Happy New Year - Time for a Liver Cleanse!

  

Your liver is one of the most hard working organs in your bodies. The liver is responsible for detoxifying everything you put into your bodies as well as packaging up your used up hormones for disposal by the colon. On top of detox detail, your liver produces cholesterol which acts as building blocks for cell membranes and steroid hormones. And when you consume more carbohydrate calories than you can expend, your liver repackages the sugar molecules as triglycerides (triple glucose) to be stored in your body fat. 

I like to "clean house" twice a year—after the holidays and around midsummer.

And once a week, we have a cleansing meal of veggies. My husband calls it Liver Cleanse Sundays (the farmers market is open Sunday mornings where we buy the organic veggies that we don't grow). In the winter I roast root vegetables in olive oil or grill them in the summer. I used to steam the vegetables, but found that roasting in olive oil to preserve more of the nutrients plus the veggies taste great! 

Here's a Liver Cleanse diet I recommend:

For three to seven days, follow liver cleanse diet to rest liver and gallbladder

• Upon Awakening:
  • drink 1 cup of lemon tea (2tbl fresh lemon juice in hot water) every morning to stimulate bowel movement
  • then eat ½ cup of fibrous fruit (apple, pear, berries, melon, not citrus)
  • 15 minutes later consume whole grain hot cereal, unsweetened, no diary

• For lunch and dinner: consume 2 -4 cups of steamed or roasted vegetables
  • roots (beets, garlic, onions, turnips, carrots, yams)
  • stalks (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, artichoke, asparagus, leeks, fennel)
  • leaves (greens like collard, kale, mustard, beet, chard may be sautéed only in olive oil)

• Drink olive oil and lemon juice 1tablespoon each nightly to flush bile ducts

• During the cleanse: no saturated fats and no protein foods, absolutely no caffeine, no alcohol, no sugar, no processed food.

  

What about Gallstones?

Gallstones are formed by bile salt buildup in the gallbladder. When they pass, they cause tremendous pain. Conventional medicine recommends surgery to remove the offending gallbladder, but the gallbladder performs a vital function in storing bile produced by the liver and releasing it when needed into the small intestine to emulsify fats for digestion. Once the gallbladder is removed, the liver must take on its function. Since the liver has so many other vital functions to perform (detoxification, cholesterol formation, amino acid processing, anticoagulation and filtering of the blood) adding gallbladder duty can tax the liver leading to toxicity, maldigestion and malabsorption. 

Here's a great Gallbladder Flush:

• Mix the juice of 1 orange & 1 lemon
• With ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp minced garlic
• And ¼ cup olive oil
• Drink it up!

Some of my patients use the combination as a marinade for chicken and fish, which is great, but you have to drink it all at once to flush the gallbladder.  A daily dose of gallbladder flush while you are on the liver cleanse diet can be helpful to dissolve bile sediment in the gallbladder. If you have severe abdominal pain, you may be passing gallstones and an ultrasound of the gallbladder may be needed.

  

Here are some Supplements for a Healthy Liver:  Milk Thistle — an excellent herb to help detoxify and heal the liver.  Alpha Lipoic Acid — a fat soluble and water soluble antioxidant that protects the liver from free radical damage and also helps promote detoxification reactions. Curcumin — a spice that has been shown to be anti-inflammatory in the liver and a detoxifier, analgesic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant.  Genesis Gold — An excellent foundation to help detoxify at the cellular level. Contains high percentage of kelp and chlorella as well as sprouted grains.  The herbal complex supports the biochemical messengers of the neuro-immune-endocrine system which promotes healing and stimulates regeneration of healthy tissue.

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Copyright 2015 DMaragopoulos

For permission to reprint this article please contact Deborah@lovedance.com

Hormones in Harmony® - Heal Your Hypothalamus for Optimal Health, Graceful Aging and Joyous Energy

Hormones Sing and DNA Dances. 

Your Hypothalamus is the maestro of your entire symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters, and immune factors.

Your neuro-immune-endocrine system controls your moods, your memory, your sleep, your energy, your metabolism, your vulnerability to disease including cancer and autoimmunity, your digestion, your detoxification, your aging process. 

Wouldn't it be great if you could have a guidebook to help keep your Hormones in Harmony®?

Well, it's here! 

This is the book you’ve been waiting for. The one that reveals all my secrets to healing naturally. The one you’ve wished you had to give your friends and family.  The one I wished I had to help you and all my patients understand the healing process.

Hormones in Harmony® - Heal Your Hypothalamus for Optimal Health, Graceful Aging and Joyous Energy

Whether you are in puberty or approaching the pause, either male or female, your health and well-being is determined by your hormonal balance.

If you’re not dancing in perfect health, your hormones are out of tune. Why tune up each instrument, when you can support the maestro and heal everything?

If you’ve tried every diet, every lifestyle change, every meditation, every supplement and still aren’t experiencing optimal health, this is the book you need!

