sleep -

February 26, 2019

Mouth Breathing in Children – Should You Be Concerned?

Mouth breathing in children is a growing topic these days, especially for parents whose children have PANDAS symptoms or ADHD. Parents are learning that the effects of mouth breathing may include behavioral symptoms, but mouth breathing just might be at the root of all disease. Read more below.

What causes mouth breathing?

Mouth breathing occurs when there is an obstruction from the sinuses to the airways. When a child (or grown up) is unable to breathe efficiently through their nose, they will breathe through their mouth.

Obstructions can be caused by temporary congestion due to seasonal allergies, a cold, or a sinus infection. An obstruction may also lead to chronic mouth breathing due to enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

Tonsils and adenoids can be enlarged for a number of reasons, including chronic or recurring infections like strep, as well as food allergies (dairy is often a culprit). The photo below shows how enlarged adenoids can block proper air flow through the sinuses.

In addition, the shape of your jaw and palate can cause mouth breathing. Mouth breathing is also associated with tongue and lip ties, crooked teeth, and MTHFR mutations.

Jump to “Does Mouth Breathing Change Your Face?” to learn about why today’s children struggle with jaw and palate malformation.

How do you know if your child is mouth breathing?

As in the picture below, your child will sleep with his mouth open, rather than closed, and may snore. Mouth breathing in children is easy to spot during both waking and sleeping hours.

When your child is awake, you will notice he or she most likely sounds congested when breathing and his mouth will be open when he is at rest (not talking, eating, or otherwise using his mouth). Mouth breathing tends to be loud compared to breathing through the nose.

If your child is a mouth breather, you may also notice:

dry chapped lips
dry mouth
bad breath
snoring
allergy shiners (purplish or red circles beneath your child’s eyes, often associated with food allergies, but may also be from chronic sinus problems).

Is mouth breathing bad?

The effects of mouth breathing can be detrimental to you or your child’s health, leading to both physical and behavioral problems. Let’s look deeper into why mouth breathing in children can cause long-term problems.

Why is it bad to be a mouth breather?

Mouth breathing can cause sleep apnea. Mouth breathing during sleep lead to sleep apnea, a condition in which breathing is interrupted during sleep.
Mouth breathing bypasses natural defenses. Your body is designed to take in air through the nasal passages, which aid in both filtration and humidification of the air as it enters your body.
Mouth breathing causes lack of oxygen in the blood. The sinuses also have a very important role in breathing: enzymes in the sinuses create nitric oxide, a gas responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body.

NO [nitric oxide] gas from the nose and sinuses is inhaled with every breath and reaches the lungs in a more diluted form to enhance pulmonary oxygen uptake via local vasodilation. (source)

This nitric oxide helps to reduce blood pressure, as well as oxygenate the blood, which ensures that vital nutrients are carried to where they are needed throughout the body.
Mouth breathing allows pathogens to thrive. Nitric oxide is involved in local host defense in the upper airways. It inhibits the growth of various pathogens including bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
Mouth breathing can cause chronic fatigue. The lack of oxygen that occurs due to mouth breathing can cause chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as a number of other health conditions like high blood pressure, poor memory, and mental health problems.
Mouth breathing can prevent deep, rhythmic sleep. This effects your health negatively in a number of ways. See more below on how this can lead to ADHD.

Mouth breathing and gut health

There is a gut-mouth axis which connects our mouth to our gut, and if something is amiss with the mouth, you can bet it will affect the gut. In fact, our mouth actually communicates with our gut. For instance, as you begin to eat a particular type of food, enzymes in your mouth begin to break it down, and your gut is triggered to also prepare for digestion.

Mouth breathing also causes our system to become more acidic, which can affect digestion and absorption of nutrients in our gut.

In addition, because mouth breathing bypasses the nose’s natural defenses, the bacteria in our mouth changes. Remember, one of the effects of mouth breathing is a lack of nitric oxide, the substance that helps to stave off unwanted bacteria. This lack allows opportunistic bacteria to thrive, creating an environment ripe for chronic hidden infections that affect the mouth, teeth, sinuses, and throat.

The mouth is the first part of the gastrointestinal tract, which also includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, & large intestine, and goes all the way down to the anus. Think of this system as a tube, and what enters the top of the tube will eventually make it all the way to the bottom. Once our oral cavity is colonized with unfriendly bacteria, these bacteria enter and make their way through our digestive system.

In this way, mouth breathing in children sets them up for a lifetime of poor gut health.

Does mouth breathing change your face?

Maybe. However, the converse is actually more true: children with a narrow jaw and malformed palate are more likely to mouth breathe.

