The Documenting Hope Project with Beth Lambert

Welcome to the Wellness Sherpa Podcast, where we engage with passionate leaders, holistic thinkers, and disruptors who courageously share their personal journey, mission and wisdom with you. Together, we create a safe space to empower you to live your best, most vital life. Thanks for being here. Well, hello, everyone, it's Jen Payer. I am so thrilled to be here today with a dear friend and colleague in the healing space. Today I have the pleasure of introducing Beth Lambert. She is the founder and executive director and many other hats after that of Documenting Hope. And if you haven't checked that out, we will make sure to share where to find more information about that at the end of the podcast. So, Beth, welcome. I'm so glad we were able to make this happened today.

Me too. So glad to be with you.

Yeah. So, Beth, you know, I know quite a bit about you, but can you share really what Documenting Hope is about, how it came into fruition and really how it's grown and evolved over the last several years?

Yeah. So Documenting Hope is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that I founded about 15 years ago because I had an awakening as a parent that there was an epidemic of chronic health conditions in our kids. I mean, I myself was a young mom with kids who had, you know, myriad symptoms. Skin, gut, behave, behavioral, sensory type symptoms that didn't really merit a diagnosis. But it was the kind of thing that got me searching and knocking on a lot of doors. And in that process, I really became aware of how many parents were out there with kids with diagnoses and these mysterious chronic symptoms. And it just seemed like this whole generation of kids was sick. And I just was so profoundly hit by that moment of like, what is happening to our kids. Right. So in that process, I found answers for my kids mostly through integrative and holistic type of approaches. So changing the diet and the environment and using personalized holistic therapies, which was, of course, lifechanging because you're like, wow, I was never told about any of this stuff. You know, like, I just went to the pediatrician and they just told me to put a cream on it. You know, like, that is not that something that most parents are exposed to. It's not part of our culture. So that was profoundly inspiring. But more than that, I also met other parents in that journey that had reversed their children's diagnoses. So something like autism or autoimmune diseases or these things that I thought at the time were lifelong were reversible or being reversed in these kids. And so that was profoundly Inspiring for me because I was like, wait a minute, I'm seeing all these kids that are suffering, but they don't have to suffer. So I've been on a tear ever since. I wrote a book in 2010 called the Compromised Generation that was looking at why our kids were so sick, what were the environmental factors, what had changed, and then what is it about these kids who get better? What do they do? And then I felt like nobody reads a book, so I'm going to do something else. So then I started the nonprofit Documenting Hope, which is really on a mission to help educate parents about the root causes of these chronic conditions and provide them with resources, education, networking tools, and then also to push the envelope with regard to science and research. Because as you know, science is so captured by industry right now. So the science that's being done is really around, like, what patentable products are out there, what money making thing can I find and research? So that felt to me like no one's ever going to get to the bottom of this chronic illness epidemic in our kids unless we go out and raise the money and do the research ourselves. So that's what Documenting Hope is about. It's about education, building community, and doing original research that the pharmaceutical companies aren't going to be doing. So that's, that's.

And. And not paying for. Right, and not paying for. So let me ask you a question. What were, you know, so first of all, how did you find the modalities that you found? Because 15 years ago, there certainly was not a blueprint and a lot of information. So how did you find it? And what are some things that you've discovered in our environments that are affecting our children's health?

