The 'Master Gland' your Pituitary

Known as the “master gland” the pituitary gland is located in the center of the brain. This gland provides an important bridge between the nervous system and the endocrine system. This gland directly effects growth, sexual development, metabolism, and human reproduction.

The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea and dangles from the hypothalamus (another endocrine gland) from a little piece of tissue called the infundibulum. It is divided into the anterior and posterior lobes with each lobe responsible for particular hormones. The gland is surrounded by a delicate web of blood vessels that transport the hormones and precursor hormones to the rest of the body.

Now imagine with me the delicateness of this MASTER gland! It is tiny!!! The blood vessels around it are minuscule, yet this is your lifeline for hormone balance!!!! Imagine what would happen if there was in increase in pressure in the brain that in turn put pressure on this gland how that would affect the physical structure of the gland and its ability to properly do its job. Or even a simple concussion or conk on the head could potentially injure this master gland.




This graphic is a great representation of how this gland’s hormones affect so many diverse body systems. Hormones excreted from this gland include:

• human growth hormone (hGH), 
• thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), 
• follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), 
• luteinizing hormone (LH), 
• prolactin (PRL), 
• adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), 
• and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH). 

Looking at this list of hormones, you can see how incredibly important the health of this little tiny gland is. In super simple terms, this gland controls how quickly you age, your ability to lose weight or gain weight, your sex drive, and it plays a huge role in fertility.

To say that nourishing the pituitary is important is an understatement. Protein, manganese, Vitamin E and D are all very important for pituitary health and these substances also form part of the building blocks for the hormones this gland releases.

A well balanced diet full of healthy grass fed protein sources or wild caught fish, healthy fats, and a whole food vitamin will care for your pituitary well. I personally choose to purchase farm raised meat from farms that I can visit and know the farmer. I choose to take Young Living’s Master Formula Vitamin and I take a daily dose of NingXia Red, which contains many of the amino acids necessary for hormone production in not only this gland but many others.

Soda or Pop is high in artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, dyes, and countless other harmful components.  Many people drink them simply because they don't like the 'boring' taste of water.  Carbonation is the attraction for others.  In my opinion they are a step away from a healthy lifestyle--and they're expensive too.


My favorite alternative is Kombucha.  This is an expensive item at health food stores, but in truth it's so easy to make a child can do it for pennies a glass.  If you can boil water-you can make your own living Kombucha that has a nice natural carbonation and benefits your digestion too.  All you do is make your favorite tea with your organic sweetener of choice, add a scoby from a friend (or grow your own), and wait till the fermentation is to your liking.  Play with adding different juices or fruit pieces--ginger, pear, mango, raspberry, blueberry--so fun!

With cool weather comes the season for splitting fire wood.  I need to define "productive exercise" for our purposes at Joyful Heritage.  We believe there is a need to physically produce or manage a resource for the good of your community that exponentially improves physical exercise or exertion.  It's just not the same--not as satisfying--to run around in circles or sling barbells in a gym.  The stress relief factor for productive exercise far surpasses the 'fitness industry' model of working out.  Many are finding this to be true--especially those working through PTSD. Try it for yourself!


Swinging a 5 to 8 pound splitting maul is a great shoulder/back and core workout.  It has the physiological advantage of engaging your brain (it takes a lot of coordination to accurately strike where you want to).  This enhances proprioception- your bodies ability to know where it's at in space and the strength it needs to effect a goal.  Once you're confident and want to step it up to a higher level try to 'gas yourself' by swinging as fast as you can to create an anaerobic state.  You'll want to work toward swinging left and right handed. You can easily build sets of calisthenics in between splitting right by the wood pile: push-ups, pull-ups, dips and all variations.

If you don't heat with wood chances are someone in your community does.  We often get wood for others to use while helping friends clear dead fall trees.  I suggest 16" firewood length log sections as big as 3' round or less.  Straight grained hardwoods like Red Oak will be easiest to split by hand.  Thin gloves will help till you get used to it.  And don't forget your eye protection.  There is great satisfaction in piling up a store of wood for winter use!

