Health Coach

Jessica Roman Meatstock 2026 MMIHS Healing Intestinal Failure

ChristianHealthCollective — Tue, 05 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Meatstock 2026 is a carnivore health event where real healing stories take the stage. This year, Jessica Roman brought one that no one will forget. Her daughter Riley, born with a terminal genetic disease called MMIHS, went from intestinal failure and 16 surgeries in one year to a thriving, healthy little girl, all through a carnivore diet.

Early Diagnosis

Three days after Riley was born, the nurses noticed something was wrong. No wet diaper. She was rushed to the NICU, and after a battery of tests, the diagnosis came back devastating. Riley had MMIHS (Megacystis Microcolon Intestinal Hypoperistalsis Syndrome), a rare terminal genetic disease that had left her intestines severely malformed.

The doctors didn’t soften the blow. Riley wouldn’t live past a couple of years. Her life would be defined by constant surgeries, possible multi-organ transplant, and a short death.

“My husband and I refused to accept it.”

Holding Onto Hope

Every night, after tucking Riley in, Jessica and her husband got down on their knees and prayed. They had no medical evidence that their daughter could heal. They only had faith, and they chose to hold onto it.

For a while, things seemed manageable. While breastfeeding, Riley did well. However, the moment solid foods were introduced, everything the doctors had warned about came true. Her stomach became distended. She was put on TPN, IV nutrition delivered through a port in her chest. Her liver began to fail. She was diagnosed with intestinal failure and underwent 16 surgeries in a single year.

The family lived in a state of constant emergency. Night after night, they would wake to Riley vomiting and rush her to the ER. She was life-flighted many times.

“Every night, we got on our knees and prayed for an answer.”

The Diet Change

Then one day, something shifted. Jessica felt a clear message: it was the gas.

Riley’s condition causes her intestines to move food incredibly slowly. Food goes in, doesn’t come out, sits, ferments, and rots. Jessica became convinced that stopping the fermentation could improve Riley’s intestinal motility. The problem was that almost every food ferments. Almost everything except meat.

Her husband already knew this from his bodybuilding days. He looked at Jessica and said:

“You don’t need bread to live, and I’m Italian.”

It was a revelation. Jessica had never considered that meat alone could sustain a person, let alone heal one.

The Turnaround

At nearly 3 years old, Riley weighed just 26 pounds. She wasn’t speaking, walking, or smiling. One more emergency surgery could be the end. Through prayer, the family found a naturopath named Becky Potter, who introduced them to the GAPS diet. When Jessica explained that Riley couldn’t tolerate any plant foods, Becky had a simple answer:

“Try no-plant GAPS.”

Using Riley’s G-tube, they blended meat and bone broth and fed her that way. Within two months, the transformation was undeniable. The little girl with visible ribs and hollow eyes was now playing, climbing, walking, and talking.

Shortly after, her central line was removed. She came off TPN entirely. Her liver healed. As a result, her doctors declared her out of intestinal failure.

Words of Encouragement

Since sharing Riley’s story, Jessica has connected with families across the world facing the same diagnosis. Six children have now come out of intestinal failure after switching to carnivore. Her message to anyone sitting on the fence is clear:

“You cannot be in worse shape than terminal, progressive, genetic, multi-organ failure. If carnivore could heal that, it can help you too.”

You’ve got this.

The post Jessica Roman Meatstock 2026 MMIHS Healing Intestinal Failure appeared first on Health Coach.

From Stage 4 Crohn’s to Full Recovery The No-Plant GAPS Healing Journey

ChristianHealthCollective — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 21:00:00 +0000

From Stage 4 Crohn’s to Full Recovery

She was told the surgery was not optional. A life-threatening narrowing. A countdown. She went home, found a yellow book, and chose a different road.

Monica Holland grew up in Poland, close to a landscape saturated with coal mine emissions. At age six, she was exposed to fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. Her body carried that burden silently for years before it began to speak loudly.

By her twenties, the diagnosis arrived: Crohn’s disease. But the word alone didn’t capture the scale of what she was living through. Over 300 symptoms. Pain that woke her twenty times a night. A visible mass of yeast moving visibly under her skin. Slurred speech. Burning nerves. Cognitive collapse so complete she could not finish a paragraph.

Her gastroenterologist was clear. The ileum had narrowed to a near-total blockage. The colonoscope could not pass through. Surgery was not a suggestion. It was a warning.

01 /

Why Yeast Grows: Protection, Not Attack

Yeast does not grow in the body randomly. It responds to contamination. After Chernobyl, the first organisms to return to the dead zone were fungi. They consumed the radiation. They cleared the way for life to come back. That process took forty years.

