I spent a good 3 years advocating a Keto diet to my friends and clients, but about 4 months ago that all changed.
Help for Hot Flashes in Menopause
Menopause is a natural transition in a women’s life and signals the end of her reproductive abilities. Let’s discuss symptoms, lifestyle factors and remedies for hot flashes today. This is the first post in a series on women’s health in midlife.
Symptoms
In the United States, the average age of menopause is 50-52 years of age, but the period leading up to menopause, called perimenopause, can last from a few months to many years. During this perimenopausal period, the ovaries stop responding to FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and begin producing less and less estrogen and progesterone.
This change causes symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, headaches, vaginal dryness, vision changes, weight gain and irregular menstruation. The complete transition into menopause is said to occur when menstruation has stopped for 1 complete year (Parker, 2013, pgs. 258-259). These symptoms can be very disruptive to a woman’s life and many seek help from their allopathic doctors who prescribe synthetic and bioidentical hormones as well as anti-depressants (Carroll & Kelley, 2009) to help with symptom management, but not everyone wants to, or can, take the antidepressant or hormone replacement route. This website is focused on natural menopause remedies.
Hot Flashes
Hot flashes and night sweats seem to be the most common symptoms of this change.
It is estimated that 65-80% of premenopausal women experience hot flashes (Murray & Pizzorno, 2005, pg 745). Hot flashes, also known as hot flushes, are sudden changes in body temperature causing a woman to feel hot, begin sweating and may even include a flushed face. When these hot flashes occur at night, they are referred to as night sweats and contribute to symptoms of insomnia and fatigue.
It is believed that hot flashes are triggered by minute fluctuations in core temperature due, in part, to the fluctuating estrogen levels in the body during midlife. It is also believed that perimenopausal and menopausal women have a reduced thermoneutral zone. This thermoneutral zone is the range in which the body feels comfortable with no need to sweat or shiver to maintain a balanced body temperature (Freedman, 2014). Therefore when these slight changes occur to core temperature, the body reacts quickly to try and maintain homeostasis causing hot or even cold flashes.
There are certain risk factors that may contribute to the severity and frequency of hot flashes for certain women such as diet, obesity, caffeine consumption, stress, tight clothes, alcohol consumption, smoking and even phthalate exposure from personal care products (Ziv-Gal, Gallicchio, Chiang, ther, Miller, Zacur, Dills, Flaws, 2016).
Get Rid of Hot Flashes
Diet and lifestyle changes need to be addressed first when dealing with hot flashes. It used to be believed that increased abdominal adiposity (belly fat) decreased one’s risk of hot flashes, but studies are now showing that not to be true. One of the first steps in reducing hot flashes should be reaching and maintaining a normal body weight for your body.
Focusing on a primarily plant based diet that includes phytoestrogens such as soybeans, soy foods, (be careful with soy though) flaxseeds, nuts, whole grains, apples, fennel, celery, parsley, cabbage and alfalfa (Murray & Pizzorno, 2005, pg. 745) as well as reducing caffeine intake may be helpful (Faubion, Sood, Thielen, & Shuster, 2015).
I personally advocate a low carbohydrate (lots of above ground vegetables), low to moderate animal protein (70-85g) and healthy high fat (avocado, nuts and seeds, coconut and olive oil) diet. Check out my Keto Kickstart course to help you get started on the right foot.
Smoking has also been shown to increase one’s risk of hot flashes, so stopping smoking is extremely important for many health reasons including reducing hot flashes (Whiteman, Staropoli, Langenberg, McCarter, Kjerulff, & Flaws, 2003).
While exercise may increase the occurrence of hot flashes in some women, as little as 20 minutes of mild to moderate exercise 3 days per week (Longe, 2015) has been found to be helpful in reducing hot flash incidence.
Stress reduction and relaxation techniques have been found to be equally as beneficial as some drug therapies in reduction of hot flashes (Freedman, 2007). This means that working to incorporate yoga, meditation, breathing techniques and mindfulness in daily self care practices can have a significant benefit to your hot flash reduction and quality of life.
Herbs for Hot Flashes
There are a few herbs that may help to reduce hot flashes. One of the most popular is black cohosh. Black cohosh has been found to reduce both the severity and frequency of hot flashes in postmenopausal women (Shahnazi, Nahaee, Mohammad-Alizadeh-Charandabi, & Bayatipayan, 2013).
Another important herb that helps reduce symptoms is fennel. In a triple-blind study, women in midlife were given 100mg of fennel twice a day. This dosage showed significant improvement in symptoms as compared to the placebo group (Rahimikian, Rahimi, Golzareh, Bekhradi, & Mehran 2017). I like the product Femtrol which includes fennel and black cohosh as well as other herbs.
