Over the weekend, I spent the day with my mother who had a brilliant idea! She took me to the library to find books on nutrition and fertility. She too has been doing research on nutrition and celiacs and decided that instead of buying the books it would be better to check them out from a library. The woman is a genius! We spent almost two hours looking through the books and making our selections. The books can be kept for 3 weeks and the DVD’s and magazine 1 week. I walked out of there with over 10 books about nutrition, hormones and auto-immune disease. You would think I might feel overwhelmed knowing I have that much reading to do but I figured with most of the books, I would just be looking in the sections that pertained to me and my issues (health issues all other issues can wait for another time). I checked out books with titles like “It’s my ovaries stupid,” and “Auto-immune Disease & Women.” The book I started with is called “Hormone Revolution.” I started it on Saturday and have decided I will be reading the entire book (so much for just looking in certain sections, blew that out of the water with the first book). It is written by a Dr. who has dedicated her life to researching women and the effects hormones have on their bodies and lifestyles. In her lifetime, her menstrual cycle has stopped twice. Each time this happened she evaluated what her body needed and was able to bring back her monthly menses and is currently still having a regular monthly period in her sixties. I figure if she can do it at 60 then I can bring my cycle back at age 29. Along with the monthly cycle, she doesn’t even look close to be in her sixties and her hair is still naturally the same dark brown she was born with (no grays). She wrote the book to help women restore a healthy hormone balance in their bodies naturally but she has recommendations for hair, nails, skin and diet as well so that women who read her book can feel beautiful inside and out. I am about halfway through and don’t worry I am taking good notes. I will be sure to share my findings as soon as I am done. The only frustrating part of the book is that it asks you to confirm if you are low on estrogen or progesterone. I don’t know which one I am because at the time of my last blood test, I was told I was producing enough of each to not have to go on hormone replacement so I guess I am low on both?? Anyway, I decided to record the recommendations on restoring both hormones and incorporate those mentioned under both categories into my daily routine. I know that a high FSH means that there is not enough estrogen production in the ovaries so I am definitely keeping that in mind.
I went into my typical Monday appointment with Cheri with a whole list of supplements I wanted to pick her brain on. After reading only half of Hormone Revolution I had millions of questions and needed someone else’s opinion. I asked her opinion on all kinds of things I had read about and after talking with her, I have decided to not incorporate anymore supplements into my diet at this time (don’t worry I will still share them with you and keep them in my arsenal for later use just in case). Cheri has seen people try all sorts of things to heal her body and swears that the people who have had the most success, heal by cleansing and eating a healthy diet. She said that if I give it a chance, my body will balance itself and that if I fill myself full of supplements, I would not allow my body the chance to work things out. We discussed what I was currently taking and decided that it all sounded like things I could continue to take as they are supplements that are for overall health. So for now it is my prenatal multi-vitamin, royal jelly, PABA, MACA and my organic pregnancy tea (with nettles). I will also continue to add my liquid probiotics, SunWarrior Super Greens and Protein to my juice each morning. I am going to try and incorporate all other suggestions from “Hormone Revolution” through the foods the author suggests. Superfoods such as MACA, Flaxseeds and Oil oil are just a few. I figure if it’s good for me and it’s food, can’t hurt right?? More natural then taking it in pill form. As I read through my massive stack of books from the library, I will make changes with my diet to be sure my body and my immune system (yes I know they are not separate) can get the top notch treatment. I never thought I would be this excited to read and type up book reports but I find myself anticipating the weekend to get here so that I can continue my research!!!
I received an anonymous comment on this blog yesterday regarding the book “The Gluten Effect.” Thank you for this tip, I plan on reading it and the article attached to the link you sent me. While searching for “The Gluten Effect” from a search engine. I also found a great blog called The Gluten Free Frenzee. I haven’t been able to read much of it but what I read seemed very helpful and had a bunch of tips for restoring your immune system such as taking probiotics every day.
Here is the link to the article linking celiac to fertility issues.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38600414/ns/health-kids_and_parenting?gt1=43001
Since reading this article, I have been doing research all week on celiacs and fertility. It turns out that doctors now believe that celiacs is a leading cause of unexplained infertility. Makes sense, an auto immune disease that turns the body against itself…..um I would think that could cause damage to not only your fertility. It’s just that the reproductive system isn’t a necessary function to survive so it is one of the first to go. During my search, I read all sorts of blogs from women on gluten free diets. Most had fertility restored after an “extended amount of time”. That wasn’t good enough, I had to know how long an “extended amount of time” was. It seems that it takes 9-12 months of a strict gluten free diet for most women. I thought I was gluten free and being pretty smart about the way I ate but I was sadly mistaken. When I was going to eat at Mexican resteraunts, I was ordering shrimp or veggie fajitas thinking that had to be safe and gluten free. It turns out most places use a seasoning while grilling that has gluten in it. I was pretty upset to learn that because we go to eat Mexican at least twice a week! Something else I hadn’t really thought about until recently is the chips at all restaurants. Most of them, even if they are made from corn tortillas, are not gluten free. They are fried in the oil that everything else is fried in which contaminates them. I have started taking my own chips when I know we are going out to dinner. I also realized that I was cross contaminating my own food at home. I make my husband’s lunch everyday before I make my juice. Until recently, I wasn’t wiping off the counter in-between making his sandwiches and slicing my fruit. I now wipe off the counter and wash my hands before even getting my fruit out of the fridge. I have also started making his lunch on a different part of the counter then the part I use to slice and juice.
12 years ago
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