Dr. Maura

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Dr. Maura’s Top 5 Hacks for Hormone Happiness

I spend a lot of my days deep diving on cases of patients who come to me with hormone imbalance. For every person I work with, there’s a whole new and different picture. No one is the same, even if they have the same problem: painful periods, amenorrhea, PCOS, fibroids, hormonal acne, to name a few.

It’s hormonal detective work: I’m always looking for clues, causes and conditions . finding the very particular way back to restored function.

But there are some basic tenets that go for everyone.

Here are my current top 5 that I work on with each and every hormone patient:

1. Sleep. It’s one of the first things we talk about in a patient visit. If you’re chronically under-sleeping, it’s impossible to maintain hormone balance. Aim for at least 8 hours/night.

2. Eat protein. Low protein diets are linked to decreased estrogen, growth hormone, and thyroid hormone. Not eating enough protein also leads to carb cravings which sets you up for overeating and insulin resistance: two of the enemies of happy hormones.

3. Exercise (but not too much). Excessive exercise means high cortisol which throws off hormone balance in a big way. It can also deplete your progesterone (the all-important fertility hormone) which can lead to estrogen dominance—think weight gain, sluggishness, bad skin, and PMS.

4. Learn ways to manage stress and use them every day. This might be the most important one on the list. Chronic stress (cortisol) will lower your important sex hormone progesterone and estrogen. I see it over and over again. If this is you, check in with your relationship with stress and start to build some intentional stress relief into your day, every day: meditate, breathwork, more time with loved ones & animals, more time in nature.

5. Don’t eat sugar. Hormone imbalance patients always ask me what’s the most important food to cut out and this is it. High sugar = high insulin = excess estrogen and testosterone = acne, fibroids, missed periods, pronounced PMS, infertility. Yikes. If you’re craving sugar, replace it with protein and fats and make sure you’re taking a good multi, some fish oil and the mineral chromium which will help with sugar balance.