One study found that children who mouth breathe have a significantly more convex facial profile, as well as abnormalities with dentofacial growth. In other words, mouth breathing in children is correlated to a receding chin line and jaw and teeth malformation.

So why do our kids struggle with this malformation of the jaw and palate? For a comprehensive answer, we turn to Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist who, more than 80 years ago, traveled the world in search of why indigenous cultures had such nice, straight teeth and little disease, and westerners had crowded, crooked teeth and much physical degeneration.

The truth was found in the traditional diets of indigenous people, who ate various foods according to their region. These foods never included the processed, refined flours and sugars that had taken over the American food supply.

Because of good maternal diet during pregnancy, indigenous children were born with wide palates and jaws, with plenty of room for their teeth to grow properly (these people weren’t getting their wisdom teeth removed, as is common practice in America!). In contrast, following the industrial boom of food products in the US and other industrialized nations, Dr. Price noted a narrower jaw and palate, and, consequently, more disease in children born to mothers eating processed and refined foods.

Dr. Price also noted that in traditional cultures where industrialized foods began to replace traditional foods, within a couple of generations, the shape of people’s faces had changed, and the population began to experience more disease.

You can find his fascinating book here.

Behavioral effects of mouth breathing

We already know that behavior is linked to gut health, so if one of the effects of mouth breathing is abnormal gut flora, the odds are, we might see some unwanted behaviors from children (& adults) who mouth breathe.

Can mouth breathing cause ADHD?

Let’s go back to the nitric oxide factor. Remember how normal breathing through the nose creates nitric oxide, which in turn oxygenates the blood? Kids who lack nitric oxide due to mouth breathing may be at risk for ADHD.

(You’ll also notice that children with ADHD are more likely to have crooked teeth.)

A neuropsychiatrist once told me that ADHD was actually a sleep disorder. Come again?

He explained that kids with ADHD don’t get enough deep, rhythmic sleep, so the symptoms of ADHD were their brain’s way of coping- pinging from one thing to another to keep them stimulated and awake.

Lack of deep, rhythmic sleep sounds like one of the effects of mouth breathing, no?

One study found that adenotonsillectomy may have a positive impact on the neurobehavioral problems of children with sleep-disordered breathing. Why? Because enlarged tonsils and adenoids obstruct the airways and can cause mouth breathing in children.

Another study found that removing the tonsils and adenoids of children with ADHD was more effective than treating with stimulant drugs.

Can mouth breathing cause anxiety?

Likewise, mouth breathing may cause other mental disorders, like anxiety, for the same reasons above. We know that anxiety is deeply connected to gut health, and we know that mouth breathing is bad for gut health, so clearly there is a causal connection.

Anxiety is also connected to adrenal fatigue, a condition in which we see elevated cortisol levels and enhanced “fight or flight” symptoms.

Mouth breathing is detrimental to the sympathetic nervous system. It accelerates the heart rate and increases blood pressure, stimulating our fight or flight response, hence the link with anxiety symptoms.

Mouth breathing and PANDAS

Because the symptoms of PANDAS/PANS vary widely and include hyperactivity, anxiety, OCD, depression, and other undesirable behaviors, we can see how mouth breathing is connected to these conditions. Treating the causes of mouth breathing in children can help to resolve symptoms of PANS and PANDAS.

How to manage mouth breathing in children

Whether you’re worried about your child mouth breathing, or you want to improve your own breathing, there are things you can do.

How do I stop mouth breathing?

Because mouth breathing has a number of causes, there are a number of ways to remedy it, from diet to special dentistry. Let’s dig in to steps you can take to avoid the effects of mouth breathing.

Diet

The number one culprit for causing inflamed, enlarged tonsils and adenoids? Dairy!

One study found that adhering to a dairy-free, paleo-style diet eliminated symptoms of sleep apnea.

If you or your child is struggling with the effects of mouth breathing, diet should be your first line of defense. Remove inflammatory foods like dairy, sugar, and gluten & other grains. A paleo-style template is your best bet to lower inflammation in the sinuses, adenoids, and tonsils.

Epigenetic dentistry

An epigenetic dentist or orthodontist will specialize in treating TMJ and sleep apnea, based on the understanding that it is the shape of the jaw and palate that causes these conditions.

These dentists use devices like orthodontics to actually change the structure and shape of the jaw in order to promote better air flow. Patients report resolution of chronic symptoms like headaches and anxiety thanks to corrected breathing.

Search for “epigenetic dentistry” near you to look for someone who can help, or ask your nearest biological dentist if they know of a dentist who specializes in this treatment.

