Despite the fact that there is so much information out there about the health benefits of good sleep it is interesting how many of us still fail to make it a priority. It’s really tough to get it to sink in that it truly makes a difference in our lives. Maybe this might motivate you to prioritize sleep. Did you know that a rough night’s sleep can impact hormones that affect your weight?!
 
Pretty much everyone is familiar with the experience of a bad night’s sleep. You wake up feeling depleted and it is no coincidence that you are reaching for sugary foods and caffeine! Studies show that depriving people of sleep for just one night, increases cravings for junk food and decreases rational eating decisions in the frontal cortex. Well that’s not likely to help your weight, is it? If you do succumb to those cravings then you have set yourself up for a day of more cravings, hunger and fat storage as your blood sugar levels sore and crash repeatedly.
 
So what’s going on here and why does the sleep loss often send us on this downward spiral? Sleep affects the following hormones that are likely out of whack after a rough night:
 
Leptin tells your brain that you're full and regulates metabolism so you can switch to fat burning when your body needs to.  Decreased sleep duration reduces leptin production so no wonder your appetite is out of control when you are tired.
 
Ghrelin tells your brain to eat. Sleep deprivation increases gherlin levels driving your body to want more food.
 
Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory hormone produced by adipose tissue that regulates fat breakdown. Optimal adiponectin levels can reduce the risk of insulin resistance, diabetes and therefore weight gain. Reduced sleep decreases adiponectin production.
 
Insulin is a fat storage hormone. When it is elevated you cannot burn fat and your body holds on to it. Our cells need to be sensitive to insulin otherwise our insulin levels can get driven up. Chronic sleep loss decreases insulin sensitivity keeping our levels elevated and our body storing fat.
 
Glucagon releases fat from your fat cells to burn for energy. Decreased sleep duration reduces levels so your ability to burn fat will be reduced.
 
Cortisol, which causes us to store fat and breakdown muscle, gets chronically elevated with lack of sleep due to the increased stress.
 
Growth hormone, your fountain of youth, is made during deep stage 4 sleep so less sleep can reduce your levels. It aids in muscle synthesis and repair, boosts energy and improves fat metabolism.
 
If weight loss is elusive for you then focusing on an improved sleep routine could make a world of difference for you and should be part of your long-term strategy for health. Nutrient levels can certainly impact sleep so let us know if you’d like to get your nutrient levels tested using our $100 off deal this month.
 
If you want to learn more about how to Unlock Weight Loss, you might consider joining me and Fran Gallaher for our workshop on October 13th, Unlock Weight Loss – Little Known Keys that Open the Door to Your Success where we’ll share some of the nutritional and energetic areas that have been holding our clients back.

Fran Gallaher, intuitive coach and owner of Really Flourish, and I have talked often about this issue because we both believe in the intelligence of the body.
 
Fran looks at things from an energetic perspective. She believes that sometimes we unconsciously give our body messages and that we may be asking it to hold onto our weight for a reason. She has great insights about this to share. For a teaser, have a read of her recent blog,  Are You Learning to Trust Your Body?
 
What I can share from a nutritional perspective is that food is not simply calories, or energy, that you have to burn or else gain or hold on to weight. The long-term failure of the “eat less, exercise more” approach to weight loss is evidence that there must be something more complicated going on. The fact is food is so much more than just energy. It is information! It is a message to our body to do something and it changes the way in which our genes express themselves. Our body has intelligence and responds to the information we are giving it. If you are resistant to weight loss there is likely something deeper going on that needs to be uncovered. It is not just that you don’t have enough will power and are lazy and there are some solutions out there for you.
 
So what basic things do you need to take care of and understand first to move forward with weight management and weight loss?

