Striving4Zen

Signs and Symptoms of Blood Deficiency

Typical signs and symptoms of blood deficiency include:

-history of irregular periods

-light and short menstrual bleeding

-amenorrhea (complete cessation of periods)

-fatigue especially during and after periods

-dry skin, brittle nails, hair loss

-thin body constitution

-tingling and numbness in extremities, muscle tension

-tendency toward constipation and dry stools

-pale complexion, pale tongue, thin and weak pulse

How is Blood Deficiency Treated?

Blood deficiency responds well to dietary changes and usage of blood building herbal tonics. To enrich blood with nutrition there are two general approaches: improving digestive function and absorption of nutrients and adding blood building foods. General guidelines for improving overall digestive function include:

-remove processed and denatured foods from your diet

-reduce or completely avoid sugar

-include fresh vegetables on daily basis

-eat fruit when in season

-consume only best quality organic meats

-regularly consume fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, kefir, miso,

-drink only room temperature water and herbal tea, avoid fruit juices, coffee (especially decaf), sodas, energy drinks

Foods that are specifically used to build blood include:

-animal protein: chicken/beef liver, lamb,beef, chicken, turkey, gelatin, mussels, oysters, sardines, eggs

-grains: rice, oats, wheat, bran flakes, millet

-legumes: lentils, beans (black, kidney, navy, pinto), garbanzo beans, mung beans,

-vegetables: green leafy veggies (swiss chard, spinach, kale), beets, seaweed, sprouts, artichokes, mushrooms, cabbage, celery, watercress

-fruits: cherries, all berries (blackberry, raspberry…), grapes, dried apricots, dried figs, prunes

-nuts and seeds: almond, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, cashew

-herbs/other: nettles, wheat grass, spirulina, royal jelly, mugwort, white peony root, angelica root, rhemannia root, blackstrap molasses

General suggestions:

-chew your food properly

-sit down when you eat and avoid watching TV, reading, talking on the phone while eating

-try to rest as much as possible during your period and keep you body well dressed and warm

-don’t exercise to the point of exhaustion

-use meditation or any other mind calming exercises that help you relax

Red Peony

Labels: acupuncture, blood building foods, fertility

Raw food is the best pre- prenatal vitamin there is suggests Monica Watters, a walking one-woman spa and natural-living guru. That’s why she created this creamy smoothie with a surprise crunch (thanks to cacao nibs) and hint of spice (courtesy of ginger and cinnamon) which we’re calling the Knocked-Up-Tail—it’s a mocktail with a special purpose, if you get our drift.

“This smoothie is packed full of protein, fats, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, trace minerals and superfoods. You can literally live on it—not to mention saving thousands of dollars on fertility treatments!” says Watters, who believes it provides all the nutrients of the supplements in their pure, raw form.

The fertility superstar ingredients? Bee pollen, which is thought to stimulate egg production and maca, a Peruvian root, which has been linked to increased fertility. Apparently it works for men, too. So blend, pour into Champagne flutes, cue the Barry White, and get busy.

INGREDIENTS: (makes four 8-ounce servings)
1/4 cup raw soaked almonds

3 tablespoons hemp seeds or 1/2 avocado (alternate every other day)

2 cups fresh coconut water from baby thai coconut or raw nut milk

2 cups frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, acai, or a mix.)

2 tablespoons raw honey, agave, yacon syrup or 3 soft dates pitted

1-2 tablespoons hemp seed/ flax oil or essential oil blend (udo’s choice, 3 6 & 9)

2 tablespoons bee pollen

1-2 tablespoons spirulina or vitamineral greens

1 tablespoon of Tocotrienols

2 teaspoons maca

1 tablespoon irish moss seaweed (soaked)

1-2 teaspoons raw cacao

1 tablespoon non-alcohol vanilla extract

1-2 teaspoons fresh ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

pinch sun-dried sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

Blend soaked almonds, hemp seeds or avocado and 1 cup liquid until smooth. Add remaining liquid and all other ingredients and blend until smooth.

Monica Watters’ Sacred Touch Spa, 245 E. 60th St., Ste 2, New York, NY 10022, 212-838-3717, no website.

Labels: fertility, healthy shake, raw food

ScienceDaily (Dec. 6, 2009) — Getting the correct balance of proteins in our diet may be more important for healthy ageing than reducing calories, new research funded by the Wellcome Trust and Research into Ageing suggests.

The research may help explain why 'dietary restriction' (also known as calorie restriction) -- reducing food intake whilst maintaining sufficient quantities of vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients -- appears to have health benefits. In many organisms, such as the fruit fly (drosophila), mice, rats and the Rhesus monkey, these benefits include living longer. Evidence suggests that dietary restriction can have health benefits for humans, too, though it is unclear whether it can increase longevity.

Dietary restriction can have a potentially negative side effect, however: diminished fertility. For example, the female fruit fly reproduces less frequently on a low calorie diet and its litter size is reduced, though its reproductive span lasts longer. This is believed to be an evolutionary trait: in times of famine, essential nutrients are diverted away from reproduction and towards survival.

