Hormones in Harmony® - Heal Your Hypothalamus for Optimal Health, Graceful Aging and Joyous Energy

Hormones Sing and DNA Dances. 

Your Hypothalamus is the maestro of your entire symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters, and immune factors.

Your neuro-immune-endocrine system controls your moods, your memory, your sleep, your energy, your metabolism, your vulnerability to disease including cancer and autoimmunity, your digestion, your detoxification, your aging process. 

Wouldn't it be great if you could have a guidebook to help keep your Hormones in Harmony®?

Well, it's here! 

This is the book you’ve been waiting for. The one that reveals all my secrets to healing naturally. The one you’ve wished you had to give your friends and family.  The one I wished I had to help you and all my patients understand the healing process.

Hormones in Harmony® - Heal Your Hypothalamus for Optimal Health, Graceful Aging and Joyous Energy

Whether you are in puberty or approaching the pause, either male or female, your health and well-being is determined by your hormonal balance.

If you’re not dancing in perfect health, your hormones are out of tune. Why tune up each instrument, when you can support the maestro and heal everything?

If you’ve tried every diet, every lifestyle change, every meditation, every supplement and still aren’t experiencing optimal health, this is the book you need!

Hormones in Harmony® shows you how to balance Your Hypothalamus naturally to heal Your Body, Mind, and Soul!

Get Your Copy of Hormones in Harmony® 

Amazon Best Seller
5 Star Reviews 

“This is a beautiful book. It is practical and insightful. In reading it, I found things that I already knew confirmed and found insights that really made me think. It’s grounded in the author's own life and clinical experience, which offers the feeling to the reader of great wisdom and great humanity. This is a book to savour because it offers a road map but not a set of rigid to rules to be followed. I highly recommend it to anyone at any stage of life, wellness or illness.” Reader from the UK

"This book is packed full of useful information for both men and women. When you read the title, don’t think just sex hormones--estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. The author is talking about the endocrine system, the immune system, and how the cells in our body interact. Think in terms of the neuro-immune-endocrine system. This book is easy to read and understand so that we can start on the road to understanding the foundation of why we feel the way we do!" Reader from the US

 As an Intuitive Integrative Family Nurse Practitioner, I blend the Art of Healing with the Science of Medicine to uncover the root of your health problems and help you tap into your innate ability to heal.

And now you have the guidebook to optimal health. Enjoy!

Deborah Maragopoulos FNP
The Hormone Queen®
www.thehormonequeen.com

LIVE LONGER THE GREEK WAY!

I recently got tagged on FaceBook after one of my friends read an article called Secrets From The Island Where People Forget To Die.

My friend said, “Thought of you, Deborah, when I read this article. Sounds like your words of wisdom.”

Well, the island is Ikaria in the north Aegean Sea. The people there live well into their eight, ninth, and tenth decades. Yes, it is common to see one humdred year old Greeks in the market, gardening, enjoying life. In fact, heart disease, cancer, diabetes are rarely heard of on this island. So how is it that these people rarely suffer from the same illnesses that shorten the lives of the rest of us.

In her her new cookbook Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die, Diane Kochilas sums up as six things which I totally agree with.

1. Eat locally, seasonally and sparingly. 

The octagenarians, nonagenarians and centenarians on Ikaria ate very little in their early years, because of extreme poverty. Now I’m not saying that people should starve, but clearly first world countries consume too much.

Traditionally, people of the Mediterranean eat very little meat. A goat or a lamb or a pig may be slaughtered for a holiday feast, perhaps two or three times a year. Family chickens were kept for eggs. The young roosters may be slaughtered a few times a month. Goats are milked and the milk is cultured into yoghurt and cheese. And if you’re fisherman or have something to trade with the fishermen, then fish is part of the diet. 

Everyone keeps a garden, which is basically xenoscaped as the island is arid. So people scavenged for herbs, roots, snails, mushrooms, wild greens. My husband describes picking dandelion greens from the park as a kid. His Greek father would sauté the greens- Horta – and we still cultivate these weeds today. Great for the liver and really tasty sautéed in olive oil, with a bit of feta sprinkled on top.

And the biggest factor is that there is virtually no processed food on the island, except in some restaurants.

