Being a woman is incredible
Women’s hormones show us a lot about our health & our environment. Finally more research is being done so women can thrive! This hasn’t always been the case. Women’s physiology has been left out of research. Therefore the conditions that women impact women have largely been misunderstood. Whether it’s your cycle, fertility, energy or stage of life that is shifting, natural solutions can restore balance.
Psychedelics for Women’s Health
Preliminary findings on the use of psychedelics for women’s health are encouraging. From libido, body image and disordered eating to regulating the menstrual cycle, psychedelic assisted therapy is helping women find relief and warrants more…
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Protein & Hormones for Healthy Weight
Patients ask how to gain or lose weight regularly. It helps to look at the role of hormones. Timing meals plays major role as does protein intake. These along with mind-set are the four most…
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Testosterone too low? Hormones and Histamine
Low testosterone (T) can show up in lab work regardless of sex and age. Symptoms include low energy, low libido, loss of muscle mass, mood changes and brain fog. This hormone plays an important role…
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What causes Heavy Cycles?
As women’s hormones shift, so do our cycles. The length can change to a shorter or longer cycle. Many women report a heavier or lighter flow. Let’s define what a heavy cycle looks like. A…
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What’s up with Hot Flashes?
Hot flashes and night sweats are fairly common, especially as women go through perimenopause and menopause. These vasomotor symptoms cause changes in skin temperature or colour. The amount of blood passing through a particular body…
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Histamine Intolerance & Your Hormones
Heard of Histamine Intolerance? It is a temporary immune response where too much histamine causes allergies and symptoms like swelling. Histamine itself is not bad. In fact it regulates stomach acid, brain function and helps…
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Weight Lifting Liberation
Weight lifting Takes Commitment Some of us have a choice to do it. Others have been holding up very heavy weights that hurt them since before they were born. If we can do our own…
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Losing Your Hair Over This? Causes of Hair Loss
The follicles in our scalp have their own stress response. In times of high stress they go into a resting phase. No new hair grows and shedding occurs. If you are noticing excess hair loss…
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Perimenopause: Not for the Weak
Perimenopause is a reverse puberty that occurs as women approach menopause in our forties and fifties. Changes occur for every gender and we need to be kind to one another. The definition of menopause is…
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Resilient Through Menopause
Feeling graceful and happy through menopause is possible! Lifestyle factors are key players and it’s never too early to start. Maintaining a healthy amount of muscle is a very smart thing to do. Eighty percent…
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PMS and the Pill
Women can experience a wide range of symptoms during the phase when hormones are high. PMS describes this time at the end of each monthly cycle before menstruation. The Pill is offered to women for…
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Hormonal IUD’s: The Pros and Cons
Hormonal IUD’s are offered to women with heavy or painful cycles. This hormonal type of IUD reduces menstrual flow and can reduce pain. It is a lower dose of hormone but don’t be fooled because…
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Ovulation is a Super Power
Why Ovulate? Ovulation produces hormones that have many health benefits for women. The surge of estrogen in the first part of our cycle and the even bigger surge of progesterone two weeks after ovulation are…
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Is Endometriosis Caused by Infections?
Immunity is the Root Endometriosis is not yet widely understood as an immune disease. Treatment focuses on hormonal therapies instead of looking at the underlying bacterial and inflammatory factors. Bacterial and fungal infections from the…
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Phytoestrogens to Balance Hormones
Phytoestrogens are foods that interact with the estrogen receptors in our body. Isoflavones and lignans are two types found in specific seeds, plants and legumes. Although they won’t raise estrogen levels they do support hormone…
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Progesterone & GABA for Anxiety
Progesterone: the Peaceful Hormone Progesterone restores a sense of calm. For those balancing the responsibilities of home, work and family, progesterone helps you keep your cool. It acts on the gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) receptors in the…
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Dopamine for Thyroid & Cortisol Response
Dopamine is Like Caffeine Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is released from the pituitary gland. It acts like a hormone giving you a feeling of confidence, excitement, motivation and energy. When it is released you…
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Estrogen Isn’t the Enemy! Weight & Appetite
Estrogen Says ‘Eat Me!’ Every tissue in the body adores and wants some estrogen. Estrogen protects us from disease. It nourishes our brain and keeps our bones strong. And damn girl, estrogen is what makes…
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What you need to know about Estrogen Detoxification
Symptoms like breast tenderness, heavy or clotted cycles and fibroids are linked with excess estrogen in the body. In men, this can look like weight gain, erectile dysfunction, breast development or moodiness. So where does…
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Period Problems? 5 Steps that Help
Below are 4 of the most common period problems along with the 5 steps that can help. First, let me explain what I hear women talk about often when it comes to their cycle. 1….
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Low Libido? Find Out Why!
Getting your bounce back is possible. Low libido has many causes ranging from low testosterone or iron to body image dysmorphia, chronic stress, and hormone imbalance. The DUTCH Hormone Panel Functional lab testing is thorough…
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Shedding New Light on Endometriosis
What Is Endometriosis? Endometriosis happens when the endometrial tissue is found growing outside of the uterus. This tissue is shed each month during menstruation if it’s where it normally should be. When it spreads to…
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How to Fix Your Migraines
Migraines are common and disabling to people. They make up 5% of hospitalizations, and 20% of neurology consultations. Women experience them twice as much as men. Those with chronic migraines can end up relying on…
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What I Recommend for Birth Control & Fertility
Why I Have Never Used the Pill The most popular form of birth control in the industrialized world is the pill. Ninety-nine per cent of women have used this synthetic hormonal contraceptive at one time. Despite…
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Women are Saying No to the Pill
In the last decade, oral contraceptive usage has dropped. This suggests a collective desire to regain control of our bodies and health. Many women report headaches, weight gain, mood issues and a host of other…
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A Contraception Device Gone Wrong…Again
Don’t Let Bayer Into My Body Permanent sterilization by a procedure called Essure was approved by Health Canada in 2001. It was sold in the US until just a few months ago when it was…
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Feeling Dismissed When it Comes to Your Hormones?
