At Parsley Health I’ve been struck by how many people have shut down their automatic body- or in biological terminology, autonomic nervous system — and how this disruption has led to weight gain, chronic digestive issues like bloating and reflux, chronic fatigue, and hormone imbalances like PMS infertility and PCOS, as well as hypothyroid, something 1 in 8 women will experience in the US in her lifetime.

This weekend I was invited to speak at Wanderlust, the massive traveling yoga and music festival that’s taken off around the world in the past 5 years. My topic was The Automatic Body — How To Tap Into Your Primal Nervous System To Heal With Ease, also the subject of a larger project I’m working on. My talk will be available on video later this summer, but until then I thought you shouldn’t have to wait for the details. What is the automatic nervous system? Let’s have a quick biology lesson!

You have two sides to your nervous system the Somatic and the Autonomic. For simplicity sake we’ll call the Autonomic the Automatic nervous system. The Somatic side powers your muscles and skin. It’s the voluntary side. Think — I want to pick up that cup of coffee or put my arms in downward dog. That’s the somatic nervous system at work. The Automatic side is the involuntary side that controls the hundreds of processes in the body you probably take for granted every day, like breathing, sweating, your heart beat, and the movements of your digestive tract. The body is beautiful and complex, and handles all of these essential tasks for you every second of your life. It’s a huge thing to even contemplate!

This Automatic nervous system has three parts. The Parasympathetic, which controls your Rest, Digest, Relax and Heal functions, and whose primary nerve is the Vagus nerve, is one. The second part is the Sympathetic, which is your Fight or Flight response — think, I need to run away from a lion, or jump out of the way of that bus. Both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems help regulate breathing, heart rate blood pressure, blood sugar, blood flow to your tissue and digestive function. Also at work is the third part of the automatic system, the “enteric” or gut nervous system, which holds 95% of the serotonin in your body, 100 million neurons, and is quickly and profoundly affected by the foods you are eating and the bacteria living in your gut.

In functional medicine, we understand that this autonomic nervous system is deeply powerful and interconnected, and is controlled in large part by our environment and our choices: what we eat, how much we sleep, the amount of stress we are under, and even the types of bacteria that live inside of us. Too often I see people with dysfunctional automatic nervous systems because they have been living on refined carbs sugar and caffeine, not sleeping, living in chronic stress, and destroying the helpful bacteria in their bodies through antibiotics chemicals and over the counter medications like ibuprofen, and of course with toxic foods.

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First, inadequate sleep increases the accumulation of toxic metabolic debris in the brain, and leads to sympathetic hyperactivity, so your parasympathetic system is turned down, thereby increasing cortisol, which leads to increased appetite weight gain and fatigue as well as a suppressed immune system. Then refined carbs, sugar and excessive caffeine (more than 100mg a day) lead to a yo-yo of hyperstimulation, turning up the sympathetics and also turning down the parasympathetics.

Chronic stress also leads to chronically elevated cortisol, driving further imbalances in sleep patterns, weight gain, blood sugar imbalances, immune dysfunction and even chronic pain. High cortisol also imbalances our sex hormones and can set the stage for low thyroid function — compounding symptoms like constipation and weight gain. To top it all of stress and refined, processed foods alter our gut bacteria which are responsible for moving our digestion along, maintaining the sensitive barrier of our intestinal lining and even making neuroactive substances like GABA and Glutamate that affect our moods.

This combination of factors over time decreases the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, leaving the sympathetic system in overdrive and the enteric system frozen. Restoring the automatic nervous system takes time and I highly recommend you work with a team at Parsley of expert doctors and coaches who can help you work in a multi-level way on re-establishing healthy systems, using in depth testing of the microbiome and hormones.

But there is a lot you can do on your own, starting today. Here are 3 tips to getting back into your automatic body:

1. Do an elimination diet.

Remove all refined grains, sugar and processed foods along with potential immune triggers like gluten and dairy from your diet for at least 6 weeks. This can help heal and rebalance your enteric nervous system, improving things like mood, brain fog and inattention. I also recommend taking a probiotic regularly to support a healthy bacterial balance, especially if you have had a lot of antibiotics or medications in your day.

2. Get 8 hours of sleep each night.

This might require taking magnesium at bedtime, doing a bedtime meditation, getting away from the blue light from computers and phones at least an hour before bed and even taking natural supplements like Catecholecalm, something we use at Parsley to help our members find a deeper sleep. It also may include being tested for sleep apnea, which I see going underdiagnosed even in younger people with normal weight.

