**REVIEW** DIM (Di-indolyl Methane)

(I'm ahead enough with the packing that I could take a little time to post!)

You all know me. I will try just about anything (within reason) to improve my health and energy. I've tried some things that I initially liked but gave up on after awhile. It's like dieting: seeing results increases motivation. Out of about 15 supplements, vitamins, and other health-related things that I've reviewed, I continue to use some of, specifically:

• Ceylon Cinnamon (I like to put it in my drinks)
• Beetroot powder (and beetroot juices because I like the juice better than the powder)
• Matcha tea (though I still don't like the taste and mask it in smoothies and foods)
• Raw Honey & comb (and I have a couple of favorites that I will try never to be without)
• Magnesium oil 
• Most of my natural skincare oils (especially coconut, castor, and nearly all my essential oils)
• I've slacked on using the super greens & wheat grass but only because of lack of money.)
• Yacon syrup & Blackstrap molasses

As a matter of fact, I am shipping my oils and I made a list of other items that I plan to restock once I get moved and settled in a new place. Of course, I will have a kitchen of my own and room and time to make use of everything.

Back at the beginning of April, I started using a supplement that I plan to keep using. The reason I even tried it was because I'd heard it could help with menopausal symptoms and weight loss. It might actually do that - once I get back on my sensible eating/Keto plan - but that's not the result I'm experiencing. What I am experiencing is a lift in energy and mood.

Moving is stressful, number one. My reasons for moving were super stressful, number two. Then, of course, there is my struggle with fatigue due to health and required medications.

Honestly, I had no idea how I was going to manage the planning and packing, etc that comes with moving and a big life change. That's why I started so far in advance.

As soon as I started taking this supplement - and this is the particular brand I am using right now

- I could feel the boost of energy. Not a buzzing boost - like you get from coffee or an energy drink - but a definite surge. That was on Day One, Tablet One.

There are lots of different brands out there. Some brands are solely the Di-indolyl Methane and others add something other than the BioPerine (which is a black pepper extract). I picked this one because it had high reviews and was a 2-months supply for a good price.

After about three or four days (to the best of my poor memory), I was feeling a lot less of the general "blues" and those sneaky attacks of anxiety I'd been having. Understand that I was so stressed and depressed that I was having bouts of inner weeping and wailing. After about another week or so, I was actually able to get things done.

The one thing this doesn't alleviate (and I had no hopes that it would) are my general cognitive problems. I still struggle with keeping details and tasks straight in my head, and I have days when I feel as if I'm functioning with half my brain. But... I don't feel so crazily fatigued that I can't get anything done. Matter of fact, because I have to work so hard to get even basic tasks done, I count on the DIM to give me energy for perseverance.

As of today, I have finished most of the packing and other little tasks that come with planning a move, All I have left to do is sell the car - not something I plan to do until the last second!

The DIM has caused no side effects for me other than promoting more regular bowel movements. Sorry for the TMI, folks! Also, I tend to sleep a little bit better on most nights. I still have a bit of insomnia but I think that's just going to be a fact of life until things settle down for me.

Now, since I am no kind of medical professional, I am not recommending this to anyone. I am just reviewing MY results with DIM. You can do your own research and talk with your medical care team. I have to admit that I did only light research before I started using the DIM.

I read that our bodies create DIM naturally when we eat a lot of certain vegetables. I read that DIM can have an effect on the metabolism and hormones and might even either act like estrogen or block it.  

Like I said, I haven't experienced any weight loss with the DIM. Because it improves my general mood, I can believe that it does impact hormones. I'm post-menopausal and if I thought monthly PMS was bad... Hah! Menopause is like PMS without end.

So, along with the other natural and non-RX things that I use for my health, this is going to be a staple in my new home.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** PolarGel Cool Pillow Mat

This is going to be a fun review to write just because I didn't expect to love the product for the reason that I do. I'll get to that, but first, let's do the review.

