Hi there! I’m Jacqueline, and I love ethnic and savory comfort food! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) in late 2017, I was diagnosed with an early but aggressive form of ER+/PR+ and HER+ breast cancer, which was followed by some pretty big lifestyle changes, including treatment with surgery, chemotherapy, and a clean way of living (and eating a ketogenic diet). The diagnosis also caused me to look at food and the products we use in our homes in a radical new way.
During the process of making this huge transition of trying to eliminate some stress, detox, and eat a clean ketogenic diet, I was appalled to learn there are way more potentially harmful and carcinogenic additives and/or hormone altering chemicals in our food and body care products than what many of us might expect. This list doesn’t even include the toxic environment we often hear news about, from air pollution and pesticides to off gassing of materials used in the remodeling and construction process. The list just goes on, but neither one of us should stress about the things we cannot control . . .
For me, learning to “slow things down” and use techniques to manage stress were the most difficult lifestyle changes. (In fact, I’m completely convinced chronic stress, perhaps also toxic mold, and a long history with generalized anxiety played a crucial role in creating a perfect storm for cancer to develop, along with other factors. I’d like to share the connection between stress and cancer, with excerpts from articles written by cancer specialists, in a future post.) Seeking holistic and integrative health care practices that include using food as medicine were not new ideas to my husband and I. We had already been eating somewhat of a clean paleo diet and had sought use of Chinese herbs and other integrative therapies years before when we trying to have children. Only now, my new knowledge of food quality and product safety fuels my desire to help others. And, what an unforeseen blessing it is that I can now combine my joy of cooking and baking with the fun challenge of transforming old favorites, along with living a clean holistic lifestyle!
Earlier Roots
Destined to either live out a career in health care or creative arts, God must had worked out his own plan. In 1997, I moved from my native state of Oregon to sunny Southern California, with the intention of pursuing a degree in nutrition science. Only that didn’t happen. Instead, I was fortunate to land a stable job working in marketing communications for a national health and wellness company. There, I did anything from write press releases and short articles to design newsletters and other collateral for sales teams, clinicians, and wellness consultants. And, I did receive my degree from San Diego State University, only it ended up being a Bachelor of Arts in communications, not nutrition!
Then fast forward eleven years, and I found myself back in full-time school, seeking a four-year degree in interior design. Now, married and unable to have children, big life decisions were starting to dissolve my new career plans. All focus had shifted to pricey alternative means to growing our family. Ironically, this new transition opened the door to discovering aspects of eating clean and the paleo diet to physically undergoing acupuncture (to manage pain from endometriosis that had gotten worse during that time) and using Chinese herbs, two disciplines that I had previously been exposed to while editing marketing communications.
(Are you starting to see a hidden path of destruction that inflammation was brewing up in my body? Both endometriosis, one possible cause for infertility in women, and cancer can arise from chronic inflammation and estrogen dominance.)
However, this transition period did not come without its challenges. Further setbacks came with trying to adopt, with two failed domestic adoptions, and eventually the process to become certified foster parents when I got cancer news.
Now
The next thing you know, I’m studying the impact of how our own choices–in food, body care products, technology, and (mis)management of stress–can play a role in our health. Not long after, I began studying to get certified as an integrative health coach while keeping abreast of health summits on a variety of chronic inflammation topics, such as mold toxicity, the role of trauma on our health, how our hormones get imbalanced, and more. Too often we are completely unaware that many of the options (for convenience sake) can contribute to leaky gut syndrome, a weakened immune system, autoimmune disorders, neurological diseases, and even some cancers.
Today, I live in San Diego with my husband of over 13 years, and I am a new mom of two girls, 11 and 15, both recently adopted from Bangalore, India. We also have two dogs, Sadie and Nolan, and a crazy taxiing schedule to keep up with weekly. (New parents, do give yourself some grace if you find yourself living in survival mode during a heavy adjustment such as this.) I am also heading into a completely new career adventure with integrative health coaching for women. All in all, I guess you could say God isn’t done with my story yet.