Track My B*tch
Very cool gadgets out there! Found one for tracking my period for free (monthlyinfo.com) which provides text or email update alerts which can be set to x number days before/after a period or ovulation. Personally, I've had hormone issues after a terrible debacle with a Mirena IUD which released tons of artificial progestin into storage in my fat cells. They all apparently poured out when the IUD was extracted 2+ years ago and only recently abated for the most part. FYI Synthetic hormones S*CK. They are endocrine disruptors and scr*w the adrenals, cortisol, insulin, body fat, libido, bone density, gut/B12 absorption and thousands of other different pathways and biochemical cascades.
Programs like Track My B*tch and Code Red are discussed by Esquire's sex columnist, Ms. Stacey Grenrock Woods and her recent article in the August issue, How to Track Her Period. Digitally.
OMG HILARIOUS.
She is so goooood. I dig her archives.
MonthlyInfo.com
My friends know I'm awful with my calendar, and worse, knowing when I'm doing things... like ovulating... or about to have my period. Honestly 27-28 day cycles are hard to track.
Anyway. Ms. Woods reviewed the iPhone apps out there for the value of preventing a homicide from the consequences of PMS ('pack-my-suitcase') females syndromes and potential benefits. *haa* Men. Take note. $1.99 is little to pay to stay out of our way.
Track Fertility
For those trying to coordinate the fusion of a sperm and an egg... these are cool devices! I like the neat calendar, export features and data entry (I put in signs of high estrogen days, e.g. SKINNY days, and the estrogen withdrawal days, e.g. FAT-ATTEND-XFIT days).
Concealed Conception
I first read about this concept, concealed conception, in Sex at Dawn and The Red Queen, and realized, yes, humans are quite special. Other than certain bird species, we are one of the few animals with concealed conception where obvious signs of ovulation are hidden and extremely subtle. Yes. Grrrls don't even know. Vague scent and pheromones changes, hair/nail/skin slight luminosity, minuscule waist size declines, mood slightly chirpier, higher testosterone (better strength and performance) are insignificant indications of major hormone and mounting ovulatory action. Hormones. They can ROCK and RULE because they play an enormous role in human sexual evolution and survival. Female hormones vary daily. Or, some conjecture hourly *haa*. See top diagram. It's based on that egg-precursor. Men on the other hand hardly vary staying rock steady except when driving on the freeway and those rare moments of road rage.
Hi Dr BG.
ReplyDeleteHave you any comments with regard to what could be considered paleo/primal-friendly contraception? Beyond sheep intestines I mean!! Do you see all OCP's as bad as each other? Progesterone v. Oestrogen dominant? I'd be very interested in your thoughts as it is something that comes up with regularity in discussions I have with people.
Nice, and interesting comment at the end about the concealed ovulation. There is an interesting article about how non-verbal cues are picked up by men:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138(07)00069-4/abstract
This article won the 2008 Ig-Nobel Award!
Very cool and unexpected post. Forwarded to my significant other. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm always on the fence about hormonal birth control. After all, we were either pregnant or breastfeeding for much of our adult lives in our evolutionary past, which both have huge hormonal impact. Not the horse progesterone hormonal impact, but not latex condom hormonal impact either, you know?
ReplyDeleteEsquire columnist was funny - "It's just an iphone app."
"I hear you, bro."
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteYou know we can only elude mother nature so well... sheep intestines are fine (or lamb) I just don't know where to buy them...
I remember reading in trad'l HG civilizations that 3 yrs between births is ideal for mother to replete nutrients (e.g. fat and probably omega-3 adipose stores as these are probably depleted during gestation and lactation -- vitamin D perhaps too?) What women did were LIVE SEPARATE FROM THE SPOUSE. *haaa!*
So no. I have no neolithic solutions other than abstinence and lamb condoms. OCPs s*ck and really should be avoided at all costs. Yes it comes up often b/c we 'plan' our lives and 'plan' our children's lives but really nothing can be planned.
-G
Ned,
ReplyDeleteI love all your forwards. Need to ck out that link -- thank you!
If you haven't had a chance to read The Red Queen yet, I'd highly recommend. Ridley has laid out great arguments that sexual evo is really why humans have big brains (and other big... er... *haa* dimorphisms!)
-G
Mike,
ReplyDeleteUR signif other might REALLY appreciate as paleo grrrrls are extra haaawt and SUPEREXTRA FERTILE MYRTLES. Better watch out. *winky*
-G
Em,
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY. On both sides of my parents -- there were 12-13 children born. Nuts? No. Completely NORMAL.
