Reducing Toxins for a Healthy Conception with Lara Adler

Lara Adler is a Certified Holistic Health Coach and an Environmental Toxins Expert, and, let me tell you something, this girl knows her toxins.  Many of us know a thing or two about toxins, but Lara knows everything!

Today we talk about the influence of toxins on fertility and our growing babies. Because developing fetuses are so much more susceptible to the mal-effects of toxins, and because the effects can last a lifetime, it is important that we learn how to protect them as much as is possible.

However this episode is helpful for anyone who is curious about toxins and how to reduce them.  

Tired of having that same old argument with your uncle Ron, with him saying that there is no reason to be worried about RoundUp and food coloring and the like? Now you have some ammunition!

In this episode, we'll learn:

• That indoor air quality can be 50-100 times worse than outdoors

• That some chemicals are neurotoxins, especially in developing baby

• The chemicals are linked to PCOS (leading cause of sub-fertility)

• The chemicals linked to fertility issues in men

• How birth defects on boy babies are on the rise

• That being pregnant detoxes chemicals out of mom and into baby

• That avoiding BPA is not enough and why

• And Lara's three best first steps to reduce your toxic load

To learn more about Lara, visit her site here.  Lara specializes in teaching practitioners, but will be expanding her offerings to the public over time.  

You can listen through the audio player below.  But the best way to get this and all our interviews, wherever you are, is to be subscribed to our podcast.

Yummy Carrot Parsnip Mash

If you haven't yet discovered the pure delight of parsnips, now is the time!

This easy mash takes no time at all, and your guests will find you very fancy.

Ingredients:

• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into big chunks

• 4 parsnips, peeled and cut into big chunks

• 3/4 leek, cut into thin slices (avoid possible dirt in upper leek)

• 1 cup bone broth or water

•  about 2 T butter

• salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon of each)

Directions:

• Set the broth or water to boil in a medium, covered pot.  

• Add leeks, carrots, parsnips.  

• Boil covered on medium until totally soft.  Add butter.  

• Use immersion blender to mash until smooth.  If you don't have an immersion blender, you can dump all ingredients into your external food processor to blend.

• Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste, and mix well.

• Serve, optionally, each portion in a little serving cup, topped with a dash of nutmeg.  Delicious!

• Makes about 5 servings.

A Natural Approach to Fertility with Dr. Aumatma Shah, ND

Infertility is not a disease, it’s a symptom.  When we are in optimal health, we are fertile.  Dr. Aumatma Shah

Having been in the fertility field a while myself, I really appreciate Dr. Aumatma's lighthearted, compassionate, and inquisitive attitude about fertility.  It is all too easy to get discouraged, melodramatic, etc, and she does none of that.

Trying to get pregnant, and not initially succeeding, is incredibly stressful.  To have someone on your team who is a bright light of hope can be a game changer.

Dr. Aumatma is a naturopathic physician, and her approach to fertility includes the following:

Testing:

She will, as the case demands, run tests on:

• Full thyroid panel

• Food sensitivity test

• Detox panel

• Nutrients panel

• Genomics profile

DetoxifyinG:

As our endocrine systems are so sensitive to toxins, and there are so dang many of them out there, detoxification can be vital.

Rebuilding:

Get nutrients into the body and healing with homeopathics are some of her techniques.

Energetics:

Releasing past traumas and re-learning to be a receptive female again in this man's world are examples of what she can help.

Dr. Aumatma offered a free gift to our community, which is a "How Fertile Am I?" quiz that she will personally review.

If you are needing a little sunshine in your fertility shadow, you've got to listen to this interview below!

Are you subscribed to our podcast yet?  Come on and get in with us (:

Overcoming Anxiety Without Medication with Dr. Kim D'Eramo

I really enjoyed interviewing Dr. Kim D'Eramo.  For one thing, she is incredibly lively and fun.  For another, it's exciting to think that we have way more ability than we realize to heal ourselves.

She had a career as an emergency room physician, but meanwhile, since her teenage years and her own experience with anxiety, she was learning about how to harness the power of her own thoughts.  Over time, her friends would send their friends with anxiety to Kim to learn about this mind-body stuff that she does.  

She practices, among other things, emotional freedom technique, also known as tapping.

She no longer works in the ER, but has dedicated herself to mind-body medicine, and established the American Institute of Mind-Body Medicine, where she teaches both physicians and individuals how to heal with these simple tools of which we all have access.