Surgery

Some parents resort to a tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy for their child when resolution of symptoms cannot be obtained through diet changes and supplements alone. This is a personal decision, and while these body parts do, of course, serve an important purpose in the body’s defenses, sometimes they cause more harm than good.

Oftentimes, especially when we see recurring sickness like strep throat, removing the tonsils will eliminate the infection and chronic inflammation.

Other options should be exhausted and much prayer and research should accompany such a decision, but many parents report their child’s symptoms of ADHD and even PANDAS resolving after a tonsillectomy.

How do you train yourself to sleep with your mouth closed?

You should be mindful during your waking hours and force yourself to breathe through your nose when you think about it.

As often as you think about it, close your mouth and take nice, slow breaths through your nose. Anytime you catch yourself breathing through your mouth, close it.

In addition, you can use devices or tape to ensure your mouth stays closed while you sleep.

This chin strap is inexpensive, comfortable, and effective for keeping your mouth closed while you sleep.

You can also try mouth taping using strips like these or a mouth guard designed to promote nose breathing.

Is taping your mouth shut at night dangerous?

Not if you do it correctly. When you tape your mouth, you should be able to breathe through your nose. If you can’t, you need to address the reason why your breathing is blocked (see dietary and other suggestions above).

Is mouth breathing a big deal?

Yeah, it really is. Because mouth breathing is associated with so many health conditions, both physical and mental, it stands to reason that regardless of what conditions you may be facing, proper breathing can help.

Take the steps above to ensure you breathe properly through your nose in order to avoid these negative effects of mouth breathing.

November 29, 2018

PANDAS Symptoms Checklist

Obsessive clinginess, aggressive outbursts, repetitive blinking, and new problems popping up at school? If you’re nodding YES and looking for answers, read through this PANDAS symptoms checklist. It will help you figure out whether or not your child has PANDAS. And if so, where to start after a PANDAS diagnosis.

What is PANDAS?

According to Margo Thienemann, MD at Stanford University, PANDAS is defined by the sudden loss of appetite and the onset of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, otherwise known as OCD.

A PANDAS child must also show symptoms from at least two of the following categories:

Anxiety
Mood swings
Irritability or aggression
Poor performance at school
Sensory abnormalities
Sleep disturbances, bed wetting, or needing to pee frequently

One of the things that sets PANDAS apart from other forms of OCD like PANS (pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome) is that it’s triggered by an infection.

Specifically, a group A streptococcal infection.

Strep throat is the most notorious type of infection caused by group A strep. But there are other infections that can show up on the skin or along mucous membranes.

When trying to put the pieces together, it may help to know that group A strep can manifest as:

Strep throat: An infection at the back of the throat, including the tonsils. It can show up as fever, sore throat, red tonsils, and enlarged lymph nodes.
Impetigo: And infection of the skin. Shows up as yellowish crusty sores on the face, arms, or legs.
Vaginitis: Inflammation of the vagina. Includes signs like itching, burning, pain, and discharge.
Sinusitis: A sinus infection. Shows up as thick mucus in the nose or a plugged nose. There may also be fever, headaches, and a sore throat.

Note: Group A strep triggers PANDAS. It does not cause it.

Just because your child acquires a group A strep infection, this does not mean that it will automatically lead to PANDAS.

The following symptoms can also manifest in PANS as well, as the symptoms of PANDAS and PANS are generally the same, though the underlying causes are different.

A major hallmark of PANDAS syndrome is a sudden, acute onset of psychiatric symptoms, although it should be noted that some children do experience a slow decline. These psychiatric symptoms most frequently emerge following an illness like strep throat, though keep in mind that other infections and environmental triggers make provoke symptoms.

Your PANDAS symptoms checklist

If your child shows PANDAS symptoms that pose a risk to safety, you may want to seek immediate support. This includes physical violence, aggression, refusal to eat or drink, and suicidal behaviors.

It’s also important to note that no two PANDAS cases are the same. Your child may need very different care than another child.

What’s more, the come-and-go nature of PANDAS symptoms means that you will need to make periodic adjustments as your child gets better and appears to “relapse.” Symptoms might also change from one to another – for example, they might move from severe anxiety to aggression or depression.

This is to be expected. It’s not a failure of PANDAS remedies or of the parent.

Because PANDAS symptoms are never stable, be careful not to “chase” the illness and react with new therapies, new drugs, or higher dosages.

1. Sudden loss of appetite

A sudden refusal to eat or drink is a classic sign of PANDAS, even without OCD symptoms.

In this case, it’s important to focus on nutrition while addressing underlying inflammation. A shift in diet is typically necessary.

