The Drugless Approach for Balancing Female Hormones Naturally!

by Robert DeMaria DC, DABCO, FASBE, NHD

I would like to take you on a journey back in time. Let's go back about forty five years ago for some of you, for the others ask those closest to you these questions.

• Did grandma complain of getting hot during the day or night?

• Did grandma have all of her organs when she passed on; her gall bladder and uterus were they removed?

Chances are, if you remember, grandma did not have hot flashes and she more than likely did not have surgery, still having her female reproductive organs. She worked hard, raising the family and doing odd jobs including sewing, ironing, cleaning houses, washing clothes, walking to the store and working in the garden. Grandma was always there with fresh goodies and a kiss on a bruised bump on the body. My grandmother made me fresh donuts on Saturday that were cooked in lard and mysteriously hardened over night. She made the best homemade potato salad, and gave me awesome Christmas gifts.

Today grandmas are also very busy, she may have had multiple surgeries, (500,000 gallbladders are removed annually) and more than likely she is taking five to seven medications and just does not feel real good. The cookies she has for you come in a box and the donuts are from one of the many national mega food conglomerates. She is waving a fan in front of her face and some times is a little out of sorts. Grandma is trying hard and is wondering what has happen to her body and why is she suffering with so many body signals that her mom did not have to deal with.

What has happened to grandma and even more sobering what may be happening to you? Let me walk you down the yellow brick road of life and tell you what is going on. I will be your tour guide. I started my professional training to be a natural doctor in the early nineteen seventies before it was "vogue" to be one. I have treated patients for over thirty years and have seen a downward healthy body crescendo occur at an expediential rate. With all the articles and advice, surgeries, drugs and high potency supplements, I see the public is losing the battle to achieve wellness. But Dr. Bob aren't we living longer and more productive lives? I mean we have joint replacement, organ transplants, stents and psychoactive medication to take the edge off, don't we? Truthfully, I have seen our culture expand at the waist at an alarming rate, and younger children today who were once thin until their thirties and forties before life caught up with them are now obese at eight years old.

Let me give you the answer to you and you're off spring's dilemma. We are dying of nutritional deficiencies and toxic overload. You see fifty years ago grandma made most of her own food, that was grown locally from seeds that came from seed bearing plants and fertilized with natural compost and manure. She drank pure water and was not breathing in toxic residue from planes, cars and the environment. Her body including the liver was able to handle what was thrown at it and she had a restful peaceful sleep that was not compromised with external mental agitation by TV, computers, cell phones, I pods and text messages.

Today, the average families either goes out to dinner or has take out for nearly half of all their meals in a year; Mom's are busy working one and two jobs to make ends meet. One third of all the children in America between four and nineteen years old eat at a fast food restaurant every day. As a society we collectively (not my family) consume nearly fifty five gallons of soda a year and most go home to single family units.

I am managing conditions and suggesting treatment protocols and detoxification recommendations to teens and children under ten years old that I use to make individuals in their twenties and thirties. I have noticed a pattern of young women in their early twenties present to the clinic with a history of being prescribed two psycho active medications by well meaning health care providers. I generally see a female with a history of two children have their gall bladder taken out between twenty five and thirty five years old and commonly invasive symptomatic ablation treatment which is cauterization or burning the inside of the uterus to stop heavy menstrual flow before forty.

Sound like a bleak picture? It is, and I am concerned and so should you. What is the answer to this "leach blood letting" out dated modern mindset? The answer is, we are being fed toxic food and exposed to lethal chemicals that are being passed of as convenience items. Go to the American Cancer Societies web page, and look at the list of cancer promoting items. You will notice a good percentage of them can be found in your soap, lotions, deodorants, medications, ice cream, and any number of foods in a box and even in tooth paste. What are you to do? You need to become label savvy and stop purchasing products that you see on the list that may be a factor in causing cancer. One of the most common of many of the ingredients you will see is sodium lauryl sulfate.

This is the scenario. We are breathing and consuming a chemical synthetic estrogen like component called xenohormones in our food and breathing it in from fabric including carpeting and car exhaust; including any conventional non organic food. Meat products are notorious sources of xenohormones. You should only ever each certified organic grass fed beef, and organic certified chicken, turkey and only eat deep ocean non-farmed raised fish.

