Hormone

One Hidden Hormone-Disrupting Ingredient to Avoid: on Hormones – A Women’s Wellness Summit

April 11, 2016 By Trudy Scott 12 Comments

It starts today so I’m just sending you a quick reminder about Hormones – A Women’s Wellness Summit. Join me, Bridgit Danner, LAc, and the 30+ health and wellness experts and educate yourself online and no cost from April 11-18.

(you can still register here https://qt247.isrefer.com/go/WWH16reg/trudyscottcn/)

Summit speakers cover the adrenals, low testosterone in women, PMS and missed periods, endometriosis, how to have gorgeous skin, fertility, pregnancy and post-partum, perimenopause, your hunger hormones, toxins in your food, bio-identical hormones, cell phone dangers and much much more.

Here is the speaker/topic line-up for today/day 1:

My interview is Balance Brain Chemistry to End Anxiety and airs on day 3. I talk about the importance of cholesterol and how to figure out how much of the amino acids you may need and how to do a trial. Dr. Jill Carnahan’s interview is also on day 3: What’s the Big Deal About Methylation? You can read snippets from our interviews here.

Here are a few snippets from Lara Adler’s informative interview (which airs on day 6): One Hidden Hormone-Disrupting Ingredient to Avoid

…there are a lot of chemicals that research is showing can have really dramatic impacts on our health. And not just women’s health issues and endocrine disruption, which we’ll get into, but everything from cancers and heart disease and metabolic diseases, as I mentioned earlier, to autism and learning disabilities, behavioral problems, infertility, thyroid problems. Basically, every single health struggle that people have, there is some connection to environmental toxins.

…unfortunately, the most common endocrine disruptor is in thousands and thousands of products. And that is disguised under the word fragrance. And so fragrance is a catch-all word. Like there’s anywhere between, I think, it’s up to…It’s either 300 or 3,000 ingredients that can make up the word fragrance.

So labeling laws don’t require companies to disclose what that fragrance ingredients are because it sometimes a trade secret.

…if you can smell a product, if it has a fragrance, then those are fragrance molecules that you are inhaling into your body.

And interestingly, inhalation is the fastest way for something to enter your bloodstream is through inhalation, aside from injection..This is why this is one of my first stops in having people make shifts – is let’s look at fragrance first.

Here are the other days 6 speakers/topics:

I hope you can join us online on Hormones: A Women’s Wellness Summit

You can register here: https://qt247.isrefer.com/go/WWH16reg/trudyscottcn/

PS. Please share with other women who may be looking for this type of information.

Food for Your Hormones + Brazil Nut Butter recipe

March 12, 2016 By Trudy Scott 6 Comments

In case you missed the email announcements, this is a quick reminder that this no-cost webinar is happening today (Saturday morning) at 10am PST!

If you haven’t registered yet, you can still register here:
https://xa202.isrefer.com/go/cfb1/trudys/

And if you have already signed up this is your friendly reminder and a new recipe for you! Enjoy!

Brazil Nut Butter Recipe – by Magdalena Wszelaki

brazilnut-butter

This nut butter can be generously spread on crackers, toast or used as a dip with chopped up vegetables (I used radishes here as they also support estrogen detoxification) or fruit (I had apples on hand). I recommend soaking the nuts to improve their digestibility. If you tolerate nuts and have no time to soak and dry them, skip the initial steps and go to the blending instructions. Allow yourself to be creative and play with other nuts and seeds (sunflower and pumpkin seed butter is wonderful too) as well as spices like cardamom, cloves or lavender.

brazilnut-butter-2

Serves: 25 servings (tablespoons)
Time to soak: 12 hours
Time to roast: 1 hour
Time to prepare: 15 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups organic Brazil nuts
¾ cup avocado oil
½ cup coconut butter
½ cup golden flax seed
⅓ cup maca root powder
1 tablespoon camu camu (buy on Amazon)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla essence or powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Place the nuts in a large bowl, cover with filtered water and let them soak overnight, or for 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200F, spread the nuts on a baking tray and slow-roast for about an hour or until they become slightly brown.

Cool off the nuts and place in a high-speed blender or food processor (I use Vitamix). Add all the remaining ingredients and blend on high for 3 to 4 minutes.

Transfer to an air-tight container and keep in the fridge for no longer than 2 weeks. You can also freeze the butter.

Magdalena shares why incorporating brazil nuts and this lovely nut butter into your diet may be beneficial. It’s all about selenium and thyroid health and she shares this….

If you have a thyroid condition, it is very likely (like 90% likely) that you have Hashimoto’s disease, which is the autoimmune version of hypothyroidism. Interestingly, in most cases of hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease, it’s not the thyroid that needs to be looked after but the immune system (since Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition). One way to know whether you have Hashimoto’s is to test for thyroid peroxidase antibodies (they also go by TPOab).

