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Sara Gottfried MD
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Sara Gottfried MD
  • Home
  • About Dr Sara
    • Media
    • Contact
  • Books
    • Women, Food, and Hormones
    • Younger
    • Brain Body Diet
    • Hormone Reset Diet
    • The Hormone Cure
  • Upcoming Events
  • Blog
    • Recipes
    • Women’s Health
    • Hormones
    • Weight Loss
    • Cleanse
    • Stress Management

Posts by Dr. Sara and David Gottfried

Kickstarting Health in the Gottfried Home: Our Morning Rituals

By Dr. Sara and David Gottfried | December 11, 2017

Do you race out of bed to get your morning caffeine, or do you meditate quietly for thirty minutes? Do you take the time to eat a nutritious breakfast, or consciously skip it as you rush out the door? What measurements or supplementation, if any, do you perform or take each morning? In the Gottfried…

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PRAISE

“For the first time in my adult life I feel that I have gained control over food. I feel healthier, look better and have gained an interest in making sure that what I am putting into my body is the best it can be. And I lost 10 pounds in all the right places.”

– Janice Lunde, Dr. Sara’s Detox Challenge Participant

“Dr. Sara is the height of excellence! She is incredibly knowledgeable and gives very generously of her time. I feel so blessed to have been able to work with her.”

– Yvonne Varah

“You don’t have to settle for being stressed out, binging on sugar and chocolate, and aging prematurely. Stop blaming yourself and step into sacred action. It’s your birthright. You can have the joyous, mission-driven life you want, and Dr. Sara is here to show us how.”

– Marci Shimoff, New York Times Bestselling Author of Happy for No Reason and Love for No Reason

“Dr. Gottfried offers powerful and effective tools for addressing the most difficult health issues facing women and men today. She is warm and kind and has so much experience to draw upon, it’s inspiring. Thank you Dr. S!”

– Cassandra Mick

“Dr. Sara Gottfried is a modern-day healer goddess if ever there was one, and she also happens to be a Harvard Medical School graduate and rigorous physician-scientist.”

– Christiane Northrup MD, author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom

“Dr. Gottfried’s book and detox came at a time when I was ready to give in to old age. Hot flashes, low energy and libido, weight gain, increasing blood pressure and cholesterol levels were unacceptable to me. I now know that hormone levels and what I eat are a huge influence on how I feel and look. To now be able to control something that was out of control is empowering…”

Cheryl V., Dr. Sara’s Detox Challenge Participant

“My health coach told me about your book and I took the [hormone] test, and lo and behold, I found I was a mess, hormonally speaking. Now I’m getting on track and I love your videos and your book. I feel like I’m getting my life back again, when not long ago I truly thought I was losing it!”

-Tracy, Registered Nurse

“You don’t have to accept the hormonal hell of being tired, stressed, overweight, and never in the mood for sex as you grow older. In her fabulous new book, the brilliant Dr. Gottfried gives you an effective, easy-to-follow plan to balance your hormones and become lean, energetic, and loving life again. Stop settling and reclaim your sexy!”

–JJ Virgin, Author of Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy and The Virgin Diet

“I lost 10 lbs., reset my hormones and metabolism and eliminated my sugar cravings! I have also found that I respond to stress much differently, I feel it, notice it and move on from it. Stress no longer has a grip on me. Dr. Sara’s conference calls and detox information was invaluable. I am so grateful for this program. Thank you Dr. Sara!”

–Sophia, Dr. Sara’s Detox Challenge Participant

“The Hormone Cure is the playbook for your mojo, your mind, and your bootie. With every chapter I thought, ‘So THAT’s how that works.’ I wanted to call every girlfriend and give them the goods on how to glow… now and always.”

