DavidSandstrom.com

0:00
Your voice is so important for you to hear your voice is the one that you've heard your whole life. And how often have we used it to say negative things about ourselves and about others, you know, we are often guilty of saying things that are unkind. And it's so important for us to then use that same voice, to reassure ourselves that we are safe, that we are loved, that we are cared for, like, anything that we can do to reinforce to ourselves that we are important and what you say matters

0:37
Right. Welcome to the Natural Health Matters podcast where it's all about maximizing your health potential, so that you can look and feel your best at any age. I'm your host, David Sandstrom, Naturopathic Doctor and Biblical Health Coach, and this is episode number 92.

0:57
Today, we have in the show, April Ebeling. April is an adopted mom, an award winning musician, and a military veteran who is passionate about creating musical experiences that make a difference in our daily lives. She created singalong switch to rescue her mindfulness practice as a new mom. She has now helped 1000s of people around the world with this technique, 23 countries and counting, Sing along Swithc is a wonderful addition to your mental health toolbox. It's fun, fulfilling, and most importantly, fast acting. April. Welcome to Natural Health Matters.

1:32
Oh, thanks so much for having me.

1:34
It's a pleasure to have you. I think this is a great topic, we can all use little mindfulness and ways to pursue more peace throughout our days. And I think this is a really cool technique. So why don't you tell? I know, there's a lot of people listening right now they're wondering, well, what in the world is Sing Along Switch? Can you give us a 35,000 foot view?

1:54
Sure, sure, it is a combination of two very effective techniques for raising our vibration and sort of releasing any tension that we have in our body. One of them is singing, which I'm just gonna go ahead and assume we've all we're all familiar with singing. And the benefits you know, whether or not you are a singer, or or, you know, maybe want to sing in your car every now and then we all know the benefits of music and singing. So that's something that we're all pretty familiar with. Yeah, and the other is tapping or emotional freedom technique. And that's something that may not be as familiar. I sort of run across. Some people have heard of it before. But often, it's something new. And what it is, is using the principles of acupressure to use our fingertips and tap on different meridian lines of our bodies. And that really triggers that response in our bodies that that tells us that we are safe. And it allows us to be calm in a what can be a very chaotic time.

3:00
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's great. You know, I had another practitioner on her name was Dr. Katie Nall, Episode 28, where we talked about Emotional Freedom Technique, and she led me through a session and it was amazing how I felt after we completed a little tapping session. So if you're comfortable, I would love to do that later in this this interview absolutely together. But you know, we are energetic beings, you know, we are biochemical, physiological and energetic beings, you know, we can, we can measure our energy flow, when we do an echocardiogram, we we can track some of the energy in our bodies. And as you said, we have acupressure points. And basically, an acupuncture meridian is where there's energy flow through our bodies. And sometimes that flow is like a river flowing through a stream with some rocks in it. And that energy flow can get disrupted. We call that resistance and electricity. But yeah, there's some resistance in our bodies, and it can get kind of clogged up and we release some of that. And it helps our bodies to through a EFT that is, and it helps our bodies to operate the way they want to the way our God given design has enabled us to function. So I'm really loving this, this is great. If you're thinking this is a little hocus pocus. It's not it's based in sound science. And it's really, really a cool technique. So April, a lot of times there's an event in someone's life that led them into the arena that they're operating in right now. Is that true for you?

4:35
Absolutely. It is. Absolutely.

4:38
Can you share that story with us?

4:39
Sure. Sure. So you mentioned I think in my bio that I'm a military veteran, and so I was fortunate enough to be a singer in the Navy, which is the best

4:49
Super cool job by the way. Thank you for serving that is an important job. But a singer in the Navy that is awesome. You know, my dad was in the Merchant Marine in his passion in life was painting oil paintings. And his job was painting backdrops for plays. So he had a great job in the military. It sounds like you had a great job too. But anyway, I interrupted, go ahead.

5:14
Oh, absolutely no, I I welcome any and all stories about, like, especially artists and people who are getting to pursue creative passion. Yeah. In the military, it's such a rare thing. So it's just wonderful to hear more. Yeah, so I and I always say, if you can join the military and do something that you love it, it really can be a wonderful career.

5:38
So best of both worlds. Yeah.

5:40
Yes, exactly. So I really enjoyed my time as a singer in the Navy. And then I got out of the Navy and became the music director for our church, and I lead worship at our church for almost 10 years. And that was just super rewarding and wonderful in it and absolutely loved it. And then one day, it was Palm Sunday, which is my very favorite Sunday of the year, I was leading worship. And, you know, everybody's waving their palms, and we're doing our thing. And it was like a switch flipped. And I went from I, it was a job that I couldn't believe they paid me to do, because it was just so wonderful. And then something happened. And I genuinely it was like a switch flipped. And it was, all of the sudden, I, they just can't pay me enough to do this anymore. It was just like, you have an anointing to do something. And then sometimes, it's just not supposed to be your thing anymore. It was it was truly like, it was I mean, I was devastated. I really, really, really loved what I was doing. But I genuinely was like, I felt it when it happened in the moment, you know, finished, the service came home. And then the next day, like, during my quiet time, I was just weeping. And my husband walked in, and he was like, what happened and I said, I, I don't think I'm supposed to be the music director anymore. And I'm just, I'm so sad. And I didn't know how to tell him because this was like, you know, an income stream that we wouldn't have any more. And he was like, it's really fine. Like, if it's not supposed to be you, then that's just like, well, we'll figure it out. And so, so I stepped down as music director, and it genuinely was like, felt lost because I had this passion for music and just didn't know what I was supposed to do. And as happens in that time, my husband and I had adopted embryos in order to become parents. And so I went through a fertility treatment that allowed me to be pregnant with our adopted embryo. And, and I got pregnant, and it was genuinely like, not that I wouldn't have been able to work and, and become pregnant and all of that. But it was such a gift to be able to just fully immerse myself in like, oh my goodness, we get to be parents, like we had worked and worked for years and years for that. And then and then that releasing of my position at our church just allowed me to just really be completely present for that whole experience. And so then here I am finally a mom, right? It's something that I've worked on, you know, and want it to be for forever felt like, and my mental health just took a beating was such such a stressful experience. And I want it to be my best, you know, like this is Oh, it's like a dream come true moment. Yeah. And all of the sudden, like all that, you know, I mentioned having a quiet time, right? Like, good luck. When you have a newborn, I'm like,

8:55
I we have four we have four girls, and within our last bar was twins. So we know what those first few months are like, it's not easy,

9:04
right? It's like, I mean, I used to have all this time, like this massive on ramp to my day where I could read and pray in journal and seeing like, all of the things. And now I'm like, It's been a week since I've taken a shower. I just don't have time for any of that. And so I really, like absolutely needed something that would help rescue my mental health in this super stressful time. And it absolutely had to be short. Like I needed to be able to do it in a short amount of time. And so I knew singing obviously was something that really helped me. And then I had run across the tapping technique as part of some business classes that I was a part of, a few years before that. And so, one morning before my husband headed off to work, I was like listen, I just need three minutes. Let me go on the back porch and like, I just need three minutes. And so I went back there and I just started tapping and singing as a way to calm myself down. And it was a huge reason. And it just really allowed me to be my best self to show up as the best mom that I could be in a time when I was so stressed. And, and so I did that for myself for years. And then it happens. And then COVID created chaos for everybody. And so I thought, you know, I'm, let me just share this with other people and see, you know, if this helped me so much, maybe it will help other Yeah. And as you mentioned, I've now reached 1000s of Yeah, I just, I, when I say it, I grin every time because, like, I still can't believe that's something that I've genuinely developed for my own. Like, to keep me sane, in those early years or early months of motherhood has, has helped so many other people.

11:05
So I'm curious, do you think if you still had your full time position as a worship director at your church, would you have had the bandwidth to start doing what you're doing today?

