Articles
Learn all about adrenal fatigue
You’ve probably heard the term ‘adrenal fatigue’ before. It’s used by some health practitioners to describe a syndrome (or group of symptoms) brought on by overworked and fatigued adrenal glands. Although the term has become more widely used in recent years, it’s currently not a medically accepted diagnosis. Here’s a closer look at this somewhat contentious syndrome – what causes it, the signs and symptoms, and what you can do if you suspect you’re experiencing some degree of it. First things first: what do your adrenal glands do? These two small triangular-shape glands that are located on top of your kidneys. These glands are well-known for secreting the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol – and as Healthline.com explains, they are responsible for producing additional hormones that help your body to burn fat and protein, regulate sugar and blood pressure. What causes adrenal fatigue? As with many other health problems, chronic stress is the culprit. When you experience stress, your body produces and secretes high levels of cortisol. Over a sustained period, this can overload or exhaust your adrenal glands to the point that they no longer produce the cortisol your body needs. What are the signs and symptoms? Cortisol is essential for health and if your body isn’t producing sufficient amounts, you may experience a range of unpleasant symptoms. The signs of adrenal fatigue typically include: Constant tiredness Weight issues Mild to severe depression Low stress tolerance Sleep problems Anxiety or panic attacks Low sex drive Mild to severe brain fog Gut issues An inability to adequately recover from exercise What can you do? If you think you’re experiencing adrenal fatigue, the following lifestyle changes can help you get back on track. Try to reduce stress. Remove stressors where you can and try to incorporate stress-management strategies into your routine, like yoga, breathing exercises or meditation. Eat healthy, whole foods. Aim for a lower-carbohydrate diet that includes enough protein – protein supports adrenal function – and healthy fats like butter, ghee, coconut oil, olive oil,avocado oil, nuts and seeds,etc Ditch the junk. Avoid processed foods, foods high in sugar and salt. Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep negatively affects your health in a whole host of ways and can exacerbate stress levels, so make sure you get plenty of rest. Consider supplements. Adding the following supplements to your daily routine can be helpful: Vitamin C – supports the adrenal glands and helps to reduce the effects of stress on the body. Magnesium – has a positive effect on mood, sleep quality, and stress responses. Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) – helps to support healthy adrenal function.
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Make meditation a daily habit
It’s no surprise that many of us are struggling with elevated levels of stress thanks to the Covid pandemic. If you currently count yourself among the highly stressed, you may want to investigate the benefits of meditation, a simple practice that can help to restore a sense of peace and calm. “Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.” – Ajahn Brahm What is meditation? While meditation has proven difficult to define – it encompasses a range of different practices across numerous traditions – it is most commonly associated with the pursuit of inner peace. “Meditation doesn’t promise to solve your problems, and there’s no guarantee of everlasting happiness. Life, with all its challenges and uncertainty, will still happen. What meditation can do is change how you choose to relate to, react to, and view the circumstances happening around you. It offers a pocket of stillness amid all the outer chaos.” (Headspace.com) Types of meditation include guided, transcendental, vipassana, zen, body scan, kundalini, loving-kindness and mindfulness (more on this one further down). Why meditate? High levels of stress can have a serious impact on the immune system. In a 2013 review of 209 studies that investigated mindfulness-based therapy (MBT), the authors found that, “MBT is an effective treatment for a variety of psychological problems, and is especially effective for reducing anxiety, depression, and stress.” Mayo Clinic also lists a number of emotional benefits linked to meditation, including gaining a new perspective on stressful situations, building skills to manage your stress, reducing negative emotions and focusing on the present. Mindfulness meditation This technique has become increasingly popular, no doubt in large part due to the speed of modern life. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), mindfulness meditation has two distinct components. Attention “is about tuning into your experiences to focus on what’s happening in the present moment. It typically involves directing your awareness to your breath, your thoughts, the physical sensations in your body and the feelings you are experiencing.” Acceptance “involves observing those feelings and sensations without judgment. Instead of responding or reacting to those thoughts or feelings, you aim to note them and let them go.” Ready to get started? All you need to kickstart your meditation practice are comfortable clothes and a quiet spot away from too many distractions. Although, that said, given that meditation can be practised almost anywhere, these are really just nice-to-haves. There are multiple online resources available for anyone wishing to start a meditation practice. Headspace and Calm are two popular and often-recommended apps and are a great place to start. If you’re keen to give mindfulness meditation a go, but you’re not quite ready to commit to a paid subscription, there are also several worthwhile free apps out there, including these five, which are all available for download on iOS and Android. Aura Smiling Mind Insight Timer MyLife Meditation UCLA Mindfulness Supplements for stress Calm helps to reduce stress and anxiety and improve sleep quality. The active ingredient is Lactium®, a unique milk extract that contains a natural bioactive protein with relaxing properties. Magnesium is an essential nutrient required for the maintenance of some of the most basic functions of life. Research also suggests that it could be an important way to treat anxiety naturally. Try our Chelated Premium Magnesium. Omega-3 Solution is an extra-pure pharmaceutical grade fish oil with a powerful action that may assist in calming and improving mood levels. At over 80% active, Sally-Ann Creed Omega-3 Solution, which is free from mercury, PCBs, DDT and dioxins, is one of the strongest oils available in South Africa.
