The Hemp Connection:
sleep

I just finished reading a list of new research on the hormone melatonin. This is the hormone that helps you feel sleepy at night. It is also one of the most powerful anti-aging compounds in the body. I've got quite a few things to share over the next few posts, hopefully to reinforce the importance of getting enough sleep. When you don't, your body is out of balance and hormones start to act wacky!

Today I'd like to talk about endometriosis, something I've had myself since a teen and something I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Researchers created an artificial state of endometriosis by implanting endometrial tissue on the abdominal walls of a group of rats. After 4 weeks, a portion of these rats were given a daily dose of melatonin. At the end of the study, the volume of the artificially implanted tissue was measured, and the melatonin/no melatonin groups were compared. Tissue volume actually shrunk in the melatonin-treated rats. Anti-oxidant activity also increased in the rats receiving melatonin.

The risk in presenting information like this is that the first thing most people ask when reading studies like this, is how much melatonin they should be taking. That's not my point. If you're struggling with disorders related to melatonin imbalance…the very first thing you should be asking yourself is how much attention you pay to sleep hygiene.

Are you getting enough sleep?

Do you recognize the importance of adequate sleep for overall health, or do you tend to consider the little amount of sleep you get as an indication that you're harder working/better than others?

Do you minimize your alcohol intake? Are you judicious with your caffeine intake?

Do you get physical activity on a regular basis?

If you can answer"yes" to all of these questions, a melatonin supplement is something you may want to consider…used judiciously. If you can't, these are the lifestyle areas you should work on first.

We have a difficult time respecting the importance of balance, but it's pretty much a non-negotiable thing. We either work toward achieving it, and improve our health, or we ignore it, and we stay stuck in a place where we just don't feel the absolute best that we can.

Güney M, Oral B, Karahan N, Mungan T. Regression of endometrial explants in a rat model of endometriosis treated with melatonin. Fertil Steril. 2008 Apr;89(4):934-42. Epub 2007 Jun 19.

…and I'm guessing it is, since our own research has shown that most women with PCOS simply do not get enough sleep…

…consider joining us in Los Angeles this July to learn more about how to change that.

Poor sleep can worsen insulin resistance, trigger carbohydrate cravings, promote weight gain, and, well…just make you crabby.

I've been working on a project with colleague Nancy Carballo, that is designed to give you some ideas for how to improve your sleep, hopefully eliminating the need for that godawful and totally unromantic CPAP machine that's all the rage in some circles. We decided to make it fun and interactive, because, well, when you're sleep-deprived, why the heck would you come out on a beautiful Saturday to fall asleep during a bunch of dry medical lectures?

We have a Facebook group if you'd like to learn more and be updated on our event details; you can find us at"Insomniacfest".

Please consider joining us! After all, there's no point losing sleep over your PCOS, your weight, your infertility…or your insomnia.

The more I read about melatonin the more I think I should have majored in sleep instead of nutrition. Just ran across a research abstract reviewing the many effects melatonin, our sleep hormone, has on hair health.

In addition to being a potent antioxidant, which means it destroys compounds that promote the many symptoms of PCOS, melatonin reduces apoptosis, a process which kills cells in the body.

It's really important to value your sleep. Not getting it is not a sign of drive…or superiority…or success…or a glamorous lifestyle…losing sleep is something you do that accelerates aging and promotes all the nasty things you've come to hate about PCOS. Those of you who are losing hair to your PCOS…should take this very seriously!!!

Fischer TW, Slominski A, Tobin DJ, Paus R. Melatonin and the hair follicle. J Pineal Res. 2008 Jan;44(1):1-15.

I'm really big on sleep…and the fact that Americans just don't seem to want to admit that they need it…is a huge part of their problems with weight, hormones, and mood disorders. So over the past 6 months, I've been reading as much as I have time to read, about melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy. Turns out it's a huge anti-aging chemical, and if you aren't sleeping enough, it can cause a lot of serious problems.

Here's one interesting issue I ran across that might be of specific interest in PCOS. (I've noticed in the past few years that the number of women with PCOS I've helped, who are on sleep medications, has slowly and steadily been creeping upward.)

OK, keep in mind, this study was done on pigs, but it will give you the general drift.

