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Excess Facial Hair Prevention

08-Oct-09

One of the side effects of my PCOS is excess facial hair. It’s kind of hard to find information about preventing or curing that. It’s easy to find hair removal information, but I’d rather prevent the growth. Over the years I’ve tried various things to get rid of the excess hair, and there are a few things that made a big difference.

Vitex / Chaste Tree Berry
I started taking this to regulate my period. I think it gave me only one period. But I noticed that it made a huge difference in my facial hair. Made me grow a lot less of it. So I kept taking it for that reason. It took a few weeks to notice any changes, though. It takes a while to work, but it works great.

Spirulina / Blue Green Algae
This one I wasn’t taking for anything PCOS related. I forget why I was taking it. Probably because it makes my period lighter. (I guess that’s sort of PCOS related.) Anyway, I noticed by accident that whenever I took it I had a lot less facial hair to pluck. I took the blue green algae sporadically. I tested it, to see if it really was making a difference, and sure enough it was. I would take one pill a day and the next day the hair was very noticeably less. Two pills a day would do even better, but after two pills it made no noticeable difference. The first pill made the most difference. So I took one or two pills a day. Now I take four, just because it has vitamins and minerals. I started out taking blue green algae, and now I take spirulina. They have the same effect. Very cool.

Beta Carotene
Getting enough vitamin A or beta carotene seems to make a noticeable difference too. Vitamin A helps regulate hormones. I think beta carotene might have worked better for excess facial hair, though. But I was taking more of it than I would have taken of Vitamin A. I was taking 25,000 IU of beta carotene. I only take about 5000 IU now. I don’t want to be orange!

Veganism
I notice another big difference when I give up animal foods. Now and then I fall off the vegan wagon and eat dairy, and my facial hair gets worse during those times. I believe it might be because of hormones in animal foods. I’m not sure why it works, but when I’m completely vegan, my facial hair is much less.

Blood Sugar Balance
I’ve noticed recently (after I stopped my crazy cinnamon roll phase) that when my blood sugar is balanced, my facial hair is almost nonexistent. Neat! Weird, but neat. When I eat too many carbs or sugars, the facial hair grows wild and out of control. When I eat less carbs and more protein, my facial hair is kind of barely there. This seems to be at the heart of PCOS. Insulin resistance. Very interesting.

Weight Loss
I’ve been thin and I’ve been overweight (60 - 70 pounds overweight), and I definitely have less facial hair when I’m thin. It’s a hard thing to accomplish, but getting down to a healthy weight seems to get rid of a lot of the excess facial hair. Excess fat stores excess hormones, which probably contribute to the excess facial hair. Easier said than done, but I’m working on the weight loss!

Certain Moisturizers
Aveeno Positively Smooth Facial Moisturizer (for reducing unwanted hair) made my facial hair a lot less. I used it because I had to be in a wedding. I’d rather prevent the growth with good nutrition and supplements, but this moisturizer does work. Also there is a prescription moisturizer that works the same way, Vaniqa. My mother uses it and loves it. They work by… I have no idea, but I think they have hormones in them, and putting them directly on the skin seems to help? I don’t like messing with hormones, so I have never used these things consistently. But they do work.

Now for some things that did not really help with my facial hair:

Electrolysis
Okay, this did work. But only temporarily. I had this done for years. It thinned out the hair some, but I stopped having it done, and after a few years the hair was back to where it had been before I’d ever had electrolysis. ! For as painful and expensive as that was, I definitely don’t think it’s worth it for a temporary fix.

Saw Palmetto
I see this all over the Internet listed as the best hope for reversing or preventing excess facial hair, but I have yet to read one anecdote that says it worked. Not even one! I took it for a few weeks. It made no difference in my facial hair whatsoever. But it did seem to make my skin more oily. ? It just made me look grosser, so I stopped taking it. Very weird. I can’t believe how much medical advice is just speculation. Educated guessing. I’d rather hear about things that actually worked for people. Which is why I started this blog.

There you have it, my experience with excess facial hair prevention. I think it’s funny that nothing, yet, has made it go away completely. There are always a few hairs to pluck. I suspect, though, that when I get my weight down to a normal range, the rest of the hair may go away. That will be awesome. Lol.

‘Til next time. ~Me.

Filed in Herbs, Insulin Resistance, PCOS, Veganism, Vitamins, Weight Loss | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Aerobic Exercise Benefits

05-Oct-09

I talked the other day about trying to get my heart rate, with aerobic exercise, up to a fat burning level. It occurred to me that even if I can’t do that, aerobic exercise still has plenty of benefits.

