Hormones

Energy and Sleep in 3 Simple Steps

Liz James · October 16, 2023 ·

I’ll preface this post by talking about a little experiment I did last month when Nutmeg was a freebie. You might recall that I had shared that I had read that taking a few drops of nutmeg at night (or using it in a roller bottle over adrenals) before bed can help with sleep. I committed to doing this for a month.

UPDATE: I’m not stopping!

….. who would have thought that nourishing your adrenals before bedtime could be helpful for sleep?!

When your adrenals are already struggling, you might think… why stress ’em out by adding one more thing on your “to-do” list? Not this time friends…… give it a try. This month, in addition to my new bedtime BFF Nutmeg, I’m adding En-R-Gee into my day. (I already get the early morning sunshine as I do my a.m. farm chores at sunrise

)

Want to join me?

***************************************************************

Do you ever feel crazy because technically you’re “healthy” and “fine,” but you always feel drained and depleted?

Do you struggle to recover after a sickness, a stressful event, or even a few late nights?

Do you start your day and run out of gas before you even begin, only to get energetic late at night and repeat the cycle all over again?

Have you tried everything to help your hormones, blood sugar levels, cravings, and weight but all the things people tell you aren’t working?

There may be two tiny little glands in your body that need some love. Your adrenals.

The adrenal glands are small organs that sit on top of the kidneys. They maintain and boost our energy, kind of like a car shifting into first, second, and third gear as we go about our day.

They also help our bodies survive during times of stress. Since many of us live in a state of constant stress, they wear down quickly.

The adrenals are part of the endocrine system. Also known as the suprarenal glands, they’re involved in producing over 50 hormones that drive almost every bodily function, many of which are essential for life.

Adrenal glands play a huge role in stress response. Here’s how it works:

• Your brain registers a threat, whether emotional, mental, or physical.

• The adrenal medulla releases cortisol and adrenaline hormones to help you react to the threat (the fight-or-flight response), rushing blood to your brain, heart, and muscles.

• The adrenal cortex then releases corticosteroids to dampen processes like digestion, immune system response, and other functions not necessary for immediate survival.

• Your adrenal glands are also responsible for balancing hormones.

Our adrenal glands aren’t meant to always be firing. They are there to jump in when needed and not be running the whole show. But excessive caffeine, lack of sleep, emotional stress, demanding schedules, hormonal imbalance, diet, alcohol abuse, and always pushing ourselves to the max can damage the adrenals to cause them to fatigue. This pushes us into a ‘survival mode’ both physically and emotionally.

Fortunately, supporting your adrenals can be a pretty simple process. But functioning when they have given up? Almost impossible. So let’s give them the TLC they deserve!

How can we help our adrenals?

We’re going to grab two oils.

• Nutmeg

• En-R-Gee

Inexpensive. Simple. Life changing.

Each day you will do the following three things:

• Diffuse En-R-Gee every day in your home.

• Apply Nutmeg over your lower back (adrenal area).

• Get 15-20 minutes of sunlight exposure within three hours of waking up

The last thing you need when you’re fatigued are complicated steps or having to remember a bunch of things. That’s why you do it with us.

Why Nutmeg and En-R-Gee?

Both of these oils have unique properties perfect for supporting stress recovery, moving your body out of its fight or flight stress responses, and calming the emotions responsible for our survival instincts running the show and stealing our energy.

xoxo~ liz

Get Your Iodine, Love Your Thyroid

Liz James · June 5, 2023 ·

Just one more reason to love Nitro! Remember, if your thyroid is struggling, your energy level will be too.

Did you know NingXia Nitro is rich in iodine?

Iodine is essential for THYROID health!

The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck. It plays a crucial role in regulating metabolism, energy levels, and hormone production. Iodine is a trace mineral that is a key component in producing thyroid hormones!

