I did not get to attend many of the Saturday speaker tracks because I was greeting people and helping provide information at the Weston A. Price Foundation table.  As co-leader of the Houston-Galveston chapter, I wanted to meet and welcome as many of those attending as possible to let them know how glad we were to have them with us and to be sure they found the correct rooms for their sessions.

However, the number of new attendees was less on Sunday, and I was able to sit in on several excellent talks.  If you were not able to attend the conference or didn’t get to go to these sessions, I want to share with you a few of the highlights from the Sunday sessions.  If you would like to hear all the speakers but could not attend or missed some sessions you wanted to hear, you can purchase recordings of the entire conference.

Catherine Masden ND

Catherine Masden ND and Susan Salce ND were first on the Sunday track for Nutrition for Chronic Disease.  The topic was Dis-Ease to Health: Nutrition, Homeopathy & EFT.  Both Catherine and Susan practice with Natural Health Solutions in Tomball, Texas.  They are naturopathic doctors (ND), nutritional consultants, and master herbalists.  They are members of the National Center of Homeopathy (NCH) and Registered Naturopathic Diplomat (RND).

Catherine discussed the toxins in our environment, especially pesticides, chemicals, and genetically modified organisms.  She recommended following the Environmental Working Group’s shopping guide that lists the  “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” to minimize our intake of poisons.

The subject that seemed to be the most interesting to the audience was Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).  We all were shown how to relieve our stress using a healing tool that is based tapping “established energy meridian points” on the body.  The tapping stimulates acupressure points on the head and upper body to release energy.  We went through the EFT routine twice to evaluate its effect on our stress levels.  We seemed to be much calmer after the tapping.

Dr. Dawn Ewing

Dr. Ewing is a naturopathic practitioner in Houston, Texas, Executive Director of the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine (IABDM), and author of Let the Tooth Be Known.  She practices at Holistic Health Alternatives in Spring, Texas.  Dr. Ewing was second on the Sunday Nutrition for Chronic Disease track, and her topic was Your Teeth & Gums, A Chronic Disease Risk Factor.  Her early background as a dental hygienist led her into research on health and nutrition as it is associated with dental health.

I learned a lot about tooth disease and how it interacts with our overall health.  For example, there is a correlation between breast cancer and root canals in the teeth associated with the breast on the Dental Meridian Chart.  The subject of dental meridians is fascinating.  Be sure to check out the link to Dr. Ewing’s web page. Dr. Ewing said that 98% of women with breast cancer had a root canal in one of the breast teeth on the same side of the body!  Dr. Ewing also talked about the harmful effects of the mercury vapors released from dental amalgam (the “silver” fillings in teeth).  I have lots of amalgam fillings and was alarmed to know that chewing food and brushing the teeth releases a significant amount of mercury vapor which I then breathe in or swallow.

Kim Schuette CN

Kim Schuette is a Certified Nutritionist and Certified GAPS© Instructor, practices nutritional therapy at Biodynamic Wellness in Solana Beach, California.  She offers in-office as well as phone and Skype consultations.  I heard Kim speak at the annual WAPF conference in Atlanta in November 2013.  Her success with nutritional therapy is outstanding.  In Atlanta as well as at our conference she presented several case histories of successful treatment of epilepsy, type 1 diabetes, and bipolar.

In Houston, Kim talked about how the body digests and assimilates nutrients, and especially how permeable intestines (aka, “leaky gut”) causes autoimmune disorders.  She emphasized the problems with the estrogenic activity of soy formula on both boy and girl babies.  She mentioned the importance of using bone broth and/or meat stock for health, a conclusion that I totally agree with.  I drink a cup of bone broth every morning.  She had lots more to say about bone health, osteoporosis, minerals, detoxing, and EMF (electro-magnetic fields).

Sally Fallon Morell

The last speaker I will write about is Sally Fallon Morell, the co-founder, president, and inspiration of the Weston A. Price Foundation.  I did not get a chance to hear her talk on Traditional Diets Saturday in Houston; however, I have heard her presentation at a previous annual conference.  She is phenomenal!  I really don’t know how anyone can attend her Traditional Diets presentation without being convinced that good nutrition is essential to good health!

At the Houston conference, I did hear her talk about her own health secrets, a presentation she had only given once before, in Europe.  She emphasized eating three regular meals a day, with no between meal snacks.  Hunger between meals is an indicator that we have not been eating enough healthy fats.  Another of her tips resonates with me.  It’s what I do–either eat with other people or with a good book.  Yes!

Until Next Time

If you were unable to attend our conference last weekend or you were there but want to hear the talks you missed, you can order the conference recordings in several different packages.  Contact Fleetwood Onsite.

The Houston WAPF chapter will be planning and scheduling more meetings to expand on the knowledge we gained at the conference.  If you would like to learn and share with us, join our Meetup group, Houston Real Food Nutrition.  There is no fee to join and you will be notified of all events.