My Healthiest Trip Yet!

Healthiest Trip Yet Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

I just spent the last two weeks touring Thailand and Hong Kong, and I feel healthier than I have in years! I don’t say that because I took a well-deserved vacation from work and the stress of life, but because I noticed a significant improvement in my health compared to past trips.

This time last year I spent 3 weeks traveling all over Europe.  I went to Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands.  While I certainly enjoyed all of the beautiful sites and cities I explored, there was a nagging sense of fatigue, bloating, brain fog and weight gain running the in background.

I did my best to make the most of my Europe trip but honestly I was exhausted most of the time.  My face felt puffy every morning, my clothes fit a little too tight and the second I sat down on a train, plane or in a car I was dozing off to sleep.

Most would chalk up these feelings to being jet lagged, and a part of me wanted to also, but I knew this tired, swollen and less than excited version of me wasn’t the real me.

At the time, I didn’t know that what I was feeling was all a part of my soon to be diagnosed Hashimoto’s and mold illness.  About a week after my return from Europe, I received my diagnosis and just a few weeks later, a test revealed toxic mold in my home.

I spent the better part of 2-3 years leading up to those two moments of revelation feeling as if I was trying to dig myself out of some poor-health-hole I wasn’t really sure how I had landed in.  All I wanted was to feel like my best self again.  The same fit and energetic version of me from 2013 when I felt at the peak of optimal health.

Looking back, I can now see exactly what led to my demise over time…

  • Working a stressful job for a struggling start up company as the VP of Strategic Wellness Planning
  • Adding extra work hours on the side as a personal trainer to start my business
  • Mysterious mold in my house that I had no idea about
  • Eating “healthy” but not consciously and not always right for my body
  • Not making time for myself, then binging on self-care in short spurts
  • Searching for purpose in social scenes and having one too many drinks
  • Running long distances after late nights and hitting the weights way too hard at the gym

Mind you, a lot of these actions held true for me most of my life.  For a long time my body was able to adapt and recover, but at some point it reached its threshold and couldn’t handle it anymore .

Adaptation, or lack thereof, is tricky to explain to clients.  They want to know “but why was I able to eat this or do that my whole life and all of a sudden now it’s a problem?”

The truth is, it’s always been a problem.

Your body is amazing at adapting to its situation.  It’s always looking for the most efficient way to accomplish a task whether it’s something that you consciously embark on, such as hitting baseball, or some physiological function running in the background.

However, there’s one flaw – you only have so much vital reserve to run on before your body starts to break down.

Each of us has a different threshold for our vital reserve (aka our ability to adapt and how much stress our body can handle) based on our genetics and where our weak links are placed.  Think of the old theory or saying, “survival of the fittest,” it points out what we know evolutionarily – the strongest survive and the weakest don’t.

But in these modern times we’re able to bypass the typical evolutionary process.  We can outsmart disease with what we know about the body. We can easily identify what’s contributing to disease and take action to reduce it, enhance our vital reserve and improve our chances for survival.

This is exactly what I started doing even more intensely a year ago to achieve the way I feel today.

The accumulation of stress on my body intensified when I started working from home full time in a toxic mold-infested place.  My body’s vital reserve and ability to adapt to the stress of my lifestyle and environment drastically decreased, I hit my threshold and as a result an autoimmune process flourished.

In this week’s video and blog I share with you what I’ve done to enhance my vital reserve, to reverse the autoimmune process, to feel the healthiest I’ve been in years and how you can too!

Now my energy surprises me.  At the end of the day, I’m astonished at how much I have accomplished and how much energy I still have left.  Sometimes I underestimate my energy availability as if I have PTSD from being so fatigued before.

This recent trip to Thailand really brought to light how much healthier I am!

I had zero jet lag even after only sleeping for 4 hours during a 30+ hour travel day
I felt at home in my body, slim and trim the whole time!
I could have a cocktail without it kicking my ass the next day or destroying my sleep
I woke up feeling rested every single morning with the sunrise
I was able to think clearly, stay focused and maintain a joyful mood
I didn’t need (or even want) a nap after long days of hiking, snorkeling, walking or sightseeing

I am so grateful for the way I feel in my body today, and it makes every ounce of effort I have put into healing myself this past year more than worth it.

When I received my Hashimoto’s diagnosis and found the toxic mold in my home last fall, I made a promise to myself to not let these situations get the better of me.  I hunkered down, got to business taking even better care of myself to coach up my body’s vital reserve and started the slow road to a full recovery.

What I did was actually really simple.  I didn’t take any magic pills, try any elaborate or expensive therapies and I didn’t rely on prescription medications to mask my symptoms.

I simply focused on the general principles of health and creating consistency with them.

As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, focusing on the general principles of health is the backbone to the training I have received and the work that I do.

The general principles of health have worked for thousands of years and have proven to outperform specific treatments for disease.  They are simple yet impactful.  Before we had modern medicine all we had were the general principles of health; eat healthy, sleep, move our body, de-stress at the end of the each day, and the use of herbs or vitamins to support bodily functions.

The body wants to be in balance, it doesn’t want to be out of balance.  And given the right resources the body is able to build up its vital reserve and it will always return to its preferred state of balance.

The body thrives on consistency.

Just think, the more consistently you do something, the better you become at it.  This holds true in anything we do in life, such as riding a bike, hitting a baseball, our job, being a parent, cooking, etc.  Practice makes perfect.

Consistency paves the way for our body to adapt, to become more efficient.  If we are consistently immersed in activities that don’t support our health, our body will adapt, utilize its resources until there are no more and eventually give way to sickness.  Or if we are consistently engaged in activities that support our health, our bodies will adapt, become even more efficient, use fewer resources and promote greater health.

And if we are consistently somewhere in between, bouncing back and forth creating a roller coaster of highs and lows, then our bodies will struggle to adapt, drain its resources in doing so, and eventually reach its threshold.  You can think of this similarly to the wear and tear on your car; driving in the city with the constant stop and go produces more wear and tear on your car versus just hopping on the freeway and driving at one speed for a period of time without stopping. Most modern cars even kick into a “fuel efficient” state when you drive at a constant speed for a period of time.

Consistency has carried me back to a place of feeling like myself.

In order to restore my vital reserve and return my body to balance, I focused on creating consistency this past year.

I more consistently…

  • Went to bed within a few hours after sunset 6 nights a week
  • Made self care part of my daily routine instead of binging on the weekends or once a month
  • Created and engaged in a meditation practice promoting positive thoughts and healing
  • Set healthy boundaries around work and anything else that drained my energy
  • Ate 100% grain, dairy, sugar, soy and alcohol free for 3+ months and still do 90% of the time
  • Worked on being present and making empowered choices with me in mind
  • Took my supplements religiously to nourish and heal my body
  • Tested, and tested again to monitor my progress and make adjustments to my healing plan when needed

All of my efforts have paid off in order to feel as healthy and more like myself on this trip than I have in a long time.