Detox
One of the major waste eliminations systems of the body is the skin. Sweating is a good way to excrete things the body doesn’t need. Aerobic exercise probably gets rid of a significant amount of toxins from your body.

Lymphatic Cleansing
The lymphatic system relies on body movement to keep lymph flowing. So exercise helps flush out the lymph vessels, which carry toxins away. The lymphatic system also carries nutrients to the cells, and is a big part of the body’s immune system. It’s good to keep it functioning properly with regular exercise.

Muscle Building
Aerobic exercise may not build as much muscle as weight lifting, but it does build some. When you build up your muscles, they burn more calories, not just when you’re exercising, but all the time.

Cardio Pulmonary Health
Aerobic exercise helps strengthen your heart and lungs, which improves your stamina. It also lowers cholesterol and regulates blood pressure.

Bone Density
Regular weight bearing exercise can increase bone density or prevent further bone loss. “Weight bearing” means putting increased stress on your bones. Most aerobic exercises do this, but cycling and swimming do not (though, they are still beneficial!).

Insulin Resistance
Aerobic exercise can improve insulin resistance. It increases insulin sensitivity and helps your body process glucose better. It also helps to prevent diabetes.

Depression
Regular aerobic exercise helps alleviate mild depression.

I’m keeping all of the above in mind to motivate me to exercise. Mostly I would like to be able to walk across the parking lot at work without feeling out of breath. Yes, really! How embarrassing! I think muscle building exercises might help more with fat loss, but aerobic exercise makes me feel healthy, so I’m definitely including it too.

Bye for now. ~Me

Filed in Depression, Insulin Resistance, Weight Loss | Tagged | Comments Off

Binging and Nutritional Deficiencies

01-Oct-09

I’ve been thinking lately about binging. Mostly because I’ve been doing it lately! I just recently bought a car. In order to make the car payments, I had to cut back on some of the more expensive things I buy. I stopped buying protein bars for snacks and started eating nuts and raisins instead. Whoops. Bad mistake. Nuts don’t have as much protein as I need. Plus I don’t digest them very well. I started to be hungry all the time. Had that starving feeling between meals. So I started buying a lot of junk food to binge on after work. So I wouldn’t feel so hungry. Finally I realized this weird cycle was going on.

I have a theory that when people binge, they crave what their bodies are deficient in. It’s interesting the specific things I have craved recently. Dairy, for one. Whenever I feel like binging I always crave cheese. I believe it is because I need more protein. Giving up the protein bars was a bad bad idea, I guess. I still spend extra money on all the junk foods (so I haven’t saved money), and I’ve gained 6 pounds in a month. I also craved cinnamon rolls a lot. I figure maybe it’s because cinnamon helps control blood sugar. I don’t usually crave cinnamon things. Just lately, I do. Sometimes I crave chocolate. Which could be because it has magnesium in it. Or could just be for the oxytocin, the feel good chemical.

Anyway, I decided to put an end to this rapid weight gain and binging by buying my high protein foods again. I decided to buy my old favorite PureFit Nutrition Bars. And I found a vegan protein shake that costs less than a protein bar, Genisoy Strawberry/Banana Protein Powders/Shakes, so I bought that as well. I also used to love Clif Builder’s Bars, but they aren’t as filling as the Purefit bars, so I decided not to go with them right now. Trying to save money.

I also decided to eat raw nuts with my raisins, to see if I digest them better. They certainly taste better. I’ve been eating raw pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds lately. They’re better than roasted, I think. Better tasting, I mean. And better for me. Hopefully more digestible!

I can’t believe how long it took me to realize I was binging because of dietary deficiencies and not from stress. Not that I’m not plenty stressed. I am. Car payment! Which is probably why I didn’t notice this sooner.

It reminds me of the disorder Pica, where people crave non-food items, like clay and dirt. Possibly because of nutritional deficiencies. What if compulsive overeating has something in common with Pica? It would make sense if that was partly the cause. Physical, not all psychological.

It’s also true that food grown in the US is very deficient in vitamins and minerals, because it is grown in soils depleted of nutrients. Here is an interesting article on the subject. It makes me wonder if part of the reason Americans are so prone to obesity is because we have to eat more food to get an adequate amount of minerals and vitamins. If we even can from food alone. You can see how this might contribute to compulsive overeating. And the feeling of never being satisfied.

The solution to this problem? I believe it’s best to eat the healthiest food you can find, and then also supplement with vitamins and minerals, which is what I do. And now that I’m paying more careful attention to what I eat, maybe I can lose those 6 pounds! And then, you know, 50 more…

‘Til next time. ~Me.

Filed in Compulsive Overeating, Weight Loss | | Comments Off


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