to the ER in time for them to help me breathe. So finally I took everything the doctors recommended, which meant two steroids, allergy pills, and a fast-acting inhaler. I couldn’t think of the potential side effects of the meds, because at this point, I needed to live. I’m a mom, and staying alive was more important than avoiding medication.

I’ve also always been a hard-core fitness gal. And the asthma had restricted my workout from boxing classes and spin classes, to walking slowly on the treadmill. Argh! Needles to say, I was not happy. But what else could I do? I had to be on the meds and I had to get back to where I was breathing correctly. But how?

The fertilizer incident also had an impact on my son. He has allergies and on occasion needs an inhaler. So now his breathing was affected too. It made me wonder, how many asthma cases are caused by fertilizers on lawns we don’t even know is there?

I promised myself I would never ever use this stuff again. But I was worried that I might not be able to get off the meds. Was I bound to using inhalers and steroids forever? And how are fertilizer companies allowed to sell products with such dangerous side affects? Shouldn’t there be a skull-and-crossbones warning on the package and be locked up behind a glass case? Maybe people should be trained or licensed to use these products so they’re aware of the dangers. I mean, I almost died at least two or three times. Literally! All for a green lawn?

But fast forward to February 2010, when into my life walks a man who utters the words I never wanted to hear: “You need to get off of sugar”.