A month of working on my wellness. DAY Seven March 6, 2018

jodimullen2013 ♦ March 7, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

Toxins

Did you know this? According to Dr. Sara Gottfried, “More than 700 synthetic chemicals mimic estrogen in a toxic way, and their prevalence in our environment is on the rise. These toxins, found in an array of items from receipts to canned foods and from plastics to pesticides, have now been linked with early puberty, female infertility, ovulation, miscarriage, endometriosis, male infertility, obesity, diabetes, and an increase in certain cancers.” I did not know anything about this. Here’s a few things I am doing to try and minimize these toxins:

1. I don’t get receipts or when given the option I have them emailed or sent by text to me.
2. I invested in glass containers. I am slowly removing the plastic ones from my home and replacing them with the glass ones.
3. I buy fresh food when I can.
4. There are lots of real plants in my office.

I know I am leaving some things off this list, but since my sleep has been a little sucky, my memory and cognition are affected; that’s what the research says. Anyway, what can you do to decrease your exposure to toxins?

More on the NO sugar-thing

I am going to keep talking/writing about this. One, so I can share what I have learned with you, and two, so I won’t have another M&M binge. That being said, for those of you who are a bit nerdy about the science of this (I mean nerdy in a loving way), I will also dedicate some time to writing about what hormones sugar impacts, how that manifests in your body and what the results are. Dr. Sara Gottfried states in The Hormone Reset Diet, that most of us are eating way too much sugar. Similar arguments are made by Gary Traub, Alicia Silverstone, and Dr. Kelly Brogan. What happens when we eat sugar is we become addicted! You already know it’s bad for your teeth, it makes you feel like you are in a fog and cranky. Dr. Gottfried says, “It [sugar] feeds the bacteria in your gut that makes you hang on to fat, which then makes you gain even more fat.” Crap and another reason we should be taking probiotics. She further says, “It’s not that you are eating too many calories and not exercising enough. It is far more likely, that you can’t zip the dress because you have insulin resistance, where your cells become numb to insulin.” Turns out that insulin is one of the hormones that impact how you derive energy from the foods you eat. The sugar thing is tied to the insulin thing. The insulin thing is tied to weight gain thing, the inflammation thing and the diseases of inflammation thing (that includes depression and if you don’t think so read Dr. Brogan’s work). That’s a lot for now, there will be more tomorrow. In the meantime, no M&M’s for me, cup of tea and air popped popcorn.

Dry Brushing & Hot Body Scrub

This is worth adding to your morning routine. The first time I heard about brushing was in consultation with an occupational therapist I was collaborating with for a child I was seeing in my role as a play therapist and mental health counselor who had been diagnosed with Autism. Fast forward about 10 years and I read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. Silverstone suggests scrubbing the body with a washcloth and hot water. This is supposed to be not only good for your skin, but circulation and lymphatic circulation, it releases toxins and helps dissolve fat trapped under the skin. Fast forward another 10 years to present day and Dr. Brogan is also advocating for dry brushing. I have been doing this every morning, for months. I have some observations to share with you. My skin feels soft, even though I live in a cold climate and it is very dry inside and out. The other thing I noticed is I just love it. It has become part of my morning routine I love how it feels on my skin, I love the sound it makes; it’s soothing. Finally, I often wake up with a level of intensity that is a little much, when I dry brush or hot scrub it seems to ground me; I love that.

Thanks for listening and keeping me writing and away from the candy!

With love & gratitude, Jodi