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Ovaries in Trouble

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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
 
 
 

Endocrine System – part 2

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Have you ever:
  • Been given medication without thorough labwork?
  • Been told you are “fine” by a healthcare professional, but you don’t feel fine?
  • Felt like you’ve been doing “all the things” to care for your struggling thyroid, but still felt unwell?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, the next series of clues might just be for you.
We’ve covered the northern endocrine family members (hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, and thyroid).  I’m hopeful that you’ve been piecing clues🔎 together. Remember, cluster clues, including your personal “life experience” history, both physical and emotional, are where your answers most likely reside. Only you, and perhaps your parents if some events predate your memories, know these VIP clues. Keeping a journal 📓is often a key component to uncovering the root cause of a health situation.
 
There are more interesting members within the endocrine system family tree. Just south of the thyroid is a gland called the thymus. The thymus sits right behind the sternum (breastbone) in front of the heart, and is the “bootcamp” for the immune system’s T-cells, where they mature and turn into specialized agents of protection against bacteria, viruses, and cancer. The thymus is strongest and most active in children and teens. There is chronological aging as well as biological aging. Interestingly, if severe or chronic stress is part of a body’s environment, the thymus will rapidly “age” and begin shrinking, ultimately turning into a pocket of fat (literally!). Clues indicating🔎 a “tired” thymus include being easily fatigued, lack of motivation, susceptibility to catching colds or flu, persistent chronic illness despite “doing all the things”, slow wound healing, and outward signs of an accelerated aging process.
 
As you may guess, thymus deterioration affects lifetime immune system function, so keeping this hidden gem healthy is a good idea! Supportive measures include:
  • Keeping toxin load low
  • Learning techniques to mediate physical and emotional stress. Imagine the health benefits if this was learned at a young age!
  • Eating nourishing foods that are high in micronutrient content
  • Restorative sleep
  • Exercise daily for improved blood flow throughout the body (cleansing and nourishing the thymus). Yoga is particularly beneficial for supporting thymus function.
  • Thymus thumping/tapping. Thump or tap gently (with either the tips of your fingers or the palm of hand) on your sternum for 30-60 seconds a couple times a day to stimulate the thymus.
  • Olive Leaf (YL’s Olive Essentials)
  • Melatonin – A 2003 study🤓 found a correlation between melatonin supplementation and a notable increase in thymus weight (size) and function. Additional studies🤓 have found that even when melatonin supplementation begins late in life, age related thymus “decay” is reversible and immune system function often improves. A 2006 study🤓 in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine found that supplementing melatonin during times of acutely severe or chronic stress prevented atrophy of the thymus. I am an enormous fan of Young Living’s Immupro for a good night’s sleep, and this is an additional reason to keep several bottles of this melatonin containing supplement on hand! (Great news for those of us who know and love it already…. It is scheduled to be back in stock later this month!). Sleep Essence is another night time product that also contains melatonin.
Further south, the twin adrenal glands show up in the endocrine family. These are two smallish quesadilla shaped glands that sit atop each kidney. God designed us masterfully well. These two glands sit remarkably close to the abdominal aorta (our major artery) and vena cava (our major vein). This close proximity allows for a quick dump of influential chemicals that facilitate acting quickly 🏃‍♂️🏃🏃‍♀️ when the need arises. I call this “running from the lion”🏃‍♀️🐅 time. These two glands produce a very precise mixture of adrenaline, cortisol and other steroid hormones (DHEA, pregnenolone, estrogens, testosterones) and aldosterone (a steroid hormone that regulates potassium, sodium and fluid volume in the body). The mixture is uniquely compounded according to the event at hand. When a person feels any amount of stress, whether that be a mile long “to do” list or narrowly escaping being eaten by a lion, the hypothalmus and pituitary work together to signal the adrenal glands. The mind🧠doesn’t differentiate between a too long “to do” list and a lion in terms of stress, and stress becomes the squeaky wheel. Other mechanisms in the body slow down so that the squeaky wheel can be addressed.
  • Thyroid hormone production slows down
  • Reduced conversion of T4 (inactive) to T3 (active) thyroid hormone occurs
  • Thyroid receptors become less receptive to receiving thyroid hormones. This is important because even if you happen to be on thyroid medication, it won’t be utilized properly during a stress response. Recall that thyroid receptors are located throughout the body and must function properly in order that we may function optimally day to day. (Go back and read the section on thyroid and the gallbladder for a refresher!)
 
