Is Your Hypothalamus Causing Your Health Problems?

Hypothalamic dysfunction could be root of your health issues, if you have the following symptoms:

• Weight gain and inability to normalize weight
• Hair loss
• Exercise intolerance
• Lack of endurance
• Hot flashes
• Temperature intolerance
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Skin rashes
• Moodiness
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Intolerance of usual stressors
• Forgetfulness or brain fog
• Irregular periods or No periods
• Infertility
• Headaches
• Thyroid disorders
• Adrenal disorders
• Auto-immune diseases

I have been writing articles regarding the hypothalamus for years and finally the public is reading them. When I got this email, I realized that the time is ripe for the role the hypothalamus plays in our health to be appreciated:

I have been doing research on the Hypothalamus and more specifically the disorders that can plague that gland. I stumbled upon an article you wrote which included a link to your product Genesis Gold®. I have to say that I am very intrigued, as the information you have provided speaks to me and the trials facing me. I would like to give you a history, if you do not mind….

Then she went on to describe a myriad of the above symptoms…which she assessed was hypothalamic after many doctors and treatments later had not relieved her of her problems. Her health goals were to:

• Lose fat and gain muscle
• Improve sleep and energy levels
• Balance hormones and improve fertility
• Ease symptoms of  depression

I guess the whole point of this email is to inquire about your products. I am willing to try just about ANYTHING and I am impressed by the "idea" of your products. My main concern is the cost and the validity of your products and company. I mean no offense, but it is so hard to tell what is real, and what is a scam. I find the information on your site to be very accurate, and informative...especially since there really isn't a lot of information on hypothalamus disorders and even more so on what to do about them. I would appreciate it if you would write me back.

Thank you very much.

So I wrote back:

I understand your reservation.

Genesis HealthProducts was incorporated in 2000. The product has been on the market since 2003 and available online since 2007. I waited to make it available to the public to take time to collect data on a wide variety of populations. I seeded the internet with articles in 2008. It’s just been the past couple of years that people are interested in the hypothalamic connection.

GenesisGold® and Sacred Seven® are the only plant based nutraceuticals that focus on balancing the hypothalamus, improving hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and supporting the neuro-immune-endocrine system. I created them because I could not find anything in allopathic or naturopathic medicine that would correct hypothalamic dysfunction.

As you know, there is no way to measure the hypothalamic hormones without killing the lab rat. So we have to make an assumptive diagnosis based on the decline of hormones directly related to hypothalamic function—like those controlled by pro-opiomelanocortin—the thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas.

Since Genesis Gold® has been available, I have seen patients completely dependent on hormone replacement therapy (adrenal, thyroid, sex steroids) with hypometabolism and metabolic syndrome heal.

One of my patients, a woman in her mid 30’s diagnosed with hypopituitarism and an anatomically normal pituitary gland, came to me wanting bio-identical hormone replacement rather than the synthetics she had been taking for years. She had never had a period and only with obsessive exercise and HRT was she able to keep her weight under control.

She did very well on the bio-identicals for years. When I finally got Genesis Gold® manufactured, she agreed to give it a try. Over the next eighteen months, she was able to wean off her hormones, all of them. And had her own periods not induced by exogenous hormones. I told her it was time to think about contraception. She laughed. She still believed what the doctors had told her all her life—that she was infertile.

She gave birth to a healthy baby boy at the age of 43. She has been hormone free since. I suspect that when she gets close to menopause, she may need some transitional hormone supplementation.

She is my most dramatic case. I have others with hypothalamic dysfunction yet not full panpituitary syndrome who have been able to start functioning on their own.

So far fourteen babies have been born to previously infertile women using Genesis Gold®. I have had insulin dependent diabetics be able to cut their insulin dosages in half. I have patients with  thyroiditis normalize their anti-thyroid antibodies and reverse their hypothyroidism. I have seen polycystic ovary and amenorrheic women menstruate normally after just a couple of months of use.

GenesisGold® and Sacred Seven® are the only plant based nutritional supports for the hypothalamus. With glandulars you are limited to six months of use as after that studies show that the glandular is dispersed through the system rather than concentrated in the target gland. We were not meant to consume the glands of animals for more than medicinal purposes.

I wish that I could afford to do the research necessary to support my findings. All I have are case studies. Yet Genesis Gold® sells itself. People see how well their friends and family are doing and start taking it too.

I recently started consulting in a conventional medical practice. These patients are over medicated and undereducated. The physicians do not believe in supplementation. I’ve broached the subject with some of their tough cases. And those who have chosen to take Genesis Gold® are responding quickly. Perhaps that is because they are so very toxic with all the medications and poor diets.

Most of my customers/patients find that Genesis Gold® replaces many bottles of supplements saving them at least half in cost and a whole lot in convenience.

While Genesis Gold® contains Sacred Seven® amino acids, I find that adding extra Sacred Seven® hastens the healing in the toughest cases.

It's about time we got to the root of so many health issues.

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.

Thankfully, the hypothalamus is very responsive to nutritional therapeutics. And 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.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Yours in Health,

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP-BC

Intuitive Integrative Medicine

www.genesisgold.com

Balance takes Time

Hormonal transitions like perimenopause, andropause, even aging can be very challenging especially with the change in metabolism. You gain weight and lose muscle tone. You sleep poorly and have trouble handling stress. You have low energy, low sex drive, low motivation. 

And you want to feel better now... yet balance comes with time 

Everything that lasts takes its own sweet time to ripen and mature.

Your current state of health did not happen overnight. Who you are now is a result of years of choices. Lifestyle choices including what you eat, when you sleep, how much activity you get, what toxins you've been exposed to, even your belief systems affect your health.

I created Genesis Gold to help our bodies heal naturally.

