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Far Infrared Heat Benefits: Weight Loss, Detox Support, Better Sleep, and more!

far infrared benefits

Why should we care about Far Infrared Heat Benefits?

When it comes to health and wellness, I am always trying to find the best methods for improving health.  Recently, a friend started talking to me more about this far infrared heating pad that she got.  I had heard of infrared sauna before, and know that the sauna is an awesome way to aid the body to detox more effectively- however, any kind of sauna can be a bit rough for those with low electrolytes, so it’s not something that I have ever really recommended.

Enter the infrared heating pad! The best of both worlds: you get the awesome benefits of infrared, without the intense electrolyte wasting that the sauna can induce.  I got this exact heating pad about a month ago, and I’m ready to report that it will be something I’ll be recommending a lot more.  I’ve already been hearing amazing results from the few people that I’ve spoke to about it!

What are the benefits of this infrared heat?

What this heat basically does is stimulate your metabolism by increasing body heat slightly. This helps with getting the lymph moving, healing underlying infections, and even helps with weight loss.  Some sources compare far infrared to a non-surgical form of liposuction- it can stimulate the fat cells to open up and dump their contents. This is why we need to start slowly with introducing this awesome healing tool- toxins get stored in fat, so this flushing can create quite a massive detox reaction.

Far Infrared has been studied all over the world for decades now, and the benefits are incredible.  Basically, this form of heat is actually the beneficial form of heat we get from the sun!  So we get the benefits of the sun without risking the sun burn part.  Sunlight itself has so many well known benefits- better immune health, more balanced moods, and it even contributes to keeping weight more stable.

Main Benefits of Far Infrared:

  • Stimulates blood flow and better circulation
  • Weight loss
  • Stimulates the metabolic rate- can help with healing any chronic illness people are dealing with if they are in slow oxidation.
  • Heals the lymph system, boost the immune system, and encourages the body to heal underlying infections like parasites, EBV, and Candida
  • Aids in more effective detoxification- our bodies are overloaded with toxins, and those with sluggish metabolisms will have a hard time properly detoxing. FIR helps a lot with this issue
  • Detox support for heavy metals and other toxins
  • Improved joint and muscle health (these pads are especially used for pain relief- FIR heals a lot deeper internally than traditional heating pads.)
  • You can read a giant list of things that FIR can help with here.

According to Life Extension: “The benefits of infrared heat may be further enhanced by natural jade stone. Jade is the most efficient natural infrared heat absorber of all the semiprecious stones. When run through jade, far infrared passes its heat smoothly to the body. It also creates negative ions, which is a further benefit. Our bodies are positively charged, and introducing the body to a negative ion environment (such as that found at the ocean side) is calming and soothing.”

This is why I recommend UTK for far infrared heating pads-they use jade and Tourmaline in their pads. They also say on their own website that they make these pads to have as little EMF as possible. They also have quite a few more articles and studies about the benefits of FIR.

How to use the infrared heating pad

Low and Slow and Turtle Speed are phrases I say quite often.  Things are no different with this infrared heating pad. 5-10 minutes at first would be great, and eventually you can do much longer sessions.  The instruction book even recommends starting with about 15-20 minute sessions at first so you can see how you react.  It CAN create detox reactions.  But the best part is that it will start stimulating your metabolism more so you can handle detoxing better.

Once you feel comfortable with the infrared heat, you can increase the length of time you use it.  Right now, I try to use it for 1-2 hours a few days a week.  My personal observations have been better sleep, easier detox reactions (especially with pathogens), and some old scars that I have had are actually disappearing!

There are some precautions to using infrared, and they’ll differ depending on who you speak with.  If you are dealing with a health issue and are concerned with if infrared is a good fit for you, check with your doctor (hopefully a naturally based one as they are more likely to have a clue what you are speaking about).  I would avoid using infrared while pregnant or nursing at the very least, and I wouldn’t use it over open wounds. Check with the manufacturer’s manual for other warnings, or see the list here from UTK.

Happy Healing! I really feel like this tool will be a huge helper for those stuck in the constant struggle of detoxing with sluggish adrenals.

If you are curious about your oxidation rate, the state of your adrenals, and if you are dealing with heavy metals, check out HTMA! You’ll get a program tailored for your personal biochemistry, which takes a lot of the guessing out of healing.

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HTMA Class Information: Learn all about the Sassy method of mineral balancing!

Sassy Holistics/Mineral Mavens Academy Program Outline

This course will be 7 week program, lasting 1-2 hours each week. We will be covering the following topics:

1) Introduction to HTMA

2) The Main HTMA Ratios

3) The Four Main Minerals (Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium)

4) The Next Four Main Minerals (Copper, Zinc, Phosphorus, and Iron)

5) Other Mineral Info (The rest of the main minerals on the test0

6) The Main Heavy Metals

7) Gut Healing and Detoxification

 

What you will accomplish in this program:

My goal with this course is to give the absolute essentials needed to read and interpret HTMAs, and give you the confidence and knowledge needed to help others that embark on a mineral balancing protocol. My approach with HTMA uses a true holistic outlook with whole food nutrition and healing the body as a whole. There will be a test towards the end of the course that will outline the most important aspects of the course- and it is not a graded test, just something to help reinforce key lessons.

For those with the ability to get your own lab account (I highly recommend TEI, but ARL is also good), you should be able to start your own HTMA consulting with your own account. (*)

*Please keep in mind that some states/countries have restrictions on who can order HTMAs. For example, in the USA, New York state does not allow HTMA (as well as many other health related tests). Check with the labs to see if you are able to order from them first. The labs are pretty lenient with who can open an account with them too, so I recommend calling or emailing them to find out if you qualify. This course is best for those that are already health practitioners of some sort, or for those that really just want to learn more about minerals even if you don’t plan on starting a practice of your own.

I highly recommend doing some more holistic nutrition courses as well to further your knowledge in this area. Never stop learning!

More information:

The current price for the course is $650, and will include an HTMA for yourself (or a family member if you are unable to do it for yourself) as a practice test if needed. There will also be other general examples to view as the class goes on. There will be a link for this to order from once your application is approved. Thanks for your interest, and I am very excited at being able to share this knowledge about HTMA and holistic nutrition with others.