11:18
Exactly. That's a great question. And I would not I, it I've, as I look back on life, and and all of the different career transitions that I have had, it has always been that I have to give something up before I get the next thing. So I mentioned I was in the military, right? And I, I knew after my four years, my husband and I were engaged, we were going to be married. And you have to sign on for four year increments with the voluntary and so it was that sort of decision point of do I want to do another four years? Or do I want to get out and get married and, you know, be completely like, on board with whatever we want to do as a family. And I decided that to make that a priority. Because when you're in the military, for better or for worse, they pretty much own you. And you got to go where they tell you to go and do what they tell you to do. And as a single person, it worked. It was beautiful. That knowing that I was going to be married, and then hopefully we would start a family. I was like, that's, that wasn't something that felt right for me in the moment. I know plenty of people that do it and do it, do it well. But for me, that was just

12:36
so you know, God knew that he had a new chapter for you in your life. It was children is going to include marriage and was going to include helping other people, and really expanding God's kingdom with this work. So even though giving up singing at the church was was a tough transition. God had something better in mind is in storefor you.

13:01
Yes. And the the important piece being that you don't always know what that's right. Or in my case ever, like I just, you know, I stopped with the military. And then I it was six months before I was the music director at that I was sort of, again wandering around like, I'm not sure what to do. But yeah, yeah. And then here we go, like so just always another,

13:23
So do you do classes online? Do you do them in person? What is your practice look like?

13:31
Well, that's another great question. So I've, because I started this or sharing this publicly during COVID. It started primarily online. And I teach through an app called Insight Timer, and it's a free meditation app accessible for anyone anywhere. And I do live events at least once a month, many times I do more than one a month. And those are completely free. And that's something that is, you know, available to anyone.

14:02
So I'm Yeah, I'm ready to go. So

14:04
yeah, but there please, actually right before we did this interview, I completed a live event. Right before we got on Yeah. So we do so I do those. And then I use like people that are there that enjoy it and win with like more one on one help than I do lessons like one on one lessons. And then just this past year, I was able to do some in person sessions for the first time and that was such a privilege because online is wonderful. And we have all just felt how, what a great way of connecting this is when we're not able to be in person. But we also know just how wonderful it is when you get to be, you know, live in the same

14:47
I love technology. We're using it right now and it's a wonderful tool, but you cannot replace that face to face kneee to knee interaction with another human being it at all. It all goes back to that energy that aspect, each person has an energy and you feel it. You feel that person's energy when you're near them. And collectively, it a group we have even more energy, right? I mean, look, the example I like to point out is, you know, you go, you're watching the big game, it's the Superbowl, let's say, you know, and they're doing the pregame show and the guys down there on the field. And he says, Yeah, you don't feel the energy down here on the field is absolutely electric. And he actually means that that's literal, you can feel that I've never been to a Super Bowl, but I've been to some college games, where there's 90,000 people in the stands, and you feel that collective energy. It's really an amazing thing when you when you tune into it. And that's what we're talking about here is energy today. So, so what why don't we talk a little bit more about the specifics on what emotional freedom technique looks like, and your version of it?

15:54
Okay, great. So you've mentioned you had a practitioner on that you interviewed earlier in Dr. Katie Nall, and she, she does a great job of speaking with tapping, which is the, like the foundation, like of many, many practitioners do that. And it is very effective. And, and just a wonderful way of acknowledging where you are, and then helping to release anything that's holding you back. And so what I've done is, is just kind of added singing to that piece so that it helps to raise our vibration and in a faster way. I call it a shortcut to calm is, again, specifically only because I needed it in the moment. I was like, I ain't got time for that.

16:48
Yeah, I don't have time to get to the gym or do an hour long yoga session. Right? I need something faster.

16:53
Exactly. Exactly. And, and like, again, so not meant to replace any of these other. Like, again, I mentioned journaling, and reading and writing and all of these other great mental health practices, that can be a huge support for you. But if you find yourself in a time when you're like, I got three minutes, what do you got? You can help?

17:13
Yeah, that's great. And yeah, it is that quick, which is another amazing thing about it. It's pretty cool. And you know, one of the things that Dr. Nall talked about when we when I had her on the show is that it's important to hear your own voice. And, and when you hear yourself singing, it kind of takes your voice to another level. So I'm really intrigued to see you demonstrate this.

17:39
I'm so glad you mentioned how important your voice is. And so I'm just going to piggy back and I will, I may say exactly what she did. But I think we need to hear it again. Your voice is so important for you to hear your voice is the one that you've heard her whole life. And how often have we used it to say negative things about ourselves and about others, you know, we are often guilty of saying things that are unkind. And it's so important for us to then use that same voice, to reassure ourselves that we are safe, that we are loved, that we are cared for, like anything that we can do to reinforce to ourselves that we are important and what they matter,

18:24
Right? Absolutely. You know, one of the things I want to point out too, is and I've believed this for quite some time, you know, raising four children. And that is all people, boys and girls are born with a desire to sing. All toddlers love to sing, and they love to paint and draw too. But you know, when we get to school, we started interacting with other kids that gets laughed out of them. Which is a real shame. You know, and we call it growing up. But I don't believe that that's ever supposed to go away. That's that's a God given desire. And you know what, I might not be singing on stage. And I might not be cutting any albums. But there is something about singing, you can change your mood in a minute. And you can even you know, just listen to some music and it can change your mood dramatically. You know, I'm thinking of the Rocky theme, you know, you want to get people going, you know, doing a motivational speech, you play rocky before you get on stage. And this is gonna get people pumped up and ready to hear a motivational message. Right. So there's a lot to that, huh?

19:33
Yeah, well, you mentioned being at a football game or in a stadium for any sort of sporting event. They use music all the time clips of all of these try energy songs to really make you want to conquer the world.

19:46
Good point. Yeah, really good. All right, so So why don't you talk to us a little bit more about the the details on what this looks like. And by the way, if you're listening to this in the audio version, this is one of those episodes where you might want to head on over to YouTube David Sandstrom Health and watch this episode, because a picture is worth 1000 words, but I think you can still get a lot out of it. If you're driving in your car, you're at the gym, go ahead and give this a listen, this is going to be really cool.

20:12
Yeah, so I will go ahead and I'll talk through the points that we tap on. And that way, if you're listening, then you'll have a, like a running start to what we're doing. And you can use it anytime, like I often do. Tapping in the car, because I don't know about you. But traffic is sometimes one of the more stressful parts of my day. And then especially in the car with a toddler who is just, you know, maybe not as happy to be in his car seat, I'm just like, Okay, let's, let's just do a little reset. And we can do some singing and tapping in the car. So the first point that I tap on is right between my eyebrows. And then we go to the next point is right on the side of your eye. And then we'll go under eye. And then under your nose. And under your bottom lip, sort of right in that little divot of your chin there.

21:13
And if you're listening, Katie's using, April is using two fingers. And I'm just mimicking her.

21:21
Yes, well, and I am using two fingers. But I also like to tell people like it really, genuinely is whatever you feel comfortable with. Sometimes people ask like, oh, do I top five times or 12 times or doesn't matter. Okay, part of the reason that I love this technique is that you absolutely cannot screw it up. It really is this easy. And the next point that I'm doing right now is right underneath your collarbone. And then we move to in the middle of your ribcage. And then we end the round of tapping on the top of your head. And I just, I was working with a practitioner recently that use just her whole hand to tap on the top of her head. And I find that to be really effective. Because just using a few fingers, you're not really necessarily going to get the exact points of this, okay, kind of patting yourself on the head. Okay, and so those are all the points. If for whatever reason you run across a point that is painful for you. Or if the if there's one that's awkward to get through, sometimes there's you know, depending on what you're doing or where you are, you might not be able to reach all the points, it's fine, just skip over it. Or if there's one that like, for instance, for me, the under the collarbone point, sometimes it just feels like I need to stay there longer, or like there might be something more stuck in that area. Okay, and stay there longer. So this is

22:47
when you do the side of the ribcage. Is it okay to switch hands? And use the opposite side?