2. Don’t rush through life. 

This is key to Mediterranean people, especially those my husband and I encountered in the small villages of Italy and Greece. The author describes the pace with which people move on Ikaria to be: slow, deliberate, unhurried, but with enough time to observe and live in every moment.

Once when we were visiting southern Italy, my husband and I were shopping for souvenirs in the coastal village of Amalfi. Suddenly all the village left their homes and shops including the shopkeeper where we were shopping and they all headed to the beach. We followed them to witness the most beautiful sunset on the Tyrrhenian Sea. People were holding hands and just enjoying the beauty. When the sun had set, everyone kissed and went back to whatever they were doing before. We asked the shopkeeper when he returned if this was a usual event.

 “Of course!” He exclaimed throwing up his hands in the Italian manner. “You stop and appreciate your beautiful life!” We have been slowing down ever since and I believe that has helped our aging process.

This slow pace allows us to be more in tune with our bodies. And that is key to maintaining our health. If you’re moving too fast, not living deliberately, rushing through life, then how can you possibly attend to your body’s subtle signals of dis-ease. When patients come to me with an illness, I always point out to them that their body is trying to communicate with them. If they want to heal, it behooves them to stop and pay attention.

3. Enjoy sleep. 

We sleep so much when we are on vacation. Well, living deliberately allows you to really sleep well. Take naps! Pay attention to your dreams. The centenarians of Ikaria relish their sleep. All older Greeks nap.

I recently read a study on bimodal sleep. We are meant to sleep in two phases. When we were in Italy and Greece if we didn’t sleep during the siesta time when all the shops closed down in the late afternoon, then we could not possibly keep up with the lively late night activities that the people enjoy. An afternoon nap is just when your adrenals need to be recharged. So sleep well!

4. Let things go.  

This is a lesson for us all. The Greeks say, "Don't hold the bad in." The negative feelings- disappointment, regret, frustration, anger, fear—slowly but surely tax our resources and feed dis-ease. Remember what we think becomes. So release everything that no longer serves you on a regular basis. My Italian grandparents used to say, “Never go to bed mad. Always kiss and make up.”

Celebrating life is a great part of Mediterranean culture. The Italians and Greeks love their wine. Grown in the heart of the land they love, the grapevines capture the love of the people turning sunshine into luscious fruit. The wine is good and strong and fuels lively celebration with much dancing!  

5. Walk.  Move. Dance.

When we were in Italy and Greece, we were amazed at how many old people walked. No wheelchairs, no walkers, no canes. Once my husband tried to help a tiny octogenarian with her groceries and she turned him away. My old Italian aunts were like that…believing that once they could not longer do for themselves they would die. So they insisted on cooking, cleaning, climbing three stories, walking to the market as long as they possibly could.

No gyms, no heart monitors, no fancy running clothes. Just walk as much as possible, every day.  You won’t believe how much exercise you get if you just walk. Once my father got us a couple of pedometers. He and I walked around Ojai and compared steps. I’m shorter so I had a few more steps. Just before dinner, he asked to use my laptop. While he was perusing his email, I went out to the garden to gather veggies for dinner, fed the animals, watered a few plants, folded clothes, and prepared dinner. At the end of the evening, we compared our pedometers, I had double the amount of steps than him. He thought I had taken another walk. “No, Dad, I just didn’t sit down.” So get up and walk!

6. Turn to nature’s pharmacopeia as your medicine. 

The long-lived Ikarians use herbs for the minor ailments and let their bodies heal themselves. Folk pharmacopoeia may be slipping away in many cultures but it is alive and well on the island where people forget to die.

One of the reasons I created Genesis Gold was because I could not gather all the nutrition my body needed from my organic American diet. Genesis Gold provides my body a potpourri of herbs from around the world to choose what is needed for healing and maintaining optimal health.

 

GENESIS GOLD - NATURE'S PHARMACOPEIA

Tap into Your DNA

I've been teaching my patients for years that thought becomes manifest in our DNA. Our self-talk directs our DNA to dance accordingly...as healing or dis-ease. And Russian scientists have proven it! *

Consciously directing our DNA is why I created Genesis Gold...I alchemized into the formula (which came to me in dreams) my heartfelt intention to optimize our genetic potential by balancing hormones, neurotransmitters and cytokines (tiny immune messengers) so our biochemistry sings harmoniously to our DNA. With the help of Genesis Gold, many have healed themselves.