Hormones in Harmony® shows you how to balance Your Hypothalamus naturally to heal Your Body, Mind, and Soul!

Get Your Copy of Hormones in Harmony® 

Amazon Best Seller
5 Star Reviews 

“This is a beautiful book. It is practical and insightful. In reading it, I found things that I already knew confirmed and found insights that really made me think. It’s grounded in the author's own life and clinical experience, which offers the feeling to the reader of great wisdom and great humanity. This is a book to savour because it offers a road map but not a set of rigid to rules to be followed. I highly recommend it to anyone at any stage of life, wellness or illness.” Reader from the UK

"This book is packed full of useful information for both men and women. When you read the title, don’t think just sex hormones--estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. The author is talking about the endocrine system, the immune system, and how the cells in our body interact. Think in terms of the neuro-immune-endocrine system. This book is easy to read and understand so that we can start on the road to understanding the foundation of why we feel the way we do!" Reader from the US

 As an Intuitive Integrative Family Nurse Practitioner, I blend the Art of Healing with the Science of Medicine to uncover the root of your health problems and help you tap into your innate ability to heal.

And now you have the guidebook to optimal health. Enjoy!

Deborah Maragopoulos FNP
The Hormone Queen®
www.thehormonequeen.com

Tap into Your DNA

I've been teaching my patients for years that thought becomes manifest in our DNA. Our self-talk directs our DNA to dance accordingly...as healing or dis-ease. And Russian scientists have proven it! *

Consciously directing our DNA is why I created Genesis Gold...I alchemized into the formula (which came to me in dreams) my heartfelt intention to optimize our genetic potential by balancing hormones, neurotransmitters and cytokines (tiny immune messengers) so our biochemistry sings harmoniously to our DNA. With the help of Genesis Gold, many have healed themselves.

Healing at the genetic level is through a symphony of biochemicals that carry messages to the DNA. Most of us are born with DNA encoded for survival. If our communication networks are functioning properly then the DNA gets the proper messages to adapt to any situation. Dis-ease is more of a mal-adaptation to the environmental exposures and disharmonious energies.

We now have scientific proof that water has memory and can be imprinted with whatever it is exposed to. Since our bodies are made up of at least 60% water then it holds true that we can imprint our cellular fluids with healing through positive thoughts, nourishing foods and joyous experiences. I've "known" this to be true since I became a healer... my healing energies are imprinted in Genesis Gold and every day I take it, I send blessings to all those who are drinking it with me.

When the Japanese earthquake sent radiation spilling into the ocean, many of my patients called concerned. I told them that first, Genesis Gold has enough sea vegetation in it to protect their thyroid from radiation uptake, and second, that by promoting harmonious communication, they would adapt to whatever comes.

Your DNA has the best blueprint for your adaptation to any situation.

Imagine mining your DNA for gold: Health. Wellbeing. Longevity. Vitality. Greater Mental Abilities. Emotional Intelligence. More Refined Senses. Increased Sensitivity. Sacred Attributes. Well, you can.

I mine my DNA by swimming Fibonacci patterns. Diving under the water I imagine diving into myself, into my cells, into my own genetic code.

With each figure eight I swim, my mind clears, I relax into myself, and soon insight bubbles to the surface. I like to swim but you can do it anyway you please. The figure eight motion whether swimming, walking, dancing is meditative in itself.

Anytime I have a healing concern, I dive into myself. Usually my body will communicate back to me what is needed to heal: a change in diet, more sleep, different activities, a change in scenery.

Going more deeply, past the afflicted body part, into the tissues, the cells, finally into the DNA itself, I find what is needed may be a shift in consciousness.

First we must be open to change before healing transformation can begin. That’s really the hardest part—being open to receive healing.

When healing seems evasive, I often wonder how I’m blocking healing. Usually it’s emotional. Unresolved grief, unexpressed anger, or deep fear manifests itself as dis-ease.  It’s the emotion that may be blocking healing, even our own healing intentions.

Once I had a patient come to me to lose weight. So I counseled her on changing her sleep patterns (she was a night owl which contributes to insulin resistance and obesity), changing her diet (which was SAD—the Standard American Diet—high in calories, low in nutrients), begin exercising (she was completely sedentary with a daytime desk job) and most importantly to learn to love herself enough to make the changes necessary to get healthy.

She struggled with her weight…never quite ready to make all the changes necessary to get healthy. Oh, she dieted and would lose some weight. She started exercising and again weight would come off. She learned to sleep at night which improved her insulin resistance. Yet she was coming for help out of fear of dis-ease, not out of love for herself. While we made some progress, it didn’t stick.

Then she started taking Genesis Gold and began noticing all the ways she was sabotaging herself. She described becoming a more compassionate observer of herself. She decided finally it was time to change for good.

