Blame it on her hormones!

“It’s just hormones.” 

If you’re a woman over the age of (let’s face it) puberty, chances are you’ve had someone – a doctor, a loved one, even the person staring back at you in the mirror – blame some health issue or concern on your hormones. From anxiety and low libidos, to GI issues and cognitive decline, women have been sold the same lie over and over again – that the root cause of their health and wellness discomfort is a hormonal one. Starting as early as our 20’s, we’re handed prescriptions and birth control pills to mask the symptoms, or told to see a therapist and essentially “learn to live” with the mental and physical discomfort we’re experiencing. 

If I sound a little upset by the whole thing it’s because I am. As a person who has personally experienced a wellness journey of my own, I can tell you that there is a better way to approach women’s hormonal health. And my approach doesn’t involve taking synthetic hormones and prescription pills your entire life. You do, however, have to commit to a balanced and intentional way of healing yourself so that you can come out on the other side and thrive. 

While there isn’t a single, one-size-fits-all answer to everyone’s health issues, learning how to rid your body of the toxins it absorbs everyday is a great place to start. I personally have experienced life-changing results through detoxification, and I have seen these same results mirrored in the female patients our practitioners work with at Alive + Well, our Austin based, integrative wellness center.

But first…what are toxins?

Broadly defined, toxins are substances and organisms that negatively affect your health. And, in spite of our best efforts to keep them out of our bodies, the truth is that to some extent they are unavoidable. Toxins are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the products we use, the clothes we wear, and the food we eat. Toxins not only include poisonous chemicals and compounds, like asbestos and lead, but also physical, even natural compounds, like mold, that disrupt biological processes and cause illness.

Fortunately, the human body and its ability to heal is an incredible thing! And while our bodies are equipped to detox themselves, the truth is that we are simply have not evolved to handle the toxin load put upon us by our modern lifestyle. Our systems are currently overloaded with caffeine, alcohol, pesticides, BPA, plastics, sugar, electric & magnetic fields (EMF), and more, making our livers and kidneys run at a sub-optimal level. It’s no wonder we have additional health concerns as a result. 

Signs and Symptoms that you may need to cultivate a detox practice:

Toxic overload can manifest in a number of changes in your body and often present as a hormonal imbalance in women. Some common signs include difficulty losing weight, irregular menstrual cycles, heavy bleeding during periods, or worsening PMS symptoms like mood swings or breakouts. More advanced health issues for women can lead to leaky gut, oxidative stress, accelerated aging, reduced energy production, and to a condition called “estrogen dominance,” a condition which drives many of the most common hormonal women’s health issues.

Other signs you many be experiencing toxic overload include: constipation, anxiety or depression, chronic stress, brain fog / memory issues, weight gain or bloating, difficulty sleeping or insomnia, worsening ADHD symptoms, hair loss or thinning hair, chronic congestion, eczema, inflammatory conditions, and candida overgrowth.

If you’re like most of the women I talk with, chances are you’ve been experiencing one or more of these uncomfortable symptoms for a period of time. So what steps can you take to stop the cycle of discomfort? While customizing a wellness formula unique to you takes time, an easy place to start is with an at-home toxin detox ritual. Detoxing your body of environmental toxins and excess estrogen has many immediate and long term hormonal benefits and is also a great way to practice self-care. Read on to learn my seven simple, everyday detox practices for elevating your wellness and balancing your hormones.

What can we do?

Here are my top 7 recommendations everyday detoxing. These are mostly free, simple, easily integrated, and gentle on the system.

#1 DETOX BATHS

Grab a book or tune into your favorite podcast and fill up the tub! Taking a hot bath will allow you to offload some chemicals and stress while absorbing some yummy, nourishing minerals that will leave you feeling replenished and revived. A nice long, relaxing soak is great for your mental health too. (Honestly, I could write a whole post about detox baths but I’ll be as brief as possible here.)

Here’s a great detox bath recipe I’ve used for years:

• Bathtub full of very warm water

• 2 cups magnesium flakes

• 1 cup baking soda

• 1/4 cup magnetic clay

• 5-20 drops of essential oil of choice

For a truly rewarding detox bath, skip the bath bombs! Mixtures containing synthetic dyes or fragrances won’t do you any good. Instead, fill up the tub with very warm water and add some simple, clean ingredients like Epsom salt, magnesium salt, baking soda, mustard bath, or bentonite clay. Don’t forget the essential oils to enhance the detox process. Peppermint, rosemary, lavender, frankincense, and eucalyptus are ideal. 

Some ingredients to beware of when shopping for bath products include: camphor, ethanol, ethyl acetate, sulfates, phylates, and heavy metals like aluminum. And, ladies, hear me when I say YOU DO NOT NEED TO BATHE IN GLITTER. Trust me, you are sparkly enough as you are. 

Pro Tip: 

No tub? No problem! If you don’t have a tub, get a pair of loofah gloves, add 1 teaspoon of a clean body oil and a few drops of essential oil to the gloves. Then, rub your body from bottom to top in long strokes to stimulate your lymphatic system. Add 10 drops of your favorite detox oil on the floor of the shower. This will steam the oil and you can take some deep intentional breaths while visualizing your system getting rid of all the toxins and being nourished by the oils and your breath.

#2 HYDRATE

To reset your body and support your hormones, hydrating correctly is essential. Proper hydration helps your liver and kidneys do their job of efficiently filtering out the toxins through perspiration, urination, and defecation. Honestly, ladies, if you’re not pooping everyday (more on that in a bit), do yourself a favor and up that water in-take. 

