Finding Hormonal Balance Naturally: combating the effects of pollution

Hormones are complex. In Natalie Angier's in depth book on female health entitled, Woman: An Intimate Geography, she states that women naturally have over three hundred types of estrogen. That's a lot of femininity! Studies are finding that many species of animals are exhibiting characteristics of both sexes*, due in part to exposure to herbicides, flame retardants, and chemicals found in cosmetics.

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR A HORMONE BALANCING RECIPE

Hormone imbalance is par for the course in a world that has introduced on average 500 new man-made chemicals to the human body since the 1950s. (How many of these are from direct injection via vaccines?) These effect the systems of the body, suppressing our immune function, creating toxicity in the body, disrupting our hormones and metabolism via our endocrine system and lead to low-grade inflammation (which is a foundation for serious illness). The presence of endocrine disruptors in medications which are processed and released at waste water disposal plants into rivers and oceans may be responsible for some fish displaying intersex features**. There is some concern that in populations where hermaphrodite amphibians and fish are being studied, chronic illness in local human populations are significantly higher and on the rise.

Cancer and diabetes are being linked with exposure to heavy metals. "Medical science has discovered how sensitive the insulin receptor sites are to chemical poisoning. Metals such as cadmium, mercury, arsenic, lead, fluoride, 51 and possibly aluminum may play a role in the actual destruction of beta cells through stimulating an auto-immune reaction to them after they have bonded to these cells in the pancreas." (There is a Cure for Diabetes by Gabriel Cousens) And what of the growth hormones given to animals. You may say, well you eat hormone-free, antibiotic-free meat, but really, do you do this all of the time? What about restaurants, parties, events, frozen and pre-packaged foods?

In 2000, Norwegian polar bears were 20 percent more likely to exhibit characteristics of both sexes than Alaskan polar bears, do to an increase in PCBs by industrial centers***. Plankton that the bears eat are contaminated with the chemicals. All Arctic bears in general are displaying signs of depressed immune systems.

A study in 2004, profiled by Harper's Magazine January 28, 2004, found that dolphins, whales, and seals are turning into hermaphrodites because of pollution. According to the U.s. Geological Survey and the EPA, the sludge water leaving sewage treatment plants after processing is a significant source of pharmaceuticals. In ten facilities they have discovered 28-50 compounds in sludge including "antimicrobial disinfectants (triclosan), antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole), musk fragrances (tonalide), antihistamines (diphenhydramine), and antiepileptic drugs (carbamazepine)."****

In light of what we know about hormonal imbalance being reflected in the species with whom we shared habitats and in light of the fact that these polluted rivers effect our water supplies and the agriculture we consume, it is probably best to do what we can to maintain balance through supplements. I've been quite smitten with Rosemary Gladstar's Women's Root Tea, to which I add cooked rehmannia rhizome. I have found it to be mood lifting, and I can feel how happy my reproductive organs are when I drink it.


Rosemary Gladstar's Women's Root Tea

Ingredients:
3 parts sassafras bark
2 parts dandelion root
1 part licorice
1 part pau d'arco
1 part vitex berry
1 part wild yam root
1 part ginger root
1/2 part cinnamon (I use 1 tsp. helps with circulation and digestion)
1/4 orange peel (I use 1/2 helps immune system)
1/4 don quai (I use 1/2 helps tonify uterus and reproductive organs)
2 parts cooked rehmannia rhizome (my addition...full of iron, delicious blood tonic) Optional: pinch of stevia


Break up pieces of rehmannia. Mix ingredients well with a wooden spoon. I use two tablespoons of the mixture to a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes covered. This makes the perfect amount for my traditional Chinese tea pot.

Sources: * http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/science/08frog.html?_r=0

**http://georgetownvoice.com/2006/09/07/hermaphrodite-fish-provoke-concern-about-pollution/

***http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=3221&title=Pollutants+blamed+for+huge+increase+in+hermaphrodite+polar+bears

****http://list.web.net/archives/sludgewatch-l/2006-September/001791.html