Embryos (in petri dishes) exposed to melatonin developed more quickly than those without melatonin. And, unlike their non-exposed counterparts, the melatonin embryos also seemed to be protected against heat stress. Too much melatonin affected embryo development as well. So my point is not that you should supplement with melatonin, but that you should keep your own melatonin levels in balance with healthy sleep habits.

Remember, it's not just about getting pregnant. It's about staying pregnant and having a healthy baby. If your sleep habits are"off" now, that may have some important consequences later. And not just to you. One of the most important things you can do to balance your hormones is to develop a habit of adequate sleep and regular sleep hours.

I remember when I worked in the Silicon Valley, as the nutritionist at Apple Computer's corporate headquarters, people would come in to talk about their diet and literally brag about how few hours of sleep they were getting. I don't know where they (we) got this idea that not sleeping is somehow cool, or that it is a sign of a good work ethic, or that we somehow are superior when we don't. The truth is, it's about the absolute worst thing you can do for your health, to not value sleep. (When people would say,"I average 3-4 hours of sleep a night!"…I would think to myself…"Do you always regularly broadcast that you're not good to yourself?")

Just because you're not awake when you're sleeping…doesn't mean nothing important happens while you do it!

Rodriguez-Osorio N, Kim IJ, Wang H, Kaya A, Memili E. Melatonin increases cleavage rate of porcine preimplantation embryos in vitro. J Pineal Res. 2007 Oct;43(3):283-8.

You may know of melatonin as a potent sleep aid. So much so, that if you took melatonin and you did not experience an enhanced ability to sleep, you stopped taking it.

Did you know, melatonin is a very powerful antioxidant as well? Some of the benefits of this compound relevant to PCOS include:

--lowered blood pressure
--improved memory
--reduced adrenal gland activity and cortisol secretion
--reduced cortisol response to stress
--reduced blood glucose, insulin levels, and insulin response to a glucose load
--reduced cholesterol and triglycerides
--reduced testosterone levels
--increased progesterone synthesis
--slows gastric emptying (which can help you to feel fuller, longer)

That's a lot of stuff! And it's not just not sleeping well that interferes with melatonin metabolism. So does fasting and starvation…which includes any kind of radical diet, including the medically supervised ones and the HCG ones. Melatonin levels in all three types of eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, are disrupted. Obesity suppresses normal melatonin daily rhythms. Omega-3 deficiency reduces melatonin synthesis and total tissue levels.

Vitamin deficiencies such as B12, zinc, and magnesium, can interfere with good melatonin status. When I read that, I immediately thought of the many vegetarians reading this blog, as those are common deficiencies when vegetarian eating is not proactively balanced.

Normal melatonin metabolism may be dependent on physical activity.

Medical problems associated with a melatonin imbalance include: affective disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, asthma, autism, bipolar disorder, cervical cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, cluster headaches, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, Cushing’s syndrome, depression, diabetes, duodenal ulcer, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, hypertension, idiopathic pain syndrome, lung cancer, metabolic syndrome, migraine headaches, obesity, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, Parkinson’s disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, pre-eclampsia, premenstrual syndrome, schizophrenia, seasonal affective disorder, sleep apnea, and ulcerative colitis.

I'm well aware that many people reading this blog are looking for a magic supplement to erase the need for making healthy lifestyle choices. If you choose to supplement with melatonin, it likely will not hurt you, and it may help you to restore normal sleep patterns, but it will never replace the power of regular, adequate sleep. Just sayin'.: )

If you've never used melatonin before, and you decide to start, you may want to try it on a night when it's not essential that you be up and functioning early the next day. It can have a paradoxical reaction in some people.

And, if you happen to be a professional pilot, the FAA advises against using melatonin while on duty. It certainly wouldn't hurt on your days off, especially if you've been on some grueling red eye flights, just beware of this disclaimer while officially on duty.

I have an extensive list of references I've collected from which this blog post was derived. If you would like them you can contact me directly.

Bottom line, if you don't value sleep, your body is going to have a really, really, really hard time being healthy.

This just seems to be something that should be common knowledge, especially with this audience. I was pretty surprised to happen on it myself. Aspirin and ibuprofen may promote insulin resistance and sleep problems.

