Women’s Health
How Oxalates Affect Your Gut, Urinary Tract, and Risk of Autoimmune Conditions
In personalized lifestyle medicine, sometimes one person’s superfood is another person’s poison. Such is the case with oxalates, which are found in high concentrations in many presumed health foods. Once I started testing, I realized that many of my patients were experiencing the downstream consequences of excess oxalate intake, usually in the form of green…
Read MoreWomen and Addictive Tendencies: Food and Alcohol
We live in a culture of partial truths when it comes to food and alcohol. We tend to exaggerate our assets and minimize our liabilities. I used to do it too. I would go out on a Friday night and feel like a rock star after a few drinks, and not be honest about the…
Read MoreAlzheimer’s Disease: The Sex-Related and Gender-Related Differences
We used to think that developing Alzheimer’s disease was inevitable, but that is no longer the case. Personalized lifestyle medicine has been shown in a case series led by UCLA professor Dale Bredesen, M.D. to reverse Alzheimer’s disease. But there is one important fact that is often overlooked: the disease shows up, progresses, and is…
Read MoreStroke, Toxins, and Women
You may never think of stroke. You may not think you’re at risk, that it’s a problem that occurs in older people, like grandparents. Certainly, it’s not a health risk for you. Turns out that strokes are on the rise among millennials. According to the Centers for Disease Control, strokes among women ages eighteen to…
Read MoreWomen, Perimenopause, and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Call to Action
When your hormones go down in your forties, your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease go up. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for half of the cases. AD is a progressive brain/body disorder characterized by gradual memory loss, nerve cell loss, dysfunction of connections between nerve cells (synapses), and…
Read MoreWhat Is Biohacking and Why Try It?
Biohacking is the method of applying targeted lifestyle changes to optimize your body’s biology. The point is to leverage every means possible—genetic, biochemical, psychological, emotional, spiritual—toward a specific goal, usually to feel your best and most productive. What differentiates biohacking from other health strategies is that it involves rigorous self-testing, such as with direct-to-consumer testing…
Read MorePerimenopause & Menopause: How to Balance Your Hormones Naturally
Perimenopause is rough on many women. Menopause too. As a woman, one’s sense of equanimity can feel under attack starting in your forties, sometimes earlier. As your ovaries start to run out of ripe eggs, progesterone drops, and it’s harder to soothe yourself. Cravings increase. Many women, myself included, feel less stress resilient. Then there’s…
Read MoreWhat Happens to Our Hormones After 35
Women, we have it tough. Once we hit our thirties, our hormones just can’t take it anymore. Balance becomes elusive. Mood swings become normal. And our family and friends want to avoid us 90 percent of the time. What gives? Are we doomed to the wild ride leading up to and through menopause? Hormonal…
Read MoreThe How-Tos of At-Home Hormone Testing
Many people ask me about self-testing for hormone imbalances. Doing these tests can be insightful and shed light on any particular issues. At-home testing is just one way to take the reins over your medical destiny, learn about the state of your general health, glean important information about how to alter your lifestyle to impact…
Read MoreScreening Recommendations for Chronic Disease
Quick blog today to review the screening recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force. I often get asked how often someone should get their Pap smear or blood sugar checked. I don’t agree with all of their recommendations, but I appreciate that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is an independent, volunteer panel of…
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