Healing at the genetic level is through a symphony of biochemicals that carry messages to the DNA. Most of us are born with DNA encoded for survival. If our communication networks are functioning properly then the DNA gets the proper messages to adapt to any situation. Dis-ease is more of a mal-adaptation to the environmental exposures and disharmonious energies.

We now have scientific proof that water has memory and can be imprinted with whatever it is exposed to. Since our bodies are made up of at least 60% water then it holds true that we can imprint our cellular fluids with healing through positive thoughts, nourishing foods and joyous experiences. I've "known" this to be true since I became a healer... my healing energies are imprinted in Genesis Gold and every day I take it, I send blessings to all those who are drinking it with me.

When the Japanese earthquake sent radiation spilling into the ocean, many of my patients called concerned. I told them that first, Genesis Gold has enough sea vegetation in it to protect their thyroid from radiation uptake, and second, that by promoting harmonious communication, they would adapt to whatever comes.

Your DNA has the best blueprint for your adaptation to any situation.

Imagine mining your DNA for gold: Health. Wellbeing. Longevity. Vitality. Greater Mental Abilities. Emotional Intelligence. More Refined Senses. Increased Sensitivity. Sacred Attributes. Well, you can.

I mine my DNA by swimming Fibonacci patterns. Diving under the water I imagine diving into myself, into my cells, into my own genetic code.

With each figure eight I swim, my mind clears, I relax into myself, and soon insight bubbles to the surface. I like to swim but you can do it anyway you please. The figure eight motion whether swimming, walking, dancing is meditative in itself.

Anytime I have a healing concern, I dive into myself. Usually my body will communicate back to me what is needed to heal: a change in diet, more sleep, different activities, a change in scenery.

Going more deeply, past the afflicted body part, into the tissues, the cells, finally into the DNA itself, I find what is needed may be a shift in consciousness.

First we must be open to change before healing transformation can begin. That’s really the hardest part—being open to receive healing.

When healing seems evasive, I often wonder how I’m blocking healing. Usually it’s emotional. Unresolved grief, unexpressed anger, or deep fear manifests itself as dis-ease.  It’s the emotion that may be blocking healing, even our own healing intentions.

Once I had a patient come to me to lose weight. So I counseled her on changing her sleep patterns (she was a night owl which contributes to insulin resistance and obesity), changing her diet (which was SAD—the Standard American Diet—high in calories, low in nutrients), begin exercising (she was completely sedentary with a daytime desk job) and most importantly to learn to love herself enough to make the changes necessary to get healthy.

She struggled with her weight…never quite ready to make all the changes necessary to get healthy. Oh, she dieted and would lose some weight. She started exercising and again weight would come off. She learned to sleep at night which improved her insulin resistance. Yet she was coming for help out of fear of dis-ease, not out of love for herself. While we made some progress, it didn’t stick.

Then she started taking Genesis Gold and began noticing all the ways she was sabotaging herself. She described becoming a more compassionate observer of herself. She decided finally it was time to change for good.

She took the plunge. And discovered a deeply ingrained belief that was sabotaging her weight loss. Over time with more counseling and more work on her part to learn to love and appreciate herself, this patient got down to healthy weight and has remained there since. And she does not have to be so strict with her diet or obsessive with her exercise. She can even miss some sleep and not miss a beat. With the change of attitude and help of Genesis Gold to balance her hormones, brain chemistry and metabolism, she is manifesting her best self.

It takes much courage to dive into yourself and discover what is needed for your highest wellbeing. No one else can do this for you. You can be guided with visual imagery, hypnotized, counseled ad nauseum, yet ultimately, you must commit to yourself and take the plunge. 

I created Genesis Gold to help us tap into our greatest potential. It’s all in our DNA, everything needed to be healthy. We are already whole. We just got to dive deep to discover the treasure. Go on, now, take the plunge!

Tap into your highest genetic potential with Genesis Gold!