Chronic stress puts the adrenals on overdrive, flooding the body with cortisol, until the adrenals can no longer keep up, and adrenal fatigue (adrenal dysregulation) develops. Cortistop is another one of my very favorite Young Living supplements. It is designed to address the way women’s bodies react to the cortisol produced when under stress. When too much cortisol is released regularly, it can have some hefty health consequences which include feeling deep fatigue and often the addition of abdominal fat that seems to defy losing. Recall that those are also two very common symptoms of thyroid disorder. Odds are high that clues like these may have more than one culprit, and both will need to be addressed if that’s the case.
 
Cortistop is not designed to be taken continuously (Suggested use is 8 weeks on, 2-4 weeks off). Although the directions state to take two capsules in the morning before breakfast, my body responds favorably to one capsule a day. And although Cortistop is formulated for women, I do know some manly men who have found this particular supplement to be quite helpful during times of stress too. PRO TIP: I also recommend making a plan so that your Cortistop“off “ times do not correspond to anticipated times of high stress (such as tax season or project due dates!).
 
Interestingly, the vast majority of western healthcare practitioners do not recognize adrenal fatigue. While there is currently no black and white way to test for adrenal fatigue in a laboratory, there are many clues that point towards this very real condition that you, the discerning sleuther 🔎, may uncover on your own or with the help of a health professional who does understand adrenal fatigue.
Next up…. A solid list of clues🔎 useful for identifying adrenal fatigue, and ways to support the adrenal glands!
 
xoxo~ liz
 
#sharingiscaring
#adrenalfatigueisreal
#theapplicationofknowledgeispower
#goodmedicine
#BYOHD
#becomingyourownhealthdetective
#ThanksYL

How Do My Feelings Affect My Thyroid? – part 4

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Thyroid Clues Part IV: Emotions, Feelings, and the Thyroid
 
Mind🧠, body💪 and spirit🙏 are so deeply interconnected that it is impossible to be robustly healthy if this triad is out of balance in any way. The “spirit” of what makes us ….”us” is a composite of beliefs, life experiences, relationships, and memories. Outwardly, this clue set may be exhibited to some small degree by our personality. Frankly though, an individual’s personality is the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath the surface (feelings) always play a leading role in both sickness and health. No one holds the knowledge of your “submerged iceberg self” better than you, which is yet another reason why being your own CEO and chief health detective🕵️ is so utterly important.
 
Surely you’ve heard of people who have died of a broken 💔heart. This phenomenon has been closely studied and acknowledged by science. Interestingly, we (as a society) tend to lean more into accepting the role of emotions and feelings in a death than we do the role personal belief and hope plays in an abundant life, and we certainly tend to overlook them (emotions and feelings) as responsible parties in health and wellness in day to day living.
 
How does this fit into the puzzle🧩 of thyroid health? Quite well actually! Every organ and part of the body is affected at a cellular level by emotions, feelings, and memories, and learning to let go of that which doesn’t serve us is profoundly important in wellness and healing. The thyroid is, as you may recall, highly sensitive to changes in its environment. The “frequency” in which we “bathe” ourselves daily affects the health and performance of the thyroid. Frequency is not voodoo. It’s biology and physics. Everything (including our cells) is in a constant state of vibration, and any disease process will be evident as a disturbance in the structure and function of these frequencies. Positive emotions and feelings drive frequencies upwards (healthy), while negative emotions and feelings drive frequencies downwards (unhealthy).
 
Emotions and feelings tend to get blended together, yet they are not interchangeable.
 
Emotions:
🤨They may manifest either consciously or subconsciously, and are a physical state or reaction to an event.
🤨They keep us alive! They are a primal response, and are deeply coded into our genetic being!
🤨They happen before feelings evolve about the event that occurred.
🤨They can be measured by facial expressions , body language, blood flow, racing heart, tightening of muscles, skin response, pupil dilation (etc)
🤨They generally last anywhere from a few seconds to an hour. Once the emotion has passed, the body returns to balance ( homeostasis).
 
Feelings are quite different.
 
🤨They are experienced consciously.
🤨They are a reaction (caused by emotions), and often influenced by personal experience, beliefs, and memories
🤨Feelings originate in the neocortical region of the brain (the home of conscious thought and separate from the limbic system which houses emotions ).
🤨Feelings form when your brain assigns a meaning to the emotional experience, and are mental interpretations of a situation.
🤨Feelings don’t drift off after an hour (like emotions do). They hang around because of a vast network of personal experiences, belief systems, and memories we hold individually.
🤨Ultimately, feelings are psychological responses while emotions are biological actions.
 