3. Get one hour of rest in every day.

This includes walking, meditation, gentle yoga, stretching or even cooking. This kind of downtime away from screens work and stimulation turns the parasympathetic system back on so it can begin to balance the sympathetic overdrive you have been living in. If you need help getting started, I recommend our 7 Day Detox Program, which includes a simple daily guide, a delicious protein smoothie you have for lunch and dinner every day, and probiotics. I’ve seen this reset people’s systems in as little as one week.

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We’ve all done it…

You’re about to dive into a plate full of your favorite things. Maybe you’re starving. Maybe you’re in a rush. Maybe you’re feeling blue. Either way, you’re going to devour the food in front of you.

You get started. Kind of savoring the first bite, but then quickly taking in mouthful after mouthful until suddenly everything is gone. Your plate whipped clean. You find yourself wishing you had more. But then it starts. The bloating. The gas. The abdominal pain. A familiar mix of symptoms that make you feel like crap and you have no idea why! Obviously, what and how you’re eating play a part here.

Make eating clean simple and enjoyable. Schedule a free consulting call and have a chat with our Parsley Health coaches.

These are the three most common reasons you don’t feel satiated or at ease in your gut:

1. You’re stressed

Whether you realize it or not, stress greatly impacts digestive function. When we feel stress or anxiety, our body goes into fight or flight mode, a natural bodily response that increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, and tightens muscles. In this state, the gut becomes vulnerable to inflammation, permeability (leaky gut), reflux, IBS, and even food allergies. So the next time you sit down to eat, take a deep breath, relax, and be present to your meal — not multitasking at work.

2. You’re not chewing properly

Did you know that digestion begins in the mouth? Even before you take a bite, you salivary glands are activated secreting key enzymes that will break down your food. This is something we don’t really have to worry too much about though. What we do need to be mindful of is the chewing part. As our teeth tear up food, saliva softens and breaks it down to make it easy for the next stage of digestion to happen in the stomach. But if we don’t chew our food enough, the breakdown doesn’t happen thoroughly resulting in more work for the rest of the digestive tract. The act of swallowing huge chunks of food without chewing until your food pretty much liquefies can result in gas, bloating, and stomach pain. Be sure to chew your food 20 times before swallowing.

3. You have food sensitivities

If you are constantly experiencing pain and discomfort after eating, it’s time to do some investigating. Take note of what you eat at every meal and log it in a food diary. After a few weeks, it’s time to see if there is a pattern. Does bloating happen anytime gluten is involved? Does gas hit you hard anytime you snack on cheese? Is your afternoon coffee causing your evening diarrhea? Whatever you discover, it’s time to give your body a break and stop eating the foods that trigger negative reactions. Another way to get to the bottom of your belly discomfort is to do a detox. Check out Parsley’s detox programs here — the 21 day program is the best for getting clear on food sensitivities, but the 7-day program can for many people be enough to at least give your belly some relief. Eating is supposed to be a pleasurable experience, not a painful one. If you’ve been experiencing abdominal pain, gas, bloating, brain fog, and irregular bowel movements, it’s time to consider making some essential changes! Your body with thank you.

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Here’s a somewhat shocking stat for you: one in eight American women will likely develop some kind of thyroid issue.

At her holistic medicine practice, Parsley Health, Dr. Berzin shares her perspective on this epidemic with her patients and helps them to support this very important gland.

You may be wondering why the thyroid is so important.

Located in the front of the neck, the thyroid produces hormones that regulate the body’s metabolic rate as well as the heart, digestive function, muscle control, brain development, and bone maintenance — almost every major system in the body. Thyroid imbalance happens when the various thyroid hormones stop functioning optimally. Symptoms usually range from weight gain, constipation, and dry skin to depression, muscle aches, and brain fog.

If you’re concerned about your thyroid or have been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Parsley Health’s Medical Membership is a great way to begin healing your body from the inside out.

Why does thyroid imbalance occur?

Well, it can be due to a whole host of issues in the gut like food sensitivities, dysbiosis, intestinal permeability, as well as nutrient deficiencies, constant stress, and adrenal fatigue. If this sounds like you, here are her 5 recommendations from Dr. Berzin on how to boost your thyroid now.

