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How Much Do You Know About the Lymphatic System?

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How much do you know about the lymphatic system friends?🤔 We consider the kidneys, colon……. even the skin and lungs as our major detoxifier focus, right? The lymphatic system is a major detoxification highway and frankly it’s overlooked in general Westernized medicine. Thankfully, there are now lymphatic clinics, lymphatic massage specialists (tho not always easy to find), and lymphatic educators out there. However, they are not called upon until major lymph sludge has developed.
 
If you’re here…. you already know that the best defense in health and wellness is a good offense.🙌 How are you loving on your lymphatic system? How do you know if you need to (hint…. we should ALL be loving on our lymphatic system regularly to avoid toxin loads). 🤓
 
Feel puffy or swollen in any area of your body is a call to action. A white flag is being waved. Dimply cellulite is another indicator that your lymph highway has not been able to remove toxins as well as it should be.
 
Join me in cleaning up the mess! You’ll need Epsom salts, and a dry brush in addition to these items: (shopping list👇)
 
If you’d like to be added to the education group to learn tips and tricks for a high functioning lymphatic system let me know and I’ll get you added!
 
xoxo~ liz

Thyroid Problem Clues – part 2

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Analysis Paralysis has finally released its hold on me as I dip into the complexities of thyroid dysfunction and their absolute connection with autoimmune disorders. It’s important to understand that over 90% of diagnosed hypothyroid patients actually have an autoimmune disorder.
History always helps me understand science and biology because history leaves valuable clues. A journal article I read yesterday had this interesting tidbit:
“During the first half of the century [1900’s], autoimmune disease was viewed as biologically implausible.”
My, how things have changed!🥴 Resistance to the idea that autoimmunity could not happen began waning in the 1960’s. By then, life had changed drastically in many ways. Processed foods were introduced into mainstream eating habits, medication / vaccination use steadily inched upwards into the norm rather than the exception, plastics became part of our everyday world, fluoride was added to water, personal care products had a growing ingredient list of words that were barely pronounceable, herbicides were used ubiquitously and parents let their kids run behind the trucks that were spraying DDT for mosquitoes🦟! Thankfully the DDT spraying has stopped, but other pesticides quickly took its place. The toxin list has grown by leaps and bounds over the decades. Today, our bodies have to wade through the toxic soup☠️ known as the standard American life. Genetically, we haven’t changed appreciably, yet we are now part of the sickest generation in recorded history.
Did you know that at least 90% of genetic expression is the result of our environment, while the other 10% can be attributed to the role of the proverbial parental genetic dice? Epigenetics (the expression of our genes based on environmental influences) will look differently for each person based upon genes + exposure to infection (often viral), the Standard American Diet (simultaneously nutritionally deficient and toxic), pollutants (both in and outside the home), medications/vaccines, emotions, and stress. Epigenetics is so specifically unique to an individual that even identical twins👭 may express genes differently when exposed to chronic stressors. If you are going to put together a perfect crime scene,🔎 this is the way to do it!
 
Roughly 20% of the adult population in the USA now has an autoimmune disorder
And this percentage continues to rise. Prior to the 1970’s, autoimmune disorders were relatively obscure. Hashimoto’s, the autoimmune version of hypothyroidism, is considered by The Autoimmune Registry to be the second most common of all autoimmune disorders (second only to rheumatoid arthritis).
There is both bad and good news about autoimmune disorders. While they never disappear, they can certainly go into remission with the right lifestyle changes and choices. It’s a good thing we are in control of our personal choices!😉
 