Ensuring an adequate intake of iodine empowers your thyroid to function optimally, promoting healthy metabolism and balanced hormone levels. A deficiency in iodine can lead to thyroid disorders such as hypothyroidism, causing fatigue, weight gain, and mood imbalances.

Prioritizing iodine for thyroid health empowers you to cultivate a harmonious balance within your body, promoting a vibrant and energetic life!

Finding Clues in “The Pill”

Liz James · July 28, 2022 ·

The Southern Side of the Endocrine System: Finding clues in The Pill

“Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.” ~Abraham Lincoln

The further I get into my life, the more appreciation and value I’ve placed on ferreting out root causes… not only in health matters, but also in the consequences (both good and bad) of relationships, government, … pretty much anything that has made me ask “Why?”. This curiosity has proven to be both a blessing and a curse because I’ve been down some pretty deep and winding rabbit holes, usually coming up for air with a different outlook on what I thought I knew. For those of you who have also engaged in learning in this manner, this will resonate deeply with you. Once you have learned something that is verifiably true but unpopular in media presentation, you have to make a choice: either swim upstream, or swim in the direction of the majority and try to forget what you have learned. In my own personal observation, the latter does not bode well either emotionally or physiologically . A person cannot live a duality (believing one thing yet acting in opposite) for long without negative consequences ultimately manifesting.

I spent decades (both personally and professionally) in educated ignorance, believing that birth control pills were benign “helpers” for preventing pregnancy and calming dragonesque cycle symptoms. Perhaps you do (or did) too. In my defense, it wasn’t my fault. This is what we are taught in pharmacy school as are all health professionals taught within the singularly allopathic education setting.

Hormone based birth control is one of the most common types of prescriptions filled in a retail pharmacy setting. An estimated 14% of women aged 15-49 utilize synthetic hormone based birth control (pills, IUD’s, implants, vaginal rings, and patches). With numbers that high, how could a class of products not be both safe and effective?

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” ~ Upton Sinclair

What he said!

At some point, culturally, we lost the history of birth control pills. Had we known the history, and had we kept up with the outcomes, would we (culturally) still be choosing the perceived easier swim downstream? I don’t have the time within this series to write the pages upon pages that should be devoted to this topic, so I’m leaving breadcrumbs for you to go digging on your own, or at the very least perhaps raise a hairy eyebrow and give the facts some serious thought.

Ethinyl estradiol was studied and used by the Nazi’s in chemical sterilization experiments in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Ethinyl estradiol is one of the most common ingredients found in birth control pills today.

The Pill was first tested experimentally in Puerto Rico in 1956. The women involved in the study were not informed that they were participating in a drug trial or of the potential side effects of the trial they were involved in. 11% of the women withdrew from participation because of adverse effects. According to information in the Congressional Nelson Pill Hearings of 1970, 5 participating women died and were buried without an autopsy. The focus of the Puerto Rico study was on efficacy, not safety.

The Pill was introduced in 1960 during a cultural revolution, when all things natural were being shunned in favor of man made…. Tang for orange juice, formica and shag carpet instead of wood or stone, margarine instead of butter. Coincidentally, the incidence of autoimmune disorders began rising rapidly by the early 1970’s, with more than 80% of those cases being found in women. That statistic has not changed. The Pill became a symbol of women’s rights, and in the process, it hormonally defeminized women. In a twist of irony, as birth control pill waste is flushed (literally) into the water supply, it now also plays a role in the demasculinization of men through its contribution to the estrogen dominance phenomenon in males.

It was recommended early on that The Pill be used by a woman for two years or less in order to prevent possible sterilization. Some women take The Pill for 30 years or longer. Meanwhile, infertility rates continue to rise. According to the CDC’s most recent data, approximately 19% of women in the USA ages 15-49 now have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant.

The Pill was approved for use prior to Congress passing the 1962 Kefauver-Harris Drug Efficacy Amendment which requires drug manufacturers to prove both safety and efficacy.