The same logic operates inside us. A body carrying mercury, radiation, or heavy metal load will recruit yeast as a protective shield. The yeast does its job. But the symptoms it creates along the way are real and brutal.

Kill that yeast too fast and you expose whatever it was containing. This is precisely why aggressive antimicrobial protocols so often backfire. The yeast is not the enemy. It is the warning system.

“The body sends yeast the way nature sent fungi to Chernobyl. Not to cause harm. To contain it.”

Understanding this changed everything about how Monica approached her own healing, and how she now works with clients facing similar contamination loads.

02 /

The Yellow Book and the Decision Not to Operate

She researched before she agreed to the knife. The data was sobering: 80% of patients who underwent that surgery needed a repeat procedure within a year. A brutal recovery for a temporary fix. She sat on her sofa and asked, quietly, for a sign.

The GAPS protocol book by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride was already in her home. She had tried to read it before and couldn’t follow it through the brain fog. This time, she didn’t read it fully. She took the food list, crossed off everything her body could not handle, and started with what remained: mostly fish, mostly meat stock, a handful of safe foods.

The first three months were horrendous. Massive detox reactions, daily. Her husband wanted to call an ambulance every other day. She told him not to. If she was going down, it would be on her own terms.

Turning point

Within three months, the bleeding stopped. The scarring that had almost closed her ileum began to soften. The surgery never happened.

Watch the full conversation

Monica Holland on the No Plant GAPS protocol, Chernobyl, oxalates, enemas, and healing from the inside out.

03 /

What No Plant GAPS Actually Does

Fiber, in a damaged gut, behaves like sandpaper across an open wound. It feeds every microbe equally: beneficial and pathogenic alike. In a healthy microbiome it offers benefit. In a diseased one it accelerates the damage. Fiber is not a nutrient. The body does not require it. Context changes everything.

Meat stock does something altogether different. It floods the body with sulfur-based amino acids: glycine, cysteine, methionine. These drive the liver to produce glutathione, the body’s most powerful internal cleanser. Glutathione travels through the bloodstream and mops up metals, mold, pesticides, and unspent hormones. At peak healing, Monica was drinking seventeen to twenty cups of meat stock daily. Her body was excreting glutathione through every available pathway.

The protocol removes all plant matter progressively through nine phases. Not because plants are inherently harmful. Because a gut in genuine crisis cannot process them safely, and trying to do so keeps the immune system locked in emergency mode.

01 Start with meat stock only. Chicken feet produce the most gelatinous, mineral-dense broth. Source from local farms, not supermarkets.
02 Progress through nine structured phases. Each phase prepares the body for the next. Skipping phases is how people get hurt.
03 Address oxalates carefully. Cold-turkey removal of oxalate foods triggers a painful dumping response. Reduce slowly, support minerals throughout.
04 Use enemas consistently. Coffee enemas boost glutathione production by up to 700%. Meat stock enemas nourish directly through the rectal wall, bypassing the damaged gut entirely.

04 /

Oxalates: The Hidden Variable Nobody Warned About

Oxalates are microscopic crystal shards that accumulate in tissue from diet, environmental exposure, and crucially: from yeast itself. Yeast, protecting the body from mercury, exhales oxalic acid as a byproduct. Monica was never on a high-oxalate diet. She had lived near coal mines for years. The oxalates were environmental and microbial in origin.

When someone moves abruptly from a high-oxalate diet to No Plant GAPS, the body senses a drop in circulating oxalate and begins dumping stored crystals into the bloodstream. Those shards move through tissue. The main exit route is the kidney-bladder pathway. Symptoms can be severe enough that people stop the protocol entirely and blame the diet for the damage. They were actually just beginning to clear it.

She eats gelato in Italy now.

The scarring is gone. The 300 symptoms are down to almost nothing. The healing took years, not weeks, and required a level of commitment that is genuinely difficult to describe. But the path itself was not complicated.

Meat stock. Animal foods. No plants until the gut could handle them. Minerals. Patience. Faith that the regression was the protocol working.

The No Plant GAPS Hub is now available at noplantgaps.com. A free webinar helps people determine whether the protocol is right for them. An exclusive interview with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride covers all nine phases in clinical detail. Full course support is available for those ready to begin.

The post From Stage 4 Crohn’s to Full Recovery The No-Plant GAPS Healing Journey appeared first on Health Coach.

Histamine Isn’t the Enemy: The Microbiome, Mold, and the Body’s Healing Response

ChristianHealthCollective — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 08:59:08 +0000

Histamine Isn’t the Enemy

Most people hear “histamine” and think sneezing, watery eyes, maybe a bad reaction to pollen. That framing misses almost everything important.

Histamine is not a malfunction. It is a signal.

