February 2008 issue

It may be time to retest your saliva.

Give us a call to pick up a saliva kit and to book your follow-up appointment.

ESSENTIAL FATTY ACID (EFA) - Omega 3

A FAT that is GOOD for me?  Please, please…. tell me it’s the kind of fat in Cheese Cake!!! Unfortunately it’s not!

Most of us have, at one time or another, been concerned about our fat intake and could admit to trying to be on a “low fat diet”, only to find that it didn’t regulate our weight, left us with cravings, filled us up with “artificial” ingredients and left us generally miserable.

However, we now see and hear much information on “Essential Fatty Acids” and how good they are for us.  Why were they once bad for us and now they are so good?

The bottom line – there a good fats and there are bad fats.

Many studies are now showing that Omega 3 fatty acids may have benefits in either treating or preventing many, many chronic, degenerative and inflammatory conditions. Studies are even showing that Omega-3’s are especially beneficial to menopausal women in preserving heart, breast and bone health, and even to keep our moods on an even keel (womentowomen.com).

Keep reading to find out more!

Why Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) are Essential:

Essential fatty acids cannot be made by our bodies, so they must be consumed in our diets. EFA’s are required to protect and keep our cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, GI and immune systems functioning optimally.

FACT: Your Body Can't Live without Good Fats.

 The human brain is 60% fat.

Fat maintains the integrity of the nervous system, your brain's "communication center" with the rest of your body.

Fat is needed by all the cells in your body: Nerve cells, eye cells, brain cells and even heart cells need fat to survive.

Your body needs fat in order to properly absorb and use crucial vitamins such as A, D, E, K and Beta-Carotene

Fat boosts your immune system and acts as a shield to keep out harmful germs and microbes that can cause illness.

Technically, one way in which the consumption of EFA’s is beneficial is that it alters the body’s production of prostaglandins.  Prostaglandins are crucial to body functions in many ways; however, the prostaglandins whose production is enhanced by fish oils produce anti-inflammatory effects within the body.  This is one reason why EFA’s have been shown to have some benefit or effect on conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, menstrual cramps, lupus, depression, heart disease prevention, ADHD, MS, and on and on….

At Alternative Hormone Solutions, we strongly advocate essential fatty acids for all of our clients.  The benefits for women are well documented in the literature (breast health, infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome, premature birth and some cancers) and we see much success in women experiencing significant menstrual cramping and many other hormonal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and insulin resistance! 

So Where Do Essential Fatty Acids Come From?

There is a wide range of food source from which you can get enough EFA’s, both Omega-3 (fish, nuts, seeds) and Omega-6 *(which largely come from vegetable oils).

Essential Fatty Acids Foods...

Some of the best and healthiest sources of these critical nutrients include:

* A ratio or balance of Omega-6 to Omega-3 is most relevant to health and longevity. An optimal ratio of 6’s to 3’s is thought to be 2:1 and 4:1, however, a typical North American diet is thought to be as high as 10:1 and 30:1.

**Some literature warns against using flaxseed as a sole source of Omega-3 as they do not contain DHA and EPA, but ALA (Alpha linolenic acid).  Humans have a very limited capacity to convert smaller and less useful omega-3 fats like ALA found in flax, to the more useful higher order fats DHA and EPA (Mercola.com)

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Getting the Right Supplement:

Obviously, getting adequate amounts from our diet is ideal.  However, our busy lives do not always permit this. The American Heart Association recommends dosages between 1000-3000 mg/day.  However for some conditions higher doses have been helpful and well tolerated, but consultation with a healthcare provider is recommended.

Ideal Supplements would be:

• Deep water fish from the least polluted waters- by fish oils certified as free from significant levels of mercury, PBC’s and other toxins.  If it doesn’t say on the label, you can contact the manufacturer or search on the web.

• Contain added antioxidants (prevents rancidity inside your body)

• No more than 3 grams of DHA or EPA per day

• Look at the expiration date.  EFA’s can go rancid or oxidize ( a fishy smell doesn’t mean it has gone bad)

Krill Oil

Although there are many good high-quality fish oils, fish oil can be a challenge as it is highly perishable and can easily become rancid inside your body if you don’t get enough antioxidants.

Krill Oil is from Krill which are shrimp-like small crustaceans that whales feed from. Krill Oil actually has endogenous antioxidants right in it!  In fact, it has 300 x greater antioxidant activity than Vitamin E and 50 X greater activity than other standard omega-3 fish oil.