And, by the way, this is what I'm going to be talking about:

PolarGel Cool Pillow Mat

A little bit of a backstory on how I got to try this (and to show you the goofy state of my mind):

I reviewed a product that I'd bought at a local store. Loved the product, raved about it in a blog post here, raved about it on Amazon, and told just about everyone I know or met anywhere about it. Not long after I reviewed that product, I was contacted by the husband of the woman who came up with it. There was a mention that they might send me other products to use and review. Not long after that contact, I was invited (via email, not one of the product sites I use) to review the PolarGel Cool Pillow Mat.

That's how I got to review this product. The goofy part of my brain comes in at the point where I honestly can't remember (or trace back through emails) whether or not the first product and the PolarGel came from the same distributor.

Ah well... At any rate, I'm really super glad that I got to try out the PolarGel. I thought I was just going to like it because it's such a cool (heh heh) thing to have around during the summer.

I don't care where I am or how warm it is, I just do not sleep well without cover - and not just sheets. I need some sort of a light blanket to feel comfortable. That's not a problem 9 months out of the year here. This is Alaska. However...

Summers here can be warm. (Even during the winter, depending on who you share a home with, the heat is going to be cranked up like the entryway to Hades, so there's that.)

Warm is great during the daytime. It's even fine for most people during the night. Unless you are a fanatic about not "sweating out" your hair.

Right about now is when I have the attention of any woman who hates having to re-straighten or re-wash her hair because she "sweat it out" during the night.

I won't speak for every black woman out there but, personally, I don't like to wash my hair more than once or twice a month. I will co-wash (or even just rinse my hair) instead. This keeps my hair - which, because of genetics, tends towards dry - from drying out even further. If anything, I like to retain as much moisture in my hair and oil on my scalp as possible. Sweating it out means I have to wash or co-wash it, or use more products to re-moisturize.

So. Do I love this PolarGel or what? Yes, I do.

I was going to take a photo of mine,
but it's still tucked inside my pillow case! lol

The product comes with 2 straps that you can use to attach the pad to your pillow. I just slid my pad under the pillow case. Also you get an eBook (about getting better sleep) that you can download as a PDF or mp3 audio. I have not downloaded that yet.

I originally was just hoping that the PolarGel would help keep me cool at night. There's no air-conditioning in most Alaska homes. What we have are ceiling fans. What we also have in the home are people who like to blast the heat even when we are having one of our nice summer days. We keep the heat locked on a steady temp during the summer, which is great - if you like sleeping half nude and with no covers. Not me.

The first night I used the PolarGel (and I actually had to wait til after that blast of cold that we rarely deal with in the summer, which +prissy d d can tell you about!) I was just hoping for relief from the heat in general. Being fuzzy-brained the past several days, I forgot to chill the mat in the fridge until a couple hours before bedtime. What I realized the next day is that I didn't have to put it in the fridge. The gel inside keeps the mat cool enough as it is. On really warm nights, it will be nice to chill it in the fridge though.

I did stay nice and comfy-cool all night (even with my little blanket on), but what I also got was hair that wasn't all sweated and matted the next morning. Nice.

Usually, I have to either moisturize my hair fairly deeply with some leave-in and tie it up overnight, or just deal with the heavy moisturizing the next morning. Then, every few days, I might even have to do a rinse-out. That's because of the sweating.

The PolarGel is probably something that lots of folks will like just because it does a great job of keeping the pillow cool through the night. I have some extra love for it just because of how it saved my hair.

So. I can recommend this for that reason, and I'll step back in my memory to the first months of menopause.... I still get the night-sweats but, a few years back, I nearly lost my mind because of them. I wish I'd had this cooling mat then.

Anyway, there's not much to say about the specifications of the pillow. It's a simple concept that works better than I expected. My head sweat even during the winter months - probably because we run the heat so much and definitely because of the blanket thing I have going on - so I will be using the cool right out of this PolarGel.

The PolarGel Cool Pillow Mat is something you can use over and over, even as you go through new pillows. The best part of any purchase? The guarantee. Here it is, straight from the paged:

If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your new cool pillow after 30 days, simply return it for a FULL REFUND. No questions asked!

I always love a good guarantee.

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one of more of the products mentioned in exchange for providing my fair and honest review.