“It would be natural at this point to think, ‘It’s been 50+ years! Surely today’s version of The Pill has been proven safe.’ That’s a reasonable assumption. However, it’s dead wrong. The maker of today’s most popular birth control brands [as of 2019] Yaz and Yasmin, paid out $2.04 BILLION to settle over 10,000 blood clot lawsuits as of 2016, and the number of injuries, deaths, and lawsuits continues to rise.” ~ (

Book: In the Name of The Pill, page 30)

The reality is that sometimes decades go by before a very serious side effect is appreciated, and if there is enough money to be made, “those with the gold ultimately make the rules” (and make digging for truth a little harder).

Birth control pills come with a fine print document thanks to the 1962 Kefhauver-Harris Amendment. In addition to establishing both safety and efficacy, it also introduced the concept of patient informed consent. Allow the patient to make their own decision after weighing the pros and cons. Have you ever read one of these patient package inserts?

I’m including a link here for the popular birth control pill, Yaz, as a real world example. It’s 29 pages long and corroborates what I’m about to share:

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/…/2011/021676s008lbl.pdf

According to FDA access data sheets on birth control pills, there is risk (think clues!) of:

Thromboembolic disorders and other vascular problems (Note: that BCP’s containing drospirenone have been found to cause 2-3x more blood clots than in previous pill generations)

Strokes

Increased copper retention. Symptoms of excess copper include anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, chronic fatigue, inflamed joints, insomnia, infertility, hair loss, headaches, diabetes, endometriosis, recurrent fungal infections, both high and low blood pressure, and increased breast cancer risk. It is also a biomarker for thyroid disease. Note that copper and zinc are closely connected, and their ratio is important for optimal health. BCP’s (including copper IUD’s) also concurrently facilitate zinc depletion, causing further disruption of this ratio. Hair analysis is often the most accurate way to check copper and zinc levels.

Migraines and other headache types

Atherosclerosis (plaque build up and hardening of the arteries). Risk increases with duration of BCP use.

Increase in C-Reactive Protein levels, a marker for inflammation. The longer a body is inflamed, the greater the risk for autoimmune disorders, vascular diseases, and brain disorders.

Diabetes. Synthetic hormones affect the body’s ability to process carbohydrates. Nearly 1 in 5 women taking The Pill develop abnormal glucose tolerance.

Elevated triglyceride levels, affecting nearly ⅓ of BCP users.

Breast Cancer. Note that the American Cancer Society recognized synthetic hormones as a possible risk factor for breast cancer in 1961, and that The Pill ingredients have been found to cause breast cancer in all 5 animal species commonly used in pharmaceutical research and development.

Immune system suppression. Estrogen plays a key role in the immune system. Synthetic estrogen causes the body to cut back on its own production of body made estrogen.

Gallbladder disease (According to the American College of Gastroenterology, women between the ages of 20 and 60 years are three times more likely to develop gallstones than men.)

Bleeding irregularities (In relation to menstruation), including heavy bleeding and pelvic pain that may result in a suggested hysterectomy.

Depression. The American Journal of Psychiatry published a 2016 study by researchers in Denmark who reported that women taking hormonal contraceptives have up to triple the risk of suicide when compared to women who never took hormonal birth control. Another study found that 1 out of every 3 pill users showed depressive personality changes and 1 out of 20 had suicidal ideations.

The possibility of “over suppression syndrome” (Any part of the body which is not used or little used over an extended period of time leads to disuse atrophy: otherwise known as infertility in this case.)

Loss of Libido

Nutritional deficiencies including B1, B2, B6, Folate, B12, Vitamin C, Zinc, Magnesium, Iodine, and many other micronutrients.

Osteopenia and osteoporosis

Increased risk for developing lupus. The incidence of lupus has tripled in the last 40 years, and 90% of those affected are women.