-Danielle LaPorte, Author of The Fire Starter Sessions and The Desire Map

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Hair loss affects men and women. Today let’s tal Hair loss affects men and women. Today let’s talk women. 30% of women report serious hair loss by age thirty. By age 50, that statistic climbs to 50%. It’s a problem of both vanity and sanity. Sometimes hair loss is associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS, with high androgens), but more commonly, I find in women that the root cause is: 🔸low iron 🔸thyroid hormone imbalance 🔸insulin resistance To find a patient’s reason for hair loss, I order the full blood panel that includes: ◾Complete blood count ◾Ferritin - needs to be >40 to stabilize hair loss, and >70 for new hair growth). ◾TSH ◾Free T3 ◾Possibly reverse T3 ◾Cortisol ◾Fasting insulin ◾Blood glucose ◾Hemoglobin A1C ◾Testosterone (total and free) ◾Antinuclear antibody (can indicate if hair loss is auto-immune related) There are other nutrient gaps at the root of hair loss: essential fatty acids (try 1000mg of evening primrose oil) and lysine. For full details on these tests as well as protocols and supplements, see Chapter 8 in THE HORMONE CURE, also pages 377-378 Good news: you can often stop and even reverse the symptoms of hair loss once you balance your hormones. My advice is to try therapies aimed at the root cause of your hair loss first. You can also help hair loss with your fork: one study showed that 90 percent of women with thinning hair were deficient in iron and the amino acid lysine, which helps transport the iron that is essential for many metabolic processes. You can add lysine to your diet with foods rich in protein, such as meat and poultry, soy, eggs, cheese (especially Parmesan), and some fish (cod, sardines). Who has reversed their hair loss? Did you and your doctor find the root cause? . . . #thehormonecure #hairloss #hairlosstreatment #hairlosshelp #hairlosssolutions #hairlosssolution #hairlossremedy #hairlossspecialist #hairlossproblem #hairlosstips #hairlosstreatments #hairlossprevention #femalehairloss #hairlossawareness #hairlosssupport #hairlosswomen #pcoshairloss #womenshairloss #hairlossinwomen #thinninghair #hairthinning #healthyhair #thinninghairsolution #postpartumhairloss #healthyhairgrowth #malepatternbaldness #hightestosterone
Tomatoes. Healthy or should you avoid due to lecti Tomatoes. Healthy or should you avoid due to lectins and/or nightshades? Thank you @emlaurence for the great questions for @parade.media’s article on the benefits of tomatoes. Tomatoes are: 🍅High in vitamin C Vitamin C helps to: ◾Reduce elevated cortisol in athletes who drive up their cortisol levels with extreme workouts. ◾Increase progesterone. While we often think of declining estrogen as the hormone responsible for the hormonal havoc of women in perimenopause, it turns out that declining progesterone is the culprit. ◾Counteract free radicals that induce damage to cells. 🍅Rich in fiber With their comparatively high water content, tomatoes are a good source of fiber. We need fiber to ensure daily bowel movements. Hormone metabolites (what’s left when hormones are broken down by the down) are eliminated from your body through your stool and urine. 🍅I include tomatoes in the protocols and recipes in WOMEN, FOOD, AND HORMONES because they are low-glycemic fruits that are less likely to knock you out of ketosis. 👉What about the lectins? Nightshades? Lectins are chemicals that aren’t broken down in the digestive system and bind to the lining of your intestines, causing damage to microvilli. This damage allows your intestines to become somewhat permeable (“leaky gut”) and the escaped food particles cause your body to mount an immune system response to these foreign invaders it doesn’t recognize causing chronic inflammation in the body. For this reason, I often get asked whether the lectin content in tomatoes negates their benefits and should be avoided. I would advise individuals with increased sensitivity to the effects of lectins, for example, those with signs of chronic inflammation or autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, to avoid tomatoes. There is evidence to suggest that cooking, such as boiling or stewing, can inactivate most lectins. Nightshades are members of the Solanaceae (Solanum) family, and tomatoes are a nightshade. Nightshades can trigger the immune system and cause inflammation in some. Head to the link in my bio to read about all the other benefits of 🍅🍅 . . . #womenfoodhormones #cherrytomatoes
Easy access to an overabundance of food is so rece Easy access to an overabundance of food is so recent that our body hasn’t caught up with the changes and is struggling to cope with, and even dying from, the excess of food we feed it each day. 👉Our DNA has not evolved to handle the current cycle of eating that includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner with snacks in between. Our body is designed to expertly handle a scarcity of food and offers awe-inspiring systems that spring into action when food is in short supply — wise mechanisms that allow it to continue to function well until the next meal arrives. We are genetically programmed for metabolic rest for 12-18 hours overnight, which is why I am a fan of intermittent fasting (IF).Skip back to the previous post for my top reasons to try IF. For those that had questions about how to get started or what to do if there are thyroid or adrenal issues, here are my answers: 🟡To start, try fasting once a week to get your body used to the process. The best way to do this is to stop eating at dinner time and then start eating again at 10 am the following day. Most of the time you are sleeping so you can do this. I recommend that women start slowly at first and ramp up to a 12-hour fast with a 12-hour eating window, then move to a 14-hour fast with a 10-hour eating window, and from there to 16-8. 🟡If you have thyroid issues, Hashimoto's in particular, you may be concerned about blood sugar. Ultimately, IF helps blood sugar swings. But the key as always is to listen to your body. Start slow, ramp up step by step. If you don't feel right, then you may need to address the root cause first instead of simultaneously. 🟡For those who asked about IF and high cortisol and adrenal issues, my answer again is to listen to your body. You can track your blood sugar and ketones to see how your body is responding to intermittent fasting. 🟡What about exercising while intermittently fasting? When people are first beginning, you may need to perform exercises such as yoga or Pilates on your intermittent fast days.⠀ ⠀ Like, save, and share😍 . . . #womenfoodhormones #intermittentfasting #intermittentfastingresults #intermittentfasting16hours #168fasting