Way back in 1981, researchers reported that aspirin and ibuprofen, in doses commonly considered to be therapeutic for humans, experienced an increased level of insulin secretion. More insulin tended to be secreted at lower levels of blood glucose, and higher levels of insulin were secreted at high blood glucose levels. This is hyperinsulinemia, the first step in the chain reaction of problems including insulin resistance and diabetes.

And it may also interfere with sleep! Researchers at Bowling Green State University found that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (which includes these two over the counter medications)awakenings and percentage of time spent awake during the night. Ibuprofen also delayed the onset of deeper stages of sleep. Acetominophen, also known as Tylenol, did not affect sleep in these ways.

Researchers propose that the reasons for these effects may include the interference that these medications have on prostaglandin production, suppression of nighttime melatonin levels, and changes in body temperature.

We learned awhile back that women with PCOS also have trouble with arthritis, which means they are likely to be taking over-the-counter NSAIDS, thinking they're harmless. And, if they've got cardiac complications, they may have been advised to take baby aspirin prophylactically. That may not be the best strategy.

Fortunately, the fish oil I'm often teased about being such a fan of…is an excellent weapon against arthritis as well.

I'm ok with being teased about my obsession, if it means it helps our blog readers. The last laugh is the best one to have.: )

Metz SA, Robertson RP, Fujimoto WY. Inhibition of prostaglandin E synthesis augments glucose-induced insulin secretion in cultured pancreas. Diabetes. 1981 Jul;30(7):551-7.

Murphy PJ, Badia P, Myers BL, Boecker MR, Wright KP Jr. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs affect normal sleep patterns in humans. Physiol Behav. 1994; 55(6):1063-6.

If you live in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Arizona, today is the day you can now buy a megadose of caffeine at Starbuck's, in the form of their new 31 ounce beverage, the Trenta. As you can see in the photo, the Trenta is just shy, volume-wise, of a Big Gulp.

Starbucks is downplaying the calories, saying that these new larger-sized beverages contain less than 230 calories. We all know these calories are not nutritionally dense, and not loaded with the many vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants our readers know they need to be pursuing when making food choices.

Most importantly, however, and what is not being discussed, is the amount of caffeine this 31 ounce drink contains.

Remember, caffeine intake is associated with insulin resistance, as is lack of adequate sleep, which is exacerbated by excessive caffeine intake.

My recommendation? Save the extra 90 cents a day this will cost and over the course of a year…you'll have just over $300, which you can invest in a few nice massages.

Excess, even if calories are not involved, are not helpful when you're working on pursuing balance.

I have having fun learning how to use an iPad this week. The first night I had it, I was up pretty late installing apps and learning to navigate the system, which is new for me.

I also spent much of the night tossing and turning in bed, too wired tomrelax and fall asleep. I've written about this before, but since I have now experienced the phenomenon myself thought I'd pass along a little reminder.

IPads, because of how they are lit, interfere with melatonin production and they interfere with sleep. Be judicious with how you use them!

I made a conscious effort last night to turn mine off at about 7:30 and it made a huge difference.

This could be a bit of a drag for those of you who love to read in bed, but consider the ever-strengthening relationship between sleep and insulin function. the less you sleep the more likely it is that you will be insulin resistant.

For those of you sending me late night emails…I check time stamps and I will be calling you out! It's NEVER so important that you have to write me at 3 am!

The good news here is that I learn to navigate this gadget I'll surely be thinking of ways to use it to your benefit. During daylight hours, of course. Stay tuned!

Why is it that we have a need to wear on our sleeves how little we sleep, as if it's a badge of honor?

People who don't sleep are physically hurting themselves in ways that diet and exercise can't always repair.

The large and famous nurses' study showed that women working night shifts had a greater incidence of breast cancer than those working during the day.

Accumulating research is connecting poor sleep with weight gain, insulin resistance, and diabetes.

What is it about sleep that is so crucial?

Melatonin. It's our body's most powerful antioxidant. It literally acts like a scrubbing bubble when we sleep, scouring that inflammatory damage from a day's worth of living, thinking, and stressing, leaving the brain and nervous system clean and ready to go the next day.

