Natural Insomnia Treatment Without Sleep Gummies

Ditch the sleep calculator and sleep gummies, for good

As a holistic health practitioner, I am here to tell you sleep is non-negotiable when it comes to weight loss, hormone health, and inflammation.

But it’s not always so easy to just go to sleep when you’re supposed to. Sleep health and insomnia treatment requires a multi-pronged approach that involves addressing diet, adrenal health, hormones, and light exposure.

Hi friends. I’m Hilary Beckwith, ex-dieter and holistic nutrition expert. Clients come to see me with signs of adrenal stress and inflammatory conditions, and my job is to find the root causes so we can address their symptoms more effectively, and fill in the gaps between what their doctor is saying, and what their body is saying.

I’ve worked in healthcare for a long time, and a common pattern I have seen over the years is, that not only do the adults I work with generally not sleep enough, but they don’t see it as a problem.

This is alarming, considering sleep is an essential function for detoxification and tissue healing, but also influences hormone balance, weight loss, and blood sugar levels.

Reaching for those sleep gummies is a solid effort in getting much-needed sleep, but it will not solve the underlying issues. We need to take a holistic look at insomnia treatments.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• why sleep is important for health

• what factors affect sleep (besides caffeine)

• ways to get better sleep without using sleep gummies or sleep calculators

Follow my email feed to stay up-to-date on new articles like this one. Click here to subscribe.

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why do you need sleep?

It’s not news to you that sleep is essential to optimal health.

So then why do you so cavalierly call yourself a “night owl” or wear your busyness like a badge of honor?

When considering insomnia treatment, it’s important to understand why sleep is so important.

HERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT HAPPEN WHEN YOU SLEEP:

• tissue repair - factors that repair tissues, whether you have a sprained ankle, a pulled muscle, or something more subtle, like lesions in your intestines due to inflammation, happen while you sleep.

• liver detoxification - research shows that liver detoxification and involved factors, operate on a circadian rhythm, and are more active at night time while in a rested state [1]

• clearance of toxins and waste from the brain - more research on humans is needed to get a clearer picture on how this works, but scientists are finding clear indications that the human brain removes harmful, but normal, metabolites and waste that occur as part of normal brain function, while we are sleeping. This takes place through a system called the glymphatic (glial-lymphatic) system, as it acts similarly to the lymphatic system [2]. Scientists suspect lack of sleep may play a significant role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

• memory formation - in the same vein as preventing neurodegenerative conditions I just mentioned, sleep is also when long-term memories are formed. If you are someone who deals with memory issues or brain fog symptoms, consider your sleep!

what affects sleep?

Sleep gummies can be helpful in a pinch, and sleep calculators can help you know the quality of sleep your body is getting. Both can be useful when exploring holistic insomnia treatments.

But what is affecting your sleep at the root cause?

Finding and supporting the root-cause of sleep issues is the only way to get truly long-term results. This is true for anything in the health world, and is exactly the work I do with clients. I’m here to help you figure out WHY you are having insomnia symptoms in the first place.

Arguably, the biggest factor in insomnia symptoms is rooted in cortisol - a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to external stressors, internal stressors (low blood sugar, unaddressed gut pathogens or other infections, tissue inflammation, unaddressed emotional trauma, etc.), and as a natural component of the sleep-wake cycle, known as circadian rhythm (see diagram above).

One important thing to remember here is that cortisol is released as part of the cascade of events that occurs when your fight or flight response is activated. And your fight or flight response will be activated by things you may not consider to be “stress”.

Let’s talk about what your brain views as stress.

HERE’S WHAT AFFECTS CORTISOL LEVELS:

• low blood sugar

• unaddressed emotional or physical trauma

• chronic infections, such as candida overgrowth, bacterial overgrowth, undiagnosed parasites, or mold toxicity

• exercise

• daylight exposure

• busyness, with little priority for rest

• lack of self-reflection - lack of self-reflection through journaling, therapy, or other modalities, can lead to rumination - a cyclical form of processing that often has no resolve but instead perpetuates stress or anxiety

• people-pleasing behaviors (yep!)

Not all of these cortisol stimulators are bad things, but it’s important to consider how frequently (and what time of day) they are utilized.

In some cases, removing the stressor is best, such as healing from emotional trauma, or eradicating gut pathogens. But in other cases, such as with exercise and daylight exposure, understanding how to time your cortisol stimulators in a way that supports healthy cortisol rhythms throughout the day, is a long-term solution to your sleep woes.

