This month's focus is on Progesterone Cream.

 

News You Can Use

Curcumin Shows Promise as a Natural Cancer Treatment

A recent study has shown that high-dose curcumin had a signficiant benefit for some people with advanced pancreatic cancer.

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Fish Oil During Pregnancy Helps Long-Term Lung Health

In a recent study of 533 women with normal pregnancies, the children of those who took 4 grams of fish oil per day had a 63% reduced risk of asthma and an 87% reduced rate of allergic asthma during 16 years of follow up, compared to those who took a placebo.

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Soy Isoflavones Found to Help Breast Cell Health

In a study of over 35,000 women aged 45-74, researchers found that those who consumed more than 10.6 mg of soy isoflavones per 1,000 calories of food per day had an 18% reduced risk of breast cancer, compared to those who consumed less than this amount.

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To Sleep, Perchance to Dream?

From the To Your Health Newsletter

 

William Shakespeare isn't the only one to espouse the benefits of adequate sleep. The question remains, however: How much is enough? Certainly, not enough sleep can be detrimental to your health, but can you also suffer health risks from catching too many zzz's?

Daniel Kripke, co-director of research at the Scripps Clinic Sleep Center in La Jolla, Calif., compared death rates among more than 1 million American adults who, as part of a study on cancer prevention, reported their average nightly sleep totals. He recently discussed the results of his findings in an interview with Time magazine.

According to Kripke, "Studies show that people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hours a night, as they report, live the longest. And people who sleep 8 hours or more, or less than 6.5 hours don't live quite as long. There is just as much risk associated with sleeping too long as with sleeping too short. The big surprise is that long sleep seems to start at 8 hours. Sleeping 8.5 hours might really be a little worse than sleeping 5 hours."

He added that risks for various illnesses, such as depression, obesity, heart disease and diabetes increase both with not enough and too much sleep

Finally, getting out of bed when you're not sleepy and restricting your time in bed actually helps you to sleep more. Kripke noted this helps people get over their fear of the bed. "Spending less time in bed actually makes you sleep better. It is, in fact, a more powerful and effective long-term treatment for insomnia than sleeping pills."

 

Supplement Spotlight

Progesterone

What is progesterone?

Like estrogen, which gets much more public attention, progesterone is a female sex hormone.  Women produce it in the ovaries and adrenal glands, and during pregnancy in the placenta.  With al the talk about estrogen, progesterone is sometimes left behind as the forgotten female hormone.

What does progesterone do?

During the reproductive years, progesterone prepares the uterine lining (or womb) for pregnancy.  Each month, progesterone levels rise following ovulation.  Unless you become pregnant, progesterone levels drop and trigger a monthly menstrual period.  Progesterone can also play an important role in balancing out the effects of estrogen and other hormones.  If you have too much estrogen and not enough progesterone, your body may be thrown out of balance.  During menopause hormone imbalances can lead to symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness, irritability, or decreased sex drive.  During the reproductive years, hormone imbalance may cause premenstrual complaints such as water retention, breast tenderness, migraines, or mood swings.

What happens to progesterone during menopause?

As you approach menopause, progesterone is the first hormone to decr4ease, followed by fluctuating estrogen levels.  This phase, called perimenopause, may start as early as your late thirties or early forties and last as long as ten years.  Your periods may become more irregular.  You may not ovulate some months, and thus not produce any progesterone.  This may disrupt the estrogen/progesterone balance, causing a variety of symptoms such as bloating, breast tenderness, night sweats, anxiety, insomnia, headaches, and irritability.

After menopause, your ovaries cease to produce progesterone, but the body will continue to produce up to 40% of the levels of estrogen you had before menopause.  Of course, the level of progesterone depends on the individual.  Since progesterone affects numerous aspects of your health besides pregnancy and menstrual periods, you may experience other (beneficial) symptoms.  For example, progesterone has a calming effect on the nervous system, thus a lower level of the hormone may contribute to increased night sweats, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, or mood swings.

How can progesterone cream help address the hormonal imbalances of menopause?

Progesterone cream is easily absorbed into the blood stream through the skin.  Progesterone cream may help support progesterone levels and CAN alleviate some menopausal discomforts.  Clinical studies have shown that bio-identical progesterone cream effectively reduces hot flashes.

Are progesterone and products that contain wild yam extract the same thing?

No.  Wild yam is a herbal extract.  Whether found in capsule or cream, wild yam extract does not convert into progesterone in the body.  Products that contain progesterone should be labeled as containing USP progesterone.

 

 

Recipe Review

Southwestern Quinoa and Chickpea Salad

From the Now Foods newsletter

 1 cup Quinoa

1 3/4 cups water

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup rinsed and drained canned chickpeas

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. lime juice

2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro

4 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Place the quinoa in a fine strainer, and rinse well with cold water. Drain and transfer to a medium saucepan.

 

Add the water, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender but still slightly crunchy. If all the water has not been absorbed, drain it through a fine strainer.

 

Transfer the quinoa to a medium bowl. Drizzle with the oil, and toss to coat. Add the chickpeas, tomato, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, garlic, and salt. Toss well.

 

Curry-Spiced Cauliflower

From the Meatout Mondays Newsletter

In the same cruciferous family as cabbage and broccoli, cauliflower is used in a wide variety of international cuisines. An excellent source of both vitamins C and K, cauliflower also contains B6 and folic acid, which help keep your immune system healthy. Curry-Spiced Cauliflower is an Indian inspired recipe guaranteed to keep you coming back for more!

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup onions, diced
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, grated
1 Tbs. garlic, finely minced
3-4 tsp. curry powder, to taste
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs. cilantro, chopped


Directions:

1. In large skillet, sauté olive oil, onion, garlic, and ginger over medium heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add curry powder, cumin, salt, and pepper and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
3. Add cauliflower florets and water and mix until thoroughly coated.
4. Cover tightly and simmer for 10 minutes or until cauliflower is slightly tender
5. Garnish with cilantro and serve with flat bread or as a spicy side dish.

This recipe was created by Lisa Riley.
For more great vegan recipes, visit www.ChooseVeg.com!

 

Lemon Olive Oil Cookies

From the dailygreen.com

SERVINGS
Makes nine large cookies or twelve rather smaller ones

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup plain, nonfat yogurt (make sure it's gluten-free) or sour cream
1/4 cup lemon olive oil (or the best quality olive oil you can afford)
1 egg
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1/2 half cup white rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup fresh ground almond meal (fresh ground tastes best)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder

PREPARATION
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. First, combine the yogurt and olive oil well. Stir in the egg, then the lemon juice and zest, to make a coherent mixture.

3. Next, combine all the dry ingredients together. Slowly, fold the wet ingredients into the dry. The dough will be sticky. In fact, you might have dough all over your fingers by the time this process is done. Oh darn.

4. Form small balls with the sticky dough and roll each ball into sugar. This will make the finished cookies crunchy and shimmery. Place on a baking sheet covered with a silpat, or a layer of parchment paper.

5. Cook for twelve minutes, approximately. The cookies will be soft at this point, but they will feel fully formed. Let them sit on the baking sheet, on the top of the oven, for about five minutes.

6. Carefully, move the cookies to a cooling rack. Let them sit there for another five minutes, during which time they will harden in the air.

Now, try not to eat them all in one sitting.

 
September’s Secret Sale Word is “Harvest Moon”.

 

To save 10% off your order this month say, “Harvest Moon” at the cash register before your items are rung up.  Try to be stealth in doing so, because this offer is only for people who subscribe to our newsletter.

 

The Secret Sale Word is not to be combined with other discounts or applied to sale merchandise.