When the body floods with histamine reactions: rashes, joint pain, chronic fatigue, headaches that won’t quit. It isn’t breaking down. It’s responding. Aggressively, yes. Uncomfortably, absolutely. But responding nonetheless.

The real question is: why is the body in such a relentless state of healing?

01 /

The Gut Is at the Center

Two things drive histamine overload more than anything else.

First, leaky gut. When intestinal walls become permeable, the immune system fires constantly, dispatching histamine as a chemical messenger throughout the body. The cascade never really stops.

Second, pathogenic overload in the microbiome. An overgrowth of pathogens off-gasses histamine continuously into the system. Some people have lived with this since birth. Their baseline was always high. Everything feels reactive because, chemically, everything is.

“Killing those pathogens aggressively creates a different problem. Pathogens release toxic byproducts as they die. Histamine flares. Symptoms worsen. People quit. The pathogens regrow.”

The gentler path works better. Heal the gut lining. Lower pathogenic load slowly. Let the body lead.

02 /

Mold Complicates Everything

There is a concept worth understanding: the histamine bucket.

Everyone has a tolerance threshold. When the bucket overflows, symptoms appear. Mold fills that bucket faster than almost anything else. Black mold in a home, water damage behind drywall, a school built on a landfill. These environmental loads push the immune system past its breaking point even before food enters the picture.

Modern building practices don’t help. Drywall absorbs moisture. Old plaster resisted it. Homes built in the last century are structurally more vulnerable to mold growth than anything built before them.

For families whose children cannot seem to progress despite doing everything right, environmental mold is worth investigating. Sometimes it is the missing variable entirely.

Key insight

Stress fills the bucket too. Cortisol triggers mast cells to release histamine. The body under chronic stress is, biochemically, a body in a chronic healing state.

Watch the full conversation

Gut health coach Selena Bando on histamine intolerance, the microbiome, and healing through food.

03 /

Where to Actually Start

Restriction diets are the default recommendation. Avoid high-histamine foods. Identify triggers. Cut them out.

The problem: families already down to five safe foods cannot cut more. They are already starving the options.

A better sequence:

01 Introduce therapeutic foods first. Meat stock, fermented foods, healing fats.
02 Get stabilized on those before removing anything from the diet.
03 Then, gradually reduce sugars, starches, and grains that feed pathogenic overgrowth.
04 Go slow. Slower than feels necessary. The nervous system needs to catch up.

Children often heal faster than adults. Their baselines shift quickly. What takes a parent three months might take a child a week.

04 /

The Regression Is Part of It

Healing is not linear.

The trajectory moves upward, but the path staggers. People feel worse before they feel better. Die-off reactions flood the system with the very toxins being cleared. Histamine spikes. Old symptoms flare.

This is when most people quit.

Riding it out, ideally with someone experienced enough to distinguish genuine regression from dangerous overreaction, is what separates people who heal from people who cycle endlessly through protocols.

The mindset shift that actually helps.

A histamine reaction means the body still has fight in it. It is responding to an environment, cleaning up toxins, resisting damage. A body that stopped reacting entirely? That would be frightening. That is suppression, not healing.

Breakthrough lives on the other side of the dip.

Families navigating histamine issues deserve to understand that the symptoms aren’t betrayal. They’re biology, doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: imperfectly, loudly, and in the direction of repair.

The post Histamine Isn’t the Enemy: The Microbiome, Mold, and the Body’s Healing Response appeared first on Health Coach.

Sugar Addiction and the Connection to Other Addictive Behaviors

ChristianHealthCollective — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Sugar rarely feels dangerous. It feels familiar. Comforting. Woven into daily life so tightly that questioning it can feel extreme. But when people start looking at sugar through the framework of addiction, something clicks. The struggle becomes coherent. The cycles make sense. The body’s resistance suddenly has a logic behind it. This isn’t about self-control. It’s about how the brain learns reward.

So what happens when that same reward system starts reaching for more than just sugar?

The reward system at work

Addiction lives in dopamine. Dopamine isn’t pleasure. It’s pursuit. It’s the signal that says this matters, do it again. In a balanced system, dopamine rises in response to things that sustain life. Eating real food. Moving the body. Connecting with others. Completing something meaningful.

Problems start when reward becomes condensed and intense.

Highly refined substances overwhelm the system. Alcohol alters brain structure. Stimulants reshape attention and emotion. Sugar may look softer, but neurologically it plays the same game. It delivers fast reward without effort, and the brain takes notes.

Over time, receptors dull. Tolerance builds. Normal life loses color. The brain recalibrates its expectations. The quiet walk no longer competes with the instant hit.

Why quitting feels like failure?