Yeah. So the way I found alternative, holistic, integrative type approaches was literally divine intervention. And I say this every day because I was in my pediatrician's office, total, conventional, very nice, good pediatrics practice. But I was in there and I'd been there again and again and again trying to find answers for my oldest daughter's symptoms. And I went in one time and she had this horrible rash that she would get on her hands every time egg touched her hand. But yet her ige allergies showed no allergy to egg. So the doctor comes back in and I had just seen the egg create this welting, horrible rash on her hand. And the doctor comes in and says she doesn't have an allergy to egg. And I was like, that can't be right. Like what? That can't be right. And I Literally just started bawling, like, just bawling, because I was like. Like, I feel like I'm in clown world. Like, I know she's reacting to something. You're telling me she's not like, what's happening here? And then the doctor left the room, comes back a minute later, and she goes, I don't know how to help you, but this person might be able to. And she slipped me a cell phone number. So I was like, I don't know who this is, but I'm going to call the cell phone number. I call the cell phone number. And it was the personal cell phone of Dr. Nancy O', Hara, who was an integrative pediatrician and had a practice that looked at root causes. Very rare at. This was like almost 20 years ago, right? Like, very rare. Rare for this kind of practitioner to be out there. So I called the cell phone and I was like, I'm almost in tears. And I was like, my daughter needs some help. And my pediatrician gave me your number. And it turns out that I was the first person ever that that conventional pediatrician had referred on to this alternative pediatrician who used to be colleagues, but they kicked her out of the practice because she was doing holistic and integrative things that they didn't understand. So this was literally divine intervention that I got into this integrative practice by chance because the other doctor didn't know what to do with me. So that was what began a journey where in that practice I learned about root causes, but then I also learned about a lot of different holistic therapies that were adjacent to that practice. And I just started exploring and learning and haven't stopped and continue to learn. And in that process of learning, I really became aware of the fact that there's many, many, many things in modern life that are contributing to this epidemic in kids and in my kids. So, you know, people usually have that idea that they're looking for the smoking gun, like, oh, it's the vaccines causing the autism, or it's the toxins causing all the allergies or whatever it is. But the truth is, it's all of it. It's modern living, it's the food, it's the industrial food, it's the ultra processed foods, it's the foods that lack nutrients, it's the. The indoor sedentary lifestyles, living under artificial light and synthetic sur surroundings that are filled with every kind of petrochemical and carcinogen you can imagine. And the list just goes on and on and on. And the Way to simplify it is if you were to ask, why are kids so sick today? It's the total load of all the things that are new to modern humans. Meaning like humans evolved over millions of years to live in a natural environment with circadian rhythms and to be sort of in rhythm and sync with nature. And in the last 150 to 200 years, we've been changing those rhythms, we've been changing the things that are in our environment. And the body, the human body is beginning to break down and be like, yeah, no, I can't deal with all that synthetic stuff. So that's, it's really, it's for our kids, it's cumulative and it's synergistic. And their bodies, when they start developing these symptoms and diagnoses, it's just their body's way of saying, yeah, this is not working. Yeah, I did. Not this way.

And I love what you said, Beth, because, you know, we think about, you know, food and water and all the processed foods, but we don't talk a lot about the lighting. You know, I know part of what got me sick was sitting under fluorescent lights for hours and hours and hours a day in a corporate job, you know, probably in a, you know, you know, really old building with mold and all the things we don't talk a lot about circadian rhythms and being outside. And with technology over the last, what, 50 years, we're spending less and less time outside, more and more time inside. And now you start to see 2 year olds on cell phones, on iPads, right, Become the babysitter, right? We're dealing with EMFs and the Blue light and all of the things that are messing up that circadian rhythm, right? So, you know, do you, as a, you know, I'm just going to keep calling you a healer because you are a healer and you're many other amazing things. But, you know, how does a parent go about starting, how does the parent go about cleaning that up for their children? What are some things that they can do differently? Because, you know, we're not going to change the, the daily practices of school right now.

Right.

Hopefully someday that will change. And they'll teach a class on how to grow food and not, you know, just about history and things like that. They'll teach us practical skills, they'll teach us about nutrition. Even doctors get one, one class in nutrition, right. Which is terrifying. And these are the ones telling us how to get, get better. And we're not getting better, we're just getting worse and worse because the better in that system is about pharmaceuticals. So what are some things that parents can do to ease that toxic burden in their families and, you know, help resolve some of these chronic issues that are going on?

Yeah, it's funny, I often hear from parents who've been on this healing journey with their kids where they'll say, I didn't know I needed to get a PhD in biochemistry to heal my child. Or like, how is it that I have to have so much more knowledge about like, what's in every product and what's on the shelves? And it can feel like that. Like, it can feel so overwhelming. Like if you, let's say your, your normal practice was to walk into Target and to get your laundry detergent in, your toothpast and your face wipes and all these things that you normally do. The, the trick is to not worry about each individual thing. And like, is this one okay? And is this one okay? It's more like if you just take this blanket approach where you shift everything in your life, all the personal care products, all the food, and just try and get it as close to nature as possible. So it's like, I'm on, let's say I'm walking through Target and I would really like some soap because we all need some soap. Pick up the two bottles that are on the shelf and see the one that has the least ingredients. You have to become, you have to become a label reader. If you're buying stuff in products, if you're not going to grow your own food and like make your own soap or candles, you have to read labels. So when you're buying anything, just, just try to avoid anything that's new to nature. If you don't know how to pronounce it, like if you don't know that it's shea butter, or you don't know that it's calendula or something that comes from nature, they'll buy it. So it's kind of like using that as your compass. And in terms of all the decisions you make on a day to day basis, knowing that all those little decisions may not seem so significant, but they actually do add up. So you know, if you're going to be using toothpaste that has 50 ingredients, maybe baking a baking soda, toothpaste that has like essential oil in it might be your better choice. And if you do that kind of switch, it's kind of the eat this, not that kind of idea. But if you do that switch for all the little micro decisions that go on every day, your child is going to get Healthier. It does. Does take time. It's not like if you start on Tuesday, you clean everything out, and by Thursday, your house is clean. Everything your child's going to miraculously healed the body takes the time to adjust and heal and detoxify from all the products. But that is absolutely the best way to set your mind frame is like, just do what's natural in every scenario you can.