**If you are interested, please email Kristin at sassyholistics@gmail.com and an application will be sent to you.  Once your application is approved, I will send over the information on how to pay for the course**

 

The class will start on March 15th Thursday 6PM Eastern Standard Time, and will continue every Thursday at 6PM for 7 full weeks. Each session is recorded and emailed over by the next day (so if you are in a different time zone or just can’t make it, you can still do the class). I will also have all of my notes that accompany each week’s topic to send over.

The course will be on a live call on a weekly basis and I will be recording and emailing each call to the participants to keep for future reference. I will also be making a Facebook Group for practitioners for continued support. If you are in a very different time zone then you will have the option to just sign up to get the recordings of the class as well as entrance into the Facebook group.

This class is best for individuals that are already in the health/nutrition field that want to add HTMA to their practice, or for those that just want to learn more about minerals and holistic nutrition.  This class does not guarantee a lab account for ordering HTMAs. 

What people are saying about this course:

” Loved the class!  Definitely helped me understand HTMA more and I love your approach to balancing minerals with food and letting the body heal in its own time on its own schedule. I still don’t understand how you know if a mineral is actually what the HTMA says or its being dumped, but I need to study more on my own and look at lots of HTMA’s.  I also love that you have tried everything that you suggest and I plan to do the same.  I won’t recommend something unless I have tried it.  Thanks Kristin!!!”

“This course was very well done.  It did help me understand so much more about balancing the minerals and understand why certain people will react they way they do based on what comes back in their tests.  I’m glad you recorded everything and I noticed you put the chat screens up on some of them too.  I think that will be so helpful to go back over as I start analyzing tests.”

“Most balanced HTMA class I have ever taken, plus there is such a bigger focus on actually using food, herbs, and more holistic ways to heal instead of popping 20 pills a day. Having gone through the HTMA process with Kristin personally myself, I found this class to be enlightening and I understand the WHY behind it all so much better now. This course is for those that was a more modern take on mineral balancing and for those that want to break free from the protocols, synthetic supplements, and isolated nutrients. This class is packed with info, especially considering the price- most other classes out there are more than double the price and still don’t explain things this well!”

“Kristin’s class was incredibly informational and was made easy to understand even to a novice. She made sure to answer any question posed and was very pleasant to work with. I would recommend her class to anyone interested in HTMAs or just the body’s minerals in general.”

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Healing on a Budget

healing on a budget

Healing can be hard- but it doesn’t have to be expensive! Here are my tips for Healing on a Budget

When you see the abundance of people out there that are suffering from chronic illness, it can really make you mad! Why are so many people suffering?!  One main reason seems to be that crap food is so super cheap, so people tend more towards cheap, fake foods as their go-to meals instead of real, organic, wholesome foods. And I get it, trust me! By no means does my family eat 100% organic- but we do our best and budget for the absolutely essential foods and supplements we need to stay on our healing journey. I do have some tips on where to shop to save money on real food here as well.

Since I have been thinking of this, I really wanted to put together a good post for those that really want to start healing, but might not have the money to go all out. And honestly, this is the best way to go when you are first starting out on this healing journey! Make baby steps and small changes as time goes on and that will ensure that easiest, most comfortable transition into a natural lifestyle.  Of course, I always will recommend trying to aim for an HTMA first with one of our practitioners because this can eliminate a lot of the guessing when it comes to picking specific supplements and foods that you might need to really get on the best path to health. But there are a lot of things you can start with before you get to that point.

Gut and liver healing

Gut and liver healing are absolutely essential for everyone- period. If you are dealing with any kind of health issue, you will need to do some sort of gut and liver healing. Luckily, a lot of what I tend to recommend for both gut and liver health are affordable and help BOTH gut and liver. To learn more about the remedy listed, just follow the links!

  • Apple cider Vinegar is one of the MOST affordable helpers to help out with gut healing. You can usually find a big ole bottle for $5 and it should last about a month or 2.
  • Aloe Vera is amazing for healing and dealing the gut lining, soothing internal inflammation, and for healing both the liver and colon. George’s brand is my favorite as it is tasteless and 100% pure aloe (most of the aloe supplements out there will have a ton of nasty preservatives as well as a rough taste). **
  • Castor oil Packs help immensely with liver healing and soothing, boosting bile flow, and they are incredibly anti-inflammatory. Many of my clients report amazing results with the packs especially with sleeping, detox support, and with decreasing histamine issues. **
  • Dandelion root tea runs you about $4-5 for 16 tea bags (Traditional Medicinals brand is great!). Dandelion helps with liver healing, bile flow (essential for detoxing, fat/protein utilization, and proper absorption of fat soluble vitamins)
  • Bitter herbs– Dandelion root itself is a bitter, but the blends like Herb Pharm’s Better Bitters are relatively affordable and very effective at stimulating production of stomach acid, digestive enzymes, and bile flow. **
  • Fermented foods are 100 times cheaper than probiotic supplements and I honestly think they are much more effective in the long term. You can spend less than $20 a month on produce to ferment some veggies, where many of the popular and actually effective probiotic supplements will run you at least $40-60 a month. Not everyone can tolerate fermented foods at first, especially if there are histamine issues going on, but it’s still an important part of gut healing.
  • Bone broth or collagen. Bone broth is relatively affodable to make, especially if your family has access to organic whole chickens. Just cook the chicken in the crockpot and save the bones for the broth! Read here for an easy recipe. Good, high quality collagen powder can be pricey, but always stay tuned for sales from Perfect Supplements- you can snatch up a few tubs of collagen for 30-45% off at these sales.

**Not to be used while pregnant or nursing! Please click the links on the remedy to learn more about specific reasons**

Nutrient Dense Food Options and Nutritional Support

When it comes to nutrition, I’m all about getting more bang for your buck. Gut and liver healing play a role in this as well- the better your digestion, the more you are going to absorb from your food! There are a lot of awesome, nutrient dense foods that won’t break the bank too.

  • Herbal Infusions- These are the BEST alternatives for multivitamins. Nettles and chickweed are the best for general use for many different health issues, but oatstraw, red raspberry, and red clover are other popular ones. You can read all about herbal infusions here! A 1 pound bag of any of these herbs will run between $15-20 and a bag will last about a month depending on how frequent you do the infusions.
  • Dead Sea Salt Baths or Foot Baths- you can find a good dead sea salt bath mix that is relatively affordable on Amazon. Doing these baths can be a easy, cheap, and effective way to get in some awesome bioavailable minerals, especially when you are working on gut healing.
  • Pumpkin seeds are another insanely nutrient dense food. One quarter cup has: .43mg of copper, 2.5mg of zinc, 1.47mg of manganese (nearly the whole RDA!), 190mg of magnesium, 9 grams of protein, and about 400mg of phosphorus. Look for raw, organic, and hulless pumpkin seeds. Check Costco if you can- they recently just started selling a big bag in my local store.
  • Bone broth (see info in the gut section!)
  • Keep an eye out for sales on Perfect Supplements and BioRay as well! They both tend to offer sales a few times a year. They both offer truly amazing, high quality supplements. I tend to announce sales through my newsletter, so be sure to sign up if you haven’t already!

