Have you endured a deep level of emotional or physical stress for a long period of time? Has it affected your mental or physical health? Have those stressors left you feeling depleted and exhausted?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, I wrote this blog for you. Actually, I wrote it for me also, as a reminder that we all fall off the self-care wagon from time to time.

I feel like a broken record when I say most of us are living our lives at an unsustainable speed, in a world that does not encourage rest and homeostasis. I see it on a daily basis in my practice. We are working longer hours, not getting enough sleep, eating food that is over processed and devoid of nutrients, often while caring for others when we are not at work. Without proper self-care, this level of stress alone is a burden to the body that will leave us exhausted and strained. If the universe adds on a double whammy in the form of a job change, divorce, injury, death of a loved one, etc., you better believe that you are going to need some serious self nurturing to keep your super human head above water!

 Your gut is your gateway to

health or illness and what you put

in your body is the key.

You house an incredible 25 feet of intestines! This is where you absorb your nutrients from food, make your feel good neurotransmitters and where a vast network of immune cells and nerve cells reside. When your gut isn’t working properly, it affects every system in the body from your brain to your hormones and immune system.  

Every year, people go to their health care provider to get their annual checkup and along with that checkup comes a CBC/CMP/blood workup. These are the panels that your health care provider uses to screen for health issues and its what I see the most frequently when meeting with new clients. 

It’s quite common for people in my office to note that they don’t "feel like themselves" and yet they had their annual blood workup done and their doctor said everything appears within the “normal” range.

I had a couple of interesting appointments last week...

A woman came to see me covered in a red rash complaining of inflamed joints. She shared with me that her whole body felt “totally off.” Her doctor had run a couple of standard lab panels, and yet, the only bandaid that he could give her for her joint pain was a prescription for steroids. This woman was clearly dealing with symptoms associated with an autoimmune situation yet her doctor mentioned nothing about diet or any natural anti-inflammatory support.

A young woman in her early 30s reached out to me who had stopped cycling and had high cholesterol levels. Her provider had put her on statins to lower her cholesterol and offered a prescription for birth control pills to help "regulate the cycle." The dietary advice given was to consume a low-fat diet as well.  He had not taken into consideration the fact that the body uses cholesterol to make steroid hormones and was giving her medication to suppress the cholesterol, thereby reinforcing the issue. 

The joys of summer are finally here!

This is the time to pay attention to your magnesium levels as we spend time in the sun playing and sweating.

I like to rev up my magnesium during the summer months as the loss of electrolytes can disrupt magnesium stores and can cause adrenal fatigue if left unchecked.

Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup medjool dates soaked

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cardamon

1-1 1/2 cups mashed avocado

1/2 cup cacoa powder

1/2 cup water

The ability to enjoy, perceive, sense and experience life is dictated by the firing rate and health of your brain. It is impossible for a person to become healthy mentally or physiologically without a healthy brain.

– Datis Kharrazian, DC, MS

I live in Northern California in a coastal town surrounded by vineyards and pot farms. Most people who live in the “Emerald Triangle” have been steeped in the medicinal properties of cannabis for decades now, but truth be told, the medicinal use of cannabis predates recorded history.

I am not a cannabis user; however, I jumped onto the CBD bandwagon after I experienced the profound anti-inflammatory, sleep-inducing, and pain relieving herbal compound for myself. But don’t take my word for it, the CBD industry reported 518 million dollars in 2018 and is projected to reach 22 billion dollars by 2022. It is quite clear that with the legalization of cannabis across the US, this plant is going to continue to grow in its popularity and its medicinal uses are likely to expand exponentially as well.

Do you constantly feel like you are juggling too many things at once? Does your sleep and energy feel off? Is weight gain an issue regardless of exercise?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are most likely dealing with imbalanced cortisol levels.

