Get Your Sex Drive Back!

Having low sex drive or poor sexual response can damage not only your full experience of life but also your relationship, as sex is a part of bonding with your partner.

There are lots of reasons that you can have low sex drive, including:

Stress, exhaustion, bloating, body image issues, depression, unresolved conflict with your partner, distraction, worries about fertility, worries about your own or your partner's sexual performance, medications like birth control or anti-depressants, headaches or pain.

In this article, I'll focus mainly on the hormonal aspect of healthy sex drive.

A term I learned while researching this article is SIAD or Sex Interest/ Arousal Disorder. I think this acronym portrays the spectrum of what goes on both with a lack of interest in sex and an inability to become aroused and orgasmic during sex.

This research study describes that there are three parts to sexual experience: desire, arousal, and orgasm. I'll explain each stage and also how hormone imbalance can come into play to disrupt each stage.

Stages of Sex Drive

1) Desire

Sexual experience usually starts with thoughts and fantasies about sex, although the article says that it's not always required for a successful sexual experience.

Hormonally speaking, if you have low levels of testosterone, you'll have less desire. Low thyroid hormone activity could also sap your desire.

2) Arousal

The next stage is arousal. When there is an initiation of the sexual stimulation does your arousal grow? Arousal is both physical and mental and, usually, both components need to come into play, with the physical arousal coming first and then the mental arousal deepens your interest.

Estrogen is an important hormone to keep your vagina and vulva lubricated. This lubrication increases during sex and without it sex can be uncomfortable and you’ll lose the desire to continue.

3) Orgasm

This arousal leads the body towards orgasm. According to Women’s Health magazine, “The big bang is the moment when the uterus, vagina, and anus contract simultaneously at 0.8-second intervals. A small orgasm may consist of three to five contractions; a biggie, 10 to 15.”

If you have a high level of cortisol due to chronic stress, it can sometimes be hard to move from your stressed-out state to a relaxed state of enjoying sex that leads to orgasm.

What to Do

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of mental and physical factors that come into play for a healthy sex life. You may want to review the list at the start of the article and determine if health, work or communication challenges are getting in the way of your satisfying sex life.

If you want a great 'shortcut' to a better sex life, I recommend a product we carry called Libido Stim F, which can support all three stages of your sexual experience.

I tried this product last Spring. At the time, I certainly wasn't thinking about sex much and I did sometimes have a hard time to become aroused- which as you know is super frustrating! So I tried this product, Libido Stim F, without getting my hopes up too high.

I didn't really notice anything until I had been taking it a couple weeks. Then I noticed more desire and even fantasies of sex. I was really surprised! I found arousal and orgasm became much easier as well. I can definitely recommend Libido Stim F as being effective.

The mechanisms of action in Libido Stim F are:

• Increase hormone production

• Maintain hormone balance

• Improve adrenal function

• Increase blood flow both to the genitals and the brain (two sex centers!)

Libido Stim F is in a capsule form and one bottle taken at the recommended two capsules a day will last one month. It is important to take it daily for the effect, and please give it some time to kick in. Please see warnings and considerations below before purchasing.

This formula contains a synergistic blend of stimulating and balancing herbs, plus a very small dose of DHEA. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is a hormone that is a precursor to other sex hormones being produced.

I'll highlight one of Libido Stim F's eight herbal ingredients: Tribulus Terrestris.  Tribulus Terrestris is a thorny flowering plant also known as Puncture Vine.  It has been used medicinally in Ayurvedic and Chinese traditions for thousands of years. According to Herbwisdom.com, "the active ingredients in Tribulus Terrestris include saponins, lignin amides, flavonoids, alkaloids, and glycosides."

A small double-blinded, randomized study showed, "a significant improvement in the domains of desire, arousal/lubrication, pain, and anorgasmia in women who used T Terrestris, whereas no improvement was observed in the placebo group. Moreover, free and bioavailable testosterone levels showed a significant increase in the T Terrestris group."

Warnings and Considerations

• Libido Stim F is not recommended if you have had breast cancer, as it take contains a very small amount of DHEA which is a precursor to estrogen.  

• This product is not recommended in cases of dominant PCOS or hirsutism (excess hair growth). Note: I myself am on the PCOS spectrum and get acne very easily and I prefer to take this one capsule a day instead of two. I find the taking one a day still helps my sex drive and I avoid the extra testosterone (another hormone produced from DHEA) stimulating my skin cells too much.

• This product is not vegetarian.

• Always consult your primary care physician before starting a new regime, especially if you have a complex case.

• It is dangerous to buy this product from an unknown vendor online.

• This article is not meant to diagnose or treat disease and is not meant to replace your relationship with your primary care doctor.

Buy Libido Stim F at our shop.

Working on your sex drive and ability to arouse is not only something you do for yourself but for your relationship. You may be surprised at how much your relationship shifts overall when you are connecting well sexually again.

Here’s to your healthy, happy sex life!

Sources:  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474615/

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/sex-and-love/sex-ed-anatomy-of-an-orgasm

https://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-tribulus-terrestris.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27760089

Using Chinese Medicine for Hormone Balance with Dr. Eric Karchmer

Dr. Eric Karchmer is a doctor of Chinese medicine and co-founder of DAO Labs. In this episode we talk about his clinical experience, the concept of Chinese medicine and how it applies to women's health, and Chinese formulas.

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 02:20 Introduction to Dr. Eric Karchmer & his education
Min 07:50 Dao Labs & Chinese medicine
Min 11:25 The concepts of Chinese medicine for women's cycles
Min 19:20 Eating cold food
Min 21:45 Blood deficiency & Dao Labs' formulas
Min 29:10 Formulas for perimenopause & menopause
Min 36:50 Selling formulas directly to consumers
Min 43:10 Formulas for PMS
Min 44:40 Seeing & treating clients
Min 47:35 Sourcing for herbs & testing for purity

Private Coaching with Bridgit

Check out our current coaching options on our website HERE.

