Is Serotonin good or bad?

Is Serotonin good or bad?

Well that is the question, and I think the answer is not what people think. Serotonin does seem to have a dark side that not many people are aware of. Which I believe is an injustice, especially as so many people are struggling with their health, specifically mental health.

Is Serotonin good or bad? I argue its “bad” at high levels and I hope to put forward some of my argument below for you to consider.

Many of us have been led to believe that “boosting” serotonin or having “high” serotonin is a good thing and especially good for our mental health. But what if the contrary is true? What if what we have been told about serotonin is inaccurate or even a lie? It wasn’t until the 1960s that the present doctrine regarding serotonin came into effect and a big part of this was due to pharmaceutical involvement (what’s new!).

It has been well documented and published in the research over the years that serotonin has a dark side. From increasing mental health issues including psychosis and seizures, to increasing inflammation and slowing thyroid function. Serotonin also effects ACTH or Adrenocorticotropic hormone, which is a hormone your pituitary gland releases that triggers your adrenal glands to release cortisol, the “stress hormone.” (I will link several papers to this blog and not to go too deep down the rabbit hole that is serotonin. But if you have any questions, please reach out to me!)

Read more here including how serotonin destroys mental health, increases aggression, and how to reduce serotonin.

Canada Wildfire smoke 101.

Canada Wildfire smoke 101 – health support.

Every year in Canada we experience thousands of wildfires, which unfortunately effects many families, putting them out of their homes. And in some cases losing everything. Our prayers and thoughts are with them each year. The Canadian National Fire Database estimates 8000 wildfires a year. 

Of course other parts of the world experience wildfires, but because I live in Alberta Canada, that is primarily where my attention is focused. Regardless this blog is useful to people all across the world who deal with wildfire exposure.

Along with these wildfires comes a ton of smoke and unseen toxic particles in our atmosphere. Many of us feel the effects of this wildfire smoke and recognize that’s what is causing us to experience new or different health symptoms. But also, some people do experience these new or different health symptoms, and don’t connect the dots, that it is in fact the wildfire smoke effecting their body.

Read on here to find out the symptoms you can experience when exposed to wildfire smoke, how the smoke effects our health, and how to support your health. FREE downloadable PDF included.

Is your body toxic? Including a look at endocrine disruptors and endotoxins.

Is your body toxic?

Toxic overload or body toxicity is a common occurrence in most people nowadays. We even see evidence of toxicity in high altitudes and in the people who live there. The truth is there is no escaping the toxins in our environment, they are in our water, food, home and work spaces, and even air. Toxins literally fall from the sky, and unbeknownst to many people, they are breathing in toxins in large amounts daily – regardless of how careful you may be with your dietary and lifestyle choices.

Throw in a slow metabolism, which research show us is over 93% of the population, making it harder for your body to detoxify these substances and easier to accumulate. This is a recipe for (health) disaster. Is your body toxic?

Its important to recognize that when we are talking about “toxins” in the body, we are not only referring to herbicides, pesticides, chemicals in our cleaning products etc. But also heavy metals (including but not limited to lead, cadmium and aluminum), PUFAs/polyunsaturated fatty acids and excess estrogen. Along with endocrine disruptors, which are molecules that have estrogen like activities and disrupt the bodies hormonal balance, and endotoxins – more on this below. 

Is your body toxic?

Read the rest of the article here and TAKE MY TOXICITY QUIZ! 

Is sugar addiction real? Or is it just low dopamine?

Is Sugar Addiction Real? Is addiction real? I know this is going to stir up a lot of emotions in people but I also know that this question needs to be asked, so lets go. Stick with me to til the end. 😉

Firstly most people who talk about addiction don’t even know what addiction is. There was a famous study called “the rat park experiment” that was actually done here in Canada. The researcher that conducted this, basically didn’t believe that addicts were sick people, or that they were genetically flawed. Or that if you give them a little bit of morphine and they become addicts for life. So he created this study where he took these rats and separated them into 2 groups. He got them both addicted to morphine. He kept one group in their normal rat cages, which is not particularly nice, but that’s what they are used to. And then the other group, he basically put in an amusement park for rats. It had bright colors, running wheels, didn’t smell of urine, and they were not harassed by sadistic lab assistants poking them with needles. Both groups of rats also had a free source of morphine in their water.

