Almost every woman experiences a hormone imbalance at some point in her life, whether it's PMS, perimenopause, or menopause, and some women are unlucky enough to deal with all three! You don't need to suffer! Hormone imbalances can be corrected when your levels are tested correctly (with a saliva test) and treated correctly with bio-identical hormones, nutrition, supplements, and lifestyle changes. For more information, please call us at 208-433-9188 or visit our website by clicking here.

‘Twas two days before Christmas
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In the News: Artificially Sweetened Beverages Increase Risk for Stroke and Coronary Heart Disease in Menopausal Women

Read the article here: https://tinyurl.com/y3l8esnw

The Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study followed over 81,000 women for almost 12 years.  They have found some interesting trends as the numbers have been crunched.  This latest study was published on February 14, 2019 in the medical journal, Stroke.

Postmenopausal women who consumed two or more artificially sweetened beverages per day had a statistically significant increased risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, and all-cause mortality.  In obese women who had a BMI of 30 or higher, that risk went up even more.

“Artificially sweetened beverages may not be harmless and high consumption is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart disease,” one of the authors said in a statement.

Here’s my conclusion: Get rid of artificial sweeteners!  This is just one piece of evidence pointing to what natural medicine practitioners have been saying for years.  These chemicals are not meant for our bodies.  They do more harm than good.  Let’s all say “so long” to sucralose!  Adios, aspartame!

More than two thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. As the American waistline increases so does the epidemic of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. The link between decreasing testosterone levels associated with these syndromes is well established in the scientific literature: men with diabetes have significantly lower levels of serum (blood) testosterone when compared with men without diabetes; as well men in the lowest levels of free testosterone have a four-fold increased risk of having diabetes when compared with men in the highest levels of free testosterone. We don’t know the exact mechanism between insulin resistance and low testosterone in men. Visceral adiposity (belly fat) also plays a role where the enzyme aromatase can convert testosterone into estrogen, which also decreases testosterone levels.

A recent study suggests that another mechanism may have a direct impact on testosterone levels: sugar consumption. A study with 74 men between the ages of 19-34 looked at the impact of 75g of glucose on serum (blood) total and free testosterone levels in men with varying glucose tolerance. Glucose ingestion was associated with a 25% decrease in mean testosterone levels regardless of glucose tolerance or BMI, and remained suppressed for 120 minutes. What is 75g of glucose equivalent to in real food terms? A can of Coca Cola has 75g, a McDonald’s M&M McFlurry has 84.8g, a cup of low-fat fruit yogurt has 46.7g, a Clif Z bar has 30g and a pumpkin spice latte (grande) has 50g of sugar. It’s easy to see how regular sugar consumption alone can add up to perpetually suppressed testosterone levels in men.

So what does this mean?  If you are concerned about your testosterone level, decrease or eliminate your sugar consumption.  Everyone knows we should eat less sugar, and here is one more reason we should do so.

Then have your testosterone levels measured with a saliva test, and be treated accordingly with physiologic dosing of bio-identical hormones, along with lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise.

Belly breathing.  When I was in Nurse Practitioner school, if someone told me that I would spend a good portion of my time with patients talking about breathing, I probably would have laughed at them.  But here I am, talking about breathing every day.  And now, I’m even blogging about it!

I'm planning a digital detox.  Read about my guidelines and join my social experiment!

Stress.  It affects all of us.  It might be work.  It might be your finances.  It might be traffic.  It happens every day, every hour.  Think about what causes you stress.  Now think about what you do to manage your stress on a daily basis.  I spend a good part of my day talking to my patients about stress management.  One of those stress busters is exercise.

There's a new study out to add to the debate about testosterone replacement therapy in men and heart disease.  Does it increase or decrease the risk of heart disease?

February is Heart Health Month.  Do you know the symptoms of a heart attack in women are often different than the syptoms in men?