PCOS

Bone Broth: The Benefits For Your Fertility

Fad foods and health trends come and go, but some stick around, and usually that’s because they actually work! Unlike that other trend I recently tackled - activated charcoal - bone broth is still making headlines this year as a miracle elixir that improves your skin, your gut health and more! I’m here to give you my perspective, which is - it’s all true! I love bone broth. I drink it as often as possible and always keep my freezer stocked with fresh batches.

Bone broth and your fertility

One benefit we haven’t heard a whole lot about, though, is how bone broth works to balance your hormones, heal infertility issues, and boost your fertility. It sounds like a stretch, right? But really it’s not. There are several ways that bone broth works in your body to help your hormones be the best they can be.

Bone broth heals your gut health issues. Gut health is inextricably linked to your hormonal health. If you have a leaky gut then your body is not able to absorb the nutrients and minerals it needs to even produce hormones! It’s just that vital. Inflammation in your gut from food sensitivities and allergies can cause a massive increase in the stress hormone cortisol and this puts all your other hormones out of whack. If you have digestive issues of any kind - from bloating, to IBS, to constipation (did you know you ought to “go” first thing in the morning, no caffeine required?) - then you definitely have hormonal issues and you need bone broth today! It will fix you right up, I promise.
Bone broth is packed full of the amino acids proline and glycine. Amino acids are essential for hormone production and for the hormone detoxification process that allows your body to get rid of the excess, rather than having them stagnate and cause imbalance issues like estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance leads to PCOS, endometriosis and all sorts of fertility blocking problems. A strong selection of amino acids on hand for your body produces the best internal ecosystem for optimum fertility.
Bone broth has the perfect mix of calcium and collagen. Calcium is necessary for hormone balancing and liver detoxifying - part of the reason bone broth also gives you great skin! Collagen repairs our cells and tissues, it holds us all together! As we biologically age, we lose collagen - as we can see first in sagging skin. Bone broth keeps us internally and externally youthful. Collagen is like our hormones’ little helper - when we have more of it, our hormones don’t have to work quite so hard.

How to make bone broth

I’m sure you’ve seen other articles on bone broth and maybe you’ve felt a little overwhelmed about the idea of trying to make your own. My favorite recipe, if you do feel like starting from scratch, is from Sally Fallon’s book “Nourishing Traditions.” I’ll share it here in case you’re feeling inspired in the kitchen!My favorite is the chicken broth, but she also has recipes for beef and fish broth here (fish broth might be a good choice if you are normally vegetarian in your diet as there are no comparable vegetarian or vegan alternatives with the same benefits). “1 whole free-range chicken or 2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts, such as necks, backs, breastbones and wings (important note: the chicken ought to be organic and free range) gizzards from one chicken (optional) 2-4 chicken feet (optional)4 quarts cold filtered water2 tablespoons vinegar1 large onion, coarsely chopped2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped1 bunch parsleyIf you are using a whole chicken, cut off the wings and remove the neck, fat glands and the gizzards from the cavity. Cut chicken parts into several pieces. (If you are using a whole chicken, remove the neck and wings and cut them into several pieces.) Place chicken or chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar and all vegetables except parsley. Let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour. Bring to a boil, and remove scum that rises to the top. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 to 8 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth.Remove whole chicken or pieces with a slotted spoon. If you are using a whole chicken, let cool and remove chicken meat from the carcass. Reserve for other uses. Strain the stock into a large bowl and reserve in your refrigerator until the fat rises to the top and congeals. Skim off this fat and reserve the stock in covered containers in your refrigerator or freezer.”Quite the process, right? Yes, it’s really for the dedicated, this homemade broth-making, BUT there are some easier ways. Yay!

You can just make chicken soup from scratch and then take the bones out of the chicken - put them in a fresh pot of water along with apple cider vinegar and boil for several hours. I sometimes do this and it’s super simple.
Order your broth online or with your weekly/monthly CSA box! Au Bone Broth delivers bone broth to your door wherever you are. Most cities also have local bone broth dispensaries - here in Manhattan my favorites are the Oliver Weston Company and Bone Deep and Harmony.

How to use bone broth

There are many ways to use bone broth in your day to day diet, but here’s how I use my batches: - I drink it straight in a mug, it tastes absolutely delicious this way with nothing fancy added- I cook my stir fry or sauteed veggies with it instead of oil- I mix it up with my grains The great thing about bone broth, too, is that it is good for the whole family, and especially for children suffering with allergies or immunity issues. My baby girl gets bone broth along with me. I’m starting her early on eating and living in her Flo!Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, do you have fertility issues?Second, are you already using bone broth? Third, how would you describe your pregnancy experience?

Are You Trying to Conceive?

If you want to do everything in your power to improve your chances of becoming a mom—then we want to help you optimize your fertility.Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, or have already tried naturally or have been trying with IVF, our Fertile FLO Program will help improve your chances of conception. Click here to download my FREE guide, The 5 Health Foods to Avoid to Get and Stay Pregnant.

The 2 things you need to do for a healthy pregnancy

A couple of weeks back I shared an article on the Flo Living Facebook page about how Kim Kardashian said that pregnancy was “the worst experience” of her life. This really struck a chord with our Flo community and many of you shared your own feelings about pregnancy and the issues you’ve gone through while carrying a child. Some women said they loved being pregnant, some women said they genuinely hated it - but all agreed the outcome made the struggle worthwhile!But, does pregnancy have to be that hard? Is it supposed to be like that? You want to know and I hear that. So, I’m going to address this head on. Short answer: No, pregnancy doesn’t have to be all that bad. Long answer: I mean, let me be honest with you, if you’re a hormonally sensitive woman (say if, like me, you have PCOS) then the surge of hormones during pregnancy will likely cause you some issues. For me, I gained 50 pounds. If you’re the kind of women whose hormonal balance can be made hectic by excess estrogen or the change in SHGB (sex hormone binding globulin) then there are some symptoms of this that will be unavoidable like changes in hair and skin. However, the same strategies that I encourage women to use to help themselves get pregnant naturally are, thankfully, also the same strategies you can use to ensure a healthy, happy pregnancy. Basically, if you prep for pregnancy in the right way then you are setting yourself up for a much easier 9 months! This is what I did to help myself and the result was a really happy healthy pregnancy.There are 2 parts of your pregnancy experience that you can control completely before you get pregnant, and while you are pregnant. Taking charge in these areas will absolutely decrease the intensity and severity of any hormonal imbalance and hormone sensitivity issues you might face otherwise. These are:

Your body’s chemical load at the start of pregnancy.

Your deficiency in key micronutrients prior and throughout the pregnancy.

If either of these areas of your health are not optimal then pregnancy could be a struggle. All the energy and effort (and the bulk of the nourishment from your food) goes towards growing your baby. Baby becomes first priority, so if you are under-nourished you will feel worse and if your chemical load is high you will feel worse. Your liver has less time for you and your body’s supply of nutrients is going direct to baby as much as possible.

With this in mind, how then to ensure a healthy, easy pregnancy?

Love your liver. There’s no quick fix to detox your liver and make sure everything is running smoothly. The best way to do this is with good Flo foods and regular doses of my favorite cilantro smoothie!
Clean out the chemicals. That means eating organic to avoid pesticides, sure, but also cleaning out your cosmetics bag and your home cleaning closet. Chemicals lurk all over our homes and we need to be vigilant in getting rid of endocrine disruptors. The less your liver has to detox from dealing with, the better for you and baby.
Nourish your body. There is one nutrient that many, even most, women are very low on and which is absolutely essential for getting pregnant and for having an easier pregnancy - that’s vitamin D3. Upping your D3 intake is a great place to start when you’re preparing yourself for a pregnancy.
Think ahead. An easy pregnancy is better achieved with at the very least 3 months, and at the very best a whole year, of prior preparation. This is often left out of a conversation that tends to focus on what you eat during pregnancy, but it’s just as important to start eating in your Flo way ahead of time. It gives your body the head start it needs to take care of you and your baby.

Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, do you suffer with SAD? Second, are you hoping to conceive soon? Third, how would you describe your pregnancy experience?

Are You Trying to Conceive?

If you want to do everything in your power to improve your chances of becoming a mom—then we want to help you optimize your fertility.Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, or have already tried naturally or have been trying with IVF, our Fertile FLO Program will help improve your chances of conception.Click here to download my FREE guide, The 5 Health Foods to Avoid to Get and Stay Pregnant.

How commonly used medications can cause infertility

A new research study has revealed that even short term use of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like Asprin, Ibuprofen and Naproxen can prevent ovulation and cause infertility. The research suggests this is because these over-the-counter medications can decrease progesterone production, a hormone that is essential for the body to trigger ovulation. This impact is temporary, but this new knowledge is vital for both women who are trying to conceive and those who are not. For those trying to conceive even one infertile cycle can be seen as a setback to their hope for a planned pregnancy, and if a woman is dealing with pain every month then it might not just be one cycle she’s missing. For those not looking to conceive - low progesterone and a lack of ovulation in even one cycle can impact your mood, energy levels, sex drive and cause you to have an early period. A lack of progesterone can show up as sleep problems, hair loss and PMS. Essentially, the kind of drugs we all keep in our bathroom cabinet and often think very little of taking, can be sabotaging out hormonal balance! This is major news and it might have you thinking about how other medications you like to keep on hand could be causing similar hormonal havoc.

Alternatives to NSAIDs that won’t harm your fertility

I’ve discussed before how you might stock a natural medicine cabinet that provides easy and effective alternatives to NSAIDs for period cramps and pain. If most of your painkiller consumptions comes around your period then I’ve also discussed other natural cures for this discomfort. If you suffer with pre-menstrual headaches I have outlined a way to address this with diet changes. Magnesium deficiency can also be at the root of migraines.

The impact of other medications on your fertility

I’d like to talk you through how other commonly-used medications might be worth reconsidering for more than very rare use if you want to support your hormones and your health. Plus provide you with some ideas for natural treatment alternatives. The birth control pillHormonal contraceptives prevent ovulation by replacing your body’s natural hormones with a stream of synthetic hormones that flatten out the cycle to make it a one-note experience. These synthetic hormones do not act like our own hormones in that they actually produce a biological state much like menopause. Similarly to NSAIDs - you won’t be producing progesterone when using these birth control methods. The birth control pill may suppress symptoms of hormonal health issues like PCOS or endometriosis, but it does not treat the root cause and so the problems will inevitably return once you come off. One of the biggest myths about the Pill is that it “protects” your fertility, when in reality, it is harming your hormones. I have helped hundreds of women transition off the Pill with a tried-and-tested formula. There are many natural alternatives to successfully avoid pregnancy. If you are using the Pill for a hormonal health issue, you’re in the right place as you are obviously seeking alternatives! I developed the FLO Hormone Balance Program to help - with endometriosis, PCOS, and more. AntibioticsAntibiotic treatments kill off the good bacteria along with the bad and disrupt your all-important microbiome. One set of healthful and helpful gut bacteria, more specifically certain bacterial genes, called the estrobolome, produce an essential enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen. Your gut or microbiome therefore is part of the elimination system that is vital in ushering hormones out of the body. This process, when working efficiently, plays an essential role in perfect hormonal balance (I’ve previously discussed this in more detail). Essentially, over-use of antibiotics can lead you to estrogen dominance, a source of many hormonal health issues. I interviewed Dr Raphel Kellman - the man who discovered the microbiome - here. Many women use antibiotics mostly for urinary tract infections and yeast infections. There’s no need for this! These medications make the problem worse over time and create a vicious cycle. I have shared my preferred natural alternative treatments. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, are you trying to conceive? Second, have you successfully used natural treatments for cramps or headaches? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Are You Trying to Conceive?

If you want to do everything in your power to improve your chances of becoming a mom—then we want to help you optimize your fertility.Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, or have already tried naturally or have been trying with IVF, our Fertile FLO Program will help improve your chances of conception.Click here to download my FREE guide, The 5 Health Foods to Avoid to Get and Stay Pregnant.

Get a happier, sexier, easier relationship in just 4 weeks

When I was working on my own health and, at the same time, developing the Flo Living protocol, I was surprised to realize that there was this huge emotional component to embodying my cycle and working with, rather than against, my body and my hormones. Specifically, I found that it was really important for me to transform how I was engaging in my relationship at the time to fully live in my Flo. I needed to change the dynamic of my relationship with my partner in order to heal my PCOS, acne, and weight issues - to live the life I wanted to be living.

I launched into research on the masculine and feminine energies. This may sound a little woo-woo at first, but stay with me - it’s actually a strong, vital element of Traditional Chinese Medicine practices. It’s not about telling women to speak softly and be submissive or teaching men to be tough and aggressive - as you might expect - in fact, it’s quite the opposite! Through my work with women at Flo Living, I have discovered that one of the central issues facing couples today is the fact that both the man and the woman are living in their masculine energy all of the time, every single day. This is taking a real toll on their ability to communicate, be intimate, and connect. By following my model, built around my hormonal cycle, you can have a happier relationship in just 4 weeks!

The relationship issue that causes tension, fights, and breakups

The first thing I learned in my research was that being a man or a woman does not give a person more or less access to masculine or feminine energy - we all have both energies within us. Learning how to balance both of these helps us to live a more physically, emotionally, and psychologically healthy and vibrant life. It’s also the key to a better relationship with all the great sex, connected talks, romance, support, and fun that we all desire. Embracing your feminine energy isn’t about living in that zone all of the time. For many women (including me, back then) it’s primarily about accessing that energy (often for the first time in your adult life) and using it to your benefit. Before I began working on my WomanCode protocol, I had no idea what experiencing my feminine energy would look or feel like. I was hormonally imbalanced and totally out of touch with my body. One of the quickest, simplest ways to get in touch with your feminine energy is to get in touch with your menstrual cycle and start honoring those changes that happen in your body, your hormones. The way your brain chemistry changes across your cycle takes in both masculine and feminine energies, shifting from phase to phase. We aren’t the same, consistent person all of the time, and I think that, even if we were, we would find that really dull, for ourselves and our partners, long term. So, how do you know when you’ve lost touch with your feminine energy and are spending all day in the masculine - especially when it comes to your relationship? There are some clear signs.

