Marlenea La Shomb – N.D. & LMT

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Spring Is in the Air!

Finding What Switches on Your Happy Hormones

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT, P.Tr.
March – April 2023 • Vol 4, No 3

Dear Dr. Ma,

I remember being silly, curious, creative, and adventurous. But now I find myself tired, moody, worrying, and dragging through my day. What is my problem?

— Donna

Dear Donna,

If you find yourself in an arm-wrestling match with your hormones, who do you think is going to win? Your hormones, of course! As sunlight-activated chemical, hormonal, and energetic beings, it’s well known, through research and scientific studies, that every impulse, message, thought, feeling, and action throughout our bodies is sent out, regulated, monitored, and activated by a specific chemical hormone carrier—at the speed of LIGHT.

Everything, from the rhythmic beating of our heart and the peristaltic action of our digestive tract, to eyesight and whether you are seeing blue versus black, to whether you are tasting sweet or sour, to mood swings and hot flashes, is governed by hormones. Yet—and this is key—you, and only you, are in charge of that switch that turns those happy hormones on or not.

Why is that different for everyone? Because we all have different memories and experiences that activate chemicals and hormones. For example, turn the dial on the radio from Bach to Country Western and feel what kind of energy uplifts you. If I put a polka on, my mom, in her late eighties, turns into a different person instantaneously—lighthearted and dancing around the house! For others, it could be Christmas music, or oldies, or a waltz. So, number one, music moves your energy either up or down. You could sing, hum, or whistle while you work—it’s your choice. You are in control of that switch.

Number two is your sense of smell. With food, it’s the aroma of fresh-baked bread, or mama’s home-made apple pie. For others it’s the smell of pizza that gets them drooling. You name it—Italian, Chinese, Mexican, or a hamburger and fries. (By the way, pound for pound, DATES activate more happy hormones than chocolate, but without the calories, and they’re low on the glycemic index.)

Number three is—everything else! What flips MY switch into happy hormones? It’s horses and babies, flowers and colors, sunrise and the warmth of sunshine. It’s a breath of fresh air. And seeing seedlings sprouting in my garden sends my happy hormones through the roof… The list is endless.

So, find what switches on your happy hormones and love your happy life. Let Spring be the beginning of your new year. Get off to a great start; make it count.

—Dr. Ma

Send your questions to Dr. Ma La Shomb, N.D., LMT, P.Tr., by text only, along with your name and phone number, to (406) 224-5425. Email to jumpstartyourhealth@gmail.com. Marlenea passionately works as a health coach and writer for all who are ready to find harmony and balance in body, mind, and soul through natural therapies and education.

2023-02-27T10:15:08-07:00Natural Therapies/Remedies|

Just Ask Dr. Ma—Wet Your Whistle!

The Importance of Hydration, Especially in Winter!

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT, P.Tr.
January – February 2023 • Vol 4, No 2

Dear Dr. Ma,
In the summer, I get hot and sweaty and feel like I’m always thirsty. Yet, in the winter, I’m hungry, not thirsty, but my lips and hands are very chapped. Why is that?
— Charlie

Dear Charlie,

Chapped lips and dry skin are the body’s way of saying you are very dehydrated. In fact, dehydration puts our nervous systems into fight-or-flight mode, whereby our brain combines the hunger and thirst signals into one message that appears as hunger. Drink until hydrated, and you will regain both signals and be thirsty again. This is only one example of how the brain/body shuts down when you need water.

In the winter, we think it’s cold, so we don’t need to drink, but the heaters in our homes, cars, and workplaces are also very dehydrating. The nose, the lungs and the eyes can all appear dry.

Our bodies are made up of the water of life—muscle, blood, lymph, brain, and spinal fluids, just to name a few. Blood is 90% water, so it’s no surprise that staying well hydrated year-round keeps all the body’s systems balanced and running smoothly. It’s a primary reason for unexplained fatigue, high blood sugar, low blood pressure, constipation, lack of urination, and mood/hormone swings—all leading to a toxic “inner landfill,” creating an environment of dis-ease and inflammation in our bodies.

So, what’s in your morning cup? Is it drying you out, like caffeine drinks? These are all diuretics that force water out of the body that was needed for a specific job that day. They leave you high and dry, so you’ll need to drink even more water.