Water also carries supportive nutrients and oxygen throughout the body, improving all of our systems, including our endocrine system, which is responsible for releasing hormones into our bloodstream. Everyone always wants to know how much water to drink. According to the experts, you should aim to drink about half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. If you weigh 150 pounds, for example, your goal is to drink 75 ounces of water – a little more than half a gallon or 9 cups – per day.

Pro Tip:

True hydration means that we are drinking plenty of clean, filtered water AND we have proper electrolyte balance. Add pink Himalayan or Celtic sea salt to your water to give it the charge it needs to better penetrate your cells, giving your liver and kidneys a little extra help in getting their job done.

#4 SWEAT IT OUT

It’s no coincidence that sweating is following hydration on this list of health and wellness tips. Hydrating before working out or going to the sauna is a must-do since you lose valuable electrolytes when you sweat. 

Even though the liver and kidneys are the primary detox organs, we can help lighten the burden daily toxins put on them by sweating. One study from the Journal of Environmental and Public Health showed that heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and mercury were found in sweat after exercise and sauna sessions. Since we’re talking about balancing our hormones, this is a critical pathway that we want to use for detox because heavy metals and endocrine disrupting substances like BPA can throw us out of balance. Not to mention their impact on our immune, nervous, and cardiovascular systems.

Some of my favorite ways to sweat are super hot sauna sessions, heated yoga classes, going for a brisk walk, sauna blankets, hot baths with toxin support (see above for my favorite recipe), and heavy weightlifting.

Pro Tip: 

Your skin is your largest organ and is highly absorbent so be sure to shower and change out of those sweaty clothes after your sweat session so you don’t reabsorb any of the toxins you just expelled. Eeeew!

#5 Eat Your Veggies

Feed your detoxification! The cruciferous family of vegetables have special detoxification attributes that help us neutralize and eliminate toxins. Some of your favorite crunchy vegetables like cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli possess a magical chemistry that supports many key dimensions of our health, like detoxification, antioxidant protection, and control of inflammation. Through their detoxification attributes, cruciferous vegetables help us neutralize and eliminate toxins from our bodies, providing us with greater energy and improved health. 

Pro Tip:

When possible, buy your veggies fresh. Cut them (to activate a special enzyme) and then steam (never boil) or saute lightly in a moderate amount of high quality oil or fat like olive oil, coconut oil, or grassfed butter. Let them rest a few minutes before eating for optimal tastiness.

#6 Poop every day

I told you we would discuss this later! While we all know that everybody poops, the truth of the matter is that not everybody poops everyday… and they should! I know way too many people who do not. In general, exercising, avoiding inflammatory foods, managing stress, and avoiding processed foods will help you maintain a healthy gut. 

If you’re having issues keeping things regular there are a few natural remedies you should consider. First, are you drinking enough water? As discussed above, water keeps things moving through our system. When you let yourself get dehydrated then your stool becomes hard and more difficult to pass. 

Another remedy to consider is your fiber intake. If you typically ingest more processed than natural foods then this could be the culprit. Try incorporating more fiber rich foods like leafy green vegetables, fresh fruits (berries, apples, and pears are my go-tos), legumes, beans, chia and flax seeds, and 100% unprocessed grains like oat, bran, and quinoa into your diet. Aloe vera juice, cod liver oil, and psyllium husk are also gentle and natural additions if you’re still struggling. 

Finally, if you’re still not seeing results after increasing your water intake, improving your diet, and partaking in regular exercise, adding a daily probiotic could do the trick. Probiotics help maintain a healthy gut flora and can be the exact thing you need while you’re settling in to a new healthy lifestyle. 

Pro Tip:

Get a squatty potty! Changing your position when pooping can help you avoid straining and create a path of least resistance for your colon.

#7 Pump Up the Lymphatic flow

Your lymphatic system is your body's drainage system and physical exercise is one of the best ways to get it moving. While there is three times more lymph fluid than blood in our bodies, there is no pump to move it so we need to help it along. Doing all the other things mentioned in this post will support your lymphatic system but you can also add massage, dry brushing, breathwork, and hot and cold showers to the list for an added boost, especially if you think your “sewage system” is backed up.

Pro Tip:
Wearing tight clothing excessively reduces circulation in the lymphatic system and can lead to a buildup of toxins in the body. Consider swapping out those yoga pants for a pair of loose joggers every once and a while and see if it makes a difference in how you feel.

#8 Go to Sleep

Probably the most overlooked detox tool is a good night’s sleep, which allows our body to repair and replenish from the inside out. 

In addition to improving our mental health and wellbeing, sleep also decreases neurodegeneration and improves hormone function by increasing the space between brain cells, allowing healing fluid to flush out damaging molecules. Another important aspect of a good night’s sleep? The hormones that are released when we’re ready to sleep send our bodies a signal to relax by slowing our breathing and relaxing our muscles, thus decreasing inflammation in our bodies. Conversely, lack of sleep leads to inflammation because the brain never has the chance to detox. Another adverse affect of poor sleep? All of the caffeine, sugar, and poor food choices (a.k.a toxins) you choose to consume as a result of being exhausted. 

Pro Tip:

Sometimes falling asleep is half the battle. Stress and blue light interfere with us falling into a restful sleep. Try turning off electronics and incorporating deep breathing, stretching, or reading into your bedtime routine to give your mind and body a chance to decompress.

Embracing a new health and wellness plan can feel like a lot. But the good news is, you’re not alone. I’m here to share what I know and offer easy ways you can start to incorporate these small but impactful changes into your life. Leave me a message below if you have questions about detoxification and to let me know how these tips are working for you!