The 4 signs that you’re experiencing a masculine/feminine energy imbalance

You feel disconnected from your emotions and physical sensations.
You find it difficult to enjoy sex and receive nurturing and intimacy from your partner.
You find it hard to verbalize your feelings to your partner.
You feel isolated and unsupported in your relationship.

Cycle sync your relationship - for a happier, sexier, and easier partnership in just 4 weeks!

Cycle syncing your relationship has so many benefits. You create this dance of energies where each of you take on the leadership and the receptive role at different times. As women we want to take the lead, but doing that all of the time is exhausting and not enjoyable. It’s good to be the one who’s on the receiving end of your partner’s leadership sometimes - it makes sure we stay open to receiving love and pleasure too.Here’s how I cycle sync my relationship to my hormonal phases: Follicular phase - Keep it Fresh - This is the time when I like to suggest my husband and I do something new together. Or let him come up with ideas! My hormones have me in a place where I’m super receptive to new experiences and I have a ton of energy. New experiences bring us together, create memories, and help us to bond further. Take a class, go to a gallery opening, hike someplace you’ve never been, visit a new city. Doing something fun in the outdoors is even better as all that fresh air amps up the oxytocin and makes us feel close. It’s so important in a long term relationship to keep things fresh and exciting by breaking the expected schedule and the follicular phase gives you a great opportunity (and reminder) to do this on a monthly basis. Ovulatory phase - Body and Soul Connection - A great time to socialize with your friends! We can’t always just be together alone as a couple, that way leads to isolation and boredom. Use this time to make plans with your friends. You’ll feel chatty and engaged. With your partner - utilize how your hormones have aligned to convey to your goals, dreams, and fantasies. We like to take this time to touch base on what we want from our future together, where we see ourselves in 5, 10, 20 years time. We also take advantage of my soaring sex drive and the attraction pheromones that are flying around our home! (To cycle sync your sex life and boost your libido with food foreplay read this.) Luteal phase - Relationship Remodeling - I see this as the most important time for my relationship. Since living in my Flo, I’ve not experienced PMS in the way most people think of it - I don’t get depressed, anxious or angry. Our hormones align to give us increased clarity at this time and our attentions will certainly be drawn to where something isn’t working in our relationship. If you’re hormonally balanced then you will be able to express this insight without fogging your feelings with getting enraged. If you do find yourself really angry at your partner during this phase every single month that goes by, then you might need to find a new partner! Your hormones become like a truth serum and it really is best to just let what your thinking get aired out in the open, for all involved. Pent up resentment helps neither of you. When something bothers me, I just say it immediately, regardless of my phase. I had to learn to do that over time and it took practice not to just store my annoyances away. If you let a feeling fester it will make you feel frantic and then the luteal phase hormones will force you to spill in a way that won’t get you what you need and want. Stop biting your tongue, let your hormones help you convey your concerns. Your man will appreciate it so much more if you are straightforward and direct, rather than expecting him to read your mind. This is also when we tend to focus on our domestic duties. It sounds unappealing, I know, but to get the most pleasure out of your relationship all month long you do have to attend to the day-to-day stuff of life - the budgeting, the cleaning, the organizing - and you should be doing it together. Sharing this burden is going to better your partnership massively. If you clear time and space to attend to these necessary things, and share out the tasks equally, then neither of you will feel overwhelmed or under-supported. Your hormones are aligned here to make attention-to-detail your favorite thing and you’ll find repetitive uninspiring tasks much easier to tackle. Menstrual phase - Make it Me-time - I like my alone time during my menstrual phase. It’s when I really indulge in my self care practices and take some quiet moments out. We all need time apart and alone. What’s the saying...absence makes the heart grow fonder! Ask your partner to line up his guys’ nights out, so you can stay home, watch a movie, read a book, or have a close friend over for dinner. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, do you struggle to connect with your partner? Second, do you want to cycle sync your relationship? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Feeling Frazzled, Bloated, and Unsexy?

If you’ve noticed more distance between cycles…or some periods are light and some are super heavy…your sex drive is flat…and you’re more moody in general (anxious, depressed, or both)…and especially if you’re in your mid 30’s and up…Your hormones may be aging faster than they should. But you can start reversing this process by adding one key micronutrient that you’re likely missing.Get your free report: The Magic Missing Micronutrient to Get Your Sexy Back.

4 Foods For Liver Detox That Work Better Than Activated Charcoal

Ever since Gwyneth Paltrow declared via her healthy lifestyle site Goop that she drinks charcoal infused lemonade (yes, you read that right!), activated charcoal in drinks and in the form of a supplement has become the latest wellness trend. Health-focused celebrities have declared it the best way to rid your body of environmental and food-based toxins. Many fancy juice bars claim it has liver detoxifying properties.

It all sounds miraculous, but what does it really mean? And is it something you should be doing? I know that you know the liver plays a very important role in keeping us hormonally balanced and hormonally healthy and keeping PMS, cramps, endometriosis, PCOS, and ovarian cysts at bay, but is activated charcoal what the liver needs to do this work?

Activated charcoal - miracle or myth?

The way activated charcoal works is to attach to chemicals it comes across in the body and prevent absorption, and that includes any medications you might be taking and truly need. This is why it works extremely well if someone has overdosed or actually gotten poisoned by a harmful substance and this is why it is often used in hospital ERs. But used regularly, daily, or habitually as a assumed detoxifier, activated charcoal can actually make your healthy diet less nutritious for you and prevent your body from absorbing the vital vitamins, minerals and micronutrients good foods can give. Activated charcoal doesn’t know what your body wants and needs and what it doesn’t and it can’t discriminate in its process.

This is why I’m not one to follow this particular health fad. I take great care to eat well and in a way that supports my liver, large intestine, and lymphatic system so that they can take care of toxins the way they are naturally supposed to. These organs help my body get rid of excess estrogen, which is a central cause behind hormonal imbalance-related health issues. I want them to work efficiently. If my body can’t process toxins like excess hormones quickly this will lead to menstrual, fertility, and libido problems.

We live in an extreme world and we seem to search for extreme solutions. We don’t need to treat our body everyday like we’re experiencing a poison overdose on a ER hospital bed. We just need to gently, consciously support our liver and entire elimination system in doing what it wants to do best.

4 Foods for Liver Detox That Work Better Than Activated Charcoal

Fill your diet with foods that naturally aid the liver in the detoxification process.

Eggs provide the most easily assimilated bio-available protein source. A two whole egg omelette or scramble a couple of times per week will give you a sufficient amount of protein. Protein is what the liver is built from and it is what will replenish the organ. The author of “Blue Zones” tells us that the populations around the world that have the longest, healthiest lives tend to eat a lot of eggs too! For more on protein, and specifically vegan protein sources, read this post.
Glutathione-heavy vegetables like avocados, carrots, broccoli, spinach, apples, asparagus and melon. This antioxidant neutralizes free radicals, super charges the immune system and detoxifies the liver. This is the best way to remove chemicals circulating in your body from environmental and food-based toxins like pesticides. Just increase your intake of these vegetables and they will do all the work.
Selenium-full foods such as oats and Brazil nuts. This mineral is a friend to your liver. Like glutathione it is also an antioxidant and boosts immunity strength. It protects the tissue of the liver itself from the effects of processing all these waste products.
Cilantro contains a property called linalool that helps to cleanse the liver. Add it to smoothies and salads - cilantro smoothie anyone?!

My favorite cilantro smoothie recipe: Gwenyth should drink this instead!

Here’s a drink that could really claim to have liver detoxification properties. One of these smoothies even once a week is going to support your liver in a way that activated charcoal will not.

½ cup mango

½ a green apple

½ cup frozen pineapple

½ cup coconut water

1 cup of cilantro and blend!

‍

To your FLO,

Alisa

The best new way to cut your grocery bill in half

Last week, I told you about Thrive Market, a new online shopping club I’ve totally fallen in love with.If you’re like me, you also care deeply about the quality of the food you eat and the products you use in your home every day. That means organic, non-GMO food and non-toxic cleaning products that are earth-friendly, which unfortunately usually mean high price tags and giant weekly grocery bills.That’s why I can’t stop sharing Thrive Market - an online site that makes healthy living a whole lot easier and more affordable than ever (becoming a member is FREE for the first 2 months!).Unlike overpriced markets, atThrive Market, you can get the world’s top 4,000 healthy foods, cleaning products, supplements, vitamins, probiotics in everyday sizes (no bulk here!) all delivered directly to your front door at 30 - 50% below retail prices. Think Whole Foods products at Costco prices, with the convenience of Amazon.Shopping at Thrive Market is not only cheaper than upscale markets like Whole Foods, but it often matches or even beats prices at discount online retailers like Amazon and Vitacost. I’ve even put together a fun price comparison to share with you:

Plus, Thrive Market also offers free shipping on orders over $49 to anywhere in the continental US. I try to order one big order a month and my shipping has always been free by doing this since I always have a bigger order (haha!).And because I want you to save even more, I’ve partnered with Thrive Market to put together a special deal just for our Flo community! Register with Thrive Market today and receive:

a FREE 2-Month Trial Membership
25% off your next order

Click here to join now!As you can see, I love being a Thrive member, but I don’t want you to take my word for it. I want you to try Thrive Market for yourself to help you save thousands of dollars on your groceries and hours of your precious time.And, on top of all this, Thrive maintains the highest integrity with outstanding social missions. For every paid membership, they give a free membership for a low-income American so thousands of people who wouldn’t be able to afford healthy foods can now access them! Thrive is also committed to the environment by using recycled packaging and making sure that all of their own packaging is recyclable as well. They also purchase carbon offsets and are completely carbon neutral.That’s why I’ve partnered with Thrive Market to put together this special offer our FLO community:

a FREE 2-Month Trial Membership
25% off your next order

Click hereto claim your FREE 2-month membership now.Here’s to your health (and the health of your bank account, too)!to your FLO,Alisa

Supplements

Natural solutions for skin conditions

Skin Conditions

Your skin provides the hormonal clues you need to start healing your cycles, enhancing your fertility, feeling more energetic, happier, sexier and gooood! Your skin speaks to you all the time, you just need to listen. It’s one of your body’s largest organs and part of the WomanCode “elimination” group along with the liver and large intestine. These organs don’t produce hormones, but they are necessary for ushering hormones out from your body. Can you imagine what would happen if all of the hormones your body produces and all those in the food you eat, the medications you take, and the products you use, just stayed in your blood stream? You’d have an explosive hormonal situation, that’s for sure - the kind that sees estrogen build-up lead to tumor growth. It would also imbalance your whole endocrine system, leading to problematic periods, infertility issues, PMS, PCOS, low libido and low moods. So when you see changes to your skin - whether that’s acne, eczema, rosacea or discoloration - you know your skin is trying to tell you something important about your hormonal health. I’ve talked to you about acne before in detail, I even have a webinar on the subject, so here I’d like to address those other three skin issues you might encounter.

Exit Eczema

Problem: I’m just getting over a bout of eczema that came up in my post-partum period. It’s very common for women to experience at this time, because your body is busy using all of your stores of essential fatty acids for your baby! That leaves not a whole lot left for you and your skin. Solution: The best way to combat this is through heavy supplementation of a good source of essential fatty acids. Cod Liver Oil is packed with EPA and DHA essential fatty acids. Make sure you get the fermented kind of oil, because that retains twice the vitamins of processed oil. I swear by Green Pastures Royal Blue Ice Royal brand. In addition, take Evening Primrose Oil. Topically, you can use aloe vera gel and a good oil based moisturizer - I’m using LAFACE. I find epsom salt plus magnesium oil baths to be very soothing. I recommend Ancient Minerals topical magnesium oil.

Ditch Discoloration

Problem: A change in the pigmentation of your skin - particularly dark patches around the forehead area and eyes - is a sign of liver imbalance. The function of your liver is likely compromised leading to a buildup of estrogen leading to estrogen dominance. The liver is in a hormonal buddy system with your skin. This skin issue is like your liver sending you a message!Solution: Support your liver with a good quality B-100 Complex, inositol, artichoke leaf extract, and the Get Clean tea by Republic of Tea, which contains a lovely blend of milk thistle burdock, and dandelion. Start increasing your intake of greens and cycle-synching your diet with my simple 4 week plan.

Renounce Rosacea

The Problem: The redness and bumpiness to the skin that comes with rosacea is linked back to the health of your gut/microbiome. It is essentially a symptom of inflammation that, quite literally, shows up as inflamed skin. If not specifically clearly triggered by one food type, it will be your diet as a whole that is the source of the problem. The Solution: Make friends with your friendly bacteria and you will heal your skin. Approximately 5lbs of bacteria lives inside of you and the quality of their eco-system – the healthiness of the microbial life plus the diversity – governs your health. A poor internal ecosystem caused by bad diet, exposure to chemicals and stress, will suppress the good bacteria, promote the bad bacteria, and will lead to a toxic buildup of hormones and signs of systemic inflammation on your skin. I’ve outlined some Dos and Don’ts of taking care of your gut and I recently interviewed Dr Kellman, author of “The Microbiome Diet”. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, do you suffer with rosacea or eczema? Second, what treatments have you tried for eczema or rosacea? Third, you know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social by clicking the buttons below

Need more Hormone Help?

Five essential formulations working together to

Where to go from here?

