Live Long Naturally ©2012

Seasonale is a birth control pill that results in women having only 4 periods per year. On the surface, it sounds great! I have to admit, I took the pill for 10 years myself – it came in real handy for the ease and control of being able to postpone a month of bleeding, especially for special occasions or when traveling. Little did my brain know it would take it’s toll on my body, it’s natural cycles, my liver, and my intuition among other things.

Being blessed with a premenstrual phase and a monthly cycle is a sign of good health. It can be a reason for celebration, reflection, rest and renewal. It is during the premenstrual phase that our intuition and creativity peak… if we allow it. Allowing ourselves a tear (or two) and a period of sensitivity is not only insightful, it can empower us. Some women have come to expect and accept a less than desired “premenstrual” phase. For some this includes painful periods and heavy bleeding, while other women experience fits of rage. This is not the norm! Young or old… diet, exercise and lifestyle can make or break each and every phase we journey through. Whether we are reaching the age of menstruation, are “premenstrual,” or coming to the menopause phase… we can in fact lighten the emotions, mood swings, hot flashes, bloating, and more by feeding our body and not merely our emotions or taste buds.

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to read the book, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup, M.D. – a New York Times Bestselling author. Her book goes into fascinating easy to read detail on learning how to embrace every stage of life and be healthy in the process. It goes beyond the doctors office, drugs and surgery. It teaches us how to prevent and heal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual problems on a deep long lasting once-and-for-all level!

A few tips to get you started include:

• Eliminate (or cut back on) dairy foods, especially ice cream, cottage cheese, and yogurt. If dairy is eaten, eat organic!
• Eliminate (or cut back on) refined carbohydrates such as cookies, cake, chips, crackers, etc.
• Take essential fatty acids in the form of fish oil with Vitamin E, or sardines packed in oil or olive oil 3 x’s/week.
• Eliminate trans-fatty acids, those foods containing partially hydrogenated oils, such as margarine and solid vegetable shortening.

Exercise, sunlight, and journaling are also beneficial to the health of our body, mind, spirit… and as the author states… our magnificent hormones!

MSG also known as Mood Swings Galore… I mean Monosodium glutamate. It was created to make fake food taste real and tasteless food tasty! Little do many know it is fed to mice for the study of obesity. Fast, processed, and packaged foods are loaded with it. It is chemically addicting! The empty calories lead people to buy and eat more, and this is just one reason why there are an ever growing number of overweight malnourished people.

Aside from causing many to have a difficult time controlling their emotions, it has been linked to Lupus, headaches, seizures, nervous system disorders, fibromyalgia, Diabetes (II), depression, brain damage, epilepsy, joint pain, insomnia, increased risk for heart attack and stroke, high BP, birth defects, and problems from young to old like ADHD to Alzheimer’s.

A few popular snack foods that have it

Doritos, Cheetos, Pringles, many other colored and flavored foods, chips, and jerky

Fast foods places that have enough glutamate to cause a reaction?

McDonald’s – 7 items on menu

Burger King – 8

KFC – 33

Some products labeled “natural” or non-MSG may also include hidden sources of MSG. Labels such as: natural flavorings, hydrolyzed soy protein, soy extract, hydrolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, autolyzed yeast, textured protein, soy sauce, protein isolate, modified corn starch, yeast extract, and modified food starch. The key is to read labels, possibly avoid buying products that contain. If eaten, eat in moderation.

A final note: MSG (and Aspartame) are excitotoxins, which basically means they (like crack cocaine) stimulate the nerve cells in the brain to death.