Stopping sugar doesn’t feel clean or calm. It feels chaotic. The body protests loudly when dopamine drops.

People often experience:

Deep fatigue that makes movement feel heavy
Headaches that linger
Irritability and anxiety without a clear cause
Shakiness, sweating, or dizziness
Broken sleep and restless nights
Hunger that feels urgent and panicked
Mental fog that clouds judgment

These symptoms mirror drug withdrawal because the mechanism is the same. The nervous system is trying to stabilize after losing a reliable source of stimulation.

The difference is how it’s treated. Sugar withdrawal is rarely respected. There’s no pause button on life. No permission to slow down. People are expected to function while their biology scrambles. That pressure alone can send people right back.

Dopamine stacks, it doesn’t reset

Sugar rarely acts alone. Screens matter here. Scrolling. Streaming. Constant input. When sugar disappears, but stimulation stays high, the brain never recalibrates. It just reroutes. Put the phone down and the craving returns, sharp and specific.

This isn’t habit. It’s chemistry!

Lowering overall stimulation matters. The brain needs quiet stretches to relearn what normal reward feels like.

Sugar’s invisibility cloak

Most people underestimate intake because sugar hides well. It lives in places no one calls dessert. A normal day might include yogurt, salad dressing, fruit, sauces, snacks, or drinks that quietly stack sugar before dinner even starts. Nothing feels indulgent, yet the total keeps climbing.

Normalization blurs awareness. Opting out can feel isolating, not empowering.

Stress changes the equation

Chronic stress reshapes hormones. Grief, anxiety, and burnout can lower cortisol over time. When that happens, the body looks for fast energy.

Sugar delivers. This isn’t weakness. It’s adaptation. Self-soothing behaviors form because they work, at least briefly. Understanding that shifts the tone from blame to strategy.

The gut has a voice

Cravings don’t come only from the brain. The gut produces neurotransmitters and sends constant signals upward. When the microbiome shifts, after antibiotics, illness, or prolonged sugar intake, organisms that thrive on sugar can dominate.

They don’t starve quietly; they signal urgency, they amplify desire.

Sugar addiction becomes layered:

Neurological stimulation
Dulled dopamine receptors
Gut-driven hormonal signaling

That stack makes quitting feel uniquely hard.

Recovery as rebuilding

Recovery isn’t about subtraction alone. It’s reconstruction. Education creates awareness. Values create direction. Motivation fuels momentum. Accountability adds friction in the right places. Along the way, health support helps translate effort into lasting change.

Quitting sugar means changing rhythms, not just meals. New routines, new rewards, and new ways to cope when stress hits. It also means expecting imperfection. Slip-ups aren’t verdicts. They’re information. They point to stress points and unmet needs.

Change unfolds unevenly. Slowly. Humanly. And with each recalibrated choice, the brain learns a different story about reward.

The post Sugar Addiction and the Connection to Other Addictive Behaviors appeared first on Health Coach.

MOM: “My Baby Was Terminal… Until Carnivore Saved Her”

ChristianHealthCollective — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 18:55:21 +0000

They told us she wouldn’t live past her second birthday. Progressive, they said. Terminal. We were warned it would get worse until there would be no more “worse” left.

Sixteen surgeries before her second birthday. Fourteen emergencies. The kind of life that doesn’t leave space for normalcy. She didn’t crawl, she didn’t laugh, she barely moved, she was slipping away, and we were desperate.

Praying for a Way Out

With nothing left, we prayed. No more doctors. No more complicated words. Just prayer. We begged God for an answer, and He delivered, not with fireworks, but through a diet so simple it felt almost laughable: carnivore.

A Body That Couldn’t Say Yes

Breastfeeding worked, for a time. When solids came, chicken, fruits, and vegetables, her body betrayed her. Gas trapped in her intestines turned into painful pseudo-obstructions. Each bite could mean a trip to the ER.

Soon, she couldn’t eat at all. Her belly swelled like a drum, her limbs shriveled. She lived tethered to IV nutrition, a ghost of the vibrant child she should have been.

She weighed 26 pounds at two and a half. Frail. Gray. Not playing. Not laughing. Surviving, barely.

A New Logic for a Failing Body

Sleepless nights became a search for something, anything. That’s when I stumbled across Dr. Becky Plotner’s work on candida and gas. Hope flickered.

Dr. Plotner introduced me to the GAPS diet. But for my daughter, even the GAPS protocol needed more stripping down. No vegetables. No plants. Just the “No Plant GAPS” diet, a carnivore approach for the medically fragile.

