I’ve been spending a lot of time lately working with hormonal balance and it has reminded me, yet again, of how much hard work it is to be healthy in a world full of toxins. There is so much to know and it seems, however hard we try, we can never avoid chemicals completely. Chemicals and toxins are so pervasive and the food supply is so contaminated that I think many people start to glaze over, and sometimes give up totally, on trying to live and eat in a “clean” way. The good news is that reducing your exposure to toxins isn’t an all-or-nothing pursuit! For example, a recent study showed that eating organic for just one week reduced pesticide in urine by 90%. So my approach is always to keep improving things where I can and not to stress about being perfect.
 
Below are some suggestions around the food you buy to encourage you to eat as clean as you can, as well as some other tips that you might consider implementing in your life. Take it a step at a time and don’t freak out!
 
If you’d like to learn more about your hormones and how to get them into balance then take a look at our 2 hour workshop on Nourishment for Hormonal Harmony – Feel Sexy and Vibrant Again! We’d love to have you join us!
 
 
1. Avoid food from cans lined with Bisphenol-A

• What are you avoiding?

 
Bisphenol-A acts as a synthetic hormone or xenoestrogen and confuses the body into thinking it’s a real hormone. BPA has been linked to everything from breast and other cancers to reproductive problems, obesity, early puberty and heart disease. It’s tough to avoid! Government tests show that 93 percent of Americans have BPA in their bodies!
Check the labels on canned foods. Non-BPA lined cans will be labeled as such.
 
What else can you do? 

• Opt for non-paper receipts and wash your hands if you have to handle them.
• Avoid plastics marked with PC (polycarbonate) or recycling labels #3 or #7, which may contain BPA.
• Use glass, stainless steel or ceramic containers instead of plastics where you can. Even if plastics are marked free of BPA, other plastics are proving to be just as damaging.

 
2. Buy organic, grass-fed or pastured animal products (meat, eggs, dairy) and wild caught and smaller varieties of fish.

• What are you avoiding?

 
Dioxins are a family of toxic chemicals formed as a by-product of many industrial processes that do not break down easily. As a result they accumulate in the food chain and, in particular, in the fatty tissue of animals. They are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer.
 
Mercury is a naturally occurring but toxic metal that gets into the air and the oceans primarily though burning coal. It is found in larger varieties of seafood. Pregnant women are the most at risk from the toxic effects of mercury, since it can interfere with brain development. Mercury can bind to hormones and damage cells. Exposure is linked with neurotoxicity, autoimmune disorders, weakened immune system and altered hormone signaling.
 
What else can you do? 

• Take a chlorella or spirulina supplement when you eat seafood to help you detoxify mercury and any other heavy metals. We carry some different options if you’d like a suggestion.
• Having a strong basis of minerals like selenium and zinc can also be helpful. (Let us know if you’d like to hear more about our micronutrient blood testing.)

 
3. Buy organic produce

• What are you avoiding?

 
Neurotoxic organophosphate pesticides are among the more common pesticides in use today. They work by targeting the nervous systems of insects. Many studies link organophosphate exposure to effects on brain development, behavior and hormones.
Another chemical found in herbicides is atrazine. It has been linked to breast tumors, delayed puberty and prostate inflammation in animals. Some research has linked it to prostate cancer in people.

What else can you do? ​

• If you can’t afford to eat completely organic then focus your organic spending on the most pesticide ridden produce. Take a look at the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list to find out which are the worst offenders.
• Use a water filter that is certified to remove atrazine.

 
4. Include seaweed and seafood in your diet

• What are you avoiding?

 
Perchlorate, a component in rocket fuel, contaminates much of our vegetables, fruits and milk. When perchlorate gets into your body it competes with the nutrient iodine, which the thyroid gland needs to make thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism in adults and are critical for proper brain and organ development in infants and young children. Seaweed and seafood are good sources of iodine, which can help keep your iodine status strong.
 
What else can you do? 

• Drink and cook with water filtered by a reverse osmosis filter.
• Use iodized sea salt.

 
5. Avoid microwave popcorn and fast food with paper food containers

• What are you avoiding?

 
These containers use Perfluorochemicals (PFCs), which are so widespread and tough to detoxify that 99% of Americans have them in their bodies and some don’t ever break down. Exposure has been linked
 to decreased sperm quality, low birth weight, kidney disease, thyroid disease and high cholesterol.
 
What else can you do? 

• Avoid non-stick pans.
• Avoid stain and water resistant coatings.

 
6. Eat a nutrient dense diet

• What are you avoiding?

