The soothing combination of CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils of
Wintergreen, Camphor, Peppermint, Ylang Ylang, Helichrysum, Blue Tansy, Blue Chamomile, and Osmanthus create the doTERRA Deep Blue proprietary blend. Available in a cream, roll-on, and supplement, Deep Blue provides soothing effects and targeted benefits.
Source: doterra.com
MSM is short for methylsulfonylmethane which is a substance that’s naturally occurring in 
the body. MSM has been extensively studied in humans and animals. It is a ‘methyl donor’ and a ‘sulfur donor’ which help reduce inflammation and support detoxification. It can also boost energy!
Here are some of the common uses of MSM:
Talk to your functional medicine specialist about whether MSM is right for you and about appropriate doses for your specific needs.
References: www.draxe.com www.mercola.com www.msmguide.com
such as krill oil, fish oil, flax seeds, chia, and hemp:
Reference: www.mercola.com
Ingredients:
Instructions:
1. Place a mixing bowl and wire whisk or whisk attachment in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
2. When the bowl is cold, remove the thick and hardened coconut cream from the can, saving the coconut water for another use (great for a smoothie).
3. Using a wire whisk or electric beaters, whip on medium high for 2 minutes until light and fluffy and soft peaks are forming. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sweetener to taste and continue beating for another 2 minutes.
4. Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. It may harden but simply whisk for a few seconds before serving again.
Reference: www.tastesloverly.com
Makes one 9 inch pie, serves 8-10
Ingredients
Crust:
Pumpkin Pie Filling:
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Add the pie crust ingredients to a food processor or high powered blender and process until a thick, dough-like mixture forms.
3. Press the crust mixture into a 9-inch pie dish and press firmly to make an even layer. If desired, use a piece of parchment paper to press down the crust to even it out. Refrigerate crust until ready for use.
4. Add all of the pumpkin pie filling ingredients together in a blender. Blend until smooth.
5. Pour the mixture into the crust. Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the filling has set up and the edges are golden brown.
6. Allow pie to cool for 30 minutes, then cover and chill for 2 hours before serving.
7. Cut thick slices and serve with coconut whipped cream.
Reference: http://www.theroastedroot.net/
By Mila McManus MD
Many of you out there know some of the common symptoms of low thyroid function, such as fatigue, weight gain, constipation, headaches, hair loss, depression, and cold intolerance. I’ve also explained to many of you how the thyroid functions in the body. Think of this gland as your engine. If your engine is too ‘revved up’ (i.e., hyperthyroid), bodily functions will be overactive, such as overactive nerves causing jitters, shakiness, anxiety, fast heart rate, palpitations, and high blood pressure. Bowels may be overactive causing excessive bowel movements or loose stools. Temperature gets higher, metabolism gets faster, and so on. If your engine slows down (i.e., hypothyroid), bodily functions slow down. Energy gets lower, brain function gets slower, mood is lower, bowels are slower, pain threshold is lower, temperature is lower, metabolism is slower, and so on. It’s also important to note that some symptoms can occur on either end of the spectrum. For instance, you can be tired if thyroid function is low or high. You can lose weight or gain weight on both ends of the spectrum. You can be shedding hair when thyroid is under-active or overactive. And also noteworthy: 1) symptoms can vary, such as you may have normal bowel function, but have other symptoms of low thyroid, and 2) having normal thyroid labs does NOT mean that your thyroid is functioning adequately. (You can read about that here.) Moreover, there are many factors that affect how well your thyroid functions at the cellular level, including diet, gut health, stress, toxins, vitamin deficiencies, and imbalance of other hormones in the body.
Having said all of that, today I wanted to share some less well known signs and symptoms that may indicate a thyroid problem:
If you think you may have low or suboptimal thyroid function, you can test yourself here with our online symptom checker.
References: Dr. Pamela Smith lecture at A4M conference 2015
Iodine is an essential element and perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle when it comes to thyroid hormones. One of Iodine’s main functions is in the production of thyroid hormones, but is detected in every organ and tissue. It is essential for healthy thyroid function and efficient metabolism, and there is increasing evidence that insufficiency correlates with numerous diseases, including fibrocystic breast disease and certain cancers. Iodine is a potent anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, and anti-viral agent. It has four significant roles in your body, namely to maintain your weight and metabolism, to develop brain and cognitive function in children, to optimize fertility and to strengthen your immune system.
Please consult with your holistic healthcare provider before adding, or adjusting your dose of, an iodine supplement.