The thyroid is the on location storage facility for some pretty hefty feelings. Some of these include:
 
🦋Conflict between the conscious and subconscious
🦋Feeling limited or stuck
🦋Struggling with love of self or feeling unable to speak up for oneself
🦋Feeling a need to be in total control or feeling out of control
🦋Feelings of humiliation
🦋Feeling fearful of self expression
🦋Feeling a deep sense of frustration
🦋Feeling chronically fearful of anxious
 
Pairing the storage site (thyroid) with the lower vibrational frequency of harboring any of these negative feelings long term, and you may unearth a clue that has tremendous value in your thyroid health journey.
 
Now, what to do with this clue? There are a couple of valuable resources I’d like to point you towards:
Who Switched off my Brain? Controlling toxic thoughts and emotions by Dr. Caroline Leaf
And…..
The Pathway to Emotional Healing by Jen McCraw
 
These two books are extraordinarily valuable resources for healing the damage that stored negative feelings can inflict on the body. Doing “all the other things” (avoiding gluten, managing your iodine and other micronutrients, exercise, sleep hygiene etc etc etc) will never be enough if your spirit is not at peace.
 
Some of the essential oils you may consider when working towards healthy feelings (and subsequently, a healthy thyroid) as you nurture your spirit might include:
💧Endoflex: supportive of mind, body (endocrine system) and spirit
💧Transformation: supports feelings of positivity and self awareness
💧Valor: supports feelings of courage and confidence
💧Envision: supports feelings of creativity and resourcefulness
💧Surrender: supports the desire to let go of either too much control or uncontrollable behaviors
💧Highest Potential or Awaken: supports an awareness of limitless potential!
💧Peace & Calming: supports a positive peaceful atmosphere and mindset
💧Sacred Mountain: supports feelings of strength and empowerment
💧Believe: supports and encourages feelings of faith and inner strength
💧Release: helps facilitate the ability to let go of anything that no longer serves you
💧Cardamom, Pine, Myrtle, Frankincense, and Lavender are additional oils that are helpful in supporting healthy (thyroid affective) feelings and letting go of those which do not serve.
 
Oils are not🚫 🧙magic friends. They are tools🛠 just as are the two books I’ve mentioned above. Neither the oils or the books will be helpful if they are bought and put on a shelf unused. The tools🛠 are there for the healer to use. YOU have the capability to be your own healer. It’s within you to do this. It’s hard work and it’s heart work, and you are worth the effort!
 
“Each patient carries his own doctor inside of him [or her!]. They come to us not knowing the truth. We are at our best when we give the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to go to work.” ~ Dr. Albert Einstein
 
xoxo~ liz
 

Dangerous Diagnosis

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Approximately 15-20% of adults in the United States currently takes a medication for a diagnosed mental health concern. Over 6 million children nationwide ages 0-17 are also on medication.
 
This is a very important podcast that I’d encourage everyone listen to.
In brief:
 
🧐A diagnosis means payment to the health professional by the insurance companies.
 
🧐A diagnosis is subjective (ie: there are no laboratory tests identifying a mental health disorder), and the DSM is an outdated methodology (chemical imbalances are not something trackable) used primarily for payment purposes.
 
🧐Memorable quote from the podcast:
Whitaker: But, of course, people were being encouraged to say your problems are due to this chemical imbalance as opposed to what’s going on in your life. That’s such a profound shift in self-understanding.
Horwitz: You’re not going to sell many drugs by saying your problem is your life experiences. It’s far more effective to say your problem is in the brain. It’s an imbalance, we can correct that imbalance, just take our product.
 
Worth the listen
 
xoxo~ liz
 
(PS: one thing I wish they had covered but did not….. many physiological imbalances will certainly cause mental illness type symptoms. These (incomplete list) CAN be found often through an adequate and thorough lab workup… ex: magnesium, ferritin, B12, D deficiencies, hormone imbalances, thyroid disorders etc. Become your own best advocate! )
 
 
 

Does Trauma Really Hurt My Body -part 2

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The Enigmatic Endocrine System Part II: Supportive care for the Pineal, Hypothalamus, and Pituitary Glands
 
If I am able to drive home one thing in all that I share, it’s this: The body, mind, and spirit are interconnected, and if one is damaged, the other will suffer. Likewise, if nurturing, support, and healing do not occur within all three: mind, body, and spirit, healing will be impaired. Some of the deepest wounds to the physical body will never be seen by the human eye because of the trauma to the mind and spirit. Trauma dealt to the mind is not the same as trauma to the 🧠brain, though both may be affected. Does that make sense?
 
There are many physical ways to support healthy pineal, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland function, but the most important of all is to become proficient in the skills required to overcome traumatic stress.
 