1. Take Vitamin D3/K2.

If you are low on Vitamin D, you do not convert free T4 to free T3 (two thyroid hormones) well. We recommend taking at least 2000IU daily if you haven’t been tested and 5000IU daily if you are low on your test. Your target Vitamin D level should between 40–50.

2. Eat Seaweed.

Kelp is a great source of iodine, which is important for thyroid hormone production — but many people don’t get enough of it in food. An easy way to add more into your diet is to use Nori sheets instead of tortillas to make wraps. You can also buy kelp flakes to sprinkle on your salads.

3. Identify Food Sensitivities.

The best way to figure this out is by doing an elimination diet. Removing foods that tend to cause inflammation for at least 21 days, and then slowly reintroducing them, can pinpoint which food might be to blame.

4. Support Your Microbiome.

The microbiome is the population of bacteria in our bodies, primarily living in the digestive tract. These bacteria are important for maintaining the intestinal barrier, and modulating the immune system. When it’s out of balance it can cause “leaky gut” which can kick off a cycle of immune activation and inflammation that can suppress the thyroid. Shifting the microbiome takes time, the right supplements, and the right diet — but it can make a big difference.

5. Take Stress Seriously.

Chronic stress lowers the conversion of free T4 to free T3, meaning you have less active thyroid hormone to work with. Severe chronic stress at the level of the brain can depress the thyroid centrally. When stress is so chronic you can develop high Reverse T3, a hormone that acts like a break on the thyroid.

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At Parsley we prescribe meditation to almost every member as part of their treatment plan.

This makes us radically different than any medical practice I have ever seen or heard of. We are doctors and health coaches using testing, nutrition, supplements and medication to help people heal from chronic disease and create more vitality. So why are we so convinced meditation is an essential part of treatment?

Scientifically speaking, the reasons are clear.

• Meditation lowers inflammation by signalling the brain to lower inflammatory cytokines, specifically interleukin-6. (1)
• Meditation rebuilds gray matter in the brain, which smartphones destroy. (2, 3)
• Meditation reduces stress, which reduces cortisol. Chronically elevated cortisol imbalances blood sugar and hormones and leads to weight gain. It also may lead to Alzheimer’s Disease, which is now understood to be a metabolic disease, meaning it’s one we can modify with diet and lifestyle. Hence meditation was included in a treatment protocol recently studied by the Cleveland Clinic which showed reversal of memory loss in 9 out of 10 Alzheimer’s patients. (4)
• Meditation stimulates the Vagus nerve, which modulates proper digestion from the stomach to the intestines.

Practically speaking, the reason I tell many of my patients to meditate is this: You can do the perfect diet, you can take the right supplements, and you can do all the tests, but if you don’t get your brain on board with your body, you won’t achieve your goals. I see it over and over: People will take drastic measures to cut out foods like gluten, dairy and grains on an autoimmune diet, take 10 supplements a day and spend hours at the gym. But when it comes to sitting still and quieting their minds, they come back visit after visit and say “I haven’t gotten there yet.” I understand, meditation is hard. The 10 day silent meditation called Vipassana that I did in 2008 was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life — and that says a lot given I went to medical school at Columbia. It was also the most profound and life-changing thing I’ve ever done because it reframed my perspective on the nature of reality and who I am as a person. Meditation taught me a toolset I have for life that works to heal my mind and body. The truth is you don’t have to go away for 10 days to see meditation work for you.

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Here are the top 7 reasons why you’re still not meditating, and how to hack them.