These xenhormones which are very common in our ecosystem create a toxic surplus to your liver that is all ready trying to handle all the other toxins. Xenohormones are very similar in structure to the human hormone estrogen. Human estrogen itself found in nature is balanced by progesterone. When there is an disproportion and the scale tips to the estrogen side of the measure the body is in a state of distress. Estrogen promotes cell growth and is held in check by either progesterone and or is properly escorted to the liver to be metabolized.

One of the several hundred functions of the liver is to process chemicals either neutralizing or converting them to useful components to be used over again. Your liver needs enzymes, protein, vitamins and minerals to conduct the symphony to keep you toxic free. One of the items considered necessary and often in short supply is B vitamins.

The proper processing of estrogen requires an adequate source of B's to keep this steroid at non-lethal levels. Sugar and stress depletes the body of the necessary B vitamins.

How would you know if you have too much estrogen? Well, one of the common body signals I generally see is tender breasts with the menstrual cycle accompanied by a heavy menstrual flow. Other body signals I notice especially as the liver is at its maximum function and in overload mode are varicose veins, spider veins and hemorrhoids.

As the over worked liver function continues to deteriorate in a breakdown or survival mode brown spots will appear on the face, trunk, back of the hands and wrists. A very common and serious distress flag in both men and women is the commonly seen small red cherry looking bumps called "cherry hemangiomas". I notice these especially in patients who come into the office for an assessment that drink alcohol and dairy products and eat dairy and fast foods.

If there is a male, who physiologically does not need to deal with estrogen, in your life with these findings he would do best to change some of his life style consumption habits or he may likely have prostate challenges as time goes on. The most significant is to stop eating conventional meat (not certified organic).

These are seen in women who have had children and also consume alcohol, fast foods and dairy products. Ladies, the birth control pill and for that matter any medication can create a burden of stress to the liver, resulting in to much estrogen and the body signals I just mentioned.

A part of the long tern challenge is a deficiency of critically needed minerals, proteins and oils. We live in a group of media created phobias in America. The public for example has been told salt is harmful, and yes I agree conventional salt with dextrose a sugar used as an anti caking agent and aluminum also used to keep the fine grains flowing can be a challenge to the body. But, I recommend that my patients use a mineral based product called Celtic Sea Salt ® which is an excellent source of minerals (1.800.TOPSALT). Salt is really to used as a source of minerals which act as spark plugs to keep your machine going. Mineral deficiencies are one of the common challenges I observe in patients when I evaluate mineral tissue analysis.

A common body signal for the adrenal gland in your body that assists in the movement of minerals craving salt, bright light bothering your eyes, and getting dizzy from a sit to a stand position. Chances are if you are experiencing any of these you may be suffering with what is commonly called adrenal burn out. You would do best to curtail some of your outside commitments and give your body a rest

The adrenal gland is a key player in your overall hormonal health plan. The two walnut shaped adrenal glands are your back up hormone producers. I commonly see low blood pressure and or a drop in blood pressure from a sit to a stand position pattern in adrenal fatigue. You want them to be up to par, supporting the entire hormonal production line. Sweet fruits can be an adrenal gland stressor; bananas, grapes, dried fruits, pineapple and watermelon. These are not bad foods; they appear to be the common ones I have observed in the diet journals of patients who have adrenal exhaustion.

One of the minerals that I would like to have you become familiar with for optimal hormone health is iodine. Iodine is found in sea vegetation and items sourced from the ocean. When I was in Japan I discovered that the Japanese female population consumes about twelve milligrams of iodine a day. They get a good amount of their daily food from the sea. Do you know they have one of the lowest incidences of cancer? It is not from consuming soy, like the media would want you to believe but from an iodine need.

Females utilize iodine for thyroid, breast and ovary function. Males use it for thyroid and prostate cellular use. A common challenge I see in my female patients is the ones who come into the office with the body signals of a low thyroid. Those include cold hands and feet, high cholesterol, thinning of the outer eyebrow hair, headaches upon waking in the morning that go away as the day goes on, wide spaced teeth, thinning hair, tired and over weight body patterns all over the body. The thyroid needs iodine to function optimally. Remember so do the breasts and ovaries. I commonly see tender breasts with a low or hypothyroid function. The ovaries are not getting enough iodine to make progesterone to balance estrogen. This is a very significant point that is often over looked. I recommend that my patients take a minimum of twelve milligrams of organic sourced iodine daily. Now, you may want to go slow with this, because iodine may displace other toxic items in your body like bromine, chlorine and fluorine all antagonistic to iodine. Those body signals would include metal taste in the mouth, skin rash, headache over the eyes and general malaise and just not feeling well.