22:53
Okay. Yes, yes. And sometimes, if you like, sometimes people just do both sides at once. If you want to do that you can I find that I just get a little distracted when I have more too much going on. Yeah. But it really whatever feels best for you, whatever you you. Like, if you're feeling that it's effective, then it's working and stick with what's working. Yeah. Okay. So those are all the points. And then what I do is I sing a phrase, and then I repeat that phrase, and invite you to sing along. One that I do most often that I find is just sort of like that. That quick fix that I've been talking about, is to use the phrase, even in the chaos, I can find the calm. The reason it's so effective is that we are acknowledging that there is chaos. We're not trying to be happy, happy, joy, joy, everything's fine. Let's just ignore the fire and it'll go away. No, we're saying there is chaos, it is absolutely happening. But I can find the calm and we know that we find what we are looking for. So when we tell ourselves to find the calm, then we will, we will find nice. Alright, so that's just like the the simplest easiest for me way to, like reset and snap yourself out of whatever spiral might be happening. Okay.

24:29
Well, let's go through and do let's, let's say, I'm gonna let you sing louder than make

24:35
sure and so, so we will do when I'll do one round singing the phrase the whole time, okay, and then we'll do a second round. And I will sing it once and then I will hum and that way it'll sort of give like a little backing track for people to sing along and really hear their own voice. I'm finding that we've I've just started doing that in the last few weeks in my sessions and I find that really even elevates the experience more so Okay, we'll do that.

25:03
All right, all right. Let's go

25:05
Even in the chaos even in the chaos I can find the calm, I can find the calm even in the chaos even in the chaos I can find the calm I can find the calm even in the chaos I can find the calm I can find the calm even in the chaos even the chaos I can find the calm I can find the calm. even in the chaos even in the chaos ican find the calm can find the calm even in the chaos mmmh mmmh I can find the calm mmmmh mmmmh even in the chaos mmm mmmh I can find the calm mmmh mmmh

26:39
okay. You know, I tried to take notice of what my stress level was before we started, and I would have put it at a five. And I kind of wish her would have said it. But I feel a reduction, I'd say, probably more like a three right now.

26:56
Awesome, awesome. I that is something I'm smiling now. Because when I do these live events on Insight Timer, I always forget to ask them sort of like, what's our level, you know, from one to 1010 being like super duper stressed, and one being super duper chill. Like, where are we in that, and I've been doing it long enough now that I have regulars, you know, people that are on every time. And so they all have different jobs now and they will they will pop in the comments and say Okay, everybody, April's gonna forget to say where are you on your level.

27:32
My experience has been on that reduction, before and after is that the higher your stress level is going in, the more difference the session will make. So if you're going into three, you can't expect to have a massive reduction. But if you go in at an eight or nine, you know, you might you might drop down to a four or five, which is really significant. It really is.

27:54
Yes, yes and absolutely it and allows you to access the more practical part of your brain like I mean, we all know that spiral feeling when your day has just gotten really out of control. And you feel like you're all you're doing is playing catch up, then doing something like this, that resets you that allows you to access the part of your brain that says, Okay, wait a minute, I this is not working. Like let's just totally change.

28:22
You know, I want to bring up a point right now and I, for the listeners of this show that on a regular basis, they know what I'm about to say. But it's my contention that we maximize our health potential when we align our lives more fully with God's natural design for spirit, mind and body. And EFT this technique is is a way to tap into all three levels of the human condition. And when we talk about the spiritual component to health, we're talking about how it impacts the mental emotional and us at a physical level. And we have an autonomic autonomic nervous system. And it has two divisions, the sympathetic we call the fight or flight, or the parasympathetic, which is the rest and digest. Now our bodies are smart, and they prioritize and if we're in fight or flight, we're in sympathetic dominance. A body says, hey, you know what, I don't really need to spend too much effort right now on digesting that food, or working on immune or detoxification. I gotta run away from the lion, right? I gotta survive this encounter with the bear or whatever it is. So any type of stress is the same reaction in the body. So if we want to maximize our health potential, we want to spend more time in parasympathetic dominance which we call rest and digest, where our bodies say, Okay, I have some, some margin right now and I got some time to spend on some housekeeping tasks like detoxification and hormone balancing and elimination digestion and all those kinds of things and processing my emotions even So this technique that April was talking about fits right in to the naturopathic and biblical approach to health. And so I really wanted to have you on the show when I when I, when I met you online is that this is a perfect fit for the message of Natural Health Matters.

30:21
Absolutely, absolutely. And I'm so excited that you talked about that sympathetic and parasympathetic, I always find that word so hard to say. Because it is such an important shift that we can make like it's a, it's a practical tool that we can use to shift our bodies out of that fight or flight, panic mode. And so often with meditation, like traditional meditation, at least I have found, I can walk away from a meditation session and think, like, did I meditate? I'm not really sure I was sitting here, I was thinking my brain look, whatever. But when we incorporate this tapping and singing, we are physically in it. Right? We are doing something to help ourselves. And that, for me, it helps me to realize, okay, I did it. Like I can check that off the list. I'm actually like doing something.

31:14
Other. Is there any other songs that you would recommend people use during the tapping?

31:21
Absolutely. So I have created many by now, I've been doing it long enough that I, when I do these live events, in particular, I will ask sort of like, you know, what are we struggling with what is happening right now in your life, that that seems to be a barrier for your best mental health. And so I've created several series now of different things. One of them is on letting go like I have a whole series of singing, sing along switch the name of the technique, I have a whole series of singing along switch on letting go. In particular one, so I'm letting go of judgment, because that's something that I struggle with. Just like, I think we all maybe have our one or two issues that sort of come up a lot. Sure. And, and that one is definitely one of mine. And so that I guess we may get to this at the end, but that is going to be my gift to your listeners. Yes. Is that see?

32:20
Yeah, remind me of that link, then? Of course, yeah.

32:26
It does. As we've talked about, it does make a difference, what we say and what we sing the words that we use. And so if I were to say, you know, one other phrase that might be helpful in a, in a particularly stressful time, is a phrase that's actually used in traditional tapping a lot. I deeply and completely love and accept myself. And that is something that helps to sort of bring you out of whatever. Negative

33:01
Self condemnation which is quite common.

33:04
Yeah, absolutely. And, and again, something that we are maybe not saying out loud, but something that, you know, our brains can sort of start to talk, talk down to ourselves, as you said, self condemnation. And so using that phrase, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, when you start to sing that, or, or even just say that and tap, you might start to feel some stories come up about like, well, I can't deeply and completely love and accept myself because, and then you would be you know, maybe fill in the blank with some things. And that tells you what you need to work on. Like that tells you Oh, this is this is an area where I'm being really critical of myself. And so then we can be specific in tapping and singing on those things on letting go of the judgment that you have around, you know, one of my examples is my dining room is a mess, right? Well, I can't deeply and completely love and accept myself, my dining room is a mess, or I lost my temper with my child earlier. So therefore, I need to be mad at myelf. Well, you know, how was that?

34:13
Right? Or you're holding a grudge against another person? You know, I don't have peace with that person. So therefore, I can't enjoy this moment. You know, so yes, things we might have to let go and we're getting into the the mindfulness aspect of all this but it's all it's all part of it, isn't it? You know, something that comes to mind when I'm thinking about something to say during this time is Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd I shall not one Have you ever used that in your your practice?

34:45
I have not but that is so good. You know often what I do is I use old hymns as lyric old hymns like hymns I guess by their very definition are ancient. But But I You use lyrics from hymns to adapt, or this sing along switch technique because they are. So it is such a refreshing thing for me, when I go into these hymn databases or when I grab a hymnal off the shelf, and I start to try and find something about judgment or about, you know, people are stressed, because there's not enough time in the day and things like that. And when I find these hymns that have been written, like, take time to be holy, and, and they were written over 100 years ago, and somehow or another people then were having this issue, and then not having enough time. And I think, oh my gosh, it just is so reassuring for me, because so often I feel like, Oh, this is only a problem I have, or this is only a problem for our generation.

