Category Archives: Health

Menopause and Adrenal Fatigue

June 23, 2014Adrenal Fatigue, Health, menopause, Migraines, perimenopause, Weight LossWeight loss | Weight Management | Diabetes | Menopause | Type II Diabetesadmin

Adrenal Fatigue and menopause are becoming more prevalent as we busy women are doing way too much and multi-tasking. OK, did you hear me? The key word here is over doing while the body is going through a natural state of hormonal change. We as women are so much more in tune with our bodies then men. It’s just the way God created us. I was unaware that there are three stages to adrenal fatigue. It has stage 1, 2 and 3 and then Adrenal failure. “But how could I have adrenal fatigue? I don’t feel bad. I’m not overweight. I eat healthy. I exercise.

From a simple Google search, you’ll find that the topic of adrenal fatigue is HUGE and could not be contained in one simple article. So for the sake of your time today, I will get right to the bottom line. I am not a doctor so this is just my thoughts and opinions on this subject.

Some Not so Obvious Signs:

Getting so tired you feel like crying.
Being very angry (on the inside) or crying when someone asks you to get up early for something or stay up late, etc…
Not being able to function past 9pm, which may be made into a joke…”oh I turn into a pumpkin at 9 o clock.”
Being easily frustrated by silly things like…people chewing, someone bumping into you, etc…
HATING loud noises with a passion.

Getting Professional Help

This is where your preference for the type of doctor will be a personal choice. I would encourage you to find a naturopath physician. I prefer to have a professional that will encourage the use of natural solutions, nutrition, and the whole body for healing, not just treat symptoms. I so enjoy Dr. Christiane Northrup, MD. In my opinion, she gets it and explains it in preschool terms and tells you how to get the help you need. She is the ultimate professional MD. Most insurance will cover this now!

Getting Natural Help

STOP drinking Coffee. This was so important for me. Nearly all adrenal help sources agree that getting off coffee is important for adrenal healing. Coffee simulates your adrenals—which isn’t always a bad thing. Coffee has many great benefits. But for adrenal fatigue sufferers, drinking coffee may mask just how bad you feel. You need to hear what your body it telling you.

Tulsi Tea is a great way to support energy levels without stimulants. You can start with drinking 1-3 cups of Tulsi Tea each day. Do a Google search, you’ll find lots of great info on this fabulous product. I am a tea drinker so I try lots of different ones!

More Sleep is kind of a duh—but it’s a really big piece of healing your adrenals. Just like everyone else says; get to bed by 10, sleep as late as life allows in the morning, and nap when needed. This is a restoration period so use essential oils for sleep!

Sea Salt Water is another big help for the adrenals. Some say it helps others say it doesn’t. I always say try it and keep doing it if you see improvement or just stop if you don’t.

Herbal Supplements like Licorice Root, Adrenal Herb Blends, and Essential oils such as bail, rosemary, clove and elevation are recommended. As well as high quality supplements like Life Long Vitality. Ultimately, the best thing you can do is get professional help so that you can choose the correct supplements for you. But these are general things that usually help most people.

Stop the Emotional Stress

Step out of stressful situations. Take up yoga or Pilates. Listen to relaxing music. Read a good book. Get a massage. Learn how to dial it down and pay attention to your body and mind.

Learn to say “no” to more things, people, etc… This isn’t being mean or selfish. I used to think it was mean for me to tell someone “no” –but I’ve learned that it’s not. It’s actually mean to my family if I keep saying “yes” to everyone else.

So there you go–just the tip of the iceberg but hopefully something to get your mind thinking! I help people who are stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and healthy thriving lives! You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email susano@livinglifeholistic.com

Detoxing Chicken Soup for Your Health

June 19, 2014Healthadmin

Detoxing Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken free range
1Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
3-4 parts filtered water
4 medium sized onions coarsely chopped
8 carrots chopped (organic is best)
2-4 zucchinis chopped (organic is best)
4 Tbsp Extra virgin coconut oil
½ cup frozen peas
Grated ginger (or essential oil)
¼ – ½ tsp cayenne pepper
6 celery stalks, chopped (organic is best)
1 lb green beans (fresh and organic is best)
1 bunch parsley
5 garlic cloves
2-4 Tbsp Celtic Sea Salt

Whole chicken remove fat glands & gizzards from cavity. Place chicken or chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with the water, vinegar, garlic, ginger, salt, cayenne pepper, extra virgin coconut oil, & all veggies except parsley. Let stand for 10 minutes before heating. Bring to a boil, removing the scum(??) that rises to top. Cover and cook 8-12 hours. This can be done is a crock pot or slow cooker as well(I use the crock pot). The longer you cook the stock, the more cleansing it will be.