By all means, I haven’t been perfect in my commitment to restore balance to my body and create consistency.  I have stared temptation in the face, had lengthy conversations in my head about giving in and giving up, and at times have felt very alone on this journey and in some of the choices I’ve had to make for me.

Each time I felt challenged on my journey I reconnected with what really matters – my health and feeling like myself again, and it always helped me get back to creating consistency for my body to thrive on.

If you feel stuck when it comes to your health or struggle with getting back to feeling like yourself, consider how consistent or not you have been…

Do you find yourself doing healthy things all week and binging on the weekends in unhealthy activities?  Are you super healthy at home but let loose too much when you travel for work or pleasure?  Or maybe you run a tight and healthy ship for extended periods of time, end up feeling deprived and then throw in the towel to fill the void?

Healthy is a way of being not of doing.

You can do all the healthy things in the world, but if you don’t embrace it as a lifestyle and create consistency you’ll constantly be swimming upstream.  And when you do embrace it as a lifestyle, it will significantly get easier. You’ll find yourself riding with the current and the wind in your sails.

P.S.  If you’re ready to break the roller coaster ride cycle and create consistency to promote your health, then let’s chat!  Schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here.

Demystifying Natural Health & Wellness!

Demystifying Natural Health and Wellness Canva

We all know that knowledge is power in SO many different ways and aspects in our life.  The key to becoming your own health boss and empowering yourself is gaining as much knowledge as possible and using it to figure out what works for you and what is right for your body.

I don’t claim to know all of the answers, but I am committed to learning and searching for them, which has made all the difference in how I have been able to restore my health and help others do the same.

One thing I do know for certain is that natural health and wellness approaches almost always outperform specific treatments.  I am an example of this, my clients are an example of this and a very special person I had the pleasure of meeting recently is a BIG example of this.

Jennifer Hudgens and I met a few months back at a local and very casual networking meeting.  We instantly connected over all things health and wellness related – her love for essential oils and my passion for functional health practices.

As we got to talking, Jennifer proceeded to tell me her health story.  She had suffered with a terrible back injury and was given little to no hope for a full recovery.  

Her doctors prescribed various medications to manage the pain, all of which barely put a dent in her suffering and left her feeling unlike herself.  

She was fortunate enough to connect with someone about essential oils, and with nothing to lose she decided to give them a shot.  She committed to using various oils every day and to her surprise, she experienced more relief than any pain medication had ever given her.o much, in fact, that she quit the meds altogether!

When I first met Jennifer, I would have never thought she ever experienced such pain, discomfort or such a serious injury before.  She is very much alive and thriving!

She, too, has seen the power of natural health and wellness, and like me has become very passionate about it and wants to help others become empowered with it.o she created the Demystifying Health & Wellness Interview Series.

Demystifying Natural Health and Wellness

I was honored to be asked to be one of 21 amazing women interviewed for their expertise in natural health and wellness for her series. I am so excited to be a part of this series to spread the wealth of knowledge, and I am even more excited to share it with you.

Not only was I interviewed, but 20 other women in natural health and wellness were also!  The women range from massage therapists, to naturopaths, physician assistants, yoga instructors, skin care experts, pilates instructors,  and even physical therapist.  Each of them sharing their knowledge and wisdom for your benefit.

The best part is access to the interviews is completely FREE!!!

Just take a look at the line up of women and topics that are being covered in the interview series….

  1. Nanci Tunley: Healing to speak your truth and live your purpose
  2. Jenn Malecha: Autoimmune disease and how to take back control of your health
  3. Molly Hamill: Finding your self-worth
  4. Dr. Arezou Ghane: Mindfulness and changing our inner conversation
  5. Emily Trott: Perseverance
  6. Lauren Mahlburg: Nutrition and the great outdoors
  7. Alisha Frank: Energy work and so much more
  8. Stephanie Lane: Meditation and morning routine
  9. Anna Ulmer: Coming alive through empowerment and mindfulness
  10. Elizabeth Ensor: Healing your body naturally
  11. Tina Ardolino: Yoga, Pre-natal, Post-natal – Follow your dharma
  12. Stephanie Zito: Be aware of what’s in your skin care
  13. Jessica M Fray: Menstruation and women’s health
  14. Sarah Connor: Grounding energy work
  15. Lee-Anne McCall: Homeopathy
  16. Teresa Rodden: Women and Sobriety, It doesn’t have to be a dirty word!
  17. Emma Fashion: Dressing for Self-Worth and Confidence
  18. Jessisa DeLuise: Eat Your Way to Wellness
  19. Corry Lang: Emotional Health Coaching
  20. Lauren Maniscalco: Core strength and why it’s important
  21. Katie D’Amato: Grounded to heal, empowered to move

The interview series will begin on Monday, October 2nd. Those who register for it will receive a new email with a link to the interview of the day every Monday through Friday through the end of October.

One of the best ways we can learn to solve our own health issues is to learn from other people’s experiences.  As I learned in one of my transformational coaching training programs, “your problem is someone else’s solution.”

I encourage you to check out the interview series to learn from people’s stories like Jennifer’s and mine, and see what kinds of natural health and wellness tips, tricks and inspiration you can pick up to help you along your health journey.

Register for and get access to the Demystifying Health & Wellness Interview Series here!

 

Activate and Upgrade Your Healing Process!

Activate and Upgrade Your Autoimmune Healing

We don’t give ourselves enough credit in general, especially when it comes to being able to heal ourselves.  We are often our worst critic and place the power of healing in the hands of others who have no idea what it’s like to be inside our body, our mind and they certainly haven’t lived our life.

What we also don’t realize is, any kind of sickness or illness is a lifestyle disease.

No matter what the ailment is, it can almost always be related to lifestyle choice(s) you’ve made.

Staying up late and not getting enough rest
Overworking or not making time for yourself
Eating foods that don’t support your health
Exercising when you’re already exhausted
How you handle stressful or traumatic situations
Not being mindful or present and getting into dangerous situations

Every choice you make in your life can either support or suppress your health.  Sure you are dealt a deck of genes, but you have the power to turn genes related to your health off or on based upon the lifestyle choices you make – this is the beauty of epigenetics!

You truly have more power to heal yourself than you could ever imagine!

More than any doctor, in fact.  If you use the power of epigenetics in your favor, you could essentially prevent or reverse any disease, even cancer as Dr. Nasha Winters ND points out in her book The Metabolic Approach To Cancer.

To help you take back your power when it comes to your health, and to prevent or reverse disease, Molly Hamill and I just did a kick ass webinar on Tuesday night all about how to activate and upgrade your autoimmune healing process.  And this wasn’t just for people currently and knowingly suffering with an autoimmune condition, it was for everyone because..

Antibodies for autoimmune disease can be seen up to 10 years before a clinical diagnosis is given – you can reverse it before you get there.

The feedback we received on it was so incredible so I wanted to make sure you got a chance to check out the recording if you missed it.

For this week’s video and blog I’m sharing with you the Activate & Upgrade Your Autoimmune Healing webinar replay.

