What surprised me about the report is that they only focused on COFFEE. In working with women who are trying to lose weight, and consuming a lot of diet shakes and energy bars in the process…they also consume a lot of chocolate, which also contains caffeine.
Caffeine also impairs sleep, and people who sleep less have more problems with insulin resistance and weight management.
I've never understood why all these products have to contain chocolate. Not only is this counterproductive hormonally, but it is not realistic for anyone to eat in a way that defines normal eating as that in which the main course is regularly an ingredient that is supposed to be an add-on once you've eaten all the things that balance your diet!
Just wanted to pass this along in case it prevents unnecessary problems for someone who's working hard to be a mom.: )
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 am currently swimming in Expo West samples, which makes me happy because it gives me fodder for blog posts and Examiner articles. This show is the place where anyone wanting to do business with Whole Foods, Mother's Markets, Central Market…any natural kind of market, parks themselves and their goods for 3 days in Anaheim, California, in an exhibition hall the size of six football fields. All of the products are natural. Not so many are healthy. You'll see all kinds of body building types (you know, the kind who are so overdeveloped they have to walk around looking as if they are carrying invisible suitcases), yoga types, Bob Marley types, chain smokers, heavy drinkers, and a gazillion flavors of kale chips, kefir, gluten free pizza, and nutrition bars.
I have come to hate nutrition bars for the most part, because there are so many, because I like real food, and because most of them should have a"really a glorified candy bar" disclaimer on the label.
But, it is great people watching, great for identifying trends, and we do have some really great inCYST supporters in our yard that we have met at Expo West.
My all time favorite laugh this year came from a product I didn't even pick up, it fell out of my trick-or-treat…er…sample bag, as I was organizing myself on returning home.
Called Blu2Go, it is a blueberry supplement with the tagline,"The Fusion of Blueberries and Science". As you can see on the front label, there are three medical claims with asterisks:
(1) Focus and Energy Melt. Ummmmm…can someone please tell me what an energy melt is? If you had asked me, I'd say that is when I return home after working out on a midsummer Phoenix day and collapse from the heat.
(2) Sustained energy boost. My understanding is that the benefit achieved from eating blueberries comes from consuming them regularly over an extended period of time. It's not like you put them on your oatmeal and take off on your run like you've got a Jetsons jet pack on your back.
(3) Supports focus and mental clarity. Well yeah, each one of those tablets is almost the equivalent of an ounce of espresso!
I went to the website and found a lot of really long and official sounding words…but what do you know? Nothing at all about why caffeine was added to the supplement and why you need to have caffeine with your blueberries. And even though the website goes into great scientific detail, even providing references about DNA, aging, etc…there is nothing, absolutely nothing, about the focus, mental clarity, yadayadayada hyped on the label.
I don't argue, there are healthy things, lots of healthy things, about eating blueberries. So why not let them do their job instead of adulterating them so that you can distract your customer from the fact that the buzz your product induces has nothing to do with the ingredient you are hyping?
Because you won't buy the product for its long term effects, you'll be on to the next, newest goodie in the Expo West bag by then. Add the addictive substance, hope the customer connects it with the other ingredient, and make as much money as you can while riding the wave.
Statistics say, a diagnosis of infertility is as stressful as a diagnosis of HIV or terminal cancer. So I'm always on the lookout for ways to help keep that stress from interfering with your hormone balance.
Recently, I've been researching L-theanine, a compound found in green tea, which is also used in supplement form. It's got some interesting benefits, including reduced blood pressure, reduced heart rate, antitumor activity, increased serotonin and dopamine levels in the hippocampus, hypothalamus, and striatum, neuroprotection, weight loss, stroke protection, improved learning and memory, reduced neuron excitability, reduced insulin concentration, suppressed food intake
Of course, the caffeine and polyphenols in green tea have enough benefit themselves that for the most part, I'd prefer to see green tea consumed whole instead of parsed into its separate parts. However, given the fact that this anxiety we see with our audience can stretch into the extreme zone, there may be benefit to L-theanine in addition to whole green tea in your daily program. I am also intrigued by the beneficial effects on learning and memory, given the number of you reporting the problems you're having in that department.
I'm running a little theanine experiment here with myself as the subject. Not that it's all that scientific, but I do like to test things I'm writing about, when I can, so I've got a personal as well as an evidence-based perspective. Stay tuned for some followup reports on how my study is coming along!
Yokogoshi H, Kato Y, Sagesaka YM, Takihara-Matsuura T, Kakuda T, Takeuchi N. Reduction effect of theanine on blood pressure and brain 5-hydroxyindoles in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 1995 Apr;59(4):615-8.