She took the plunge. And discovered a deeply ingrained belief that was sabotaging her weight loss. Over time with more counseling and more work on her part to learn to love and appreciate herself, this patient got down to healthy weight and has remained there since. And she does not have to be so strict with her diet or obsessive with her exercise. She can even miss some sleep and not miss a beat. With the change of attitude and help of Genesis Gold to balance her hormones, brain chemistry and metabolism, she is manifesting her best self.

It takes much courage to dive into yourself and discover what is needed for your highest wellbeing. No one else can do this for you. You can be guided with visual imagery, hypnotized, counseled ad nauseum, yet ultimately, you must commit to yourself and take the plunge. 

I created Genesis Gold to help us tap into our greatest potential. It’s all in our DNA, everything needed to be healthy. We are already whole. We just got to dive deep to discover the treasure. Go on, now, take the plunge!

Tap into your highest genetic potential with Genesis Gold!

* http://wakeup-world.com/2011/07/12/scientist-prove-dna-can-be-reprogrammed-by-words-frequencies/

Your Hypothalamus – the Maestro of your Symphony of Health

A biochemical symphony controls your body’s function.  Hormones, neurotransmitters and immune factors act as biochemical messengers that sing to your DNA. If you’re hormones are in harmony, your DNA dances health. 

These "hormones" control all of your body's functioning—digestion, detoxification, growth, repair, sleep, sex drive, reproduction, stress response, metabolism, body composition,  immunity, healing, cognition, learning and memory.

Neuro-immune-endocrinology—the Symphony of Hormones 

 I have been taking care of patients of all ages for nearly 30 years. While my conventional training focused on the treatment of the symptoms of disease, my intuition guided me to search for the underlying roots of dis-ease.  

As a nurse practitioner practicing intuitive integrative medicine, I perceive the roots of dis-ease...biochemical, psychological, spiritual. Yet I believe healing is innate, encoded within our DNA.

Your Hypothalamus—the Maestro

When I left conventional medicine to practice Intuitive Integrative Health, I started to see the most challenging cases. That’s when I began to assess and focus my treatments on the symphony of hormones produced by the neurological, immune, and endocrine systems.

That’s when I discovered, rather rediscovered, the HYPOTHALAMUS.

The hypothalamus is a crucial organ in your brain that runs the entire neuro-immune-endocrine systems.  And when the “hormones” produced by the neuro-immune-endocrine system are out of balance, the body malfunctions which we call dis-ease.

Although, we learn about the hypothalamus in premed anatomy and physiology classes, by the time we begin our health care practice, we forget the importance of this primitive brain structure. We just don’t appreciate the hypothalamus. We cannot measure the hormones the hypothalamus produces, so we don’t deal with it.

Yet the hypothalamus plays a vital role in the orchestration of the symphony of hormones. Hormones directly control the DNA and most dis-ease is a result of hormonal miscommunication.

When Hormones Sing, DNA Dances.

The hypothalamus orchestrates our entire system.  Feed the hypothalamus and harmonize the symphony of hormones so the dance of the DNA expresses health and vitality.
What could I feed the body to tap into the genetic potential for health and wellbeing?  After much research and soul searching, I surrendered and in my dreams a formula was revealed... 

The first seven nights I awoke each morning from my dreams and wrote what I remembered—sets of seven amino acids. Each corresponding to the hypothalamic control of the endocrine glands. Seven times seven. 

After following my intuition and paying close attention to my dreams. I began clinical studies. I believe what we intend becomes. So I mixed the plant based amino acids with the intention to heal the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual body— Sacred Seven®.   

Like any scientist, I was my own guinea pig...

I took the Sacred Seven® along with my patients in the first pilot study. But first I took myself off bio-identical hormone replacement therapy I had been using to treat runner's amenorrhea. I also stopped all other supplementation.

Within two months, I had my first normal menstrual cycle in over 20 years. I also craved meat...which was disturbing since I had been a vegetarian for seven years. But I had decided to "listen" to my body like I instructed my patients...so I ate meat. And felt great! In fact, my mild anemia cleared up. Then I began craving orange vegetables—pumpkins, yams, butternut squash. So I ate them too and did not suffer from the winter blues. Interesting.

Granted I had put on five pounds, my overweight patients do not gain, but most lose the extra body fat. I apparently needed to gain...the same amount of weight I gained each time I conceived. In spite of my gynecologist's warning that with such low body fat, I was probably infertile, my two children came to me in dreams (like Genesis Gold®), so I let my body take over AND it gained five pounds AND I conceived.

Not since my pregnancies had I been so attuned to my body. It was like my DNA was talking...loudly...telling me what to eat, when to rest, and how much to exercise. Sacred Seven® amino acids changed my life. I slept well for the first time...having suffered somnambulance—sleep walking nearly every night for 18 years was exhausting.

