Greer Skinner

CORTISOL MANAGEMENT
What happens when we’re stressed?
If our brain senses we’re under stress, in danger, exercising etc our nervous system goes into “fight or flight” mode (the sympathetic nervous system: SNS)
A gland in our 🧠 that communicates with the endocrine system (controls our hormones) signals the adrenal glands to produce cortisol.
During this time of fight or flight in addition to our adrenal glands releasing cortisol and adrenaline, our heart rate increase, blood vessels dilate, digestion slows, and glucose + fatty acids are released into the blood for more energy.
Cortisol is NECESSARY; normally is released mostly in the morning and in a declining amount throughout the day. It provides us energy.
However, if we’re constantly stressed a few things can happen:
(1) too much constant cortisol which can lead to excessive fat storage and weight gain.
(2) eventual adrenal fatigue: imbalance of cortisol, not enough release in the morning and too much at night (tired & wired feeling)
So how do we control our cortisol throughout the day?
🔹Get blue light first thing in the morning. The easiest way to do this is take a mid morning walk and get light in your eyes.
🔹work out in the AM; cortisol is released when exercising so it’s a great way to release a lot in the morning. Avoid working out too late at night.
🔹Light: control your exposure to blue light as the day goes on. As it gets later use electronics less, wear blue light blockers, or go by candlelight. Avoid putting your phone in your face if you’re trying to fall asleep.
🔹sleep schedule: try to wake up and fall asleep around the same time each night to get your endocrine system in a routine.
🔹implement other stress techniques to relax at night like gentle walking, stretching, meditation etc.
Cortisol helps us have energy and get through our day, but too much at the wrong time can really add to your stress bucket 💦

Easy chocolate treat 🍫
These are packed with healthy fats and free of any processed/inflammatory filler.
Ingredients:
cacao butter
cacao powder
monkfruit sweetener
dry roasted almonds
shelled pistachios
sprinkle of bee pollen
There’s no sugar in these bad boys so they won’t spike your blood sugar or give you the jitters. Monkfruit is a natural sweetener that is a zero on the glycemic index (measures how much it will spike your blood sugar)
Plus they’re tasty and super easy to make.
- over low heat, melt about 1 cup of cacao butter
- once the cacao butter is liquid, add 4-6 tbsps of cacao powder (depending on how chocolatey you like)
- stir the powder and butter together until it’s liquidy smooth.
- add 4-6 tbsp of monkfruit sweetener (depending on how sweet ya like)
- mix all together then dump ~1 cup of dry roasted almonds and ~1 of shelled pistachios in the bowl
- stir to coat all the nuts with chocolate
- pour out the chocolate nut mix into a sheet try with wax paper and spread into across the pan
- sprinkle bee pollen on top and pop in the freezer for ~20 minutes
- once frozen break into chunks and enjooooy.
store in the freezer!

LIVER
To celebrate the last day of January aka the month of dEtOxEs, cleanses and the like; let’s talk about the ultimate detoxifier: THE LIVER.
What does it do?
▫️Filters your blood, keeping nutrients in and chemicals/toxins out
▫️metabolizes alcohol and drugs
▫️secretes bile to break down fat in the intestines
▫️removes sugar from the blood and stores as glycogen, and puts glucose in the blood if 🩸 sugar drops too low
▫️breaks down old, damaged cells
▫️stores iron and other vitamins
So what happens when we overwhelm our liver with lots of alcohol, sugary/processed foods, medicine for every ailment, etc?
▫️weight gain
▫️break outs/skin irritations
▫️fatigue
▫️poor digestion
It’s important to always support your liver, so how do we do that?
▫️but organic foods on the dirty dozen
▫️avoid overly processed packaged foods with lots of additives and chemicals (read yo labels)
▫️minimize sugary foods
▫️support digestion: think top down - chew your food, make sure you have enough stomach acid to break stuff down, digestive enzymes etc.
▫️minimize medication if possible
▫️minimize alcohol consumption
▫️avoid make up and personal care products with Parabens, fragrance, SLS ad SFS, phthalates, formaldehyde, and toluene
EXTRA SUPPORT:
- consider milk thistle and dandelion route supplements to aid to liver detoxification
- drink water with 🍋 FIRST thing in the AM
- SWEAT take some heat off the liver and let your skin to some detoxing.

TIP OF THE DAY:
Sleeeeep! 😴 💤
Caught your eye with a cute PUP but really, as simple as it is getting enough sleep is SO important for your health.
Your sleep routine and sleep quality play a major role in your mood, energy, digestion, and your body’s ability to repair and heal itself.
Some tips for better 💤
▫️go to bed the same time every night. This gets your body in a natural rhythm to power down.
▫️follow the sun; wake up the sun comes up and go to sleep when it goes down (within reason). Try to let your body relax when the sun goes down by avoiding excessive blue lights in your home, maybe try candles, using your phone less, walking away from your computer etc.
▫️keep your room cooool. Your body has a better chance for good quality sleep if your environment is cool at night.
▫️black out your room. Make sure there are no lights in your room when you go to bed, use heavy curtains, shut the doors, keep your phone away from your bed. Lights hitting your eyes signal cortisol to be released which wakes your body up.
▫️don’t eat two hours before bed. Night time snacking is my jam so I know this is tough. But ideally having dinner a few hours before bed is best so your body can already have digested the food when you go to rest and relaaax.
▫️if you exercise try to do so in the morning through late afternoon. If you struggle with sleep don’t do intense exercise before bed because it stimulates hormones like adrenaline that will keep you awake. Or try a light walk before bed that will help your body (and nervous system) get into rest and digest mode.
▫️sleep next to someone you love. Sleeping next to someone you care about releases endorphins and relaxes your body and I just think it’s cute.
Around this time it seems like EVERYONE is sick so do your body a favor and get that goood sleep.

and I had a baby.

