by Lisa Gordon | Sep 9, 2020 | Uncategorized
Menopause Madness
Dr. Lisa Gordon | Natural Health Improvement Center of Columbia, MD
667-240-2923 | www.drlisagordon.com | Facebook @drlisagordon
What is happening?
Your body is shifting from baby making and menstruating phase to a wise woman phase, and your hormones, especially estrogen is changing and decreasing. Women have a variety of presentations during menopause and we are all different. It can be a difficult time or we can sail right through it. Most women have some symptoms and some feel like they are losing their minds.
Symptoms
Foggy Brain, Mood swings, Irritability, Migraines, Insomnia, Muscle weakness, Fatigue, Weight Gain, Hot Flashes, Thyroid imbalance, Adrenal dysfunction, Liver congestion, Digestive difficulties, among others
Essential Oils
Lavender, Peppermint, Chamomile, Fennel, Anise, Coriander, Clary Sage, Geranium, Bergamot, Frankincense
Good sources for Essential Oils – Young Living, DoTerra if you know a distributor. These are more expensive. Revive is another quality company that isn’t an MLM and whose prices are lower.
Supplements and herbs – can be in supplement or organic tea form
Supplements: Good quality Omega Fatty Acids, whole food multivitamins, E-manganese, Symplex F, Pituitrophin PMG, Calcium Lactate, Hemp Oil, Good quality CBD oil
Avoid synthetic vitamins and minerals. Your body doesn’t recognize them and it becomes even more stressed than it already is adapting to the change in hormones you are going through.
Herbs: Wild Yam, Black Cohosh, Liver Support like Milk Thistle, Dandelion (DandyBlend), Adrenal Support like Ashwaganda
This is where we come in to figure out where in your endocrine system your particular body needs support with Nutrition Response Testing.
Foods to avoid
Caffeine, Sugar, Alcohol, Spicy foods can all increase hot flashes, Soy products like soy milk, tofu confuse the estrogen balance in the body. Some women feel better with soy eaten in moderation (Edamame is a safer form than soy isolates which aren’t so beneficial, so read labels on protein supplements and tofu)
Foods to include
Lots of green leafy vegetables, Seaweed, Nori (a type of seaweed)
Grass fed meats, Wild fish, Pastured eggs, Fermented foods, Water, Herbal teas
Black cohosh: can help reduce production of LH (luteinizing hormone – causes hot flashes).
What to be sure to do
Sleep – Use light blankets if you get hot flashes so you can remove them and just have a sheet over you. Use a fan in the bedroom and in your workspace. Cool shower before bed, Exercise, Eat regularly, Get a little portable fan like the one that has a water sprayer with it.
Open & Strengthen Your Hips
Women tend to carry their stress in their hips. Stretching and strengthening the muscles around the hips is a great way to release tension and stress on the spine. Always complete both sides/legs with stretching, and remember that one side may feel different than the other.
Cow Face Pose: For this pose, imagine a really tight “criss-cross” seated position. Bend your right knee to face the front of the mat, and then bend your left knee the same, and stack it right on top of your right knee. The soles of both your feet should ideally be facing up. It’s ok if you cannot come into the full position at first. Sit on a block or blanket for leverage and try again. Make sure both sit bones stay on the ground, or block/blanket, and breathe deeply. Fold forward for an added challenge. Switch after 3 minutes for a great release.
Half Pidgeon Pose: For this pose, begin in a downward facing dog position. From there, swing your left (or right) leg through your hands, bending at the knee and facing the sole of your foot up. Lay your knee flat on the mat and to the side just enough so that you are not lying on it as you lean forward. Ideally, your shin is parallel to the front of the mat, but this won’t occur until you are very open in the hips. For now, it is ok for the shin to be slanted. The most important part of this pose is that you first align your hips. Distribute your weight evenly so that you are not leaning to the left or right side. If you cannot align your hips, place a block under your left sit bone – this leverage will help you as you begin to open up tight hips.
by Lisa Gordon | Mar 16, 2020 | Uncategorized
I didn’t have to do it. Why did I spend more than 60 days away from home over the course of a year and a half, taking 500 hours of classes that were not required, that were well over and above the 48 hours of continuing education credits that are necessary to maintain my license to practice my chosen profession of Chiropractic care? Why did I take 15 trips to Florida, not for vacation, but to study? I did it to learn to have insight into health questions that, for nearly 30 years of practice, I have had only partial views. Each of those courses added to my wisdom, allowing me to help one or two or three more people, ten, twenty, thirty, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred and more people. And each and every one of those people are individuals who get my personal attention. I am so proud to have taken this journey to become an Advanced Graduate and Master of Nutrition Response Testing.
What does this mean for my patients and my community? It means that we can be much healthier than we are. It means that if your lab tests are normal yet you still don’t feel well, we can find out why and do something about it. It means that if you have had surgery yet are still in pain or having health trouble, there is a reason. It means that we have a way of analyzing your body so as to access its information systems.