 
Ditch the junk food, and eat a diet rich in micronutrients – vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals (plant compounds). These help protect your body from heavy metals like mercury, lead and arsenic and detoxify unwanted toxins like atrazine that can be wreaking havoc with your body chemistry.
Lead for example is linked with permanent brain damage, lowered IQ, hearing loss, miscarriage, premature birth, increased blood pressure, kidney damage and nervous system problems. Research has also shown that lead can disrupt the hormone signaling that regulates the body’s stress response system and may lower sex hormone levels. To assist with removal of lead it is helpful to have a good status for calcium, iron and vitamin C levels.

• What else can you do?

 
Make sure you do not have any peeling lead paint in your home.

• Check for lead in lipsticks.
• Use a good water filter.

 
Other ways to reduce toxic load

• Use personal care items that are paraben and phthalate free.
• Use glass, stainless steel or ceramic containers instead of plastics where you can.
• Avoid plastic wrap made from PVC.
• Avoid products that use the catch all word “fragrance” on labels.

 
Phthalates are xenoestrogens that are found in #3 plastics and fragrances. Studies have linked phthalates to hormone changes, lower sperm count, less mobile sperm, birth defects in the male reproductive system, impaired neurodevelopment in girls, obesity, diabetes and thyroid irregularities. Parabens are chemicals used as preservatives in personal care products. They act as weak estrogens once absorbed in the body and interfere with hormone levels and balance.

• Remove your shoes inside the house to avoid spreading pesticides from lawns and gardens into your home.

• Use a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner to cut down on house dust laden with toxic polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDBEs) used as fire retardants. These chemicals can imitate thyroid hormones and disrupt their activity. That can lead to lower IQ, among other significant health effects.

• Cleaning supplies and paints can be a source of glycol ethers, which are linked with infertility and allergies in children. Avoid products with ingredients like 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE) and methoxydiglycol (DEGME).

 

Who Doesn’t Love Bacon?
 
Certain foods just get more attention than others, don’t they? Bacon is definitely one of those foods. (Sorry, vegans and vegetarians, but it’s true.) Most people think it is delicious, many people consider it an unhealthy indulgence because of the high levels of saturated fat and salt and some Paleo followers eat it at every meal considering it a health food.

So where should bacon fit within a healthy lifestyle? Let’s address some key points to help us figure that out.
 
Bacon is processed! Shouldn’t I avoid processed food?
If you think about it most of our food is processed. Unless we only eat raw meat and unwashed fruits and vegetables then our food needs to be “processed” in some way to make it edible. We need to consider the specific steps in processing bacon to determine whether they impact your health.
 
Traditional curing with sea salt
Traditional curing of bacon was carried out using sea salt to preserve a pork belly. The sea salt helps prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria, which helps keep it safe to eat, pulls moisture out of the meat making it more flavorful, and helps to “cook” the meat via controlled fermentation.
In addition to sodium chloride, sea salt contains other chemical compounds including saltpeter or potassium nitrate. During the curing process the nitrates get converted to nitrites by salt resistant bacteria. It was determined that these nitrates and nitrites were a key in the curing process to keep the meat safe as well as contributing to taste.
 
Artificial nitrates and nitrites
Modern day curing typically uses curing salts that contain artificial nitrates and nitrites, usually sodium nitrite. There have been some scares around the safety of nitrite and nitrates but the evidence now suggests that they are not carcinogenic and it is definitely important that the meat is well preserved to keep it safe to eat. It is also worth noting that including bacon in your diet would likely be only one of many sources of nitrates and nitrites in your body including your own saliva and vegetables. No one is suggesting we avoid those!
 
Uncured bacon
Nevertheless, I prefer to stay clear of artificial ingredients wherever possible and so look for bacon that is made using natural curing techniques. This bacon can legally be labeled as “uncured bacon” although this is clearly a misnomer. Often these natural techniques involve the addition of spices like celery salt that are inherent sources of nitrates and nitrites that preserve the meat.
 
What about sugar?
Sugar is often an ingredient in bacon. Sugar aids in the fermentation process that cooks and preserves the bacon. It provides food for the probiotic bacteria. Nevertheless it is possible to make bacon without adding sugar or other sugary sweeteners and that’s the bacon I look for.
 
Bacon is salty! Isn’t that dangerous?
For people eating mostly natural and home cooked foods there is nothing wrong with eating some salt, especially sea salt, and it will not be harmful for them. In fact too little sodium can be a problem. For those eating more highly processed and packaged foods they may need to be more careful about adding to their sodium load. Adding bacon to an already sodium packed diet may just be exacerbating problems.
 
