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As I've been navigating the tumultuous seas of perimenopause, Kate Grenville's book "The Case Against Fragrance" struck a chord, resonating with the silent struggle many of us face with hormonal changes.
This episode peels back the veneer on the pervasive use of artificial fragrances and their disturbing link to hormone disruption. In Grenville's book, her thorough investigation reveals an industry with alarmingly lax regulations, shedding light on the potential health risks hidden in the scents we encounter daily. Her findings show us the critical need for vigilance about the products we use and their ingredients' impact on our overall well-being, particularly during life's hormonal shifts.
Coupled with these insights, I recommend revisiting a conversation with Angela Council, Season 2, Episode1. This episode emphasises the empowering role we can play in our health journey amidst hormone flux. From handling menopause's peskiest symptoms to the broader scope of hormonal imbalances that touch many aspects of our lives, we underscore the importance of lifestyle choices in regaining balance.
Speaker 1: Hello, hello.
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It's Nadine here and I'm here with this week's episode, mini
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episode of Life, health and the Universe, and I had thought that
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my book reviews were over, but this has actually sprung to my
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mind recently.
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It's a book I read over the last little while, and the
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reason that it's come to the forefront of my mind and why I
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wanted to share it with you is because, I guess, because of the
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time of life that I'm in heading towards my 50s and in
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the thick of perimenopause I've seen other people, other women,
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on social media recently sharing their stories about their
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experiences with generally not very favorable experiences
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during perimenopause, and I believe that this is one thing
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that can totally get overlooked when it comes to taking care of
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our bodies and what's going on with our hormones.
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Now, I am absolutely not in any way discounting the fact that
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hundreds of thousands of women have some really awful
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experiences when they're going through perimenopause.
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I do, at this stage, just want to refer you to a great episode
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that I recorded back right at the beginning of this podcast,
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season two, episode one, with Angela Council, which was all
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about thriving in menopause and how we can combat the symptoms
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associated with menopause naturally through our lifestyle
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and our nutrition.
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So please go back and listen to that if you haven't, because
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she's got some really insightful stuff there and it's a great
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conversation.
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She's great, but this is one thing.
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And so, as I wanted to say, I don't want to discount anyone's
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experience, and I can imagine, can only begin to imagine that
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if the symptoms that someone is experiencing are bad enough you
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know, sleepless nights, night sweats, hot flushes,
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palpitations, brain fog, sore joints, all of these things, if
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they are adding up I can completely understand why
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someone would seek help.
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Okay, but I do think that there are things and it's not
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anyone's fault, it's just kind of an observation of where we
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are at societally.
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I do think that there are things that get overlooked
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although we don't even know about.
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That's the thing we don't even know about them, and that is why
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I wanted to share this book with you.
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It's a pretty quick book to read if it is something that
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you're interested in, but it is a massive eye opener.
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So now we've rattled on a bit.
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The book is called the Case Against Fragrance.
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It's written by an author called Kate Grenville, who I
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believe is a fictional author as well, but she was compelled to
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write this book due to her experiences with having very bad
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sensitivity to fragrance, she went down some rabbit holes when
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she was trying to figure out what it was that was going wrong
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, and she came up with some really interesting stuff.
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I'm going to take a moment to just read an intro of the book.
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So here goes.
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Like perhaps a quarter of the population, grenville reacts
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badly to the artificial fragrances around us other
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people's perfumes and all those scented cosmetics, cleaning
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products and air fresheners.
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On a book tour in 2015, dogged by Ill Health, she started
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wondering what's in fragrance?
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Who tests it for safety?
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What does it actually do to people?
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The more Grenville investigated , the more she felt this was a
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story that should be told.
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The chemicals in fragrance can be linked not only to short-term
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problems like headaches and asthma, but to long-term ones
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like hormone disruption and cancer.
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Yet products can be released onto the market without testing,
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they're regulated only by the same people who make and sell
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them, and the ingredients don't even have to be named on the
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label.
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This is a book based on careful research into the science of
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scent and the power of the fragrance industry, but, as
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you'd expect from an acclaimed novelist, it's also accessible
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and personal.
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The case against fragrance will make you see and smell the
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world differently and wow, what an eye-opener this is.
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And I think for many of us, or probably for the vast majority
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of us, if we don't have an allergic reaction to artificial
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fragrance, then we probably think that there's nothing wrong
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with it, like even if we don't purchase it.
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However, artificial fragrances can be found in so many
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different products.
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We've got air fresheners, cleaning sprays, toilet cleaners
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, body lotions, face creams, makeup you name it.