1. You try it and it feels terrible, so you assume you failed. This is wrong. Meditation will not feel like it “went well” or was “successful.” You will sit down and watch the whirling of your brain go haywire. You will realize how hard it is to focus on something like your own breathing, and you will get frustrated. The key is to realize that just by trying to meditate, you are already successful. Monks spend their lives working toward a perfectly clear zen-like state. Guess what…you won’t get there in 10 minutes! You don’t have to. Simply the act of observing your thoughts is healing to the brain.
2. You think you need to be alone in a dark quiet room. Not even close. Meditate as you cook. Meditate as you walk to work. Meditate as you drive or take the train on your commute. Meditation is just bringing your attention to the present moment, usually using a specific point of focus like the breath as a tool to keep your attention present, and noticing (without self judgement) when you’ve fallen into thoughts of the past or the future. Then from there, you can bring your attention back to the present when you realize your mind is wondering.
3. You’re too busy. The funny thing is, if you think you’re too busy to meditate for 5 minutes a day, you probably really need to meditate for 5 minutes a day. We are all busy. Busy is never going away these days. But if you take a few minutes out to come into the present, get out of your head and still your mind, research shows you will be more productive. Which is why meditation has become the top tool of some of our most powerful and successful CEOs. (5,6)
4. You’re addicted to social media. What would happen if you cut your time scrolling through fantasy versions of other people’s lives by 5 minutes a day, saved your poor thumb, and meditated? I guarantee you would be happier. Is the time you spend scrolling making you or your life better?
5. You don’t understand it. This one is fair. I highly recommend reading a book like A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, or Mind over Medicine by Lisa Rankin MD, or taking a class at your local meditation center. Meditation never made sense to me at all. I was a yogi and a runner. For me, if it didn’t involve sweat and intense physical exertion it was a total waste of time. I had to learn about meditation and then experience it for myself to get it. It’s not something you can intellectualize. It’s something you can contextualize by reading about it, and then you need to just try. It can’t hurt you, so there is literally no reason not to.
6. You think you need a lot of time. You don’t. A few minutes a day can be life-changing. At Parsley we recommend apps like Headspace to get you started. We also share a breathing exercise that I wrote about years ago on MindBodyGreen that people find really accessible. (7) And we love Muse — the brain sensing headband — that helps you meditate by turning your brainwaves into sound.
7. It seems woo woo and weird. Also fair. But today’s meditators aren’t hippies with beads or out there yoga nuts. They are CEOs, athletes, moms and millennials. To prove it join us this week on Wednesday at The Big Quiet in Central Park, one of a number of amazing meditation communities that has sprung up in places like NYC and LA. We will be there 7–9pm with a quiz on how your brain is messing with your body and you’ll get to try meditation with a large group of very cool, very smart people who are simply trying to improve themselves and their lives with the best tools available. Say you’ll be there! We can’t wait to see you.

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References: 1. Mindfulness Meditation reduces Interleukin-6: Biological Psychiatry http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223%2816%2900079-2/fulltext 2. Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray metter density — Psychiatry Research 3. Media mulit-tasking activity is associated with smaller gray=matter density — PLOS One Journal 4. Reversal of cognitive decline: A novel therapeutic program — Impact Journals 5. How Meditation Benefits CEOs — Harvard Business Review 6. CEOs Who Meditate — The Huffington Post 7. A Simple Breathing Exercise to Calm Your Mind & Body — Mind Body Green

Raise your hand if you’ve asked the Internet what to do about your hangover.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all vowed to start a detox right away. When you feel like nothing can save you, there are a few things that actually can.Here are 5 tried, tested and doctor-recommended hangover cures:

1. Ingest Protein

The mistake people make when hungover is to turn to carbs. But to really get your body detoxing, your blood sugar balanced, and your metabolism revved, stick to protein and healthy fat. A very important and often neglected part of detoxification called phase 2 liver detoxification, requires amino acids to work properly. Amino acids are protein molecules, found in protein foods — eggs, beans, meat, fish, or easiest of all — a vegan protein shake.

2. Take B-vitamins

Methylated-B-vitamins jump-start your liver into propelling all of that acetaldehyde, the toxic metabolite of alcohol, out of your system, through phase 1 liver detoxification. The Parsley Health Rebuild shake contains them, but we give our liver extra love by taking a high-quality multi-vitamin and mineral called Phyto-multi.

Are you ready to change your diet? Talk to one of our health experts to find out if Parsley Health can help you meet your goals today.

3. Drink Turmeric Water

Water alone won’t do the trick. If your gut is inflamed from the booze overload the night before, you need to boost absorption with the help of lemon juice, a spoon of raw honey, and fresh grated ginger. Make a big pot with hot water, let it steep, strain it out, cool and sip all day. The turmeric is anti-inflammatory, the ginger soothing to the gut, and the lemon/lime/honey packed with electrolytes that will move water into your system faster that water alone.

4. Get a massage

A massage is a way to let go passively, which is often exactly what’s needed when you’re overburdened with toxins. A hangover often comes not just with physical pain, but also psychic pain — a weird merry-go-round of guilt, “shoulds,” and negativity that is as irrational as it is all-consuming. A full-body, back or even just foot massage will give you the mind-body release you need, increase circulation and help drain out the toxins.