An interesting Canadian study out of the Montreal University School of medicine gave 200 patients ¼ tsp of Krill oil and found a significant decrease in cholesterol, a 44% increase in HDL (good cholesterol) and within the 1^st week, patients reported less stiffness, increased flexibility and decreased joint pain.

In addition, during a parallel PMS study, the following results were reported:

• Irritability reduced by 50%

• Depression reduced by 40%

• Water retention reduced by 37%

• Abdominal pain reduced by 33%

As if that isn’t enough, there was also a decrease in facial wrinkles and healthier looking skin was reported! (Altern Med Rev 2003; 8(2)-171-179)

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PARTNERS IN NATURAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

We all know that health and wellness is not achieved by focusing on one facet of our body or our lifestyle.  At AHS, we focus on hormone health, but we also believe that achieving wellness is a balance of many things including hormones, nutrition, exercise, supplementation and stress reduction. 

This is a new effort to share with you those other health and wellness services in our community that share and support our interest in empowering women to make health choices and begin to feel healthy and full of renewed energy.

Personal Trainer

Elisabeth Chamberlain, Mission, BC

www.winfit.ca   604-619-9471

CURVES

Barb Byrne, Owner/Operator, Surrey and Langley

www.curvesfleetwood.com    &   www.curveswillowbrook.com

604-507-7969       604-530-4554

Balanced Weight

Allan Lawry, Program Director,  Vancouver, BC

Programs to keep fat, muscle and bone within healthy ranges

www.balancemyweight.com  604-730-5550

Breakthrough Hypnotherapy and Wellness Centre

Alison L. Longley, Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist, , Burnaby, BC

www.breakthrough-hypnotherapy.com    604-616-6400

Espiritu Healing Arts Centre  North Vancouver

Physiotherapy, massage therapy, traditional Chinese medicine, rehabilitation exercise/core training, Pilates and yoga.

www.espiritu.ca   604-982-0366

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Promotions...

FREE SEMINARS:  A big thank you to those of you who have invited us to speak to a group of friends and/or colleagues!  The response from these seminars has been fabulous and just reinforces for us that women want natural alternatives to restore their energy, feel better and enhance their quality of life!

Please continue to tell your friends, family, groups, colleagues, and anyone else who may be sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.  If you invite us to speak to a group of 8-10, you will receive your follow-up consultation for FREE ($60 value)

If you have not had an initial consultation with us, you will receive your initial consultation FREE ($125 value).

Our Surrey Office...

The Surrey office is up and running and becoming even busier.  We have conducted seminars which have been very well received! 

As a reminder to all of you, Alternative Hormone Solutions do not charge for these seminars, so if you have a group of 10 or more, provide the venue, we will be there! 

These seminars can also be part of a fund raising event for groups as well.  Charge an admission or request donations to the Food Bank! 

We are finding that there has been so much in the media lately regarding this “Hormone Thing” and because of this – a lot of confusion.  Let us answer the questions.

We are located just off of the 176^th Street exit towards Cloverdale and the US Custom’s Border. Our address is:

Suite 103- 17619 96^th Avenue

Surrey, BC V4X 1Z4

Tel:  604-930-1106

Fax: 604-930-1143

If you wish to contact the Surrey Clinic to book your consultation or follow-up visit, please contact Shauna Hill.

Current office hours for the Surrey Clinic are Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays; however, a more flexible schedule may be made available.

It's All About ME!!!

If any of you have a success story to share and would permit us to use it, anonymously on our website or in a newsletter, we'd love to hear from you!

Don’t Forget…. If it has been a while since your last visit, please call us for a follow-up visit to re-evaluate your symptoms &/or check your hormone levels.

Humour of the month

SIGNS OF MENOPAUSE...

1. You sell your home heating system at a yard sale.

2. You have to write post-it notes with your kids' names on them.

3. You change your underwear after a sneeze.

STRESS???

I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are...

• Eating too much

• Impulse Buying

• and Driving too Fast

Are they kidding? That is my idea of a perfect day!

Contact Us

Alternative Hormone Solutions

WEST VANCOUVER CLINIC

Suite #9 -636 Clyde Ave, West Vancouver, B.C.

Phone: 604-922-3997   Fax: 604-926-3727

E-mail: info@alternativehormonesolutions.ca

We’re on the Web...  www.alternativehormonesolutions.ca