At WealthChoice we firmly believe in helping our clients live the best life possible. Without health, without a good quality of life, financial planning is truly for nothing.

As a conduit for helping our clients and friends live a better life, we bring in speakers on topics that are important to our health and well being. We recently had Karen Roth, Holistic Nutritionist; speak to the WealthChoice Community on Hormone Disrupters and your Health. Karen’s talk was so well received that we wanted to share with women who couldn’t join us to hear Karen in person. Below you’ll find excerpts from a recent conversation with Karen on how she helps people avoid chemicals in our food and in everyday home and body care products and simple steps you can take to reduce your risk of hormone imbalance and cancer.

WC:  Karen, you shared with us that there are 84,000 chemicals registered for use in the US, but only 200 have been tested for safety! And, that exposure to these chemicals can cause health risks like hormone imbalance and cancer.

What are some of the biggest offenders that can cause hormone disruption?

K: Plastic is one of the biggest offenders. The plastic lids on coffee cups from your coffee shop, the plastic liners in your travel mugs, plastic food containers for your microwave entrees, plastic shower curtain liners. The combination of heat and plastic causes the problems. Heat leaches the chemicals from the plastic, which your body absorbs.

Another big offender is parabens. You’ll find these in body care products. They are included in the product to extend shelf life, but they elevate estrogen levels, which may lead to breast cancer.

WC: Karen, you’re a holistic nutritionist. What is that, and how does that differ from a dietician, and when do people seek you out?

K: Registered Dieticians are licensed by state, may be covered by insurance, but tend to provide one size fits all solutions. A holistic nutritionist looks at a person’s overall lifestyle to help create health solutions specific for that person and their situation. When people have quality of life issues like weight issues, acne, hot flashes, hormone imbalance, some health issue they want addressed, but they want a natural solution, they seek out a holistic nutritionist for natural solutions.  Maybe medicine has not provided the lifestyle solution you want, maybe you have a chronic situation and can’t identify the cause, maybe you don’t have the quality of life you want and need help with that. A holistic nutritionist might be able to help.

WC: What is your process for helping someone find a solution to their health issues?

K: We start with intake forms that help us identify the current situation. I ask for a 3-day diet log, completion of a medical history form, and note any medications or supplements being used. And if someone has recently run blood work I will analyze that as well. We want to develop a baseline for where someone is right now. Blood chemistry software allows us to determine changes that might need to be made. We want to be proactive if we notice a trend that can take someone to a health event, like developing diabetes. Typically, I work with someone for 3-5 months after we’ve identified changes that need to be made. Often the change is as simple as finding food sensitivities that can cause compromised quality of life. We dig to find the cause of the problems, then implement changes.

WC: Can you give us some actionable words of wisdom?

K: At the very least, clean up what’s in your shower! Remove anything with parabens and fragrance in it. Replace your plastic shower curtain with cloth. Remove fragrances that emit dangerous chemicals, like air fresheners, perfume and certain types of candles. You can learn more helpful information by watching my short interview from the documentary “Endo What?” that I have on my YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFDVHPupGbE

Karen’s website has terrific resources for a healthier life. You’ll find a guide for safe cosmetics, list of the Dirty Dozen (12 biggest fruit and vegetable offenders where you’ll want to opt for organic to reduce exposure to pesticides), recipes, and more.  And you can learn more about her on her LinkedIn, as well.

To learn more about other quality of life resources, keep an eye out for our upcoming book Corner Office Choices: The Executive Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom, launching in May, where we include lists of many valuable resources like Karen Roth to help women live a better quality of life.  And join us to learn from speakers like Karen at the WealthChoice Community events.  You can find details on our Events page.