Whether it’s water, herb teas, juice, broths, or anything in between, everything you drink has an effect on you “for better or worse!” Just like food, what you drink fuels the whole body. So, wet your whistle often to stay hydrated and healthy!
— Dr. Ma

Send your questions to Dr. Ma La Shomb, N.D., LMT, P.Tr., by text, along with your name & phone number, to (406) 224-5425. Email to jumpstartyourhealth@gmail.com. Marlenea passionately works as a health coach and writer for all who are ready to find harmony and balance in body, mind, and soul through natural therapies and education.

2023-02-01T13:39:00-07:00Fitness & Nutrition|

Seasonal Eating Habits

Your Body May Be Asking for Something… Different

Marlenea La Shomb
November – December 2022 • Vol 4, No 1

Dear Dr. Ma,
Every year at this time, I get tired of eating salads and I want something… different. It always happens in Autumn, but I know salads are supposed to be good for me. What do you suggest? — Janet

Dear Janet,
Have you ever considered that your body is asking for something different… because its needs are different? Yep, that’s right. It’s telling you in the only way it can. The leaves are falling (or have fallen). With the changing of the season, so does your daily routine, including your intake of food and drink. All animals adjust their seasonal eating based on what’s available in their environment, and we are no different. This is normal.

Always eating the same foods year-round, just out of habit, or maybe because they’re your favorites, isn’t always the best for you. It’s to your benefit to consume produce that’s grown in your area (climate zone), and change it up as the weather changes.

Read full article »

2022-10-29T11:49:30-06:00Fitness & Nutrition|

The Flow-Through Diet

It’s WAY Better than the “Sticky Diet”!

Marlenea La Shomb, ND, LMT
September – October 2022 • Vol 3, No 123

Dear Dr. Ma,
My name is Shawn. I’m in my mid-thirties and I wake up with stiffness, even pain, in my hands. I work as a carpenter and handyman. What can I do for this?
— Shawn

Dear Shawn,

What we fuel our bodies with on a daily basis affects the repair/ rebuild/repeat process of our cells while we sleep at night, so as to be able to work in our waking hours. By the time we hit our thirties, these processes slow down with the accumulation of waste from the years gone by. Simply put, a change in your eating and drinking habits is necessary.

Look at it this way: a flow-through eating system moves everything along—blood, lymph, and the food in your gut. A sticky diet clogs everything up. (Constipation is one sign that you’re clogged up!) Roger Bezanis coined the above terms (and drew up these illustrations) to make it easier for people to understand.

Flow-through means whole foods: raw, fresh fruits, veggies, greens—anything out of the garden and orchard, that is unprocessed by heat—whereby the blood platelets/cells are free-flowing and can do their job well. With a sticky diet, the blood cells start sticking together, causing inflammation and a toxic build-up in and around the cells and creating an environment that is a “garbage landfill” of pain, sickness, and dis-ease.

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2022-09-14T09:39:41-06:00Fitness & Nutrition|

Conscious Eating!

Overcoming Your Food Addiction

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
July – August 2022 • Vol 3, No 122

Dear Dr. Ma,
Please help me! I will eat, but I know I’m not hungry, yet I still crave more food. It’s become a problem. My friends tell me I’m a food addict. What can I do?
— Betty

Dear Betty,

You are not alone! 90% of the American public eat for every reason you can think of, but not out of actual, real hunger. We eat for an end-of-the-workday reward, social pressures, time with our friends and family, for holidays and celebrations, when it’s an overcast and depressing day, missing a loved one, childhood seasonal memories, tension and stress, anger or happiness, I’m lonely, at the movies, on a date, stuffing my emotions, or for no reason at all. You name it—we eat for it.

Is there a way off this roller coaster ride? The answer is yes! As you said, it’s become a problem, more than likely affecting your health, which in turn, affects your whole life, from work to play, relationships, and most importantly, how you feel about yourself. Your friends have told you that you’re a food addict. Let’s look at the flip side of this coin.

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2022-09-14T09:39:45-06:00Natural Therapies/Remedies|

Longevity and Your Liver!

Be Creatively Colorful and Simply Enjoy

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
May – June 2022 • Vol 3, No 121

Dear Dr. Ma,
How do I help myself to have a healthy liver?
— Debbie

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear Debbie,

Like all our organs, we need our livers to be healthy, to function properly, and to work well for our whole lifetime. The best way to do this is to give them a time of rest! Then they can repair, rebuild, and repeat this process on a regular basis.