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This nutrient increases thyroid hormone
Biotin is a life-sustaining nutrient which you need very little of – but probably don’t get nearly enough of. It’s generally found in very small amounts in B-Complex supplements, but generally in amounts too small to have the desired effect. Also called Vitamin H, Co-enzyme R, d-biotin and Vitamin B7, Biotin is helpful in heart conditions, blood sugar control and wound healing, and while some is made by your gut flora, often the microbiome is not what it should be, so you don’t make nearly enough of what you need especially as you get older. Biotin is involved in fatty acid synthesis and helps to make healthy myelin while giving you lots of energy. The myelin sheath is the covering around nerves and the spinal cord which is essential for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and is very helpful in this condition according to studies, and shows enormous promise for this disease. Did you know that 25% of your thyroid hormone is made in your intestines? This means if you have dysbiosis or gut dysfunction, your ability to product this hormone is compromised, that’s why gut health is absolutely pivotal. It’s back to the old adage – it all begins in the gut, both health and disease – and keeping your gut healthy will keep the entire body healthy too. While biotin increases the inactive T4, it does not increase the conversion to the active form, T3 – this is where other co-factors come in. Could YOU be short of biotin? Have a look at these common deficiency symptoms: Do you eat a lot of raw egg whites? Is there a scaly red rash around your eyes, nose, mouth and genital area? Do you look older than your age? Do you have very slow wound healing? Is your heart rhythm irregular? Are you losing your hair? Do you have acne and eczema? Do you have unusual facial fat distribution? Are you depressed, lethargic and even may have hallucinations? Is there numbness and tingling of your extremities? Extreme cases – seizures Are you constantly exhausted? Do you have thin hair and nails? Have you been on antibiotics recently? Do you not take a probiotic daily? Do you have loss of appetite and/or nausea? Do you experience a prickling sensation in hands/feet (paraesthesia)? Are you experiencing skin inflammation such as seborrheic dermatitis? Do you have itching and flaking of the scalp? Have you got conjunctivitis? Are you anorexic? Are you anaemic? Deficiency can cause slight anaemia These symptoms taken together, are very typical of a biotin deficiency, but many can apply to other conditions as well. Interestingly, much attention is paid to folate in pregnancy, but biotin is equally important in the developing foetus. Biotin has also showed promise in the treatment of MS, diabetes, and less important conditions like hair loss and brittle fingernails. Best food sources include animal meats, fish and egg yolks. Smoking increases biotin depletion (including vaping) and a compromised digestive system will make it difficult to make your own biotin. Suggestions: Eat biotin-containing foods Avoid raw egg whites (cook the whites, eat the yolk raw if you wish to) Take a biotin supplement daily Take a B Complex supplement daily Include a good probiotic daily Take 200mcg selenium daily for thyroid support and conversion to T3 Get these excellent supplements from our online store here: https://sallyanncreed.co.za/shop Before taking Biotin: Taking more than the recommended dose of biotin may mask thyroid blood tests. Stop taking it 3-5 days before a blood test if you are taking very high doses (anything from 2g upwards). Less than this and you don’t have to worry. The Biotin in my online store is only 30mcg – so taking one or more of these a day is nothing to worry about. More is not better – take only what is needed – it does the job well. Take it away from seizure medication – take it but not at the same time. It’s advisable to take a B-Complex with it, as taking one on its own long term depletes the others – the B’s like to stay together. This post is subject to our general disclaimer https://sallyanncreed.co.za/disclaimer/.
