Crunchy Christian Podcast

Episode 55-Aside from menstrual issues, we women also regularly deal with breast health issues. Do your breasts feel tender, lumpy, or painful around your period? Maybe you’re dealing with breast cysts. In this episode, we’ll talk about natural remedies for breast cysts and the difference between cysts and tumors.

Thanks to NowProgams for sponsoring this episode.

Breast cysts seem to be correlated to the menstrual cycle. If you have premenstrual syndrome or irregular cycles, you are more likely to get cysts. They are related to hormonal imbalances, but are more common among women under age 50.

The difference between a breast cyst and a possible breast tumor is that a cyst is a watery, grape-like sac, whereas a tumor is composed of connective and gland tissue. Cysts often show up suddenly and then dissolve after a menstrual cycle. You can usually move them around with your fingers and they also usually cause pain and tenderness. On the other hand, tumors persist, feel more like a mass than a grape, and grow over time. These also tend to feel firm, usually don’t move around easily, and often go unnoticed because they don’t cause much discomfort.

It is important that you understand the differences and if you aren’t sure, check with your medical professional. And of course, you should see a medical professional about any changes in breast tissue that persists or grows. Most of the time, these changes are benign, but you want to make sure you don’t have early signs of breast cancer.

So, we have two things to focus on–balancing hormones and dissolving the cysts. We want to use diet and herbs to help prevent the cysts from appearing in the first place. And, we also want to use natural remedies for breast cysts that appear in the meantime.

First, if you are using birth control pills, understand that this could be the cause of your cysts. Birth control pills can also cause blood clots, vitamin deficiencies, headaches, depression, and increased risk for breast cancer. However, it is a personal choice and seems to offer benefits that outweigh the risks for some women. As a Christian, I do not endorse the use of birth control pills, but have used and recommend natural family planning methods.

Second, as you’ve heard me say many times on this show, diet plays a key role in hormonal health. A diet high in fruits and vegetables, quality fats and proteins, and moderate to low in grains and high carb foods is best. Eliminating sugar or reducing it helps a lot, too. Alfalfa and probiotics also help. Processed foods increase inflammation, overload the liver, and contribute to hormonal imbalance.

Now, let’s talk about herbs and oils specific to the breasts and dissolving cysts.

Herbs for breast cysts include herbs that dissolve cysts generally and those that address breast health overall. If you are lactating or are pregnant, use caution. In addition, herbs that help balance hormones–such as Black Cohosh or Vitex–will also help prevent cysts. Listen to my podcast about PMS to learn more about other herbs that balance hormones. These herbs should be made as teas. Then, soak a clean linen towel with the very warm tea and apply to the affected breast as a compress.

Recommended herbs: Evening Primrose oil, Burdock root, Hops, American Spikenard, Calendula, Bupleurum, Figwort, Chickweed, and Red Clover. I listed several because of availability issues. With Burdock and Red Clover, you can also take the herb internally.

Geranium is the principle essential oil for breast cysts. Other oils can be added which help with the pain or stimulate drainage, such as Roman Chamomile, Lavender, or Peppermint. However, Geranium diluted in a carrier oil and then massaged into the affected breast in a circular motion helps get rid of the cysts.

Other natural remedies for breast cysts help increase circulation to clear the cyst, but aren’t necessarily solutions in themselves. Getting mild exercise increases the flow of lymph and drainage. Couple it with breast massage, hot compresses (especially with teas from the herbs mentioned above), and drinking lots of water. Those cysts will be gone quickly!

Sign up to receive the FREE email series, 10 Herbs for Women’s Health, and learn more!

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Ever wonder if that donut is as harmless as it looks? An occasional treat won’t hurt you, but a daily habit might do more harm than just add a few pounds. Find out more about how sugar affects the body in this podcast.

Thanks to our sponsor! NowPrograms.com – visit the website for more information.