I’ll likely add more to this as time goes on, but this is quite a big list of ideas to start with! I hope it helps to know that healing doesn’t have to be hard or majorly expensive.

healing on a budget

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All About Herbal Adaptogens: a Guest post by Denise

herbal adaptogens

The Truth about Adaptogens

By Denise. Brusveen, HTMA Consultant with Sassy Holistics

I’ve been hearing so much misinformation about adaptogens lately, so I wanted to help clear up the confusion.  Adaptogens are an amazing class of herbs that can help improve mood, energy, stamina, immunity, and mental concentration as well as reduce fatigue and promote hormonal balance.  Pretty much everyone could use some adaptogens in their life!

So how do adaptogens work their magic?  In order to be considered an adaptogen, the herb MUST meet the following criteria(1):

  1. Nonspecific effects, meaning the adaptogen herb increases resistance to a very broad spectrum of harmful factors (physical, biological, chemical, psychological).
  2. It must have a normalizing effect against stressors, independent of the pathologic state.
  3. It must be innocuous to have a broad range of therapeutic effects without causing any disturbance (other than very marginally) to the normal functioning of the organism.

Did you catch that?  Adaptogens have non-specific and normalizing effects on the body!  So this idea that we can use this herb to treat that cortisol level is a very allopathic way of thinking and isn’t how adaptogens are meant to be used.  So where does this type of thinking stem from?

One common example that I hear often is that ashwagandha lowers cortisol.  In doing some digging to figure out where this idea came from, I was able to locate the study I believe this stemmed from (2).  Interestingly, no 4 point cortisol test was used, and no reference ranges were given for the test.  Anybody with a chronic physical, hormonal or psychiatric illness was excluded.  That leaves out pretty much all the people who would have already been in adrenal exhaustion (cortisol bottomed out), needing a boost in their cortisol.  So it’s no wonder it lowered cortisol levels for people who all had high cortisol and needed it lowered!

That’s just one example of a flawed study causing people to make generalized recommendations.  Herbs are SO MUCH more complex than most people realize, which is why they really need to be used in a personalized way. And that’s what we aim to do with our HTMA consults.

While I’m on the topic of ashwagandha, let me explain a bit more why an individualized approach is so important.  Many people not do well with ashwagandha if they have previously tanked their adrenals by using large amounts of magnesium.  If you know you have a nightshade intolerance or an autoimmune condition, we might also want to avoid ashwagandha for you (Note that this is controversial – some experts say that ashwagandha is perfectly safe for both of these issues).  But if we see that your thyroid is struggling in addition to your adrenals on your HTMA results, and there’s a good chance you’ll tolerate ashwagandha, it can actually give your thyroid a boost(3)!  So we might suggest it in addition to working on your calcium and potassium levels, which make up the thyroid ratio.

Another place where people get into trouble sometimes is that they write an herb off as not working for them because they tried it all by itself.  There can be additive effects of herbs, where they are more powerful when combined with other herbs.  Panax ginseng and Ginkgo is just one very well studied example.  The effect of these herbs combined for improving cognitive function is much greater than using either of these herbs alone.

Another way that adaptogens can be beneficial in a blend is that they can provide benefits without being overpowering like they might be on their own.  For example, Panax ginseng might be far too stimulating on its own, but in a blend with other less energizing herbs, it can provide just the right amount of energy.  Adrena Uplift is one good example of a blend that uses Panax ginseng among other herbs.

Licorice is another example where it is usually better off in a blend.  It isn’t technically an adaptogen because its actions are specific rather than nonspecific, and it can actually cause problems for people with high blood pressure over time (whereas true adaptogens are considered to be generally safe).  It is an amazing addition to many adaptogen blends though, and being in a blend rather than taking it on its own lowers the dose that a person receives, which likely lowers the risks associated with it.  If you are worried at all about your blood pressure though, then go for a blend without licorice like this one.

One final amazing benefit of using adaptogen herbs to help support the adrenals is that they usually have benefits to other areas of the body.  Many adaptogens are also nervines that help to regulate the nervous system or tonics that help to restore or tone the body.  So sometimes we can pick out specific herbs for more than one purpose.  For instance if I’m working with someone who has POTS, I might suggest eleuthero.  If I’m working with someone with low iron, I might suggest ashwagandha (4).  If I’m working with someone with H. pylori, I might suggest licorice.  Someone needing extra support for heart health might consider rhodiola.  I could go on, but you get the idea!  These herbs are worth exploring!  They can be a great addition to your mineral balancing plan.

 

 

  1. Panossian A., Wikman G, Wagner H: Plant adaptogens. III. Earlier and more recent aspects and concepts on their mode of action. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10589450
  2. Chandrasekhar, Jyoti Kapoor, and Sridhar Anishetty. A Prospective, Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Safety and Efficacy of a High-Concentration Full-Spectrum Extract of Ashwagandha Root in Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Adults. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10589450
  3. Sharma AK, Basu I, Singh S. Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha Root Extract in Subclinical Hypothyroid Patients: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28829155
  4. Upton R. American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Monographs: Ashwagandha Root. Santa Cruz, CA: American Herbal Pharmacopoeia; 2000.

herbal adaptogens

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Long Term Healing

long term healing

Long Term Healing

When I first got into natural health, I fell into the trap of using lots of isolated supplements and I was always matching my ill to a pill. As time went on, I realized how absolutely NOT holistic or natural this was! We are not just symptoms- we are a whole person. Allopathic natural health is REAL and it needs to stop.  It wasn’t until I found HTMA that I finally felt like I had a solid path to figure out what we all need as individuals.  It really reinforced my thoughts about why “popping and praying” isn’t the answer.

