I’ve been talking a lot about stress lately and how to deal with that, Now I’d like to focus on Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes, and Insulin Resistance. Before becoming an herbalist, I had all the symptoms of Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome, I was well on my way to developing Prediabetes, which runs in my family! For me Intermittent Fasting (IF) was the quickest way to Balance the good/bad Cholesterol. My A1C and Glucose were ok but were great after I started IF. Now IF isn’t the best route for everyone and in fact I ended up getting high blood pressure due to not eating enough while intermittent fasting. So make sure you are getting in enough calories!!! As soon as I increased my calories the blood pressure normalized. Now as long as I keep my sugar intake in check, then everything stays good.
Save 25% off now through May to get started on your journey to conquering Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes. Get Started with a free Total Wellness Discovery Session!
We often hear about women going through life feeling stressed out, feeling fatigued and wanting to be a better, healthier self. They feel burnt out, on edge, and overwhelmed …. I solve that.
I found something that has changed my life and my career. I’m now a Certified Health Coach and Life Coach! I’ve been an Herbalist for a while, and I was doing great managing my stress with herbs. But going through my health and life coach course I learned so much more about conquering stress with lifestyle habits and recently sailed through one of the most stressful events of my life! You can read more about that here. Stress can affect your health in so many negative ways! A while back for me it was high blood pressure, but my blood pressure was pretty good through that whole time! It can also really tank your hormones. My hormones were very low before this program, and I created daily habits that supported me through menopause also! Despite the occasional hot flashes, I sailed right through to menopause! I’ve also learned lots of tips to get better control of my sugar cravings better and lose 15 pounds!
I’m excited to bring my health and life coach experience to my herbal practice. When I work with clients with chronic conditions, I’m often working with them to help them make changes to diet and lifestyle. Now I have better tools to support my clients through this process, so they can make the changes necessary to improve their own health in a fun and non-stressful way!
Get started with your FREE Total Wellness Discovery Session Today! 25% off packages if you book in March or April!
For me if I eat any processed sugar, (fruit is fine) I can’t lose any weight at all, it causes inflammation in me. If I continue eating it then my joints will start to hurt, and I might get brain fog. Many complaints can be traced back to too much sugar. Not just pain and inflammation, it could even be messing with hormone imbalances!
Most sources note sugar should be under no more than 5-10% of your calories. If you are consuming 2,000 calories a day, that is 24-48 grams of sugar a day. If you are consuming 1500 calories a day, that is 18-36 g of sugar a day.
My favorite candy bar is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. 1 Package is 21g of sugar. That would be more than my allotted sugar for the day.
While I don’t drink soda, if I did, 1 soda would be more than my daily intake of sugar.
Let’s go through a typical “healthy day for me for sugars. Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Asparagus is 2g of sugar. Lunch: a Chicken Salad with Olive Garden Dressing 2g sugar, 1/2 cup blueberries and some nuts 15g. Dinner: Steak, Potatoes, Green Beans, 2-3 pc 75%+ Dark Chocolate 7g of sugar. So, the “healthy day’s” total is 26g of sugar. I typically eat around 1600-1800 calories a day so that would be around 7% of my calories was sugar. That’s eye opening! Imagine eating the Reese’s on top of a “non-healthy” eating day!!!
These easy to implement tricks & habits will help you balance hormones & reduce cravings to get to your health and/or weight loss goals without getting overwhelmed.
I have finished my Health and Life Coaching Program and am just finishing up practice clients before getting certification. Enjoy 50% off NOW before I get my certification! I merge my knowledge as a Clinical Herbalist, with my knowledge as a Health Coach, with diet, lifestyle and habit changes to help you achieve your health goals.
Schedule a Free Discovery Session with me to Discover how I can help you with Stress, Low Energy or Hormone imbalances.
I should have put this together prior to Valentine’s Day, but it’s been a month! My Dad has been in the ICU with active heart failure since Jan 28. Today, the 15th as I write this, he is getting his new heart!
Yesterday, on Valentines Day the herb Hawthorn was brought to my mind! Hawthorn has a long history of supporting and strengthening the heart. Both physically and emotionally. So here are some quick highlights on Hawthorn that I love.
The leaves and flowers of Hawthorn I typically use for High Blood Pressure in teas. I’ve never used it alone, but I use it in combination with other herbs and have found great success. The rest is a focus on the berries.
To experience the benefits of Hawthorn, it should be taken in large amounts.
For those stuck in grief or need emotional uplifting, I like to combine the Hawthorn berry, which is part of the rose family, with Rose. I combine these in either tea or tincture for clients.
Hawthorn is rich in bioflavonoids which will always be helpful for the cardiovascular system as a whole.
Hawthorn is a trophorestorative which is an herb that can nourish, strengthen, and restore the function of a specific organ or tissue (T. Easley, 2023).
I have regularly included hawthorn in my family’s infusions since COVID-19 started for the extra added benefits of supporting the heart in case we got it. When we did get Covid I included it more regularly post Covid to make sure our hearts recovered well. Covid can damage the tissue in the heart, and Hawthorn can help restore that tissue damage.
Use Hawthorn to strengthen the heart physically and emotionally.
PREPARATIONS:
If you have a tincture, you can evaporate off the alcohol and dehydrate it to have a nice concentrate!
Hawthorn has a natural pectin in it so you can do a 1:10 preparation in water. (1 Part Hawthorn to 10 Parts Water). Then just simmer until the water drops below the berries. Strain the berries, press all the juice out, add back to the pot, and continue to simmer. At one point, it will start to get pretty sticky, so continually stirring can be helpful. You can simmer it down until it is 1/10th what you started so it is a 1:1 recipe. You can then preserve it with 25% Alcohol, 50% Honey or glycerine. You can also freeze the juice in little cubes and pop them out when you need to.