One way of how sugar affects the body is by adding extra pounds. There are two ways that this happens. First, it triggers the reward center in your brain. Sweet things make us feel good, which then turns on our desire to want more so we continue to feel good. This cycle continues even when we’re full and not hungry anymore, causing us to eat more than we need. The second way that it causes us to gain weight is through the liver. When the liver processes excess sugar, the extra glucose is converted into fat molecules for storage. So, eating fat doesn’t make you fat. In fact, it is the extra unused sugar and carbohydrates that taste so good that make you fat.

While sugar is not the only culprit for type 2 diabetes, it is certainly another way of how sugar affects the body.  High amounts of sugar that break down quickly flood the bloodstream with glucose. Your cells need insulin in order to use the glucose. But, if the cells are constantly stimulated by insulin, they develop a tolerance for it and become unaffected by it. Then, your body needs to release more and more insulin to move the glucose into the cells. This continues until you become so insulin resistant that you develop type 2 diabetes. In addition to insulin resistance throughout the body, there is another way of how sugar affects the body. The high sugar intake leads to insulin resistance in the brain as well, leading to cognitive decline. In fact, people with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely to develop dementia, which is why Alzheimer’s is now considered type 3 diabetes.

As mentioned above, your liver processes all that excess glucose and converts it into fat. But, your liver can only metabolize so much of it at one time. The liver turns the excess glucose and fructose into fat that can accumulate not just in your midsection and thighs but in the liver, causing liver damage. Sometimes it can even lead to scarring and eventual cutting off of the liver’s blood supply, which means you need a transplant. It is important to note that the amount of fructose needed to overload your liver is only possible with an excessive amount of added sugar, so fructose found in fruit is likely not nearly enough to cause this.

If you are someone who suffers from mood swings or mental health issues, you might notice that they become worse when you consume a lot of sugar. Sugar causes a short-term boost of energy that leads to a much longer sugar crash. This in turn can make it harder when dealing with mental health issues like depression. This is because another way of how sugar affects the body is that it messes with your ability to produce serotonin by using up its vitamin pre-cursors and altering gut flora. In addition, too much sugar can also cause severe mood swings and irritability. Sugar also alters our ability to resist temptation, making it hard to control impulsive behavior and delay gratification. Research shows that a high sugar diet can impair memory function and cause inflammation in the brain.

Learn about more ways of how sugar can affect the body by listening to the podcast!

Tackle your sugar cravings and ditch the habit with Julie’s Ditch the Sugar Habit Super Bundle. Check it out! 

The post 5+ Ways of How Sugar Affects the Body appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Catnip is a popular herb for a bit of fun with our cats, but do you know catnip uses for humans? Join Julie on this episode of Crunchy Christian podcast to learn more about catnip.

Thanks to NOW Programs, this evidence-based program helps students learn differences.

Nepeta cataria is a native to Europe and Asia. The Greeks and Romans knew it and probably the Egyptians as well. After all, they revered cats. It is rumored that Nepeta is named after Nepete or Nepi in central Italy, where it grew prolifically. There aren’t many specific records of its use outside of medical texts. Sorry no mythology or weird historical stories. Old herbals speak of catnip uses to promote sweating, cure fevers, relieve congestion and phlegm, and help with coughs and colds. The English used it as a tea before the arrival of black tea.

While cats love it, rats, deer, and many insects hate it. While the tea made from the leaves is mildly sedating, the root has quite the opposite effect and has been rumored to make a gentle person quarrelsome.

People have long used catnip for childhood infections, fevers, aches and pains, bad-tempered moods, sleeplessness and digestive upsets. Once upon a time, it was even recommended as a front-line treatment against the dreaded fever of smallpox.

Catnip is a perennial that looks a lot like other members of the mint family with square stems and toothed somewhat heart-shaped leaves. It has small, purplish flowers. Catnip likes to grow in well-drained average soil in full sun but will tolerate some shade. It can become weedy like other members of the family, so manage the plants to prevent this. It doesn’t need fertilizer or other help and repels insects, so it’s pretty easy to grow.

