Hormones

Toxin-free Spa Day

Liz James · September 5, 2020 ·

We run a pretty tight ship (as my Navy dad used to say) around here at the farm. We have many animals🐮🐴🐕🐈🐔 and many chores each day, every day, and letting things slack or slide can lead to chaos, crazy, and frankly just good ol’ “stank “! 💩 Lots of animals leads to lots of manure and sweat don’tcha know👩‍🌾👨‍🌾!
We aren’t stinky heathens out here in the country😉, we like a clean smelling house that is toxin free. Years ago, i used to be one of those “plug in ” gals with a fake fragrance smell throughout our whole house. That was before I knew better ….. back when I assumed Big Pharma was here devoted to our best interests too.

Thank goodness my eyes were opened 18 years ago…and i learned the truth about both. Those household plug ins will do a number on your endocrine system…. guaranteed. The good news is that your house can smell even better than that fake chemical smell when you bring out the diffuser 😍.

What do you want your home to smell like? I love the smell of a spa…. I rarely have the time to have a spa day, and I LOOOOVE the spa aroma (not to mention a good massage!). Take a look at these diffuser blends…. I’ll be giving them a try myself!
xoxo~ liz

diy spa scents

#7 Viruses 101

Liz James · March 16, 2020 ·

Post #7: Viruses 101…. What we Know to be True about Viruses (aka…. the care and feeding of a virus)

What?!? You don’t want to care and feed a virus of any sort?
Well, then….. let’s set the stage for what it might look like to create an inhospitable environment should a virus want to step foot into your personal space. 😉

Please refer to Posts #5 & #6 for Action Points #1, #2, and #3 ’cause I’m just gonna dive right in to…….

Plan of Action #4: Virus infection is dependent upon our body’s pH.

To give you 10 seconds of science…. (ie: the how and why)….. Viruses LOVE an acidic environment because they rely of acidification of the endosomal compartment to enact their warfare on our cells.

What is the proper pH of a healthy person? Ideally, we want our body’s pH to stay in the slightly alkaline range of 6.8-7.5 to help reduce the risk and lessen the severity of “bug” infestations.

In researching about pH and viruses, I found a study by the Royal Free Hospital and School of Medicine in London. That study concluded that raising the body’s pH to an Alkaline state increases the immune system’s ability to kill pathogens.

A healthy pH is directly related to a healthy oxygen supply in the body. Hmmmm……. is it any coincidence that our pH is also directly related to our body’s electrical frequency? Nope. #wearefearfullyandwonderfullymade

👉TAKEAWAY: The lower the voltage of a body’s cell = the lower the body’s frequency = the lower the body’s pH = the more apt sickness is gonna occur.👈

Here’s a cool thing… we don’t all have to run out and get test strips to test our pH, although you can certainly do that if you’d like. An easy and quick reference is dependent upon your emotions.

People with an alkaline pH tend to be predominately happy, joyful, calm, peaceful and are generally healthy. People with a more acidic pH tend to harbor emotions of anxiety, fear, anger, guilt, unforgiveness…..and they tend to catch lots of bugs and are prone to more body system dysfunctions.

(This is physics, biology, and neuropsychology all rolled up into one. Please refer back to my post on frequency and viruses if you need a refresher!)

Elevated levels of ☠️ carcinogens, toxins, exposure to indoor and outdoor pollution (this includes unhealthy foods and drinks) causes our cells to be unable to uptake oxygen efficiently. Indoor pollution (ie: what we deal with within our homes and offices) is actually more harmful than outdoor pollution.

Luckily, most of us are largely in control with, at least, our home indoor environment. As the gatekeepers, we have the authority to say what products we bring into our homes…… so it’s pretty important job if we are to stay slightly alkaline!

If you are new to the concept of removing toxins from your life, there’s no time like the present to start! (see previous posts in this series for pointers)
🛀 DETOX BATHS ARE AN EASY WAY TO START ALLOWING YOUR BODY TO RETURN TO A HEALTHY ALKALINE STATE.
HERE’S AN EASY DETOX BATH RECIPE:
3/4 CUP EPSOM SALTS
2 CUPS BAKING SODA
1/4 CUP BENTONITE CLAY
MIX TOGETHER, AND CONSIDER ADDING 8-10 DROPS OF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ESSENTIAL OILS TO YOUR MIXTURE BEFORE ADDING TO YOUR BATH WATER: FRANKINCENSE, LEMON, ROMAN CHAMOMILE, LEDUM, GERANIUM, FENNEL, BLUE TANSY, AND/OR HELICHRYSUM.