35:54
It's easy to think, well, you know, going back even further than that, how many times in the gospels that we see Jesus pulling back and getting time alone in the wilderness, and spending some time in prayer and fasting. You know, and I love this, Psalm 23, even though it walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, you're on your staff, they comfort me, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name. So He leads me beside still waters. So you know, just pulling back from the busyness and the, the matrix, so to speak, you know, and just reconnecting with who you are, and who's you are, is really huge. And I love it. I often mentioned this on the podcast, John Eldridge with the Wild at Heart podcast and read some heart ministries, he has a pause. And you can set it to go go off as many times as you want, you saw this thing on your phone, and I get an alarm at 10 and an alarm or two. And it says, Hey, time for a pause. And it's a little girl, nice little image on there. And a little music, some relaxing music. And it's John going through leading you through a meditation. And this is kind of like that, I think you could use the pause app with this and say, Hey, Ty for some tapping, you know, time time to do some letting go. And a little time of refreshment a little me time. It might only take 60 seconds, which is really cool.

37:22
Yes, yes. To this day, my husband, it's sort of like, you might send your child to timeout as some sort of discipline or something. But this is my husband will like he can see it on my face. When I start to get a little, like frenzied or whatever. And he'll be like, go to the back porch. Go do your thing. He knows. He does. He does. It's in it's just such a great. You know, it's, it would it's wonderful when you have intention about like the eyes, you mentioned, like an app on your phone, something that reminds you like, hey, just let's stop and do a reset. And then it's also wonderful when you have a partner, who can just say, Hey, listen, this is your not your best self right now. Go, go and reset. Yeah,

38:07
yeah, it's really good stuff. So does your husband use the technique as well?

38:11
He uses it at night when he is not able to get asleep. That has been one time when I've been able to get him to use it. He's just still to this day, he'll just say go to the back porch. I don't know what you're doing.

38:26
You're at a different level for me. Just go through.

38:29
Oh, it's just Oh mean different things work for different people. And, and, you know, I think it's, it's harder to teach or be influential in the, for the people that are in your closest circle?

38:44
I totally agree with that. Yeah.

38:47
I am like, I would never teach my own son piano lessons. Right, I would find someone else to teach him even though I teach and I have a good teacher, he's not going to learn as well.

38:56
That's absolutely true. Well, you know, I was an airline pilot for 35 years. And I started my career as a flight instructor. And the guy who ran the flight school was had a master's in education. And one of his primary rules that we never broke was if your spouse or your child wants to learn how to fly, you get another teacher for them. You don't do it. Even though you're qualified. The relational, you know, friction that would be there is just it's it slows down the learning process. So shifting gears a little bit Have you found this I've I know what I had my health coach health coaching practice, that a lot of people struggle with anxiety and panic attacks. Have you found this technique to be useful for anxiety? Someone who suffers with that?

39:43
Yes, absolutely. Well, as we've talked about, it is a pattern interrupter and anxiety I often described as being in a loop like you get yourself in this loop of Oh, but this and Oh, but this and it I know it because I've been at it myself. Um, this is something that is absolutely helpful to signal to your body. We are safe. We can get through this and it really like also incorporating breathing and some other helpful techniques. It can absolutely be a like a tool for your toolbox like I never want to this is not the magic pill. This is not going to solve everything. But it is a tool for your toolbox that can help

40:32
Yeah, real good. You know I I never had a panic attacks allows an adult I had a I had a ladder fall about five years ago, and I fell 26 feet and and I crushed my heel and I had reconstructive surgery and it was I had a great surgeon was a blessing. But since then I look at heights in a different way. And my family and I took a vacation over to Israel and we went to Masada, which is like a hill about 1500 feet up. And we're taking this gondola, like a ski gondola up the hill. And my heart started beating and I'm hyperventilating and I'm starting to sweat. And I'm like, I'm having a panic attack. I knew what it looked like, but I never experienced it. And we got off that thing. And everybody's like, Alright, let's go with a go exploring. I'm like, hang on a second, guys, I need to I need to shift gears a little bit on my thinking right now. Because I started to spiral into this panic. You know, it can happen to anybody you know, here I am, you know, I've been an airline captain for for 30 years, you would think I wouldn't be afraid of heights. But I I was afraid of those heights that day. Which is I wish I would have had this in my tool belt at that moment. But I didn't. But you know, I was able to,

41:46
well it and no, it just makes so much sense because of that traumatic experience that you had falling from a height. Well, then, of course, now you're now your body is saying, hey, wait a minute, we know what this happened. What happens after this, we're not doing this anymore. So well. And I

42:04
was just gonna say like you said, you get caught up in this loop. And it starts to snowball on itself. It's like a snowball rolling down a hill and it gets bigger and bigger until it feels like it's unmanageable. That's not true. It is.

42:15
Yes, well, and I find social situations right now are difficult sometimes for me. Because with COVID, we have been so isolated for so long. And I'm used to being around my own like little pocket of people, you know, maybe five or six people in a room at once. And then this past weekend, I went to a wedding. And oh my goodness, it was so many people and so much noise and there was so much going on and and even though I'm a very social person, and I love being around people, it I needed a moment like I needed to step outside, and I did some tapping and I did some breathing because it was like, it just is so much at once. And we don't have that. Like I often use the like, it's like a muscle, right? We don't, we haven't exercised that social muscle in a long time. And so when you go from nothing to oh my goodness, there's so many people here, you you sort of need that like tool for your tool belt like just a little bit of like, hey, I need to go just sit in a bathroom stall for a few minutes and like have have some time.

43:23
It's really good stuff. So is there anything else that we is there something we haven't covered that you'd like to share? Maybe some low hanging fruit with people? And we're certainly going to cover those links that you have. But is there something we I haven't asked that you'd like to address?

43:39
I'm sure in about 10 minutes, I'll think of something. But right now I feel like I feel like we've done a great job of covering all of the benefits and some of the ways that you can just use it.

43:51
Here's a question that I wanted to ask. I just thought of it. And that is what are some of the other things that people can use this for. It's not just panic attacks. It's not just a stressful moment. It's my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, that you can use this technique. If you're struggling with eating in the middle of the night, or some type of temptation that you're you're going through is that is that correct? Is that been your experience?

44:17
Yes, yes. So I will say the number one thing is it's important to use both words and tapping at once. So if you're not comfortable singing, speaking is good, too. But the combination of the two, I've been reading some studies about you know, what makes tapping effective? Is it the tapping part or is that the talking part or you know, can you do one without the other and it really is the combination of the two that makes it effective. So, so I would encourage everyone to to do them both together. If If and when you're using this and then I often will use it. If if I find myself in a situation, like, let's take that example of eating in the middle of the night. Okay, so let's, let's pretend I'm talking to myself about eating in the middle of the night. And instead of just ruminating about it, I will tap while I'm talking. Okay, so so I'm not changing anything about what I'm saying, I'm still saying what I would say about like, oh, I can't believe I don't have any self control. And I'm getting up in the middle of the night. And it's just like, what a terrible person am I and you know, all of that, just say all of the things. And you will find as you're tapping and saying them, your brain will wake up to all of like, wait a minute, I do have self control, I can do this. This doesn't make me a bad person. I've made some mistakes. It's okay. Like, it really activates. It activates the, I keep saying the practical part of your brain, but I'm sure you have a scientific way of saying it. But it activates the part of your brain that says, Wait a minute, no, we don't have to be so derogatory about what we're doing. We can change it, it's fine to acknowledge the negative, like I said, in that earlier, when we did, even in the chaos, I can find the calm, we don't have to ignore that, that what we're doing isn't the most positive. Like, let's just talk about it. And then as you're talking about it, you will find you start to speak more positively. You start to sort of laugh, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I thought this was so insurmountable. It just makes the problem smaller. But, but if you don't talk about it, or you don't say it, like naming it matters, and saying it matters, like the in the Harry Potter books, they talk about like, the bad guy is like he who shall not be named right. They just they won't name it, because it's just this big thing. But naming it matters. And naming it makes it smaller. And when you when you say something about like, or like a person maybe that you don't like and like oh, I'd only to speak about my boss anymore. And it just becomes like this big bad like, Goliath in the closet. Yes, it just makes it bigger when we don't talk about it.

