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Mark’s Chix Curry
(varied the veggies)2 lbs boneless hormone free chicken 2 heaping teaspoons curry powder 3 teaspoons agave syrup ½ tsp pepper flakes 1 tsp salt or to taste ½ tsp pepper 1 can
organic coconut milk 1 box organic chicken broth 2 large yellow sweet potatoes or yams ½ small bag baby
carrots 1 head large cauliflower Optional zucchini or yellow squash ½ cup raisins added to taste as
garnish In large pot, put chicken, coconut milk and spices. Cover with chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Slice all veggies about 1 inch thick. Add vegetables. Add more water to cover. Turn down, cover and simmer till
chicken done and vegetables tender about an hour. Add raisins as garnish. | Staying in Touch Is it time for another newsletter already? Time
is changing and the more we stay in the moment the easier it is to stay productive, at ease, and to have fun.
My building has new tenants, Dan and Joy with Marine View Massage downstairs. It's nice to see positive health
care professionals add to the healing energy of our space!
I am currently in the process of applying to
several insurance companies. I will keep you all informed as that develops.
Remember, I am here with resources
for cold and flu season. Give me a call at the first sign of symptoms for my recommendations to stay well and shorten
duration.
I hope the beginning of the holiday season brings you time to rest, hang out with family, and
reflect on the bounty we have in our lives and within!
Estrogen Dominance
This topic
comes up with nearly every woman I see. The very common symptoms for women that we attribute to hormones are most often
a result of imbalance between estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen promotes growth of tissue (i.e. the uterine lining
in the first half of our cycle). But most women know breast tissue also can increase in size, we can gain weight, tissue
can swell a bit, and mood can be affected. Progesterone helps to moderate these effects of estrogen, including the growth
effects.
Here are some symptoms of estrogen not balanced well by progesterone: - PMS Breast tenderness
- Excessive menstrual bleeding and cramps
- Early onset of menstruation
- Fat gain, especially around the abdomen, hips, and thighs
- Hot flashes
- Perimenopause sleep disturbance
- Depression and anxiety
- Fibrocystic breasts
- Hair Loss
- Irregular menstrual periods
- Water retention, bloating
- Low or absent libido
- Infertility
- Insomnia
- Polycystic
ovaries
- Uterine cancer
- Uterine fibroids
- Cervical dysplasia
- Breast cancer
Women make estrogen in their ovaries, adrenal glands, and fat cells. During the first two weeks of our
cycle, estrogen is the hormone secreted to promote the growth of the uterine lining for implantation. After ovulation,
the ovulating egg produces progesterone to maintain the lining and vascular system. If an egg is implanted, progesterone
continues to be increased for this uterine sac to maintain the growth of an embryo. If the ovulated egg does not become
fertilized, then the progesterone production falls off and the uterine lining is not maintained and it sluffs off with our
monthly bleeding.
Women become out of balance with their total estrogen/progesterone hormones for several
reasons. One reason is that we are being exposed to a huge number of chemicals that mimic estrogen in our body.
These chemicals actually sit down on estrogen receptors and mimic the effects of estrogen.
These chemicals come
from many places including:
- Birth control pills
- Hormone replacement
drugs
- Additives in lotions, shampoos, make up, and deodorants
- Plastics and cookware
- Growth
hormones found in factory-farmed animal products beef, chicken, and fish
- Pesticides and herbicides on foods and
in the environment
- DDT
- PCBs - polychlorinated biphenyls
- Foaming agents in soaps and
detergents
Sometimes, women produce too little progesterone when under stress because the precursor hormone
to make progesterone gets used to make the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands to help
us fight or flee. It raises blood sugar, keeps us mentally alert, and heightens our immune system among other responses.
Many of us under pressure at work or home or due to psycho/emotional stress maintain high cortisol and, over time, this depletes
the resources to make adequate progesterone thus promoting the estrogen dominance or imbalance with progesterone.
Perimenopause is a time when we start missing some ovulations. Remember it is the ovulating egg making progesterone
so a few missed cycles and our total load starts to be reduced. This often initiates the start of menopause symptoms
like hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and anxiety or moodiness. The balance may have been leaning in that direction from chemical
exposures or stress but with the missed ovualtions the imbalance is exacerbated and new symptoms or exaggerated symptoms develop.
The last thing I'd like to address are the functions of the liver and how they relate to estrogen dominance.
The liver is the organ responsible for degrading toxins and our hormones. The liver is working hard for most people
because of diets high in chemicals, environmental exposure, topical exposures, poor diet, and so on. The liver is sometimes
at or past its capacity to do its job or under functioning because it lacks the nutrients from a healthy diet to work properly.
Toxins that cannot be completely processed end up being stored in fat cells, including toxic estrogen. Estrogen that
is only partially degraded and stored in fat cells can be recycled and has a higher growth promoting potential than regular
estrogen. This creates a combined effect of more fat cells as a result of storing toxins that can potentially make even
more estrogen.
What can we do?! Our past detox groups reviewed this information repeatedly to emphasize
the benefit of improving diet and liver function to help remove toxins including toxic or excessive estrogen. Amazingly,
almost all women see improvement in estrogen dominance symptoms - decreased hot flashes, improved sleep, lighter periods,
easier premenstrual week, and they feel more calm and at ease.
Basic Recommendations to improve estrogen
dominance:
- Stop eating processed foods with chemicals.
- Eat
more vegetables and fruits, along with hormone/antibiotic free protein.
- Eat at least one serving cruciferous
vegetable a day. A specific sulfur chemical in these vegetables enhances the livers capability of degrading estrogen.
- Reduce your exposure to xenoestrogen. A good list can be found here.
- Join the next detoxification group in the new year.
- Find support and learn ways to decrease your
stress.
Dr. Mikel has a host of whole food products that enhance these recommendations and, depending on
your symptoms can prescribe the right ones for you. SP Green Food, for example, is a combination of brussel sprouts,
kale, and alfalfa sprouts that many women love! This product has the vegetables that help the liver detox estrogen so
they lose weight, have lighter periods, diminished hot flashes, and sleep better. Determining what is a appropriate
for you and the cause of your imbalance will lead to the correct treatment. Salivary hormone testing is sometimes done
and very useful in some cases. In my experience, 9 out of 10 salivary tests show some degree of estrogen dominance.
Hormone supplementation is seldom needed for estrogen dominance if some of these other recommendations are maintained.
Adding hormones for estrogen dominance may suppress symptoms by artificially balancing estrogen/progesterone but they can
elevate both to alarming levels which increases the load of work on the liver which is why they often lead to weight gain
from storing the by-products away in new fat cells.
There is hope and many women are finding safe and effective
treatment for their complaints. I give this talk over and over and I have found that this information needs to be heard
a few times in order to “get it." Successfully using these suggestions to improve symptoms and overall health
is really the best way to learn.
Resources
http://goodbyepms.com/fail.htm
http://www.sensiblehealth.com/Journey-04.xhtml
Estrogen dominance and men: http://www.greendivamom.com/2009/04/19/how-men-can-avoid-estrogen-dominance/
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/are-endocrine-disruptors-making-us-fat-making-our-children-sexual-mutants/
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