Sadzuka Y, Sugiyama T, Miyagishima A, Nozawa Y, Hirota S. The effects of theanine, as a novel biochemical modulator, on the antitumor activity of adriamycin. Cancer Lett. 1996 Aug 2;105(2):203-9. Yokozawa T, Dong E. Influence of green tea and its three major components upon low-density lipoprotein oxidation. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 1997 Dec;49(5):329-35.
Yokogoshi H, Kobayashi M, Mochizuki M, Terashima T. Effect of theanine, r-glutamylethylamide, on brain monoamines and striatal dopamine release in conscious rats. Neurochem Res. 1998 May;23(5):667-73.
Terashima T, Takido J, Yokogoshi H. Time-dependent changes of amino acids in the serum, liver, brain and urine of rats administered with theanine. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 1999 Apr;63(4):615-8.
Kakuda T, Nozawa A, Unno T, Okamura N, Okai O. Inhibiting effects of theanine on caffeine stimulation evaluated by EEG in the rat. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2000 Feb;64(2):287-93.
Kakuda T. Neuroprotective effects of the green tea components theanine and catechins. Biol Pharm Bull. 2002 Dec;25(12):1513-8.
Zheng G, Sayama K, Okubo T, Juneja LR, Oguni I. Anti-obesity effects of three major components of green tea, catechins, caffeine and theanine, in mice. In Vivo. 2004 Jan-Feb;18(1):55-62.
Egashira N, Hayakawa K, Mishima K, Kimura H, Iwasaki K, Fujiwara M. Neuroprotective effect of gamma-glutamylethylamide (theanine) on cerebral infarction in mice. Neurosci Lett. 2004 Jun 3;363(1):58-61.
Kimura K, Ozeki M, Juneja LR, Ohira H. L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress responses. Biol Psychol. 2007 Jan;74(1):39-45. Epub 2006 Aug 22.
Yamada T, Nishimura Y, Sakurai T, Terashima T, Okubo T, Juneja LR, Yokogoshi H. Administration of theanine, a unique amino acid in tea leaves, changed feeding-relating components in serum and feeding behavior in rats. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2008 May;72(5):1352-5. Epub 2008 May 7.
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!
My parents recently returned from a trip to Hawaii. While there they put together and sent me a fun box of native Hawaiian foods that they found. Of course there were the expected, and tasty, macadamia nuts, etc., but something that caught my eye, and which I am enjoying as I write this, is coffee cherry tea. This is simply tea made from the dried fruit that surrounds the coffee bean. It's mild flavored, and according to coffeesofhawaii.com, an 8 oz. brewed serving contains less caffeine than 4 ounces of decaffeinated coffee.
I first encountered coffee cherries at a tasting in the Venice, California Whole Foods last year. It had been packaged as a sugared soda, which I was not thrilled about. However, on returning home, I mentioned it to our network dermatologist's aesthetician and she shared that coffee cherries are extremely high in antioxidants. This was discovered when someone noticed that the hands of coffee pickers looked young, despite being out in the tropical sun performing hard labor. This extract, for that reason, is becoming popular in beauty products. (We saw a few at Expo West.)
In reading up on this tea, I learned that it's actually a very old cultural favorite in countries where coffee is grown. In Bolivia it is known as Sultana, also as"poor man's coffee". In Yemen, it's known by the name Qishr. Cascara is the Spanish word for"husk", which is why it is known by this name as well.
It's not an easy thing to find on the mainland, but if you're on your way to Hawaii…or Bolivia…or maybe even Yemen…be sure to look for this tea and give it a try! Or, like me, if you're firmly planted at more mundane coordinates, be sure to check out this website and order some online. At the very least you can sit on your patio, sip, and let yourself be taken away by a fragrant tropical breeze!
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?
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.
I am an animal lover, and it turns my stomach every time I turn on the news and see an oil-coated pelican, or a rescued baby turtle, innocently affected by the BP oil spill. I have committed to never buy another BP brand as long as I live.
I am very concerned about what this spill poses personally for all of the readers of this blog. You all need omega-3 fatty acids, the kind that come from seafood, for your brain health and hormone balance. Without healthy oceans, there simply cannot be healthy humans. Menhaden, a huge source of fish oil, has been significantly affected. Its season opened just as the oil spill started. Omega Protein Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of fish oil, fishes largely out of the Gulf. They've stated that they'll simply move their boats and there isn't a short term issue, but as the problem persists…the long term impact of such a disaster begins to become more and more frightening.
I encourage all of you to take this issue personally. The obvious boycott would be BP products for your car.
There's another one, a pretty big one, directly related to each and every one of us. Cans. Aluminum cans. The kind we crack open when we Jones for a soda. The primary manufacturer of these sodas is a division of BP.
Maybe, if you haven't been able to stop drinking the sodas, even when we've blogged about the caffeine and the sugar and the high fructose corn syrup and the artificial sweeteners…you can do it if you know the company who makes the cans they come in is chipping away at the integrity of the fragile environment your hormones need to live in.
