Raw Food and hormone imbalance

Raw fooders usually eat not only raw fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds, but they usually eat organically grown raw foods and whole foods i.e. un-processed foods. This means that they avoid the estrogen dominance risks of ingestion of pesticides, herbicides etc on their foods. Additionally they are likely to drink only filtered water avoiding the majority of chemicals in mains water.

People who are into their health (and raw fooders are well and truly in this basket), tend to avoid plastics and use glass instead for drinking and storage. They also won't be heating food up in microwaves, which is commonly done in plastic containers.

Raw fooders also don't cook (funny that!), so no using aluminium or Teflon cooking pans.

Raw fooders also tend to be quite slim with little body fat. Toxins get stored away in body fat when the body's organs can't cope with metabolising them,if many toxins are present then more fat gets laid down especially around the hips. Fat also acts as an endocrine gland so produces even more estrogen. Given raw fooders have a low toxic load and usually have low body fat, the risk of estrogen dominance is very low.

Hence I believe my success with raw food and hormone balance is due to:
Eating 90% certified organic
Eating 80% raw fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
The rest is vegetarian, with occasional use of stainless steel cookware, however I try to use mostly to enamelled, cast iron cookware.
I do not own a microwave and don't use the one at work.
I drink plenty of filtered water.
I use mostly glass for storage and drinking.
I use a range of certified organic personal care items for everything from shampoos to moisturisers to deodorants to cosmetics. To find out more about this see below.

When I first started writing this lens in May 2007 I described how I have used the raw food diet to successfully treat my hormone imbalances, however I have still been plagued by symptoms of candida in my gut.

I have used a different raw food approach to cure my candida in just 2 weeks! To see how, please take a look at my lens, raw food and candida http://squidoo.com.rawfoodandcandida

As I mentioned above, the need to eliminate toxins from one's diet and environment, also extends to personal care products. Chemicals applied to the skin can be absorbed by the skin, and can enter the blood stream, particularly areas that are hairy like the scalp due to the larger hair follicles. Also areas of thinner skin, like the around the eyes.

Chemicals can also be inhaled if they contain gas or aerosols (small droplets) e.g. hair spray, deodorants, nail polish. Aerosols can also be liberated in the shower from the effects of heat on shampoos. Chemicals inhaled this way will enter the bloodstream quickly via the lungs.

None of the chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products are fully tested, therefore the magnitude of their adverse effects are unknown. The only guarantee you are getting what is claimed on a label is to buy certified organic, which is regulated by a third party and means: No heavy metal contamination, no use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, synthetic fertilisers, growth promoters or regulators like hormones and antibiotics, no irradiation, no GMOs. To be stamped as certified organic, at least 95% of the ingredients must be organic (excluding water and salt) and the remaining ingredients only from a restricted list of truly natural ingredients. This goes for foods, drinks and personal care items.

Estrogen dominance is a term coined by Dr. Lee in his first book on natural progesterone. It describes a condition where a woman can have deficient, normal or excessive estrogen, but has little or no progesterone to balance its effects in the body. Even a woman with low estrogen levels can have estrogen dominance symptoms if she doesn't have any progesterone.

Source:http://www.johnleemd.com

Research has shown that many women in their 30s - some even younger - will occasionally not ovulate during their menstrual month. Without ovulation, no corpus luteum results and no progesterone is made. A progesterone deficiency ensues and several problems can result from this, one being the month-long presence of unopposed estrogen with all its attendant side-effects.

A second major problem results from the interrelationship between progesterone loss and stress. Stress combined with a bad diet can induce cycles where ovulation does not occur. The consequent lack of progesterone interferes with the production of the stress-combating hormones, worsening stressful conditions that give rise to further anovulatory cycles and so continues the vicious cycle.

Another major factor contributing to this imbalance between estrogen and progesterone is the industrialized world now live in, immersed in a rising sea of petrochemical derivatives. They are in the air, food and water and include pesticides and herbicides (such as DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, etc.) as well as various plastics (polycarbonated plastics found in babies bottles and water jugs) and PCBs.

These estrogen-mimics are highly fat-soluble, not biodegradable or well excreted, and accumulate in the fat tissue of animals and humans. These chemicals have an uncanny ability to mimic natural estrogen and thus are given the name "xeno-estrogens" since, although they are foreign chemicals, they are taken up by the estrogen receptor sites in the body, seriously interfering with natural biochemical activity. Drinking sodas out of plastic bottles is one of the leading causes of estrogen dominance.

Source:http://www.diagnose-me.com

Thanks so much for answering my poll questions - so here are some recipes and pics as requested. I will continue to add recipes as time goes on so stay tuned, I love pics too so I will try to gets pics for each one as I upload the recipes.

The following recipes are just some of the yummy raw foods that helped my hormone imbalance. The foods below are my creations or my spin on another recipe. Where I have adapted a recipe I will say where the original one came from.

I hope you enjoy and please give me your feedback if you try them or have any successful adaptations of mine!!