Resources:

To learn more about Dr. Eric Karchmer & DAO Labs, visit their website here and find them on social media:
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Instagram 
Pinterest 

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner,

Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative

A Deeper Look at Hormones with Dr. Shawn Tassone, MD

Dr. Shawn Tassone is a board certified OBGYN and integrative medicine practitioner. In this episode we talk about hormones, infoceuticals & self care.

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 01:50 Introduction to Dr. Tassone
Min 07:35 Dr. Tassone's practice
Min 10:20 Treating with bio-identical hormones
Min 14:50 Infoceuticals
Min 19:20 Self care - helping yourself first before others
Min 26:30 The wounded healer archetype
Min 30:10 Aging, hormones & identity

To learn more about Dr. Shawn Tassone, visit his website here and follow him on social media:
Facebook 
Twitter 

Upcoming Event: Mold Week

From Oct. 30 - Nov. 5 2017, we will be having a special week on the podcast called Mold Week. This is a week I created to teach you on how to protect yourself from toxic mold. We will have an interview every day and you'll get an email everyday for the duration of the event with a link to the day's interview. Sign up for Mold Week here.

Here's a video version of the interview I did with Dr. Shawn Tassone.

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner,

Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative

The Super Woman RX with Dr. Taz Bhatia

Dr. Taz Bhatia is a board-certified integrative medicine physician and wellness expert specializing in women’s health, weight loss, nutrition and family wellness. She is the author of “What Doctors Eat,” “The 21 Day Belly Fix,” and the recently released “Super Woman RX.” In this episode we talk about her evolution from a physician to functional medicine and empowering women to reach their full potential and be the best versions of themselves.

Click here to download an mp3 of "The Super Woman RX with Dr. Taz Bhatia.”

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 01:30 Introduction to Dr. Taz Bhatia & her book
Min 06:25 Being a super woman & taking care of yourself
Min 11:30 Dr. Taz's approach to guiding women
Min 14:00 Shifting your energy to the right things
Min 17:45 Embracing who you are
Min 21:40 Your hair & connection with health
Min 27:25 The 5 Power Types
Min 32:40 Dr. Taz's clinic & online work with patients

To learn more about Dr. Taz Bhatia, visit her website here and connect with her on social media:
Facebook 
Twitter 
Instagram 
Pinterest 
YouTube 

Resources:

The Power Type Quiz 
The Super Woman RX book
The 21 Day Belly Fix book
What Doctors Eat book

Here's a video version of the interview I did with Dr. Taz.

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

To leave a review on iTunes for our podcast, please follow the steps found here.

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner, Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative

Secrets to Improving Pelvic Health at Any Age by Dr. Anna Cabeca

As a gynecologist I talk to thousands of women about the health of their lady parts. In particular, I talk about the importance of prevention relating to women’s vaginal health concerns. Today I want to focus on what you should know about your pelvic health. This is also something men should think about, by the way, as their pelvic health is important as well.

Pelvic health is important to all women physically, mentally and sexually

Pelvic health is important starting in your 20’s

I’m guessing some of the younger women out there are about to click off the page as they are likely thinking, “I’m too young to worry about my pelvic health. That sounds like an older woman’s problem to me!”

But you’d be wrong! Pelvic health is important at any age. Women should be thinking about their pelvic muscles starting in their 20’s as that is when several key hormones like estrogen and DHEA actually start to decline. And if you’ve had a pregnancy you’ve already put some wear and tear on your pelvic muscles and should be exercising them to help them recover.

Lifestyle considerations can add to your risk for pelvic health issues

There are a lot of additional lifestyle considerations that can impact your pelvic health at any age. Poor posture or even sitting all day long at work every day can impact your pelvic muscles. 

If you are overweight, all that weight pushes down on your abdomen and further exhausts your pelvic floor muscles. If you have diabetes or another chronic disease there can be impact. 
A poor diet, having food intolerances or digestive issues can affect your musculature. Anything that makes you strain can only make the downward stress worse on your pelvic muscles.

As women’s sexual hormones decline further in their 30’s, this starts to affect the muscles and tissues around the pelvic area, vagina, uterus, rectum and bladder. And while initially a woman in her 30’s may not experience any obvious symptoms…the symptoms will typically worsen over time if nothing preventative is done.

By 40, most women will have weakened pelvic muscles

In my experience most women have weakened pelvic muscles starting at age 40.

By this time many women have started to have slight urinary leakage (stress urinary incontinence is the medical term). 

You know what I’m talking about: that tiny bit of uncontrolled pee that happens when you laugh or cough. Or the trickle of urine that occurs every time you exercise. It may be so slight at first you ignore it. And then, maybe you start wearing a thin panty-liner. No problem, right? Just wear a daily panty-liner.

Did you know that it is estimated that 70% of women use period-specific products – such as panty-liners – for incontinence purposes?

And while statistics vary, stress urinary incontinence has been estimated to affect over 50% of women between the ages of 20 to 80 years. Some estimates are even higher. They Mayo Clinic, for example, uses 85% as their estimate.

I hate to tell you but it is likely to get worse if you don’t exercise your pelvic muscles. Not only will the urinary leakage get worse, but as your pelvic muscles weaken, all the organs that those muscles normally help to stay up start to fall down through your vagina, a problem called pelvic prolapse (an issue that can eventually require surgery).

See the graphic? Your pelvic muscles are like a strong sling that holds everything else up. Now imagine that sling slowly falling and weakening.

Your pelvic muscles are like a supportive hammock

And the issue just isn’t about leaking!

Although I personally think that issue alone makes me want to do my pelvic strengthening exercises faithfully, weak pelvic muscles can also affect your ability to enjoy sexual intimacy.

And the reason for this is two-fold. First, weak pelvic muscles don’t provide as good of blood flow and nerve supply to surrounding tissues (needed for optimal sensation). Exercising these muscles may improve your orgasms!

Weak muscles can cause leaking, a decrease in both sensation and libido

Second, if you are leaking…maybe you just won’t feel very sexy. I can tell you there is a lot of recent research that says that weak pelvic muscles, incontinence, and other vaginal symptoms affect us ladies beyond just the physical symptoms! It embarrasses us. It impacts our relationships. It makes us stop doing things we love to do, like bike-riding, jogging, a favorite sport or…even our making love.