It's a smple act, but with 1 in 10 women on the planet living with PCOS, if they banded together and collectively put the cans down, imagine what message that could send.
The pelican who's watching over this post…on behalf of his endangered pals, thanks you for your consideration.
Click here for a link to a list of products and services related to BP.
So let's say you've landed on this website because you were doing a Google search at 3:30 in the morning.
Or because you're home from work and can't slow your head down enough to relax and enjoy a leisure activity…so you're surfing the Internet to distract yourself.
What's going on?
It could be a lot of things.
1. If your hormones are out of balance, as with PCOS, you may have excess levels of stress hormones such as cortisol that rise more easily than average, and take longer to normalize after a stressful day.
2. If you didn't sleep well last night and used caffeine and sugar to get through your day, you may be experiencing the aftermath of that.
3. If you over-exercised too late in the day, because it's only large amounts of exercise that help to calm your mind, it may have stressed you more than it relaxed you.
4. You may have a mood disorder (anxiety, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder).
How to know which is which? If you've made major changes in your lifestyle, corrected nutrition choices, worked to prioritize sleep, etc., and your head simply won't slow down, that's a huge red flag that something important lies beneath those behaviors. In fact, the imbalances you adopted, from eating sugar to drinking alcohol to relax, to marathon exercise sessions, may have helped you to"medicate" something more important going on in your nervous system.
Mood disorders are important not to ignore. They can be degenerative, which means, left unchecked, they can prematurely age the brain and nervous system. Your new lifestyle choices are incredibly important in slowing that process down, but you may find that additional help, such as a medication, can be tremendously useful as far as finally bringing you back into balance.
If you feel as though I'm describing you, you may be interested in another blog I write, about nutritional aspects of psychotropic medications. It goes into more detail about this specific topic, and I do post a lot of information about nutrition for brain and nervous system health.
Awhile ago I made an informal (that is, never scientifically tested) questionnaire. It's not intended to diagnose, but rather to get you thinking about what kinds of thinking patterns may be underlying how often and how intensely you experience stress. You may be blaming your racing head on your stress, but it may be that your racing head attracts you to situations and relationships that are stressful.
There is no right or wrong way to answer these questions. But do consider, the more"yes" responses you give yourself, and the less your answers change in response to reasonable changes in diet, activity, sleep, and stress management, the more important it is to consider that you may have a mood disorder.
Are You A High energy Thinker? (Copyright 2000, www.afterthediet.com)
1. I am easily flustered.
2. I am easily drawn into a conflict.
3. I am very organized, and when my routine is disrupted, it can ruin my day.
4. I have a hard time with change, I would rather control thngs than let them take their natural course.
5. I can become so attached to a person, idea, or situation that I lose sight of the"big picture" perspective.
6. Staying focused on a task is a challenge; I am easily distracted/bored.
7. I can become obsessed with an activity. I ccan lose track of time because I get so absorbed.
8. People tell me I overanalyze things.
9. Peole tell me I am an adrenaline junkie.
10. I am a perfectionist.
11. I am very sensitive to criticism.
12. I worry a lot.
13. I procrastinate/can't finish projects I start.
14. I feel like I sabotage myself.
15. I have a way of saying or doing impulsive things that undermine relationships or which hurt my credibility.
16. I toss and turn a lot before falling asleep.
17. I can do a lot of things at once; in fact, it's easier thann doing one thing at a time.
18. I feel driven by some sort of internal machine.
I've told many a client they're sick and they've been playing catch up since before they were even born. Others feel the same way, too…this was recently published in USA Today:
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY Keishawn Williams is already talking to her baby, although her child isn't due until November.
"What are you doing?" asks Williams, 22."Are you awake? Are you asleep? Why are you sitting on my bladder?"
Although Williams may not realize it, her body and baby are also conducting a separate, even more important conversation that may influence her child's health for the rest of its life. Although neither mother nor child is aware of this crucial dialogue, Williams' body already is telling her baby about what to expect from the world outside, says Mark Hanson, a professor at the University of Southampton in England.
And thanks to those biological signals, the choices that Williams makes today — by getting good prenatal care, eating nutrient-packed vegetables and avoiding alcohol, tobacco and caffeine — may help her baby long after birth, Hanson says. Research into the"developmental origins of adult disease" suggests that Williams' healthy living may help her child avoid problems such as cancer, heart disease, depression and diabetes not just in childhood, but 50 years from now.
Though adults still need to eat right and exercise, a growing number of studies now suggest the best time to fight the diseases of aging may be before babies are even born, says Peter Gluckman of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Williams' baby is still too young to kick, let alone ponder its future. But its body is already adapting and preparing for its specific environment, Gluckman says, by reading cues sent through Williams' blood and amniotic fluid.