But that won’t happen overnight. It requires time and consistency to see results.

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5 ways to improve sleep

• get at least 10 minutes of daylight exposure within 2 hours of waking

  • take a morning walk

  • drink your morning tea by a well-lit window (here in the PNW it’s not always easy to be outside)

  • grounding in your front garden

• prioritize workouts before lunch

  • look back at the cortisol diagram - hitting the gym after work is a surefire way of pumping up cortisol at a time when cortisol should be at its lowest, and I would bet good money that is a big factor in your insomnia symptoms

• prioritize animal protein and greens, especially as your morning meal

  • managing blood sugar is a big part of supporting healthy sleep-wake rhythm. Animal protein and greens, in balance with healthy fats and a very small amount of unrefined carbs, is the dietary change that supports my clients most.

  • want help knowing which foods to eat? THIS WILL HELP

• get professional support for your mental health

  • you’ve read all the self-help books, and follow all the wellness influencers - it’s time to put your tools into action with expert support.

  • whether it’s talk therapy, EMDR, somatic work, breathwork, journaling, or otherwise, please find an expert who has been trained to help you learn mental health tools and navigate communication and healing

• get your gut checked by a professional

  • I’m not talking about magical breath testers or CGMs - Find a practitioner who is trained to assess your gut health, and can help you eradicate underlying infections that are harming your health and causing your body stress. (I CAN HELP!)

If you want more in-depth support for your sleep, hormone balance, stress management, and blood sugar levels, TAKE THIS 3-MINUTE QUIZ to learn if your adrenals might be part of the problem.

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was this helpful?

Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

NUTRITION SERVICES

• Private Coaching

• Functional Lab Testing

• Get a Health Assessment

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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BLOG REFERENCES

1. McCommis, K. S., & Butler, A. A. (2021). The Importance of Keeping Time in the Liver. Endocrinology, 162(2), bqaa230. https://doi.org/10.1210/endocr/bqaa230

2. Bohr, T., Hjorth, P. G., Holst, S. C., Hrabetova, S., Kivinemi, V., Lilius, T., Lundgaard, I., Mardal, K.-A., Martens, E. A., Mori, Y., Nagerl, U. V., Nicholson, C., Tannenbaum, A., Thomas, J. H., Tithof, J., Benveniste, H., Iliff, J. J., Kelley, D. H., & Nedergaard, M. (2022, August 20). The glymphatic system: Current Understanding and Modeling. iScience. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222012597

Symptoms of Hormone Imbalance and Hormone Balancing Supplements

Stress management and hormone imbalance

You’re gaining weight, you don’t sleep well, your periods are getting progressively off track, and you are desperately trying to find answers.

You go in for your annual bloodwork and ask your physician to test your hormones, which are all coming back relatively “normal”.

So, why are you experiencing symptoms? And more importantly, how can you stop them?

Hi friends. I’m Hilary Beckwith, ex-dieter and holistic nutrition expert. Clients come to see me with signs of adrenal stress and inflammatory conditions, and my job is to find the root causes so we can address their symptoms more effectively, and fill in the gaps between what their doctor is saying, and what their body is saying.

The adrenal glands do not get nearly enough limelight when it comes to addressing hormone imbalance symptoms. Dysfunction in the adrenal glands will disrupt hormone balance and cause issues with sleep, periods, mood, energy, and blood sugar levels.

Addressing adrenal health and stress management are the keys to getting better, more predictable periods, and improving mood and energy levels.

But there’s more to it than bubble baths or meditation.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• how your body responds to stress

• health effects of prolonged chronic stress

• how to improve hormone imbalance symptoms by addressing chronic stress at the root

Follow my email feed to stay up-to-date on new articles like this one. Click here to subscribe.

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the body’s natural stress response

Stress is a normal part of human existence, and is modulated by the Autonomic Nervous System. It is necessary to keep us alive, and even become stronger!

Most stress is caused by what your brain perceives as a threat, but some stress is necessary for improving health, such as bone remodeling, building muscle, and cold plunging.

The stress your brain perceives as a threat (most stress), your body responds to as if it were a tiger. Evolution has not yet caught up to our modern lifestyles, and your brain cannot yet tell the difference between the threat of a tiger, and stress that comes from running late for a meeting.

When tigers are coming at you from all directions (work deadlines, heated conversations with your partner, toxic load from processed foods or medications, undiagnosed gut infections, people-pleasing behaviors, unaddressed emotional trauma, low blood sugar…), your stress response system will be constantly activated.

