Ask any woman
or man what their most major health concern is and
statistics say they will report that their weight gives them the most concern. This weight
"problem" is followed by concerns about aging, skin, breast cancer, hormone
replacement therapy, osteoporosis, hair loss, too much body hair, vitality, energy,
stamina, sugar cravings, and don't forget, memory loss.
It is further
revealed in studies about these health issues that most men and women equate vitality
with youth.
Advertising about "peeling away the years", and new ways to remove
fat are everywhere. It seems that both sexes spend the last 30 years of their lives trying to figure
out how to maintain their youth.
See
MACA
The truth is that American women use themselves up long before their time. By
the time a woman in this country is 30 years old, she will have had 2 children, been
married and divorced once, moved 4 times, experienced the death or the serious illness of
a loved one at least once, and will have been employed at 3 different jobs.
Remember the old Stress Scale? The top five stressors in a person's life are,
death, divorce, moving, and changing jobs. The Stress Scale was published decades
ago when such events as moving, and changing jobs were not so commonplace. Death and
illness were not so routine. Years ago we did not worry about breast cancer,
diabetes or AIDS.
Let's talk about health and aging. Chronic worry, stress and the feeling that a
woman is not in control of her own life cause the aging process to speed up! Not being
present to the moment to moment slight stressors in a woman's life results in a loss of
sensation, feeling and then a numbing to those larger events that would ordinarily
cause great disturbance and avoidance! Women in this country have gone beyond
resilience just like men, they have accepted a tolerance for stress that has resulted in them becoming
at risk
for diseases, such as heart disease and lung cancer.
Let's look at a typical
situation, that, under most circumstances would seem
benign and ordinary and certainly not too unhealthy:
You're
driving in your car and traffic is backed up, as usual. Some thoughtless driver cuts sharply in front of you.
You want to yell and scream, but instead you sit back resignedly trying not to think
about dinner, children, money, your husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, or when you will be
able to sleep or even just be alone for a while.
When
you are tense, you are not breathing air in much below your very upper chest, so
there are thousands of muscle fibers, from your chin down to your hips, across both
shoulders and your back, that are not getting stretched. No blood is flowing into those
tissues to keep them nourished and flexible. Take a deep breath right now and see what the
breath does under fairly "normal" circumstances. Amazing what parts of your body
move when you really breathe!
Next, your face is frozen, your jaw and teeth are holding all the pressure
you feel. This is causing your neck muscles to tighten and could eventually
lead to bothersome neck pain. You will also develop some premature lines
unnecessarily, purely because the tissues of your face are so tight that no
blood or lymph can circulate there!
Mentally speaking aren't you "miles away" from your body when
you are driving in traffic? You don't even really feel any of these sensations of
tightness or discomfort in your face, neck, jaw, or chest. And your abdomen is doing
nothing - just paralyzed in a fight or flight mode. There is no air moving in your lower
lungs to stimulate any muscle stretching or movement in your belly. The very soul of your
womanhood is no longer a conscious part of your body. You begin to think about food. Not
eating, not enjoying a meal - just "FOOD".
By the time you get home you nosh on something like chips or an old bagel to
hold you over, until you can eat real food. Does this sound familiar?
While all this is happening your adrenal glands are producing increased
amounts cortisol to compensate for the tightness in your jaw. After all, your adrenals
think you are about to fight off an invader! And your insulin production is increasing
because your muscles are cramped, lowering your blood sugar, and causing you to feel
hungry because your pancreas thinks you just ran 2 miles!
You are abusing your endocrine system! Your hormones are overproducing and in
some cases under producing.
The
increased production of hormones due to day to day stress eventually develops
a normalized level of imbalance and your immune system becomes compromised. In
short, you are aging at an accelerated rate.
Repeated assaults
on the body, like the driving scene we just described, are commonplace and
are generally unnoticed in life. At least unnoticed until a woman begins to notice the visible
signs of endocrine depletion and aging: Skin looses elasticity, women complain about
thinning hair, inability to loose weight, the loss of sexual drive, PMS, and nasty
night sweats.
It might be possible for American women to tolerate such large, daily doses of
stress if the basic health recommendations for diet, sleep and exercise patterns were
followed. Usually these basic health practices are always the first to go in a busy
life. Because of the onus of responsibility women carry with them, the
taking of time needed for these
health practices is usually associated with a large dose of guilt, and
therefore even more
stress.
In South America there is an herb that women have used for thousands of years
to maintain their stamina, prevent fatigue, and reduce the effects of stress on their
body. The herb is called Maca, (Lepidium peruvianum Chacon).
In Peru,
men & women begin using
MACA at age 3 to
maintain fertility and hormonal health. They recognized long ago that their productive,
but stressful lifestyle could be debilitating unless they used plants as medicine. These
South American women remain fertile and productive well into late life. They are strong
and have immense stamina.
Using an herb that restores and maintains hormonal
balance, and has energizing
qualities does not mean women can continue to ignore their bodies. An herb such as
Maca will allow a woman to handle more of life without the same degree of stress taxing
her endocrine system. However there remains the responsibility that she recognize
and eliminate unnecessary stressors in her life. She needs to take responsibility
and develop a lifestyle that will allow her to achieve optimal health. Maca may restore
the youthful shine to her skin, and increase her libido, but a healthy lifestyle will make
that journey even better.
Take The Cancer Risk Test
Natural should mean identical to the hormone made in the body. Synthetic means
man-made as in a chemical laboratory, and not native to the human body.
A natural progesterone is considered one that is derived from a plant. For
example a natural progesterone is described as being derived from Mexican Wild Yam. But
the wild yam does not actually make or produce the progesterone. What it, and other plants
like it do, is produce saponins (plant fats). One saponin in particular( diosgenin)
resembles progesterone. In 1938, Dr. Russell E. Marker developed a process that transforms
diosgenin into progesterone. Prior to Dr. Marker's discovery, the only pharmaceutical
source of progesterone was human placentas or the ovaries of pregnant sows.
But, women insist on stressing their
bodies. Their production of hormones is
unable to keep pace with a lifestyle that includes too little rest, not enough of the
right foods, and a lot of emotional upheaval. So women find themselves looking
"outside" their bodies for what they think they do not have "inside".
The best source of progesterone and estrogen is your own body. Nothing could be
more natural, for the most part carry no risk of side effects, and be more user-friendly
than your own hormones. This is one more of the million reasons around to replenish
yourself, and use safe, truly natural products, like Maca, that will enhance your own
ability to produce hormones.
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Get up 15 minutes earlier.
Morning mishaps are less stressful -
and also less likely - when you have time to spare.
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Never wear ill-fitting clothes.
If shoes pinch, panty hose
creep down or a waist band binds, even a stroll to the mailbox can be stressful.
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Don't rely on your memory.
Write down addresses, directions and
phone numbers and take them with you to unfamiliar places. Leave notes on your mirror,
refrigerator or car door to remind you of important dates and errands.
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Practice preventive maintenance.
You will have fewer breakdowns
of automobiles, heaters, air conditioners, washers and other machines you depend on if you
have them cleaned and serviced regularly.
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Make duplicates of all your keys. Keep extra keys with a trusted neighbor, hide
other keys in a safe place.
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Feed the children separately. It is nice to get the whole family together to eat
but sometimes you deserve to eat in peace.
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Walk everywhere you can. Exercise has a soothing effect-especially when you can
avoid traffic, crowded buses and costly taxis.
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Be prepared to wait. A long line at the post office or a delay at the dentist's
office can be pleasant if you have a good book to read.
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