Materia Medica To Connect Deeply With Your Health
This is a resource I wish I had when I was beginning my perimenopause flux of symptoms at age 47! Looking back, I now realize this had begun at 45 years. It was a time in my life that was painful with allergy symptoms that were sores around my mouth. The image is so unsightly, I want to spare you of this image.
The ironic piece to this is that I had just begin “going back to work” after launching my both of my kids into elementary school. It was such bizarre timing because I had started a new job that was aligned with my past career of fine dining. However, with my mouth issues, I was unpresentable for almost two years! It was horrible and I will never forget it. I remember at the time that I thought to myself, “If I ever survive this period of life, I will make it my mission to share how perimenopause works and why we need to start transitioning ourselves into a state of balance BEFORE the symphony of change begins.”
Enter Materia Medica.
At the time, I had to begin journaling the ingredients I was eating and the response my body had to them. It was a practice that I still do today. It helped me better articulate to my doctor and allergists what was happening in my body and how my body responded to the foods I was eating.
It was a beginning of better understanding my body. In all of this physical and emotional turmoil, I was also showing the typical signs of:
sleeplessness
moodiness
hot flashes
cold sweats / hot sweats
dry eyes, dry mouth, dry vagina, dry digestion
poor circulation because of dryness
It was a lot. I had little kids, too. They were needy and I was feeling terrible. Looking back, the symptoms had begun after I delivered my second child. I was about 40 years when the symptoms began to show signs and symptoms of perimenopause. It was a difficult period.
When I began to log the ingredients I was eating, I was better able to identify ingredients that were exacerbating my symptoms. It was a practice that my allergist recommended and now I understand that herbalists suggest this to their clients and doctors have been doing this for year in the creation of medicine and its application.
Photos of my perimenopause hormone imbalance that led to an immune response.
I am sharing photos from this era. You may notice I look kind of “normal”. My kids were little, but I was keeping it together to emanate joy for them. Helping them see that a skin condition was not going to stop me. They were going through childhood acne and I think we bonded a lot during this era. If you look closely, you will see the inflammation building, and then the peak, and then right before the allergy tests.. then the tests and now. It’s kind of a lot. However over the years of running Beautify, I have never put together the photos to share in order. The inflammation is so sad and awful, I thought it may be unappealing for anyone who finds this on my site.
During that time, I had 4 personal chef clients I was rotating through. One of the clients was present when I was cooking and she was curious about my mouth sores. I was in so much pain… and I was preparing food for her, but looked ill! Would you feel comfortable with this kind of appearance of someone preparing food in your home? I must say, I would not. I did decide to stop working, as the smells in some of my clients’ homes were highly perfumed. All of the beautiful high end shops’ soaps and aromatic humidifiers were scenting up the home with such beautiful fragrance. However, the fragrances irritated my inflamed mouth in a painful way.
It was not working and I do think spiritually, the universe was telling me that my professional cooking days were officially over. In the end, it was for the best. I am sharing photos at below to share what my journey looked like. I tried to be upbeat and not let it get me down. At the height of the inflammatory response to my hormone shifts (!!), I was still mustering up a smile for the camera, but you can see the tension in my face and neck.
These images above share the journey at the top when the inflammation had just started. Let me set the scene: I just began personal chefing to serve the community with my skills. I was excited about it because I was able to pick up my kids from school. This was really lovely. Also, the homes and kitchens where I prepared meals in were stunning!
Unfortunately, at the same time, my perimenopause evolved and began to impact my day-to-day life. This was the jag in the road that proved to be so bumpy! I appreciate the kind generosity of those who I worked with, my friends, and family for all supporting me and helping me to feel OK about the changes that were happening. The real issue is that I was in pain most of the time. Did you know that the hormones of cortisol and adrenaline are part of the pain experience?
With reflection, I was not in a good state of mind. I was feeling terrible each and every day because my body was burning on fire with the cortisol and adrenaline from pain, which subverted any natural balancing my body could have made from the hormone flux from the natural experience of perimenopause. This was two years of my life!
Needless to say, it sent me into a wild trajectory. I lost a few productive years of my life and my confidence plummeted. This era took a toll on my family and, of course, of my personal self-esteem. You can see the worst of the inflammation below:
The image of my back with markings was the allergic reaction in red and green during a third round of allergy tests and one of the many specialist visits I had during this difficult time of my life. The red and green areas show an allergy to propyl gallate and octyl gallate.
Why I do what I do.
