Hey There

In today’s article, I want to share with you why it was so important in 2010 that I did everything possible to reduce my stress, get more sleep and really figure out why my hair was falling out.

It’s really interesting how the body will give you warning signs that something isn’t quite right and for me the warning sign came when I was sitting in my hairstylist chair at Paradise Hair and Braids. My stylist decided to snap a picture so that I could see the back of my hair. Maybe on some level, I knew my hair was thinning, because I would put it into a ponytail and I noticed that the ponytail got smaller and smaller. I was shocked, embarrassed and so sad that this was happening to me. I remember Kim saying that stress and having a relaxer in my hair was like dynamite. Going “natural” was not an option, I had to do it.  I didn’t know what I was going to do and I wanted another option.

I remember hearing my stylist say, “you have to cut all of your hair off Tracy”. I wasn’t ready for that, so I asked if there was another option. I knew the answer, but I was praying that she would perform a miracle so I didn’t have to cut it all off. I was so afraid to cut off the length, even though everything in the crown of my hair was gone. The rest of it was long, but so straggly and my ends looked terrible. I finally agreed to the cut, but inside I kept thinking, how un-attractive I would be, how could I go in public and how could I go on a business retreat in a week and sit in a room full of women feeling like I lost my best friend (my hair). Of course, now I realize that I had put way too much value in my hair.  I’m so glad I’ve been freed from that thinking.

I remember calling my husband and telling him that I cut my hair off and how sad I felt and he said, “you look beautiful no matter how long your hair is”, but all I wanted was my hair back. That night, my then 4 year old son ran up to me, rubbed his hand on my hair and said, “mommy your hair is so pretty”. I thought that was the sweetest thing he could have said to me.

The next day, I decided I would research what could be going on with my health and after many test, I found out that I was experiencing adrenal exhaustion and low thyroid and now everything I had been experiencing for the last year made sense. I was pushing my body way past the point of being healthy by experiencing a high amount of stress from running a business and balancing work with my family life and not getting enough sleep and it had taken its toll on my body.

As women we think we are superwomen and can do it all and have it all. In my mind, I loved having a balanced life, but was I actively doing everything possible to nurture my mind, body and spirit.  Probably not. My hair loss was a result of adrenal exhaustion which lead to a high cortisol level and low thyroid.

Adrenal Exhaustion 

So let’s talk about what Adrenal Exhaustion is all about.  Daily living causes a lot stress, which is not easy on the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are the triangle-shaped endocrine glands that sit atop the kidneys. They are chiefly responsible for regulating the stress response through the synthesis of corticosteroids and catecholamine, including cortisol and adrenaline.

Delicious Greens Recipe

Here is a recipe that is super simple to make and bursting with flavor. Even your children will love it!

Ingredients

One bunch salad greens (choosing salad greens with different varieties of lettuces is beneficial to your health)

Asian Vinaigrette Recipe

One bunch cilantro (great to cleanse your body of heavy metals)

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 c. nama shoyu (it is not gluten free, so you can use wheat-free tamari instead)

1/3 c. filtered water

1 to 2  inches fresh ginger (You can use less ginger if you like. Remove skin)

2 tsp. stevia (or your favorite sweetener)

Combine 1 to 2 tablespoons viniagrette and mix with salad greens. Store vinaigrette in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This vinaigrette is also great drizzled over steamed veggies, poultry or fish.

 Bon Appétit!

Ingredients:

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon chia seeds (soaked in almond milk for 20 minutes)

1 tablespoon raw cacao powder

1 tablespoon hemp seeds (grind them)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons stevia

Soak chia seeds in 2 cups almond milk for 20 minutes. The longer you soak the chia seeds, the thicker the consistency. Place all ingredients in blender and blend to a creamy consistency.

Here’s To Beautiful Skin!

Where you live may play a bigger role on your complexion than you think. Find out how your city ranked.

This recipe will help to reduce inflammation and boost your immune system.