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No one knows more about your body than you do.⁠ No one knows more about your body than you do.⁠ ⁠ Trust what your body is telling you even if a doctor tells you that everything looks "normal." ⁠ ⁠ Keep digging until you find out where the issue lies, keep looking for helpful guides on your journey.⁠ ⁠ My patients' bodies and symptoms and histories tell their stories...and this is what leads us to healing. ⁠ ⁠ I often use the incredible @dramybethrothenberg 's analogy of the lighthouse: you're the lighthouse, a good doctor is always looking for you to lead the way to healing. ⁠ ⁠ Trust your light.☀️
As naturopaths, we see huge numbers of patients wi As naturopaths, we see huge numbers of patients with PCOS. So much so that I brought in the talented Dr. Galina Mahlis who specializes in its treatment. I love her approach because she’s a firm believer in looking beyond the basic hormone workup.⁠ ⁠ That means looking under the surface and understanding the various factors that have led to the hormone imbalance. That means making connections between seemingly unrelated concerns. And that means looking at all the patient’s symptoms through the lens of functional medicine, which includes assessing for optimal lab results, addressing root causes, and looking at each individual as unique. ⁠ ⁠ Dr. Galina’s Top 5 PCOS Tips:⁠ ⁠ 1️⃣Truly understand your hormone imbalances. It’s not enough just to know if some hormones are high or low. It’s important to understand how they relate to each other and what has gone wrong in the various hormone pathways. Certain specialty tests do just that.⁠ ⁠ 2️⃣Manage Stress! This is probably the single most important lifestyle choice you can make when it comes to managing PCOS. When the stress hormone cortisol is out of control, it can wreak havoc on the rest of your hormones. Consider yoga, meditation, moderate exercise, acupuncture, and make sure to get enough sleep!⁠ ⁠ 3️⃣Reduce Inflammation through diet, lifestyle, and supplementation. Inflammation has emerged as one of the key factors in the development of PCOS. There are certain markers that a doctor can use to evaluate if you have inflammation. ⁠ ⁠ 4️⃣Avoid Hormone Disruptors in your food, skincare products, and environment. This may seem like a daunting task, but the fact is that the various chemicals, additives, and pesticides found in these products can negatively affect your hormones. ⁠ ⁠ 5️⃣Include some great hormone-balancing supplements in your daily regimen. These include: Inositol, DIM, Vitex, and Saw Palmetto.⁠ ⁠ Just remember that there is no “one-size-fits-all” as hormone imbalances can look very different from woman to woman and ideally you get properly tested and assessed in order to understand which supplements are right for you!
I spend a lot of my days deep-diving into cases of I spend a lot of my days deep-diving into cases of patients who come to me with hormone imbalance. For every person I work with, there’s a whole new and different picture. No one is the same, even if they have the same problem: painful periods, amenorrhea, PCOS, fibroids, hormonal acne, to name a few. It’s hormonal detective work: I’m always looking for clues, causes, and conditions, finding the very particular way back to restored function. But there are some basic tenets that go for everyone. Here are my current top 5 that I work on with each and every hormone patient: 1️⃣Sleep. It’s one of the first things we talk about in a patient visit. If you’re chronically under-sleeping, it’s impossible to maintain hormone balance. Aim for at least 8 hours/night. 2️⃣Eat protein. Low protein diets are linked to decreased estrogen, growth hormone, and thyroid hormone. Not eating enough protein also leads to carb cravings which set you up for overeating and insulin resistance: two of the enemies of happy hormones. 3️⃣Exercise (but not too much). Excessive exercise means high cortisol which throws off hormone balance in a big way. It can also deplete your progesterone (the all-important fertility hormone) which can lead to estrogen dominance—think weight gain, sluggishness, bad skin, and PMS. 4️⃣Learn ways to manage stress and use them every day. This might be the most important one on the list. Chronic stress (cortisol) will lower your important sex hormone progesterone and estrogen. I see it over and over again. If this is you, check in with your relationship with stress and start to build some intentional stress relief into your day, every day: meditate, breathwork, more time with loved ones & animals, more time in nature. 5️⃣Don’t eat sugar. Hormone imbalance patients always ask me what’s the most important food to cut out and this is it. High sugar = high insulin = excess estrogen and testosterone = acne, fibroids, missed periods, pronounced PMS, infertility. Yikes. If you’re craving sugar, replace it with protein and fats and make sure you’re taking a good multi, some fish oil and the mineral chromium which will help with sugar balances.
Mental health issues are largely treated as a neur Mental health issues are largely treated as a neurochemical imbalance: depression and anxiety will magically lift if you take a medication to alter your serotonin, dopamine, GABA, etc. Comprehensive studies have shown that they have mostly modest effects, if any, on most people. ⁠ ⁠ Why? ⁠ ⁠ Depression is clearly far more nuanced and complicated. A huge area of focus right now is how the gut affects mental health…and the findings are astonishing.⁠ ⁠ I love when mainstream media does great reporting on this and the Wall Street Journal reported last month on a number of the super relevant findings coming out one after another. ⁠ ⁠ Here are two standouts: ⁠ ⁠ 🧠 Gastrointestinal disorders alter nerve signaling to the brain, which alters brain chemistry and gives rise to depression and anxiety (most of my GI patients don’t need a study to attest to this). ⁠ 🧠 Researchers were able to actually give mice depression by putting certain microbes into their guts.⁠ ⁠ Research is continuing at a crazy fast pace, which will show us how specific species of flora affect various brain disease. ⁠ ⁠ In the meantime, mind your gut. ⁠
Symptoms. What are they really? I’ve been reflec Symptoms. What are they really? I’ve been reflecting a lot on this lately in my work with my patients because so many people come to see me truly at their wits’ end, believing that they are broken and cannot be fixed. ⁠ ⁠ We’ve been conditioned to think that symptoms are “bad” — that it means there’s something wrong with our bodies and that we have to “feel better” as quickly as possible, by whatever means possible. ⁠ ⁠ This isn’t true.⁠ ⁠ Symptoms are our bodies’ way of communicating with us. And, really, this is part of the design. Sickness or illness is really just a state of imbalance (there are many forms of this) and if we read symptoms correctly and apply proper treatment/remove the barriers to healing…our bodies know exactly what to do to heal themselves. I can tell you this because I’ve seen it now in thousands of people I’ve worked with over many years. ⁠ ⁠ This means: if you’re “sick” your body isn’t broken. It's not your lot in life to be [insert your diagnosis or symptom here]. ⁠ ⁠ Trust your body. Listen to your symptoms. Find a healthcare provider who can help you understand them and heal. It’s possible. ❤️⁠
I’m excited to be featured in this incredible Ma I’m excited to be featured in this incredible Masterclass put together by health researchers Sarah Otto and Matt Potts over at @goodnesslover called ‘The Gut-Brain Solution.’⁠ ⁠ Matt and Sarah put together an amazing group of experts taking the latest discoveries in this field.⁠ ⁠ What this series drives home: you’re struggling to stabilize your mental health—despite medications and therapies—then you’re probably missing one crucial element.⁠ ⁠ Your gut health.⁠ ⁠ For the past several years, researchers have been investigating the power of the gut microbiome to help treat anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders.⁠ ⁠ Unfortunately, this information has yet to reach the general public.⁠ ⁠ ⁠ You’ll learn proven and practical remedies to overcome stubborn digestive problems like constipation, SIBO, IBS, reflux, bloating, and weight gain...⁠ ⁠ As well as mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, brain fog, and mood disorders.⁠ ⁠ Note: This is free only for a limited time.⁠ ⁠ Register to watch The Gut-Brain Solution: Link above in bio!☝️⁠

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