Hormones in Harmony Videos are Now Available!

In my 25 years of practicing Intuitive Integrative Medicine, I have found that the biological roots of dis-ease often lie in miscommunication within the neuro-immune-endocrine system. Your neurotransmitters, immune cytokines, and endocrine hormones communicate directly with your DNA. And your DNA dances to the song of the hormones. 

In these videos I share how to keep your biochemistry in balance in order to express your optimal genetic potential. In other words, be as healthy and vital as you can possibly be!

The same information I share with my patients for less than a tenth of the price.

HORMONES IN HARMONY—THE SECRET TO OPTIMAL HEALTH

	In this two hour video, Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP-BC presents her pearls of healing wisdom for Women through life’s transitions—from puberty to menopause and beyond. How to keep all your Hormones in Harmony including adrenal, thyroid and glucose metabolism. How to balance mood, increase vitality, thrive in the most stressful situations. Are you ripe to receive the gifts of the Divine Feminine? Hormones in Harmony® Video -The Secret to Women's Optimal Health
	Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP, Intuitive Integrative Medicine Nurse Practitioner, presents her pearls of wisdom regarding: Physical Fitness and Growth Hormone, Sexual Health and Testosterone, Stress and Cortisol, Heart Health and Insulin, Diet, Cholesterol, and Hormones. Hormones in Harmony® Video -The Secret to Men's Optimal Health
	Our most intimate relationships are at the root of our experience of life.They are the basis of our joy and our pain. And more so our relationships provide a foundation for our deepest soul growth. Living in Sacred Relationships with your spouse, your lover, your children, your family, your friends, your co-workers, your community, animals, plants, especially Mother Earth is an art and profoundly healing way of being for all consciousness. In this video, Deborah celebrates the LoveDance of Sacred Relationships with you! The Secret to Sacred Relationships Video

 

TREATING ADRENAL FATIGUE NATURALLY

The adrenal glands are one of the hardest working organs in the body.

They control blood pressure, orchestrate protein, fat, and carbohydrate metabolism, influence the immune system and run the stress response.

The catabolic adrenal hormone--cortisol--breaks down tissues. Skin, hair, nails, muscles, and organs. Bones break down leading to osteoporosis. Even the gut lining is affected by high levels of cortisol leading to leaky gut syndrome, food allergies and malabsorption.

Remember the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis? Stress induces an adrenaline response which alerts the hypothalamus which in turn stimulates the pituitary to tell the adrenals to produce cortisol to fuel the fight or flight response.

The hypothalamus is the maestro of the entire system. And it does not know the difference between a tiger chasing you and you being late for work. The adrenal response is the same--adrenaline-- cortisol-- DHEA-- cortisone. Over and over and over again, day after day, week after week, for months, maybe years on end, the stress of modern day life puts a toll on the adrenals. Eventually they become fatigued, producing less and less cortisol and DHEA until you can hardly function.

What are the symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue?

Profound fatigue. You struggle to wake up in the morning. You need caffeine and sugar to start your day. Your energy crashes in the afternoon. Sometimes you get a second wind at night and cannot sleep. A days circadian rhythm is usually early in the course of adrenal dysfunction.

Hair loss. Your nails are brittle and slow growing. Your skin is dry and aging fast, although early in the stress response the high cortisol levels will induce oily, acne prone skin. Wounds heal very slowly. This is partially because of the catabolic nature of cortisol and mostly because of the lower production of DHEA that helps you metabolize protein and fat to grow new you (hair, skin, nails and other more important tissues) if your hair, skin and nails are unhealthy, you can bet that your internal organs do not look so good.

 Sick alot. You cannot seem to recover from illnesses. You keep catching one cold after another. All your old viruses come back to haunt you. You break out in old sores, genital warts, relapse with chronic infections like Epstein Barr and hepatitis. Your immune system does not seem to be working properly.

Cravings. You crave sugar after you eat. When you eat,  cortisol is produced which releases stored sugar so that you have immediate fuel until your food is digested. Tired adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol and you crave sugar after you eat. 

And then you crave salt. Why? Because your adrenals also make another hormone called aldosterone that regulates salt water balance. Fatigued adrenals do not produce enough aldosterone, so your blood pressure is low. You get up too fast and you feel dizzy. Healthy adrenals produce enough aldosterone to raise your blood pressure twenty points when you rise from a lying to a standing position. Otherwise if you were napping under a tree, how would you be able to get away from that tiger?