* http://wakeup-world.com/2011/07/12/scientist-prove-dna-can-be-reprogrammed-by-words-frequencies/

Your Hypothalamus – the Maestro of your Symphony of Health

A biochemical symphony controls your body’s function.  Hormones, neurotransmitters and immune factors act as biochemical messengers that sing to your DNA. If you’re hormones are in harmony, your DNA dances health. 

These "hormones" control all of your body's functioning—digestion, detoxification, growth, repair, sleep, sex drive, reproduction, stress response, metabolism, body composition,  immunity, healing, cognition, learning and memory.

Neuro-immune-endocrinology—the Symphony of Hormones 

 I have been taking care of patients of all ages for nearly 30 years. While my conventional training focused on the treatment of the symptoms of disease, my intuition guided me to search for the underlying roots of dis-ease.  

As a nurse practitioner practicing intuitive integrative medicine, I perceive the roots of dis-ease...biochemical, psychological, spiritual. Yet I believe healing is innate, encoded within our DNA.

Your Hypothalamus—the Maestro

When I left conventional medicine to practice Intuitive Integrative Health, I started to see the most challenging cases. That’s when I began to assess and focus my treatments on the symphony of hormones produced by the neurological, immune, and endocrine systems.

That’s when I discovered, rather rediscovered, the HYPOTHALAMUS.

The hypothalamus is a crucial organ in your brain that runs the entire neuro-immune-endocrine systems.  And when the “hormones” produced by the neuro-immune-endocrine system are out of balance, the body malfunctions which we call dis-ease.

Although, we learn about the hypothalamus in premed anatomy and physiology classes, by the time we begin our health care practice, we forget the importance of this primitive brain structure. We just don’t appreciate the hypothalamus. We cannot measure the hormones the hypothalamus produces, so we don’t deal with it.

Yet the hypothalamus plays a vital role in the orchestration of the symphony of hormones. Hormones directly control the DNA and most dis-ease is a result of hormonal miscommunication.

When Hormones Sing, DNA Dances.

The hypothalamus orchestrates our entire system.  Feed the hypothalamus and harmonize the symphony of hormones so the dance of the DNA expresses health and vitality.
What could I feed the body to tap into the genetic potential for health and wellbeing?  After much research and soul searching, I surrendered and in my dreams a formula was revealed... 

The first seven nights I awoke each morning from my dreams and wrote what I remembered—sets of seven amino acids. Each corresponding to the hypothalamic control of the endocrine glands. Seven times seven. 

After following my intuition and paying close attention to my dreams. I began clinical studies. I believe what we intend becomes. So I mixed the plant based amino acids with the intention to heal the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual body— Sacred Seven®.   

Like any scientist, I was my own guinea pig...

I took the Sacred Seven® along with my patients in the first pilot study. But first I took myself off bio-identical hormone replacement therapy I had been using to treat runner's amenorrhea. I also stopped all other supplementation.

Within two months, I had my first normal menstrual cycle in over 20 years. I also craved meat...which was disturbing since I had been a vegetarian for seven years. But I had decided to "listen" to my body like I instructed my patients...so I ate meat. And felt great! In fact, my mild anemia cleared up. Then I began craving orange vegetables—pumpkins, yams, butternut squash. So I ate them too and did not suffer from the winter blues. Interesting.

Granted I had put on five pounds, my overweight patients do not gain, but most lose the extra body fat. I apparently needed to gain...the same amount of weight I gained each time I conceived. In spite of my gynecologist's warning that with such low body fat, I was probably infertile, my two children came to me in dreams (like Genesis Gold®), so I let my body take over AND it gained five pounds AND I conceived.

Not since my pregnancies had I been so attuned to my body. It was like my DNA was talking...loudly...telling me what to eat, when to rest, and how much to exercise. Sacred Seven® amino acids changed my life. I slept well for the first time...having suffered somnambulance—sleep walking nearly every night for 18 years was exhausting.

Yet I could no longer exercise. Now I usually instruct my patients on regular exercise. But I was fanatic. I only had 12% body fat, I had been running competitively since high school and had competed as a triathlete for seven years before conceiving Sacred Seven® and GenesisGold®. Almost as soon as I began the Sacred Seven® amino acids, I could not even think about running without my Achilles tendon aching horribly. So I walked. I learned to dance. I rode my horse. And when my body said it was ok to run, I enjoyed the scenery for the first time ever.