Choosing to take Genesis Gold is making a commitment to your future health. For those newly ill, most recently out of balance, it may take weeks or months to optimize their health. For those out of balance for many years, it'll take longer. 

It's like making the choice to quit smoking. Let's say you've smoked a pack a day for thirty years.  You feel worse before you feel better. You cough up pretty yucky stuff as your lungs clear out years of toxicity. It'll take at least thirty months to restore healthy lung function. 

Same with Genesis Gold. Most people find it when their health is truly challenged. Oftentimes they've tried many therapies before finding my website, reading an article, or being referred by a friend. I counsel them that according to how long they've been ill is reflected by how long it'll take to restore wellness.

Those who commit to taking Genesis Gold as their daily foundational support will keep optimizing their health. 



Which product should you take— Genesis Gold or Sacred Seven?

Genesis Gold has adaptogenic herbs to help support your adrenals, sea vegetation to support your thyroid, whole plant nutrients to optimize digestion, detoxification, immunity and energy production as well as the Sacred Seven amino acids to balance your hypothalamus. Genesis Gold provides foundational support for lasting change. 

Adding extra Sacred Seven to Genesis Gold for the first few months or during times of extreme stress will provide the hypothalamus with extra support to speed the healing process. 

 Remember - Balance comes with time.

After eighteen years of no menses, it took two months of taking Sacred Seven before I had my first normal period. Yet not until I started taking Genesis Gold was I able to stop taking all the other supplementation to support digestion, detoxification, and hormone metabolism. And when I began the menopausal roller coaster a few years ago, I added back Sacred Seven to my Genesis Gold to help me flow through this hormonal challenge as gracefully as possible.

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

 

TREATING ADRENAL FATIGUE NATURALLY

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.



The adrenal glands 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.

• You're 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.

• Sugar 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. 

• Salt Cravings. 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 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.

I developed a natural treatment protocol for adrenal fatigue that includes extra adrenal glandular support, adaptogenic herbs, essential nutrients plus homeopathic adrenal cortex with full instructions on how to use supplements.

Could My Symptoms Be Hypothalamic?

The good news is that I’ve been getting a lot of questions related to the hypothalamus lately.


The bad news is that there are so many people not getting hypothalamic help.


This is a classic question that I believe should be addressed in detail:

I showed my naturopath the ingredients of Genesis Gold and he said "You have been on several of these but perhaps it is the combination of them that could work." Is it the actual combination of ingredients? Do my symptoms sound to you as though they are hypothalamic in nature? (severe exercise intolerance, temperature intolerance, gastrointestinal issues, brain fog, insomnia, hormonal problems, constant/frequent urination, anxiety, fatigue coupled with strange frenetic energy, etc...)

Yes, it is the combination of ingredients...that works.

And Yes, I do think it is your hypothalamus that is the root of your problems.


When I first started treating hypothalamic dysfunction fifteen years ago, I was prescribing multiple bottles of supplements for my patients then was constantly adjusting dosages. I found that putting it together allowed for lower dosages and better results.


Think of it like Mrs Field's Cookies. While all chocolate chip cookie recipes have the same basic ingredients, her recipe produces a superior cookie.


Yes, Genesis Gold has all the herbs and micronutrients to support the neuro-immune-endocrine system that are typically recommended for hormonally challenged patients, no where else will you find them all in one bottle working together to balance the hypothalamus.


Sacred Seven contains all the same amino acids you will find in free form aminos, yet it's the way they are put together that is specific to supporting the hypothalamus.


A very challenging patient with hypothalamic dysfunction consulted with me two months ago. With adrenal deficiency, thyroid imbalance, glucose intolerance, depression, anxiety, insomnia, vestibular imbalance (meaning she could not walk without support due to severe neuromotor dysfunction) plus no sex steroid production after a total hysterectomy, this patient was at her wit's end.


Now on disability, she had been to seven different medical specialists over the past ten years, five different alternative healers, and multiple supplements by her own research. On her own accord, she stopped everything except some bio-identical hormone replacement therapy and started taking Genesis Gold.


Two weeks later, she came into the office walking on her own. She was sleeping, had more energy, and experienced a stability in her moods that was unparalleled by all the anti-depressants, anti-anxiety and other natural and illicit mood stabilizers she had tried over the years.


The key to her healing, I believe, is that she was ripe. She had done all her homework, tried lots of other therapies, and finally sat before me and surrendered to healing.


In the past, the patients who have not had such dramatic healing, well, they were not ripe...not ready to heal... She actually said, "I surrender to whatever healing you have in store for me." And then she did the work.


It took work to accept healing. She had no idea how resistant she had been before taking Genesis Gold. Oh, that is one of the gifts of Genesis Gold, you become very aware of what your body needs, what you need emotionally, how your relationships affect your health, how your past affects your health, how your environment is helping or hindering your healing. Then over time, you learn to make the changes necessary to heal completely.


It may seem strange that a supplement could affect your psycho-emotional, body awareness. Yet that is what I intended when I created Genesis Gold. I intended it to upregulate the DNA to optimize health to heal body, mind and soul. And that is what has happened over the years. It just happens faster when you are ripe for healing...like fruit, then it's sweeter. If you try to force healing, it's like picking unripe fruit...the results are bitter...and may be seen as side effects.


A few of my past Genesis Gold patients had side effects due to detoxing so stopped taking it. Then years later, they come back and start again...and guess what? No side effects! They realize that they were not ready before.


I have learned to accept that I cannot force healing, that the patient heals herself, I am just a coach, an advisor, a cheerleader during the healing process.


I hope this helps you. I know it’s helped me clarify the healing process.


Thank You!

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP
Intuitive Integrative Medicine
http://www.genesisgold.com/