5. Soak in Epsom Salts

Having a hot soak can be a big relief for a pounding head and an aching bod, but adding epsom salts gives you a magnesium + sulphur boost. These nutrients are absorbed though your skin while you soak, promoting not just relaxation (Magnesium is nature’s anti-anxiety drug) and sulphur is essential for phase 2 liver detoxification (Tip: cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts contain good levels of sulfur too) Aim for 15–20 mins and keep it as hot as you can — the sweating will help you detoxify. After your soak, lie down for about 20 mins and drink enough cold lemon water, or leftover Turmeric tea.

You deserve a better doctor.

Schedule a free call with one of our health experts to learn how Parsley’s approach to comprehensive, whole medicine can bring you to life changing health.

The New York Times recently called out a new epidemic that I see all too frequently — prescription stimulant addiction. Drugs like Adderall and Vyvanse are being prescribed in droves to teens, college students and often young children for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, commonly known as ADD), despite the fact that they are known to be habit forming. These habits then persist on through many people’s adult years leading to abuse and dependence.

Before I went to med school I worked at the NYU School of Medicine’s Mental Health and Addictive Disorders Research program as a research coordinator for pharmaceutical trials for adult ADHD medications. Our center boasted some of the top psychiatrists in the field. I even co-authored a book chapter on ADHD with the doctor I was working with at the time called “Diagnosing ADHD in Adults.” The book reviewed the criteria that should be used to say an adult has the disorder. Then and now, a simple few minute verbal questionnaire, administered by a civilian and not a doctor, was all it took to figure out if someone should be on a drug for ADHD. That experience sparked my interest in a more comprehensive approach to medicine that included exercise, nutrition and meditation practices for mental health.

Many of the people participating in our center’s research studies really just needed a lifestyle change — to stop eating so much sugar, or to stop working night shifts that disrupted sleep patterns for instance — more than they needed a drug.

At Parsley Health our doctors spend meaningful time getting to know a patient’s life story. Then use cutting-edge testing to get to the root cause of your problems. From there we create comprehensive nutrition, fitness, mental health and medication based treatment plans. One of our goals is to get you off of unnecessary medications like the kinds overprescribed for ADHD. Stimulants, like Adderall, Ritalin and Vyvanse, are difficult to wean people off of.

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Even with diet, exercise, supplements and relaxation practices that help rebalance the nervous system and increase parasympathetic tone in the body, the side effects and withdrawal from coming off of these drugs can be too much for people to take. Even worse is that these drugs appear to cause tolerance formation, meaning people need higher and higher doses for the drugs to keep working. Sometimes a patient’s dose simply stops being effective overnight and they crash.

The side effects of these drugs are also interesting in that they go far beyond the brain. Anxiety, poor sleep, heart palpitations, headaches, and even acne, are all common side effects. But the side effects I think are most interesting are digestive related ones. Many of the people I see on these drugs also have symptoms like gas, bloating, reflux and chronic constipation. This makes sense. Our GI tracts have a complex nervous system called the enteric nervous system that regulates movement, digestion and even immune responses. These amphetamine-based drugs are not just active in our brains, they also stimulate receptors in every cell in our digestive tracts and have been shown to slow down the movement of our intestines and the emptying of our stomachs.

We also know that if slow transit times and impaired movement happen for a long time, the bacterial balance in the gut, known as the microbiome also changes. This can lead to SIBO — small intestinal bacterial overgrowth — a common cause of symptoms like brain fog, bloating and acid reflux.

At Parsley Health we help people take simple steps to fix burnout, reenergize and heal, and in many cases get off of the stimulants they have become dependent on. It starts with these 3 steps:

Cut out sugar

Refined sugar and carbs like bread crackers and pasta work like cocaine in the brain, leaving most people on a crash and burn energy roller coaster.

Take magnesium glycinate to sleep better

Instead of tossing and turning, or taking a powerful drug for sleep, try a little magnesium. Sleep is when our brains detoxify and restore so we feel good the next day. If your sleep is poor quality you are more likely to feel anxious and exhausted, and to look for stimulants like caffeine sugar and even medications to get through the day.

Develop a meditation practice

We all learn to tie our shoes as kids but we don’t learn healthy coping strategies for stress. Instead people turn to alcohol, drugs, overworking, or overeating to relieve uncomfortable emotions. Just a few minutes of meditation a day can resolve symptoms of anxiety.

