Caffeine, Iodine, and Uterus Tea

This is an email recently sent to a dear friend of mine.  I am posting it here only because it has all the information included about a topic I have been wanting to address for awhile: WHY DO MOMS FEEL SO TIRED???  We mothers need to realize it is no easy job having the equivalent to a major surgery every few years wherein a bowling ball-sized tumor (baby) is removed from our system.  On top of that, we are required to then feed this bowling ball the first and best of all our bodily nutrients, as well as physically-taxing sleepless nights and household chores.  No wonder our bodies hate us sometimes!  But it surely does not need to be this way if we could just listen to the cues.  A vast majority of the information I hold to now has come at the learning experience gleaned through my dear midwives.  All credit goes to them for introducing me to the world of wholesome health.  I hope the information below will be a blessing to you, and PLEASE email if you have any questions or need something explained further. (dancingdove17@gmail.com)

First of all, I have 3 questions for you to answer:
1) Do you often feel cold when others seem comfortable?

2) Do you wake in the morning not feeling completely rested, even though you had a good night's sleep? (I know that is hard to gauge with a new baby...)

3) Do you crave the 3 C's of coffee, chocolate, and caffeine?

If you answered YES to 2 or more of the above, I can guarantee that pick-me-up need you are feeling is a compromised thyroid.  But don't worry!  It's an extremely easy problem to fix.  Actually, the majority of women in the Midwest have a low thyroid because our diet does not naturally include foods high in iodine (like sea food) like women on the coasts are used to.  The Midwest is actually referred to as the "goiter belt", which is referring to thyroid issues.  50% of women here will experience a miscarriage sometime in their life living here in the Midwest, and most of those miscarriages that occur in the first trimester (don't panic, most are undetectable; it happens a lot of times before you even knew you were pregnant) of life are a result of a low thyroid.  I was one of those women TWICE before I learned my lesson...

The entire female reproductive and hormonal system is dependent upon iodine, as it relates to the thyroid.  This is the crankyness you are experiencing before or while on your period.  It is your body asking for more of something, and in this case, iodine.  On the same token, our reproductive and hormonal health effects all of our other systems as God created our bodies to be interdependent within itself.  The uterus is especially dependent upon "healthy hormones" from the brain and thyroid, which is only possible through iodine.  Our bodies are designed so intricately that it will scream out at us when something is amiss, and it will ALWAYS give us the answer to how to fix the problem...we just have to listen and do some digging.  For example, a woman's body TERRIBLY devoid of iodine will even cause the uterus to produce cysts.  Iodine reduces and eventually eliminates ovarian and uterine cysts.  Another example is women with extreme weight gain while on the birth control pill: it is the body's way of letting us know the hormones are off-kilter.  The weight gain (thyroid-related) is the body saying the hormones are synthetic and it requires true, genuine hormones in order to balance the weight properly. 

So, just from reading your quick explanation, it sounds like your thyroid is just beginning to request some iodine.  I take iodine daily and now feel so refreshed and have energy I haven't felt since high school.  BUT you have to keep up with it.  We aren't CURING an issue, we are SUPPLEMENTING for a void in our diet, and this is continuous.  I take "Prolamine Iodine" from Standard Process.  I LOVE this company because their products are designed to work WITH your body by giving it the nutrients it is missing, rather than REPLACING.  Any hormone REPLACEMENT is going to be dangerous...we want to encourage our bodies to do what they were designed to do by God.  Then, and only then, will they work correctly.

For the iodine, start by taking one pill a day (with or without a meal doesn't really matter) for a week.  Then, the next week take 2 per day (at different times).  The third week, bring yourself up to 3 times a day and this is where you will stay.  :-)  In the summer when my fresh garden veggies are available, I actually go down to 2 a day to save some money, but that's just me. :)  To explain why your body is going for coffee and chocolate, it's the caffeine.  Since the thyroid is the hormone-maker and natural "pick-me-upper" and it's not getting the fuel (iodine) it needs to function, our bodies then go to caffeine.  Caffeine is actually a poison, and the jolt of energy we feel is our adrenaline kicking in a little bit to wake the body up to fighting off the small bit of toxin.  In return, adrenaline is fueled of glucose, which is sugar.  Hence why chocolate and sweets come into play.  Puts a whole new meaning to the stereotype of women and their coffee and chocolate!!!

If you would like to wean yourself off coffee, that would be a good idea.  I do need to say, everything I am telling you right now I have done.  I have been there, done that.  This is not some health professional who has always been on the Yellow Brick Road of health...these are lessons I have learned the hard way and am just passing along the research done.  On that note, I have found that citrus is a GREAT pick-me-up!  Oranges, lemon in your water, a grapefruit in the morning.  This is why orange juice or an orange seems to appear in many "part of a balanced breakfast" segment of cereal commercials.  The citrus is your happy day-beginner.  :-)

Let me know if I can help in any way.  I do have a plan to wean off coffee, but I don't like to throw it at people right away because it can overwhelm them.  But definitely consider getting on iodine. :-)  I didn't touch on this either because this email is already far too daunting, but a body detoxification might be a good idea, if you are serious about the iodine and coffee.  Again, I just didn't want to overwhelm you. :)

I do drink red raspberry leaf tea (hot or iced doesn't matter) when pregnant or near/during my period.  Friends and I refer to it as "uterus tea" because it's good for all thing uterus.  LOL  It is good for uterine muscle tone and will improve cramping.  Let me know if you want more info here, too (upcoming blog post!). Keep in mind, though, none of the things in a more natural lifestyle are overnight cures.  It takes time for your body to adjust and heal, just like a broken bone.  But I think if you stay loyal and consistent, you will see a change in a matter of just a month or two. :-)

https://www.standardprocess.com/Products/Standard-Process/Prolamine-Iodine

In Him who reigns,
Maggie