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Medications save lives and help many people live more full lives. But with all medications there comes risks, and side effects. This is the same with all forms of birth control. It would be naive to think that adding a synthetic hormone to your body would not cause a disruption. This is a non-natural addition to your biochemistry. As such it changes aspects of your biochemistry, some with positive and wanted effects, and others negative. These negative changes cause side effects. Some mild and some severe. Side effects are caused by a number of factors including the diminished ability to properly metabolize the additional hormones, allergic reactions to the medications, the act of disrupting your natural hormonal patterns, and nutrient depletion among others. In this article we will be addressing the nutrient depletion component.
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Did you know that 60-90% (depending on age group)(1) of reproductive aged women are not consuming enough Magnesium in America? This is a big problem, and even more so in pregnancy. In prenatal nutrition, we have heard about the need for things like Folate (please don't use Folic Acid), but we have not heard much on the need for Magnesium. Possibly because the goal of prenatal nutrition is to grow healthy babies, not the functional health of the mother. With the increasing rise of maternal health issues and death, this needs to change. (I am taking a little bump off my last post where I discussed how disappointed I am in the prenatal vitamins available in the market. If you want to know why, "Your Prenatal Vitamin Sucks" click here.)
The vast array of available prenatal vitamin options out there are staggering. Whether they are over the counter, or prescription, the quality is broad and often overwhelming. So, where is a pregnant mother to turn? With so many options over the counter, and physicians with mediocre nutritional education, how are they to know what is a good prenatal vitamin and what isn't?
Today I am going to tell you why YOUR PRENATAL VITAMIN SUCKS and what you can do about it. So, sit back and grab a cup of tea, because this is going to be a one heck of a ride. I received a wonderful comment on another blog post of mine, "Top 10 Foods to Prepare for Labor and Delivery." In that post I list Liver as one of my Labor and Delivery prep superfoods. The commenter brought up the concern that liver is an extremely rich source of Vitamin A, and excess Vitamin A in pregnancy is associated with birth defects. Her concern was that I may be giving out dangerous information in regards to suggesting liver consumption for labor preparation. I truly welcome these comments and concerns, as they offer an avenue for discussion, and this is a great topic of discussion.
The key to migraine treatment and prevention is understanding how migraines form and how they react. There is no one form of migraine, and no one trigger. Which is why treatment and prevention are often very difficult. To begin the journey in the treatment of your migraines, you should start by understanding your migraine presentation. Migraines affect over 50 million Americans. Most migraine sufferers are women between the ages of 30-39. Which is increasingly concerning as the connection between migraines, birth control and increased stroke risk are 9x higher.
We have all read articles talking about fats...don't eat this fat, eat lots of this fat, etc.... How many of you actually know what kind of fat is what? What are Omega-3 fatty acids and how do they differ from Omega-6 and 9 and even Omega 7? What is polyunsaturated vs. Monounsaturated vs. saturated?
Well, hopefully I can give you a quick break down and help with any confusions. In my office, we talk a lot about zinc. Mostly because I work primarily with women's health conditions, and zinc is huge in the women's health world. I like to reference some of the studies done for IFV that show the moment an egg and sperm meet and the amazing fireworks that occur. This is zinc at work.
I've had discussions with many different practitioners about nutrition. I have been told my many conventional doctors and nurses that nutritional deficiencies in the US are rare thanks to food fortification. Sadly, this is NOT the case. In fact the rate of nutritional deficiencies in the US are more rare than we have been let to believe. One of these is zinc. Zinc deficiency is very common around the world, with 17% of the world population having a deficiency. Here in the US we are not immune to this deficiency, even with food fortification. 12% of the general US population, and up to 40% of the elderly, are deficient in this essential mineral. The number of natural induction methods and options have grown exponentially over the last several decades. In my practice, as an Acupuncturist, I’ve seen a huge influx in women seeking Acupuncture and alternative medicine to speed up the labor process in the avoidance of a medically induced childbirth. While most of the natural induction methods are fairly harmless and offer some benefit in triggering the natural hormonal reactions of labor, there are some that would be better left on the shelf.
In the last week alone, I have been asked by over a dozen people about food allergies in one form or another. It seems to come up in conversations quite frequently. What I've learned from these interactions is that there is a lot of misinformation, and a lot of questions about food allergies, what they are, and what it all means?
More than 170 food have been documented as causing true food allergies. Research estimates that 1 out of ever 13 children currently has food allergies. Autoimmune Disease affects over 50 million Americans. It is one of the top ten causes of death among women over 65, and is the second highest cause of chronic illness in the US. Autoimmune Disease is on the rise, not only in the US but worldwide.
There are over 100 different autoimmune diseases currently. Autoimmune diseases are chronic and are often life threatening. They can affect any system in the body, and symptoms can vary, making them difficult to diagnose. The current medical system offers little in treatment other than medications. Often only prescribing them once damage has been not, and not offering options for prevention. Autoimmune disease has an underlying cause, a trigger, that cause the body to overreact and attack itself. The goal of TCM and Functional Medicine is to find and treat the underlying cause to reverse and prevent damage. |
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