Sources: http://articles.mercola.com/thyroid.aspx Prothera, Inc. 2015 Patient Catalog, pg. 107
There’s no doubt that, if you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) or Hashimoto’s (autoimmune thyroid disorder), you have searched the internet for information and come across references to goitrogenic foods (i.e. goitrogens) with the preponderance of sources recommending avoidance. These goitrogenic foods are primarily found in the raw Brassica or cruciferous vegetables which include, but are not limited to, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, and Brussels sprouts.
Goitrogens can be drugs, chemicals, or foods. In terms of food, goitrogens are naturally occurring compounds found in many foods to varying degrees. Some older research on animals only has suggested that goitrogens might suppress thyroid function by interfering with iodine uptake, thus inhibiting the production of thyroid hormones. This, in turn, would result in goiter (enlargement of the thyroid). So understandably, in an effort to do the right thing for your health, you may have felt very compelled to remove these foods from your diet.
Anytime someone suggests removing vegetables from the diet, especially groups of vegetables, my ears really perk up! There are obvious “man-u-factured” food products and sugar which we would all do well to remove from our diets for improved health, but it goes against common sense to remove foods from the earth which our ancestors have eaten for centuries. Moreover, without question, vegetables are deeply nutritious. Where else can we get as many minerals, vitamins, fiber and phytonutrients that serve as antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, cancer fighters and detoxification supporters? Does eating them really pose a risk or threat to the thyroid?
I join in agreement with most leaders in the functional medicine community who argue that these foods contain far more beneficial nutrients relative to the goitrogenic activity. Many of these foods help the body to produce glutathione, a very powerful antioxidant necessary to fight Hashimoto’s disease because it modulates and regulates the immune system, puts down the fires of autoimmune flare ups and protects and heals thyroid tissues. Glutathione also detoxifies the liver while cruciferous vegetables in general are well studied for their protection against cancers, thyroid cancer included.
Dr. Fuhrman states it well: “The fear of eating cruciferous vegetables or that those with hypothyroidism should reduce or avoid the consumption of kale or other cruciferous vegetables is unfounded and does a disservice to the community. Whether you have normal thyroid function or hypothyroidism, there is no benefit for you to avoid or restrict your intake of cruciferous vegetables.” He goes on to state that “No human study has demonstrated a deficiency in thyroid function from consuming cruciferous vegetables.”
My advice remains the same. We ALL benefit from food rotation, eating a wide variety of nutrient dense foods, especially vegetables. Moderation and variety is the best way to ensure the optimal amounts of what the body requires. All that to say if you are juicing large quantities of kale and/or spinach every single day, perhaps some rotation of greens is in good order for you! Or if you are eating a vegan or vegetarian diet where the main vegetable choices made every day are from the cruciferous family, perhaps greater variety and reduction would be prudent. Another strategy is to deactivate most of the goitrogenic compounds by cooking the vegetables. Roasting, steaming, sautéing or blanching them resolves any potential concern. Blanched and pureed, they can be frozen as ice cubes for a smoothie so they can still be added to juice each morning.
Finally, thyroid health is best protected, not by taking vegetables out of the diet, but by ensuring adequate iodine intake, stress management, cleaning up the diet, healing the gut, resolving vitamin deficiencies, removing toxins, and balancing hormone function.
Sources: ¹(https://www.drfuhrman.com/learn/library/articles/97/do-cruciferous-vegetables-or-soybeans-harm-the-thyroid) https://www.healthfulelements.com/blog/2013/07/goitrogenic-foods-thyroid-busters-or-thyroid-boosters https://www.draxe.com/hypothyridism-diet-natural-treatment/From Wheat Belly 10-day Grain Detox, by William Davis, MD
Makes 20 Crackers
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Grease an 11 x 8 inch shallow baking pan with ghee or butter
2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except water, mixing well.
3. Pour the water into the dry ingredients and quickly mix until just combined. Pour immediately into baking pan and spread evenly. If the dough begins to firm up before you can spread it out, put a spoon under hot water for a few seconds and then use the wet, warm spoon to spread the dough to a uniform thickness.
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the pan in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and using a pizza cutter, cut into about 20 crackers.
Each cracker: 34 calories, 2g protein, 2g carbohydrate, 2g total fat, .5g saturated fat, 2g fiber and 167 mg sodium.
by Nancy Mehlert, MS
As the new school year begins and your family settles into the routines for the school year, we encourage you to consider how stress is impacting your family. Do your own stressors trickle down to have a negative impact on the rest of your family? Do your children’s stressors trickle up to you?