"Every baby in fetal life is adjusting its pattern of development according to the world it predicts it will live in," he says.
Reading cues while in utero
During the crucial"window of opportunity" before birth and during infancy, environmental cues help"program" a person's DNA, says Alexander Jones of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and the University College of London Institute for Child Health. This happens through a delicate interplay of genes and the environment called epigenetics, which can determine how a baby reacts for the rest of its life, Jones says.
Through epigenetics, chemical groups attach to DNA. Although they don't change the order of the genes, the chemical groups can switch those genes on or off, Jones says.
Many things, such as chemical contaminants, can cause epigenetic changes. So babies exposed in the womb to synthetic hormones may begin responding abnormally to the natural hormones later made by their own bodies, says Hugh Taylor of Yale University School of Medicine.
That's why, doctors believe, many babies exposed before birth to a drug called DES, or diethylstilbestrol, later developed rare cancers or fertility problems, Taylor says.
Doctors stopped prescribing DES, which had been used for decades to prevent miscarriages, in 1971. But Taylor and other scientists are concerned that"hormone-disrupting" chemicals, such as those used in pesticides and even common plastics, could cause similar problems.
Babies and children also can develop abnormal reactions to stress, says Jack Shonkoff of Harvard University, co-author of a June paper on early influences in health in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
In the short term, reacting to typical, everyday difficulties can help people develop a healthy response to stress.
But persistent,"toxic" stress — such as neglect or extreme poverty — may program a child's nervous system to be on perpetual high alert. Over time, this can damage the immune response and lead to chronic ailments, such as heart disease and depression, the study says.
Diet as a predictor
A pregnant woman's diet tells a fetus a lot about its future environment, including how much food will be available after birth, Jones says.
A baby conceived during a famine, for example, might learn to be"thrifty," hoarding every calorie and packing on fat rather than muscle, even at the expense of developing vital organs, such as the kidneys, liver and brain. Because of a lack of calories, the baby also may be born small.
In a famine, those early adjustments and predictions about the future could mean the difference between survival and starvation, Jones says.
But babies may run into trouble if the world doesn't match their predictions, Jones says.
A baby who has learned to hoard calories, for example, may grow up to be fat or diabetic once he or she finally gets enough to eat, Jones says. Doctors believe this occurs not just with babies whose mothers are starving, but with those who are malnourished because of a mother's medical problems, poor nutrition or exposure to tobacco smoke, which damages the placenta.
It's well known, Taylor says, that women who smoke are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies, who are in some ways"starved" for nutrients in the womb. Babies born too small are at risk for many immediate problems, such as underdeveloped lungs and bleeding in the brain.
If they survive, these youngsters also face long-term risks.
Studies show that small babies who gain weight rapidly in infancy or childhood — a sign that bodies are already making the most of every calorie — also have higher rates of adult heart disease and diabetes, Jones says.
Specialized X-rays have shown babies of young mothers with poor diets in India, for example, are born with extra belly fat, even though they seem to be a normal weight. Once these babies start getting an adequate diet, they are likely to put on weight, Gluckman says.
"Even by the time of birth, they're on a different pattern of development," Gluckman says.
Teaching future mothers
Adversity in early life can increase a child's risk of disease, but it doesn't seal his or her fate, Shonkoff says.
Although emotional abuse in childhood increases the risk of adult depression, for example, supportive relationships with adults can help children cope and recover, Shonkoff says.
Communities also can help, Gluckman says. By helping women such as Williams get good prenatal care and nutrition, for example, communities can reduce the number of fetuses who are malnourished and born small, Gluckman says. Babies who are born at normal weight are more likely to maintain that healthy weight.
Because half of pregnancies are unplanned, women need to learn about nutrition — and maintain healthy diets — long before they conceive, Gluckman says.
"We have got to give far greater focus to mothers, the women who are likely to become mothers and to the care of newborn children than we have in the past," Gluckman says.
Williams, who also has a 1-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter, says she's trying hard to give her children a bright future. She breast-fed both and now works as a breast-feeding peer counselor at the Family Health and Birth Center in Washington, D.C., where many patients are low-income or minority mothers.
The birth center also aims to help babies by getting their moms good prenatal care.
About 6% of black mothers who delivered at the birth center had low-birth-weight babies, compared with the citywide average of 14.2% for black mothers, says the center's Ruth Watson Lubic.
"Twentieth-century medicine dealt with child health and adult health separately," Shonkoff says."What 21st-century medicine is telling us is that if we want to change adult health, we have to look in babies, even before they're born."
This past week I read an article about foods traditionally served on the Mexican holiday,"Dia de los Muertos," (Day of the Dead), which falls on November 1. If you're not from the Southwest, you cannot appreciate the festivities associated with this holiday, on which Mexicans honor their passed relatives.