If the TPOab test result is high, an important mineral that can help bring down the TPO antibodies is selenium.

Selenium plays a key role in thyroid and autoimmune health because it protects thyroid cells from oxidative damage by forming selenoproteins. This extra protection helps to bring down the TPO antibodies. Selenium also acts as catalyst for converting the inactive T4 hormone to the biologically active T3 hormone.

The Brazil nut is the food that is highest in selenium. Three organic Brazil nuts per day will give you the daily recommended dose of 200mcg of selenium. You can incorporate them into your diet in a variety of ways. If you don’t tolerate nuts, you can take a selenium supplement.

I’d like to add that you can enjoy this nut butter even if you don’t have a thyroid problem. Selenium deficiency is pretty common and is often an issue with anxiety and depression.

So to recap (in case you missed the earlier notifications): Cooking for Balance will start with this no-cost live online workshop called How to Use Food to Rebalance Your Hormones today (at 10am PST, 1pm EST).

Cooking for Balance is an online cooking program created by my friend and colleague Magdalena Wszelaki, founder of Hormones Balance. You may remember our great interviews on last season of The Anxiety Summit! She was a hit, is a wealth of knowledge and very hands-on when it comes to food for hormone balancing! I really love what she offers (and her cute accent)!

Tune in to the no-cost webinar to learn a ton, have fun, get some great cooking ideas.

At the end of the webinar she’ll be sharing more about her next upcoming Cooking for Balance online cooking program that helps women rebalance their hormones with food, offering tailor-made nutritional protocols for women with thyroid issues, Hashimoto’s, adrenal fatigue, estrogen dominance, menopause and PCOS. This online program features 4 live classes, over 20+ done-for-you guides, 80+ recipes and 20+ demo videos. They focus on quick, simple yet nutritionally-dense cooking techniques that will help you feel like yourself again.

Registration page for the no-cost webinar is here:
https://xa202.isrefer.com/go/cfb1/trudys/

Food to Rebalance Your Hormones & Super Sprout Smoothie recipe

March 9, 2016 By Trudy Scott 3 Comments

In case you missed the newsletter announcements, this is a quick reminder that this no-cost webinar is happening on Saturday morning!

How to Use Food to Rebalance Your Hormones – online March 12th (at 10am PST, 1pm EST).

Cooking for Balance will start with this no-cost live online workshop on March 12th (at 10am PST, 1pm EST). Seats are limited and they get snapped up quickly.

Here is a sampling of what Magdalena is going to show you in the no-cost webinar:

Plus she has a bonus for you: Seeds for Hormonal Balance – learn how to use seeds to rebalance your progesterone and estrogen levels. I really love that Magdalena teaches this simple and yet powerful concept!

Here is a great example of Magdalena’s teachings on how to use food to balance your hormones: using broccoli sprouts for estrogen dominance. She shares this:

Most women have experienced some form of estrogen dominance without even realizing it. Symptoms include PMS, endometriosis, water retention, cellulite, weight gain, moodiness and infertility. Estrogen dominance can also be responsible for thyroid nodules and cancer as well as breast lumps and breast cancer. It is believed that 90% of breast cancers are of non-genetic origin and estrogen dominance can be the leading cause.

This hormonal imbalance can happen due to the dominance of the antagonistic estrogen called estradiol (or E2) as compared to progesterone or the protective estrogen called estriol (or E3). Estrogen dominance can also happen when there is an excess of metabolized estrogen called hydroxyestrones (a simple blood test called 2:16 hydroxyestrone can confirm that).

One of my favorite go-to foods to rebalance the estrogens and nudge them in the right direction are broccoli sprouts.

They contain di-indolyl-methane (short form: DIM, also found as a supplement) which detoxifies us of estradiol. Broccoli sprouts also contain the highest amounts of sulforaphane, which has been linked by numerous studies to not only prevent but also reverse breast cancer. Sulforaphane can also be found in smaller quantities in other cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli or cauliflower.

Depending on one’s health condition, studies have shown that ¼ cup to 1 cup of broccoli sprouts can create profound health improvement resulting from rebalancing estrogen dominance.

I recommend using them raw by adding to smoothies, wraps, salads or warm (not hot) soups. See recipes below for some cool ideas.

And here is Magdalena’s Super Sprout Smoothie recipe

This recipe is a little different as it takes you on an unusual taste adventure to the land of a green savory smoothie. It is an energizing way to start the day with no sugar that will sustain you until lunch with no energy crushes. This smoothie is packed with the hormone-balancing superfoods: broccoli sprouts, flax seed, maca, Brazil nuts and camu camu and can be consumed by women of any hormonal imbalances.