Bacon is fatty! Shouldn’t I avoid animal fat?
Yes, bacon is fatty but the myth that we need to avoid saturated animal fats for our heart health is now at an end. What is important for our heart though, is that we make sure we avoid a lot of sugary foods and highly processed grains like white flour and that we also keep our intake of anti-inflammatory fats called Omega 3s at good levels. We want to balance them with our intake of Omega 6 fats. Bacon does contain more Omega 6 fats so we should take some steps to make sure we don’t over do it.

Eating pasture-raised pork will make sure there is a better balance with more Omega 3s as compared with factory-farmed pork. Also, eating bacon in moderation only is what I recommend.  Let’s not treat bacon as a primary source of protein but on the other hand there is no reason to avoid it completely.
 
If you’re looking for a convenient way to access high quality meat, including great bacon, then I highly recommend ButcherBox. Their meat is all hormone and antibiotic free, grass-fed and grass-finished and gets delivered to your door! My Ways to Optimize followers can access this amazing deal right now until Sunday July 8th at midnight – Free Bacon for Life – that is free bacon for the life of your subscription. While you keep ordering, the free bacon keeps coming! I hope you enjoy it!

In case you haven’t heard yet, margarine is not a health food!  We were duped! What was promoted as a healthy alternative to butter actually contains unhealthy fats that negatively affect our heart health and are implicated in clogging of our arteries. So let’s go back to Spreading the Butter.....Choose Organic, Pastured or Grass-Fed Butter to reap these amazing, and perhaps surprising, health benefits:
 
1. Heart healthy because it does not have the negative impacts of margarine and has heart protective qualities. 

2. Grass-fed butter is a good source of Vitamin A and contains more than regular butter. Vitamin A is crucial in the health of our teeth, tissues, mucous membranes and skin. 

3. Contains Medium Chain Triglycerides that are Energy Boosting and Appetite Suppressing because they are readily available fuel for your muscles and organs. 

4. Contains five times more Conjugated Linoleic Acid than regular butter. CLA helps the body Retain Muscle and Burn More Body Fat as well as protecting us from cancer. 

5. Rich in Cholesterol that is vital for keeping our cells, brain and nervous system healthy and producing our sex hormones. Yes, you really do need cholesterol! 

6. Butter contains Butyric Acid, which is helpful for balancing gut flora and reducing gut inflammation. 

I’ll be talking more about how Fat is Back at our Women, Wine and Wellness – Lowry event on Wednesday January 17th. This is a private event for women, but if you are interested in receiving an invitation then please let us know by filling out the form on the webpage here. Guys, sorry to leave you out but please do get in touch if you’d like to learn more.

​ A lot of people ask me about supplementation.  Here are the most common questions:

Do supplements really do anything?  Are they necessary?
You may have heard me say, "Not all supplements all are created equal." I would agree that many of the supplements out there are not helping because they are poor quality. For that reason we only use professional grade supplements with our clients.

Can't I get what I need from food?
Of course I am a strong believer in striving for a nutrient dense diet, and Supplements are just that, supplements to a healthy diet.  What I have found in my practice is that most people can definitely use the support of supplementation. When I do dietary analysis, it is rare to find someone getting 100% of all the recommended daily amounts of their nutrients and blood testing often reveals nutritional deficiencies or borderline levels in my clients.

Why are people’s diets nutrient depleted?
After all, we are living in one of the wealthiest nations on the planet.

There are 2 main reasons why today’s diets are depleted of essential nutrients:
Our busy lifestyles.
Modern lifestyles involve juggling work, family and other activities and don’t leave much time for quality food choices and meals. Additionally, nutrition is not a priority for most people. A survey of 2,000 adults showed that people rank convenience and taste as the most important factors in choosing their lunch followed by cost and then, last of all, health! Wow!

The declining quality of our food supply.
Even for those of us that try really hard to be healthy, it is still difficult to get what we need because food quality has declined. A comparison study looked at the changes in nutrient content of 43 fruits and vegetables between 1950 and 1999 and found, for example, a 38% decrease in riboflavin (vitamin B2) content, a 20% decrease in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content etc.. 