In todays society, I believe the pace of life is unsustainable. Most women my age can relate to “wonder woman syndrome” which is merely a term that describes the predicament of woman who are raising children, working or running their own businesses and taking care of everyone and everything in between. Quite frankly, the speed of life’s requirements leave most everyone overworked and exhausted. While our bodies are designed to whether high stress levels temporarily, we are not designed to operate on all cylinders at all times. This will lead to sky high cortisol which invariably leads to adrenal fatigue.

Most people interested in growing old gracefully agree that supporting brain health and preventing cognitive decline is a priority if they want to live a long and healthy life.

In this day and age, neurodegenerative disease is at an all time high, making it a necessity to put in place as much cognitive support as you can, as early as possible, to offset the chances of developing neurodegenerative disease. While most people reading this may feel too young to have to think about Alzheimers or Parkinsons, research shows that neurodegenerative disease can plague a person for up to 20 years BEFORE they even receive any traditional

symptoms of neurodegeneration. My experience has taught me that an ounce of prevention is much better than a pound of cure!

Thanks to the groundbreaking research that has been done in the field of neuroscience, it is now a well known fact that some of the first telltale signs of poor cognitive health show up with poor sleep patterns.

Did you know that you have

a wandering nerve in your body that is

the boss of your nervous system?

Did you know that inflammation, and the ability to bond, and go to the bathroom is directly influenced by this nerve function?

In functional medicine, research now shows that this nerve may be a missing link to treating chronic inflammation, and new medical technologies are creating a field of treatment using vagal nerve stimulation that leaves the use of medication in the dust. 

Flu season is like the energizer bunny,

it keeps going and going.

I’m finding that along with the spring rain comes a new deluge of viral and bacterial illnesses. As a parent with three children in school, our family get an extra large dosage of germs so I have to be diligent in supporting my families immunity from winter through the spring.

Your internal ecology

is the key to your health.

I liken this ecology to a rainforest, existing in symbiotic harmony with the creatures and plants that live there.

With a balanced ecosystem, life exists as nature intended, reflecting a healthy terrain. However, when the ecosystem goes out of balance due to environmental changes, disruption often occurs causing damage.

The end result of this disruption manifests as new species of plants and animals not indigenous to the area move in and take over the weaker or less dominant plants and animals. The long term results ultimately create a process that can set the stage for imbalance and disease.

The first partial lunar eclipse on August 7th has cracked open the door to Autumn. While Autumn is still technically a few weeks away, I can see and feel the beginnings of the shift. Huckleberries and windy walks on carpets of pine needles are some of the signals of fall in my neck of the woods. My studies with Ayurveda have taught me the importance of tuning into the seasonal shifts as they are pivotal influences that effect our health and wellbeing. Ayurveda is one of the oldest systems of healing known today and was founded on principles that involve working with the elements found both in nature and the body. Ayurveda stresses the importance of supporting the doshas (energies) in the body throughout the seasons. The season of Autumn is captured by the elements of Ether and Air. These qualites stimulate the dosha: vata. Vata is similar to the wind: (cold and dry) and quite variable. 

The energy of the vata dosha is best supported with warmth, introspection and quiet. This makes fall the perfect time to create rhythms and routines that support more internal activites. It is also ideal to support the body with warming, nourishing foods to help offset imbalances brought about with the wind and the cold.

Colostrum has a lengthy history of therapeutic uses and benefits. Known best as natures “first food”, I first came across its use while studying Ayurveda.

In India, Ayurvedic physicians have used colostrum for thousands of years to help heal the body and enhance longevity. It is also used by India’s Rishis (spiritual teachers) as an exception to their vegan diet, for its spiritual and physiological benefits.

In Europe, colostrum has been a traditional folk remedy and tonic. In the United States, conventional doctors have consistently used colostrum as a natural antibiotic prior to the introduction of sulfa drugs and penicillin and in the 1950s colostrum was implemented in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. It was also used in 1950 by Dr Albert Sabin, (the researcher who developed the first oral vaccine for poliomyelitis) who found that colostrum contained antibodies against polio.

