hormone-mimicking chemical in sodas and energy drinks

Anyone trying to avoid excess estrogen (like us fibroid shrinkers) will be interested in this scary news: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/bisphenol-a-soda-47030501?src=nl&mag=tdg&list=dgr

goji berries and GoChi juice

I've written previously about how goji berries are a good snack food for fibroid shrinkers, due to their high nutrient content, including amino acids and iron which we particularly need. Then when I read in The Tao of Fertility that goji berries can improve egg quality, well that really got my attention.

However, even though they have an interesting flavor, and I eat them raw and throw them into various dishes (crisps, stews, salads...) it's rather difficult to eat very many of them. They are just too intense tasting.

Then my husband's sperm tests shows that his sperm are not as spunky as we would like them to be. My acupuncturist recommended goji berries, which are traditionally used in Chinese medicine to help fertility in both men and women, and in men specifically to strengthen the sperm and help with impotence.

She also suggested to for both of us to try GoChi juice, which she feels is an excellent way to get more goji into your system. Um wait, I said, no way, not that GoChi juice that one of my relatives has been pushing?! I tend to be skeptical of any product sold through multi-level marketing, but my acupuncturist said no, it's really great, you should get some.

So, my husband and I delighted our relative and ordered some, and we have been diligently drinking little shot glass size portions of it twice a day for the past 8 weeks or so. I never eat dessert anymore so it's a sweet little dessert substitute for me.

It's too soon to tell whether it's helping my husband's sperm, or my eggs (guess we'll never really know on the eggs, but it can't hurt...). However, I can tell you that although previously he had been exhibiting some performance issues at our important monthly fertile-period time for TTC, now he is downright perky! A huge change and I think it's probably thanks to the GoChi.

A lot of the info on the health benefits of goji berries is from people who are selling goji products, I thought this summary was a helpful one and seemed unbiased.

Update, I have now switched to Goji Gold, which I think is better because it's 100% goji juice and is organic.

Lignans, millet, and a recipe: Quinoa and Millet Italienne

Research has shown that lignans, a chemical compound found in plants, are inversely related with risk of uterine fibroids, particularly the type that is present in millet. (There is even a lignan supplement, Brevail, that I just discovered researching this blog post. Brevail is claimed to help with fibroids and from what I can tell I think it may be helpful if you think you are estrogen dominant and don't get enough lignans in your diet, but personally I prefer to get my lignans naturally in food.)

Millet is also a good food for those seeking to shrink their fibroids because it is rich in nutrients and fiber and has a good amount of protein. Also it alkaline when cooked (unlike many other grains).

I find that I don't care for millet on its own -- too mushy -- but it adds a nice texture when added to quinoa or oatmeal.

Here's a delicious recipe I served for brunch today, using millet and that other friend of fibroid shrinkers, protein-rich quinoa.

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup millet
3 cups water
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
2 cups chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1 small can tomato paste

Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil till transluscent. Add the quinoa, millet and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook for 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until all liquid has been absorbed and the added ingredients have heated through.

Serve with steamed broccoli or green beans, or sauteed spinach. Delicious!

Bach flower remedy -- Walnut

Visited my acupuncturist yesterday and we started me on the Bach Flower Remedy Walnut. It's for those who have difficulty with making changes -- that's me! And it's good for those who are trying to achieve a goal but are encountering obstables -- that's me too!

Bach Walnut is an ingredient in this fibroid remedy I saw online. It's kind of unusual to mix a homeopathic remedy with regular herbs, but anyway thought I would show it to you. This case also cites use of Bach walnut for fibroids. So this could be helpful for the fibroids.

Cod Livornese

Here's a great recipe for a fibroid-friendly dinner, Cod Livornese. I made a couple of adjustments: I used a half-pint of cherry tomatoes and then a half jar of sun dried tomatoes. Used twice the kalamata olives called for. To save time, I cooked the tomatoe and olive topping in a separate pan from the fish, simultaneously.

Paired with lightly stir-fried arugula leaves, it was a quick and delicious dinner.

non-toxic dry cleaning

An important thing to do when shrinking fibroids is to reduce your toxin exposure, to lighten the burden on your liver so it can focus on clearing out excess estrogen from your system.

One way to do this is to stop using traditional dry cleaning, which relies on perchloroethylene, which has been identified as a probable human carcinogen and hazardous air pollutant. Yuk, who wants traces of that touching their skin!

There are now various "green" dry cleaning alternatives. This Wall Street Journal article gives a good overview of the methods, as well as links to directories so you can find one near you.

tapping techniques

I've written before about how much I enjoy Body Talk therapy, and am currently experimenting with Emotional Freedom Techniques. This article discusses both in a user-friendly way, for those who are curious it's a great introduction.

I have a copy of the printed version, which had a sidebar with links to other tapping techniques. Since this is not in the online version, I'll list them here. Have not explored them yet but thought others might be interested.

www.emotrance.com
www.energypsych.com
www.willingness.com
www.powertapping.com
www.thoughtenergy.com
www.tftrx.com

wanna get it right this time V -- myofascial release

I had gotten interested in the idea of myofascial release for fibroids when it was mentioned in this study that showed efficacy of alternative healing modalities for fibroid shrinkage. However, not that many people do it and I hadn't had success finding anyone near me who did myofascial release, except for one person who I called but wasn't familiar with using it for fibroids (his remark "that would hurt!")

However, given that my shrinkage has plateaued, wanted to amp up my efforts so decided to look again, casting my net a little wider. I found a center specializing in myofascial release about 45 minutes away, and they even had this article on their site about how it can help with fertility.

