Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Falling Asleep Naturally

We all have those nights when sleep just isn’t an option. We lay awake and stare at the ceiling, fall asleep and wake up a few hours later, or sleep so lightly that every little noise rouses us. Sleep is absolutely vital to our health. It recharges our system and actually gives growth hormone time to heal all the cells in our body.
Without sleep, we are foggy, groggy, irritable, confused, forgetful, tired, and moody. It’s like the seven dwarves without the prince to rescue us!
First, take your energizing vitamins or medications in the morning [...]

Adult Acne: Shouldn’t This Have Ended Years Ago?

Would someone please tell our skin that puberty is over? It ended years ago, and still we are dealing with the aftermath. Why do adult women have the kind of acne we experienced as teenagers? The large, inflamed, all over your face type that blisters up out of nowhere and manages to come the morning of a large, important event…and stay for days.
At first we assumed it was hormonal as it cropped up around that PMS week. Lately, I have been hearing more women complain of acne all month long that never seems to go [...]

Breast Thermography Part II: Common Questions

1) Does thermography use radiation or compress my breasts? No, breast thermography uses infrared cameras to take pictures of the temperature of your skin.
2) Is it safe? Yes, very safe! Breast thermography has been researched since the 1970’s and has over 800 peer-reviewed studies with over 300,000 women to back it up.
3) What will a scan tell me? If you have areas of concern on your pictures, you will be referred for additional diagnostic work-up such as a mammogram. Thermography has been shown to find cancerous or pre-cancerous cell growth up to 10 years earlier [...]

Breast Thermography: Another Approach to Healthy Breasts

As women, we are well aware of mammograms and ultrasounds. We know to do self-breast exams every month and routine screening begins at age 40, sometimes earlier depending on family or personal history. We know to feel for lumps, bumps, pain, skin changes, and generally anything that is out of the ordinary for our breast tissue when doing our own exams.
What about including Breast Thermography?
This imaging uses a digital infrared camera to see the metabolic and circulatory activity within your breasts by relying on surface temperature. The pictures produced are color coded in that a “hot” or very [...]

The Top 10 Foods to Eat Organic!

Times are a changing and the green movement has taken hold throughout most of the country. People are recycling, buying more environmentally friendly cars, re-using shopping bags, and eating organic. To some, this great switch to save our planet could cause some frustration as not all stores offer organic and going from regular milk to hormone-free, organic milk may take a chunk out of your paycheck. Not to fret my eco-conscious friend! There is a great website by the Environmental Working Group that examines the least and most toxic fruits and vegetables to help you decide [...]

Estrogen Balance and Broccoli – The Most Important Vegetable for Women.

Can broccoli, brussels sprouts, and kale really help your estrogen metabolism? The answer is YES! Diindolylmethane (otherwise known as DIM) is a constituent in these cruciferous vegetables that enables your body to properly break estrogen down into a more friendly form and flush it from your system. It helps to restore your hormone balance.
Once the life of an estrogen molecule is over, it heads to your liver where it is transformed into one of three break-down molecules known as hydroxylation. Your estrogen can become a 2, hydroxyestrogen, 4, hydroxyestrogen, or a 16, hydroxyestrogen. This is important to [...]

5 Simple Health Habits That Won’t Break The Bank!

Welcome to a whole new year! A year that already promises to keep us on our toes for a long while. Perhaps you have heard about this whole economy thing and made the decision to scale back, spend less, and drop some habits that were biting into the checkbook. In any case, I am here to remind you to take care of you in the coming year and to not put yourself last on your list when working the budget.
Here are some simple things you can do everyday for your health – remember, you’re important!1) Drink clean water everyday – [...]

Vitamin D: Fights Fat and a Whole Lot More!

Vitamin D is everywhere. You hear about it on the news, in magazines, even right here on empowher.com. Some tout it as the new super vitamin yet why are so many Americans deficient? It is fortified in milk, bread, cereals, and the sun right above our heads (unless you live in Portland like me) yet studies show even those living in the brightest spots are not receiving enough.
So let’s review…what is Vitamin D?
First of all, it is a fat soluble vitamin that is metabolized by ultraviolet light (particularly UVB) or from our diet. Vitamin D is [...]

IVF and Birth Defects? Ugh!

“The CDC reports that certain birth defects — including heart wall problems and cleft lip/palate — may be two to four times more common among babies conceived with assisted reproductive technology (ART) than babies conceived naturally. Those findings — published in the advance online edition of Human Reproduction — focus on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).”
“The following types of birth defects were more common among babies conceived through ART:
*Septal heart defects: Twice as common among babies conceived by ART
*Cleft lip and/or cleft palate: 2.4 times as common among babies conceived by ART
*Esophageal atresia (birth defect [...]

Smoking and Hot Flashes

“Cigarette smoking is associated with hot flashes, higher androstenedione levels, a higher total androgen-to-total estrogen ratio, and lower progesterone levels in women who are not postmenopausal, according to the results of a cross-sectional study reported in the November issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.”
This means that smoking increases your hot flashes, increases your DHEA and testosterone, screws with the hormonal balance and lowers your precious progesterone levels. Not good ladies! Please keep this in mind when deciding to quit in the new year.