About 15 minutes before finishing the stock, add parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth.

Remove from heat and take the chicken out. After it cools, remove chicken meat from bones, discarding the bones. Drop the meat back to the soup. This can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As much as you want or as little. One of my favorites!

I help people overcome limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and health for thriving lives!

Find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or email susano@livinglifeholistic.com

Your Skin and Summer Sun

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) just published their 2014 guide to safe sunscreens. They reviewed over 2000 sunscreens and over 257 brands. They found more than 75% of the sunscreens contained toxic chemicals that can increase your risk of cancer and other health issues. That’s alarming in and of itself! It’s important to remember that what you are lathering on your body is going into your body. Those chemicals are penetrating the barrier and entering into the cells. Think about your babies and children and all the chemicals you are putting on their heads and bodies with those baby products!

Here’s a fact that should scare you and tell you how far behind the US is to the European countries. Sunscreens haven’t been regulated since 1978 in the US, and the SPF factor only tells you how effective a sunscreen is against UVB rays which cause sunburn. I recently learned that the higher SPF really doesn’t protect more as opposed to a lower SPF. The difference is only a few minutes longer in the sun before having to reapply.

In truth, the sun doesn’t cause cancer, it is essential for your health. Without the sun, most plants couldn’t grow and we would perish from lack of Vitamin D3. It’s recommended that we get 20 minutes of direct sunlight everyday if possible. It boosts the immune system, helps fight cancer and improves the moods.

A recent study published in Environmental Science Technology has also shown the common sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone, methoxycinnamate, and PABA are estrogenic chemicals linked to cancer. That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too! If your sunscreen contains any of these chemicals I’d throw it away right now! Some ingredients may absorb into the blood, release free radicals in sunlight, act like estrogen, disrupt hormones (huge for those of us in perimenopause or menopause), cause allergic reactions (some severe), cause skin irritation or rash. Para amino benzoic acid, Octyl salicyclate, Oxybenzone, Cinoxate, Dioxybenzone, Phenylbenzimidazole, Homosalate, Menthyl anthranilate, Octocrylene, Methoxycinnamate, and last but most dangerous is Parabens. Stay clear of these ingredients!

There are two types of sunscreen, non-mineral and mineral, and some that are both. The non- mineral penetrate the skin and are potentially disruptive to hormones. Mineral contain zinc or titanium. This type does not breakdown in sunlight, and are usually not absorbed so as not to disrupt the body’s hormones, non-allergenic and more effective at blocking the UVA rays. I highly recommend this type especially for babies and children.

The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals for the skin to absorb, no questions about whether the product works and no bogus claims like “sunblock.” (No conventional product blocks out all rays. Which is why the FDA is trying to ban the term.) But I also use my own made with zinc and essential oils, Kiss My Face SPF 30 and Melaleuca Mineral SPF 30.

So, let’s recap:

Get 20+ minutes of sunshine daily
Cover up with light clothing before you get burnt
Wear natural sunscreen if you’re going to stay out for a long period of time, reapply often
Eat a diet high in anti-oxidants to protect your skin
If you get burnt, use a mixture of aloe, coconut oil and vitamin E on your skin or a natural after sun product free of chemicals. Essential oils are a must for my home and family!

I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and health in their lives!

Find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or emailsusano@livinglifeholistic.com

Your Health and Your Wealth

It’s been awhile since my husband and I took a couple of classes for getting debt free. We first attended Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey through our church. That was a lot of information to absorb and navigate. We still use a lot of what we learned in that class and take the refresher course every other year. And since we paid for the first class the refresher courses are free! We also did War On Debt by Dani Johnson. This was especially helpful to me the nerd (if you don’t know what that means take Dave’s course) as I had a hard time finding the extra money without another source or job. What I learned in War on Debt was to look right at my pantry, refrigerator (2nd or 3rd refrigerator) and grocery bill. Ouch! We were throwing our cash in the garbage can and had way too much food.

I did the assessment and found that we could live on our pantry for about four months with very little added. I had no idea. This was such an “AHA” moment to us. I had never used a meal planner or a list to shop. So I was shopping from memory. Hello, I have been through menopause and I think I lost some of those memory cells. I digress here. My point is that I found over $400-$500 per month just in my pantry and food shopping. That doesn’t include what I found when we did a complete assessment for our financial health. It was staggering what we letting go out the door! Do you want to be debt free but don’t know where to start?

When was the last time you took inventory of your financial health? Do you realize how closely your financial health is to your physical health? The stress from being in debt and not able to make your bills or having to make a decision on whether to pay a bill or buy food can be taking a major toll on how long you live in this lifetime! I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create a life with balance, time freedom and health. You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email susano@livinglifeholistic.com

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