Slow metabolism. Eventually your thyroid is affected. That's because thyroid function is controlled by the same hypothalamic hormone as the adrenal glands.

Sex hormones begin to decline. That's because reproduction is not a necessary function whe your body is under profound stress. Most brides experience this stress repsonse when their period shows up on their wedding day. Your adrenals use progesterone to make cortisol. Progesterone stabilizes the lining of the uterus. High stress equals high cortisol production and there is not enough progesterone to regulate the menstrual cycle. Eventually inadeaquately opposed estrogen leads to heavy, painful periods and fibroids. (more info on female hormones here)

Conventional medicine does not recognize adrenal fatigue. Why? Because while adrenal fatigue is not optimal functioning, it is not a disease. Allopathic practitioners treat diseases. Complete adrenal failure is called Addison's disease. Your adrenal glands no longer produce cortisol. You need cortisol to survive, so you are given synthetic cortisone for the rest of your life.

Why wait until you have full blown Addison's disease? Why not stop before you fall off the cliff?

Integrative medicine recognizes less than optimal functioning as something that can be improved through better lifestyle choices, detoxification, and supplementation.

Adrenal fatigue is recognized by integrative medicine as a treatable condition.

Adaptogenic herbs, B vitamins, essential fatty acids  can help adrenal glands recover. Glandular products are also useful initially to support adrenal function. Sometimes bio identical cortisol and DHEA is prescribed to supplement adrenal function.

I believe the body will heal itself given the proper nutrients. So first I recommend a foundational support to heal the adrenals as well as all the organ systems affected by stress. Getting the adrenals functioning properly will stop the hair loss, weight gain, and aging, but the body needs extra nutrients to grow hair and healthy skin,  improve body composition to increase lean body mass and decrease body fat, and optimize health.

Then I recommend hypothalamic support to improve the communication system between the adrenals and the brain. Supporting the hypothalamus allows it to orchestrate the rest of the endocrine system as well as the neurological and immune system to harmonize the symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters and cytokines so your DNA dances optimal health and well being.

Yes, I recommend adrenal glandulars and adaptogenic herbs to boost adrenal activity, but revving the engine without providing gas and oil will burn out the vehicle.

Genesis Gold is the fuel the body needs to detoxify, rebuild and heal itself. Sacred Seven amino acids provides the hypothalamic support to optimize genetic function.

Start your healing journey. Order GenesisGold and Sacred Seven here.

Your Adrenals—How Stress Makes You Fat

Stress—a fact of modern day living and the cause of so many diseases. Stress has been linked to heart disease, cancer, allergies, autoimmune disease, thyroid dysfunction, mood disorders and obesity.

While stress affects many parts of the body, the adrenals are responsible for creating the stress response.

What are the Adrenals?

The adrenals are small glands that lie on top (ad) of the kidneys (renals). These amazing glands have multiple functions. While the adrenals are endocrine glands producing hormones in response to pituitary stimulus that control carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, the adrenals also respond to neurological stimuli to initiate the fight or flight response, as well as electrolytes circulating in the blood to control blood pressure, and produce cytokines that influence immune function.

That's a lot of responsibility for one pair of glands.

So what happens when you are under stress?

First, the adrenals are stimulated by the nervous system and produce adrenaline. Adrenaline increases heart rate and blood pressure to initiate the fight or fight response.

Then the adrenals produce cortisol to fuel the fight or flight response. Cortisol is a catabolic steroid hormone. Catabolic = breaks down. Steroid = made from cholesterol. Hormone = chemical messenger.

Like most endocrine glands, the adrenals are stimulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary axis in a negative feedback system. Think of a seesaw. Cortisol is on one side and Adrenal Cortico Trophic Hormone (ACTH) is on the other. If cortisol is high, ACTH is low. If cortisol is low, ACTH is high.

Let's say a tiger is chasing you. Your autonomic nervous system stimulates the adrenals to produce adrenaline. Your heart beats faster raising your blood pressure so you can get away. The adrenaline surge stimulates the hypothalamus which checks to see if you have enough cortisol to fuel the stress response. If not, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland to produce ACTH which travels via the blood stream to the adrenal cortex and stimulates the production of cortisol.

Cortisol then tells the pancreas to produce glucagon which is the hormone that releases glycogen (stored sugar) from the muscles and the liver. Now your muscles and heart have the energy to get away from that tiger!