Serves: 1

Time to prepare: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1½ cups water
½ avocado
½ cup broccoli sprouts
½ cup freshly chopped cilantro
4 Brazil nuts
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons flax seed
1 teaspoon maca root powder
½ teaspoon camu camu powder (get it on Amazon)
½ teaspoon ground fennel seed
½ teaspoon ground cumin
a generous pinch of salt

Place all the ingredients in the blender and blend until silky smooth.

Impressed? Intrigued to learn more? Salivating?

Tune in to the no-cost webinar to learn a ton, have fun, get some great cooking ideas.

If you can’t make it live sign up anyway to get the recording.

Registration page for the no-cost webinar is here:
https://xa202.isrefer.com/go/cfb1/trudys/

How to Use Food to Rebalance Your Hormones

October 22, 2015 By Trudy Scott 22 Comments

hormone-balancing

It’s just around the corner so here’s your friendly reminder if you haven’t already signed up to attend this free webinar/live online workshop called: How to Use Food to Rebalance Your Hormones

If you have already signed up – I know you’ll enjoy it!

This webinar is being hosted by my friend and colleague, Magdalena Wszelaki, founder of Hormones Balance.

Here is how she introduces herself:

I’m a certified nutrition coach, speaker, educator and chef with a long history of my own hormonal challenges which resulted from a highly stressful life in advertising – starting from Graves’ and Hashimoto’s Disease (autoimmune conditions causing thyroid failure) to adrenal fatigue and estrogen dominance. Today I’m in full remission, live a symptoms-free, awesome life and I want to show you how to achieve the same. Food was instrumental in my own recovery. My mission is to help you figure out what food your body craves or rejects as there is no one diet or protocol that works for all. Knowing your body will be your fast-track to balanced hormones and to the person you want to be.

You may remember our great interviews on last season of The Anxiety Summit! She was a hit, is a wealth of knowledge and very hands-on when it comes to food for hormone balancing! I really love what she offers (and her cute accent)!

Here is a great image from Cooking for Balance showing you just how much caffeine is in your drink!

cooking-for-balance

Magdalena shares many ways on how caffeine impacts our hormones. Here are just two of them (and both can make anxiety worse):

Exhausts the adrenals

Coffee stimulates the adrenals to release more cortisol, our stress hormone; this is partly why we experience a wonderful but temporary and unsustainable burst of energy.

What many of us don’t realize is that our tired adrenals are often the cause of unexplained weight gain, sleeping problems, feeling emotionally fragile, depression, anxiety and fatigue. Drinking coffee while experiencing adrenal fatigue is only adding fuel to the fire.

Worsens PMS and lumpy breasts

It’s well-established that coffee contributes to estrogen dominance, which can mean one of two things: we either have too much estrogen in relation to progesterone, or we have an imbalance in the estrogen metabolites (some are protective and some are dangerous).

PMS, lumpy breasts, heavy periods, cellulite and even breast cancer (which is an estrogenic cancer) can be symptoms of estrogen dominance.

You can read the entire guest post from Magdalena here: 12 Ways Coffee Impacts Your Hormones

At the end of the webinar she’ll be sharing more about her upcoming Cooking for Balance online cooking program that helps women rebalance their hormones with food.

It will air Saturday October 24th (at 10am PST, 1pm EST). Seats are limited and Magdalena tells me they get snapped up quickly.

Here is the registration page: https://xa202.isrefer.com/go/CFB/trudys/

Kindness and oxytocin: a mystery memory box of treasured memories

August 7, 2015 By Trudy Scott 14 Comments

This is a story of kindness and warm and fuzzy feelings all around. There is plenty of oxytocin-boosting happening here!

On Tuesday around 6:30pm I received excited emails from Anxiety Summit fans in San Diego about a story that had just aired on the CBS8 show: Return to Sender The Mystery Memory Box.

Here is one of them:

I just watched my local San Diego Ch. 8 KFMB news and saw old pics of you from the 80’s. A lady in this area has evidently kept a couple of “mystery boxes” that appear to be yours for 17 yrs. She moved from South Africa years ago and mistakenly received these boxes. She’s wanted to return them, the name she found among the items… Trudy Hatfield!

Contact Jeff Zevely, reporter at the KFMB station, cbs8.com. I’m sure you’ve received lots of emails and calls about this. YIPPEE!

one of your many Anxiety Summit fans

You’ll see the video she’s referring to at the link below – enjoy the mystery, and a glimpse of my laughing, smiling adventurous youth!
Part 1: Return to Sender The Mystery Memory Box

Ninety minutes hours after the story is aired the mystery is solved – the box DOES belong to me! I find out via the emails from my fans (like the one above) and Barbara (the anchor) connects with Crombie (my brother).

What a trip down memory lane to see all those photos! There are many from my trip to Europe when I was in my 20s, plus postcards I sent to my family. There are also special family photos, the the last one of me hugging my baby sister Wendy. How very special!