Activate And Upgrade Your Autoimmune Healing Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

In this webinar replay Molly and I cover…

  • Contributing Factors:
    • How did you wind up here? What triggers autoimmune and chronic health conditions?
  • The Science Side:
    • What’s happening inside your body? How can you investigate and measure it
  • The Behavior Side:
    • How are your thoughts, feelings, emotions or lifestyle habits helping or hindering your health?
  • Activate & Upgrade:
    • What action can you take to activate and upgrade your autoimmune healing or to prevent health issues?

You will walk away with…

  • Our best practices which we use on ourselves and with our clients to identify stress on the body, how to take responsibility for it, and take action to promote healing.
  • A better understanding of how your thoughts, emotions, choices or lifestyle habits either help or hinder your health
  • Tools to coach up function in the body by rebuilding your relationship with it and changing your mindset
  • Knowledge about all the different angles of healing (science-based and spiritually) that you need to activate and/or upgrade your healing process or to prevent disease

Check out the replay and become empowered today – Get the replay here!

There is no cheap or easy way…

No Cheap or Easy Way Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

I just spent the last 3 days at the Ancestral Health Symposium in Seattle, Washington with some of the brightest minds and biggest pioneers in the functional medicine and health world.  The lecture rooms were filled with naturopaths, functional medicine doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, psychologist, personal trainers and tons of other functional health practitioners, like myself.

The presentations and discussion groups focused on everything from trends in different diets, research studies comparing which diets work best for which individuals, how exercise and gut function play a major role in our health, to the microscopic level of mitochondrial function inside the cells.

The key takeaway from every lecture was…

There is no cheap or easy way to heal the body, it requires a multi-level approach.

The body is an extremely complex system and what we know now about it is just scraping the surface.  There are new advancements in health and understanding happening every day.

And unfortunately most people dealing with chronic health conditions, or not, are getting lost in the system and not getting access to the right information in order prevent or reverse disease.

As this study pointed out, “It is frequently stated that it takes an average of 17 years for research evidence to reach clinical practice.”

That means on average, it takes 17 years for new research and advancements about health and medicine to actually reach your doctor and be put into practice.  By the time it hits their desk, it’s already outdated.

This study and the recent symposium I just attended proves there is more relevant and accurate information out there in regards to what you could be doing for your health.  Your doctor just doesn’t know about it, and the healthcare system policies haven’t caught up to it, so you’ll likely have to go out of network and out of pocket to find the latest and greatest advancements to improve your health.

You need to become your own health boss, assume responsibility and take back control of your health.

I know this first hand.  The conventional medical system has failed me in many ways over the years…
It prescribed me birth control at a young age to mask a painful and irregular period.
It told me to eat a standard American diet, which inflamed my body.
It overlooked health risk factors and markers, which led to skin cancer.
Routine lab tests painted me as the picture of health, but my body was an internal mess.
Various doctors dismissed my estrogen dominance and told me to “wait it out” while suffering.
No one checked me for Hashimoto’s, I had to discover it myself.
And forget about the mold toxicity, because in conventional medicine, it doesn’t even exist.

I refused to live a life full of pain, fatigue, mood swings, weight gain and suffering.  I wasn’t going to let a broken and outdated system get the best of me when we live in a world where information is available immediately on our phones and at our fingertips.

I became a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner because I knew there was more to be known out about our health.  Educating myself has helped me to overcome and heal every single health issue I have been faced with, and now I help my clients do the same.

To be completely transparent, the road to health recovery certainly isn’t cheap or easy.

Since receiving my Hashimoto’s diagnosis and discovering toxic mold in my home less than a year ago, I have done numerous tests, taken handfuls of supplements daily, spent hundreds of dollars on high quality food, spent countless hours meditating and working to create a healthier mindset that would support my healing.

In less than a year, look at how many tests it has taken to reach remission with my Hashimoto’s and get my health back on track:

  • Three GI Map stool sample test
  • Three DUTCH Cortisol/Hormone tests
  • Four home mold tests
  • Six metabolic mold tests
  • Six thyroid tests
  • One organic acids and toxins test

Not everyone needs to run this many tests, but some do.  At least half of these tests were NOT covered by insurance.  I really had to wrap my mind around spending money on myself because my health needed to be a priority.  After all, I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than I deserved when it came to my health, wellness or life.

Less than a year later, I am back to feeling like myself.  My thyroid and hormone levels are balanced and stable, and my inflammatory mold markers are dropping.

In fact, I just hired a personal trainer for myself for the first time in four years to kick up my workout intensity because I finally have my youthful energy back and my body has healed.  Every penny and minute I have spent on this health journey has been more than worth it.

In this week’s video I share more about my health journey, how I invested in myself and what has helped me return to optimal health.

 

At the Ancestral Health Symposium I attended, Dr. Ruscio gave a great presentation about gut function.  His presentation highlighted studies about the benefits of various diets such as Paleo, low FODMAPS and keto for improving gut function.  All of these diets have been proven to work on various individuals showing that there is no such thing as one-solution-fits-all.

Dr. Ruscio, among many of the other presenters, also emphasized that just diet, exercise, medications or supplements alone won’t restore balance to the body.  You have to incorporate a variety of healing modalities that collectively will help to restore and heal the body.

Over the past year, and even for even longer, I have implemented many changes/tools to help my body heal and to support my health such as:

  • Modifying my diet over and over again to meet my body’s needs
  • Making sure I was in bed by 10pm at least 5 times a week
  • Reducing my exercise when my body was stressed or fatigued
  • Taking numerous supplements for different periods of time
  • Scheduling monthly massages and regular chiropractic visits
  • Ridding my home of toxic products and mold
  • Learning to do Mayan abdominal massage on myself
  • Using an infrared sauna for at least 20 minutes 2-3 times week
  • Liver flushing and colon hydrotherapy
  • Kundalini, yoga, meditation, journaling and tapping
  • Lab testing, making adjustments and retesting to track my progress
  • Learning to speak up for myself and communicate my needs
  • Mindset work to increase my feeling of self worth (this was a big one!)

Not one of these things alone could have solved my health problems completely, but the combination of them created a powerful healing force.

Investigating where I was lacking, what needed to be healed and what worked for me is how I reached remission so quickly.

At the Ancestral Health Symposium it was very apparent that the future of healthcare is personalized care, there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all.  The medical system has been trying to put us all in a box based on similarities in symptoms and it hasn’t been working.

Personalized medicine requires us to assume responsibility for our health, to get in tune with our bodies and to be a collaborator in our healthcare – to become your own health boss.  As Dr. Mark Hyman (MD, director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine and chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine) says, “Health doesn’t happen in the doctor’s office. Health happens where we live, in our kitchens where we cook, and where we eat.”

So in light of this, to help you become your own health boss, Molly Hamill and I are hosting a free webinar – Activate & Upgrade Your Autoimmune Healing on Sept. 19th at 5:30pm PT/ 8:30pm ET

Regardless of whether you have an autoimmune issue or not, this webinar can help you to up-level your health. Molly Hamill and I will be sharing our best practices that we use on ourselves and with our clients to activate and upgrade the healing process in the body. To prevent and/or reverse disease.

