It's time for the WELLNESS REALNESS RETREAT 2019! This year's retreat will be in sunny San Diego, CA from July 26th-July 28th. The weekend will be filled with health and body image workshops, delicious food, nutrient drips, acupuncture, hiking, yoga, and more. You can find more information and get your tickets at bit.ly/wellnessrealness2019! Today I'm chatting with Dr. Lara Briden, a naturopathic doctor and the period revolutionary—leading the change to better periods. Informed by a strong science background and more than twenty years with patients, Lara is a passionate communicator about women's health and alternatives to hormonal birth control.  Her book Period Repair Manual is a manifesto of natural treatment for better hormones and better periods and provides practical solutions using nutrition, supplements, and natural hormones. Lara has helped thousands of women find relief for period problems such as PCOS, PMS, endometriosis, and perimenopause. In this episode, Dr. Briden discusses why having a period is important, what a healthy period looks like, and why a pill bleed is not a real bleed. We discuss diet for healthy hormones and how many carbs, fat, and protein are necessary to optimize a woman's health. Dr. Briden also talks more about the differences between PCOS and hypothalamic amenorrhea and how to address each. She also discusses differently nonhormonal birth control options, the pros and cons of IUDs, and how Fertility Awareness Method works. For more from Dr. Briden, you can head to www.larabriden.com or find her on Instagram (@larabriden). For more from Christina, head to her website, christinaricewellness.com, to find her services, blog, programs, and ebooks. If there's a question you'd like answered or a topic you'd like discussed on the podcast, send it in to podcast@christinaricewellness.com! Don’t forget to join the Facebook group, Wellness Realness Podcast Tribe, to meet other podcast listeners! This podcast episode is sponsored by Beekeeper's Naturals, a wellness company specializing in innovative nutraceuticals made from healing hive compounds and plant-based ingredients. At Beekeeper's Naturals, they're harnessing the power of the beehive to share a line of effective supplements and remedies to solve modern health challenges. Make sure you check out their Propolis Throat Spray (nature's antibiotic), B.Powered Superfood Complex, B.LXR Brain Fuel, and more! Head to beekeepersnaturals.com/CRW and use my code "CRW" for 15% off! Want in on all of the health benefits of mushrooms?! Functional mushrooms like Reishi, Chaga, Cordyceps, and Lion's Mane have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. With Four Sigmatic products, we can now easily take advantage of mushrooms' many health benefits for immunity, energy, longevity, and more. Four Sigmatic makes drinking mushrooms and superfoods delicious and easy with their Mushroom Coffees, Mushroom Superfood Blends, and Mushroom Elixirs! Head to foursigmatic.com/crw to check out all of their products, and use the code "CRW" for 15% off all purchases on their site! If you love desserts but want to avoid the sugar and sweeteners, pick up a copy of Christina's new ebook, #NoSugarNoProblems Part 2! This ebook contains over 30 paleo dessert recipes (most are also vegan) that contain absolutely no sugar or sweeteners - no stevia, xylitol, erythritol, maple syrup, honey, dates, bananas, or other sugar substitutes. Perfect if you're keto, low-carb, on a gut-healing diet, looking to balance your hormones, or trying to break your sugar addiction! Grab your copy at bit.ly/nsnp2 and use the code "wellnessrealness" for 20% off! If you're a woman looking to learn everything about using the Paleo lifestyle to reach your health goals , sign up for Christina's online course, The Paleo Women Lifestyle Program! This course has hours of video lectures, audio lectures, and PDFs that cover nutrition, fitness, sleep, stress management, balancing hormones, self love, cooking and gro