The Link Between Teflon, Thyroid & Birds
I’ve gotta hand it to technology and evolution. It has allowed us to create some pretty amazing things such as prosthetic legs that give people the ability to walk again, and smartphones that can secure the safety of our home and deliver information to us in just one touch.
Technology continues to thrive on the demand for smarter, more convenient devices and products.
What we may not be aware of though, is how some of these advancements in technology are wreaking havoc on our health.
Take teflon for example.
This seemingly harmless convenient cookware coating was introduced in 1945 and at first glance it seems amazing, right?
No more food crusted pans, pots or cookie sheets to scrub. Teflon has made life more convenient by reducing the time and energy needed to wash dishes and to clean ovens.
Teflon is a type of PFC (poly-fluorochemical) used to make water, grease and stain resistant coatings. Among non-stick cookware you can also find Teflon or PFC’s in many fast food or to-go containers used widely in all different types of food establishments.
For example, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently published a study showing the percentage of food packaging items containing PFC’s. Some favorite food establishments that topped the list included:
- Starbucks – 21 items tested and 76% contained PFC’s
- Chipotle – 17 items tested and 65% contained PFC’s
- Panera – 23 items tested and 43% contained PFC’s
- Local Restaurants – 7 items tested and 43% contained PFC’s
What is scary though is that exposure to Teflon and other PFC’s has been linked to…
- Abnormal thyroid hormone levels
- High Cholesterol
- Pregnancy induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia
- Obesity
- Kidney and testicular cancer
Veterinarians specializing in birds have known about the hazardous effects of Teflon-coated and non-stick cookware for decades.
In 1986 is was discovered that “Teflon toxicosis” was a leading cause of death for hundreds of birds that were exposed to fumes and particles being emitted by the use of Teflon cookware in the kitchen.
Birds might be small example in comparison to humans, but how is Teflon affecting your thyroid and overall health?
In this week’s blog and video I talk more about the hazards of non-stick cookware, Teflon, and what you can do to protect thyroid and overall health.
The biggest risk factors when it comes to PFC’s involves your thyroid.
Research has shown that PFC’s (aka Teflon) affect thyroid hormones by competing for binding proteins and altering Free T4 levels in the blood. Free T4 is converted into Free T3, so PFC’s lower overall thyroid hormone availability and production.
Your thyroid isn’t the only thing that is affected. Your liver takes a hit, too.
PFC’s also act like free fatty acids which means they can also bind to liver proteins as well as other hormone proteins such as sex hormone–binding globulin and corticosteroid-binding globulin, which greatly impacts the overall function of your endocrine system and hormonal balance.
It probably isn’t realistic to throw out all of your non-stick cookware and replace it with something less toxic right away, or to think that you’ll never eat out of a to-go container again.
Here’s what you can easily do now to reduce your exposure to PFC’s:
- Bring your own to-go mug to Starbucks – this is my favorite non-toxic tumbler cup by Healthy Human
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper to provide a protective layer
- Slowly start swapping out pots, pans and baking sheets for stainless steel or cast iron – this is my favorite cast iron brand
What matters is that you become aware of these toxins in your environment, you take action to reduce your exposure where you can and support your body’s natural detoxification ability to excrete the toxins that you are exposed to. Making small shifts like this can greatly improve your health and healing.
Want to learn more about toxins, how they impact your thyroid, adrenal and gut health, and what you can do about them?
FREE Online Workshop – The Truth About Toxins & How To Detox Them
When: March 2nd at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET
What we’ll cover:
- How toxins are draining your energy by contributing to thyroid, adrenal, gut and overall health dysfunction
- Where toxins are hiding in your home and what you can do about it
- Why juicing doesn’t work for detoxing toxins and what you should be doing instead
- How to support your body’s daily detoxing abilities without expensive supplements and juices
REGISTER FOR THE WORKSHOP HERE!
If you can’t make it live, no worries! A recording will be made available to everyone who registered.
Not In The Mood? Here’s Why…
February is supposed to be the month of love and romance, but does your sex drive feel like a sinking ship?
Studies suggest that 34% of women and 15% of men experience a decrease in sexual interest often or most of the time.
Losing your libido is a new age problem triggered by both mental and physical factors. In this day and age the number of physical and mental stressors in our life far exceeds what our ancestors ever experienced.
We are constantly connected to our devices.
We work longer hours than past generations.
We commute farther and sit in more traffic.
We cart multiple kids around to various activities.
We have more commitments and responsibilities.
We eat processed foods, drink less water and move less.
We are exposed to thousands of toxins every day that alter our hormones.
And the list goes on…
All of this happens at the expense of our energy, health, and our sex life.
Being “in the mood” requires being in a mental space that allows the lust to flow, but it also needs assistance from your hormones.
Hormones are what drive our sexual desires. Testosterone is the most influential one in both men and women, but estrogen, progesterone and even oxytocin (the “love” hormone) all play a role in arousal. These hormones work together to start the engine and steer your sex drive.
Beyond the distractions and stress of everyday life, there is actually something more going on behind the scenes that causes a loss of libido – Pregnenolone Steal.
Misfiring hormones contribute to approximately 70% of low sex drive.
When we are under constant stress our body is continuously releasing cortisol hormone in response. Eventually the demand for cortisol becomes so great, or so chronic, that the body can no longer keep up with the demand.
Over time as cortisol becomes dysregulated, the body starts stealing resources, such as the hormone pregnenolone, in order to produce cortisol. The loss of these resources leaves our storage for testosterone, estrogen and progesterone dry.
In this week’s video and blog I show you what happens during pregnenolone steal, how it sucks your sexual desire dry and what you can do to reverse it.
In addition to diminishing testosterone, estrogen and progesterone resources, a high output of cortisol also suppresses our love hormone oxytocin.
Oxytocin is known as the love hormone that is released during childbirth (to make you forget all the pain you just went through, LOL), with orgasm, while playing, laughing, hugging and giving.
A low libido life is not without hope, though!
