These changes are all thanks to pregnancy hormones that can affect the quality of your skin.

But don’t worry. These little pregnancy quirks are usually short-lived, and you’ll be back to normal as soon as the baby’s born. In the meantime, here are some ways you can control these pregnancy hormone outbreaks while still being able to enjoy your pregnant glow:

• Stretch Marks: As your skin starts to stretch and grow, it may feel itchy and red or show signs of stretch marks. For the best results, avoid hot showers, which will only dry out and irritate your skin. Make sure to moisturize regularly with a product that contains hyaluronic acid, a molecule that can hold 1,000 times its own weight in water. This ingredient will keep your skin soft and supple to greatly reduce your risk of stretch marks.
• Hormonal Acne: The best way to treat unpredictable pregnancy acne is to stick to your regular skin-care regimen. Wash your skin with a cleanser appropriate to your skin type and moisturize afterward. To prevent clogged pores that could lead to acne, exfoliate two to three times per week. While pregnant, use a more gentle fruit enzyme exfoliant with papaya or pineapple to safely care for your skin.
• Brown Spots: Brown spots on the skin caused by hormones can be made even worse by sun exposure. Make sure to use a sunscreen that protects from both UVA and UVB rays each time you leave the house. For moms-to-be, I recommend a mineral sunscreen that is free from toxic ingredients and uses natural zinc to protect the skin from the sun. Steering clear of chemical ingredients is important since topical products can easily absorb into the skin to penetrate the bloodstream.
• Facial Hair: If you’ve noticed upper lip fuzz appear out of nowhere in your pregnancy, you’re not alone. You can once again thank hormones for this increase in body hair — in the most unpleasant places. Luckily, this facial hair growth is normal and temporary for pregnant women. You can remove facial hair safely by waxing and tweezing, although it’s best not to use depilatories or bleaches during pregnancy since they can be absorbed into the skin.

Sincerely,

Kamila Fiore, ARNP, NP-C

[Ed. Note: Kamila Fiore is the resident Nurse Practitioner at the Sears’ Center for Health and Wellness in Royal Palm Beach, Fla. Kamila is passionate about taking a natural approach to healthcare. She believes it’s a vital necessity in this day and age – a time when our health is being jeopardized by the chemicals, toxins and processes that are incorporated in almost everything we consume, touch or breathe. She earned her Master of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Florida and became state-licensed and board-certified in 2007. Her professional experience includes Aesthetics, Internal Medicine/Geriatrics and Anti-Aging. Kamila educates her patients on health promotion and disease prevention. She also is experienced in laser hair removal.]

I call them drugs because they’re not real hormones. Hormones have to be made in your body, and these are synthetically created.

I can’t help but get mad at this. I’m so tired of women being in this unnecessary danger.

As you read this, millions of women are getting estrogen. If you’ve ever been to your doctor for help with menopause, you know what I’m talking about.

Just because I’m a man doesn’t mean I can’t relate to issues facing women. I truly believe I can, because I sit in my office and I try to put myself in their shoes. And I’ll tell you… I feel for what women are going through.

Hormone Replacement Risks: In one recent study, women on synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had a 54 percent higher risk of asthma.¹

That’s bad news on its own, but when you consider that lung function is your number-one risk factor for death, it’s tragic.

HRT “therapy” isn’t therapy. What they’re giving you isn’t a real hormone, and it does nothing to help you with the real problems of menopause.

For most women, too much estrogen is the problem. Not too little.

Remember, you get extra estrogen from your food and your environment. Only looking at estrogen gives you only half the picture.

If you’re a woman, the missing link is progesterone, the “other” female hormone.

When menopause starts, progesterone falls to almost zero. When I test women here in my clinic, their levels are often barely detectable.

Estrogen, on the other hand, only falls about 40 percent.

Progesterone maintains the healthy features you may not want to give up like:

• Using fat better
  

• Elevating your mood
  

• Keeping your blood sugar normal
  

• Boosting your sex drive
  

• Protecting against some cancers
  

• Bone building²

In clinical trials, natural progesterone proved effective against bone loss.³ Natural progesterone also proved to help reduce menopause symptoms without adding to breast cancer risks like prescription drugs do.⁴

Research shows that natural progesterone replacement in aging females helps to improve insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing the risk of diabetes.⁵

I’ve seen it at work in my own practice and have been pleased with the results. But when I see these women during their first visit, they often tell me of weight gain, lack of sex drive and poor sleep. Many are even on antidepressant drugs.

When I see women with low progesterone, I prescribe a natural replacement. Within two weeks, they’re usually back to normal.

A high-quality progesterone cream is often the best way to do it. The natural progesterone in the cream gets into your bloodstream and gently lifts your levels.

For more serious cases, I recommend you have a complete hormonal panel to determine which of your hormones are low. Your doctor can then prescribe a blend of natural hormones, identical to your own.

A compounding pharmacist fills this prescription. The hormones are bio-identical and balanced to meet your individual needs. They’re much safer and more effective than prescription drugs that only mimic hormones.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1 Reuters, “Estrogen Pills May Increase Risk of Asthma,” Feb 10, 2010. MSNBC
2 “Progesterone: Frequently Asked Questions,” Association of Women for the Advancement of Research and Education, (project-aware.org) 4/21/2006
3 Lee, J.R., “Is natural progesterone the missing link in osteoporosis prevention and treatment?” Med. Hypothese. 1991; 35(4): 316-18
4 Campagnoli, C., et al, “Progestins and progesterone in hormone replacement therapy and the risk of breast cancer,” J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 2005; 96(2): 95-108
5 Moorthy, K., et al, “Effect of estradiol and progesterone treatment on carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes in tissues of aging female rats,” Biogerontology 2004; 5(4): 249-59

I don’t know about you, but I pluck my eyebrows. I like how nice and clean it makes my eye area look.