My favorites are the skeleton cookies!
I know, it sounds a little morbid, but it's all about remembering and honoring your loved ones, and maybe even visiting their burial sites with offerings of trinkets and their favorite foods.
The article about Dia de los Muertos foods described a warm, gruel-like beverage called atole, which is typically made with masa or oatmeal, and spiced with cinnamon. I found one, however, based on pumpkin and pumped up with peanut butter, that looked especially healthy and yummy. It is from the blog, A Visit With Grandma.
It's really a healthy, caffeine-free twist on a pumpkin latte! Tee hee…all this time you thought someone up in a Seattle test kitchen thought of it first…
Here it is…enjoy!
Americanized Pumpkin Atole To a blender add: 1 egg a few glugs of molasses some sugar (brown or white) 2 cups of cooked squash or pumpkin 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional — 2 or 3 tablespoons of peanut butter milk (fill the remaining space in the blender with milk, leaving just a little space at the top. -Blend this all up and taste to see if it needs more sweetening. -Pour the mix into a pot and heat until just boiling. -Serve
Research has repeatedly shown that people who write down their goals are much more likely to meet them. As we wrap up 2011, and head into 2012, I invite you to write down your goals for the new year, as they relate to your health and self-care. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
• Choose from the following list of self-care behaviors, and try one each week, or each month:
o Learn how to meditate.
o Go to a yoga class.
o Eliminate sodas/pop from your diet.
o Get a consultation with a psychiatrist if you think medication might help your depression or anxiety.
o Find a new doctor if you don’t like the one you have.
o Get your hormones tested.
o Find out what low glycemic eating is all about.
o Take an afternoon to go on an “artist’s date” – do something that fuels your creativity, delights your senses, and brings you joy.
o Cook at home, twice as often as you do now.
o Rearrange your schedule so that you actually are getting enough sleep (eight hours, please).
o Get some practice with boundary-setting. Start small. Say “NO” to someone or something you don’t want to do. Be clear and firm. Do not apologize. Applaud yourself.
o Walk for 30 minutes after dinner, every night. Walk with a friend or loved one, and double the benefit.
o Call a friend you haven’t seen or spoken to in months.
o Read something more meaningful than People magazine.
o Stop watching the news right before you go to bed. Better yet, put yourself on a “news diet” for an entire week.
o Go to therapy.
o Keep a journal.
o Stop conning yourself that French fries are a vegetable.
o Go to a farmers’ market, and buy one weird, unusual, or new vegetable or fruit that you haven’t tried before; ask the farmer how to prepare it.
o Have sex more often, with yourself or someone you love.
o Consult with a professional, inCYST-trained dietician.
o Start a gratitude practice. Every morning when you get up, write down five things that you’re grateful for. Do the same every night. Try not to be repetitive.
o Tell someone in very clear terms precisely why you value them.
o Reduce your caffeine intake.
o Switch from milk chocolate to dark chocolate.
• Share your list with a friend, and ask her to serve as an accountability buddy for you. Her job is to ask you each week, “Did you do what you intended to do? Why or why not? How did it feel to do it? Are you going to keep doing it?” If you’re feeling brave, blog it, post it somewhere in your house or office, or share it with your FaceBook friends. Accountability is an amazing thing in helping us adhere to our goals.
• Be gentle on yourself if you fail, are slowed down for some reason, or give up on some aspects entirely. Life is full of hazards, roadblocks, and other impactful situations. You cannot control them; you can only adapt.
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter
We’ve reached that point in the year where New Year’s resolutions have long-since faded, the desire and commitment to creating a “beach body” has also expired, and, although it’s still blazing hot in most parts of the country, fall fashions abound, and Halloween cards and paraphernalia have already appeared in the stores. What a great time to reactivate your commitment to health! I propose that you do that by thinking long-term, and giving yourself some motivation by: · Thinking of health as a year-round project, instead of a seasonal exercise. It’s better to think now about how to prevent yourself from packing on winter flab than to mindlessly eat your way into the next size up. If being overweight is part of your PCOS struggle, you know how much you prize the loss of even one pound, and how much more effort it took to produce that loss than it would for any non-PCOS woman. In our case, the backsliding can take weeks or even months to recover from – don’t let it happen! · Remembering that even though YOU may take a vacation, your PCOS doesn’t take a vacation. It’s a lifetime effort, and our bodies are so sensitive. I don’t know about you, but too much alcohol (more than a glass of wine), caffeine (sadly, more than about half a cup of coffee), or high glycemic food makes me feel incredibly awful. My heart races, I get sleepy and begin to experience brain fog, and thirst overwhelms me. In mere minutes, I can feel my body getting unbalanced, and like I said above, it might take the rest of the day, or even up to 48 hours to really get back in synch. That’s a high price to pay for short-term indulgence. Think of moderation as a gift you’re giving to your body, your brain, your productivity, and your sociability. · Setting some goals, if you KNOW you need them to be motivated. And as much as we may resist the idea, most of us DO respond to goal-setting, especially when it’s tied to rewards. Think of some affordable, healthy, readily obtained rewards – a manicure, a basket of fat golden raspberries, a foot massage, or the latest trendy shade of nail polish. Don’t wait until the first of the month, or your birthday, or whatever. Today’s a Monday; that’s good enough! · Beginning to treat yourself like a priority, instead of an afterthought. Sure, you’re busy with the house, the kids, your husband, your friends, your church, your hobbies, and whatever else. But you can’t get well, or stay well, unless you act as if you are at least as important as everything else that pulls on your attention or your heart-strings. Program a reminder into your smart phone. Write some Post-It notes and stick them up around the house. Ask a friend to remind you regularly how fabulous and worthy you are. All of this requires effort, true enough, and you are SO worth it! Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses. If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com , or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.
