Natural Health Archives - Natural Fertility and Wellness

Choosing natural menstrual products; what you need to know about tampons and pads

June 30, 2016 by Melissa

We use them every single month and they come super close to our most precious space, yet we seldom think about what tampons and pads contain and how they may be affecting our health.

1.What are they made of?

Most pads and tampons are made of cotton. This is one of the most grown crops and also one of the most pesticide ridden crops. Cotton is considered the world’s dirtiest crop due to its heavy use of pesticides. Cotton grower’s use 16% of the world’s pesticides.

Dioxin is one of the most worrisome ingredients within these pesticides as it has been linked to endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, cause cancer and reduced fertility.

The average pad also contains the same amount of plastic as four plastic bags. That plastic is also likely to contain chemicals like BPS, BPS and affect our natural hormone balance.

2. Everything down there gets absorbed

Your cells in your vagina are super absorbent and whatever is in that space is going to be absorbed. This can be advantageous if you are wanting to make a healthy suppository but if you want to avoid toxins leaching into your body, then it is imperative that we become more aware of what we use.

“Vaginal tissue is lined with permeable mucous membranes, which protect the body from bacteria, but which can also easily absorb or be irritated by other chemicals,” explains Alex Scranton, director of Science and Research at Women’s Voices For The Earth, a group that advocates more research into menstrual products’ safety. These vaginal membranes are filled with blood vessels, which allow any chemical they are exposed to be easily absorbed into your bloodstream.

“Studies have shown that hormone chemicals, like estrogen especially, will be absorbed vaginally at 10-80 times the rate that the same dose would be absorbed orally,” notes Scranton. So it isn’t hard to believe that any pesticides and chlorine present in the cotton used to make your tampon would be quickly absorbed through your vagina, too.

3. Your choice impacts the environment

Think about it… all those tampons and pads have an incredible environmental impact. In one lifetime we may use 11,000 to 16,000 tampons in a lifetime. That is all landing up in landfills, rubbish and simply doesn’t biodegrade easily.

We’ve also got to consider that all that growing of cotton and use of chemicals lands up in our rivers and oceans.

4. Blocking the nature of things

When we menstruate, we want things to flow out of the body. Using tampons creates a block and also opens up room for infection and unhealthy bacteria. It has been shown that tampons are not able to absorb all parts of our menstruation process. They tend to only absorb the liquid parts of our period. This means the thicker cells are not being absorbed and remain stuck in the uterus.

We are also not supposed to have something with old blood sitting inside of our bodies for extended periods of time. Menstruation is our bodies way of cleansing. It is supposed to come out!

Recommendations for natural menstrual products:

If you like pads: use washable pads to allow a natural flow of things, without all the chemicals and without impacting the environment. You can find many options on Amazon as well as handmade pads on etsy.

If you like tampons: Use a Diva Cup (available on Amazon) or Mooncup to replace tampons. These can be used each and every month, saving you money and the environment at the same time.

How to alleviate pain during sex, when you have Endometriosis

March 28, 2016 by Melissa

It’s a sensitive topic. It’s a sensitive area… and who wants to tell their husband that it hurts when they are in the middle of passionate love-making?

Tough one…. right?

I used to experience terrible pain with having Endometriosis and it frequently was the cause of a heap of uncomfortable situations over the years. It was only when I found my husband, and I was able to be more open and honest about my pain, that things were turned around. I finally discovered some interesting correlations with my pain during sex and techniques I could use to alleviate some of them.

photo credit – elnur, via canva.com

Here are three ideas on how to alleviate pain during sex:

The connection with pain cycles

When I first got pain during sex, I felt like it was random. It seemed to just come out of nowhere and I had no connection with why it was happening. Over the years, I worked out two key reasons why my pain would get worse:

It was something I ate which caused more inflammation in my abdominal area. I worked out that certain foods triggered more pain and inflammation in my abdominal area. These were things like gluten, dairy and any beans.
I also realized that my pain had cycles. There were certain times of the month when it was almost impossible to have sex! Usually it was around ovulation. For some women it can be before ovulation, after ovulation or before menstruation begins. The key thing is to record and track what your cycle looks like and recognize when those pain days are more prominent. This helps you in your relationship in knowing that there are times when sex is easier but it also helps you to determine what may be triggers for more pain.