Additionally, make sure your detox bath oils are good ones. I cannot speak for other oil brands in terms of purity, and only use Young Living essential oils myself because I know they are unadulterated and, thru their strict distillation methods, they are able to maintain the integrity of the constituents (the working parts) of the oils. #prettyisasprettydoes

Remember tho….. detoxing does no good if you don’t first stop exposing yourself to that which made you acidic to begin with. #kickthehouseholdtoxinsout #kicktheacidicemotionsouttoo

You can learn more about the farming, distillation, and testing practices Young Living exemplifies at http://seedtoseal.com/en.

Each oil bottle has an individual batch number that can be traced all the way back to the very seeds or acreage of trees that were planted and harvested. I wish our food supply did this! It gives me great peace of mind to know every effort is being made to keep the oils in their purest therapeutically active form.

Another way to encourage alkalinity, is a simple ingredient most of us probably have in our own homes: Baking Soda.

I’ll admit, baking soda in water doesn’t taste great, but we can all take and do things if it increases the odds of being healthy, right? I have opted to utilize a YL product called Alkalime when I feel like I’ve dipped my toes into the acidic side of the wellness pool. It tastes much better than baking soda in water, but I’ve used baking soda in a pinch.

Take a look at this historical piece of info regarding baking soda and illness that I found:👇

“SODIUM BICARB“The proven value of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda as a therapeutic agent is further evinced by the following evidence of a prominent physician named Dr. Volney S. Cheney, in a letter to the Church & Dwight Company:
“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘Flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely any one who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks. I have since that time treated all cases of ‘Cold,’ Influenza and LaGripe by first giving generous doses of Bicarbonate of Soda, and in many, many instances within 36 hours the symptoms would have entirely abated. Further, within my own household, before Woman’s Clubs and Parent-Teachers’ Associations, I have advocated the use of Bicarbonate of Soda as a preventive for “Colds,” with the result that now many reports are coming in stating that those who took “Soda” were not affected, while nearly everyone around them had the “Flu.”
Recommended dosages from the Arm and Hammer Company for colds and influenza back in 1925 were:
During the first day take six doses of half teaspoonful of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at about two hour intervals.
During the second day take four doses of half teaspoonful of Arm and Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at the same intervals.
During the third day take two doses of half teaspoonful of Arm and Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water morning and evening, and thereafter half teaspoonful in glass of cool water each morning until cold is cured.

This info ☝️ from Arm & Hammer historical archives is interesting, isn’t it? Our ancestors used some very simple things to stay well and healthy. #anditworked

Plan of Action # 5 : Iodine
Iodine is absolutely critical to our immune system’s health, and approximately 97% of individuals in the USA are estimated to be deficient.

As long as we’re revisiting history, I stumbled across another interesting historical factoid about Iodine…. and I can’t recall ever learning it in pharmacy school. …. We definitely learned about iodine’s role in healthy thyroid function and that’s why I take a YL supplement ( Thyromin) that happens to have kelp (a natural source of iodine) in it to keep my thyroid happy….. but we’re talking about immune system function… not the thyroid today.

Interesting factoid: Did you know that it was once commonly recommended to mist areas with an iodine solution when there were viral outbreaks? I did a little perusing, and found a book (The International Record of Medicine and General Practice Clinics, Volume III circa 1920) that gave easy (but medically specific) instructions on how to do so… you can find it with a little digging on Google.

Then, I found this little jewel that was written more recently in 2009. Here is an excerpt (or you can read the full article also attached below)👇:

“When iodine was suspended in a solution, viral inactivation occurred at dilutions of 1/1,000,000. Aerosols inactivated many viruses within 30 seconds or less. Watery solutions such as Lu- [7,8,12] gol’s are the superior germicides. “

I’m wondering why nobody is doing this in virus laden areas nowadays? It’s cheap, easy, and harmless (unless you are a virus!). #IthinkIknowtheanswertomyownquestion $$$

OK…..I’m off to feed my farm-ily and soak in some nature.

Stay tuned…. Post #8 in this series is rollin’ around in my noggin.

