NOVEMBER 2020 ROUNDUP

I listened to an awesome podcast a while ago from The Wellness Mama on hormones and I wanted to share some tidbits! The interview was with Dr. Shawn Tassone and it was about hormones. I like the analogy he used when he describes “normal” test results.

He said- the medical community is telling women that their hormones are normal. And it's probably true in the sense that in a lab value, yeah, they're normal, but if you look at how they obtained the normal and normal is a range, right? These lab values, it isn't a dialed in number. So I always tell patients, yeah, your testosterone was normal, but it's in the fifth percentile. Well, if you took an exam in high school and got a 5%, you probably wouldn't, your parents wouldn't have been too happy. But in medicine, that's considered normal. While you might feel a lot better up in the 80th percentile, which is still normal, it's just higher normal. And so one of the things I always say is normal isn't always normal. (I copied the transcript here which is why it looks a little strange.)

We're seeing more neuro-endocrine disrupting agents in the food like things that mimic estrogen and the chemicals that are used in pesticides and all of these things have really shifted hormones for the worst. And it's just a matter of us being more able to recognize that now that I feel miserable, insomnia, mood swings, irritability, weight gain, you know, just that all of those pain points that that isn't normal.

Low testosterone and high estrogen are the top two imbalances he sees. Low progesterone can contribute to feelings of anxiety because progesterone helps us feel calm.

Birth control risks: headaches and high blood pressure and blood clots and breast cancer amongst other things. Birth control shouldn’t be used for treating other issues other than pregnancy prevention & even then you should know the risks. If you have issues like PCOS, irregular bleeding, painful periods or something else, find a functional doctor who will get to the root cause.

Normal isn’t always normal so even if you’re told everything is “normal” you should advocate for yourself and find someone who can help pinpoint your issues and not brush you off.

Welcome to my kitchen sink! I wanted to highlight two things I use daily- hand and dish soap.

Prior to my non-toxic lifestyle I used scented Softsoap. 🥴 You wash your hands a few times a day at least and soaps like that are full of not so good ingredients including fragrance which can be a host of unknown ingredients that could potentially be carcinogenic or endocrine disrupting.

I now make my own DIY soap. I just take Dr. Bronner's unscented (careful not to use scented) soap and fill the bottle halfway up then I add some essential oils- typically Thieves EO or Lemon EO and fill the rest with water. Super easy! No bad ingredients and I get a little immune boost with the Thieves.

I also used to use dish soaps that contained harmful ingredients as well. Most of the time, SLS's are used to make dish soaps sudsy and you want to avoid these. I know you still want to have a sudsy dish soap though so how do you get around it?

This is what I do- you take 1/2 a bottle of Thieves dish soap & pour it into the foaming pump bottle. Fill the rest with water & some Lemon EO. Another easy DIY and this lathers up so well so your dishes still get squeaky clean! I love the Thieves  dish soap because it's free from the harsh chemicals I typically avoid & by cutting it in half you make it last longer so you really get two bottles out of one. I even sometimes dilute it more than that so really I typically get 2-4 uses out of one bottle.

Peep the Thieves fruit and veggie soak up there as well. 🤗 I always have that on hand to wash my produce. Also- my bottles are well loved so don’t judge me on their appearance. 🤪

I don’t know who needs to hear this but you don’t have to type “following” on a Facebook post to follow it. 

This has nothing to do with toxins or instagram but I feel like this is an important PSA.

To follow a post just tap the three little dots on the right side of the post and hit “turn on notifications for this post” and you will then be alerted when someone has commented. 

Signed,
Someone who is sick of thinking someone has commented with something beneficial on a post I’m following only to be met with “following”. 😀

Let’s chat about baby wipes! First off, baby wipes are not just for babies. I’ve been using these Seedlings wipes for years as makeup remover wipes. I absolutely loves these wipes and now I do use them on Payson as well.

I wish we lived in a world where we didn’t have to worry about harmful ingredients in our baby products but unfortunately that isn’t the case. The most vulnerable little babies are being exposed which just makes me sad. There are some ingredients you want to watch out for in baby wipes which I’ll list below.

Malic Acid
Lactic Acid
Phenoxyethanol
Benzyl Alcohol
Disodium EDTA
Tetrasodium EDTA
Propylene Glycol
Perfume/Fragrance

This is not an exhaustive list but these are some of the ones to look out for. These ingredients can be irritating to skin and possibly carcinogenic and have the ability to react with different chemicals in a negative way. With fragrance you really could be getting any sort of mystery concoction and most likely several harmful ingredients not disclosed.

Baby bottoms are so sensitive & we all know you sometimes use wipes to clean little hands that then go into mouths so that’s another reason to avoid these.

We got gifted several different types of baby wipes for our shower which we are so thankful for! I’ve been using those and the Seedlings wipes. Once we run out I’ll continue to buy the Seedlings wipes from here on out. I love the ingredients and they are very absorbent!

