Photos c/o Kristen Kilpatrick

Allison Evans is a co-founder of Branch Basics and lives in Texas. After experiencing a health crisis during her junior year of college and endless travels to specialists, she finally experienced true healing after moving to the Hill Country to live with her aunt, Marilee Nelson. She removed all toxic chemicals from her environment, ate real, whole foods and her symptoms completely disappeared. Her healing journey inspired her to co-found Branch Basics to help others experience how to truly thrive in their health. Allison enjoys researching all things holistic parenting, finding clean brands to use and recommend, and helping others navigate their health journeys. She also loves taking walks with her husband and teaching her one-year-old daughter, Sloane, silly dance moves!

The fertility doctor seemed confident when he gave me my diagnosis. At 18 years old, I had one of the worst cases of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) he had ever seen, my ovaries covered in thousands of cysts. I trusted that the doctor knew all the answers, and no is a hard answer to hear. No, I would not be able to have children on my own.

Going from Bad to Worse

In college, my health deteriorated before my eyes. What started as neck and shoulder tightness became extreme, chronic pain radiating from my face to my lower back. I lost motor skills, and my fingers and toes were practically numb. I traveled the country to see the nation’s top arthritis specialists and neurologists, receiving steroid injections on top of daily antidepressants, muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, and painkillers. Perhaps the lowest point was that the smartest people in the room simply didn’t have the answers. I had become a sort of medical mystery, toting around an ever-growing file of blood work, x-rays, MRIs, CT Scans and EKGs. After two years of chronic pain and ample reassurance that my outlook was bleak, I made a decision that would change the course of my life: I would no longer take no for an answer. I knew this would require trust in the One who knew my body intimately. This was surely the road less traveled.

A Natural Approach to Health

This opened me up to the advice of my aunt, who had used a natural approach to heal herself, her son and thousands of people around the country who suffered from various ailments. I started on a journey to clean up the things I was putting in, on and around my body in order to let it heal. As a result I…Got off birth control. Cut out refined sugar, preservatives, dyes and unhealthy oils. Ate only real food. Purged my home of all toxic pesticides, cleaners and fragrances. Used only non-toxic laundry detergent and ditched dryer sheets. Limited Wifi usage. I experienced a radical transformation in my health, my pain virtually disappeared, and I was able to get off all medication. How had no one told me that something so simple – avoiding harmful chemicals and choosing health-giving food and products – would have such profound effects on my health?

Amazing Results and Recovery

A year later I went back to the fertility doctor, and a sonogram verified what I hoped to be true. I had reversed PCOS, having only a few small cysts on each ovary. The doctor, in utter disbelief, wanted to know what I had done and what medicine I had been taking. Finally, after having followed my God-given instincts and taking my health into my own hands, I was able to live a full life. I saw a future where I was no longer victim to my genes or a dire diagnosis. I went on to start a business helping others experience the “power of pure” as I had. And against all odds, I naturally conceived two baby girls, one now a healthy, joy-filled toddler and the other growing beautifully inside my belly.

Actively Pursuing Health

But my journey didn't end when I overcame health issues and got pregnant. In fact, it was just the beginning, as it opened my eyes to a world in which we get to play an active role in our own health -- one in which thinking for ourselves gives life and freedom. We live in a world that is rapidly changing. While technology and medicine are more advanced than ever, we are facing a healthcare crisis. One in 3 women and 1 in 2 men are diagnosed with cancer, a disease that rarely affected our children just a few decades ago, but is now the number one stealer of their little lives. If we don't take action and become our children's advocates, who will? My journey did not turn me into a woman who knows all the answers. Instead, it turned me into one who questions convention and finds hope in the midst of hopelessness. Because for me, this is where freedom lies – this is where we live empowered and assured that the choices we make every day really do matter.

No Turning Back

I have ventured from victim to victory, and life will never look the same. To some it may seem drastic -- I have avoided unhealthy foods for over a decade, I treat sickness with natural remedies and switch my Wifi off each night, and I turned down “the perfect home” because the neighborhood has mosquito trucks. When people ask why I do it the answer is always the same. Until I chose the road less traveled, following my instincts over the experts, my life was about survival. Now, I am thriving. And I have a family that wouldn’t exist if I had continued down society’s path. How could I turn back?

XO,

Allison Evans