Keep these ten protein sources stocked in your kitchen to ensure clean protein is ready for all of your meals.

Perimenopausal weight gain is a real thing.

This is a fact.

It's common for weight gain to start a few years before menopause, during the time known as perimenopause. Weight gain often continues at about the rate of 1.5 pounds each year as a woman goes through her 50s.

When I meet with women to discuss the potential risks and benefits of menopausal hormone therapy - fear of weight gain with estrogen therapy is common.

But is this fear valid?

Protein is a fundamental component of a healthy diet - but how much protein do you really need? In this blog, I outline how minimal RDA protein recommendations are not optimal and provide calculations I use with my patients to estimate their protein needs.

Research shows that eating more protein reduces hip fracture risk in women.

Are you setting health and wellness goals for the New Year? Do you have resolutions to start healthier habits?

If so, let’s increase your chances of success by starting with your MINDSET.

Stress is a fact of life. Short-term stress is normal and helps us deal with immediate challenges. Our stress response is managed by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system, which release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol when faced with stress. This response is vital for survival and maintaining balance in the body - however, chronic stress, lasting for a long time, can harm our health, affecting mental health, the heart, immune system, digestion, cognitive function, and energy levels.

As discussed in my previous blog, chronic elevation of the stress hormone cortisol is one of the most significant root causes of health issues in many of my clients. It can have long-term effects on many aspects of health and well-being, including metabolism, sleep, brain, and mood.

Have you ever thought about what’s actually creating stress in your body? It might not be what you think.

If you want to train your body to be more resilient to stress (so it doesn’t have so much control over your life), it helps to understand stress hormones. There are 2 stress hormones I want you to know about: Cortisol & Adrenaline (also called Epinephrine).

Strengthening our immune defenses becomes paramount during these chilly months. In addition to good sleep, regular exercise, and improving gut health, one effective strategy for immune support is to incorporate targeted nutrients into our daily routines.

In May 2022, I was diagnosed with an early-stage breast cancer, detected by a routine screening mammogram. I chose to undergo a skin-sparing double mastectomy with reconstruction in late June 2022 and spent the summer recovering. Fortunately, the cancer was caught very early, and I was given an excellent prognosis without chemotherapy.

You can teach your brain to form new connections: to strengthen pathways that serve you and weaken pathways that don’t. This is called neuroplasticity.

You have the power to retrain your brain! Think of it like rewiring. You can teach your brain to form new connections: to strengthen pathways that serve you and weaken pathways that don’t. It’s called neuroplasticity.

Many common symptoms may be caused by food sensitivities, including fatigue, headaches, irritable bowel, brain fog, joint pain, weight gain, rashes and more.

What causes food sensitivities? The answer lies in your gut.

While there are many factors that can contribute to illness, perhaps none are more important than FOOD. I see it with patients every day - the food that you eat has an immediate and significant impact on the way that you feel.

We are finally here! The thick of summer - this is what we dream about all year long!

This time of year we are often packing our days with activities and extending our nights longer than the rest of the year. It can be difficult to maintain healthy habits! One of the best ways to stay on track? Focus on PROTEIN.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, is a serious women’s health issue—affecting more women than men and even leading to increased procedures like hysterectomy or ovarian surgery.

Are you fighting a sluggish metabolism? The types of FATS you consume may be to blame, and a new study proves it. What you need to know is there are 2 driving forces behind an aging metabolism: Insulin Resistance and Chronic Inflammation. And also that we have loads of ways to reverse these things!

Digestive enzymes are the superheroes behind our digestive process. They are specialized proteins that break down complex food molecules into smaller, more manageable components that our bodies can absorb and utilize effectively.

There are many points in the digestive process where enzymes are released and activated.

In my 20+ years of practicing medicine, I have often found stress levels in my patients to be higher in May - especially for those with school-aged children. The problem with letting all that stress get to you is that higher levels of stress hormones can really MESS with your other hormones! The Stress-Hormone connection is REAL - and it’s a vicious cycle. As I often discuss with my patients, hormones “dance” with one another. When one set of hormones becomes imbalanced - this is likely to wreak havoc on other hormones.

Selenium doesn’t often get the limelight, but it should! Selenium is a trace mineral that incorporates into body proteins (called selenoproteins) that play a role in immune function, thyroid hormones, reproductive health, and more.