According to leading Hashimoto’s and autoimmune disorder expert, Dr. Datis Kharrazian, there are 3 stages of autoimmune disease:
🔎Stage One is the silent stage. The body has begun losing its tolerance to its own tissue, but to the western health practitioner, there will be very few “hard core” symptoms. You though, as the CEO and chief sleuth🕵️, will feel “off”. What does “off” feel like? Well, that depends! It may be something as subtle as spending more (or less!) time in the bathroom. Perhaps it might be a rash that comes and goes. Maybe it means you are having difficulty finding the zest for life you once had, or you just have a little harder time waking up in the morning or falling asleep at night. Stage One is very important, as catching “things” early can be a game changer in the outcome. Lab work identifying elevated TPOAb and TGAb antibodies (for Hashimoto’s) can be very revealing. Neither test is very expensive when you pay out of pocket. Sadly, insurance companies often refuse to pay for these as “maintenance” labs. If your request is refused, I highly encourage you to pay out of pocket elsewhere and have the tests run annually with other labs.
 
🔎Stage Two is considered the reactivity stage and actual destruction to target tissue has begun. Symptoms are much “louder” and harder to ignore inside your own body. In fact, it may be this stage that finally sends you to a healthcare practitioner, though you’ve felt “off” for perhaps even years.
 
🔎In Stage Three, westernized medicine officially acknowledges the autoimmune disease. Significant destruction of the targeted tissue has occurred and there may even be collateral damage occurring elsewhere throughout the body. At this stage, damage can be seen by an MRI or ultrasound in addition to the elevated antibodies and actual symptoms.
 
Interestingly, the level of antibodies detected doesn’t necessarily indicate the severity of the Hashimoto’s. The antibodies themselves do not cause the thyroid gland destruction. Without getting too technical, the antibodies bind to and mark the spot (ie: the thyroid), and then the T Cells ( think of them as a special forces unit of the immune system) come in and attack what the antibodies have marked as “foreign”. If your own personal set of T cells are especially aggressive, your antibody count can be low but destruction of the thyroid can still be severe. Likewise, if your T cells act more like lazy posers, your TPOAb’s can be high but destruction probably won’t be as severe as you might think. Again…. epigenetics at play.
Here’s where we take a bunny trail🐰 detour to talk a bit about gluten. Unless you live in an untouched area of the wilderness with no internet, you’ll likely know that many people have issues with gluten. Generally, you hear about gluten and digestive disturbances such as celiac disease (another autoimmune disorder affecting the small intestine), but did you know that gluten is commonly a trigger for worsening both Hashimoto’s (hypothyroid) and Grave’s (hyperthroid) disease?
 
Gluten is a sneaky little son of a biscuit eater, for multiple reasons:
🍞It takes very little to cause great distress in gluten hypersensitive individuals…… like less than 1/20th of a teaspoonful according to some experts, and even less than that according to others.
🍞The after effects of a single gluten consumption/use can be felt for weeks to months after the occurrence in the gluten hypersensitive individual.
🍞Gluten flies under the radar and hides in the most seemingly innocuous of places: soy sauce, corn flakes, salad dressings, marinades, seasonings, processed deli meats, body and beauty care products, and candy (glucose syrup or dextrose can come from wheat) are just a few on the list.
🍞Some thyroid medications (and other medications and supplements too!) contain gluten as an inert filler ingredient. Currently the FDA does not have strict labeling requirements regarding the labeling of gluten positive medications. At the time of this writing, all brands of levothyroxine (except Mylan which is certified gluten free) contain gluten, as does the thyroid medication Cytomel. (And yes, I agree. Why in the world would the pharmaceutical industry use inflammatory gluten as a common filler, especially in a medication for a population prone to be gluten sensitive? As I’ve said before, we’re worth more as a commodity if we are sick than we are if we are healthy friends.🙄)
🍞Other aliases of gluten include starch, pregelatinized starch, sodium starch glycolate, dextrin, dextrate, dextro-maltose, maltodextrin, sodium starch glycolate and more. Sneaky Pete, indeed!
 