But pelvic health isn’t just about sex

Even if you aren’t having sex your pelvic health is vital to you not developing severe incontinence issues and/or needing to have surgery due to pelvic prolapse.

The number one reason older women end up in a convalescent home is that they have incontinence. So it really is an issue that spans a woman’s entire life.

So what’s a woman to do? 

First, relax when sitting on the toilet!

Yes, it’s true. So many of us are in too great of hurry, so what do we do? We try and force out the pee or poop as we really need to get back to the kids or work. Think about it, when was the last time you really relaxed while on the toilet? It makes a difference. All of the forcing and pushing further stretches – and stresses - your pelvic muscles.

Second, try to be more aware of your pelvic muscles. It is likely you never think about them (until you start to tinkle more and more). Once they have your attention, the best exercise for them is something called Kegels. You’ve probably heard of them, but I have found most women don’t do them regularly. And for those that do, many do them incorrectly!

Here’s how to do the perfect Kegel for the best results.

It is easy to do the perfect Kegel

In this short video you will learn how to do Kegel exercises as well as how to test to see if you are doing them properly. There are 3 simple steps.

Pay particular attention to the breathing! When we cough and laugh we do those things on the exhale…so it is important that we are able to contract (and keep that pee in) on the exhale as well.

Step 1: Focusing on the area between your vagina and anus (called the perineal body), pull up on the exhale. Contract those pelvic floor muscles.

Step 2: Hold this contraction for a count of three. Then relax. You’ll eventually want to increase this count, up to eight.

Step 3: While you are holding this contraction, try and breathe normally and relax.

These steps should be repeated. Do three sets of eight lifts, three to five times per week.

And by the way, men can do Kegels, too!

Do you have hyperactive muscles? A small number of women have the opposite issue of pelvic floor muscle weakness; they may have tense or hyperactive muscles. You can discuss your own pelvic health status with your doctor or there is a self-test you can do. 

Try and stop your urine midstream when you are peeing. If you can’t stop your urine stream, your pelvic floor muscles are likely not as strong as they should be. This isn’t a test you should repeat too often (and definitely don’t do this as an exercise routine!). Just do it to initially self-test yourself… and maybe repeat in a month if you implement Kegels. And then do the self-test infrequently after that.

A feminine cream containing DHEA may also help

DHEA is a natural hormone in our body that is important to the integrity of skin, muscle, and bone and also has a role in maintaining libido. Like other hormones it decreases over time beginning in a woman’s 30’s. Many people take oral DHEA to improve energy level and mental alertness, but here I am talking about a cream that is applied topically around the vulva.

DHEA applied locally at the vagina can improve the musculature of the deeper layers of the vagina (decreasing symptoms of urinary leakage and pelvic prolapse), as well as improving vaginal dryness and irritation, vaginal and vulva discomfort, and even libido.

That’s why I used DHEA in my new feminine restorative cream, Julva®. 

You can get a free 7-night trial of Julva here, just pay $4.95 shipping and handling. 

So no matter what your age, take care of your important pelvic muscles! And share this information with all of the ladies in your life.

Found this interesting?

Dr. Anna Cabeca is an Emory University trained and board certified Gynecologist and Obstetrician.  In addition, she is board certified in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine and an expert in Functional Medicine and Women’s Health.  She specializes in bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and natural alternatives, successful menopause and age management medicine.  

Dr. Cabeca is the creator of the highly acclaimed virtual transformational programs: WomensRestorativeHealth.com, SexualCPR.com, and MagicMenopause.com. She is also the creator of the superfoods drink Mighty Maca™ and the new feminine anti-aging cream, Julva™.

Dr. Cabeca is passionate about supporting women (and the men that love them) in creating health and hormone balance for themselves as well as many generations to come.

To connect with her:

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Pinterest

Journal Your Way to Fertility Health by Nicola Salmon

In the world of google, no symptom, syndrome or side-effect is left unresearched and it’s so easy to become overwhelmed by all the information out there. 

Whether you are trying to work out what supplements to take, which foods to eat or how to reduce your stress, I’m sure you have found hundreds of different things to try. The problem with choice is that you feel like you need to try it all. And when researching on pregnancy, maybe the next thing you find will be *the* thing to help you get pregnant.

So where do you start?

How can you tell what’s going to work without reading every forum post and trying everything there is? 

The good news is, it’s simple. Almost too simple. 

Our bodies are incredible things. There are thousands upon thousands of different processes going on in our bodies every minute that we don't even have to think about. We don't have to tell our body to digest our food when we eat or increase our heart rate when we exercise. The body has the capacity to run and heal itself. 

When we start to listen to our bodies, they begin to tell us everything we need to know. Those annoying symptoms are your body trying to tell you something and when you start to listen, you learn what foods, supplements and habits will lead you to a healthier life.

This is where journaling comes in.

Fertility Journaling

You can start with a simple notepad and pen. Each day write down some simples things such as:

• What and when you ate. (No calorie counting or judgement, just what it was)

• What and when you drank.

• How your energy varied throughout the day

• How your mood varied throughout the day

• When and how you moved your body

• Any symptoms, aches, pains etc

• Where you are in your menstrual cycle

• How much sleep you got

With this information, you will begin to see patterns:

1. You have trouble getting to sleep if you drink coffee at 5pm.

2. Exercising in the morning makes your feel productive all day.

3. You get a headache if you haven’t drunk enough water the day before.

4. Your mood and energy will change depending on your cycle.

5. You feel bloated in the afternoon after having milk on your cereal in the morning.

This information is priceless. It’s your personal instruction book to leading a healthy life.  

Once you get started with this practice, you will notice your body changing as you react to what it is telling you. Finally you'll have the power to make a difference in your health. 

Found This Interesting?

Nicola Salmon is a fertility coach, acupuncturist and author of the Nurture Fertility Journal. She is dedicated to supporting women struggling to get pregnant and help them make the best decisions around their health and wellbeing. 