• First, understand that a temporary fix isn’t going to work. Whatever method you use, in the end you are going to have to create a new lifestyle that manages your weight rather than just going on a diet and returning to your old habits.
• Overall health has to be part of your goal. There are unhealthy weight loss approaches out there that can help you shed pounds in the short term but in the long run they do more harm than good. Any program that involves eating highly processed foods is going to be counter-productive.
• You need to be exercising regularly. Our body was designed to move and we need that activity to function properly.
• Factors other than food and exercise can be at play. (More evidence that the energy in/ energy out formula doesn’t work and that lifestyle solutions are key.) Stress, sleep, pharmaceuticals and toxins can all play a part as can our habits and programming.
• Everyone is different because we each have different genes and different lifestyles, which impact our nutritional requirements. You are going to need to find out what works for you and your body may need additional support in certain areas to function optimally.

 
Fran and I have so much more we want to share and so we’ve decided to come together to share this information in a workshop on Saturday October 13th: Unlock Weight Loss – Little Known Keys that Open the Door to Your Success. We’ll be taking a deeper dive into some of the areas that we find are in the way of success for our clients when they have found weight loss to be unattainable or unsustainable. We are really excited for this collaboration and can’t wait to share what we know.
 
So if you are you curious about why you don’t seem to be able to lose weight and why it is a constant struggle;
If you’d like to understand more about why some people seem to lose weight easily but when you follow the same program, nothing seems to work;
If you’ve been counting your calories and try to get in shape and find that still nothing seems to shift;
If you have a difficult time sticking to a program at all and feel like you fail over and over, seeming to sabotage yourself;
Then consider joining Fran Gallaher and me on Saturday October 13th to find out if we can help you Unlock Weight Loss! Early bird pricing applies until Saturday October 6th so get your ticket now for just $67 (reduced from $77) for this information packed afternoon.

Here is a guest blog from one of our Women, Wine & Wellness - Lowry speakers for September, Fran Gallaher.
To receive an invitation to this private event, you can sign up here: 
http://www.waystooptimizehealth.com/women-wine-wellness-lowry.html​

Are you learning to trust your body? To believe your body has wisdom? What about when it comes to weight loss? Are you trusting your body, even if it resists weight loss? (Of course, you may not need to lose weight but stay with me, there’s something here for every body.)

Because, really, your body is likely doing what you have asked it to do. Sometimes we need to look at what good thing your body is trying to accomplish—what good thing you may have, unconsciously, asked it to accomplish.

There are a number of things your body might use weight to accomplish. The one I want to explore here I’ll call armoring. Armoring is just what it sounds like: we are padding up, so to speak, to go on the offense or to go on the defense.

In the first case we may have felt currently or at some point in the past, that we were not big enough to handle a situation—or to make a difference or to just matter. Maybe we felt weak, not strong enough, maybe we felt as if we didn’t make an impact or maybe we feel like we need to “throw our weight around” to get our point across. In any case, our body gets the message and pads up just as we’ve asked it to, and like some football player padding up for the game, or like the gladiator before them, we get ready for battle.

Or maybe, instead, the weight—the padding—is about protecting ourselves. It could be that we are in an abusive situation. Whether slightly abusive or very abusive doesn’t matter: abuse is a threat to our well-being and so a threat to the body.

Whether we are conscious of abuse or not, doesn’t matter either. In the same way that the Earth may well give off signals before a seismic event, warning animals to seek safe ground, our bodies can be sensitive to abusive, disrespectful, dismissive or even dangerous signals it receives, and can go into a self-protective mode.

Sometimes this disrespect can be very subtle—and can have occurred at some point regarding our body image, our gender or sexuality, or some very personal way we might feel discounted. The padding, therefore, is not just protective but also acts as both a way to set a boundary and a way to become less visible, less likely, in some cases, to receive unwanted attention.

So weight loss becomes less the problem and more the symptom. And the real problem can come to our attention, and with loving kindness, we can nurture our body’s true needs and remove the reason for our body’s need to armor itself.