Crohn’s Disease (beneficial bacteria in the gut is adversely affected by BCP’s)

Weight gain (Just prior to the FDA’s endorsement of The Pill, the federal government ordered all poultry producers to stop using synthetic estrogens to fatten chickens because it was known to cause cancer in animals. )

Increased risk of developing cervical cancer by 2-3x. Risk increases with BCP use longer than five years.

An estimated 6-7 out of every 10 Pill users take medication to counteract BCP side effects on a routine basis. Most commonly: diuretics, pain medication for headaches, anti anxiety medications, antidepressants, self medicating for fatigue and lethargy (caffeine etc).

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I’ve focused mostly on synthetic estrogen and estrogen dominance up (see previous posts on estrogen dominance and endocrine disruptors) and I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the distinct differences between natural progesterone and synthetic progestins.

Progesterone is enormously beneficial to a woman’s body. It:

Protects and supports cardiovascular health

Stimulates hair growth

Generally beneficial for mood and a good night’s sleep

Is healing and calming to the body

May reduce the risk of breast cancer

Improves libido

Helps with weight loss

Improves bone formation

Conversely, Progestins (the synthetic version of naturally occurring progesterone) can cause:

Hair loss

High blood pressure

Can cause anxiety and depression

Can increase the risk of breast cancer

Bloating

Loss of libido

Interference with sleep

Itchy eyes

Fatigue

Progestins are believed to cause birth defects and are contraindicated in pregnancy. Conversely, progesterone is an absolute requirement to maintain a healthy pregnancy.

Progestins reduce electrolyte availability within cells ( this may manifest as irregular heartbeat, fast heart rate, fatigue, lethargy, seizures, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramping, irritability, headaches, numbness and tingling)

(Note that many of these are similar in nature to estrogen dominance.)

When you use synthetic progestins, the body quits making its own progesterone (the good stuff!), and the synthetic variety “clogs up” the progesterone receptors in the body. If a woman has been taking progestins for quite some time, it’s likely that her body will have to relearn how to produce progesterone again which may take several months. Herbs that help support the body’s natural progesterone production include chasteberry (also known as vitex), evening primrose oil, rhodiola, ashwagandha (found in Young Living’s EndoGize ), schisandra, and wild yam (found in Young Living’s Progessence Plus serum, Femigen capsules, Regenolone and Prenolone Plus creams). Foods which also support healthy progesterone production include those high in zinc, Omega 3’s, vitamin C, magnesium, and B vitamins. Do your research and eat for your hormones! If obtaining enough in a daily diet is challenging, consider adding Young Living’s Super C chewables, and Super B tablets. Several Young Living supplements (ex: Master Formula & OmegaGize3 respectively) also contain magnesium, zinc and Omega 3’s!

I realize I’ve dropped many bread crumbs for you to follow here. Heck, there are some downright loaves waiting to be picked up and examined should you be so inclined. There is much more to be learned from the story of The Pill.

There are many reasons women use BCP’s outside of preventing unplanned pregnancies, and by using synthetic hormones as a chemical band-aid, the root cause of the issue is being left to fester. Find a holistically minded health care professional who will help you find and address your root cause(s). It literally could be as simple as changing diet, addressing stress, supplementing to prevent a deficiency, using Young Living essential oils strategically, or increasing exercise!

Are there other effective options for preventing unplanned pregnancies? Certainly, there are, and there are emotional, physical, and relational health benefits to be had in utilizing them. There are a variety of cycle “health detective” clues you can come to rely on with remarkable accuracy. Do some digging on the topic “Natural Family Planning Methods”.

Fertility is not a disease and there is a rather steady supply of evidence which indicates that by medicating otherwise healthy women, we have unwittingly done great harm in the process. My job as a pharmacist is to provide the patient package insert as instructed by the Congressional Kefhauver-Harris Amendment, thereby giving the patient the opportunity of informed consent.

Risk versus benefit.

It’s the patient’s right, responsibility, and choice to either consent or deny. Most have never received a thorough explanation allowing for an educated decision.

