It’s All About Your Health and Wellness

This month is Natural Awakenings’ Women's Wellness Edition. And the critical role that women play at home, in the workplace and society, in general, cannot be overstated. Women everywhere are challenged daily with balancing ever-changing “hats” of responsibility, often more so than men. This can generate a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety, which can produce unintended and harmful health issues.

    There are several key preventive steps women can take to help maintain healthier and happier lives while working to balance the complexities and challenges they face. Here are a few:

1. Reduce Stress: Women, especially those that tend to take care of everyone else first, are notorious for waiting until they are at the breaking point before attempting to reduce their stress. Ideas for reducing stress include making better food choices, as food plays a huge role in stress. Selections that cause inflammation, deliver chemicals to the body, or are hard to digest cause enormous stress on and in the body, making it harder to handle life’s stressors. One should start by cutting out processed foods, which contain inflammatory dyes, preservatives and chemicals. Eliminating toxins also helps reduce stress. Lifestyle choices and the environment contribute daily to one’s toxic load. Ways to reduce exposure include exercise; ample hydration; and adding dark, leafy greens to one’s diet. Far infrared sauna sessions (offered at About Your Health, in Columbia) can also help to eliminate toxins stored in fat cells and remove many fat-soluble toxins that disrupt hormonal processes. Another alternative treatment method that can be therapeutically effective in stress reduction is Emotional Freedom Techniques, also known as tapping or EFT tapping. It is a universal healing tool that can provide impressive results for physical, emotional and performance issues. About Your Health can recommend qualified therapists that often utilize EFT when treating patients. Other methods of stress relief include meditation and yoga.

2. Find Hormonal Health Balance: Achieving and maintaining hormonal balance is critical. And the number one contributor to hormonal imbalance in our society, which is also the driver of most other imbalances, is chronically high insulin levels. Maintaining good liver health is also important in the pursuit of hormonal balance. When working properly, the liver can rid the body of excess hormones. Castor oil packs and greens with fiber and herbs help to detoxify the liver and maintain hormonal balance while supporting uterine and ovarian health.

3. Maintain Heart Health: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, and the thyroid is considered a key component of heart health. Ladies should monitor and periodically check the health status of their thyroid. Known as the “master gland,” it regulates numerous systems within the body. Thyroid deficiencies can lead to hardening of the arteries—a decrease in heart contractility—preventing the heart from pumping blood with sufficient force, leading to insufficient circulation, particularly to the brain. Iodine, like in sea vegetables or an iodine supplement, is a great supporter of thyroid health. Grain-based food triggers insulin release. Fluctuating blood sugar levels can upset the regulation of other hormones. In fact, inconsistent thyroid levels can lead to fatigue, unwanted weight gain, anxiety and weight loss. Women should eat plenty of green, leafy veggies and avoid hydrogenated fats and processed vegetable oils. These cause inflammation in the body.

Women everywhere should celebrate National Women’s Health Month this May by embarking on achieving optimal wellness, marked by an enhanced and empowered lifestyle. These valuable tips are a great start to a very successful journey.

Note: Only for the month of May, About Your Health is offering 20% off of breast thermography!

About Your Health is located at 120 Kaminer Way Pkwy., Ste. J, in Columbia. Schedule an appointment today. For more information, call 803-798-8687 or visit AboutYourHealthSC.com. See ad, page 23.