Mineral Foundations -How to implement them!

A HUGE rock that can create a dynamic shift in health as we enter our fourth decade and beyond is to address mineral foundations which may have taken a hit durning our second and third decade.

Symptoms of mineral imbalances are so broad, but may present as:

• constipation

• morning and afternoon fatigue

• wide awake at night

• lack of drive/motivation

• poor recovery from exercise

• poor appetite plus cravings

• inability to lose body fat

• flat affect

• joint pain

• swelling/puffiness

• bloating

• inability to build muscle

These symptoms are very difficult for conventional medicine to address, not because they don't want to but because it is a cluster that also resembles depression, hypothyroidism or even more likely a theme...the symptom cluster that women should expect in midlife. The only intervention that can be offered right now to relieve symptoms by conventionally trained doctors working to treat a population of women who are stretched to the max are pharmaceuticals such as SSRIs or hormonal birth control. Allopathic medicine, which is disease based, uses pharmacologic interventions, relies on evidence based practice from peer reviewed studies and focuses on population based screenings does not always focus on a root cause approach to symptoms.

Before I went to nursing school I found the mindset of not addressing root cause in patients to be frustrating and inexcusable. I could not understand how a medical doctor could not sit down with their patient and offer a better solution to the above sympoms than, "eat more fruits and vegetables, reduce stress and start a walking program". The reality...the issue with our treatment model is that it is code driven, disease based and heavily reliant on reimbursement. Prevention involves screening for diseases not the the early stages of imbalance, lifestyle habits and behaviors are addressed at the surface level with out-dated suggestions and we tip toe around tough topics like weight gain, exercise and nutrition. I am sure that you have at least one person in your world whose current state of dis-ease could have been prevented by early intervention and problem solving of lifestyle habits and behaviors that led to system-wide dysfunction in body tissues.

The good news!! The tide is slowly shifting and voices are getting louder, telling us how powerful consistent data tracking of reliable labs can drive the decisions we make as individuals each day!! Holistic health coaching is beginning to work in complement to allopathic medicine and helping patients change their lens on the symptoms they are experiencing!

Today! I want you to realize that your symptoms are real and you absolutely do not have to struggle for the next 4-5 decades with a steady decline in functional capacity!

Let's talk about mineral foundations and the massive power that mineral balancing work can have on the trajectory of your health!

Jaclyn, full time working mom to 3 kids strugggled with hypothyroidism and extreme fatigue. It set in after her third child. The frustration of living in a body carrying an extra 20 pounds, daily knee pain, bloating after meals and intermittent constipation left motherhood to be more of a burden than a joy. Jaclyn had tried keto, intermittent fasting and crossfit. She lost 30 pounds on wegovy and gained back 20 when insurance would no longer pay for the medicine. I asked Jaclyn to give her journey a year to start...that is four, 12 week training blocks, 2 hair tissue mineral tests and 2 complete blood panels, and 52 Mondays! We would not focus at all on her 20 pounds, instead we would address the following:

• Tuning into habits not serving her like:

  • feeling the need to eat the kids food off their plates if they did not finish even though she was full

  • grabbing something sweet in the afternoon after lugging everyone in from carpool

  • snacking while preparing dinner and then eating dinner even though she was full

  • staying up late, mindlessly consuming social media instead of going to sleep

  • trying to train in a crossfit style way instead of meeting her body where it is and building up

  • bashing her body by making jokes about her big butt and jiggly thighs

• Adding in a progressive training program that she committed to herself to complete, making it the non-negotiable of her days.

• Preparing her lunch everyday for work and standing strong against coworkers tempting unhealthy food at work.

• Stay off the scale and focusing on the lifestyle factors that demonstrate progress:

  • NO knee pain when bending down to clean behind the toilet (this really bothered her)

  • Energy to cook dinner without snacking

  • Laughing easily with the kids

  • Looking at her exercise program to build healthy muscle and joint tissue

  • Not flying off the handle when the kids loose their noodles

Jaclyn was struggling with a chronically engaged stress response that would not respond to any amount of yoga and breathwork because...she is a full time working mother with three children who is also working to manage a household and deal support her own body. It is VERY difficult to juggle all of those things when your stress response is so easily triggered due to low mineral levels. You can see Jaclyn's stress response showing low calcium, elevated magnesium, low sodium, elevated copper, elevated cobalt and low phosphorus. Going into a protocol with this information was hugly powerful alongside Jaclyn's honest assessment of her habits and patterns that are creating more stress in her world.

Low calcium and high magnesium can show a more stressed state driving up anxiety. Low calcium drives up blood sugar issues as calcium is important for insulin signaling, sleep, and histamine responses from food. Low sodium shows a body that has been under stress froa. very long time and the adrenals are tired. Symptoms such as low blood pressure, insulin resistance (wheight loss resistance), low stomach acid (constipation) and a sluggish thyroid (exhaustion) are all common symptoms of low sodium. Elevated cobalt and low phosphrous show impacted digestion which impacts elimination, think constipation. Elevated copper impacts connective tissue integrity and also affects the stress response.

Exhaustion is shown with the extreme magnesium loss demonstrated in the Na/Mg (sodium to magnesium adrenal ratio) and a tendency for hyperglycemia is shown with a low Ca/Mg ratio. Her body was struggling to mount an appropriate stress response to her environment (seen stressors) and her physical state (unseen stressors).

When we learn about mineral foundations the very important point of understanding that stressors are both seen and unseen can make a big difference in how you progress through a health journey.

1. Mineral foundations start with relieving unseen stressors such as poor endurance, strength and digestion.

2. When minerals are out of balance, either too much or too little which drives up symptoms and cannot be relieved until mineral levels are addressed.

   
   

   Jaclyn found after 6 months, she was sleeping more deeply, laughing reflexively, squatting down without pain and not immediately reaching for chocolate as soon as she brought the kids in from carpool. She was switching between work mode and mom mode much easier and looked forward to her workouts that I wrote for her. WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How to start addressing your mineral foundation:

We are a population that struggles with minerals. Paying attention to how minerals are depleted from the bullets listed below is your launching point to address your own foundations:

• Stress - drives up mineral losses such as magnesium, sodium and potassium which leads to electrolyte imbalances in the body.

• Reduced intake of nutrient dense foods - we are eating less nourishing foods becuase time is short and processed foods are plentiful. Less nourishing foods leads to depleted humans.

• Extreme diets and dietary restriction reduce important mineral sources of foods such as low carb diets and fruits, roots, tubers, beans and legumes

• Increased reliance on medications- blood pressure meds and antidepressants can impact mineral levels.

• Reduced physical capacity leads to chronic pain, increased stress response because everything is more difficult when your body becomes weak and deconditioned.

• Lack of sleep - increases mineral losses through blood sugar dysregulation.

If you have not done mineral testing or want to get a better idea of whether or not minerals are an issue for you, you can apply to meet with me and assess your next steps to reach the root cause of your symptoms. Like Jaclyn, mineral support just might be the missing link in your health journey!