Modern research shows that the essential oil of catnip protects the liver from damage caused by acetaminophen use.

Research has also suggested catnip has antimicrobial activity against fungi and gram-positive bacteria. And other possible catnip uses could be as a possible natural food preservative as it is effective against common food-borne pathogens. In addition, a study published in Iran in 2013 showed that the essential oil of catnip was effective in killing oral microbial infections, especially candida.

Learn more about catnip on the podcast!

Catnip does have possible emmenagogue and abortifacient effects, so it is best to avoid using it during pregnancy.

The post Fun Catnip Uses for Humans You Need to Know appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Today, on Crunchy Christian Podcast, Julie talks about four ways for food to grow indoors. Maybe you live in an apartment, have a small yard or patio, or your region allows for only a short growing season. Here are some ways to maximize your ability to grow your own food. You may not be able to grow squash indoors, but you can still grow many other plants, including lettuces; kale, spinach, and other greens; strawberries; peas and green beans; onions, garlic, and herbs; and others. Check out these methods and see if one of them might work for you.

Thank you to our sponsor, CTC Math.

Growing herbs indoors in a greenhouse window in your kitchen or in small pots. Herbs are a great way to get started growing your own food. They smell good, add flavor and variety to cooking, and can be dried for year-round use. On the podcast, Julie shares the best herbs to grow indoors. And, don’t forget that culinary herbs are not the only herbs you can grow!

Microgreens are the young plants of wheat, barley, broccoli, radish, watercress, beans, and a few others. The plants are generally less than 3 inches tall when eaten, thus the name “micro.” There are special trays for growing microgreens or you can use a sprouting jar. These are easy and quick to grow and are super nutritious! Listen in to find out more about the benefits of growing and eating them, as well as some tips for using a sprouting jar.

This system uses a special water solution and no soil. It often the water solution with a clear lid to capture the plants’ respiration and to create a greenhouse effect. This is best for smaller garden plants, like lettuces and other greens. It also requires a bit more work and special equipment.

Though there is a constant debate about aquaponics vs hydroponics – a vertical garden uses some hydroponics technology and some composting to grow food vertically indoors in controlled environments. You can purchase a ready-made one or build your own using old gutters, PVC pipe, or other materials. This is probably the most involved, expensive way of growing food indoors, but it also produces the highest yields. It is possible to provide a small family with fresh vegetables year-round with a vertical farm system. Cities all over the world have converted old warehouses into vertical farms to help meet growing food needs.

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Microgreens

What is hydroponics? Learn the six types of hydroponics

How to Build Your Own DIY Vertical Farm: This offers a supplies list and step-by-step instructions. The finished vertical garden can live indoors or outdoors. An alternative to building your own is a product called Tower Garden (no affiliation).

The post Four Ways for Food to Grow Indoors appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Episode 60- We’ve been talking about emotional eating and how bad it is for your health. Last week, I discussed how to take simple steps to stop emotional eating. But, what can you do to handle the stress instead of satisfying that urge to eat? In this episode, I talk about how to relieve stress naturally with some easy helps. These include natural remedies as well as some other things you can do in the moment without any prep work. Let’s get started!

Some of the best ways for how to relieve stress naturally don’t require any special tools or foods. Sometimes, it’s a matter of attitude, self-talk, breath exercises, and other quick and easy things you can do in the moment. Sometimes, it’s as easy as meditating on God’s Word. Here are some great ways you can de-stress and enjoy the holidays.

Very often, we focus on the hurtful, the frustrating, the overwhelming, and all the other negative stuff instead of the positive things. Every time you are tempted to dwell on the negative, find a way to turn it into a positive. For example, traffic and parking lot etiquette is terrible and frustrating. But, it also gives you more time in the car alone so you can praise Jesus and pray.

This is directly related to focusing on the positive. Stress seems to bring out the grumbling complainer in all of us. We might complain about how Uncle Joe is late again or Mom embarrassed you with that same story as last year. Maybe it’s a child or spouse who won’t help clean or cook. Whatever it is, expressing gratitude and again, thinking positive, will help diffuse your rising anger, stress, and frustration.