2020 HEALTH TIPS:
I found a great article this morning about the health tips from top functional medicine doctors to kick off the new year.
New year new you - but probably not, right?
Changing ALL of your habits at once isn’t sustainable. You have to build into a routine that works for you.
So with that in mind; here are some approachable first steps to focus on as we get into this year.
▫️Cook at home!
Start eating at home, control what goes into your meals. You get to decide what oils you use, your portions, and save some $$$. If you don’t cook, start small; everyone can make some scrambled eggs, throw in some spinach and slice up an avocado. Cooking at home doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated.
▫️Watch your sugar.
Be aware of added sugars. Start reading labels. Tune into your body and pay attention what happens to your mood, sleep, digestion and skin when you eat (and don’t eat!) lots of sugar. Before trying to eliminate it - just start to notice it.
▫️SLEEP
Get good quality sleep. Sleep is the 🔑 to so many things; man again stress, digestion, anxiety, mood, energy. Make an effort to go to bed at the same time each night without being attached to your phone.
▫️add veggies 🍅
Everyone is different, unless you have debilitating digestive issues you can benefit from upping your veggies. Frozen veggies are great option. Add spinach to EVERYTHING! If you or people in your like don’t like veggies try cooking them with GHEE and lotsa salt.
▫️Have a purpose.
This was a big trend in the article I found. Have a purpose, what gets you up each day? What do you want to accomplish? What brings you joy? Finding a why can include cultivating relationships, trying a new hobby, committing to something new.
And lastly FOCUS ON ONE THING. Habits are developed over a loooong time of repeated actions. So pick one thing and stick to it.

SOY!
Is it healthy? Why is it in everything? Should we be eating it?
Depends.....
Like everything with nutrition, dosage and quality is everything.
High quality, traditional, fermented soy is HEALTHY in LOW doses.
That’s things like fermented tofu, whole soy beans like edamame, miso etc.
But what is the unhealthy / dark side of soy?
More often you’ll find low quality soy:
- soy bean oil
- soy lecithin
- soy protein isolate
- soy milk
Those forms of soy are not traditional prepped for us to digest well and can have detrimental effects if we eat them a lot.
In HIGH doses these are some of the effects of the soy found in processed foods:
▫️inhibits protein digestion
▫️decreases pancreatic function
▫️increases our requirement for vitamin d (which most of us are already deficient in)
▫️decreases our ability to absorb minerals like zinc and iron
Not to mention soy is a plant estrogen. And no it’s not exactly the same as the estrogen produced in our bodies BUT it can have similar effects.
For example: drinking a cup of soy milk each day, or feeding an infant soy based formula is the same as taking more than one birth control pill daily.
If we don’t check our ingredients we may unknowingly ingesting some extra birth control 😶
So check your labels - don’t fall for “fake meat” products and “soy milk” labels that claim to be healthy. Most of the time - that processed soy IS NOT.
Happy Friday 😬

HEY THERE
friendly reminder to focus on the big rocks before getting caught up in the details
What do I mean?
If you’re feeling down, “out of it”, unmotivated, bored etc etc - prior to jumping on anti depressants try getting more sunlight.
If you think you have a hormone imbalance, before taking hormone replacements, cut out processed sugar, eat real food and move more.
Most of our chronic conditions ailing us today can be improved or resolved by lifestyle adjustments.
So here are some things to try before jumping to conclusions:
- sleep 8 hours a night
- get out in the sun
- take a 30 min walk
- drink more water
- don’t start your day with sugary cereals, breads, and pastries
- cut out inflammatory foods (white flour, seed oils, sugar)
- limit caffeine and alcohol
- exercise
Focus on those big rocks before treating every specific little thing - because the body works as a whole - treat and take care of the whole thing, and you’ll be surprised how many of those little annoying ailments go away

Just sittin around, thinkin about digestion 💭
Because that’s where it starts!
Yes food choices and supplements all matter when it comes to digestion but it starts BEFORE that.
Digestion starts in your mind - well really, in your nervous system.
Before starting a meal try to RELAX and get in ‘rest and digest’ state so your body can prioritize digestion.
What does this look like?
▫️Don’t eat meals on the go. Not in the car, on a walk, in meetings, and my personal Everest - at the kitchen counter while cooking.
▫️Take deep breathes before a meal. Deep belly breathes help get your nervous system into rest and digest state.
▫️Don’t chug water before a meal. That old trick of drinking a ton of water before a meal to make you less hungry? 🤦🏼‍♀️ that’s just what it is - a TRICK. you want your stomach acid HIGH to effectively break down your food, water dilutes that.
▫️and lastly CHEW! Chew more than you think you should. One because it will slow you down, two because it’s manual digestion, and three because there are enzymes in your saliva that help break down your food!
So when attacking digestion, start from the TOP!