That chronic activation of the stress response system interferes with hormone production and balance. This is why effective stress management is essential to addressing hormone imbalance symptoms.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

In response to a stressor, your fight or flight response is activated, and a feedback loop called the HPA axis (or hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis) [1], stimulates your adrenal glands to produce stress hormones to increase energy production and increase blood flow to large muscle groups, heart, and lungs, to help you fight or flee the danger (tigers!).

When the threat has been successfully dealt with, the stress response stops, and your body returns to its rest and digest mode

If the stress becomes chronic, the system stays activated, and the adrenal glands adapt by producing less stress hormones, but more frequently.

TAKE A LOOK:

• stressor or danger is sensed, and fight or flight response (a part of the Autonomic Nervous System) activates, signaling a cascade of events

• the hypothalamus releases Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH)

• the increase in CRH signals the pituitary gland to produce AdrenoCorticoTropic Hormone (ACTH)

• ACTH travels to the adrenal glands, signaling them to release stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline

• these hormones begin the processes of energy metabolism (to fight or flee the stressor), and increase blood flow to large muscle groups, heart, and lungs

health effects of chronic cortisol release

The health effects of poor stress management impact more than just hormone imbalance symptoms. Chronic cortisol release has been shown to:

• suppress the immune system [2]

• cause sex hormone imbalance [3]

• increase belly weight by way of insulin resistance [4]

• increase inflammation [5] - Cortisol itself is anti-inflammatory, but its presence signals immune cells to react in response to stressors. This is inflammation. Chronic cortisol = chronic inflammation.

• decrease thyroid hormone activity at a cellular level, causing elevated TSH levels on bloodwork

• increase appetite by reducing leptin (hormone that tells you when you are full), and increasing ghrelin (hormone that tells you when you are hungry)

• decrease digestive activity - when fight or flight is active, rest and digest cannot be.

• causes poor sleep quality - the ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and ultimately makes it difficult to get up in the morning. 

Regarding hormone imbalance symptoms, the most important thing to remember about chronic stress is its ability to disrupt feedback systems for sex and reproductive hormones.

Take another look at the HPA axis. Components of this feedback system are also components of other important feedback systems, including the HPT (hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid) axis, and the HPG (hypothalamus, pituitary, gonadal) axis.

When your fight or flight response is chronically activated due to poor stress management, or undiagnosed root-causes of stress, this will prevent hormone feedback systems from communicating properly, leading to hormone imbalance symptoms.

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ways to improve stress management

I discuss methods for improving stress management at length in this article. But the best thing you can do for yourself right now, is to get data.

Let’s get curious about your symptoms and find out if there’s even anything to be concerned about.

Take this 3-minute quiz to figure out if your adrenals need support, and what you can do to support them.

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was this helpful?

Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

NUTRITION SERVICES

• Private Coaching

• Functional Lab Testing

• Get a Health Assessment

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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BLOG REFERENCES

1. Slominski A. (2009). On the role of the corticotropin-releasing hormone signalling system in the aetiology of inflammatory skin disorders. The British journal of dermatology, 160(2), 229–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08958.

2. Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological bulletin, 130(4), 601–630. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.601

3. Ranabir, S., & Reetu, K. (2011). Stress and hormones. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 15(1), 18–22. https://doi.org/10.4103/2230-8210.77573

4. Kahn, Barbara B., and Jeffrey S. Flier. “Obesity and Insulin Resistance.” The Journal of Clinical Investigation, American Society for Clinical Investigation, 15 Aug. 2000, www.jci.org/articles/view/10842. 

5. Hannibal, Kara E., and Mark D. Bishop. “Chronic Stress, Cortisol Dysfunction, and Pain: A Psychoneuroendocrine Rationale for Stress Management in Pain Rehabilitation.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Dec. 2014, academic.oup.com/ptj/article/94/12/1816/2741907?login=false.

Stress Management is a Natural Appetite Suppressant

The truth about stress management and long-term health

It’s no secret that stellar stress management techniques are essential to holistic wellness.

But have any of your healthcare providers ever explained why or how?

There’s more to it than meditation, breathing, and bubble baths - did you know that your stress response system interferes with hormone balance, blood sugar levels, metabolism, and sleep?

Hi friends. I’m Hilary Beckwith, ex-dieter and holistic nutrition expert. Clients come to see me with signs of adrenal stress and inflammatory conditions, and my job is to find the root causes so we can address their symptoms more effectively, and fill in the gaps between what their doctor is saying, and what their body is saying.