Taking a walk outside or doing something for no other reason than to just have fun are great ways to diffuse stress. Laughing together, walking in the bright sunlight, getting cozy with hot cocoa and a movie, all of these things can instantly change the tension in the air.

The post How to Relieve Stress Naturally With These Easy Helps appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Episode 59–We’ve been talking about the roots and damaging effects of emotional eating. But, how can we escape this vicious cycle that drags us down into depression and obesity? What are some key steps that can help? After all, dieting usually doesn’t help. In fact, dieting can sometimes make it worse. This is because emotional eating is a psychological and spiritual issue, not strictly a food issue. Today on Crunchy Christian Podcast, we’re discussing how to stop emotional eating from a spiritual and psychological perspective.

Disclaimer: Remember, I am not a psychologist, pastor, or counselor. Trying the things I mention won’t hurt, but you may also need professional help from a counselor or pastor. The intent is not to substitute professional guidance, but rather to make you aware that there are simple and effective things you can do to overcome this issue. You don’t need to suffer in silence and shame. 

Now, I’m not going to lie. These steps for how to stop emotional eating are simple, but not necessarily easy. First, they will require you to gather your courage and your Bible.

One of the biggest issues with emotional eating is negative self talk. You need to change the tapes playing over and over in your head. Pay attention to the things you tell yourself inside your head and the lies you believe about others and yourself. You can begin to change the tapes by posting and reading Bible verses about your identity in Christ. Just because someone says something rude to you doesn’t mean they dislike you. And just because you forgot something doesn’t mean you are stupid. You may not even be aware that you are telling yourself the worst possible things every time something bad happens. And that’s where step 2 comes in.

Have you ever heard the adage that our thoughts determine our behaviors? Jesus said that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 15:18). So, part of how to stop emotional eating is changing your heart, which means your thoughts and beliefs. That means taking every thought captive and the only way we can do that is by practicing mindfulness. Being mindful is slowing down and examining why you feel what you feel. What happened just before? It means examining your thoughts and feelings and asking three whys. Why do I feel/think that way? and then asking yourself Why? until you drill down to the very heart of what’s driving you.

Sometimes this can be painful, but it is key to how to stop emotional eating. You need to better understand yourself and then change your thoughts and beliefs. Essentially, you need to renew your mind by replacing the thought patterns that keep you prisoner with those that will set you free to be all that God intended.

Sometimes it helps to use a journal or affirmation coloring book. A journal can help you with practicing mindfulness and force you to slow down and reflect. It also gives you a way to track your progress as you renew your mind. If you prefer, you can write a letter to the person who triggers you to most. This is not a letter you would mail, but rather a way to get your feelings out. I have done this before and then put it through the paper shredder. Letting go of past hurts and practicing forgiveness doesn’t mean you forget about it. It means that you will let God deal with that person. It also means that you will not allow that situation to enslave you to all those negative feelings that make you want to eat.

The Bible tells us to go quickly to our brother who offends us and work it out. We are also encouraged to not let the sun go down on our anger lest we fall into sin. Therefore, it is Biblical to confront toxic situations that trigger your eating issue and try to resolve them. The best thing to do is to confront the person at the time that the offense happens, not days or months later. But, if the offense happened when you were a child, it may be best to give that situation over to the Lord and have peace with it.

Sometimes, we need someone else to encourage us, keep us accountable, or talk us through temptation. There is no shame in asking for help. And, there’s no shame in going to a pastor or counselor if you don’t know how to stop emotional eating on your own, even with these steps. For some people, it is just too hard to do it alone and that’s okay. We need to stop shaming ourselves about this issue. Lots of women struggle with food addictions and eating disorders.

