Food Fallacies; What You Think You Know Can Hurt You with Tricia Whelan

Tricia Whelan has been teaching holistic nutrition and energy work for over 27 years and helping people identify what is in their thoughts, diet and environment that is weakening them as well as what is strengthening them. http://www.rayholder.ca

How important do you think what you eat or drink is to your overall health?

If you said, very important, you are going to love this interview!

There is so much confusing information out there right now about what to eat, what to avoid, what supplements will help you, and so on, that for people who really care about their health and the health of their kids, it can be pretty overwhelming.

My guest today, Tricia Whelan, is all about nutrition, whole foods and living life in a healthy, loving way. This wasn't always the way it was for her though… in fact she had some pretty major health concerns several years back.

33 years ago I was in pretty bad shape. I was a letter carrier, a long-term Type 1 Diabetic and I desperately wanted to have children, but walking 10 kilometers a day with 40 pounds of mail on your back and trying to be a good Diabetic wasn't working very well for me. I ended up miscarrying 2 babies and the doctor told me that I had better not try again or I could go blind and my kidneys could fail.

Tricia and her husband ended up adopting a beautiful 2 month old baby boy and it was while she was on leave looking after her new son that she became pregnant and gave birth to another wonderful baby boy. She never expected to go from no babies to 2 babies in 8 months, but that's what the universe dealt her and it filled her with a strong desire to regain her health.

[After the babies] my whole system crashed. I desperately wanted to live long enough to see my boys grow up. I found that the medical approach was not working for me. My kidneys technically failed with the pregnancy, my eyes were hemorrhaging, I was an undiagnosed celiac with horrible digestive problems, weight problems…just a list a mile long of problems.

When her husband's friend introduced them to Sunrider Foods and Tricia started eating that, everything changed.

My eyes quit hemorrhaging,  my kidney function returned to normal, my celiac cleared up, all of my addictions cleared up, my Candida [overgrowth] went away, my arthritis in my hands cleared up, my carpal tunnel disappeared and it just went on and on and on.

This lead Tricia down the path of studying nutrition and resulted in her becoming a Certified Vegetarian Nutritionist.

I love all the ancient ways – I love the Chinese approach as well as the Ayurvedic approach which is all about bringing the body into balance with food.

Tricia shared some of her favorite tools for helping people regain their health and elaborated on what worked best for her.

Besides the Sunrider Foods – which were HUGE for her – she also started using the Vitality Analysis Lab which she has found indispensible in helping people get a true picture of what is going on in their body.

The Vitality Analysis Lab is an independent lab in Edmonton, Alberta and I've been working with them for over 27 years. They do a vitality analysis using Radionics Testing or frequency testing and from that they can tell you everything going on in your body; acid/alkaline balance, protein/carb balance, heavy metals, candida overgrowth, how every system is working, how toxic your system is, your essential fatty acid balance, which product is best for you…they also test you for 140 different table foods and whether a food is bringing you health or draining your health.

Tricia shared her experience with NAET (Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique) and how it helped her clear out all of her Celiac symptoms and heal her digestive tract.

As we moved on onto the topic of the most damaging fallacies about healthy living, Tricia educated us on why dairy is not good for you, and how it is a major culprit in so many autoimmune diseases.

She tackled the topic of dehydration, why drinking lots of water is not the answer to fixing this problem and listed some of the many health issues linked to this challenge.

Another fallacy that bothers me is that water will hydrate the body. Actually that's not correct unless you have some lovely spring water or a really good well where you live. I think drinking water is great, [in fact] an Aryuvedic principle is to have a couple cups of warm water first thing in the morning, but all it does is flushes the inside…it's like a beautiful shower first thing in the morning. So it warms the whole digestive tract, and flushes the kidneys and the bladder.  But to be hydrated you have to actually get the fluid into your cells and tissues and water can't do that.

She addressed the fallacy about the main cause of obesity (hint: it's not diet or exercise), and how food sensitivities, caffeine and issues like Candida overgrowth can play a role in this situation.  She shared a tip for getting the goodness out of food – even when it's fast-food and talked about a couple ways moms can ensure they are getting the critical nutrients from vegetables into their child.

Having raised two boys on a vegan diet, Tricia was also able to address the fallacy that you need anything but vegetables to grow up healthy and strong.

Vegetables contain every nutrient known to man. As a Vegan I raised my two boys who are 6 foot tall and 200 lbs on a Vegan diet. All the protein that your body needs can be found in plant foods. Don't ever worry about calories or calcium or what not…all the biggest animals on earth – the cattle, the horse, the elephant, the hippopotamus – they are all Vegan and not one of them worries about proteins, carbs, fats or whatever.

Listen to the show to hear all of Tricia's tips and tools for living a healthy life and feel free to reach out to her at Sunholder1@gmail.com with any questions. She has a Sunrider website at www.rayholder.ca which also has a contact button in the left margin if you prefer to reach out that way.

Tricia has an article on healthy eating she's happy to send you upon your request.

A final nugget from Tricia: The most important thing that you can do for yourself, as Louise Hay would tell us, is to love yourself and be grateful for everything in your life.

Other resources mentioned:

Sunrider International; contact Tricia

Vitality Analysis Lab, Edmonton, AB; although you can access them directly, you're best to go through Tricia so she can help you fully benefit from the results

Dr. Shaoli Shi in Winnipeg who does NAET using acupuncture and acupressure

The Gratitude Jar by Josie Robinson

Thank and Grow Rich by Pam Grout