All of the research done for HTMA and mineral balancing includes a lot of information about co-factors and antagonists of all of the main minerals.  I have an outline on the major interactions here that you can check out.  Hopefully when you read it you will be able to see how absolutely insane it is to promote usage of isolated “nutrients”, especially for long term use. One nutrient can mess up the balance of many others in the body! How does that make sense?  What really throws me off is that even with all of this awesome research, many people that use HTMA and mineral balancing are STILL using these methods of 20+ isolated nutrients in their plans.

Call me crazy, but that is just against all common sense. Especially when we KNOW that one nutrient taken on its own can throw many others out of balance.

 

This is why I am all about LONG TERM HEALING. What exactly does that mean to me? It means NOT creating further imbalances as we heal. It means looking at the body as a whole, not in fragmented parts. It means creating plans for sustainable healing where you will not become dependent on 10+ pills a day just to maintain your nutrient levels. It means healing at a deeper level so you will actually HEAL, not just cover up symptoms forever.

Long Term Healing is mostly about not getting dependent on supplements for life

When we use as much food/herbs/natural methods to heal, we are looking at things in the long term. I have seen so many people that start protocols that require 10,20, 30+ capsules a day and they might feel better for a time. But then they try to get off of their supplements, and lo and behold- their symptoms come back! When we make dietary changes as well as work to fully heal the gut and liver (which are the biggest keys here!!), we are making LONG TERM changes so you do not become dependent on supplements forever.

There are SO many other components to food that you will never find in synthetic supplements: phytochemicals, fiber, fat, protein, carbs, bioflavonoids, carotenoids, plant pigments, amino acids, fatty acids, isothicyanates. indoles, coumarins, antioxidants, enzymes, and more! Some of these components (like bioflavoinoids) used to be considered vitamins all on their own because of their importance to our health.

Sure, crutches can be helpful as we’re healing to help with symptom management. But I am always thinking of the long term. Taking certain supplements in isolation long term can create further imbalances in the body. This method will make you constantly chase the next imbalance to work on! The whole food/whole body approach takes time but it is the deepest, more complete way to heal.

Negative impact of isolated supplementation

One of the biggest reasons why I am so adamant about this is because I have SEEN the negative side effects of isolated supplementation. I have seen people take 15-150mg of zinc at once at the suggestion of a doctor or practitioner, and I have heard from them about how they felt severe symptoms like paranoia, extreme OCD type symptoms, or they dealt with severe panic attacks because of how quickly copper can get antagonized.

I have seen HUNDREDS of people that have crashed from isolated magnesium supplementation at this point (because magnesium LOWERS adrenal function and LOWERS sodium, and it can especially be detrimental in slow oxidizers, which 80% of people are!).  I have heard from people that developed yeast infections, tinnitus, and more from even moderate doses of ascorbic acid.

Another main reason why I am adamant on this stance is because I have seen the impact that isolated nutrients have on the HTMAs over the last few years. LEVELS RARELY CHANGE! I have known people that have been on certain isolated nutrients for years, and their HTMA levels NEVER budge. When I tell them how these supplements are not very bio-available to the body and never really resolve things, they usually admit that if they stop the supplement their symptoms come back in a few days!

That is not solving anything- I want to try and prevent people from falling into this false sense of security that more is better and that these “nutrients” are actually used by the body. In comparison, many of my clients that were on massive doses of isolated nutrients for years and then switched to my whole food method were not only seeing changes in their tests, but their symptoms no longer returned, even when taking breaks on the foods/herbs that we had them doing. When we use food, you are getting the natural co-factors of the nutrients PLUS so much more.

It WILL take time to heal

There is no getting around the fact that it takes time to fully heal. Many of us are dealing with years, decades, or even generations of poor health (because nutritional deficiencies and toxicities can be passed on from mother to child).  All of the main issues with health started in the WWII era due to the introduction of the high estrogen birth control pill, supermarkets with processed foods, the increase of toxic chemical use in our everyday products, and more. We are ALL sick these days– and it will take time to undo all of this damage. My goal is to do this in the easiest, most effective way possible with our nutritional plans. Many people are dealing with dozens of nutrient imbalances and toxicities these days.  It is a much more complex issue than just popping a handful of supplements a few times a day unfortunately.

Mineral balancing research (and in my experience) says that it commonly takes about 18 months to 2 years to full heal the body.  These days it can take longer as we are dealing with more complex issues: Lyme, Mold illness, vaccine damage, antibiotic damage, heavy metals, EMF exposure, etc. When the body starts getting what it needs, healing can start rapidly though and many people start noticing changes in a few weeks- a few months. FULL healing will take longer.

BUT PEOPLE DO HEAL. And that is the main thing to focus on. My purpose of this post is to explain why we at  Sassy Holistics have such a different approach than most health coaches out there. We are not looking to mask symptoms- we are looking to truly help you find better health and wellness. We know how frustrating it can be to be on the healing journey, trust me! We have been there, and we have healed.

Use this new year to get back on track with true long term healing with HTMA!

 

long term healing

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Preparing for a Happy, Healthy Pregnancy

happy, healthy pregnancy

Preparing for a Happy, Healthy Pregnancy- naturally!

We really need to start working on our health YEARS before even thinking about conception. There are a few main reasons why:

  1. So many women are dealing with postpartum depression (or other postpartum issues) these days.
  2. Kids are dealing with extreme health issues these days, and now they have shorter life spans than we do. (more on this here!)
  3. We need to break this cycle of depleted, toxic, and burnt out people having children that start life out with these same issues. Cases of children with adrenal burnout have been reported since the 90s (source)! It’s time for change!

It can take a few years to fully undo the damage of a Standard American diet coupled with a fast-paced, stress-filled lifestyle. Most of us don’t even think about taking care of our health until a few months before we want to get pregnant (or worse- we don’t make changes UNTIL we are pregnant!). If we want to have happy, healthy pregnancies that lead to happy, healthy babies we need to start making changes sooner. Let’s go over the main changes to make and what we can do to really have a great pregnancy!

Nutrition

The absolute first step on the road to better health is to get an HTMA. This is the best way to determine your personal mineral imbalances, your adrenal strength, and your metabolic rate to figure out what YOU need as an individual.  With an HTMA protocol, you will get the ultimate start on healing your body and preparing for pregnancy.  Plus, HTMA is something great to keep up with during pregnancy and in the postpartum period to make sure your body is running as well as it can.

What are the basics of fixing our nutrition though?