Contact Fran:
www.reallyflourish.com | fran@reallyflourish.com | 303-722-5115
 

I don’t know about you, but I have found the messaging about alcohol and health to be pretty confusing. We’ve always been told that there are certain health benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption. This is defined as one standard drink per day for women and two for men. But to be honest, it has never seemed right to me and I have walked that tight rope with clients. I couldn’t see any nutritional benefits to alcohol. After all, it is a toxin that your body has to process out and really, how much resveratrol can you realistically consume without drinking bottles and bottles of red wine? If you want to consume resveratrol, it's better to supplement. I know for myself that I definitely feel way worse when I have a drink, even a small one. Nevertheless, moderate consumption is what the accepted science told us was best for us. It turns out that like many other health recommendations that we all bought into, it is money, not our health that took priority. The alcohol studies have been largely funded by the alcohol industry and have ignored problems around the study design that may have skewed the results.
 
While the US CDC continues to recommend moderate drinking for health, last year, the UK updated their guidelines for alcohol consumption. The UK listened to the latest science and responded accordingly.  On the UK government website it states:
 
“New guidelines for alcohol consumption, produced by the UK Chief Medical Officers, warn that drinking any level of alcohol increases the risk of a range of cancers. This is supported by a new review from the Committee on Carcinogenicity on alcohol and cancer risk.
It is now known that the risks start from any level of regular drinking and increase with the amount being drunk, and the new guidelines are aimed at keeping the risk of mortality from cancers or other diseases low. The links between alcohol and cancer were not fully understood in the original guidelines, which came out in 1995.
This review also found that the benefits of alcohol for heart health only apply for women aged 55 and over. The greatest benefit is seen when these women limit their intake to around 5 units a week, the equivalent of around 2 standard glasses of wine. The group concluded that "there is no justification for drinking for health reasons".”
 
So there you have it! I would agree that there is no justification for drinking for health reasons. Maybe there are other reasons you wish to drink and moderate drinking may be low risk, but know that health improvements from drinking are not likely. I must say, I have been feeling relieved as what I see with clients is more often the damage that it does, especially to the ability to absorb nutrients. When I see the results of micronutrient blood testing on clients who drink heavily, they often show a pattern of mal-absorption along with gut dysbiosis or leaky gut concerns (alcohol is one of the four main causes I see). This can cause a whole plethora of symptoms for them. Knowing the damage that’s been done nutritionally, means we have some direction as to how to fuel them back to wellness.
 
If you’ve been a drinker or if you’re just curious how you are doing, you can get your nutrient status checked with us for $100 off this month with our Fall into Wellness Deals. If you have questions about Micronutrient Blood Testing then just let us know and we can explain more.

Getting the right amount of sun is such a juggle. We want to get some sun in the middle of the day to enhance our vitamin D levels but this is the time we are most likely to get a sunburn too. You’ll want to cover up or wear a safe sunscreen to avoid over-exposure.
 
You can also give your skin the best chance of being resilient by following the dietary suggestions in my article Protect Your Skin from Sun Damage from the Inside Out.
 
Nevertheless, sometimes we can overdo it. Here are my ideas on giving your skin some love and care when it gets burned.

1. Mix a drop each of Lavender, Melaleuca and Peppermint essential oils together with a tsp of coconut oil as a base and rub it into the burned area.
2. Aloe Vera applied topically. This Ultimate Aloe is a favorite. The plain is best for using topically but I’ve used the flavored in a pinch if that’s what I have available. (I try to always keep a bottle in the fridge as Aloe Vera juice can help with so many health issues that crop up, from gargling for a sore throat to soothing the digestive system and keeping it regular. Natural Aloe Vera juice tastes pretty nasty so if you’re not good at chugging things down, it will need to be masked with something. The strawberry kiwi flavor is something even your kids will drink!)
3. I recently got a sunburn while traveling and happened to have doTerra’s Correct-X Essential Ointment available because I always keep it in my bag. It is designed to soothe distressed skin and worked like a charm to reduce the heat.

 
Let me know your favorite tips and tricks!