I connect with Jeff at CBS8 and they arrange the follow-up video/story the next day. Here is the Wednesday video where I “meet” Jeanette via skype and get to give her a virtual hug and thank her for her kindness!

You can read the full story of part 2 here: Return to Sender: Mystery Memory Box Owner Found

It’s such fun to see pictures of my bother Crombie and hear how it all came together – his tennis connection to Barbara and my fans reaching out to me.

If you’ve been reading some of my recent blogs you’ll see I’m fascinated by oxytocin and it’s connection to social anxiety, postpartum depression, and autism.

I feel so good right now and am on such an oxytocin-high that I’d like to share how this act of giving and kindness is connected to oxytocin.

Paul J. Zak is the author of a book called “The Moral Molecule.” It’s all about oxytocin and here is what he says about this molecule:

It is a “feel good” hormone that increases when we do simple, feel good things like giving or receiving a hug, or when we give generously

The act of giving stimulates this hormone resulting in the recipient desiring to trust the giver
[It] accounts for why some people give freely of themselves

The above snippets come from a Wall Street Journal article: The Trust Molecule. It is a fascinating read.

Wow wow wow! So we all win, we all get to feel good, and we all get all get an oxytocin boost!

Jeanette Smith for keeping that box safe for 17 years and trying to locate me over the years! How do you repay kindness like this? I just hope she finds her missing box too
CBS8 reporter Jeff Zevely for running with the story, CBS8 anchor Barbara Lee-Edwards for immediately thinking of her tennis coach Crombie Hatfield (my brother!), and the power of TV and the internet
My Anxiety Summit fans who recognized me in the video and emailed right away. How thoughtful and kind!
Me for being at the center of this AND getting my box of precious memories back! You hear of this type of thing happening to others and never imagine it could happen to you!!
Everyone who watches the videos and loves the heart-warming story. My Facebook friends are blown away and are saying how this restores their faith in humanity. I could not agree more!

A BIG thank you to everyone involved!

We need more feel-good stories like this don’t we?Have you had a complete stranger be kind to you? Or shown kindness to a stranger. Please share in the comments.

For now, smile and enjoy the feel-good oxytocin boost! And then go and spread the kindness!

And please share the story so we can help Jeanette find her missing box too!

Oxytocin and variations in the OXTR gene: postpartum depression and anxiety

July 31, 2015 By Trudy Scott 22 Comments

newborn

Research published in 2014 shows that:

genetic variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) has been implicated in anxiety, depression and related stress phenotypes

You can read more about this and other research on oxytocin, social anxiety and depression in this blog post: Oxytocin and social anxiety, pyroluria and depression?

New research published in the current issue of the journal Frontiers in Genetics now shows that a marker in the blood can identify women who might be at particular risk for postpartum depression (and presumably postpartum anxiety too). This is a genetic variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR).

Here are some excerpts from the study:

Postpartum depression (PPD) affects up to 19% of women, negatively impacting maternal and infant health.

Reductions in plasma oxytocin levels have been associated with [postpartum depression] /PPD and heritability studies have established a genetic contribution. Epigenetic regulation of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) has been demonstrated and we hypothesized that individual epigenetic variability at OXTR may impact the development of [postpartum depression] /PPD and that such variability may be central to predicting risk.

These data indicate that epigenetic variation that decreases expression of OXTR in a susceptible genotype may play a contributory role in the etiology of PPD.

You can read the complete study abstract here: Interaction between oxytocin receptor DNA methylation and genotype is associated with risk of postpartum depression in women without depression in pregnancy and the full paper here

Here is an extract from the press release:

We can greatly improve the outcome of this disorder with the identification of markers, biological or otherwise, that can identify women who may be at risk for its development,” said Jessica Connelly, an assistant professor of psychology at University of Virginia, who is the senior author of the study. “We know that women who have experienced depression before pregnancy are at higher risk of developing depression in the postpartum period. However, women who have never experienced depression also develop postpartum depression. These markers we identified may help to identify them, in advance.

You can read the full press release from the University of Virginia here: Researchers uncover blood markers to identify women at risk for postpartum depression

The oxytocinergic system is important for both the mother and her child. From a research paper published last month in Anxiety and Depression:

Maternal postpartum depression carries long-term detrimental effects on children’s well-being

when maternal [oxytocin] / OT was medium or low, child [oxytocin] / OT response was negatively impacted by maternal depression

when maternal [oxytocin] / OT was high, child [oxytocin] / OT was unaffected, suggesting that maternal [oxytocin] / OT functionality buffers the effects of depression on the child

You can read the abstract here: Maternal Depression and Child Oxytocin Response; Moderation by Maternal Oxytocin and Relational Behavior

It would be wonderful to see oxytocin levels and OXTR gene testing being done in women planning to have children, especially if they have a history of depression and anxiety, or if there is a family history of depression and anxiety (postpartum or otherwise).

If you’ve had either tested please share in the comments.