Is all gluten bad? 🤔Resoundingly no. Although if someone is found to be gluten hypersensitive, it’s a good idea to avoid it as much as possible. Modern wheat and the ancient grain Einkorn are two very different grains containing different types and ratios of gluten. Not only is Einkorn considered to be vastly more nutritious than modern wheat, the troublesome type of gluten (the “D” genome) doesn’t appear to be present in Einkorn according to Dr. Davis, author of “Wheat Belly”. If you aren’t sure if Einkorn is a safe form of grain for you, try incorporating it into a food challenge. Einkorn is also much more highly digestible and because of its starchstructure, is less apt to cause blood sugar spikes.
 
For the non gluten hypersensitive individual there are a few more reasons to nosh on some tasty Young Living Einkorn spaghetti, pancakes, granola, or cereal…..Regular intake of gluten has been found to help mediate exposure to heavy metals. Conversely, those on a gluten free diet tend to have higher blood and urine levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium ,commonly found in many well known lipstick brands,. If you already use YL Savvy Minerals lipstick💋, here’s a high five…. It’s toxin free!
 
For being a simple little butterfly🦋 looking structure in our neck we often don’t think about, the thyroid is certainly complex and so easily affected by outside influence!
 
xoxo~ liz
 

Clues From Our Thyroid – part 1

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Thyroid disorders are like🦎 chameleonic villians. They look different in every person, and their characteristics may change according to their environment. Thyroid disease is a master of disguise! This is important to understand
 

 Two key reasons:

  1. Innocent until proven guilty. It’s estimated that perhaps 18-25% of women have an underlying thyroid disorder (It’s somewhat less common in men). This still means that 75-82% of us (women, for statistical ease) do not. Become well acquainted with your body so that you may better decipher the clues you are being given, and remember that there are many possible causes for almost every clue the body gives. Cluster clues for the win!
  2. Thyroid disease is overwhelmingly mistaken and/or overlooked in favor of other disorders (often mental health related) by the corporate owned medical community. Thyroid diagnosis often requires intuition (Holy Spirit discernment), patience, persistence, and attention to details. If you feel “off”, and yet your doctor tell you “everything looks good”…. Who do you believe? I hope you pointed a finger back at yourself just now. You believe what you know about your body and your refined detective skills!

Function of the Thyroid

While every little organ and gland of the endocrine system is important for stellar body function, very often the trail of tears leads back to the thyroid, the butterfly 🦋shaped gland located just below the Adam’s apple along the front of the windpipe. The thyroid’s function is to regulate all the processes of energy release on microscopic (cellular) and macroscopic (full body) levels. Because hypothyroidism (especially Hashimoto’s) is the predominant thyroid disorder, most of what I write about will be centered upon thyroid deficiency. Grab a mirror (you’ll need it for a few of them!) and your journal and take stock of your own possible crime scene.
 

Symptoms of thyroid deficiency might include:

  • Chronic fatigue or tiredness.
  • Muscular fatigue
  • Puffiness or evidence of fluid retention
  • Difficulty regulating body temperature (chronic feelings of being hot or cold. Recall the posts on body temperature)
  • Development of Reynaud’s Syndrome
  • Reduced pulse pressure and blood pressure
  • Heart rate fluctuations
  • Angina and/or feelings of breathlessness
  • Higher cholesterol. People with subclinical hypothyroidism often have higher levels of LDL cholesterol. Thyroid disease is a major contributor to cholesterol problems.
  • Arteriosclerosis (decreased elasticity of arteries)
  • Changes in bruising or clotting (generally, bruising will become more common)
  • Depression and/or anxiousness
  • Difficulty gathering thoughts, memory, focus and concentration
  • Headaches with unknown origin
  • Moodiness or lack of enthusiasm in life
  • Peripheral neuropathy
  • Carpal tunnel (there is a strong link!)
  • Random shooting pains in the hands and feet
  • Osteoporosis (chronic hypothyroidism can be a contributor)
  • Visual problems: dry eyes, age related macular degeneration, primary open angle glaucoma
  • Loss of the outer eyebrows
  • Chronic constipation
  • Increased incidence of gallstones (thyroid hormones affects the composition of bile and how well it flows)
  • Poor digestion of fats and proteins
  • Decreased stomach acid resulting in poorly digested foods (If this clue is on your radar, grab your YL Essentialzyme and give your body digestive support!)
  • Bloating, gassy
  • Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
  • Insulin resistance (and therefore) increased risk of developing Type II Diabetes
  • Thicker tongue, perhaps even with scalloped teeth marks on the sides of the tongue.
  • Changes in how food tastes.
  • Periodontal disease
  • Development of a husky or hoarse voice
  • Infertility or difficulty maintaining a pregnancy
  • Heavy periods (There is often a link between hypothyroidism and PCOS)
  • Sex hormone imbalances (progesterone, estrogen and testosterone in women)
  • Loss of libido
  • Postpartum depression (very common)
  • Premature menopause
  • Dry skin
  • Deep cracks and scales on the bottoms of the feet
  • Deep lines on the palms of hands or soles of feet
  • Yellowish orange or reddish color on palms of hands or soles of feet
  • Reddish spots, bumps, or rashes that come and go
  • Acne (often seen in conjunction with testosterone level disturbances)
  • Brittle, flaking nails or nails that fail to grow well
  • Hair loss (on the head) or gaining hair in all the wrong places elsewhere
  • Getting sick more often, especially upper respiratory tract infections and in women, persistent urinary tract infections.
  • Bedwetting in kiddos
  • Delayed wound healing
  • Gaining or losing weight without trying
  • Poor sleep
  • Iron deficiency anemia (roughly 50% of people with thyroid disease struggle with this)
That’s the bulk of this particular crime scene checklist. Thyroid disease is very interesting in that the severity of symptoms often are not reflected in thyroid specific lab work. Lab Work is based on a standardized bell curve and not everyone fits exactly into that bell curve mold. Additionally, many western medicine health professionals only test TSH when first evaluating the competency of the thyroid gland. That alone is insufficient information to determine thyroid function. This list of possible symptoms, while not completely comprehensive, is more valuable in determining the probable health of your thyroid than a single TSH test.
More to come friends.
 
xoxo~ liz
#sharingiscaring
#lovingyourthyroidisgoodmedicine
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#becomingyourownhealthdetective
#goodmedicine

Health Clues from Low Body Temperature – part 2

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In the mid-1800’s, a German physician by the name of Carl Wunderlich measured the temperature🌡 of about twenty five thousand people and found that the average body temperature was 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C).
 
Each one of us is a product of our internal, external, and emotional environment. Our personal histories (including generationally) have a way of defining us. Roughly twenty years after Dr. Wunderlich established 98.6F🌡 as the human baseline body temperature, the Second Industrial Revolution began. Railroads, new technologies including electricity, telegraph, telephones, “Big Oil”, and later, Big Pharma each had a tremendous impact on our ancestors. As decades passed, the environmental toxin load continued to increase. The Third Industrial Revolution began in the 1960’s and brought us electronics, processed foods, telecommunications, digital technology, biotechnology, nuclear energy, automobiles, more stress and more Big Pharma. The current effects of all of these revolutionary products may have made life (arguably) easier but made us sicker in the process. We are currently the sickest generation in modern history. In 2017, a study of thirty five thousand people found that the average body temperature🌡 is now 97.9 F.
 
Perhaps we shouldn’t be as worried about global warming as we should be worried about human cooling.🙄🧐🤨🤔
 
Chronic low core body temperature🌡 can create a false sense of wellness, also making it hard to mount a defense in the form of a fever if needed. A fever is an active corrective process in the body. To quote Dr. Jernigan, “ Blood that is overcooled from a cool core temperature is too thick to efficiently carry oxygen and the vital lung capacity is reduced leading to shallow breathing. This means that the oxygen to carbon dioxide exchange rate in the lungs is minimal. Now, combine the [slow] degenerative effects of the oxygen deprivation and the cold temperature and the fact that all of this and the overgrowth of microbes [review last week’s post] promote an acidic environment and you have greatly accelerated cellular degeneration and the [eventual] onset of disease.”
 