Once I found the best manufacturer for Genesis Gold®, I switched my alliance. I am better supported with the full formula, no more outrageous cravings to fill in my nutritional deficits. And I eat well. We grow most of our own fruits and vegetables and buy organic, but even I cannot gather all the nutrients necessary to support my body, mind, and soul in our modern world. So now with Genesis Gold®, I can eat anything I desire and I feel great.

Over the past thirteen years, I have maintained that crucial five pounds, no more, no less, without obsessive exercise. And I’m now going through menopause at 52, although my three younger sisters have been menopausal for the past eight years—a testament to how stress robs you of your hormonal competence without the hypothalamic support of Genesis Gold®.

So why do I still take Sacred Seven®? Because as a healer dealing with the Hormonally Challenged, I need extra hypothalamic and genetic support to maintain optimal health. Although Sacred Seven® is in GenesisGold®, the extra amino acids also helps me maintain my creative energies...to help you, my patients, my colleagues and myself heal...body, mind and soul.

May Your DNA Dance Health!

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP-BC

Genesis Gold naturally balances your symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters and immune factors

Sacred Seven balances your hypothalamus naturally

 

Treat Insomnia Naturally

Insomnia is the bane of modern society. Since the introduction of the electric light over one hundred years ago, nearly half of the world is lit up at night. Artificial light disturbs natural circadian rhythms.

The pineal gland produces the sleep hormone—melatonin—only in the dark. Without adequate melatonin production, sleep is disturbed, hormones become imbalanced, and the ability to fight dis-ease is diminished.

The pineal gland, located in the center of the brain, is associated with the crown chakra. Light energy affects pineal production of melatonin. Cells located in our skin called chromocytes carry light wave information to the pineal gland. At dawn, the daylight is a blue wave which stimulates chromocytes to turn off the pineal gland. At dusk, the pink light of sunset blocks the blue rays and the pineal gland begins producing melatonin.

Melatonin production peaks about three hours after dark and lasts eight to nine hours in adults, longer in children. At dawn, the drop of melatonin arouses the hypothalamus. Located deep in the brain at the level of the sixth chakra, the hypothalamus controls all vital body functions including temperature, weight, libido, hormones, stress response, the immune system and directs the cascade of amino acids that form neurotransmitters. The hypothalamus is truly the maestro of the body's biochemical orchestra.

Once the hypothalamus wakes up, it needs glucose, so it stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol which releases stored sugar. Cortisol stimulates the production of dopamine which is the neurotransmitter of alertness, memory and learning. Dopamine follows natural cortisol rhythms, remaining elevated until mid afternoon. Schools capitalize on the natural circadian rhythm of the learning hormone by teaching children from 8am to 3pm. The late afternoon slump that makes many of us reach for sugar and caffeine is a reflection of this natural drop in cortisol and dopamine.

Prolactin is another extremely important nocturnal hormone. Released by the pituitary gland, prolactin is very high in pregnant and nursing mothers—its name refers to promoting lactation. Produced by all ages and both genders, prolactin stimulates the thymus to program the natural killer cells that keep our bodies free of foreign invaders and cancer.  Without sleep, we are prone to disease as our immune systems weaken. Prolactin rises three hours after melatonin and is turned off by dopamine.

In the morning, melatonin cascades into serotonin. A calming hormone, serotonin controls our impulses. And the more serotonin made during the day the more melatonin at night.

You can create a natural circadian rhythm by rising with the sun and exercise early in the day.  Exercise promotes cortisol production thus increasing dopamine, the active daytime hormones. Released in response to both physical and emotional stressors, cortisol fuels our bodies for flight away from potential danger.  Dopamine and cortisol can prevent the cascade of serotonin back into melatonin in the evening so beware of exercising within a few hours of bedtime.

Insomnia is often at the root of many dis-eases. Cancer, obesity, immune dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, diabetes, even heart disease have been associated with sleep disorders. Although sleep medications are available as temporary relief, they do not promote normal nocturnal hormone production.

I really did not appreciate how the hypothalamus affects our sleep cycles until I began taking Sacred Seven®.