When we cut ourselves short on sleep, we don't give melatonin a chance to do its job.

We age ourselves much more quickly than we do when sleep is something we prioritize.

First thing you need to do to change things, is change your attitude about sleep.

You are not a better person because you deprive yourself of it.

You can't make up for what you lost during the week, over the weekend. Once it's lost, it's lost.

You may not be able to overcome the damaging effects of too little sleep with better eating and more exercise. In fact, it may be harder to achieve this while sleep deprived, because you are more likely to accelerate aging even more with the caffeine and sugar you're using to get through the day.

Want to get your weight under control? Reduce your cancer risk? Improve your fertility?

Sleep. It's that simple.

I've become fascinated with sleep. How much we need it. How little we value it. And what happens to our health when we don't get it. Sometimes I wonder if we should be obsessed with sleep and not worried about what we eat.

Now the two worlds have collided!

It has been found that melatonin is a component of some vegetables. Some Japanese researchers gave a group of women high amounts of six specific vegetables. Another group of women was asked to avoid these same vegetables during the same time period. The women who consumed the vegetables had higher amounts of melatonin by-products in their urine.

Melatonin, as you know from reading this blog, is a sleep enhancing hormone and a very powerful antioxidant.

Of course, the very first thing most people will ask on reading this, is"what vegetables?"

I don't think the power in this study comes from the melatonin content of the vegetables. Melatonin is a highly unstable compound and it would be challenging to have it stay intact in a compound that is harvested, stored, chopped, and cooked before eating.

What may be happening here, is that vegetables are great sources of antioxidants. And since melatonin appears to be the ultimate antioxidant, it is called to duty when other antioxidants are in short supply and cannot do their job. If your melatonin is on cleanup duty, it can't be used to help you sleep!

The melatonin in the urine, I'm guessing, came from the fact that melatonin was allowed to function as melatonin, and not changed as it was used as an antioxidant.

So…the strategy appears to be, to eat as many different vegetables as you can in order to have maximum antioxidant power. And that will give you a better chance at getting a good night's sleep.

I know that it's difficult not to yawn if you see someone else yawning, so on behalf of helping you feel sleepy, here's a wonderful blog a friend told me about yesterday!
It's called Cute Things Falling Asleep.

Oba S, Nakamura K, Sahashi Y, Hattori A, Nagata C. Consumption of vegetables alters morning urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin concentration. J Pineal Res. 2008 Aug;45(1):17-23. Epub 2008 Jan 15.

This question is one I get all the time. Look at it this way. One fish oil pill typically has 1 gram of fat. A 6 ounce filet of salmon has about 18. You'd never divide the salmon up throughout the day, you just eat it all at once and assume it's providing benefit!

The only reasons you may want to shift your timing that I can think of:

1. If you're getting burps from the capsules, you may want to take them just before bedtime so your burping and sleeping coincide. I know, a little graphic, but now you'll never forget this post!

2. I've had a few clients note that fish oil can make them feel sleepy. That can be a good thing, but in those cases night time dosing is probably best.

Those considerations aside, the best time to take the fish oil is the time that you are most likely to remember to take it.

Many of you already know you're insulin resistant, and are receiving medical attention for that. Here are the basic nutrition and lifestyle actions you can take to further help minimize the impact of that issue on your pregnancy success.

1. Move! I'm a distance runner. As much as I love running, however, I have a lot of other activities I love to do. Having a variety of activities to rotate through prevents boredom, and it involves different muscle groups in exercise. I learned to vary after a ski injury that sidelined my running for a year. You don't want that to happen, to become so dependent on one activity that you set yourself up to lose activity completely. These days I run, but I also walk, rollerblade, garden, hike, golf, swim and do yoga. (Ivonne recently talked me into trying a tango class. I think dancing is my new favorite!) Any little thing you can do that tells your body it needs to get better at moving glucose into muscle cells…is what you need to do.

2. Commit yourself to better sleeping habits. Poor sleep, either few hours or bad quality, interferes with insulin function. The clients I work with who prioritize better sleep are the ones who notice feeling better the soonest. It can be a hard one if you love the late night shows, easily get lost in the Internet, or don't set good boundaries with others. But good sleep is one of the most important things you can give yourself. If you search"sleep" in this blog there is a lot of information about how to achieve this.