We started simply:

Pasture-raised chicken broth
Organ meats, gently cooked
Raw egg yolks
Homemade kefir, fermented for 24 hours
Bone broth, rich and mineral-packed

Two months later, everything changed. She gained 10 pounds. Her cheeks blushed pink again. Her stomach softened. She laughed, really laughed, for the first time.

By six months, she was off IV nutrition. The port in her chest was removed. No hospital stays. No emergencies. Today, she’s six years old. She climbs monkey bars, races her brothers, and rides her bike like she’s chasing the wind.

A Simple Kind of Miracle

Our story isn’t alone. Other terminal children are now thriving after switching to a similar diet. Some are finally gaining weight. Some are free from IV nutrition.

This journey led me to write Dying to Thriving because stories like this deserve to be told. Deserve to give hope.

Healing isn’t always flashy. Sometimes it’s broth, sometimes it’s fatty meat, and sometimes it’s the kind of faith that refuses to blink in the face of impossible odds.

The odds said my daughter wouldn’t make it. Instead, she lived. And she’s just getting started.

The post MOM: “My Baby Was Terminal… Until Carnivore Saved Her” appeared first on Health Coach.

Healing Miracles with Carnivore Diet: Surviving A Terminal Diagnosis (MMIHS)

ChristianHealthCollective — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 18:29:56 +0000

Watch “Healing Miracles with Carnivore Diet: Surviving A Terminal Diagnosis (MMIHS)” on YouTube

Imagine welcoming a perfect newborn, only to be told days later that something invisible, something terminal, lurked inside her. That was my reality. My daughter’s diagnosis (MMIHS) was an avalanche of fear, medical interventions, and a clock that ticked louder with every moment.

Doctors gave no promises. Most children with this condition, they said, don’t survive past their toddler years. What followed was a journey not just of survival, but of tearing up the rulebook and living in defiance of the odds.

What Survival Meant Back Then

At first, my daughter thrived on breastmilk. It was only when solids entered the scene that chaos erupted, distended belly, relentless constipation, surgeries stacking up like poorly placed dominoes. Even the smallest misstep in her diet caused her gut to rebel.

The “standard” food pyramid offered no salvation. Bananas, blueberries, and gluten-free bread, none were innocent. Each well meaning attempt at a ‘healthy’ meal triggered disaster.

Trips to the hospital became routine. Ambulances. Nights of breathless vigilance listening for coughs, vomiting episodes, or the ominous silence that sent adrenaline spiking. Medical jargon soon turned familiar: TPN, intestinal failure, organ transplants looming on the horizon.

And then, quietly, a door cracked open.

The GAPS Diet in the Middle of the Storm

Hope came wrapped in an unlikely package: the GAPS diet. Specifically, the no plant version, an even more stripped down approach for those so fragile, even garlic could tip them into crisis.

We kept it simple:

Pasture-raised chicken
Rich broths simmered from bones
Tender organ meats
Butter and raw egg yolks for vital fat
Later, grass-fed beef, slowly reintroduced

No fancy sauces. No condiments. Just food in its raw, powerful simplicity.

Beef didn’t work at first. The body’s response was overwhelming. So we started softer. Slowly, methodically, we rebuilt her from the inside out.

Time became an ally rather than an enemy. Within a year, beef reappeared on the menu. And with it, a child who no longer lived tethered to an IV pole.

What Healing Looks Like

Today, my daughter is a blur of motion, a five-year-old running wild at the playground, pedaling her bike under the sun, swimming without the shadow of central lines or hospital stays.

It’s not glamorous. The diet is simple, almost spartan: homemade G-tube blends of bone broth and organ meat, punctuated with raw egg yolks and gobs of butter. String beans and the occasional berry sneak into her siblings’ plates. I favor lamb, keeping histamine intolerance at bay.

Not fancy. But alive. Thriving.

What the Limits Reveal

Healing wasn’t just physical. It reshaped our family. Gratitude, once a nice idea, became a way of breathing. When you’ve watched your child fight for every ounce of life, even the smallest joys become amplified.

A warm meal at home.
A declined credit card, not a crisis, but a memory of worse days.
The simple fact of not sleeping on a cot in a hospital room.

What I Found in the Dark Now Lights the Way

I didn’t just stop at saving my daughter. I wrote a book, ‘Dying to Thriving’ capturing every misstep, every breakthrough. My work now touches families across continents, offering them a map I had to sketch myself in the dark.

For some, it means a child leaving TPN feeds behind. For others, it’s the first whisper of bowel motility after a lifetime of none. I’ve seen miracles. Not the lightning-bolt kind, but the slow, relentless sort that feels like stubbornness dressed as grace.

Conclusion

Healing isn’t always flashy. Sometimes, it looks like eating burger patties day after day. Sometimes, it’s fermented sauerkraut juice bubbling quietly in a corner.

