Optimize Your Health Blog
Rooted in science. Focused on you.
Optimizing brain, metabolic, hormonal, and whole-body health.
Let’s Talk Hormones: A Diatribe (But a Useful One)
Okay, I’m confessing right up front: I have a few axes to grind. If you bear with me, I promise to share some solid information in a more balanced tone as well! I’m inspired to write by articles like the recent one in American Family Physician, titled “Health...
Brain Pearl #4: Brains Love Estrogen
Brains Love Estrogen (Yes, Even Male Brains) Here’s a fun fact: your brain—regardless of gender—loves estrogen. Brains of all kinds have estrogen receptors, and while there’s some genetic variation, our brains are well-fed by estrogen throughout our lives. (Bones, by...
The Metabolic Impact of Hormone Health
Why Estrogen (and Its Hormonal Sisters) Matter More Than You Think As women transition through perimenopause and into menopause, there’s more at stake than just hot flashes or irregular periods. The decline of hormones—especially estrogen, progesterone, and...
Optimizing Women’s Health Through the Menstrual Stages
Health is not just the absence of disease—it’s energy, vitality, focus, resilience, and joy. While biomarkers like cholesterol or glucose provide important insights, our experience of health is deeply personal and evolves throughout life—especially for women. As we...
Apollo Brain Pearl #3: Sleep Apnea
Sleep is so important for the health of our brains, it’s hard to know where to start: what function of sleep is the most important? Let’s take a look at the top four: Cleansing the brain of toxins and waste Storing experience as memories you can access later Rest...
APOLLO Brain Pearls #2: Understanding Dementia
In January’s article, I skimmed over the five basic steps you can take to prevent and even help treat Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. For March, I’m offering two pearls. Brain Pearl #1 – Expanding on January’s First Pearl If you’re reading this newsletter,...
Bone Health Thoughts
I have recently re-remembered one of my favorite bone-building tips… one kind of non-obvious bone-building food, a simple exercise, and a comment about lab tests. Bone-Building Foods Building bones starts with protein and—if you tolerate dairy—calcium-rich dairy...
APOLLO Brain Pearls #1: Alzheimer’s Risk & Genes
As many of you know, I have been working with Dr. Dale Bredesen for several years, both directly and through his information-rich website Apollo Health. I highly recommend it as an adjunct to care in our office or, if you’re not seeing us as a patient, you can learn a...
HIGH PROTEIN & NUTRIENT DENSE WAYS TO START YOUR DAY
If you follow the suggestions of DrDeborahMD, you know that she often recommends prioritizing a high protein diet. Her general recommendation is to have 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of your body weight daily. Many of our patients use resources like Cronometer...
Breast Cancer Prevention
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it has been a few years since we have devoted a newsletter to the topic. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in US women, and by far the most common form of cancer other than skin cancers. Both imaging and...
Type 2 Diabetes and the Brain
Did you know that researchers find an utterly clear and repeatedly confirmed connection between eating too much sugar (it’s less than one might think!), keeping too much of it in our blood (happens naturally as we age), and then cluttering up our brain …