The post How to Stop Emotional Eating Right Now With These Simple Steps appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Episode 58-The holidays aren’t always cheery and joyful, right? Sometimes they stir up stress, hurt, and other negative feelings. We deal with these feelings in different ways, but one way is eating. Do you eat when you feel sad? Hurt? Disappointed? If you do this often, it may be a sign of something much bigger called emotional eating. In Episode 57, I talked about how emotional eating starts. In this episode, I share the detrimental health effects of emotional eating. One of the worst emotional eating effects is a shortened lifespan. That’s right! Let’s dig in and discover how emotional eating is not only bad for your waist line, but also bad for your emotional, mental, and spiritual health as well.

One of the less obvious emotional eating effects but also one of the most devastating is what goes on in your mind. Emotional eating sets up a vicious cycle. First, you eat because you feel bad. You might feel sad, hurt, angry, depressed, frustrated, defeated. But, instead of evaluating why you feel that way, you eat. Instead of confronting the situation and resolving it, you eat. Then, you feel better for a little while. Eventually, though, the effect wears off and you feel the urge to eat again. After all, the thing that stirred up those feelings is still there. Meanwhile, inside your mind, you tell yourself things like, You are such a pig. There you go again. You deserve it, fatty. They’re probably right. You can’t control yourself, stuffing your face like that. This negative self-talk drives you to eat even more to stuff those feelings, too. And it just keeps going. You may even come to believe what you tell yourself.

Of course, another emotional eating effect is weight gain. In the podcast, I talk about some other factors in your body that compound the effects of this weight gain. One that you may not know about is sleep apnea. Excessive weight can impact your breathing at night and prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep. Because people tend to eat a lot carbs and sugars with emotional eating, diabetes is a serious emotional eating effect. We choose carbs rather than fats or proteins because the sweet taste is comforting. I talk more about this on the podcast as well.

Emotional eating may start out as an occasional binge to drown your sorrows. But, it can also develop into a full-blown food addiction and idolatry. That’s why it’s such a hard habit to break and why some people can’t lose weight. Instead of seeking comfort from other people and especially from Jesus, you seek comfort from food. The cycle is powerful and triggers the rewards center in the brain, much like other types of addictions. The more you do it, the more the habit becomes ingrained, and the harder it is to reverse. But, it can be reversed! If drug addicts, alcoholics, and other types of addicts can be healed, so can you!

If you need help with conquering cravings and getting control of your sugar addiction, check out my Ditch the Sugar Habit Challenge Bundle

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Episode 57–Around the holidays, we often engage in emotional eating. That’s because the holidays bring both joy and stress. Who makes all the food and often buys all the gifts? Mom. Who plans the parties and decorates? Mom. And, you guessed it, it’s mom who gathers all the craft supplies and situates all the guests who arrive. So, what does mom do to manage the stress and frustration? She eats. Let’s explore how this happen begins so we can better understand how to combat it. In the next few episodes, we will discuss it’s effects on the body, what to do about it, and how to get natural relaxation without gaining the extra pounds.

First, the basic idea of emotional eating is eating to suppress negative emotions. Essentially, it’s eating to feel better. But emotional hunger doesn’t just come out of nowhere. There’s always a trigger of sorts that causes you to start feeling hungry, even if it’s not clear at first. These triggers vary depending on the person and situation.

This tends to be a very straightforward cause and effect situation. Because of something in your life that caused distress, you then feel emotional hunger. For example, let’s say someone cut you off in traffic or your relative called and started yelling at you over the phone. You feel bad, of course, and a little while later, you grab the bag of chips to get your mind off of it and feel better. Your stomach doesn’t actually need food. But, your mind has learned to associate eating with alleviating negative feelings. So, you engage in emotional eating.

It’s not uncommon for people to feel the urge to emotionally eat without fully understanding why. This is because they’ve blocked themselves off from their emotions. So, they don’t associate the day’s events with their eating habits. But, it’s important to do a bit of self-analysis to learn about your own triggers.