I’m about to walk you through the ins and outs of how your stress response works, and how that impacts what you see on your annual bloodwork (and why you wake up at 2:00 am - it’s not because you have to pee!).

In this article, you’ll learn:

• how your body responds to stress

• internal and external causes of stress

• how stress is connected to female reproductive hormones, sleep quality, and blood sugar levels

• what you can do to improve stress management, and ditch the sleep gummies, appetite suppressants, metabolism rate calculators, and blood sugar monitors

Follow my email feed to stay up-to-date on new articles like this one. Click here to subscribe.

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how your body responds to stress

Stress is a normal part of the human existence, and is modulated by the Autonomic Nervous System. This automated system has evolved to protect us, to keep us alive. Survival of the fittest!

The amount and type of stress you incurred throughout your life plays a big part in how well your body responds to stress.

Evolution has not been able to keep up with the types (and amounts) of stress we encounter in our modern world, and because of that, you are wired to respond to every stressor as though it is a tiger.

Let me explain.

Your body responds to stress by way of the Autonomic Nervous System, meaning, it responds automatically in response to a feedback system. That feedback system is modulated by the HPA axis (or hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis) [1].

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

• stressor or danger is sensed, and fight or flight response (a part of the Autonomic Nervous System) activates, signaling a cascade of events

• the hypothalamus releases Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH)

• the increase in CRH signals the pituitary gland to produce AdrenoCorticoTropic Hormone (ACTH)

• ACTH travels to the adrenal glands, signaling them to release stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline

• these hormones begin the processes of energy metabolism (to fight or flee the stressor), and increase blood flow to large muscle groups, heart, and lungs

When the stressor is dealt with, the fight or flight response is turned OFF, and the body returns to rest and digest mode, another part of the Autonomic Nervous System.

here’s where things go wrong

Stress management becomes more difficult and necessary when the HPA axis has been overworked. This happens when stressors are left unaddressed and the threat causes a continuous stimulation of the fight or flight response.

HERE’S THE MISSING PIECE:

Stressors are not exclusively external, such as traffic, relationships, or work deadlines.

Your brain views internal stressors as just as much of a threat to your survival. According to your brain, every argument you have with your partner, every time you run late for a meeting, every unaddressed emotional trauma, and every gut pathogen, is a tiger.

Back in the nomadic days of human existence, stress management more commonly entailed external stressors, such as:

• predators (tigers, lions, bears, snakes, etc.)

• lack of shelter

• exposure to extreme heat or cold

• avalanche, rockslide, or mudslide

• injury

• poison from food sources

• hunger

Consider, also, that these stressors likely did not present themselves multiple times a day, either, as modern stressors do.

Examples of modern stressors that activate your fight or flight response:

• poor blood sugar regulation

• toxins in processed foods, air, water

• unaddressed emotional trauma

• caregiving

• negative self-talk

• people-pleasing behaviors

• unaddressed infections or gut pathogens (candida, mold, parasites, bacteria)

• cell damage from free radicals

• busyness with little regard for rest. (burnout)

• poor or untimely exposure to light

• exercising in the evening or night time, or overexercising

• toxic burden on the liver, due to medications, recreational drugs, hormone imbalance, constipation, excess glucose, or poor liver health

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how chronic stress affects your health

Hormone imbalance symptoms, weight gain, insomnia symptoms, and stress headaches are signs you should not ignore. These are all common signs of poor stress management, and can be helped without medications, sleep gummies, or appetite suppressants.

Take another look at the HPA axis. Components of this feedback system are also components of other important feedback systems, including the HPT (hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid) axis, and the HPG (hypothalamus, pituitary, gonadal) axis.

If the HPA axis is chronically activated, this will interfere with thyroid health and hormone balance, impacting inflammation levels, the immune system, affecting sleep quality, blood sugar levels, and so much more [2,3,4,5].

To dedicate enough space to discuss each of these components and their correlation with chronic stress would require many more blog posts. I have developed this online course to help you dig into it deeper.

ways to improve your stress management skills

As a fellow human living in the twenty-first century, you probably know that stress management is not as simple as flipping a switch. But you do have more control than you might think.

The difficult truth is it comes down to what you value. Stress management often requires the difficult self-reflective question:

Do your actions align with what you value?

You have control over:

• who you spend your time with

• when and what you eat

• whether or not you choose to say ‘no’ or communicate boundaries

• whether or not you choose to seek mental health support

Signs of prolonged chronic stress often include:

• suppressed immune system (never get sick)

• overactive immune system (always get sick)

• waking up tired, no matter how much you sleep

• energy drop in the afternoon

• “hangry” when meals are delayed

• catch your second wind in the evening or at night (“night owl”)

• signs of hormone imbalance (irregular periods, PMS, mood fluctuations)

• feeling troubled on the inside, but calm on the outside

• weigh gain around the middle

5 WAYS TO BUILD STRESS MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR LONG-TERM HEALTH:

1. practice saying ‘no’: you don’t owe anyone an explanation

2. start a journal: writing is a proven effective way to process emotions and thoughts. Keeping it in your head leads to rumination, whereas writing is a path to an end. Need help getting started? Try this.

3. balance your macronutrients: focusing more on quality protein and green vegetables will support blood sugar levels, and reduce susceptibility to candida, bacteria, and parasite infections. I developed this PDF guide to help you get started.

4. get help: I cannot recommend therapy enough, but finding the right therapist can be challenging. With the right fit, therapy can be the scariest and most beautiful things you can do for yourself. Here’s a great resource for finding a therapist.

5. pick a day to really rest - and follow through!: it’s easy to get caught up in what “rest” looks like, but I think it’s different for every person. My recommendation? Engage in joy. Pick an activity, typically it’s going to be something you claim to “never have time for”, and dedicate time to doing it, with no multi-tasking.

   • instead of watching your favorite show while working on finances - just watch your favorite show

   • instead of doing a craft project while listening to an intense self-help book - just enjoy your craft project

   • get the picture?

If you experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms of prolonged chronic stress response, TAKE THIS 3-MINUTE QUIZ to help you figure out if your adrenals need support.

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was this helpful?

Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

NUTRITION SERVICES

• Private Coaching

• Functional Lab Testing

• Get a Health Assessment

---

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

---

BLOG REFERENCES

1. Slominski A. (2009). On the role of the corticotropin-releasing hormone signalling system in the aetiology of inflammatory skin disorders. The British journal of dermatology, 160(2), 229–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08958.

2. Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological bulletin, 130(4), 601–630. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.601

3. Ranabir, S., & Reetu, K. (2011). Stress and hormones. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 15(1), 18–22. https://doi.org/10.4103/2230-8210.77573

4. Kahn, Barbara B., and Jeffrey S. Flier. “Obesity and Insulin Resistance.” The Journal of Clinical Investigation, American Society for Clinical Investigation, 15 Aug. 2000, www.jci.org/articles/view/10842. 

5. Hannibal, Kara E., and Mark D. Bishop. “Chronic Stress, Cortisol Dysfunction, and Pain: A Psychoneuroendocrine Rationale for Stress Management in Pain Rehabilitation.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Dec. 2014, academic.oup.com/ptj/article/94/12/1816/2741907?login=false.

Calorie Deficit and Low Calorie Snack Ideas

Is calorie deficit really the best way to lose weight?

The short answer is no.

In fact, low-calorie diets and calorie deficits are a surefire way to ensure you slow your metabolism over time and destroy your relationship with food, and view your body as a threat.

Food is a main source of nourishment for humans, and when you begin labeling it as good or bad, and disregard your body’s queues for hunger (or other symptoms and signs), food becomes a threat and source of anxiety.

Put differently, calorie deficits and low-calorie diets are harmful to mental health, deprive your body of nutrients, and do not address the underlying root-causes of symptoms.

Hi friends. I’m Hilary Beckwith, ex-dieter and holistic nutrition expert. Clients come to see me with signs of adrenal stress and inflammatory conditions, and my job is to find the root causes so we can address their symptoms more effectively, and fill in the gaps between what their doctor is saying, and what their body is saying.

Weight management is commonly listed on my clients’ list of health concerns or goals, but as a holistic practitioner, we focus on non-scale victories, although most begin to shed weight after addressing root causes.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• why calories in vs. calories out isn’t working for you

• harmful effects of dieting

• how to know if you’re eating enough calories

• reasons for weight gain that do not involve calories

Follow my email feed to stay up-to-date on new articles like this one. Click here to subscribe.

CLICK HERE to read more about weight loss from a holistic perspective.

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calories in vs. calories out

For decades, we’ve heard you must burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight. And as much as I hate to say that is technically true, it’s not as simple as making sure the number on your Pelaton screen is higher than the number on your calorie deficit calculator.