Nicola struggled with her own fertility issues and strongly believes that no-one should travel this path alone. Whatever your story, she will support you to choose what is right for you and feel safe in the knowledge that you have made the best possible decision.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram 
 

To get a quick guide on fertility journaling, you can download her free 7 day nurture fertility journal here. 
 

Current Trends in Women's Health Disorders with Ann Melin & Bridgit Danner

Ann Melin is a functional health coach and my colleague in the Restore Your Radiance Program, which we discuss in this episode. She's our guest this week where we talk about the program and issues we have come across recently in our practices.

While we are no longer offering this particular program, we still provide private coaching and cutting-edge test reviews. You can learn about our current coaching programs here.

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 02:10 Ann Melin's work in the Restore Your Radiance Program
Min 05:30 Bridgit's work in the Spark Case Review Program
Min 08:35 Challenges/road blocks to good health
Min 12:30 Health profiles of women in the program
Min 17:55 Thyroid issues among women
Min 21:05 Gut issues among women
Min 23:10 Interacting with other health practitioners
Min 27:10 What the program offers & follow-ups

Resources:

Lab Testing for Women's Health Webinar replay
Our current private coaching programs

And here's a video version of the interview on YouTube.

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner, Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative

The Benefits of Lab Testing for Women's Health

You are trying to fix your hormones, tame your hormones, survive your hormones…is it working? If not, here’s help and an explanation of why it’s so complicated.

Your body is complex- 11 systems comprised of 37.2 trillion cells working together with 100 trillion bacteria to keep you energetic, sleeping well and thinking clearly.  Source

Our modern environment is also complex. Wi-fi, international news reports, food additives, long work days…we all have a lot challenging us right now.

You are probably already trying to be healthy. Did you cut down on sugar, caffeine, gluten?  That’s great! Are you noticing some steadier moods or a slimmer waistline? I hope so. 

You may also be trying to get regular exercise, and maybe even meditating.  That’s great too!  How about reading blogs like this one and attending online health summits? Yup. These foundations of diet, exercise, stress reduction, and education are all very important.

But what if you are still tired? What if you still have no sex drive?  Raging acne? Creeping weight gain?

You may think, “well I must have adrenal fatigue.”  

That’s the mindset I had several years ago. I was eating really well but still had spotting before my periods and really low energy in the afternoons.  I thought, “Well, it’s the stress. I need to do a better job of handling stress.” But I never seemed to accomplish that.

Later I had a DUTCH (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) test, and it revealed something new to me.  It suggested I may have low thyroid function, which I had never suspected. I didn’t have the hair loss, weight gain, etc. that I had learned about with low thyroid.

Important Point #1: Your hormone problems are not always what you think. 

It’s easy to come to a conclusion that you have estrogen dominance, low hormone levels, low adrenal function, etc, but you don’t really know until you test. You can, like me, beat yourself about a diagnosis you’ve decided on and keep self-treating for it, but it’s better to test and really know.

After my DUTCH results suggested I had low thyroid function, I ran a full thyroid panel on myself for the first time. Although I had run blood tests in the past, I had never tested my thyroid antibodies as I hadn’t suspected an issue there.

My results showed a very low level of thyroid antibodies, and I’m so glad I caught it early.  Around the same time I was chronically sick, and, at first, I figured it must be this thyroid issue. 

But soon after we learned that we had toxic mold within the walls of our house, which took me down a deeper rabbit hole of testing.

Important Point # 2: Your hormone problems came from somewhere.

It’s important to realize that your body will not randomly give you a thyroid condition, or any other hormonal imbalance.  It wants to have a working thyroid gland and balanced hormones.

As I learned about mold, I learned that it, among other triggers, can contribute to thyroid issues. This is why I still do not identify with a Hashimoto’s diagnosis, but rather I consider myself a person in the process of healing and clearing deeper causes of illness.

Recently I had a new type of stool test. My past stool tests had revealed some bacterial imbalance and H. Pylori infection, an infection I cleared without any improvement in my gastrointestinal symptoms.  

I was ‘inspired’ to run a GI Map test by Diagnostic Solutions laboratory after interviewing Dr. Todd Watts about parasites on my podcast, and then promptly passing a worm in my stool the next day! What timing. Side note: if you see something that looks like a pad thai noodle or a bean sprout in your stool, but you’ve didn’t eat either the day before, you should be highly suspicious!

The GI Map is different because it looks for DNA fragments of parasite and other infections in your stool.  So it doesn’t miss much.  However, according to Dr. Watts, it is still inadequate because it does not test for every type of parasite.

But for me, a parasite was found, and it did appear to roughly match the specimen I had found in my stool.  I lived a year in rural South America about 20 years ago, and I had suspected a parasite back then.  But you don’t need to leave the country to get a parasite!  Again according to Dr. Watts, “everyone who has a pulse has a parasite.”  According to the Center for Disease Control's website, " Parasitic infections affect millions of people in the United States every year."

I mention stool testing because 100% of the clients in our coaching program have GI issues contributing to hormonal issues.

When you are housing candida infections, aberrant bacterial growth, parasites, H. Pylori infection or Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), it’s a chronic stress or your body, leading to inflammation, malnutrition or even autoimmune disease. It’s incredibly common, and digestion and hormones are not often enough linked in the medical conversation.  

Important Point # 3: Your primary care doctor probably doesn’t take a functional approach to health care.  

Many people comment to me that they want to feel better and they are very interested in the functional approach, and then their next question is, “Can my doctor run these tests for me?”

Yes and no. Sometimes your doctor to run a full CBC blood panel for you, and have them add vitamin D and thyroid antibodies. However:

1. Within a conventional medical system, she can’t run labs for diagnoses they don’t suspect based on their training

2. If she is not a functional practitioner, she will not interpret your results in a functional way, and may tell you you are fine (when you don’t feel fine)

3. She definitely cannot run the advanced urinary, saliva and stool tests we use because these tests are not available to them through the conventional medical system

You can’t ask your doctor to practice functional medicine if that’s not what she practices.