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It’s officially spring! While many of us look forward to shedding some layers and watching the flowers bloom, folks with allergies dread this season filled with nasal congestion, and Kleenex. You are not alone.

Allergies affect about 50 million people in the United States. And they continue to increase every year with most people having more than just one type of allergy. The most common allergens include trees, grass/weed pollen, mold, dust mites, and cat/dog dander. While some of these can be controlled by keeping a dust-free, pest-free home, often people with allergies will keep all the windows closed to avoid environmental triggers. This can actually worsen indoor air quality and increase sneezing and congestion. Especially if you are cleaning your home with toxic cleaners. Choosing brands like Meliora or Pure Laundry that are made with natural ingredients or DIY is actually the best way to ensure that your home stays toxin-free.

I see patients who load up on over-the-counter drugs to dull the effects of their allergies. These mask the problem and often cause terrible side effects. That’s why I’ve created a four-step solution for my patients to help cure allergies naturally.

Schedule a free conversation with a Parsley Health expert to learn about our comprehensive approach to a healthy eating.

Other Ways To Stay Sniffle-free This Spring

1. Take a natural antihistamine. Over-the-counter antihistamines are the first thing many people reach for when allergy season hits. While effective, they can have side effects like headaches, drowsiness, dry mouth, and fatigue, especially with chronic use. I like to recommend a natural antihistamine when patients are really suffering that includes ingredients from natural sources. My favorite is D-Hist which contains stinging nettles and bromelain (the active enzyme in pineapples) for allergy relief.
2. Stop eating dairy. While it may be tempting to enjoy that ice cream as the temperature warms up, it could be worsening your nasal congestion. Dairy can increase the mucous production of your nasal passages, making symptoms worse. I had the absolute worst allergies growing up. Doctors told me it was due to genetics. During medical school, I started to learn about nutrition and cut out dairy. My allergies evaporated into thin air and I had the startling realization of how powerful the food we eat can be on our health.
3. Take your shoes off at the door. You could spend all day cleaning your home but unknowingly tracking in pesticides and environmental allergens on your shoes. We can’t control the outside allergen exposure completely. But you can greatly decrease your exposure by taking your shoes off as soon as you walk in the door. Slip into a comfortable pair of socks or slippers that you only use inside your home.
4. Get tested. Eighty percent of our immune system is in our gut. If you have a leaky gut, you are more prone to develop new allergies or worsen existing ones. At Parsley Health, we do state-of-the-art testing to determine the actual health of your gut and how it is affecting your immune system. I have seen allergies disappear once we heal a patient’s gut.

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In the past decade we’ve focused a lot on why women should stop obsessing about their bodies. It’s true — we tear ourselves apart, allow ourselves to be judged and even judge ourselves on our weight, butt shape, breast size, and everything else in between, except perhaps our accomplishments.

All yet every day I see the opposite problem. I see women — smart, educated, creative, passionate and career driven women, who aren’t suffering from over-thinking about their bodies, they are suffering from ignoring them.

I recently had a patient, a 39-year-old lawyer and single mother of two, who was suffering from chronic headaches. She was exhausted all the time. She was living on diet coke and coffee to get through the day, forgetting to eat lunch then overdoing it on take out at dinner.

She wasn’t exercising or meditating and as a result she was gaining weight. We tested her and found that despite having a normal body mass index (BMI) and being in her late 30s, she had a blood sugar imbalance called Metabolic Syndrome and abnormally high cortisol levels throughout the day and evening, causing her belly fat to accumulate while her sleep quality sank.

Are you ready to change your diet? Talk to one of our health experts to find out if Parsley Health can help you meet your goals today.

But all she could focus on was her job as a lawyer, her main resource for supporting herself and her family — and that wasn’t going well either. She was at odds with her boss and was afraid of getting fired.

Seeing her test results shocked her. It finally clicked that she was sacrifcing her body for the sake of “getting it all done” — the drive to achieve had become more important than eating, sleeping, moving or managing stress with something other than a glass of wine. The irony was she wasn’t excelling in her career and she felt she was letting herself down.

So I worked with her to start an eating program that included protein, healthy fat and fiber with every meal. Our health coach worked with her on her caffeine habit and helped cut her coffee intake to one cup per day. We also showed her how to use Headspace, the free meditation app that comes with her Parsley Health membership to get 10 minutes of quiet alone time at the end of the day. This helped to lower her evening cortisol. We also convinced her to start going to yoga twice a week. The investment in the babysitter was worth it.