In fact, when the researchers studied the effect further, they found that levels of a particular amino acid known as methionine were crucial to maximising lifespan without decreasing fertility. Adding methionine to a low calorie diet boosted fertility without reducing lifespan; likewise, reducing methionine content in a high calorie diet prolonged lifespan. Previous studies have also shown that reducing the intake of methionine in rodents can help extend lifespan.

"By carefully manipulating the balance of amino acids in the diet, we have been able to maximise both lifespan and fertility," explains Dr Matthew Piper, one of the study authors. "This indicates that it is possible to extend lifespan without wholesale dietary restriction and without the unfortunate consequence of lowering reproductive capacity."

Amino acids are the building blocks of life as they form the basis of proteins. Methionine is one of the most important amino acids at it is essential to the formation of all proteins. Whilst proteins are formed naturally in the body, we also consume proteins from many different food types, including meat and dairy products, soy-derived food such as tofu, and pulses. The relative abundance of methionine differs depending on the food type in question; it occurs in naturally high levels in foods such as sesame seeds, Brazil nuts, wheat germ, fish and meats.

Read more....

Labels: complete protein, fertility, fish, meat, Nuts, wheat germ

Women in their late 30s can do much to improve their chances of getting pregnant. The fertility odds are workable: About two-thirds of women ages 35 to 39 can become pregnant within a year. Given these odds, women can take a number of steps to improve their fertility. Some are simple common sense: Stop smoking; reduce or eliminate use of alcohol and caffeine; maintain an appropriate weight; reduce stress. Even moderate alcohol use—as few as five drinks a week—can impair fertility. Likewise, consuming more than two cups of caffeinated coffee a day has been associated with lowered conception and increased miscarriage.

Naturopath Bonnie Nedrow, ND, LM, who teaches at Bastyr University near Seattle, encourages her midlife patients to focus on what they can control. "We are looking for optimal health, which is more than functional health," she says. "A woman's body will wait to make a baby until things are optimal." Nedrow gives each patient a hormone work-up, checking levels of progesterone, estrogen, thyroid hormones, and others. Then she advises them about cleansing the liver, which processes the majority of the body's hormones; balancing the diet; stabilizing menstrual cycles; and reducing both the woman's and her partner's stress levels.

A stable, predictable menstrual cycle is an important indicator of good reproductive health. "Many women have a long history of taking birth control pills," says Jana Nalbandian, ND, a Bastyr University colleague of Nedrow's. "When a woman decides she wants to get pregnant, her system is used to being regulated by hormones introduced into, rather than released by, the body. For certain women, it can take six months to a year for the body to regulate on its own."

A woman's weight also affects the regularity and effectiveness of her cycles. According to the Mayo Clinic, body fat levels that are 10 percent to 15 percent above or below normal can throw off a woman's reproductive cycles. Being overweight can mean estrogen overload. "We live in an estrogen-dominant world," says Nalbandian, pointing to the hormones used in meat- and dairy-products production, as well as the "estrogenic effect" of some pesticides. Because of these excess hormones, even women who aren't overweight may be at risk for estrogen overload and resulting fertility problems, Nedrow says.

Both doctors encourage their patients to avoid processed and sugar-rich foods and to replace them with organic, hormone-free, and pesticide-free foods. Nalbandian recommends eating beets, leafy greens, artichokes, and carrots to cleanse the liver and remove excess estrogen from the system. Nedrow suggests a daily serving of four ounces of fish, which is rich in essential fatty acids, to aid the digestive system. "Our grandmothers were right about cod liver oil," she says.

Women who are underweight also are at risk for menstrual irregularity and infertility. Women who adhere to intense exercise regimes share some of these risks. Strict vegetarians may experience fertility problems if they don't get enough vitamin B12, zinc, iron, and folic acid in their diets.

Luckily, most of these problems can be resolved through changes in nutrition. "If you are a fairly healthy 35-year-old woman with a healthy reproductive system," says Nalbandian, "you should be able to improve your chances of becoming pregnant simply through diet and lifestyle choices."

Additionally, Nalbandian advises using herbs to support the natural reproductive process, such as chaste tree berry (Vitex agnus castus) for regulating cycles, and herbal teas, such as raspberry leaf (Rubus idaeus), to tone the uterus. To move bile through the liver, she recommends dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), a gentle, nontoxic cleanser. But because many herbs can contribute to miscarriage, once a woman becomes pregnant, Nalbandian warns, she must stop taking all herbal preparations until she consults her doctor.

Acupuncture may also be effective. Earlier this year, German researchers at the Christian Lauritzen Institute announced that acupuncture-treated subjects increased their success rate for in vitro fertilization by nearly 50 percent (Fertility and Sterility, 2002, vol. 77, no. 4). By relaxing the uterus, they theorized, acupuncture helps the uterine lining become more receptive to an embryo.

Full article

Labels: exercise, fertility, healthy diet, leafy greens, liver, pregnancy

Eating the right foods can counter ovulatory infertility.