And remember…. these are musings and observations based on what I know to be true about biology, physics, and history. Please do not interpret any of the above as diagnosing, curing, or treating. You do you. I’ll continue to do me 😘.

Stay healthy and be well!
xoxo~ liz

#knowbetterdobetter
#whatisyouremotionalpH
#ThanksYL

Don’t Feed the Dragon

Liz James · April 10, 2019 ·

Personal experience is often a driver of passion. If you’ve read my personal story (early on in my blog), you’ll already know that it included a very early diagnosis of endometriosis. I was diagnosed when I was a teen… way back in the ’80’s. Back then…. literally a generation ago, endometriosis wasn’t yet a common women’s health concern. It was still considered more of an anomaly…. enough so that it took some digging and even some traveling to doctors who knew how to both identify and treat it to the best of their ability at the time.

Wow! Things have certainly changed over the last 35+ years…. It is now estimated that approximately 11% of women have this chronic inflammatory disorder. It is also being held accountable for up to 1/3 of fertility disorders. There is much debate over “how” endometriosis comes to happen in a woman’s body, but there is no debate on the fact that its destructiveness is magnified by something called ‘estrogen dominance’.

While estrogen is a valuable and necessary hormone within our female bodies…. “back in the day”, our fore’mothers’ only had to concern themselves with the estrogen their own body produced and perhaps, to a much lesser extent, something called phytoestrogens (a small select group of plants that could add estrogen to what the body already had on board).

Roughly 70 years ago, a subset of synthetic chemicals began popping up in foods, personal care products, packaging (lining of cans and plastics), medications, household cleaners (and dryer sheets!), and…… heavens!!… even disposable menstrual products (Talk about feeding the beast!). For many years, there appeared to be little cause for alarm…. until unusual goings on began showing up in the wild world of amphibians…. and male frogs began turning into female frogs inexplicably in the wild. The first people to sit up and take notice were wildlife biologists. It was the canary in the coal mine revisited (Spoiler Alert: It didn’t end well for the canary in that scenario either).

Scientists slowly began sitting up and taking notice as endocrine disruption expanded from wildlife to humans. 170+ of these chemicals are now known as “Xenoestrogens”, and they are the harbingers of hormone imbalance in both men and women. They mimic the function of natural estrogen, thus creating biological hormonal mayhem the likes of which include PMS, heavy periods, PCOS, breast cancer, fibroids, ‘man boobs’, etc….. and endometriosis. Estrogen dominance is of epidemic proportions in developed, ‘advanced’, industrialized countries: Too much of a good thing, can be…well, too much.
All that factory farm raised meat and dairy tainted with growth hormones? yep
(go local, and find your hormone free, grass fed, humanely raised animals… ie: support your local farmer and rancher)

Pesticide containing food products? yep
(eat organic whenever possible)

Tap water? yep
(drink filtered water!)

Shampoos, lotions, soaps, toothpaste, cosmetics… other personal care products containing ingredients like parabens and phenoxyethanol chemical compounds widely used with abandon by the cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies? yep
(please… for the love of your children and yourself… use natural products!)

Heating plastics or plastic wrap in the microwave, or simply storing food in soft plastic or plastic wrap? Or use bottled water or canned food that incorporates BPA into the packaging process? yep yep yep!
(use glass or stainless whenever possible. aside from the obvious landfill issues, plastic contains phthalates, a pretty nasty one on the ‘no no’ list)

See the verbiage ‘artificial color or flavor’ on a favorite packaged food ingredient list? Back away from the item. Seriously.
(Approximately 31 substances may be added to processed foods for the purpose of artificially sweetening, preserving, coloring, or enhancing texture and/or flavor and are guilty offenders)

Dryer Sheets? Totally loaded. Obscenely so.
(wool dryer balls…. message me, I’ll score you some, teach you how to make them simply, or use 1/2 cup of baking soda in your rinse cycle!)

Ahhhhh! Veering back on the bunny trail we started on. Endometriosis. I suspect you are starting to get my drift here. No wonder it’s become a common problem, right?

Endometriosis is very estrogen dependent… it doesn’t grow and thrive in an estrogen poor environment. Conversely, it can spread like bunnies on fertility drugs when exposed to bountiful amounts of estrogen regardless of the source. Common western medicine more often than not will use chemical means to suppress naturally occurring estrogen in our bodies to slow the dragon’s path. Rarely do they sit down and talk to the woman (or girl child) about the ramifications of xenoestrogen’s effects on their body and how to minimize exposure to them.