There is certainly hope for those feeling hopeless about their sex drive. It is possible to get it back, no matter how long it’s been gone for or how old you are.
To get your vavavoom back you just have to reduce the demand for cortisol and turn up the volume for oxytocin.
How can you do that, you might ask? Here’s how…
Hug, laugh and play more!
These actions instantly boost your oxytocin levels. Even doing something as simple as looking deeply into someone’s eyes, smiling or expressing gratitude can create a surge in oxytocin levels. Oxytocin also helps to lower cortisol levels naturally, too!
Take time to meditate, do deep breathing or get upside down.
All of these activities instantly turn off the valve for cortisol, take you out of “fight or flight” mode and instantly relieve stress. Even just a few minutes once or twice a day can have a huge impact!
To reduce even more chronic stress and cortisol output, you can also:
- Eat an anti-inflammatory diet free of gluten, dairy, sugar and soy
- Get to sleep by 10pm most nights of the week
- Turn down your exercise intensity and/or add in a weekly yoga class
To better understand your cortisol and hormone balance as it relates to your sex drive, you can also do a simple urine test in the comfort of your own home.
Testing your cortisol and sex hormones gives you insights on how to strategically balance your body using diet, sleep, exercise, stress reducing tools and supplements.
However, hormone tests are not all created equal. To truly evaluate cortisol balance you need to be able to see the rhythm of your cortisol throughout the day. A urine or saliva based test is best as they allow you to take several different samples during the day to see the rhythm and flow versus a blood test that only shows one snapshot in time.
Understanding the health of your cortisol balance will assist you in getting your groove back!
Four Essential Travel and Health Maintenance Tips
Traveling is my favorite pastime. This year I kicked off my travel circuit with a business and pleasure retreat to Belize. Last year I took 15 trips and I travelled to 7 different countries.
Traveling allows me to escape my day-to-day routine, to rest, relax and rejuvenate my body. It also helps me to cultivate creativity, get more in touch with myself, with nature and all of the joy that can be found in this world.
As much as I love traveling, and all the amazing things it has to offer, travel does have its downsides when it comes to your health.
Often times we tend to focus on the physical side effects of traveling– how tight and sore we feel after sitting in a car, plane or train for hours, or the lack of physical activity we’ve been able to get.
But beyond how it impacts the external body, traveling can also create a lot of internal chaos, disrupting the flow of the body that we don’t necessarily recognize until later on down the road.
Traveling can negatively impact your health by:
- Disrupting your sleep and wake patterns
- Causing chronic or severe dehydration
- Contributing to acute or chronic inflammation
- Exposing you to different and dangerous toxins
- Hijacking your healthy eating and therefore the availability of nutrients to your body
- Depressing the immune system, making you more susceptible to colds, flus and viruses
Whether you are a frequent traveler like I am or not, the health side effects of traveling can really wear down the body. Even just a one-time trip can have a huge impact your body’s natural rhythms.
This can be easily seen if you’ve ever experienced jet lag or know someone who has. Jet lag, also known as desynchronosis and flight fatigue, is a temporary disorder in the body that can result in fatigue, insomnia, and other symptoms that most commonly happen when traveling across different time zones. Jet lag is essentially a disruption of the internal body clock that leads to circadian rhythm sleep disorder.
Traveling across different time zones is not the only cause of jet lag. Lack of hydration, physical activity, toxins, stress and long nights can all contribute to jet lag as well. However, again, jet lag is just one example of how traveling can impact your body’s natural rhythm and flow.
Obviously I’m not suggesting that you don’t travel, as it is my personal favorite pastime. In fact I think everyone should actually get out and travel more.
I’m suggesting that you travel smarter, to maintain the natural rhythm of your body.
In this week’s video and blog I talk more about how different aspects of travel can disrupt the body, and I share my four essential travel and health maintenance tips that can help you keep your health in tip-top shape.
Traveling smarter means taking simple steps to protect your body against the harmful effects of travel.
Understanding how travel impacts your body and knowing the risk factors you might be exposed to is the first step in being able to protect it and recover better from it.
Focusing on getting adequate sleep, water and good quality foods are key for maintaining your health during and after travel. However, your traveling circumstances may not always allow for this.
The good news is that you can take some simple proactive steps to protect your body from harmful travel effects while on the road and also upon your return.
Here are my Four Essential Travel and Health Maintenance Tips:
Take Oil of Oregano.
Oil of oregano is one of the most protective herbs you can take in supplement form. This powerful plant oil has natural anti parasitic, bacterial and fungal properties. Traveling can expose you to all different types of organisms and viruses that your body is not used to and may not be able to defend against. By ingesting oil of oregano a few times per day during travel you can naturally protect yourself from contracting any unwanted germs and gut bugs. It’s like adding an extra protective layer to your immune system. When I travel I take 2 capsules 3 times a day of my favorite oil of oregano brand Designs for Health.
Pack Activated Charcoal.
You don’t want to be caught without this! Activated charcoal is one of the primary ingredients found in Pepto-Bismol to help sooth a bubbly gut, but it actually has more healing powers than just that. Activated charcoal also has the ability to bind to toxins in the body to assist in removing them through stool. I take activated charcoal preventatively while traveling whenever I question food or water quality, when I drink alcohol or if my stomach starts to feel upset for any reason. It’s important to take high quality activated charcoal, and to not take too much as it can lead to constipation. I will pop 2 capsules, as needed, of my favorite activated charcoal by Integrative Theraputics.
Attend To Your Adrenals.
Cortisol hormone is produced by the adrenal glands. It regulates your sleep/wake cycles, gives you energy and is your natural anti-inflammatory agent. Cortisol should reach its highest in the morning, giving you energy to start your day, and be lowest at nighttime allowing melatonin to be released for you to sleep. The cycle of the sun and exposure to light is what determines when cortisol is released. Traveling across different time zones, having to adjust to new sun cycles and late nights, can disrupt your normal cortisol rhythm. When cortisol loses its rhythm it will affect your energy, ability to sleep well and negatively impact other hormones such as thyroid, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. If you travel frequently, I recommend checking your cortisol rhythm 1-2 times per year to re-balance it as needed. Get more info about testing your cortisol here.
