Natural Treatment for Vaginal Dryness and Hormonal Balance

Q. What natural cream for vaginal dryness do you recommend for post menopausal vaginal dryness? Do you offer anything that wouldn't burn?

A. Are you in your menopausal years? If so, you might want to give this product a try to help with hormonal balance, as vaginal dryness often occurs as the menopausal years come to pass:

Isogen Forte Cream by Genestra - this combines high concentrations of soy isoflavones and wild yam extracts specifically developed to assist with progesterone and estrogen balance. Isogen Forte Cream is indicated for premenstrual and menopausal symptoms, including irritability, fatigue, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, depression, weight gain and edema, and is recommended for osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and postpartum depression. Isogen Forte Cream can be used everyday for the entire menstrual cycle instead of using specific products to offset hormone dominance.

• Massage Isogen Forte Cream into soft tissue areas, such as breasts, under arms, inner arms or thighs, wrist area or abdomen. Apply to a new area each day on a four day rotation to avoid saturation of fat cells.

  Contraindications
  Estrogen-sensitive cancers due to isoflavones.

Other directly helpful products are these:

Vitamin E Suppositories by WWH - Vitamin E (natural D-alpha tocopherol) (318 iu in each suppository) in a cocoa butter base. Use these vaginally at night at bedtime for best results.

If you are menopausal, these can be used topically,

Personal Lubricant with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E - natural personal lubricant for vaginal dryness due to Menopause or other vaginal irritations. Or if you are younger try this:

Natural Lubricant with Vitamin E - to relieve the mild dryness that sometimes occurs during your menstrual cycle or after childbirth. This lubricant is free of mineral oil or petroleum distillates. Its water-based formula protects a woman's delicate vaginal balance.

Affects of Leaving Protein Drinks Out or Mixing With Foods

Q. I used some Whey Cool powder as part of an icing for a cookie that tasted great. Does the powder lose any biological value when made into a frosting, and how long can it sit out once it is mixed?

A. Sounds like you are getting creative with your Whey Cool! It will lose some of it's biological value if you add it to anything hot. If your frosting wasn't heated, it will be fine. I would also suggest covering your cookies with foil and/or an air-tight container to keep the air out, as when whey is exposed to air, it will experience some loss of potency. I don't really know how long it can be left out, but if it is is an hour or less as frosting, it will probably be fine. You should also refrigerate your cookies as I think it would keep better if kept cool.

They say when you mix it into a shake, it should be consumed within about 1/2 hour so you are consuming it at it's prime potency. So you might want your cookies to cool before adding the frosting, let it set for about 10 minutes, then cover and refrigerate.

Regaining Lost Pounds Through Healthy Weight Gain

Q. I was wondering if you recommend anything for someone who is losing weight and needs to gain it back.

A. What I would recommend is to make a protein shake each day for a snack, in addition to your meals, to help you get additional calories for weight gain and a good quality protein to preserve your muscles.

We have 2 excellent whey proteins:

One is called PaleoMeal (this is also fortified with some vitamins, minerals and enzymes).

The other is called Whey Cool (this is just pure protein powder). Please see the Whey Cool link I provided to read more about these high quality proteins, and the Whey Cool page has a video featuring Annika Rockwell, CN, demonstrating how to use this product to make a healthy smoothie.

She also references other products you can use to add nutrients to your smoothie such as Paleogreens and Paleoreds, DFH fish oils and Paleofiber, and an opportunity to buy all these products in one Whey Protein Smoothie Power Pack.

If you do not know why you are losing weight, I would recommend you be evaluated by your doctor to make sure there is not an underlying medical reason causing you to lose weight.

Help For Dogs With Hip Problems That Have Allergies

Q. My dog Pepper, a 16 year old mixed Black Labrador, suffers from a hip problem. Recently, she is taking Glyco-Flex III pills, but she throws up. She is allergic to shellfish and I learned that Glucosamine is sourced from the shells of shrimp, lobster, and crab. Can you recommend products without glucosamine?

A. Unfortunately, labs often have hip problems with age. She must have a pretty severe allergy to shellfish because most people with shellfish allergies can handle glucosamine just fine, unless their allergy is very severe.

Do you know if she can handle shark cartilage? If so, you might want to give this product a try:

DGP by American BioSciences. There are no crustaceans in this product and it is for joint pain, function and mobility, as many of the ingredients help reduce inflammation in joints, as well as other areas of the body.

• Give dogs one tablet for every 30 lbs. of body weight daily.

Also are you giving her fish oil or flaxseed oil? If not, you could also give her one of these oils mixed with her food:

Pet Cod Liver Oil. You might try this product if she tolerates fish.

Dogs

• 0–20 lbs. ........1/4 teaspoon
• 20–55 lbs........1/2 teaspoon
• over 55 lbs......1 teaspoon

Apply oil onto food, or serve by itself. Refrigerate after opening. Use within twelve (12) weeks of opening.

If she cannot tolerate fish, then give her Flaxseed oil.

• 1 Tbsp daily by itself or mix with food.

Another tip is to get unflavored gelatin from the grocery store and mix it with her
food. Gelatin also helps arthritic joints.

Benefits of Green Superfood Drinks

Q. What are the benefits of taking a green superfood drink? If I already eat enough vegetables, are they necessary? I've heard some brands contain mostly fillers such as rice bran and lecithin. Which do you think is the best one in terms of the combination between nutritional density, taste, and price. I've tried a couple that just tasted like swamp water.

A. Green superfood drinks provide additional antioxidant support and nutrients to help aid the body's protection of cellular damage, and the nutrients are important to support the liver's detoxification process. Overall, these greens help the body maintain a more alkaline pH, which results in lowered risk for disease and lessens the burden of many of our organs to function in a healthier way. Enzymes that are provided in these green drinks help clean up unnecessary waste products and reduce inflammation in the body which can burden the body's overall health over time.

One of our favorites is PaleoGreens because it is made from mostly certified organic ingredients. This comes in lemon-lime or mint flavors. Both are tasty, and sweetened with stevia. The fact that most of the ingredients in this are certified organic is reflected in the price. Design's for Health reports one serving has equivalent antioxidant capacity to 4 servings of vegetables, based on ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity), a USDA-developed method for measuring antioxidant activity.

This is some further information from DFH: "Unlike other greens products, we never add fillers or bulking agents (such as whole grasses, apple fiber or pectin, rice bran, or flax), which can greatly dilute nutritional potency and are a potential source of genetically modified material. Because the cellulose fiber in whole grass is indigestible, it prevents the grass’s valuable phytonutrients from being released in the digestive system." and "No alfalfa, a common ingredient in all other leading brands (which has been shown to cause autoimmune disease)"

Please see the link I've included for this product and to read our many customer reviews. PaleoGreens does contain organic rice flour and unbleached lecithin.

NanoGreens is also a nice greens mix. You get more powder for the money, but it doesn't contain as many certified organic ingredients as PaleoGreens, though many are. There is only one flavor, and it has a mild taste and it is also sweetened with stevia. BioPharma Scientific states that NanoGreens supply the proven phytonutrition / antioxidant power of up to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables of all the colors. This is based on their independent lab test for ORAC values.

NanoGreens does not contain alfalfa either, but it does contain rice bran and lecithin. Both companies are very careful about their formulation techniques and are quality products.

This being said, it is great you are eating vegetables, current ADA recommendations are 9-13 servings daily of fruit and veggies for better health. This is a lot of servings, but if you do not get this in your diet, then you may want to consider supplementing with one of these greens products to get the additional nutritional support.