Everyone's health journey is deeply personal.
Daily Habits
8-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep nightly
Eat breakfast within an hour of waking up before caffeine and working out
Drink around 80oz of filtered water with mineral added back in
Physical Movement: Atleast 6,000 steps in nature Take the stairs, start your day with a morning walk, go for a walk on your lunch break which will also help with your blood sugar and digestion or either after dinner.
It’s that simple
Scalp Massage: massage your scalp for 1-3 minutes. Move your SCALP not your hair :) scrubbing hard is not recommended. Apply a few drops in each separated section of hair. Massage your scalp again to spread out the oil and coat your scalp. Leave on for up to 4 hours or overnight before shampooing twice.
Raw Carrot Salad Eating a raw carrot salad once or twice per day has been shown to help women suffer LESS with their painful PMS symptoms. Such as heavy periods, cramps, headaches, acne and diarrhoea.
Originally the raw carrot salad was developed by Dr. Ray Peat to support hormonal balance. Raw carrots contain a unique fibre that binds to endotoxins and excess estrogen to safely eliminate them from the body.
The raw carrot salad can also help optimise liver and thyroid function and improve digestion symptoms. Personally I love it!
What you will need for your daily raw carrot salad:
🥕 1/2 organic raw carrots, outer layer peeled
🥕 Splash of apple cider vinegar
🥕 1 tbsp oil (avocado, coconut, EVOO)
🥕Pinch of sea salt
Red Light For those that don’t know, the production and secretion of our hormones are time-sensitive and the way our bodies are able to tell time is with our circadian rhythm. The best way to keep our circadian rhythm in sync is by:
- Exposing your eyes to sunlight first thing in the morning, before looking at your phone. This will send signals to your body that it is morning and as a result will stop producing melatonin (our sleepy hormone) and instead produce cortisol (our awake hormone)
- Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day
- Reducing blue light exposure after sundown.
Blue light after sundown can be inevitable sometimes, so doing things like wearing blue light blocker glasses and changing your standard light bulbs to red lightbulbs are great ways to minimize blue light exposure. This is an LED light bulb which isn’t the best option, but they are remote controlled to change to any color if you want to only have red on at night. The best light bulb option you can buy are incandescent light bulbs because it is a more natural form of artificial light.
Legs up the wall! This allows for lymphatic system fluid, called lymph, to flow from the legs. The lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump like the circulatory system does, meaning that it relies upon gravity and movement to properly function. This system plays an important role in filtering and breaking down pathogens and toxins. The filtering occurs at node sites in the body found on the neck, armpits, stomach, and groin. This is why inverting the legs is so beneficial, because it encourages lymph fluid to move from the lower extremities to the nodes in a more efficient way. Studies show that the functioning of a woman’s lymphatic system directly affects how progesterone moves through the body. It is essential that progesterone is able to reach its targets in the body!
Inverted positions also help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system by slowing down the breath which signals the vagus nerve that the body is safe and it is time to relax. Stress is a huge contributor to hormonal imbalance. Any way we can find relief from stress can make an impact on our hormones! Try to squeeze a 5-10 minute leg up the wall session daily. During this time, focus on breathing slowly and calmly. Try to get in a meditative state and really allow your body to relax. Be sure to slowly move out of the pose afterwards and gradually take your time back to sitting/standing.
Saccharomyces Boulardii
If you have recently taken antibiotics, then taking saccharomyces boulardii, which is a beneficial yeast supplement, can help to restore the spread of candida (an opportunistic yeast) after a round of antibiotics.
Antibiotics eliminate and stop the reproduction of bacteria in your body. Unfortunately, this means both good and bad bacteria are targeted, which can throw off the balance of your gut microbiome.
Candida can usually be present in small amounts in most people. But it can take over and cause problems when it has a chance. If you re struggling with symptoms such bloating, abdominal pain, gas and constipation and you have also taken a round of antibiotics this may be worth considering.
Less processed foods A diet that’s high in processed foods and added sugar can eliminate the beneficial bacteria in your gut. This can result in an imbalance in your gut microbiome and can increase your cravings for sugar and processed foods.
An unhealthy amount of sugar, especially high-fructose corn syrup, can lead to inflammation in the body.
An increase of pathogenic bacteria can lead to gut dysbiosis. An increase in this type of bacteria causes changes to the internal mucosal barrier of the intestine.
Eating whole foods 80/90% of the time is the best thing to do to look after your gut health
How I reduce anxiety & calm my nervous system:
• EFT tapping — stimulates the central nervous system & is so soothing. I use the butterfly tapping method. I genuinely feel a HUGE shift in my body & mind!
• Face ice bath — cold exposure reduces blood flow to non-essential organs and instead focuses on blood flow to the brain & heart which can reduce feelings of panic
• kissing or hugging for 6+ seconds — nothing like a good oxytocin boost. Literally just try it 😘
• amber lightbulbs instead of blue light — blue light is VERY stimulating, so doing your best to emit blue light (especially once the sun goes down) can help with anxiety a ton!! Also helps you get a better night of sleep!
