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Too Many Zebras Wearing Pink
Even if you’re not the same age as me, I think many of you will recognize that there are patterns in our lives by the decade. Although our trajectories were different, when I look back, we were all basically doing the same thing. Kind of like parallel play in preschool, throughout my life, the people I surrounded myself with were hitting the same big life landmarks as I was. In my twenties, it was all about adulting – college, grad school or getting a job. Writing a resume, getting an internship, working long hours, and staying out late. The world was our stage. And somehow mixed into all of this…
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How to Improve Your Sleep
Hopefully by now you realize Why Sleep Matters. While there are many reasons that sleep can be disrupted, fortunately, a few simple shifts can often make a big difference. While all of these suggestions are potentially useful, the ones that work for you will depend on your personal situation. The sleep aid industry is burgeoning, and while there is a time and place for any prescription, you ultimately want to avoid relying on sleep aids, and sedatives. Not only can they become habit forming, further worsening your sleep problems due to a reliance on them, the sedation they provide does not allow for the same restoration as actual sleep. I…
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Why Sleep Matters
Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. –Matt Walker, Why We Sleep Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But if even half of these claims were attached to a celebrity product on TikTok, it would be a bestseller. The honest truth is that all…
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Curiosity is my new Superpower
I have spent my life working hard, attempting to balance the stress of a busy professional life with trying to raise 3 good humans of my own, while at the same time nurturing my relationship with my husband. This hard work has brought me great success, but left very little time for myself. People would often say to me, “you’re a supermom”, I guess because I always seemed to keep things in balance? And to keep this illusion of balance, I became a consummate multi-tasker, always managing to keep the balls in the air. I always assumed that was my super-power. But there is a video of my kids, I…
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Modern Day Hunger Games
The connections between what we consume and our health has long been realized and studied. There is substantial and increasingly robust evidence to show that consumption of a “healthy” diet can have profound impacts on our health and well-being. I don’t think any of us would argue with that. But just what constitutes healthy? We have been taught over the years to think about food based on the supposed 4 major groups – carbs, protein, dairy and fruits/vegetables. This has led to the ever growing barrage of conflicting dietary advice on Insta or tik-tok; should you be paleo or keto; vegan or carnivore; low fat or low carb? This binary…
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There Really Might be Something Wrong With Your Hormones
As a practicing ob/gyn for nearly 25 years, I spent my professional lifetime taking care of women, giving information and educating my patients about all manner of things to do with their health. I truly loved my job. The relationships I developed with patients over the years were unbelievable, and I would like to think over the decades I was in practice that I was making a difference in the lives of women. But in the last decade or so, there was this one persistent complaint that I started to get over and over again, and I admit that I struggled to give these patients an answer. I can’t tell…
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Where is the green grass?
The grass is always greener, right? I’ve been ruminating on this for the past few weeks. Why do we use this phrase to placate ourselves when we covet something that someone else has? Is it something we tell ourselves to justify the guilt we feel over choices made, or not made, because we can take pity on ourselves that what others have is better than what we have. Does it allow us to feel ok being unsatisfied with what we have right in front of us, and put most of the “blame” so to speak, into the cosmos, as if life somehow makes the grass greener over there. How…
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How Our Health Falls Back When We Spring Forward
As we approach Daylight Saving Time (DST) on March 12, 2023 many of us easily recognize the annoyance of not only resetting all our clocks, but also of losing an hour of sleep as we spring ahead. We trade this lost hour of sleep for an extra hour of daylight in the evening, but at what cost? The National Sleep Foundation’s 2021 Sleep in America Poll revealed that 70% of Americans don’t think their sleep, routines or mood are disrupted by changing the clocks. In the same poll, while only 1 in 4 Americans want to keep the biannual clock change, greater than 50% felt the US should stay in…
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Heart Disease in Women – Part 2
This is the second of a 2 part series Lowering our risk While a family history is one of the classic non-modifiable risk factors, there is growing evidence that we have the power to alter our genetic potential, and not only reduce our risk by preventing plaque build up, but actually reverse some of the damage that has already been done. While much of the basic advice (don’t smoke and exercise) has stood the test of time, it can be difficult to sort through the endless trends on social media regarding nutrition and wellness and figure out what advice to follow. Additionally, while our food choices factor in heavily, there…
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Heart Disease in Women – Part 1
This is the first of a 2 part series With red hearts everywhere, we are flooded this month with reminders to think of those we love. Whether you are romantically involved or not, this Hallmark holiday does provide a nice backdrop for American Heart Month, a time for us all to think about our own hearts, and the heart health of those we love. Historically, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has largely been considered a disease of men. And while it is still their # 1 killer, most people don’t realize that it is the leading cause of death in women as well, and that a woman’s chances of dying from heart…