Whew! Following the surge of cortisol, the adrenals produce dehydroepiandrostione also known as DHEA. DHEA controls protein and fat metabolism to help repair the damage from the flight or fight. The leftover cortisol is converted to cortisone, a natural anti-inflammatory, to soothe your aches after getting away from the tiger.

At first the high stress response causes a catabolic reaction as tissues breakdown. You might lose weight initially but over the long haul, the high levels of cortisol can cause you to store body fat. Remember cortisol stimulates the release of stored sugar. How can the glucose get into the cells without insulin? So the pancreas also produces more insulin in response to the stress. If you are really running away from the tiger, then of course, you will use the glucose. If not, well then, you develop insulin resistance.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance is your body's way of protecting itself from all that circulating sugar. You see, insulin escorts glucose into the cells. Cells use glucose to produce energy. If the tiger is not really chasing you and you are not expending the energy, then your cells become resistant to insulin. All cells that cannot store sugar become insulin resistant. Your liver and muscles can store about 400 calories worth of glucose. Your heart, on the other hand, cannot store even one gram of sugar. Your heart can only use glucose to beat faster or grow bigger. A bigger heart is not an efficient pump, so your heart becomes insulin resistant.

What does your body do with the extra sugar? It stores it as fat. Thankfully, your adipose cells never become insulin resistant. No, they will store that extra sugar in the form of triglycerides (triple sugar molecules) to protect the rest of your body.

Insulin resistance is why you end up gaining weight after prolonged stress.

My recommendations for stress induced insulin resistance:

• RELAX - first of all, take time to chill out. Yes, meditation, relaxation exercises, soothing music, long walks, just being in nature can help calm the stress response. A regular meditation practice has been shown to reduce the stress response.

• DIET - The best diet to reverse insulin resistance is a plant based, moderate fat and protein, low carb. Click here for my insulin resistant diet. 

• EXERCISE - Yes, exercise is important, but it matters when you do it.  Exercise early in the morning to follow the natural cortisol circadian rhythm. Exercising late in the day and especially after dark creates a stress reaction. Exercise induces cortisol production and cortisol opposes melatonin so you will not sleep deeply.

• WORK - Take vacations. Work to live, don't live to work. If you do what you love, look forward to work, then work becomes as therapeutic as play.

• SUPPLEMENTS - the key to supplementation is to balance the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response. One of the biggest reasons I created Genesis Gold is to help balance the stress response.  Adrenal function improves, insulin resistance reverses, and metabolism increases when the hypothalamus is supported. Plus the adaptogenic herbs help provide natural adrenal and hormonal balance.

Most people describe a more Zen approach to life when taking Genesis Gold. One middle aged male patient described a new found ability to take a higher perspective when dealing with stressful family situations since taking Genesis GoldÒ.

Years ago, my husband was asked what Genesis Gold did for him. He said he felt more mellow. We all noticed the change, even the dogs. When he would pay bills he would get so uptight that the dogs would hide. Now they lie happily at my husband's feet as he navigates the monthly bills!

Physically, his triglycerides dropped, his waistline slimmed, and he looks younger-- the benefits of a healthier metabolism and less stressed attitude. Of course, I was happy he was taking better care of himself, especially since he worked for 30 years as a police officer—such a high stress job that within a few years of retirement many cops suffer heart attacks and die. He's been consistent with taking Genesis Gold since 2008 and it shows— at 51, his lab tests are that of a healthy thirty-year-old.

So take good care your adrenals and you'll stay trim and healthy.

Hormones Affect Your Health

Excerpt from The Survival Guide for the Hormonally Challenged Woman

As the interface between the energy of the environment and the matter of your body, hormones affect everything ~ Your moods, your memory, your metabolism.

Your appearance, your aging, your appetite. Your sleep patterns, your stress response, your sex drive. Everything.

When I refer to hormones, I mean all the body’s messengers—the traditional hormones of the endocrine system, the neurotransmitters of the neurological system and the cytokines of the immune system. All of these act as hormones affecting everything we do, everything we feel, everything we think.

Living in today’s fast paced, high-stressed world of the interminable electric light and too many manmade carbohydrates create havoc with our hormones.

Think of the hormones as the software program of the human computer. Many of us are so Hormonally Challenged—sick, aging, tired, or just plain stressed out—that we need a software update.