🌡Tracking Body Temperature🌡

 
Tracking body temperature is super easy with a basic thermometer.
Measure temperature upon morning wake up before getting out of bed (ideally between 6-8am). This will be your core body temperature that is not influenced by food, drink, or activity. Take your temperature again at night sometime between 8-10pm after you’ve been sitting or resting for about 30 minutes.
 
Track the difference between the morning and evening temperatures. There should be a difference of at least 0.9degrees F.
 
Ultimately, you are looking at two things (clues):
 
1️⃣Is body temperature daily average close to 98.6?
2️⃣Does the body allow its temperature to fluctuate from cool in the morning to warmer in the evening?

Temperature Too Cool?

If your body temperature trends towards “coolness”, try incorporating some of these suggestions into your daily life:
 
🔎Have you had lab work to rule out a physiological issue? Labs you may want to request include a full thyroid panel (TSH, T3, T4, Reverse T3, TPOab), saliva cortisol, DHEA, and hormones, CBC/CMP
 
🔎Identify any medications that might be affecting body temperature. Common culprits include beta blockers (blood pressure meds), antidepressants, sedatives, and other mood altering medications. Often, lifestyle changes, holistic (mind,body, spirit) care, and natural alternatives may reduce or eliminate the need for all of these. It requires ownership of one’s own body to do the work to identify and mediate the reason for the need. Hard stuff? Yes. Never doubt for a second that you are not worthy of doing the work to make it happen.
 

🔎What might mind, body, and spirit care look like? To each person it will look a little different because of our individual uniqueness.

 
👉Jump start metabolism. A sluggish metabolism may simply need movement and exercise. Hot/cold therapy is another way to stimulate metabolism. I wrote about cryotherapy in the topic devoted to dopamine deficiency. Do you see the connection?
👉Prayer and meditation relieve stress. Both activities also activate certain parts to the brain that control attention and autonomic functions such as blood pressure and metabolism. This is not an “Amen, Dig in.” type of prayer, rather developing a deep rooted connection with God in quiet and solitude. The studies on this are fascinating.
👉Music influences physiological variables such as blood pressure, heart rate, immune and endocrine function….. and body temperature. Body temperature tends to rise when listening to music, particularly when listening to classical or specific frequency based music. Look for a company called Wholetones (founded by Michael Tyrrell) for more information on healing music.
👉Infrared saunas and biomats. While they have multiple health benefits, for the sake of this particular discussion, they work to help the body “heat up”. Think of them as “training wheels” for 98.6.
👉Outdoor time on the regular. Bonus points for pairing this with exercise!
👉Dry brushing for improved lymphatic flow. A healthy lymphatic system is crucial in the toxin elimination process. If you are not already adding a drop or two of Young Living’s Lemon Vitality essential oil into your water (use a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel cup) start now for daily gentle lymphatic system support.
👉Removing toxins from daily life. I cannot stress this enough. Our bodies are dropping in temperature because of daily cumulative exposure to toxins. We can detox all day every day…. But if we continue to add in toxins as fast as we detox, there is no end in sight. Medications (tho occasionally needed) are a toxin by definition. Knowing this is one of the biggest reasons I’m such a strong advocate for finding a healthier way whenever possible. Additionally, a healthy body temperature starts with a toxin free home. Have you ditched the chemicals yet? Young Living’s Thieves Household cleaner and Thieves Kitchen and Bath Scrub fulfill all cleaning needs, and support healthy immune function in the process. Crank up your diffuser and ditch the fragrance plug in’s. There are a million crazy good smelling possibilities as you make your own signature diffuser blends. My favorite right now is Young Living’s Believe essential oil blend and Lushious Lemon (oh my!). Soaps, skincare, cosmetics, perfumes….. All of these generally are loaded with toxins and Young living has safe, toxin free alternatives. We simply cannot afford NOT to use them.
👉Chiropractic care. Chiropractic manipulation supports nervous system function and regular chiro care may ultimately help a thyroid, adrenal or other underlying physiological dysfunction.
👉Learning to release emotions and attitudes that don’t serve your body. Unhappy, uninspired, dissatisfied, dull, and passive living (ie: life happens to you, you don’t make life happen) are all associated with lower body temperatures. Live life fully and engaged. Nobody can steal that from you. It is a personal choice regardless of circumstance.
👉Raindrop. Have you received one yet? If not, find someone who can give you one. Better yet, get the Raindrop Technique Collection and begin learning with a buddy. There are comprehensive instructions included in the kit.
👉Detoxification of the body is not a “once and done” process. It’s a lifestyle. Make sure your gut is moving proficiently. Probiotic Life 9 (MightyPro for the kiddos), ICP Daily, and digestive enzymes (such as Essentialzymes-4, Detoxzyme, Essentialzyme, Allerzyme, or Mightyzyme kids chewables) may be integral tools for optimal gut health support for the motility or toxin challenged individual.
👉Support the adrenal glands as needed. Endogize capsules or Endoflex essential oil blend are two highly supportive tools.
👉“Hot oils” have their place too in supporting a healthy body’s temperature. Consider applying these oils to the bottoms of your feet daily as a supportive measure: Thieves, Mountain Savory, Nutmeg, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme (notice how many of those are in the Raindrop protocol!)
 