3. Watch the caffeine. This goes hand in hand with #2. Caffeine in coffee, tea (it's in green tea, too, so be aware), chocolate…it all challenges healthy sleep. It's something you are best to live without during pregnancy anyway, so why not get used to decaffeinated life now if that's where you want to be?

4. Be aware of glycemic index. Foods with a low glycemic index are foods that don't challenge your insulin function as much as other foods. It's not that high glycemic foods are"bad", it's just that they should not be eaten as often. In order to make a MEAL lower-glycemic, be sure you have a good balance of carbs, fats, and proteins. People eating on the run tend to challenge glycemic function either by eating large quantities of fast food or nibbling all day long on carbs without making time for protein.

5. Pay attention to your fats. One reason I push the fish oil so much is that it really helps to improve insulin function."S" and"C" oils--safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed…tend to worsen glycemic function. They're found in processed foods, baked goods, and salad dressings. One reason I love teaching my classes at Whole Foods is that their entire deli uses only olive and canola (the only"C" exception) and you can literally choose what you want without ingredient anxiety.

6. Add a little cinnamon to your low-glycemic oatmeal. It has been found to improve insulin function…and it's tasty!

A word about metformin. Some women complain about digestive disturbances with this medication. A physician once shared that if you eat a lot of carbs (particularly sweets) while on the medication, it can cause diarrhea. So be forewarned, taking the medication is not a license to eat what you want, assuming metformin is going to do all the work. Metformin is most effective if you use it in conjunction with the guidelines in this post.

Next progesterone post we'll talk about poor nutrition. It is very important!

Hello from beautiful Vermont! I'm here at Green Mountain at Fox Run Resort for their first-ever PCOS program. Today we discussed healthy skin. I used Carmina McGee's recent interview on PCOS Challenge for the basis of our discussion. You can listen to the entire interview at PCOS Challenge…but for starters, here are her top tips for improving your skin from the inside out.

1. Get enough sleep.
2. Reduce your stress.
3. Eat regularly--don't skip meals.
4. Limit your intake of processed foods.
5. Moderate your alcohol intake.
6. Don't smoke.
7. Get plenty of physical activity.
8. Be sure to make time for yourself that does not include taking care of others.
9. Be part of some kind of community to decrease your sense of aloneness.
10. Have some sort of spiritual path.

Marsha Hudnall, owner of Green Mountain at Fox Run, added this one to the list:

11. Laugh!

We've been so busy, I haven't posted much about what we're doing. I have been taking photos, though, so check back for more details.

Have a wonderful day!

If you follow the blog, you have seen me mention a product called Nightly Beauty by Beauty Foods. It wasn't made for PCOS, and it has not been clinically tested on PCOS. However, if poor sleep is plaguing you, it is formulated in a way that makes it worthy of your consideration. I recently filmed a testimonial for the product for friend, CEO, and inCYST supporter Jacque Gibson (Jacque was a sponsor for our first walk-a-thon). Because the name implies that it is primarily a beauty aid, I wanted to explain some of the biochemistry behind its other potential.
If you're interested, Beauty Foods is available in our eMarket.

Jacque is in New York today, getting ready to introduce her product at Shecky's Beauty Night Out. If you're going to that event, please stop by, say hello, and taste it for yourself!

Did you know that some of your most important metabolic processes occur when you are sleeping? And that disrupted sleep patterns can affect everything from your weight to your hormone balance (including insulin function and fertility to how quickly you age?

Nancy Carballo, co-founder of Insomniacfest, a resource center for sleep-related issues, will share her thoughts on sleep, and how to get more if you're not getting enough. Nancy Carballo is a non-traditional, postbaccalaureate premedical student. She earned a Bachelors of Arts in English/Creative Writing at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a published author in different genres, including exhibit texts, journalism, poetry, and research. In addition, she served as Managing Editor for Impact, a health newsletter geared towards premedical students. She is currently a medical student in Los Angeles.

Nancy enjoys learning and teaching about brain processes that guide human sleep patterns and is co-founder of Insomniacfest. Her article “Sleep Hygiene: Can Everyone Afford To Give It Thought?” can be viewed at http://www.sleepvirtualnews.com/.

Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 2:00pm
www.blogtalkradio.com/incystforhormones

We've gotten a whole lot of traffic from people coming to learn about Amber. And I'm guessing, more than a few came to see what diet I put her on.

We'll eventually get to the food stuff, but there was something else going on with Amber that caught my attention and seemed like the more important priority. I say that, because it holds the potential to undermine any kind of nutrition advice I might give. Because of that, it needs to be addressed and corrected first, so that any type of nutrition changes we pursue have a better chance of catching and taking hold.

Amber doesn't sleep well. She shared with me that she often gets up in the middle of the night, she wakes up unrefreshed, as if she hasn't slept at all, she's exhausted most of the day, and she has memory problems.

Does that sound to you, like someone who's going to do well with a diet and exercise problem?
--She's going to have a hard time finding the energy to exercise. For those of you who have labelled yourselves"lazy" because you're not sleeping well…stop it. You're exhausted.
--She's going to have a hard time choosing productive foods, because all she's going to care about is quick energy to get through the next 10 minutes.
--She's not going to be able to organize her day to accommodate exercise because she's too tired to think about how to do that.

What it really sounds like Amber might be doing…is something called MICROSLEEPING. It's something sleep-deprived people do, kind of going through life in a subconscious haze, never really sleeping, never really being fully conscious. It's hugely stressful on the brain, and it tends to chomp away at neurons so they can't function. It's also quite dangerous, as you can see in this video, if you're spending any part of your day at all operating some sort of machinery.

It makes better sense, rather than imposing a self-defeating program onto an exhausted, stressed out system, to pull that system back into balance so it has the energy to pursue healthy living.

Here's what I think microsleeping does to hormones and how it may be affecting Amber.

1. When you're hyperinsulinemic, and you go long periods of time without eating, your blood sugar is likely to get low. That's not something your body really likes to see, so when that happens, it releases cortisol in order to get blood sugar back up. If that happens in the middle of the night, when stress hormones aren't supposed to be circulating, it prevents you from cruising through normal stages of sleep. So you wake up feeling as if you haven't slept.

2. When your stress hormones have been working during the night, you're likely to wake up in the morning not feeling hungry. Plus, it's likely that you overslept, finally having fallen asleep just before the alarm went off, so you hurry out the door without breakfast.

3. High insulin levels and empty stomachs are not really the greatest combination, so at some point, mid-morning, hunger appears…with a vengeance. If you're tired and haven't really planned your eating, you're highly likely to seek out caffeine and sugar to fix the problem.

4. And thus, the vicious cycle begins.

But how in the world do you begin to break it? Here are the things I suggested to Amber.

1. Eat a protein-containing snack about a half hour before bedtime. It should contain at least 8 grams of protein. It will help stabilize blood glucose through the night. I don't care if it's an energy bar, string cheese, or a slice of turkey. I like to have Greek yogurt with nuts, myself. (I don't even have PCOS but I find that it helps me to sleep better if I do this.)

2. Spend at least a half hour outdoors each day. Amber lives in a hot, desert, climate, and we're closing out our"winter" in the desert, meaning her body is likely really needing a hormonal reset. UV light exposure really helps to improve melatonin (and serotonin) metabolism. So she's been eating breakfast outside.

3. Define breakfast as something that contains protein and is consumed before 10 am. If she's not hungry at 7 am, I don't want to force her to eat, but I do want to be sure she's keeping blood sugar levels stable. I told her that a good sign we're resetting hormones is if she starts to feel hungrier, earlier in the day. Within a couple of days she emailed to tell me that she was.

4. Take a dose of fish oil equivalent to 1000 mg DHA (not total omega-3's, specifically DHA) per day. Not sleeping well is one of the quickest ways to oxidize and destroy brain cells so we need to rebuild them. And, because memory is an issue, we had a pretty detailed discussion about what needed to happen in order to make sure this happened every single day, without fail.

5. Eat at least 5 servings of vegetables per day. Research has shown that people who do this, have higher melatonin levels, which means they also sleep better.

6. Keep doing Craig's exercises, because they would help her be ready to fall asleep at bedtime.

Fortunately, she started feeling better almost immediately, so now we're looking at her food patterns to see what we can productively layer on this foundation.