Healthy steroid hormones make a healthy happy body. Just ask anyone who is exhausted, looking to shed some resistant weight and reboot their sex drive... are their hormones happy? Probably not. Growth, reproduction, sleep and energy production are all byproducts of steroid hormone production. When the body is strong and healthy, it is likely that hormones are balanced and working for you. When our bodies go out of balance from influences such as too much stress, chemicals in the environment and poor nutrition, symptoms such as weight issues, adrenal dysfunction, PMS, estrogen dominance, thyroid issues, dwindling sex drive and sleep problems can wreak havoc on your life. The art of keeping your hormones balanced with nutrition and detoxification support is of utmost importance in this day and age. As we become more adept at biohacking our bodies physiology for better health, not only is it possible to change our chemistry, it will ultimately support a better quality of life as we age.

We are living, breathing biomes. Our biomes make up an inner ecosystem that determines our health and we rely on thousands of bacterial and yeast species to help ensure that we receive the correct building blocks to make the nutrients we need to survive and thrive. In order to get the correct nutrients, our "inner ecosystems" needs to be kept in balance, and when we disturb our inner ecosystems with poor diet, stress and infection, an overgrowth of "unfriendly" microorganisms can lead to imbalance and sickness.

Candida is one of those problematic "carbohydrate loving" yeasts that is commonly viewed in TCM (traditional Chinese medicine)  as a "damp" condition that leads to an imbalanced gut. Candida may be triggered by infection, an over consumption of grains and sugar, antibiotics, etc. Ultimately, if the system is out of balance, Candida can cause all sorts of imbalance in the body and it usually doesn’t leave quietly. Alan Levin, a prominent immunologist from University of California states that “One out of three Americans is adversely affected by candida.” This may be surprising to some, but this single celled organism can monopolize entire bodily systems quickly causing major damage. As a FDN practitioner, with a focus on digestive health I believe that this is a necessary and key component to address when healing the gut.

After completing a year long training in Holistic Nutrition Labs for Full Body Systems with Andrea Nakayama, I decided to take my hormone health into my own hands and took part in my first hormone detox training program offered through the reproductive holistic nutrition lab program.

Due to the fact that hormonal imbalance is extremely common in this day and age with both women and men, I wanted to share my experience in hope that it might benefit others.

 Some of the most common signs of hormone imbalance include: PMS, fatigue, acne, weight gain, irregular periods, mood swings, night sweats, blood sugar imbalances, thyroid disorders, infertility, hair loss, brain fog, etc. These are issues that can start at any point sometimes as early as puberty and continue all the way through life when left unaddressed.

In this day and age most people operate at full speed on all cylinders from morning until night.

The momentum needed to keep everything going as we work and raise families can leave us “wired and tired”.

As a result, the circadian rhythm that governs the natural cycles of the body can go awry. One of the end results of this tail spin can show up in our sleep patterns. So its not surprising that when it comes to decompressing at night time, nearly 1/3 of Americans are sleep deprived. That means they struggle to get to sleep, stay asleep and wake up refreshed.

If you are a parent you probably know well or remember, keeping up with the boundless energy of a young child. From the first light of day until bedtime little children have the ability to effortlessly run circles around grownups. Similar to little energizer batteries...”they keep going and going and going”. The truth is that the energy levels of human beings are directly representative of the energy inside their cells. For within the cells structure are little “energizer batteries” called mitochondria, designed perfectly to support energy production. However, as our bodies age, our mitochondrial function goes down and our energy levels decrease as a result.

With that in mind, what would your life look like if you could increase and fine tune your cellular “powerhouse” energy so that you could live a more youthful energetic existence? Would you need coffee in the morning or afternoon or stimulants throughout the day? Would you start exercising again or spend more time doing the things that bring you joy?