Just like a computer has all of its knowledge and instructions inside of it, to be accessed by someone who knows how, so does your body. Your body knows everything about itself on some level. Abnormal lab tests, dysfunction and symptoms show up only after your body has been trying to adapt and correct itself until it can’t any more.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could sit down with your body’s wisdom and ask it questions? Like, “Hey Body, What’s up? Do you need something? Are you tired? Is there a reason you are so stressed?”
Well, now we can do just that. Using completely non-invasive Nutrition Response Testing, we can get your body to answer an essential series of questions that will then allow us to develop the precise Designed Clinical Nutrition program that is exactly right for your body’s healing.
I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to be able to have this conversation with their body.
If you have a group of friends who ever talk about how they wish they felt better, could do more, sleep better, have better focus, get rid of their headaches or migraines, have fewer menopausal symptoms, be more patient, have less anxiety, let’s have a tea party. I will come and share this method with you and your friends, and if anyone is interested in a more in depth analysis, we can arrange that easily.
by Lisa Gordon | Nov 26, 2018 | Uncategorized
How can you make your body work better?
One way is to eat a healthy whole food diet. Eating well is simple in theory but tougher in practice. Even the super health-conscious among us can’t always avoid processed foods, added sugars, and unhealthy fats.
That’s where Catalyn comes in.
Catalyn’s unique formulation was created to combat deficiencies in nutrition caused by a refined food diet, deficiencies many of us have. Discover the power of nutrients delivered the way nature intended – in whole food form.
How Catalyn keeps you healthy
- Maintains cellular health
- Keeps your skin healthy
- Keeps your heart healthy
- Supports healthy metabolism
Catalyn was developed in 1929 by Dr. Royal Lee, the founder of Standard Process. It was America’s first dietary supplement made with whole food ingredients, created to address the deficiencies caused by a fast-growing processed food industry. It contains several vitamins and minerals from approximately 15 different whole food sources.
Some Catalyn ingredients include:
- Sweet potato
- Reishi mushroom
- Shiitake mushroom
- Nutritional yeast
- Pea vine
- Carrot
- Alfalfa
- Oats
Supplement Safety 101
Supplements vary greatly in quality, which can sometimes do more harm than good. The FDA is not authorized to review dietary supplement products for safety and effectiveness before they are marketed. Manufacturers do not need to be 100% honest on the label. Here are some quotes directly from the FDA about supplements:
- Federal law does not require dietary supplements to be proven safe to FDA’s satisfaction before they are marketed.
- For most claims made in the labeling of dietary supplements, the law does not require the manufacturer or seller to prove to FDA’s satisfaction that the claim is accurate or truthful before it appears on the product.
- Do not assume that the term “natural” in relation to a product ensures that the product is wholesome or safe.
At the Natural Health Improvement Center, we only carry the highest quality supplements available to ensure that your body is getting the purest vitamins and minerals.
If you would like to learn more about how natural whole food supplements can help your body get healthy and stay healthy, give us a call @ 410-717-6610 for a free 15 minute phone consultation.
by Lisa Gordon | Nov 5, 2018 | Uncategorized
The strength and health of your body are determined by how fully your life force is expressed in every cell. Your brain and nervous system control and regulate every cell of your body. Simply put, when your nervous system doesn’t work well, your body doesn’t work well either.
NeuroCranial Integration
NeuroCranial Integration (NCI) relieves pressure in the brain and nervous system caused by illness, injury and daily stress, allowing your body to function at a higher level of efficiency. It not only gently removes tension from the nervous system, releasing restrictions throughout all the tissues and organs of the body; it also returns proper cerebrospinal fluid flow to the spinal cord and to the entire body, improving almost every function of the body.
How is NeuroCranial Integration different than typical alternative treatments?
NCI is able to affect the brain, the spine, and the entire nervous system in a way that is simply not accessible through regular healthcare techniques or modalities. Although other systems of care may also affect the cranium, none reaches the deepest level of the dura mater as precisely as NCI. The dura mater is a tough, protective covering around the brain and spinal cord. Its job is so important that it extends down the spine and throughout the entire nervous system.
How does treating the brain and nervous system affect the rest of my body?
According to Gray’s Anatomy: “The brain and the nervous system controls and coordinates all the functions of the body and relates it to its environment…”
NeuroCranial Integration directly affects the proper functioning of the central nervous system inside the brain, because NCI allows the left and right brain hemispheres (and other areas of the brain) to profoundly re-balance and reintegrate. It is so gentle, it can be safely performed of patients of any age, from infants to the elderly.
How does the brain affect my neck or back pain?
Because the dura is attached to the skull, as well as the spine’s top two neck vertebrae, and extends all the way down to the tailbone, the dura must be balanced from the top to bottom for optimal functioning. Any misalignments or distortions (twisting) of the skull, the spine and the entire body. Sooner or later, these distortions result in health consequences, including neck and back pain.
What can NCI help with?
- Headaches & migraines
- Fibromyalgia
- Parkinson’s
- Cerebral Palsy
- ADHD and autism
- Mild traumatic brain injuries, strokes and multiple sclerosis
- Back & neck pain along with other acute conditions
- Improve sports performance