While endometriosis (or something like it) was identified in the late 1800’s, it was a rare creature…. not unlike dragons. In fact, the incidence of endometriosis in less developed countries today is significantly less than in those countries where plastic water bottle toting, microwaved plastic wrapped food noshing, dryer sheet using people live. People like myself… whom, as a kiddo and young adult did the same thing… before I knew better.

Endometriosis is technically not an autoimmune disease, but having it creates a hospitable environment for autoimmune disorders to set up housekeeping alongside it. Chronic inflammation within the body will do that. Misery loves company.

Friends, please don’t wait until something goes wrong to clean up your life. Truly. Life is too short, and it’s so much easier to minimize risk factors than it is to mediate and do damage control.

Life is short! Keep it clean ;)!

Love and hugs, Liz

Guilty or Innocent? Weighing in on Cholesterol

Liz James · March 4, 2019 ·

Cholesterol has been heavy on my heart for the last month… haha! No pun intended there… my cholesterol is actually fine….. but I tend to root for the the misunderstood and the underdog when given a choice. (That’s probably why our farm tends to be a haven for rescue dogs and cats…. but I digress!)

Did you know that approximately 80% of people with acute cornary syndrome….(ie: reduced blood flow to the heart… often leading to heart attack) have NORMAL cholesterol values? What’s up with that?

Cholesterol is one of those underdogs. Bless its sticky little heart….. it’s given a bad rap more so than nearly any other body produced compound. What would we do without cholesterol? That’s a good question…. I’m not entirely sure any of us would be around to discuss it if we lacked it in our bodies! It is a major component of cell membranes and is a necessary building block for hormones, fat soluble vitamin D, and bile salts (aiding in the digestion of fats and fat soluble nutrients). Cholesterol is also extremely important to the function of our nervous system. Without it, we’d be bumbling malfunctioning idiots….especially considering that our brains are roughly comprised of 50% cholesterol. So why all the hate?

Our bodies are efficient producers of cholesterol…. producing about 80% of what is in our bodies (the other 20% comes from dietary sources). Cholesterol should not be confused with Triglycerides (perhaps the real bad boys), or the obscure thug that likes to hang on to its buddy LDL….. lipoprotein(a).

Unpacking Cholesterol: The cholesterol in our vascular system is a mixed bag of good and bad. HDL (the good guys) has the job of bouncer…. and it escorts out the shadier gang members, LDL, from our bloodstream. LDL comes in a variety of sizes…. and the smaller sizes (subunits 3 & 4) are really bad news. The bigger ones (subunits 1 &2) are fluffier and are actually pretty helpful. Because they (subunits 3&4) are small, they can easily work their way into the lining of our arteries where the bouncer (HDL) can’t reach them. In a whopping 20% of the population (1 in 5) there is something called Lipoprotein(a) that makes LDL ‘extra sticky’….. if you carry this genetic characteristic, it is best to know about it early on in life, as it dramatically increases your risk for clogged arteries and blood clots leading to strokes and heart attacks. It is a serious health risk, and frankly…. should be tested for at least once in everyone’s life.
While managing total cholesterol with careful eating habits (avoid processed and ‘fast’ foods) is important, …. the real culprits we should be monitoring are inflammation, triglycerides, and lipoprotein(a).

Triglycerides are produced predominately by the liver. When we eat, the body stores any excess calories as triglycerides in our fat cells. It is particularly fond of doing this with carbs. Later…. between meals…. hormones will signal a need for more energy, and those triglycerides will be released. Herein lies the rub tho….. if you eat more than you exert energy, triglycerides begin building up and you end up with hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), and THAT my friends, is cause for alarm. Even if someone has verified genetic HTG, management can be achieved with responsible ownership of the vessel you reside in:

Daily physical activity
Conscious consuming of healthy fats… avoiding processed foods and other sources of “bad fats”
no smoking
Optimizing body weight
Limit processed sugar intake to no more than the equivalent of 6 teaspoons of sugar per day. (The average North American consumes about 200gms or 48 teaspoons of processed sugar in their diet daily)
Work towards optimal triglyceride lab values of <100 and a triglyceride to HDL ratio of 1:1 to 2:1.

