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Tag: beetroot powder supplement

How can food help my Menopause Symptoms?

Posted on by Caleb Wynne

Are you overwhelmed by the amount of information on managing your menopausal symptoms or confused about which way to go?

I am going to keep it simple for you today and give you my top tips that will help alleviate the main problems.

Firstly though, let’s understand what is happening.

Hot Flushes

As you enter menopause your body begins to produce less oestrogen, testosterone and progesterone, and this triggers many of the symptoms.  Especially the ‘hot flushes’, probably the most widely experienced symptom, and the most annoying.

The body is an ecosystem, and every little thing affects every other little thing.  Nothing happens without there being a downstream effect, and hormonal changes are a good example of this.  When the level of these hormones drop, our temperature regulating hormones are also affected, causing excessive sweating and flushing.

Oestrogens promote vasodilation, heat dissipation and lower body temperature, whilst progesterone and progestins generally have the opposite effect.

Excess body fat

Oestrogen and progestin help regulate body fat storage and as our levels of oestrogen drop this often causes the body to store more fat, especially around our middles.

Dry Skin

Oestrogen helps with lubrication, keeping our skin subtle and moist, and as it declines lots of us notice certain ‘things’ becoming drier.  Another annoying symptom.

Bone mass

Oestrogen also helps with the regulation of bone mass, and as the amount you produce declines, this can lead to osteoporosis (bone thinning).

Changes in Mood

Serotonin, our feel-good hormone, works hand-in-hand with oestrogen to regulate our mood, and yes, you guessed it, as oestrogen begins to decline, so does the level of serotonin leaving us feeling not quite right. Grumpy, cranky and snappy.

So, what can we do to help alleviate some of these symptoms?

  • Avoid alcohol, spicy foods, caffeine, and smoking.
  • Avoid free flowing fats, (olive oil, coconut oil, butter, and veggie oils) and fatty foods.
  • Stay cool, sleep with a fan.
  • Eat cold white potatoes, baked in the oven or air fryer without oil or fat.
  • Take 3 tablespoons per day of flaxseeds – spread throughout the day. We recommend you grind the flaxseeds in a blender or bullet, and you can make two days’ worth at a time but no more as the exposure to air makes them go rancid.
  • Take 1 scoop of the Flourish ‘daily detox’ blend after dinner every night, especially for the hot flushes. This is absolutely THE best antidote.
  • If you are looking for the most optimal outcome then we recommend you take a combination of the ‘daily detox’ and ‘anti-inflammatory’ together after dinner, especially as the whole process of menopause can cause inflammation.

Please visit here for more information on our Daily Detox Blend & Anti-Inflammatory Blend.

Healthy Lifestyle For Fatty Liver

Posted on by Tim Ashton

What is fatty liver?

Fatty Liver is a term usually given to someone whose liver cells contain too much fat. It is diagnosed through a blood test, ultrasound, or MRI. The liver enzymes could be out of range in a blood test, or an ultrasound could show that the liver cells are enlarged and containing fat.

The cause is usually excessive alcohol consumption, but today we are seeing this condition in people who do not drink alcohol, also. If this is the case, it is known as non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Why does it happen? 

The answer is the food we are eating. The standard Australian diet – though improving – is typically filled with foods containing excessive amounts of oil, fat, and refined sugars, which all cause the liver to store fat within its cells. Ageing and the excessive intake of medications can also be a factor. The more processed your diet, the more likely you are to have a Fatty Liver.

The liver is responsible for over 500 different processes within the body. It plays a major role in the production of our hormones, processing foods, detoxifying toxins and filtering harmful substances. Also, it is the only organ in the body that is capable of regeneration. A regeneration cycle is 30-40 days, depending on the size of the person.

Chronic liver disease is often symptomless, or the symptoms are subtle at the least: general fatigue, poor sleep, not waking refreshed, swelling of the legs, weight gain, insulin resistance, thyroid issues, and diabetes are some of the most common. If the condition is at its worst, the symptoms can include a terrible itching of the skin, yellowing of the eyes and skin, weight loss, loss of appetite, abdominal pain and swelling, confusion, and death.

Is it reversible?

Yes, we believe it is, but it requires you to make some big changes to your dietary habits, exercise regime, and alcohol consumption.

Dietary Changes needed:

  • Remove fat from your diet
  • Eat a plant-based diet
  • Eliminate meat and diary
  • Eliminate gluten
  • Eliminate alcohol

Optional – for quick and longlasting results:

  • Consume the Flourish Detox Blend – nightly before bed – 1 tablespoon
  • Consume the Flourish Turmeric Blend – ½ teaspoon nightly before bed

It normally takes 30-40 days to see significant changes, or 1 regeneration cycle. If the condition is severe, we recommend continuing the healing regime for a minimum of 3 months.

Because the liver is one of the most important organs in our body, is extremely important to keep it healthy and avoid conditions such as Fatty Liver. By making healthy changes to your diet, regularly exercising, and significantly reducing alcohol consumption, you can not only treat Fatty Liver but reverse it.

Thyroid 101

Posted on by Tim Ashton

This small but mighty, shield shaped gland is located in the front of the neck and plays an enormous role in our overall health.  Every cell in the body, except red blood cells, has a receptor site for thyroid hormones, and these regulate temperature and metabolism.  The thyroid influences almost every bodily function, so when it is not working properly you can experience a wide range of signs and symptoms. 