From Puberty to the Pause

Your hormone story began when you were in your mother’s womb. As a growing fetus your hormones were higher than they will ever be again. All those hormones helped you grow from a tiny zygote to a newborn baby. At birth, you entered a hormonal slump. Although growth occurs, hormones are naturally low in childhood. But at puberty, your hormones entered a fantastic rollercoaster.

First your adrenals started pumping out high levels of DHEA—a hormone needed to metabolize protein and fat for you to grow rapidly. DHEA converted to testosterone and hair began sprouting on your body and you developed body odor. DHEA then converted to estrogen and your breasts budded. A couple years later, your ovaries woke up and you had your first period.

During this time your pancreas began pumping out glucagon to release stored baby fat and insulin to fuel your pubescent growth. A couple years after menarche, your growth hormone levels peaked and you reached your full adult height. Then your thyroid hormone levels reached a plateau to maintain your new young adult metabolism.

Perimenopause follows the same pattern as puberty, but in the opposite direction!

As we came in thus we go out….

First your adrenals falter. Stress greatly affects you and you get tired easily.

Then your ovaries slow down. Your periods become heavier, irregular, you begin skipping periods. You become moody, irritable, and forgetful. Then fat! Because your pancreas is producing more and more insulin to keep up with the Change and eventually you become insulin resistant.

Then your growth hormone levels drop and you just don’t heal as quickly. You do not recover from exercise or a late night out like you did when you were younger. Finally your thyroid slows way down. Why? Because you cannot have a high metabolism with low hormones….you would literally implode.

Hormones Also Affect Your Digestion and Detoxification

We are what we eat…literally. 

We all know that protein builds muscle and that carbohydrates are energy foods, but did you know that every chemical you make, every hormone, every neurotransmitter, every cytokine, all come from nutrients derived from the food you eat? 

If your diet does not provide all the nutrients necessary to run your system, then something has to go…Usually those parts of your body that are not crucial for life--your skin, your hair, your nails.  Your internal health is directly related to your external appearance.

Hormones are made up of protein and fat…specifically cholesterol. In fact, “steroid” hormones are derived from the “sterol” in cholesterol. When you reach middle age and your hormones begin to decline, your cholesterol naturally rises in response. Your liver is just trying to help out your failing ovaries!

Food is digested into protein, fat, and carbohydrates. These macronutrients provide calories and building blocks for new tissues and biochemicals like hormones. Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals that help run the system. If you cannot digest your food properly, break it down into absorbable macronutrients and assimilate it into essential micronutrients, then you cannot produce adequate hormones to remain healthy.

Your liver and kidneys are organs that detoxify your body. They need energy from food (mostly carbohydrates) and essential amino acids (from protein) and essential fatty acids (from fats) to do their job. They also require micronutrients to run the detoxification pathways. It’s an incredibly complicated system -- One that most health care providers ignore.

Years ago I was attending a medical conference. The physician presenter was lecturing on the drug interactions between a blood thinner and Tylenol. After the lecture, I asked: where in the hepatic detoxification pathways were the interactions occurring? When he didn’t answer, I clarified by asking specifically about phase I enzyme interactions versus phase II conjugation issues. As if I was speaking a different language, he said very slowly and very loudly, “I am a lung doctor, not a liver doctor.”

I replied, “Doctor, don’t all your ‘lung’ patients have livers? So wouldn’t it behoove you and your patients to know what detoxification pathways are affected? That way you can advise your patients on what foods, herbs, and supplements to also avoid.”

He shook his head. “I just check their blood levels frequently.”

And his patients are dependent on him not to bleed to death!

Now I know that as a layperson, you probably do not have a clue about the hepatic detoxification pathways but I expected my esteemed colleague to understand. We learned this basic physiology in our undergraduate pre-med training. Yet so few of us utilize knowledge of biochemistry in our clinical practices. And it is SO VERY IMPORTANT!

That’s why as a patient you need to know how your body works so you can make the healthiest choices. Knowledge is power and very well may save your life. 

I keep my Hormones in Harmony™ and optimize my digestion, detoxification and metabolism by taking Genesis Gold®. So even the Pause is just another Joyous Transformation!

Keep Hormones in Harmony™ naturally with...

Genesis Gold®— Creation in a Bottle

By harmonizing the hormones, Genesis Gold® optimizes genetic potential. The whole food, organic herbal and essential micronutrient blend encased in Genesis Gold® supports optimal digestion, absorption, and assimilation of nutrients as well as optimal detoxification and mitochondrial energy production.