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How to help your body detox
If a few unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits have snuck into your routine (and we’ve all been there) you may be feeling the urge to detox – but how? It’s important to know that your body does an excellent job of ridding itself of waste and toxins via your liver, kidneys and colon, among other elimination pathways. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a helping hand, particularly when you’re feeling less than your best. Here are a few simple ways to support your body’s detoxification process and put yourself on the path to better energy levels, improved digestive health, and much more. Love your liver Did you know that your liver is your heaviest internal organ? It’s both a gland and a vital organ and plays an important role in hundreds of bodily processes – including filtering the blood. As InformedHealth.org explains, “It converts nutrients in our diets into substances that the body can use, stores these substances, and supplies cells with them when needed. It also takes up toxic substances and converts them into harmless substances or makes sure they are released from the body.” How to support your liver Eat nourishing whole foods like good quality proteins, fresh vegetables, and healthy, natural fats. Ditch sugar, refined carbohydrates, and junk food. Drink plenty of water and limit your alcohol intake. Consider a milk thistle supplement – this medicinal herb helps to regenerate, cleanse, detoxify and strengthen the liver. Care for your colon Your colon, or large intestine as its also known, forms part of your digestive system and works to “absorb water and salts from the material that has not been digested as food, and get rid of any waste products left over.” (chp.edu) You don’t want this waste staying in your colon longer than it should – chronic constipation can cause a range of health issues – so it’s important to maintain your overall digestive health and keep things moving. How to support your digestive health Up your intake of fibrous veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage to feed your healthy gut bacteria. Drink enough water throughout the day. Include some fermented foods in your diet like yoghurt, kombucha, kefir, and sauerkraut to boost and diversify your healthy gut bacteria. Consider prebiotic and probiotic supplements to promote good gut health. Psyllium fibre is great for constipation and general intestinal health. Keep your kidneys healthy The kidneys are amazing organs that filter your blood, removing waste products and extra water, which then leave your body as urine. They also perform many other important functions – including regulating pH, salt and potassium levels in your body and producing hormones that control blood pressure and the production of red blood cells (healthline.com). How to support your kidneys Protect your kidneys by eating healthy, whole foods. Steer clear of tobacco, alcohol, and fast foods. Stay hydrated but avoid drinking too much water – your urine should ideally be a light-yellow colour. If you’re low on magnesium, add a supplement to your routine – crucial organs like your heart, brain and kidneys depend on this versatile mineral. Keep an eye on our blog and follow us on Facebook or Instagram for regular healthy living tips and advice.
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The Thyroid Gland And Are You At Risk?
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck that produces hormones, which play a key role in regulating your heartbeat, breathing, and many other functions. Spotting thyroid disease early is so important as caught early, treatment can prevent complications. When thyroid disease goes untreated for years, it can lead to a dangerously slow (or fast) heartbeat, an injury that refuses to heal, or unrelenting pain. You may have gained or lost weight for no apparent reason. To help you find early (and some not-so-early) signs of thyroid disease on your skin, hair, and nails, here’s a checklist. How many of these signs and symptoms do you have? Skin 1. Dry, pale, and cool skin 2. Moist, velvety, and warm skin like a baby’s 3. Dry skin with deep cracks and scale 4. Deep, noticeable lines on your palms and soles 5. Yellowish-orange colour on your palms and soles 6. Doughy and swollen face, especially on your eyelids, lips, and tongue 7. Widening nose 8. Slow-healing wounds 9. Sweating less (or more) than before 10. Goitre (swelling in the neck) 11. Protruding eyes 12. Flushing on your face and red palms 13. Darker skin in the creases of your palms, on your gums, or elsewhere in your mouth 14. Rashes, especially in the creases of your skin 15. Painless lumps and patches of scaly, discoloured skin, and the affected skin feels hard and waxy 16. Reddish spots on the skin that come and go 17. Protruding eyes. When eyes protrude, it’s often a sign of thyroid disease. 18. Painless lumps and patches of scaly skin feel hard and waxy 19. Lumps on discoloured skin that feel hard and waxy can be a sign of thyroid disease. Hair ☐ Thinning (or missing) eyebrows on the outer edge ☐ Coarse, dull, dry, and brittle hair that breaks easily ☐ Soft and fine hair with lots of shedding ☐ Thinning hair or balding patches ☐ Growing more slowly (or quickly) ☐ Dry, itchy scalp and dandruff ☐ Less hair on your legs, arms, and other areas Nails ☐ Thick, dry, and brittle with visible ridges ☐ Soft, shiny, and easily crumble ☐ Growing more slowly (or quickly) ☐ Peel, crumble, or break easily ☐ Lift up ☐ Curved with swollen fingertip and thickening skin above the nail Itch ☐ Itchy skin without a rash ☐ Untreatable and itchy hives Existing skin disease You have a higher risk of developing thyroid disease if you have one of the following: ☐ Vitiligo ☐ Hives ☐ Alopecia areata (autoimmune disease that causes hair loss) Hidden thyroid disease: Do you have weight problems? Do you have carpel tunnel syndrome? Are you constantly cold when everyone else is all right with the temperature? Do you have a gluten intolerance? Are you missing about a third of your eyebrows? These are possible (not definitive) symptoms which could indicate thyroid problems. What can you do? First – you must get a medical opinion. If you already have one, and are not doing that well but want to improve your thyroid problem, perhaps try our Pure Hydrolysed Collagen. We have hundreds of testimonies of people who have had amazing results with our Pure Hydrolysed Collagen regarding thyroid function alone. Glycine is the main protein building block in collagen, and research shows we are all dismally deficient. Glycine is essential for healthy thyroid function and metabolism as a whole, and collagen is extraordinarily rich in glycine. So here are 5 ways collagen helps your thyroid: 1. Collagen BALANCES other proteins in the body. In hypothyroid patients, tryptophan is converted to serotonin which suppresses thyroid function further (by increasing other thyroid-suppressing hormones like cortisol and estrogen). This is where collagen comes to the rescue – there is NO tryptophan in collagen – that is just one reason it is so beneficial to the thyroid. 2. Collagen LOWERS CORTISOL in hypothyroidism, which lowers stress levels. Stress hormones BLOCK conversion of T4 to T3 (the active hormone) in the liver – collagen boosts the liver’s ability to convert T4 to the active T3 form by lowering cortisol. 3. Collagen lowers ENDOTOXIN, a thyroid-suppressive substance over-produced by intestinal bacteria – usually found in hypothyroidism. It over-burdens the liver, prevents detoxification of estrogen and cortisol and prevents healthy liver detoxification. 4. Collagen boosts THYROID & METABOLIC rate by regulating BLOOD SUGAR. Collagen helps to regulate blood sugar and enables you to metabolise carbs without the need for extra insulin, preventing a rise in blood sugar. Most hypothyroid sufferers are insulin resistant – and they have been shown to have more than 26% less glycine than they need – another reason glycine-rich collagen is helpful to hypothyroid and diabetic patients. 5. Lastly, collagen improves the thyroid’s ability to USE T3. Having adequate levels of T3 converted from T4 is not enough – you need to be able to UTILISE this T3. Collagen also helps to restore insulin sensitivity and help you reverse insulin resistance. Our amazing Pure Hydrolysed Collagen Peptide powder comes from grass-fed cows, has no smell, is non-GMO and has an almost undetectable taste. You’ll find it at https://sallyanncreed.co.za/…/sally-ann-creed-collagen…/