In the meantime, Amber's discovered she's a bit dependent on soda, likely for the caffeine. So I wrote an article for my Examiner gig about some substitutions that at least give her some fizz.

We'll get back to you with more food information in future posts, but I wanted to be sure those of you who were disappointed to not see some sort of magic diet or supplement in our program, understood why you didn't find it.

Our approach at inCYST is very different. It feels a bit counterintuitive, I know, but those who trust it and use it, do see results. I hope this series is helping you, too.

The term"anti-inflammatory" has been floating around Facebook, the blogosphere, and Twitter recently. It has, apparently, become the new buzzword. It's an important term, so before it overexposes itself out of your consciousness, I thought it would be good to tackle with regards to what it means to hormone balance.

What is inflammation? It is a condition that exists when the metabolic cost of what you are doing is not adequately balanced with activities that allow for adequate repair and maintenance.

A friend once bought a brand new car. It served her faithfully for a few years…and then, one day, in the deepest cold of winter, it just stopped. After visiting with the mechanic, she asked me what I knew about oil changes. I told her I had them once every 3,000 miles, just as the owner's manual recommended. Through her sheepish facial expression, she shared that she had never once changed or even checked the oil level. Her car died because it had run completely out of oil.

Just like your car, your body will give out on you if you do not balance normal life activities and stresses with repair and maintenance. You need to take time out of your day and spend money in order to keep your car…and yourself…running efficiently and to remain standing over time…but if you don't, the time, money, ad loss you potentially have to spend will be even more.

What are some pro-inflammatory (inflammation-promoting) activities to be aware of?

Any kind of activity that raises your metabolism is pro-inflammatory.

**If you're stressed and not addressing that stress to reduce its influence, you're pro-inflammatory.
**If you're not sleeping, which allows your body's metabolism to slow down for a few hours, you're pro-inflammatory.
**If you're dealing with a chronic medical condition, THAT can be pro-inflammatory. And that can be a double-whammy if the reason you're sick to begin with, is that your body has started to give out from your not making good self-care choices.
**If you're eating a high-carbohydrate diet, or bingeing on sweets, that is pro-inflammatory. Carbohydrates need more of your body's oxygen to be metabolized than do other calorie sources.
**If you're using stimulants, legal or otherwise, to compensate for not sleeping well, that is pro-inflammatory.

Believe it or not, exercise is pro-inflammatory! The trick to using it to your benefit is to use it with respect.
**If you exercise every single day without taking a day off, or if you do the same exercise every time instead of changing it up and resting different muscle groups, it becomes pro-inflammatory.
**If you do not eat enough to fuel the exercise you are doing, that is pro-inflammatory.
**If you exercise so much that you cannot sleep adequately, that is pro-inflammatory.
**If you cut your sleep short in order to get to the gym, that is pro-inflammatory.

If your exercise helps you to manage your stress (provided it is not your ONLY outlet for stress), helps you to sleep, is countered with downtime, and is fueled with an adequate, varied diet, it can be anti-inflammatory. It is HOW you use exercise that matters.

If you are binge eating, not eating, swinging back and forth between the two, eating a limited variety of foods, your nutrition program is pro-inflammatory. It's not just about omega-3's, blueberries, and supplements. It's how everything you eat fits into the big picture that counts.

I think the guys in today's photos are saying it best. It's as much about what you DON'T do…as what you DO do.

If you've ever heard me speak, you've heard me say that an interesting aspect of PCOS is that in general, women who have it tend to be overly reactive to environmental stimuli. In other words, when they feel hunger, it's more intense, when they eat food it's more tasty, they have stronger stress responses to a conflict than someone without the syndrome, and they can experience stronger emotions than others.

Here's an interesting addition to that list: they may be more sensitive to light and its influence on hormones.
Researchers have established that individuals with bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder more easily suppress melatonin than individuals who do not have these diagnoses. A new study suggests that women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder also experience the same phenomenon. All three of these diagnoses tend to be found more frequently in women with PCOS, which causes me to infer that women with PCOS are more light-sensitive than other women.

Practically, what that means is that you really need to start paying attention to what is going on in your life after the sun goes down.