The idea is that fascia surround all our organs, and if the fascia are tight it can restrict the organs and circulation to them. So relaxing the fascia in the pelvis can help release blocked energy and thus address fibroids and increase fertility.

So I went in today for a session. They concentrated on releasing some of the fascia in my pelvis, right left and center, and in the area of my leg crease. Each one took awhile, the therapist presses/pulls the fascia until it relaxes. You can definitely feel something happening when they do it.

The therapist had lots of other ideas for things that could be done that could be helpfu for me, however I need to think about how much I can afford / can find the time to drive so far, and also I don't want to do anything during the luteal phase. So this might be a once per month thing if I continue.

But I did feel like it was a helpful release, I do feel like something shifted down there. With something like this it's hard to measure how much it helps, but I did feel like it was helpful.

my current herb formula

Here's my current herb formula, a follicular phase formula with some nice fibroid shrinkers in it.

Dang Gui
Bai Shao
Shu Di
Shan Yao
Shan Zhu Yu
Fu Ling
Mu Dan Pi
He Huan Pi

wanna get it right this time IV -- luteal phase tips

Note, this is a fertility related posting, not fibroid related.

My regular acupuncturist is out of town, so today got a chance for interesting different information.

We talked a bit about the luteal phase, and what can and can't be done during that time:

1. No reflexology during the luteal phase. It's too stimulating. But it's good to do during the first half of the cycle.

2. However, for the feet it's good to soak them in warm water. That will help keep the uterus warm, according to Chinese medicine principles. In general it's important to keep the feet warm, so warm socks are good too. Also think I'll use my microwaveable spa booties. She said there was clinical evidence that proves keeping your feet warm is good for fertility. I didn't find that when I looked on the internet, but it was mentioned on this page and this page. Fibroids are said to be a result of a cold uterus, so keeping feet warm should be helpful for fibroids too.

3. Something I knew before, no shoulder rubs during the luteal phase because it creates descending energy. But what to do about the buildup of stiff shoulders during that time, which I am prone to? She suggested to coat my shoulders with homeopathic Traumeel gel and then put a microwaveable shoulder wrap on. Great idea I will try!

wanna get it right this time III - Psych-K

On Friday night my husband came how all revved up by an interesting talk he had heard on NPR on the way home, all about "dead ideas." (Turned out it was a talk by an author on book tour, I tracked down the book that was being promoted, it's The Tyranny of Dead Ideas).

The book is about economics, and the dead ideas are things like You Company Should Take Care of You and The Kids Will Earn More than We Do. But the reason my husband was jazzed up about it is, he felt the concept could apply to all parts of life. "We should think about what dead ideas we have in our lives, so we can get rid of them. It would be a good exercise."

Indeed, how to purge my mind (including subconscious), body, and spirit of old, outdated and negative thinking has been something I've been thinking about lately as part of my quest to shrink my fibroids and get pregnant. I wrote previously about getting excited by the idea of cleaning out thought patterns that are no longer serving me. The way I had tried to do that was with hypnosis, but unfortunately after a couple of attempts it didn't feel like it was working for me. But I kept thinking I wanted to find another way to work on this. I've been reading the classic You Can Heal Your Life and have created affirmation cards that are now all over my house, but somehow that didn't feel like enough. I kept thinking about what it said in the hypnosis book, about the need to get to your subconscious mind where the negative beliefs have lodged themselves.

The other day I decided to get a session of Body Talk (another alternative therapy I am a fan of) as a gift for a friend in another state who hasn't been feeling well. I looked up the practitioners in her area, and one of them showed on her site that she also did something called Psych-K. I read the description and said "I have to try that!"

Unfortunately it seems that not that many people do Psych-K. There are only a few people in my state listed in the practitioner list on the official website. However, I also did some googling and discovered that not all the practitioners are listed on the site. Even so, the closest person I could find was an hour away -- and I live in a major metropolitan area, and in California where people go for this kind of thing!

My appointment was today. The practitioner I worked with, Theresa Wiles, was an incredibly warm and supportive person. The session focused on getting yourself aligned with various affirmations -- so in other words, getting rid of the dead ideas by overwriting them with positive ones.

After briefly asking me my purpose for coming and some other background questions, we jumped in. The process involves identifying which positive ideas you are not in alignment with, using muscle testing, and then "resetting" them by holding your arms and legs in certain positions while meditating on them. (Yes I know sounds a bit woo-woo, but since I had done muscle testing before when doing NAET this felt a lot more comfortable to me than trying to go under hypnosis. In fact, really Psych-K is for emotions what NAET is for allergies...)

We started by clearing some of the basic concepts such as "I love myself" and "I deeply appreciate and accept myself." Then most of the ones we worked on were, interestingly, from the "grief and loss" section of her concept list -- such as ""As I forgive, so am I forgiven", "I can feel the sunshine even when the clouds are overhead" and "Everyone, including me, is doing the best they can." We also did some special ones that she came up with for me, including "I have all the time I need to conceive this baby," "I release my need to be perfect", and "I welcome changes in my life."

All in all I did 25 concepts -- not bad for an hour and a half. We were clipping right through them. It was rather tiring I have to say, and for the rest of the day I have been not as focused as usual and I'm going to go to sleep early. But I guess it makes sense to be tired if you are rewiring your brain!

Although it's not strictly necessary, I'm going to make affirmation cards with these 25 statements to keep me thinking about them.

I'm not sure how I'll be able to "prove" whether this was helpful or not, but it felt helpful to take time to really focus on these ideas and how I think about life. It definitely felt much more satisfying than the hypnosis.