How To Tell The Difference Between PMS & PMDD
For many of women, the second half of our cycle can feel like a real struggle. Whether we’re dealing with physical symptoms or mental-emotional symptoms, the one to two weeks leading up to our periods can be truly difficult to deal with. In many cases, the symptoms of PMS can feel so intense that they actually interfere with our ability to function normally. In these instances, we have to wonder if what we’re dealing with is actually PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) rather than PMS.
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What Happens When We Stress
You’ve likely heard that excessive stress can have negative impacts on our health. In fact, many of us have associated the word stress with something harmful. But is stress truly as bad as everyone says it is? In this blog, we go over the differences between acute and chronic stress, what happens to our bodies in the face of stress, and how we can break this cycle.
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How Harm Reduction Can Support Stress & Mental Well-Being
When we look at supporting our mental health and stress levels, sometimes it’s more about understanding ourselves better, understanding what soothes us, and not necessarily ridding ourselves of those feelings (or negative behaviours) entirely. This might not always look like the healthiest option, but it certainly will help us navigate where these feelings are originating from and set us on a trajectory for better mental health and stress resiliency. This is called harm reduction.
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Why Stress Might Be The Cause Of Your Hormonal Symptoms
Have you noticed that in the past couple of years you are FEELING your PMS or experiencing hormonal symptoms in different ways? This is not uncommon and it does not necessarily mean that your hormones are failing you. One of the biggest reasons why your periods (namely your PMS) might be worse is because of stress.
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How To Support Serotonin Levels Naturally
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in our brain. Neurotransmitters are the messengers of the brain – they have many roles in our body and play a particularly big role in how we feel mentally-emotionally. Lower amounts of serotonin are associated with low mood and increased anxiety. One of the ways that we can decrease the intensity of mood symptoms is by supporting healthy serotonin levels in our body.
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How Acupuncture Can Help Anxiety
Most of us have experienced anxiety at some point in our lives. If you’ve suffered with anxiety, then you know how debilitating it can feel and how important is becomes to receive good quality treatment options. In this blog, we take you through what the research has to say on acupuncture and anxiety!
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Food Stress Over the Holidays Part 1: Supporting a Healthy Relationship with Food
There is something about the holidays and holiday eating that holds a certain “stress” associated with it. If you find that you are feeling out of control with food, anxious around food, or if you are experiencing obsessions or compulsions around food, it does not have to be this way. Here are some simple things that you can try this holiday season to feel empowered around food, no matter what your actual food choices are.
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What is PMDD?: When Mental Health Meets Hormone Health
There is a new hormonal term going around that you may or may have heard of; PMDD. PMDD stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. This is a diagnosis that refers to a group of PMS symptoms that become so intense that they have extreme mood implications, and severe impacts on quality of life. It can get so bad that for that period of the month it can feel like a depressive episode.
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Mental Health + Hormones: Part 3
Welcome to week 3 of exploring the link between our mental health and our hormones. Today we are looking at how our food choices and our cravings are linked to our hormonal health and blood sugar levels. Sometimes the things that we choose to eat are not always based on our conscious control but other processes that are happening in our bodies, including our hormones.
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Mental Health + Hormones: Part 2
Welcome to week two looking at connections between our hormones and our mental health. This week we are looking at how our relationship with food can impact our overall mental wellbeing as well as the balance and production of hormones in our bodies. This is something that is especially important in disordered eating.
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Mental Health + Hormones: Part 1
Welcome to our 3-part series exploring the link between our mental health and our hormones. Over the course of the next 3 weeks we are going to look at ways in which our mental health, reproductive hormones and eating patterns interact and influence the way that we are feeling on a daily basis.
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Overcoming My Body Dysmorphia: A Very Personal Essay
One of the hardest years in my own recovery was when I stopped looking anorexic. It seemed like it happened overnight. One night I was okay – I was coasting. I was doing all the things - showing up, eating the food, in recovery and then suddenly something changed. I woke up and my whole body felt different.
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Beyond Food: Eating Disorder Awareness
Unlike other addictions such as drug addiction or alcoholism, a person with an eating disorder cannot avoid the trigger of all of their mental and physical pain. They have to eat. No matter how much pain it causes them – they have to eat. So what do you do if you’re struggling?
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