47:13
Yeah, you know, that's a really good point. Actually, that's a whole nother podcast, right? You can have these thoughts. And as long as they stay silent, bottled up inside of you. They feel so real. Yeah. And they can be not even close to the truth. But when you speak it out loud. There's something about shining that light of day. Yeah, bringing them into the light of day being those thoughts out. It's like, oh, wait a minute. Now that I said it out loud, it sounds pretty silly, as you said is the it's the speaking part, or the singing. And the tapping that makes it a one two punch. It's a powerful combination. It puts you back in charge, and brings the prefrontal cortex and your brain back in charge the rational part of your brain. Hey, you

48:00
There you go. Thank you for bringing the correct terminology. Appreciate it.

48:05
My pleasure. Yeah, well, April, this has been a great conversation. So what was that resource you mentioned that you had for people?

48:12
Well, I have a video series on letting go that I would love to gift to your audience. And that is that Aprilsingsalot.com/natural.

48:24
Okay, Aprilsingsalot.com/natural. I got it. Okay. All right. Very good. April, thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom and your energy with the audience.

48:37
Thank you, David. It's been great.

48:39
For more, go to the show notes page at davidsandstrom.com/92. There you can find an audio as well as a video version of the podcast. I also include a full transcript that's downloadable for free. And I always include some type of a content upgrade to help you go deeper with that subject. If you're enjoying the podcast, I sure would appreciate you telling somebody about it. The number one way people find a new podcast is a friend tells them about it. And this information is hard to find. You can't find it everywhere. And I believe that someone would appreciate you sharing it with them. Tell them you enjoy it and you think they'd enjoyed as well. I was sure would appreciate that. That's it for now. Thanks for listening. I'll talk with you next week. Be blessed.

Well, you know if someone's listening right now, and you say, Well, I don't have autistic children. I don't even know anybody that does. So I'm going to probably listen to a different podcast today. I would suggest don't do that, because the principles that Dr. Ljung is going to be talking about with identifying and correcting allergies or food sensitivities and allergic reactions to our environment, these apply to everyone. They can apply to all of us as far as improving our health and maximizing our health potential. So there's going to be she's going to be sharing a lot of great information here. And I encourage you to stick around because this is going to be a very informative conversation. Welcome to the Natural Health Matters podcast where it's all about maximizing your health potential, so that you can look and feel your best at any age. I'm your host, David Sandstrom, Naturopathic Doctor and Biblical Health Coach, and this is episode number 91. Today, we have in the show, Dr. Inge Ljung. Dr. Ljung is an Acupuncture Physician, and the author of the book Finding Your Lost Child understanding allergies, nutrition, and detox in autism. Dr. Young's mission is to teach people how to take back their power when it comes to their health. Dr. Young, Welcome to Natural Health Matters. Thank you. Well, I really been looking forward to our conversation, because you've done you have over 30 years experience in this field. And I understand that you were treating people that came in with various issues, but you found yourself honing in on allergies, and then you found more and more clients coming in with kids on the autistic spectrum. So can you tell us a little bit about that process and how you started doing what you do today?

Dr. Inge Ljung 1:46
Yes, as an acupuncture physician, I realized that some people they had, they had something that they couldn't get rid of with acupuncture. And I wanted to have 100% results and not having them come back all the time with the same thing. And I started to, I started request, really, to find out what it was and found that allergies has a big role to play. This is over 25 years ago that I started to treat allergies. And now it is so more prevalent than it was then. But around 2000 I started to see patients with autism. And I really didn't know anything. I didn't know anything about autism. But I treated them with for allergies. And lo and behold, they got better. And some of them recuperated totally, everybody doesn't. But often, they all the kids on spit on the spectrum all have allergies, mostly, I would say mostly but more what affects them. The worst is really food allergies. And if you don't fix that, in the beginning, they cannot build their immune system. So they suffer from constipation. That's one of the things that is very, very common in these kids. And it's horrible. I mean, I'm sure you have been constipated sometimes but a kid who can't go to the bathroom in a week. Can you imagine the pain they have?

David Sandstrom 3:30
Oh, yeah. The the discomfort and and the toxicity that starts building up that can affect almost any body system imaginable?

Dr. Inge Ljung 3:38
Absolutely. And they often a kid doesn't know that they're constipated. Right? So they are uncomfortable and don't know why. And then they get pain. And they don't know why. And together with being autistic, maybe they can't even communicate what they feel it I can see the suffering. And then I saw the suffering. Yeah, parents. You know, they tried to they don't know what's going on 20 years ago, it was so less common. And they didn't know what to do. And doctors they often said no, it doesn't have anything to do with diet. They had nothing, they couldn't come up with anything either. So finding out that energy treatments, Allergy Elimination, could help them a lot. So as I said before, I don't claim to cure autism in any way, shape or form, but to get them to have a healthier digestive system and to show people show the parents and support them in changing lifestyle.

David Sandstrom 4:54
Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you mentioned the parents because it this content condition doesn't just affect the child or that individual, it affects the whole family. And it can bring a great deal of stress into a marriage. And it's my understanding that a lot of parents of autistic children end up with marital difficulty and even end up divorced because of the stress that they're going through with their children. Have you seen that to be true?

Dr. Inge Ljung 5:21
Oh, often. I mean, the latest is, I think, this month or the month before I started to work with a mother who has a couple of twins, identical twins, they're both autistic. And when they were diagnosed, the husband left. And I have seen that I have seen that so often. And the poor mother, because she doesn't get to sleep properly, these kids often wake up and walk around or scream. So the mother doesn't get any sleep, and has to work to support the families. It's it's like a horrible, vicious circle cycle. And then the other kids, if she has more than one child, they kind of get neglected because these other kids, they take so much time and so much of everything. So it's really, it's really tragic.

David Sandstrom 6:22
Well, you know, if someone's listening right now, and you say, Well, I don't have autistic children. I don't even know anybody that does. So I'm gonna probably listen to a different podcasts today. I would suggest don't do that. Because the principles that Dr. Ljung is going to be talking about with identifying and correcting allergies or food sensitivities and allergic reactions to our environment, these apply to everyone, they can apply to all of us as far as improving our health and maximizing our health potential. So there's going to be she's going to be sharing a lot of great information here. And I encourage you to stick around because this is going to be a very informative conversation.

Dr. Inge Ljung 7:00
Yeah, I don't think there's anybody who doesn't know anybody who has a child. That's true. Absolutely. I hear so often somebody say, Oh, I'm ADD. So that's why I behaved like I do. It. It's, to me, it's very strange that people say that. And I don't think that diagnosed even if even though

David Sandstrom 7:24
it comes from the medical paradigm, right? We need a diagnosis, I need a label. And if I don't want to label that, I don't know what I've got. So I have a label. Now I know why I behave the way I do, why I feel the way I do. And of course, the medical approach is, well, let's give you some medications for that, you know, when the body is reacting a certain way. Medications are useful in the short run to handle a crisis. Emergencies. But we're talking about long term health challenges here. And medications, because they alter natural body functions, ultimately are going to get in the way of our body's healing. You agree with that?

Dr. Inge Ljung 8:04
Absolutely. And when it comes to neurological disorders, or even depression, it doesn't matter what it is that's going on in the brain. It can be autism, Alzheimer's, foggy thinking, depression, in general, it all comes from the gut, it starts in the gut. So when they go to the shrink, and they get a pill for it, they don't do anything for the root. And then that can't think straight and they get addicted to the medications. And I mean, they don't live a life that they should live that they have the opportunity to live. And it's so easy to eat the wrong things. And there is a lot of wrong things that people eat. That's really the problem.

David Sandstrom 8:51
So let's dig into that a little bit. When someone comes in to see you. How do you go about identifying their food sensitivities and or allergies, and in what do you do about it?