Click here to find out more about an anti-inflammatory diet for children.

Some PANDAS children may feel afraid of choking or vomiting. If this is the case, breathing and relaxing techniques can help.

2. Tics

As many as 70% of those with PANDAS develop tics. Common tics include eye blinking and throat clearing.

PANDAS children with tics are more likely to have a poorer performance at school, trouble with handwriting, a hard time with memory, and lower self-esteem.

In some cases, a therapy called habit reversal training can help get rid of tics by teaching the child to stare or look up during a blinking tic or practice slow, rhythmic breathing for vocal tics.

3. Anxiety

Anxiety, particularly separation anxiety, is found in most PANDAS patients. According to Dr. Margo Thienemann, over 90% of patients show signs of separation anxiety.

This means excessive anxiety when away from home or when away from a parent.

While entirely normal and healthy for small children ages 6 months to 3 years, separation anxiety in older children or adults raises a red flag.

This anxiety can be so severe that it interferes with you and your child’s day-to-day activities.

4. Mood swings

Mood swings and depression are common in a PANDAS child during the later stages of illness.

Depression can sometimes be the result of ongoing pain.

There are two types of pain in PANDAS children: arthritis and pain due to how the body processes sensations.

When a PANDAS child experiences pain, there’s often an increased sensitivity to light, sound, and smells. There might also be tummy pain, headaches, muscle aches, daytime tiredness, and brain fog.

With touch, you may find areas of tenderness that follow the same distribution as fibromyalgia.

5. Irritability or aggression

Irritability and unprovoked violence can be the most difficult on the PANDAS symptoms checklist because this type of behavior puts you or your child in danger.

As with mood swings and depression, sensory sensitivities, fatigue, and trouble understanding the environment can make a child feel vulnerable and aggressive.

Angry meltdowns can last for 45 minutes to an hour or longer. Typically, once the rage passes, your child is “back.”

Your child might feel remorse or not remember the episode at all.

In the moment, punishment is the last thing that you want to do. The best thing you can do is distract your child – if possible – and wait for the episode to pass.

Keeping a calm home environment without a lot of stimulation or demands can also help.

6. Poor performance at school

In a set of guidelines published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, Dr. Margo Thienemann explains that many children with PANDAS need some sort of accommodation at school.

Often these kids feel challenged (and challenge their teacher) with PANDAS symptoms like:

Handwriting difficulties
Trouble paying attention or staying focused
Difficulty with math
Memory issues
Physical pain (more on that below)
Frequent absences

Hyperactivity may be caused by anxiety, a complex tic sequence, feeling tired, sensory overload, or the urge to pee.

The inability to focus in school might be caused by lack of sleep, mood swings, intrusive thoughts, or “brain fog.”

If you suspect PANDAS or have received a PANDAS diagnosis, there are some things that parents and teachers can do together to help a PANDAS child.

Excuse absences and dismiss required makeup work or tests
Allow the parent to be in or near the classroom
Excuse the child from activities and approve alternative methods, like typing rather than writing and erasing or listening to audiobooks
Work with the frequent need to pee and allow the child to leave without asking permission
Have a notetaker in class, enlarge worksheets, use large grid paper, allow a keyboard or voice recorder
Permit the child to use a calculator and times table
Encourage rest periods during the day and less homework

A PANDAS child’s needs change from day-to-day. As PANDAS symptoms improve, parents and teachers can work together to shift the level of support available at school.

Note: many parents to choose to pull their children out of public school in order to homeschool after PANDAS symptoms begin to crop up. This can be an excellent choice for some children if you’re in a position to do so.

7. Trouble sleeping

Trouble sleeping is often interwoven with PANDAS symptoms.

For example, sleep trouble may be the result of separation anxiety or OCD bedtime rituals.

Bed wetting, nightmares, and sleep apnea from enlarged tonsils can also interfere with sleep.

REM sleep behavior disorder is also common in the PANDAS child and is linked to an inflamed brain.

With REM sleep behavior disorder, your sleeping child might act out his or her dreams. This could involve screaming, shouting, laughing, crying, kicking, punching, or getting out of bed.

Sometimes a solid bedtime routine is enough to improve sleep. This includes:

A regular bedtime, even on weekends
A consistent and pleasant set of activities before bed
A cool, dark, and quiet place to sleep
Zero caffeine, high-energy play, or heavy meals before bedtime
No electronic games, television, or screens before bedtime

Each case and each child is different.