Here is a guest blog from our Women, Wine & Wellness - Lowry speaker for August, Dawn Abbott.
To receive an invitation to this private event, you can sign up here: 
http://www.waystooptimizehealth.com/women-wine-wellness-lowry.html​

What does the term "Be Exceptional" mean for you? As a personal growth guru and founder of Be Exceptional, what it means for me is making the most of yourself and helping those around you be their best. It means taking life’s lemons and making the most spectacular lemonade you’ve ever experienced. It means never simply going through the motions of this ride we call life—especially when you know you have more in you.

I recently embarked on a year-long mastery certification with PAX to train and facilitate their body of work. PAX Programs was founded in 1995 and has been studying men, women and the “gender gap” for almost 30 years. PAX (Latin word for Peace) creates peace between the sexes by providing unique and immediately useful information and a transformation in how we see ourselves and each other.

This information has changed my life in so many ways, that I am compelled to help others with it.  I have a mostly male staff, two grown sons, and have had two amazing husbands, so you’d think I would know how these men-humans tick, but they are so different from us.  Having become empowered with this knowledge I have a profound sense of understanding about both genders and how we can utilize the energy of our instincts and the consciousness of our choices to partner in amazingly beneficial ways.

In several of my talks I teach women how to focus on understanding and bringing out the best in men of all ages and in all circumstances. They find out how men really think, feel, plan, speak & commit – and how to make sense of everything they do.  I teach them how to better partner with men in business, relationships, parenting and in general.  Come hear and discover why you do not always get the results you want in relationships with men.

Life is short, so let's not waste a minute of it being anything less than exceptional. 
It’s time to wake up. 
It’s time to walk in gratitude. 
It’s time to embrace your exceptional self.

Contact Dawn:
www.DawnAbbott.com | Dawn@funproductions.com | 720-203-4226


​

I don’t know about you, but I see ads and books for Ketogenic diet programs everywhere.  They sound so enticing. After all, ketosis is promoted as a powerful way to burn body fat and sharpen your mental focus.  So should you jump on that trend? Here are some aspects to think about:
 
What is a Ketogenic Diet?
Without glucose from carbs (and here I don’t just mean sugars and grains but also beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables) your body burns the fat you eat and the stored fat on your body as its main fuel source.  The fat breaks down into ketones that are an alternative to glucose to fuel your brain and suppress hunger. The exact details of what you might eat vary somewhat from program to program but broadly speaking you eat the majority of your calories as fat, restricting protein to moderate levels (15-20%) and carbohydrates to 5-10%.
 
Potential Benefits of Burning Ketones

• Less Inflammation – Burning ketones causes less inflammation than burning glucose.
• More Brain Power – The brain on ketones produces more mitochondria – the energy source for your cells.
• Neuroprotective – A great way to benefit brain conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s.
• Less Hunger – When your body is good at burning fat for fuel it can always turn to your fat stores for energy and you don’t feel as hungry.
• Rapid Weight loss – Where burning carbs for fuel increases insulin and puts you into fat storage mode, burning fats means that you can utilize stored fat on your body.
• Blood sugar balance and improved insulin sensitivity.
• Cardiovascular benefits.

 
Is Keto Beneficial Long Term?
Staying on a ketogenic diet long term can be stressful on the body. There isn’t a human population in history that has existed in long-term ketosis. Even the Inuits, who had a very high fat diet, were not in ketosis because they had genetic mutations that stopped them overproducing ketones. For this reason, I don’t recommend staying on a keto diet for a long period and think it suitable for only 3-6 months as a therapeutic diet helpful to deal with certain situations only.
 
 
Downsides of the Ketogenic Diet
Also bear in mind that not everyone will respond the same way to a ketogenic diet. Everyone has different genetics and lifestyles. Consider if a ketogenic diet is really the right direction for you and beware of these potential downsides before you embark on a keto program.