Under-active or Overactive?

You might hear the terms under-active and overactive thrown around from time to time when it comes to talking about the thyroid.

Under-active Thyroid

Hypo or low thyroid function means the thyroid gland is under-active and it does not product enough thyroid hormone.  High cortisol (stress hormones) can cause the thyroid to stop producing thyroid hormones and this is known as hypothyroidism.

Environmental stress can also be a cause of an under-active thyroid, and this is highly linked to individual genetic predispositions. 

The major signs and symptoms of under-active thyroid issues are fatigue, hair loss, weight gain, foggy brain , depression, brittle nails, shortness of breathe, anxiety, irregular periods, sensitivity to the cold, bowel problems and a general feeling of un-wellness. 

Over-active Thyroid

Hyper or high thyroid functions means the thyroid gland is overactive, and producing far too many thyroid hormones.  Again internal and external environment stress can cause the hypothalamus and pituitary glands to send the wrong message to the thyroid gland, causing it to over produce.                                                                                           

The signs and symptoms are fairly similar to those of an under-active thyroid, but weight loss is more prevalent, along with a very rapid heart rate, heart palpitations, anxiety, unable to control temperature and shakiness throughout the body. 

Hyperthyroidism is far more dangerous that hypo and needs to be addressed quickly due to the heart’s involvement with hyperthyroidism or Grave’s Disease as it is known. 

Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s

Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s are the names given to thyroid disease if the immune system is involved; this means that the problem is autoimmune.

Besides medications, controlling environmental factors in both Hashimoto’s and Graves’ is paramount.  Reducing stress and eating a whole food, plant-based fat free diet makes a monumental difference to both diseases.

Lifestyle factors to support thyroid health

Staying gluten free is one of the most important things if diagnosed with a thyroid issue.  The gluten protein is extremely similar to the protein structure found within the thyroid.  This similarity is called cellular mimickery and causes the immune system to see the thyroid as similar to gluten. If you have a sensitivity to gluten, it will want to destroy the gland, this is the first step to autoimmune thyroid disease.

A low ‘free-fat’ diet is also one of the keys to supporting thyroid problems.  The thyroid itself only produces 7% of the active hormone T3 (what the cell can use) and the other 93% , known as T4, must travel via transporter proteins to the liver and gut for conversion to active T3.    These transporter proteins have a strong affinity to fat, so if the diet is full of ‘free’ fats (those that come from a bottle or a jar) bind to these transporters not allowing them to pick up the inactive T4 for transportation to the liver. 

How Flourish can help with the natural anti-inflammatory and beetroot powder

All three of our blends have a role to play when it comes to supporting thyroid health.

If the liver is filled with fat also from a high-fat diet, then it is unable to make the conversion. Our detox blend has been designed to aid this very function of the liver.

Good gut bacteria is also responsible for converting 20% of the inactive T4 to active T3, so our prebiotic, gut blend should also be front of mind if you have a thyroid issue.   

If the gut is inflamed the bacteria all go to sleep for want of a better description, so are unable to perform the conversion properly.  Decreasing inflammation not only in the gut, but also all through the body should be top of mind as well. And that’s where our Turmeric blend comes in.

Find out more about our blends here.

You might also be interested in “Let’s talk about inflammation“.

5 Ways To Improve Your Gut Health

Posted on by Tim Ashton

It’s the season of Gut Health here at Flourish, and for good reason too!

Our gut microbiome (the trillions of microorganisms living in your intestinal tract) is the corner stone of our health and our happiness. These microorganisms, mainly comprising of bacteria, are involved in functions critical to your health and wellbeing. It’s essential that we keep them as happy as possible!

Small changes can go a long way in improving our gut microbiome, here’s our top tips:

1. Eat the rainbow

The more colours of fruit and veggies on your plate, the greater the diversity of species and the more species present, the healthier your immune system!  A good way to begin to do this is to make a chart with each colour of the rainbow marked on it, then each day tick off what you have eaten from each colour range.

2. Don’t be too clean!

We don’t mean to be a grub! But using antibacterial wipes and hand sanitising gels constantly just isn’t healthy.  They are designed to wipe out bacteria and since our bodies are made up of more of trillions of essential bacterias, it’s important not to wipe them out using sanitising gels.  Research shows that the more sterile the environment for our gut microbiomes the smaller the diversity of species, and thereby the less healthy the host, which is us!

3. Eat gut loving foods, they are natural detox

Eat at least one or all of these foods daily: cold white potatoes with no fat or oil on them, cold rice like sushi with no mayonnaise, and cold oats. The reason we advise to eat these foods cold is because when they’re cold they’re much higher in resistant starch (which is what our gut microbes love!) The gut bugs eat and convert it to short chain fatty acids and butyrate which is the primary food source that keeps the cells of our colon healthy.

4. Avoid C.R.A.P

Otherwise known as ‘Calorie Rich And Processed’ foods.  Stay away from food out of a packet and foods high in processed sugars.  Keep fat to less than 20 grams per day.

5. Take our Prebiotic Blend

Our obvious choice! Our Prebiotic Blend is food for the gut microbes!  It is full of resistant starch and inulin (from chicory root), a form of fibre that they love. Our Prebiotic Blend to gut bugs is like what a Krispy Kreme is to a 10 year old, delicious!

SHOP THE BLEND

You might also be interested in “The Difference Between Turmeric & Curcumin“.