Here’s why.

First off, your body burns calories in ways that you do not have control over, and are not easy to measure. Additionally, your body preserves calories during chronic stress. The complexity of calculating if what you are consuming is less than what your body is burning or holding onto is far too dependent on each individual for calorie deficit techniques to work in most people.

Here are some things to consider before you download a calorie deficit calculator:

• calorie restriction slows metabolism over time (1, 2) - The human body is great at adapting! Research shows that the body adapts to long-term calorie restriction, rapid weight loss, and frequent high-intensity workouts, by significantly decreasing RMR (resting metabolic rate).

• weight gain and weight loss are modulated by hormones, not calories (3, 4) - hormones that modulate hunger and satiety (ghrelin and leptin, respectively) have an impact on what and when you eat, but more importantly, studies have shown that the main hormone involved in metabolism, insulin, is a driver of belly weight gain, and is further affected by cortisol levels (another hormone).

  • Put differently, stress, sleep, and blood sugar handling have far more to do with weight gain and weight loss than calories.

• the liver is responsible for clearing excess hormones - the liver is responsible for finding and neutralizing toxins for elimination. In addition to many other types of toxins, excess hormones are considered toxins that must be cleared from the body so as not to cause imbalance. If your liver is congested, produces poor-quality bile, or is struggling with detoxification efforts, your body is holding on to toxins, which are stored in fat tissue, and your body will make more fat tissue to accommodate that storage need. Supporting your liver is essential to weight loss attempts.

harmful effects of using calorie deficit calculators for weight loss

The harmful, long-term impacts of dieting are what should concern you most about tracking calories. But as humans, we tend to react the most strongly when a strong emotion is attached, as is often the case with your body.

Feelings of inadequacy, brokenness, and above all, fear, are all common reasons we turn to dieting. Those are all real emotions and should be approached with gentleness, compassion, and curiosity, not deprivation.

COMMON REASONS FOR DIETING:

• you’re afraid of others seeing you as unhealthy or ugly

• you judge yourself for how you look in photos and in the mirror

• you’re afraid that gaining weight means you are unhealthy or have done something wrong

• you or others have placed a responsibility on you to be and stay attractive to your partner (as in high-control religion)

• you’ve been told by years of reality television, magazines, social media, and pornography, that thin is beautiful (and fat is not)

• you’ve learned from growing up in a home that negatively talked about food or bodies, that food is and enemy or a problem to be resolved

HARMFUL EFFECTS OF DIETING AND CALORIE DEFICIT

• metabolism slows with calorie restriction

• chronic stress due to self-judgement

• loss of intuition, ignoring hunger signals, and signs of dysfunction

• judgment of others - the belief that certain foods are inherently “good” or “bad” causes us to inevitably judge others as well as ourselves

• negative self-talk activates the Sympathetic Nervous System and is a threat to the brain

• over-exercising is a form of stress

• carbs have fewer calories than protein or fat - low-calorie snacks and low-calorie foods are generally higher in carbohydrates, contributing to insulin resistance and further impacting your ability to lose weight

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signs you’re not eating enough calories

• you feel peck-ish or hungry at the end of the day

• it becomes more difficult to lose weight

• you feel cold easily

• your periods are changing

• constipation

• increased anxiety or depression symptoms (or both)

non-calorie causes for weight gain

As we discussed earlier in the article, calorie deficits are not effective for weight loss for many people, but especially perimenopausal women, because too many other factors are at play.

Addressing hormone imbalance, chronic stress, blood sugar levels, and liver health is essential, and should be a priority over calorie deficit calculators, when trying to lose weight.

HERE ARE SOME NON-CALORIE CAUSES OF WEIGHT GAIN:

• UNADDRESSED GUT PATHOGENS - Common pathogens that infiltrate the gut include candida albicans, parasites, overgrown bacteria, helicobacter pylori, and mold toxins. These pathogens and stimulate a chronic stress response that negatively impacts hormone balance, in addition to leaving behind toxic byproducts that further instigate a stress response and overwork the liver.