Your child may exhibit a combination of the above symptoms, or variations. You may be certain the symptoms emerged following a strep throat infection, or you may be unsure of exactly when or why they began. Regardless of the trigger, if your child exhibits any of the above symptoms, it’s worth further research to see if PANDAS or PANS might be at the root of your child’s behavior. Once you have a better idea of what you’re dealing with, your child will have a much better chance of recovery.

Would you add anything to this PANDAS symptoms checklist? Share in the comments.

February 16, 2017

When Hormones Don’t Play Nice – Hormonal Imbalances in Women

We recently learned about the basics of hormones in Hormones 101, the first in a series of posts on hormones, brought to you by Krista Goncalves, BSc, CHN, RNC. Unfortunately, hormonal imbalances in women are very common, and today, we’ll discuss how to address the problem. -Jaclyn

Are you frustrated from feeling tired all the time, drained of energy, suffering from achy joints, mood swings, virtually no libido, irregular periods, and weight that just doesn’t seem to budge, especially around the middle?

Sounds like your hormones are out of whack!

Let’s dive deeper into the signs of hormonal imbalances in women and what you can do to naturally re-balance them.

What are hormones?

As we talked about in our recent Hormones 101 article [link], hormones are the chemical messengers of our body. They’re made in endocrine glands, like the pituitary, and govern really important functions like growth, reproduction, immunity, and as any menopausal woman can attest – metabolism!

To think of hormones in the simplest terms, let’s break it down like this:

Sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone & testosterone, while very important to the body, are actually not essential for our individual survival. (source)

They’re needed in more of a “beauty” capacity and are responsible for fertility and sexual functioning, as well as keeping our skin, hair & nails looking youthful and vibrant.

Stress hormones like cortisol & epinephrine (Adrenaline), on the other hand, are absolutely critical to our survival as they are what regulate heart beat & blood pressure, keep our delicate balance of electrolytes in check, synthesize proteins, and shuttle glucose into our cells, essentially feeding our brain. (source)

In fact, in times of chronic stress, as so many of us face today, our main “hormone of stress,” cortisol will be made at the expense of other sex hormones like progesterone. This is known as the “Pregnenolone Steal.”

Pregnenolone, made from cholesterol, is considered a “mother hormone,” as it is the precursor to all other sex hormones.

Obviously, this is a very simplified explanation and all hormones play an important, often critical role in our bodies.

What happens when hormones don’t play nice?

Hormones dictate nearly every cellular action from the time we’re conceived. So what happens when they aren’t functioning as they should?

It may surprise you to know that we often get a domino effect happening when there’s even a slight change in hormone function. What’s even more frustrating is that one hormonal imbalance can easily lead to an additional imbalance or other health issues because the branches of your endocrine system are so intertwined. (source)

As an example, let’s look at what happens when thyroid function becomes low.

Here’s what can happen

Thyroid hormones regulate organ function, body temperature and metabolism, and directly affect body weight, energy, muscle contraction & relaxation, heart rate, bowel function, fertility, menstrual regularity, memory, mood, skin & hair texture and many other bodily functions.

When not enough active thyroid hormone (T3) is being made from inactive T4, and thyroid function becomes low, even just slightly less-than-optimal, many of our body’s systems start to slow down and also perform less-than-optimally. Anyone with thyroid issues, such as myself, knows firsthand how it affects metabolism!

Did you know 1 in 3 American adults has a thyroid disease? Think you may be one of them? Take a quick quiz here to find out.

Other signs that your hormones may be out of whack

Here are some more common signs that you probably have a hormonal imbalance:

poor sleep- either not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep
fatigue that’s not alleviated by sleep
night sweats &/or hot flashes
low libido & sexual dysfunction
acne, or other skin issues
PMS
foggy thinking & difficulty concentrating
mental health issues- depression & anxiety, in particular
irritability, anger, & erratic moods
weight loss resistance, especially around the belly

Hormonal imbalances in women & their causes

The reality is that hormonal imbalances are so common now, that it likely feels “normal” to most of us. But it’s not!

According to Dr. Natasha Turner, ND & Author of The Hormone Boost, the 4 most common hormone disruptions she sees clinically in women are:

Estrogen dominance – when estrogen is too high relative to progesterone, i.e. the ratio of the two sex hormones is imbalanced. We’ll be talking more about this one in a future article!
Low thyroid
High cortisol and dysregulated adrenals – think belly fat!
High insulin and insulin resistance

Even though there are many different types of endocrine issues, most women have multiple imbalances simultaneously, and the causes are often overlapping too.