It’s like asking your massage therapist to give you acupuncture.  It's not within their training.

Our clients can sometimes get helpful blood tests through their doctors that we can review, and I also encourage them to use a Health Savings Account (it’s pre-tax money you put towards health expenses) when possible.

I understand that spending money out-of-pocket on medical expenses is not fun. I understand that many people are living on modest means and supporting kids, parents, and other family members financially.

Our family has spent, get this, at least $100,000 in remediating mold in our house, replacing all our stuff, missing work, moving to a safer space, and treating our health.  And the spending hasn’t stopped because I’m not all healed up yet, and we still have some mold-infected belongings to replace.

Still dealing with mold, over a year after it was found.

So I am sympathetic, but at the same time, I have made incredible sacrifices to heal myself and my family.  And I would do it again in a heartbeat.  

The experience I went through with mold was a huge growth opportunity.  It made me realize how short and fragile life is, and gave me a deep hunger to get well and live my life to the fullest.

I recently read this quote in the book, Gratitude, by author and physician Oliver Sacks, after he learned he had advanced liver cancer, "It is now up to me to choose how to live out the months that remain to me. I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can."

I had a firsthand experience with the web of diseases and how they interconnect. It was not easy to identify my root causes nor navigate the options for care. 

As a health coach, my experience made me a strong advocate for my clients to persist and get well, even if the path seems impossible to find, or the mountain too big to climb.  

We have women in our program who are too sick to work, homemakers or who are working low-wage jobs. I am fiercely proud of them for choosing to invest in their health. Others have parents that choose to support them in their healthcare, often in cases of infertility where the odds of becoming a grandparent are increased!

It comes down to choosing more for yourself- to believing your health could be improved, which allows you to be happier and more productive.  You also have to be willing to work and to pick yourself up when you have a hard day of symptoms.

If you'd like to have a conversation with me about your health journey and what we do in our functional health coaching program, please check out our current coaching options  Our private coaching program does include choosing the best lab test for your case, placing the orders for you, interpreting your results, setting a protocol based on those results, and adjusting and monitoring your protocol for best results.

Free Educational Videos on our Favorite Lab Testing

In this video, Ann Melin is describing about the DUTCH i.e Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones by Precision Analytical. She will also explain about different types of hormones and organic acids.

In this video, Ann Melin is describing about the GI-Map from Diagnostic Solutions Lab. She will also explain about Stool testing techniques, different types of pathogens, worms and intestinal health.

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Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, is trained in functional health coaching and has worked with thousands of women over her career since 2004. She is the founder of Women’s Wellness Collaborative llc and HormoneDetoxShop.com.

Choosing a Doula / Becoming a Doula with Bianca Sprague & Natasha Marchand

Bianca Sprague & Natasha Marchand are the founders of Bebo Mia, a training organization for doulas providing mentorship & community for pregnancy, birth and parenting. In this episode we talk about choosing a doula and if you've been thinking of becoming a doula, you'll find out what it's like to be one and if it's the right calling for you.

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 02:50 Introduction to Bianca & Natasha's training & work
Min 03:50 Working as a team of doulas & where to start
Min 10:15 Who is a doula & what does it involve?
Min 14:30 Bebo Mia's Eco-baby program
Min 17:15 Infant sleep patterns
Min 20:50 Fertility & postpartum training
Min 24:00 Finding a qualified doula
Min 26:55 Becoming a doula with Bebo Mia's program
Min 33:00 Knowing if being a doula is right for you

To learn more about Natasha & Bianca, visit their Bebo Mia website here and follow them on social media:
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Bebo Mia's Resources:

Free Online Training Workshop  

Doula Training

Eco Baby certification program

Infant Sleep Educator certification program

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner, Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative

Cool Summer Symptoms with Seasonal Eating

It’s summer and it’s hot! And hot weather can flame your internal heat, causing irritating symptoms. 

Sometimes just the outdoor heat alone is enough to flare your temper. Try getting stuck in a summer traffic jam with no AC in your car and two whining kids in the backseat. You have to have some serious zen to stay ‘cool’ and calm.

If you have excessive internal heat already, summertime can mean a flare up of ‘hot’ symptoms like:

• Acne

• Skin rash

• Moodiness (could be anger, depression or anxiety)

• Migraines

• Insomnia

• Loss of Appetite

• Constipation.

Things like:

• Eating spicy foods or inflammatory foods

• Poor detoxification

• Poor nutrition (ie: not enough healthy fats and water)

Can cause this excess heat. 

Let’s look at how you can use the traditional wisdom of eating with the seasons to cool your heat and get your feeling more balanced this summer.

Many of us now live in heated and cooled homes, with a supermarket within short distance. But it wasn’t so long ago that we lived in caves and huts, hunting, farming and foraging for food.  

In those days, living within the natural rhythms of the season came, well, naturally.  Observing the gifts of each season was the framework in which the early traditions of medicine were born.

In Chinese medicine, five seasons were observed, and the five elements of water, earth, fire, wind and metal pair with the five seasons. 

You may be wondering, “wait, what is this other season?” It’s late summer, and it corresponds with the Earth element. This does not being until late August. As I write this in late July, we are still in ‘regular summer,’ with the element of Fire dominating.

In Ayurvedic medicine, which originated in India, there are five elements as well and three seasons.  These three seasons represent harvest seasons, with Spring being a lean time without a harvest.  The three seasons also match the three doshas (constitutional types). The three seasons of Ayurveda represent two elements interacting; in the case of summer they are fire and water.

Summer, according to Ayurveda, is dominated by Pitta dosha- that hot, irritable, competitive and inflamed type. But I shouldn’t cast Pitta in too negative a light. We all need the fiery nature of Pitta to drive us forward, to digest our food, to energize us.

Ayurveda teaches that heat needs to be cooled with water, but not only plain water, also other cooling, watery things can tame heat.