Five essential formulations working together to

BALANCE YOUR HORMONES

How to Stock a Hormone-Healthy Home Medicine Cabinet

The Hippocratic Oath tells doctors to “first, do no harm.” But no such rule applies to the products in your home medicine cabinet, and that’s a shame. Many everyday “health” products contain chemicals that interfere with the production, release, transport, metabolism, and/or elimination of your body’s natural hormones. Called endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), these toxins negatively affect the body’s highly sensitive hormone system. All hormones suffer at the hands EDCs, but research suggests that they are particularly damaging to estrogen, testosterone, and thyroid hormones. EDCs are known to affect female (and male) reproduction, thyroid function, metabolism, and obesity. EDCs are found in a wide range of everyday products, from conventional laundry detergents to perfume to plastic Tupperware containers…. and, of course, in the first aid products many of us keep in our medicine cabinet. The main takeaway? EDCs can trigger (or worsen) hormonal health issues, including endometriosis, PCOS, ovarian cysts, infertility issues, PMS, heavy or irregular periods, thyroid issues, and more. You should avoid these terrible toxins whenever and wherever you can. As I mentioned, EDCs turn up around every corner—they hide in upholstery fabric, turn up in lotions and lipsticks, hang out in household cleaning products and lawn chemicals—but they also lurk inside products marketed to help you heal. They’re hanging out, and doing harm, in products that are meant to make you feel better. It’s time to say goodbye to these not-so-great-for-your-hormones products, and replace them with some easy, inexpensive, and effective natural alternatives.

Your All Natural First Aid Kit

I like to keep my natural remedies simple, quick, and easy. Here’s a look inside my medicine cabinet:Natural Rx for Cuts, Scrapes, Cramps, Bug Bites, and Bruises

Product: Neosporin (for small cuts and scrapes, etc.) Try this instead: ¼ tsp of Coconut oil with 2 drops each of lavender and tea tree oil. This combination is antimicrobial—without the antibiotics—and will help improve your skin’s immune response so that you heal faster.
Product: Benadryl anti-itch cream (for bug bites) Try this instead: Mix baking soda and water until it forms a paste. Smear the bite or itchy patch of skin. This remedy is also great for dry skin and rashes.
Product: Noxema (for sunburn) Try this instead: Aloe vera gel in its purest form is cooling and healing. And, as much as you can, avoid getting burned in the first place!
Product: IcyHot cream (for muscle and joint pain) Try this instead: Arnica gel works well on unbroken skin for pain and also bruising.
Product: Mucinex or Vick’s medicine (for cough, cold, or sore throat) Try this instead: Nature’s Way Umcka ColdCare range and Zarbee’s Naturals range support the body’s own immune responses.
Product: Monistat (for yeast infections) Try this instead: Vitanica Yeast Arrest Vaginal Suppositories will give relief and help support your vagina flora and Jarrow Femdophilous is clinically shown to restore vaginal microbiome. Check out this post for more natural remedies for UTIs and bacterial vaginosis.
Product: Advil, Midol or Aleve (for period pain and cramps) Try this instead: Clary sage essential oil rubbed into the skin above the pubic bone and below the belly button, where your uterus is, can help relieve cramps. You can also diffuse this oil or add a few drops to an Epsom salt bath. I have a lot more short-term and long-term natural solutions for period pain and cramps just here.

Natural Rx for fatigue, anxiety, period problems, and moreSome “healthy” products don’t contain EDCs per se, but they can come with their health-compromising side effects. Next time you reach for one of these pills or supplements, consider an alternative that is better for your hormones and has fewer side effects. And unlike the salves, creams, and sprays that you use occasionally (for bug bites or sunburn or sore muscles), the supplements and suggestions aren’t spot treatments. They work best when you make them a regular part of your health prevention and maintenance.

Product: 5-hour energy, coffee, or other caffeinated drinks (for an energy pick-me-up) Try this instead: Take a high-quality B-complex vitamin to help prevent and treat low energy and fatigue. B vitamins also help boost progesterone production, which is critical for balancing with estrogen and easing period problems like severe PMS, bloating, cramps, heavy or irregular periods, and menstrual migraines. Progesterone also helps promote the synthesis of GABA, a calming chemical produced by the brain. This makes B vitamins a good choice for easing anxiety.

Coffee has made headlines in recent years as a “health food,” touted for its anti-aging, cell-health-boosting, mood-lifting abilities, but if you suffer from hormonal imbalances (and even if you don’t!) coffee can be problematic. Skip this faux pick-me-ups in lieu of vitamin D, which supports a whole bunch of health-boosting functions in the body, like robust immune health, healthy aging, healthy metabolism, and healthy mood.

Product: Over-the-counter diet pills (for weight loss support) Try this instead: A high-quality liver support supplement. Optimal liver health is critical for estrogen-progesterone balance (and for avoiding all the gnarly symptoms that come along with estrogen being too high relative to progesterone). Liver health is essential for overcoming weight loss resistance and maintaining a healthy weight.
Product: Prescription anti-anxiety meds or sleep aids (to help with anxiety and sleep) Try this instead: If you work with a trusted healthcare practitioner to find the prescription medications that are right for you, always, always, always, consult that person when considering coming off those medications. But if experience anxiety or trouble sleeping, you may find that taking a specially formulated magnesium supplement can help. Bonus! Magnesium helps support the healthy production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. And then there’s the amazing, mood-improving potential of omega-3 fatty acids.

Product: Antacids (to help with heartburn and other digestive distress) Try this instead: Again, always follow the advice of your trusted healthcare practitioner when it comes to digestive distress. Some GI issues require working with a provider and figuring out what will work for your unique system. But you may be able to improve your symptoms by improving the health of your microbiome. Try a high-quality probiotic. (If your symptoms persist, though, consult a doctor).

Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this – the science of your body is on your side!

BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

Because you've asked for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, I created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month(2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.

Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.

The one thing you're doing at work that's hurting your hormones

I’m sure you’ve seen the latest research that shows sitting down at a desk for hours on end is very bad for your health. You may have even rolled your eyes when reading those headlines, thinking, “If the sitting doesn’t kill me, the constant anxiety I get from this kind of research will!” I understand your frustration. I often hear from the women who work with me here at Flo Living that they just don’t have time for a daily scheduled gym session or 30 minute DVD workout between their work and kids and household chores. I think shows like the “Biggest Loser” have influenced us to feel like we have to be doing intense exercise every day to see any benefits. Thankfully the studies are building to suggest that learning to bring more movement, even the most gentle kind, into your routine is actually much more beneficial than an intensive workout. In fact, the New York Times reported that a single minute of intense exercise within a daily ten minute movement plan can improve your health longterm. A sprint up the stairs within 20-30 seconds interspersed with yoga moves and stretches for 10 minutes every day is enough. Phew! This science is great news because it supports what I’ve been saying all along - you don’t want to over exercise all at once and exhaust your adrenals - it actually works against you in terms of maintaining ideal weight.

Exercise and your reproductive health

Not sitting for long and taking breaks to move is better for your health than a spin or aerobics class. As well as decreasing your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and cancer and increasing overall fitness, regular movement has a positive impact on your reproductive health - specifically that is, your periods, your fertility, and your libido. Regular movement that targets your pelvic area will help to heal painful periods, endometriosis, PCOS, ovarian cysts, infertility issues and low sex drive. Think about it - sitting actually compresses your uterus, ovaries and entire pelvic region. This causes stagnation and poor blood circulation in these organs. Vitality boosting micronutrients and hormones are blocked from circulating properly through your reproductive system. So your lady parts aren’t getting what they need to function at their best. Movement can bring you easier periods and improved fertility, as well as increase your energy, boost your mood, and make sex feel a lot better. Regular exercise makes your body use glucose more efficiently which helps with insulin resistance. This sets you up for healthy menstruation and consistent ovulation. And not stressing about never making it to the gym will have its own rewards! But the more you move, the more you’ll want to move. So, I’m going to share a one day plan for incorporating more movement in your lifestyle, plus make some suggestions for more vigorous exercise for those that feel they enjoy, need or want to continue a regime of working out in the traditional sense.

My one day movement plan

Use an app, your Fitbit, or the alarm on your cell to set reminders to keep moving every 30 minutes throughout the day. If your boss wants to know why you are taking a regular screen break, remember that the much respected “Pomodoro technique” of working in short bursts with frequent breaks has been proven to increase productivity.During work hours:

Stand up from your desk and stretch from side to side and forward and back to rotate your whole pelvic region. Repeat 5-10 times.
Stand up tall and stretch your arms and hands over your head to lengthen out the abdomen. Then bend down to touch your toes. Repeat 5-10 times.
Do a abdominal twist from side to side placing your hands on your back and looking over your shoulder. Repeat 5-10 times.
If you have a phone conference consider taking part while walking on the spot or around your office building, if you can, rather than sitting at your desk. An in-person meeting could be moved from the boardroom to the sidewalk - studies show we communicate and think better when we’re on the move.

I love this instructive video from the founder of Infinity Wellness Partners for whole body stretches.At lunch or on your break:

Try out that super short 20-30 second stairs sprint followed by a yoga warrior or triangle pose.
Take a stroll around the office or, even better, outside. Explore a new part of your local area or walk to your favorite lunch spot.
Use your office furniture creatively to (safely!) do some push ups or resistance exercises.

Flo Living graduate and fitness expert Emily Sonnenberg put together some easy and short routines you can do at home or at the office.

Cycle-syncing your exercise routine for better reproductive health

If you find that incorporating movement into your daily routine boosts your energy, by all means also incorporate regular workouts as much as you like. However, the best way to approach this is by paying attention to your Flo. I talk a lot about cycle syncing your eating habits, but what about exercise? To really get the most out of optimizing your hormones, you should change up your routine to fit your cycle phase in much the same way as you do your diet. Your body is primed for different kinds of activity across your cycle, just as it’s looking for different kinds of nutrition through the four phases. You’ll lose more weight and feel fitter if you tune to what feels most natural.During the first part of your cycle your energy is naturally higher and you’re ready for high intensity exercise. During the second part of your cycle your hormonal ratio of estrogen and progesterone shifts making more restorative physical activities the ideal. So during menstruation walking and yoga are perfect, but during ovulation you might be primed for kickboxing. I’ve searched the internet for exercise videos for each phase of your cycle and these are my favorites. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you

First, do you prefer regular movement to working out?Second, what are your favorite fitness or movement apps? Third: You know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social by clicking the buttons below

Need more Hormone Help?

How to fix your hair loss or hirsutism naturally

Two in the bush is worth one in the hand? What the heck does that mean anyway? I don’t know, but what I do know is we want our hair below our hairline to be ladylike and we want the hair on our head to be lioness-like. The issue is that your hormones can make this situation can be more scary-hairy than lady godiva-esque. As a former sufferer of PCOS, I know what it’s like to feel like you’re always getting waxed and always brushing out too much hair. I want to share my secrets for maintaining my locks over the years and why I’m not freaking out about the post-partum hair fall.

Whether you’re dealing with hair loss from your head or overgrowth of unwanted hair on your face and body, I’m going to explain why this is happening and how to fix it, without using strong side effect-laden prescription medications.

At a time when we are bombarded with pop stars hairy armpits on one side plus pressure to stay entirely hairless from head to toe on the other, it can be hard to maintain a good perspective when it comes to our own naturally hair-covered bodies. The occasional stray hair somewhere unexpected or a day or two of more hair in your hair brush than normal is no reason to freak out. However, it can be very distressing to experience rapid hair loss from the head or unwanted hair growth on your face. This is not to be taken lightly, as I know it can cause anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.

The good news is the root cause of both of these issues is the same and so is the natural treatment protocol - so wherever you are on the hair loss to hirsutism spectrum I have the answer for you.

The roots of hair loss and hirsutism

The root cause of overgrowth of unwanted hair or hair loss from the head is your sensitivity to testosterone plus the amount of testosterone your body is producing. Usually these are not stand-alone problems and you will also find you are simultaneously dealing with problematic menstrual periods.

‍Hair loss

How: Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a derivative of testosterone. Testosterone converts to DHT with the help of the enzyme Type II 5-alpha reductase, which is held in your hair follicle's oil glands. Hair loss from the head is triggered by the level of DHT binding to receptors in scalp follicles. DHT shrinks your hair follicles, making it more difficult for healthy hair to survive. High levels of DHT can be provoked by estrogen dominance and high cortisol levels from the adrenal glands.

‍Why: This hormonal imbalance in the body can be brought on by use of the birth control pill and other hormonal contraceptives like the Mirena IUD, hormonal shifts in pregnancy, the post-partum period, perimenopause or as a part of poor thyroid function.

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‍Hirsutism

How: You don’t have to have PCOS to be suffering with hirsutism, but it is one of the common consequences of that hormonal health problem. Excessive growth of coarse hairs is also caused by testosterone overproduction and conversion. It is one of the most common endocrine health issues with approximately 10% of women experiencing this at some time in their lives. The kind of hair produced is called “terminal” and is different in thickness and feel. Growth is caused by the level and duration of exposure to dihydrotestosterone, the alpha-reductase enzyme activity on the hormone, and the sensitivity of your hair follicles to dihydrotestosterone, which determines whether regular fine body hair (or vellus hair) becomes terminal hair.

‍Why: PCOS is certainly a common root cause, but also behind this issue can be Cushing’s syndrome, genetic conditions that cause overproduction of cortisol and testosterone, some medications such as those used to treat endometriosis, and obesity.

Natural treatment protocol

In the short term - it’s better to go with frequent waxing or laser hair removal than using chemical products like Nair on your excessive hair growth as sensitive areas tend to be the most open to absorbing nasty chemicals. Castor oil treatments are highly praised for encouraging thick, strong, glossy head hair regrowth. In the long term - Using a combination of these foods and supplements on a daily basis should show improvement of your hair loss or hirsutism in a matter of months. Stick with this protocol for at least six months before looking for another solution.

Stinging nettle in the form of nettle leaf tea
Omega 3 fatty acids from egg yolks and salmon
Saw palmetto herbal supplements
Evening primrose oil
Foods high in phytosterols such as fermented soy, wheat germ, brussel sprouts, olive oil and rye

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To your FLO,

Alisa

Is this set of emotions blocking your fertility?