Her primary care doctor had suggested she go on Adderall, which would have made her blood sugar and sleep much, much worse.

Schedule a free call with one of our health experts to learn how Parsley’s approach to comprehensive, whole medicine can bring you to life changing health.

At Parsley Health we suggested she make her body her focus so that she could find greater success in her life. She saw her blood sugar normalize, lost 10 pounds and began getting seven hours of sleep a night. But more importantly she had more energy and clarity that allowed her to ask her boss for the support she needed, a new secretary at work and the ability to work from home three mornings per week. I saw her six months later and she had gotten a raise. She was working fewer hours, and getting more done every day, giving her time to go to yoga and join a jogging group.

My colleague Dr. Tiffany Lester, Parsley Health’s San Francisco Medical Director had a similar experience in the Bay Area.

One of her patients is a 32-year-old female entrepreneur who came to her because she suffered from chronic fatigue and insomnia despite daily meditation and exercise. Dr. Lester placed her on a 30-day-detox and she felt so good that she wanted to continue the detox indefinitely!

She finally began sleeping soundly through the night and had the energy to tackle her business with no coffee required. This is the power of real food. Eating food that doesn’t have a barcode is one of the quickest ways to regain your health. No matter how busy you are, healthy choices are available and abundant if you make it a priority. So choose you. Choose health. That is the key to success.

I think Dr. Lester put it really well when she told me, “”We all have the same amount of hours in a day as Beyonce. Prioritizing your health is how you maintain success over an extended period of time.”

The sacrifices we make to be successful as parents, as partners and at work can’t be at the expense of our physical health.. The body will always find a way to get what it needs — rest, sweat, good food, sleep — even if it has to take you out for the count to get you to slow down and take care of it.

When we invest in our health as women, we are setting ourselves up for success in life. Making my body a top focus of my time and energy every day has led me personally to find my passion, feel good about who I am, find love, pursue a challenging career and now to be a mother. While the temptation is to pour everything I have into what is outside of me, when I give my body the attention it deserves, the rest falls into place effortlessly.

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Last year four of my friends, and a few of my patients, healthy women in their 20s and 30s, had isolated miscarriages.

So far two have gone on to have healthy pregnancies and delivered healthy babies. In the case of my patients, we keep helping women post-miscarriage go on to have a healthy pregnancy.

No one knows exactly what caused these particular miscarriages in each case, but the one thing they each have in common is some degree of secrecy and shame.

It’s amazing to me that in the year 2017 miscarriage is still something people feel ashamed of or want to hide. Now, I am all for privacy and not telling the world just for the sake of an Instagram hug in the face of loss, but even my close friends have struggled to share the news with the people closest to them. They are sad, frustrated, confused and don’t know who to turn to to ask for help. They find their OBGYN’s dismissive and uninformative. Sometimes they are even scared to try again.

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To me it’s essential for women to know that miscarriage is common and natural in many cases, that many women have miscarriages without knowing it. If you miscarry before your first missed period, you get a regular period which might be the same length or even shorter/lighter than your usual period, not necessarily heavier or abnormal!

An estimated 50% of pregnancies result in miscarriage early, before the woman knows she is pregnant and before the first missed period (so in weeks 1–4).

From there somewhere between 8% and 20% of known pregnancies miscarry before 20 weeks, with rates being lowest in women 20–30 (11%), higher in women over 35 (20%) and even higher in women over 40 (40% or higher). Women who have had a child previously are less likely to miscarry, and the risk of miscarriage goes down as gestational weeks go up. After 20 weeks the likelihood of miscarriage becomes very low, but still possible.