Lipoprotein(a) is no joke. 73 million people in the USA are estimated to be living with this ‘sticky’ situation. It is extremely dangerous because the molecule itself is so small, sticky, and it difficult to manage. What makes it even more dangerous is this: most insurance companies refuse to pay for the test that determines if you have it….. and many doctors don’t even mention the test to patients because insurance doesn’t pay. I have not been able to wrap my brain around the logic of NOT paying for a potentially life saving test…. but there you have it. It’s just one more reason to take charge of your own health and ask for the test and pay for it out of pocket, ESPECIALLY if you have family history of heart disease. Nothing….. no vacation, no daily coffee, no new phone…. should be more valuable to you than knowing this information about yourself. Once you know, you have the power to act…. and that can change the trajectory of your life. If you do carry this genetic trait, you will want to have your children tested. They need to learn healthy habits early in life. It’s never too young to become a CEO of oneself!

IF you have inherited lipoprotein(a), you’ll want to pay very close attention to what you CAN do, because it’s time to take your health seriously. Some people do not get a warning, and find themselves diagnosed at the same time their mortality is realized. Lp(a) requires close attention and monitoring. Tools to help in management include:

Daily baby aspirin
High quality Omega3 fish oil…. lots of it… has been found to lower Lp(a)LDL by approximately 10%. (Poor quality Omega 3’s become oxidized and can actually do more damage than taking nothing at all. Know your supplement company…not just their name, but how they do business. This is especially important with Omega 3’s.) Omegagize3 from Young Living!
High doses of Niacin (1-3 gms/day) … the flushing kind (ex: Slo-Niacin)… have been found to lower Lp(a)LDL by up to 30%
Maintain a fasting blood glucose of <100
Vitamin C @ 3000mg/day
L-lysine, L-proline & L-carnitine in high doses (L-carnitine helps make lp(a) less sticky)
Test for and maintain hs-CRP (high sensitivity c reactive protein) at <1. This measures inflammation in the body and high levels are a risk factor for heart attack.
Control blood pressure ideally at 120/70.
Consistent exercise
Abstain from smoking
Get (regularly) an Advanced Lipid Panel every 6 months w/ the following goals:

LDL< 60
Triglycerides < 60
LDL particle # < 700

I realize this has been kind of a heavy post. I’m sorry about that. It’s a heavy topic tho. Most people (even healthcare professionals) don’t have a clear understanding of exactly what causes the real problems in our vascular system. Hopefully, you can see that cholesterol itself is not the real monster….. it’s actually pretty awesome stuff. Too much of a good thing is bad tho…. no matter what it is. Although I only barely touched on inflammation in this post, it’s HUGELY important to this topic too. Sticky Lp(a)LDL is especially fond of a chronically inflamed vascular system.

It is my hope and blessing that this helps someone better manage their own health, and to prompt personal responsibility one’s own health. I am not a doctor. Information here is for recommendation purposes only, and not intended to substitute for specific medical advice. Please do use this information as a starting point for your own research, and use as discussion points with your personal healthcare provider.

Love and hugs, Liz

Sleep Week – day 5

Liz James · July 6, 2017 ·

Sleep! The saga continues…. so many pieces must fall into place for us to get a well rested night of ZZZZZZZ. (and I’m keeping this one short so I can hop into bed!)

Both men and women need balanced hormones. A LOT can go wrong within our bodies if our hormones go wackadoodle (I know…..not a scientific term, but it’s FDA compliant !). Sleep pattern disruption is just one of those things.

While this post focuses mainly on ‘The Change’, be aware that ‘wackadoodle’ hormones can happen at any age , but especially during puberty, pregnancy/childbirth, and ahem….. the aforementioned time.

Disturbed sleep patterns caused by hormone imbalance aren’t just for women… men can have their own issues when testosterone levels begin fluctuating.

At the age of 50, I’ve found that my personal sleep is best supported by Tranquil on my toes at night, Progessence Plus on my forearms at night, and Estro drops in my NingXia Red the morning. These are all products that are available to you at wholesale pricing from Young Living.

Signing off for the day…. but know that I’m here for you if you’ve got any questions about some of these products I’ve just mentioned. Looking for a sheep herder? I’m happy to help!