Aloe vera juice is a powerful digestive aid. It has many health benefits including the ability to ease constipation, cleanse the colon, boosts the immune system and reduce and calm inflammation in the skin.

Bromelain an enzyme found in pineapple juice and in the pineapple stem has the ability to reduce inflammation in the body.

Due to the digestive qualities of lemon juice, symptoms of indigestion such as heartburn, bloating and belching are relieved. By drinking lemon juice regularly, the bowels are aided in eliminating waste more efficiently thus controlling constipation and diarrhea.

Lemons contain high amounts of Vitamin C, an antioxidant that is needed to manufacture glutathione. Because glutathione is used to neutralize toxins, lemons help the liver with detoxification.

Of all apple varieties, green apple has the most Vitamin C. Green apples contain a lot of fiber which helps digestion, relieve constipation or diarrhea. The carbohydrates in green apples effectively stabilize blood sugar level. Green apples are rich in Manganese, Iron, Potassium, Copper, Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6.

Ingredients (organic):

2 oz. (1/4 c.) aloe vera juice

1 c. pineapple (fruit not juice)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 green apple (remove seeds)

Blend all ingredients and drink immediately

Enjoy!

Avocado contains Vitamin E which is one of the most important fat-soluble antioxidants to retain your skin’s moisture. Onions contain sulfur compounds which help cleanse the liver and rebuild the skin’s connective tissue known as collagen. The essential fatty acids in the hemp seeds help to reduce inflammation and provide luster to the skin. Hemp seeds contain all twenty-one or so known amino acids, and essential fatty acids, including the eight essential amino acids our bodies cannot produce. We must obtain them from our diet.

The lemon in the vinaigrette is anti-bacterial, promotes regular elimination and helps flush toxins from your system. To nourish and support your liver, drink a glass of warm water with half a lemon squeezed into it first thing every morning.

The garlic is another sulfur containing food which is called a “natural antibiotic” due to its antibacterial and anti-viral properties. Extra virgin olive oil is a healthy fat that provides lubrication to your skin cells. Celtic Sea Salt contains 84 minerals and trace elements that provide the necessary nutrients and protect the body from the harshness of sodium chloride that we consume from commercial table salt.

Ingredients:
4 to 5 handfuls of spring mix salad greens (you can use whatever salad greens you like)
1 cup sliced raw okra (I love the crunch of the okra)
1 lemon (squeeze juice and set aside)
½ small avocado cut into chunks (squeeze fresh lemon juice over avocado)
½ onion (sliced thin into half moons)
1 tbsp. hemp seeds

Lemon Vinaigrette Salad Dressing Recipe
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 small garlic clove minced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt
Whisk all ingredients together and set aside.

Place spring mix in a bowl with okra, avocado and onion and lightly drizzle lemon vinaigrette and sprinkle hemp seeds over salad.

Here’s to beautiful skin!

Live Beautifully,
Tracy

Here are foods that support  elimination and release toxins from the body

Fruit

Fruits are very cleansing to the body with their high water content and help wash away toxins. They also can be easy to digest and full of antioxidants which help to guard against free radical damage. Antioxidants  have the added advantage of protecting your skin cells from premature aging

Green Foods

Green foods such as leafy greens, blue-green algae, spirulina, chlorella, barley, and
wheatgrass are very high in chlorophyll and detoxify the body of harmful environmental toxins such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and heavy metals.

Citrus Fruits

Citrus fruits aid the body in flushing out toxins, and the enzymes in these fruits jump start the digestive system to allow your small intestine to absorb the nutrients in these foods. They are very good at cleansing the liver. Start each morning with a warm glass of lemon water.

Garlic

When you think of garlic, do you immediately think of the smell? Well believe it or not, there are many in the natural health world that call garlic a “natural antibiotic.”