• Damage to the Gut Microbiome - Restricting carbohydrates means restricting vegetables and other sources of dietary fiber. This results in less fermentation and therefore less food for the gut microbes. It also means a more acidic environment in the colon, which can encourage less desirable bacteria to thrive.
• Constipation – The lack of fiber can slow down things in the GI tract and that means you are not eliminating waste and toxins. As toxins are stored in fat tissue this a concern if you are burning body fat.
• Keto Flu – It takes time for your body to adapt to be able to burn fat for fuel. It can take a couple of days or a couple of weeks. The transition period, known as the keto flu, is often accompanied by fatigue, lightheadedness, dizziness and electrolyte imbalances that can be severe.
• Hormonal imbalances – Women, in particular, seem to respond less well to a ketogenic diet. Ketosis is like starvation and so the body can shut down reproductive functions via the thyroid. Especially if you have low thyroid function, the risks of keto may be too great. Keto is also not a good idea if you have low cortisol and adrenal fatigue. Fiber is important for removal of excess hormones from the body and without it they will stay in your system and create imbalances.
• Stress on the liver, kidneys and gallbladder – Some people don’t do well digesting and metabolizing fats. It is better to monitor how you are doing with regular blood tests. If you aren’t doing well, keto is probably not for you.
• People living in Blue Zones, the world’s longest living cultures, eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables that are packed with phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals.

 
Let us know if you have more questions. We always love to hear from you.

​Did you know that conventional mouthwash can damage your oral flora and cause more problems than it solves? Here’s why:
 
Your mouth has it’s own ecosystem that includes up to 1000 types of bacteria, enzymes for digestion, proteins that feed the bacteria, and more. The microbes work in a fine balance with your gut microbes and immune system to keep you well. Using a mouthwash that “kills 99% of germs” means that you are killing off this ecosystem that is designed to keep you healthy.
 
These common conventional mouthwash ingredients kill off both good and bad bacteria:

• Alcohol
• Hydrogen peroxide, which can also kill the cells inside your teeth.
• Chlorhexidine, which also stains teeth, increases tartar and alters taste perception.
• Hexetidine, which is linked to unstable heartbeat and allergic reactions.
• Triclosan, which can lower thyroid hormones and is linked with cancer and fertility issues.

 
Bad breath or bleeding gums are indication of a system out of balance. There is an overgrowth of particular harmful bacteria that like to burrow into your gums to find iron in your blood to feed on and they can make your gums bleed.
 
The best way to stop this overgrowth is to support the helpful bacteria with oral probiotics. Strains like Lactobacillus Salivarius and Streptococcus Salivarius improve bad breath, reduce plaque and support healthy teeth and gums. Here’s one chewable probiotic that can help.
 
These are some other common ingredients in commercial mouthwash that can impact our health in a negative way:

• Artificial dyes, which can stain your teeth and are toxins so put strain on the liver.

• Methylparaben, which is an endocrine disrupter.
• Sodium benzoate, which is also an endocrine disrupter.

 
It is also important for oral health to make sure you take care of your gut health, keep inflammation at bay and keep your nutrient levels are strong. Let us know if you need help to see where you could improve things.
 
Other alternatives to conventional mouthwash are:
Oil Pulling - Swish coconut oil or olive oil around your mouth for 10-20 minutes and then spit it out.
Homemade mouthwash – I have been tweaking my recipe for taste and have arrived at this combination. For safety, it’s important to use only very high-grade essential oils.

• 12oz water
• 7 drops peppermint oil
• 5 drops melaleuca oil
• 3 drops cinnamon oil
• 1/8 tsp sea salt.

 
As always, please share your thoughts and experiences with us. We love to hear from you!

Here is a guest blog from our Women Wine, & Wellness - Lowry speaker for July, Natalie Gentry. To receive an invitation to this private event you can sign up here: http://www.waystooptimizehealth.com/women-wine-wellness-lowry.html​​

Many of us admire women who shine their lights brightly. I’m talking about women like Oprah, Brene' Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, and others… These women are empowered, confident, and self-possessed. If you’re like me, you may have asked at some point, “How did they get there and how can I get some of that?” What I have come to realize is that sometimes getting to the point of shining our own light requires that we go through a transformation of sorts.  In order to transform, we have to drop all of the false stories and beliefs we’ve relied on to define us. We also have to uncover the truth of who we are so we can shine in ways that are meaningful to us.

