natural Archives

Ditching the Pill …and Other Contraceptives

An excerpt from Marilyn M. Shannon’s book, Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition. **** Congratulations on your decision to discontinue birth control pills or other hormonal contraceptives! You have taken a giant step toward better health. As hormone specialist Diana Schwarzbein, M.D., has written, you cannot achieve optimum hormonal balance while you are on the Pill, because hormones…

20 Reasons Why Our Members Chose NFP

We asked our members why they chose NFP. Here’s just a sampling of their answers: 1. “My wife did years ago because she didn’t want to take any more medications. She wants her health and wants to do things naturally.” – E.G. 2. “My husband was raised Catholic and I was baptized in the faith…

How About Some Earth Day Props for NFP?

When was the last time you were astounded by the beauty of nature? It happened to me by surprise last weekend when a friend and I stumbled upon an Earth Day Fair at a local park. To be honest Earth Day isn’t something I celebrate or anticipate, so the eco-friendly exhibitors and vendors didn’t hold…

NFP Couples Find Natural Shift to a Healthier Life

From the Family Foundations archives How NFP & better health go hand in hand By Maria Wiering Ten years ago if you would’ve told Laura Devick she’d have chickens in her garage, the newlywed would’ve laughed. But fast forward a decade, and you’ll find three chickens behind her home in downtown Fargo, N.D. –…

Women Share Why They Don’t Use Birth Control

While it can sometimes seem that women who do not use contraception are few and far between, they are out there! I recently came across this Buzzfeed article with images of women displaying their reason they do not use birth control. The reasons given are across the board with some mentioning the importance of new life, the…

A New Kind of New Year’s Resolution

Are you like millions of other Americans who resolve to live a healthier lifestyle in 2016? Are you afraid that despite your enthusiasm and motivation to make lasting changes in diet and exercise you might lose steam after a few weeks because…well…you have in the past and there is always some occasion to celebrate? Don’t…

Where’s the Beef Over the Pill?

Bacon had a bad week. Last week it was announced that processed meats are a Class 1 carcinogen, and boy, I sure didn’t miss the news. It seemed to be a leading story in the news cycle for a couple of days. Maybe it was such big news because the thought of giving up bacon…

Nature Cycles For a Reason

I haven’t come across too many people who don’t like the autumn season with its beautiful changing leaves and crisp, cooler air. And because the changing scenery is so vivid, I can’t help but be reminded that nature cycles — it moves from one phase to another and repeats. And as a woman, so do I.…

Grey’s Anatomy and Family Planning

If you’re anything like me, a fan of the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, you may have also attained what I like to call the “Grey’s Medical Degree.” Now of course this degree comes with no actual merit, but after being loyal to the show for many seasons’ worth of viewing brain, heart, general, pediatric, orthopedic, plastic,…

Coffee Battling with Your Waking Temperature

Wake up. Take temperature. Make coffee. In that order. Perhaps this is the beginning of your morning routine since you’ve started practicing NFP. Coffee may be a matter of survival for you. We understand. It seems like Starbucks has succeeded in convincing us to rely on caffeine more and more to get through our daily…