When it comes to their hormone health, visiting a doctor is the last thing many women want to do. Why is this? Writer Maya Dusenbery explains why in her new book called “Doing Harm”. I came…
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Fix PMS Yourself
PMS affects at least 75% of women. That’s right, the majority of women are feeling it. Of these some suffer more than others. Twenty percent of women with PMS require regular interventions with medication. Eight…
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Surprise! Vitamin D & Hormones
As we head into the darker months many people begin to supplement with vitamin D. In many cases this is a good step in maintaining mood, immune and bone health. In fact many people don’t…
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Why Birth Control isn’t the Answer
Birth control or oral contraceptive pills are given out for everything. If you have unexplained heavy cycles, skin issues or experience PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome) your doctor will likely prescribe birth control. Why is this a…
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Success with PCOS
Over this past year I’ve been working with PCOS patients. Nearly always there is an underlying blood sugar dysregulation, gut issue, inflammation and hormone imbalance. Thyroid can be implicated as well especially if autoimmunity is…
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12 Tips for Radiant Skin
Skin issues like acne, exzema, psoriasis, keratosis polaris, and rosacea are common. In fact, 40% of adults have keratosis polaris characterized by rough, dry skin. How can conventional medicine discount diet in the treatment of…
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Why Belly Fat?
Why Belly Fat? This is a question I often get from patients. It’s an imbalance of hormones beginning with our stress hormones and involving insulin. When we get stressed we either overeat or under-eat and…
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Fatigue? Anxiety? Insomnia? Could be Iron Deficiency
I see a patients every week with iron deficiency who don’t know it. Standard blood work isn’t enough. In this article I’ll explain why. There are several markers that help us understand why iron…
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New Research on Fertility
Both women and men want to optimize health prior to conception. Addressing underlying health concerns at this time is ideal. Pregnancy, birth and caring for an infant is a time of joy. It also requires…
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4 Steps to Hormone Balance
I often hear from female patients that they have been prescribed oral contraceptives without hormone testing. Perimenopause, low libido and even depression or skin issues can be rooted in an imbalance. Why not test to…
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Understand Your Hormones to Feel Great Again
Get to Know Your Body Fatigue, depression, and irritability can caused by a hormone imbalance. Getting to know the key players can help. Hormones rule our brain, bone and heart health. I’ll explain a little…
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Blood Sugar Regulation for PCOS
What is PCOS? Polycystic ovarian syndrome affects 10% of North American women in their child-bearing years. It’s the leading cause of infertility and is on the rise. Syndromes are a group of symptoms that conventional…
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What You Need to Know about Heavy Cycles
Hormones 101 First things first: Birth control is NOT the only solution for heavy cycles! In fact, when it comes right down to it, birth control is more of a band-aid than a solution. Are…
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6 Ways to Live Cleaner & Reduce Chemicals
Reduce Your Chemical Exposure I hear the word genetics used to describe conditions that we can’t control. It’s true that there’s is a lot we have no control of. When it comes to genetics we…
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the Root of Postpartum Depression
Anemia & Insomnia Sleep in pregnancy is important. It’s often the last uninterrupted sleep for months or even years. In counselling psychology, the cause of most postpartum depression is understood as a combination of insomnia…
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Sleep is Essential. Especially for Parents of Small Children.
Mothers who experience insomnia are among those who suffer most. Years of interrupted sleep combined with the new lifestyle requires a certain kind of strength. Luckily our evolutionary wisdom gave mom’s super powers in the…
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Nutrients to Nourish Dry Skin
Vitamin A & D Skin issues like acne, eczema, psoriasis, keratosis polaris and rosacea are common. In fact, 40% of adults in the developed world have keratosis polaris. Dry skin is a common complaint in…
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Regular Carbohydrate for Hormone Health?
When you skip a meal or eat inconsistently in other ways your body has to compensate. Several hormones are involved including insulin, cortisol and thyroid. Cortisol has an important anti-inflammatory function. Insulin is involved and…
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Replacement Model for Hormones
Activities that include social time and play are ideal. Any kind of movement helps manage stress and hormone balance. Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) affects 90% of women at some point. In 25% of these cases clinical…
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When is Intermittent Fasting Good?
Blood sugar & the HPA Axis Intermittent fasting is normal part of our genetic and evolutionary history. Times of feast and famine are a part of many if not all cultures. It’s a hormetic stressor,…
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Hormones 101
Pregnenalone Our endocrine system has several glands, enzymes, hormones that work together in a complex system of negative feedback loops. Pregnenolone is the precursor to many of our hormone pathways. It requires cholesterol and an…
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Four Steps to a Long and Pleasurable Life
When the Body Speaks The body generally tells us what we need to know. Often this occurs more readily when we are injured or sick. These interruptions to our daily life force us to tune…
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