Lactation was ovulatory suppressive for 1-2 yrs then boom -- the same cycle repeats, conception then pregnancy then lactation until menopause ~50-something years of age. They had normal births -- no C-sections. Prolapse was not as often -- just like hernias. On the other hand in western civilizations weaknesses of the pelvic floor, just like the abdom wall, cause weird organs to protrude from high refined grain-rich, legume-rich diets.
Synthetic hormones across the board are pretty bad. Pubmed has plenty of evidence but little media coverage. When the WHI results come out -- the finger didn't point to synthetic hormones, it just pointed to ALL hormones as being a factor in cancer and heart disease which is plain stupid. Nearly all prior hormone trials (even synthetic estradiol) was positive for health improvements. wtf? No. It's the Pharma industry and the ignorance of physicians and OB GYN and cardiologists who don't know who to interpret trials.
Same with saturated fat -- still demonized but so called progressive cardiologists who should know better.
Artifical progestins are the worse, then next are the artifical estrogens and horse mare's estrogens. Progestin is very similar in structure to cortisol -- some cross-binding affinity to receptors occurs and thus some of the broad adverse effects that have been observed:
--increased insulin
--increased abdom fat
--increased dense LDL particles
--lowered HDL 'good' cholesterol
--increased blood pressure
--increased cancer
--increased atherosclerotic plaque
--increased heart disease and strokes and mortality
--peripheral edema
--mood disorder
--brittle bones and lowered bone mineral density
-- et cetera
Yaz is one of the latest killers... Before it was Premarin+Provera or Provera alone...
I can't tell you (besides me) how many girls I know who have been affected negatively with birth control. Worse. The artificial hormones are trapped in the adipose stores -- can this epigenetically affect their unborn offspring...? I believe so.
Men? Apparently it is not an urban myth but the water in So Cal and Los Angeles does contain much higher abnormal levels of birth control, probably from women who skip a few days then flush their oral contraceptive down the drain to open new blister-pack. ??! Consequences? You betcha. Men may potentially becoming grrrly-girls via drinking water effects.
-G
Em,
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY. On both sides of my parents -- there were 12-13 children born. Nuts? No. Completely NORMAL.
Lactation was ovulatory suppressive for 1-2 yrs then boom -- the same cycle repeats, conception then pregnancy then lactation until menopause ~50-something years of age. They had normal births -- no C-sections. Prolapse was not as often -- just like hernias. On the other hand in western civilizations weaknesses of the pelvic floor, just like the abdom wall, cause weird organs to protrude from high refined grain-rich, legume-rich diets.
Synthetic hormones across the board are pretty bad. Pubmed has plenty of evidence but little media coverage. When the WHI results come out -- the finger didn't point to synthetic hormones, it just pointed to ALL hormones as being a factor in cancer and heart disease which is plain stupid. Nearly all prior hormone trials (even synthetic estradiol) was positive for health improvements. wtf? No. It's the Pharma industry and the ignorance of physicians and OB GYN and cardiologists who don't know who to interpret trials.
Same with saturated fat -- still demonized but so called progressive cardiologists who should know better.
Artifical progestins are the worse, then next are the artifical estrogens and horse mare's estrogens. Progestin is very similar in structure to cortisol -- some cross-binding affinity to receptors occurs and thus some of the broad adverse effects that have been observed:
--increased insulin
--increased abdom fat
--increased dense LDL particles
--lowered HDL 'good' cholesterol
--increased blood pressure
--increased cancer
--increased atherosclerotic plaque
--increased heart disease and strokes and mortality
--peripheral edema
--mood disorder
--brittle bones and lowered bone mineral density
-- et cetera
Yaz is one of the latest killers... Before it was Premarin+Provera or Provera alone...
I can't tell you (besides me) how many girls I know who have been affected negatively with birth control. Worse. The artificial hormones are trapped in the adipose stores -- can this epigenetically affect their unborn offspring...? I believe so.
Men? Apparently it is not an urban myth but the water in So Cal and Los Angeles does contain much higher abnormal levels of birth control, probably from women who skip a few days then flush their oral contraceptive down the drain to open new blister-pack. ??! Consequences? You betcha. Men may potentially becoming grrrly-girls via drinking water effects.
-G
Yes, read Red Queen and also another book by Ridley - Genome. His argument regarding the evolution of our brain is similar to that made by Geoffrey Miller in his book The Mating Mind.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great book too - The Mating Mind. Miller argues that our brain may have evolved through sexual selection, but in part as a costly trait (like the male peacock's train).
Miller is also the first author of that "lap dancers" article that I linked to my previous comment.
Ned,
ReplyDeleteReally??! Curious there are many minds that have the same thought. I have Genome but haven't had time to dig in yet :) Might have to get Miller's first *haa!*
Thanks!
-G