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Cornonary artery calcification
I have been asked to repeat this post – hope it’s helpful. It’s been said that magnesium plays a part in over 600 metabolic processes in the human body and involves more than 350 enzymes. There’s just about nothing magnesium is not involved in. So it would stand to reason then that it is one of the most important minerals – if not the most important – we need to take, and to do so every single day. It has now been suggested that low magnesium intake is associated with future risk of hypertension, stroke and vascular calcification, yet not enough studies exist to tie it to coronary artery calcification. However in studies done on those with calcified arteries, they all exhibited extremely low levels of magnesium, so there may be a link. Of course there is always more to it than one simple thing, like smoking for example, which is known to harden the arteries, too little vitamin C intake, lack of collagen, poor diet, high sugar levels, too much alcohol and definitely taking a calcium supplement – these causes coronary artery calcium build up. Don’t bother trying to ‘test’ your magnesium though – serum magnesium only represents around 1% of magnesium stores. Magnesium is homeostatically controlled in the serum and measuring serum magnesium levels provides many false negatives. By the time an individual’s serum magnesium is low, they are extremely deficient in magnesium, as the body cannot maintain the serum magnesium levels. You can be pretty sure if you aren’t taking it daily, you’re bound to be short of it. Sadly there is this obsession with calcium – so SO bad for us! (Google “Death by Calcium” if you don’t believe me). THIS is what causes coronary artery calcification – and not cholesterol. Without sufficient magnesium, vitamin K2 and collagen, your arteries are an easy target for calcium to deposit itself in instead of bone. The other problem is that the ratio of calcium to magnesium is totally out of whack the way omega-6 is out of whack in relation to omega-3. We need that BALANCE. Only one thing is known to man for removing this calcified arterial plaque over time – vitamin K2. Having more magnesium in your diet also helps to balance out dietary calcium. So here are the nutrients which make all the difference to coronary artery calcification: Magnesium – I recommend my Magnesium Citrate Powder due to the ease of absorption (if you would prefer capsules use my Chelated Magnesium Premium) Vitamin K2 – prevents calcification and removes calcification from soft tissue – I have developed a very pure one called Vitamin K2 Premium Collagen – a powerful aid in arterial integrity – try my Pure Hydrolysed Premium Vitamin C – absolutely VITAL for the heart – 2-6 minimum Ester C daily or a teaspoon of Super-Cee or Scorbi-Cee in water daily. I also strongly recommend Vitamin D3 Premium in connection with vitamin K2
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Why not to go Keto in menopause
Ketogenic diets do not work well for most menopausal women, especially as it unfortunately removes a lot of vegetables and greens from the diet by default. When you go into ketosis you go into mineral deficit as you excrete them faster than you can replace them, especially sodium, magnesium and potassium. Definitely go on a lower carb diet, for sure – that will work well, but not ketosis. You need to have a well-functioning liver if you want ketosis to work, and generally around menopause one’s liver is not in a fabulous state. Eating bitter foods are very good for the liver (rocket, beet greens, radicchio etc) and so are cruciferous veg and sprouts, which help to detoxify estrogen down the right pathways thereby cutting down cancer risk. You especially need to detoxify estrogen in menopause, and these veggies (steamed or cooked) help you do that. Insulin surges cause estrogen surges and this is one of the things which bring on hot flushes!! If you are insulin resistant you will probably have a lot of hot flushes, blood sugar balance is so crucial during this time. Even if you have low estrogen you can be estrogen dominant because your progesterone is so low – something people are not told. Probiotics to heal the gut makes a lot of difference at this time of life (good ones, not the cheap supermarket variety), and in time getting your microbiome in a better state through probiotics and good diet will help you enormously. Your microbiome changes within hours depending on what kind of diet you feed them! VERY important – please avoid SOY – it is a massive endocrine disruptor. Remove all the other endocrine disruptors too – chemical make-up, cleaning products (estrogen-mimickers) and other chemicals. We love Dr Hauscka (find them on our online store) for the purity, and it’s what we use. Opt for natural cleaning products or make your own. Some excellent supplements which will help you at this time include: • Quercetin • Organic Turmeric (use as a spice in your food) • Milk Thistle Premium to regenerate and cleanse the liver • The Omega-3 Solution Fish oil (take 3 a day) • Renewed Balance Natural Progesterone Cream (ONLY if not on hormones – read about it here https://sallyanncreed.co.za/why-you-cant-live-without-progesterone-ladies/