Everyone’s telling you to “just relax and you’ll get pregnant,” or “take a vacation and it’ll happen.” Isn’t that a huge pressure, besides the basic fact that getting pregnant hasn’t proven to be so easy for you? Getting pregnant can be so frustrating when it involves medical procedures, carefully timed intercourse, self-tests and monitoring, medication, and the like. With PCOS, it’s even more complicated. The good news is, even when it seems like your body just won’t mind your wishes, there are relatively simple and inexpensive things you can do on your own to support yourself in your fertility journey.
If you’ve been dealing with infertility for a while, you’ve likely tried or at least considered some alternative medicine or holistic health practices that you hope will help you conceive. Here’s why you should consider some of the more common approaches to decreasing stress and improving overall health, which include:
Acupuncture is an ancient healing art, part of the system of Traditional Oriental Medicine. It has been used successfully for thousands of years to enhance fertility; you may even find that your physician is able to offer you a referral. Acupuncture is nearly painless – in spite of the needles – and works in conjunction with your traditional treatments. Many acupuncturists also offer nutritional support. Most larger communities have at least one acupuncture school, and their student clinics offer carefully supervised sessions for as little as $20/treatment.
Nutrition – Decreasing or eliminating caffeine, refined sugar, and refined flour will give your body a rest, reduce stress on your digestive system, enhance your immunity, and make your body an optimally healthy place for both you and a baby. If you’re saying “yeah, yeah, yeah, I know all that – and it’s too overwhelming” – start today with a small change, like switching out regular coffee for decaf, or trading in a soda for some iced herbal tea. Your nerves will thank you too.
Yoga is another traditional dating back thousands of years. Yoga is said to massage and stimulate or “tonify” the internal organs, thereby leading to increased health. The slower-paced forms of yoga, such as hatha yoga, or yin yoga, are relaxing practices. But in my opinion, the best thing about yoga is that it helps you love and accept your body, precisely where it is today – not where you hope it will be. If you’re daunted by those fancy yoga studios, head on over to your nearest YMCA or other gym for some great introductory classes. Many yoga studios offer community days, or donation classes, where you pay what you can afford for the class.
Meditation can be as simple as closing your eyes and focusing on the sound and rhythm of your own breath for just five minutes. If you can’t handle five minutes, try three minutes. It can also be a complex and evolving process, if you choose to expand your practice. Regulating your breathing, clearing your mind, and giving yourself time for introspection are all benefits of meditation. If you want more information, do a search for the terms “meditation” or “the relaxation response.”
Positive Thinking/Mindfulness/Visualization – although these are all distinct techniques, the overlap is that they are conscious ways of re-orienting yourself towards remaining in the present, focusing on what is, and using the power of your mind to create the future – or at least improve your experience of the future. As with meditation, the internet is full of information on these techniques, or you may wish to consult with a mental health clinician who utilizes such techniques in her practice.
Optimizing fertility is an activity in which you, the patient, play a very active role. You are already learning how to become proactive in managing your PCOS; this is just an extension of that. Of course your doctor will want to know what other things you’re doing to support your fertility, but you can start right now to take steps to improve your overall physical health and state of mind, thereby reducing the stress actively, instead of just hoping that it will happen “somehow.”
Dr. Gretchen Kubacky is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders. If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website atwww.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her atGretchen@drhousemd.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.
It's getting hot outside, and that likely means you're getting thirsty.
A consistency I've noticed, in the years of examining food diaries, is how we seem to write off what we drink as far as its influence on our health. Calories, caffeine, sugar, even healthy ingredients such as antioxidants, get far less credit for what they do, than similar items that we chew! This can get us in trouble when the mercury climbs, and we start to bore of plain water. It's often not the food I try to tweak in a diet, but the juice, soda, or latte that's adding extra calories and promoting an overall imbalance.