Red clover has been found to also possibly reduce hot flashes, but more studies will need to be done on this (Ghazanfarpour, Sadeghi, Roudsari, Khorsand, Khadivzadeh, & Muoio, 2016).
Essential Oils for Hot Flashes
Certain essential oils have also been shown to be helpful for menopausal symptoms.
Peppermint oil can be mixed with a carrier oil and placed on the back of the neck during a hot flash. It has a very cooling effect (7 Essential Oils for Menopause Relief).
Clary sage has been shown to have antidepressant effects and reduces cortisol (Lee, KCho, & Kang, 2014). You can easily put this in a diffuser or inhaler or use a product like Clary Calm that can easily be kept in your purse and used as needed.
You do NOT have to suffer during menopause…it should be the prime of your life! Schedule an appointment today so we can get you feeling amazing!
What Blood Tests Should I Get?
One of the more common questions I get in my Health Coaching practice is: what blood tests should I get? We can tell what’s going on in your highly sensitive body with just a few additional tests. In this post I’ll tell you the ones I like to see for optimal women’s health.
Know Your Numbers
Ok let me start off on a bit of a soap box first. My main mission in my career is to empower women to take control of their health. You cannot take control of your health if you give your power away to someone that wears scrubs and/or a white coat. You can respect their opinion and knowledge and experience, but ultimately it is YOUR body and you get to make the final decision.
You MUST know your numbers….or at least know how to access them at a moments notice. Don’t accept the email or conversation that says “Your numbers were all normal.” NO…you need to know the exact numbers and you need to be able to track them over time. Make a spreadsheet if you need to, but know your numbers.
When your health care provider looks at your tests, the average one is going to look for things the lab has flagged as high or low. They are not going to look at optimal ranges. For example, I had a client where the provider told her her blood glucose numbers were “normal”. But when I looked, I noticed the number was 99. Just 1 more point and the lab would have flagged it as high and so would the provider as being pre-Diabetic. If she had not come to me, this client would not have made any changes to her diet (or stress levels) if she’d just taken the “normal” and not looked at the actual number.
Download the list here
Blood Tests
The following blood tests are great to do all every few years. It’s nice to have a baseline and then know where you are in coming years. There are a few things that make these hard to get though…1) getting a doctor that will order them for you 2) getting a doctor to know what they all mean (most specialize and know the numbers for their specialty, but not overall and 3) price.
There are ways around the doctor (I can order some lab tests for my clients) or you can go to a place like Any Lab Test Now, but that still leaves price. If your insurance will pay for it, I’d try getting your doctor to order them for you…or at least most. Then I’d use a walk in place or an online blood work order site to get the rest.
This list is just my opinion and not medical advice. If you have concerns about your blood work, you should speak with your medical provider.
CBC
Complete Blood Count can tell us some things about your basic health and immune function.
CMP
Complete Metabolic Panel typically includes blood glucose levels (ideally this is under 90) as well as electrolyte levels and kidney and liver function.
Fasting Lipids
This would tell total your cholesterol levels as well as triglycerides, HDL and LDL. Most mainstream doctors will tell you that a total cholesterol at or above 200 is a bad sign. I tend to not get worried until total cholesterol goes over 240…and then I think it’s telling us that there’s inflammation in the body and we need to figure out what’s causing it (usually bad diet). Triglycerides need to between 60- 100…if above then you’re eating too many carbs. HDL (aka the “good” cholesterol) should be at or above 50 and LDL should be below 150.
Fasting A1C/Insulin
A1C can tell us an overall picture of your blood sugar levels over the past 3 months. Doctors us this to diagnosis Type 2 Diabetes. I like this number to be between 4.5%-5.5%. A fasting insulin level can tell us a lot about if you’re on the road to Diabetes. You want this number to be as low as possible typically between 1-5. If these numbers aren’t in range, you want to really focus on a Low Carb/Keto way of eating.
Thyroid Panel with Antibodies
This panel tells us about your thyroid function. These numbers work a little backwards…high number means you’re hypothyroid and low numbers mean you’re hyperthyroid. You want the antibody tests as well so we can see if it’s moved into autoimmune.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is very important to overall health and immune function. Most people are vitamin D deficient. The labs usually give a range of 30-100 which I find way to wide to really be helpful. I tend to recommend keeping them between 50-70 especially for postmenopausal women.
hs-CRP
C Reactive Protein can tell us the level of inflammation in the body.
Ferritin
Ferritin can tell us about your iron stores, but it can also be a marker for inflammation.
Hormones
Depending on your stage in life, you may be thinking about hormone replacement..or not. You really need to work with a knowledgeable provider to help with HRT, but always good to have a baseline. There are many alternative therapies to help with fluctuating hormones and menopause.