• CHRONIC EXTERNAL STRESS - Having a highly stressful and busy life is not what our bodies were meant to do. Your body has not yet evolved to understand the difference between the danger of a tiger or lion, and the stress from trying to meet a work deadline. According to your brain, it’s all tigers. And not evaluating and addressing external stressors is causing harm to your health and preventing you from meeting your weight loss goals. YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE:

  • when, what, and how you eat

  • who you spend your time with

  • whether or not you say ‘no’ or communicate boundaries

  • whether or not you seek help for past traumas, anxiety, or depression

  • how you approach sleep

• LIVER HEALTH - The liver takes on a lot, and it is heavily impacted by the toxins you take in with food, medications, drugs, air, and water. But it is also impacted by blood sugar levels. The liver is responsible for dealing with your roller-coaster energy levels all day, by converting glucose into fat, and fat into glucose (read more about it here). This constant conversion throughout the day causes fatty liver deposits that impair your liver’s ability to neutralize and clear toxins, even excess hormones!

• BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS - Regulating blood sugar levels is more than eating several small meals a day (I would argue that if you are getting enough protein, fat, and veg, you would not need to eat several small meals a day to regulate blood sugar levels). Blood sugar levels are modulated by the adrenal glands (your stress responders) and in doing so, stimulate the Sympathetic Nervous response (fight or flight). Those who eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, eat a lot of processed foods (even foods marketed as “healthy” can be heavily processed), or track calories, are more susceptible to insulin resistance issues, and will have trouble with weight loss, sleep, and anxiety.

• TOXIC OVERLOAD - Toxins come from many different sources, including processed foods, medications, recreational drugs, air, water, pesticides, and the byproducts of pathogens that get into the gut. Toxins that cannot be eliminated due to poor hydration, constipation, or inactivity, will get reabsorbed into the body. And toxins love fat - many of them have an affinity for fat tissue, and in order to create enough storage for your toxic load, your body will create or hold onto fat tissue.

• IMBALANCED HORMONES - I’m not just talking about periods or PMS symptoms. Hormones aren’t only for reproduction. They modulate stress, sleep, hunger, periods, blood sugar, and digestion. When liver and adrenal health are struggling, hormones will become out of balance, and when left unaddressed, the problem just gets worse.

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so, what?

Wipe your tears, friend. Your body is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, and the scale numbers are telling you that.

But before you download that calorie deficit calculator app, let’s figure out what the REAL cause of your weight gain is, so you can feel good about food, and your body again.

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Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

NUTRITION SERVICES

• Private Coaching

• Functional Lab Testing

• Get a Health Assessment

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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BLOG REFERENCES

1. Knuth ND;Johannsen DL;Tamboli RA;Marks-Shulman PA;Huizenga R;Chen KY;Abumrad NN;Ravussin E;Hall KD; (n.d.-b). Metabolic adaptation following massive weight loss is related to the degree of energy imbalance and changes in circulating leptin. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25236175/

2. Johannsen, D. L., Knuth, N. D., Huizenga, R., Rood, J. C., Ravussin, E., & Hall, K. D. (2012, July). Metabolic slowing with massive weight loss despite preservation of fat-free mass. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3387402/#:~:text=Despite%20relative%20preservation%20of%20FFM,or%20caloric%20restriction%20are%20maintained.

3. Ludwig, D. S., & Ebbeling, C. B. (2018, August 1). The carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity: Beyond “Calories in, calories out.” JAMA internal medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6082688/#:~:text=Insulin%20injection%20into%20the%20central,hunger%20and%20causes%20weight%20gain.

4. Janssen J. A. M. J. L. (2022). New Insights into the Role of Insulin and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis in the Metabolic Syndrome. International journal of molecular sciences, 23(15), 8178. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23158178

Ashwagandha for Anxiety and Anxiety Symptoms

Potential root causes of anxiety symptoms

I love ashwagandha! 

In fact, I've used ashwagandha and a variety of other adaptogenic herbs recommended to me by an herbalist, to support my own healing and anxiety symptoms.

But what I'm also doing is finding and addressing the root causes of my symptoms. My anxiety and blood sugar issues were not caused by not taking ashwagandha, nor will they be resolved long-term by taking it. 

Hi friends. I’m Hilary Beckwith, ex-dieter and holistic nutrition expert. Clients come to see me with signs of adrenal stress and inflammatory conditions, and my job is to find the root causes of their anxiety symptoms so we can address their symptoms more effectively, and fill in the gaps between what their doctor is saying, and what their body is saying.

Click here to view our website disclaimer.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• one commonly-overlooked cause of anxiety symptoms

• my favorite lab test for finding root causes

• long-term relief for anxiety symptoms

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the root cause you won’t see on your annual bloodwork

There are many potential causes for anxiety symptoms, many of which should be addressed by a mental health professional. If you are experiencing depression or anxiety symptoms, please seek help immediately from a qualified specialist.