Here are some foods that can cool you in summer:

• Fresh, seasonal, organic fruit

• Lots of filtered water

• Bitter greens

• Basmati rice

• Cucumber

• Bok choy

• Lettuce

• Mint

• Cilantro

• Fish and seafood

• Aloe vera juice or gel

You’ll also want to avoid these foods:

• Fried foods

• Heavy, greasy meats

• Dairy products

• Spicy foods

Eat a lighter diet in the summer, with salads and steamed foods predominating.  Don’t overeat in the summertime, as this can lead to indigestion.

Chinese medicine has some similar ways to look at controlling heat. Again water tames fire, but note that wood feeds fire. If you have summertime symptoms, you do not want to feed your fire!

Wood has to do with spring season and the body system of your liver. 

What foods burden your liver? 

• Alcohol

• Coffee

• Sugar

• Food Additives

• Lack of healthy fats

• Dehydration

• Xenoestrogens and other toxins

To avoid caffeine but still have a pleasant summertime drink, try:

• Keep a pitcher of iced lemon water in the the fridge

• Try chrysanthemum tea, from the Chinese tradition (more information)

• Try a Pitta balancing tea, like this one I found online, with hibiscus and shatavari (an herb that is great for women’s health too!)

We have a special podcast, courtesy of Cate Stillman from the Yoga Healer podcast, featuring Cate’s Ayurvedic expertise on summertime, as well of that of her guests Dr. John Doulliard and Kate O’Donnell. Check it out here!

Do you have any tips on keeping cool with diet in the summertime?  We’d love to hear them!

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Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, is trained in functional health coaching and has worked with thousands of women over her career since 2004. She is the founder of Women’s Wellness Collaborative llc and HormoneDetoxShop.com.

3 Reasons You Probably Shouldn't Be Giving Up on Sports

The huge changes in your body that inevitably come with middle age suggest that you're locked out of a lot of activities you've always wanted to try, especially some of the more demanding sports. This fact, however, could also come as a greater incentive and a source of motivation to pursue a sport that could potentially force you to push limits you never thought you could get to. The benefits that sports can provide for your physical, mental and emotional health are ultimately endless.

Finding a good coach and seeking advice from a medical professional will help you set realistic goals in the sport that you want to take up or go back to. This would also ensure your safety, as the risk of injury is real and completely different from when you were younger.

More importantly, having the right information about your body will let you play and get better without having to worry too much—so that you can enjoy the things that sports can do for you at this point in life, which include the following:

1. Sports Makes You Look Younger

This article on Health.com points out how good posture will do more to keep you younger than a face-lift or botox. A weak posture seems to naturally deteriorate with age but this doesn't have to be the case. Andrea Atkins wrote an article for the Huffington Post suggesting the definition of "good posture” as being keeping your body in proper alignment, improving your balance and maintaining that alignment as you move.

This leads to a whole range of benefits from giving you a more youthful appearance to keeping you from cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases that are common in older people.

Sports pushes the muscles to work to stabilize the spine and keep the body upright during movements. Because there is progress to track, sports double the incentive for exercising all the things that your body is still able to do. The stress that movement puts on the bones also encourages an increase in density, enabling them to support your body and let you stand as tall as you can.

2. Sports Makes Food Taste Better

Physical activity and movement promote better appetite because your body becomes more sensitive to the effects of what you eat. While this means that unhealthy food will definitely make you feel sluggish and unstable, it also means that you'll be able to actually enjoy food that's good for you.

This is especially true for sports, as the reward lies in the visible signs of the progress that you make. This article by Jess Goulart, a regular contributor to specialist tennis website Play Your Court, points out that complex physical activities help people develop a sense of how food affects their performance. Little by little, you will discover which kinds of food do the most for your energy levels, focus, stamina, and—more importantly—how you feel. Truly good food, regardless of whether you're following a diet plan or not, will make you feel generally happy and confident about yourself.

Be sure too keep your expectations realistic, however. Trying to make too big of a change can do a lot to make you feel disappointed. Keep track of your gains, and don't dwell on the moments you find yourself falling short. It happens to the best of us.

3. Sports Can Help You Cope

Sports promotes good blood circulation along with proper posture and breathing. You'll be surprised at how much this can do for your mental and emotional stability. Purposeful physical activity exposes you to a tolerable amount of stress, along with an immediate reward—say, a score or a successful shot.

According to an article by Brain Flux, this teaches the body and brain to develop a healthier relationship with stress enabling them to deal with it better. In contrast with other situations in our day-to-day lives such as a difficult day at work or an uncomfortable commute, sports stimulates your stress response in a way that engages all, and not just one, of the body's faculties.

Considering how the emotions we feel in our bodies determine how we see ourselves and the world around us, sports doesn't just change your body. It can, on a modest and practical level, change your life.

Why You're at Risk for Thyroid Disease After 40

Peri-menopause - the 5-10 years leading up to menopause - is a common time to be diagnosed with a thyroid condition.

In this article, I’d like to address these questions:

• Why then?

• Why more in women?

• What can be done?

Peri-menopause may begin in your late 30s or early or mid 40s.  You may notice that your PMS is worse. You may have spotting between periods. Over time, your periods will likely get more dramatic, with missed periods and heavy periods.  

Other symptoms may be popping up too, like anxiety, brain fog and weight gain. You may be thinking, “these sound like thyroid symptoms,” and you could be right!

But before we explore the thyroid connection, let’s cover what is normally happening during peri-menopause.

What is Peri-menopause?

Peri-menopause is, in short, the opposite of puberty. In puberty your ovaries are waking up to start your reproductive years. Your brain and ovaries are learning to work together to coordinate a monthly cycle, and often the first few reproductive years are hormonally unstable.

In peri-menopause, the brain-ovary relationship is starting to shut down. The ovaries are closing up shop, but the brain keeps knocking at the door, trying to get the shopkeeper working again.   

The sex hormone that needs to rise sufficiently in the first half of the month is estrogen. It is produced by the ovaries as they also grow eggs. If you produce enough estrogen and release an egg, you’ll ovulate.  And if that egg is healthy and hearty, you’ll produce a good amount of progesterone in the second half of your cycle. (The egg sac, or corpus luteum, makes progesterone after ovulation.)