Check Your Gut.
Your gut is where your immune system is housed, where you absorb nutrients, and where mood-balancing hormones such as serotonin and dopamine are made (among a ton of other important things). Traveling exposes you to all different types of organisms such as parasites, bacteria and yeast that are not otherwise found in your daily environment. Plus, your defense system to fight off these organisms can be suppressed during times of travel from stress, eating certain foods, lack of sleep and various other factors. These organisms can be found in the food you eat, water you drink and various surfaces you touch while traveling. Left untreated, these organisms can lead to leaky gut, IBS, acid reflux, ulcers, constipation, diarrhea, they can trigger autoimmunity and other serious health conditions. If you travel frequently, and especially internationally, I also recommend checking your gut 1-2 times per year as a means of prevention and to maintain your overall health. Get more info more about testing your gut health here.
Next time you plan a trip, consider these tips. You and your body will be glad you did!
Are you aware of your thyroid?
January is Thyroid Awareness Month! I wonder, how aware of your thyroid are you?
Do you know how hard your thyroid works for you on a daily basis and what it needs to function at its best? My guess is that you might be somewhat aware of what the thyroid does, but knowing more about this hard working gland could completely change your life and your health.
Your thyroid gland is kind of a big deal. Just look at all the important things it does for you:
- Plays a role in all functions in the body including all organs and systems
- Regulates energy availability, body temperature and hair growth
- Assists with wound healing and recovery from exercise
- Controls the metabolic rate of the of the systems in control of your health
According to the American Thyroid Association an estimated 20 million Americans have some sort of thyroid disorder, up to 60% of those people are unaware of it, and women are 5 to 8 times more likely to develop a thyroid disorder than men.
Some of the most common signs of less than optimal thyroid function include:
- Bouts of constipation
- Dry skin and/or eyes
- Depression and/or anxiety
- Prone to infections
- Fatigue not relieved by sleep
- Hair loss or an increase in facial hair
- Cold all the time when others are not
- Thinning eyebrows, especially the outer 3rd portion
- Unexplained weight gain or inability to lose weight
Chances are, if your doctor has tested your thyroid it was likely tested all wrong.
Unfortunately most conventional or western medicine doctors only test Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (aka TSH) when they are evaluating thyroid function.
What’s wrong about testing TSH? It sounds like the right thing to test, right?
TSH is actually a marker for pituitary gland function, not the thyroid.
Think of the pituitary gland as being the VP of operations, your hypothalamus gland as the CEO, and the thyroid is the director of operations.
The hypothalamus receives information and directs the pituitary on what needs to happen. The pituitary hands down the information to the thyroid via TSH hormone and the thyroid gets to work initiating the operations.
To truly evaluate thyroid function you need to test the actual hormones that the thyroid produces and uses to initiate its operations such as; total T4, total T3, free T4, free T3, and even reverse T3 in some cases.
In this week’s video and blog I dive into more detail about how important your thyroid is and how to make sure it’s running optimally to support your best health.
Knowing that your thyroid is involved in all functions of the body means it is pretty important, right?
Of course! We need this mighty little gland to be working at its best in order for the rest of the body to function at its best!
For your thyroid to carry out the order of operations, as directed by the hypothalamus and pituitary, it needs the right tools (aka nutrients) to do so.
The most critical nutrients for thyroid function include:
- Iodine
- Selenium
- Zinc
- Iron
- Omega 3 fatty acids
- Vitamin D, A and a variety of B’s
- Protein – to specifically get the amino acid tyrosine
In order to get adequate amounts of these nutrients for your thyroid 3 things need to happen:
- You have to eat foods high in good quality nutrients (go organic!)
- Take supplements to support what you can’t get in your food
- Have a healthy gut that allows optimal nutrient absorption
Having a healthy gut is where I see the most missed healing opportunities for a healthy thyroid.
You could be eating the healthiest foods in the world and taking a variety of supplements BUT still be suffering from suboptimal thyroid function. You aren’t getting the most bang for your buck with what you’re putting in your mouth if you have a leaky or unhealthy gut.
Your gut is where all nutrients are absorbed and made available for use in the body.
Checking your gut health is SO IMPORTANT if you have any kind of thyroid imbalance or disorder to make sure your thyroid has all the nutrients and support it needs to do its job well.
To help you assess your gut health and support your thyroid function better, or to help resolve any other health issue you might be dealing with, I’ve designed a special and affordable In-Depth Gut Health Test Package!
With this Gut Test offer you’ll be able to take a deep dive look at your gut health. This test will have all of the critical markers to truly evaluate your gut function and leaky gut including:
- Intestinal Parasites
- Bacteria Overgrowth
- Candida and Other Yeast Infections
- Immune and Inflammatory Markers SigA and Calprotectin
- Degree of Gluten Sensitivity
Along with the test, you’ll also get to meet with me via phone or video call for an in-depth 90-minute results review session to go over your results and my personalized recommendations for you in regards to diet, sleep, exercise, stress reduction and supplements to improve or maintain your thyroid health!
You and your health are worth investing in. Take an empowered step towards realizing your full health potential by checking your gut, thyroid and adrenal health!
Test, don’t guess! Check out these new Special Packages designed just for you!
P.S. Know someone else who is suffering from suboptimal thyroid function and struggling to get it back in balance? Feel free forward them this email so they can unlock answers to their thyroid health like so many others who have worked with me.
The Root Of All Disease
It is so fascinating that all disease, health issues and conditions such as weight gain, thyroid imbalances, adrenal fatigue, low energy, high cholesterol, cancer, alzheimer’s, brain fog and more have one thing in common.
INFLAMMATION.
Inflammation is the root of all disease. It slowly and silently brings people to their wit’s end about their health, and can even kill.
