This week I visited Thuna’s Herbal center again on the Danforth in Toronto. I had not been there for some years.
They are wizards. Their store is amazing. It’s like walking through a door and suddenly being in a different world – like something out of Tolkien. No computers, no internet, just jars and jars of herbs with exotic names. And a herbalist-wizard, who blends her potions for you on the spot, decants them into brown paper bags and painstakingly hand-writes the ingredients and instructions on the bag with a black magic marker.
I found Thuna’s way back in the mid 80′s when they helped diagnose my gluten free problem, and for that I owe them endless gratitude for my years of freedom from this horrible affliction.
Here’s how it happened.
At that time I was in terrible shape. I was bleeding internally and in constant pain. (This was before the days of their being so much knowledge out there regarding gluten intolerance.)
Back in the mid 80′s I was living then on Monarch Park in the Danforth in Toronto, and one day while out walking I saw their sign. I went in to purchase some supplements as I was constantly fatigued. I spoke to a lady there – her name was Eleanor – and during our conversation she pointed to a door leading to a narrow staircase. I went upstairs to the 2nd floor office and at the entrance there was a small sign that read ‘R. Macneil MD, Naturopath’.
I went upstairs and there he was, sitting behind a large wooden desk in a bush shirt with his feet up. There was a small examination room next to the office.
He agreed to see me right away and told me his story. A medical doctor, who had issues with the prescribing of drugs, he had decided to set up as a naturopath.
I vented my woes – years of pain, the bleeding, the fatigue, brain fog, the tightness in my neck at certain times, feelings of depression. And the list of doctors and treatments, – valium perscriptions, pain kilers, referrals to psychiatrists – anyone with this problem knows all about this!
He listened patiently until I wound down, and said quietly, I think I can help you …
I was skeptical as you can well imagine and said, “How can you possibly know what the problem is, you haven’t even examined me” – glancing over to the examination room. I had expected the usual long and protracted exploration.
“I can examine you if you really want me to but I don’t need to ” he snapped, “I know exactly what’s wrong with you. I could tell the moment you walked in that you have a food allergy, probably to wheat.”
Then he proceeded to tell me all about gluten and it’s effects and advised me to stop eating anything with wheat, corn, eggs and a few other things for few weeks and com back to see him in a few weeks.
As I was leaving he recommended that I read ‘Dr. Mandell’s 5-Day allergy relief system’ .
This was the beginning of my healing and my gluten free journey which ultimately lead me to my soul mate and a way to help thousands of people with this condition.
More on this, and my return to Thuna’s in my next blog.