Of all the programs I have utilized with thousands Of all the programs I have utilized with thousands of patients in my clinic over twenty-five years, time-restricted eating, also known as intermittent fasting, is the easiest behavioral modification to encourage weight loss, especially for women. Keep it simple: close your kitchen after dinner to create an approximate fourteen-to-sixteen-hour window during which you shift into fat-burning, insulin-optimizing mode. And don’t forget that most of the fasting occurs while you sleep. Here are my top reasons why I love intermittent fasting: 🔸Helps to regulate insulin and blood glucose levels. When you’re overweight or skinny fat (normal weight but you have too much fat mass), insulin becomes imbalanced and your cells become numb to the hormone. As a result, you experience blood sugar highs and lows, and you store fat because your glucose regulator is broken. Insulin isn’t working and weight loss efforts are off track. 🔸Positive impact on reversing weight gain. I see this in real life with my patients in my practice. 🔸Slows down aging. This benefit is tied closely to the promotion of autophagy. Intermittent fasting triggers autophagy, the process by which the body cleans out the junk in your cells that gunks up cellular function and can accelerate aging. 🔸Turns white fat brown. White fat, particularly in your belly, where it’s called visceral fat, puts you at greater risk for diabetes and heart disease. Fat deposited in your belly is biochemically different than fat elsewhere; it makes an inflammatory brew of bad chemicals that causes you to age faster than someone who has only minimal visceral fat. Brown fat is the virtuous one, the fat that burns calories and generates heat. 🔸Improves the health of your gut. IF has been shown to reshape gut microbiota in favor of obesity-protective bacteria, and contributes to microbiota diversity, a universal hallmark of health. 🔸Reduces breast cancer risk. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting reduces the risk of breast cancer and other cancers. If you practice IF, tell me what you love about it👇 . . . #womenfoodhormones #intermittentfasting #intermittentfastingresults #intermittentfasting16hours
Did you read my previous post about my CGM? This l Did you read my previous post about my CGM? This little wearable helped me fix my prediabetes, become metabolically flexible, and lose 25 extra pounds of mostly fat. The 3 tenets of the Gottfried Protocol described in my book WOMEN, FOOD, AND HORMONES are: ◾️detoxification ◾️nutritional ketosis ◾️intermittent fasting 👉Detoxification Women commonly experience problems when trying keto, and activating the body’s detoxification pathways first can prevent them. Detoxification clears out your liver and eliminates any recirculating, tired hormones that are clogging up your metabolism. 👉Nutritional ketosis You enter nutritional ketosis when you follow a food plan that is low in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and high in fat. In my book, I have adjusted the classic ketogenic diet to make it more effective at restoring insulin levels in women and helping them lose weight. Success on a ketogenic diet is multifaceted — part of it is psychological. The diet’s fat-burning power often results in weight loss, improved lean body mass, and increased metabolic rate in a short time, which in turn inspires continuing adherence to the plan and then more improved outcomes. 👉Intermittent fasting This type of fasting means you don’t eat for twelve to twenty-four hours in a single day. Data show that intermittent fasting is particularly effective at encouraging weight loss because it improves the balance of many hormones (including insulin, ghrelin, leptin, and afternoon cortisol) and leads to metabolic switching. 🔁Metabolic switching is when you use fasting and other techniques to suppress insulin and glucose to a level that triggers a switch from burning carbohydrates to burning fat in the body. Fasting helps regulate inflammation, increases brain function so you feel sharper, lowers blood pressure, and may modulate leptin so you feel more satisfied. I’ve found intermittent fasting to be extremely effective in aiding women over the age of thirty-five to lose fat and feel better; about 95 percent of my patients are successful at it. Find more details in my latest book in my bio link. . . .#womenfoodhormones #metabolichealth #metabolicflexibility #metabolicswitching
This little quarter-sized white dot on my upper ar This little quarter-sized white dot on my upper arm is the best wearable I’ve ever tried. Right now, half of us use wearables. In about 7 years, it will be close to 100%, and half will be implantable, like this one. It’s a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and I’ve worn one for four years. When I first began, I was prediabetic. Fasting glucose 105-120 mg/dL. That’s even more dangerous in women than men in terms of future heart disease. But men need it too, so you can see what happens when you have a burger, fries, and a beer 😳 I’d eat a sweet potato or make a protein shake with apple, and my glucose would spike past 140 mg/dL. Not good. I was hungry all the time and craved carbs. Stressed, cranky, foggy, blech. And heading toward metabolic disaster, like a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, known as type 3 diabetes (which runs in my family). I performed a metabolic detox as described in my new book. #linkinbio It worked. Detox + clean keto + intermittent fasting = metabolic flexibility Now I burn fat when needed, and carb up about once every 3-5 days when I need more carbs for metabolism. It keeps me sleeping well, helps my thyroid, and boosts my serotonin levels. And I lost 25 pounds. It’s a side benefit of improving your spikyness with glucose. When I see patients, I’m typically fasting and producing ketones from burning fat so that I’m mentally sharp. Questions? Did you read my book and try it yourself? Like, save, and share with an accountability buddy who can help you re-establish metabolic health 💕
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