“The presence of inflammation is what makes most disease perceptible to an individual. It can and often does occur for years before it exists at levels sufficient to be apparent or clinically significant. How long it has been smoldering really determines the degree of severity of a disease and often the prognosis assuming the inflammation can be controlled. One could also argue that without inflammation, most disease would not even exist.” – Dr. Mercola
Inflammation is not something widely talked about in your typical doctor’s office, unless it relates to a fractured bone, bruise, concussion or other physical injuries. Yet inflammation is the body’s number one response to any kind of invader in the body (viruses, colds, flus, gut bugs) and a signal that something just isn’t right!
What’s tough is that dangerous inflammation can not always be seen, felt or heard so it often times goes undetected and overlooked.
There are two kinds of inflammation:
- Acute – a brief response to injury or illness lasting only a few days
- Chronic- when it stops being acute and remains as a low level constant response to ongoing stress on the body
Acute inflammation is a healthy response that allows your body to repair and heal, but when it becomes chronic is when it becomes problematic.
Chronic inflammation is when your body is so overwhelmed by the causes of inflammation that is loses its ability to turn off the inflammatory response. This overly active inflammatory response leads to damaged tissue, resulting in conditions such as leaky gut, autoimmunity, heart disease, arthritis, alzheimer’s and much more.
In addition, your cortisol hormone (also known as your stress hormone) is your body’s natural anti-inflammatory agent. When inflammation is high and chronic, this disrupts natural cortisol balance triggering a domino effect on other hormones such as thyroid, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone which disrupt your sleep, cause weight gain and drain your energy.
In this week’s video and blog I help you determine if chronic inflammation is playing a role in your biggest health issues and what you can do to reverse it!
You might be wondering why don’t we have a cure for everything if we know that inflammation is the root of all disease?
Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer to that question. However, I can tell you that when I address inflammation in my clients, they start feeling better immediately and eventually are even able to reverse their health conditions.
How do you know if chronic inflammation is affecting you?
Any of the following symptoms could be signs of chronic inflammation, especially if you have two or more:
- Allergies or asthma (especially if it progressively gets worse)
- Constant body aches and pains (muscle and joint)
- High blood pressure or cholesterol
- Restless sleep, fatigue and/or lethargy
- Diagnosed with any autoimmune disorder (Hashimoto’s, Colitis, Celiac, Crohn’s, etc.)
- Get sick with a cold, flu or virus multiple times a year
- Bouts of anxiety and/or depression
- Constipation and/or diarrhea
- Skin rashes, acne and breakouts
All of us suffer from some inflammation from time to time. You might even be able to pinpoint times when it is worse such as during a full moon when extra fluid is being pulled in your body by the extra gravitational pull with the full moon.
But as Dr. Mercola said “It (inflammation) can and often does occur for years before it exists at levels sufficient to be apparent or clinically significant.”
The accumulation of triggers for inflammation over time burden the body, eventually resulting in chronic inflammation. This is why we feel it more as we get older, not just because we are getting older, but because more time has passed for inflammation to accumulate.
How can you reverse the effects of chronic inflammation?
Reducing inflammation for each person can be different depending on what their top triggers are, but in general( for everyone) here are the most important things you can do to reduce your inflammation daily:
- Avoid inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy, soy, added sugar and alcohol
- Eat organic fruits and veggies free of herbicides and pesticides
- Minimize environmental toxins in drinking water, air, personal care and cleaning products
- Have an outlet for mental/emotional stress such as meditation, yoga or deep breathing
Understanding what triggers inflammation for you and taking steps to reduce it is one of the ways you can unlock answers about your health, reduce your risk for disease and prolong your life.
Join me TODAY, January 19th at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET for a FREE ONLINE CLASS Map Your Symptoms & Unlock Answers To Your Health where we’ll be diving into more detail about signs and symptoms of chronic inflammation, triggers and what you can do to reverse it!
In this free online class you will:
- Decipher your symptoms and what your body is trying to tell you
- Map out and connect the dots to look at the big picture of your health
- Understand your healing opportunities related to adrenal, thyroid and gut function
- Get clear on exactly what you can do next to restore balance and start feeling like yourself again
It’s time to get clear on what’s making you feel fat, sick and tired all the time so you can finally fix what’s wrong and get back to feeling like yourself again, too!
4 Symptoms That Definitely Shouldn’t Be Ignored
I’m going to share a very personal story with you today. One that really drives home why you shouldn’t ignore the symptoms (aka signals) your body is giving you.
It all started a little over a year ago…
As a result of being on birth control for 17 years I hadn’t had a menstrual cycle in over 5. However, in November of 2015 my cycle all of a sudden came back accompanied with some fairly uncomfortable breast tenderness.
At the time I didn’t think anything of it, and my belief was confirmed when in December and January I resumed my “normal” life without a menstrual cycle or breast tenderness.
Then in February my cycle and breast tenderness came back again with a vengeance, and this time it stayed every month after.
By May I was at my wit’s end about it. This time my period lasted for 12 days and my right breast had a large red streak emitting heat that could be felt through two layers of clothing.
During all of this I also noticed that my skin was breaking out all the time and I had gained some weight. I felt as though I was having bouts of depression, was lacking motivation, was tired more than usual and I just didn’t feel like myself.
Frantically, I started looking for a doctor who specialized in women and breast health.
I went to a few of the “top specialist” in my area and this is that they said…
- I’ve never seen anything like that before, I think we should just wait on it
- I’ve never heard of that before, I don’t know what to tell you
- I’m not sure what it is but I would recommend using progesterone cream
It became obvious to me that my body was trying to tell me something wasn’t right.
I wasn’t going to “wait on it” and risk the worst case scenario or apply a band aid of progesterone cream if there was no solid reason as to how that would help an unknown issue.
In this week’s video and blog I share more details about how I deciphered my symptoms and the four symptoms you definitely should not ignore.
Our body is communicating with us all the time, we just aren’t always listening.
Symptoms are the body’s way of signaling that something isn’t right. Internally you have your own army or defense team who will sound the alarm whenever an invader enters or when a system is failing.
