My name is Anna. I’ve been married to my college sweetheart for 17 years and we’ve been in full or part time ministry ever since. I am a stay at home mom who homeschools our oldest son (11) while our youngest son (9) attends public school. Having adopted both our kids, we are big fans of adoption. My oldest has Asperger’s Syndrome and my youngest has been diagnosed with a mood disorder, possibly bi-polar. I also have two long-haired dachshunds that I adore – Eli and Graham. I enjoy camping, watching movies, listening to and singing all types of music, and just spending time together with my precious family.
I started JCnaturals after researching holistic health in order to help Jaden. Five days after he was born, he was hospitalized for over a week due to severe seizures. They had come on gradually and slowly increased in frequency and intensity. The physicians and nurses ran all kinds of tests on our precious son – every test that they could think of – all of them came back negative. One of the physicians at the hospital commented that Jaden’s seizures were, most likely, caused by the vaccination that he had received when he was 2 days old. Because of this, coupled with the fact that his Great-Aunt had died from a childhood vaccination, we decided, along with our pediatrician, to stop his vaccinations. Jaden’s seizures subsided and he was released from the hospital, though he periodically was observed and tested over the next couple of years.
During this time, I began to research the link between diet and nutrition. As I learned, I began implementing changes into our family’s diet. We bought some of our food from a local health food store and bought organically grown fruits and veggies when we could afford it. Jaden was healthy and happy and we thought he was in the clear, so to speak. But as he grew, several other behavioral issues began to surface. This led me to research the link between chemicals in food and behavior.
Let me first describe some of Jaden’s behaviors. He was constantly asking questions, talking or interrupting from the time he first began to talk. He could not be still, regardless of how hard he tried. I’ve actually tied him to my body or shopping cart so that he wouldn’t dart off through the aisles of a store. He was extremely loud when he played and was constantly teasing other children. If he became overstimulated by loud noises or too much activity going on around him, he would begin to hit his head. He also had an odd aversion to anything metal – especially buttons and zippers – to the point that he would break out into huge, hysterical tears if someone who was wearing them would merely touch him. He would also throw huge, screaming fits in his room (for hours), throwing and hitting things; at times, I would have to physically restrain him. I was exhausted and even began to struggle with not liking my own son. If he behaved like this at 3 years old, I was afraid at what his future might be like.
As I researched the link between chemicals and behavior, I ran across a website containing the research of Dr. Benjamin Feingold. I discovered that my son and I were not alone or unique in what we were going through. Dr. Feingold’s research made complete sense to me; it connected, answering significant questions. I believe that Jaden has a sensitivity to chemicals that was evidenced with that first vaccination and still continues to this day.
The challenge is that chemicals are all around us. For example, they are in our foods, in the form of artificial (sometimes “natural”) flavorings and colors, our personal care products, in the form of artificial colors and scents, our traditional medicines, and our household cleaners. Even our clothes and dishes are cleaned with chemicals. I knew that I had to at least try to remove these items from Jaden’s environment and see if there were any positive results.
Within a week of getting rid of the chemicals in our house, Jaden’s behavior began to calm down. Within a few months, he behaved like a different boy and I was determined to do all that I could to keep him that way. I began to buy locally grown foods that were free of pesticides and harmful additives. I taught myself how to cook from scratch instead of from a box. I learned how to make herbal medicines for my family when they got sick. I also learned how to make my own cleaners, laundry soap, bars of soap, shampoo bars, lotion bars, body balm, lip balm, sunscreen, toothpaste, and much more. I loved it. I still love it…and that’s why, with my husband’s help, I’ve started JCnaturals (The JC stands for Jaden Christopher). I’m committed to offer only those products that my family uses – quality, handcrafted, and natural.