In this webinar we will be:

  • Sharing our best practices that we use on ourselves and with our clients to heal the body, how to take responsibility for it, and take action to promote health.
  • Teaching you how your thoughts, emotions, choices or lifestyle either help or hinder your health
  • Showing you how to coach up function in the body by rebuilding your relationship with it and changing your mindset
  • Covering all of the different angles of healing (science-based and spiritually) that you need to activate and/or upgrade your healing process

And don’t worry, if you can’t make it live we’ll be sending out a recording to everyone who registers!

Register here for our free webinar – Activate & Upgrade Your Autoimmune Healing on Sept. 19th at 5:30pm PT/ 8:30pm ET

And be one step closer to becoming your own health boss!

My One Big Message

My One Big Message Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

You hear me cover a lot of different types of topics in my weekly emails and blog – everything from the latest science about hormone testing and diet, to sleep, exercise, meditation and spirituality.

It may not always seem as if these topics have anything in common, but they do. They are all addressing different types of stress that we encounter throughout our day and how to combat it.

Stress isn’t just the mental or emotional stress that we initially think of in relation to work, relationships or traumatic events.  Stress is much more than that.

Stress is anything that places a burden on the body.

Whether it’s inflammatory foods such as gluten, not getting adequate rest or sleep, under exercising or over exercising when your body is already fatigued, toxins in your environment, or physical ailments from misalignments in bones and muscles – it all equates to stress on the body.

When I went through my Functional Diagnostic Nutrition training program we were taught to identify H.I.D.D.E.N. stressors, or malfunctions in the…

  • Hormone
  • Immune
  • Digestion
  • Detoxification
  • Energy Production
  • Nervous System

Looking at these different systems of the body and recognizing malfunction helps me to also identify healing opportunities.

But in order to help someone heal and restore health to these systems of the body, I have to know what is causing the malfunction in the first place – stress.

To alleviate stress, I guide my clients in “coaching down contributors to stress, and coaching up function of the body” as my mentor Reed Davis says.

In all of the blogging and work that I do, my one big message for you is…

“I want you to be able to recognize the burden of stress on your body at any point in time and to know what to do about it in order to achieve your ideal health.”

Having a better understanding of what is contributing to a stress burden on your body leading to dysfunction, and taking action to minimize the stress is the secret to optimal health that we are all looking for.

In this week’s video I talk more about the different types of stressors, how to coach down the contributors and coach up function.

 

Our bodies are a miracle in and of themselves if you think about all that they do for us on a daily basis with little to no effort on our part: pumping blood and oxygen, breaking down and rebuilding cells, breathing, and giving us the ability to be mobile.

What we don’t realize is that those daily functions require a lot of work and energy from our body already, so we tend to pile on additionals tasks, toxins and responsibilities that force our body to work harder.  

Our body will essentially do anything we ask it to, but that doesn’t mean we should.

It’s rare that your body will tell you no.  It will climb to the peak of mountain tops, work through the night to meet a deadline for us and eat almost anything we feed it.  But that doesn’t mean we should ask it do those things, especially if it’s already burdened with H.I.D.D.E.N. stressors that we can’t see or aren’t aware of.

Know that stress can be…

  • The inflammatory or pesticide laden foods in our diet
  • Eating foods that are not in alignment with our nutritional needs
  • Staying up late at night consistently or not getting enough sleep
  • Exercising at a high intensity or for long durations when the body is tired
  • Perceived mental or emotional stress from work, relationships and traumatic events
  • Lack of nutrients in the body for functions to actually take place
  • Toxins in our environment which burden the liver, alter cells and disrupt hormones
  • And there are many more

For the longest time exercise was actually one of my biggest stressors.  As a naturally active individual with a personal training background, exercising was not only a passion but something I was intrinsically driven to do.  I was constantly pushing my body to do more, get stronger or go longer.

A huge turning point leading to my remission with Hashimoto’s (an autoimmune thyroid disorder) was turning down the volume on my workout routine a lot, to relieve an unnecessary stress I was placing on my body so it could heal.  As soon as I cut back on lifting weights and running, and focused more on walking and yoga, my body started to heal more rapidly.

I look back now and I can see many points in my life when I pushed way too hard when it came to exercise.  I vividly remember running my first marathon and at mile 22 my body simply refused to keep running, but I kept pushing- an obvious moment in time when the burden of stress on my body was high and likely contributed to dysfunction that I probably never fully recovered from.  Now I know better and I would never put my body in that position again.

If I go to bed late, get a crappy night of sleep, cheat on my diet, am traveling or doing anything else that might create extra stress on my body, I’m very mindful about striking a balance by doing things such as skipping my usual workout for something that is more restorative, going to bed early the next day and taking a full weekend to eat healthy and rest.

Using functional lab testing, I’m able to help clients see where dysfunction exists in the hormone, immune, digestive, detoxification, energy production and nervous system BUT the bigger question is what do you do about it.

The secret to restoring balance and health is working towards eliminating the things that are causing stress on the body and giving it the support it needs to function at a higher level.

Just fixing your diet won’t do it. It’s one aspect of healing but not the catch-all solution most hope it would be.

Coaching up function in the body and achieving optimal health requires a multifaceted approach, one that involves:

  • Diet
  • Rest
  • Exercise
  • Stress Reduction (of all kinds)
  • And Supplementation to support and restore bodily functions while you eliminate the stressors

I have found in my many years of doing this work that the mindset and spirituality components are just as critical as any of the physiological and science aspects.  One will only be able reach a limited level of optimal health without incorporating both and addressing all the burdens of potential stress.

Rebuilding the relationship with your body, taking responsibility and treating it with respect will help you forge forward in optimizing your health.  If you don’t change your mindset and the relationship with your body, you’ll continue to beat it down and run into a wall with your health.

So I’ll leave you with this… think about how much stress is on your body at this moment in time as you are reading this blog…

Are there toxins in your environment that you can’t see, hear or feel?
Did you get a crappy night’s sleep?
What was the last thing you ate and was it nutritious or not?
Did your force yourself to work out today or push too hard?
Are you stressed at work or in your relationships?
What else might be contributing to a burden of stress in your life?

Remember to weigh your stress burden regularly and then you can quickly take action to reduce it before it reduces your health.

P.S. If you want to learn more about identifying the burden of stress on your body, how to take control and reduce it, then check out my upcoming webinar Activate & Upgrade Your Autoimmune Healing on Sept. 19th at 5:30pm PT/ 8:30pm ET

Regardless of whether you have an autoimmune issue or not, this webinar can help you to up-level your health. Molly Hamill and I will be sharing our best practices that we use on ourselves and with our clients to identify stress on the body, how to take responsibility for it, and take action to promote healing.