This Hawthorn/Bilberry Syrup by Jim Mcdonald is another favorite way to make a hawthorn concentrate. Bilberries are also high in bioflavonoids to help support the heart.
1 TSP 3-4 times a day of any of the extracts above.
Capsules: 4:1 Extract 2 caps 3x/day (T. Easley, 2023).
CAUTION: If you are in active heart failure or have Congestive Heart Failure and are on any heart medications, please work with an experienced herbalist.
REFRENCES
Easley, T. (2023). Understanding and Managing long COVID Patterns: A Holistic approach [Slide show; Class Lecture]. Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine. https://eclecticschoolofherbalmedicine.com/
A closed, neglected Bible often causes comfortless hearts. It truly is a blessing to be able to rely on the Lord in times of stress.
STRESS IS LIKE WORRY
I didn’t see the correlation before preparing for this. Stress can be just another form of worry.
MATHEW 6:34 –Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I used to stress about things, interrupting my regular daily schedule. You can read more about how I dealt with that here. When things interrupt my daily schedule, it can be hard to switch gears because I have a plan! And it was all scheduled out! However, when things get in the way of my plans, I can either choose to worry about things not getting done or leave it in God’s hand, knowing He has the ultimate plan for my life. Leaving it in His control can be much more freeing.
Recently, my father has been in the ICU, and I’ve been spending a lot of time at the hospital. Let me say that I am a very scheduled person. It makes me sane! I don’t like to deviate from my schedule. When things pop up and throw my schedule off, I get VERY STRESSED! That seems to be in the past, though!! I feel like I have handled this so well! I whole heartedly believe God also gives strength in hard times, but I also know He has given us coping techniques! I’m so thankful for the Health/Life Coach Program I started! It has taught me so much more than I already knew about lowering stress; and I have been working on it for a couple of years now. Take a moment to look back and read some other tips on lowering stress, here, here and here. Getting these habit changes in now before a truly stressful moment will be immensely beneficial for you as they were for me!
As an herbalist, of course, I’m using extra herbs! I thought I’d briefly share what herbs support me during stressful times and why I choose them. They might help you in the future!
A couple of years ago, I was developing mild Hypertension/High Blood Pressure. I was managing it with Herbs just fine, but when you have HBP, there is always an underlying reason, so I didn’t just want to keep taking herbs forever. I could not, however, figure out why I was having issues with HBP. Then, when I would get sick, my BP would skyrocket! It would get up to around 150/85 – 160/95. I could feel this in my body! There were also moments when I would get angry and could feel this visceral reaction. I’d check my BP, and it would be high again! I decided then that I should have an outside perspective. I reached out to my then-instructor, Thomas Easley. After reviewing my history and meeting, he told me I wasn’t eating enough, which was probably why I was having difficulty getting it under control. I didn’t believe him! I mean, after all, since having children, I’ve had issues losing weight. I did, however, promise to count my calories. What a surprise. I was, on average, only consuming 900-1200 calories a day. (and I even counted the spray on my pans!) This was a consistent pattern. I might get around 1600-2000 calories on the weekends, but it was NOT making up for the lack of calories during the week. I was NOT eating enough for my activity level. I had also started fasting and had recently lost 35 pounds. My metabolism had probably tanked. I also started having symptoms of high cortisol, sleeplessness, weight gain around the abdomen, puffy face, irritability, and anxiety.
Support for Headaches and Migraines with items you have at home!
I used to suffer from 3–4-day Migraines at least three times a week. That is part of what led me to become an herbalist (you can read more here if you wish).
A fellow herbalist, Naomi Kilbreth, just released a podcast about Headaches and migraines, so I thought I would also chime in and send a link to her great podcast! She goes into great detail about the root cause of migraines and headaches, with many remedies to help. Listen Here.
I could write pages about headaches and migraines and hold an entire 1-hour class on this subject. For this post, though, I will focus on things you can do or do at home to support your family with migraines and headaches.
For chronic migraines or headaches, discover the root cause and stop them altogether.
Most people are making new resolutions at this time of year! Eating healthier, starting new habits and goals, etc.! I’ve recently finished my health coach course and am taking new clients at a discounted rate, AND it’s also 24% off for 2024! If you are stressed out and struggling to make it through the day, I got you! I help burnt-out, stressed-out moms conquer their stress and gain more energy so they can serve their families more! Bonus if you are trying to also stop eating as much sugar!
I probably tell 1/2 my clients to eat 1/2 a cup to a cup of blueberries a day! There are so many benefits to eating blueberries daily! Organic Raw Berries are the best way to consume!
Packed with fiber and helpful for constipation! Just 1/2-1 cup a day can fix most individuals constipation problems. Much yummier than fiber drinks! This insoluble fiber also supports your liver health!
Support the veins in veinous insufficiency, varicose veins, vasodilatory actions, capillary permeability and fragility.
Low on the glycemic index and help repair damage done by diabetes to the veins and eyes.
Anti-inflammatory! A cup a day can keep the doctor away when it comes to inflammatory conditions!
Helpful for the kidneys.
Boost your immune system with blueberries!
Blueberries contain 4 antioxidants: anthocyanins, flavanols, tannins, and resveratrol.
The antioxidants can do all the following!
They can be anti-aging!
Fight cancer cell growth
Improve memory
Packed with vitamin C and Collagen
Support healthy skin and gums
Fights risk of Alzheimers
Enjoy your cup of blueberries! Try my favorite dessert!
Herba Remedium 