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Seasonal Affective Disorder: From Personal Insights to Empowering Strategies
In my recent podcast episode, I did a deep dive into a mental health condition that often gets cloaked in misunderstanding – Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If you’ve ever felt more anxious or down during the fall and winter months, you might be dealing with SAD. This condition affects more women than men and its exact cause is unknown. However, it’s thought to be related to decreased light exposure during the winter and fall months. In this exploration of SAD, I unpack the latest research, symptomatology, and diagnosis criteria include feelings of depression, fatigue, low energy, loss of interest in activities, and increased cravings for carbs. The most common treatment…
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A Crash Course in Getting Better Sleep
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, we may earn a commission. Thanks! Getting quality, restful sleep is very important for our hormonal health & balance because of the many processes our brain and body does while we’re resting. These processes include cellular repair, hormone release, the brain stores new information, detoxification occurs, muscle repair, and much more! Tips for Better Sleep My hope is that you can walk away from this blog post, implement 1 or 2 of these tips, and start to see improvements in your sleep (& energy) pretty quickly! Then, with some time you’ll begin noticing improvements with you other…
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The Potassium Connection for Balancing Hormones
As busy women, moms, and caregivers, it’s essential to prioritize our well-being and hormonal health. One crucial mineral that often goes overlooked is potassium. In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into the significance of potassium in maintaining hormonal balance and how it impacts our overall wellness. The Role of Potassium in the Body Potassium and Hormonal Balance The Consequences of Potassium Imbalances Evaluating Potassium Levels with HTMA Testing HTMA testing is a powerful tool that can provide valuable insights into your mineral status, including potassium. This non-invasive test analyzes a small hair sample to measure the mineral content within your body. HTMA testing offers a unique opportunity to assess…
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Unlocking the Power of Calcium: Essential for Hormone Health and Beyond
Let’s uncover the secrets of another mighty macro mineral that goes beyond building strong bones and teeth – calcium. Did you know that calcium plays a role in your hormone health, muscle function, insulin release, and more? In this blog post, we’ll dig into the importance of calcium, how it influences our hormones, the impact of calcium being out of balance, how to evaluate calcium levels with HTMA testing, and practical tips for incorporating calcium-rich foods into our diets. Let’s dive right in! Calcium and Its Multifaceted Role: Calcium is more than just a bone builder! It’s a mineral with superpowers that extend to various areas of our health: Striking…
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How Hormone Imbalance & Anxiety are Related in Moms
Hormone imbalance can cause a wide range of symptoms including mood swings, fatigue, weight gain, and more. One of the most common symptoms of hormone imbalance is anxiety, which can be particularly challenging for moms who are already dealing with the stress and demands of motherhood. Let’s explore the link between hormone imbalance and anxiety in moms, and then I’ll provide you some strategies to help with both. Understanding Hormone Imbalance Hormones play a crucial role in the body, regulating everything from metabolism to mood. When hormones are out of balance, it can cause a variety of annoying, unwanted symptoms, including anxiety. Hormonal imbalances can be caused by a variety…
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What can you learn from blood work? A client case study
Last week I shared a post about examining blood work through a functional medicine lens & shared some of the things you can learn about your health that way. You can check it out here. To help you get a better picture of this, I want to share with you a client case study example! This client’s top 3 complaints are fatigue, weight loss, & anxiety. What I identified by reviewing her labs:-insufficient protein intake-stressed adrenals-dehydration-low potassium-deficiency in B vitamins-calcium deficiency-magnesium deficiency-intestinal malabsorption-low stomach acid production-inflammation-copper deficiency-iron deficiency anemia-heavy metal stress Once I’ve reviewed the numbers data, it’s important to review the client as a whole. In this case I…
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The Impact of Minerals
Our bodies are unable to make their own minerals, we must consume them through our diet. Having sufficient mineral levels is imperative for overall good health. Many of our minerals work together or impact one another, so having them in balance with one another is also very important! Today I’m doing a quick review of our four most important/most impactful minerals: Calcium (Ca) We consume calcium largely from dairy sources: milk, cheese, & yogurtOther high calcium foods: oranges, almonds, broccoli, spinach, okra, salmon, chia seeds Too high–slow thyroid, restless leg, constipation, kidney stones Too low-blood sugar fluctuations/drops, anxiety, histamine problems Magnesium (Mg) Magnesium rich foods: avocado, spinach, almonds, bananas, cashews,…
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Adrenal Fatigue aka Burnout
Today’s #podcastpick is from The Balanced Bites Podcast, Episode #15 Adrenal Fatigue, Part 1. You can listen here. Your adrenal glands are located on top of your kidneys, they are responsible for producing & releasing cortisol (the stress hormone). Prolonged elevated cortisol levels (high stress levels) can lead to adrenal fatigue. Symptoms Fatigue, headache, weakened immune system, afternoon slump, feeling full/bloated, blurred vision, dizziness, hemorrhoids or varicose veins. Hitting the snooze button several times or feel like you can’t get out of bed. Feeling like you need to drink coffee/caffeine all day long because can’t stay awake. Not feeling recovered 20-30mins after a workout. Causes/Effects Unstable blood sugar levels: if…
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