Adrenal cocktail
An adrenal cocktail helps to restore the body of important minerals and replenish your nutrients. It is best to be drunk between 2 to 3pm when most of us will feel that afternoon slump.
Your adrenal glands demand substantial energy and nutrients, when you’re stressed or when you place stress on the body you need to make sure you are replenishing
RECIPE:
🍈3 limes
🍈100ml coconut water
🍈100ml filtered water
🍈100ml aloe vera juice
🍈Pinch of sea salt
Cold water
Consider finishing your shower with cold water for 10/20 seconds and gradually work your way up to minutes. The benefits of cold water include for your health & hormones include:
💧Relieve muscle soreness, reduce inflammation and boost the immune system.
💧Cold water plunging can increase blood concentrations of dopamine, a happy hormone made in the brain by 250%.
💧Cortisol levels in the blood can decrease when you’re exposed to cold water.
💧 Can improve your mental clarity and help to reduce depression and anxiety.
💧Will help your insulin sensitivity and boost your metabolic activity.
Let me know, have you tried cold showers or cold plunging? The key is to keep your breathing under control!
Managing Stress
When we experience stress the body releases hormones that can affect the functioning of the digestive system. This can lead to a variety of digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, and IBS.
Stress can disrupt the balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut, leading to an overgrowth of harmful bacteria and further digestive issues.
Managing stress is essential for supporting a healthy gut, some tips to help you manage stress:
🦋 Practice mindfulness: meditation, journaling, deep breathing exercises and dancing can help you to relax and reduce your stress levels, matter of fact any type of parasympathetic activity.
🦋 Exercise can help reduce stress levels by increasing endorphins (naturally pain reliever and promotes feel-good chemicals) while supporting a healthy digestive system.
🦋 Sleep - aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night. When we sleep the digestive system is busy repairing and rebuilding tissues in our gut, while also growing the good gut bacteria that aid our digestive processes
🦋 Fermented foods help to support a healthy gut by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria. Foods such as yogurt, kefir, apple cider vinegar and saurekraut.
Relaxation
It’s so important that you schedule time into your daily routine to do absolutely nothing and just simply exist. If you only have 5 minutes or 5 hours, it doesn’t matter.
During moments of stillness the body can recharge, renew and repair itself. If you don’t provide it with the time to do so, then your body will force you too.
Your nervous system will benefit massively from these breaks. It helps the body to maintain healthy cortisol levels for healthy balanced hormones. Do not underestimate how important rest is. It helps to reduce the damaging impact stress can have on your body.
Brazil Nuts
Eating just 1 or 2 brazil nuts a day will give you all the selenium levels you need!
Selenium is an essential component of various enzymes and proteins that help to make DNA and protect against cell damage and infections. These proteins are also involved in reproduction and the metabolism of thyroid hormones.
Selenium is important for healthy hormone balance, supporting adequate levels of estrogen and progesterone, and supporting your thyroid levels and fertility.
Without adequate levels of selenium your thyroid cannot function properly. Selenium’s antioxidant function also supports a healthy immune system. It helps to protect cells by reducing the amount of damage caused by excess free radicals.
Oil pulling has been used since ancient times as a method of removing toxins from the mouth and body. Finding ways to lower the toxin load in your body (oil pulling, swapping to safer household products, eliminating artificial fragrances and minimizing plastic consumption) can help support your liver and your endocrine system. Toxins can disrupt the endocrine system, hormonal balance and liver function.
How to oil pull:
- Place a tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth. If that is too much, try 1/2 a tablespoon
- Swish all around your mouth for 5-20 minutes. When you first start, you may only be able to do this for 5 minutes... that’s okay! You can work your way up to 20 minutes
- Spit out in the garbage, not the sink — oil is bad for the pipes! Do not swallow either!
Coconut oil is antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and is an antiseptic making it a great oil for cleaning the mouth. To maximize results, try oil pulling at least a few times a week or up to 3 times a day.
Ditch the Plastic cutting boards and switch to wooden cutting boards instead. Plastic cutting boards are a significant source of consumed microplastics. With every knife stroke on a plastic cutting board, you are releasing microplastics that can end up in your food. If you use this kind of cutting board every day, the amount of microplastics consumed could really add up! Plastic is a hormone disruptor and can be classified as a xenoestrogen which acts like the estrogen we make in our bodies. Hormone disrupting chemicals like plastic end up binding to estrogen receptors on our cells and lock them up which prevents OUR estrogen from binding to the receptors. This can cause an increase in circulating estrogen (estrogen dominance) in the body potentially leading to PMS symptoms including mood swings, irritability, breast soreness, bloating and headaches. The best option is a wooden or stone cutting board. Not only is this type of cutting board absent of plastics, but it is also more durable and more malleable which helps prevent your knives from dulling out as fast.