A little grooming with a pair of tweezers is one thing. But if the outer third of your eyebrow falls out on its own, that’s a different story.

If this has happened to you, it may mean you’re not producing enough thyroid hormone. And, in that case, having thin eyebrows could be the least of your worries.

If your thyroid goes on the blink, you could get about 200 other problems. You might start to feel chilly all the time. You might notice extra fat around your waist, even though you eat healthy. Maybe you get headaches a lot, your nails break easily, or you get depressed every month.

If you recognize any of these symptoms, you’re not alone. You have a one in five chance of developing hypothyroidism by the time you’re 65 years old.

My aunt was one who did. She was a young adult in the 80s, when eyebrows were “in.” But she noticed her eyebrows were thinning. In fact, they were just about gone. My poor aunt was so unhappy, she went to a permanent makeup clinic and had eyebrows tattooed onto her skin!

It wasn’t long after this that my aunt discovered she had an underactive thyroid. Sure enough, once she was treated, her eyebrows came back, full and lush. My aunt thought it was a miracle!

Many things can affect your thyroid, like eating too many carbs. Or when you starve yourself to lose a pound or two. You need a good diet with protein and healthy fat for your thyroid to function properly.

If you’re on birth control pills, or if you take other medications, it can also interfere. So can toxins that get into your bloodstream, like pesticides, mercury, or the chemicals you find in plastic.

This is not something to take lightly. When your thyroid is underactive, it can lead to hardening of the arteries. You could have a heart attack without warning.1

But don’t rush off to your doctor quite yet. You can test your thyroid at home. You can also increase your thyroid production by increasing your vitamins and minerals.

To see if you might have an underactive thyroid:

1. Buy a glass thermometer instead of digital and keep it next to your bed.
2. As soon as you wake up, tuck the thermometer in your armpit and leave it there for 15 minutes. Any movement will affect the reading, so lie still and relax.
3. Write down the temperature.
4. Do this for three days in a row.
5. After three days, add up the numbers and divide by three. If your number is below 97.2, there’s a good chance you have an underactive thyroid.

Note: If you’re menstruating, avoid taking the test mid-cycle. Hormones may affect your temperature.

If your eyebrows are disappearing, or if you suspect an underactive thyroid, start by taking iodine. Most people in the U. S. are deficient, and your thyroid needs it to function. Take 12.5-25 mg every day.

Or, you can take a thyroid support supplement. It should contain vitamins A, B’s, C, and D, along with minerals like iodine, magnesium, selenium, and L-tyrosine (an important amino acid).

Best Wishes for Health and Beauty,

Tara Smith, ARNP, NP-C

[Ed. Note: Tara Smith, ARNP NP-C, is a board-certified nurse practitioner for Dr. Sears’ Center for Health & Wellness in Royal Palm Beach, FL. Her medical concentration is on aesthetics, teaching, and family practice. Tara is conducting research trials into novel ways of naturally boosting HGH and working on a new book, on anti-aging for women.]

1. Hak AE, “Subclinical hypothyroidism is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction in elderly women: the Rotterdam Study.” Ann Intern Med. 2000 Feb 15;132(4):270-8.

Not long ago, I discovered I was poisoning my baby.

It wasn’t intentional. In fact, I thought I was doing everything right.

But then she developed a rash…

At first, I thought it was an allergy, but it wouldn’t go away.

I suspected it was eczema, so I took her to the pediatrician. He confirmed my diagnosis and recommended heavy ointments and creams to keep her moisturized.

The creams would improve her condition a little bit for a couple of days. But the rash kept coming back and getting worse.

I knew I had to become a detective and figure out what was causing the problem.

So I took a close look at all the baby care items I had been using. Those sweet-smelling baby lotions, shampoos, and diaper ointments.

That’s when I began to figure it out…

They all contained parabens. And parabens are bad news!

Had I continued using these products, I would have been leading my daughter down a path toward early puberty, fertility problems, and, even worse, breast cancer.

The worst thing about it is that parabens are found in almost all personal-care products. You’ll find them in shampoo, lotion, shaving cream, deodorant, and more.

You probably use them on your body every single day of your life. And since your skin is the largest organ of your body, these nasty chemicals go straight into your bloodstream.

Once they get inside of you, they mimic estrogen, disrupt your endocrine system, and throw your hormones out of whack.

So I’ve been warning my patients about them. Especially since so many of them have come to me with hormonal issues.

Most of them are already aware that they need to stay away from hormone disruptors like plastics and pesticides. They also know to eat hormone-free chicken and eggs.

But nobody has ever told them that what they put on their bodies is contributing to the problem and increasing their risk of breast cancer.

Here’s what you can do right away to stop poisoning your body with these estrogen mimickers and reduce your chances of getting breast cancer:

1) Read the ingredients in your skin-care products just as carefully as you do your food labels. Avoid anything that has the word “paraben” at the end of it.

2) Look for products with natural preservatives. Some of the best are grapefruit seed extract, citrus seed, potassium sorbate, sorbic acid, phenoxyethanol, and vitamins A, C, and E.

3) Don’t trust the “all-natural” label. Just because a product says it’s natural, it doesn’t mean there aren’t parabens in it. So be sure to check the ingredient list even if the front of the label makes it look safe.

Best Wishes for Health and Beauty,

Tara Smith, ARNP, NP-C