  1. Nutrient Dense Foods- Fruits, vegetables; full fat foods like butter, ghee, and coconut oil; organic/grass-fed whole milk dairy products; fermented foods; eggs; grass-fed meat; beef liver every so often if you can handle it! You can see my whole post on general diet recommendations here, including what to avoid.
  2. Herbal Infusions– Nettles and Red Raspberry leaf are the 2 best herbs for pregnancy and nursing. Nettle infusions are full of vitamin K, iron, copper, magnesium and calcium, and they help the kidneys, liver, and adrenals.  Red Raspberry leaf is a well-known uterine tonic and helps to keep hormones balanced, especially after birth. Both of these are great to use pre-conception to heal hormones and replenish nutrient levels.  Nettles are best for everyday use, while RRL is best for use around your menstrual cycle. (If you are dealing with menstrual cycle issues, check this post out here).
  3. Focus on Gut Health– we need sufficient stomach acid and bile to digest a lot of our nutrients and to take care of nasty things like bacteria and parasites. Using either a probiotic or eating fermented foods is essential as well.
  4. Heal your liver! What does the liver have to do with pregnancy?! Quite a bit! We need happy livers to keep copper balanced (which is something that can get extremely imbalanced during pregnancy as copper tends to triple!). We also need happy livers to utilize fats and fat soluble nutrients, and to keep our detoxification system working properly. My favorite liver lovers are Liver Life from BioRay, dandelion root tea, nettle infusions, ACV, lemon, beets, sunflower lecithin, and castor oil packs.
  5. I recently spoke to someone at BioRay about what is best for use while pregnant or preparing for pregnancy. They recommend the Total Body Detox as the best solution if possible. If not, then go for Detox Quartet, followed by Lady Passion for women and Red Rooster for men until you are pregnant. . Loving Energy, Liver Life, and Belly Mend are ok to use with guidance during pregnancy as well. Check out the chart with more info here! Plus, you can use the code SASSY at checkout for a discount!

Clean up your home!

No, I’m not talking about spraying the whole house with disinfectant. I am talking about switching out all of your current household products for CLEANER versions. This includes soap, shampoo, deodorant, candles, laundry detergent, and even furniture if possible!

Why, you ask?

There has been at least one study done on US infants about how babies are born with about 200 chemicals in their umbilical cord blood (source). This was done in 2004, so imagine how much worse it is these days, especially knowing that there are 82,000 known chemicals used in everyday household items, and most of them have never been tested for safety. These chemicals are cancer causing, hormone disrupting (especially causing infertility), and skin irritants. The skin is the largest organ in our bodies and using these harsh products on our skin daily is truly wreaking havoc for our health. Not only do WE absorb these- these can be passed on in utero to our babies!

Here is my entire list of things to switch out in the home, and what I use personally!

There you have it- my top tips for preparing for a happy, healthy pregnancy! As you can see, it can take a lot of time, effort, and commitment to prepare for this, which is why we need to start taking care of our health from an earlier age. But, baby steps are fine! Start with one thing at a time to ease into the changes. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can create a healthier generation that has a brighter future with less chronic illness.

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Heavy Metal Detox

heavy metal detox

My Take on Heavy Metal Detox

Many of you already know my stance on detox: we should be HEALING the body to help it get rid of toxins in its own time and when it has the strength to. We should not always have to force the toxins out- this can lead to overloading the body with too many toxins at once which can cause an adrenal crash PLUS it is also likely that these toxins will recirculate and redeposit until the body can actually get rid of everything.  Toxin exposure has increased to an incredibly scary level over the last 50 years or so. At this point, it is impossible to avoid every toxic chemical or heavy metal out there. We just have to work on improving the way that our bodies tolerate and excrete these things, as well as reduce our exposure as much as we can.

When we have heavy metals, we are usually also dealing with parasites, bacteria, yeast, viruses, and other toxins. Once we start trying to eliminate one of these things, the others follow suit. For someone in adrenal exhaustion with a severe sluggish liver and colon, this can crash a person pretty quickly.  This is why I have such a super cautious approach to detoxing, and why it drives me crazy at times that others are like, “No we HAVE to rip everything out and kill all the pathogens with a ridiculous amount of fire power FIRST!!”

I do understand the need to heal our sluggish and stressed out detoxification systems- which is why I follow a few key steps for my clients to heal (And I highly encourage you to work with someone knowledgeable that can work on healing your minerals and overall detoxification system as well!). The body is always a whole and we should be looking at it that way- you cannot initiate massive detox without taking into account the rest of the body. Luckily, I’ve been learning quite a bit more from BioRay (aka The Natural Detox Company) and I have found some more super safe ways to eliminate heavy metals, which I’ll get into below.

“80% of all chronic health
concerns are associated with
heavy metal toxicity.”
– WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, 1974

Main Steps for Heavy Metal Detox:

1) Get your colon moving!

Your colon cannot be sluggish!! The colon’s specific jobs include collecting and eliminating toxins from the body. However, if it the colon becomes even slightly sluggish it cannot perform its job properly. There are so many things that can mess with the function of the colon: poor diet, stress, overuse of laxatives, drugs, lack of exercise. The less you “go” normally, the worse the colon gets.

When we are trying to improve detox ability, you HAVE to get that colon moving. There is no ifs, ands, or butts about it (haha, I had to go there!). If toxins are not able to get out, they will recirculate- period.

Tips for keeping your colon moving:

  • Use BioRay Belly Mend to help heal your gut and bowel
  • Use helpful digestive aids like apple cider vinegar and lemon juice either during meals, or whenever you feel like your bowels are very sluggish (these also help the liver and kidneys)
  • Use something like a Squatty Potty to help make things easier
  • Aloe vera can be helpful to keep things moving (just do not use while pregnant as it can be a uterine stimulant)
  • Fermented foods (I find grass-fed kefir to be very helpful!)
  • Fiber and Bile boosting are huge as well- read all about this here.
  • You can read my whole colon health guide here.

2) Heal Your Liver!

The liver itself has over 500 roles in the body, but most just know it as the main detox organ.  The liver helps to make bile (which we need for elimination of toxins), filters out toxins like ammonia, and plays a huge role in overall health.  A sluggish liver is usually the main root cause of toxin build up in the body- it just cannot keep up with the heavy load that we deal with these days.

From ARL Labs on mercury removal: “Biliary excretion is the preferred route of excretion of mercury. (Meaning BILE FLOW)…Mercury is also eliminated in saliva, through the pancreas, through intestinal wall secretion, and through nails and hair.”

