Welcome to my Podcast, Regenerate You! I’m Dr. Nirvana and in this episode, we will discuss the signs and symptoms of hormonal imbalances and what you can do to heal your body by regenerating your hormonal health.
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The Next Big Thing
in Holistic Medicine
Navigating your own health is similar to starting a new recipe without knowing how to cook. You have an idea of what ingredients to use, but have no idea how to put it all together.
This is where I come in…
I found the Regenerative Health Program™ to help teach you how torenew every cell of your body.
By regenerating your health struggles, into your ideal self
Regenerate
I’m dedicated in helping you have a firm grasp on understanding why your health turned upside down, while supporting your decisions to choose whichever path you prefer in the healing process.
On which ingredients to buy and how to put the recipe together. Itake your entire picture, along with your labs, to to paint a clear picture of how you got to where you are, what to do to fix it, and what’s coming down the pipeline if you don’tact now.
If you’re suffering from symptoms of imbalance, hair loss, chronic fatigue, PMS, hypothyroidism, adrenal dysfunction, fibroids, endometriosis and have seen everyone and tried everything,I can offer you solutions on your healing journey that will help you to get your life back. A full life of fun, happiness and ease. It’s time to end your needless suffering.
Is your sex drive lower than you’d like it to be? Don’t fret…there are some natural solutions to help!
A low sex drive is the most common sexual complaint my female patients have. Testosterone plays a direct role in sexual desire for both men and women as well as being helpful for keeping us more lean while building more muscle.
Feast on Fat
Fat is important in the production of testosterone. Women do have testosterone but produce it in much lower quantities than men.
So when our diet is low in fat, it tends to shut down that testosterone production.” Good sources of healthy fats include seafood, avocados, eggs and nuts and seeds (such as pumpkin seeds, which also contain zinc, a micronutrient that can boost testosterone levels).
Eat Carrot Tops
The pretty green parts on carrots that most people tear off and throw away are packed with nutrients that can help to boost testosterone levels. So next time you buy a bunch of carrots with the greens on them, throw them into your smoothie or make a pesto out of them!
Bite the Rinds
The phytonutrients known as citrulline and arginine found in watermelon and especially the rind, help relax and dilate blood vessels. This relaxation of blood vessels not only relaxes the body; but also decreases inflammation while getting more blood to areas of the body that get our “juices flowing”.
Get Exotic with your Spices
Saffron is flower whose stamen is used to flavor rice in Iranian cooking. It has an intoxicating aroma that lends a beautiful color to many dishes. Numerous studies have shown that it has antidepressant effects which will certainly be of benefit for those needing that extra encouragement to get in the “mood”.
What Young Men Need to Know about Low Testosterone
While a decline in testosterone is a struggle that older men expect, there is an overwhelming number of younger men that I have helped in my Practice, where low testosterone is now becoming more prevalent. For this reason, I wanted to share the most common reasons I come across why younger men are experiencing this.
Low Testosterone and Chronic Diseases
Abdominal obesity, is often linked with the development of chronic diseases like insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and ultimately diabetes. Where does testosterone come in? Large, population-based longitudinal studies have found that men with low testosterone and low sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) who do not yet have metabolic syndrome or diabetes are significantly more likely to go on to develop insulin resistance or diabetes. . SHBG is the main binding protein for testosterone in the circulation and largely controls the availability of free testosterone to tissuses.It also affects the total amount of circulating testosterone – the more SHBG, the greater the amount of total testosterone being carried around in the circulation, and vice versa. Obesity is known to decrease SHBG levels while aging increases them, but the effect of obesity in driving down SHBG is greater than the effect of aging in raising it, with effects on total testosterone.
What Else Could Influence Total Testosterone Levels?
A number of mechanisms explain low total testosterone levels in men with abdominal fat and/or insulin resistance. Low SHBG associated with excess fatty tissue and insulin resistance drives down total testosteone levels.
Also, an enzyme called aromatase which is resides in excess fat, can use up testosterone as it converts to estradiol. This then further shuts down testosterone production in the Leydig cells in the testes through negative feedback on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal system. And finally, insulin resistance itself can directly inhibits testosterone production in Leydig cells.
What about men who exhibit low total testosterone before developing “beer gut” or insulin resistance? If they have a sedentary lifestyle or a habitual high refined carbohydrate intake, this can also impact SHBG production directly through the liver, predisposing them to both low testosterone and risk of obesity.
How to Balance Testosterone Levels Naturally in Younger Men?
Address your Stress
Before jumping to conclusions that supplementing with testosterone is the only answer, consider having your adrenals checked. Stress is never a good thing and it can affect every area of your health. Hormones included. It doesn’t matter how clean you eat if you are feeding yourself huge portions of stress every day it won’t do your body, or hormones, any good.
Balance your Female Side
We like to associate estrogen with women and testosterone with men, when in fact, both sexes produce these hormones, just in different amounts. Men make estrogen by converting testosterone in the liver by an enzyme called aromatase. What I often find with my patients that have too much stress or belly fat, they have have higher aromatase levels than in men with healthier testosterone levels. Thankfully there are some great foods and herbs that inhibit high aromatase levels such as:
Licorice
Turmeric
Black or Green Tea
Chrysin
Red Ginger
Take in Some Rays
Vitamin D is needed by every single cell of your body to function properly. Vitamin D supplements (or shots) are shown to increase testosterone naturally. This is because Vitamin D is one of the main vitamins involved in making hormones in the first place.
In the end, more natural interventions will help to improve your overall health and will help to increase your own testosterone production. For more help improving your endurance and vitality, contact the office to begin.