The emotional stuff getting in the way

Intimacy and sex are not easy topics to talk to our partners about. It can take a little while to feel truly comfortable and talk openly about this kind of stuff and often times women will hide what they are feeling or thinking. There tends to also be so much guilt around not being able to “provide for your man” in that way.

The act of intimacy and sex is not about giving to your man. It is something you enjoy together. I guess you could say it is like a hobby you do together. It needs to be something you both enjoy and take pleasure in for each other. You don’t do it for him and he shouldn’t do it for you. It is something you come together to enjoy and be together in.

The benefit of having pain is ironically that you do need to talk openly about sex and intimacy. It creates a wonderful bond with your partner to be able to do this!

The more intimate you can make the experience, the better it will be and less likely you will feel any emotional connections with pain or anxiety around having sex.

The hormone connection

When I really get in-depth with my clients about having Endometriosis and their experience with having sex, it is often clear to me that they are simply not getting enough lubrication. This can be caused by a host of reasons but typically hormone treatments being used for their treatment are often a big factor. The contraceptive pill and other hormone treatments tend to lower our sex drive and this is naturally going to make us dry.

When women are not sufficiently lubricated, it inevitably means she will also close up more easily and experience more of the friction type of pain.

Due to these factors it may be advisable for women to look at either getting off the hormone treatments or supplementing to support hormone balance better. Some of the natural ways to gain hormone balance include Damiana Tea and Maca Root Powder.

It may also be advisable to use Vitamin B’s and folic acid if women have or is taking hormone treatments. The interesting thing is that the contraceptive pill depletes many of the most crucial vitamins designed for hormone balance – particularly Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid). *I do recommend seeing a Natural practitioner to establish what levels and how to take these.

You can also get a dietary form of Vitamin B supplements by making a Nutritional Yeast spread or using Nutritional Yeast in your cooking.

I hope you have found these ideas helpful. I have talked extensively about relationships before and truly desire for couples to discover more about how to connect better with each other and reduce painful sex.

Do you struggle to share with your partner? Experience painful sex with your Endometriosis? Do you have any ideas or advice which I haven’t covered? Feel free to share in the comments.

Winter wellness strategies

February 10, 2016 by Asher Thayer

While we are firmly in his grip, Michigan was a little slow to embrace Old Man Winter this year. Personally, although I means it’s bad news for our farmers, I didn’t lament for a moment the extra days of snow-free walks through the woods and sunny, blue
skies.

With the constant, drastic changes in temperatures it seemed like everyone was hit with some sort of bug. There was lots of talk about the flu season and the flu shot. People would get better. And then get sick. Again.

And again.

What’s that about?

Well, simply put, whenever there is a massive change your immune system has to adjust. When you combine a massive climate change with a change in diet; such as an increase in heavy and sugary foods, then the immune system has even more to sort through.

photo credit – on canva

All this change weighs on the immune system, and over time, lowers it. Let’s toss in a nearly complete absence of the sun (UGH!) until March and, friends, you definitely have lowered immunity.

Lowered immunity means a heightened susceptibility to sickness, flu and otherwise.

Let’s talk immune system.

When I was in elementary school my understanding of the immune system was fueled mostly by cold medication commercials. You know, the ones where you take the medication and then there is magically a force field around the body, with these hard-core angry-looking characters? If I could remember what commercial it was exactly, I would tell you, but for now feel free to use your imaginations. It really was as silly and extreme as you’re thinking. But hey, I was in 2nd grade. 😉

Contrary to how the commercial would have my 8-year-old self understand, though, the immune system isn’t an invisible force field at all that can be strengthened by any medication. The roll of medication, instead, is symptom alleviation via suppression. Helps us feel better in the immediate, but hinders the body’s innate efforts to resolve the imbalance within the body.