I encourage our patients to have several tests completed by their health care provider that understands the physiology of thyroid function and the natural nutritional components for optimal function. You would want a TSH, T3 and T4 completed. These are common thyroid tests that your doctor is aware of and you can research on oyr own. I have found that the T3 and 4 levels should be above the midline in value of the lab normal in an optimal functioning thyroid. The TSH should be greater than 2. If you have the body signals I mentioned above for low thyroid and your TSH is greater than 2 but less than 10 you would do best to seek and find someone to assist you in your endeavor for thyroid restoration. I would also like you to know that fifty percent of the patients I assess tend to have a TSH less than 2 which suggests a inadequate functioning pituitary gland.

I normally suggest a mineral tissue hair analysis if I suspect a low or hypo pituitary function. I generally notice those patients have inadequate selenium and manganese levels. I supplement accordingly with whole food products. I recheck after three to six months depending on the symptomatic progress.

An area that is essential for optimal female hormone health is the proper movement of lymph fluid. Your lymph system is the multi tasked all purpose system in the body. It keeps everything flowing smoothly including the transportation of toxins and unwanted cellular debris. I encourage my patients to bounce on a mini-trampoline or large exercise ball. I would minimize dairy products and increase water from a pure source. You want the clear lymph fluid moving unimpeded so it can do its job description. This is going to be a new thought pattern for you; cancer does not spread to the lymph tissue. The lymph system is doing its job. The lymph system is backed up because from my experience the liver where the lymph ultimately drains into is over loaded and your body is doing everything to get rid of the toxins you keep consuming. The lymphatic system is a part of the killer cell defense mechanism cleaning up cancer. If you want to prevent cancer and keep your hormones in balance; exercise, drink water and cut back on conventional dairy products. You can get all the calcium you need from greens and nuts. By the way, "drugs" prescription, over the counter and the "recreational' variety all need to be neutralized by the liver.

I want to briefly touch base on a topic that is quite controversial and honestly confusing. Soy has been peddled off to the American public as the utopia of health food. I want you to know from my experience, not from reading magazines; the patients I suggest who have menstrual, digestive and hormonal issues always get better when they get off of soy products. Soy is a natural source of phyto-estrogens. Soy when it is being processed is heated to high temperatures and often extracted with powerful agents like hexane. Soy physiologically is difficult to digest, and is an antagonist to the thyroid. Soy has a natural affinity for aluminum and depletes the body's reservoir of zinc. Zinc is critical for many life extension processes in the body.

I would suggest that you focus on eating what I fondly call Dr. Bob's ABC's. I would consume at least one half apple a day. Apples create positive energy for the body, provide minerals and fiber. Apples naturally lower ones cholesterol. Beets are one of the stealth health foods that promote optimal liver function. Beets can help reduce pain and stiffness in your joints and can lower cholesterol up to forty percent, without the side effects of toxic medication. I suggest at least one third cup of fresh raw organic grated beets on a mixed green salad every day, or bake them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Celtic Sea Salt ®. Carrots are a wonderful precursor for Vitamin A, needed for liver physiology, skin health and optimal visual acuity.

I would like to bring this all together for you. Your body is wonderfully made piece o workmanship. It needs to be fed the correct fuel which includes preferably organic whole foods that are either in the raw, steamed or lightly sautéed state. I would rotate foods on a regular basis. Drink water from a pure source. Avoid toxic items, including beverages, (including conventional sulfate preserved wine) and commercially prepared foods.

I would eat animal products from an organic source and avoid any genetically modified, irradiated plant or animal product. Toxic overload physically and emotionally creates an environment that does not create but destroys life. If you have had any part of your anatomy removed I would suggest you seek an experienced doctor of natural health, and restore the function that created the distress. Your body has the awesome ability to create equilibrium and will do everything it can to have a synchronized level of optimal health. Do something good for yourself today. You deserve. Love everyone. Be Blessed. Robert F. DeMaria, DC, NHD

© Copyright by Robert DeMaria DC, NHD. Used with permission.

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