Everything we do, feel, think – it all starts with the brain. A balanced, healthy brain helps lay the essential foundation for optimal wellbeing. A small but significant aspect of brain health is regulated by a specific class of steroid molecules that refer to cholesterol-derived steroid compounds that play critical roles in the nervous system – its development, maintenance and survival. This is better know as DHEA. As the levels of DHEA and DHEA-S decline with age, the brain loses their protective properties and becomes more sensitive to the ravages of neurological decline.
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is plentiful in the human body – together with its sulfated form (DHEA-S), DHEA comprises the most abundant form of steroid hormones. In fact, the average concentration of DHEA-S in the bloodstream is about 10,000 times higher than the most potent estrogen – estradiol. Derived from cholesterol, DHEA is produced by the adrenal glands, brain, ovaries and testes, and is a precursor for the major sex steroids (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone). Sometimes called the “anti-aging hormone” or even the “fountain of youth,” it is no wonder that supplementation with DHEA to its mid-normal physiologically youthful levels appears to engender a sense of wellbeing and reestablish the drive for life.
DHEA-S levels peak around mid-twenties and gradually decrease to around 20% by age 70. Unfortunately, once DHEA levels begin to wind down, there are no feedback mechanisms to help restore it. As DHEA and downstream metabolites decrease, the brain loses the protective effects of sex steroids and becomes increasingly vulnerable to neurotoxic effects of cortisol and other potentially damaging factors. With declining DHEA-S levels, cortisol levels remain constant, resulting in an increased cortisol/DHEA-S ratio. The unbalanced relationship between the too high cortisol and not enough DHEA-S is serious enough that it can create potentially harmful conditions for the hippocampus and contribute to neurodegenerative disease pathology.
This is why I commonly prescribe DHEA (both to female and male patients) presenting with low androgen symptoms in combination with low circulating DHEA-S and/or low testosterone levels. DHEA replacement therapy can certainly impede the ravages of aging – adequate levels help ramp up the levels of downstream sex steroids, enhance the ability to adapt to stress, increase libido, improve the body fat ratio, and boost the immune system. However, it is important to monitor the levels of the sex steroid hormones as well as DHEA-S during supplementation – just like with too little DHEA, too much DHEA (and/or DHEA-S) can have its own set of distressing symptoms.
Low Androgen Symptoms
Fatigue
Foggy thinking
Decreased stamina
Decreased muscle size
Decreased libido
Rapid aging
High Androgen Symptoms
Irritability
Weight gain (hip and/or breast area)
Acne
Oily skin
Scalp hair loss
Growth of facial hair
Treatment Considerations
While DHEA is available over the counter in health food stores, it is best used under medical supervision with the goal of restoring low levels to the physiological range. When administered topically, DHEA restores skin elasticity, relieves symptoms of vaginal dryness and atrophy (with vaginal application), and generally improves many low-androgen symptoms. The caveat with topical DHEA administration is that it does not undergo first-pass metabolism through the liver (no liver passage – no sulfation), so although a subsequent increase in salivary and blood spot DHEA is observed, DHEA-S levels can remain unchanged. With oral DHEA administration we see a substantial spike in DHEA-S levels in all commonly tested body fluids (saliva, blood, or urine) (undergoes first-pass metabolism and gets sulfated), and a marked improvement in symptoms as well. However, once DHEA becomes sulfated to DHEA-S, it is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier to nourish the brain. How you take DHEA definitely impacts how much gets into the brain and how fast. For example, troche (sublingual) DHEA goes directly into the bloodstream and because it’s not sulfated, it crosses directly into the brain and other tissues.
Know how much of which type is imperative when it comes to treating hormones. If you’re interested in measuring your DHEA levels for maintaining and enhancing your youth, contact the office to schedule your appointment today.
In my Practice, I often work together with men in finding solutions to their lack of “drive”. This lack of ambition effects all areas of desire including passion, mood, and motivation in both personal and work related avenues of their lives. The hidden root of the cause for the lack of enthusiasm is most commonly associated with low testosterone.
People with higher testosterone and a healthier hormonal profile take more risks and are more successful in accomplishing what they want in life. The conventional cure for low testosterone involves pharmaceuticals (a gel or pill) that will affect your body’s natural hormone production, so identifying the original cause and solving the case naturally should be your go-to strategy.
If you know for a fact that your testosterone levels are low, identifying these below and working to improve them can help build your testosterone levels naturally:
1. Reduce Excess Body Fat
If you have belly bulge, it’s time to let that go. The fat tissue that comes from inactivity and eating poorly enhances and enzyme that has the power to take your free testosterone (the bioavailable testosterone) and turn it into estrogen. When estrogen is elevated, testosterone plummets so it’s imperative to keep body fat at a healthy level. Essentially, lower body fat means higher testosterone, higher libido, more energy, and more ambition.
2. Consider Fasting (Periodically)
Short-term fasts, have been shown to increase testosterone levels significantly! By short-term I’m referring to about 14 to 16 hours without food. Allowing your body the opportunity to use more of it’s fat stores for energy will help with weight loss. It’s a simple habit to start implementing; wake up, drink some delicious black or matcha tea, and skip breakfast. Easy as that.
3. Check your Blood
Low testosterone isn’t the only culprit responsible for the lack of momentum in your life. High blood sugar, cortisol, and inflammation are likely suspects as well as Vitamin D and Vitamin B deficiencies. Every six months, make sure to get a some blood work done to assess where the imbalances are coming from. The sooner you know, the more likely you will be able to take preventative measure from (unknowingly) making the situation worse.
For help in balancing your hormones naturally, contact the office to schedule your appointment today.