You see, I suffered from somnambulance—sleep walking—for eighteen years. Rarely did I get a restful night's sleep. Most nights I slept less than four or five hours. Many times I found myself outside clutching a pillow. Kind of scary and definitely not good for my health. I managed my days by running on fumes, exercising obsessively, and eating way too much sugar.

Then I began taking SacredSeven® amino acids and within a month, I began sleeping through the night and my sugar cravings stopped. In fact for the first three months, I slept over ten hours a night—my body trying to catch up with years of lack of sleep.

Balancing the hypothalamus takes time to reset the circadian rhythm, so Sacred Seven® is not an immediate sleep aide, but instead gets to the core issue, balancing the brain chemistry, restoring optimal hypothalamic functioning, and, in time, deepening and lengthening the sleep cycles.

GenesisGold® has the Sacred Seven® amino acids in it to balance the hypothalamus and restore normal circadian rhythm, yet it takes a bit longer, so extra Sacred Seven® may be needed for chronic insomnia.

Sweet Dreams...

Natural Remedies for Insomnia Don't miss the sunset. Remember the pink light of dusk induces melatonin production. Don't watch television or work on the computer after dark. The blue light from these screens acts like dawn and shuts down melatonin production. If you must expose yourself to blue light wear pink tinted glasses while watching television or doing computer work at night. Try eating tryptophan enriched foods in the evening. Tryptophan is the amino acid needed to convert serotonin into melatonin. Sleep inducing foods include: whole grains, nut butters, bananas, grapefruit, dates, figs, yogurt, turkey and tuna.  Heavy protein foods are not recommended before retiring for the night. Be sure to sleep in complete darkness. A cool, very dark room helps the pineal gland produce melatonin. Deepen sleep with soothing sound like water or other night sounds. In the morning, arise with natural sunlight. Help melatonin cascade into serotonin by eating complex carbs and getting at least 20 minutes of sun exposure. Exercise moderately about 30 minutes of aerobic activity early in the day. Sacred Seven® amino acids balance circadian rhythm by supporting optimal hypothalamic functioning which helps with insomnia.

Sacred Seven amino acids formulated to optimize hypothalamic function and restore normal circadian rhythm

Why I became a Hormone Expert...

Everyone has a story: why they do what they do, how they became who they are in the world. And I have mine.

In 1984, I gave birth to a premature baby who stumped expert endocrinologists with numerous hormonal challenges. Defying medical advice, I orchestrated the care of my firstborn by learning everything I could about how hormones affect developmental behavior. My intuition proved correct—our healthy son is now a beloved teacher. In spite of my traditional training as a nurse practitioner, what I learned as a patient and a parent sparked an expertise in holistic neuro-immune-endocrinology, the interface, I believe, between the bio-physical and the psycho-spiritual being.

Through my own bio-psycho-spiritual journey, I evolved into an intuitive healer capable of honing in on the biochemical interconnections of human physiology and relating them to symbolic imbalances as lessons on a patient’s soul path. Spiritual gurus, psychological geniuses, and fully grounded but very ill patients from around the world presented themselves to gain insight on the wellbeing of their physical forms. Yet, I learned the most from the children.

In 1988, my daughter was born beautifully whole and much more work than my premature son. Although developmentally advanced, speaking by six months and reading at three, he struggled in his body, while she delighted in her humanness. Forcing us all to stay awake, she candidly shared her interdimensional experiences, in constant communication with my dead grandmother, so connected to her father that at any distance she knew what he was feeling, claiming with innocent assurance that they had been father and daughter in a past life, and like I did as a child, could lay her hands on someone and “know” what ailed them. 

Meanwhile, my son struggled in school and at eight, asked to see a “brain doctor.” The psychologist insisted that with his intense brilliance, he could not have attention deficit disorder, but my son insisted on being tested with the “video game.” The psychologist was floored. How could a child know about the newly developed computer program used to differentiate learning disabilities? I just shrugged; his uncanny knowingness was part of our life. When my son agreed to submit to traditional therapeutics, “only, Mommy, if I do not lose my dreams,” again, I was challenged to find a natural solution to his dilemma. Of course, the universe presented lots of opportunities for growth as pediatric patients were brought to me by their parents.

