Are you taking your iron supplement with your morning cup of coffee or tea? I used to take mine with a cup of green tea…
Both coffee and tea (primarily green, black and white tea) contain high concentrations of polyphenols - which can reduce iron absorption by 60%, or even more. In fact, coffee consumption, with or just after a meal may reduce iron absorption by 40%.
So - don’t waste that precious iron. Take it away from your coffee and tea!
Reference(s):
Gropper, Sareen A.S, Jack L. Smith, and James L. Groff. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 2009.
INTERESTED IN READING MORE?
Androgens are often referred to as ‘male sex hormones,’ but they’re present in both men and women. When it comes to women, we hear the most about testosterone, DHEA-S and DHT.
Birth control is NOT the only option for painful (dysmenorrhea) and/or heavy periods (menorrhagia). And before jumping on a medication or supplement your HCP should always look into potential causes of extreme cramping – ie. endometriosis, fibroids, etc.
Prostaglandins are a major factor in menstrual cramps – once a month (when Aunt Flow comes to town) they cause uterine muscles to contract in order to release the uterine lining (endometrium). Prostaglandins aren’t bad (they are important for blood clots, inducing labour, etc.), but if certain prostaglandins are high in your cycle – this can predispose to more painful menstrual cramping.
So - the liver is responsible for detoxing alcohol. But it’s also important for metabolizing estrogen. In women, more than one alcoholic drink per day has been shown to increase circulation of androgens (ie. testosterone) and estrogens (1, 2) – this predisposes you to symptoms of estrogen dominance.
Are you taking your iron supplement with your morning cup of coffee or tea?
I’m excited to share that in an effort to increase accessibility to naturopathic care, I am offering virtual consults to individuals who live in rural areas of Manitoba.
Perimenopause: the hormonal shift, occurring over months-years, which transitions you into menopause. ‘Peri’ means “around” or “near”, so - you get the point.
We’re stressed out, right? Well, the increased cortisol produced by stress makes us hungry - hungry for carbs, sugar and fat (and not the good kinds, okay?). If we follow suit and eat like this all the time we start to feel fatigued (and in desperately hoping for a caffeine boost), moody and may even start to find that we don’t think as clearly (some will call this ‘brain fog’). And stress forces our body to utilize a significant amount of nutrients to produce the energy we need to respond - even if our stress is created by sitting in front of a computer all day.
Chronically stressed out? I won’t lie, me too.
But yikes, that eventually catches up to you. Cortisol (aka our stress hormone) is important for our functioning (and our ability to adapt to stress) – but too much or too little can be problematic.
Do you know how to deal with chronically elevated cortisol?
Taking your biotin pretty consistently and still losing hair?
Well, there’s a ton of reasons why your hair might be thinning out. Let’s investigate.
I’m willing to bet you’ve heard the term ‘PCOS’ before.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). The first thing I want to emphasize: it’s a syndrome – not all signs and symptoms show up in every individual with PCOS.
So, how do you know if you have PCOS?