EBV Titers
Epstein Barr Virus is the mono virus that is estimated that 95% of the population has been exposed to. The problem with EBV is that in some of us, it gets reactivated and becomes chronic. Getting these titers can tell you if you’re one of those people and really start to explain why you may have thyroid issues, fibromyalgia, CFS and more. For me, knowing this number has helped me make an association between my pain, or what I thought were fibro flares, and virus activation. It also explains why I get tired and sick more easily. I’m still digging into all that EBV can mean, but this can really be eye opening.
Candida Titers
Candida is a yeast that is part of different areas in our body. It can cause problems though when it turns into it’s fungal form. In the mouth, you can see it as thrush. In the vagina, you see it as a yeast infection. But in the gut…it’s hard to see. The main symptom I have noticed is sugar cravings. Making sure that you are eating a Low Carb/Keto way of eating should keep this from flaring. There are also supplements that can help.
CMV Titers
Cytomegalovirus is another virus that many people have been exposed to and have no long term effects of, but there are some that do. CMV can cause damage to the immune system and may be contributing to your highly sensitive body.
If you’d like help navigating your health, you can always set up an appointment with me. I try to gather lots of information so that I can help point my clients in the right direction with their health. I’d love to help you too!
Daily Self Care Tips for a Highly Sensitive Body
As someone with a highly sensitive body, daily self care isn’t a luxury…it’s a must. If I fall off of my habits, I’ll get sick. So today I want to share some self care tips that you can start incorporating into your days to help you stay healthy and centered too.
Self Care Tips
Eating Well
My body does best on a low carb diet. If I’m not sticking to low carb, I’ll have mood swings and shakes and basically just become the poster child for “hangry”. I also have to keep my protein low too. Protein seems to spike insulin for me too. I focus on getting at least 4 cups of vegetables a day (usually a salad at lunch) and lots of healthy fats (although not too many because I don’t have a gallbladder). If you’re interested in learning about eating Low Carb/Keto, you can get my one page Keto Food List here.
Getting Enough Sleep
This is probably the habit I work the hardest at. I really struggle with sleep. I have worked to establish a routine so that my body can expect sleep to come at about the same time each day. I have a quiet room with a fan that keeps me cool and provides the white noise I need to not be alerted to all the sounds in the house. I am for being in bed about 8 hours a night. I know people say they can do less, but in reality it’s rare. Lack of sleep contributes to many health issues so this has to be a priority. I have experimented with supplements and even sleep medications. I’ll do another post to talk about all I’ve tried.
Exercise
This is the habit that usually falls off first for me, but I’ve found just as little as 20 minutes of walking a day can make me feel (and sleep) so much better. I tend to avoid any of those crazy hard core exercises. My body doesn’t respond to stress well and even though exercise is a good kind of stress, it can quickly become too much for me. I typically choose walking or yoga as my preferred forms of exercise.
Detox
We are exposed to so many chemicals on a daily basis. I have multiple skin and environmental allergies so avoiding chemicals has always been a way of life for me. I make sure to keep the products in the house (soaps, shampoos, detergents, cleaning products) as clean as possible, but I also practice daily detoxification. I don’t do all of these every day, but usually at least one if not more: oil pulling, dry brushing, Hawaiian spirulina, milk thistle, lemon water.
Stress Management
This is a major one for me too. I find I tend to live in fight or flight mode and have to really work to get in to relax and digest (which makes no sense I know). Yoga really helps me with this, but so does deep breathing, meditation, gratitude and just trying to be present. I also practice grounding and energy management which just means I focus on feeling centered and protecting my energy.
Supplements
There are so many supplements that it’s hard to know which to take. I tend to tell people to take the basics: multivitamin, fish oil, vitamin D and a probiotic. After that I use genetic testing to target supplementation. I know that I have multiple methylation issues so I make sure that I take methylated B vitamins. I also know that I have chronic activated EBV so I take immune support supplements that are antiviral (l-lysine, vitamin C, echinacea, elderberry). I use an Ancestry DNA kit and download the raw data to figure out genetic mutations and help target supplementation for my clients. You can learn more about my genetic interpretation service here.
Some days I still have to really force myself to focus on self care, but if life gets too busy, my body will let me know by knocking me down.
What are some of your best self care tips?
Could Your Digestive Issues Have Nothing To Do With Your Gut? 5 Tips for Better Digestion
When we think of digestion, we think of the gut, but digestion really starts in the brain! These 5 tips for better digestion will help you absorb more nutrients from your food as well as feel less bloated.
5 Tips for Better Digestion
Chew Your Food Completely
The process of digestion begins as soon as we start thinking about food. The enzymes in our mouth start to be released to help process proteins and carbohydrates. Once food enters the mouth, the job of the teeth is to break the food down into small pieces so there is as much surface area as possible for the digestive enzymes to get to.