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Weight Gain In Menopause
We hear this so often. The moment women go into either menopause or peri-menopause, the weight starts piling on and all the wheels come off. Yes, it’s a hormonal problem, that’s pretty obvious, but what can you do about it? Know this, there is hope! The first thing to comfort yourself with is the knowledge that this a normal phase of life. It’s not a disease and should not be treated as such. Natural methods, lifestyle, supplements and diet can get you sailing through this time of life. Here are some helpful guidance to support you VERY important: You have to realise that carbohydrates are not your friend. This is because as we get older our insulin automatically (like everything else!) goes south or rather in the case of insulin becomes less sensitive. This means more insulin is produced and the more insulin you are producing the more fat you are storing around your belly. You have to now ‘break up’ with carbs like bread, sugar, alcohol and dairy. If you are one of the lucky ones who has sailed through menopause without this problem and you may well sit there and laugh at the rest of us. Not many people escape this middle-aged spread story but you are blessed if you can still indulge in all your favourites. While still getting away with no weight gain. We are all very envious. Great news – we are here to help and would like to support you along your journey. You naturally experience fatigue at this time of life (don’t worry, it passes!), and you could end up reaching for processed food or ready meals from sheer exhaustion – and turn to sweet things and alcohol to comfort and relax so you get through the day. You need to eat wholesome REAL food. This is a secret hiding in plain sight – eating real food every single meal you possibly can. And if you need an afternoon power nap, take one – it can refresh you no end. Thyroid hormones dictate how much energy the cells of the body can produce. When the levels of hormone increase, it tells the body to burn fat to produce cellular energy (ATP). Compromised thyroid hormone levels will prevent burning carbs and fat, and lead to weight gain. Extra stress at this time of life all contribute to how our hormones react. Very often around this time you are dealing many stressors and there is simply no time for you! This is a huge part of the equation. Stress leads to excess cortisol being produced by the adrenals, and may lead to weight gain. Estrogen is not the only hormone which is affected. As estrogen declines, so cortisol is elevated, thyroid hormones may be affected, and then there is insulin and leptin. Your body is undergoing a complete hormonal shift. Be kind to yourself and realise that this is something that you can control up to a point with lifestyle and diet. And by saying NO to more outside requests so that you have the time and stamina for things you need to do for yourself and your family. Insulin is the hormone responsible for decreasing circulating blood sugar. It’s necessary and wonderful when it “works” properly. But to keep a balanced level you need to dump the sugars and grains and anything high in carbohydrates. (The Low-Carb Creed outlines all this with lists and ideas for you). More carbs means more insulin, which means more fat storage, and perhaps insulin resistance, which is a decreased sensitivity to insulin, and a precursor to diabetes. Insulin resistance leads to weight gain, possible high blood pressure and raised blood lipids – even the dreaded fatty liver – so it’s it is important to either not let this happen, or address it now and reverse it. Cortisol, our main stress hormone, increases blood sugar levels providing fuel to the cells to provide energy. Very high blood sugar levels lead to cortisol resistance and adrenal fatigue, as the adrenals are unable to keep up with the demand for more and more cortisol – all this leads to weight gain and no energy. Leptin is the hormone our fat cells produce to tell the hypothalamus in the brain that we have had enough to eat, thank you. Too much fructose especially leads to leptin resistance where the messaging system stops working, the brain doesn’t get the message that you are full, you remain hungry and continue to eat more and more to satiate yourself. Take some helpful supplements during this difficult time. The following are all helpful – and may get you flying through this bumpy time: B Complex – this is a winner for menopause Omega-3 fish oil Renewed Balance cream (a natural progesterone – only if you are not on HRT) Vitamin D3 – really important for 1000 reasons! Vitamin K2 for heart and bones Pure Hydrolysed Collagen is amazing for so many reasons too Glutamine (prevents cravings) Berberine (blood sugar balance) All of these products are available from the online store on our website here www.sallyanncreed.co.za/shop – use the “search” button if you get stuck finding them.
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