How Your Thyroid Could Be Impacted in Peri-menopause

Even though both estrogen and progesterone are declining in peri-menopause, progesterone declines more dramatically in this stage. This leads to a condition called ‘estrogen dominance.’

Too much estrogen can prevent the thyroid hormone from getting to where it needs to go and can prevent it from converting to its active form. For some women, their thyroid symptoms are simply a result of this high estrogen interfering with thyroid hormone activity.  We’ll talk about how to address estrogen dominance shortly.  

Another thing estrogen effects is the immune system. Estrogen is associated with stimulating the TH2 branch of the immune system (1).  TH2 is short for T Helper cell type 2, a lymphocyte (immune cell). TH2 is part of the adaptive immune system, which mounts a specific attack against pathogens.+  Adaptive immunity is usually a good thing, but it can also lead to autoimmunity if the antigen activity is directed towards itself.

As estrogen is the dominant sex hormone in women, this helps to explain why autoimmunity and thyroid disease is more common in women.  

As we age, we also experience decreased immunity, and a tendency towards TH2 response.  

“In the aged, however, naive cells are less likely to become effectors. In those that do, there is a documented shift towards a Th2 cytokine response.

The elderly have impaired ability to achieve immunization but much higher levels of circulating autoantibodies, (due to the lack of naive effectors) impaired response to viral infections, increased risk of bacterial infections, and increased risk of both neoplastic and autoimmune disease.” (3)

However, there is hope and action we can take to keep estrogen in check!

What To Do

1. Improve Gut Health

If you’ve studied the thyroid, you know that gut health is key to prevent an autoimmune response and to convert thyroid hormone effectively.  Did you know it’s also important to clear estrogen dominance?  One way your gut helps clear estrogen is through the estrobolome, “the aggregate of enteric bacterial genes whose products are capable of metabolizing estrogens.” (4)

You can be friendly to your gut by avoiding:

• Genetically modified foods (GMO) - These kill off friendly bacteria

• Sugars - These feed troublesome bacteria

• Unnecessary antibiotic use - This kills everything, with bacterial imbalance often resulting in its wake

You can be friendly to your gut by including:

• Small amounts of fermented foods like sauerkraut or kimchi

• A wide variety of fibers from salad greens, fresh spices, berries, etc.

• A long period from an early dinner to breakfast - lets your gut bacteria grow in peace!

2. Boost Progesterone

Progesterone helps keep estrogen in check, so boost it by giving your body ingredients to make hormones.

• Hemp Oil - I’ve been very impressed with how 1 T of hemp oil a day helps my own peri-menopausal hormones

• Borage Oil - This oil, usually in pill form, has gamma linoleic acid (GLA) to spark hormone production

• Maca- This adaptogenic root herb helps boosts hormone production and can benefit your energy levels and sex drive

3.  Help Out Your Immune System

If aberrant immunity could be a problem in your case, add some components that can balance your TH2 activity:

• Omega 3 - Omega fatty acids have a balancing effect on the immune system and decreases inflammation. (5)  Quality matters with omega 3, so do research to find a good brand.

• Vitamin D- Vitamin D deficiency is found at higher levels in people with autoimmune thyroid disease.  (6) Talk to your doctor about getting your vitamin D tested and restoring it to a level around 60-80 NG/DL through sunshine and vitamin D3 supplementation.

Learn more about the thyroid at perimenopause from experts like Dana Trentini, Dr. Tom O’Bryan and Heather Dubé at the free, online Hormone Balance After 40 Summit!  

The summit happens live June 5-11, 2017, but recordings will live on after the live summit.

 

Hormone Balance After 40 Summit

BUY the Hormone Balance After 40 Summit package here!

References:

1. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cdtia/2004/00000003/00000001/art00010

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_immune_system#T_lymphocytes

3. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/775536_2

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3264051/

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4246012/

6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4012880/

Hormone Balance After 40 Part 2 with Dr. Ronda Nelson

We're back for part 2 of the interview with Dr. Ronda Nelson about hormone balance after 40 and dealing with some of the symptoms that can come as result of your hormones changing with age.

Click here to download an mp3 of "Hormone Balance After 40 Part 1 with Dr. Ronda Nelson."

Here's what you'll hear: 

Min 02:15 The transition from perimenopause to menopause

Min 05:30 Hot flushes & night sweats and when they start showing up

Min 07:00 Why we need to support the ovaries

Min 10:05 Taking care of the adrenals before perimenopause

Min 13:35 Night sweats

Min 16:10 Caring for the hypothalamus

Min 19:00 Benefits of Black cohosh & Sage

Min 20:50 Insomnia & Dr. Nelson's tips to help with sleep

Min 33:10 Irritated bladder problems & dealing with them

Min 39:45 Loss of integrity in the skin & Dr. Nelson’s remedies

To learn more about Dr. Ronda Nelson, you can visit her website here and follow her on social:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Instagram

• YouTube

• Pinterest

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LEARN MY 25 SUPERFOODS FOR HORMONE SUPPORT!

Balancing your health and hormones can be about adding foods that taste great and give your body a boost, rather than just focusing on what you take away. As you fill your day with these delicious superfoods, you feel more satisfied and have less cravings. 

Grab the guide now and watch your hormones start to hum!

Hormone Balance After 40 Part 1 with Dr. Ronda Nelson

Dr. Ronda Nelson is a functional nutritionist who works with thyroid, endocrine and digestive issues. She’s our guest this week and we're talking about hormones and menopause.

Click here to download an mp3 of "Hormone Balance After 40 Part 1 with Dr. Ronda Nelson."