We live in a time that craves instant results, but my daughter’s story is a reminder: real healing is often unvarnished, repetitive, and grueling. But it’s also glorious. When the experts shook their heads, we chose not to listen. We chose life. Maybe that’s the real miracle.

The post Healing Miracles with Carnivore Diet: Surviving A Terminal Diagnosis (MMIHS) appeared first on Health Coach.

A Journey from Despair to Hope – Dr. Shawn Baker Podcast

ChristianHealthCollective — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 23:28:00 +0000

When it comes to the incredible resilience of the human spirit and the groundbreaking power of nutrition, few stories are as inspiring as that of Jessica Roman and her daughter, Riley. Jessica, a health coach and founder of the Christian Health Collective, has witnessed a transformation in her daughter’s life that can only be described as miraculous.

The Diagnosis: A Rare and Challenging Condition

Riley was born with a rare genetic condition known as Megacystis Microcolon Intestinal Hypoperistalsis Syndrome (MMIHS). This life-threatening disorder affects intestinal motility and bladder function, and fewer than 200 people worldwide are diagnosed with it. The prognosis was grim. Many children with MMIHS do not survive past early childhood, relying on intensive medical interventions such as total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and multiple surgeries.

From birth, Riley faced overwhelming challenges. Her inability to process food led to distension, pseudo-obstructions, and severe malnutrition. By the time she was three, she had endured 11 surgeries and was entirely dependent on IV nutrition. Her doctors painted a bleak picture, suggesting a future of continued hospitalizations and, potentially, a bowel transplant.

A Turning Point: Discovering a New Approach

As Riley’s condition worsened, Jessica began exploring alternative options, desperate to find something that could help. A chance encounter with a practitioner of the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet introduced her to the No-Plant GAPS protocol, a variation of the carnivore diet emphasizing animal-based nutrition, including meat, organ meats, fermented dairy, and bone broth.

The changes were immediate and astonishing. Within two months, Riley gained ten pounds, her energy returned, and her health improved dramatically. Her distended belly flattened, and she began thriving in ways her family never thought possible.

The Role of Nutrition: A Lifesaving Diet

Before transitioning to the No-Plant GAPS diet, Riley’s condition was aggravated by foods her body couldn’t tolerate, including fruits, vegetables, and grains. Doctors initially advised against dietary restrictions, fearing psychological impacts, and instead recommended lifelong antibiotics. Jessica trusted her instincts and decided to overhaul her daughter’s diet entirely.

The results were groundbreaking. Riley not only gained weight but also experienced a significant reduction in complications like pseudo-obstructions and gas. Her ostomy, which once caused frequent and painful prolapses, became manageable. Even her bladder function improved—a feat her doctors considered impossible.

The Ripple Effect: Changing Lives Around the World

Jessica didn’t stop with her own family. She began connecting with other parents of children with MMIHS, sharing Riley’s story and offering guidance. From Chile to Italy, families who adopted similar dietary approaches saw significant improvements in their children’s health. Jessica’s advocacy has opened doors for many who previously thought there were no viable alternatives.

Thriving Against All Odds

Today, Riley is a vibrant, energetic five-year-old who loves dancing, playing outdoors, and dressing up in princess gowns. Her remarkable recovery has defied all expectations, transforming her life and that of her family. They have embraced an animal-based diet as a household, fostering health and resilience for everyone.

Jessica’s journey is a testament to the power of persistence, faith, and the human body’s ability to heal when given the right tools. Her story serves as a beacon of hope for families facing similar struggles, proving that even in the direst circumstances, there is room for hope and healing.

If you’d like to learn more about Jessica’s story or her work, visit Christian Health Collective. Her book, Dying to Thriving: How Simple Dietary Changes Reversed My Daughter’s Terminal Genetic Disease, provides a detailed account of their journey, offering inspiration and guidance for others navigating similar challenges.

The post A Journey from Despair to Hope – Dr. Shawn Baker Podcast appeared first on Health Coach.

“So that the works of God might be displayed in him”

ChristianHealthCollective — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 11:16:31 +0000

For 5 years, I have silently felt the weight and guilt of my daughter’s condition. I wondered, at times, if God was punishing me and making her suffer as a result.

I wondered if God was using this as a big lesson to put me in my place. I didn’t feel these things all the time, but they were nagging thoughts that came and went. I wondered also, what I had done to cause this. Was it something I did during pregnancy? Did I sleep too close to the Wifi router at night? Was it because I had an ultrasound and she was harmed by the radiation? I pushed the thoughts down because I knew God had a plan, and the bible tells us to be thankful in ALL circumstances. A lot of good had come from my daughter’s condition. We met so many people. Other children are being helped through seeing the dietary protocol that worked miraculously well for her. People close to us have come to the Lord.

