There are plenty of scans and tests that can tell us what`s happening in your body today. But the ones I find myself more focused on are the ones that can tell us about your health a year, even 5 years from now.

That`s one of the things I love about lifestyle medicine–we have the opportunity to intervene before something becomes a diagnosis.

The scans in this video aren`t right for everyone, and the right timing depends on your age, medical history, symptoms, and risk factors. But these are some of the conversations I have most often with my patients when we`re thinking about the next 10 or 20 years, not just the next doctor`s visit.

Comment MEMBER if you want to see how my husband Dr. Yu and I approach long-term health inside our clinic!

Hormone replacement therapy can be incredibly helpful, but I think where women get stuck is assuming there`s
one "right" plan that they`ll stay on forever.

That`s why I always tell women to think of HRT as a conversation, not a decision you make once and never
revisit. If you`re trying to sort through all the advice online, you`re not alone. That`s exactly what these
appointments are for!

I`m a big fan of getting Vitamin D naturally whenever we can. Getting outside regularly, when it`s safe for your
skin and where you live, is still one of my favorite ways to support healthy vitamin D levels.

If you eat mostly plant-based like myself, foods like UV-exposed mushrooms and fortified plant milks can help too.
One thing I try not to do is obsess over one specific number.

If I see your vitamin D is a little low, my first question usually isn`t, "How fast can we raise it?" I`m wondering
things like... Do you spend all day indoors? Have you been feeling more tired than usual? What`s your diet been
like?

How`s your bone health? Does the number actually fit with everything else that`s going on?

I like putting the whole story together instead of chasing one lab result.

If you`ve had your vitamin D checked and aren`t really sure what it means for you, Dr. Yu and I would love to
help.

Comment MEMBER if you want two doctors on your team!

I recently had the opportunity to experience EBOO, or extracorporeal blood oxygenation and ozonation, at an integrative clinic in California @lam_clinic

One of the things I appreciate most about functional, regenerative, and longevity medicine is the willingness to continue asking: What other tools might help this individual patient?

EBOO circulates blood outside the body, where it is exposed to a controlled oxygen-ozone mixture before being returned to the body. The science behind ozone therapy is thought to involve a temporary oxidative stimulus that may influence antioxidant and inflammatory signaling pathways.

Research is still evolving, and EBOO is not something I view as a universal answer or as a replacement for evidence-based medical care.

But I do believe in keeping an open, thoughtful mind about emerging therapies while looking carefully at the science, the risks, and the individual in front of me.

Every patient is different. Their biology, history, exposures, symptoms, and needs are different. My goal is always to understand the whole picture and then determine which tools may or may not have a place in their care.

Seeing more people interested in hormones and women’s health is a very good thing.

I just hope we`re also encouraging women to be thoughtful about where they`re getting their information.

Women`s health gets complicated really fast, and it doesn’t just come down to knowing what estrogen or
progesterone do. It`s understanding how hormones interact with medications, autoimmune disease, mental
health, pregnancy history, thyroid function, nutrition, and everything else that makes each woman different.

That`s why I love what I do.

I get to spend every day asking questions, connecting dots, and helping women understand what`s actually
happening in their bodies.

And as someone who`s going to go through perimenopause too, I care just as much about getting these conversations right as I do about having them in the first place. 🤍

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nutrition, nervous system, and all things women’s health.

Who else remembers the wave of weight-loss supplements and diet pills from the early 2000s?

Truth is, most of these were just well-marketed laxatives with additives like green tea promising to “boost your
metabolism.”

And in my opinion, the weight-loss meds on the market today aren’t all that different.

I’m talking about the illusion of weight loss vs. lasting change. Supplements like Senna laxatives can cause a
temporary lower number on the scale through fluid/stool loss, whereas nutrition, movement and sustainable
behavior changes are capable of changing body weight and metabolic health over years.

In the Look AHEAD trial, an intensive program built around nutrition, exercise and behavior change helped about half of participants maintain at least 5% weight loss eight years later . That’s nearly a decade of healthy,
lasting change.

It might be boring, but it’s the truth–building strong lifestyle and exercise habits are far more likely to give you
the results you’re looking for in the long run.

Comment POWER and I’ll share my Plant-Powered Mind course with you, filled with the tools and resources you
need to mke healthy informed decisions on your eating!

Anemia and iron deficiency get all the hype, but there are tons of other vitamins and minerals that are required to keep our systems running...

Muscle weaknesses, abnormal heart rhythm, and hair loss do not need to just be accepted as part of your life. Chances are once you identify what deficiencies you have, you can start to reverse these symptoms.

My advice as a lifestyle medicine doctor is this: please do not just take a multivitamin or supplement that promises to replenish your levels before you even have them checked.

Comment MEMBER if you want to learn how my husband Dr. Yu and I would approach identifying potential deficiencies in your body!