Lots of clues friends! Embrace the sleuthing process. It will only serve you well. I promise.

xoxo~ liz

#BYOHD

#becomingyourownhealthdetective

#toxinfreeisthewaytobe

#goodmedicine

#ThanksYL

#toxinfreeslifestyle

#endocrinedisruptionhidinginplainsight

#ThePill

Ovaries in Trouble

Liz James · July 20, 2022 ·

The Southern Side of the Endocrine System: Endocrine Disruption puts the ‘OOOOH’ in Ovaries

We women are complicated.

(Alrighty men…. I can hear your “amens” from here!

). Truly though, it’s better that we just clear the air and state the truth. We.ARE.complicated! All throughout the body and endocrine system, clues

are not generally gender specific… until now. Guys, this would be a good time to retreat to your man cave, unless of course you’d like to know a little more about the inner workings of your gal!

One of the most eye opening eras in my pharmacy career happened about 10 years ago. Someone very close to me came to the brink of suicide

, and almost did not live through it. The growing signs of distress had been going on for years, and while I was starting to suspect a hormonal imbalance, I didn’t yet know enough outside the realm of western medicine to help her ask the questions that needed to be asked of her medical providers, or to request the labs that would ultimately reveal the root causes of her despair. Certainly, she had stress going on in her life too, and so the doctors gave her prescriptions for depression, anxiety, and sleep. All of the “blame” was laid on stress and emotional angst, and no digging for the root cause was ever done, until it was literally almost too late. It took a functional medicine team skilled in mind, body and spirit repair in a crisis situation to discover her imbalance in thyroid and sex hormones, as well as nutritional deficiencies, gut dysbiosis, and an inefficient immune system, all of which contributed to the direness of the situation. Frankly, if she had ended up in the hands of standard western medicine, I doubt she would still be alive.

It took many many months for the body and mind to heal with the help of these skilled professionals.

Approximately 18% of all adult women in the USA take antidepressants, and 10% use anti anxiety medications. This number is roughly double that seen in men. While there are assuredly socio economic factors which come into play, the waxing and waning monthly rhythm of our environmentally influenced hormones are the largest reason women reach for a prescription bottle of any kind. Western medicine has failed women terribly by using these medications as bandaids for a body that has lost its balance.

After this event, I began researching women’s health in earnest….. looking for the reasons so many women had fallen between the cracks of healing care and seeking alternative wellness tools western medicine has chosen to overlook. As I filled new prescriptions for women recently diagnosed with depression or anxiety, I would ask if they had also been given orders for lab work prior to receiving their prescription for one (or more) of these medications. Shockingly, it was a rare woman who said that they had. Thorough (and I emphasize the word thorough!) lab work and subsequent (thorough!) analysis is key to circumventing the adverse effects of hormone imbalance. Those results are hard data which affirms the clues your body is giving you. One of the beauties of a woman’s menstrual cycle is that it is truly a monthly report card reflecting a woman’s health. Normal monthly cycles should not be felt to the extreme, either emotionally or physically. If they are, the body is waving a flag. As with men, endocrine disruption is a real and enormous problem to our individual and collective health. In women, endocrine disruption affects the reproductive cycle in ways that become “diagnoses”, which then often result in pharmaceutical bandaids that ultimately lead to secondary problems.

Endocrine disruption commonly results in something called estrogen dominance. It is the result of excessive estrogen production (and incoming estrogen like toxins from the environment), not enough progesterone produced by the ovaries or a combination of both issues. As with men (and children!), endocrine disruption happens quietly on little cat’s feet through small “daily dose” exposure to toxins found in plastic water bottles and food containers, pesticides, petroleum based products, soaps, body care products, commercial air fresheners, foods that have been exposed to hormones and many more. Estrogen dominance can also be aggravated by excessive body fat, chronic stress, and impaired gut and liver function.

Some signs symptoms of estrogen dominance include:

More rapidly aging skin

Aggravation of allergies and asthma (abnormally high levels of estrogen affects the body’s immune response)

Nipple tenderness, especially prior to periods

Hair thinning or hair loss

Body fat gains around the midsection, creating an “apple” or “pear” shaped torso. (Note that “apple shaped” weight gain can be a clue of possible PCOS in addition to estrogen dominance). Additional PCOS clues include abnormal body hair growth, insulin resistance, and darkened skin in the folds of the neck and armpits.

Mood swings

Headaches and migraines (estrogen dominance is one of the most common causes of headaches in women)

Irregular periods (may be light, heavy, or irregular in timing)

Water retention and bloating

A sluggish metabolism

Skin tags

PMS

Uterine fibroids

Decreased libido

Vaginal dryness

Endometrial hyperplasia – caused by too much estrogen or not enough progesterone, or a combination of both. Left unaddressed, it may lead to cancer.

Long term, unmitigated estrogen dominance contributes to:

Hormonal cancers (breast, endometrial and uterine and prostate in men)

Infertility – Infertility currently affects more than 10% of women in the US of childbearing potential.

Adenomyosis

Cervical dysplasia

Lupus, Hashimoto’s and other autoimmune diseases – sharp fluctuations of estrogen as is seen around childbirth and menopause appear to contribute to autoimmune disorders.

Candida overgrowth

Osteoporosis and osteopenia

Gallbladder disease

Fibrocystic breasts

Thyroid dysfunction

Dementia and decreased brain function

Dry eyes

Insomnia

Estrogen dominance is no laughing matter, and is arguably one of the biggest health concerns (and clues) of our time. Heavens! This alone is reason enough to make the safe, health supportive, and effective Young Living essential oils (and diffusers), body care products, and the entire Thieves Household cleaning products line standard wellness tools in every home! I often get asked “where do I start” in my wellness journey. The answer is here. Today! … begin detoxing your home and personal world if you haven’t already.

Oddly, one of the biggest contributors to our estrogen dominant selves is rarely talked about. It directly affects nearly 2/3rds of women of childbearing years in the USA, and indirectly affects the rest of us as it is flushed daily into the nation’s water supply.

Birth control pills.

Are birth control pills as safe as we’ve been led to believe?

That’s the next clue.

Tell the guys to continue cleaning their guns and watching football…. We’ve got a bit more to chat about!

xoxo~ liz

#BYOHD

#becomingyourownhealthdetective

#toxinfreeisthewaytobe

#puttinganendtoestrogendominanceisgoodmedicine

Thyroid Clues Part 5-Medicine Cabinet Culprits

Liz James · April 20, 2022 ·

Remember the fable about the Princess

and the pea

? You may recall that the true princess felt the effects of a pea beneath twenty mattresses and had a terrible night’s sleep because of it. After all we’ve discussed, you well understand that the thyroid

is the discerning princess in the body……it feels everything!

It’s hard to pin down exactly how many people use medication chronically in the USA, but a rough estimate in 2017 was 66%. (I believe that number has risen significantly since 2020, but to date, official data has not yet been released).

I will forever and always say that there is a time and a place for medication, but that it should be used as a last resort whenever possible. Pharmaceuticals by very definition are a toxin to the body. While they may be performing their “FDA approved task” within the body, behind the scenes they are likely setting up trip wires, snares, and grenades elsewhere. Many commonly prescribed medications are quietly sabotaging thyroid hormone function as they outwardly “play nice” in their appointed tasks of lowering cholesterol, quelling aches and pains, placating gastric reflux symptoms, smoothing out moody days, etc.

Certain medications have the ability to affect thyroid hormones in at least four ways:

1. Some may alter the actual production of thyroid hormones.

2. Some may affect the release of of thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland.

3. Some may affect how well thyroid hormone attaches to (or utilized) at receptor sites.

4. Some may interfere with the conversion of inactive T4 into active T3 in the liver

Who are the thyroid accosting culprits?