Growing up in the woods of Northern California I have had the great privilege of experiencing mushrooms growing in the wild and as a result I developed a deep appreciation for these intelligent life forms. Despite the fact that mushrooms have been used for thousands of years both as food and as medicine, mushrooms have an illusive nature perhaps due to the powerful qualities of medicine that they carry as well as the way they grow and exist in nature.

As an essential component of the “soil food web”, fungi break down decomposing matter to provide nourishment for organisms in the soil biome to feed on. The balance fungi brings to an ecosystem is akin to how its medicinal qualities work in the human body. When used for enhancing the health of the body, medicinal mushrooms are best known for their immunomodulating, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral properties.

As our seasons change from winter to spring, so do the internal mechanisms of our body. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), as spring brings cleansing rain to encourage new blossoms and green grown to occur, inside the body, the liver becomes more active and needs extra support and nourishment as well.

This makes spring an excellent time to “clean house” and give your liver some added support. I am personally taking this time to pay attention and support my liver and I can honestly tell you that the benefits are enormous! It clears the eyes, the skin and my body simply feels more resilient.

Neurogenesis is a new buzz word in the community of biohacking and there have been revolutionary discoveries in this new frontier regarding brain health.

I dove head first into this field of study two years ago while studying Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and recently devoured two books on brain health that have radically changed my perspective on the healing process. “Why isn’t my brain working?” by Dr. Datis Kharrazian explores the brain gut connection, and “Brain Maker” by Dr. David Perlmutter explores the microbiota and its connection to brain and body health.

Well the good news is, there are a multitude of ways we can support our brain function and neurogenesis may hold the key to optimizing and unlocking your brains longevity factor.

I was enrolled this last winter in a digestive intensive with Andrea Nakayama exploring the role of the gut in healing chronic illness. This topic hits very close to home for me as I have been working to strengthen my own families gut health for the past 5 years. This intensive provided an eye opening amount of detailed information pertaining to how we can heal this incredibly complex and interconnected system and why its such a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to healing the body. The truth of the matter is that, the gut is implicated in every single system in the body and 70% of all Americans dysfunction in their lifetime. So whether a person is dealing with depression, skin conditions, allergies, MS, autoimmune conditions, cancer, etc... it is simply impossible to address issues without taking a serious look at the workings of the gut.

My personal quest and question for the past 8 years has been: 

“How can I master my own health?”

After resurfacing from the dark depths of imbalance I find myself constantly striving to meet a new standard for radiant health that continues to awaken in me higher and higher levels of energy and stamina.

Ultimately, I believe that we are wired for mastery and there are tools available for us that can help us at every turn. One such tool that I feel compelled to share was brought to my attention while I was participating in the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition program. At that time, I had the opportunity to run and study markers as well as the results of the spectracell micronutrient test to get a thorough assessment of my nutritional status.

  My favorite go to health tools for supporting my families immunity during the winter.

Even though we live in California, its starting to get cold outside and I am beginning to hear the sneezing in the grocery store and can see with undue certainty that the cold and flu season is on its way. Thats ok. I have my arsenal at home. And when I implement these things into my families routine, I notice my children simply don’t come home with the torrent of cold and flu symptoms that other families continuously have to deal with.

Due to the popularity of the paleolithic diet, it seems bone broth is making a comeback. However bone broth has been around since the dark ages and with good reason. It is a foundational superfood that provides an incredible amount of easy to digest nutrition.

After all, its not what you eat,

its what you digest that counts.

I have been using PEMF on my family as well as my clients for almost 5 years now. It is a tool that I have used personally for pain relief and to support the healing process of the body. This technology is still new to people in the states although it has been used in hospitals all over Europe for decades now and the research on PEMF is quite frankly, astounding.

Pulsed electromagnetic frequency therapy uses low earth based frequencies to stimulate a potassium pump in the cell walls. The cells respond by increasing the oxygen to activate and regenerate cells. This therapy can produce stunning regenerative effects because these magnetic fields result in cells generating so much naturally derived energy that they are able to repair themselves.