And so how would somebody go about educating themselves? So I know when I had my health crisis in 2015, I started reading every label. And at first it felt very burdensome because I was like, I don't know what that is. And then I'd go look it up and say, oh, that's in my food. And it's a chemical. Why am I saying that? The big aha I had is, oh, my gosh, sugar is in everything. I had a can of organic kidney beans to make a chili, and there's sugar in it. And I'm thinking, why is there sugar in kidney beans?

Yeah.

And in ketchup. Right. And so like you said, it's. It sneaks up on you because if it's in 20 things that you're eating that day, all of a sudden you've eaten way more sugar than the body can process. So how would a mom or a family go about educating themselves? Even in the label department, Are there sites to go to that can help people? And what are those?

Yeah, so the things I always tell my. I tell my teenage daughters who don't want to be bothered with this stuff, like they don't want to be label readers. But I tell them at least go to the databases that are already out there. They're super easy. Some of them are even like, QR code scannable. So there's. The Environmental Working Group has a very easy database to use. It's called Skin Deep. So if you're looking for cosmetics or shampoos or soaps or personal care products, you can go on. And they actually, they rank the products from 1 to 10, 10 being the most dangerous and 1 being the safest, based on the criteria of, like, what. What the chemicals or ingredients inside the product do. So if they're carcinogens or endocrine disruptors, they get a 10. They're clean, they get. They get a one. So that's super easy that you can. You can walk into a Sephora or a Walmart or all these, like, normal places that people go and actually find the products in the EWG Skin Deep database. If you just Google that, you can find that the Other. There's other resources that I really like, too, that are so helpful. Like there is a database that also is produced by ewg, which is called their tap water database. So if you're concerned about the chemicals in your tap water, for instance, you can put your zip code into their database and see it's already been tested and see what chemicals or toxins might be in your town or city. Water. Can't do your well water. For your well water, there's a great company called Tap Score where you can go get, you know, just send out your well water. So there are all kinds of databases for these types of things to see, you know, what's, what's safer and what's more toxic. Another great resource is an organization called Moms Across America has been testing for things like glyphosate in your food. Glyphosate is one of the most ubiquitous herbicides that's used in a lot of. A lot of agriculture. So things like wheat and oat and corn and soy and any kind of beans or nuts, if they're conventional, have often been sprayed with glyphosate. And glyphosate is a terrible toxin that destroys your gut bacteria and accumulates in the body and is a big baddie. So if you follow Moms Across America, you stay on top of which products tend to be the worst in terms of exposure to glyphosate. So those are some good resources. But what I also tell my teenage daughters is if your great grandmother wouldn't recognize this, don't eat it. If your great grandmother wouldn't put that on her skin, don't do that. And it's, you know, it's hard to shift people. They have their preferences and their things. And we're a culture that loves the, like, smelly things and shiny things and, you know, like, we love our products. But at the end of the day, we have to find a balance, a balance between, you know, all those things that we want as consumers and the things that are going to protect our health. So, again, those. Those databases are my go to.

Yeah, I think one of my most difficult things as a mother, when my daughter turned 16, so I cooked everything from scratch. You know, I was really, really, you know, particular about what I fed my family. And when she turned 16, she started waking up early and going out the door, and I said, what are you doing? And she said, oh, I'm chick fil A. I'm gonna go get some chicken minis and some hash browns. And this went on for two weeks. She went every single morning for two weeks and then her skin started breaking out and she started having, you know, diarrhea. And she, you know, she said, what is going on? And I said, well, what changed in your life in the last two weeks? And she said, oh yeah, chick fil A. And actually at that point, you know, at 16, she's like, I don't want bad skin, I don't want to feel like crap. And so she self regulated pretty quickly. Two weeks, I was just like, oh my gosh, I failed as a mom. You know, what happened? And I, you know, I got over it pretty quickly because she shifted. But that's, that's. I think that educating our children is so critical because we are in the shiny object, period. We are in what's convenient, what's on, going quick. Right. Because there's so much stimulus going on in our environment.

