WOMEN AWAKENING TO HORMONE DISRUPTION
Remember the popular old song by Roberta Flack: Killing Me Softly...?
There is a new epidemic in our midst that is doing exactly that. It is not directly killing people so much as it is draining our life force, leaving us feeling that we're living half a life. This epidemic is gland disruption to due environmental pollution; that's right, it's a slowdown in production and proper utilization of our bodies hormones due to toxic chemicals, often closely related to hormones in their chemical makeup, that confuse our endocrine systems, causing hormone havoc.
You may know the feeling - millions of women constantly say "something's wrong with my hormones". But if you go to see a doctor, they often do a few simple blood tests then happily proclaim "your tests came back normal; you're fine!"
The problem is, you're not feeling fine, and you know something isn't right. You may be tired all the time, depressed, sluggish mentally, gaining weight despite eating very little, or have one or more of hundreds of annoying little symptoms (like nails breaking, hair loss, excess hair on face, hoarseness of the voice, low - or no- libido, even lots of problems with PMS, fertility issues, or menopause).
So what's a woman to do? 80% of hormone problems occur in women, due to our complex biology. There are various stages in our lives, often puberty, childbirth, menopause, or when we have excess stress or crisis when our hormones tend to easily go off balance. The good news is - however - that we can learn to re-balance them ourselves, with simple home testing and natural products.
As a doctor-nurse team in practice for 30 years, we have worked with thousands of women who have been told by their doctors "it's all in your head". Many have been given estrogen compounds, sadly, when they are actually estrogen dominant (doctors often do not test estrogen levels, even gynecologists, yet they prescribe this heavy hormone readily, despite serious repercussions that led to stopping the famous study "The Women's Health Initiative"!).
So what can you do to protect your health and restore hormone balance? Our program is as simple as 1 - 2 - 3.
- Determine your "endo-type"
using our popular book FEELING FAT, FUZZY OR FRAZZLED? Chapter 3 is devoted to questionnaires to help you figure out whether it's thyroid, adrenal, or sex glands causing you the most challenge. Then, you can confirm your endo-type using home testing. - Start taking some of the products recommended based on your endocrine type. These are high-quality nutraceutical products, often sold only in doctor's offices, but they are not pharmaceuticals; they are natural products with targeted vitamins, minerals, and herbs, to help you jumpstart your gland health. You can order these directly using the information provided in the back of our book (or from our website www.FeelingFFF.com). This will provide the essential nutrients your specific gland needs to begin to restore and work better.
- Live Right for Your Endo-Type
Once you've been taking these products and eating and exercising as we've suggested, you will begin to come alive again. Many women come to our office every day saying "I feel that I've gotten my life back". It's that simple - toxic chemicals are binding on the receptor sites where our hormones need to do their work, preventing our bodies from working right. Once you enhance your gland's potential, it can begin to work properly, undoing the damage of years of disruption.
Part of our collective "awakening" as women is to reclaim our full self. The "Fat-Fuzzy-Frazzled" program allows you to do this, quickly and reasonably, by following specific suggestions and by following your heart.
And - if your heart leads you to take an activist role in reducing toxic chemicals in the environment, our book will give you enough information to get you started. Be sure to join the Canary Club, a consumer advocacy group to help create a powerful voice for a healthy environment.
There are many ways you can work to reduce the toxic load by minimizing exposure in your home, workplace, and world.
We wish you wellness, now and always!
Karilee Shames PhD, RN, Advance Practice Certified Holistic Nurse
Richard Shames MD, Private Practice at Preventive Medicine Center of Marin
Authors: Feeling Fat, Fuzzy or Frazzled? (Plume/Penguin) 2005
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