So many of my female clients over the years have complained of anxiety.  Some men too, but more often women.  So I looked it up, and here is what the Anxiety and Depression Association of America had to say about it:

From the time a girl reaches puberty until about the age of 50, she is twice as likely to have an anxiety disorder as a man. Anxiety disorders also occur earlier in women than in men.

Women are also more likely to have multiple psychiatric disorders during their lifetime than men. The most common to co-occur with anxiety is depression.

Differences in brain chemistry may account for at least part of these differences. The brain system involved in the fight-or-flight response is activated more readily in women and stays activated longer than men, partly as a result of the action of estrogen and progesterone.

The neurotransmitter serotonin may also play a role in responsiveness to stress and anxiety. Some evidence suggests that the female brain does not process serotonin as quickly as the male brain. Recent research has found that women are more sensitive to low levels of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), a hormone that organizes stress responses in mammals, making them twice as vulnerable as men to stress-related disorders.

Dr. Kim is offering a series of free videos right now where you can get techniques to use right away to deal with anxiety.  Click on the images below to access these videos.  What do you have to lose?!

If you have had successful with wrangling anxiety, please share your wisdom below!

Addressing Pelvic Pain and Infertility with Dr. Jennifer Mercier

Dr. Jennifer Mercier is a triple threat: naturopath, massage therapist and midwife.  I kind of fall in love with her work on the episode, as you'll hear!  

It was Jennifer's own experience with stage 4 endometriosis, coupled with her medical training, that helped her develop the Mercier Therapy.

Mercier Therapy is her own system of abdominal therapy that works with the ligaments and organs to move them into alignment with the goals of restoring function and /or reducing pain.

For women, it can help us have a smoother cycle, recover from surgeries, improve our fertility and heal trauma.

I find so many have strange sensations in their abdomens that they worry about. And many have complications form C section or even a natural birth, and feel there are no options to heal.  Still other have unexplained infertility, that can potentially respond to a new approach.

Jennifer works locally in St. Charles, IL, but also trains practitioners in other states and countries.  That means if this type of work speaks to you, you may be able to fidn a practitioner in your area.  And if you are practitioner, training is available.  

Her clinic

Her training program

Find a practitioner

The Mercier Movie

We are hosting a free Recipe Party Jan 9 -31, 2016. See new blog post to join!

Listen to the Interview

You can listen to the interview through the player below, but even better is to get subscribed to Women's Wellness Radio through your Apple or Android podcast player!

Join the January Recipe Party

This was a recipe for Chicken Tajine from Mediterranean Paleo that turned out so delicious.  

I was calling this a "Recipe Challenge," but realized that sounded too intimidating!  This is actually the least intimidating challenge...

How the Recipe Party Started

I love to cook but am bad about cracking a recipe book, or planning out what I need for recipes at the store.  I also have fantasies that I will compete on Masterchef someday, so I need to broaden my knowledge!!!

Anyway, at first I thought, "I'm going to cook one new recipe a day in January!" Then I realized that is pretty demanding, and it's hard to start right after the holidays.  So I softened it up a bit.

What is the Recipe Party

The Recipe Party is simply a way for us to get inspired in cooking new things by sharing with and supporting each other.  We will do this through our private Facebook group.  You will have to ask to join the group first since it's a private group.  

How the Recipe Party Works

Starting January 9, you can resolve to make as little or as many recipes as you want through January 30.  You can do literally only one new recipe if you want.  That might be enough for you with your schedule, or your cooking history!

You can use recipes from a website you like, from your Grandmother, or from some recipe books that are collecting dust on your shelves.

You can cook vegetarian, all desserts, or paleo.  It's up to you!

So as you can see, there are no rules at all in this recipe party.  

What to Do Next

Go to the Facebook group and ask to join.  Once I have clicked the approval, please come post an introduction of yourself.

Here's an example:

"Hi I'm Bridgit and I'm from Portland, OR.  The books I'm going to cook from are the Ketogenic Cookbook, Mediterranean Paleo and the Virgin cookbook.  I intend to cook 3 new recipes a week, probably 2 on the weekend and 2 during the week.  Looking forward to getting to know you, and trying some, new yummy foods!"

That's it!  From there you are welcome to share successful recipes, or complete failures.  This is not meant to be stressful, so don't beat yourself up if you don't cook as much as you planned.  

The reason I like short-term challenges (or parties) is that it rocks us out of our routine, and then maybe we realize some easy way to shop for recipes, or we start creating our own recipes, or joining in with neighbors to can fruit.  Things happen when we push ourselves in a new direction, and hopefully we can do it in a fun and supportive way.

See you on the group!  Bridgit