It's true.

Being able to, you know, pull from the spaghetti and pull out the things that we can control. And you know, I'm curious what your perspective is. I tell people the 8020 rule, you know, if you're cooking at home, use organic grass fed, grass finish, you know, pasture raised eggs. Do the things that are in your control. And then when you go out to dinner, you know, if you can avoid seed oils, awesome. You know, have it on a very rare occasion, your body's going to be malleable and forgive you. But again, I, you know, I think it's so important what you're saying, Beth. It's an accumulation. There's never a one thing that is really the causation of this. It is all of it. We're getting bombarded and bombarded.

Yeah. And the other thing to remember too is like, because we're bombarded with toxins in our air, water, food or skin products, all of it. Another part of the equation that's really important is remembering to detox and figure out ways in your daily life that you can support detox. So things like movement, like exercising and sweating and being in the, in the sun as often as you can, those are all things that help support detox. And there are certain foods you can eat to help support detox, like the cruciferous vegetables or there's even supplements you could take to help support detox. Skin brushing. I mean, there's a million different ways to, to gently and continually detox your body. And it's one of the things that like my grandmother didn't have to worry about that. So it doesn't really fit in my paradigm. If your grandmother did it because she didn't need to. But in this world we, that, that does help. I subscribe to the 8020 rule myself as well. Like we have to live in this world, so what else can we do to support our bodies so that we're not overburdened? And that total load doesn't get too great. So the detoxing and keeping an eye towards like I do and I do twice annual, I do like a detox, like a concerted detox for a couple weeks. Just as a sort of thing I know my body needs. Right. Because there's a reset.

It's almost like a reset. Right?

Yeah.

And I would even say, you know, the older we are, the more accumulation of toxins we have in our body. I used to do it twice a year. I now feel like for me personally, especially because of my health challenges in the past, that I want to detox daily. So whether it's sauna, whether it's exercise, whether it's certain foods, juicing with things like cilantro, spirulina. Right. Things that are going to just keep my body clean. And I think it's important to not do the same thing over and over every day because what I see with the people I work with and in myself is that the body kind of hits a plateau. And so if you're using different modalities, sunshine, nature is one. Right. Food, water, different types of water, putting lemon in your water, things like that. What are some of your favorites? When you say you do a two week detox, you know, a couple times a year. And what are some things you do daily?

So my practices, my daily practices that I think that involve detox or exercise, that's my number one. Like I make sure I get some sort of exercise. Not, not just like an hour in the middle of the day or whenever, but when I can work into my day, like always thinking about my length, I'm like always thinking about my lymph. I know that sounds so weird, but, but it's true. I remember one time the somebody said, I think was like Mark Hyman or somebody who said that, you know, your heart pumps blood in your circulatory system. But, but what moves your lymph which gets the toxins out into the amountaries and out of the body, what moves it is movement. So you need to be constantly moving that. So that's, I would say something that is my, my most important daily practice is always making sure I'm getting some movement. And, and the other piece is sunshine. But I, I do get this little bit of a. I mean, we live south enough to get enough sun, but, like, I. I get this feeling like I really wish I had more sun because I. I know and feel the importance of it and how important that is to detoxing. But. But I also do a more like, in depth detox a couple times a year, as you mentioned, where I'll do like a. I use. There's a push catch, which is made by Quicksilver Scientific, which is basically just some, like, liver supporting herbs and then using charcoal to bind them. And then I'll do saunas, too, as part of that detox and skin brushing, as I mentioned before. So it'll be a little bit more of an intentional detox as opposed to just the regular movement type stuff. Sunshine, cruciferous. I eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables. That is definitely something like, I eat a lot of. I make my own sauerkraut. So that's my kind of way of saying, like, all right, I'm feeding the good bugs in my gut. And then I'm trying to also get those, you know, the sulforaphane, which is good for that detox process and getting that in my body, too.

Yeah. And something you mentioned about the sun. You know, we do things now like wear sunglasses, which becomes a filter. It kind of blocks your ability to absorb the sun. And we've been very programmed to believe we need sunscreen. I personally think that sunscreens are what has increased our cancer rates because we are putting chemicals on our body and then baking them in the sun. I like to recommend morning sun or Even evening sun, 15, 20 minutes if you can get it, go out, have some gratitude, thank nature, thank the sun for providing, because that's what lights up our own body.

The.

It's the true first photo biomodulation. It's bringing light into our cells and helping to regenerate things.

