Staying Healthy

Staying HealthyB Y D I A N E L A D D

WHEN I WAS a child, I was at death's door with a bad bout of pneumonia. I was this sweaty little thing, lying there in my feverish delirium and screaming, "Vanilla, vanilla!" Don't ask me why I wanted vanilla; I guess I was just hysterical with sickness.My father, who was out of town at that time, and who was intuitive, came home and rushed in the door and asking, "Where's my little sick baby?""Daddy, vanilla, vanilla," I moaned when I saw his form in my bedroom doorway."My baby wants a banana split," he said, ignoring the fact that I had a 102-degree fever.I don't know if it's a medically proven remedy, but that banana split not only calmed me, but my fever also went down very shortly afterward and I was on the road to recovery. I'm not prescribing ice-cream treats for all that ails us, but what the hey - they can't hurt, right? Honestly, I think it was the loving care of my father that cured me.When I was about ten, I squeezed a pimple on my hand and ended up getting blood poisoning. The blood streak was about half an inch wide and about half an inch below my shoulder. This is a very dangerous thing, because the poison can go right to your heart and kill you.My parents quickly gave me penicillin and sulfa drugs. The country doctor even came and looked at the streak, which was a stubborn one that wasn't going away. "If it goes up another half inch, we'll have to amputate her arm," he reported.To add to my woes, I had an allergic reaction. The doctor wanted to take me off the sulfa and keep me on the penicillin, but my parents refused to take me off the sulfa. That was the drug that saved my arm, and my father somehow knew that it would do the trick. How easy it would have been for him to just listen to the doctor and not question his advice. I'm thankful that daddy had a few questions in his mind.Those were my two worst health problems as a young girl. It's a miracle that there weren't bigger issues because I ate the way that southerners did back then, which meant a steady diet of too much fat and too many carbs. In those days no one knew about "blood-type A" foods, which means that I'm inclined to eat more vegetables, and it wasn't common knowledge that red meat pretty much clogs up your heart and ruins your kidneys. The culture didn't encourage us to listen to our body in order to stay healthy.Exercise, another important part of staying healthy, has always been important in my life. When I was a young actress making the rounds in New York City, I didn't need a gym. I walked miles every single day and was in the best shape of my life. Then I did a dance act when I was about 18 that also kept me in tip-top shape, since it meant 346 kicks a night. I cried when I had to do it, but it established a foundation of fitness still present in my now-older body, which is doing pretty well, thank you very much.Exercise is a wonderful thing, even though I'm not always wild about it. It isn't the most thrilling part of the day, but it is necessary. I'd much rather stay in bed than get up and walk three miles, but I keep taking those steps for my heart. What better reason do you need?I'm somebody who's had my share of allergies, and for many years I didn't understand why I had this problem. It turns out that it all boils down to the medical fact that these symptoms take over when the bodies on overload and our systems lock up.When our physical selves are under too much strain, they don't fully absorb vitamins and minerals. We go into shock, and it's almost as if the circulation slows down, similar to a blocked river. We aren't getting oxygen to our cells, and when this happens, the body goes haywire.Now, let's say that you're allergic to corn, but strangely enough, there are times when you can eat it without any trouble. One day you get a call from the principal saying that your child has beaten up another kid in school and you must come get him. You're on your way, but the car stalls every few blocks. Then, you're remembering the fight that you had with your husband then night before over something that was probably very dumb. You wonder, "What good is it to be right if I don't win?"You finally pick up your son, talked to your husband, call a mechanic to look at the car, and then sit down and grab a bowl of corn chowder for dinner. Suddenly, you feel as if you're passing out-and it's not just from the corn. It's from the overload to your system, which has to process both the problematic vegetable and a huge helping of stress.A few days later, however, you find out that your child acted in self-defense, and you're the most wonderful parent in the history of the world because he's leading the class in good grades. You must be doing everything right! Meanwhile, you get a call saying that your bank made a mistake on your account and they're giving you free checks as a present, plus a new toaster for your troubles. In the midst of all this joy, your husband sends a dozen roses to say that he was sorry about that silly little spat. Now, eat that same bowl of chowder, and I bet that it won't bother you at all. I'm not advocating that people try out their allergies, especially if they're acute. However, know that stress exacerbates minor and moderate allergies. Don't even think of toying with an acute or severe allergy.


ABOUT THE AUTHORDiane Ladd is, in addition to being an Oscar-Nominated Actress, a member of the Board of Advisors for The National Foundation of Alternative Medicine, and a nutritional lecturer, consultant, medical intuitive, and healer. She has worked in tandem with many notable doctors for more than 20 years. In her new book, Spiraling Through the School of Life, Diane covers her journey to find her miracles through releasing anger and learning to forgive; some good old-fashioned Southern home healing; and the right way to eat and stay active.