Helping You and Yours to Better Health, Naturally

Learn how to improve your health and that of your family and friends through natural and alternative options, supplemented by education so that you can make informed decisions. The goal is to create optimum health so that you can live life to the fullest.

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Note: This newsletter is consuming more time than I anticipated. That's part of the reason this issue is out much later than I had hoped. So, I am informing you now, there may not be a set schedule to this newsletter. Frankly, I don't want the stress. But I do want to help you, so let me know if there's something you would like covered in this newsletter. My email is at the bottom. Thanks!

In This Issue:

1) How Hormones Affect Your Health

2) Supporting Your Hormone Production Naturally

3) Homeopathic Hormone Support vs. Natural Hormone Replacement

Hormones are vital to your health. Hormones are a catalyst, causing reactions to happen in the body. They regulate a number of actions in your body. The pituitary gland sends messages (hormones) to your thyroid, pancreas, liver, breast, ovaries, etc. All these glands need hormones to call them into action.

Energy is created with the help of hormones. Cancer and Alzheimers are prevented when hormones are balanced properly.

Estrogen is the hormone that keeps people young. It helps the brain to function properly, helps the eyes to avoid degeneration, controls your blood pressure, protects heart health, prevents bladder problems and cancer. Men have estrogen and their health can be compromised by the lack of estrogen. But it will be tough to convince men that they need estrogen. Right?

Progesterone balances estrogen and is a feel-good hormone. Progesterone and testosterone increase your physical desire. Testosterone helps build muscle and decrease fat, while improving motivation and energy. Estrogen and testosterone convert the bad cholesterol, LDL, to good cholesterol, HDL.

There is also good and bad estrogen. Type E2 is a good estrogen and protects against cancer of many kinds including colon and breast cancer. Not enough good estrogen will grow fibroids in the uterus. The good estrogen also acts like an antidepressant.

The wrong/bad estrogen, as in synthetic, will cause problems such as cancer, blood clots, etc. This includes birth control pills, which give you synthetic hormones to make your body think that it is pregnant for 3 weeks, then not pregnant for a week, which is when you get your period, though it's a false one that is really like the bleeding that takes place after child birth. The newer one that goes in 3 month cycles just holds the pregnant phase longer and gives your body less often to flush out the uterus and vagina. For a natural solution to birth control that's also inexpensive, check out my Natural Birth Control Page. You'll find a book and software that can break your dependency on synthetic hormones and allow your body to function naturally, while you become more in touch with your cycle and yourself.

E4 and E16 are two types of bad estrogen and will cause cancer. This is the type of estrogen given in synthetic medications for hormone replacement. These should be avoided. If you are currently taking these, talk with your doctor about alternatives, or find another doctor. Here's the doctor who I learned most of this information from and that I recommend for any health problems you may be having: Dr. Nasr.

The brain loses brain cells when estrogen is low. This can be reversed. The brain can heal and regenerate, if given the right nutrition and hormones. An example is a woman who had Alzheimers at age 70 and is now driving at age 90. This is a documented case, by Dr. Nasr, where nutrition and hormones were used to regain health.

Calcium without estrogen will not work to prevent osteoporosis. Sometimes only 10% of the calcium consumed is absorbed into the bones. Estrogen helps get the calcium into the bones.

If no egg is released, no progesterone will be produced. This gives an overabundance of estrogen, which can cause problems. This is very common in women with PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) involving bloating, night sweats, being easily irritated, and mood swings.

Men make their own progesterone, so they rarely have a deficiency. That's why men don't have PMS and mood swings. Women use lots of progesterone and are often deficient, which is why PMS is increasingly common in women.

Men and women both get low on the hormone testosterone. A woman's level of testosterone is much less than a man's level, but still vital to overall health. Symptoms of low testosterone in women are lack of motivation, extreme fatigue after exercise (tired for 2 days), overall fatigue, loss of body hair and lack of interest in sex.

When a man has low testosterone, he may go into what society calls a mid-life crisis. In all reality, age 14-20 is when males have their highest levels of testosterone. The inability to hold an erection can also be related to heart disease, so men need to talk to their doctor. Please don't look for the quick fix of erection drugs. Your body is telling you something. Fix the source of the problem.

Interferon is another substance important to health. It is produced when you are happy, exercising, laughing, during a good night's sleep and through goood nutrition. This fights disease. Interferon levels go down when a person is depressed, opening them up for disease. This is the substance that was working when the now famous man cured himself through laughter while watching The Three Stooges.

So, now that we know how important hormones are for our health, what can we do about it? Read on.

The further we get from nature, the more unhealthy we get. That's why whole food supplements which are closest to nature are best for the body.

And a lot of your body needs to be working properly in order for your hormones to be produced properly. Hormones originate in the brain, but also in a number of organs in your body, so you need overall health to have healthy hormones.

To achieve a healthy brain and body that will produce balanced hormones, you need to take in what is necessary for smooth operation, without adding extra toxins which can take away from the body's ability to function properly.

This includes:

Vitamins that are unoxidized and undamaged by heat so that they are still potent and effective.

Minerals including trace minerals that are in a form that your body can utilize.

Protein that has all the essential amino acids; isoflavones are a big bonus in promoting health.

Carbohydrates to provide energy; a low glycemic value is better, this means they digest more slowly to prevent sugar peaks and dives.

Fats in the form of Omega 3 and Omega 6 which are involved in a number of functions.

Oxygen that is clean because poor air quality is a major issue as homes have become more airtight.