Register for the webinar here

Why Meditation Matters

I never thought rock climbing would feel anything like meditation, but after my first rock climbing experience last week I can tell you that oddly enough they are very similar.

As my aunt-in-law pointed out during our family vacation rock climbing adventure together, rock climbing requires a heightened state of mindfulness.  In that moment, as your body is hanging on the side of a cliff, you certainly aren’t thinking about emails that need to be sent, work that needs to be done or the long laundry list of other to-do items you might have.

While rock climbing I was in the moment, fully in my body and nothing else mattered.

That is exactly what meditation feels like. It’s a place of serenity when there is chaos swirling around you, an escape for rest and relaxation, and an avenue for healing to happen.

In our fast paced, modern world we have lost our sense of mindfulness.  We mindlessly eat and react to situations rather than being present and proactive.  We act quickly without thinking it through and later regret our decisions.  We worry ourselves sick over the simplest circumstances, letting it distract us from creating what we really want to happen.

When we are mindful and present, it’s as if the world is moving in slow motion around us.  We are able to observe, make choices that are in alignment with our health and come from a place of empowerment.

This is why meditation matters for your health.

As my dear friend and colleague Molly Hamill often quotes from Yogi Bhajan, “meditation clears the garbage from our subconscious. It’s like taking the trash out of our minds each day.”

Our mind needs a daily mental detox just as much as our body needs to physically detox every day.  The study of epigenetics proves this to be true – our mindset can literally alter our gene expression.

As one study pointed out, mindfulness interventions such as meditation have the power to influence our genes and reduce inflammation in the body, making meditation a valuable tool for treating chronic inflammatory conditions such as autoimmune disorders, cancer, adrenal dysfunction, leaky gut, high cholesterol and so many others.

This graphic from Positive Health Wellness helps to paint the bigger picture of how meditation impacts the body on a scientific level as well. Meditation helps to lower cortisol levels (our stress hormone), increases our sense of calmness, and decreases feeling of anxiety, fear and depression.

In this week’s video and blog, I dive into more detail about how meditation positively influences gene expression, reduces inflammation and supports health improvement.

We can only heal in a relaxed state.

This is the critical foundation that meditation provides us – a relaxed place that allows the body to actually heal.

Meditation permits the body to slip into what is called a parasympathetic state, also known as the rest and digest mode.  This is the complete opposite of being in a sympathetic state, also known as the fight or flight mode.

Most of the time we are in fight or flight, our stress response is heightened by the abundance of daily demands placed on us in our jobs and in our lives.  This state keeps us alert, ready for action and survival.

This brilliant mechanism for alertness, action and survival takes a toll on the body when engaged for prolonged periods of time.  When the body is in flight or flight, it directs blood flow outward, shuts off any unnecessary functions (such as healing) and conserves all of its energy to address whatever the threat, aka stress, is.

As I pointed out in a recent blog, our fight or flight function served a valuable purpose back in the day when our ancient ancestors were being chased by predators, such as lions.  So while we don’t confront lions in our day, on a physiological level our bodies react to stress such as traffic, crappy co-workers or relationship challenges as if a lion was chasing us.

This constant state of stress chaos triggers inflammation which has the power to alter cells and create disease and dysfunction – and this is exactly what the study of epigenetics has shown us.

When we slow down and adopt the deep rhythmic breathing patterns usually associated with relaxation techniques like meditation, we are able to flip the switch.  The body recognizes the changes in breathing and thought patterns, turns off the fight or flight response and turns on the parasympathetic mode.

Let the healing happen!

In a parasympathetic state, the body is relaxed and able to heal.  All of its resources are directed inward to restore and rebalance.  It is able to combat inflammation, repair damaged cells, to prevent or reverse disease and dysfunction- again, this is what the study of epigenetics has proven.

Meditation is one of the quickest, most effective and accessible ways to get yourself into a parasympathetic state.  It doesn’t require any money or resources, and you can do it anywhere.

Meditation can take on many forms.  It can mean sitting in silence, taking a leisurely walk, saying positive affirmations, doing deep breathing, chanting or it can even be rock climbing in some cases (as I experienced).  The ultimate goal is to simply disconnect from the stress of your day-to-day life, to let any pent up energy flow through you and to free your mind from the vicious cycle of negative thoughts that we tend to get trapped in.

Having a daily meditation practice has helped me create the space for my body to heal from Hashimoto’s, mold toxicity, leaky gut, estrogen dominance and the flood of emotions related to the passing of my mother.

Some of my favorite meditation resources include:

  • Molly’s fear releasing (for autoimmune), gut healing, sleep and thyroid guided meditations
  • Insight Timer app with thousands of theme and different duration of meditations to choose from
  • Deepak Chopra’s 21-Day Meditation Challenges
  • Binaural Beats – the use of sound frequencies to induce the same mental state as meditation

Give your body the gift of meditation, and let the healing happen!

Sleep Your Way To Balanced Blood Sugar & Weight Loss

Sleep Your Way to Balanced Blood Sugar Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

Wouldn’t it be amazing if sleeping was all you needed to do in order to balance your blood sugar, lose weight, reverse insulin resistance or cure diabetes and hormone imbalances?

Sleep may not look like the so-called “magic pill” that you might be looking for, but it definitely plays a major role in the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, weight loss, inflammation and hormones.

A recent study showed how lack of adequate sleep negatively impacts the ability of fat cells to respond to insulin, one of the hormones that regulates metabolism, weight loss and is a major factor in developing diabetes.

Another recent study also found a link between short sleep duration and an increase in the progression to diabetes. This makes quality of sleep a key component in preventing or reversing insulin resistance, which also relates to risks associated with diabetes, overall weight loss and hormone balance.

We must learn to value sleep as much as we do diet and exercise.

When we are getting adequate and restful sleep, the body is able to restore and repair itself, our hormones can rebalance and nutrients can be absorbed and and converted into useful tools.

When sleep is inconsistent, disrupted or short in duration, our body is not able to fully recover.  Our circadian rhythm and cortisol balance becomes dysfunctional and a domino effect occurs in the body.

Sleeping is one of the ways in which we are able to balance cortisol, our stress hormone.  Cortisol regulates how our body uses insulin and the availability of glucose (sugar) in the body for energy.

Consider this classic textbook scenario… if you were being chased by a lion, your body would recognize this perceived stress and release cortisol as a result.  Cortisol would then act effectively to raise blood sugar levels for an abundance of energy, allowing you to think and move quickly to escape the lion!

In our modern world, our body doesn’t know the difference between a lion chasing you, crappy co-workers, an angry boss, traffic or relationship challenges.  On a physiological level, the body perceives all of this as “stress” and releases cortisol as if that lion was after you.

Back in the day when that lion was chasing you, you would have been running your butt off to escape it,in turn utilizing all of the excess glucose that was running through your bloodstream.  But now, in these modern times, we encounter stressors (such as traffic etc.) and more often than not we are sitting on our butts not exerting any kind of energy to use up that excess glucose that was release as cortisol increased in response to stress.