Yeah, and people always. I'm very much the same. And people always ask about, like, sunburn, like, how do you avoid sunburn? And so it's one of these things that I've. I've taught my kids too, right from the very young age, because they're always around their peers, and the peers are like, don't you want sunscreen? And they need something to say and they don't wear sunscreen. And so what I've taught them is you have sun tolerance where you have to build up a tolerance to the sun so that you can actually build up where you are out in the middle of the, you know, noon sun. And not get burned, because you've built the tolerance to it. And my kids haven't gotten sunburn except for the scenario where they've been inside for, like, two months in the winter, not seen a lot of sun, and then gone to, like, a sunny, warm place for a vacation or something like that. But otherwise, you know, we just don't get the sunburns because we have. We put sun tolerance as a priority, so we don't get those sunburns.

Yeah, that's a great word. I love that. Sun tolerance.

Yeah. Yeah. It's just building it up, right?

Yeah, absolutely. So just as we wrap up here, what are some things that folks can do going forward, especially as a family unit, to stay healthy? And by healthy, I mean body, mind, I mean all of it. Right. Because it's everything. So what would you recommend and what kind of education are you utilizing in documenting hope to support the community and the family unit?

Yeah. One of the things that I always recommend to families who are making changes or interested in getting healthier is to find another family that is oriented that way or find a friend that is oriented that way. Because one of the challenges I see in front of us right now is that we live in a culture that is toxic. The culture is. So what we're asking people to do is step outside of that culture. But yet, at the same time, one of the most important things about being a human being is having a sense of belonging. So what we don't want people to do is be like, oh, I'm gonna, like, live counterculture, and not do what any of those people are doing and feel like I'm ostracized or outside of the group. Like, we don't want that piece. So I think the most important piece is to find a community of people. There's so many Facebook groups out there right now, and there' many ways to connect with people that. That there weren't there just 20 years ago. So I feel like you can always find kind of like the holistic people out there, but find a friend locally, find a sister or a brother or somebody who's willing to sort of like going on the changes with you, because then it feels more normal and you don't feel so alone, because you really can feel that way when you're living and paying attention to all the holistic, you know, natural things, and everybody else is just having their blue cupcakes. It feels weird unless you can do it in community. So for your second question, that's an important part of what documenting hope has been Working on over the years has been trying to find a way to really build community so that people can come together and do these kinds of lifestyle changes together, learn how to make the diet changes, learn how to heal their children together. So we actually built an online membership community. We call it Healing Together because that's what we're doing.

What a great concept. Yeah.

And it's a way that people can come online and meet other parents who are going through the healing journey with, you know, their child might have an autism diagnosis or an autoimmune diagnosis, could be anything. And then we have these opportunities where you can have a live zoom call and ask questions of integrative doctors and health coaches. So a couple of times a month we have the. We have these open sessions where anybody can come on who's a member and ask a question. You have a question about detox, you have a question about diet changes, you have a question about supplements or something like that. And so we, we have an open discussion. We have an online forum. We have kind of a. We call it our healing trail map. It's kind of a method for parents to follow if they're starting, you know, from scratch. They want to get a healthier lifestyle. They don't know what to do. We kind of walk them through it and it's. And put it on like kind of step one here, step two, step three, and move people through that way. And then, of course, we also hold an annual conference in November in Orlando where we invite people to do all that same work that learning, that connecting, but doing in person, because we do way too much stuff digitally, virtually. And I think it's important to meet people in person.

And so when is that conference?

It's November 15th, November 15th to 17th, and it's in Orlando at the Omni Champions Gate. And it is awesome. It's three days of talks by different experts on children's health and all the things that you might be interested in, like new healing modalities that people aren't talking about, you know, new what's on the cutting edge of different kinds of strategies, approaches for healing. We bring in speakers for that and we have a parent track, but we also have a professional track. So people who want to get CMEs or CEUs can come and get that as well. And then, and then we even have an opportunity where you can go to both tracks. You can like zigzag back and forth, which is great if you're wanting. Amazing. And parent stuff. Yeah.

And where can people register at your website@documentinghope.com if you go to documentinghope.com you'll.

See a link for the conference. You can also go directly to conference.documenting hope.com and that'll bring you right to the conference website.

Amazing. And I highly recommend, if you're listening to this, that you register because it's a phenomenal conference with phenomenal speakers, and it's one way to get the community together in person, which is so important now more than ever.

For sure. For sure.

So thank you so much, Beth, for being here. You are just a wealth of information. I adore everything you have to share and appreciate it. So thank you.

Thank you, Dan. I feel the same way about you.

A thank you.

All right.

Bye, everyone.