“A tissue mineral analysis is of value in designing nutritional programs which balance the tissue electrolytes and enhance the energy pathways. By so doing, increased biochemical energy is made available to facilitate excretion of mercury from tissue reservoirs.”

How to heal your liver:

  • Do your best to cut down on toxin exposure, especially in the home
  • Eat as clean as you can.
  • BioRay’s Liver Life is amazing for liver healing and regeneration
  • Castor oil packs
  • Herbal infusions like nettles, oatstraw and red raspberry leaf. Infusions are extremely nourishing to the body, and most of them help with liver, lymph, kidneys, and the adrenals.
  • Sunflower Lecithin: This form of lecithin is rich in phosphatidyl choline, which is a B complex vitamin that has extremely important roles in fat metabolism and liver health. It helps with stimulating bile flow and can help flush fat out of the liver, and it is also extremely important for brain health.
  • More on liver healing here.

3) Other methods of supporting detox

  • Dry skin brushing– skin is our biggest organ and we can eliminate toxins through our skin (this is why things like acne, eczema, and cherry angiomas are so common- the body is trying to put toxins out through the skin). Before showering, use a natural bristle brush (like this one) to brush your dry skin in circular motions upward from the feet to the torso and  then from the fingers to the chest. You will want to work in the same direction as your lymph flows which is towards the heart. Be careful over sensitive areas like the breast.  The more you brush, the less sensitive your skin will become.  After you are done brushing, hop in the shower to wash off the dead skin cells that you’ve brushed off! This is such an easy, quick thing to add to your daily routine.
  • Rebounding on a mini trampoline or even bouncing on a yoga ball
  • Kidney Support: nettles, ACV, lemon juice, etc are all great for kidney loving.
  • Sauna (if tolerated)
  • Gentle exercise like yoga or walks

4) Balance your minerals!

With hair tissue mineral analysis, we aim to restore the body’s biochemistry.  As we balance minerals, the metabolism can heal and the body starts to detox better. This is a MAJOR player in being able to properly eliminate heavy metals. If you are severely depleted of minerals, your body cannot have the strength to detox properly.  Many heavy metals will take the place of minerals as well! As we replenish the nutrients, the body can start to push the metals out to replace with the minerals (which is one main reason why I do not advocate for chelation: you cannot rip those metals out FIRST and then try to replace it with synthetic “nutrients”. This is not the way that HTMA was intended to be used).

With HTMA, we can start to heal the adrenals as well, and they are usually the main thing that takes the brunt of the damage if we try to rush into detoxing. We HAVE to have strong, healthy adrenals to deal with the stress of heavy metal detoxing. We tend to burn through minerals like sodium and potassium like crazy when we are detoxing so getting on a good plan to heal is imperative if you want to safely remove the heavy metals.

5) SAFE Heavy Metal Detox

For the last few years, I have not done anything specific when it comes to detoxing heavy metals as a majority of the clients I get are in adrenal burnout and simply cannot work on this part yet. Recently, I started learning more about the amazing tinctures from BioRay and I’m happy to be able to share what I have found regarding SAFE heavy metal detoxing.

BioRay recommends basically everything that I mentioned above as well in order to detoxing safely and effectively.  We have to support the colon, the liver, the kidneys, and the adrenals (because again, the body is a whole!). Bioray offers the best line of detoxification support out there for everyone. They have 3 main lines: therapeutic, the Daily line, and the kids line.  The therapeutic line is the strongest; the daily line is about half the strength of the therapeutic; and the kids line is about 25% the strength of the therapeutic line. Where to start depends on where you are in your healing journey.

The Ideal order for the BioRay products are: Loving Energy (for adrenals), Liver Life (to heal and prepare the liver), Cytoflora (to support good gut balance), NDF Plus (for gentle toxin removal), and then Artemesia and Clove (for unwanted organisms). Low and slow is always best, and all of these have specific instructions for use.

The main heavy metal detoxer they offer is the NDF Plus. It’s specific functions are:

  • Removes toxic metals including lead, mercury, arsenic, uranium, thallium, cadmium, antimony and aluminum.
  • Removes chemicals and pesticides including Lindane, dioxin, BPA, phthalates and chlorine.
  • Binds to endotoxins and exotoxins.
  • Balances essential nutrients as it contains naturally occurring amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
  • Provides natural occurring fulvic acid, antioxidant and free-radical scavenger, serving to balance cell life
  • (read more here, and you can read the results of the case and lab studies done on NDF plus here).

You can see all of the kids’ line here as well as further description of the kid-specific line.

BioRay also has a lot of amazing tips for those that need to use antibiotics, get vaccines, are exposed to chlorine, or need to get their mercury dental fillings removed. Check out their main articles on this here. Here is their chart outlining what products can help with specific issues.

 

So there you have it: the truth about what goes into detox! You cannot just take 1 supplement and detox your entire body. There is a lot involved in proper and safe detox!

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Achieving Health and Wellness with Sassy Holistics

Achieving Health and Wellness with Sassy Holistics

The natural health world can be complicated at times. There are many different products and programs that promise quick-fixes that may or may not even have benefit for you. In reality, there are no quick fixes when we want to heal. I went through this all myself, and found that way too many people hyper-focus on one organ, one specific illness, one diet, or one nutrient.

True holistic health focuses on the body as a whole. We don’t work on just the thyroid, or try to get you to drop 20 pounds in 10 days. We don’t take 20+ supplements a day, nor do we starve ourselves or do strict diets.  My programs are designed with biochemical individuality in mind: we are all different and we all need different plans to heal.  We also try to make things simple!