THE DISCONNECT
I remember feeling like a sparkly little unicorn as a child; I was quirky, funny to others, and rather introspective. Then I grew up learning to feel ashamed of myself for things that had nothing to do with me. College helped me to start uncovering those parts of me that I’d learned to hide and I leaned in to my adventurous spirit by honoring my intuition and my quirkiness throughout my 20’s. I shelved it all in my 30’s by embracing the sometimes soul-choking role known as “adulting”. I woke up around age 40 and realized that I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. I’d compromised myself so others would feel comfortable with me to the point where I no longer had any idea of who I was anymore. I wanted myself back. I was even willing to fight for it and to let go of things that weren’t working for me anymore in order to reclaim my SELF. The first casualty became my marriage and the loss hit me like a ton of bricks.

MY DAY OF RECKONING 
​Thank God for my day of reckoning…I remember it well. I was sitting on my couch, talking with my Spiritual teacher and my sangha (my community of spiritual brothers and sisters) who I was grateful to have met a year earlier. My teacher dropped a verbal bomb that shook me to my core; she posed this question to my group, “Who would you be if everything you used to define yourself suddenly disappeared?” Mic drop. And with that, my transformation began. I had to face the truth that I wasn’t coping well with my newly found freedom. I was faking my okayness. Who was I now? How could I get to the place of living my truth and embracing my fire from a place of deep strength and wisdom? The answer would only unfold when I began to truly LOOK at myself and SENSE my own TRUTH. I needed to feel my life again.

MY JOURNEY HOME  
I was turned off by therapy; I’d participated in it for years but it didn’t really touch what I was dealing with in a way that helped me to feel resolved. I was trying to “think” my way into healing. I also was approaching healing from a perspective that there was something I had “to do” in order “to fix” myself. What I came to realize is that I wasn’t broken; I just had to “come home” to myself and to reconnect with who I am at my core. And to do that, I had to simply listen, allow myself “to be”, and to trust my intuition. Yep, you heard me! There was nothing to do; I just had to give myself space to be. The solution sounds simple but it was challenging to me. However, I was determined to feel my life again and to connect with that inner Wild Woman I sensed was still there. I began to open up to listening to my body.  With the support of teachers, coaches, and practitioners, I learned/relearned a number of things: I learned how to quiet my mind and how to be still through meditation. I also spent time out in nature. I took walks and laid out in my favorite parks. I also took hikes and spent weekends in the mountains. Nature is healing. I also received healing touch through massage, which helped me to feel my body again. Additionally, I learned how to breathe more deeply and fully through breath work, which helped me to let challenging feelings go. And, best of all, I learned how to move through feelings, express myself, interact with others, and how to play again through dance. 

COMING FULL CIRCLE
Today, I can feel my life again. I have a reignited sense of passion and growing freedom. I can feel my Inner Wild Woman! While I still have triggers that give me pause, I also have a willingness to try new things and to push myself beyond my comfort zone. I approach my life differently; I’m gentle with my limitations (we all have them) and I focus a lot more energy on the things that I do well. I have desires that I can now see are completely okay to have. Life is good! We aren’t taught that our bodies can be our most trusted ally for living fully in our own power; we are often taught that we have power if others approve of us or if we achieve that thing that makes us worthy. Not true. We hold the keys to our own freedom if we give ourselves the space and time to listen.

“ONE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE RHYTHMS AND MEANINGS OF THE OUTER WORLD UNTIL ONE HAS MASTERED THE DIALECTS OF THE BODY.”  ~TIMOTHY LEARY

Contact Natalie:
www.nataliegentry.com |natalie@nataliegentry.com | 303-325-4150

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).