As I hinted above, the gang is quite diverse. Nearly ⅓ of this gang of thieves bears a similar “tattoo”…….. They contain fluoride within their chemical structure. You’ll recall (hopefully!) that fluoride (and chlorine, another “tattoo” found in many medications) blocks iodine from its job helping the thyroid produce thyroid hormones. These small doses add up over time with chronic use medications.

Medications known to inhibit healthy thyroid function (in one of these four ways) with chronic use include:

Lipitor, Crestor, Vytorin, Zetia (cholesterol meds)

Prevacid (stomach acid / GERD)

Betamethasone, Clobetasol, Dexamethasone, Fluocinolone, Fluticasone (topical, oral or inhaled steroids)

Celebrex, Ibuprofen, Naproxen (NSAID pain)

Lexapro, Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Zoloft (mood stabilizers)

Haldol, Risperdal, Lithium (mood stabilizers)

Levaquin, Cipro (antibiotics)

Synthetic hormone replacement therapies, birth control pills

Amiodarone (treats ventricular heart arrhythmia)

Fluconazole (antifungal)

Interferon Alfa, Sutent, Sorafenib (chemotherapy agents)

Pramipexole, Ropinirole (for Parkinson’s)

Metformin (Type II Diabetes)

Furosemide (diuretic)

Phenytoin and Carbamazepine (for seizures)

Excessive Niacin (Vit B3) intake

(Note that this is a short representation of a very long list of medications!)

I am in no way inferring that you should stop taking medication that you may be currently on because it may be affecting your thyroid function. That is a conversation between you and your trusted health professional. According to an article by the Natural Health Research Institute, almost 75% of chronic illness can be improved or cured with improved lifestyle choices. Has your health professional talked to you about this as part of your treatment protocol?

Statistics like this are meant to empower you. Chronic disorders are generally where chronic medication use comes into play, and changing lifestyle habits can have a huge impact on health outcomes and on pharmaceutical needs.

Five significant ways your choices can impact your health include:

1. Reduce exposure to toxins (thank goodness for our YL Thieves Household Cleaner, essential oils that do “all the things” in a natural gentle way, Savvy Minerals cosmetics and the ART, Bloom, and Orange Blossom skin care lines!)

2. Making better food choices (and ditching the toxic processed foods)

3. Exercise. There is an exercise program / type out there that will work no matter what health situation you may be living with! (NingXia Nitro or Zyng 15-20 minutes prior to workouts elevates my gym workout routine!)

4. Sleep….Make sleep a priority. Improve your sleep hygiene habits! Some of my favorite sleep aids are YL’s Tranquil or RutaVala Roll-on…. Give ‘em a try and load your bedtime diffuser with oils like Cedarwood, Lavender, Peace & Calming, Frankincense, Orange )

5. Manage stress. Recall that chronic stress is as dangerous as a regular cigarette habit to the body. Even simply working on the four previous suggestions will have a profound impact on better management of stress.

In addition to making healthier lifestyle choices that lead to a healthier version of you (and protecting your thyroid

in the process), here’s an added bonus: Annually, direct health care costs average $6032 out of pocket

for an individual with one chronic disease (that number goes up with each additional disorder). Indirectly, chronic disorders also have a profound impact on education, occupation opportunities, income, and social interaction. If your health professional has not offered up these five recommendations as part of protocols for any chronic disorder you may have, they are working as a dis-ease maintenance advocate instead of that as a healer. Ultimately though, it’s our personal responsibility to be our own advocates and in doing so, choosing whether to live in a space of dis-ease maintenance or healing. Care for that thyroid “princess” within your personal kingdom friends! It’s often the first organ in the body to recognize that something is amiss.

xoxo~ liz

#caringissharing

#becomingyourownhealthdetective

#BYOHD

#goodmedicine

#applicationofknowledgeispower

#supersleuthhealthclues