Anatomy of an Immune System

The home of the immune system, believe it or not, is in the gut. Where colonies of happy, beneficial bacteria live. This bacteria can be sustained or destroyed by many things. Antibiotics, stress, unaddressed grief, anger, and other “hard” emotions, sugar, refined foods, mineral and vitamin deficiencies, are ALL foe to your happy, beneficial bacteria. These all diminish, and at times, downright
paralyze, your immune system.

Your body has more than beneficial bacteria on its side, though!

Here’s a not-at-all-exhaustive list:

Your skin. Your skin is an excellent, excellent barrier to infection.
Your eye lids. They not only keep your eyeballs moist, but they also shield the sensitive little organs from impending, microscopic doom.
Those little hairs in your nose. They catch all sorts of mean-spirited microbes, constantly.
Mucus. I mean, as obnoxious as a runny or stuffy nose is, I promise that it’s a well-intentioned effort to either: run those villain microbes out-of-town OR keep them from entering, at all. (Hello stuffy noses and sneezes!)
A fever. For real. Did you know that a fever literally serves to cook the life out of a viral infection? For instance: at 104° your body is activating white blood cells to head on out to annihilate the villain viruses reeking havoc on your immune system.
Rest. Betcha never thought of sleep as an immune system friend. Truth, though. Sleep, especially around times of change and stress, allows the body to repair and help maintain homeostasis, which is why, when you don’t sleep for several days in a row, you end up feeling run down and then catch some manner of sickness. Your body’s like… “YEAH… If you’re not going to slow down, you’re going to be forced to slow down. Have fun with that.” Except it’s not fun at all. Better to deal with that as a preventative. Just think, by getting 7-10 hours (depending on your individual needs) of sleep per day, you are nurturing your body and preventing illness.

Your body has a brilliant, inspired, and complex system in place to protect you from illness, and respond in haste when the protective measures aren’t quite enough.

photo credit – lolostock on canva

Wellness Strategies

What can you do in these colder months?

So much. And much of it is simple, and intuitive.

Sleep

Do it. 7-10 hours/night does a body so much good. (Your individual needs may very. Consider how much
sleep makes you feel amazing.)

Food

Avoid foods that lower the immune system. This includes sugary (and sugar substitute-full) foods, processed food, food-like items, and caffeine. Focus on warming, whole foods. For instance, a chili made from fresh veggies and grass-fed meat. Because it is SO cold out it’s important to balance the cold with some warmth. Winter is a time for warm, nourishing foods as we combat the winter prompts us to slow down and look within.

What about friends to your immune system? Whole foods, like fresh fruit, veggies, lacto-fermented foods like kimchi and sourkraut. Homebrew or locally sourced Kombucha.

Stay hydrated

It’s easy to remember in the Summer, but it’s just as important in winter’s cold, dry climate.

Herbal Teas

When boosting your immune response there are MANY herbs that can be helpful. Popular herbs to use are elderberry, echinacea, and garlic, but there are many more as well.

Mindful and compassionate eating

September 30, 2015 by Asher Thayer

We’ve all heard, ad nauseam, the term “relationship with food.” We’ve heard how it’s not about diet but about lifestyle. People, desperate to lose weight for all sorts of reasons, force themselves to make large changes over night. The vast majority of those people are successful in the short-term, but find themselves back in their old patterns for the long-term.

Usually feeling a little worse for the wear; guilty. Ashamed. Convinced they just aren’t “strong enough” and, had they tried harder, or done this or that, they would have lost the weight and FINALLY be good enough in their own eyes. And others’ eyes, too.