I believe this is something every woman should be informed about by her doctor, but sadly, that isn’t the case.

The biggest takeaway I want women to know is this: if you haven’t been able to figure out your ovulation or why you may be struggling to track your cycle, ask your doctor to look into your progesterone.

It just might start to answer some questions for you and your body. I’m so glad I had the chance to speak about hormones and specifically low progesterone during the Wellnest event earlier this month!

Thankful for women who speak, show up and educate because hormones is no longer taboo @wisepause @themfactorfilm was a blast. Don`t ignore your symptoms and get labs. Take care of your health, habits, energy, nutrition mindset. See these advocates and trailblazers.

What if the rage over spilled milk isn`t who you are, but a signal about something else entirely? 🤍

In this conversation with @dr.stephaniecowie a Naturopathic Doctor and hormone specialist who helps women make sense of symptoms they`ve been told to just live with, we unpack the difference between healthy anger and the kind that shows up wildly out of proportion.
Dr. Cowie is clear that anger itself is an incredible tool. It tells the body that something unjust happened, or that a boundary was crossed. That version is working exactly as designed. But she describes the other version women bring to her rage over crumbs on the counter, the bed made wrong, the sound of someone chewing. And the moment they can step back and rationally say, "my reaction is not matching the event," that`s the signal. Not a character flaw. A symptom pointing at something underneath, often a hormonal transition, and not actually about the event at all.

She says many of them arrive almost in tears, and the first thing they need isn`t a protocol. It`s to hear that they`re not alone, and that there`s a reason.

Such a compassionate reframe for anyone who`s been quietly scared of her own reactions. ✨

What if your 11am crash isn`t a willpower problem, but what you drank at 7am on nothing? 🤍

In this conversation with @dr.stephaniecowie a Naturopathic Doctor and hormone specialist who helps women connect their symptoms to what`s actually happening in their physiology, we unpack why the order of your morning matters more than the amount of caffeine in it.

Dr. Cowie breaks down what happens the second caffeine hits an empty stomach: a massive blood sugar spike, regardless of whether you added sugar or a sweetened milk, followed by a crash. That crash is what leaves people feeling almost sick. Headache. Exhaustion. Moody. And then reaching for more caffeine or more sugar to climb back out of it. Her fix is simple in order, not in willpower: eat a breakfast that stabilizes your blood sugar first, then have the coffee.

She also names what she`s seeing in perimenopause specifically. Women who were never sensitive to caffeine are suddenly feeling incredibly anxious after a cup, plus sleep disturbances from afternoon and evening caffeine that most people don`t connect until they remove it and finally sleep through the night.

Such a relief to learn the problem might be the timing, not you. ✨

What if the schedule you`re most proud of is the exact thing your body is asking you to put down? 🤍

In this conversation with @dr.stephaniecowie a Naturopathic Doctor and hormone specialist who helps women stop guessing about what their bodies actually need, we unpack why "more, faster, busier" eventually stops working, and what has to replace it.

Dr. Cowie shares her own turning point: jam-packing her calendar with everything she could fit, overdoing it at every fitness level, and believing she could get by on five hours of sleep, until her body drove her into burnout more than once. Recovering from that was hard. So she rebuilt the whole thing. Now it looks like a protected 8:45 to 9pm bedtime, reading instead of scrolling, an app that blocks her access to her apps at night, an eye mask and earplugs, meditation and breathwork on the mat before the day starts, 10 to 12k steps a day walking her two small dogs, actual breaks during the workday, and 120 grams of protein or more, daily.

Such a grounding reminder that walking the talk starts quietly, at home. ✨

If you recently turned 40 and are wondering if this new decade also comes with some very specific physiological changes, you`re in the right place...and it does.

But the changes shouldn`t look like not being able to recover from a workout, or gaining weight with no explanation.

Your hormones are changing, and that is expected. But feeling like you`ve become a completely different person isn`t.

That`s when I turn our conversation from “You may be experiencing routine perimenopausal symptoms” to “This could also be pointing toward an autoimmune disease or chronic condition. Let’s take a closer look.”

If you aren’t sure how to make sense of your health in your 40s, let’s talk. I’m right here with you, and ready to figure it out together!

I`ll often hear things like, "I`ve always needed something sweet after dinner," or "I can`t get through the afternoon without another coffee," as if they`re just strange little quirks.

Sometimes, they`re your body trying to compensate for something that`s worth understanding. The same goes for waking up exhausted, crashing every afternoon, or feeling like your digestion has gotten worse over the last few years.

In fact, a recent Mayo Clinic study of more than 12,000 women over 35 found that fatigue (83%), sleep problems (76%), digestive issues (76%), and anxiety (75%) were among the most commonly reported symptoms during the menopausal transition.

I share that because so many women assume these things are "just part of getting older," when they`re often the exact conversations I want to have first.

Comment MEMBER if you`d like to learn how we approach these symptoms inside our practice.