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How Much Do You Know About the Lymphatic System?
Clues From Our Thyroid – part 1
Two key reasons:
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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!
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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
Symptoms of thyroid deficiency might include:
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Chronic fatigue or tiredness.
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Muscular fatigue
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Puffiness or evidence of fluid retention
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Difficulty regulating body temperature (chronic feelings of being hot or cold. Recall the posts on body temperature)
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Development of Reynaud’s Syndrome
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Reduced pulse pressure and blood pressure
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Heart rate fluctuations
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Angina and/or feelings of breathlessness
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Higher cholesterol. People with subclinical hypothyroidism often have higher levels of LDL cholesterol. Thyroid disease is a major contributor to cholesterol problems.
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Arteriosclerosis (decreased elasticity of arteries)
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Changes in bruising or clotting (generally, bruising will become more common)
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Depression and/or anxiousness
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Difficulty gathering thoughts, memory, focus and concentration
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Headaches with unknown origin
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Moodiness or lack of enthusiasm in life
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Peripheral neuropathy
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Carpal tunnel (there is a strong link!)
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Random shooting pains in the hands and feet
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Osteoporosis (chronic hypothyroidism can be a contributor)
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Visual problems: dry eyes, age related macular degeneration, primary open angle glaucoma
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Loss of the outer eyebrows
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Chronic constipation
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Increased incidence of gallstones (thyroid hormones affects the composition of bile and how well it flows)
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Poor digestion of fats and proteins
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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!)
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Bloating, gassy
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Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
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Insulin resistance (and therefore) increased risk of developing Type II Diabetes
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Thicker tongue, perhaps even with scalloped teeth marks on the sides of the tongue.
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Changes in how food tastes.
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Periodontal disease
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Development of a husky or hoarse voice
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Infertility or difficulty maintaining a pregnancy
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Heavy periods (There is often a link between hypothyroidism and PCOS)
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Sex hormone imbalances (progesterone, estrogen and testosterone in women)
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Loss of libido
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Postpartum depression (very common)
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Premature menopause
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Dry skin
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Deep cracks and scales on the bottoms of the feet
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Deep lines on the palms of hands or soles of feet
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Yellowish orange or reddish color on palms of hands or soles of feet
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Reddish spots, bumps, or rashes that come and go
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Acne (often seen in conjunction with testosterone level disturbances)
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Brittle, flaking nails or nails that fail to grow well
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Hair loss (on the head) or gaining hair in all the wrong places elsewhere
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Getting sick more often, especially upper respiratory tract infections and in women, persistent urinary tract infections.
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Bedwetting in kiddos
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Delayed wound healing
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Gaining or losing weight without trying
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Poor sleep
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Iron deficiency anemia (roughly 50% of people with thyroid disease struggle with this)
Health Clues from Your Liver part 3
We think of the liver as the body’s main ☢️☣️detoxifier, and THAT it is for sure. Did you notice that the liver is also a storehouse with many rooms? We all have at least one junk drawer, or junk closet in our homes, right? If you were to take a tour of the liver, you’d find nicely organized “rooms” filled with glucose and glycogen (for energy), vitamins, minerals and other nutrients as well as helpful hormones and phytochemicals to be released and used as needed.
Deep inside the liver lies the body’s “junk closet” where it keeps it’s darkest stash of the truly “bad boy” toxins☢️☣️. The liver is not a hoarder… quite the opposite! It is doing its best job getting rid of trash and debris as fast as possible. Sometimes, either the liver can no longer keep up with what the body is exposed to, or the toxin is so nasty that the liver throws it immediately into the far corner of the junk closet.
What kind of junk might you find in the liver’s junk closet?
☢️Petroleum products (including those found in mainstream household cleaners and personal care products)
☢️Pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides
☢️Aspartame (you may know this as the artificial sweeteners NutraSweet and Equal)
☢️MSG (monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer commonly found in Asian food, canned vegetables, soups, and processed meats)
☢️Viruses and virus waste materials
☢️Certain medications (including opioids)
☢️Toxic heavy metals
If the liver didn’t do this, we’d be a walking hot mess, and frankly, we probably wouldn’t live long or productively as the brain, heart and other organs wouldn’t be able to tolerate the exposure.
We are built incredibly uniquely, and our livers all work in varying degrees according to our genetics and epigenetics (the environment we are exposed to). Many people have genetics that inhibit methylation. Methylation is a chemical process that enables the body to receive, absorb, and utilize key nutrients we get through eating, drinking, and living in a “clean” manner…..ie: lots of fresh unprocessed foods and fresh filtered water and spending time in the sunshine!
Methylation occurs in the liver in tandem with the ileum (the last little bit of the small intestine). If either the ileum or the liver is impaired, methylation cannot occur efficiently. Vitamin B12 is critical to efficient methylation. If you have not yet incorporated 👉Young Living’s Super B👈 into your daily supplement routine, I encourage you to give it a try and see if you don’t notice a difference!
When the “junk closet” of the liver has hit its overflow and begun filling the hallway, the methylation process is affected. However, when you also add in a liver specific virus….one that is in the herpetic family (shingles, HHV-6, cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr)…. The real trouble starts. Viral waste buildup is one of the most problematic to the liver and B12 levels will slowly begin dropping in the body. Additionally, the liver’s “ junk closet door” has now burst open and virus byproducts are now in the bloodstream causing inflammation within the body, dermatoxin related rashes, and brain fog.
Major clues indicating the liver is waving the white flag are on today’s graphic, and there are many more. Remember, the liver performs hundreds (if not thousands! ) of tasks. If the liver fails to deliver and the task is incomplete, something didn’t happen in the body that should have. Slowly over time, these incomplete tasks will begin adding up until eventually you have a clue so big, you’ve had to make an appointment with your favorite health professional😬.