360gm bottle only $150 Buy Now

Copyright 2013 DMaragopoulos

For permission to reprint this article please contact Deborah@lovedance.com

Your Hypothalamus—The Boss of Your Body

For the past fifteen years, I’ve discovered the root of many medical problems  to be miscommunication.  Miscommunication between the boss of your body and the complicated network of biochemicals that control all your body’s functions. Your Hypothalamus is the Boss of Your Body.

What is the Hypothalamus?

The hypothalamus is a small cluster of nerve cells at the base of the brain. Tiny compared to the brain, the hypothalamus weighs only 4 grams (the adult brain weighs 1400 grams). Most of your brain is like a giant computer storing megabytes of information. Your hypothalamus is the operating system orchestrating all the software programs that run your body.

What does my Hypothalamus Do?

Your hypothalamus performs a wide range of functions that are vital for your survival. Your hypothalamus integrates all the basic functions of the body necessary for life, such as:

·        fluid and electrolyte balance

·        feeding behavior

·        weight control

·        energy metabolism

·        wake-sleep cycles

·        temperature regulation

·        stress responses

·        sexual behavior and reproduction

·        emotional expression

·        processing of sensory information

·        balancing of blood sugar

·        maintaining homeostasis

Where is my Hypothalamus?

Your hypothalamus is located just behind and between the eyes at the base of your brain. It contains very important nuclei (nerve cell clusters) that connect it with the rest of the brain and with the endocrine system which controls all your hormones.

Your hypothalamus sits at a crossroads in the brain, receiving direct sensory inputs from the smell, taste, visual, and tactile systems. These sensory inputs to the hypothalamus drive your emotional response and many of the phenomena associated with emotional expression (changes in heart rate, blushing, hair standing on end, etc.)

Why is my Hypothalamus so Important?

The hypothalamus is the master controller of all your hormones, your immune system, and your brain chemistry.

Most people think of the pituitary gland as the master gland controlling your hormones, but it is just a middle manager. It is the hypothalamus which regulates the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus secretes releasing hormones communicating with the anterior pituitary gland to produce stimulating hormones that control the thyroid, the adrenals, the ovaries and testes as well as the production of growth hormone and prolactin (which regulates your immune system).

Your hypothalamus also contains sensors that monitor your blood temperature, blood sugar and mineral levels, and your hormones. Your hypothalamus receives sensory inputs necessary to detect challenges within your body and in your environment.

So when things are different, when your body is no longer acting like it used to, when you go to the doctor and complain that something is not right—your sleep is disturbed, your moods are erratic, you’re getting sick more often, your body temperature is off, your weight is out of control—and all your blood tests are within normal limits…it just might be your hypothalamus that needs help.

How do I keep my Hypothalamus Healthy?

The hypothalamus is maestro of the entire symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters and immune factors. Plus it controls all our basic body functions including those essential for survival.

It’s about time, we get to the root of our health problems.

Thankfully, the hypothalamus is very responsive to nutritional therapeutics. That's why I created Genesis Gold --- to support the hypothalamus. If the maestro gets support, the whole orchestra is more harmonious.

Feed the body what it needs to heal and it will heal.

The first of the Hormones in Harmony series was a great success!

Next month, in honor of Mother’s Day, I will be presenting my pearls of healing wisdom for WOMEN only.

On Monday May 7th at The Well in Ojai, I will show you how to keep all your Hormones in Harmony naturally.

* Your Adrenal hormones and how to better handle stress
* Your Thyroid hormones and how to have a youthful metabolism
* Your Insulin levels and how your diet affects your weight and your health
* Your Sex steroids and how to have a healthy libido and age gracefully

I’ll teach you how to have healthy bones, skin, hair, and body— inside and out.

And how to balance your mood, increase your vitality and thrive through all your life transitions—from puberty to menopause and beyond.

Please join me Monday May 7th at 7-9pm

WHERE: The Well- Center for Conscious Learning 214 W Aliso St, Ojai, CA 93023

PRICE: $55 at the door
SAVE 20% By Preregistering—Go to http://genesisgold.com/whats-new_395.html
Or call (805) 640-3341

You’ll take home much more information regarding Women’s Hormonal Harmony and know how to balance your hormones naturally.

Get ready for a healing evening at The Well.

May your Hormones be in Harmony,

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP
Intuitive Integrative Medicine


PS: Don’t worry, men. Your turn is coming in June!