This is a random photo I took of my breakfast yesterday and not anything pretty but I still wanted to share.

Sometimes I switch up my breakfast routine on the weekends and treat myself to some oatmeal. 😋 It’s not very filling plain and not tasty so I always doctor mine up.

I like to add lots of nuts and seeds and protein to give it a little more oomph and amp up the nutritional value. This is an easy way to get some extra nutrients in a tasty way.

Some items I include are: berries, almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans, cinnamon, peanut butter, flax seed, gelatin powder & of course a little dark chocolate. 😉

You can make this ahead of time and eat it cold for a quick breakfast as well. You can add really anything you want to it!

Try to buy sprouted and organic if you can to make them easier to digest. I love the One Degree oats. Same with the nuts and seeds!

Toxins should be avoided around babies because they affect development, health and their little bodies and they have the ability to influence genetics in a negative way.

Babies today face the greatest toxin burden we’ve ever known. Dr. Bock notes the total toxic burden on the average American baby is measurably higher than it was 10 years ago.

Toxins can contribute to autism, asthma, allergies, learning disabilities and cancer. Exposure in pregnancy also factors into this- before the baby is even born they can be affected.

Swipe right for some sources of toxins and how to reduce exposure.

& take note- this was info from a book for babies but this applies to adults as well.

Today’s post is about Naturpedic because I saw they are doing 20% off of everything with code SLEEP20 so take advantage of this if you need to buy a new mattress!

I decided to go with Naturpedic for our changing pad, changing covers & crib mattress. Choosing the mattress was what consumed the most time and when I finally decided on Naturpedic and saw they had the changing pad as well that was an easy decision.

Crib mattresses release nearly 30 different types of volatile organic compounds and other potentially harmful airborne chemicals such as endocrine disrupting phthalates and fragrance allergens. Mattresses off-gas these chemicals posing a threat to our precious babes and their respiratory systems and developing brains that are so fragile.

Buying an organic crib mattress was very important to me. When looking for an organic crib mattress be careful of greenwashing. An organic cover doesn’t make the entire mattress organic- organic on the outside but could be toxic on the inside. You have to look at what the whole mattress is made of.

Make sure the mattress has the right certifications- GOTS or GOLS certified means the mattress is certified by the highest standards in the textile industry.

Avoid all flame retardant chemicals because those can be very toxic. Flame retardants are highly problematic. They are highly toxic, accumulate in our bodies and have been associated with a variety of health concerns. Some of them are recognized carcinogens. If your baby is sleeping directly on them they are getting high levels of exposure.

Avoid polyurethane foam, soy foam or vegetable based foam.  Avoid vinyl waterproofing.

Look for a USA made mattress & a firm sleep surface.

I went with the Naturpedic after seeing several positive reviews from people who had their mattresses. They are made in the U.S. and are GOTS certified. They also have the Greenguard Gold certification and are certified formaldehyde free. They contain no flame retardant chemicals, polyuretahane foam, soybean or biobased foam, latex, soy, polyurethane- coated fabrics, antibacterial treatments, biocides, glues, adhesives, GMO fibers or insulator pads. 

This mattress will be perfect for the crib and it is dual sided so it will work as a toddler bed mattress as well.

The changing pad/covers follow the same guidelines as the mattress!

Source: Gentle Nursery

Who remembers the cinnamon twists from Taco Bell? I ate an embarrassing amount of those growing up. I actually ate a good amount of Taco Bell in general and it grosses me out to even think about it now. I haven’t been to a Taco Bell in years and I have no intentions of going to one anytime soon but I do reminisce on those sweet cinnamon twists because those were amazing.

Y’all know I love Siete because I talk about them all.the.time. on here and they’ve managed to become even more of my favorite by making these clean ingredient cinnamon treats.

Taco Bell twists are made with wheat (not gluten free), corn meal (not organic which is a problem with corn because it’s one of the worst GMO offenders), soybean oil (soy isn’t good for hormone health), maltodextrin (filler/preservative, hidden form of MSG), cinnamon, sugar, natural flavors (mystery ingredients) and they are prepared in canola oil (highly processed and inflammatory).

Siete’s version is made from cassava flour, avocado oil, coconut sugar, agave syrup, pumpkin powder, cinnamon, psyllium husk powder, sea salt and vanilla bean powder.

See the difference the ingredients between the two?

These Siete ones are so delicious. I told Corey we have to ration them out because if not we will eat all 6 bags in a week probably. 😬 You don’t have to miss out on sweet treats when eating a more “clean” lifestyle. These are still a treat so of course you shouldn’t eat them every day by any means but you don’t have to sacrifice little indulgences when you choose treats that are just made with better ingredients.

Coconut sugar is a much better option than regular sugar because it’s unrefined and not bleached like typical white sugar. It’s high in amino acids and has a lower glycemic index compared to regular sugar.

These are a limited time offering so grab some before Christmas is over!