The main causes of hormonal imbalances in women are lifestyle choices and environment

Besides age and stage of life, things like medications (like the birth control pill), chronic stress, poor nutrition, disrupted circadian rhythm, chronic inflammation (e.g. leaky gut & digestive system inflammation), blood sugar problems, and toxins & endocrine disruptors like xenoestrogens may cause hormonal imbalances.

We’ll talk about xenoestrogens in more detail in the next article in our hormone series.

Dr. Sara Gottfried, MD & Author of The Hormone Reset Diet offers some specific dietary reasons as to why your hormones may imbalanced:

Balance & support your hormones naturally

While it may be especially frustrating when hormones aren’t playing nice, and it can feel like a runaway freight train, it is possible to reel them in and get them back on track. It sometimes just takes a little work and some extra TLC.

Here are ways to start supporting and re-balancing your hormones right now:

Eat whole foods

Processed, packaged foods offering little to no nutritive value will also offer little to no hormonal “fuel.” Be sure to feed your body only the freshest, whole foods available, including plenty of vegetables, fruits, and quality sources of free range and grassfed meats and eggs. If tolerated, nuts, seeds, and legumes may be added in moderation, while grains and dairy may contain problematic proteins for some.

Eat more good fats

Good fats are essential for hormonal health because guess what…? Sex hormones are “built” on fat, and your body can only use the building blocks you give it.

Also, fat does not make you fat, but sugar sure does! So again, be sure to avoid refined foods that are usually full of sugar and fake fats.

Instead, opt for whole food sources of good fats such as avocados, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, grassfed butter or ghee, wild-caught salmon, free range eggs, and raw nuts & seeds.

Exercise daily

The benefits of regular exercise are well known to us, but did you know that you should also exercise for your hormones?

Working out on a daily basis, engaging in resistance or strength training, and incorporating a specific type of exercise called high intensity interval training or HIIT is especially beneficial for keeping our bodies and our hormones in shape! (source)

Better sleep

Getting deeper, more restorative sleep can be the key to re-balancing your hormones, above all other measures.

Stress management & self-care

As we talked about, stress can be devastating for hormonal health! Learn better coping mechanisms for daily stress (like breathing techniques), practice mindfulness and be sure to implement daily self-care.

Women especially need to manage the stress and “business” of everyday life with activities that bring balance and a sense of peace & well-being to their bodies and their minds.

Another way to show your hormones some love: supplement smart

In addition to the above adjustments to your daily nutrition and lifestyle, another thing to consider is adding quality supplements your diet.

We recently shared a great DIY hormone-balancing supplement recipe using powdered coconut milk, hydrolyzed collagen powder, and powdered greens.

All of these are powerful superfoods, not only for optimizing your health, but to give your hormones a much-needed boost by giving your body those key building blocks.

Supplementing with magnesium, extra virgin cod liver oil, vitamin D, and vitamin C are also extra loving ways to nourish the adrenals and your hormones.

Do you have a friend who needs to know how to resolve a hormonal imbalance?
Share using one of our links below!

January 27, 2017

The One And Only Nighty-Night Magnesium Lotion Recipe

Let’s be honest: us mamas will do just about anything to get our kids to sleep well. My four-year-old has been climbing into my bed this last week, sandwiching me between him and the two-year-old. It’s not my idea of a good time and it makes me desperate to get him sleeping better. Which is why I created this magnesium lotion recipe.

I’ve tried various recipes, but I wanted one that soaked into my skin better. I based this one on my favorite simple lotion recipe, so I knew I would like it, and I added a soothing essential oil blend to help induce sleepy time.

Benefits of magnesium

The reason I wanted to create a magnesium lotion recipe is because magnesium is well absorbed through the skin. There are lots of different types of magnesium, which I’ll look at closer below, but first, let’s take a look at why we should supplement magnesium in the first place.

Magnesium is needed for essentially every function in the body. You can’t live without it.

Magnesium can help keep you regular. It relaxes the gastrointestinal tract and keeps peristalsis, the natural muscle relaxation and contraction of the colon, working properly. Too much of the wrong kind can cause a problem of a different kind, so stay tuned.

Magnesium eases muscle cramps. Muscle cramps are often caused by lack of magnesium and other minerals, so supplementing with this magnesium lotion recipe can relieve them.

Magnesium calms the nervous system and eases anxiety. Magnesium is a relaxant, which can soothe the nervous system and relieve symptoms of anxiety, depression, nervousness, and irritability.

Magnesium helps increase energy. While magnesium helps with relaxation, it’s needed on a cellular level to increase energy. Read about the right kind of magnesium to take for energy here.