Think about when you start to get a cold. What are the first few signs you get letting you know it’s coming on – scratchy throat, sneezing, congestion, fatigue? When you acknowledge those signals and give your body rest you are able to fight off the cold and bounce back in no time. When you ignore them, you develop a full blown cold that can linger for weeks.
Getting a cold seems like a simple example but colds, flus and allergies are just a few of your body’s high alert signals that shouldn’t be ignored.
Here are 4 Common Symptoms that shouldn’t be ignored and what they might be trying to tell you…
1) Anxiety and/or Depression
Believe it or not, this is a sign that your gut isn’t happy. Your gut (not your brain) is where your body makes important neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine to keep your mood balanced. Leaky gut, eating inflammatory foods and/or gut invaders disrupt neurotransmitter production resulting in anxiety and depression. An imbalance in the ratio of estrogen and progesterone can also lead to feelings of depression as progesterone impacts the availability of serotonin. Ignoring these symptoms could lead to more serious conditions such as chronic depression, ulcers, autoimmunity, IBS, stomach cancer, breast cancer or fibroids.
2) Insomnia, Poor Sleep and/or Night Sweats
This could be a combo of signals both from your gut and your endocrine system. Your gut is also where your sleep hormone melatonin is made, so again if it’s not happy guess what gets impacted? In addition, the endocrine system oversees the the hormone balance of cortisol to melatonin, estrogen to progesterone and thyroid hormones T3 and T4. If any of these ratios are off, they play a major role in the ability to sleep and the overall quality of sleep. As for night sweats, those are a telltale sign of estrogen dominance over progesterone. Ignoring these symptoms could lead to more serious conditions such as breast cancer, fibroids and autoimmunity.
3) Allergies, Colds & Flu
Your gut is where 80% of your immune system is housed; your defense mechanism against allergens, infections and viruses. A leaky and/or an inflamed immune systems can’t function properly. Leaky gut and inflammation confuse the immune system, leaving it defenseless against true threats and you become more susceptible to common allergens, colds and flus. Ignoring these symptoms could lead to more serious conditions such as bronchitis, pneumonia, chronic illness, autoimmunity and even a shortened lifespan.
4) Excessive/Stubborn Weight and Fatigue
The endocrine system is all about energy production and availability, and metabolism. The hormone cortisol (produced by the adrenals as part of the endocrine system) is what gives you energy to get up in the morning, regulates inflammation and controls blood sugar balance. Thyroid hormones regulate body weight, temperature and cholesterol among many other vital functions. Because these hormones are all part of the endocrine system, if one is out of balance they will negatively impact each other resulting in excessive or stubborn weight gain and/or fatigue. Ignoring these symptoms could lead to more serious conditions such as chronic fatigue, high cholesterol, hyper or hypothyroidism, chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, diabetes and much more!
***
If I hadn’t listened to my body and mapped out my symptoms I would have never discovered that I had estrogen dominance and Hashimoto’s (an autoimmune disorder). I would have gone on suffering and searching for band aids to mask my symptoms.
Instead I sat down, mapped out my symptoms, connected the dots and was able to pinpoint exactly what my body was trying to tell me. From there I was able to take specific action to support my body, rebalance my hormones and get back to feeling like myself again!
Want to map your symptoms, connect the dots and get real answers about your health?
Join me next Thursday, January 19th at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET for my free class on how to Map Your Symptoms & Unlock Answers To Your Health
In this free online class you will:
- Decipher your symptoms and what your body is trying to tell you
- Map out and connect the dots to look at the big picture of your health
- Understand your healing opportunities related to adrenal, thyroid and gut function
- Get clear on exactly what you can do next to restore balance and start feeling like yourself again
It’s time to get clear on what’s making you feel fat, sick and tired all the time so you can finally fix what’s wrong and get back to feeling like yourself again, too!
The Million Dollar Question (and answer inside!)
If I had a magic wand to solve any health problem for you in 2017, what would it be?
To finally figure out what is making you so tired all the time and get your energy back?
To get to the bottom of your hormone imbalances and heal them naturally?
To find the root cause of your stomach aches, heartburn and/or irregular and unpredictable bowel movements?
To lose weight and actually keep it off this time without having to count calories or deprive yourself?
To sleep through the night and wake up with an abundance of energy?
To make sense of and get answers about all the random illness, aches, pains and disease that you’ve experience, and put a stop to it?
I may not be a magician or a fairy godmother with a magic wand, but I do have the answers you’ve been searching for.
The simple answer is…everything you need to solve your health problems lies within you. Your body holds all of the answers and they are just waiting to be discovered.
You’ve probably known for a long time that something just wasn’t right with your body. You haven’t been feeling like yourself for a while but you can’t exactly put your finger it is.
You’ve tried going to the doctor but typically leave with a diagnosis that you don’t fully understand, a new prescription that only works for a short time, or you leave without answers at all. You try alternative solutions such as acupuncture, massage, personal training and various diets which get you some short lived results but don’t fully solve the problem for you.
All you want is a REAL solution to stop getting sick, to balance your body and get your energy back so you can think clearly, have more confidence and feel comfortable in your body, to find a partner or enjoy the one you already have more, to travel and explore, to truly live life and be the best version of you.
In this week’s video and blog I tell you why it’s so hard to find the answers to your biggest health problems and share my super secret health resources to get you what you want.
Did you know that on average it takes 18 years for new research to land on your conventional doctor’s desk?
Even then, you have to wonder if they are really taking the time to read the latest research and update their approach with their patients. After all, they have a lot on their plate already, like the rest of us.
This delay in receiving the latest information is one of the biggest reasons why most of your health problems go unanswered. Not because your doctor doesn’t care, but because they are stuck in a time warp using old and outdated information.
This is where I come in.
I help busy, health-minded professionals take back control of their health by looking at it on a deeper level, to find the missing pieces so they can actually fix what’s wrong and feel like themselves again.
