The Goddess Talk conversation we had on Friday with Dr Valerie Donaldson about Hormones and our health was just as fabulous and informative as we knew it would be.
We are about women having the information they need to stay healthy, so we are sharing some highlights, some links and the recordings to the whole community, members and non-members alike.
Highlights included that, in fact, there has been a LOT of research done on women's health and the effects of hormone replacement therapy. Much of the research actually negates conclusions from the past about the safety of this type of treatment.
It is best to stay informed and when faced with a medical decision, do your research and apply common sense. When it makes sense to you is when it's time to start a treatment or therapy and not one minute before.
Dr Valerie gave us some great information, and the most valuable was places we can look to verify and research the topics for ourselves and better understand the studies being done and what they may mean for our health.
Handy and Reliable Resources for Research
National Institutes of Health(NIH) - https://www.nih.gov/
PubMed - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Nature - https://www.nature.com/
What else we learned...
We found out things like … Estrogen, and to a lesser degree Progesterone, does 400 things in our bodies and can support us with a variety of symptoms including bone density issues, vaginal dryness, heart palpitations, urinary tract infections and they can affect our neurotransmitters, decrease cholesterol, and generally improve organ function.
Testosterone helps with bone density also and supports healing and repair as well as mental cognition. We knew those hormones were there for a reason.
Turns out, fundamentally, BHRT are hormones derived from natural sources (plants & animals). The value of this is that typically our bodies more easily recognize and take in minerals and hormones from these sources. The easiest place to start is upgrading your diet to whole foods from the most natural source you can access.
Anne shared the name of her favorite nutritionist, who, lucky for us, has written several books with lots of yummy recipes.
Here's a favorite from Anne Louise Gittleman - Fat Flush for Life: The Year-Round Super Detox Plan to Boost Your Metabolism and Keep the Weight Off Permanently
Several questions come up about things like insulin resistance (often associated with hormone imbalance, PCOS, and Thyroid conditions). Did you know over 60% of women over the age of 50 will be diagnosed with one or more of these conditions? And it is considered to be dramatically under-diagnosed!!
Here are several links related to these questions from sources shared by ladies on the call
Dr. Nadia Pateguana & Dr. Jason Fung: 'Polycystic Ovary Syndrome' (33m)— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaouRuqqEfY
For information about Thyroid health, follow Dr Izabella Wentz—
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/ Her Instagram, by the same name, is an excellent resource also.
To check on the safety of your water, your food and the products you use every day—EWG (Environmental Working Group): https://www.ewg.org/Plus, their app for your phone (Healthy Living), allows you to scan and check the ingredients and toxicity of products on the shelf.
Bottom line, there are so many things our hormones do for us. Those same hormones we lose as a result of aging, the environment or various illnesses. It just may be worthwhile to look into it!
Here are the FULL recordings of the conversation.
NOTE: In interest of making these available fast they are unedited.
Because we ALL need a break by now, we're sharing this week's Goddess Living Members practice with everyone.
This Week's Practice
Make a Healthy-ish Cake!
We love that there are continually evolving recipes for the things we love, like cake, that use healthier and better ingredients.
You can make these recipes healthier by substituting Gluten Free flour (King Arthur’s or Bob’s Redmill) and using a Monk Fruit as a Sugar Substitute for all or part of the sugar.
So take a few minutes and indulge in making and eating some cake, without the guilt and/or the health impacts.