For a gland so tiny, there are books and even a journal (The Journal of Pineal Research) devoted to the study of the small ( but mighty) pineal gland. Traumatic stress appears to affect the pineal gland in profound ways that man and his science may never fully comprehend.
 
Here is what we do know:
 
Traumatic stress disrupts the pineal gland which in turn also disrupts melatonin.
 
Rene Descartes (French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist of the 16th century) described the pineal gland as “the seat of the soul”. He postulated that what we experience on “the outside of us” becomes an integral part of the mind (not to be confused with the physical brain). He was pretty much over the target🎯.
 
Many current day studies suggest that repeated stress or traumatic stress experiences may disturb mind integrity, memory, and experience.
 
Melatonin (in addition to regulating our circadian rhythm) has a role in the synchronization of memory. When the pineal gland is damaged by traumatic stress over time, memory formation and consolidation, cognition, and emotional processes may be altered.
 
Thankfully, love, community, and social connectedness have the power to influence, improve, and overcome the effects of traumatic stress.
 
Do not underestimate the power of a close knit community of friends 👭👫👬….. This is your first and most important “how to” take care of your endocrine system…. Find your tribe and love them ….. And (importantly) also let them love you 😘.
 
The Holy Spirit dwells within all who call to Him. The Holy Spirit is also our comforter and healer and guide. Don’t underestimate, undervalue, or decline this gift from God.
 
Real Solutions:
 
Physically, there are a myriad of ways to support the brain’s glandular system:
🙌Chiropractic care. Yes, even a little time on the table with a fantastic chiropractor can improve the functional quality of the pineal, hypothalamus, and pituitary glands.
🙌Eating a clean organic diet. The body can only thrive if it is given toxin free nutrition.
🙌Control sugar intake. Processed sugar causes inflammation which affects pituitary function.
🙌Be active! High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is especially helpful…. One of the most helpful body movements is squats. Who knew!?! Boost your entire endocrine system’s function with regular sets of squats!
🙌Incorporate small amounts of iodine (not the kind found in commercial table salt) into your diet. Kelp is a fantastic natural iodine source (it’s a key ingredient in Young Living’s Multigreens!) Sadly, fluoride is found in many city water supplies, toothpaste, and mouthwash brands. Fluoride calcifies both the pineal and pituitary glands which, as you’ve learned, goes on to affect the integrity of the rest of the endocrine system. The Young Living Thieves Toothpaste ( available as Dentarome Plus, Aromabright, or the kiddos Kidscents Citrus flavor) and Thieves Mouthwash are fantastic alternatives to the fluoridated varieties, are immune system supportive and provide ingredients for stellar oral hygiene.
🙌Fresh organic beet juice. Beets contain boron and B vitamins… necessary nutrients for a healthy endocrine system. Beet juice also helps counter the effects of fluoride and heavy metals.
🙌Manganese (found in nuts, leafy greens, whole grains, and legumes) , Vitamins D, E, and A are all necessary for healthy glandular function. YL’s Master Formula contains kelp, boron, manganese, B vitamins, Vitamins D, E, and A among a whole host of additional micronutrients. If you are looking for a “one stop shop” this may be your “go to” supplement.
🙌Good sleep hygiene. There are dozens of natural ways to improve sleep quality. Healing occurs best in a well rested body. Are you making full use of all the tools you may already have in your home? Essential oils well known to enhance sleep include Lavender, Cedarwood, Frankincense, Roman Chamomile, Orange, as well as blends RutaVala, Tranquil, Peace and Calming, and Stress Away all tend to support a good night’s sleep. Immupro and Sleep Essence are two sleep supportive supplements that may also be called in for duty if needed.
🙌Sage (the plant and the essential oil) has some very interesting properties that appear to support the endocrine system. If you choose to dive down this rabbit hole in your research, use the key words “salvia officinalis”, and “endocrine” or “pituitary”. Salvia comes from the Latin word (salvarem) which means “to save”. It may be this plant that best signifies the “mind, body, spirit” healing aspect simply by its activity within the endocrine system.
 
One in eight women will develop a thyroid problem at some point in their lifetime. (It’s not quite that high in men). While many thyroid disorders have root cause found in the thyroid itself, as Yoda said…. “Slow your roll [downhill], you must.” The thyroid is a precision organ, and will not be able to adequately perform if the endocrine glands of the brain (and elsewhere) do not work well. Their work is worthy of our TLC, and giving it the nourishment and attention it needs to perform optimally. Each one of us is a finely tuned, amazingly made unique creation, and each body part is a part of a bigger design working in tandem.
xoxo~ liz
 
https://goodmedicine.info/my-book/ (it’s here! We’re keeping it at presale price for just a few more days)
 

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