THE TOP REASONS FOR MISCARRIAGE ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• Chromosomal (aka DNA) abnormality. In this case the body identifies that there is a genetic problem with the embryo and terminates the pregnancy. This is the most frequent reason for miscarriage.
• Infection. A viral or bacterial infection or fever can trigger miscarriage.
• Thyroid disorder. 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with a thyroid condition in her lifetime and at Parsley Health we identify autoimmune and other types of thyroid dysfunction early. One of my patients who miscarried had a high TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone. We caught this even though her OBGYN missed it. We started her on thyroid hormone support and she was successful in getting pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy.
• Blood clotting disorders. These can be acquired or inherited. Some women are born with or develop clotting disorders like Factor V Leiden, which can result in recurrent miscarriage.
• Weight problems. -Obesity (BMI > 25) and being underweight (BMI < 18) are both associated with miscarriage. Note that over two-thirds of American adults have a BMI > 25.
• Celiac disease. If Celiac disease is untreated, meaning if you are still eating wheat or gluten, it can be associated with higher rates of miscarriage.
• Alcohol tobacco and cocaine abuse. The studies are inconclusive here as reliable reporting by pregnant women of use of these substances when pregnant is hard to come by, but all three are associated with some degree of higher miscarriage risk.
• NSAID use, like ibuprofen. This is also associated with higher miscarriage rates. This is a concerning fact given again, most miscarriages happen before women know they are pregnant and can knowningly avoid these drugs.

Another rare cause of miscarriage is amniocentesis or CVS, chorionic villus sampling, two invasive techniques for determining chromosomal or other abnormalities in a fetus. The rates are low ranging from 1 in 400 to 1 in 1000 in experienced hands of a provider doing the procedure.

Going into my pregnancy I had assumed I would do one of them given my age, 35, and the associated higher likelihood of chromosomal abnormalities.

Luckily thanks to a new blood test called Panorama, which samples fetal DNA in maternal blood, the most common abnormalities were ruled out, meaning my chances of finding a problem with the baby were 1 in 10,000. It’s a personal decision but for me the risk of accidental miscarriage with Amnio or CVS was higher than the chances of finding anything on the test so I elected not to get it done. The head of Obstetrics at Greater Baltimore Medical Center told me that Panorama had reduced their rates of Amnio and CVS by as many as two thirds in healthy women.

It’s important to note that caffeine intake has not been shown to increase risk of miscarriage.

So what does this all mean?

The takeaway for you, and our patients at Parsley Health, is that miscarriage is common and not something to be ashamed of. I always explain that it is the body’s wisdom and to trust it. It does not mean that you won’t go on to have a healthy baby and if your body ends the pregnancy, it’s best to be grateful for this natural intelligence.

You deserve a better doctor! Parsley Health is it.

Let us help you take a smarter, whole approach to living a healthy life. Speak to one of our health experts today.

Gluten is clearly the food devil of the decade.

The eighties had fat, the nineties had carbs, then there was sugar and today the health hazard du jour is a mysterious substance named gluten.

Most people avoid gluten without having any idea what it actually is. We get so many people asking us whether gluten is really bad for them.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein molecule in wheat and certain other grains like spelt, barley and rye. Celiac disease is a severe intolerance to gluten, which affects 1% of the population, and can cause digestive issues, weight fluctuations and even inflammatory conditions like skin and joint problems as well as malabsorption of key nutrients. Many more people, however, have “non-Celiac gluten intolerance,” which is where their bodies and immune systems react to gluten negatively.

How do you know if you have “non-Celiac gluten intolerance”?

Gluten intolerance can cause headaches, joint pain, fatigue, brain fog, gas, bloating, acne, eczema and other symptoms. I commonly see people in my practice who remove gluten from their diets and see huge improvement in these areas. It makes sense that like anything in the body, there is a continuum, and something like gluten is not a black or white issue, not a Celiac or non-Celiac issue, but a spectrum of response severity.

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Should I go gluten-free?

It might help to take a break from gluten for a little while. Remove all refined grains and processed foods along with potential immune triggers like gluten and dairy from your diet for at least 6 weeks, then talk to your doctor and a health coach about reintroduction and the right balance of gluten in your diet.

What kinds of food contain gluten?

Wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and triticale — a cross between wheat and rye.

What foods should I avoid if I’m avoiding gluten?

Breads, most baked goods, pastas, a lot of sneaky processed foods like salad dressings, cheese, soy sauce and most beer.

Will a gluten-free diet make me healthy?

Not necessarily. Everyone’s body is different. That’s why we practise personalized medicine and do high-tech speciality testing here at Parsley Health to figure out what works best for you.

It’s important to remember that new fad foods labelled ‘gluten-free’ tend to be processed and usually incredibly high in sugar and carbs, which could make inflammation worse.

What are some signs of gluten sensitivity?

Fatigue, brain fog, hormone imbalances which can cause PMS, PCOS or infertility, stiff joints, acne, eczema, anxiety, depression and mood swings.

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