Dr. Inge Ljung 9:03
What I have there is a serious of allergies, I use the word allergy very loosely because my kit is called the allergy kit, but it is intolerances and sensitivities also, everybody, I think I have met one person in my life during all these years who did not have any allergies, I do testing with muscle testing. And what people are allergic to, or sensitive to is egg and chicken, milk and dairy vitamin C and parasites, that's the basic things that people are, you know, they don't have to have any reactions that they get eczema or anything. It's just that they don't, the nutrients don't get absorbed in their system. So that's where I start I eliminate these allergies. And I have created a kit that people can use on themselves at home for the whole family, that they don't really need to know what they are relative to the first, the basic kit, it's seven viles that I have in what I call the allergy kit. And then other people can get the food allergy kit or environmental or whatever it is.

David Sandstrom 10:25
So what is the kit look like to us, you send people the kit with some vials and they do some muscle testing on their own.

Dr. Inge Ljung 10:31
Yeah, they don't have I tried to teach muscle testing. So this is a kit with comes, it looks like this. And it comes with a vials and a laser. And you do the first the first trip is the first seven vials you do them in order. And that is so that the body can start to absorb the nutrients and build up your immune system. So

David Sandstrom 11:02
I'm sorry, those seven vials are the other the food sensitivities that you just mentioned.

Dr. Inge Ljung 11:08
Well, that was some of them. And then it is sugar. Sugar. Sugar is in everything So people not only that they have a craving for sugar. It's like an allergy in a way. And it also causes Candida which also makes them crave sugar. Yeah, and vitamin C,

David Sandstrom 11:27
I imagine gluten and wheat, gluten and wheat are on that list too. I would imagine

Dr. Inge Ljung 11:31
That is in vial number six. And so we also have toxins and vaccinations in the basic kit, and often very often. Especially with it with autism kids, but even sometimes with the so called normal people, whatever that is, but almost everybody has had childhood vaccinations nowadays, and they can feel the difference after the treatment with a childhood.

David Sandstrom 11:59
So you treat you treat people for with a laser for even even childhood vaccinations. Yes, excellent. That's good stuff. I want people to know that what what Dr. Ljung is talking about right here is, is energy medicine. It's those vials that she showed us in the kit, are our energetic imprints of those substances. And I don't know how you get the homeopathic remedy into the laser into the vials It's the vials. And then they'll use laser to treat with those energies Correct?

Dr. Inge Ljung 12:35
Actually, to kind of get the energy into into the energy body practically.

David Sandstrom 12:41
Right. So into the person, right? There's various delivery methods. And I think laser is a very efficient way of doing that I believed in myself that I use for the same purpose.

David Sandstrom 12:49
Yes, it really is very effective.

David Sandstrom 12:52
Oh, a very, very much is. So go ahead. Tell us more about the kids and the results. People are having.

Dr. Inge Ljung 12:57
A lot of these kids, they have meltdowns or outbreaks or whatever you want to call them. I spoke to one autistic man. And he didn't like that I said, outbreaks, but are meltdowns. But I don't know what to say instead, he didn't have another word for it. They are. It's not that they are behaving badly or that their parents cannot teach them what they're supposed to teach them. They have allergic reactions. And I think many people they don't understand that I have seen if you see somebody who has a breakdown or or an explosion somewhere and people look at them and kind of their parents, they don't know anything about how to bring up children. It's not their fault. It's not the child's fault. And I don't know how well it is known that these are reactions, allergic reactions, and it can be to food but it can also be paint on the walls, it can be a perfume that somebody is using. It can be and it can even be touch and sound. So there are so many things

David Sandstrom 14:16
Dr. Ljung, there's got to be somebody here wondering about the difference between a sensitivity and full blown allergy. So as far as the medical profession is concerned, if you don't break out in hives or experience anaphylactic, you're not allergic. So can you talk to us about the difference between the two?

Dr. Inge Ljung 14:34
Well, the The miracle is really the coil with his IgG and IgE and IgA that you can you can test them and see okay, you are so allergic to this and this and this. sensitivities are more. It's like an allergic reaction. It's just like an allergic reaction often but not considered an allergy.

David Sandstrom 15:02
Right? So you haven't reached that disease state, but your body is struggling with that substance nonetheless,

Dr. Inge Ljung 15:07
Nonetheless, yes, and exactly the same way and the kit works, whether it's allergy or sensitivity and intolerance, I think the name says it's something you've had too much off. So your body is intolerant to it after, because some people, they say, Oh, I had this all my life and all of a sudden I cannot

David Sandstrom 15:28
Right. So when the body gets too much of something, it might be able to handle dealing with that for a while. But there comes a point where the body just says, uncle, I can't I can't keep up anymore. And you start to see signs and symptoms that we should all be trained to look for. And I'm sure you talk about that with parents. Why don't you explain that a little bit on how to look for how to learn your body's language?

Dr. Inge Ljung 15:54
Yes, it's so hard because we have come so far away from tuning into our bodies, I think people, you can just look at that, like three people out of four is obese, or not obese, but overweight, at least and a big part are obese. And they can't feel good. But they don't really do anything about it either. Until they are really sick. So I don't know, I don't really know know how, how to teach people. They should be shown in school already to learn how to how to how to how they feel, I think it's the feeling, they are not really developed anymore, they are they are depressed, everybody's going around with their phone, they don't even talk to each other anymore. I think that part is getting, we're getting split more and more from our inner feelings and our soul. And,

David Sandstrom 17:00
Yeah, let me try to add something to that. And you know, when you're, when you're driving down the road, and you've got some mud on your windshield, when you first get that mud splattered on the windshield, you'll notice it, it's pretty visible. But as you continue to drive down the road an hour later, your mind somehow just erases that mud spot, and you don't even see it anymore. And I think the same is true with the symptoms that our body gives us. We might eat, let's say, I don't know, let's say you have a an intolerance to corn, and or GMO corn. And you eat some genetically modified corn and you experience inflammation. And now you you it manifests and shoulder pain. But after you do that over and over again, that shoulder pain just becomes your new normal, and you don't associate it with eating that food anymore. So that's just example of how that can can run its course in a person. And it's very easy to do we all get caught in that trap.

Dr. Inge Ljung 18:01
Yes. And you mentioned GMO corn. And that is the other thing that I talked about all the time, people have to everybody has to eat organic. I mean, there are certain things that don't need to be organic like avocados or pomegranates pomegranates, I don't know how you pronounce it. And a couple of more things. But most things, they are often GMO, I mean, genetically modified organisms. And sometimes we don't know if with a tomato. And there is a pathway in the food where the bacteria and enzymes travel. And that gets close to we don't get access to those enzymes in bacteria. And that is partially why we are getting you know, indigestion and getting worse and worse really. And then we have we're going to talk about wheat, which is it's not Jenica genetically modified, but it's hybridized for the last 75 plus years. And since they started to hybridize them, the celiac disease has gone up four times and that was a few years back. The other thing is that we have a protein that upset many proteins, but one of them is called Sanderling, which makes holes in the intestinal lining and other one is glutathine morphine. It acts like a morphine that means we get addicted to it. Right. There are so many things that really tells us don't eat wheat.

David Sandstrom 19:53
Right. Well another thing I want to point out about wheat is this is very important to to to mention and that is Ah, glyphosate. They use glyphosate as a, you know, as a weed killer. And they use it in the fields, but they also use it to ripen the wheat before just prior to harvest.

Dr. Inge Ljung 20:12
Yeah, it's not really too late it is to get rid of the leaves. So a couple of days before they harvested, they sprayed with glyphosate roundup to get rid of the leaves and that roundup goes straight up to the kernels. And then we eat it.

David Sandstrom 20:28
Yeah, right. So one of the reasons why we did so troublesome for a lot of people is not just the troublesome, hard to digest proteins in it, but it's the chemical glyphosate. That's one of the problems for a lot of people. So, you know, when I was doing my nutritional counseling, I almost never saw a person that couldn't benefit from at least reducing the amount of wheat they they eaten in the course of a week. Yes, many people benefited a great deal. That was that was the root of their issues.