Yet I could no longer exercise. Now I usually instruct my patients on regular exercise. But I was fanatic. I only had 12% body fat, I had been running competitively since high school and had competed as a triathlete for seven years before conceiving Sacred Seven® and GenesisGold®. Almost as soon as I began the Sacred Seven® amino acids, I could not even think about running without my Achilles tendon aching horribly. So I walked. I learned to dance. I rode my horse. And when my body said it was ok to run, I enjoyed the scenery for the first time ever.

Once I found the best manufacturer for Genesis Gold®, I switched my alliance. I am better supported with the full formula, no more outrageous cravings to fill in my nutritional deficits. And I eat well. We grow most of our own fruits and vegetables and buy organic, but even I cannot gather all the nutrients necessary to support my body, mind, and soul in our modern world. So now with Genesis Gold®, I can eat anything I desire and I feel great.

Over the past thirteen years, I have maintained that crucial five pounds, no more, no less, without obsessive exercise. And I’m now going through menopause at 52, although my three younger sisters have been menopausal for the past eight years—a testament to how stress robs you of your hormonal competence without the hypothalamic support of Genesis Gold®.

So why do I still take Sacred Seven®? Because as a healer dealing with the Hormonally Challenged, I need extra hypothalamic and genetic support to maintain optimal health. Although Sacred Seven® is in GenesisGold®, the extra amino acids also helps me maintain my creative energies...to help you, my patients, my colleagues and myself heal...body, mind and soul.

May Your DNA Dance Health!

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP-BC

Genesis Gold naturally balances your symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters and immune factors

Sacred Seven balances your hypothalamus naturally

 

Treat Insomnia Naturally

Insomnia is the bane of modern society. Since the introduction of the electric light over one hundred years ago, nearly half of the world is lit up at night. Artificial light disturbs natural circadian rhythms.

The pineal gland produces the sleep hormone—melatonin—only in the dark. Without adequate melatonin production, sleep is disturbed, hormones become imbalanced, and the ability to fight dis-ease is diminished.

The pineal gland, located in the center of the brain, is associated with the crown chakra. Light energy affects pineal production of melatonin. Cells located in our skin called chromocytes carry light wave information to the pineal gland. At dawn, the daylight is a blue wave which stimulates chromocytes to turn off the pineal gland. At dusk, the pink light of sunset blocks the blue rays and the pineal gland begins producing melatonin.

Melatonin production peaks about three hours after dark and lasts eight to nine hours in adults, longer in children. At dawn, the drop of melatonin arouses the hypothalamus. Located deep in the brain at the level of the sixth chakra, the hypothalamus controls all vital body functions including temperature, weight, libido, hormones, stress response, the immune system and directs the cascade of amino acids that form neurotransmitters. The hypothalamus is truly the maestro of the body's biochemical orchestra.

Once the hypothalamus wakes up, it needs glucose, so it stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol which releases stored sugar. Cortisol stimulates the production of dopamine which is the neurotransmitter of alertness, memory and learning. Dopamine follows natural cortisol rhythms, remaining elevated until mid afternoon. Schools capitalize on the natural circadian rhythm of the learning hormone by teaching children from 8am to 3pm. The late afternoon slump that makes many of us reach for sugar and caffeine is a reflection of this natural drop in cortisol and dopamine.

Prolactin is another extremely important nocturnal hormone. Released by the pituitary gland, prolactin is very high in pregnant and nursing mothers—its name refers to promoting lactation. Produced by all ages and both genders, prolactin stimulates the thymus to program the natural killer cells that keep our bodies free of foreign invaders and cancer.  Without sleep, we are prone to disease as our immune systems weaken. Prolactin rises three hours after melatonin and is turned off by dopamine.

In the morning, melatonin cascades into serotonin. A calming hormone, serotonin controls our impulses. And the more serotonin made during the day the more melatonin at night.

You can create a natural circadian rhythm by rising with the sun and exercise early in the day.  Exercise promotes cortisol production thus increasing dopamine, the active daytime hormones. Released in response to both physical and emotional stressors, cortisol fuels our bodies for flight away from potential danger.  Dopamine and cortisol can prevent the cascade of serotonin back into melatonin in the evening so beware of exercising within a few hours of bedtime.

Insomnia is often at the root of many dis-eases. Cancer, obesity, immune dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, diabetes, even heart disease have been associated with sleep disorders. Although sleep medications are available as temporary relief, they do not promote normal nocturnal hormone production.

I really did not appreciate how the hypothalamus affects our sleep cycles until I began taking Sacred Seven®.

You see, I suffered from somnambulance—sleep walking—for eighteen years. Rarely did I get a restful night's sleep. Most nights I slept less than four or five hours. Many times I found myself outside clutching a pillow. Kind of scary and definitely not good for my health. I managed my days by running on fumes, exercising obsessively, and eating way too much sugar.

Then I began taking SacredSeven® amino acids and within a month, I began sleeping through the night and my sugar cravings stopped. In fact for the first three months, I slept over ten hours a night—my body trying to catch up with years of lack of sleep.

Balancing the hypothalamus takes time to reset the circadian rhythm, so Sacred Seven® is not an immediate sleep aide, but instead gets to the core issue, balancing the brain chemistry, restoring optimal hypothalamic functioning, and, in time, deepening and lengthening the sleep cycles.

GenesisGold® has the Sacred Seven® amino acids in it to balance the hypothalamus and restore normal circadian rhythm, yet it takes a bit longer, so extra Sacred Seven® may be needed for chronic insomnia.

Sweet Dreams...

Natural Remedies for Insomnia Don't miss the sunset. Remember the pink light of dusk induces melatonin production. Don't watch television or work on the computer after dark. The blue light from these screens acts like dawn and shuts down melatonin production. If you must expose yourself to blue light wear pink tinted glasses while watching television or doing computer work at night. Try eating tryptophan enriched foods in the evening. Tryptophan is the amino acid needed to convert serotonin into melatonin. Sleep inducing foods include: whole grains, nut butters, bananas, grapefruit, dates, figs, yogurt, turkey and tuna.  Heavy protein foods are not recommended before retiring for the night. Be sure to sleep in complete darkness. A cool, very dark room helps the pineal gland produce melatonin. Deepen sleep with soothing sound like water or other night sounds. In the morning, arise with natural sunlight. Help melatonin cascade into serotonin by eating complex carbs and getting at least 20 minutes of sun exposure. Exercise moderately about 30 minutes of aerobic activity early in the day. Sacred Seven® amino acids balance circadian rhythm by supporting optimal hypothalamic functioning which helps with insomnia.

Sacred Seven amino acids formulated to optimize hypothalamic function and restore normal circadian rhythm

Hormones in Harmony® - The Secret to Optimal Health

For Optimal Health Tap into Your DNA

So you think you’re stuck with what you’re born with? Not so.

Our genetic potential has barely been tapped. Most of us only use about 30% of our DNA. What do I mean by that? Well, when scientists finally decoded DNA in 2000 they found that less than one third of our genetic material was being expressed. The rest they called junk. We have since found out that the rest of the "unexpressed DNA” is not junk.

Think of holiday lights taken out of storage. A tangled mess you plug in and only 1/3 of the lights are on. Now with a little work, you can disentangle the lights and figure out which bulb needs tightening or replaced and viola, they all work. Well, same with our DNA. The secret is how to tap into to our highest potential.

Our DNA is a divine blueprint, a set of instructions for how to build and maintain our bodies, how to survive everything life on earth has in store for us, and how to thrive as the energy on the planet shifts from 3D to 5D and beyond. Yes, everything we need to manifest our souls' desires while here on earth.

Yet we were taught that what you were born with is all you have to work with. In other words, there's no turning on more lights. I have never believed that DNA was static.  And in 1984 just a year out of nursing school, I gave birth to a child who proved my intuition. My baby was born intersex. Back then the condition was called ambiguous genitalia and chromosome studies showed the baby to be an XY female.

But wait! Isn't XY the male chromosomes? Yes, but the baby's genitalia appeared feminized. So the top pediatric endocrinologists advised that my husband and I raise our child female. I didn't agree. I had a dream of delivering a blond baby boy. So we kept him as is. The doctors were alarmed, "he'll never masculinize!" Yet by puberty those androgen resistant cell receptors started responding and his testosterone began directing his DNA to become a young man. Now, my son is still intersex. While his body masculinized, his brain functions like a woman as well as a man. He is very special gift indeed. I learned that:

A: What I was taught in my medical training was wrong...DNA is not set in stone, and

B: DNA can shift with nurturing--the physical, the mental, and the spiritual.

In 1997 when I first opened my Intuitive Integrative Medical practice, I prayed to understand how the neuro-immune-endocrine system orchestrated health and dis-ease.  So the universe sent me (or rather, I manifested) an influx of Hormonally Challenged patients including many "learning disabled" children.

Intuitively I knew that these children's brains were starving. These were the children of the new age, of our new earth. They do not learn as we do in old paradigm ways. And they needed highly absorbable nutrition to optimize their genetic potential and help them thrive in the shifting energy.

I developed micronutrient recipes using various supplements that I had their parents feed them. And the children woke up. They spoke for the first time. They began to socialize with their peers. They began to thrive.

In the meantime, more and more Hormonally Challenged patients were coming from around the world. I had great success with bio-identical-hormone replacement therapy, yet it seemed I was creating dependency by replacing what the body should be making. Plus the numerous bottles of supplements needed to enhance the aging or dusfunctional cell metabolism was overwhelming. And the children’s formulas had to be constantly adjusted. Could I do what I was asking my patients to do to be healthy?

No. It had to be simpler. My research led to the maestro of the entire symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters, and immune cytokines—the hypothalamus.