In my years of helping women get pregnant, one thing I’ve noticed is how addressing a few key emotions makes all the difference when trying to conceive. I remember how I struggled with not trusting my body, feared that my body would always fail me, how I overly relied on masculine energy to battle my PCOS and applied type A/perfectionist behaviors to hopefully control for a more positive outcome. Sound familiar?I spend a lot of time talking to you about facts because I know that’s where we all start - we want to know what is wrong. An equal part of the FLO protocol, however, moves beyond nutrition, to the integration of your feminine energy and a healed relationship with your body from an emotional point of view.

This to me, in my own health journey, and for the thousands of women I have taken on that same journey to hormonal balance, is as essential as the food and supplements you take.This is especially true of improving your fertility. I’m now 9 months in to this motherhood gig, and let me tell you, it is a meditation on feminine energy and balanced masculine energy every moment! The energy I hold now is what I used to open me up to conceive. The emotions I had to work through to open that conception energy were a huge part of my journey to motherhood and I suspect they might be ones you might want to incorporate on your journey too.

Read on to learn more about how Nicole undid these emotional blocks using the FLO Protocol and is now 7 months pregnant after 1 year of trying.

“My body had everything it needed from years of healthy eating, I just needed to recognize the emotional blocks that were holding me back.”

Nicole thought she was doing everything right to get pregnant. She was following the WomanCode protocol independently for months in the hope that just eating in her Flo was all she needed to do to finally conceive. Then she had a breakthrough. She realized that good nutrition was just one aspect of her health and she needed to turn her attentions to her emotional well-being to start a family.Here she shares her transformative story with us...

My lifestyle was making conceiving difficult

Two years ago, I defined fertility as whether or not I was able to become pregnant. Like for many women, the journey seemed black or white: fertile or infertile, pregnant or not pregnant.When my husband and I first started trying, I experienced what many women do: stress and anxiety, partially brought on by a demanding job. I had also been commuting two hours a day for more than a year, and the chronic stress was starting to take a toll on my body, manifesting in physical symptoms like difficulty sleeping, night sweats, and irregular cycles. My colleagues and I were four months away from planning a large conference on the other side of the country, and the closer the event moved on the calendar, the longer my cycles became.

My body was so depleted that the month our event took place, I didn’t get my period. That was my first wake up call.I discovered WomanCode through the Facebook page and I had been eating in the FLO ever since just after the book was released in March 2013. Although my monthly symptoms gradually decreased and I had more energy, my cycles were still longer than average (32-34 days), and I wasn’t ovulating anywhere close to Day 14. It felt like my body knew what it needed to do, but just couldn’t get there every month.

The following month, I got pregnant, except I was only pregnant for five weeks before having an early miscarriage on Christmas Eve 2013.Over the holidays we decided to take a break from trying, but I spent the next year preparing my mind and body for conception, reshaping our lives to make space for the future family we wanted. I started weekly acupuncture treatments, found a new job, and we moved to a condo by the beach in a more relaxing neighborhood where both of us would have short commutes.

I wanted the magic supplement to get pregnant asap

Still convinced my hormonal issues were purely physical, I dove into supplements. There was a three month period I drank dong quai tea daily, but it didn’t reduce the length of my cycle. Then I ordered maca powder, assuming this would be the golden ticket to conception. I refer to what happened next as “the maca powder incident,” as it was the catalyst for my journey toward inner reflection and ultimately, getting pregnant.

It was September 2014, and I had been adding a small amount of maca powder to my morning protein smoothie for approximately three weeks. I usually experienced light cramping during my cycle, but nothing debilitating, so I was surprised to find myself unable to get out of bed the morning I got my period.

I thought back to my diet in the previous month. The only variable I could identify was the maca powder, but I couldn’t fathom that several weeks of mild use could have such a negative reaction in my body.

I realized I was using a masculine approach to access my feminine conception energy

I took the day off work, and decided to walk to the beach that afternoon while listening to a Fertility Revolution podcast interviewing Randine Lewis, author of The Infertility Cure.“People treat fertility as a problem to be rectified, but it needs a deeper pursuit of what’s going on internally,” she said. “We can’t be in a fear-based relationship with fertility, because fear contracts reproductive energy. You can’t bring life into the world when you’re fighting fear.”I learned approaching fertility like another thing on the to-do list (a habit of many women, particularly Type-A personalities), can actually block conception, because we’re not addressing the root cause of emotional resistance keeping us from unlocking our full fertility, body, mind, and spirit.The following day, I signed up for the FLO Living program. This was October, 2014.

‍The Flo Living program dives much deeper into the science and emotional side of hormone balance, which I hadn't been addressing up to that point. Within the first month of coaching I’d made efforts to nurture my feminine side through self-care practices that felt good to me. Until I read the materials Alisa suggested, I didn't realize how much my masculine side dominated a lot of my day-to-day.Through the personal reflection that is part of the FLO Living program, I experienced several emotional breakthroughs, the most enlightening being how a medical issue I had in high school informed my relationship with my body for more than a decade.

I forgot that I had stopped trusting my body in high school

In my senior year cross-country season, I started experiencing a strong, dull pain across my abdomen during daily runs. Even after myriad tests, including ultrasounds and painful physical therapy to loosen my tight hip flexor muscles, no one was able to identify the cause.Then, my mom took me to a physical therapist who incorporated eastern medicine into his practice and uncovered a severe vitamin deficiency. Finally armed with a diagnosis, I gradually began to heal, transform my diet, and embrace nutrition and wellness beginning with cooking for myself during college.

But although I was physically healthy again, I had stopped running out of fear of feeling the same pain. A mistrust had settled in my body that was so deeply rooted, I wasn’t even conscious of it until I walked on the beach 10 years later, ready to become pregnant. I realized that day, with sea salt blowing my hair, until I trusted my own body again, I’d never be able to carry a pregnancy to term.

I got pregnant finally after doing the emotional work in the FLO program

The following month, after starting the FLO program, reading Northrup’s book, and spending time in reflection, I ovulated on time and had a 28-day cycle (which hadn’t happened in at least a year).Three months later, I was pregnant. We’re expecting a baby boy this October (one year since I signed up to the Flo Living program).My body rejected the maca powder to offer an important lesson: nutrition wasn’t my obstacle. As it turned out, my body had everything it needed thanks to years of healthy eating, I just needed to recognize the emotional blocks that were holding me back.

Exploring this aspect of fertility can be harder than simply eating well and incorporating fertility-friendly ingredients into our diet, because it requires an intense vulnerability and openness to make connections between our early experiences, the messages we’ve received about our health, and our current circumstances.If I’ve learned anything on my journey to motherhood, it’s that fertility is more than our ability to physically become pregnant.

True fertility is the convergence of physical, emotional, and spiritual health, not only for conception and birth, but for our entire creative lives as women, and I’m finally ready to embrace it all.(To read more about Alisa’s “conscious conception” approach to achieving pregnancy naturally check out our two posts on prepping your body for pregnancy and the non diet-based secret to conceiving.)

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To your FLO,

Alisa

Flo Living breakfast and brunch ideas

I don’t know about you, but I love my food porn. I love looking at pretty pictures of artfully arranged dishes. Just this week I’ve been salivating over the Breakfast Criminals colorful and creative ideas for the first meal of the day. I love that they sell an Instagram-friendly heart shaped bowl too, which will make you smile over breakfast every day.However, I’m also a super busy lady. I have a baby to take care of and a business to run. So I don’t always have a whole lot of time to put into creating a beautiful breakfast for myself and my family. Sometimes I just need it to tick my top boxes - to be healthy, tasty, and sustain me until lunch. I’m a big fan of keeping it basic if it means that it’s easier and more efficient for you to make better choices. Simplicity is sometimes the key to getting what you need.

The benefits of a big breakfast

Research shows that starting your day with a big breakfast will improve your fertility and decrease hormonal imbalance symptoms. This study by Professor Daniela Jakubowicz in Tel Aviv proved that having a larger meal at breakfast was related to a reduction of insulin resistance in women with PCOS. Not only does this help with fertility, but it also can help manage other symptoms associated with the disorder, such as unwanted body hair, hair loss, and acne, as well as protect against developing type-2 diabetes.With this in mind, I want to share with you my personal favorite breakfast and brunch ideas. I tend to rotate through these throughout the week. On the weekends I get a bit more time to indulge. I teach my Flo Living ladies that breakfast time is when you want to go all out and eat as much as you want - really filling up will set you up for stable blood sugar and hormone levels the rest of the day. And, as studies show, it will also help you to lose weight.

Weekday ideas

Avocado smashed on toast - I love to spice up this filling and tasty bite with chia seeds, turmeric, sesame seeds and Himalayan salt. I always use gluten-free black rice Food for Life brand bread.
Tartines - I so enjoy a nice French-inspired savory open-faced sandwich for breakfast with wild salmon and hummus or egg and dairy free pesto.
Fruit toast - My favorite nut butter is sunbutter which I love to spread on gluten free toast and top with fresh peach or strawberry slices when they’re in season.
Eggs - I love eggs all ways for all meals of the day. Scrambled, poached, hard boiled. Check out the viral hashtag #putaneggonit for some scrumptious ideas. Everything can be improved by an egg, I say! One of my new favorites has to be an egg baked inside half an avocado - that’s just genius!
Smoothie - I’m not a smoothie-only breakfast kind of girl, but if I do have a smoothie I whizz up ½ banana, ½ avocado, frozen blueberries, spinach, almond milk, flaxseed meal, and cinnamon.
3 Power Grains - I’ll have oatmeal, quinoa or buckwheat. I’ll either make it sweet with sunflower seeds, coconut oil, and fresh blueberries or I’ll have it savory with olive oil, Himalayan salt, steamed baby kale - and I’ll absolutely put an egg on it!

Weekend indulgences

Any of the above breakfast options are great for brunch for a relaxed, leisurely weekend breakfast time with my husband and baby girl. When I want to indulge though, I pull out a few other recipes which happen to work well as desserts too!I also just discovered and love the easy and healthful Zemas Foods sweet potato pancake mix.Check out my take on sugar, the best sweeteners, and get some healthy baking tips here.Chocolate Avocado Pudding on Toast (this beats Nutella!)Ingredients: 3 ripe avocados, 4 soaked dates, 1/4 cup coconut nectar plus 2T maple syrup, 1/2 cup raw cacao powder, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt and then some good millet bread.Instructions: Add all to Vitamix or food processor and puree until smoothTaste and adjust for sweetness and texture with more sweetener and milk.Serve on millet toast for breakfast. Add sliced fresh strawberries as desired.Banana BreadIngredients: 3 bananas, 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup coconut nectar, 1.5 cups oat flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp saltInstructions: Mix wet into dry, pour mixture into a parchment lined loaf pan, bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 min and then let cool completely.Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you

First, what are your favorite breakfast dishes? Which ones hold you the longest until lunch?Second, try some of my ideas and share your photos on Facebook and Twitter with me!Third, You know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social! ?

Need more Hormone Help?

Do you have enough of this one nutrient to get pregnant?

What’s this essential fertility nutrient? It’s Vitamin D - which is actually a hormone made from your skin’s exposure to the sun. Most foods, fortified or not, do not have therapeutic levels of this nutrient and most women are massively deficient in Vit D3.Studies have shown that 93% of women dealing with infertility issues are vitamin D3 deficient. We also know that most women suffering with PCOS have this deficiency. Scientists have discovered that women with higher vitamin D3 levels are 4 times more likely to conceive via IVF than women with low levels.The core issue here, from a hormonal health standpoint, is that a low concentration of vitamin D3 causes estrogen dominance. This hormonal imbalance contributes to a whole range of reproductive health problems for women (like endometriosis, for example) as well as the development of common estrogen-sensitive cancers.When working with women here at Flo Living, I spend a lot of time helping them figure out if they are experiencing a deficiency and developing strategies to boost their levels. I know that because of where and how we obtain our D3, it can often be the most neglected of the vitamins, even for women who are otherwise fastidious about their healthy diet and lifestyle.Vitamin D3 deficiency has actually reached epidemic levels in recent years and I believe this to be one of roots of many women’s struggles with fertility and fertile health.

The 5 ways vitamin D3 supports your fertility

Higher D3 levels help the body regulate blood sugar levels. Imbalanced blood sugar impacts whether you ovulate or not every cycle.
D3 supports the body’s immune response. Most infertility has autoimmune disturbances at it’s core. Vit D3 tells your body not to attack itself.
D3 supports a healthy gut microbiome and vaginal microbiome which improves your chance of conceiving and maintaining a pregnancy.
There are vitamin D3 receptors in all of your female reproductive organs - showing that the entire reproductive system requires D3 to function healthily.
D3 boosts progesterone levels which helps you to get and stay pregnant.

PLUS - for your partner - D3 is absolutely vital for maintaining his high sperm count and sperm motility. It takes two to make a baby so it’s always important for your man to keep an eye on his health too!The early sign of vitamin D3 deficiency many don’t spot As I mentioned already, if you struggle with infertility or PCOS, it is likely that you are D3 deficient. Other signs include a diabetes diagnosis and any gut troubles from IBS or Crohn’s Disease. However, there’s one early sign of a growing deficiency that is actually used by medical professionals to diagnose this problem in babies, that is:Excessive head sweating! Seems strange, but it’s true. So if you or your child wake up each morning with a soaked pillow, it might be time to take a vitamin D3 test and work on increasing your levels.How to test for vitamin D3 deficiencyAsk your doctor to give you a 25(OH)D test (aka a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test). The optimal level for vitamin D3 in your blood is now considered to be between 50 and 70 ng/ml. If you find you have a deficiency, don’t panic, you can change this number quite simply with modifications to your diet and lifestyle. The Flo Living way of life can boost, protect and maintain your vitamin D3 levels.