Dr. Inge Ljung 20:57
Yes, because they are eating so much. In the old times, people didn't eat four times a day. And now it's like the staple, it's morning. lunch, dinner snack. Yep. So they are totally overloaded by by the wheat and all, all what it does, plus the glyphosate. But there are also other things we don't think about maybe, for example, strawberries, that, I don't know if they are modified, I don't have a clue. But what they do, they you know, strawberries grow on black plastic. And I think because they are so heavy, they fall down in the dirt and get dirty, if they don't have the plastic up, then they spray them with the Roundup, the glyphosate. And it pools because the it's not smooth, it doesn't fall off that that liquid. So the strawberries lay in the pools of this roundup, and gets absorbed much more than anything else. So non-organic strawberries is one of the worst things you can eat.

David Sandstrom 22:22
Right? You know, especially when strawberries are in season, buying organic is not that much more expensive either. No. And strawberries is one of those fruits that the Environmental Working Group that publishes the Dirty Dozen. They're almost always on the Dirty Dozen. And as you just explained, but yes, switching to organic strawberries is pretty simple. And not all that expensive. Really.

Dr. Inge Ljung 22:44
No and Maybe you eat a little less.

David Sandstrom 22:49
Yeah, right. All right. All right. Well, I always tell people, you know, eat as much organic as you can. As much as your budget will allow. If you could do 100%, great, go for it. But if you can't, you know, look at that, that list the Dirty Dozen from the Environmental Working Group, I will put a link in the show notes if you want to check that out. And, you know, just limit the consumption of some of these toxins, and that could go a long way to improving your health.

Dr. Inge Ljung 23:14
Absolutely. And I know I read about children who didn't do anything else. I mean, their parents, parents to autistic children. They just started with 100% organic food. And just by that they got better. They had less outbreaks, less meltdowns.

David Sandstrom 23:34
Yeah. Well, you know, I need to say this right now as the people listen to the show regularly. No, no, this phrase, but I need to repeat it right now is we maximize our health potential. When we align our lives more fully with God's natural design for spirit, mind and body in God did not design our bodies to consume chemicals, like glyphosate in our fruit, or our wheat. That's just not part of God's design. So you know, 100 years ago, everybody farmed organic, they just call it farming. They didn't call it organic 100 years ago, but after World War Two, we had chemical plants that were these chemicals were made and designed to for chemical warfare to actually kill people. And when the war was over, they said, Well, what are we going to do with all these facilities? Well, we have industrial, agricultural uses we can use so so that's when we really started adopting these chemical farming practices that are very harmful to the soil, very harmful to the plants themselves and they deplete the soil of nutrients and soil produces nutrient deficient plants and nutrient deficient plants produce nutrient deficient animals and nutrient deficient plants and animals produce nutrient deficient people. So that's just not the way God designed us to consume our food. That's not where our food supply supposed to come from.

Dr. Inge Ljung 24:53
No, absolutely not. And when we talk about organic I know many people think that we only need To eat organic vegetables and fruits, but we have to look at the animals. First of all, how non organic animals are brought up inhumane pack together. Chicken, piglets, pigs, everybody, they are packed together, they can't move. And then they are given these

David Sandstrom 25:24
living in their own filth.

Dr. Inge Ljung 25:26
Yeah, living in their own filth. And for example, pigs, they are very clean animals really normally they poop in one corner and sleep in another corner. It's not as piggy as they are used to being there was a farmer in Denmark who had a pig, pig farm. And he was giving his pigs GMO feed, because that's what they are told to do. And he didn't know and they were getting fewer and fewer offspring. They were dying more often. And he changed to 100% organic feed, all of a sudden his pigs got a lot of babies and they were healthy. And it was in a very short time that he saw a big, big difference in using the GMO feed. Now when we did carbs, for example, they are not God did not make them to eat corn. They're supposed to eat grass. So they are sick, right? That's right. Yeah, man, chicken, pork chicken, they are the same thing. They're correlate them together. And given antibiotics and hormones, we're all animals or so. Plus, when I think about the glyphosate, you know, that was classified as herbicide in the 70s. But in the 90s, it was classified as an antibiotic. It's an antibiotic, if you eat non organic food, you eat antibiotic every day. And it is shown that for example, 17% of people who get antibiotic within I don't remember how many months 10 months or something, they get depressed. And of those 23% after a certain amount of time of taking antibiotics that they get their anxiety levels go up with a 23%. So that can be one reason why so many people are depressed and anxious nowadays is because of what they eat.

David Sandstrom 27:34
Yeah. You know, there's been a lot of talk these days about doctors over prescribing antibiotics for people that come in with a viral infection of scratchy throat, oh, there's given some antibiotics and I'm on their way. It's definitely a poor practice, not not a good practice at all. But what a lot of people don't realize is the majority of pharmaceutical antibiotics are given to livestock. They're not coming from human beings, they're given to livestock. So we are consuming antibiotics, even if we haven't been prescribed them from the meat and the animal products that we're consuming, that we eat, and

Dr. Inge Ljung 28:09
from their glyphosate, which is an antibiotic. It's now classified as an antibiotic. So it's like one thing on top of the other. No wonder our poor digestive systems, are a mess.

David Sandstrom 28:24
Yeah, let's get back to your book some more. Let's talk about why you wrote the book. What motivated you to to write a book about the Autism? There we go finding your last child. And I can't quite read the subtitle.

Dr. Inge Ljung 28:41
Here. It's understanding

David Sandstrom 28:44
allergies, nutrition, and detox in autism. So So what motivated you to what why did you feel the need to write the book,

Dr. Inge Ljung 28:54
I wrote the book because I realized that so many people do not understand that there are things to do that they can change their lives, I have realized when I saw for example, I had to take my MAC to the Apple Store. And there was a family or a woman with a kid who was first of all overweight, and he was running around and kind of behaving. Not too bad, but he wasn't even disturbing. And as he said, Well, he's autistic. Okay, so he is autistic. He is overweight. So you know, I didn't want to go into I can't just talk to people say okay, you're eating the wrong thing right. But you can see how they feed them and what they feed them. They want what they want when they want it. And it is mostly something sweet, or a pizza, or something like that.

David Sandstrom 29:50
Which is really chicken chicken nuggets, those kinds of things.

Dr. Inge Ljung 29:54
Yeah, all those artificial things. The first child I traded by the way, the mother I came in with his kid, he was really, really, really disturbing. He was going to a school specifically for for autistic children. He wasn't running around, and the mother pulled up like a three foot long red gummy snake. So he sat down. And I think he consulted like less than 10 minutes. So it was quiet during that time. But she didn't have a clue that it was sugar, color, non organic, the whole thing. And this kid changed very, very fast. He started to talk, it was five years old, didn't talk very much. He started to talk with going to speech therapy in his school. And I saw him 10 years later, when he was 15. His father brought him in for something totally different. And I said, Well, that's amazing that he got out of autism, autism, he was never autistic. You didn't even remember, you did not even remember, I guess it's suppressed it but I mean, he was going through the special school for autists autistic children. So that was kind of funny.

David Sandstrom 31:13
That's so funny. Well, you know, I, when I had my practice, I saw something similar, not quite that dramatic, but all the time. And someone would come in and say, you know, I'm having a lot of gas and bloating after meals. And then you know, we'd get them on a program, I'd get them on a program, we'd identify some of the food sensitivities, maybe give them some digestive enzymes to help that process along. And the gas and bloating would go away. And I'd see them a few weeks later, and say, How's the gas and bloating? And they'd say, what gas? I don't have gas and bloating? Well, that's I have my notes here. That's why you came to see me a month ago. But oh, yeah, I forgot all about that. It's, it's kind of an interesting phenomenon, that when when the body starts working the way it's supposed to, it just goes into the background. And we just kind of take it for granted. And we don't even remember, the trouble the difficulty we were having. It's kind of funny.