You can figure out your triggers by watching patterns in your own life. Then, you can see when certain things happen and how they drive you to eat during stressful times. You can discover your patterns by keeping a journal or practicing some mindfulness. It is important to notice what you do when something irritates you, someone upsets you, or you feel stressed out. Do you grab some chocolate every time you feel sad? Do you eat while cooking when you’re upset about something? Write these things down.

This knowledge of your own triggers is crucial to fixing your emotional eating habits. Because, if you don’t understand your motivations, you can’t fix it. You have to know your enemy, so to speak.

While many people think that you can simply will away emotional hunger, that’s not quite the case. It’s not as simple as just “stopping eating” for many people, because it’s almost like an addiction. And that’s why diet after diet fails. It’s an emotional hunger, a spiritual hunger, that is temporarily sated by food.

Emotional eating is a strong urge that they feel like they must fulfill because it is meeting a deeper need. This is what drives them to keep on doing it, even though they know it’s bad for them. Studies show that this is because a sugar addiction is just as powerful as a cocaine addiction. If you feel this might be you, I talk more about the dangers of sugar and offer a Ditch the Sugar Habit Bundle to help you.

So, where did this correlation come from? How do we develop those triggers? Well, from our early years, food is treated as something other than a nutrition source. Think back to when you were a child – maybe even your toddler years. Remember hearing this–“You can have dessert when you finish your dinner.” That’s one form of turning food into something other than what it’s meant to be. You also may have been taken for a treat like ice cream if you got good grades. This is another way that parents turn food into a reward. It sets the stage for rewarding ourselves later in life when we need those “feel good” endorphins during stressful times.

Another example is receiving a treat when we hurt ourselves or felt sad. For instance, if you fell off a bicycle, your mom or dad may have given you a popsicle or cookie to calm your tears. In this way, you grew up associating food as a form of solace and comfort.

You didn’t know it then, and neither did your parents, but you were being conditioned for a psychological link between eating and emotions. Even schools do this sometimes, such as handing out treats for those who followed a rule or got a certain grade.

(However, moms, giving kids food rewards doesn’t automatically lead to an emotional eating issue later on. But, it’s not a bad idea to switch it up with other rewards such as monetary rewards, toys, a special outing, or something else in place of food.)

Not everyone with these childhood experiences will develop an emotional eating issue, but for some people, they become predisposed. You start to see that unhealthy foods can be both convenient and comforting, eliminating some of your stress in certain moments. You may begin to think that in order to “make it through” a tough time, you need food to be on hand. 

Finally, food is an important part of social gatherings and happy times. Food isn’t just used for pain avoidance. Family dinners and events are filled with delicious meals, including birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving – even graduation celebrations, retirement parties and more.

We learn to associate specific foods or meals with feelings of happiness during these events, so they become woven into our lives with fondness. Later, when you encounter tumultuous times, you’ll seek out foods that may be unhealthy, simply because they take you back to a time when life was pleasant. So, I urge you to take some time to examine patterns of emotional eating, especially during the holiday season when we tend to put on extra weight. Food is only our medicine if it helps us attain health. It should never take the place of Jesus.

Learn more about how emotional eating and your emotions go hand in hand.

Check out Julie Naturally’s Healthy Mom Hacks for the Holidays series!

The post The Nasty Truth About Roots of Emotional Eating appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Episode 56-In the United States, about 12% of women aged 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant and/or carrying a baby to term. That percentage increases as couples wait longer to have children and is in addition to the 6% who can’t get pregnant at all. That means that nearly 20% of women or 1 in 5 experience fertility issues. On top of this, male infertility has been increasing over the past four decades. That’s because average sperm counts are down by 52% compared to the early 1970’s. Maybe you and your husband are among these folks. So, it’s time we talk about the best fertility herbs and other natural helps we can try before turning to drugs and expensive fertility treatments.

Most people take fertility for granted. But, many, many things have to go right in order to conceive a child. In women, several organs have to be working optimally. In men, the quality and quantity of sperm has to be high, in addition to an optimally functioning organ. Very often, we assume that if a woman is having her period, she is fertile. That is not necessarily true. We make similar assumptions about a man’s virility, but he may have low sperm, dead sperm,  or the pH of the vaginal tract could be killing the sperm. If there is low or dead sperm, there could be a physiological reason, such as having only one testicle.