Consider this. Raising core body temperature by 2 degrees positively influences immune system activity by up to 40%. This is why having a low grade fever when you are fighting off something isn’t a bad thing and it isn’t a good idea to suppress a low fever.🤓
I’ll leave you with this. Make 98.6 F great again, and improve your overall health! 🙌 🌡
If you have lived with a low body temperature for years, be aware that your body will need retraining, and that doesn’t happen overnight. This kind of clue scene takes awhile to clean up. It may take a year or longer of daily care before the body is able to begin correcting the impact of chronic low temperature. Patience and baby steps, but I promise it will be worth it!
 
xoxo~ liz
 

Restless Leg Syndrome – part 2

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​Restless Leg Syndrome: Respite Part II
One of the honed skills of a most excellent detective revolves around the process of eliminating suspects. This is key in nabbing the right culprit. How many news stories have you read about the wrong person languishing in jail for a crime they didn’t commit? The same is true when parsing health clues…. We’ve got to find the true offender.
The reality is that there may be a single culprit, or a gang of culprits….. AND, there might be some shady characters who look suspicious, but are not the real troublemakers. As the lead health detective, you may choose to haul them in for questioning (closer evaluation), only to find out they are truly innocent. Don’t get discouraged…. readjust your Sherlock Holmes cap and move on to question the next suspect! 
As you’ve learned, all restless leg syndrome cases are unique. Unfortunately, nearly all cases are treated the same way by introducing pharmaceuticals to mediate discomfort. The most common medications used are anti-seizure medications (ex: gabapentin), drugs to treat Parkinson’s (ex: levodopa/carbidopa), opioids (ex: tramadol), or benzodiazepines (ex: clonazepam). I can personally guarantee that while each of these may soothe the legs, if used long term, will lead to misery and/or dysfunction in another part of the body.
If you’d like to build some gentle DIY soothing support for restless legs while you work on finding the root cause, try these recipes and find the one that serves you best. You’ll not want to stop here tho, because the culprit is still on the loose.
(Each recipe makes a 10ml roller bottle)
🌿Recipe #1🌿
20 drops Marjoram
20 drops Roman Chamomile
10 drops Lavender
10 drops Frankincense
Fill remaining space in roller bottle with carrier oil.
******
🌿Recipe #2🌿
15 drops Lavender
10 drops Roman Chamomile 
10 drops Vetiver
5 drops Lemongrass
5 drops Marjoram
5 drops Blue Yarrow
5 drops Peppermint
5 drops Clove
3 drops Ginger
3 drops black pepper
Fill remaining space in roller bottle with carrier oil.
******
🌿Recipe #3🌿
AromaSiez (snap a roller fitment on that puppy and use as is!)
*****
🌿Recipe #4🌿
10 drops Peace & Calming
10 drops Panaway
10 drops Stress Away
10 drops Lavender
Fill remaining space in roller bottle with carrier oil
*****
Other ways to naturally alleviate the discomfort of restless legs include:
*Reducing caffeine intake (especially after lunch)
*Stop smoking
*Weight loss (Recall that elevated BMI contributes to restless legs)
*Increased exercise
*Cryotherapy
*Warm or cold compresses
*Weighted blankets
*Avoiding certain foods including processed foods, fatty fried foods, sodas, sugar, excessive alcohol, and caffeine. 