Dr. Inge Ljung 32:07
That is very common. I see it all the time. That for something, and then Oh, My knee hurts. Oh, you're Lee, but it was your hip before? Or something like that. It's yeah, totally forgotten.

David Sandstrom 32:23
It's an interesting phenomena. Yeah. So anyway, back to the book. So you saw this need, you saw people just kind of resigning themselves to this is this is life. For me, this is the way things are? And you said, No, you don't have to just roll over and accept this. And you decided to write the book.

Dr. Inge Ljung 32:43
Yes, because there is a lot of it's nothing special, but a lot of little tips that people don't think about and reading labels. Cleaning your pantry is maybe a big thing. But it's very, very, very important. Number one, of course, is eating organic. And then it is to really stop sugar and wheat and dairy for some people or kids. And they can see a big, big change from that. And then tips about how to detox. And of course, it is I can understand in a way people parents, they give in because the kids do not want to eat that new food. They want their pizza, they want their sugar. So it is it is a struggle.

David Sandstrom 33:32
But it's overwhelming for the parents at times.

Dr. Inge Ljung 33:34
Yes. But it's worth it. It is for for a time for a certain time until they get over it. And by the way, with the working with the kids, they can get rid of their cravings. That's one of the big advantages. If you eliminate for example, the sugar allergy or sensitivity or whatever you want to call it. Not until then really can they stop eating sugar because they don't have the craving to it. So it's much much easier.

David Sandstrom 34:05
So So in overcoming these intolerances, sensitivities, allergies, the the allergy kit is important, but also rebuilding the gut is important as well. Right? So how do you go about doing that with someone?

Dr. Inge Ljung 34:17
Well, it first is food in for you. That is the first thing and of course you have to see what kind of enzymes or bacteria to build up the bacteria flora. They can do that, for example, if they keep eating wheat and wheat makes holes in the intestinal lining, and that creates allergies. And it creates because the undigested or partially digested food goes directly out in the bloodstream, creating antibodies and creating what doctors a few years back that didn't exist. leaky gut. Right. So the first thing we have to do is the intake of food All right. And as you know, you're not to with the enzymes and fermented foods get is great. But some people are allergic to that to their logic to oxalate for example, which is in Yes. But if you can eliminate that

David Sandstrom 35:16
comes along with fermented foods as well.

Dr. Inge Ljung 35:19
Yep. But you can get rid of it and start. And sometimes some do just a tiny, tiny, tiny little bit to get used to it. Just a quarter of a teaspoon or something to start with.

David Sandstrom 35:34
What about detoxification? Do you do you do heavy metal detox? You know, what kind of detoxification do you do with these kids?

Dr. Inge Ljung 35:41
I have, I work with the one company called Root. So I don't really go into heavy metals, because it's not my department. But I have, okay, in the kit, there is also heavy metals. Because they are people are allergic to do the heavy, heavy metals. And by eliminating the energy to it, they feel better. But of course, they need to do something. And there are mean they can even take milk thistle or some of the liver cleansing drops, just start with one drop. And that's where it also this remedy called Root, where they have a liquid remedy as a detox, it's called this slate. And you can start with one drop in a glass of water and drink the half half a glass first. And to be intubated. Okay, 10 drops. So I do that kind of detox. But there are many,

David Sandstrom 36:43
I'll be sure to put a link to that in the show notes as well.

Dr. Inge Ljung 36:45
Yeah. So there is a lot of people who, who I don't see personally. So it's when they contact me, and then I can give them personal recommendations.

David Sandstrom 37:01
Okay, very good. All right. So if there was one thing that you'd like people to remember, from this conversation today, what would it be?

Dr. Inge Ljung 37:11
Eat organic. And don't forget, there is light at the end of the tunnel. But you have to be conscious. You have to be open minded. And you have to be available for change. We have to change our diet. Yes. The standard American diet, the so called SAD diet is really a big trap. Yes, it's all the grains or all that stuff. So and there is there is the food, processed food, avoid, start to cook, there are so many cooking lessons on on the internet, and just learn what is good for you and what is not. And also, as we talked about before, open your mind and ask your body. That's why I'm trying to help people learn muscle testing, because they can ask you they can ask with a simple, I often just teach them to use use their arm. Know, they can ask for a yes. And then for a no. And say my name is and so and so under the strong My name is let's say something different to just learn the differences. Am I a man? No. Things like that and just learn. And then they can take food. They can go when they go to the store, if they buy something that is packaged. First of all, they have to read the tables. And then just try to see if it's good for them or not. And the same with supplements. Supplements are not the same for everybody. And sometimes

David Sandstrom 38:50
very good quality product, but just not good for you.

Dr. Inge Ljung 38:53
Yes. And also, I know with myself, for example, there is something that I take that is comes in a packet, there are three different things. I cannot take them together again, I realized that I took the toll. I like to take everything at one time. Then it's over with and I realized I didn't feel good. So I must have tested separately. They're all good. I put them together two of them, either of them. Were okay. But if I added a third was not good. So yeah, that way you can find out what what bothers your body? In a nice, very easy way.

David Sandstrom 39:30
Yeah. While learning how to do muscle testing is it is it is simple and in a way it works. But to be really good at it takes practice. Yeah. That's a subject for another episode.

Dr. Inge Ljung 39:41
Yes, it takes practice and it takes trust. Because I think that is most people doubt. They say, Oh, no, that can't be.

David Sandstrom 39:51
Right, right.

Dr. Inge Ljung 39:52
I also do something called the process. Yeah, I do something called The Body Code. And which is the system and where you find trapped, it can be either different organs or body parts or whatever, that are not harmonious together. But it is also to find trapped emotions and it comes up what age and which part of the body it's trapped in, in the beginning, because you get some weird things sometimes. So I started to think, is that really right? I don't do that anymore. So then I do that when muscle testing on myself, I'm in the proxy for the my client. So one time, for example, I had an autistic child five years old. And the first thing that came up was her arm at birth. And, and the emotion was, I think it was panic or something like that. And when I told her mother, she said, yeah, when she was born, she came out with her arm first. So her shoulder is like, constantly damaged. So Wow. So it is just

David Sandstrom 41:05
discovered that through muscle testing her yes.

Dr. Inge Ljung 41:09
And don't think just do the muscle testing and trust yourself. Yeah.

David Sandstrom 41:14
Well, that's a good transition. So I'm going to encourage someone If this sounds interesting to you, to get in touch with Dr. Ljung, and and become a client, because this stuff is real. And if you want to dig into processing, emotions, dialing in your nutrition, and approaching health in a holistic fashion and going after the route, then get in touch with Dr. Ljung. So what's the what's the best way to do that?

Dr. Inge Ljung 41:42
Well, they can, I can give, if you put the link in, I can put in even a link for to make an appointment with me and talk to me. And otherwise the doctor dringe.com, D-R-Y-N-G-E .com. Everything is really there both what I do and Body Code and the allergy kit, and also

David Sandstrom 42:07
so excellent. And the name of your book again, one more time.

Dr. Inge Ljung 42:12
The book is finding your last child understanding allergies, nutrition and detox in autism spectrum disorders.

David Sandstrom 42:22
Okay, very good. And I'll be sure to put a link to that in the show notes as well. Dr. Ljung, thank you so much for your time, thank you for sharing your wisdom with the natural nation today. Thank you. For more, go to the show notes page at davidsandstrom.com forward slash 91. There you can find an audio as well as a video version of the podcast links to all the resources that we mentioned, a free downloadable transcript. And I always include some type of a content upgrade to help you go deeper with that subject. If you're enjoying the show, I sure would appreciate you telling your friend about it. You know, this information is not easy to find. And the number one way people find a new podcast is that a friend tells them about it. So if you're enjoying the podcast, would you tell a friend that you know and tell them you've been enjoying it and you think they might enjoy it as well. I would appreciate that. That's it for now. Thanks for listening. I'll talk with you next week. Be blessed