The best way to get your vitamin D3

The Sun! Lots and lots of sunshine is key. That’s why vitamin D3 is often called the “sunshine vitamin” - it is truly the best way for your body to raise your levels of this vital nutrient. In fact, I was so aware of this factor in my own fertility that during the winter I was hoping to conceive I booked myself and my husband a special romantic break in the sun, away from the New York City snowstorms and grey skies. We arrived at our destination on the last day of my period and spent my follicular week soaking in the sunshine. We conceived just after we returned home, by which time I was ovulating.I recently wrote about the dangers of sunscreen and how to safely protect yourself in the sun - click here to read more.Why D3 supplements aren’t good enough Unfortunately, it’s really very hard to get enough vitamin D3 with supplements alone. You would need to be taking in 8,000 IUs per day to be making a real difference to your health. As I don’t live in a very sunny area of the country and I am breastfeeding, I currently take 5,000 IUs per day, but I also try to get outside as much as I can for walks in the park with my husband and baby girl without wearing sunscreen.Getting plenty of sun, along with avoiding nutrient-zapping diet and lifestyle choices like too much coffee, alcohol or processed foods (as I recommend to my Flo Living ladies), should be sufficient action to get your vitamin D3 levels in the healthy zone.Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you

First, do you think you have vitamin D3 deficiency? Second, in what ways have you tried to increase your vitamin D3 levels?Third, you know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social! ?

Are You Trying to Conceive?

If you want to do everything in your power to improve your chances of becoming a mom—then we want to help you optimize your fertility.Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, or have already tried naturally or have been trying with IVF, our Fertile FLO Program will help improve your chances of conception.Click here to download my FREE guide, The 5 Health Foods to Avoid to Get and Stay Pregnant.

Whole Body Health

Do you need to clear your adult acne?

Is adult acne really getting you down? We assume that acne is something we get to leave behind in high school, along with the bad fashion choices and the mean girls, but for many women acne can linger on or even reappear after your 30th birthday. It’s enough to make you want to throw a teen tantrum, it’s that unfair!Listen, I know your pain. I used to have painful cystic acne all over both my face and my back. I tried antibiotics, Retinol-A, Proactiv, every potion, lotion and late night infomercial miracle cure I could get my hands on, and none of it worked. In fact, take a look at this post to see how popular beauty products can actually be harming your health.It would take me forever just to leave the house as I carefully tried to cover my acne so I could face the world. Acne can give your confidence a kicking and be a real source of depression. It really isn’t fair, so let’s fix it together.There are three important pieces of information you need to make note of if you are going to heal your acne.

Your age. The root cause of acne is different depending on this factor - acne in your 20s typically suggests poor diet choices; in your 30s breakouts can be a part of the pregnancy hormonal rollercoaster or high levels of career stress; and in your 40s it all comes back to declining estrogen production.
Location. Where exactly it is that you get your acne - whether it’s on your back, your cheeks, your forehead, your chin - will tell you a whole lot about what’s going on inside your body. Each area is linked back to a bodily system, allowing you to pinpoint the flagging organs behind the breakout. Often the culprit is found to be hormonal imbalance, malnourished liver, or gut inflammation. The key is knowing where to start the curing process. “Face Mapping” is a hybrid of modern skincare expertise and Traditional Chinese Medicine ancient knowledge. Read on to learn more.
Timing. Noticing when you get acne is also a crucial tool for preventing breakouts. Is it before your period or when you’re ovulating? All acne is hormonal, but some is more integrally linked to our hormone cycle and can illustrate key imbalances.

I dig deeper on this topic and reveal the secrets to sussing out the causes of your acne and getting rid of breakouts for good in my acne webinar, Get Gorgeous Skin - Clear Acne Naturally! I’ll tell you about how different foods can be used in conjunction with “face mapping” knowledge to skillfully treat your skin issues. We'll also cover:

What causes your hormonal breakouts vs persistent adult onset acne
My 3 step skin clearing protocol
Foods to keep the youthful glow and collagen levels of your skin
The real deal on supplements and which ones are really needed

And to get you started before the webinar...

Here are my top three recommendations for healing acne:

Probiotics. Take a good quality Jarrow brand probiotic. Supporting your gut microbiome will help your skin microbiome to heal by reducing inflammation. For more about making friends with your microbiome read this.
Cod Liver Oil. It’s not a trendy supplement, but it works. Cod Liver Oil delivers the Vitamin A and D our skin needs to glow. It’s also packed with EPA and DHA essential fatty acids. Make sure you get the fermented kind of oil, because that retains twice the vitamins of processed oil. I swear by Green Pastures Royal Blue Ice Royal brand. **Top tip - capsules are easier to take than a spoonful of oil, because it tastes as bad as you might think!
Cortisol flush. A good clean stress hormone detox in the way of a burst of sweaty exercise (I like jumping on a mini trampoline in my living room!) or even a really good orgasm will give you a dewy glow and help to banish stress related and hormonal acne.

I want to hear from you!

First, do you get acne?Second, will you try my top three recommendations? How do they work for you? Third, You know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social! ?

Need more Hormone Help?

Are You Trying To Conceive?

If you want to do everything in your power to improve your chances of becoming a mom—then I want to help you optimize your fertility!This is so very near and dear to my heart because had I not gotten back into my FLO with all the hormonal challenges I faced, I know for certain I would not be the new mom that I am today.When I was 20, I was told I would never be able to have children naturally, and not even with the aid of something like IVF. I felt a deep sense of despair… but then my body told me loud and clear that there was another way. How could it be that my only hope was to be on medications, and that they would simply mask my symptoms, but never solve my conditions?Fortunately, I didn’t settle for the prognosis given to me. I took my health and self-care into my own hands and discovered how to solve the root of my issues. And at age 37, at “advanced maternal age”, I got pregnant at home after just 3 tries!Over the past 14 years with FLO Living I have helped so many women become mothers, and it has been a great joy to support these women and watch their babies grow up on Facebook. I feel like an extended part of the family and it’s a privilege to facilitate a woman accessing her creative expression of love in this way. I want to help you now improve your chances of conceiving too!I will guide you to optimize your Fertile FLO to help with conception, whether you choose to use IVF or conceive without medical intervention. This is a program for any woman who wants to conceive - women with PCOS, Fibroids, Endometriosis, idiopathic infertility, up to the age of 42, for women who have been trying for months, or years, and for women who have been trying IVF. This program will even address your husband’s potential suboptimal fertility.The research is in, what you eat determines how fertile you are. You can do so much to improve your fertility naturally and I want to show you exactly how.Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, or have already tried naturally or have been trying with IVF, our Fertile FLO Program will help improve your chances of conception.Click here to learn more and download my FREE guide, The 5 Health Foods to Avoid to Get and Stay Pregnant.To your fertile FLO,Alisa

Photo credit: Lola Melani Photography - Alisa at 8 months

How to choose a multivitamin

I don’t blame you for feeling confused about supplements. With all the news headlines telling us we should be wary of big box brands, false claims, and lack of regulation in the supplement industry - it’s made a lot of people worry that buying supplements is, literally, like throwing money down the toilet. Even when I decided I wanted to get pregnant and started looking for a good prenatal multivitamin, it took me ages to find one that I knew would be both effective and safe. I looked at every single brand out there, before settling on the 3 - just 3 out of the hundreds of choices - that I liked and would happily take! I can appreciate how confusing and frustrating it is to figure this out.Those 3 prenatal supplement brands I like? Vitanica, New Chapter, and Innate. As well as avoiding fillers, these brands are low dose. Not many people realize that a too high intake of certain vitamins can actually be contraindicated for a developing baby.I read so many of your comments on the blog about this very subject - Which ones are good to take? How do I choose? How do I know if I need a multivitamin? So thanks to your questions, today I’ll be sharing the myths versus the facts. I’m going to break this down for you so that you don’t have to feel baffled by the shelves upon shelves of supplements in the health food store aisles or even better, so you feel like I’m right there with you in the store to shop!

Multivitamins - the myths versus the facts

Myth: A multivitamin can save you from an otherwise unhealthy diet.Fact: Supplements will not work right if you do not have a healthy internal ecosystem. Sadly, your body just won’t absorb the vitamins. First of all, the vitamins in multivitamins are less bioavailable than the nutrients we extract from food. So you’ll never absorb 100% of what’s in a supplement even if you’re perfectly healthy. But if your diet isn’t fostering a healthy gut environment, what you’ll absorb will be dramatically less. A great example of this can be seen in probiotics. Research shows that unless you eat a diet rich in prebiotics, then as soon as you stop taking your probiotic, those good bacteria will vacate an otherwise hostile area - your gut! If you feel like the supplements you’re trying aren’t helping you much, then you’re not imagining that to be the case. Your body can’t use them efficiently for the very support you want to incorporate them for.Myth: You can fix your symptoms by taking the right supplement.Fact: No one supplement will solve your PMS, PCOS, fibroids, infertility or acne. Just as the Pill doesn’t fix these issues, no other kind of pill will do it alone either. You CAN however use supplements to help address the underlying causes of these conditions. For example, if you have PCOS, or ovulation issues, you can use a cinnamon supplement along with dietary changes to improve your insulin response and that will help restore your ovulation. You see - you can’t take a pill to fix ovulation, but you can use a supplement with blood sugar balancing meals to help your body restore this process.Myth: All supplements are the same, so it’s fine if you go with the least expensive brand.Fact: Wrong - brands really matter. Recent studies exposed that big box store brands don’t contain what they claim and are packed full of fillers. Not only that - you also need to be vigilant about the ingredients in supplements from smaller, healthier-seeming brands too. Many of these are also packed with fillers including corn, gluten and dairy sources, stearates, GMOs and soy! Take a long look at the “other ingredients” on the label. You also should be aware of where the supplements are manufactured. Currently, there is no FDA regulation of supplements in the US and there is definitely also none anywhere else. You want to look for manufacturers that do their own testing and quality regulation. I have spent the past 15 years researching and trying different supplements. I am highly selective about which brands I use.Myth: The more ‘stuff’ in your multivitamin, the better.Fact: A basic multivitamin should have the RDA of all the vitamins and some minerals that you need. However, many brands also add other ingredients to make their multivitamin stand out, look healthier, or look like its worth more of your money - ingredients such as herbs, algae, grasses, powdered fruits and vegetables, and sprouted grains. In theory, this seem like a great mix of healthful elements, but in practice these additional ingredients can actually work against you. You may have sensitivity to some of these ingredients. In addition, not all ingredients interact well with each other or with other medications you might be taking. Herbs can be as powerful as pharmaceuticals and should only be used medicinally for a short period of time to treat a certain problem and not taken every day routinely. Phytoestrogenic ingredients like pomegranate seed extract can worsen a problem like endometriosis. Those with food sensitivities will find grains and grasses bring on symptoms. With many multivitamin brands you’re actually getting more than your needed RDA of some of the vitamins. That might not seem like an issue, but too much B12 can actually increase anxiety for example. Blood pressure can be raised by licorice extract. And, anyway, any surplus vitamins that your body cannot use will excreted through the urine regardless.

Should You Take Multivitamins Or Individual Supplements?

I think individual supplements when used for a specific reason to help boost low micronutrient levels and to help with a hormonal imbalance are essential. I hope I’ve made clear however, that you have to absolutely be using food to help get you all the way to your desired health goals. As far as the question about multivitamins goes, I never took one until I was pregnant personally. I instead prefer to use individual supplements to help with the function of my endocrine system. If you’d like to see what supplements I recommend for specific hormonal support - check out the supplement guide I created here!Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

Need more Hormone Help?

Is Soy Safe For Your Period and Fertility?

Is soy safe? We've been led to believe that soy is a great health food - it's touted as being a great source of protein and calcium and low on calories. If someone is avoiding dairy, they might turn to soy milk, soy cheese, or soy-based meat alternatives and tofu to ease the transition. However, soy, or the most commonly consumed form of processed soy, is not healthy.

I’m so passionate about this subject that they built me a giant soybean to take apart on Dr. Oz! If you want to watch me and Dr. Oz discuss the soy situation - click here. You can also read about it here!

For some of the women, the amount of processed soy they’ve been eating has shown itself to be very harmful to their hormonal balance. Women with estrogen-dominant conditions such as PCOS, fibroids, ovarian cysts, infertility, and low libido are particularly sensitive to the effects of processed soy.

‍

‍The soy you can eat

‍Let's be clear - whole, organic, fermented soy is very good for you in small amounts - that’s miso, natto, tempeh, and soy sauce. Women living in Asian cultures who appear to have improved health and longevity only consume, on average, 2 teaspoons of fermented soy per day. It’s usually in the form of a condiment or a side dish - never the main meal. Fermented soy is really good for cancer-prevention and hormonal symptom reduction, but go easy on it.

‍What is “processed” soy?

‍Processed soy is actually something called soy protein isolate. This improves the texture of foods, increases moisture and it ups the protein level, which is what many people are looking for in these products. But to get this effect, they must strip away everything that makes soy good - the omega-3s, the fiber and the healthy carbohydrates. This soy protein isolate is added to foods in huge amounts.

‍How is it harmful?

‍Soy products contain high levels of phytoestrogens that actually mimic the body’s natural estrogen hormones. If your body is already struggling to break down what you have - and this is showing itself in estrogen-dominant conditions like the above - then processed soy will only add to the problem.

If a soy-based product is also GMO, then research shows this can be endocrine disruptive and can interfere with the fertility of both women and men. A 2009 Brazilian study exposed female rats to soy for 15 months and these rats showed significant changes in their uterine health and reproductive cycle. Second, they can inhibit thyroid function due to their high levels of goitrogens and the isoflavone genistein, which can be antagonistic to thyroid hormone.

‍Stepping away from bad soy

‍If you’ve felt reliant on soy for protein as someone who is vegan/vegetarian/lactose intolerant, be that in soy milk, soy ice cream, soy yogurt, soy cheese, soy protein powders et al, don’t worry as I’ve already outlined all the best sources of protein for you in this post. You can learn more about other fantastic sacha inchi, hemp and pea proteins.

If soy has been your dairy substitute, I want you to read up here on how you are right to give up dairy, but consider the alternative calcium sources I recommend instead.