Next time we will explore the Hypothalamus gland.

Modern studies indicate that the pituitary gland is controlled by the hypothalamus(another endocrine gland), via hormones from the hypothalamus that tell the pituitary to release its vast array of hormones. However the pituitary is still considered the master gland.

Don't hesitate to comment. We spend a lot of time helping people find the research they need for specific questions--and we LOVE IT! Helping others is what 'pops our heads off the pillow'.







http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-connection-between-the-pituitary-gland-and-adrenal-gland.htm

http://www.organsofthebody.com/images/pituitary-gland.jpg



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Pandora's Box? The Endocrine System

Our first step together will begin with how to understand your body a bit more.

Knowledge of our body and how it works is constantly evolving. One of the most fascinating things that is currently gaining steam in the medical community is how the metaphysical affects the physical. Otherwise put, how do your emotions, feelings, non-physical environmental variables (stress) affect your physical health?

So where do we begin with exploring our body? I'm choosing to jump into the murky waters of our hormones.

Why? Because I love a challenge. And because hormonal support is so needed today. Our culture often doesn’t even know what normal is anymore! Chronic fatigue is not NORMAL. Unexplained wild weight gain is not NORMAL. Needing anti-depressants is not NORMAL. We as health care consumers won’t make a change unless we know change is needed and possible.

Our physical body is so much more than just a machine. Unlike a car, I can't just find a leak and patch the hole. Holistic care that takes into consideration physical and metaphysical and often spiritual health is fast becoming standard of practice. If your healthcare provider does not acknowledge a need for holistic care, are you really being cared for?

Let’s start with the endocrine system. Our hormone system, as science understands right now, is made up of 10 different glands scattered throughout the body. Some are in the brain, some in the chest and abdominal area and also in the pelvis.

Each gland secretes specific hormones and each hormone affects how the other glands function. So you can see the challenge that figuring out a hormone imbalance can present to finding the root cause of a particular issue. It is often like sorting through a plate of spaghetti or trying to decide "the chicken or the egg" when addressing hormone imbalances.

For example, when someone has a thyroid imbalance the root cause may not be a thyroid issue. It could be that they have a huge amount of stress in their life that has caused their adrenals to get stuck over-producing cortisol (the stress hormone) which then causes a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) imbalance.

Unless a healthcare provider is willing to be a real health detective and consider their client from a holistic perspective they will miss the metaphysical piece of the above scenario. And finding that “stress” piece would never happen from a blood test or a 2 min conversation with a provider.

In my next post I want to talk about the pituitary gland. It is often considered to be the “master gland” even though it is no bigger than a pea.  I'll share some of my favorite alternatives to soda (pop to some of you).  We'll also look at a 'productive' exercise that is good for the body and the soul.

On the journey together,


Clint and Joy

Getting from where you are to where you want to be

There is an old saying that goes "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step"

Clint and I firmly believe health is a journey not a destination. There will be ups and there will be downs. Our goal is to help you find ways to have more ups than downs. And if you are new to being intentional about your personal health journey we want to empower you to make your first steps along this journey in the right direction.

I was personally challenged by a chiropractor back in 2006 to begin to make small changes in my life to achieve my goal of living a healthier life. He said "Joy, you are not in a health crisis now. Why not begin to make small changes and avoid the health crisis that your current lifestyle will ultimately bring."

Now nearly 10 years into the journey of making intentional changes, my world looks very different.

Every week to 2 weeks I will share one small change you could choose to incorporate, we will talk about a body system and how to keep that system healthy, and I'll share a skill that helps keep costs down or a DIY project that I love.

So I want to invite you to begin to make small changes now and see where it takes you. Ten years will come and go in the blink of an eye. Where will you be 10 years from now?

Here's a quick video showing why wholesome local food and water, productive exercise, and toxin reduction is so important these days...and why Young Living can help.