Using my decade of personal training experience, training in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and mastery of Transformational Coaching, I create personalized health-rebuilding programs using the latest research for clients that offer realistic, sustainable and long-lasting results.
If you’re ready to look at the “big picture” of your health (not just one disconnected piece at a time), to embrace healthy as a way of being, and to stop settling for anything less than you deserve when it comes to your health and happiness, then I’m your gal.
Test, don’t guess!
Using cutting edge functional (at-home) lab test and a series of questionnaires, I can help you look at the big picture, and connect all the dots so that you can fix what’s going on with you once and for all!
To help you get to the bottom of your most annoying health problems in 2017, to test and not guess, and to FINALLY get the answers you’ve been looking for I’ve created Three Special Packages At An Affordable Price!
Each of these three special packages are designed to include a top of the line, latest and greatest lab test to take a deep dive look at adrenal, thyroid and gut function which are part of the 2 most important systems of your body, the endocrine and immune system.
Why should you look at these things, you might ask?
The health of your adrenals and thyroid is and gut is where all of the answers are stored. Unfortunately these are the most overlooked healing opportunities by conventional doctors.
And you don’t have to take my word for it…
“Chris (my husband) made a comment that since I started working with you I am so much happier! I know I’ve been feeling better but I didn’t know it came across so dramatically in my personality. I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you and I’m so grateful to be working with you on my health journey!”- Jodi V., San Diego
“Yesterday I had a thyroid ultrasound which shows that I do have Hashimoto’s. So weird to actually see it – for me, this was a confirmation. I can take that. I can do something with that – a bit of clarity after over months and months of confusion. Honestly, if I left this to western medicine I wouldn’t even have a full blood panel of thyroid tests or the ultrasound as my MD did not want to treat. I’d be sitting with my symptoms as my body attacked my thyroid. So thank you Jenn Culver Malecha, because if I wasn’t working with you I would not have the information I have today and I’d still be struggling!! One more piece of the puzzle!” – Lisa R., San Francisco
Unlocking the answers about your adrenal, thyroid and gut health is like finding the magic pill that you’ve been looking for. The endocrine and immune systems influence almost every cell, organ, and function of our bodies.
These two systems of the body oversee some of the most important functions including:
- Energy availability, balance and sleep quality
- Weight gain or loss
- Ability to handle stress and mood regulation
- Metabolism and body temperature
- Fertility and reproductive process
- Inflammation, aches and pains
- Digestion and absorption of nutrients
- Hormone balance and sexual function
- And so much more!
In 2017 I’m going to wave my magic wand and help you find all of the answers to your biggest health complaints that you’ve been looking for. All you have to do is say yes!
I’m giving you access to the latest research and top of the line functional test to uncover your healing potential at an affordable rate.
You and your health are worth investing in. Take an empowered step towards realizing your full health potential and making your health a priority in 2017.
Test, don’t guess! Check out these new Special Packages designed just for you!
Health Inventory 2016
Can you believe that in just a few short days 2016 will be coming to an end??? Maybe it’s just me, but the older I get the faster the years seem to fly by.
Most of us start the New Year with the best of intentions – to finally get back on track again, to lose weight, to focus on our health, to make ourselves a priority, to feel like ourselves again.
But then, in a blink of an eye, the year is gone.
You get swept up in the chaos of the day-to-day things that distract us until one day you wake up, look in the mirror and barely recognize yourself.
The year has already almost passed you by and you wonder who is this person staring back at you? This person…
With bags under their eyes
Who feels tired all the time
Who gets wound up over the littlest things
Who feels like a stranger in your own body
Who lacks the energy or motivation to work out or socialize
Who takes more sick days than you can count anymore
Whose hair is falling out and midsection is getting thick
Who worries about where the closest bathroom is
You find yourself feeling hopeless about finding an answer to your energy, hormone, digestive, sleep or other most glaring health issues.
Today I invite you to make 2017 different, full of hope and health.
Today I invite you to show up for yourself. To take a moment to reflect and take inventory of all that has happened in regards to your health in 2016- to be present, and to make a conscious decision to change your health and how you feel about yourself in 2017.
In this week’s video and blog I walk you through taking inventory of your 2016 health and how to make the healthy changes you want to actually experience in 2017.
A lot can happen in a year. We rarely stop to reflect on what has happened and what choices we have made.
Being present is the most critical part of being healthy.
When we aren’t present, that is when the weight slowing creeps up, energy progressively gets worse and the connection with the body slips away.
To create change you have to be present.
To create this presence, start by taking inventory of your health for 2016…
What are all of the things, good and not so good,
that happened in 2016 in regards to or as a result
of your health and wellbeing?
Take 2 minutes to write it all down.
Here are some of the highlights of what happened for me…
- I had a scary encounter with what I thought was breast cancer but it turned out to be estrogen dominant hormones
- I quit birth control after 17 years to balance my hormones
- I discovered toxic mold in my house which was contributing to my hormone imbalances and weight gain
- I traveled to 7 different countries and returned home with an abundance of energy every time in comparison to past years
- I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s
- My mother passed away
- I created a daily meditation practice to reduce stress and support health
- I cut back on the intensity of my workouts to help my body heal
- I upleveled my diet by moving towards an autoimmune paleo diet to reduce inflammation and heal Hashimoto’s
- I continuously connected with my body to see what it needed from me
In 2016 I experienced a lot in regards to my health and wellbeing. Being present is what has allowed me to learn from my experiences and to make conscious, educated decisions about what I want to change or experience in the coming year.
As you look back on what has taken place in regards to your health in 2016,
what do you want for yourself in 2017?
Take 2 minutes to it all down.
For me, it’s all about continuing my health journey. I would like to…
- Make sure my home is free and clear of any mold residues so I can stop the toxic assault on my body that was taking place
- Work on cleansing the mold toxins from my body as part of re-building my health, balancing my hormones and losing weight
- Continue strengthening the relationship with my body to support my health
- Keep traveling the world and maintaining my health so I can do so!
Next, ask yourself, what will having all of this in 2017 do for you?
