It no longer pays to live in California.  When we moved here in 1992, California was a state that was suffering the delayed effects of a terrible recession that the rest of the country had already pulled out of for the most part.  But you just knew that it was a great opportunity.  The real estate market was a great opportunity.  The entrepreneurial spirit was a great opportunity. 

Fast Forward to 2011.  Everyone, conservatives and liberals alike vacilate between finger pointing and wringing their hands while scratching their heads.  What happened? 

There is no question that the state of California needs to increase revenues and decrease spending.   However, a recent tax bill created to get something for nothing backfired by failing to produce sales tax revenues and serving to decrease the taxable income of certain online businesses.

That bill pretty well eliminates the revenue opportunity for GlamourByLBD.com and other sites like it.  Let me explain. 

GlamourByLBD is an affiliate marketing site.  That means that we partner with hand selected online vendors to recommend products that we like.  If you like what we like and you click on the link and buy the product or another product from our vendor, we receive a small commission.  We simply recommend products.  We are not a dealer or vendor.  We do not carry any inventory and we do zero sales transactions.  We simply recommend things that we like from companies that we trust and create traffic.

As of July 1st, any link to a California affiliate company will force the supplier to charge California sales tax.  Suppose a customer in Florida is reading about a great pair of shoes on GlamourByLBD.com.  The shoes are at endless.com, which is NOT a California company.  Our devoted reader in Florida purchases the shoes through endless.com and the shoes are delivered to her door in Florida.  Because she CLICKED THROUGH a site that is based out of California, endless.com would be required to charge CALIFORNIA sales tax. 

Do you think this is generating sales tax for California?  No.  Because all of the online companies who were not based in California (little companies like Amazon,com) dropped their California affiliates. Not only that, but the INCOME of the affiliates just dropped considerably.  No new sales taxes.  Reduction in income taxes. 

Brilliant, Jerry Brown.  Just brilliant.

For as long as I can remember, I have had to carefully watch how much sugar I eat.  Long before weight was an issue for me, I still carried extra weight in my abdomen.  I would also feel shaky soon after eating too much sugar or starch and very tired an hour or so later.  And if that’s not enough fun, I would also get migraines, mood swings, and become very forgetful.  This is because I have a form of pre-diabetes known as Insulin Resistance.  Many of you have heard it called Hypoglycemia. 

It is exactly what the name implies.  The body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin produced by the pancreas, requiring the body to produce greater amounts of insulin to metabolize carbs and sugars.  When the body cannot metabolize the sugars, it simply stores them in the abdomen.  This creates a series of conditions which are not healthy:

• is often the precursor to diabetes
• results in an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease
• leads to fatty liver, which can be the precursor to liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver
• can lead to infertility
• can lead to hypothyroidism
• results in digestive issues and the buildup of bad flora and fauna that thrive in sugar
  

As I have gotten older and my other hormones are not clipping along as efficiently as they once were, the insulin resistance has become more of an issue.  In order to keep it in check, I have taken a few steps:

• Exercise, exercise, exercise…3-6 times per week for 45-60 minutes per session.  I often walk on Saturdays for 90 minutes on a mountain trail that is fairly challenging
  
• A diet that has lots of snacks and small meals with a low glycemic index:  lean meats, non starchy vegetables, beans, cheeses, healthy eggs (Egglands Best or Omega-3 eggs from chickens who are fed vegetarian and flax only diets, salads and little to no cookies, cakes, pies, pasta and pizza.  I will treat myself to beef and pork on occasion but most of the time, I stick to turkey, chicken and healthy seafood.  
• From time to time, I will enjoy a diet coke or some kind of snack with artificial sweetener.  For the most part, I use naturally derived sweeteners such as Stevia or Truvia
  
• At least 64 ounces of water per day
• Supplements for blood sugar support (Holy Basil, Gymnena, Cinnamon Bark Biotin, Chromium and Gingseng).  Who’d have thought that adding a little cinnamon with your sugar could actually help to metabolize the sugar in your coffee?
• I clearly understand the role of stress in my health…and it ain’t pretty!
  
• I have blood sugar levels, thyroid levels and cholesterol levels checked at least twice each year.  More frequently if I have symptoms.  

When I am good, I have very little trouble keeping weight off, I feel great, sleep well. am alert and headache free.  When I am not, there is a price to be paid.  It’s just that simple.

For as long as I can remember, I have had to carefully watch how much sugar I eat.  Long before weight was an issue for me, I still carried extra weight in my abdomen.  I would also feel shaky soon after eating too much sugar or starch and very tired an hour or so later.  And if that’s not enough fun, I would also get migraines, mood swings, and become very forgetful.  This is because I have a form of pre-diabetes known as Insulin Resistance.  Many of you have heard it called Hypoglycemia. 

It is exactly what the name implies.  The body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin produced by the pancreas, requiring the body to produce greater amounts of insulin to metabolize carbs and sugars.  When the body cannot metabolize the sugars, it simply stores them in the abdomen.  This creates a series of conditions which are not healthy:

• is often the precursor to diabetes
• results in an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease
• leads to fatty liver, which can be the precursor to liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver
• can lead to infertility
• can lead to hypothyroidism
• results in digestive issues and the buildup of bad flora and fauna that thrive in sugar
  

As I have gotten older and my other hormones are not clipping along as efficiently as they once were, the insulin resistance has become more of an issue.  In order to keep it in check, I have taken a few steps:

• Exercise, exercise, exercise…3-6 times per week for 45-60 minutes per session.  I often walk on Saturdays for 90 minutes on a mountain trail that is fairly challenging
  
• A diet that has lots of snacks and small meals with a low glycemic index:  lean meats, non starchy vegetables, beans, cheeses, healthy eggs (Egglands Best or Omega-3 eggs from chickens who are fed vegetarian and flax only diets, salads and little to no cookies, cakes, pies, pasta and pizza.  I will treat myself to beef and pork on occasion but most of the time, I stick to turkey, chicken and healthy seafood.  
• From time to time, I will enjoy a diet coke or some kind of snack with artificial sweetener.  For the most part, I use naturally derived sweeteners such as Stevia or Truvia
  
• At least 64 ounces of water per day
• Supplements for blood sugar support (Holy Basil, Gymnena, Cinnamon Bark Biotin, Chromium and Gingseng).  Who’d have thought that adding a little cinnamon with your sugar could actually help to metabolize the sugar in your coffee?
• I clearly understand the role of stress in my health…and it ain’t pretty!
  