‍Syncing good soy with your cycle

‍In the Flo Living protocol, you will see there’s little mention of soy products at all - that’s partly because we do not recommend a heavy reliance on any kind of processed foods and it’s also because just a small amount of fermented soy is enough.

During your menstrual phase is the time to indulge in miso, tamari, and black soybeans, as your body will best benefit from the nutrients and phytoestrogens.

‍The hidden source of soy you’ve never heard about

‍Supplements! Some popular brands of supplements contain soy in the form of soybean oil. Be sure to check the labelling on any supplements you buy. The good, reputable companies should provide clear dairy, gluten, and soy-free labelling on their products. It’s the last place you might think to find this, but consider how much you will be taking in if you take several supplements per day, every day. It adds up!

Many, many processed foods also contain soy. You’ll need to look out for these words and phrases as well as any other use of the word “soy” - texturized vegetable protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, soy lecithin, soy protein concentrate, and, as mentioned above, soy protein isolate.

‍How soy harms your family

‍For men and children, processed soy is even more harmful. As I’ve discussed in my previous post about low libido, the phytoestrogens build up very quickly in men and have a strong, rapid impact.

You should never, ever give your baby or child soy milk or any processed soy products. We are seeing that more and more young girls are experiencing early onset puberty - breast development, pubic hair development - some as young as 5 or 6 years old. Our dependence on processed soy might be one of the causes. The Breast Cancer Fund funded a study by Sandra Steingraber titled ‘The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls,’ that showed that 50% of white girls begin to develop breasts before they are ten, and 14% before they are eight. African American girls start even earlier than that. A documentary released last year, Little Big Girls, explores how we can best deal with this phenomenon.

Do you have this bacteria? Hormones and the Microbiome

Hormones and the Microbiome

Turns out a certain set of gut bacteria and more specifically certain bacterial genes, called the estrobolome, produce an essential enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen. Your gut therefore is part of the elimination system that is vital in ushering hormones out of the body. This process, when working efficiently, plays an essential role in perfect hormonal balance. And of course, you’ve got to feed the internal ecosystem in the way that promotes the growth of these good bacteria that are there to help take care of you!

Meet your microbiome

This population of friendly bacteria or “gut flora,” as it’s also known, makes up your microbiome. Your microbiome is a main player in regulating your hormones, especially your estrogen levels. Estrogen-dominance as a result of a poorly functioning microbiome leads to every hormonal imbalance symptom or sickness you can think of - infertility, PMS, low libido, cramps and heavy bleeding, and PCOS. Plus, it can make you far more susceptible to estrogen-led cancers like breast cancer.Approximately 5lbs of bacteria lives inside of you and the quality of their eco-system - the healthiness of the microbial life plus the diversity - governs your health in so many ways. A poor internal ecosystem caused by bad diet, exposure to chemicals and stress, will suppress the good bacteria, promote the bad bacteria, and will lead to a toxic build up of hormones as well as other signs of systemic inflammation.Research shows us that addressing the microbiome holistically is the only way to get your immune system, digestive system and endocrine system working smoothly. Check out Missing Microbes by Dr. Martin Blaser to learn more.How do I know if I have a microbiome imbalance or ‘Dysbiosis’ ??Dysbiosis is a microbiome or gut flora imbalance. These are the first obvious symptoms and signs you will see if this is something that you suffer from badly:

Bloating and gas
Acne
Funky pooping
Foggy headedness and headaches
Frequent illness - from colds to yeast infections
Difficulties losing weight

That’s right - dysbiosis can lead to stalled weight loss. Gut flora is linked to your appetite, digestion and how easily you feel full and satisfied (aka satiation). Studies have shown that obese people have a less healthy and less diverse microbiome to those that are slimmer, and as people who are obese slim down, their gut flora changes. You need healthy gut flora to break down fats and sugars and get them in transit out of your body.

How to maintain a healthy microbiome for happier hormones

New research shows that unless we make a conscious effort, we in the Western world cannot maintain a healthy gut. The mainstream lifestyle works against our microbiome with what we generally eat and how we live. We have to decide to take control of our own health and make the right choices.There are Flo-fixes that will support healthy gut flora. Here are my Do's and Don'ts:Do's

DO get rid of the white stuff - that’s dairy, sugar and gluten by following the Flo Living protocol. Try out my free 4-Day Detox and see how much better you feel.

DO eat fermented foods rich in good bacteria like kimchi and sauerkraut - a couple of tablespoons a day will work wonders.

DO take a trusted probiotic supplement from a well-established company like Jarrow. Try their Stable-Dophilus formula as it doesn’t need refrigeration. Don’t waste your money or time on any big box store brands as there’s no regulation on the ingredients of their supplements.

The Pill Damages Your Microbiome as much As Antibiotics!Don'ts

DON’T ingest too many antibiotics. Avoid eating meat that contains antibiotics and avoid turning to antibiotics every time you have a cough or cold. Overuse will harm your estrobolome. As the antibiotics kill off the bad bacteria, they also kill off the good bacteria and it can be very difficult for the microbiome to bounce back from an aggressive course. More and more of us are becoming aware of the dangers of overuse of antibiotics as we see what happens when superbugs are created that are resistant to any kind of medical treatment. (Read more in Blaser’s book, which I mentioned above, Missing Microbes)

DON’T use the Pill. The Pill acts like an antibiotic in the gut, destroying the micro biome balance. If your doctor prescribes the Pill for PCOS particularly, you will find it will only worsen the problems of weight gain and insulin sensitivity, because of the impact on gut flora. Just recently new research linked Pill use to an increased risk of Crohn’s disease, a symptomatic disease of imbalance in the microbiome. Click here to read my guide to quitting the Pill. WomanCoders will have read that I don’t think it is an effective treatment for hormonal imbalance issues anyway and now we know for certain it will make your hormonal issues worse.

I want to hear from you

First, do you have any of the symptoms of dysbiosis? Second, will you implement any of my Dos and Donts? Tell me how it goes!Third, you know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social by clicking the buttons below

Need more Hormone Help?

Birth Control Statistics.http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/wha/wha_contrace_crs.htm
Our Bodies, Ourselves. http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/excerpt.asp?id=24
Allen, Kim, “The Pill,” IO.comhttp://www.io.com/~wwwomen/contraception/pill.html
“New study widens pill risk for cancers,” Reuters, 10 Aug 2005. http://en.epochtimes.com/news/5-8-10/31022.html
Women, Heart Disease, and Stroke.AmericanHeart.org.http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4786
Borenstein, Seth, “Estrogen can bend gender of male fish living in water contaminated by birth-control pill residue,” Knight Ridder Newspapers, 27 Jun 2003. http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/press/2003/2003-0627-KR-estrogenizedfish.htm

Sex & Libido

My secret to getting pregnant naturally that has nothing to do with your diet

I confess, even though I have helped thousands of women in 216 countries get pregnant, I was unsure about having kids myself. Now I don’t think that struggling with this choice is unique, but what I’ve learned in the process can help you get pregnant whenever you are ready to make the choice.You might remember that I was told I wouldn’t be able to have them naturally, if at all, due to my PCOS diagnosis back in the day. I told myself that I’d be happy either way, I’m sure, as a way to handle this prognosis even though I healed my PCOS and knew I was perfectly fertile.Beyond the physical, I grew up in an immigrant family, and so I saw all of my aunts and my own mother struggle with the limitations of motherhood on their personal development. I wanted to be happy, successful, and free, and I was confused on how motherhood fit in with my desires. I even got into a relationship with a man who never wanted to have children in my mid 20’s so I wouldn’t have to become attached to the idea of becoming a mother. Ironically, I ended up breaking things off with him, because I still wanted to have this be my choice when I was ready to make it.Fast forward, I met my amazing husband and I thought to myself, well, if I ever would take this leap, it would be with this man. That wasn’t enough though because you see, as a woman who had PCOS, my biological clock never ticked. This is a much more common phenomenon for women and very tricky to navigate - perhaps I’ll write more on that another time. But my estrogen wasn’t driving me to crave a baby the way it’s designed to do in most women. And I was getting to the age where it was time to make a decision.In a seemingly unconnected situation, I was invited to speak at Summit Outside in July 2013. It was taking place on a mountain in Utah at 9,000ft elevation, and we’d be living in a eco village constructed just for the long weekend and then removed so as not to damage the habitat there. I was going glamping - I had to buy all the gear, the hiking boots, a sun hat, some workable outfits - all to make sure I was prepared for hiking in 90 degree blazing sunny days and walking around in 40 degree chilly mountain nights.I’m going to admit, I was absolutely NOT sure this was a good idea, I’m a city girl, I never attended summer camp growing up, I wasn’t sure I could handle it. I was totally afraid of the new experience, excited though as I was to go.Over the years , I’ve learned that saying yes to opportunities where I feel equal measure of fear and excitement is absolutely the right thing for me and always turns out to be the most amazing experience that I’m so glad I did.This was one of those amazing experiences. Not just because it was an awesome event, full of entrepreneurial rockstars, and that I got to teach about cracking the cycle code to a field full of amazing men and women, but because it got me out in nature, in a kind of nature I hadn’t experienced before.And it was in that most magnificent mountain top setting, I found myself hiking the trail back to my tent in the middle of the night under a beautiful full moon and starlit night. On that quiet, peaceful walk, where everything I walked by was bathed in that moon and star shine, I totally dropped out of my head, and felt loud and clear in my cells that I was ready to become a mother. It was a beautiful moment, one that I’ll never be able to fully articulate, but as always in my life, my body was there to guide me on the next step of my adventure. Thank goodness, because my mind really has no idea where to go ever!As soon as I heard this guidance, my mind then had a target and knew what to do to prepare my body for conception. Luckily, I had already been eating in the FLO for 17 years, so there were only a few other things to add in to amp up my fertility on a functional level. But just like I had to get all the gear for the hiking trip, I realized there were a few things I needed to clear the way for me energetically to become a mother.This 3 step process of physically preparing the body, emotionally preparing the heart, and calling in the child is what I call Conscious Conception.It’s so powerful in helping women get pregnant because it addresses all the root causes of what takes your body out of alignment with what it is designed to do!For more on preparing the body physically - the right diet and detoxification for those trying to conceive check out my post on the 3 surprising foods for boosting your fertility, plus the 3 hidden fertility dangers, and the 2 tests to ask from your doctor.Tweetable: Conceive of yourself as a mother before you conceive.I know getting pregnant can be an emotional and stressful process. I work with women every day who have come to me at the end of their IVF rope, desperately wanting to have a baby naturally. I find women feel so much better when they are being proactive about their desire to conceive. We know our bodies are built to create, we just want don’t always know how to make that happen.So, exactly how does one clear the path for pregnancy? I’m now going to share this essential knowledge with you too!

Becoming a Conception Vessel

In this larger process of “conscious conception” - I want to focus in on here the energetic preparation and the steps you can take today that will support and enhance your fertility.If you know however, that you need to get out of hormonal chaos on the physical level then getting started with that YEARS before you think you want to conceive is a MUST. Take advantage of one of our programs.It’s all about living in partnership with your body, rather than seeing it as the enemy, or something to control or dominate. This is so important, as women trying to get pregnant can otherwise become very frustrated with their bodies for not doing as they expect. We may assume we can get pregnant right away, exactly when we decide we want to, and when that doesn’t happen, that’s when we feel let down by our body.Over many years of working with women wanting to conceive, I have discovered that opening up the channels of communication and feeling good about your body, both the inside and out, will go a long way towards getting it ready to grow your baby!I’m going to ask you a question. It’s not the kind of thing that will be brought up at your normal OB-GYN appointment.What are you willing to shift in your life in order to be in an ideal vessel for conception?Most of us think that all we will need is a pair of functioning ovaries and a the right partner. But for some women, it’s not that simple. We often have to prepare the way emotionally before their body is ready to conceive physically. For me, it was dismantling the belief that motherhood would be a limitation in my life.

My 3-step strategy for creating space for a baby

If you are able to focus your attention on dramatically improving your own self-care and nurturing yourself, then you will not only be practicing the very skills you will need as a mother, but you’ll also find trying to conceive loses much of its stress and worry.Step 1: Spring Clean your UterusYour uterus holds a lot of emotional ‘stuff’ for you. Listen, no one feels that motherhood is all roses and champagne. You might really feel conflicted about how motherhood, responsibilities, time constraints, financial realities, logistical realities all might force you to change dramatically your current lifestyle. You might have some mom baggage from your relationship with your own mother. You might have parents who divorced. There are a million reasons why you might be feeling on a deep level some fears about taking this leap into motherhood.It isn’t so much about understanding all the why’s of your fears. It’s more about identifying and acknowledging that you are afraid of the big changes ahead. Feeling this fear allows you to feel and gauge something else too - the level of your excitement. If it’s in the same measure as your fear, then taking the leap will be awesome. If the fear is greater, this absolutely will send powerful stress signals along you HPA axis and can compromise egg quality, ovulation, and fertility. You see, your thoughts, beliefs and feelings absolutely affect your hormones, after all the actual mind body connection is the endocrine system!Step 2: Baby Yourself - aka - Put Your Mom Jeans OnImagine your baby needs to sleep 3 times a day and get to bed super early at night. Would you want to facilitate that sleep schedule or would you let other things interrupt it? Of course you would fiercely mama-bear-style guard that nap schedule at the expense of other things because you know how vital it is for baby’s health and brain development.Long before you get ready to start trying for a baby, you need to begin to prioritize your self care in the same way. When faced with new opportunities, always ask, “Will doing this charge my battery or drain it?” What taxes your energy too much, will also tax your health and, ultimately, your fertility.Think about how you would live your life now if you did have a newborn baby. What responsibilities and duties would easily fall by the wayside? What would seem really insignificant after a baby that right now you’re putting so much energy into? This works as a wonderful way to shift your perspective. What are you doing in your life because you want to and what activities are you doing that overextend your energy and abilities? If you make this change your cortisol levels will stay balanced and your adrenals will keep healthy - both very important for your optimal fertility.Commit to make self-care a stronger part of your life. Making time for yourself, will help you stick with all of your fertility boosting diet too. It will allow you to make time to prepare a healthy meal, take a jog, or have a bath. Build self-care into your schedule and follow through with your plans as though it were any other kind of appointment in your calendar.Step 3: Be a Creative Force of NatureBaby or no baby, you’re already giving birth to things every day! We are designed to be fertile in all areas of our lives. Consciously identifying what you are creating in your life is a process I like to call cultivating a fertile mind-set. Think about what you birth in your relationships, your work, your hobbies, your creative projects and value those abilities and achievements. Respecting your creative talents will allow you to tap into your natural state of fertility and abundance and align your energy with the physical act of conception, pregnancy and birth.Visualize your reproductive organs glowing, healthy and happy while you meditate on the truth that you are a fertile vessel, fully designed to create.Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you

First, are you trying to conceive now? Are you thinking about becoming a mom in the future?Second, will you use my 3-step strategy? Share how it works for you!Third, you know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social by clicking the buttons below :)

Are You Trying to Conceive?

