ARTICLES
A disclaimer: You are unique and with the help of a qualified health practitioner, you can find what works best for you: body and mind. Bottom line, this information is not to be taken in leui of qualified medical care. This page is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for individualized medical or professional advice, care, diagnosis, or treatment. Consult your personal physician regarding the applicability of any information on this site.
Understanding hormone terminology can be so confusing!
Because of this, I will give you some bite-sized bits of information for you to easily break through all of that confusion.
This week, let's talk about: natural vs. synthetic vs. bio-identical hormones
A fellow member asked about emotions that are not suppressed. And what if emotions such as anger come up constantly, even with little or no provocation?
This was such a great question; I thought I'd write a bit on this, as I'm sure many of you have similar questions.
Body organs and emotions
In ancient theory, the liver is the seat of anger. Whether anger causes liver disruption or liver disruption causes anger is likely of no consequence. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
While short-term stress is normal, long-term chronic stress has been associated with numerous health conditions such as anxiety, hypertension, chronic fatigue syndrome, HPA axis dysfunction (aka adrenal fatigue), and metabolic syndrome.
Inside Stress:
No one can avoid stress entirely but what truly matters is how each person internalizes stress. For one person, a spider, flying in an airplane, or keeping up with the daily grind is no big deal - for another, all of this can be downright traumatizing.
Innate Intelligence:
In naturopathic medicine, it is understood that the body holds innate intelligence. Re-read that last statement because it’s important. In my opinion, modern medicine has lost respect for this innate intelligence and actually assumes IT is more intelligent than the body itself.
A fever is the body’s way of tuning the immune system. A fever is a healthy response of the immune system and shows that the body holds great vitality. The body can mount a response to a disturbance in the microbial environment, heating the body in order to remove the unwanted microbe and restore balance.
Fatigue . . . its such a drag, am I right? At times it can feel tortuous to get through a workday when you are dealing with fatigue.
While there are 100+ reasons you might be fatigued, did you know that the first sign of dehydration is . . . fatigue? Yup.
But let’s back up a bit.
I'm delivering this story to you wrapped in a big beautiful bow. It is one of my favorite short stories of all time. Taken to heart, this story can teach us how to leave behind the things that drain our energy and in my opinion, energy is the greatest currency of our lives.
I hope you love it as much as I do.
I think we would be lying if we said we didn’t want to reverse or at least slow the aging process. Maybe not for vanity sake, but we want to live a LONG AND HEALTHY life… to be vital until our last breathe.
But if we are disillusioned with the propaganda of expensive serums, face-lifts and the idea that aging is 100% related to genetics, where do we turn?
The answer might surprise you.
Did you know that majority of all visits to the doctor are for stress-related problems?
According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.
The culprit behind so many of today’s health problems is staring us in the face. Yet with such alarming rates of stress, effective treatments to offset the severe impact of this healthcare crisis seem beyond reach. Until now.
If you have seen me in private practice, you may have heard this analogy - but I am going to say it again, because IT...IS...SO...CRAZY...IMPORTANT.
Naturopathic treatment plans can sometimes feel overwhelming. Naturopathic doctors aren't known for one-hit-wonder medications.
In some countries, physicians are paid when their patients get well. Under the health insurance model in the United States, physicians are paid for treating ill people, not necessarily for making them well.
Can you imagine if your doc was paid only when you were truly getting healthier? What if they were paid more the less you needed their care?
Autoimmunity is thought to occur from a multitude of factors. Genetic predisposition + stress + inflammation + leaky gut + immune dysfunction = an immune “attack” on bodily glands/organs.
So then, why does one person develop autoimmunity of the joints (rheumatoid arthritis), while another develops autoimmunity of the thyroid gland (Hashimoto’s) and yet another, autoimmunity of the adrenal glands (Addison’s), or the pancreatic beta cells (Type 1 Diabetes)?
Belly Fat
It's not just an issue of vanity- let's all rebel against the cultural ideal of skinny perfectionism. Yuck!
However, it is an issue of health.
But let's distinguish between the bad and the neutral…
Estrogen Dominance and Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism (low thyroid function) affects women 7 times more frequently than men! What gives? The epidemic of estrogen dominance among women is at least partly to blame.
The Salk Institute published a study in 2015 showing mice limited to eating during an 8-hour period to be healthier than mice eating freely throughout the day. After 100 days, the mice that ate frequently gained weight, developed high cholesterol and high blood sugar levels, showed evidence of liver damage and reduced physical abilities; eerily similar to what we see in humans with pre diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Read MoreChronic psychological stress has been associated with most diseases know to modern medicine; everything from immune suppression, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer. In fact, a study published in 2011 suggests how significant early life stressors cause children’s cells to produce more inflammatory responses over a lifetime. This pro-inflammatory state leads to hormonal dysfunction and eventually, disease
Read More"Alternative" medicine has been around for about 5,000 years. Back then, it was simply called "medicine".
What Changed?
When the pharmaceutical industry exploded in the 1950s - all of the sudden, anything other than a pill was considered "alternative" and frowned upon by those in white coats.
Image by @nicole.k.buchanan
Read MoreHerbs are powerful medicine.
Because they are not made in a laboratory, they contain a multitude of constituents (not just one, as with pharmaceuticals), which act in a synergistic manner.
Improving the issue of estrogen dominance by decreasing excess estrogen levels and by supporting healthy progesterone levels, will also provide benefits for thyroid hormones.
Read More