What we do to help you heal:

  1. Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis: HTMA is the best first step in figuring your your personal biochemistry.  Minerals are at the base of our health: they influence our hormones, can impact our neurotransmitters, play a huge role in our genetic expressions, and more. HTMA gives us insight on how your body reacts to stress as well as what minerals you are deficient or toxic in.  My plans with HTMAs include the following as well:
  2. Gut healing: Leaky gut is rampant these days. HTMA gives us a lot of insight on how well you are utilizing certain nutrients so we can see if you are dealing with low stomach acid, poor bile flow, or having issues with protein metabolism. In order to heal, we HAVE to heal your gut!
  3. Detoxification Support: We live in a toxic world. When our bodies are overloaded with toxins, we become tired, grumpy, and sick.  My plans include gentle support in healing the liver, the lymph, the kidneys, and the whole detoxification system. As we work on balancing minerals, the body works up more strength to get rid of toxins (heavy metals, parasites, etc), so we add in extra support to make healing easier.
  4. Individualized nutrition: Since HTMA gives us a good view on what nutritional imbalances you have, we can make some changes to make sure we get more of what you need.  We all have to eat: why not make the most of your diet with nutrient dense foods?
  5. Focus on your main symptoms: We try to work on the worst of what is bothering you right now. Having issues with sleep? Or bloating? Anxiety? Based on your symptoms and HTMA, we will find a way to help you start healing your biggest concerns first if we can so healing is more comfortable for you.  Deep healing takes time, but we can absolutely make huge leaps in progress when we start introducing the nutrients we need.
  6. Weight Loss: Often, dealing with weight issues is a sign of a sluggish liver. As we heal, weight is something that the body starts to fix. Many of the things I use on my plans are intended to really get weight moving- but it is NOT a priority for the body. Some people lose weight quickly when we start healing, and for many others it is one of the last things to resolve. Part of my goal with HTMA and my healing protocols is to get people to stop looking at weight as a measurement of health.  Part of this healing journey is learning how to really take care of yourself and accepting yourself as a whole (struggles included!). I’ve recently been investigating more ways to help with healthy weight loss as we heal, and if they are applicable to your needs, then I add them to our whole protocol.

Read more here!

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Emotional Healing Techniques- We cannot Heal Physically without Healing Emotionally

Emotional healing Techniques: We cannot Heal Physically without Healing Emotionally

Many of us go through life experiencing a whole host of traumatic things.  When we are young, there is an especially hard time dealing with any sort of trauma, whether it be abuse, the death of a loved one, constant bullying, or anything else that can impact our life.  Childhood trauma itself is linked to so many chronic illnesses (source), but in our society this never really gets addressed. Either the child goes through general therapy sessions that really don’t help the situation or they outright get ignored and told to just move on with their life.

I’ve often read as well that children lack the ability to even emotionally heal from the traumas they deal with as kids. I really believe this because I have personally gone through many traumas as a child, and I remember never truly understanding why things were happening to me or what to do about them. We are just not mature enough to process the emotions that we go through. Because of this, our health can suffer because most will start to repress these emotions. And we can actually STORE these emotions in the body!

But when it comes to health, we are all individuals. Because of this biochemical individuality, not everyone will do well with the same form of healing. Since everyone is so different, there is not one specific method I would recommend for everyone (other than the mineral balancing as that will help to strengthen the body to handle emotions better, both as you are healing your trauma and when you deal with possible future traumas).  So here is a big list of idea- do what speaks to YOU!

Some great ways to help HEAL trauma

Mineral Balancing

It wasn’t until I learned about minerals that I started learning about how events in our childhood could influence our health. In HTMA and mineral balancing science, it is well known that traumatic situations (especially long term and unresolved) can wreak havoc on the body.  We start to get into that cycle of fight-or-flight that we cannot break out of and we burn through sodium, potassium, and many other minerals like crazy.  Eventually, these minerals start to tank and we are left in physical burnout that can lead to illnesses such as fibromyalgia, thyroid disorders, adrenal fatigue, autoimmune illnesses, and more. The trauma creates a stressful situation in the body and uses up our nutrients, which leads to a state of illness. This can be something that happens directly after an incident or something that takes decades to build up. (source).  Also, many of these minerals that we can become deficient in can lead us to addictions as well, which further messes with our health and mineral balance.

Addressing your mineral imbalances can help to physically strengthen the body, which in turn will help you when you are ready to heal emotional trauma. Many people with severe adrenal exhaustion have reported to me that they attempted emotional healing techniques when they were still very physically weak and it ended up making them crash further. Depending on where you are in your health journey, you could be one that needs to work on building up psychical strength first or you might need to start addressing the emotional before the physical side will even budge.  In my experience, most people need to start building up their physical strength first (this was true for myself as well!). Then when you start to deal with the emotionally aspect, your body will be strong enough to handle the healing.

There are many HTMA patterns that are common with those with prolonged trauma.  The most common thing we see is a calcium shell, where calcium can start to build up to extremely high levels (usually as it approaches 200 and above- normal levels are between 40-50). This can create a sort of defense mechanism, so the person dealing with chronic stress will be in an almost numb, apathetic state to help protect them from feeling all of the things they should be feeling during this stress.  Those with calcium shells eventually feel this shell crack when they begin to heal, and they might have bouts of time where they experience the emotions that they used to hold in (again, something I have been through myself, long before I knew what HTMA was!). Read more here on the calcium shell.

Homeopathy

As I mentioned above, I had a lot of trauma as a child and never had the chance to heal it (although I never really knew I needed to address it until a few years ago).  I ended up choosing homeopathy, and you can read about my experience with that here.  I highly recommend homeopathy for those that need a gentle approach for healing.  Working with a truly knowledgeable practitioner is key because many homeopaths are not changing their methods despite how toxic we are these days.

Homeopathy is energy medicine and works deep to heal the whole body at once.  This means physical AND emotional issues can get healed.  I am a huge believer in the strength and effectiveness of homeopathy after my own experiences with it.

EMDR

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.  This is a “psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. ” (source)

I’ve known several people that have had success with EMDR and absolutely love it. It has sparked my interest as well as it seems to be another method that is supposed to help you heal with the minimum amount of discomfort.

EFT

Emotional Freedom technique is not new, but it has been garnering a lot of attention over the last few years in the natural health field. This method used meridian tapping to harness your body’s energy to heal itself.  Many people swear by this method.  My suggestion for this is to find a good practitioner that knows all about EFT and how to properly do it because it seems to be much more powerful this way. Doing EFT on your own can help too, but some only notice the benefit if they speak with a practitioner. YouTube has plenty of how-to videos too!

Retraining your mindset

For some people, it really is “mind over matter”.  Creating a healing mantra can help immensely. Something easy you can remember and repeat to yourself several times a day or just when things are getting rough is good.  Mine used to be, “I am happy, healthy, and whole.”  When we are constantly thinking about our pain or stress, it really can KEEP us in that physical state of illness.  In order to heal, we have to start thinking positive about everything: our situations, our bodies, the people in our life, and how we think (even if we don’t share our thoughts).  Sometimes we are the ones responsible for breaking the chain of negative thinking!