Garlic is one of the best detox foods and helps stimulate the liver to detoxify and filter out toxins in the digestive tract. Raw garlic has the best detoxifying properties and if it is too pungent for you, add it to cooked foods.

Broccoli Sprouts

Broccoli sprouts, similar to other sprouts, are an immature seedling of the broccoli plant.

Sprouting increases the digestion and health benefits of whatever is sprouted.

In 1996 there was an outbreak of salmonella  and E coli food poisoning which was traced to a few batches of raw bean sprouts. The food poisoning could have happened by runoff water from animal production facilities, poorly balanced manure fertilizer, or unsanitary seed harvesting. Because of the bad press, commercial non-organic sprouts are rinsed with chlorine to get rid of offensive bacteria.

In 1997, John Hopkins’ research concluded that broccoli sprouts promoted much more cancer protection and antioxidant activity via sulforaphane than broccoli alone. Sulforaphane is a potent inducer of protective enzymes that provide defense against cancer-causing chemicals.

It is a good idea to sprout your own or buy organic sprouts.

Raw Vegetables

Raw vegetables are full of enzymes which help to cleanse the body of  toxins.

What many of the foods listed below have in common are naturally occurring sulphur and glutathione. The combination of these will help your liver detoxify harmful chemicals.

• garlic
• kale
• onions
• broccoli
• kale
• water cress
• cabbage
• asparagus
• brussel sprouts

Juicing or eating these food raw is a wonderful way to get the full benefit of the healthy nutrients in these foods. If you have a weak digestive tract, start slowly until your stomach is able to handle a larger percentage of raw foods in your diet.

One word of caution if you are experiencing thyroid issues. Many of these foods contain goitregens which suppress the thyroid hormone. Although these are very healthy foods, be mindful of how much you consume them weekly.

Essential Fatty Acids

Essential Fatty Acids  have a number of health benefits. They are thought to play an important role in reducing inflammation throughout the body — in the blood vessels, the joints, and elsewhere.

Acne, eczema and psoriasis are an indicator that the body is experiencing inflammation.

While cleansing, it is a good idea to add foods like avocado, hemp seeds, and chia seeds to your diet. They will lubricate the intestinal wall which will help to eliminate toxins through the large intestine

There is so much discussion on the topic of dairy in the diet. Cow’s milk is designed by nature to be the perfect food — for calves, not for human beings.

Studies show that approximately 70% of the population worldwide is lactose intolerant. Lactase is the enzyme that digests the milk sugar lactose. If lactose remains in a dairy product you need to have this enzyme present to metabolize this sugar.

Growing up, we’ve been taught that milk is the best way for our children to get their calcium, but dairy’s high calcium causes relative deficiencies in magnesium and other bone-building minerals, and its high phosphorus and animal protein reduces calcium availability.  There are fewer nutritional or other health advantages to giving cow’s milk to children than is generally believed, while there are certainly many risks. Milk causes an inflammatory response in the body that can lead to a number of health issues including acne and respiratory issues.

Human milk and vegetable sources are superior to dairy for calcium and other nutrients in many ways. Studies show that it’s better for us to get calcium, potassium, protein, and fats from other food sources, like whole plant foods — fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and seaweed.

In place of dairy, there are many milks on the market such as coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk and hemp milk, that have a delicious taste and are a good addition to foods.   Be aware of the amount of sugar in these milk products and if you are into making your own milk, there are numerous recipes for that.

4. Gluten

When I think about gluten what immediately comes to mind is “Glue.” Glue sticking to things is a great visual on the impact of gluten in the body.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and oats. There are companies that are processing oats on dedicated machines that have not been cross contaminated with gluten.

Gluten is hidden in many foods such as pizza, pasta, bread, wraps, rolls, and most processed foods. Research shows that an estimated 99 percent of people who have a problem with eating gluten don’t even know it. They ascribe their poor health to something else.