What is causing the declining quality of our food supply?
Multiple factors are likely to be responsible:
Storage time for food: Nutrients are harmed during storage and transportation. For this reason, buying local is a great option.
Harvesting  before maturity: This diminishes nutrient content potential.
Farming practices: Factory farmed animals produce meat and dairy that is less nutrient rich. I recommend buying 100% grass-fed animal products for this reason.
Plants grown over and over again on the same land, have robbed our ground of nutrients. They are depleted faster than replenished, and the gap continues to widen. While soil does get nutrients from fertilizer, typically it does not include a comprehensive profile of nutrients.

What else causes nutrient depletion?
Another reason why we are depleted of nutrients is the balance in the nutrients we need vs. the nutrients we consume.  This can happen because of several issues:
Pharmaceuticals
Americans are, overall, participating in pharmaceutical drug use more and more. Did you know that pharmaceutical drugs deplete the body of nutrients? Specific drug categories impact specific nutrients. Contact us here, if you’d like help figuring out if your medication could be impacting you.
Mal-absorption of nutrients
Damage to our GI tract due to poor diet and lifestyle choices can impact our ability to absorb nutrients. This often shows up in micronutrient testing and we can help restore the gut to health.
Stress 
Stress on the body can mean we are burning through more micronutrients and have a higher than average need which may need compensating.

How can we help?
We are focused this month on helping you with supplementation so check out our Special Deals for April. Whether you just want access to great quality supplements at a 15% discount to retail or whether you’d like some help figuring out what to take, we have something for you! We use our a variety of methods to determine your needs including our intake form which covers your health history, current symptoms and current supplements, discussion during our sessions, your food journal, micronutrient and other blood testing and dietary analysis.

I didn’t want to leave you hanging! So, following up on my last article about identifying sex hormone imbalances and issues with the conventional approach to dealing with imbalances, let’s continue with what you can do about it.

Some Basics about Hormones.
What are they? Chemical messengers that travel through the body via the bloodstream. They start at endocrine glands and take messages to the cells. We have many endocrine glands and a multitude of hormones, which can interact with one another. In other words – it’s complicated!

Sex hormones are a just a few of the many hormones in the body. They are steroidal hormones, which means they are made from cholesterol.

“What!?”, you say, “I thought cholesterol was bad for me”.

This is a common misconception that results in many people avoiding eating foods containing cholesterol despite the fact that we now know that eating cholesterol and saturated fat does not cause heart disease.

What can go Wrong with our Sex Hormones?
When we don’t ingest cholesterol and fats, the liver has to make cholesterol in order that we have the ingredients to build our sex hormones. If the liver is under stress (and it may well be in our toxic world) it may not be doing that as effectively as we would like.

Nutrition Tip #1
Take the burden off the liver from making cholesterol. Provide the body the foundational ingredient for your sex hormones.
Eat cholesterol containing (animal) foods and don’t be afraid 
of fat.

•  Eat fattier cuts of meat (grass fed, organic)
•  Eat full fat dairy (if you tolerate dairy)

•  Eat Pastured eggs

What else can go wrong?
Stress
Our stress hormone, cortisol, is also a steroidal hormone, made from cholesterol. It regulates bloods sugar and metabolism in response to a threat. Even though our stress may be low grade, our body can still be in fight or flight mode. This survival function is prioritized above sex hormone production and they take a dive!

Nutrition Tip #2
Reduce stress on the system. Avoid these stressors as much as possible: sugar, junk food, alcohol, trans fats, industrial seed oils. If you suspect you may food sensitivities or have issues with your gut then you may be irritating your system. Get in touch to find out how to work through this one. It can take some detective work.

Nutrition Tip #3
Support the body with handling stress by making sure you get enough B vitamins such as pantothenic acid and B12.
Adaptagenic herbs can be supportive to your body too and help modulate your stress response.

Problems with Detoxification
Unfortunately our modern environment comes along with a variety of xenoestrogens and other hormone disrupters. Supporting the detoxification of excess and unhealthy hormones and supporting the liver can help the body stay in balance.

Nutrition Tip #4
Fiber is important for this as it helps the body excrete excess hormones so include plenty of fibrous vegetables in the diet.
The cruciferous vegetables, as well as supplements like DIM and Calcium D Glucarate, support the liver with hormonal detox.

Nutrition Tip #5
Get rid of toxins as much as you can. Nutritionally you can upgrade your food to organic and grass fed options that do not contain toxic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and hormones.

If you answered the questionnaire in my last blog, Sex Hormone Imbalance and you think you have hormonal imbalances, what do you do next? You can start by adjusting your nutrition and lifestyle with some of these tips. If you need to go deeper or need more specific help, that’s where we come in. Our micronutrient and hormonal blood testing as well as education and coaching can help you get there!