Other Ideas:

  • Art Therapy
  • Music Therapy
  • Regular talk therapy can help some people
  • Just making friends can be a helper, especially if you have become a bit withdrawn because of chronic illness
  • Dr. Caroline Leaf’s Brain Detox
  • Breathing methods like Buteyko
  • Yoga and meditation
  • Write a letter to your abusers, even if you never send it. Some even write something up and then destroy it!
  • Flower Essences
  • cranial sacral Therapy
  • Speaking with a medical intuitive is also another idea. I recently spoke with Katie Beecher and was incredibly impressed with the whole process and what she found for me!
  • Reiki
  • Acupuncture
  • Books like “Your Body Speaks your Mind“, “The Healing Codes“

Just know that you are not alone in your healing.  There are plenty of people in your life that will help if you give them the chance (hopefully!).

Whatever method you choose to heal, I hope that you all find your peace <3

Other awesome sources about this topic:

From my friend Christina over at Uncaged Health

Dr. Rick Malter’s site that has info about freeing the inner child and deflating the “Judge” personality.

 

emotional healing

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How to have a Happy, Healthy Period

holistic period

Periods Don’t have to be Painful!

I am sure many people read my headline and rolled their eyes a bit.  A “happy period”? There is no such thing, right? WRONG!  Even though periods are not exactly fun, they aren’t supposed to be devastating, painful, or terrible.  If you deal with PMS, acne, breast tenderness/pain, cramps, anger, mood swings, heavy flow, migraines, or any other common symptoms associated with menstruation, please know that this is not a normal part of our hormonal health! If you deal with these symptoms, it is a very big sign that your liver is angry, your lymph is sluggish, your minerals are out of balance, and your adrenals are likely stressed.

What if I told you that periods can be pain-free and barely even a nuisance? It is true, whether you want to believe it or not. I used to be one that had severe periods.  The first day I’d pretty much be bedridden or popping pain killers every few hours to keep the pain manageable if I had to go to work. I had a few times where I fainted from the pain, many times where I’d have migraines with aura, and used to make me act like the Hulk at times with how angry I’d get. These days? I don’t deal with any of that. No cramps, no annoying PMS symptoms, nada.

How is this possible, you ask? Holistic healing! Working on healing the body as a whole is key to getting rid of these terrible periods.  Balancing minerals, healing your liver, supporting your lymph, eating clean, and managing the environmental toxins that you are exposed to is crucial.

My top tips for a Healthy Period

Nutrients that play a role in hormonal health

The number one thing to look into if you are having painful or irregular periods is copper dysregulation. You can read all about this here, but in a nutshell: Copper is a crucial mineral for estrogen balance and zinc is crucial for progesterone/testosterone balance. When zinc and copper are out of balance, these hormones can go haywire. We tend to have an issue where copper builds up and becomes unusable to the body- so we have a double issue where we are copper deficient and have an excess copper buildup. With this, we can have symptoms of both copper deficiency and excess copper!

What creates this imbalance? A sluggish liver, a vitamin A deficiency, birth control, overuse of antibiotics, not enough zinc in the diet (which can be caused by leaky gut as we need stomach acid to utilize zinc correctly), and diets like veganism/vegetarianism and the Standard American Diet.

To fix this: use HTMA and supporting blood tests to heal this imbalance. Healing the liver is crucial (which we’ll go over next), as is introducing vitamin A rich foods like cod liver oil, eggs, grass-fed butter or ghee, and beef liver (which is one of the biggest helpers for fixing the copper bio-unavailability side of things). Heal the gut to help with zinc utilization as well.

This is the LONG TERM healing plan for all hormonal issues, including estrogen dominance. Read about that here.

Detoxification support

Menstruation itself is a time for heightened detox. Heavy, painful periods that come with a handful of symptoms (especially headaches/migraines, breast pain, mood swings, and acne) are a huge sign that your liver and lymph are overloaded with toxins.

Basic liver healing tips: Bioray Liver Life, Castor oil packs, dandelion root tea, fix your sleep, eat clean (no GMOs, no corn syrup, no artificial sweeteners, organic meat and dairy, etc)

Basic Lymph healing tips: Rebounding, castor oil packs, nettle infusions, red root, massage, legs on the wall yoga pose, gentle walks

Herbal Support

One of the *best* herbs for hormonal health for women is red raspberry leaf.  This herb is nothing short of miraculous for PMS, copper balancing, and overall hormonal healing.  It is even amazing during pregnancy and breastfeeding!

Red raspberry leaf is packed with nutrients: magnesium, manganese, iron, vitamin C, b-vitamins and potassium.

For infusions: I put 1 cup RRL in a quart of hot water and let it steep for at least 4 hours. I strain the liquid and drink this through the day. (you can reuse the herbs for another weaker quart). Store the liquid in the fridge when done and consume 1-2 cups daily, or more when pregnant or about to start your period!I usually recommend using this the week leading up to your period to help prevent any menstrual issues. This can be helpful for those that get symptoms at ovulation as well.

Other herbs that can help with hormonal balancing: Nettle leaf infusions, nettle root (capsules or tincture- especially helpful for heavy periods), red clover, ashwagandha, chaste tree berry, and dandelion root.

Cleaner Personal Care Products

Did you know that most popular brands of tampons and pads have glyphosate in them, the cancer causing chemical (source)? Yikes!  Using organic pads or tampons are MUCH better these days to avoid coming into contact with nasty chemicals like this.  Things like mama cloth (or reusable pads, like these that you can find on etsy!) are popular these days too and are much more Eco-friendly.  Many people are raving about menstrual cups as well, but I’m not convinced of their long term safety- knowing that silicone can indeed leach into the lymph system makes me weary of these things. We all have to do what works though- just stay away from the popular brands for things like pads and tampons!

Personal care products comes down to things like make-up, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc. Many of these conventional products contain carcinogens, hormonal disruptors, and other toxins that negatively effect health. Read more about this here if you’re new to this topic and want to start greening up your home!

Birth Control?

The Pill, the IUDs, the patches, the shots- I would stay FAR away from these things. They all have severe side effects that can either hit you right away or build up and hit you several decades later.  Birth control doesn’t solve anything. If it seemingly helps you with hormonal issues, then it is a band-aid solution. Using the above tips will help you get to the root of the issue in the long term.  The possibility of cancer, blood clots, and other serious illnesses is not worth the “benefit” of preventing pregnancy.

I could go on about this for hours, but read my main issues with birth control here, as well as what other good options there are for contraception.