If you look in the herbal tea section of your grocery store, you'll see lots of great alternatives. One of my personal favorites is hibiscus. It's not just a beautiful flower! It makes a delicious tea with quite a few health benefits: --it has diuretic properties, which makes it perfect for PMS --it is a mild antihypertensive --one study suggested that it can help to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides --it contains anthocyanins, those powerful antioxidants we tend to associate with blueberries --it may have some anti-obesigenic properties
In my part of the country, especially in Spanish-speaking sections of town and REAL Mexican restaurants, we see a drink called Jamaica, which is a hibiscus-based beverage. The restaurant versions are likely too sweet to be consumed on a daily basis; here is a recipe from http://www.chow.com/, which you can probably make with far less sugar than the recipe calls for. I'd start with 1/3 of what is listed and gradually add until you like it.
Agua de Jamaica
3 quarts (12 cups) water
1 (1/2-inch) piece ginger, finely grated 1 1/2 cups dried Jamaica flowers (also known as hibiscus or flor de Jamaica) 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 1 large lime)
Combine water and ginger in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Remove from heat and stir in Jamaica flowers and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Let steep 10 minutes.
Strain through a chinois or fine mesh sieve into a large, heat-resistant bowl or pot. Stir in lime juice and set aside to cool. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve over ice.
Gosain S, Ircchiaya R, Sharma PC, Thareja S, Kalra A, Deep A, Bhardwaj TR. Hypolipidemic effect of ethanolic extract from the leaves of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. in hyperlipidemic rats. Acta Pol Pharm. 2010 Mar-Apr;67(2):179-84.
McKay DL, Chen CY, Saltzman E, Blumberg JB. Hibiscus sabdariffa L. tea (tisane) lowers blood pressure in prehypertensive and mildly hypertensive adults. J Nutr. 2010 Feb;140(2):298-303. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
Alarcon-Aguilar FJ, Zamilpa A, Perez-Garcia MD, Almanza-Perez JC, Romero-Nuñez E, Campos-Sepulveda EA, Vazquez-Carrillo LI, Roman-Ramos R. Effect of Hibiscus sabdariffa on obesity in MSG mice. J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Oct 8;114(1):66-71. Epub 2007 Jul 27.
Chang YC, Huang KX, Huang AC, Ho YC, Wang CJ. Hibiscus anthocyanins-rich extract inhibited LDL oxidation and oxLDL-mediated macrophages apoptosis. Food Chem Toxicol. 2006 Jul;44(7):1015-23. Epub 2006 Feb 13.
Working with PCOS has taught me how prevalent the problem of poor sleep is. People who don't sleep well tend to gravitate toward caffeine and sugar all day long, and the vicious cycle can lead to insulin resistance and weight gain.
I've become increasingly concerned about the percentage of inCYST clients on Ambien and Lunesta, not to mention CPAP machines. I just have never been able to believe that this has to be the fate of the non-sleeper.
But…I also knew that even if insomniacs were motivated to spend all of a weekend day in a workshop designed to help them, they'd likely drift off right in the middle of it! So I've been working with colleague Nancy Carballo to develop an experiential alternative giving participants a chance to learn and experience a few different opportunities to look at insomnia a little more naturalistically.
I'm excited! We've planned yoga on the beach, a didgeridoo lesson (since this instrument helps to strengthen the muscles commonly weakened in sleep apnea), a couple of laid back lectures, and sleep-friendly eating (including dinner with popular LA dark dining restaurant, Opaque). Our spa partner in this endeavor, Creative Chakra, is also offering additional massages and light therapy sessions.
We have a Facebook page for the event…you can join us there to let us know you'd like to be notified when we open registration, or you can write me directly at marika@google.com
Anyone with insomnia, whether or not they have PCOS, is welcome to participate.
