Meet my client, Sara

She's 52, works 30 hours a week at a somewhat stressful job, watches her two grandsons one day a week, cleans her 3500 square foot house by herself, usually has home improvement projects going on, helps her mom out a bit, and has a slightly grumpy husband who seems to complain more as he gets older (he needs to see me). She has taken very little time for herself to recoup and relax for over 30 years.  

Sara came to me with the following symptoms:

• Hair dull and falling out
• Low energy (uses caffeine and sugar to keep going)
• Difficulty losing weight
• Low sex drive
• Slightly elevated fasting blood sugar levels
• Chronic Constipation
• Slightly depressed
• Craves sugars and breads

Can you relate? These are all symptoms of hypo-thyroidism or Hashimotos which results in a thyroid that is under performing.  These symptoms can also be an indication that there is adrenal dysfunction, which is often an underlying problem to hypothyroidism. While Sara's thyroid was underachieving, she was over achieving, setting herself up for adrenal fatigue and under performing thyroid hormones.

10% of women have hypo-thyroidism and many of those cases go undiagnosed. This means that thousands of women are out there who are tired, depressed, overweight and they do not have to be! For them, no amount of dieting or exercise is going to do them a whole lot of good.  They are fighting an upstream battle and getting no where fast!  Men also go undiagnosed but in smaller numbers. 

The adrenal glands play a direct role in converting the inactive thyroid hormone into the active.  It is this active form that regulates metabolism and energy.  If your adrenal glands are in hyper mode due to ongoing stress and little rest, the thyroid medication that most doctors give their patients for an under active thyroid may help to alleviate symptoms but will not get to the root of the problem to truly fix things. This results in an ongoing dependence on medication and most often, continued insult to the adrenal glands persists.  

If you would like to know more about your thyroid and adrenal glands, how they influence your weight, energy, elimination, moods, libido and how to support and heal them please join me for a complimentary webinar that I will be giving on July 31st at 6:00 P.M.  Please click on the link below to register.  If you can not make the time and date of the broadcast, but would like to receive a recording, please register at this same link to receive a link to the broadcast.

 https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7646218623945456898

Fig and Pear Arugula Salad

Biting into a ripe fig topped with goat cheese and sipping a glass of chilled, crisp white wine is a slice of heaven for me. 

Last year, I wrote a post of my camping experience at a organic bio-abundant farm in northern California. One of the best parts of the trip was lying down in a field of arugula under an orchard of fig trees. The spicy peppery smell of the arugula filled my nose and softened the ground while I looked through the fig trees to the sky. It felt magical and the magic was more than a wonderful sensory experience. The arugula planted on the floor of the fig grove helps to keep moisture in the soil, creating a symbiotic eco system. 

Seeing figs back in season reminded me of this experience and inspired me to change up an arugula salad recipe that I've been making for a few years by adding figs.  I served this new version to a appreciative audience at a recent picnic and it was given a thumbs up!  So here it is!  Enjoy! 

Serves 3-4

Dressing:

4 whole Meyer lemons or Limes juiced

2 tablespoons maple syrup or raw honey

1/3 cup Olive oil

¼ Tsp Real salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

6 oz washed arugula leaves

1 small pear, cut into shavings with a peeler or cut into chunks

3-4 fresh figs cubed

½ cup raw pecan pieces or chopped raw almonds

2 oz goat cheese

In large bowl, gently toss the salad ingredients with enough dressing to generously coat.

Arugula is in the same family as kale, mustard greens and cauliflower so think detoxification.  It also helps with hormone balancing, has anti-cancer properties, and is a great source of folate.

 Once figs have ripened on the tree, they are very delicate and difficult to transport and are often found unripe at the grocery store.  It's best to get them from a farmers market to ensure that they have not been picked too soon and to get them at their sweetest! Figs come in many varieties and are available to us fresh mid June through October.  Dried figs or frozen figs will work in this salad too.