If I could feed the hypothalamus what it needed to orchestrate the system, then the hormones would be in harmony and sing beautifully to the DNA, which would dance health and vitality.  Maladaptive genes that cause dis-ease would turn off so more of our genetic potential could be expressed. The body would have what it needed to heal itself.

My son, the child who started my venture into the science of medicine and the art of healing, advised that I meditate on what I was searching for and then see what came in my dreams. And I dreamt of a unique nutritional formula to support the hypothalamus and optimize genetic potential.

That was over thirteen years ago and my creation, GenesisGold, has helped hundreds of people become healthy in body, mind, and soul. Some have called it therapy in a bottle—as once your body gets what it needs to optimize its genetic potential then old psychological patterns that no longer serve your new healthy self begin to arise to be cleared.

I believe we are tapping into our highest genetic potential…aging more gracefully, becoming free of medications as our bodies heal, knowing innately what we need to thrive—physically, psychologically and spiritually.

Genesis Gold was gifted to me. Now I offer my creation to you.

Your Adrenals—How Stress Makes You Fat

Stress—a fact of modern day living and the cause of so many diseases. Stress has been linked to heart disease, cancer, allergies, autoimmune disease, thyroid dysfunction, mood disorders and obesity.

While stress affects many parts of the body, the adrenals are responsible for creating the stress response.

What are the Adrenals?

The adrenals are small glands that lie on top (ad) of the kidneys (renals). These amazing glands have multiple functions. While the adrenals are endocrine glands producing hormones in response to pituitary stimulus that control carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, the adrenals also respond to neurological stimuli to initiate the fight or flight response, as well as electrolytes circulating in the blood to control blood pressure, and produce cytokines that influence immune function.

That's a lot of responsibility for one pair of glands.

So what happens when you are under stress?

First, the adrenals are stimulated by the nervous system and produce adrenaline. Adrenaline increases heart rate and blood pressure to initiate the fight or fight response.

Then the adrenals produce cortisol to fuel the fight or flight response. Cortisol is a catabolic steroid hormone. Catabolic = breaks down. Steroid = made from cholesterol. Hormone = chemical messenger.

Like most endocrine glands, the adrenals are stimulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary axis in a negative feedback system. Think of a seesaw. Cortisol is on one side and Adrenal Cortico Trophic Hormone (ACTH) is on the other. If cortisol is high, ACTH is low. If cortisol is low, ACTH is high.

Let's say a tiger is chasing you. Your autonomic nervous system stimulates the adrenals to produce adrenaline. Your heart beats faster raising your blood pressure so you can get away. The adrenaline surge stimulates the hypothalamus which checks to see if you have enough cortisol to fuel the stress response. If not, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland to produce ACTH which travels via the blood stream to the adrenal cortex and stimulates the production of cortisol.

Cortisol then tells the pancreas to produce glucagon which is the hormone that releases glycogen (stored sugar) from the muscles and the liver. Now your muscles and heart have the energy to get away from that tiger!

Whew! Following the surge of cortisol, the adrenals produce dehydroepiandrostione also known as DHEA. DHEA controls protein and fat metabolism to help repair the damage from the flight or fight. The leftover cortisol is converted to cortisone, a natural anti-inflammatory, to soothe your aches after getting away from the tiger.

At first the high stress response causes a catabolic reaction as tissues breakdown. You might lose weight initially but over the long haul, the high levels of cortisol can cause you to store body fat. Remember cortisol stimulates the release of stored sugar. How can the glucose get into the cells without insulin? So the pancreas also produces more insulin in response to the stress. If you are really running away from the tiger, then of course, you will use the glucose. If not, well then, you develop insulin resistance.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance is your body's way of protecting itself from all that circulating sugar. You see, insulin escorts glucose into the cells. Cells use glucose to produce energy. If the tiger is not really chasing you and you are not expending the energy, then your cells become resistant to insulin. All cells that cannot store sugar become insulin resistant. Your liver and muscles can store about 400 calories worth of glucose. Your heart, on the other hand, cannot store even one gram of sugar. Your heart can only use glucose to beat faster or grow bigger. A bigger heart is not an efficient pump, so your heart becomes insulin resistant.

What does your body do with the extra sugar? It stores it as fat. Thankfully, your adipose cells never become insulin resistant. No, they will store that extra sugar in the form of triglycerides (triple sugar molecules) to protect the rest of your body.

Insulin resistance is why you end up gaining weight after prolonged stress.

My recommendations for stress induced insulin resistance:

• RELAX - first of all, take time to chill out. Yes, meditation, relaxation exercises, soothing music, long walks, just being in nature can help calm the stress response. A regular meditation practice has been shown to reduce the stress response.

• DIET - The best diet to reverse insulin resistance is a plant based, moderate fat and protein, low carb. Click here for my insulin resistant diet. 

