Your Thyroid gland is in charge of your metabolism; think of it as your gas petal. Low or under functioning thyroid is often caused by Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that is responsible for over half of the cases of hypothyroidism. An autoimmune disease is a dysfunction of the immune system, where the body attacks its healthy cells by mistake. Hashimoto's can cause the thyroid to swing like a pendulum, driving it into high and low functioning states. Most commonly, we see it swing low, known as hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid does not make enough active thyroid hormones to meet the body's needs.

Vitamin D is a hot topic in my clinical practice. Not enough attention is placed on the significance of Vitamin D's impact on the human body. Firstly, vitamin D is not a vitamin at all, but a hormone. It is mostly produced in the skin, as a response to exposure to sunlight. It can also be absorbed from foods eaten and is considered a nutrient, as part of a healthy balanced diet.

Collagen has taken off in the mainstream market and I field a lot of questions about it. People want to know if they should be drinking Collagen. After all, it's expensive, so is it worth it?

My answer, yes.

Firstly, I'm no novice to the benefits of Collagen supplementation. Naturopaths and Nutritionists have been prescribing Collagen for decades to help reduce joint inflammation, strengthen tendons and ligaments, and even to increase muscle mass. Recently, however, Collagen has a new spin on beauty and skin health. It's being marketed as a cure-all for plumping skin, reducing wrinkles, increasing skin hydration, and as an all-around anti-aging miracle.

Birth control is surprisingly complicated by the fact that no one talks about synthetic hormones. When I am counseling women on the potentially harmful side effects of starting on a synthetic birth control, they rarely say that their regular doctor brought up the same concerns as me. The truth is that there are many documented side effects of birth control, including low libido, depression, anxiety, and weight gain.

Achieving hormonal balance takes time. Many patients try hormone replacement therapy and give up only after a month or two. It takes nearly ninety days to feel balanced. We have receptors for our hormones all over our body. I often hear patients taking Estrogen only and told they don’t need progesterone because they no longer have a uterus. Women have estrogen and progesterone receptors all over our bodies, progesterone maintains a healthy balance, is critical for hair growth and sleep.