In this article, I’ll be looking at one specific potential cause of anxiety symptoms in relation to gut health and nutrition. A factor that often gets overlooked by other healthcare professionals, because it’s not commonly tested for.

If you experience anxiety symptoms, blood sugar issues, and sleep issues, this is something worth considering.

I’m talking about… CLOSTRIDIA INFECTION.

Some species of clostridia bacteria are known to cause symptoms of anxiety, blood sugar issues, and sleep issues, due to their relationship with dopamine. 

I'd bet good money that your GP is not testing for clostridia on your annual bloodwork (and that's why practitioners like me are here!)

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a closer look at clostridia

The image below is a snapshot of specialized lab results from a person I worked with who had all of the symptoms mentioned above. 

Specifically, we're looking at the 'HPHPA' marker.

You’ll notice that for HPHPA, 208 is the MAX we should see on this test. This test detected levels of 1511, it’s literally off the charts!

Here's what having high levels of HPHPA means for your anxiety symptoms:

HPHPA is a metabolite of a certain group of Clostridia bacteria found in the GI tract, including Clostridia sporogenes, Clostridia caloritolerans, and Clostridia botulinum, among others.

Additionally 4-cresol (also shown in the image above) is a metabolite produced specifically by Clostridia difficile (you may have heard this called “C-diff”).

High markers of HPHPA and/or 4-cresol means that there is a likely infection of certain types of clostridia bacteria in the GI tract.

These types of Clostridia are known to inhibit the enzyme responsible for breaking down dopamine, called dopamine-beta-hydroxylase.

Too much dopamine might seem like a good thing, right?

Dopamine feels great at the moment, but when it's chronically maxed, it infiltrates the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in a constant fight or flight response, modulated by the sympathetic nervous system. 

PUT MORE SIMPLY:

Elevated Clostridia metabolites prevent the breakdown of dopamine, causing a chronically stimulated fight or flight response, potentially resulting in anxiety symptoms, sleep issues, and blood sugar issues.

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addressing root causes for anxiety symptoms

I am a big advocate for seeking licensed professional support for your mental health and wellness. And to be clear, I do not claim to be a mental health professional, nor do I offer treatment from that perspective.

What I can (and do!) help with is supporting nutritional factors for signs and symptoms of neurotransmitter dysfunction and hormone imbalances, often rooted in the gut or diet.

I believe that addressing mental health and wellness often requires a multi-faceted approach that requires care from an integrative support team. So, in addition to your other licensed mental health practitioners, it may also be worth considering a nutritional approach to addressing your anxiety symptoms.

HERE’S WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE

If Clostridia infection has been detected on this specialized blood panel, this very well may be one factor in your anxiety symptoms, and the heightened fight or flight response may also be causing blood sugar issues and sleep issues.

Clostridia is a type of bacteria, and the types found here that disrupt dopamine breakdown, are found specifically in the digestive tract.

Eradicating Clostridia, or any type of bacterial overgrowth in the gut, requires a strategic and holistic approach.

The short-term fix would be a round or two of prescription antibiotics from your GP or other physician and/or anti-anxiety medications. These can both be helpful, but may not support the long-term issue.

THE LONG-TERM SOLUTION OFTEN ENTAILS:

• addressing digestive health as a whole, including digestive enzymes, stomach acid support, intestinal tissue healing, bowel movements, and liver health

• temporary restriction of carbs and sugars that feed bacteria

• nutrients to break down biofilm, a sticky film in which the bacteria live and hide

• potent antimicrobial botanicals shown to eradicate bacterial pathogens

• carefully curated probiotics to rebuild the microbiome after we’ve killed off the invaders (antibiotics, even botanicals, kill all bacteria, even the beneficial ones)

FAST FORWARD

After 4 weeks of addressing root cause factors, we re-tested the client whose lab results were shown above, and found the HPHPA markers came down significantly:

So, you can continue taking ashwagandha for the rest of your days to help with your anxiety symptoms, blood sugar issues, and sleep issues. 

OR...

You could seek long-term solutions by finding a qualified practitioner who is trained to find the root causes of your anxiety symptoms.

WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT?

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was this helpful?

Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

NUTRITION SERVICES

• Private Coaching

• Functional Lab Testing

• Get a Health Assessment

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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BLOG REFERENCES

1. Irio