A Diet for Fertility

Recent findings from the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term investigation, suggest that the right foods can counter ovulatory infertility, which prevents conception in one-quarter of couples or more. For example, women who eat “slow carbs,” or carbohydrates with a low glycemic index (GI) that burn more slowly in the body, have greater success getting pregnant. If you’re looking to start a family, add more brown rice and whole grains to your diet.

Many nutritionists believe that iron-rich foods (apricots, clams, prunes, shrimp, and tofu) can enhance fertility. Research suggests that women with low iron reserves are less likely to conceive.

Healthy fats can help too. The Nurses’ Health Study finds that a high intake of polyunsaturated fat provides some protection against ovulatory infertility in women with high intakes of iron. Also, one or two daily servings of full-fat dairy seem to improve fertility, while skim and low-fat choices don’t. “The most potent fertility food in the dairy case,” report researchers analyzing data from the Nurses’ Health Study, “is whole milk, followed by ice cream.”

Just go easy on red meat: Ovulatory infertility is 39% higher in women whose diets are highest in animal protein. Consuming more plant protein improves the likelihood of conception, so add more beans and other legumes to your diet.

While this “fertility diet” doesn’t guarantee pregnancy any more than in vitro fertilization or other kinds of assisted reproduction do, it’s available to everyone. Equally important, eating right sets the stage for a healthy pregnancy and motherhood.

Consider Organic

Environmental toxins like pesticides have been found to be detrimental to reproductive health. Parabens (synthetic preservatives in personal care products and pharmaceuticals as well as foods) have been linked specifically to low sperm count and motility.

Largely thin-skinned produce that doesn’t need peeling, the following fruits and vegetables tend to have the highest levels of harmful pesticides. Choose organic whenever possible and especially when you’re trying to conceive (and when you succeed): *apples * celery * cherries * grapes (imported) * lettuce * nectarines * peaches * pears * potatoes * spinach * strawberries * sweet bell peppers.

SOURCE

Labels: fertility, healthy diet, healthy fats, iron, Nurses' Health Study, organic food, polyunsaturated fat, Whole grains

Ginseng

For centuries, ginseng has had a reputation for being sexually invigorating and rejuvenating. But is it true? Yes, according to scientific research. Recently, a team of scientists studied the efficacy of Korean red ginseng in 45 patients with ED. Using several means to calculate the efficacy of the herb, including the International Index of Erectile Function, scores were significantly higher in patients who took red ginseng than in those given a placebo. In fact, 60 percent of the patients taking ginseng reported improved erections. Ginseng is also known for its ability to help the body cope with stress, and stress is a common reason for low sex drive.

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), an Indian herb, is used to support mood and energy. Kilham says that ashwagandha is, without question, the single most popular herb in India. “I spent time in India and talked with a number of gynecologists and obstetricians,” he explains. “They all give ashwagandha to their patients as a matter of course for healthy fertility, menstruation, and as a general aphrodisiac.”

Maca

One of Kilham’s favorite herbs is the turnip-like Lepidium meyenii, or maca. “It packs a sexual punch,” he says. In a recent Peruvian study, researchers looked at the effect of maca on sexual desire in men. The results showed that with eight weeks of treatment with maca, the men had increased sexual desire. In another study, maca usage over four months resulted in an increase of seminal volume, sperm count, and motility. And maca isn’t just for men

Source

Labels: ashwagandha, fertility, ginseng, herbs, maca, sex

Fertility Boost

Whether you're just thinking of getting pregnant or are struggling to conceive, herbs can provide support. Classic tonic herbs like nettle, raspberry leaf, lady's mantle, and dong quai deliver important minerals and strengthen the uterus.

To help treat infertility, I advise adding vitex and wild yam for endocrine-system support, plus ho shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) and Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng), to nourish your body's deepest energy, or qi.

Source

Labels: Chinese Herbal Healing, dong quai, fertility, herbs

Call it the conception conundrum. As women, it seems like we spend much of our adult lives trying NOT to get pregnant, and if we have trouble conceiving when we do decide to start a family, it feels like an evil cosmic joke. Getting pregnant when you finally decide you are ready to become a mom can be more complicated than just forgoing the birth control.
In these situations, there is the medical route, which can be very expensive, invasive and doesn’t always work. Since people think of these practices (like IVF) as the last resort, many want-to-be moms are turning to alternative practices to optimize their chances of getting prego, such as acupuncture and Fertility Yoga classes.
Is there scientific proof or research that these alternative therapies work? To find out
There's really no hard scientific evidence that these methods are effective, but if you had your heart set on having a baby, wouldn't you try anything and everything? After talking to many of my mom friends, I would say that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that supports these alternative routes. Some women have had great success, and doctors think it may have to do with how these practices stimulate reproductive organs and increase blood flow to their hips and pelvis.
Yoga and acupuncture also help to reduce stress. If a person is worried or anxious, it can have an effect on your hormones and ovulation - remember how stress can affect your period? Plus these hopeful women are constantly being bombarded by questions from friends and relatives asking "What's wrong? When are you having a baby?" Yoga classes and acupuncture sessions can give them a break from thinking about it, and the relaxation can hopefully have a positive affect on their bodies.

Labels: acupuncture, fertility, yoga