Or why is this important to you?
Take 2 minutes to write it all down.
When we have a “why” or an emotional connection, this is the glue that makes the motivation stick.
My big “why” is because I want to live a life without limitations, and I want to empower others to do the same. There is SO much beauty in this world and having my health is what grants me the freedom to enjoy it all. I also know that by overcoming my own health challenges I can helps others find a solution to their suffering too.
Once you’ve created presence and clarity about what you want and why you want it, putting the actions steps together to get there becomes much easier. Lack of presence and clarity will only fuel overwhelm.
Now that you have set your sights on what you want in 2017
what resources or support do you need to get there?
In order to have what I want in 2017 I need to…
- Complete an ERMI mold spore test
- Run a few more blood tests to look at how mold has affected my body
- And check in with my body daily during my meditation to honor its needs
Maybe you need to find the right health practitioner, get the right tests done, and have some accountability to follow through. Be humble, set aside your ego and get clear on what you need.
Last step – come up with your plan and start taking action!!!
One of the biggest resources that has helped me has been testing, not guessing. When I run lab tests for my clients and myself we are able to identify missing pieces of the puzzle and put a plan of action together. We can pinpoint specific hormone imbalances, root causes of digestive issues, contributors to weight gain and fatigue, and so much more.
If this is one of the resources you think you need in 2017, then keep your eyes peeled for some of the special programs I’ll be rolling out in January!!!
Until then, wishing you a happy and safe New Years Eve full of presence and clarity!
Answers About Autoimmunity
First off I would like to give a big thanks for the overwhelming response I received from last week’s email as I shared my story about recently being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. I am sincerely grateful for the loving response from this community and the inquiries about how to help others struggling with health issues such as autoimmunity.
There were a LOT of question last week in response to my email about Hashimoto’s and overall autoimmunity…
What puts me at risk for autoimmunity?
How would I know if I had an autoimmune disease?
What are the best tests to run?
What can I do to prevent an autoimmune disorder?
The American Autoimmune Related Disease Association (AARDA) estimates that 50 million Americans suffer from an autoimmune disease, most of them unknowingly.
To put this more in perspective, women are more likely to develop autoimmunity (likely as a result of having higher estrogen levels already than men) and the statistics are alarming…
- 10 females for every 1 male are expected to develop Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
- 9 females for every 1 male are expected to develop Lupus, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Antiphospholipid Syndrome or Biliary Cirrhosis
- 8 females for every 1 male are expected to develop Autoimmune Hepatitis
- 7 females for every 1 male are expected to develop Grave’s Disease
And that’s only 7 of the 80-100 different conditions out there! These statistics don’t even touch some of the ones we most commonly know about such as Muscular Sclerosis, Crohn’s, Celiac, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.
What’s even scarier is that most autoimmune conditions are being overlooked or misdiagnosed, and once you have one autoimmune condition your chances for developing multiple increases significantly.
The big question is, what is causing autoimmunity to become SO widespread?
As I mentioned in last week’s email, in order to have an autoimmune disorder, three things must be in place. You must…
1- Have the gene for it
2- Have leaky gut, resulting in a lot of inflammation
3- Encounter an environmental trigger, signaling the immune troops to attack
In this week’s blog and video I talk more about what puts you at risk for autoimmunity, how to assess and test for it, and what you can do to prevent or manage it better.
In 2012 Virginia Ladd, the president of AARDA, explained “With the rapid increase in autoimmune diseases, it clearly suggests that environmental factors are at play due to the significant increase in these diseases. Genes do not change in such a short period of time.”
Processed food, toxins and gut bugs are the top factors increasing risk for autoimmunity.
Environmental toxins mimic estrogen in the body, creating xenoestrogens. This, in turn, imbalances the hormones, overloads the liver, and produces more inflammation. Having these imbalances and chronic inflammation from regular toxin exposure leads to an overworked immune system which starts to get confused about who the ‘bad guys’ are. As a result, the immune system begins attacking healthy tissue that may resemble the bad guys.
The biggest food factors are gluten and dairy, when it comes to triggering autoimmunity. These foods, along with processed foods full of additives, preservatives and GMO’s also contribute to the accumulation of inflammation and a confused immune system which starts to attack healthy tissues.
In fact, gluten closely resembles the same structure as thyroid tissue.
Gut invaders (parasites, bacteria, yeast) produce their own waste products that are toxic. And just like environmental toxins or processed foods, the accumulation of waste results in more inflammation and confusion for the immune system.
You can be on the spectrum for autoimmunity long before it fully evolves and is diagnosed.
If you have been seeking treatment for health issues with little to no resolve, this could be a clear indication that you have an autoimmune condition. Most autoimmune symptoms look like other health issues such as hypothyroidism, IBS, anxiety or depression, adrenal exhaustion, and general weight gain.
The first thing you can do (which doesn’t cost you anything!) to assess your autoimmune risk is start asking about family history. Remember, you must have the gene for autoimmunity to take place. Even if family members haven’t been diagnosed, if you notice a string of people who have had thyroid, arthritis or other chronic health problems, that could be a sign. Remember, autoimmunity often goes overlooked or is misdiagnosed.
For lab testing, the best place to get this done is with a Functional Health Practitioner, a Naturopath or someone like me. We know the right tests and things to look for. One of the reason why autoimmunity is overlooked is because mainstream doctors are abiding by old standards of outdated reference ranges or measurement. On average it takes 18 years for new research to reach mainstream doctors.
Controlling the triggers is your best bet for prevention and management.
You may not be able to control what genes are handed down to you, or the fact that you didn’t know you had leaky gut, but you can control the majority of the triggers to prevent autoimmunity or to manage it better.
Reducing inflammation is key for silencing the attack on healthy tissue.
To reduce inflammation in order to prevent autoimmunity, or to manage it better if you already have it, here is what you want to do…
Eat an anti-inflammatory diet free of gluten, dairy, soy, GMO’s and for some people that also includes corn, rice, white potatoes, quinoa, legumes, seeds, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers.