One of the reasons I decided to help women over 40 is because of this experience. Since I became certified to teach Ayurveda Digestive Health, I struggled to figure out how to share my offerings in my community. I was slowly building in a component of Ayurveda with my personal chef work. This was an expansion I was planning to take. Seven years ago, most people I encountered did not know what Ayurveda was.
After my inflammation healed and I felt confident enough to consider getting back into working, the pandemic hit. At the time, I was getting certified to teach yoga, and had decided to add the 500HR designation to my certifications. This was deeply empowering to me emotionally and helped to rebuild my confidence and directive in my next phase of life. I knew I wanted to help women who were over 40 to calm the fight/flight experience that can happen when our bodies are changing. Yoga was the answer.
Then, I began to connect with other business owners on Facebook. I met the most beautiful woman, inside and out! Her energy was impeccable and beautiful. I immediately asked her about her work in face yoga and did a consultation with her. I realized in our consultation that I wanted to learn everything about it, including the anatomy and physiology of the face (I always want to understand “why” things work). I also wanted to have the kind of confidence and assured way about myself. My personal image had been destroyed during the inflammation experience and my self-confidence needed a lot of support.
My path to sharing this with you.
My intuitive nature led me to self-inquiry after going through that part for me of peri-menopause, which included immune imbalance related to hormone flux. My intuition led me to find my voice again for a new way to advocate for women in the world. This still feels incredibly true and right for me now.
When I had these experiences of training in holistic health and beauty, I did a lot of self-reflection and realized that if I had been keeping a materia medica for myself since my Ayurveda training, I would have been better informed of my state of being. I would not have been reliant on a modern medical system that is more oriented to insurance codes than to the hormonal codes that were being revealed for almost two years. It took me that long to find the allergist who had happened to have a tour of duty in an endocrinology lab before she settled into dermatology and allergies.
Materia medica is a plan of action that I learned about from an herbalist, through the lens of self-medicating with herbs to heal myself. This illumination was one that I deeply love and respect. I wish I had been handed this sound idea of organizing your self-understanding through logging the herbs (and foods) that you eat in this organized way. In my Ayurveda training, I was taught the benefits of food journaling. For whatever reason, I didn’t identify with it at the time. I had never needed it until I needed. I am asking you not to make the same mistake and tuck this away into your kitchen to become your own herbalist through self study. If and when you do work with a holistic practitioner, this will help them work faster to help you find balance.
Why document what you are eating?
Here’s the thing, you don’t have to go into perimenopause to experience something like an immune response. This can happen if and when you get out of balance. Understanding your body when you are in balance is the best time to record how your body reacts to herbs, medicines, and foods. I recommend to begin your self-study with herbs. This can be the exactly what is helpful for you to apply additions to your diet that can offer support to your unique signs and symptoms of perimenopause or menopause. A materia medica practice can also be helpful to a child or adult showing signs and symptoms of some kind of new allergen. It is most helpful to discover what is working and not working in your diet and how you can integrate more or less of the herbs in your daily life. Developing a relationship with foods as medicine also helps you identify with becoming healthy and informed in your overall health and wellness.
As you establish a practice of documenting herbs, you will most likely Move on from herbs to oils, spices, and other ingredients and foods. Experiment and dive into this as much as you like. However, the herbal remedies to ameliorate perimenopausal symptoms, in particular can be very beneficial. So this is the context in which I share this practice of keeping a materia medica practice as a self-care approach to your quest for vitality and the ultimate wellness.
Please scroll all the way down to this page, to download this outline and read through. I hope you enjoy this.
If you are a DIY kind of person:
My recommendation is to begin with this guide and then use it as a template alongside a beautiful journal that you may already have or may need to purchase. Keep it in your kitchen space. Turn your kitchen into a place of wisdom and discretionary medical support to your health and wellness in the Ayurvedic spirit of food as medicine.
If you want to work faster with a guide to help you:
I offer lots of programs at different price points to help everyone with some 1:1 support. Please reach out to me by email at angela@beautifyfaceyoga.com to learn more about what program is best for you!
Angela Rosoff holds certifications in yoga, face yoga, and Ayurveda Digestive Health. Holistic support for women is her focus. She is also a content creator for local and international media outlets and has been featured in the Sun.uk, Sun.us, and The New York Post. Angela teaches weekly yoga and face yoga classes, as well has hosts online courses to help women and yoga teachers beautify from the inside out! As a Self-Led Woman Wellness Coach, Angela shares an affordable way to work 1:1 to foster vitality in YOU!
Also, if you like this kind of energetic work to marry your foods with your body, I think you would love the mini-course, The Energetics of Foods and drinks! This is a deeper dive, which also has a materia medica lesson to help you go deeper in your journey! Check out the details here: