I also love farmers and what farmers provide- this is not a knock on conventional farming. But we can't keep turning a blind eye when it comes to our health and wellness- and I see too many patients affected by this.

​"In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, declared glyphosate a “probable human carcinogen.” The popular weed killer can cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and lung cancer in humans; can cause cancer in animals; and can induce DNA and chromosomal damage in mammals and in human and animal cell studies."
Did you read that? Glyphosate can induce DNA and chromosomal damage!

​Glyphosate is the most widely used broad-spectrum systemic herbicide in the world. Glyphosate-based herbicide exposed individuals have a 41% INCREASE risk for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

"All of the meta-analyses conducted to date, including our own, consistently report the same key finding: exposure to GBHs (glyphosate-based herbicides) are associated with an increased risk of NHL (Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma)," the authors wrote in a study published in the journal Mutation Research.

A healthy outside starts from the inside. 

Have a happy and safe Labor Day Weekend,
​Dr. Taryn

Don't worry, there will be more to come on this!

Being pregnant is hard. The hormone fluctuation is hard. The weight gain is hard. Input from everyone and their brother is hard. The birth itself is hard. EVERYTHING related to being pregnant and raising a child is hard. That’s just the truth. The absolute last thing that should be hard is wondering what extra nutrients provide benefit and where to get those said nutrients from.

Well, I’m here to cover what I recommend and to tell you why. Read that again. I’m not just going to tell you to take this and eat that- I’m going to explain the importance. Because at the end of the day, you should and need to question everything when it comes to your child’s health and well-being. You have a right to know the answers to your ‘why’ questions.

I’m also not here to lecture your health choices while pregnant, but to simply inform. A few simple, superior choices bring increased benefit to mom and baby.

Now, I only covered 8 essential vitamins and minerals, and purposely left out folate/folic acid because this requires its own section.

Folate and folic acid ARE NOT the same thing.

Folate is the natural form of vitamin B9 in food.
Folic acid is a synthetic form.
​
FOLATE is what you need and want during pregnancy, NOT folic acid.
Folate is involved in DNA production and cell division; it is critical to the development of the nervous system and prevention of neural tube defects.

What else do I recommend? A PROBIOTIC! New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests that a mother's microbiome during pregnancy plays a critical role in developing autism-spectrum disorders. "We determined that the microbiome is a key contributor in determining susceptibility [to autism-like disorders],” said lead researcher John Lukens, PhD, of UVA's Department of Neuroscience. "The microbiome can shape the developing brain in multiple ways," Lukens continued to explain. "The microbiome is really important to the calibration of how the offspring's immune system is going to respond to an infection or injury or stress." Your mind is only as healthy as your gut!

​If you are interested in our prenatal supplementation recommendation, all it will cost you is your time. At Stittleburg Restorative Health Care we do not charge inquisitive mothers for prenatal questions! You read that right; it is FREE to receive our prenatal supplementation recommendation. Our goal is to promote a happy, healthy pregnancy for both mom and baby! The best part, the supplements are delivered right to your door and the consultation can be done over the phone. The first step is yours.

Let's get back to health,
Dr. Taryn

Pregnancy is a beautiful thing and so is my friend, Stephanie!

This statistic really spoke to me- 1 in 20 women consult their primary care physician every year about this problem! Menorrhagia is the medical term defined as abnormally heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding. This is most often due to anovulatory cycles. The anovulatory cycle is a menstrual cycle with the absence of ovulation. This means, without ovulation, there is no chance of becoming pregnant. From collected research, adolescent girls and women nearing menopause are at greatest risk for menorrhagia. BUT- that is not always the case. 

Here are some of the primary causes of heavy bleeding:
• Can be caused by excessive overbuilding of the uterine lining
• Ovarian dysfunction (not ovulating)
• Uterine fibroids
• Uterine polyps due to elevated hormone levels
• Adenomyosis (endometrial glands become embedded in uterine muscle)
• IUD use
• Pregnancy complications

With heavy, unusual periods some complications can include:
– Iron deficiency anemia
– Severe menstrual cramps or abdominal pain
​

​Here are some of the primary signs and symptoms of heavy bleeding:
• Soaking through one or more tampons or pads for several consecutive hours
• Needing to use double sanitary protection to control menstrual flow
• Need to wake up to change menstrual pad at night
• Bleeding for longer than one week
• Passing large blood clots
• Restricted activities
• Anemia or excessive fatigue

Yikes, controlling heavy menstrual bleeding by an invasive surgery that comes with a grocery list of potential complications and/or side effects or taking a synthetic hormonal supplement that comes with a grocery list of potential complications and/or side effects! How are those our typical options in 2019?! Taking birth control to symptomatically treat heavy menstruation is like putting a rug over cracked foundation to keep it from spreading. Getting to the root cause of why these symptoms are present is what needs to happen! Our women deserve better. Please contact Stittleburg Restorative Health Care to see how Functional Medicine can help resolve your heavy bleeding!

Battery-Cage Eggs AKA Regular Conventional Eggs: These hens are confined to a space that’s roughly the size of a piece of computer paper, unable to spread their wings- for their entire lives. They are fed grains, usually genetically modified organism (GMO) grains.
​
Brown Eggs: The color of your eggshell means absolutely nothing. You wouldn’t pay more for a black iPhone than a white iPhone, would you? Eggs come in a variety of colors- brown is no better than a white, green, or blue egg.  

All-Natural, Farm Fresh, Hormone-Free: Just like your brown egg, these words mean nothing when it comes to egg selection. These words are greenwashing at its finest!

Cage-Free: I hope you haven’t been spending money on these! The 12 count conventional eggs we purchased for this experiment were $0.89. Sitting right next to those eggs, were the cage-free 12 count for $2.48. These chickens are packed by the thousands into multi-level aviaries (glorified chicken coops)! Essentially these chickens live in a warehouse, not in battery-cages, but still never get to see the outdoors.

Free-Range: When I think of free-range, I think of chickens frolicking through fields. WRONG! The USDA just mandates these chickens “have access to the outdoors.” Access to the outdoors is very different than actually going outdoors.

You are what you eat! Think about it, if you lived on grain, would you be healthy? Chickens are omnivores by nature and will eat (or try to eat) just about anything they can get their beaks on. When outdoors, chickens will usually eat protein and vitamin-rich foods like insects, grubs, vegetation and seeds.

When a chicken is fed mainly grain, they miss out on the flavonoids and carotenoids that bring increased nutrition value to the eggs we eat- along with their own health. 

What does this mean? It means that on top of functioning like a chicken should, free-range chickens eat a surplus amount of flavonoids and carotenoids! This is good for us egg-eaters.

My suggestion is, do everything you can to buy local free-range chicken eggs! Go to the farmer’s market, stop and visit an Amish family selling eggs, branch out and find friends that have their own chickens, etc. Sure, spending $0.89 at the store seems a whole lot easier, but so does keeping chicken in cages- and we now know that consequence. 

​Let’s get back to health,
Dr. Taryn