Your liver has many functions. One primary function has to do with digestion. This tells you that if you’re always eating and digesting food (without a rest), you are working your liver to death!

Many people give their liver a rest during springtime by fasting or cleansing it. I say, better yet, do this daily instead of once or twice a year. Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Dr. David Sinclair, agrees. His lifelong work is in the science of aging at all stages of life. He is co-director of the Center for the Biology of Aging, which maximizes wellness and longevity. Dr. Sinclair developed what he now calls “Time-Restricted Feeding.”

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Eat the Colors of the Rainbow!

Be Creatively Colorful and Simply Enjoy

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
Mar – Apr 2022 • Vol 3, No 120

Dear Dr. Ma,
I am so confused about what to eat or what NOT to eat. Please help!
— Kathy

Dear Kathy,
Keep it simple! Eat the colors of the rainbow. Each color has something unique to feed your body, mentally and emotionally, as well as physically. What this looks like is all your whole-food fruits and vegetables and all the greens, with nuts, seeds and legumes (if your body can handle them).

Fresh is best. Dried is great. You can just rehydrate them to put the water back in. Frozen works. You can use any process without heat to seasonally preserve your food for year-round use. If it comes out of your garden, or can be sprouted on your windowsill, or comes from your neighbor’s bush or tree, it’s real food.

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How to Get Whole-Food Minerals

Recipe: Quick & Easy Vegan Mineral Broth

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
Jan – Feb 2022 • Vol 3, No 119

Dear Dr. Ma,
I was told I need more minerals, but the tablets recommended constipate me. What are my options?
— Susan

Dear Susan,
Great question! I was just reading the other day a statement that struck me funny: “If we could get all our minerals from the earth’s crust, we would have eaten it away to nothing.” Yet, as you are experiencing, our bodies don’t digest and process minerals straight. All plants, whether growing in the sea or on land, are made to do this job for us. Simply put, the roots pull the minerals out of the soil, we eat the plants, and receive the benefits of easily digested, assimilated, utilized, and eliminated minerals. Whole-food minerals, or balanced mineral salts, as they are called in the body, are needed in every interaction and process in our body’s systems.

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2022-09-14T09:39:53-06:00Natural Therapies/Remedies, Recipes|

Holiday Gifts with Essential Oils

Giving Liberates the Soul of the Giver!

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
Nov – Dec 2021 • Vol 3, No 118

Maya Angelou once said, “I have found that, among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” How true! This season, liberate your soul and nurture the souls of others by giving them healing aromas!

Essential oils can be added to any Christmas craft, from homemade candles to home-baked goods. Imagine the feeling your friends and family will get as they smell the aromas that escape when they open their gift boxes. Here are a few ideas:

POTPOURRI—
Gather dried leaves and flower petals. Place in a large glass jar. Add a couple of drops of your favorite oils. Close the lid and shake. Store overnight. Sew little fabric pillows out of a sheer fabric. Fill them with the potpourri. Seal and trim with ribbons and bows.

Not sure which oils to add? Look for essential-oil blends, too, as they work well, and have been specially formulated to evoke a special mood or feeling (usually expressed in the blend name). Here is a short list of popular and common oils that can be used, along with the feelings they invoke:

Cinnamon—Invigoration
Geranium—Emotional support
Lavender—Relaxation
Lemon—Happiness
Orange—Joy
Peppermint—Clarity
Pine—Peace
Vanilla—Comfort

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2022-09-14T09:39:55-06:00Natural Therapies/Remedies|

Conduct Your Life with a Healthy Heart

What Do Autumn Leaves, 60s Bra Burners, and Orchestra Conductors Have in Common? Read On!

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
September – October 2021 • Vol 3, No 117

Aother autumn has made it to our doorstep, and with it clearer skies, and all the wonders of a changing season, along with its chores, and pumpkin everything! As we harvest our end-of-summer bounty, we ready our gardens for a long winter’s rest. These chores, like raking leaves, stacking firewood, and cleaning out the garden, are very healthy for your heart. Since everyone can benefit from a healthy heart, especially into our later years, I decided to look into it.

Simply put, here’s how it works: Our cells collectively make up organs; each organ has a meridian (energy pathway) that flows through it. Movement creates that energy and the heart meridian moves through the arms. So, moving the arms produces an energized and healthy heart—think swimming, dancing, power walking, sweeping, and Chi Gong. You get the idea.

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