Minimize your exposure to toxins by purchasing non-toxic cleaners and personal care products, getting a HEPA air filter for your home and office, and eating organic.
Make sure you get good quality sleep, exercise regularly to help flush out toxins you can’t avoid or don’t know about, and take any supplements that your body needs to support its optimal function.
And finally, check your gut for any unwanted parasites, bacteria and/or yeast that are constantly putting out toxic waste and contributing to leaky gut.
The best part is that by doing all of these things, you’re also healing any degree of leaky gut that you might have!
To learn more about your risk of autoimmunity or how to manage it better, I invite you to schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Call with me here.
Car Insurance Has No Guarantees
“Just because you have car insurance doesn’t mean you’ll never get in a car accident, there are no guarantees. Car insurance does help you recover quicker from the car accident, physically and financially which is why it’s so important to have it.”
This is the analogy I gave my friend as she asked me how I was doing after receiving my recent diagnosis, Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune thyroid disorder, just a few weeks ago.
She asked me “are you upset at the fact that you live such a healthy life and with everything you do to prevent this in yourself, and clients, you now have it?”
I immediately replied, “absolutely not!”- and gave her my car insurance analogy. I don’t drive around expecting not to get in a car accident because I have car insurance, I know it’s there to protect me when I do.
This is life. It’s unpredictable, which is why it’s SO important to take care of our health as much as we can.
I’ll admit, when the results of my recent blood work and my Hashimoto’s diagnosis was revealed I was taken back a bit.
Hashimoto’s, like other autoimmune disorders, is when the body is essentially attacking itself. It views normal tissues as invaders or toxins, and thus declares war sending out the firing squad in the form of antibodies to take down the perceived threat.
In order to have an autoimmune disorder, three things must be in place. You must…
1- Have the gene for it
2- Have leaky gut, resulting in a lot of inflammation
3- Encounter an environmental trigger, signaling the troops to attack
Like a lot of clients I work with, I had no idea what my family history of autoimmune disorders was and therefore I had no idea if I had the gene for it.
This is just one of the motivating factors I have for living a healthy life. If I don’t know, I might as well protect myself against it anyways. Same as we don’t know if or when we might get in a car accident ,so it’s best to have car insurance just in case you do.
Here I am living this uber healthy life and yet I still end up with Hashimoto’s, what gives?
In this week’s video and blog I give you the breakdown on what lead to my Hashimoto’s, how I’m ensuring I put this autoimmune disorder into remission and what you can do to prevent it as much as possible.
As I mentioned earlier, besides having the gene for an autoimmune disorder, two other things must also be in place: leaky gut/inflammation and an environmental trigger.
Environmental triggers can come in all kinds of forms and it just so happens that they contribute to leaky gut and inflammation too. Triggers can be…
- Gluten and dairy
- Certain species of parasites, bacteria, yeast
- Mold, heavy metals and chemical or toxin exposures
- Chronic, unrelenting stress
- Other hormones that are out of balance in the body
My known triggers are mold and estrogen dominance.
I started working from home full time about 2 years ago and it wasn’t until May of this year that I discovered mold in our house. I have no idea how long I had been exposed to it but I can tell you that looking back now my body was giving me signs as early as a year ago.
Only one quarter of the population will display symptoms of mold toxicity, which is why it can be so hard to diagnose. Four people can be living in the same house and only one of them could be showing physical symptoms of mold exposure.
Mycotoxins (aka toxins from mold) lead to an increase in inflammation, contribute to leaky gut, a depressed immune system and elevated estrogen levels.
Elevated estrogen was my first clue. I thought estrogen dominance was causing my recent weight gain, acne and bouts of low mood. I tackled the estrogen issue and everything went away except for the weight and the occasional pimple that I thought was just a part of PMS.
Still feeling frustrated about my weight, I dove in deeper and decided to run some routine lab work and to re-check my thyroid although it had been normal back in February.
Out of the 11 pages of results, absolutely every marker looked perfect, except my thyroid antibodies, they were elevated just enough to be considered Hashimoto’s.
The great thing about autoimmune disorders is that with the right healthy lifestyle factors in place you can put them into remission.
This is where my car insurance comes into play.
Luckily I’m already practicing 90% of the lifestyle factors that keep autoimmune issues at bay.
I eat an anti-inflammatory diet
I get plenty of sleep
I exercise but don’t over-train
I’ve been taking supplements to support balance in my body
I practice meditation daily to offset any stress in my life
I use non-toxic lotions, make up, hair and cleaning products
These are the simple things you can do too in order to prevent an autoimmune gene from flexing its power.
While I’m not always perfect at those things, I will be focusing on tightening up my healthy habits and eating an autoimmune Paleo diet for the next few months to heal my body.
In addition, I’m also in the process of eliminating the known triggers in my life; mold and toxins.
Eliminating or minimizing toxin exposure is HUGE for autoimmune issues.
I will be investigating the mold situation in our house to make sure it’s completely removed, and in a non-toxic way.
I’m also running a few more tests to take a closer look at the toxins that might be built up in my body so I can better support the elimination process with some strategic supplements such as acetylated glutathione.
I’m determined to not let this Hashimoto’s get the better of me; I’m committed to getting to the root of the problem and fixing it. This is what a Health Boss does.
I was hesitant to share my story with you at first because I was worried about what people might think of the “Wholistic Health Boss” getting sick, that maybe you would question my credibility.
I decided to share my story with you because I’m only human. I hope that by sharing my story it might help you uncover what could be affecting you or a loved one. If you’re just not feeling like yourself, I want you to feel empowered to find an answer.
If you want to learn more about your risk for autoimmune disorders, thyroid function, how mold and other environmental triggers can can be affecting your health, or anything else related to your health, schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session with me here.
P.S. Want to read more about autoimmunity and thyroid? Check out two of my favorite books The Autoimmune Solution and Thyroid Connection by Dr. Amy Myers (and you can get them as audio books to breeze through them in the car!)