But, if there is no physiological reason, many times, infertility can be reversed with the best fertility herbs and other natural helps. After all, sperm is produced in response to hormones and hormone production is influenced by diet, exercise, lifestyle factors, and other things.

Hormone imbalances that lead to painful periods and PMS can also impact fertility. Low progesterone levels can lead to a short luteal phase. This is the phase right after ovulation that encourages thickening of the uterine lining. The progesterone also helps support the early weeks of pregnancy until the placenta forms. So, low progesterone means that the uterus doesn’t thicken to support the embryo and there is an early miscarriage.

On the other hand, low estrogen levels affect the release of an egg. Low estrogen doesn’t always mean there is a problem with the ovaries. It can indicate an issue with the pituitary gland instead. That’s because it’s the pituitary gland that releases follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) that then triggers the rise in estrogen levels in the ovaries. Usually, it’s diabetes that can cause problems with the “master gland.”

Some other things that have been linked to hormone imbalances are birth control pills, weight issues, a very low-fat diet, excessive exercise, stress, and exposure to estrogen mimicking chemicals (endocrine disruptors), such as pesticides and certain plastics. All of these things don’t just affect women, though.  Lack of exercise, low-fat diets, and exposure to endocrine disruptors can cause fertility issues in men as well.

Endocrine disruptors and phytoestrogens such as soybeans interfere with the production of testosterone. Boys exposed to these chemicals for any length of time, especially in the first three months of life and/or during puberty, are at risk. Please, for the sake of your son’s masculine development, do not use endocrine disrupting chemicals! 

Do not use them during pregnancy, either, and eliminate them as much as possible from your home. It is difficult to get rid of all of them, but severely reducing them helps. And, if you are breastfeeding, be careful about your own exposure as these chemicals do find their way into breast milk. If you are unable to breastfeed, do not give your son soy-based formula.

Also of note is that high performance male athletes tend to have a higher sperm count than their sedentary peers. So, exercise has a significant impact on testosterone and sperm production. Men need to be active, but stay away from tight underwear. Sperm are temperature sensitive and a overly warm environment kills them.

As I’ve already mentioned, a very low-fat diet and either excessive or no exercise can have a significant effect on hormones. Remember that being too thin also can render a woman temporarily infertile. Some key nutrients to pay attention to include vitamin B6, choline, arginine, zinc, and vitamin C. If you are eating a whole foods diet with a good variety of veggies and quality meats and eggs (both you and hubby),  you should be getting enough of these nutrients.

Listen to the podcast for more easy fixes!

Sometimes, it’s not as easy as some curtains, cream, or eating more fat. Sometimes other health issues such as abnormal thyroid function, polycystic ovarian syndrome, or diabetes affects a woman’s fertility.  Prolonged use of birth control or an undetected sexually transmitted infection (STI) can leave a woman sterile. STIs can destroy the fallopian tubes. So, if you were promiscuous before you were a married Christian and you didn’t have symptoms so you never got tested, now is the time! If you suspect that a health issue might be the root of your difficulty, please consult a qualified medical professional and discuss your challenges and concerns.

Well, there are a lot of things that you can do to improve fertility! So, while you try to eat better, sleep better, and balance exercise with relaxation, learn more about the best fertility herbs that have traditionally helped many women conceive.

Panax Ginseng is the male herbal tonic of choice in Chinese medicine, much like Dang Quai is for women.

Damiana has long been known as an aphrodisiac herb and appears in herbals as a help for both men and women.

Horny Goat Weed is a specific for erectile dysfunction and was shown in a small study using rats to be effective in improving the condition.

Listen to the podcast for more fertility herbs for men!

A lot of the same herbs that help with irregular periods, PMS, and painful periods also help with female fertility as they are general tonics for the female reproductive system. So, you won’t find any surprises here.