When we get busy and eat quickly or on the run, we are less likely to chew our food completely. So the first tip is to slow down and chew your food well…that probably means a lot more than you’re doing now.
Try it for week, see if you notice any benefits.
Drink 2 Glasses of Water Before Each Meal
I’ve found sites that say you should NOT drink water with meals and some that say you should.
While looking into the research, I found one study that showed that drinking 2 cups of water prior to a meal (on a low calorie diet) led to greater weight loss than did just the diet alone.
Another study showed that by just switching out one drink per day with water, the participants showed less weight gain over a four year period.
So whether you are drinking water before, during or after your meal, drinking at least 64 oz of water daily can help your digestion by staying hydrated and it may even help you maintain/lose weight.
Practice Mindful Eating
Mindfulness is quite the buzzword these days and I think I know why. We have found ourselves in such a fast paced, demanding environment that we have to actually remind ourselves to slow down and be present.
Food has become a chore that must be checked off a list, instead of a community experience to be savored and enjoyed with family and friends.
OK so how do we help our digestion by practicing mindful eating?
Eat sitting down so you can be calm and enjoy each bite.
Focus on your food and enjoy the company of your companions.
Do not eat in front of the tv.
Stop when you are full.
Don’t eat on the run or standing up.
Mindfulness just means being present with what you are currently doing instead of thinking about what’s to come.
Eat Anti-Inflammatory Foods
I talk to people all the time that have no idea what is wrong with their digestion. They know they’re having trouble, but can’t pinpoint which food is causing the problem.
This is when an elimination diet like Whole30 and/or IgG Food Sensitivity testing can really be helpful.
But the general rule of thumb is…if a food gives you “trouble”, don’t eat it.
Pay attention to the signals your body is giving you.
Most of the time the issues come from one (or a combination) of these six foods: wheat, corn, soy, nuts, eggs and dairy. But other foods can cause issues too, it just depends on the health of your gut.
Your Eating Crap Food
By choosing to put highly processed, high sugar and fried foods into your mouth, you are setting yourself up for digestive problems.
Focus on eating real foods – mostly above ground vegetables, moderate intake of well sourced proteins and healthy fats to satiety.
You can sprinkle in a few berries in there too for fun. (If you need help getting started I have a free one page download, Keto Food List, that can help.)
As you can see, healthy digestion may have nothing to do with your gut…but sometimes with the choices you’re making before you even get to the table.
Let me know what works for you!
How to Figure Your Macros
“Macro” is short for macronutrients. All foods fit into one of three macronutrient categories – fat, protein or carbohydrates. Keto isn’t about cutting calories, but about watching the make up of the foods you take in. That’s where learning how to figure your macros an really be helpful.
Video Transcript:
Hey, it’s Sarah here, with your Keto Quick Tip. Today I wanted to talk about how you figure out your macros; your protein, your fats, your carbs, in a day. General rule of thumb, now obviously there are macro calculators that you can use, but if you’re thinking what kind of a range, because not every day … This one number can be hard to hit every day. Sometimes you need a range when you’re first starting out, to kind of see what the best level for you, and where you feel the most comfortable. I get a lot of people that say, “Oh, but just tell me exactly what to eat.” I can’t do that, because each body is different, and each body changes over time. So you really have to learn to listen to your body, and find out your body needs.
Now in general, 60 to 80% of your calories in a day should come from fat. 15 to 30% of your calories should come from protein. 5 to 10% of your calories should come from carbs. If you’re trying to figure that out, what I did was, I said, “Okay, an average 1,500 calories a day, what’s that going to figure out to be?” I did 1,500 calories. I did 60% of that, and 80% of that, so that would be 900 to 1,200 calories would come from fat. 15 to 30% of protein, which would be 225 to 450 calories. Work 5 to 10% of carbs, which would be 75 to 150 calories. So I did that.
Try this Keto Calculator to figure your macros
Then I said, “Okay, well I know that fats is seven calories per gram.” My app that I use keeps track. You can do My Fitness Pal, or Carb Manager, Cronometer, it keeps track in grams. I need to know grams, not calories. So I divided that number, so let’s say 900 calories of fat, divided by nine. That got me to 100, 133 grams of fat in a day. Then for protein and carbs, they have four calories per gram. So I divided those numbers, and I got 56 to 112 grams of protein, and 19 to 27 grams of carbs.
Now again, this range gives me a little bit of wiggle room to try and see what works best for my body. For me, I know too high on the protein, then that’s not going to work for me. So I have to keep mind more towards the lower end. You just have to really figure out your range, and see what works best for you. Okay? Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day.