I’m a naturopath. And, for a number of reasons, I always feel extra pressure to always make the right choice around food. It’s hard, friends, because truth be told: I really love to enjoy food. And I was raised on the Standard American Diet (SAD). So, I joke that ALL my teeth are sweet, not just one.

I know, dear friends and clients, that the struggle is real.

My relationship with food has been, like everyone’s, a journey. One with triumphs and with pit falls. I once reached out to a fellow naturopath for help making sense of my relationship with food. I was told, “you’re a naturopath! you should have this figured out!” This only added to my shame, and I withdrew inside myself, confused and frustrated. I, apparently, could help others. But not myself. So, I struggled in silence.

Eventually, about a year later, I found a book called The Yoga of Eating (available on Amazon) and began to explore mindful eating.

And, all the sudden, my struggle made sense.
I wasn’t struggling because I was weak.
Or I was self-sabotaging.
Or a bad naturopath.

I was struggling because I was attempting to force change and by seeing my relationship with food allopathically; simply a way to get (or not get) the nutrition I needed, instead of dynamic, changing and growing, with many dimensions and even more personality.

When, in reality, food is (and should be) so much more.

Here in the USA we have this near obsession with will power. If we fail it’s because we’re weak. If we’re struggling, we ought to push harder. If we’re craving something not good for us, we need to resist. We’re a nation whose motto might as well be “pick yourself up by your bootstraps and move on…”

The problem with this mindset, though, is that we were never… ever… meant to survive on will power. Will power was meant to get us through challenging moments and difficult situations. Not lifetimes. And relying on willpower, a rallying of all our inner gusto, requires us to, essentially, ignore the base desires/needs and cues we have; disconnecting us from our bodies, and teaching us to deny our senses and inclinations.

We were never meant to live in such a state of disconnected exhaustion. Imagine living connected to yourself. Experiencing your longings, desires, needs, and cravings.

And then responding to them. And honoring and meeting those needs.

Can you imagine?

Think for a moment.

How would that be?

To connect with yourself.

Feel your desires. Cravings.

The pushes. The pulls.

How would it be to release our iron clad sense of needing to push through and hold strong?

What if, instead, we connected to our bodies and explored our feelings around food?

Honored its dynamic, multifaceted place in our life and began to work on change from there?

What if, instead of fighting the desire for chocolate cake, you knew that the chocolate cake was more about connecting to a time in your life where things made more sense and you need that right now… things making sense. Security. And you don’t have a whole lot of control over much right now. So that chocolate cake… it, well, it brings you peace. And you honor that.

You have a piece of chocolate cake.

The BEST kind of chocolate cake.

Maybe it’s gluten-free or egg free because you can’t do gluten or you can’t do eggs. But it’s got great ingredients. It’s free of additives and junk, because friend, your body deserves the BEST ingredients.

And as you eat that very amazing chocolate cake, you enjoy every single bite. It tickles your taste buds and maybe your close your eyes and breathe deep. Because it’s THAT good. Your closest friend is there with you and together you both fully enjoy your cake.

Because really, it’s about far more than the cake. And because you know that, and you’re seeking to identify those needs and sort out how to meet those needs in healthy, meaningful ways.

My encouragement to most* of my clients that are working on making food changes is this:

Yes, if you went home today and made all these food changes today and never ate poorly again you would feel better SO much faster.

But you weren’t meant to live off of willpower. So if you find yourself battling for more than a short while, check in and see what it is that you need.

Is it the sugar? If so, what else could you eat?
Is it comfort? If so, what other ways could you comfort yourself?
Is it the grounding memory that’s associated with that food? What other things help you feel grounded and secure?

If at the end of the dialogue with yourself you’re still trapped in a willpower battle, allow yourself the cake. Make it a good cake. The BEST cake. With the best possible ingredients. Because you are worth the best.

It’s okay to put the bootstraps down. And know that you’re moving forward.

*I say “most” because SOMETIMES a food is making someone SO sick that they don’t have the luxury of indulging here and there. They have to go all in over night. Even in those instances, though, there is grace and love and immense compassion for those chocolate cake moments.

Reduce inflammation naturally

July 27, 2015 by Jessica

“Inflammation is the body’s response to stress.”

This stress can range from an injury to a cold or virus, but the inflammation comes in when the body is working to protect the stressed area.

This is why when you get a cut or a scrape, it will sometimes appear red and swollen, it is the body’s response to try to get rid of the stress.

The body also does this when you get a cold or a virus, it produces cytokines to come help fight off the germs, this is the good part of inflammation. It is temporary and allows the body to heal and repair the way it should. It’s a great way to know your immune system is functioning the way that it should.

However, over time, if you start to develop issues with chronic inflammation, then your body is telling you that something is wrong. It is overproducing and overworking, therefore making you more susceptible to illness and injury.

This kind of inflammation is bad. And sadly, it can get worse if not treated.

When chronic inflammation goes unattended, it creates chronic conditions such as autoimmune disorders and can even affect fertility.

How does it affect fertility? The chronic inflammation can damage the cells of the reproductive organs and even lessens sperm quality. After time it can also create the autoimmune response that attacks the same organs.

Sigh. It sounds depressing and overwhelming, doesn’t it?

But, good news, it doesn’t have to be. There are some great natural things you can do to help reduce and eliminate inflammation.

7 ways to reduce inflammation naturally

1. Reduce stress

I know what you are thinking, “doesn’t everyone say that”? Yes. And you should totally do it. Stress in the body messes with cortisol levels, this chronic stress affects your adrenals but it also produced inflammation making you more prone to diseases.

2. Herbs

Herbs are a great aid in reducing inflammation. I love them for many reasons of course, but one main reason is that they are potent. As an added bonus, most of the herbs that are known to help with inflammation are cooking herbs, which means you can add them to your meals and they don’t taste as bad some other medicinal herbs.

Some of my favorites are turmeric, cayenne, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, and cayenne.

3. Get rid of the processed foods

If you are dealing with chronic inflammation, processed food is out. This is a great first step for anyone trying to get healthy, but especially important for those dealing with inflammation. Go a little at a time until you have worked it all out of your diet. I promise you will feel a difference in your overall health.

4. Ditch the sugar

Sigh. I know, this tough. I like sugar…A LOT. However, it is not my friend. When I eat sugar my stomach doesn’t even want to tolerate dairy! It’s not worth it to me.

If you need some help getting rid of the sugar, check out Donielle’s great guide (The Sugar Detox Challenge) on how to eliminate sugar for your diet.

5. Systemic enzymes

A good supplement to try for inflammation is systemic enzymes. They are different from regular enzymes because they are coated to break down in the body to reduce inflammation, not just help digest food. You can read more about them here.

6. Keep your lymph system flowing

This can be key in helping the body filter out toxins. Toxins build up and cause inflammation. Keeping the lymph fluid moving by drinking lots of water and dry skin brushing is a great way to reduce inflammation. This is also great to help all your systems function better.

7. Get enough rest

Yes, get yourself to bed on time. If you are tired during the day, try to put your feet up for 10 minutes and reset.

If your body is fatigued, it is stressed. As I stated before, stress reduces the function your body. Getting sleep is vital to your well-being, take the time to get yourself to bed before 10 pm. (or, at least, get eight full hours of sleep in per night)

I know some of those items above seem daunting, but just take them one step at a time. You don’t have to go in that order. Go from easiest to hardest so you have some success under your belt.

I am a firm believer that baby steps are the way to go and make changes less intimidating. Just think of how great you will feel.

In time, each of these simple steps will make a large impact on your overall health. Reducing inflammation will make every system in your body function better, which is great for improving fertility.

What do you do to help your body reduce inflammation?