Personally speaking whenever I’ve eaten gluten, it has been the quickest way to put on weight. In working with clients, I’ve found when replacing the gluten in their diet with other gluten free hearty grain foods such as quinoa or brown rice, they have seen a dramatic difference in not only their weight, but also in the quality of their skin.

5. Caffeine

Caffeine is a diuretic that can dry out the skin and is very acidic to the body and research shows that acidity causes inflammation and inflammation causes a number of health issues.

Cardiovascular Problems

Caffeine consumption leads to eventual adrenal exhaustion, which can leave you vulnerable to a variety of health disorders related to inflammation and fatigue.

6. Sugar

The United States is the largest consumer of sweeteners and one of the largest global sugar importers. We started in 1689 when the first sugar refinery was built in New York City. Colonists soon began to sweeten their breakfast porridge with refined sugar, and within 10 years individual consumption had reached 4 pounds a year. The average

American now consumes more than 100 pounds of sugar and sweeteners per year. In contrast, Americans consume an average of about 8 pounds of broccoli.

The USDA recommends we get no more than 10 teaspoons per day which in my opinion is way too much, yet most Americans eat about 30 teaspoons per day—that’s three times the liberal recommended daily value.

Humans love sweet things. Even before we started refining sugar, we sought out foods with sweet tastes. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that occurs naturally in foods such as grains, beans, vegetables and fruit. When unprocessed, sugar contains a variety of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and proteins. When brown rice or other whole grains are cooked, chewed and digested, the natural carbohydrates break down uniformly into separate glucose molecules. These molecules enter the bloodstream, where they are burned smoothly and evenly, allowing your body to absorb all the good stuff.

Refined table sugar, also called sucrose, is very different. Extracted from either sugar cane or beets, it lacks vitamins, minerals and fiber, and thus requires extra effort from the body to digest.

The body must deplete its own store of minerals and enzymes to absorb sucrose properly. Therefore, instead of providing the body with nutrients, it creates deficiency. It enters swiftly into the bloodstream and wreaks havoc on the blood sugar level, first pushing it sky-high—causing excitability, nervous tension and hyperactivity—and then dropping it extremely low—causing fatigue, depression, weariness and exhaustion.

Sugar qualifies as an addictive substance for two reasons:

1. Eating even a small amount creates a desire for more.

2. Suddenly quitting causes withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, mood swings, cravings and fatigue.

Today, sugar is found in many of the usual suspects, like cakes, cookies and candy. But you will also find it in canned vegetables, baby food, cereals, peanut butter, bread and tomato sauce. It is often disguised in fancy language, labeled as corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, glucose or fructose.

Even some so-called healthy foods contain sugar. As you walk down any aisle at the supermarket, beware of the words “natural” or “organic” on food labels.  Just because it is organic, doesn’t mean that it is healthy. The snack aisle is full of processed foods that are full of sugar and salt.

Food manufacturer’s are very clever about how they market their foods, so a good rule of thumb is to look at the ingredient list when you buy packaged goods. If there are more than 5 ingredients, you may want to think twice about eating it.

You may think your afternoon cup of coffee only has a little sugar, but a 16-ounce Starbucks Frappuccino actually contains 44 grams of sugar, or 10 teaspoons—that’s like eating three donuts! Overconsumption of refined sweets and added sugars found in everyday foods has led to an explosion of hypoglycemia and type 2 diabetes.

The bottom line is that life is about balance and there are going to be those days when you may want that muffin, believe me, I’ve been there.  When you’re eating healthy foods, the body remembers that and you will get back on track quickly.

Lemon Coconut Bar Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 c  coconut oil
1/3 c sucanat
1 c ” Perfect Flour Blend” by Namaste (gluten free flour) or any gluten free flour

Mix together as a crumble mixture. Press evenly to cover the bottom of 9×13 pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees

Beat the next ingredients well and spread on top of crust

2 eggs
1 c. sucanat
1/2 c fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c chopped raisins (optional)

Return to oven and bake 20 – 25 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool slightly, then cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator