If you’ve been trying to conceive for any length of time (or at least thinking about it for any length of time) you have probably heard of LH strips (AKA OPKs, LH test, ovulation test, luteinizing hormone tests, ovulation predictor kits). LH strips are a pretty standard tool in the TTC communities and are often recommended to help improve odds of getting pregnant in any given cycle. But the way you use LH strips, whether correctly or incorrectly, could make or break your TTC efforts. This article will help you avoid making this common mistake.

What are LH strips?

LH strips are home urine tests that can be used to identify the surge of luteinizing hormone (LH). LH strips, when used correctly, predict ovulation to help couples who are trying to conceive by improving the precision of their efforts. Conception really only is possible during a six-ish day window of the menstrual cycle, corresponding to the five days leading up to and including ovulation, plus the day after. [Learn more about fertility, hormones, and the fertile window in my book, Go with Your Flow.] Contrary to most Sex Ed classes (or what is exemplified in the movie Mean Girls) a single sexual encounter is actually less likely to result in pregnancy then it is to cause it, statistically speaking. 

Knowing this, most cycle tracking apps offer a predicted fertile window to aid users in identifying the days of the month when they are likely to conceive from intercourse. Now, of course, these apps make their predictions based on averages (which ironically do not actually reflect the average woman) that assume a luteal phase length of 14 days, with ovulation occurring approximately mid-cycle.

To give you a few examples:

• For a woman with an average cycle length of 28 days, her app would predict ovulation on day 14, with a 14-day luteal phase thereafter
• A woman with a 35 day cycle would receive a prediction for ovulation on cycle day 21 (again with a 14-day luteal phase)
• A woman with a 24 day cycle would receive a prediction for ovulation on cycle day 10 (based on a 14-day assumed luteal phase)

While any of these scenarios could be true for a given woman, it is also true (and especially important to note) that countless other variations are also possible.

Why

Because not all luteal phases are 14 days in length.

Let’s go back to the “textbook” 28-day cycle for a moment: this woman may have:

• A 14-day luteal phase with ovulation on day 14
• But she just as easily may have a 12-day luteal phase with ovulation on day 16.
• Or even the somewhat atypical 15 (or more) day luteal phase with ovulation on day 13.
• She also could have a less-optimal but still potentially fertile 8-day luteal phase with ovulation on day 20. 

Even within just this 7 day variation, you can see easily that miscalculating the day of ovulation could mean completely missing the entire fertile window. Yikes.

So, instead of relying on the law of averages and missing the important detail of individual biology, scientists have come up with easy, at-home ways for tracking ovulation, based on the hormonal dance that takes place throughout a menstrual cycle. Ergo, LH strips or “ovulation predictor kits.”

How Do LH Strips Work?

In order to understand the lowly LH strip, we first need to understand it’s namesake hormone, LH–or luteinizing hormone.

In a nutshell, luteinizing hormone is a chemical signal sent by the brain to tell the ovary to release an egg.

The menstrual cycle is divided into two parts (which are, as we already learned, not necessarily halves) by ovulation, marking the transition point between the two.

The first part of the cycle, called the follicular phase is all about the development of an ovarian follicle (AKA egg) which bursts open during the event of ovulation. If a sperm is there, ready and waiting, when this occurs, fertilization and subsequent conception could theoretically occur. (Note: It goes without saying that many other factors are involved when determining whether or not pregnancy occurs, but those are beyond the scope of this article.) 

An Overview of Ovulation

During the follicular phase, the brain releases FSH, or follicle stimulating hormone, to facilitate maturation of the egg. As the egg matures, it produces increasing levels of estrogen, which the brain monitors. In addition to thickening and developing the uterine lining to prepare for a possible pregnancy (or period), this rising estrogen level serves as a communication signal to the brain to keep the nervous system in the loop about the status of the egg and it’s development. Once estrogen levels reach a high enough point, the brain then responds with its own signal (LH) to trigger ovulation.

After the follicle releases its egg, it then transforms into a progesterone-producing gland called the corpus luteum, which serves as the namesake for the second part of the cycle: the luteal phase. 

In reality, LH is produced at least a little bit every day of the cycle, even when menstruating. However, the key differentiating factor between “everyday LH” and the LH surge is the tremendous increase in amount of LH being released in any given moment. For younger women, the daily average LH level may be less than 1.0 mIU/mL, though for someone who is perimenopausal, it may fall into the tens-range. With regards to the brain-ovary line of communication, it’s not so much the actual numerical value of LH as much as it is the magnitude of change. To trigger ovulation typically LH levels must rise by a factor of 10, but for some people it is much more than this. It is not uncommon for LH levels to exceed 100 mIU/mL at the peak of the surge.

LH levels may also be high at a baseline in women with PMOS (formerly named PCOS) because of dysregulated estrogen signaling from polycystic ovaries. Both in the case of PCOS/PMOS and perimenopause, these slightly higher baseline LH levels may result in the rupture of more than one follicle at a time leading to a multiples pregnancy. This is why fraternal twins are statistically more common in women of older age and in women who have PCOS/PMOS. 

The Confusion About LH Strip Timing

Because LH starts to rise shortly before the release of the egg, and because conception is most likely if sperm are already ready and waiting in the fallopian tube at the time of ovulation, studies have identified that the most fertile days-–or the days of the cycle on which conception is most likely–-do not correspond to the day of ovulation itself, but rather to the day prior, and even the day before that. This allows sperm to make their way through the reproductive tract, undergo the capacitation process (which basically is just a fancy term for saying the sperm reaches its own peak maturity, which takes about 10 hours), and be ready to greet the egg when she make her arrival. 

To use an LH strip, a woman simply collects a urine sample, dips the test strip in the urine, and then waits a few minutes during which the LH present in her urine reacts with dye and adheres to a small line of antibody printed on the strip. Like a pregnancy test, LH strips also have a control line which is always dark in color. However, the key difference between a pregnancy test and an LH strip is the fact that LH is always present (whereas the pregnancy hormone hCG is not.) So, with an LH strip, a pale pink test line indicates a negative whereas a dark pink test line (which is as dark as, or darker than the control line) indicates a positive. 

But here’s the catch… LH surges for most women last multiple days. (Studies show an average of 4.8 duration.) Typically over this timeframe, the LH levels rise rapidly, peak, and then fall back down to baseline. While the actual length of the LH surge varies from woman to woman, the key factor here when predicting ovulation is to pay attention to the beginning of the LH surge rather than the peak. It’s the dramatic rising nature of LH that triggers ovulation, not the absolute maximum (as we have already discussed that the peak itself can vary in magnitude from woman to woman, as well as throughout a woman’s life, depending on the season of her fertility).

To flush this out a little bit more:

• One woman might have a 4-day LH surge with the peak occurring at the 48-hour mark
• Another woman might have a 1-day LH surge with the peak occurring at the 12 hour mark

Although the day of the peak itself varies in this scenario by over a day and a half, the important thing is that the beginning of the surge falls on the same day for both women. Because ovulation occurs roughly 12 to 36 hours after the start of the surge, both of these women would have ovulation happening on the same day. But for the first woman, her LH surge didn’t peak until after she actually ovulated. 

The real kicker is that this, statistically speaking, is the norm:

Medical researchers have found that for roughly 94% of ovulating women, LH peaked 1.2 days after ovulation already occurred. (Study link)

This means that if you are relying on the peak day, meaning the day that your LH strip is the darkest rather than the first day that you get a positive, and you are timing, your TTC efforts according to this, there is a very good chance that you will not be having sex until after ovulation has come and gone. Which means you aren’t going to get pregnant even if you have a perfectly healthy egg and a perfectly healthy sperm. (Chances of conception on the day after ovulation are 5% or less.)

Now this is an area of confusion that I often see among patients, in my real life conversations, and online. While many LH strips delineate the first positive day as being of highest importance in their instructions, the whole thing gets a little bit confusing because the test strips don’t provide numerical values; they simply use an analog, observation-based indicator. For women who are new to using LH strips, the color gradient can be kind of confusing. 

But let’s say you are among the women who know to count from the day of the first positive test. Well, because of the whole individual variation principle, and because of the variation among test sensitivity on LH strips from different manufacturers, you still might accidentally be missing the start of your LH surge. Here’s why…

How LH Strips Work 

I touched on this a little bit earlier, but to go into a bit more detail:

In an LH strip assay, urine flows across the strip and carries LH molecules toward antibodies attached to colored particles. The LH binds to these color-labeled antibodies, forming pink LH–antibody complexes. These complexes continue moving until they reach the test line, where another set of antibodies captures them. The accumulated colored particles produce the visible test line, with more LH generally producing a darker line. A separate control line confirms that the sample flowed correctly and the assay functioned properly.

Just like pregnancy test, which come indifferent sensitivity levels (i.e. 6.3 mIU/mL for the First Response Early Result compared to 25 mIU/mL for most standard tests and “internet cheapies”) LH strips can come in different sensitivity levels, generally ranging between 10 and 40 mIU/mL. An LH strip with a lower detection limit. (i.e. 10 mIU/mL) can pick up on lower level levels of LH hormone in the urine and will provide a brighter or darker test line. Meanwhile, an LH strip with a lower sensitivity. (i.e. 40 mIU/mL) will pick up LH in urine only when it has a higher level. Therefore, the same concentration of LH in the same urine sample would show up differently on these two tests: a darker line on the higher sensitivity LH strip (10 mIU/mL) and a lighter line on the lower sensitivity LH strip (40 mIU/mL).

If you are somebody who has a generally lower LH level and a comparatively lower peak, LH strips are going to show up lighter overall than someone who has a generally higher LH level. If you are using a high sensitivity test, this shouldn’t be a problem as it’s going to show test lines of the appropriate darkness and identify the beginning of your surge without issue. Like anyone else, your line will get darker as you reach the peak–but as we have already covered, it is the beginning of the surge that matters the most. This means that for the high sensitivity (10 mIU/mL) LH strip, the test line is equivalent in shade to the control line. But sometime thereafter, the test line would get darker than the control line (around your peak). However, if you were to use a lower sensitivity LH strip (i.e. 40 mIU/mL), your test line might not be dark enough at the start of your surge to indicate a positive test (as identified by a test line of equivalent darkness to the control line) even though, biologically speaking, the LH surge has started. 

In other words, you might not see a positive until you reach the peak of your LH surge which–if you are like the 94% of women in the world, is 1.2 days after ovulation rather than 12 to 36 hours before.

Understanding LH Strips in Real Life

Let’s take a look at this chart made using an Inito fertility monitor, which provides numerical data for all four fertility hormones (LH, estrogen, FSH and PdG, which represents progesterone).

As you can see on this chart, the purple line (LH) has risen dramatically from baseline levels. (This isn’t evident in the photo, but the day prior, the LH level was 0.08 mIU/mL). Having risen to 3.14 mIU/mL, it increased by several orders of magnitude, indicating the beginning of the LH surge. This indicates that ovulation will occur within 12-36 hours.

Now, let’s compare that same test to a standard, analog, over-the-counter LH strip:

The LH strip at the top of this photo was taken on the same day, with the same urine sample as the Inito reading. According to the definition of “positive” being the test line as dark as the control, this test would not be considered positive.

But we know that it is, because of the several days of preceding data identified with the Inito monitor.

Now let’s move on to the next day in this cycle:

On this next day, the Inito fertility monitor identified an LH level of 19.37 mIU/mL (corresponding to the peak of the surge) and the standard, over-the-counter LH strip turned positive (as evidenced by the bottom strip in the photo on the right, where you can also see the old, dried out strip from the day prior for comparison). The Inito identified the start of the LH surge on cycle day 12, whereas the OTC LH strip was negative. In reality, ovulation occurred sometime thereafter, and was likely complete by the time the LH surge reached its peak on day 13. The OTC LH strip did not identify a positive until cycle day 13, but as we know from Inito, ovulation had already likely occurred.

Here’s another example with Inito. In this cycle, the LH surge was identified on cycle day 16, with both the peak and the first positive taking place on the same day. In this case, the standard OTC test strip would be positive too.

Do you see the problem?

In short, standard, over-the-counter LH strips are great if you’re someone with a generally high LH level, but they may miss the start of the surge for women with lower levels (or more dilute urine). Missing the start of the surge by just one day could mean missing the day of ovulation altogether.

Of course, the obvious way around this is to make sure that you’re having intercourse (or, as it’s more commonly referred to on the online forums, “baby dancing”) daily throughout your fertile window. (If you don’t know when that is, I would suggest starting as soon as your period ends and continuing until you’re sure you’ve ovulated, whether via monitoring cervical mucus, basal body temperature, or with a device like Inito.)

Alternatively, you could check the sensitivity of your LH strips.

LH strips come with different sensitivity levels. When in doubt, use a high-sensitivity strip. Here are a few options:

• The Inito Fertility Monitor, which provides numerical data up to two tenths of a decimal (0.01 mIU/mL) for LH, plus the other 3 fertility hormones
• PreMom Quantitative Ovulation Predictor Kit and LH Strips which range from 0-65 mIU/mL
• Clearblue Advanced Digital Ovulation Test, which is sensitive to 40 mIU/mL
• Easy @ Home LH Strips, which observe 25-30 mIU/mL

The Bottom Line on LH Strips

If you’re using LH strips to time conception, don’t wait for the darkest test line to start trying. Pay attention to your month-to-month averages, and make sure you’re TTC well before your LH strips show a positive. View the LH positive as a signal for when you can stop trying (a few days after your positive) rather than a signal to start. Because a standard LH strip may miss the earliest part of your surge, consider testing more frequently as you approach your fertile window, and choose a more sensitive or quantitative test if your strips tend to turn positive late.

Most importantly, don’t put all your timing eggs in one hormonal basket: combine LH testing with cervical mucus, cycle patterns, or another method of confirming ovulation. The goal isn’t to perfectly predict the moment the egg is released, but to make sure sperm are already there waiting when it happens.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

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The post Are You Using LH Strips Wrong? appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

From a functional medicine perspective, postpartum cavities are not random. They are a predictable outcome of profound hormonal shifts, nutrient depletion, sleep disruption, and changes in oral and gut microbiomes that occur during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Understanding why postpartum cavities happen is the first step toward preventing and reversing them.

What Are Postpartum Cavities?

Postpartum cavities refer to tooth decay that develops during the months following childbirth. Some women notice sensitivity or pain shortly after delivery, while others discover postpartum cavities at their first dental visit after having a baby. In many cases, these cavities progress quickly and seem disproportionate to a woman’s oral hygiene habits.

This is often shocking, especially for women who brushed, flossed, and saw a dentist regularly before pregnancy. But postpartum cavities are usually less about hygiene and more about other aspects of biology.

Why Postpartum Cavities Are So Common

There is a perfect storm of factors that contribute to postpartum cavities, and they often overlap.

1. Hormonal Changes

Pregnancy and the postpartum period involve dramatic fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone. These hormones directly affect saliva production, blood flow to the gums, and the balance of bacteria in the mouth. Low estrogen postpartum can reduce saliva, and saliva is one of your primary defenses against cavities. Reduced saliva means acids linger longer on teeth, increasing the risk of postpartum cavities.

2. Mineral Depletion

Pregnancy places enormous demands on a woman’s mineral stores, particularly calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and trace minerals. If these minerals are not adequately replenished postpartum, the body prioritizes survival and lactation over tooth remineralization. This creates a biological environment where postpartum cavities can form rapidly.

For several reasons, I usually recommend that my patients supplement with 1,000 mg of encapsulated calcium citrate beginning at 20 weeks gestation due to several studies indicating reduction in hypertension and pre-eclampsia risk in pregnant women. I recommend this practice continue for my patients who breastfeed their babies.

3. Changes in the Oral Microbiome

The oral microbiome shifts during pregnancy, often favoring more acid-producing bacteria. These changes don’t immediately reverse after delivery. When combined with lower saliva flow and mineral depletion, this microbial imbalance strongly contributes to postpartum cavities.

4. Increased Snacking and Nighttime Eating

Many new mothers eat more frequently (as well they should), often late at night (again, as well they should), to support breastfeeding and manage exhaustion. Unfortunately, frequent eating without immediate/adequate brushing increases acid exposure on teeth. This pattern is a significant driver of postpartum cavities, even when total sugar intake is not excessive.

Need an easy fix Pop a xylitol containing breath mint or chew a piece of xylitol-containing gum. Studies show that xylitol reduces the growth of cavity-forming oral bacteria. Xylitol consumption is considered safe during pregnancy (but check with your doctor) and studies even show that the children mothers who consume xylitol when pregnant themselves have lower risk of cavities.

Looking for an ultra-natural option? Underbrush Remineralizing Gum is a chewing gum made from natural tree sap with all natural ingredients and even nano-hydroxapatite which remineralizes teeth and stops decay.

5. Sleep Deprivation and Stress

Chronic stress and sleep deprivation elevate cortisol, impair immune function, and reduce the body’s ability to repair tissues. Teeth are living structures, and their ability to repair micro-damage is compromised in high-stress states. This is another underappreciated contributor to postpartum cavities.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: sleep when your baby sleeps.

Why Traditional Dental Advice Falls Short

Most conventional explanations for postpartum cavities focus narrowly on brushing, flossing, and sugar intake. While these matter, they do not explain why so many women develop postpartum cavities despite good oral hygiene.

A functional medicine approach looks upstream. Postpartum cavities are a sign of systemic imbalance, not just local tooth decay. Addressing only the teeth without supporting the whole body often leads to recurring problems. Once again, a tooth problem is a gut problem, and we need to look inward to solve outward signs of toothe decay.

The Role of the Gut in Postpartum Cavities

It may surprise you to learn that postpartum cavities are closely tied to gut health. The gut microbiome influences mineral absorption, immune regulation, and inflammation throughout the body, including in the mouth.

Antibiotics during labor, C-sections, stress, and sleep deprivation all disrupt gut health postpartum. Poor mineral absorption and systemic inflammation increase susceptibility to postpartum cavities. Supporting gut healing is therefore a critical part of addressing postpartum cavities holistically.

Want to learn more about supporting your gut health Check out all the latest articles here.

Breastfeeding and Postpartum Cavities

Breastfeeding itself does not cause postpartum cavities, but it does increase nutritional demands. Producing breast milk requires significant amounts of calcium, magnesium, iodine, and fat-soluble vitamins. If intake does not meet demand, maternal stores are depleted, increasing the risk of postpartum cavities.

Based on his research in communities with little-to-no dental decay, Dr. Weston A Price (dentist) suggests a diet rich in whole foods, healthy fats, raw dairy and properly prepared (soaked, fresh-milled) grains. He also advocates for eating organ meats, bone broths, wild fish and fermented foods and avoiding processed foods. I will acknolwedge, postpartum is a time like no other to rely on prepared foods to support stress levels during the postpartum period. However, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you’re pregnant, check out this post about prepping nutritious meals for postpartum so that you are freed from so much reliance on food manufacturers to support your postpartum nutrition (seeing as they tend to be more concerned with their own profits than with your health, including your dental health.)

Nutrients That Protect Against Postpartum Cavities

One of the most powerful ways to prevent and heal postpartum cavities is by replenishing key nutrients.

• Calcium and phosphorus are foundational for tooth structure.
• Magnesium supports proper calcium utilization.
• Vitamin D regulates mineral absorption.
• Vitamin K2 directs calcium into teeth and bones rather than soft tissues.
• Vitamin A supports enamel integrity and immune defense.

Many women with postpartum cavities are deficient in one or more of these nutrients, even if they eat a generally healthy diet. All of these nutrients can be found in quality animal foods, like slow cooked meat on the bone. (And what postpartum mama doesn’t love a good crockpot meal?)

Blood Sugar Balance and Postpartum Cavities

Blood sugar instability is another overlooked contributor to postpartum cavities. Postpartum insulin resistance, sleep deprivation, and stress can all lead to blood sugar swings. Elevated blood sugar feeds acid-producing oral bacteria, increasing the likelihood of postpartum cavities.

Eating balanced meals with adequate protein, fat, and minerals helps stabilize blood sugar and reduce cavity risk.

What You Can Do If You Already Have Postpartum Cavities

If you’ve already been diagnosed with postpartum cavities, please know that this is not the end of the story. Dental treatment is sometimes necessary, but it should be paired with systemic support.

Addressing mineral repletion, gut health, hormone balance, and stress can slow or halt the progression of postpartum cavities and reduce future risk. Many women find that once these underlying issues are addressed, they stop developing new postpartum cavities altogether.

Practical Daily Habits to Support Oral Health Postpartum

Gentle but consistent oral care matters. Check out these tips:

• Use a soft toothbrush, particularly an electric one with a rotary head. We use the Oral B Pro 1000
• Avoid aggressive brushing (much easier with an electric brush), and consider remineralizing tooth powders or pastes. Rinsing with water after nighttime feeds or snacks can reduce acid exposure and help prevent postpartum cavities.

Avoid constant sipping on sweetened beverages, including juice and sweetened coffee drinks. Even “natural” sugars contribute to postpartum cavities when exposure is frequent.

Preventing Postpartum Cavities in Future Pregnancies

If you’ve experienced postpartum cavities once, you may be at higher risk in subsequent pregnancies. The good news is that prevention is possible.

Entering pregnancy with strong mineral reserves, supporting gut health, managing blood sugar, and prioritizing postpartum nourishment can dramatically reduce the risk of postpartum cavities the next time around.

Final Thoughts on Postpartum Cavities

If you are dealing with postpartum cavities, you are not alone, and you are not broken. This is a common and understandable outcome of the intense demands placed on the body during pregnancy and postpartum.

With the right support, education, and nourishment, it is absolutely possible to protect your teeth, restore balance, and move forward with confidence. Postpartum cavities are not just a dental issue—they are a whole-body message asking for care, rest, and replenishment.

And that message deserves to be heard.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

Become a Patient

Don’t miss out! Join the email list.

Sign Me Up!

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Want more Grab a copy of my new book, The Postpartum Check-In !

Reminder: The information on this post or anywhere else on this blog or other writing is purely educational, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any health condition.

The post Postpartum Cavities appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

Early awareness of signs of pregnancy before missed period depends on pattern recognition rather than a single symptom. It’s common to have one of these signs or symptoms at nearly any time throughout the month. However, when many occur at once during your two-week-wait, you should pay attention—though of course you will still need to take a test to confirm.

Symptoms-Related Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Periods

1. Tender Breasts

Breast tenderness ranks among the most reported signs of pregnancy before missed periods. Rising progesterone and estrogen increase blood flow and glandular activity within breast tissue, leading to fullness, sensitivity, or a heavy sensation. Observation requires no tools, only awareness of changes that differ from a typical premenstrual pattern. In other words, if you don’t normally experience breast tenderness before your period but this month you do, pay attention. It could be pregnancy. Other explanations include luteal phase progesterone surges, high prolactin from stress, caffeine excess, or a new exercise routine.

• Research Brief: 76% of pregnant women experience breast pain or tenderness during the first trimester, whereas research on US women noted that only 69% experience it as a PMS symptom.

2. Mood Changes (Atypical for You)

Mood shifts often appear early among signs of pregnancy before missed period. Neurotransmitter signaling responds quickly to progesterone metabolites, influencing emotional processing, irritability, tearfulness or just a greater overall emotional sensitivity. One good way to identify if changes in mood could be a sign of pregnancy is by tracking mood daily through journaling. Mood changes are common during pregnancy, but if you notice a change in the intensity or type of moods you experience, it could be a sign to pay attention to. Other causes of mood variation include PMS, sleep disruption, blood sugar instability, or psychosocial stress. For most of us, our moods change day-to-day. However, a pattern that feels distinctly different from prior cycles carries more weight.

• Research Brief: A large international study showed that up to 64% of women experience mood changes in the premenstrual period. In contrast, a global study revealed that the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in the first trimester averages about 27%. Depending on your individual situation, a lack of mood swings in the premenstrual window when you usually have them may be more of a flag for possible pregnancy.

3. Vivid Dreams

Intensified or unusually vivid dreams frequently accompany signs of pregnancy before missed period. High levels of progesterone alter sleep architecture, increasing REM density and dream recall. Noticing this change involves subjective reporting rather than measurement. Relative accuracy stays low to moderate. Similar dream changes follow melatonin disruption, magnesium deficiency (or supplementation), late-night eating, or anxiety.

• Research Brief: The research here is somewhat limited, so we need to draw some extended lines. But here’s what we know: across both genders, about 54% of people report frequently recalling their dreams. On the other hand, up to 91% of pregnant women report dream recall. This may be due to hormonal reasons, a lack of REM sleep, interrupted sleep, among others.

4. Cramping and Spotting

Mild uterine cramping or light spotting often reflects implantation and ranks among classic signs of pregnancy before missed periods. Implantation typically occurs 6–10 days after ovulation, triggering localized inflammation and capillary disruption. That being said, many women do report cramping or spotting before their periods. “Implantation bleeding” is typically light pink or brown spotting that resolves quickly, and tends not to be bright red. Premenstraul bleeding gets progressively heavier. Cramping when you don’t usually experience it before your period (or during) is certainly something to pay attention to. That being said, women with adenomyosis or endometriosis are more likely to experience cramping during times of the month when they aren’t actively bleeding. Other causes of bleeding include luteal phase spotting from low progesterone, cervical irritation, or ovulation-related bleeding.

• Research Brief: There actually is no research identifying the prevalence of premenstrual cramping, meaning cramping that occurs before your period starts. Regarding spotting, only roughly 6% of women report premenstrual spotting. Notably, this isn’t normal and actually should be evaluated. (More on this in my book, Go with Your Flow.) On the other hand, approximately 25% of pregnant women are reported to experience vaginal bleeding in the first trimester.

At-Home Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Periods

1. Cervical Position

Cervical height and texture change in response to estrogen and progesterone, making this a useful at-home marker among signs of pregnancy before missed period. During early pregnancy, the cervix tends to feel higher, softer, and more closed. When performing this self-check, make sure you have clean hands and a habit of checking cervical position before the two-week-wait when trying to conceive. Ovulation, arousal, and infection also influence cervical position. Learn more about checking cervical position for fertility or as an early sign of pregnancy in my book, Go with Your Flow.

2. Increased Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

Sustained elevation in basal body temperature ranks among the most objective signs of pregnancy before missed period. Progesterone raises resting temperature after ovulation; pregnancy maintains that rise beyond 14 days. One of the best ways to identify pregnancy without a urine test is with a sustained temperature past 18 days post-ovulation. This is an extremely accurate predictive method for those who regularly track their cycles with basal body temperature. Fever, alcohol intake, poor sleep, or thyroid imbalance also elevate BBT.

• Check out this post: Basal Body Temperature 101

3. Increased Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

Resting heart rate often climbs early among signs of pregnancy before missed period due to increased metabolic demand and plasma volume expansion. Wearable devices (like a FitBit or Apple Watch) or morning pulse checks with a pulse oximeter are two ways to track RHR and identify changing patterns. A sustained increase of 3–10 beats per minute compared with baseline could be suggestive of early pregnancy. Because heart rate changes rapidly, this method is not as predictive or accurate as BBT. Dehydration, overtraining, illness, or stimulant use also raise RHR.

Lab-Based Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Periods

Laboratory markers offer higher specificity among signs of pregnancy before missed period, especially when interpreted within clinical context. Of course the best and most accurate measure is with blood test for beta-hCG. However, I’ve accidentally identified pregnancy in patients who weren’t actively trying to get pregnant through these routine hormone blood tests.

1. High Prolactin

Prolactin supports breast development and milk production during early pregnancy. Nonpregnant reference ranges typically fall between 5–20 ng/mL. Early pregnancy often shows levels above 20–30 ng/mL. Prolactin is evaluated through a fasted morning blood test. However, high levels aren’t always a sign of pregnancy; elevated prolactin also appears with pituitary adenomas, hypothyroidism, chronic stress, or certain medications, so correlation matters.

2. Elevated Progesterone

Progesterone sustains the uterine lining and plays a central role in sustaining a pregnancy. Luteal phase values often range from 5–20 ng/mL, though they ideally sit between 12 and 20 ng/mL. Early pregnancy usually maintains levels above 10 ng/mL, often rising toward 20–40 ng/mL within weeks. Serum testing around 7–10 days post-ovulation offers useful insight. Supplement use, ovarian cysts, or timing errors also influence results.

Note: If you know you are pregnant and your progesterone level is lower than 15 ng/mL, this may be a miscarriage risk. Talk to your provider and learn more about ways to boost progesterone for fertility.

3. Rising Estrogen

Estradiol supports placental development and vascular growth, contributing to many signs of pregnancy before missed period. Typical luteal phase values range from 60–250 pg/mL. Early pregnancy often pushes levels above 200–600 pg/mL, with a steady upward trend. Blood testing works best when compared against prior cycle baselines. Estrogen dominance, ovarian hyperstimulation/cysts, or liver clearance issues also raise estradiol levels.

Putting the Signs Together

Of course, no single marker confirms pregnancy before a missed cycle unless that marker is directly testing hCG, the pregnancy hormone. However, a careful eye looking through a functional medicine lens can identify signs of pregnancy before missed periods by evaluating cycle history, nutrition, stress load, and metabolic health. When multiple symptoms, at-home observations, and lab trends align, it can help create hope during the two-week-wait.

If you’re seeking clarity, knowing the how’s and why’s behind these signs of pregnancy before your missed period empowers you to know your own body and understand your physiology on a deeper level. Tracking patterns over several cycles will improve the predictive power of these strategies and help you to know what is, and isn’t normal when deviations pop up. Of course, if you’re concerned about preconception signs and symptoms or anything else concerns you about your health, make an appointment with a trusted healthcare provider so that you don’t have to navigate your journey alone.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

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The post Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Period: Your Complete Guide appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

• What are peptides?
• Are they safe?
• How can they benefit my health?
• Where can I get them?

You can find answers to all of these questions and more in today’s article.

What Is Peptide Therapy?

Peptide therapy is a medical treatment that uses specific peptides—short chains of amino acids naturally found in the body—to target and enhance various biological functions. By mimicking or influencing natural processes, peptide therapy offers the potential to support a wide range of health goals, including improved skin health and slowed aging, accelerated injury recovery, boosted muscle growth, enhanced fat metabolism, regulated hormones, a strengthened immune system, and improved sexual function. Because peptides are highly targeted and generally well-tolerated, this form of therapy is often used in functional and regenerative medicine to promote healing, performance, and overall wellness.

The peptide therapy that has gained the most notoriety (and controversy) in recent years is the class of peptides known as GLP-1 agonist drugs. These drugs contain the active ingredient, Semaglutide, which is a peptide that looks and acts similarly to the body’s own GLP-1, and brings about many similar effects, like blood sugar control and satiety in appetite.

Other peptides provide similar mimicking effects, though they don’t all act like GLP-1. Instead, other peptides impact a wide variety of biological functions. For this reason, it’s important to remember that peptide therapy cannot be used to affect just one single function of the human body. Because these peptides affect so many other areas of the body, just like how GLP-1 affects both blood sugar and appetite, it’s impossible to isolate just one effect of a given peptide.

Many peptides are very early in their research timeline, meaning that there is very limited data available about their safety, and even how they work in the body. We may have identified some applications for use, such as one particular parameter of health (i.e. muscle recovery for BPC-157) but we have yet to understand fully how this peptide affects the other bodily systems. This is particularly the reason that peptides, especially Ozempic and other drugs akin to semaglutide that have gained notoriety, are so controversial. There’s just a lot that we still don’t know, and might never know.

However, particularly in circumstances where few good options exist, peptide therapy might prove to be one of the best options out there. Let’s discuss how peptide therapy can offer benefits, in spite of some of the potential risks.

How Can Peptide Therapy Benefit Health?

Peptide therapy can be applied across a wide range of health and wellness areas, with specific peptides targeting different physiological systems.

Anti-Aging Peptide Therapy

In the area of anti-aging and longevity, peptides such as CJC-1295, Ipamorelin, Sermorelin, collagen peptides, IGF-1, and Thymosin Beta-4 (TB-500) help boost growth hormone levels, improve skin elasticity, enhance energy, support deeper sleep, and promote overall cellular repair and regeneration.

Peptide Therapy for Sports and Recovery

For sports medicine and injury recovery, peptides like BPC-157, Thymosin Beta-4, IGF-1, GHRP-2, GHRP-6, and Hexarelin are used to accelerate healing from injuries, reduce inflammation, regenerate muscle and connective tissue, and support faster recovery times. In the context of weight management and metabolism, peptides such as AOD 9604, CJC-1295, Ipamorelin, and Carterine (GW-501516) play a role in stimulating fat breakdown, increasing metabolic rate, enhancing lean muscle retention, and improving energy levels during fat loss efforts.

Peptide Therapy for The Immune System

For immune system support and inflammation reduction, peptides like Thymosin Alpha-1 (TA1), BPC-157, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) help strengthen the immune response, reduce systemic inflammation, and support healing, especially in autoimmune or inflammatory conditions. In the area of sexual health and hormone support, PT-141 (Bremelanotide), Kisspeptin, and Gonadorelin are used to enhance libido, improve erectile function, and regulate reproductive hormones, making them useful for both sexual performance and fertility.

Peptide Therapy for Muscle Growth

Lastly, for muscle growth and performance enhancement, peptides such as Follistatin, IGF-1, GHRP-6, GHRP-2, Hexarelin, and Carterine are employed to promote muscle hypertrophy, increase strength, enhance endurance, and inhibit myostatin—a natural limiter of muscle growth. Collectively, these peptides offer a broad therapeutic toolkit for improving physical health, performance, recovery, and overall vitality.

Which Types of Conditions Benefit from Peptide Therapy?

Neurological & Cognitive Disorders

• Cognitive decline / brain fog
• Alzheimer’s disease / dementia (e.g., Cerebrolysin)
• Depression & anxiety (via BDNF-related peptides or ones that support neurotransmitter balance)
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Peptides like Dihexa, Selank, and Semax are neuroprotective and enhance focus, memory, and mood.

Musculoskeletal & Injury Recovery

• Tendon, ligament, and joint injuries
• Osteoarthritis
• Post-surgical healing
• Muscle recovery & growth

Common peptides: BPC-157, TB-500 (Thymosin Beta-4) – promote tissue repair, angiogenesis, and reduce inflammation.

Anti-Aging & Longevity

• Decreased growth hormone production
• Fatigue / low energy
• Wrinkles, thinning skin

Peptides like Ipamorelin, CJC-1295, and GHRH analogs stimulate natural growth hormone production.

Metabolic & Weight-Related Disorders

• Obesity / weight gain
• Insulin resistance / Type 2 diabetes
• Low energy

Peptides: GLP-1 agonists (e.g., Semaglutide, Tirzepatide), AOD-9604 for fat loss, Motilin agonists for digestion.

Hormonal Imbalances

• Low testosterone / estrogen / thyroid
• Adrenal fatigue
• Sexual dysfunction

Peptides can modulate LH/FSH, improve libido, and optimize endocrine system. Example: Kisspeptin-10 for LH/FSH stimulation.

Immune System Modulation

• Autoimmune diseases
• Chronic inflammation
• Recurrent infections

Peptides like Thymosin Alpha-1 and Thymosin Beta-4 support immune regulation and antiviral defense.

Skin, Hair & Aesthetic Applications

• Hair loss (androgenic alopecia)
• Skin aging / damage
• Scarring

Peptides like GHK-Cu (copper peptide), Melanotan II (for tanning, though there are many documented risks), and others are used cosmetically.

Sleep Disorders

• Insomnia
• Poor sleep quality

Peptides such as DSIP (Delta Sleep-Inducing Peptide) are being explored for sleep enhancement, and even has clinical utility in management of withdrawal from alcohol and opiates.

What Are Some Types of Peptide Therapy?

Here’s a list of some common peptides used in peptide therapy and their potential benefits:

1. Growth Hormone-Releasing Peptides (GHRPs)

• GHRP-2 / GHRP-6 / Ipamorelin: These peptides stimulate the release of growth hormone (GH) from the pituitary gland, which can help improve muscle growth, fat loss, and recovery.
  • Benefits: Increased muscle mass, fat reduction, better recovery, enhanced energy.

2. CJC-1295 (Modified GRF 1-29)

• A synthetic peptide that stimulates the release of growth hormone by enhancing the action of ghrelin.
  • Benefits: Increased muscle mass, fat loss, improved skin elasticity, enhanced sleep quality.

3. BPC-157 (Body Protective Compound-157)

• A peptide that promotes healing and tissue repair. It’s often used for injury recovery.
  • Benefits: Accelerates wound healing, reduces inflammation, improves joint health, and promotes tendon and ligament recovery.

4. Thymosin Beta-4 (TB-500)

• A peptide that plays a role in tissue repair and regeneration.
  • Benefits: Accelerates healing of wounds and injuries, especially related to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Helps with inflammation and scar tissue reduction.

5. Melanotan II

• A peptide that stimulates the production of melanin in the skin.
  • Benefits: Used for tanning purposes, and some studies suggest it could also have appetite-suppressing effects and potentially improve erectile function.

6. Thymosin Alpha-1 (TA1)

• A peptide that modulates the immune system and helps in the recovery of infections.
  • Benefits: Enhances immune function, reduces inflammation, and may improve the body’s response to viruses or other pathogens.

7. IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1)

• A peptide similar to insulin that promotes cell growth and development. It’s sometimes used to help build muscle and support repair after intense workouts or injury.
  • Benefits: Promotes muscle growth, speeds up recovery, supports tissue repair, and enhances fat loss.

8. Carterin (GW-501516)

• A peptide used primarily for fat loss and endurance enhancement.
  • Benefits: Improves endurance, promotes fat loss, increases metabolic rate, and boosts cardiovascular performance.

9. PT-141 (Bremelanotide)

• A peptide used to treat sexual dysfunction, specifically in people with low libido.
  • Benefits: Increases sexual arousal and libido in both men and women.

10. Follistatin

• A peptide that inhibits myostatin (a protein that limits muscle growth), promoting muscle growth.
  • Benefits: Muscle growth, enhanced recovery, and potentially improved fat metabolism.

11. Kisspeptin

• A peptide that plays a role in reproductive health, influencing sexual function and fertility.
  • Benefits: Regulates puberty onset, increases LH and FSH (important hormones for sexual function), and can be used to treat infertility.