After much research, I began treating my autistic and learning disabled patients nutritionally. While gladly mixing the “brew,” squeezing oil from capsules, carefully measuring powders, their parents asked me to create something easier. So by 1998, and after many exhaustive but futile attempts at finding the nutritional connection between genetics and the hypothalamic orchestration of the neuro-immune-endocrine system, I surrendered to the advice of my children and prayed. 

Every night for three months, I had the same dream in which my most hormonally challenged patients came to drink from a chalice I held. We never spoke, but intuitively I knew they were better. I awoke every morning asking what was the golden liquid in the cup. The first answer came as seven letters, I thought were Hebrew, but later found were Aramaic. Amazingly they translated into the same single letter denotations used for the seven amino acids I had been studying related to the hypothalamus. 

And that’s how my nutraceutical formula, GenesisGold®, was born.

Keep Hormones in Harmony with Genesis Gold!

Hormones in Harmony® - The Secret to Optimal Health

Winter is coming. Time to snuggle up with a good book. 

May I recommend for your reading pleasure the perfect book for the holiday season, filled with hope, inspiration, and healing...

LoveDance: Awakening the Divine Daughter

Most of you know me as an intuitive healer, a hormone expert...and that I teach through story.

Well, LoveDance is the story of a young woman coming into her Sacred Feminine power through intimate relationships. It's the story of awakening to the truth of our being...as told by its heroine—Mary Magdalen.

"I finished LoveDance.  What a delicious book!  What a gift."  Lisette Shanhai RN, Oxnard CA

I meant to write a book on hormones and natural healing when I dreamt I was Mary dancing down the streets of Nazareth. In the ten years since Mary's story came through me, I awakened to my Sacred Feminine wisdom. My relationships have healed and blossomed. I am living my LoveDance.

And so many readers have shared Mary's journey through LoveDance and have healed as well.

"Thank you for such a beautiful book. Oh my G-D! Your book encompasses the best of everything I ever read. I absolutely adored it. Provocative, engaging, universal truths expressed through a fabulous character—so loveable and believable. "Thank you, Gretchen Monak, La Jolla CA 

Healing the body is often the focus of medicine, yet without
addressing soul issues, physical healing is difficult. In LoveDance, I
address relationship issues, parenting issues, letting go,
disentangling cords of attachment, the process of death and dying, the symbolism of disease--all through the eyes, voice, and heart of a
woman that history mal aligned.

Unveiling HerStory was difficult. What I saw in visions and dreams did not match what I was taught, yet much of what I wrote has been discovered since. Perhaps when one of us remembers, all begin to heal.

"What an experience. There was a beautiful transmission and  healing that happened to me in reading this book.....I met the divine  embodied feminine. I didn't read LoveDance with my mind; I read it with my  body. Thank you, Deborah." Susan Dasch MFT PhD, San Diego CA 

LoveDance makes a great gift. Order your autographed copy today and get a free LoveDance eBook. Keep one for yourself and give one to a loved one.

Get Your Gift of LoveDance Now!

"My life study has been Mary Magdalene. I have followed any story known since I was about 3 years old. Even then I knew that the church was off in their statements about her. I knew she was "The Beloved" of Jesus. I have found "Love Dance" to warm my heart and feed my soul in the most loving experience of Mary I have ever danced with. I find the history and actual Jewish law to be most accurate in the story again placing a smile on my face as I read, the truth shall indeed set us free. I love this Dance and I love Deborah for having the spirit to bring it into life.” Thank you so very much. Ondinnonk,  Anae Campbell ND PhD New Mexico

I wish you a beautiful, joyous holiday and abundant New Year!

After the holidays, I will be offering Healing Circles. If you'd like to gather, I will come...

Many Blessings,

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP
Intuitive Integrative Health

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.

Best Diet & Exercise for Healthy Hormones

Ever wonder what's the best diet/exercise/lifestyle regime for healthy hormones? Well, so did this woman...

Q: I have been taking Genesis Gold and Sacred Seven for a little over two months now, and I am amazed at the changes I have been experiencing. I sleep better, have more energy during the day, my mood has become more positive, my hair and skin are soft and radiant, and my libido has been improved. I am hopeful that my hormone levels will improve, I will be able to lose weight, and my fertility will increase. Just have to give it more time.