One of the most frustrating things about PCOS, from my perspective, is that, although we share a common constellation of symptoms (or else we wouldn’t have the diagnosis), every woman’s body is unique. So the dietary treatment of this condition is constantly evolving. I spend a lot of time studying the impacts of food on mood and brain health, and of course, in the great scientific tradition of self-experimentation, I’m always trying out new theories on myself. I wonder, watch, consume, and observe various foods, quantities, and combinations, and then see what happens. I also make observations based on my client’s self-reports, and my interpretation of what happens to their mood and overall sense of well-being, as affected by what they consume. My findings from this moderately unscientific study: • There are no absolutes • The rules change all the time • People believe an astonishing variety of things about food, many of them bearing absolutely no basis in science or reality • Science is probably way behind where it needs to be to support our health • M.D.s are highly unlikely to offer sound advice about food – far better to seek out the services of a dietician • The only thing the food police can agree on is that we should all be eating plenty of organic dark leafy greens • The body is fine with certain foods on some days, and not so fine on others • PMS induces chocolate consumption, wild carb cravings, and a desire for rare, salty beef • Almost everyone with PCOS gets out of control when they over-consume refined carbs • If you’re gluten-sensitive, you will get brain fog if you abuse gluten • It is true that weighing yourself daily, or multiple times a day, contributes to anxiety, and may well be a symptom of an eating disorder • Everything you ban is that much likelier to become the object of your obsession, unless you take steps to balance out your body and your brain chemistry • Details matter • Consistency matters • Treats are really good for staying on track, if they’re chosen wisely • Weight loss is rarely easy; maintenance is even harder • Depressed women with PCOS almost always overeat, not undereat • The less you sleep, the more you eat • Caffeine can be devilishly addictive, or of little consequence • Dairy is the subject of much debate, and a great deal of angst, given its popularity as a self-soothing food category • Carbs are not evil – they’re necessary for healthy brain function – but the belief that they are is remarkably fixed. My point here is that we must consider the challenges of modern dietetics, medical science, and brain treatment (from either a pharmacological or psychological/therapeutic perspective) as a process of constant evolution. If you’re doing something that isn’t working, change it up. If what you’re doing is working, but not working well enough, change it up. If you have a gut sense that something’s bogus, listen to yourself. And if you’re feeling burned out, disgusted, and hopeless about trying to figure this out, give yourself a break, retreat, do the best you can, and come back at it with renewed vigor, a calmer mind, and a more balanced perspective. Seek consultation with experts. Read up a bit. It’s all just information – no judgment. The ability to thrive depends upon your ability to adapt. Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses. If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.
A few months ago I received a phone call from a woman who wanted me to help her with a pre-IVF detox/cleanse. As we talked, it turned out, she'd already been through one failed IVF, was feeling fearful that she was going to fail again, and was wanting to do something, anything, to guarantee that it would not happen again.
I've never been through that process so there's no way I can say I know how any of you feel.
But I can tell you how these conversations make ME feel.
Afraid. Very afraid.
If there is ever any time in your life when you should absolutely not be messing with your metabolism, it is during the time immediately preceding, and during, an IVF procedure. The reason you're already in the situation you are in, is because your hormones are not able, on their own, to create the precise and delicate balance required for conception and implantation. Why would you want to push your uterus over the edge when you're already about to put it through something very stressful?
When we're faced with a situation that feels out of control, the natural thing as humans to want to do, is control it. Self-treating and self-medicating are definitely things that, in the moment, give us the illusion of being in control. But if you stop that sentence there, without truly finishing it, by defining exactly what it is that you are in control of, you've missed the point. You're in control of what happens in the immediate moment. But you're not in control of the situation that has left you feeling out of control. In fact, you may be pushing your desired outcome even further out of reach.
In this case, we did identify things that could be done to help this woman be in the absolute best physical and emotional condition possible for the big procedure. And we discussed that her most important goal was not conception, but implantation, in other words, making that egg feel, upon entering mom and looking around, that this was a pretty warm and welcoming place to be calling home for the next few months.
Think of IVF like you did your last real estate deal. Only the repro doc is the real estate agent, the embryo is the house hunter, and you are the person trying to convince that embryo that it wants to live in the environment it's been introduced to by said real estate agent. As the seller, it's your job to create an environment your buyer wants to live in.
You can't hang pretty pictures on the walls or put potpourri on the counter. But there are things you can do.
What does an embryo like to see when it's househunting? How can you stage your uterus to make it desirable real estate? For starters, your buyer doesn't like the ambience of stress hormones. Prefers the calming influence of deep breathing. Doesn't like to be jostled around too much with too much exercise. Kind of likes a house that rocks and rolls a bit, maybe massages with a little bit of yoga, but not tossed around from hours of treadmills, aerobics, or jogging. Really hates knowing it's going to be forced to subsist on caffeine and sugar when it really loves spinach and hard boiled eggs.
And it really gets cranky when it's trying to sleep and its house doesn't have curtains to pull to shut out the light. Don't even think about getting up at 3 am work out, because that is the only time you can fit it in. Reorganize your day and give up some things to make adequate for activity as well as sleep. Research has shown that melatonin is very, very important for implantation. Bad habits like staying up late, especially if it's because you're playing with lit up technotoys, are one of the surest ways to send said buyer packing.
As you know, even the most impeccable home will not appeal to every buyer. So even if you do everything perfectly, every single IVF will not end up in a baby. That's not the goal. The goal is, when the right embryo comes along, that everything it needs to feel like it's the right set up home for 9 months is there and ready. THAT you can control and do lots to make happen.
Bottom line: even though it can be tempting to want to work some magic on the procedure, the very, very best thing you can do, is keep being good to yourself. It reflects in how you stage your home and gives you a far better shot at a sale than any unproven hocus-pocus.
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.