• EXERCISE - Yes, exercise is important, but it matters when you do it.  Exercise early in the morning to follow the natural cortisol circadian rhythm. Exercising late in the day and especially after dark creates a stress reaction. Exercise induces cortisol production and cortisol opposes melatonin so you will not sleep deeply.

• WORK - Take vacations. Work to live, don't live to work. If you do what you love, look forward to work, then work becomes as therapeutic as play.

• SUPPLEMENTS - the key to supplementation is to balance the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response. One of the biggest reasons I created Genesis Gold is to help balance the stress response.  Adrenal function improves, insulin resistance reverses, and metabolism increases when the hypothalamus is supported. Plus the adaptogenic herbs help provide natural adrenal and hormonal balance.

Most people describe a more Zen approach to life when taking Genesis Gold. One middle aged male patient described a new found ability to take a higher perspective when dealing with stressful family situations since taking Genesis GoldÒ.

Years ago, my husband was asked what Genesis Gold did for him. He said he felt more mellow. We all noticed the change, even the dogs. When he would pay bills he would get so uptight that the dogs would hide. Now they lie happily at my husband's feet as he navigates the monthly bills!

Physically, his triglycerides dropped, his waistline slimmed, and he looks younger-- the benefits of a healthier metabolism and less stressed attitude. Of course, I was happy he was taking better care of himself, especially since he worked for 30 years as a police officer—such a high stress job that within a few years of retirement many cops suffer heart attacks and die. He's been consistent with taking Genesis Gold since 2008 and it shows— at 51, his lab tests are that of a healthy thirty-year-old.

So take good care your adrenals and you'll stay trim and healthy.

Hormones Affect Your Health

Excerpt from The Survival Guide for the Hormonally Challenged Woman

As the interface between the energy of the environment and the matter of your body, hormones affect everything ~ Your moods, your memory, your metabolism.

Your appearance, your aging, your appetite. Your sleep patterns, your stress response, your sex drive. Everything.

When I refer to hormones, I mean all the body’s messengers—the traditional hormones of the endocrine system, the neurotransmitters of the neurological system and the cytokines of the immune system. All of these act as hormones affecting everything we do, everything we feel, everything we think.

Living in today’s fast paced, high-stressed world of the interminable electric light and too many manmade carbohydrates create havoc with our hormones.

Think of the hormones as the software program of the human computer. Many of us are so Hormonally Challenged—sick, aging, tired, or just plain stressed out—that we need a software update.

From Puberty to the Pause

Your hormone story began when you were in your mother’s womb. As a growing fetus your hormones were higher than they will ever be again. All those hormones helped you grow from a tiny zygote to a newborn baby. At birth, you entered a hormonal slump. Although growth occurs, hormones are naturally low in childhood. But at puberty, your hormones entered a fantastic rollercoaster.

First your adrenals started pumping out high levels of DHEA—a hormone needed to metabolize protein and fat for you to grow rapidly. DHEA converted to testosterone and hair began sprouting on your body and you developed body odor. DHEA then converted to estrogen and your breasts budded. A couple years later, your ovaries woke up and you had your first period.

During this time your pancreas began pumping out glucagon to release stored baby fat and insulin to fuel your pubescent growth. A couple years after menarche, your growth hormone levels peaked and you reached your full adult height. Then your thyroid hormone levels reached a plateau to maintain your new young adult metabolism.

Perimenopause follows the same pattern as puberty, but in the opposite direction!

As we came in thus we go out….

First your adrenals falter. Stress greatly affects you and you get tired easily.

Then your ovaries slow down. Your periods become heavier, irregular, you begin skipping periods. You become moody, irritable, and forgetful. Then fat! Because your pancreas is producing more and more insulin to keep up with the Change and eventually you become insulin resistant.

Then your growth hormone levels drop and you just don’t heal as quickly. You do not recover from exercise or a late night out like you did when you were younger. Finally your thyroid slows way down. Why? Because you cannot have a high metabolism with low hormones….you would literally implode.

Hormones Also Affect Your Digestion and Detoxification

We are what we eat…literally. 

We all know that protein builds muscle and that carbohydrates are energy foods, but did you know that every chemical you make, every hormone, every neurotransmitter, every cytokine, all come from nutrients derived from the food you eat? 

If your diet does not provide all the nutrients necessary to run your system, then something has to go…Usually those parts of your body that are not crucial for life--your skin, your hair, your nails.  Your internal health is directly related to your external appearance.

Hormones are made up of protein and fat…specifically cholesterol. In fact, “steroid” hormones are derived from the “sterol” in cholesterol. When you reach middle age and your hormones begin to decline, your cholesterol naturally rises in response. Your liver is just trying to help out your failing ovaries!