*Adding specific food “tools” to your diet (ex: cashews, almonds, peanuts or brown rice) that are rich in magnesium. If you add magnesium to your diet thru supplementation, you’ll want to look for forms such as glycinate or malate for maximum bioavailability.
*Balance your micronutrient load with Young Living’s Mineral Essence and NingXia Red. You’ll be so glad you added both of these to your routine! 
*Young Living CBD muscle rub. CBD has a relaxing effect on the muscles and a calming effect on nerves.
*Work on ways to improve your natural dopamine levels.
*Quinine water (true tonic water)
If you’ve done your prep work, you may now have a line up of suspects causing your restless legs. I am an enormous advocate of proper and extensive lab work, as concrete answers eliminate the guesswork. It will save both time and frustration.
-Iron deficiency may be easily identified and treated once you have concrete lab work answers on both iron and ferritin levels. It’s not generally a good idea to supplement iron until you know. Too much iron in the body can be quite damaging over time.
-If you suspect a hormone imbalance (including thyroid) may be a contributing factor, lab work can confirm your suspicions.. A hormone imbalance will also yield many other possible clues. Find your clue cluster, and you’ll likely find the culprit, and then you can get to work on the solution! 
-Nutritional deficiencies can be so very subtle, and don’t always have a strong set of clues. Magnesium is a simple and safe supplement to try if lab work simply isn’t possible. Ample magnesium in the diet is also helpful for reducing chronic constipation episodes, reducing symptoms of depression, improving PMS symptoms, preventing migraines, and more!
-Kidney disease can be a hard one, as both the disease itself and many medications used in chronic kidney disease patients are potential culprits. 
-Arguably, drug 💊induced restless legs is among the biggest offenders. Not surprisingly, countries that do not rely on pharmaceuticals as their predominant mode of care have the lowest incidence of restless leg syndrome within their population. Additionally, these countries also tend to live within a diet structure that has minimal processed foods and sugars available to them. 
Take a close look at the medications that can cause restless legs (last week’s post). The biggest known offenders are 💊acid reducers (ex: omeprazole, pantoprazole, esomeprazole) 💊  escitalopram, 💊fluoxetine, 💊levodopa/carbidopa, 💊, levothyroxine, 💊mirtazapine, 💊olanzapine, and💊 tramadol.  Many of these medications could be avoided with lifestyle choices and changes that address balancing mind, body, and spirit.
Approximately 10% of the population is on medication for heartburn and GERD related symptoms. According to a recent study:
 “… consuming these powerful acid-blocking agents is strongly linked to a significantly higher incidence of restless legs syndrome, compared to those who did not consume these medications.” 
Gah! Please go back and re-read all you’ve learned about the clues within the digestive system. Pairing up clues is the name of the game!
Finally, if you have children, remember that restless legs is not an “adults only” dysfunction. Up to 6% of kiddos have restless legs which often are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Kids are not always able to verbalize what they are experiencing, which can add to the challenge. Sleep, mood, cognition, and quality of life are significantly affected in the pediatric population. Not surprisingly, ADHD, depressive symptoms and anxiousness are often included in the clue cluster.
xoxo~ liz
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