If you want to do everything in your power to improve your chances of becoming a mom—then we want to help you optimize your fertility.Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, or have already tried naturally or have been trying with IVF, our Fertile FLO Program will help improve your chances of conception.Click here to download my FREE guide, The 5 Health Foods to Avoid to Get and Stay Pregnant.

3 Secret Reasons Females Shouldn’t Drink Coffee

Learn the Side Effects of Coffee on Women

‍Plus our thoughts on the Bulletproof/Upgraded Coffee trend, How Women Need to Biohack their Energy Levels Differently than Men, and How to Heal from Caffeine Exposure

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In my early 20’s during a routine visit to the gynecologist, my doctor found a lump in my breast. She asked two other doctors to come in to examine it and the three of them were talking about it as if I wasn’t even there. My anxiety about potentially having something serious was mounting. I remember being totally terrified, actually.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, they decided that it was a fluid filled cyst, so of course I asked what might have caused that. My GYN then asked me if I had been drinking lots of caffeine recently – the answer was a huge yes - I had been staying up late studying for finals, and then it came out that caffeine increases the tendency of breast tissue to produce cysts.

I stopped taking in all forms of caffeine that day, and have been caffeine free for 20 years. The research that has come out since I made that choice has only made me more grateful that I listened to that early warning signal from my body. I wanted to share with you 3 little-known reasons you, as a woman, shouldn’t be drinking coffee or caffeine in general, especially if you have PMS, are trying to conceive, or have a diagnosed menstrual issue.

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‍Reason #1 - Caffeine Causes Cyst Formation in the Breasts and Ovaries

Coffee effects breasts and other systems in females. Caffeine can increase the development of benign breast disease. Did you know that? I certainly didn’t! I LOVED coffee, espresso bars, the ritual, lattes – I’m not gonna lie, the stuff is delicious!

After this scare, I began looking into caffeine and its effects on hormones. Turns out for women with PCOS, Fibroids, Endometriosis, Ovarian Cysts, and Fibrocystic breasts- caffeine is a guaranteed way to make more cysts. For everyone else with hormonal sensitivity, it might not cause cysts, but it will disrupt your system.

Sometimes it seems like coffee is our national drug of choice. We’re too often overworked, under-rested, plus poorly fed, and so coffee has become the crutch many of us use just to get through another busy day. A lot of people feel like coffee must be good for them in one way or another, and with all of the extraordinary marketing by big brands and continuously reported contradictory research, of course you would. The truth however is that we’re addicted and we don’t know the biochemical effects of this substance on our hormones.

Coffee is absolutely terrible when it comes to the female hormonal ecosystem and beyond this cyst formation situation, there are 3 other reasons it’s not good for us ladies. If you’re struggling with your period, fibroids, cysts of any kind in the breast or ovary, endometriosis, infertility, low sex drive, moodiness, low energy, and weight issues – coffee is making all of these problems much worse.

Reason #2 - Your Genes Determine If You Can Metabolize Caffeine Safely

‍Caffeine is broken down by the liver using the enzyme CYP1A2. Your ability to produce this enzyme is regulated by the CYP1A2 gene. If you have a mutation in this gene, it will dictate how your liver will be able to break down and eliminate caffeine from your system. Based on your gene variation, you’ll either make a lot of this enzyme (and be a successful caffeine drinker) or a little. Turns out only 10% of the population make a lot of this enzyme!

If you are a slow metabolizer, a 2006 study showed that you are at an elevated risk of suffering a heart attack from consuming 2 or more cups of coffee a day. With heart disease being the number 1 killer of women, it seems that every woman should be testing their genes before consuming this substance!

Here’s the other interesting thing about this, CYP1A2, is also involved by the liver in the metabolism of estrogen. So if you haven’t had your genetic testing done, but you struggle with PMS, a diagnosed estrogen-dominant condition like PCOS, Fibroids, Endometriosis, etc, then you have reason to suspect that you may have a mutation with this gene and are making less of this enzyme needed not only to break down caffeine but also estrogen.

In 2008, research was done to build on the earlier studies linking caffeine to breast tissue changes and showed some association with increased risk of breast cancer. Perhaps the variation in risk factors has something to do with this gene variation. If there’s a history of breast cancer in your family, then this is important information to consider. This is why getting off caffeine is such an important part of the FLO protocol - you’re here because you are struggling with the various ways estrogen dominance can present in the body and we want to remove all obstacles from the endocrine system so it can break that hormone down more efficiently.

Reason #3 – Caffeine Increases Infertility Rates!

It’s alarming how significant an impact this has on fertility for both men and women, and yet it’s rarely ever mentioned as a dietary change required when pursuing conception by any means, natural or medically supported. Not all females are focused on fertility, but if you are, here are the research links to help you understand more how coffee can impact fertility:

3 cups of coffee a day consumed by women or men increases the risk of miscarriage dramatically – by 74%
Caffeine is associated with sub-optimal or suppressed fertility and, therefore, difficulties conceiving
Drinking caffeinated beverages during early pregnancy (before you may know that you’re pregnant) increases the risk of early pregnancy loss
Caffeine is considered an impairment to fertility alongside alcohol and smoking
Men who drink 2 of more cups of coffee a day had a lower chance of conception via IVF
Coffee disrupts ovulation by increasing cortisol levels and stressing the adrenals
Coffee depletes vital vitamins and minerals needed for ovulation and healthy fertility (including absolutely necessary B vitamins and folate) and coffee’s acidity causes gut health problems

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One more Reason – Caffeine depletes the body of micronutrients essential for hormone balance

‍We all know not to drink coffee when we’re pregnant or breastfeeding, but the fact of the matter is – at every stage it is bad news for your hormones. Coffee flushes magnesium and other nutrients and minerals that are vital for happy hormones, such as B vitamins from your system. Here’s more from me on why magnesium is so very important for your ovaries.

The acidity of coffee also causes an imbalance in your gut flora and makes it harder for you to absorb the goodness of even the healthiest of diets. This makes it harder for your endocrine system to do its job of balancing your hormones. Taking supplements is key when recovering from caffeine exposure - these are the optimal supplements you need to replenish your levels.

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The Bulletproof Coffee Dilemma and Biohacking Your Energy as a Woman

You've no doubt heard of Dave Asprey and his work with Bulletproof Coffee. Coffee is an essential biohacking tool for men who experience profound daily energy dips, particularly as they run out of their testosterone and cortisol supply for the day. You however, as a woman, do not have that issue, and do not need to compensate for your energy in this way.

In a male-centric health paradigm, boosting their energy with caffeine makes sense for their bodies and the lifestyle that is patterned after their hormones. In the female-centric health paradigm, you want to boost your energy by supporting your blood sugar and your adrenals to give you sustainable energy all throughout the day, as your estrogen and progesterone, testosterone, and insulin fluctuate throughout the month. Eliminating coffee and Cycle Syncing® your diet is the best way to bio-hack your way to more energy.

For example, men are not designed to hold nutrients for as long as women are. Women are brilliantly designed to conserve as much energy from whatever we’re taking in so we can grown other tiny humans in our uterus. Whether you are actively doing this or not, your body simply retains fluids for much longer and we metabolize the chemicals contained much more slowly.

If you do choose to consume it, and you have the genes to metabolize it, then absolutely add healthy fats to the coffee – especially coconut oil – to help your blood sugar cope with the caffeine.

The coffee detox – my 5-step guide to making the transition

If you want to wean yourself off of coffee, you need to first ask yourself this question – why do I drink it? If it’s because you truly love the taste, I have a 5 step strategy for you to keep the habit under control and make it less harmful to your hormones. If you like coffee because it keeps you awake and gives you energy, well I have a 5 step strategy for you too to heal your fatigue and boost your energy.

‍Scenario 1: OK, I get that it’s bad for me, but I’m never going to cut it out completely. What can I do to minimize the damage?

‍So, for those of you who just love the taste and do not rely on it to feel awake in the morning or to concentrate or to get through the day (be honest!) here’s how to minimize those bad effects:

Ditch the White Stuff – Lose the sugar and the cream and minimize the blood sugar impact. Try opting for no or low-glycemic sweetener and coconut milk instead.
Size Matters – Take the European approach to coffee drinking. Drink a small cup of fresh espresso, rather than a giant cup from Starbucks.
Only with Food – Again, the Europeans have this right. Drink your small cup of coffee after or during a full meal. If you enjoy the taste, you should be savoring it – not gulping it down on the run or as you dash to the office.
Replenish your Nutrient levels - take the FLO Balance Supplements to ensure you rebuild your lost magnesium and B vitamins & help your gut and your liver deal with the caffeine exposure.
Begin Cycle Syncing® to decrease cravings - when you eat, exercise, and work in a way that supports your fluctuating hormones, you build energy daily, instead of working against your hormones and leaving yourself drained. You’ll naturally crave less coffee! Download the MyFLO app for the ultimate Cycle Syncing® guide.

Scenario 2: Ok, I now see that this is probably making my symptoms worse and I want to stop, but the withdrawal is bad. What can I do to wean off of it for good?

For those of you who find yourselves groggy and tired even after what seems like a full night’s sleep, you might well be suffering with adrenal fatigue. Rather than jacking up your energy levels artificially, you need to think about healing your adrenal glands. Here’s how to start that process:

Calorie Load for Breakfast – Eat a really good, big breakfast every day. Have a two egg omelette with spinach plus gluten-free bread and avocado. Make it the central meal of your day. This is eating with the natural biorhythm of your body. Your body needs fuel early rather than in the evening when it’s preparing for rest.
Boost Your Adrenal Support – Support your need for mental focus with ginkgo biloba and rhodiola. For natural and sustainable energy take ashwagandha, vitamin B12 and vitamin B5. To reduce stress and calm your cortisol, drink holy basil tea.
My Ultimate Substitute – Swap coffee for kukicha or “twig” tea, which is made from the roasted stem which green tea leaves are plucked from. It has a nutty taste and is perfect any time of the day. It’s also alkalizing for the blood versus an acid-forming cup of coffee. I am a tea collector, and I know that most herbal tea over time just tastes like hot potpourri. But kukicha tea is in a non-floral, non-herbaceous class by itself – you will LOVE it (and want to keep it in your bag at all times!)
Replenish your Nutrient levels - take the FLO Balance Supplements to ensure you rebuild your lost magnesium and B vitamins and help your adrenals, gut and your liver heal from the long term caffeine exposure.
Begin Cycle Syncing® to build energy - when you eat, exercise, and work in a way that supports your fluctuating hormones, you build energy daily, instead of working against your hormones and leave yourself drained. Download the MyFLO app for the ultimate Cycle Syncing® guide.

What is the difference in the impact of coffee for women?

The 4 Ways Dairy Is Hurting Your Hormones

One of the pillars of the Flo Living lifestyle is eliminating dairy. The truth is that dairy is bad for our hormones - it is a root cause of PMS, PCOS, acne, endometriosis, and infertility issues. We don’t need it and we can get all of the nutrients - including calcium - perfectly well from other foods. Getting rid of dairy will only have a positive impact on your overall health. Trust me!

My dairy-free journey‍

I have been dairy free for 17 years and being strict about this was absolutely essential for me to reverse my PCOS symptoms, clear my skin, and get pregnant with my daughter. I’ve never missed or craved dairy ever, but interestingly enough when I was pregnant, my body told me that I needed to introduce some dairy back into my diet. I always listen to my body, and so I very carefully experimented with adding in some dairy.

I have to be honest, I was pretty scared to try adding this back in given how severe my reaction used to be to dairy - my skin would break out in hives and my stomach would be miserable for days. I knew that the only healthy way I could do this, however, was to choose plain goat milk-based yogurt. So, three times a week I would eat a little bit of that goat yogurt and my body thanked me for it - not one negative symptom.

Now however, as I continue with this protocol while I am breast-feeding, I’m finding that I’m starting to show clear signs of my body’s sensitivity to dairy once again - the congestion, the running nose, the sneezing. This has showed me that although I am able to use dairy medicinally short-term, soon it will be time for me to stop and go dairy-free again. And I won’t be giving cow dairy to my daughter - why set her up for hormonal chaos if I don’t have to? She’ll get goat-milk kefir which also packs a probiotic punch when the time comes.

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The dangers of dairy

The moral of my story is: if you feel the need to have dairy - always go with goat! The majority of dairy cows in the US are injected with a genetically modified growth hormone that causes them to produce more milk than they would naturally. So when you eat or drink this milk, you too are consuming the artificial hormones. The majority of cows are also treated with antibiotics, which your body will then absorb. Plus, they’re fed GMO corn or soy. All three parts of this process combine in your body to wreck your hormonal ecosystem.

‍4 ways dairy is hurting your hormones:

Dairy creates inflammation in the intestinal tract which can hinder your fertility.
Dairy can throw off your body’s own estrogen production by introducing artificial growth hormones.
Dairy containing antibiotics will negatively impact your microbiome, thereby preventing estrogen metabolism.
Dairy depletes your magnesium stores, which throws off your pituitary gland and the rest of the adrenal glands.