Cortisol prepares the body for action by moving glucose out of its storage form (glycogen) and raising glucose levels in the blood.  Insulin helps the cells to uptake glucose for energy.  Chronically elevated levels of cortisol, in response to the chronic stress in our lives, leads to chronically elevated levels of glucose and insulin. And being less active doesn’t help! As a result of this ongoing surplus, the cells stop responding to glucose and insulin’s ‘knock at the door’ (as I discussed in this recent blog).

So what does this all have to do with sleep?

As I mentioned before, getting adequate sleep is one of the ways we can recover from the stress of our day and support normal cortisol balance in the body.

In this week’s video and blog, I dive into more detail about how adequate sleep supports balanced blood sugar, weight loss, reversing insulin resistance and other hormonal imbalances.

Lack of adequate sleep can be perceived as stress by the body.

When we don’t get enough sleep, or when we sleep during the wrong times of day,  this can cause undue stress on the body.  And remember, it doesn’t matter what the stressor is, the body still reacts as if it’s being chased by a lion.

This perceived “stress” triggers the release of cortisol and therefore the cascading effects on glucose and insulin.

Chronic periods of sleep deprivation and disruption can actually flip normal cortisol level upside down or skew it way off track.  When this happens, other hormones such as thyroid, estrogen, testosterone and progesterone fall victim to the dysregulation all while leading to even more dysfunction and deeper health issues.

On top of the cortisol roller coaster ride, this study also found that poor sleep cycles negatively impact leptin and ghrelin, two hormones that control hunger and satiety.  You may have experienced this before, essentially less sleep means a bigger appetite, either because leptin and ghrelin are elevated or because you’re looking to food as a source of energy to make up for the lack of sleep.

Overconsumption of food (especially carbohydrates, even the healthy ones) can contribute to blood sugar imbalances, weight gain, digestive stress and a slew of other issues.

How to sleep your way to balanced blood sugar, weight loss and balanced, hormones…

Getting good quality sleep is partially about the amount of sleep you’re getting, but more importantly it’s about the time of day that you’re sleeping.

To sleep your way to balanced blood sugar, weight loss and better hormones, abide by these 3 rules for satisfying and restful sleep:

10pm Is Quitting Time.
Your body has an internal time clock based on the sun cycles and inherently wants to be asleep within a few hours after sunset.  Because of this internal time clock, certain restorative functions take place in the body at certain times during the night with the most critical ones running from 10pm-2am. If you’re constantly missing this window of sleep (10pm-2am) the body is not able to properly restore and repair itself, which leads to internal stress and dysfunctional cortisol levels. To support normal cortisol rhythms, being asleep- not just in bed but actually asleep- by 10pm most days of the week is best.  

Less Lights Are More.
Exposure to light after sundown tricks the body into thinking the sun is still up.  If the body thinks the sun is still up, it will continue to pump out cortisol, making it more difficult to fall asleep and keeping blood glucose levels elevated. This, in turn, can eventually contribute to insulin resistance over time.  Once the sun sets, be mindful of lowering the lights in your home, using dimmers when possible and using a rose colored nightshift setting on all of your devices.

Fatten Up For Bed.
Healthy fats help to keep your blood sugar balanced for extended periods of time, and can actually help you sleep more soundly.  If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night, especially around 2-3am, it could be because your blood sugar levels are dropping too low and your body is releasing cortisol to bring them back up, giving you energy that wakes you up.  Try eating a fatty snack before bed to help balance your blood sugar overnight.  My favorite nighttime snacks include a little bit of coconut oil mixed with chocolate bone broth protein powder to the texture of paste placed in the freezer to solidify, or chocolate pudding made with avocado, full fat coconut milk and chocolate bone broth protein powder.

Healthy sleep habits and bedtime routines are just one critical aspect of balancing your blood sugar, achieving weight loss and having healthy hormones.

To uncover other hidden healing opportunities related to blood sugar imbalance, insulin resistance, weight gain, hormones or other health issues schedule a complimentary consultation with me here today!

You don’t have to have Diabetes to have this…

Insulin Resistance Without Diabetes Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

Insulin Resistance – two words most commonly associated with Type II Diabetes and obesity, but you actually don’t have to be either one of those to be insulin resistant.

In fact, I see insulin resistance all the time in the everyday average person, even with those who workout regularly and eat “healthy.”

Some of the signature signs of insulin resistance can include:

  • Challenges with energy balance: high’s and low’s
  • Constant and/or uncontrollable cravings for carbs and sugar
  • Difficulties losing weight or keeping it off
  • Various hormone imbalances: cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, thyroid and testosterone

What is insulin resistance?

Insulin’s primary responsibility in the body is to move glucose (sugar) from the blood into the cells so we can use it for energy.  When glucose levels remain high, even with normal levels of insulin this is called insulin resistance.  In this case, the cells aren’t answering the knock at the door to let insulin and glucose in, they are “resisting” insulin and blood glucose levels continue to climb.

How does insulin resistance happen, even in the average person?

When you eat, insulin levels increase signaling the liver to convert food into glycogen to be stored for energy later. When you’re not eating (while you’re sleeping or between meals) the body still needs glucose for energy.  During these times, when insulin levels are low and food is not present, the liver will then convert glycogen back into glucose for energy.

This is a brilliant mechanism for efficient energy utilization that our body has developed over thousands of years.

However, when the body is bombarded by glucose, this brilliant mechanism starts to fail.  The cells become saturated with glucose and therefore refuse to let any more in – they stop answering the knock at the door so insulin levels remain the same, yet glucose levels in the bloodstream remain high.

Logically then, anyone who is consuming carbohydrates in a way that isn’t right for their body, even the “healthy” ones, can overwhelm their body with glucose and fall into the insulin resistance trap.

Stress can also play a major role in how the body manages blood sugar.  Most people know cortisol as our stress hormone, but what you may not know is that cortisol also helps to regulate blood sugar.  Elevated stress, and therefore elevated cortisol, can also have a negative effect on how the body is able to use insulin and balance blood sugar.

Elevated levels of blood sugar over an extended period of time can eventually lead to Diabetes, but insulin resistance occurs long before a diagnosis is ever given.   Poorly managed blood sugar even for those who aren’t at high risk for Diabetes, can lead to chronic inflammation, fatigue, weight gain, sugar or carb cravings and other chronic conditions.

Risk factors contributing to insulin resistance can include…

  • Eating small meals or constantly snacking throughout the day
  • Hormone imbalances (cortisol, thyroid etc.) that affect metabolism
  • Loading up on carbohydrates, even the “healthy” ones
  • Chronic, unrelenting mental and emotional stress
  • Inadequate amounts of fat and protein in the diet
  • How your body metabolizes carbs, fats and protein- genetics
  • Lack of exercise or improper exercise for your body
  • Low fiber intake

In this week’s video and blog I dive into more detail about how insulin resistance happens, how to tell if you have it and what you can do to reverse or prevent it.

 

Carbs are cheap, easy and convenient foods.

