The 5 Biggest Disruptors

Wreaking Havoc On Your Hormones

As 2019 dawns, some people are taking a “new year-new you” approach. They’re determined to make self-improvements that provide a fresh, positive outlook and strong sense of well-being.

But sometimes health factors undermine those good intentions, such as depression and its link to hormone imbalances. There are myriad ways both men and women suffer adverse effects to their hormones, says Don Colbert, M.D., and many of them are avoidable.

“We are exposed to thousands of toxic chemicals on a regular basis in the air, water and food,” says Colbert (https://drcolbert.com), author of Dr. Colbert's Hormone Health Zone. “Some of them are hormone disruptors because they disturb your endocrine system, wreaking havoc and creating hormonal imbalances.

“Not only are the effects of all these disruptors depressing to think about; they actually cause depression, along with countless other ailments such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and more. But the basic principle is this: decreasing the number of disruptions will improve your health.”

Dr. Colbert breaks down the top hormone disruptors affecting men and women along with ways to minimize the disruption or stop it:

• Lifestyle choices. “Whether it’s weight gain and a lack of exercise, anger and unforgiveness, drinking too much alcohol or some other thing that can be controlled, your hormone levels drop and you begin a slow slide to poorer health,” Dr. Colbert says. “Make better choices, and that dramatically decreases the chances of having any hormone deficiency symptoms.”
• Medications. Medications affect the body’s cells, and sometimes side effects manifest in major problems. For example, Dr. Colbert cites Mayo Clinic research showing a prescription statin drug that lowered cholesterol could result in liver damage, memory loss or type 2 diabetes. “I estimate that 55 percent of the entire US population is taking pills that directly and negatively affect hormone levels,” Dr. Colbert says. “Get off these harmful medications you hate.”
• Things you touch. Chemicals entering the body through the skin can cause long-term damage. Dr. Colbert notes phthalates, disruptors found in household cleaners, cosmetics, toys and numerous other products. “Phthalates negatively affect both men’s and women’s ability to use the testosterone that is in our bodies,” Dr. Colbert says. “Another is BPA (bisphenol A), found on the inside of metal-canned foods and plastic food-storing containers. Specifically, BPA has been found to cause or contribute to cancer, fertility problems, developmental issues and heart disease. I recommend buying glass jars of food and storing in ceramic containers.”
• Diet deficiencies. “The standard American diet is usually low in key nutrients that support a healthy thyroid,” Dr. Colbert says. “Many patients with hormone imbalances have low iodine. The best solution is eat more vegetables, ideally raw or steamed.”
•  Aging. Dr. Colbert says estrogen levels for women begin to decline around the age of 50; for men, testosterone levels can drop low around age 45-50. “Aging is a natural combatant as a hormone disruptor,” he says, “but we can slow the acceleration of the effects of aging by optimizing our hormones. Healthy habits can make a huge difference.”

“Symptoms of serious problems indicated by hormonal imbalance can be reversed by those who focus on health in their diet, lifestyle and living environment,” Dr. Colbert says. “Then they can enable all of their systems to function optimally.”

About Don Colbert, M.D.

Don Colbert, M.D. (https://drcolbert.com), is the author of Dr. Colbert's Hormone Health Zone. He has been a board-certified family practice doctor for more than 25 years and has offices in Orlando, Fla., and Dallas. The author of over 40 books, he wrote two New York Times best-sellers - The Seven Pillars of Health and Dr. Colbert’s “I Can Do This” Diet - has sold more than 10 million books and treated 50,000-plus patients. Dr. Colbert is a frequent show guest of Christian leaders Joyce Meyer, John Hagee, and Kenneth Copeland and has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, Fox News, ABC World News Tonight, and in periodicals such as Newsweek and Reader’s Digest.

====================

Every state is known for its own virtues and vices. But harmful behavior on the individual level can result in staggering economic costs, considering that gambling addiction costs the U.S. $5 billion per year and smoking costs dwarf that with over $300 billion per year.

With Mardi Gras coming up and sure to be full of drinking, drug use and sex, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s Most Sinful States as well as accompanying videos along with its Mardi Gras Facts - Booze, Floats, Money & More infographic. To determine where the U.S. has the most moral growing to do, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on seven sinful behaviors: anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.

Here are some highlights from the report:

Sinfulness of Utah (1=Most Sinful; 25=Avg.)

• 45th – Anger & Hatred
• 31st – Jealousy
• 49th – Excesses & Vices
• 47th – Greed
• 32nd – Lust
• 25th – Vanity
• 50th – Laziness

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-sinful-states/46852/

=====================

Super Soldier must protect her loved ones in new science fiction

‘Sleep’ is the first of a planned six-book series by R. M. Williams

DENVER – Arariel, a Super Soldier who survived the fall of Rosavine, now makes the battle personal to defend those she loves as another war simmers to a boil in R. M. Williams’ new science fiction, “Sleep: Requiem Series, Part 1” (published by Lulu). The book is part of a planned series.

In “Sleep,” Williams explores how trauma affects motivations and just how far one person’s decision can impact others. The overall story focuses on a group of people called Avyars who are a subspecies of humans with special telekinesis, feathered wings and pupilless eyes. A decade prior to the beginning of the story, their kind was almost wiped out in a mass genocide. Now the survivors have become a personal legion of super soldiers for Dr. James Traytitar. Dr. Traytitar wants to repeat history and use his “Kinetic Soldiers” to attack and destroy a neighboring nation, but certain Kinetic Soldiers have other plans.

“Representation of every kind is extremely important. It is absolutely vital that the individual stories of people are told, that stories revolving around race, queer orientation, and disability are spread and normalized, but I wanted to essentially skip ahead,” Williams says. “I wanted to create a world where everything is already normalized, where individual aspects like the aforementioned are not causes of social conflict. And I think that stories that embrace that outlook are just as important as the breakthrough, individual stories.”

“Sleep”

By R. M. Williams

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 342 pages | ISBN 9781483495460

E-Book | 342 pages | ISBN 9781483495477

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

R. M. Williams was born and raised in Colorado, where she still lives to this day with her dog, Nyssa. She identifies as bi-/pan-romantic and sexual, and is “functionally” disabled due to a central nervous system disorder. Nowadays, Williams tries to balance full-time work and school with writing, reading and cosplay.

Lulu empowers people of all ages to explore and express their interests, passions and expertise through books, photography and art. Since introducing self-publishing in 2002, Lulu has empowered creators in more than 225 countries and territories to produce nearly two million publications. Lulu Jr. allows children to become published authors, encouraging creativity, strengthening literacy and building self-esteem. Picture.com offers professional photography of collegiate and professional sports, memorable and historic events, fine art and home décor. For more information, please visit www.lulu.com.