I am not only writing to tell you thanks for the wonderful products, but to ask a question, too. I am wondering if you could give me a few pointers on a healthy diet/lifestyle? There are so many fad diets out there, and each claim to be the best. Some claim carbs are good, some claim carbs are bad. Same goes with fat. I know that it isn't always black and white like that, some carbs/fats are better than others. But all the information I see and hear contradicts each other. I really want to lose weight and keep my heart healthy, but my medical issues make it very challenging. I am hoping that now that I take your wonderful supplements I may have some success. I would very much appreciate your input on what your idea of a healthy diet is. Thank you so much.

A: I am so happy you are experiencing such wonderful effects from Genesis Gold and Sacred Seven. Overtime your hormone levels will improve. The first changes are described as enhanced well being...before the laboratory tests confirm the biochemical shifts. 

It does take time for the hypothalamus to come into balance as your body heals...reproductive hormones are the last to balance... Reversal of insulin resistance, along with adrenal and thyroid regulation comes first as the hypothalamic-pituitary axis corrects. The fact that your mood is more positive suggests increased endorphins which is a byproduct of proopiomelanocortin--the hypothalamic hormone that controls glucose metabolism, adrenal and thyroid function as well as endorphins.

The good news is that your body is readjusting to a healthier state which includes a healthier weight set point. 

Of course exercise is key in increasing metabolism.  Your exercise tolerance and endurance should increase as your hypothalamus balances. In order to burn fat, you must do long slow distances....meaning exercising at a lower heart rate >60% of your max over 50 minutes to mobilize fat stores. That's because you have 400 calories of glycogen stored in your muscle and liver that must be utilized before your body will burn the triple sugars (triglycerides) stored in your fat cells.

Now for the perfect weight loss diet!

Well, there is not One Diet for Every Body... One great thing about optimizing your genetic expression with Genesis Gold is that you will "know" exactly what your body needs. In the meantime, I recommend the Mediterranean Diet.

Not just because I'm Italian (Maragopoulos is Greek), but because the Mediterranean Diet has been shown in studies to be the healthiest for the majority of people. It's plant based, low glycemic, and uses moderate amounts of good fats and has adequate protein. That combination is best for hormone production. Moderate amounts of good fats promotes healthy hormone levels....low fat does not. Plus animal based proteins provide the necessary essential amino acids for hormone production and healthy brain chemistry as well as immune factors. All very important for proper hypothalamic functioning. 

Low fat diets with poor quality proteins are a recipe for hormonal dysfunction leading to hypothalamic-pituitary imbalance.

The secret is to eat less carb calories than you expend. I know calories are calories, but your body can easily break down carbohydrates into glucose, it takes much more work (energy and enzymes) to break down fats and proteins into glucose for energy. If you exercise in Long Slow Distances a few times a week AND consume less carbohydrate calories, you force your body to go into your fat storage for energy. 

Now your weight will not change right away--fat weighs much less than lean body mass (muscle and bone)--but you will lose inches as your body composition shifts.

Another secret is to consume NO CARBS after 4pm. That does not include non-starchy vegetables. Between 3-5pm, your adrenals take a siesta. You will crave carbs, but avoiding them will force your body to use its stored sugar, then is the time to add a second workout...one of those Long Slow Distances...to burn fat. 

Your morning exercise should be more aerobic, even interval training to keep your heart rate up. That will set your metabolism at a higher rate for the rest of the day. If you workout at this pace in the late afternoon, you will have trouble sleeping.

Your metabolism is lowest at night. By sleeping in the dark high melatonin levels will help reverse insulin resistance. You will begin to notice that you wake up hungry in the morning. That means your adrenal function is normalizing and your hypothalamus is waking up and demanding glucose (the only form of energy the brain uses). So feed it! Start with fruit. (After your Genesis Gold and Sacred Seven, of course) After your early morning workout consume complex carb, light protein, a little fat....to keep your metabolism up.

Don't overdo the exercise. Aerobic activity 3-5 times a week. Long Slow Distances at least twice a week. Take one full day off every 5-7 days to allow your hypothalamus to adjust your new metabolic rate.

Yours in Health, Happiness and Beautiful Hormones :)

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP

Intuitive Integrative Medicine

Full Circle Family Health

805 640-3340

www.genesisgold.com