The newest and most powerful stressor in life is the information age. The explosion of information and our access to it is overwhelming. Distributed in real time, this constant, seemingly uncontrollable bombardment of communication, information, education, and sensationalism has arrived, and our heads are spinning. Most of us never saw it coming, and it has changed our lives in good ways and bad. It requires us to examine ways to turn it down, turn it off and buffer ourselves and our children from it. It has compounded our stressors and is taking a heavy toll on our physical, mental and spiritual health, as well as the health of families and relationships.
Interested in stopping the madness? Here are 10 ways to help yourself and your family to reduce the stress:
Create technology free zones. Create family times together that are technology free – no cell phones, tablets, or television. Promote eye to eye contact, heart to heart communication, and quieter moments. This also reduces drama and control issues by helping children see that not everything is an emergency, not everyone has the right to demand your time anytime they wish, and not every text or post requires an immediate response.
Create “white space” on your kids and your calendars. We need more peace and quiet and rest in this hectic, crazy world. This is unassigned time without commitments, appointments, duties, or work. This space is reserved for renewal of the mind and heart. It is intended to be reserved for thankfulness, quiet time, meditation, stretching, being in nature, loving on pets, coloring, painting or doing things that are relaxing and peaceful. Teach your children the value of silence, stillness, appreciation and thanksgiving.
Get outdoors for exercise, restoration and fun. Walk, ride bikes, sit on the porch together. Walk the dog or wash the car. Work together as a family in the yard or plant a garden. Take off your shoes and stand in the grass, feeling the earth beneath your feet. This is called “grounding” and it helps your body to resonate and re-calibrate to the fundamental frequencies of the earth that your body requires for health and healing. Allow the sun to warm your skin for 15 minutes, allowing your body to get the best form of Vitamin D for a strong immune and better health.
Cook together. Let’s face it. Fast food is not helping our stress or our health. Every child needs to know how to cook and prepare a basic meal as a core life skill. Eating at home can save time and money and can be an enjoyable time to learn together. Get everyone involved, share the duties, take turns, allow creativity and include the children in choices of new vegetables, recipes and foods to try.
Encourage, teach, and promote healthy sleep patterns. Establish and maintain bedtimes and wind-down times when phone calls and texting need to stop, television must be turned off, and preparations for a restful night of sleep should begin. If possible, turn off the household wi-fi to promote better sleep. Establish age appropriate routines and curfews to teach self-care and responsibility. Make the end of every day a time for hugs, reflection, words of encouragement, expressions of love and thankfulness.
Don’t be afraid to get help when needed. Recognize that events resulting in grief, anger, anxiety or sadness need healthy resolution for all of us. Parents and children alike need someone they can trust to express their feelings to reach healthy resolution of traumatic events, difficult seasons or concerning behavior patterns. Seek out support groups, on-line forums, and professionals or techniques such as journaling and Emotional Freedom Techniques (tapping) to deal with emotions in a healthy way. Remember that unresolved emotional issues can and do manifest in physical ill-health.
Make One Better Food Choice – Getting healthier can seem overwhelming and stressful itself. Often, small steps generate better long term results. Virtually everyone can benefit from improvements in the diet. There are plenty of reasons to get healthier and stay healthier. Illness derails plans, reduces income potential, and makes us our worst self. Sugar and food allergies are highly correlated with inflammation, congestion, weight gain, fatigue, body pain, digestive issues, brain fog and frankly, addiction and disease. Lack of vegetables in the diet leaves us all constipated, nutritionally bankrupt and stressed out. Simple changes in diet can make a huge difference in everyone’s relationships, productivity and happiness. Do something… one more vegetable, one less soft drink, no more fast food, dump the cereal, avoid the gluten, increase healthy fats….Make at least one better choice this year.
Everyone needs Friend Time. No one prospers in isolation. We need laughter and encouragement. We need to know someone else understands us. We flourish when we can help and be helped by others. Spending time with our friends in person, not via text or Facebook, is healing and restorative.
Practice Nose Breathing. A recent article by Dr. Mercola discussed the Buteyko method of breathing for relaxation which is in contrast to the concept of deep breathing. It promotes a slow and light breathing through the nose to promote calm, improve oxygenation and reduce stress. It is a great way to help your kids stop wiggling or to prevent your own anxious moment.
Laughter is still great medicine. Increase the frequency of moments of getting into a deep, side splitting laugh. It’s contagious too! Laughter lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormone levels, works out your abs, releases endorphins, and boosts your immune system. So go rent a hilarious movie, read the funnies, listen to a good comedian, or tickle each other silly. Laughter is a great stress reducer.