Half a celeriac root
1 baby fennel with tops
1 green apple - preferably granny smith
1 pear still - a bit crispy and green looking
1 orange
1 lemon
2-3 Tbs macadamia nut oil
salt and pepper
optional-dried sultanas

Cut knobbly edges off celeriac and use a vege peeler to peel thin strips off till its gone.
Finely slice the fennel bulb (wash between pieces well first).
Finely slice the stalks on a an angle(they shouldn't be tough cos its a baby!).
Finely chop the fennel tops so you have about handful.
Use a mandolin or knife to julienne the apple and pear.
Mix in a bowl with your clean hands and add the dressing ingredients.
Start with half of the orange and lemon and add more of either to your desired taste i.e. sweeter and more tart.
If you don't have macadamia oil pick a mild oil so the taste doesn't overpower the salad.
If you like more sweeteness add a handful of sultanas. For best results let the salad sit for an hour or so they soak up some juice and plump up.

This is a lovley salad to accompany a fatty meal or even just on its own. It's very pretty and very refreshing.

Salad Ingredients
Big bunch coriander
5-6 stems of mint
2-3 tomatoes diced
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper finely diced
1 avocado diced
1/4 red onion or a few spring onions finely diced(optional)

Option 1 for bourgal repalacement:
In the blender, put half a cup of dry almonds and wiz up till small but not too powdery

Option 2
Sprout some quinoa for a couple of days (soak quinoa seeds overnight in a glass jar, cover top with some tulle and fasten wth an elastic band, rinse and drain 2-3 times a day till you get the shoot growing and use 1/2 to 1 cup in the tabouli)

Wash and chop the herbs. Parsley coarsely, mint chopped finely, coriander leaves coarsely and the coriander stems finely. Add rest of chopped vegies in a bowl with the almonds or sprouted quinoa

Dressing
Put the juice of a lemon in a glass jar, add equal parts of flax oil (keep in the fridge), add a tablespoon of tahini, a tablespoon of agave nectar, a pinch of salt and cracked pepper to taste. Shake up with lid on tight! Taste and add more tahini if wanting it creamier, agave for sweetness, and/or salt and pepper as you see fit.

Add the dressing to the salad and toss thoroughly. Serve soon after dressing. Goes well with some fresh hummus and marinated mushrooms warmed in a food dehydrator or low oven.

Julienne the following:
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 medium carrot
A good handful of snow peas
A least a cup of bean shoots
A bunch of coriander including the stems

Mix in a big bowl with the following dressing:

Juice of 1-2 limes (or lemon if no lime available)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced ginger
I small clove garlic (optional)
I Tbsp honey/agave
1 Tbsp Braggs/Tamari
Fresh chilli to taste
I kaffir lime leaf finely sliced and chopped

Top with pine nuts

Leftovers the next day taste like cold stir fry - still yum but without the crunch

Blend the following together:

Tamarind-2 Tbsp homemade juice or 1 tsp paste
1 ½ Tbsp maple syrup or agave
1 ½ Tbsp Braggs/Tamari
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
Fresh chilli to taste

Add the above sauce and mix through the following in a bowl:
1 cup julienne zucchini
1 cup julienne carrot
1 cup shredded/sliced red cabbage
1 cup julienne with skin on
½ cup julienne red pepper
½ cup finely sliced red onion
2 green coconuts, julienne the meat and keep the water aside

Blend the following together:
½ cup raw almond butter or finely ground almonds
1 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
1 clove garlic
Fresh chilli to taste
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp maple syrup or agave
1 Tbsp Braggs/Tamari
Coconut water to thin

Presentation:
Place veggie mix on a platter or on individual plates
Pour the almond sauce over and around the veggie mix
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, extra Braggs/Tamari and sesame oil

YUM!

For the ravioli casings use thin circular slices of e.g. turnip, daikon radish, beetroot or kohlrabi. Use a mandolin to slice. To be really creative you can dye the white veggies with some pureed or juiced beetroot to make them pink.

Brush slices lightly with olive oil and leave a few hours if time available,

Filling suggestions:
From Alissa Cohen
½ cup each of walnuts, macadamias and pine nuts
½ cup flat leaf parsley
4 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp Braggs/Tamari
1 clove garlic
Process the nuts, then add the other bits, use a bit more of the seasonings to taste if needed and/or a bit or water or olive oil to wet it further if needed. You will need to open the food processor and move with a spatula a few times to help it along.

Filling variations (me):
¼ cup tarragon ¼ cup of parsley instead of ½ cup parsley
Add some grated beetroot for a sweeter, pinker filling; this should add any extra moisture needed to move the filling in the food processor.

Sauce examples, blend till smooth and creamy.
Tomato-fresh tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, agave, salt and pepper
Pepper-rough chop red pepper deseeded, olive oil, agave, salt and pepper
Beetroot- grated beetroot, water, olive oil, agave, salt and pepper

Layer veggie slices on a platter, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place some filling on the centres of each, top with another slice and press down. Either press the veggie edges together or let the filling squish out to the edges.

Presentation:
To make softer ravioli, place filled raviolis on plate/platter and cover completely with chosen sauce and let it sit for awhile before serving topped with salt and pepper and a sprig of herbs

To make a prettier looking dish, place the sauce on the bottom of the plate/platter then carefully place the filled raviolis on top and serve immediately topped with salt and pepper and a sprig of herbs.

This amount of filling is usually enough for two people eating the ravioli with left overs. How many raviolis depend on the size of the veggie slices, 4 large or 8 small is a rough guide per person. This left over filling is great in mushroom caps the following night or two, warmed up in a very low oven or food dehydrator for as long as you can before eating. Great served with a big green salad.