Chasteberry/Vitex is a tonic for the whole female reproductive system and balances hormones as well as improves fertility.

Dang Quai is the female tonic favored by Chinese medicine to strengthen and vitalize women.

Raspberry is a delicious tea and overall tonic that includes vitamins and minerals needed for healthy fertility. It is traditionally advised for the length of pregnancy, but is just fine to add to a daily regimen.

Listen to the podcast to hear more fertility herbs for women!

Sign up to receive the FREE email series, 10 Herbs for Women’s Health, and learn more!

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Episode 55-Aside from menstrual issues, we women also regularly deal with breast health issues. Do your breasts feel tender, lumpy, or painful around your period? Maybe you’re dealing with breast cysts. In this episode, we’ll talk about natural remedies for breast cysts and the difference between cysts and tumors.

Breast cysts seem to be correlated to the menstrual cycle. If you have premenstrual syndrome or irregular cycles, you are more likely to get cysts. They are related to hormonal imbalances, but are more common among women under age 50.

The difference between a breast cyst and a possible breast tumor is that a cyst is a watery, grape-like sac, whereas a tumor is composed of connective and gland tissue. Cysts often show up suddenly and then dissolve after a menstrual cycle. You can usually move them around with your fingers and they also usually cause pain and tenderness. On the other hand, tumors persist, feel more like a mass than a grape, and grow over time. These also tend to feel firm, usually don’t move around easily, and often go unnoticed because they don’t cause much discomfort.

It is important that you understand the differences and if you aren’t sure, check with your medical professional. And of course, you should see a medical professional about any changes in breast tissue that persists or grows. Most of the time, these changes are benign, but you want to make sure you don’t have early signs of breast cancer.

So, we have two things to focus on–balancing hormones and dissolving the cysts. We want to use diet and herbs to help prevent the cysts from appearing in the first place. And, we also want to use natural remedies for breast cysts that appear in the meantime.

First, if you are using birth control pills, understand that this could be the cause of your cysts. Birth control pills can also cause blood clots, vitamin deficiencies, headaches, depression, and increased risk for breast cancer. However, it is a personal choice and seems to offer benefits that outweigh the risks for some women. As a Christian, I do not endorse the use of birth control pills, but have used and recommend natural family planning methods.

Second, as you’ve heard me say many times on this show, diet plays a key role in hormonal health. A diet high in fruits and vegetables, quality fats and proteins, and moderate to low in grains and high carb foods is best. Eliminating sugar or reducing it helps a lot, too. Alfalfa and probiotics also help. Processed foods increase inflammation, overload the liver, and contribute to hormonal imbalance.

Now, let’s talk about herbs and oils specific to the breasts and dissolving cysts.

Herbs for breast cysts include herbs that dissolve cysts generally and those that address breast health overall. If you are lactating or are pregnant, use caution. In addition, herbs that help balance hormones–such as Black Cohosh or Vitex–will also help prevent cysts. Listen to my podcast about PMS to learn more about other herbs that balance hormones. These herbs should be made as teas. Then, soak a clean linen towel with the very warm tea and apply to the affected breast as a compress.

Recommended herbs: Evening Primrose oil, Burdock root, Hops, American Spikenard, Calendula, Bupleurum, Figwort, Chickweed, and Red Clover. I listed several because of availability issues. With Burdock and Red Clover, you can also take the herb internally.

Geranium is the principle essential oil for breast cysts. Other oils can be added which help with the pain or stimulate drainage, such as Roman Chamomile, Lavender, or Peppermint. However, Geranium diluted in a carrier oil and then massaged into the affected breast in a circular motion helps get rid of the cysts.

Other natural remedies for breast cysts help increase circulation to clear the cyst, but aren’t necessarily solutions in themselves. Getting mild exercise increases the flow of lymph and drainage. Couple it with breast massage, hot compresses (especially with teas from the herbs mentioned above), and drinking lots of water. Those cysts will be gone quickly!

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