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Treating Sex Hormone Imbalances

Sex hormones are that are involved in the regulation of sexual development and reproduction. The primary sex hormones are estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Men and women have all of these, just in different amounts and ratios...

When men and women have low energy caused by an imbalance in their sex hormones, it is usually from different hormones. For men, it is usually due to a testosterone deficiency. For women, it is usually due to estrogen and/or progesterone imbalances.

Sex Hormones & Low Energy

The symptoms of menopause are no joke. They are incredibly uncomfortable and can change the quality of your life significantly. When a woman comes to me with menopausal symptoms, she is usually pretty desperate for relief. I use both natural and pharmaceutical therapies to get her that relief.

Treating Thyroid Disease

I am a big believer in natural medicine. It can be very powerful and work very well. I prefer to use it as long as the natural treatment is safe and strong. Unfortunately, when treating low thyroid, we usually need both the natural and the prescription treatments. In college, I learned from playing the card game euchre not to “send a boy to do a man’s job.” In medicine, this means using the treatment that you know will work. If I think a natural treatment will work, but I know that a medication will work, I should use the medication as long as there are no significant side effects. This is because I want to make sure you get results right away so that you can get your life back

Treating Thyroid Disease

Thyroid disease is one of the most common health problems we face today. The majority of people with thyroid dysfunction have hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism (“hypo” means low) is a condition where the amount of thyroid hormone in your body is less than what is needed for optimal function. According to the American Thyroid Association, more than 12 percent of the US population will develop a thyroid condition during their lifetimes, and more than half will be unaware that they have a problem. Women are five to eight times as likely as men to develop thyroid problems.

Advanced Adrenal Recommendations

Last week, I went over the recommended supplements to treat Adrenal Fatigue. This week I’ll go over adrenal recommendations as well as a plan to reduce stressors.

Treating the physical symptoms is only the first step. Once you start to feel better, it’s important to begin addressing the causes of the problem: the sources of stress that compromised your adrenals in the first place.

Testing & Supplement Options for Adrenal Fatigue

Last week we discussed the main symptoms as well as the causes of adrenal fatigue. This week, I will focus on testing and supplement options for treatment.

If you have most of the symptoms listed last week, you probably have adrenal fatigue. However, how do we test for adrenal dysfunction?

How Adrenal Fatigue Causes Chronic Fatigue

This week I will discuss how adrenal fatigue is a primary cause of chronic fatigue.

It's estimated that up to 80% of adults experience adrenal fatigue during their lifetimes, yet it remains one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the United States. Conventional medicine does not yet recognize adrenal fatigue as a distinct syndrome

Food Allergies & Low Energy

Food allergies can cause almost any symptom the body can manifest, including low energy. The gastrointestinal tract maintains a delicate balance of good bacteria, specialized immune cells, and various neurological and hormonal activities. In fact, 80% of your immune system resides in your gut, so anything you put in your mouth can trigger a reaction. Once your digestive system detects what it considers a “foreign particle,” your immune system reacts, and the inflammation that follows creates pain and dysfunction.

Food and Your Energy

Food is a touchy subject, especially if you’re not feeling well. We have a lot of emotional attachments to it, and it can give us joy at times when nothing else can. However, food allergies play a significant role as a cause and contributor to fatigue and, as a doctor, I have seen amazing improvements in the health of my patients when they change their food choices.

Food and Your Energy

EnergyMD Resources & Blog

November 22, 2023•4 min read

The first step in the process of making better food choices is to move toward a Paleo diet and eliminate gluten.

The next step is to determine which foods may be making you sick (food allergies) and remove them from your diet.

The Paleolithic Food Plan

Regardless of your state of health, I believe the Paleo diet (or food plan) is the best dietary approach for optimal health and longevity. The Paleo food plan consists primarily of:

meat,
vegetables,
nuts, and seeds, with low amounts of fruit and sugar, and no grains.

It is the food plan I recommend to all of my patients and the one that I live by every day.

No grains?! But why? you may be asking. Let me tell you the story of gluten, the main protein found in wheat.

Gluten

Gluten and gliadin are proteins that cause much of the inflammation and problems associated with the consumption of wheat products.

The word gluten literally means “glue” in Latin. In ancient times, a concoction of wheat flour plus water was used for plaster. Even today, wheat plays a role in industrial adhesives (paints, paper maché, and bookbinding glue).

If you’re wondering if eating a food that makes excellent glue might NOT be great for your digestive tract, then you’re onto something!

Humans in our present form have been around for about 3 million years. Wheat has only been around for about 10,000 years — and we're just not equipped to consume it. I tell my patients that eating wheat is like eating a sock. Our body sees it as foreign and tries to attack it and get rid of it.

Rising rates of celiac disease are merely the tip of the iceberg. In his article “The Dark Side of Wheat—New Perspectives on Celiac Disease and Wheat Intolerance,” Sayer Ji suggests that celiac disease be viewed not as an unhealthy response to a healthy food, but as a healthy response to an unhealthy food.

What foods contain gluten?

Gluten is mainly found in grains. However, it can also be found hidden in:

dairy products,
cosmetics,
processed foods.

The following grains contain gluten:

wheat,
corn,
barley,
spelt,
kamut,
rye,
triticale,
non-gluten free oats.

The following grains DO NOT contain gluten:

White and brown rice,
gluten free oats,
millet,
quinoa,
amaranth,
teff,
tapioca,
buckwheat.

Weight Gain and Gluten

Consuming gluten causes water retention (like most food allergies) and consequently, weight gain.

When people go on the Paleo food plan and stop consuming gluten, they usually lose 10% of their body weight in the first 2 months and continue to lose 3 pounds per month until they get down to a healthy weight. Some people even get down to the weight they were in high school! (As long as they were healthy in high school).

Please note, however, if you have many of the toxins causing fatigue, you may have a harder time getting down to your goal weight.

Changing your diet may be the most challenging aspect of fixing your fatigue. It is something you can do on your own, without investing in supplements or doctor visits. But for many, giving up an addictive food substance like sugar, wheat, or dairy only adds stress and contributes to exhaustion.

Balancing Your Blood Sugar

Besides removing gluten and moving toward the Paleo food plan, you’re also going to want to eat at regular intervals throughout the day. This is a great way to keep your energy steady during the day and prevent any mid-morning and mid-afternoon energy “crashes.”

Regulating your blood sugar is best accomplished by consuming protein and fat every 3 hours. Fruit, nuts, seeds, and meat bars (EPIC bars, Tanka Bites) make great snacks. I recommend the following schedule:

Breakfast at 7 a.m.

Snack at 10 a.m.

Large lunch at noon

Snack at 3 p.m.

Small dinner at 6 p.m.

Please don’t stress over your diet. I don’t want this part of the program to cause you to quit it all together. Go easy on yourself. Make these changes in small stages if you're up for it. Or come back to this later.

Take Action

A reasonable first step can be replacing all of the gluten products in your home with gluten-free products. Just watch the sugar content of these products!
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Evan H. Hirsch, MD

Evan H. Hirsch, MD, (also known as the EnergyMD) is a world-renowned Energy expert, best-selling author and professional speaker. He is the creator of the EnergyMD Method, the science-backed and clinically proven 4 step process to increase energy naturally. Through his best-selling book, podcast, and international online telehealth programs that can be accessed from everywhere, he has helped thousands of people around the world increase their energy and happiness. He has been featured on TV, podcasts, and summits, and when he’s not at the office, you can find him singing musicals, dancing hip-hop, and playing basketball with his family.

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