Are you surrounding yourself with backlit LED devices such as iPads, smart phones, computers, TV screens? Or are you shifting to activities that you can enjoy with a darker environment?

Are you leaving these devices out of the bedroom? Yes, I am asking you if you have your iPhone, laptop, or TV in the room that should be sacred and dedicated to better sleep.

How dark is that room when you finally turn off the lights? Do you need to upgrade your window coverings?

Sometimes it's the simple things that can make the biggest difference.

Parry BL, Meliska CJ, Sorenson DL, Lopez A, Martínez LF, Hauger RL, Elliott JA. Increased sensitivity to light-induced melatonin suppression in premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Here is some interesting information from the world of sleep research that may have pertinence to those of you trying to conceive--and avoid miscarriage.

Even though we consider exercise to be a healthy behavior, technically, it is a stress. One of the types of stresses it induces, is thermal stress, or a rise in body temperature.

In this study, it was found that injecting melatonin helped to reduce the level of stress hormones found in the goats' blood samples. As melatonin levels rose, so did immune activity.

What does this mean to you?

1. If you're overexercising, your chronically (even if marginally) elevated blood pressure may be causing you to use your melatonin to restore balance. It may be interfering with your ability to get a good night's sleep.

2. Women whose melatonin levels are imbalanced have been found to be able to conceive, but to have trouble implanting the embryo.

3. Even if you're not overexercising, but you're not managing your stress, you may be channeling your important sleep hormone into a function that keeps it from being available for important reproductive-related functions.

4. Diet and exercise are important…but even more important is BALANCE in your life!

5. If you find that emotionally you cannot cut back on your exercise, let us help you. Sometimes the underlying reason has a very workable solution when addressed with the guidance of a trained professional.

Bottom line, it's important to exercise, but to not overdo it. And be sure that you're not compromising in the sleep department because you have underestimated the value of what happens while your eyes are closed.

Sejian V, Srivastava RS. Pineal-adrenal-immune system relationship under thermal stress: effect on physiological, endocrine, and non-specific immune response in goats. J Physiol Biochem. 2010 Aug 17.

Even though this blog is primarily devoted to the kind of infertility found in women, it's important to not forget the men. And…to remember that even if you are a male and aren't interested in having children, the same factors that can cause infertility in men who want to have children can be attributed to low testosterone and its associated symptoms: less strength and endurance when working out, fatigue, low sex drive, feeling sad or grumpy, memory issues, trouble concentrating, and trouble enjoying activities you used to find pleasurable. Reversing andropause is, essentially, restoring your fertility.

And, not surprisingly, all of the factors that exacerbate PCOS, are the same ones that exacerbate male infertility and low testosterone. Everything you read in this blog has pertinence to men as well as women.

The top issues I have seen affect testosterone include:

1. Being a night owl. Not sleeping well interferes with insulin function and can cause weight gain.
2. Not enough exercise.
3. Not managing stress. By this I mean ignoring it or leaning too heavily on things like exercise to manage it. With regards to exercise, it's important to find that place of balance, rather than swing between extremes of too much and too little.
4. Eating too much of the pro-inflammatory fats: safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed
5. Drinking too much alcohol, which interferes with sleep patterns.

Because obesity, overexercising and focus on being"buff", stress, and poor sleep habits are common issues in our culture, men are rendered susceptible to more problems with testosterone levels. And to service this population, clinics offering testosterone replacement are becoming more common. While this is certainly an option, I am struck when reading many of the advertisements for these clinics how they tend to play on mens' insecurities in order to motivate them to come in for treatment. This type of treatment is commonly not reimbursed by insurance. You can see where I'm going here.

"Natural" or bioidentical hormone replacement is truly a buyer beware choice. These therapies are not currently FDA approved, which means adverse effects are not even being reported. That means, no one really knows what the long term consequences of such treatments are. Clinics making money off of this issue certainly aren't going to report problems with their product if they're not required to!

It is worth your time to work with a skilled inCYST practitioner to evaluate your diet, sleep, and stress patterns to see if a few tweaks can pull you back into balance, before taking the next, bigger step.

I'm pasting a link to a nice story done by the Today Show yesterday about male menopause to provide some more information.