Wonderful things that would have never happened were it not for her journey.

But this nagging feeling persisted. This was my fault somehow. I’m her mother, I must have caused this.

When my third son, suffering from severe eczema, was having a rough couple of days, I picked up my book “Praying the Scriptures for Your Children” and opened to the health chapter.

My heart so hurt for his suffering, and I again felt the weight of blaming myself. In the book, another mother’s story is detailed, and a scripture that took her guilt away once and for all.

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” ‭‭John‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I clung to the words as I read, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind”. I was so anxious to know who was to blame. Was it me? Was it her? It couldn’t be her, she’s only a child. Surely Jesus would blame the parents, right?

The weight of the oppression in my heart shattered as I read, “Neither this man or his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him”.

This guilt I had been carrying for years melted away in an instant. I felt so much hope. God didn’t do this to my daughter, but he is going to show his glory and mercy through her. Others will be saved and healed through her journey because of him. Same for my son.

Scripture is the living word of God. It can heal our hearts from things we have held onto for years, even decades or for a lifetime. God knew I needed to be set free, and he led me to those words so I could let go of the guilt. The Bible is such a huge book, each sentence full of so much wisdom to unpack.

This was the exact scripture I needed on that day, and I have been set free ever since. Those coming-and-going thoughts are all gone. I feel the peace that surpasses all understanding around my children’s health because I know God is working through them to glorify Himself.

I hope this reaches another who needs to be set free. God bless you.

The post “So that the works of God might be displayed in him” appeared first on Health Coach.

Caring for God’s Temple: The Role of Hydrogen Water in Holistic Health

ChristianHealthCollective — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 07:46:03 +0000

In a world filled with quick fixes and artificial solutions, many of us desire to return to the simplicity of God’s creation for healing and wellness. As stewards of this earth and caretakers of our own bodies, we’re called to honor the intricate design of life that God has given us. One way to do this is by exploring natural, science-backed solutions like hydrogen water, which mirrors the purity and vitality of water found in untouched regions of the world.

A Personal Journey of Faith and Healing

About a year ago, my family’s life was turned upside down when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. As I searched for ways to support her health, I began researching holistic treatments and kept coming across testimonies of people who had experienced life-changing benefits from drinking hydrogen water. Their stories were inspiring, but it wasn’t until I saw the impact on my own family that I truly understood the potential of this water.

In my time researching hydrogen water for my mom’s journey, it eventually led me to begin using it for my own family as well. To my surprise, it did more than I anticipated! It helped alleviate the inflammation and pain I had struggled with for years due to lower back scoliosis. This unexpected transformation not only improved my quality of life but also ignited a passion within me to share this powerful water with others.

What is Hydrogen Water?

Hydrogen water is enriched with molecular hydrogen, the smallest and most powerful antioxidant. This water isn’t just refreshing, it’s life-giving. Research shows that molecular hydrogen helps neutralize harmful free radicals, reduces inflammation, and supports the body’s natural healing processes.

Simply put, hydrogen water reflects the restorative principles seen in creation: balance, purity, and renewal.

Why It Matters for Our Health and Faith

Our bodies are temples (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and we are tasked with caring for them. But, the modern world is filled with challenges like daily stress, processed foods, and environmental toxins that take a toll on our health. Hydrogen water offers a practical way to partner with God’s design, replenishing our bodies at the cellular level.

This isn’t about chasing trends or gimmicks, it’s about finding sustainable solutions rooted in science and inspired by faith. By nourishing ourselves with clean, structured water, we align with God’s intent for health and wholeness.

The Science Behind It

Molecular hydrogen’s small size allows it to penetrate cells and reach areas where traditional antioxidants cannot. Studies show that it:

Supports energy production by optimizing mitochondrial function.
Promotes better hydration, which is essential since our bodies are over 70% water.
Aids in detoxification and reducing oxidative stress, a key contributor to chronic illness.

A Solution for Families and Communities

As a Christian, I believe in the power of community and shared stewardship. My mission as a hydrogen water consultant is to empower families to make informed choices about their health. Through virtual consultations, I help people understand how investing in their wellness, through tools like hydrogen water, can transform their lives and those around them.

Restoring the Natural Order

In Genesis, God declares His creation “very good.” While we can’t return to Eden, we can make choices that reflect “Eden-like”stewardship: pursuing wellness that honors God, creation, and each other. Hydrogen water is one step on this journey which is a simple yet profound way to care for the body, mind, and spirit.

Ready to Learn More?