Symptoms of magnesium deficiency

The symptoms of magnesium deficiency are numerous, as magnesium deficiency can contribute to any number of health conditions, and most sufferers of serious health conditions are likely deficient in magnesium. Some of the common symptoms include:

headaches
muscle cramps
constipation
anxiety
high blood pressure
chronic fatigue
muscle weakness
heart rhythm irregularities
depression and irritability

Basically, magnesium is really stinkin’ important!

Unfortunately, today’s soil is depleted, so it’s hard to get a sufficient amount of magnesium from our food. Still, good food sources of magnesium include:

dark leafy greens
beans
nuts and seeds
yogurt
bananas
dark chocolate

Ways I get magnesium in

There are basically three ways I use magnesium in order to supplement.

Epsom salt baths- I take hot Epsom salt baths nearly every day in order to soak in some magnesium and help my body detox through the skin.

Morning Magnesium– a magnesium supplement from one of my favorite supplement companies, Smidge, Morning Magnesium is a combination of three types of quality sources of magnesium, along with boron for better absorption. This magnesium is formulated to create energy on a cellular level.

Mr. Incredible took it with him on a recent trip out of town for a big interview and totally nailed it. He got the promotion and now we’re moving. I’m not saying it was all due to Morning Magnesium… but I’m not saying it’s not either. Grab Morning Magnesium here.

My homemade magnesium lotion- I try to make sure and rub down with this lotion every night before bed.

The easy way to use magnesium and help your kids sleep better

Knowing how important magnesium is, I wanted an easy way to get it into my kiddos. This Nighty-Night Magnesium Lotion recipe makes it easy to supplement magnesium for my kids, plus helps everyone sleep better. End game: mom win.

A couple things you should know:

This lotion stings a little at first. However, in my experience, the stinging stops after a few days of use, as your levels of magnesium improve and your body adjusts. If your kids complain, you can rub it on the soles of their feet, where it doesn’t get itchy. Otherwise, I rub it on soft tissue like thighs and tummy.

This lotion doesn’t taste good. Tidbit from Mister Two, who thought he’d lick the pan after I was done making it. Bad move, sir.

With all that in mind, go give this super simple and easy magnesium lotion a try and have everyone sleeping better TONIGHT!

Nighty-Night Magnesium Lotion Recipe

Print Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup hot water
2 Tbsp. magnesium chloride flakes this one bag lasts for many batches!
5 Tbsp. avocado oil
5 Tbsp. emulsifying wax crucial for combining water and oil; beeswax will not work.
24 drops Nighty-Night kid safe essential oil blend or plain lavender, if you'd like

Instructions

Dissolve the magnesium chloride flakes in the hot water.
Meanwhile, warm the avocado oil and emulsifying wax over low heat in a small saucepan.
Once the magnesium flakes are dissolved and the emulsifying wax is melted and combined with the avocado oil, add the water/magnesium mixture to the oil and give it a whisk.
Add the Nighty-Night essential oil blend and whisk once more.
Store in an air-tight container and rub on 1/4-1/2 tsp. at a time before bedtime.

January 20, 2017

How to Have More Energy: Five Ways to Start Your Day Better

Do you struggle with fatigue? If you’re like most of us hanging around here, you want to know how to have more energy. You’ll be glad to know I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve and I’ll share them below!

Why so tired?

We all struggle with fatigue for various reasons, but I’m a firm believer that being a mom doesn’t have to be one of them. I can attest that even after becoming a mom to four busy boys, my energy levels are better than they were when I was a teenager!

It is not normal to always be tired, even if the demands of motherhood are high.

Fatigue can be caused by a number of factors, including:

autoimmune disease
chronic infections
vitamin and mineral deficiencies
poor sleep habits
poor diet
high stress levels

For most of us, the above factors tend to overlap and feeling energized feels like an uphill battle. Let’s lay out a few things you can start doing right now so you can learn how to have more energy.

How to have more energy and start your day off better: five tips

These are things I personally have prioritized in my own life and have had great results in improving my energy levels.

1. How to have more energy: go to bed earlier

This seems like a no-brainer, but how many of us don’t make it a priority to go to bed earlier? It’s too easy to stay up once the kids have gone to bed to catch up on housework, spend time with your hubby, or just mindlessly zone out on Netflix (I’m guilty of all of the above!).