Water that is pure; tap water and bottled water are certainly questionable.

I'm also trying a group of supplements designed for helping menopausal symptoms.

This combination of supplements consists of GLA which is an oil that is especially helpful for PMS sufferers.

The second part of the group is a Calcium supplement which is more complete than any I have seen. It includes Calcium, Vit D, Vit K, Magnesium (extremely important to balance this with calcium), phosphorus (needed for the bones to absorb the calcium), zinc, copper, manganese, and boron (all important for calcium usage).

The third part of this combination is a complex of substances designed to balance hormones. It contains herbs plus flax seed.

I've only been using this combination of products for a couple weeks, but I have gotten some really good sleep from the Calcium supplement. I'm waiting to see how my night sweats and PMS improve. We have to remember that herbs take longer to work than medications. I'll let you know my results in a few months.

Another note: Milk and meat products may contain hormones that affect your hormones. Organic milk and range-fed meat, which are certified without hormones, are your best choices. Also, plastic products may give off a hormone-like substance. Drink and eat out of glass containers. It's also being recommended that you do not let your baby or child chew on plastic toys. Yeah, I know, so did my kids!

Here's an update on my experience and what I've learned in the last 6 months about hormones.

There are 28 side effects to synthetic hormones. What the pharmaceutical companies do is take natural hormones, heat them, change the chemical make-up of them, so that they can patent them (they are not able to patent natural hormones). This is why there are so many side effects with synthetic hormone replacement. It's not natural for your body and your body cannot handle them correctly. Listen to the warnings for synthetic hormones. They are real. Don't think that they only happen to other people.

Natural hormones can be 500 times stronger for 1/10 of the price. I have to tell you that the best that I have felt in the last 20 years in when I was on natural hormone replacement. As I've stated on the Hormones Page of FibromyalgiaHope.com, as I retested my hormone levels to ascertain if I was on the correct dose, my body produced less and less hormones while my doses had to be increased more and more, each time I was tested.

This is why I have now tried Dr. Dale's homeopathic hormone boosters that increase your body's own hormone production. I used them for a period of 4-5 months. Then I stopped taking anything for two months. I did feel better with the homeopathic support than when I was on no hormone replacement or help. I felt that my hormones were managable when taking Dr. Dale's hormone rejuvenating creams but I did not feel as well as I did on natural hormone replacement. You will have to judge which is best for you. I cannot say if my own production, supported by homeopathy, is protecting me from disease as well as optimum levels of hormones would protect me.

I have to tell you that I did not try the recommended liver flush of Dr. Dale's. I did use a liver detoxification supplement for two months that consisted of a combination of herbs. Email me if you're wondering what this product was. I did feel better when taking this and should probably go back to it, especially since I've quit smoking (Yeah!) and could probably use a little more detoxifying. I really felt worse and worse the two months that I stopped taking Dr. Dale's hormone boosters, so they did make a difference for me.

I was hoping my body would take over and make them without support, but this hasn't happened. I could really feel my lack of motivation and cloudy thinking the last couple months. This is due to my lack of testosterone. (I had a hard time getting this newsletter out! This is weeks later than I had hoped to release it. My new part-time job is a factor, too.)

I've also had night sweats quite severely the second half of my cycle, since quitting hormone support, so I know my progesterone is lacking, too. The symptoms that point to the lack of these two hormones is consistent with numerous saliva tests that I've had in the last two years. I was getting a little miserable again, so I've started taking the homeopathic hormone support in the last couple weeks and my health and thinking has improved. Thank Goodness!

Long-term natural hormone replacement therapy, when you cannot get your hormones working naturally, can help prevent a number of diseases. Osteoporosis and Alzheimers plus Prostate, Breast and Uterine Cancer are all related to hormone production.

Even with the proper supplementation suggested in the middle section of this newsletter, your hormones may not be working correctly (though your chances of healthy, balanced hormones are better with good nutrition, etc). An example comes from a doctor whose 21 yr. old daughter was unable to become pregnant, despite being very healthy and taking quality supplements. This doctor gave her natural hormone replacement in the form of progesterone (after testing through bloodwork) and she was able to conceive. They needed to supply progesterone in increasing amounts until the placenta took over production of progesterone, to protect the baby from miscarriage.

My experience with saliva testing has been good, but one thing I learned recently is that the results of a saliva test can be inaccurate based on how dehydrated a person is. If you are very dehydrated, the concentration of hormones in your saliva will be greater, making the test results inaccurate. When I heard this, it really did make sense. Do you agree?

One more topic on hormone replacement is Dhea (dehydroepiandrosterone). This is a precursor (a substance that is formed before turning into something else) to other hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. It also occurs in measurable levels in the body. You can buy Dhea over the counter but you should only take it under a doctor's supervision. Too much is not good. This alone can help increase all of your reproductive hormone levels, but it's not a guarantee. Talk with your doctor about this supplement before using it.

Sorry, this newsletter is getting too long, isn't it? So, at the bottom of this page I've listed two sources for improving your emotional health. I found these more helpful than the emotional help offered on Dr. Dale's website. Please check out the links. One link is a free ebook. The other link has a free demo. I'll write more on this subject another time. But, I'm planning Heart Health for my next newsletter. Heart disease is now the number one killer in women!

That's all for now. . .

I'd be happy to help you. Email me below.

Until next time. . .

Sincerely,

Anita Murray
Life Hope Health and Wellness, LLC
www.FibromyalgiaHope.com

Copyright 2005 Corrected or deleted non-functional links and updated company information 2017