Hormones getting you down? How to eat to restore balance

Guest post by Miriam Jacobson, MS, RD, CNS, CDN of everybodybliss.com

Brain fog, bloating, PMS and erratic mood swings are signs that you might be struggling with a hormonal imbalance. Despite what your doctor said, these symptoms are not ‘normal’ and there are ways that you can eat to help balance your hormones naturally.

Western medicine often focuses on how to eliminate symptoms, which is why you might walk out of your doctors’ office with a birth control prescription after complaining about your lady problems. Although every body is different, birth control tends to mask many hormonal problems without addressing the root cause.

As a functional nutritionist, I seek out the underlying causes of these symptoms and work with foods and nutrients to help restore optimal health.

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Why we need to talk about Miscarriage & Infant Loss

I treat women through all phases of their reproductive cycles. While I work with many women who have chosen to not have children, the majority of my patients are actively trying to conceive, are pregnant, or in the postpartum period. I celebrate with my patients when they get a positive pregnancy test or give birth to their child, and I grieve with them when they lose a child to miscarriage, stillbirth, or SIDS.

The process of losing a child during pregnancy or infancy can be incredibly painful, both physically and emotionally. It may involve surgery, weeks of bleeding, medication or even laboring a lost child. This is in addition to the deep grief that comes with losing a son or daughter all too soon.

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What is Cupping?

Cupping is all the buzz because of the Olympics. Red and purple spots speckling the shoulders and backs of the athletes are making everyone wonder what they are doing, and why?

To anyone familiar with acupuncture and Chinese medicine, however, cupping is old news. Ancient news, in fact.

It's a massage technique that uses suction to achieve a much deeper release of the tissue. I use cupping in conjunction with acupuncture to release muscle tension, draw out toxins, and speed up recovery time. It works immediately to start improving pain and range of motion. 

Suction is usually created inside of a glass cup with a small flame, which burns off oxygen (about 20% of the air) before it is placed on the skin. Plastic cups with a hand pump are also widely used, but the former is more traditional and my personal preference.

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