So the rats that were in the cage, they learned to press the lever to release more morphine into their water because they kept wanting it to help them deal with their miserable existence. But the other group of rats in the “amusement park”, who were having a great time, basically voluntary detoxed from their addiction over time. Even though for the first week or so, they experienced pretty painful symptoms including seizures. But they refused to touch the morphine, they didn’t feel they needed it.

So he, Dr Bruce Alexander, came to the conclusion that addiction is a desperate attempt at self medication. Your perceiving that something in your environment is temporarily relieving you of your symptoms, of whatever it is that is bothering you. Even though you know that in the long run, its making things worse. Sound familiar? Read the rest of the conversation here. 

How to stay healthy and fit even when you’re super busy.

How to stay healthy and fit even when you’re super busy.

By guest writer Portia Larhuey of  Your Parent Resource. 

Your schedule is wild. You’ve been grabbing fast food on the go, and your only exercise is dashing off to your next appointment. Yet you know you can’t keep this up much longer. You want to be healthy and fit even though — and perhaps especially because — you’re super busy, but you don’t know how to get there since you’re also on a budget. Read on for some ideas, presented in the following article by Portia Larhuey and presented by Chemaine’s Model Health.

Make Good Food Choices

It’s so easy to gulp down a burger and fries on the run, but it certainly isn’t healthy. You can make better food choices even when you’re busy. Continue reading the article here. 

Creating an Action Plan.

Creating an Action Plan.

Let’s put an action plan together that you can run over the next 30 or so days to help you rewire your brain for growth and success in 2024. I promise if you actively do these steps, they will make a difference.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒕. So you’re going to start repeating things that move you towards your goals.

1.  The first thing that your going to repeat is “𝑰 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒔”. You’re going to focus 𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 on the physics of progress. The physics of progress are; that you need to come up with a hypothesis on what you need to do to achieve your goals. You’re then going to turn that hypothesis into something you can actually do. You going to do that thing – it’s going to fail to some extent, and you’re going to assess 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅. That will give you clues on what was wrong with your hypothesis. Then your going to reformulate your hypothesis, in a now more educated way, and your going to turn that into something you can actually do. Then you’re going to repeat this process until you have perfected what you need to do to achieve success. You will have refined what you need to do to achieve success by assessing continuously assessing failures and what didn’t work. 

Continue reading the article here. 

Elevate Your Well-Being: Transform Your Life with this Simple Health Habits

Elevate Your Well-Being: Transform Your Life with this Simple Health Habits

Photo by Canva

By guest writer Portia Larhuey at yourparentsource.com .

Embracing a lifestyle focused on health and well-being is not just about making big changes; it’s about the small, everyday choices you make. This guide, shared by Chemaine’s Model Health, is dedicated to helping you discover practical and straightforward strategies to enhance your health, boost your mental well-being, and add joy to your life. Let’s dive into these transformative habits that can lead you to a happier, healthier you.

Prioritize Fitness and Nutrition in a Healthy Way

Rather than resorting to extreme diets or strenuous workout routines, aim to cultivate a healthy relationship with food and exercise. Focus on nourishing your body with wholesome, nutrient-rich foods that provide sustained energy and support overall well-being. Similarly, embrace a fitness routine that you genuinely enjoy, making it a regular part of your lifestyle. By prioritizing gradual and realistic changes in your diet and exercise habits, you can foster long-lasting health and wellness improvements that contribute to a more fulfilling and transformed life. Read the rest of this blog post here.

Understanding low progesterone

Understanding low progesterone.

Progesterone is the most important hormone in the female body and also not understood by most women. Hopefully this post will help fix that!

Progesterone is one of the female sex hormones, which gets released after ovulation and only if you ovulate. If you don’t ovulate, you will not make progesterone! Women can ovulate and make progesterone but not make enough depending on their personal situation (we will look more at what can interrupt progesterone levels below). I like to explain progesterone to my clients and followers as our most important hormone. It is our sanity and vitality hormone. The hormone that encourages fertility, youthfulness, calmness, motivation, fulfillment and libido (wink wink). Progesterone is involved in so many aspects of being your most healthy and optimal self, yet many women I speak to are unaware of the importance of this essential hormone.

Read more here…