Too Many Jars in My Kitchen!

After doing a review of the products from l.c. of acirema, I thought it would be fun to sit down with Lori and learn a little more about her and her business.  I think you’ll enjoy getting to know her!

Don’t forget – get 30% off your order through Lori’s Etsy shop by using coupon code LUCKYJARS30.  The coupon expires February 28, 2013.

Mindy: Why did you decide to study herbs?

Lori: There are two reasons I decided to study herbs.  And while I didn’t go looking for herbs, they found me!

First, my father has a severely degenerative chronic disease; and, quite frankly, doctors didn’t always expect him to live.  He did survive, and for many years longer than expected and with a better quality of life.  I then became very interested in anything outside the mainstream medical paradigm that could possibly explain why he was he was doing so well.

For the second reason, it started while I was in college.  I developed chronic bronchitis and began taking multiple rounds of antibiotics each year.  My hay fever and seasonal allergies became uncontrollable by prescription allergy meds and when I began experiencing side effects from the meds, my doctors flat out didn’t believe that I was even experiencing the side effects!  I then saw an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist who recommended an MRI and other procedures to try and figure out why I had constant sinus infections, bronchitis and bronchi-pneumonia.  This started to sound very serious to me, even at age 20!  I began to research on my own (and the internet was in its infancy then) and decided to take matters into my own hands.  1)  I took a simple homeopathic remedy, Allium cepa, for my symptoms.  2)  I changed my diet to include more green and whole foods.  3)  The next time I got sick, I didn’t take any antibiotics.  I literally rolled up in about 3 blankets, stayed in bed for two days, sweating and getting the chills like crazy, and didn’t take another antibiotic for over 10 years.

I then told my Ear, Nose and Throat specialist about the benefits I found from the Allium cepa homeopathic remedy, and I kid you not, he said, “Do you want me to wear a bear claw necklace and dance around the campfire too?”  Wow.  Yep, he said those exact words.  I didn’t have the wherewithal at age 21 to say anything in return, but that comment spurred me to keep searching for answers in alternative-style medicine.  By the time I was 26, I was enrolled at the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies, and ended up finishing the 3-year, almost 1400 hour program as a Certified Clinical Herbalist.  Our Advanced Classes director, Paul Bergner, firmly believed that you should first treat someone with diet and lifestyle changes, then with an adjunct of herbs.  See why I think the herbs found me? [Continue reading]