Other clues indicating significant liver burden include:
🔎Random aches and pains : The liver purifies blood and produces new blood. When not enough “clean” blood is available to reach tendons, muscles, and other tissue, it may result in decreased flexibility, pain in upper back, and even dry eyes!
🔎Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) : may show up as random pain in the back or on the upper right side of the abdomen, kidney, or shoulder blade (referred pain).
🔎Spider Veins: If the liver cannot properly clean the blood, then clotting issues near the surface of the skin result.
🔎Darker Urine (see a health professional please!)
🔎Darker Emotions: An unhealthy liver exacerbates predisposition to depression or negative mood swings.
🔎Gout
🔎Eczema, psoriasis, skin rashes, breakouts, or itchy skin
🔎Allergies and asthma
🔎Bad breath
🔎Fibromyalgia
🔎Fluid retention
🔎Headaches
🔎High blood pressure
🔎High cholesterol
🔎Erratic blood sugar or diabetes
🔎Compromised immune system (including autoimmune disorders)
Once the liver “junk closet” is full…. It’s full and unless someone starts a cleanup process, the spillage will only continue. Have you ever cleaned the house while someone went right behind you and tracked in more dirt, left dishes in the sink, and oh…. Forgot to flush all the toilets?😱 That’s what the liver feels like if it’s burdened to the point of overflow and someone decides to clean it up on the inside, but does not stop exposure to all of the petrochemicals (standard household, personal care, and skin care toxins), pesticides, processed foods, contaminated water, etc.
If you have not yet ditched your liver saboteurs, I encourage you to begin today. 🌿Thieves Household Cleaner, the entire line of Young Living body and personal care, and Savvy Minerals cosmetics are all liver friendly! 🌿
Thankfully, the liver is incredibly resilient and forgiving with the right care and TLC, and is able to regenerate itself and regain function. It can do this even when it’s been compromised by more than 60%. The caveat to that factoid is this: permanent and thorough damage cannot be undone…..precisely the reason we want to avoid walking to the end of that road.
Happy liver, happy life!
xoxo~ liz
#knowbetterdobetter
#healthcluesyoucanuse
#goodmedicine
#ThanksYL
#loveyourliver
Health Clues in Your Colon part 2
What’s your lack of poo 💩 telling you? Colon Part II
There’s no time like the present to start talking about poo, or in this chat…. lack thereof! Chronic constipation affects roughly 28% of the North American population if we abide by the western medicine general rule that it’s “okay” to have only 3 bowel movements a week. (No wonder we have so many chronic illnesses based on this information alone!😱)
Let’s flush that “3 times a week okay-ness”, and look at how an optimally healthy colon should be functioning.
Healthy gastrointestinal transit time should run somewhere between 12 and 24 hours…… optimally, 1💩 to 3💩💩💩 bowel movements a day help keep the toxin load of a body in check. What happens when the body’s toxin load grows due to lack of appropriate time on the throne? Sickness and dysfunction begin rearing their ugly heads in a variety of ways:
1. Weight gain – toxins stored in fat and it becomes increasingly difficult to lose weight.
2. Fatigue – metabolism is disrupted (yet another avenue of weight gain too!)
3. Skin irritation and rashes occur – we expel toxins thru poop, pee, breathing, and thru our skin. When pooping isn’t happening as it should, other organs often can’t keep up with the detox process either!
4. Headaches and migraines
5. Mood Swings
6. Joint and muscle pains and spasms
7. Insomnia
8. Increased or excessive sweating (the body is trying hard to shed the excess toxins!)
9. Constipation breeds an increased toxin load which leads to even more constipation!
Per statistics found on the National Institute of Health’s website, chronic constipation (THEIR version…. 3x/week pooping) accounts for over 5 million healthcare visits or hospitalizations per year, and over 5.3 million prescriptions written singularly for constipation.
These are large numbers☝️☝️, but imagine how much larger those numbers would be if they were to include not pooping daily and the subsequent results….(numbers 1 thru 8 above).
Constipation is a clue, and it’s also largely fixable with lifestyle changes. Oftentimes, if you fix constipation, other health concerns will also begin to quietly fix themselves! 😉
Low fiber eating habits (ie: processed foods), lack of gut microorganism balance (YL’s Life 9 is KEY here), lack of exercise, dehydration, certain medications (Opiates, some antidepressants, calcium channel blockers used to treat blood pressure and heart disease, medications used to treat Parkinson’s, Iron supplements, NSAIDS, diuretics, antihistamines are all known to cause constipation), a magnesium deficiency, hormonal fluctuations, hypothyroidism, SIBO (refer to earlier discussion) and even colon cancer are common contributors to constipation.
For most people, eating more whole fresh foods, exercising regularly, drinking plenty of quality water, and including a top notch probiotic food or supplement source (Did I mention Life 9 or MightyPro for the kiddos?) along with digestive enzymes (Essentialzyme, Essentialzymes-4, Detoxzyme, Allerzyme, or Mightyzyme for kiddos) will often solve the constipation conundrum.
For those who still need a little extra boost to get you on that throne consistently, consider adding in Young Living’s ICP (that acronym has been affectionately known to stand for “I see poop” amongst those who use it). #useittoloseit ICP is a powder (loaded with soluble fiber and other goodness) that is added to juice or smoothies, making it an easy addition to daily routine.
If constipation is something that plagues you, and you’ve tried #allthethings, it may be time to investigate possible food sensitivities, leaky gut syndrome, or severe gut dysbiosis (unbalanced gut bacteria) with the help of a health professional who is experienced working with patients in this demographic.
Happy flushing!
xoxo~ liz
#knowbetterdobetter
#healthcluesyoucanuse
#fixyourplumbing
#goodmedicine
#ThanksYL