We live in a world that has become carb centric – out of convenience and our desire to do less, yet accomplish more.  Our ancestors never had as many carbs readily available as we do now, they had to forage the forests and exhaust a lot of energy to collect fruits, vegetables and even grains.

Now walk into any store selling food and the shelves are lined with thousands of carb-loaded foods.

This over abundance of carbs, even the healthy ones, has paved the way for more prevalent insulin resistance.  Maybe you eat less carbs now, or healthier ones, but what we’re fighting against is years (or in some cases even decades) of carb-loading.

How can you tell if you have insulin resistance?

You could be battling insulin resistance if you struggle with:

  • Energy dips, especially in the afternoon
  • Climbing weight gain or weight that won’t come off even with calorie cutting
  • Any type of hormone imbalance
  • Insomnia or trouble sleeping in any way
  • Brain fog or poor memory
  • Water retention, inflammation and high cholesterol

These are just some of the signs correlating with insulin resistance, so the best way to know if you’re insulin resistant is to test, not guess.

You can pick up signs for insulin resistance on a dried urine comprehensive hormone test (DUTCH) that you would obtain from a functional health practitioner (such as myself, check out the test here), or by getting yourself a home blood glucose monitor and tracking your body’s glucose response to food.

If you decided to track your blood glucose at home, functional and healthy ranges are much different than what you would read on the Internet somewhere.  Generally optimal fasting glucose should be somewhere in the 70’s to 80’s range, and increases in blood sugar following meals would average about 10 points in fluctuations.

Regardless of whether you choose to test or not, here are some rules to live by to prevent or reverse insulin resistance…

It’s ok not to eat.
Constantly snacking or the old paradigm of eating 6 small meals a day requires the body to constantly be managing glucose levels, and can lead to over-saturation in the cells.  If you’re not hungry, it’s ok not to eat.  In fact periods of intermittent fasting, usually done overnight, are natural for the body and historically is one of the ways our ancestors maintained normal insulin and glucose function.  This doesn’t mean starving yourself is the solution, especially if you have any pre-existing hormonal imbalances.  Simply focus on eating 3 meals a day with adequate amounts of healthy fat and clean protein.  When you’re eating the right amounts of fat, protein and carbs you should be able to go 3-5 hours or more without feeling hungry.

Gluten free isn’t a license for unlimited gluten free carbs.
Going gluten free can help to reduce insulin resistance, unless you find yourself indulging in too many gluten free carb-based foods.  Even gluten free grains such as rice and quinoa and starchier vegetables such as potatoes pose a risk for insulin resistance.  Remember that overwhelming the body with too many sugar-rich or glucose-dense foods can lead to oversaturation in the cells.  This is where you might be “eating healthy” but not right for your body.  So dial back on the gluten-free carbs by replacing them with more fiber-rich foods such as leafy greens and cruciferous veggies.

High fat doesn’t mean high protein.
As you dial back on the gluten free and starchy carbs, you’ll likely lean towards a higher fat and protein diet, which has proven to be effective in most cases in reversing insulin resistance.  However, in some cases too much protein can spike blood glucose levels or overload the liver’s conversion responsibilities.  Incorporating more safe and healthy fats such as avocados, olive and coconut oil can balance the metabolic scale in the body reducing the need for as much protein while still keeping you satiated.  Eating fattier cuts of meat such as bacon, pork shoulder or butt, and dark meat chicken that are organic, hormone and nitrate free are also great ways to automatically balance this scale.

Alternate high intensity and resting endurance training.
Studies show that high intensity interval training (HIIT) AND low intensity endurance training both have positive impacts on reducing the mechanisms of insulin resistance.  If you think about it, this is the way in which our ancestors used to move.  They had periods of intense movement, when they were hunting or being hunted for example, and other times when movement was slow and long during times of migration.  Including both of these modes of movement and alternating them throughout the week will help your body utilize and replenish energy – aka glucose.  Hit the gym or do some HIIT training at home a few days a week, but also make sure to take some “resting endurance” days – simply walk for an extended period of time and optimize it after a period of intermittent fasting.

Reversing insulin resistance can take time, weeks or months even, but you should begin to notice little changes along the way as you begin to make changes to your diet and exercise routines.  Your energy will become more balanced, your sleep and brain function will improve and you’ll likely experience weight loss.

If you feel like insulin resistance might have you hung up, then I invite you to explore your body’s needs with me by scheduling a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here

The Coconut Oil Controversy

Coconut Oil Controversy Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

I’m not one to get involved in politics, but if there is such a thing as fake news, the recent media myth about coconut oil really takes the cake.

The media made all sorts of ridiculous claims regarding coconut oil after the release of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) report on Saturated Fats and its shocking statements about coconut oil in June.  The report alluded that coconut oil isn’t as healthy as claimed to be and that consuming it can lead to heart disease.

As soon as the report came out, I had clients contacting me left and right with worrisome questions about their beloved and healthy coconut oil.

The AHA’s recommendations about avoiding saturated fats is old news, this has been their anthem for a long time.  The recent AHA report not only held firm on this age-old recommendation but it also included coconut oil on the list of saturated fats to avoid this time.  Part of the recommendations also suggested substituting saturated fats for polyunsaturated fats derived from sources such as canola oil, soybean oil and corn oil.

There are many reasons why the AHA’s report is misleading, and why you should continue eating as much organic extra-virgin cold-pressed coconut oil as your heart desires.

Why are more people suffering with heart disease than ever before if the AHA’s guidelines are correct?

I could go on for days about how the AHA’s report is a bunch of BS so I’ll keep it short, sweet and to the point with my three main reasons why you shouldn’t take their recommendations to heart.

First of all, let’s take a look at the source of the data for the AHA’s report.  The report was based on four core studies that the AHA said, “performed well” in regards to saturated fats and heart disease.  Mind you, there are over 17 studies out there, how they picked the four that “performed well” is questionable.   And to top it off, these four core studies were published from 1968 to 1970 and one in 1979.

A LOT has changed in the past 40 plus years and yet the AHA is basing its recommendations on old and outdated information.

Second of all, let’s look at the actual root cause of heart disease – inflammation.  Inflammation is the driving factor, not the consumption of saturated fat.  Chronic inflammation leads to the deterioration of cellular structures and arterial walls.  Cholesterol is what the body uses to repair arterial walls, similar to patching a hole in a leaky pipe or tire.  The more inflammation there is, the more cellular and arterial wall damage, thus there will be more cholesterol or plaque buildup because it is  repairing the damage.

If nutritional guidelines simply focused on eating an anti-inflammatory diet, we would see a MAJOR decrease in the rates of not only heart disease but all other types of disease as well.

Third of all, where they really go wrong is with their list of fats and oils that you should be eating.  They suggest consuming canola, corn and soy based oils.  These oils are more strongly related to heart disease than coconut oil because of their inflammatory factors.  More than 90% of corn and soy crops are genetically modified and laden with pesticides and herbicides.   A Norwegian study found that U.S. soy crops contain “extreme” levels of glyphosate which is a main ingredient found in Roundup.