Food is digested into protein, fat, and carbohydrates. These macronutrients provide calories and building blocks for new tissues and biochemicals like hormones. Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals that help run the system. If you cannot digest your food properly, break it down into absorbable macronutrients and assimilate it into essential micronutrients, then you cannot produce adequate hormones to remain healthy.

Your liver and kidneys are organs that detoxify your body. They need energy from food (mostly carbohydrates) and essential amino acids (from protein) and essential fatty acids (from fats) to do their job. They also require micronutrients to run the detoxification pathways. It’s an incredibly complicated system -- One that most health care providers ignore.

Years ago I was attending a medical conference. The physician presenter was lecturing on the drug interactions between a blood thinner and Tylenol. After the lecture, I asked: where in the hepatic detoxification pathways were the interactions occurring? When he didn’t answer, I clarified by asking specifically about phase I enzyme interactions versus phase II conjugation issues. As if I was speaking a different language, he said very slowly and very loudly, “I am a lung doctor, not a liver doctor.”

I replied, “Doctor, don’t all your ‘lung’ patients have livers? So wouldn’t it behoove you and your patients to know what detoxification pathways are affected? That way you can advise your patients on what foods, herbs, and supplements to also avoid.”

He shook his head. “I just check their blood levels frequently.”

And his patients are dependent on him not to bleed to death!

Now I know that as a layperson, you probably do not have a clue about the hepatic detoxification pathways but I expected my esteemed colleague to understand. We learned this basic physiology in our undergraduate pre-med training. Yet so few of us utilize knowledge of biochemistry in our clinical practices. And it is SO VERY IMPORTANT!

That’s why as a patient you need to know how your body works so you can make the healthiest choices. Knowledge is power and very well may save your life. 

I keep my Hormones in Harmony™ and optimize my digestion, detoxification and metabolism by taking Genesis Gold®. So even the Pause is just another Joyous Transformation!

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Copyright 2013 DMaragopoulos

For permission to reprint this article please contact Deborah@lovedance.com

Your Hypothalamus—The Boss of Your Body

For the past fifteen years, I’ve discovered the root of many medical problems  to be miscommunication.  Miscommunication between the boss of your body and the complicated network of biochemicals that control all your body’s functions. Your Hypothalamus is the Boss of Your Body.

What is the Hypothalamus?

The hypothalamus is a small cluster of nerve cells at the base of the brain. Tiny compared to the brain, the hypothalamus weighs only 4 grams (the adult brain weighs 1400 grams). Most of your brain is like a giant computer storing megabytes of information. Your hypothalamus is the operating system orchestrating all the software programs that run your body.

What does my Hypothalamus Do?

Your hypothalamus performs a wide range of functions that are vital for your survival. Your hypothalamus integrates all the basic functions of the body necessary for life, such as:

·        fluid and electrolyte balance

·        feeding behavior

·        weight control

·        energy metabolism

·        wake-sleep cycles

·        temperature regulation

·        stress responses

·        sexual behavior and reproduction

·        emotional expression

·        processing of sensory information

·        balancing of blood sugar

·        maintaining homeostasis

Where is my Hypothalamus?

Your hypothalamus is located just behind and between the eyes at the base of your brain. It contains very important nuclei (nerve cell clusters) that connect it with the rest of the brain and with the endocrine system which controls all your hormones.

Your hypothalamus sits at a crossroads in the brain, receiving direct sensory inputs from the smell, taste, visual, and tactile systems. These sensory inputs to the hypothalamus drive your emotional response and many of the phenomena associated with emotional expression (changes in heart rate, blushing, hair standing on end, etc.)

Why is my Hypothalamus so Important?

The hypothalamus is the master controller of all your hormones, your immune system, and your brain chemistry.

Most people think of the pituitary gland as the master gland controlling your hormones, but it is just a middle manager. It is the hypothalamus which regulates the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus secretes releasing hormones communicating with the anterior pituitary gland to produce stimulating hormones that control the thyroid, the adrenals, the ovaries and testes as well as the production of growth hormone and prolactin (which regulates your immune system).

Your hypothalamus also contains sensors that monitor your blood temperature, blood sugar and mineral levels, and your hormones. Your hypothalamus receives sensory inputs necessary to detect challenges within your body and in your environment.

So when things are different, when your body is no longer acting like it used to, when you go to the doctor and complain that something is not right—your sleep is disturbed, your moods are erratic, you’re getting sick more often, your body temperature is off, your weight is out of control—and all your blood tests are within normal limits…it just might be your hypothalamus that needs help.

How do I keep my Hypothalamus Healthy?

The hypothalamus is maestro of the entire symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters and immune factors. Plus it controls all our basic body functions including those essential for survival.

It’s about time, we get to the root of our health problems.

Thankfully, the hypothalamus is very responsive to nutritional therapeutics. That's why I created Genesis Gold --- to support the hypothalamus. If the maestro gets support, the whole orchestra is more harmonious.

Feed the body what it needs to heal and it will heal.