Hello Everyone and welcome to my Podcast, Regenerate You!
Insulin is one of the most misunderstood hormones in your body. There are some diet plans that say to keep it as low as possible and others that say you need more of it. If you’re trying to lose weight, balance your cholesterol, or even achieve healthy thyroid levels; optimum insulin levels are necessary. But what constitutes normal insulin and what is this powerful hormone doing in your body? This is what I’ll be discussing on this episode.
If you’re looking for additional advice, feel free to visit my blog here. You can also stay connected with me on my Facebook page @DrNirvanaHeals or on my Instagram @DrNirvana.
Please remember to subscribe and to please leave me a review as well!
And remember, when you regenerate, there’s a new you every day!
If you find yourself struggling with food intolerances of any kind, then it’s most likely causing an imbalance in your hormones as well. And if you’ve been diagnosed with low testosterone, PCOS, estrogen dominance, thyroid issues, or insulin resistance; then your food sensitivities are making them worse.
In this Podcast, I discuss how they’re linked and where to begin to help heal and regenerate your body from the attack on your immune system.
If you’re looking for additional advice, feel free to visit my blog here. You can also stay connected with me on my Facebook page @DrNirvanaHeals or on my Instagram @DrNirvana.
Please subscribe and share this podcast to spread the health.
And remember, when you regenerate, there’s a new you every day!
Choosing a low-glycemic diet is a wise decision for good health. Packed with fiber and protein, low-glycemic foods cause a slow, steady digestion, which won’t leave you hungry.
Use Dr. Nirvana’s low-glycemic vegetable list to start your journey to a healthier you: Incorporate as many (a minimum of 3 per day) into your daily diet.
Dr. Nirvana Lectures on Balancing Hormones to Release Weight
When working with patients in my Practice, I hear a lot of similar comments. In particular:
I’m eating all the right foods, but I still can’t lose the weight.
There’s nothing I can do to lose weight, it’s genetic.
I’m just getting old and my metabolism has decreased.
These last 10 pounds just won’t go away—I want to give up.
There are certain foods I can’t stop eating even though I suspect they’re bad for me.
I crave sugar like crazy.
Diets that work for others don’t seem to work for me.
I lose five pounds, and then I regain seven.
I’m tired of and frustrated with weight loss.
Do those statements also resonate with you? If so, you might not know an important secret: the reason you struggle with your weight is that your hormones are out of balance.
As a licensed Naturopathic Doctor, I am uniquely qualified to understand the private suffering that women experience with weight gain and body shame. Although hormones are complex, when out of balance, they make losing weight close to impossible particularly for women. During my lecture, I’ll share which hormones are to blame, how they affect your weight, and at least one simple action you can take to bring each hormone back into balance.
Please join me on May 18th at 2pm, as I help you understand the ins and outs of your complex body, with natural solutions for weight loss.
While stress is a universal experience, we all experience it, and it’s a normal and even necessary part of life. We also experience varying degrees of stress based on our personality traits and the resources we have available. In spite of these differences, most people experience stress on a daily basis, and many of the stressors are the same for everyone. Stress is any kind of outside factor that our body perceives as a threat to our safety or well-being. Many people think this only refers to emotional stress or trauma, but it also includes physiological stress on the body, such as infection, traumatic injury, or a poor diet. Stress can also include environmental factors like exposure to chemicals and other toxins.
One of the bodily processes that occurs during acute stress is often referred to as “fight or flight.” It is the defense mechanism that kicks in when we are in danger – or think we are. In addition to the adrenals pumping out more hormones, bodily functions that are unnecessary in the moment (such as digestion), are put on hold to preserve energy for the “fight or flight.”
While this can be a very useful and sometimes life-saving response to a threat, problems can begin to occur if stress becomes frequent or chronic. As the adrenal glands become over-worked, they eventually can’t keep up with the body’s demands for the various hormones they’re responsible for.
How Chronic Stress Affects your Health
Mood
The adrenal glands produce more than just cortisol. They also produce neurotransmitters such as adrenaline (epinephrine), norepinephrine, and dopamine. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers (also considered hormones of the brain) that help regulate things like mood, performance, weight, pain perception, and sleep. Depending on the degree to which the adrenals have been affected, the neurotransmitters become unbalanced in various ways.
Hormones
In addition to neurotransmitters and cortisol, the adrenals also produce small amounts of the hormones estrogen and testosterone. Along with balancing out hormones based on whether a person is male or female, the sex hormones also help keep the negative effects of too much cortisol in check, acting as an antioxidant. But once the adrenals become chronically over-worked, more and more of the precursor materials (used to make sex hormones) get diverted to make cortisol, resulting in a decrease in sex hormones. This results in decreased libido and other symptoms related to hormonal imbalances, such asPMS in women or erectile dysfunction in men.
Blood Sugar Balance
When cortisol is released, another hormone called glucagon is signaled and insulin is then directly suppressed. Glucagon controls glucose storage in the liver so that glucose can be signaled for realease into the blood. Insulin is the hormone that is responsible for regulating the amount of glucose or simple sugars being taken from the bloodstream into the cells.During chronic stress, the cells start to become resistant to insulin, leaving blood glucose levels elevated. This is why insulin resistance is the precursor to type II diabetes. A few symptoms of insulin resistance include inability to lose weight, high cholesterol and triglycerides, brain fog, and elevated blood glucose or insulin levels.
Thyroid
The adrenal glands are part of the HPA-axis and this is where the thyroid comes into play. The adrenals are regulated by the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. When cortisol is released under stress, the hypothalamus and pituitary glands work in a feedback loop with cortisol to slow down their production of hormones all together. Unfortunately, this will inevitably slow down function of the thyroid gland since the hypothalamus and pituitary regulate thyroid hormones as well. Stress can also negatively affect the enzyme that converts inactive thyroid hormone to the active thyroid hormone. There are a few other mechanisms involved in the stress/thyroid dysfunction connection as well. Hypothyroid symptoms such as cold extremities, dry skin, depression, and constipation often indicate lowered adrenal function. Most likely, thyroid treatment will be less effective if the adrenals are not addressed as well.
Immunity
Stress triggers inflammation. Our body knows that chronic inflammation is damaging, so it compensates by slowing down the immune system in order to keep the inflammation in check. The immune system is also directly suppressed during stress since it is one of those “unnecessary” functions when we’re in “fight or flight” mode. This also affects thyroid health since a suppressed immune system can activate viruses capable of attacking and damaging the thyroid.
As you can see, so many functions in the body are interconnected and related back to adrenal function and the stress response.
How Diet and Lifestyle help Moderate the Effects of Stress
Eat Good Mood Foods
Nuts, dairy, leafy greens, citrus fruits, whole grains, black tea, and raw vegetables, which have all been shown to have a positive impact on mood, therefore decrease stress levels. Walnuts are rich in healthy fats, including omega-3 fatty acids, that help nourish your nervous system and calm your mind. Healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties that can help counteract the negative effects of stress hormones.
There are many breathing techniques that take only a few minutes from your day, but will make a significant impact on reducing the effects of stress. Box breathing is one technique used by Navy SEALs to stay calm and focused. It’s easy: find a comfortable spot to lie down. Inhale for 4 seconds, then hold the air in for 4 seconds. Exhale for 4 seconds and hold your lungs empty for 4 seconds. Continue for 5 minutes or however long it takes you to relax, regroup, and refocus; then repeat as necessary.
If you’re interested in balancing your hormones naturally and relieving the stress on your body and mind, please contact the office to begin.