I have been able to go from going to bed between midnight and 1 am every night to going to bed between 10 & 11 most nights, and often before 10. Here’s how I did it:

I got the kids on a better bedtime routine. Instead of letting them sit around and watch TV because I’m tired and need a break, I try to focus on quiet games and books and avoid TV in the evenings. I started putting them to bed earlier, and, surprisingly, it doesn’t take long for kids to adjust to an earlier bedtime.
I make myself get in bed. Even if I didn’t get the kitchen spotless. Even if I think of things I need to do. I honor my body’s need for rest above other things.
I take a hot epsom salt bath and rub down with magnesium lotion, as magnesium helps induce relaxation.
I put my phone away. Even though I want to watch one more episode of Gilmore Girls. Even when Lorelai’s love life has me on the edge of my seat.
I take herbs or practice counting methods to get to sleep quicker if I need to. You can read about the herbs I use to help me sleep better here.

2. How to have more energy: take adaptogens

I’ve written pretty extensively about how adaptogens have improved my health because they support the adrenal glands. I went from having insomnia, being constantly exhausted and cranky, and losing handfuls of hair, to reversing all of those symptoms.

I fall asleep easily and sleep through the night (if my kids are nice enough to let me, that is); I have more energy and am more even-tempered and patient; my hair grew back and I now have awkward baby hairs to show for it.

Adaptogenic herbs have been one of the main reasons for all of these improvements, and they are uniquely capable of increasing energy when mama needs it, while simultaneously inducing calm when mama’s stressed out. They adapt to your needs.

My favorite adaptogenic herbs include:

Rhodiola- Reputed to be more powerful than other adaptogens, rhodiola supports mental and emotional health by improving the ability to deal with stress, as well as increasing blood flow to the brain. It also combats the effects of excess adrenaline.
Astragalus- Another effective adaptogen, astragalus is helps to support the nervous system and negate the effects of stress. It is quite nutritive, as it contains protein, calcium, magnesium, silica, iron, and vitamins, all of which help to strengthen the body as a whole and impart energy.
Ashwaghanda- Also helpful for calming the nervous system and promoting restful sleep, ashwagandha boosts strength and vitality. It modifies the harmful effects of stress on the body and promotes calmness.
Eleuthero- Known as “Siberian Ginseng,” eleuthero increases vitality, improves mental and physical performance, and protects against stress. It lowers blood-pressure and has powerful anti-fatigue effects.

Make your own powerful adrenal support extract using these easy instructions. I take a dose of adaptogens first thing in the morning and again in the afternoon if I start to feel fatigued.

3. How to have more energy: eat liver

Yup. Unless you are in the baby boomer crowd, you likely didn’t grow up eating liver, and therefore, probably consider it yucky. However, liver is packed full of nutrients that will have you feeling more energized in no time!

Liver is

an excellent source of high-quality protein
nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A, all the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
one of our best sources of folic acid and a highly usable form of iron
a good source of trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium (liver is our best source of copper); an unidentified anti-fatigue factor; and CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
a good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA

Don’t like eating liver? No problem. You can easily take it in capsule form.

When I’m really on the ball, I make my own liver capsules using this tutorial, but more frequently, I stock up on pre-made liver capsules. These are what I’m taking right now, and I take four capsules every morning before breakfast. (Use code FAMILYHEALS10 for 10% off!)

4. How to have more energy: wake up with magnesium

While some types of magnesium, like Epsom salts and transdermal oils and lotions, can bring calming and relaxation, other types of magnesium provide energy.

I’ve recently been using an awesome type of magnesium that contains not one, not two, but three types of superior magnesium, along with the important cofactor boron for better absorbability. It’s called Wake Up Maggie and it does just that- wakes you up.

Wake Up Maggie is better than coffee to start your day off right. The unique combination of magnesium malate, taurinate and orotate is designed to pep you up and keep you alert for the day ahead.

One scoop of Wake Up Maggie provides 200mg of highly-absorbable magnesium as:

• Magnesium malate
• Magnesium taurinate
• Magnesium orotate
• PLUS 1.5mg of Boron

Get Wake Up Maggie here.

5. How to have more energy: cut sugar

Finally, if you want to start your day off more energized, ditch the sugar.

While it’s best to eliminate sugar altogether from your diet (read about the best natural replacements for sugar here), if you are concerned about starting your day off with more energy, cut out the pastries, breads, and cereals for breakfast and replace them with a high-protein breakfast with good fats and carbs.

For me, the perfect breakfast combo includes pastured eggs, clean bacon or sausage, and a sweet potato.

Find what works for you and fuel your body rather than fatigue it by kicking the refined carbs and sugar to the curb.

And if you want to sleep better, keep the sugar away late in the day as well, as it will prevent you from getting proper rest.

Small changes= big results!

Want to have more energy? Prioritize your sleep, support your energy levels with herbs, eat liver, take the right kind of magnesium, and keep the sugar away.

You’ll see big improvements in energy by making these small changes.