Mental Health

As May comes to an end, I'd like to touch on mental health, as this month is Mental Health Awareness Month! So, here are some tips for your mental health:

Did you know that there are more neurons in your gut than in your brain?! Mental health is just as important as physical health--your mind & body hold hands. So if you suffer with anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicidal tendencies, obsessive compulsive disorder, and the like, nutrition is largely a wonderful way to help! 

1) Salt water lowers histamine and adrenalin levels, which can greatly help to reduce anxiety and the incidence of panic attacks. (Sea salt or Morton Canning & Pickling salt).
2) Fruit is a wonderful mood-booster and helps to clarify thoughts, as it contains a sugar off of which the brain solely runs.
3) Meat & bone broth are also helpful in building neurotransmitters that are responsible for mood.
4) Staying hydrated with water helps to clean out neurotoxins that could be affecting the way that you think.
5) Low levels of cholesterol are associated with increased levels of depression.  Saturated fat, fruit, and lifestyle changes like meditation, rest, sunshine exposure, and exercise (even if it's walking outside) all help to normalize cholesterol levels and are all excellent ways to get back in touch with yourself, find your center, boost your mood, balance emotions, and empower you to conquer your day!

Always be mindful of what's in your food (& lifestyle), as what you eat (& how you live) can manifest into how you view the world!

Low Carb Diets: A Recipe For Health Problems

LOW CARB DIETS are particularly bad for the hormonal system of females.  Cutting out carbs is not necessarily the best option, and here's why:

A particularly useful thyroid hormone (known as T3) is responsible for converting cholesterol into the hormone Progesterone, which is the "youth-associated, protective hormone" known to help with hair growth, clear skin, and overall hormonal balance.  The key is that this entire process depends upon glucose or sugar that largely comes from carbohydrates.  Without carbs, the body becomes stressed and produces more estrogen, which ages the body and causes a myriad of other health effects when it's dominant.

Thus, going on a low carb diet can lead to breast tenderness, PMS, headaches, an increase in fat tissue, a decrease in muscle tissue, hair loss, wrinkles, cravings, high blood sugar (yep!), a damaged metabolism, and hormonal chaos. 

If you're thinking low carb is the best, you may want to change that misconception to a "no processed foods" lifestyle.  Processed foods are much worse for the body than real, wholesome carbs like fruits and root vegetables (i.e., carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets, peppers, squash, etc.).  Fruits and roots contain real sugar that the body recognizes and prefers in order to operate efficiently and not have to age and break down the body.

So do yourself a favor and avoid anything processed, rather than avoiding real carbs that are nourishing to your body.