Fragrance is Wrecking Your Hormone Health

Do you wear perfume every day?

If the answer is yes, then you are disrupting your hormones.

Fragrances are made using synthetic chemicals that trick your body into thinking they are hormones. Anything that messes with your hormones is disrupting a delicate balance in your body.

Almost all of our beauty, body, and hair products are full of fragrance. It literally hides everywhere! Some of these products include deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, body wash, lotion, face wash, foundation, and sunscreen.

The reason these dangerous chemicals are listed as “fragrance” on our products is due to a lack of regulation. All synthetic chemicals are allowed to be listed under the blanket term “fragrance”. This means that we have no idea which chemicals are hiding in our perfume and other products.

In a BCPP report, over 300 different chemicals were found in 25 different products, 75% of them being linked to chronic health problems. This same report found that some of these chemicals were linked to increased risk of breast tumors. These chemicals include benzene, 4-dioxane, oxybenzone, and phthalates. Phthalates are banned in the EU and Japan, but not the US.

What you can do

• Stop wearing perfume and switch to using essential oils

• Throw out all hair, beauty, & body products with fragrance

• Better yet, replace these options with fragrance-free products as you use them up

• Use EWG to check for dangerous chemicals in products

• Shop Credo Beauty where they list the types of fragrances in each product

Favorite Fragrance-Free Brands

• The Honest Company

• W3ll People

• Innersense Organic Beauty

• Indie Lee

• Seventh Generation

• Versed

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Hacking Your Smoothies

There’s nothing I love more in the summer than a cold smoothie made with fresh fruit and superfoods.

However, I’m also constantly on the go- either working, taking meetings, spending time with family, or headed to the beach. I need quick and easy, especially in the summer.

Here are my tips for making a healthy and delicious smoothie in less than 5 minutes:

1. Blender Bombs

   If you’re like me then you love to add just about every superfood you can in your smoothie in order to pack in the nutrients. However, it can be time consuming to measure out each powder and seed and add it to the mix. Blender Bombs are rich in omega-3s and include all of the superfoods that you would want in a smoothie.

   My personal favorite is the Sunflower Seed & Coconut, a mix of Organic Dates, Sunflower Seed Butter, Coconut Oil, Organic Chia Seeds, Ground Flaxseeds, Organic Hemp Seed, Sunflower Seeds, Coconut, Pure Organic Honey, Cacao Nibs, Sea Salt, Cinnamon, Pure Vanilla Extract. Basically everything you need for a nutritious and delicious smoothie!

   Better yet, they’re now sold in Whole Foods.

2. Freeze fresh fruit

   The easiest way to make a smoothie is with frozen fruit. However, sometimes we don’t have frozen fruit or want to shop local from the farmer’s market. My top tip is to freeze all of your fruits and veggies at peak ripeness (when there’s the most nutrients) so you have them whenever you need them.

   Frozen fruits and veggies also make the texture and flavor of your smoothies better. No more pieces of ice or watery taste! There’s a huge difference between smoothies made with frozen produce and ice.

3. Hand held blender

   Woah, is this a game changer. My mom recently bought a hand blender and I’ve been obsessed. I love my Vitamix but this is a whole lot easier to clean and less of a production to set up. No more smoothies getting stuck in the blade or cutting yourself when trying to clean it!

Do you have any tips for making easy, healthy smoothies on-the-go? Leave them down below, I’d love to hear!

Living a "Genius Life" as Told By Max Lugavere

I love health and wellness and I love to read. This makes me the perfect audience for books referencing nutritional studies and health experiments. Max Lugavere’s Genius Life is just as good as his first book and dives deep into all of the ways you can up-level your environment to improve your health.

Here are the most interesting things I learned from the book:

1. It is recommended to consume 15g of glycine each day, which amounts to 45g of collagen.

   “Glycine, the simplest of the amino acids, is an essential component of important biological molecules, a key substance in many metabolic reactions, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the spinal cord and brain stem, and an anti-inflammatory, cytoprotective, and immune modulating substance” (“Glycine--an important neurotransmitter and cytoprotective agent”).

2. Limiting your feeding window to 8-12 hours a day (also known as fasting) will decrease insulin, decrease mTOR, and increase AMPK.

   It is well known that we want our insulin to remain low, but what about mTOR and AMPK? What are these and what do they do? mTOR promotes growth and is responsible for forming the connections between your brain cells, or synapses. However, too much of it can actually cause this process to halt.

   AMPK reduces inflammation, improves insulin sensitivity, and increases fat burning. It is also known to stimulate a protein called FOXO3, which is often called the longevity protein. It helps your body better handle stress and may prevent age-related diseases.

3. Vitamin D deficiency may be linked with depression, Alzheimer’s, and autoimmune disorders.

   Did you know 42% of the US population is deficient in vitamin D? This important nutrient can stimulate immune cells to clean up amyloid buildup in the brain, reduce chronic inflammation, and slow aging. Depending on different factors such as age, season, skin complexion, and sunscreen use, you should be exposing yourself to the sun for 5 minutes to 2 hours each day. Check out the graphic in this article.

4. BPA was originally manufactured as a hormone replacement for estrogen, meant to alleviate cramps and prevent miscarriages.

   It turned out that scientists were able to find a stronger chemical to use as a hormone replacement and BPA was instead used for it’s clear and hard properties to make something called plastic. Knowing this, it’s no wonder plastic has such negative affects on our hormones. Steer clear of storing and heating your foods in plastic, plastic water bottles, and canned foods.

The book is filled with many more nuggets of helpful information such as improving your sleep quality and limiting your consumption of heavy metals. If you choose to read it, leave me a comment with the most interesting thing you learned!

Fend Off Corona Virus With These Immune-Boosting Mushrooms

We all know that the corona virus has been the talk of the town. I don’t think I’ve been able to escape a single conversation without it being brought up. If you have a strong immune system, chances are you will be fine.

There are many ways to ensure your immune system is performing at peak function. One of my favorite ways is to incorporate mushrooms into my daily diet. I like to add Four Sigmatic mushroom powders to my coffee each morning and add a drop of mushroom tincture to my tea before bed.

While most mushrooms are great for your health, to boost your immune system you want to be incorporating resihi, chaga, and cordyceps specifically. Each one serves a different purpose and is extremely beneficial to your health.

Reishi powder, Reishi tincture

Chaga powder, Chaga tincture

Cordyceps powder, Cordyceps tincture

Why all the hype over bone broth?

You’ve probably heard everyone talking about bone broth and how healthy it is for you. It is truly a superfood for your gut and immune system. It is an excellent source of collagen, a protein that makes up most of your connective tissue.

The most important thing is making sure it comes from humainely-raised animals! Look for ones made from animals that are pasture-raised or 100% grass-fed. My favorites are Belcampo and Brodo.