Here's what you'll hear: 

Min 02:00 Introduction to Dr. Ronda Nelson & her practice

Min 06:45 Dr. Ronda healing her daughter's cancer

Min 11:40 Root causes & generational risks

Min 13:50 Lifestyle factors while entering menopause

Min 17:20 Supporting the adrenal glands

Min 18:10 Weight gain and adrenal dysfunction

Min 25:45 Estrogen (E2, E1 & E3)

Min 28:50 Forgetfulness in perimenopausal women

Min 32:50 Tribulus herb & how it works

Min 35:15 Vaginal dryness and Dr. Ronda's recommended remedies

Min 41:00 Bio-identical hormones & their effects

Min 47:40 Lab tests for hormone overdose & taking a woman out of bio-identical hormones

To learn more about Dr. Ronda Nelson, you can visit her website here and follow her on social media:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

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Learn My 25 Superfoods for Hormone Support!

Balancing your health and hormones can be about adding foods that taste great and give your body a boost, rather than just focusing on what you take away. As you fill your day with these delicious superfoods, you feel more satisfied and have less cravings. 

Grab the guide now and watch your hormones start to hum!

Natural Birth Control with Victoria Zimmerman

Victoria Zimmerman is our guest this week and on this episode we'll talk about running an online business, the art of minimalism and natural birth control.

Click here to download an mp3 of "Natural Birth Control with Victoria Zimmerman."

Hormone Balance After 40 Summit

BUY the Hormone Balance After 40 Summit package here!

Hear 32 expert lectures on improving metabolism, balancing moods, increasing sex drive and more!

Here's what you'll hear: 

Min 01:30 Introduction to Victoria Zimmerman & birth control

Min 07:20 Transitioning to online business

Min 10:00 Enjoying travel & living a minimalist life

Min 16:15 Getting off the birth control pill & its related fears

Min 22:25 FAM Fertility Method & how to use it

Min 24:40 Charting & natural birth control

Min 32:00 Side effects of the birth control methods

Min 33:50 Victoria's recommended apps & devices

Min 37:45 Victoria's courses and services

Please click here to listen to a previous episode I did with Andrea Thorpe about the effects of long-term use of birth control.

Victoria’s Recommended Devices & Apps: 

Daysy

Kindara app

Clue app

Victoria’s Courses: 

Chart Your Cycle

Ditch the Pill

Menstrual Coaching

To learn more about Victoria Zimmerman, visit her website here and follow her on social media:

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Pinterest

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Perfect Periods Program

Click here to learn about our Perfect Periods Program and find out how it will help you identify and treat the root causes of your hormone imbalance, so not only will your period problems go away, but you’ll notice other improvements in your health too!

Back to Natural Living With Natacha Moitinho

Our guest this week is Natacha Moitinho, an author from Portugal, who will be sharing her life story and her book about natural living "Back to Natural – How to Wake Up From Your Toxic Life, Tune in to Your Body, and Create Healthy, Loving Habits".

We also launched our new one-on-one coaching program "Restore Your Radiance" last month. Click here learn more about it.

Click here to download an mp3 of "Back to Natural Living with Natacha Mointinho".

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 03:00 Introduction to Natacha
Min 04:00 Natacha's early work and career in Journalism
Min 12:20 Natacha's experience as a volunteer in different countries
Min 16:00 Natacha's health and lifestyle in her younger days
Min 20:30 Women's struggles with health and diet
Min 22:30 New life in The Azores
Min 27:00 Taking the Pill
Min 29:00 Eating and living organic
Min 32:50 Details about Natacha's book
Min 37:50 Small changes we can make to improve our lives

Click here to learn more about Natacha's book. You can also visit her website here to find out more about her and follow her on social media:

Facebook
LinkedIn

Sign Up For Our Newsletter 

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner, Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative

Click here to listen to my podcast with on "Skin Care: Dangers and Possibilities with Denie Hiestand".

Menstrual Cramps With Bridgit Danner

This is a quick episode about menstrual cramps. I'm planning on doing more of these in-depth instructional reports about hormone conditions. I'll talk about initial supplements and protocols that I would recommend for cramps and get into all the strange and unusual reasons why you may have menstrual cramps and how I approach it.

Also, we've launched our one-on-one coaching program "Restore Your Radiance" this month and it's in its beta version which means we're offering some hefty discounts for you to be one of the first people who go through the program. Learn more about it here.

Click here to download an mp3 of "Menstrual Cramps with Bridgit Danner."

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 02:00 Introduction to the Hormone Report and Menstrual Cramps
Min 03:00 The uterus and what triggeres menstrual cramps
Min 04:00 The 4 things that help with menstrual cramps, their sources and recommended amounts
Min 07:10 Unusual causes of menstrual cramps

That's all for today. Next week we'll have Dr. J Davidson talking about Lyme disease and its co-infections.

If you're looking for support for hormones, auto-immunity, and digestive health you should check out our current coaching options here.

Sign Up For Our Newsletter 

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner, Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative

Restore Your Radiance With Ann Melin & Bridgit Dannerf

Ann Melin is my colleague and new partner. She is a Clinical Nutritionist and Holistic Health Practitioner specializing in restoring functional health and balancing common dysfunctions in the hormone, immune, digestion, and detoxification systems.

This interview is a bit different because it's about Ann and me talking about our health philosophies and how we're coming together in our collaborative coaching program Restore Your Radiance. **While we are no longer offering this particular program, we have other private coaching options that you can check out on this page.

Click here to download an mp3 of "Restore Your Radiance with Ann Melin & Bridgit Danner."

Here's what you'll hear: 

Min 1:00 Introduction to Ann Melin
Min 7:00 WWC & Ann Melin's activities and challenges
Min 11:20 Ann's training and how she got into herbal medicine
Min 18:50 Bridgit's training in acupuncture and chinese medicine
Min 23:00 Ann's vision for the Restore Your Radiance Program
Min 28:10 Bridgit's vision and plan for the program
Min 30:00 Blocks to good health
Min 32:00 What it would be like to work with us and our treatment steps
Min 38:50 Health conditions we help with
Min 46:40 The beta launch of our Restore Your Radiance program and the BIG discount on the for the initial consult

To learn more about Ann Melin, visit her website here and follow her on Facebook.

Sign Up For Our Newsletter 

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to grab our hidden Hormone stressors quiz here, and come on board!

Thanks for listening,

Bridgit Danner, Founder of Women's Wellness Collaborative