Pesticides and herbicides in GMO foods drive up inflammation.  And remember what happens when there’s chronic inflammation? More cellular damage, more arterial wall damage and thus more cholesterol and plaque build up.

Most coconut oil brands, at least from what I’ve seen, are non-GMO and typically organic meaning they are pesticide and herbicide free, and not inherently inflammatory like corn and soy based oils.

In this week’s video and blog I continue to break down the misleading information in the AHA’s recent report and give you the real facts on why and how you should incorporate coconut oil and essential saturated fats.

 

Saturated fat is essential for everything from liver function to immune system regulation.

Our cell membranes are made from at least 50% saturated fatty acids.

Saturated fats and LDL cholesterol are required to make hormones such as estrogen, testosterone and progesterone.

Saturated fat is used to protect the liver from the dangerous side effects of medications, to make the lining of the lungs and is required for calcium to be effectively used to build bones.

Since saturated fats are so essential to every function of the body, we need to be consuming them in the right way.  Coconut oil is one of the cleanest and best sources for essential saturated fatty acids but you can also get them from animal fats such as grass-fed organic beef.

In addition to being a great source of healthy saturated fats, coconut oil also has anti-microbial properties, meaning it also protects your gut and mouth from parasites, bacteria and yeast, and promotes the balance of friendly gut flora.

Notice how I said “consuming them in the right way.”  If you don’t consume saturated fat in a healthy way, it will increase inflammation and your risk for heart disease.  Follow my guidelines below for consuming saturated fats to reduce your risk for heart disease and to boost your health.

Guidelines for Consuming Saturated Fats:

  • Grab organic and non-GMO oils to avoid inflammatory pesticides/herbicides
  • Look for cold-pressed oils that maintain the natural structure and benefits of the oil
  • Make sure your meat and fish is organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised and/or wild caught
  • Eat an anti-inflammatory diet, free of processed and GMO foods
  • Balance Omega 6 from foods by taking an Omega 3 supplement

By following these simple guidelines, you’ll be providing your body with the right types of saturated fats it needs to function at its optimal potential while reducing inflammation and risk factors for heart disease at the same time.

Like I always say, “There’s a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.  Eating right for your body will include healthy food, but not every healthy food is right for your body.”

So take what you hear about so-called healthy foods with a grain of salt, be informed and make choices that are right for your body.

If you’re interested in learning more about what foods are right for your body, I invite you to schedule a complimentary Ideal Health and Weight Discovery Session.  Let’s chat! Click here to schedule

The Scary Side of Sunscreen

The Scary Side of Sunscreen Adrenal Fatigue Leaky gut Thyroid Jenn Malecha

The Summer Solstice last Tuesday officially marked the kickoff of summer for those of us in the northern hemisphere.  And with the 4th of July right around the corner in the U.S. that means a lot of time will be spent in the sun.

I absolutely love this time of year.  The longer days, warm nights and abundance of sun bring me so much joy and happiness.

But being diagnosed with skin cancer quickly devastated my summer bliss.

When I was diagnosed with skin cancer over 8 years ago it was devastating to think I would have to live a life slathered in sunscreen, constantly covered up and hiding from the sun.

Being out in nature and soaking up the sun’s rays were part of my livelihood.  My fondest memories as a child centered around being submerged in a pool all day in the hot sun, adventuring the outdoors and playing games until all hours of the evening when the sun went down in the summer.

My diagnosis was a bit shocking at first, since I wasn’t your typical candidate for melanoma.  I was in my mid-twenties, had no history of skin-related cancers in my family, I wore sunscreen most of the time (mind you SPF 15, though), and while I spent time in the sun, I only really had one or two bad sunburns in my life.

The thought of having to wear and smell like sunscreen all the time was repulsive.  But I had to do what was best for my health, right?

For the first few years after being diagnosed with skin cancer, and before I dove into the world of functional health, I stocked up on typical name brand sunscreens with a minimum of SPF 30 at my local drug store.

What I didn’t realize was…

My skin cancer was not a symptom of too much sun, but an indication of how dysfunctional my body was on the inside.

Once I began my training in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition back in 2012, I quickly realized that my skin cancer was not a symptom of too much sun, but rather an indication of how dysfunction my body was on the inside.

One of the very first functional lab tests I ran on myself was an at-home urine test that looked at something called oxidative stress. Oxidative stress measures the amount of DNA or cellular damage, which is one of the driving factors for any type of cancer.

At the time of my skin cancer diagnosis, my oxidative stress was higher than optimal, meaning I had more cellular damage than I should at my age, giving me an increased risk for skin cancer, or any kind of cancer for that matter.

Wearing sunscreen is only part of the solution to preventing skin cancer.

In this week’s video I dive into more detail about how oxidative stress increases the risk for skin cancer and how the right kind of sunscreen is part of the prevention solution.

Cancer cells are a result of an increase in something called aerobic glycolysis and high levels of oxidative stress.  Free radicals or damaged cells associated with oxidative stress accumulate because of an increased stress on the body.  One of the biggest oxidative stress factors is environmental toxins.

One of the ways I’ve been able to stay skin cancer free for over 6 years now was by reducing the amount of oxidative stress in my body by reducing the amount of toxins I come in contact with.

I immediately realized that typical name brand sunscreens were part of the cause.

Every year the Environmental Working Group (a non-profit organization with a mission to improve the quality and safety of our environment) produces a report about the best and worst sunscreens on the market based on toxicity.

Just look at the name brand sunscreen products that made this year’s worst list:

  • Banana Boat
  • Coppertone
  • CVS
  • Equate
  • Neutrogena

For years I had been lathering myself up with toxic sunscreen, not paying attention to toxins in my environment and not properly protecting my skin from the sun.

Now my favorite non-toxic sunscreen brands are ones that I get at my local health food store, Alba and Kiss My Face.  I have switched all of our household products for non-toxic versions and I make sure to wear at least SPF 30 when I spend time outdoors.

Aside from the toxic ingredients, another misleading fact about sunscreen is the SPF value.  The most commonly used SPF value is 15.  Prior to my diagnosis SPF 15 was my coverage of choice too, until I learned that you would have to use at least one ounce, the size of a shot glass, to get SPF 15 coverage in one area.  Yikes!

Studies are showing that SPF over 50 doesn’t really provide you any more coverage.

To truly protect your skin from the sun and its damaging rays, you’ll want to:

  • Use SPF 30-50
  • Pick a non-toxic sunscreen brand
  • Re-apply frequently
  • Consider a hat or UV protective clothing for extended sun exposure

Reducing your exposure to toxins and getting adequate SPF coverage are the best things you can do this summer, to reduce the accumulation of oxidative stress in your body and to prevent skin or any other cancer in the future.

For a full list of the best sunscreen brands to buy to reduce your toxic load and to learn more about how to protect your skin this summer check out the Environmental Working Group’s Annual Guide to Sunscreen here.