• I have blood sugar levels, thyroid levels and cholesterol levels checked at least twice each year.  More frequently if I have symptoms.  

When I am good, I have very little trouble keeping weight off, I feel great, sleep well. am alert and headache free.  When I am not, there is a price to be paid.  It’s just that simple.

One of the ongoing symptoms that I was experiencing was an upset stomach and indigestion.  My family practice doctor ran some stool tests which did not point out that anything was wrong.  She had me take Pepcid, which did clear up the situation only to have it return as soon as I stopped taking the Pepcid.  Pepcid has some pretty unsavory long term effects so I just learned to ignore the symptoms and stayed close to a bathroom most of the time. 

Dr. Young, my naturopath doctor also ran a microbiology profile from a stool sample after finding evidence of prolific yeast during a routine examination of my mouth.  So it was no surprise to her that my test came back with some defecits in my expected/beneficial flora, specifically Escherichia coli and Lactobacilius spp.  These expected/beneficial flora are part of the bacteria which comprise the majority of the total microflora in a healthy GI tract.  Collectively, beneficial flora aid in the manufacture of vitamins, fermenting fibers, digesting proteins and carbohydrates, and propogating anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory factors.  A good balance goes a long way in preventing diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, gas, chronic disease and food sensitivities.  They also enhance the immune function and prevent the proliferation of yeast.

As a result of the insufficient levels of good bacteria, certain bad bacterias were moving in and thriving in my GI tract.  And my tummy was screaming out for help! 

I have a long family history of Diabetes and other blood sugar related issues.  For me, I have lived with varying levels of insulin resistance most of my life.  The yeast was growing in the sugar that my body was storing instead of metabolizing.  So the strategy is two fold:  get rid of the bad stuff while building up the good stuff. 

To get rid of the bad stuff, it was necessary to cut off its food source.  Dr. Young put me on a very low sugar diet.  No processed sugar, flour, rice, etc.  Basically, no white foods.  And lots of fiber and low fat protein.  Chicken, turkey, low fat cheeses, salads, vegetables and very small portions of fruits. 

To build up the good stuff, she prescribed a FOS (fructooligosaccharides) free probiotic.  While FOS is a prebiotic that works well for many, they are actually the product of simple carbohydrates.  In my case, a probiotic with FOS or Activia with probiotics would add far more sugar and yeast than any favorable flora it might add. 

So, for now, pass by me with the potatoes, pasta and pie.  So much for being comfort foods!

The body has an amazing hormone called Cortisol.  It helps to metabolize glucose, regulate blood pressure and insulin levels, supports the immune system and prevents inflammation.  In a perfect world, it is at higher levels in the morning right when we wake up, acting as a cruise control for the day.  As the day winds down, and it is time for the body to start to relax and prepare for sleep, cortisol levels come down.  They are replenished with a good nights sleep and the body is back in balance. 

Unfortunately, my life has been very stressful for the past year.  So instead of going down through the day, my cortisol levels became very elevated.  As a result, my brain became increasingly foggy (on top of never being able to find my car keys where I knew I left them, I just felt overwhelmed most of the time unless I was too exhausted to even care); my suppressed thyroid led to a goiter on my thyroid, aching joints, hair falling out, the acne I never had in high school showed up; my blood sugar levels shot up as I was storing sugar (and craving sugar all along); and I had a “fat donut” around my abdomen that no amount of exercise would touch.  I felt run down and tests indicated that my bone and muscle density were at risk of decline. 

In summary, “My get-up-and-go had got-up-and-went.”  And I was too darned tired to care. 

I continued to drag through exercise.  For the most part, I ate well but did give in to cravings from time to time.  And I managed to stay reasonably healthy but always felt like I had a low level grunge. 

Dr. Young gave me two herbal supplements to help level the cortisol to the correct levels during the day.  In the morning and at noon, I take an herbal supplement called Isocort, that is intended to level out my cortisol levels.  While this is a safe supplement, it really requires close supervision by a doctor and adrenal function should be tested regularly.  In the evening, 5HTP helps me to relax so that I can sleep well through the night. 

Almost immediately, I noticed a marked improvement in my sleep.  After a few days, I noticed that I was feeling much less drained and that my thoughts were much clearer.  I regained my zest for life and jumped into my days with purpose.  And at night, instead of doing laundry or messing around on Facebook because I was wide awake, I was ready to fall asleep. And the fog on my brain lifted.  I was much more patient dealing with life’s little stuff.  And the greatest thing of all is that my keys are right where I remembered leaving them! 

The adrenal gland is tricky and not up for experiment.  The supplements I am using are safe and are often effective when used properly.  But they must be monitored while under the care of a trusted health care provider. 

My first follow up appointment is next week.  In six weeks, we will do follow up tests and make adjustments. 

Its good to feel like myself again!

For more information about Adrenal and Thyroid Support, visit ThyroidHelp.org

To learn more about Cortisol, visit the article, Cortisol and Stress: How to Stay Healthy at eHow.com