If you’re curious about hydrogen water or want to explore how it can fit into your family’s lifestyle, I’d love to guide you. Together, we can embrace the wisdom of creation and make wellness choices that align with our faith and values. Let’s partner in health and wholeness because our Creator designed us for an abundant life!

Noelle Kua-Nachor

Hydrogen Water Consultant

The post Caring for God’s Temple: The Role of Hydrogen Water in Holistic Health appeared first on Health Coach.

From Grim Diagnosis to Thriving Health: How a Unique Carnivore Diet Transformed a Young Girl’s Life

ChristianHealthCollective — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 01:05:00 +0000

In a recent episode of The Plant-Free MD podcast, Dr. Anthony Chaffee sat down with Jessica Roman, who shared a truly transformative journey centered on her daughter Riley, a child who had faced one of the most severe digestive disorders a young person could experience. Jessica’s story is not just about overcoming a rare genetic condition but about discovering the profound impact that a carefully tailored diet can have—even in cases where traditional medicine offers little hope.

The Life-Altering Diagnosis

Riley was born with a rare genetic disorder called MMIHS, which severely affects the smooth muscles of the intestines and bladder. From the start, Jessica’s journey as Riley’s mother was filled with medical emergencies, countless hospital visits, and complex procedures. Riley required multiple surgeries, and by the age of two, was fully dependent on TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition), which bypasses the digestive system and supplies nutrients directly into the bloodstream. Doctors told Jessica that Riley would likely need a bowel transplant in the near future and that her prognosis was bleak, often giving her only a few years to live.

A Last Hope: The No-Plant GAPS Diet

Jessica’s breakthrough came when she encountered Dr. Becky Plotner, a certified GAPS practitioner who introduced her to the no-plant GAPS diet. This diet, an extreme version of the carnivore diet, is specifically designed for patients with severely compromised digestive systems. It consists mainly of organ meats, homemade broths, and fermented dairy—all foods aimed at supporting a sensitive digestive system without causing further harm. Jessica was told to go back to basics: boil pasture-raised chickens, blend the meat with broth, and start feeding Riley just a few milliliters at a time through a G-tube.

What happened next was nothing short of remarkable. Within a week, Riley’s chronic abdominal distention—a problem that had plagued her since birth—began to subside. Her skin started to take on a healthy color, her hair began growing, and her energy levels transformed. Slowly but steadily, Riley’s need for TPN faded, and she even began experiencing regular bladder control, something her condition had previously made impossible.

The Power of Personalized Nutrition

Dr. Chaffee and Jessica discussed the powerful, often overlooked role of diet in managing severe illnesses. Traditional medicine, Jessica explained, had little to offer beyond medication and surgery. Fiber and carbohydrates, which are commonly recommended, had only worsened Riley’s symptoms by fueling harmful gut bacteria. However, once she transitioned to the no-plant GAPS diet, her health rapidly improved.

For Riley, eliminating all plants and focusing on nutrient-dense animal foods was the key to stabilizing her condition. Jessica recalls that Riley’s doctors were stunned by her progress; many had assumed that her only future lay in experimental surgeries and a lifelong dependency on IV nutrition.

A Family’s Transformation

Inspired by Riley’s progress, Jessica and her entire family embraced the no-plant GAPS lifestyle. Jessica herself had battled autoimmune issues, which dramatically improved on this diet. She found herself with renewed energy and resilience, even after long hospital stays with Riley. Jessica, her husband, and her other two children continue to follow a similar regimen, which has become a grounding, supportive lifestyle for the whole family.

Christian Health Collective: Sharing the Hope

Jessica’s experience has motivated her to support other families facing similar challenges. She founded Christian Health Collective, an organization focused on holistic health and nutrition. Through coaching and educational resources, she now helps families understand how personalized dietary interventions can transform health outcomes—even when traditional medical approaches fall short.

She is also releasing a book, Dying to Thriving, which chronicles Riley’s journey and provides a roadmap for parents and caregivers navigating similar health crises. Jessica hopes that her story will inspire other parents to question dietary norms and to work with medical professionals open to exploring new approaches, especially in cases where the stakes are high.

A New Path Forward

Jessica’s story is a testament to the impact of diet on health, especially in cases where conventional treatments provide little relief. It also highlights the importance of staying curious and open to alternative therapies. For parents facing overwhelming diagnoses, Jessica’s story is a beacon of hope. Through tireless research, a willingness to try something unconventional, and a holistic approach, Jessica found a way to give her daughter a future full of health, vitality, and possibilities.

If you’d like to learn more about Jessica Roman’s work or get updates on her upcoming book, visit cHealthCollective.org.

The post From Grim Diagnosis to Thriving Health: How a Unique Carnivore Diet Transformed a Young Girl’s Life appeared first on Health Coach.