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The calcium paradox

‍I suggest you pick up a copy of Annemarie Colbin’s, Food and our Bones: The Natural Way To Prevent Osteoporosis - her work completely undermines the mythology around dairy which we’ve all grown up with. Rather than helping us to form strong bones, dairy actually leaches calcium out of our bones, making us more susceptible to osteoporosis. Cobin does not recommend calcium supplements or pills, but instead a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and greens. Cobin discovered it was those women living in dairy-dominant cultures such as the US and northern Europe that actually had the highest incidences of osteoporosis, as well as heart disease and breast cancer.

We’ve long been told milk is keeping us healthy and strong, when it’s actually doing the opposite. Studies also show that taking calcium supplements will not save us from bone fractures in our old age. In fact, too much calcium supplementation in pill form can lead to kidney stones and, potentially, a higher risk of heart disease.‍

‍The 10 best (and surprising!) sources of calcium

If you’ve been relying on dairy, then you’ve not been getting enough calcium. Here are foods to fill your plate with that are packed with calcium and other beneficial nutrient combinations.

Sardines (with the bones) - Click here for my personal recipe!
Dried figs
Bok choy
Kale
Almonds
Oranges
Sesame seeds
Oatmeal
Seaweed
Collard greens

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Tips to help eliminate dairy‍

Hopefully all of this information has helped you decide to go dairy-free! If you’ve been eating a dairy rich diet for some time, there are 3 steps you can take to speed up the elimination process and get your hormones back on track.

Step 1 - Do my 4-Day Hormone Detox - it’s free!

Step 2 - Add 2 tsp of organic flax meal daily - to scrape out (gently) all that casein that has been accumulating in your intestinal tract and causing inflammation.

Step 3 - Use warming spices like cinnamon, turmeric and cayenne pepper daily - to dry out the mucus that dairy produces in the body.

How going dairy-free reversed my PCOS symptoms, cleared my skin, and got me pregnant. 🚫🐮

The Nutrient Deficiency That No One Has Heard Of, But Almost Everyone Has

Of all the nutrient deficiencies we read about on a regular basis - vitamin D and Omega-3 spring to mind - there’s one we rarely consider that is vitally important for our hormonal health, and that the majority of women reading this post right now will be suffering from - and that’s magnesium deficiency.

That’s right, most women do not take in enough magnesium and that lack is the root of many, many health issues.

Magnesium governs our pituitary health, and without it we produce less of the hormones like FSH (follicular stimulating) LH (luteinizing) and TSH (thyroid stimulating). These hormones signal other glands in your endocrine system to perform at their best. Low levels of those foundational hormones can cause irregular ovulation and thyroid function issues, which can be at the root of your bigger hormonal conditions.‍

Magnesium: the Flo-essential mineral

Boosting your magnesium levels can help heal PMS, PCOS, adrenal fatigue, menopausal symptoms, and all other hormone-cycle related health problems. The great news is that once your magnesium levels are sufficient, the positive changes happen fast. It’s really the wonder mineral for your hormonal health, and maintaining a good daily intake should always be at the forefront of your mind. Without magnesium, even your best efforts in other areas of your diet will fall short.

‍The science of magnesium

‍I want to share with you some of the amazing ways that magnesium supports your hormonal balance and overall health. This mineral really is one of the pillars of living life in your Flo. In fact, it is essential to succeeding in the first two steps of our Flo Living protocol - stabilizing your blood sugar and nurturing your adrenals. Magnesium plays an important role in approximately 300 bodily processes. Here are just a few of the ways it works for you:

Cortisol regulation - magnesium calms your nervous system and prevents the creation of excess cortisol, the stress hormone. When your stress hormone system is in balance, your levels of progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, FSH and LH will follow suit.
Blood sugar balancing - magnesium helps to control insulin production and as a result reduces sugar cravings, thereby preventing blood sugar spikes. This is absolutely vital when it comes to healing hormonal issues like PCOS.
Thyroid support - magnesium helps the production of the thyroid hormone and, as an anti-inflammatory, prevents thyroid disease.
Sleep aid - magnesium will make sure you get to sleep and stay asleep through the night. It also prevents the chronic urination that can be a sleep interruption.
Hormone creation - magnesium actually makes your hormones progesterone, estrogen and testosterone, so if you’re getting into perimenopause or are just off the Pill and your levels are low, it can be your best friend.

Signs of Flo-blocking magnesium deficiency

‍Although most of us do have a deficiency, and we should assume that we do, I want to share some of the cycle-related signs that you need to increase your magnesium right away.

1. Very noticeable symptoms of PMS such as depression or anxiety

2. Bloating (See myYahoo Health Article about Bloating here)

3. Fatigue and insomnia (I discuss this health issue in more detail here)

4. Muscle cramps or facial tics

5. Headaches or migraines

6. A lack of magnesium is also one of the culprits behind chronically low sex drive - click here for my tips on how to combat this problem specifically with this mineral and other supplements

‍The 4 best foods for boosting your magnesium levels

‍So, what might be some easy and highly effective ways to start upping your magnesium levels today? Well, I’m here to tell you!

Chocolate - good quality organic dark chocolate with low or, even better, no dairy or sugar is a powerful and yummy source of this mineral. Click here for my tips on using chocolate to combat PMS cravings and to get a great recipe for Chocolate Buckwheat Pancakes!
Sunflower seeds - these pack a punch of magnesium in a small serving along with a bunch of other essentials like vitamin B and E. Snack on a handful, add to salads, or add as a soup topping.
Fish - make at least one dinner a week fish-based. All of the fish I recommend to eat throughout your cycle on the Flo Living eating plan are high in this mineral, but especially salmon, halibut and cod.
Leafy greens - try to fit a portion of collard greens, spinach, kale or swiss chard into every meal. You can keep it very simple - just add to your rice, beans or scrambled eggs or have a steamed plate with olive oil on the side.

The best way to supplement

‍That all said, some people have trouble absorbing enough magnesium through foods alone due to gut health issues and, sadly, many of our foods now lack in this natural mineral because the soil itself in which they are grown has been depleted and drained of nutrients. Therefore, it’s also important to consider a more direct approach to supplementation. Here are a couple of ways you can tackle this:

Epsom salt baths - studies have shown that a good soak in a warm bath with epsom salts increases the body’s levels of magnesium safely and effectively. Add two cups worth to a bath taken two to three times a week. This will also decrease your stress levels, which is also important for maintaining magnesium.
Transdermal supplement - I recommend Ancient Minerals topical magnesium oil, which can be applied to the skin or added to a bath. How about getting your partner to give you a magnesium oil massage? Relaxing and beneficial to your hormonal health!

Magnesium-depleting lifestyle choices

‍There are also some lifestyle changes that can have an immediate impact on your magnesium levels. The following behaviors actually deplete your resources of magnesium or block absorption of the mineral, so even if you’re actively supplementing, you also need to be conscious of your day to day choices.

Drinking carbonated beverages - the phosphoric acid that makes these drinks tangy actually depletes magnesium and blocks your body from absorbing the magnesium you are trying to take in.
Eating sugar - sugar requires magnesium to be processed in the body, so every time you eat sugar in something sweet your body is wasting vital magnesium.
Caffeine - studies have shown that caffeinated drinks force your body to excrete vital minerals including magnesium.
Dehydration - when you’re working out intensely, make sure you are also drinking a lot of water. And of course drinking soda, coffee or alcohol all produce a dehydrating effect along with all the other ways they're bad for your hormones!
Stress - both psychological and physical forms of stress, which means anxiety, but also surgery or illness - depletes magnesium. Depleted magnesium causes a heightened stress response. So if you’re under pressure, be sure to take at least ten minutes out of each day to sit still, meditate or just rest.

The 4 best sources of protein for your hormones and the 3 worst ones to avoid!

We need protein to make the amino acids that manufacture our hormones. Without protein women can’t be hormonally healthy.However, so many of the new and popular diets are either extremely protein-heavy or they ignore protein altogether. We do need protein, just not as much as you might think.A lack of protein causes us to age prematurely, both in how we look and feel and in terms of our biological age - our eggs and fertility.Different bodies need different kinds of protein and at different times of the cycle. You have to experiment to find your perfect protein prescription.The vegan dilemmaMy friend, Alex Jamieson, author of the new book Women, Food and Desirewas vegan for 13 years before she realized that, for her personally, avoiding meat and animal products entirely was doing harm to her health. Her book is all about how listening to your body can lead you to feeling great. Alex found her hormonal health issues were down to a lack of protein and her body told her to remedy this by eating meat again. She did, and she felt much better for it.If I could be vegan, personally, I would for ethical reasons. But my body just can’t absorb the amino acids in vegan protein sources very well. This is true for a lot of us. If you do choose to be vegan for ethical reasons, I totally get it. However, you shouldn’t do it to try to lose weight. There are plenty of understandable ethical reasons to be vegan that I respect and it is certainly possible to find non-animal sources of protein to fill this gap (more later!) if that’s the lifestyle you choose. However, if you have been trying to be vegan as a health experiment, excellent - you just may need to keep experimenting with protein until you find the combination that makes you look and feel amazing, vital, and gorgeous!Finding your perfect protein prescription - it’s about your hormones not dietary theories!I have tried everything! I’ve tried being vegan, raw, and I’ve also tried just eating eggs, only cutting out red meat, and eating only fish. I experimented for a long time with proteins before finding a way of eating that worked. I played around with the protein in my diet to find a good match. The thing is, different bodies absorb protein differently. But more importantly, it was my cycle that led me to understand finally how to balance the protein equation once and for all! You see, we women need to eat protein in different types and quantities at different times of the month!Women come to FLOliving.com after having tried being all sorts of the big diet theories for their PCOS, PMS, Fibroids, and Infertility. Often times they report that they may initially feel good, but then their symptoms come back and they don’t understand what they’re doing wrong.Let’s look at some common diet configurations and their protein guidelines and my personal experience with them:Ketosis Diets - high in protein, low in carbs, moderate in fats - my experience is that this feels great at first - because you feel like you’re doing the perfect ‘proper’ diet plan - and you get excited to lose weight, but then when your hormones shift mid cycle - it’s impossible to fight your carb cravings and major falling off the wagon, binge carbing ensues.Paleo - high in protein, high fat, no grains, emphasis on carb substitutes like coconut flour breads, etc - has so many great elements - eating all whole, real food - love all the gluten free baking options! Super high calorie, and all the fat and protein becomes challenging to break down in parts of the cycle where estrogen is peaking.Vegan/Macrobiotic - high grain, low protein, moderate fats, high legumes. Great for cleaning up house internally - decreasing inflammation all around. But the glycemic impact and lack of amino acids can be problematic for hormonal conditions.Fundamentally, what’s wrong here is that none of these diets fluctuate based on your hormonal patterns. You see, you’re supposed to eat their way daily without any regard for the fact that you have different nutritional, digestive, micronutrient, and hormonal needs each week of the month.FLO Diet - vegan, fish, egg proteins first half of month, poultry, bison, lamb second half of the month - based on what your body needs, when it needs it! Pause for collective sigh of relief by dieting women and their ovaries everywhere! ;)When it comes to protein, the best way that I have found is to base it on where you are in the cycle. So you get the best of all of the diet configurations but you keep your hormones at the center of your food choices.Random Fun Fact:I’m completely obsessed with wartime England and their national food program. It was developed because people got so sick left on their own during the first world war that the government wanted to ensure a healthier population and workforce for the second. They were meticulous in their research on the most appropriate balance of nutrition for everyone. During World War II, as I’m sure you know, food was rationed within the UK. The people who ate this limited diet ended up being the healthiest population to ever live in the country. That generation went on the live far longer than previous and future generations.One of the cornerstones of this diet was the small amount of protein that was available on a weekly basis. The rations included just one real egg per week, but powdered egg every morning. There would be fish, some liver, and some tongue for animal protein. Then there were highly coveted, very limited good fats in good quality lard or butter. But the bulk of the rations were made up of barley, oats and whole wheat, root vegetables of all kinds, and hearty leafy greens. It was primarily a vegetarian diet. The following generation launched into processed food consumption and precipitously suffered greatly from a diet of processed food and increasing amounts of protein.The real deal with eggsAs outlined by Blue Zonesone of the common denominators between populations with longevity around the world is the consumption of eggs. People who live good long lives tend to be eating a good lot of eggs. That’s because eggs are the most easily assimilated bio-available protein source. This means they’re a great source of protein for every body!Watch this story of Ernestine Shepard, 77, the oldest female body builder and how many eggs she eats a day!Despite the myths we hear, eggs do not cause high cholesterol. It’s actually sugar that does that. The high quality fat in an egg actually protects you from heart health problems.A two whole egg omelette or scramble a couple of times per week will give you a sufficient amount of protein. Make sure to put that good protein to work. Excess consumption of protein does eventually convert into sugars - so make sure you exercise to get the most benefit from your protein.The three best vegan protein sourcesIf you are vegan, here are my three favorites:

Pea protein - this is a complete protein that provides all of the amino acids you need. Other plant proteins do not supply the complete set of amino acids. Pea protein can keep you feeling fuller for longer and give you a boost of energy for workouts.
Sacha Inchi - this plant grows in the Amazon rainforests in Peru and is rich in not only protein but also Omega-3 fatty acids (important if you don’t eat fish or eggs). Also known as the mountain peanut, it can be eaten as a snack or used in oil form on salads.
Hemp protein - another great source of amino acids and omegas and fiber!

What about RICE, WHEY, and SOY protein powder? I don’t recommend these ever as so many women are lactose intolerant estrogen dominant, and hypoglycemic and with these protein powder options that can make your symptoms worse.Good things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, what’s your favorite protein source? Which one didn’t work for you?Second, what are your favorite ways to eat eggs? Share your recipes with us! Third, you know every one you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social by clicking the buttons below

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