Posts Tagged ‘cortisol’
Let’s Choose Sanity, and Ignore the Magazines
It’s the end of February and while it’s still deep winter in many parts of the country, here in California we’ve had just enough sunny days to remind us that spring is coming. And with spring comes summer. And with summer comes…swimsuits. Are you reaching for a puffy jacket right now too? I wish that…
Read MoreWhen was the last time you wore your tiara?
During my years as a practicing physician, I learned that the women who most needed to stop and have a moment to themselves were the ones with the strongest belief that they didn’t have time. These ladies were stressed: stressed because of a demanding job, stressed because of the responsibility of caring for their young…
Read MoreThe ONE resolution to make (AND KEEP) this year
It’s the start of a new year, a time for making resolutions. I’m not interested in you becoming yet another statistic in 2016, such as the one that tells us that 80% of people fail at the resolution by January 20. Together, let’s do it differently this year. Think different, as Steve Jobs famously said.…
Read MoreMy Paleolista Soul Sister: Julia Ross and The Diet Cure
Most Americans are now unable to stop eating refined sweets and starches. Why? Because these foods are actually more addictive than alcohol or drugs! No joke. Sugar ages you prematurely and feeds the wrong message to your genetic code. Stop the sugar train. As NIDA chief Nora Volkow explained in her April 30, 2012, 60…
Read MoreThe Cortisol Switch: How Cortisol Makes You Fat and Angry, Plus 7 Practices to Rock Your Stress
Have you heard of the “cortisol switch?” Here’s the scenario. When you’re stressed, you feel the positive vibe of cortisol – the rise of energy, the focus, the charge, the ascent. Cortisol is the main stress hormone made in your adrenal glands and it’s designed to get you out of danger. It has 3 main…
Read MoreOrgasm Balances Your Hormones: According to Hippocrates + Modern Research
You know the Hippocratic Oath? I took it back in 1994. Do No Harm. Got it. Hippocrates got it, too – and he wanted you to get some. Turns out that during Hippocrates’ time and right up until the Freudian era (the 1930s), doctors prescribed orgasm as a treatment for women with various “ailments” such as hysteria…
Read MoreThe Holy Trinity – Or Charlie's Angels – of Vitality: Estrogen, Cortisol + Thyroid (and why they've got your back + your rack, baby)
Step into my time machine. We’re nine years old. It’s 1976. We’re fledgling feminists (already!) and we’re mad-passionately-crazy in awe of a trio of crime-fighting, bad-guy-busting women with brains, brawn and physical agility. And they are just like the hormonal system, when it’s working FOR YOU not against you. They’re amazing. They’re Angels. (They even…
Read MoreDigital Sabbatical + Your Hormones
I just resurfaced after a digital “shabbat” — that is, no online love from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. No email, no tweets, no Facebook Big Ideas. Result? Better relatedness with my husband and daughters, oxytocin-raising dialogue with girlfriends, and more mindful eating. But, wait, that’s not all! Cortisol comes as close as you can…
Read MoreDump the Junk: Reasons to Dump Caffeine
I recommend to all my patients that they limit caffeine intake and completely detox for at least 14 days twice per year. And I getta lotta push back. Why? Probably because mostly of my patients have some degree of adrenal dysregulation, and caffeine gets them going in the morning, and keeps them going during…
Read MoreSake Bombs or Kale? Vacation Review
At the risk of sounding insufferable, I have to share some thoughts on two side-by-side vacations. Let me preface our discussion with two disclosures: I have adrenal dysregulation and two young kids. While I’m in adrenal “recovery,” as many of you know who are on this path with me — recovery takes a long, long…
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