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There's fragrances added to so many things Dishwashing liquid,
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washing powder, laundry soap, tumble dryer sheets Just the
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list goes on and on.
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Fragrances everywhere.
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And so you don't actually have to be wearing fragrance to be
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exposed to fragrance.
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And, as the introduction to this book mentioned, one of the
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things that happens with fragrance is that it can be a
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hormone disruptor.
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Now, if you think about it, if we're being exposed to all of
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these different fragrances, which are essentially toxins in
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our bodies, it's going to have the potential to disrupt our
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hormones and get us out of balance.
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Not only do fragrances do that, but toxins in our food or the
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way that food's grown can also have that negative impact on our
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bodies, because our body is already stressed because it's
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trying to process these toxins out of our system, and it just
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doesn't have the capability to do it all and, lucky for us, the
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hormones are the thing that can get thrown out of whack.
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So what can I do about this?
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It's a big question, and how do I know whether fragrance is
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affecting me or not?
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I like seriously get your hands on this book if this is
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something that interests you even a little bit, because there
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are some.
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There has been research that's shown, for example, the.
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There was a I think it was a factory that was producing a
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particular product and they had.
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You know, the water that they were using was getting washed
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into a river and they studied the fish in the river and the
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fish.
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The fish's reproductive system began to mutate when it had high
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exposure to these particular fragrance.
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They also have shown that with blood tests.
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Right, if you've been exposed to particular types of fragrance
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, our bodies don't get rid of it .
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It builds up in our systems and people who have had prolonged
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exposure to things like laundry detergent with particular types
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of products in them have these things still in their system
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long term.
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So it's a big deal.
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It's not something that we're told about a lot and in fact, we
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could potentially be told that we're overreacting if we said
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that we thought that that was potentially or potentially I'm
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using that word a bit that we're overreacting if we think that
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that might be contributing towards an imbalance in hormones
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or poor health in general.
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But it's a real thing.
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Now, as I said, what can we do?
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There is this amazing website called EWG EWGorg and you can
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basically go into their website and you can find products that
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have been approved by them and products you can search for
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thousands through thousands and thousands of products to find
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out whether what you're using is safe or if there are any health
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concerns.
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Now I'm going along the lines of the laundry detergent, but I
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went in there and had a look and just found a I'm not going to
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mention the brand, but just a tumble dryer sheet.
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You know that you've one of those sheets that makes your
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laundry smell like meadows.
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What's it say?
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Meadows and flowers, or meadows and sunshine.
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So this has a rating of D, so it goes through a full rating.
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D isn't the worst.
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It can go all the way to F.
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So it does give you more favorable ones as well.
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But let me read you some concerns Moderate concern, some
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concern.
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Moderate concern from respiratory effects.
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Some concern Developmental endocrine reproductive nervous
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system, immune system effects With non specific ingredients.
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I just want to draw your attention to that endocrine
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reproductive effects.
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It's showing up as having an impact on our hormones.
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Now I found another one.
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I just wanted two examples of an air freshener, an air assault
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freshener, sparkling citrus.
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Let me have a look.
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Where does it say moderate concern, acute aquatic toxicity.
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Some concern General, systematic oh sorry, systemic
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organ effects, developmental endocrine reproductive effects,
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damage division.
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So they're just two examples of what we are being exposed to
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often on a daily basis.
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As I said, the EWG is a guide to healthy cleaning.
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It gives you a guide so that you can find out whether the
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products you're using are favorable or less than favorable
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.
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And I just felt today compelled to share that with you and the
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book the Case Against Fragrance.
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The Case Against Fragrance, as women, when we're experiencing
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symptoms associated with menopause which I love, that's
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what Angela Council, who I interviewed back, season two,
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episode one.
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She calls them symptoms associated with menopause.
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They aren't caused by menopause .
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We're told to suck it up, or we live through the experience, or
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we are prescribed medications which, as I said, I don't deny
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some people probably really feel they need and get some great
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instant relief from them.
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However, there are things in our environment and in our
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lifestyle that are contributing to an imbalance in our hormones
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and we do have the power, when we know these things, to make
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changes, make choices that are going to be more favorable for
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us and our health and hopefully mean that we'll experience less
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negative effects from the symptoms of hormone imbalances.
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Whether we're in our midlife, whether we're in our younger
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years and we're trying to conceive yeah, wherever we're
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whether we're just going through our menstruating years and we
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have bad periods, we're having a bad experience.
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These are some of the things that can have an impact, but we
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do have the power and the information to explore how we
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can help to minimize those things Round over.
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Enjoy the book the Case Against Fragrance.
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It's a really a great eye opener, an easy read and I
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highly highly recommend it.
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Thanks for listening.