12. Gonadorelin

• A peptide that stimulates the release of hormones like luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), supporting sexual health.
  • Benefits: Increased testosterone in men, ovarian function in women, and potential fertility enhancement.

13. Hexarelin

• Another peptide that stimulates the secretion of growth hormone.
  • Benefits: Supports muscle growth, fat loss, and recovery, with fewer side effects than other growth hormone secretagogues.

14. AOD 9604

• A modified fragment of human growth hormone (hGH) that targets fat burning.
  • Benefits: Stimulates fat breakdown without affecting muscle tissue or increasing appetite.

15. Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP)

• A peptide with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects.
  • Benefits: Used for conditions like autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammation, improves circulation, and has potential neuroprotective properties.

16. Sermorelin

• A peptide that stimulates the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland, used for anti-aging and muscle-building.
  • Benefits: Enhances growth hormone release, promotes muscle development, fat loss, and better sleep quality.

17. Collagen Peptides

• Peptides derived from collagen, commonly used for skin, hair, and joint health.
  • Benefits: Improves skin elasticity, promotes joint and bone health, and may reduce wrinkles.

Peptide therapy represents a promising frontier in modern medicine, offering targeted support for everything from anti-aging and muscle recovery to immune health and hormone regulation. While some peptides like GLP-1 agonists have gained widespread attention and sparked debate, many others are still being explored for their broad and sometimes unpredictable effects on the body. Despite the need for further research, peptide therapy holds significant potential as a versatile tool for enhancing overall wellness, addressing chronic conditions, and improving quality of life. As interest grows, it’s important to approach peptide therapy with informed guidance and professional oversight to safely unlock its many benefits.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

Become a Patient

Don’t miss out! Join the email list.

Sign Me Up!

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Reminder: The information on this post or anywhere else on this blog or other writing is purely educational, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any health condition.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Peptide Therapy appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

Things to Consider When Meal Prepping for Pregnancy

There are two types of meal prep you want to consider when getting food ready for yourself. This could include both 1) meal prepping for yourself when pregnancy leaves you too exhausted to pack a lunch and 2) meal prepping for postpartum so that food and nutrition is an easy, streamlined process.

The good news is that both of these meal prep goals involve the same strategies! Meal prepping for pregnancy or postpartum both involve the creation of easy, nutritious, low-toxin meals that are freezer-friendly and reheat with ease.

Two Types of Meal Prep

When meal prepping for pregnancy, you want to make two things happen. The first, is you need to make sure that you have something quick and easy on hand to grab and go when you only have a few minutes for a lunch or late dinner. The second is that you want a real, hearty meal available for when the whole family is sitting down to dine but you don’t have the time or energy to get out for groceries, assemble meals, and cook them all while holding a hungry, snuggly, and possibly crying newborn.

Whether you’re a busy pregnant mama or looking to the future after your little one arrives, you need both meals for yourself to grab and go as well as something that you don’t need to think about when it comes to a sit-down meal for everyone else, too.

Toxins When Meal Prepping for Pregnancy

Nobody wants to think that their food can be harming them, and the good news is that it isn’t, most of the time. Most foods are nutritious and beneficial to include in a well-rounded healthy diet. However, we can run into a few problems when considering toxins with our food, especially considering toxins that may be added to the food, or that may leach into the food through packaging.

Pesticides and Preservatives

The heart behind these food toxins is actually good. Of course we want pests to stay away from our crops, and we want our food to be protected from rot and degradation! However, the chemicals involved in accomplishing these tasks actually harm our health in doing so. In order to make sure that you family has the healthiest meals possible whether you’re eating for two or cooking when your arms are full, look for:

• Foods without preservatives addedd, like sodium benzoate, EDTA, potassium sorbate, nitrates and BHA, BHT or TBHQ
• Pesticides added to non-organic food and animal feed are a huge problem. Look for organic labeling whenever available.

Note: Other food additives, beyond preservatives, also can be harmful. I recommend avoiding artificial sweeteners like aspartame an acesulfame potassium, natural flavors, food dyes, and carageenan to name a few.

The good news is that apart from pesticides, if you are choosing whole foods to cook and meal prep with, you really don’t need to worry about the other additives.

Toxic Packaging Materials

Now, the downside about a grab-and-go meal strategy is that the packaging we sometimes use to do so can also pose risks to our health. Materials like plastic and aluminum leach into our food and can affect neurodevelopment of baby, hormone balance, cancer risks and more. Microplastics have been found in everything from the brain to the placenta, and it’s never something we want more of. Instead of disposable aluminum trays or plastic containers, consider the following ideas:

• Stainless Steel Casserole Dishes: This is the most cost effective product I’ve found on Amazon, comes in a pack of two, and can be reused over and over again. If you stock up on 8-10, you can easily prep several dinners that will last for multiple days for a meager investment and cultivate a habit of doubling any recipes you bake or cook going forward.
• Silicone Freezer Bags: Instead of meal prepping for pregnancy in Ziploc freezer bags, consider reusable silicone ones. While silicone is not ideal for hot food applications, they are safe for cold use, and provide a similar layer of freezer protection.
• Glass Jars: The standard for food preservation is usually Ball Jars, which are available in most grocery and home improvement stores. However, if you’re not actually using them for canning, the metal lids can easily corrode and stop being usable over time. These adorable freezer jars have plastic lids (which won’t be touching your food) and hold up better for repeated use. I recommend using individual serving jars like this for meal-prepped broths and soups. They also come in neutral colors.

Meal Prepping for Pregnancy Recipes

During the postpartum period, or even if you’re meal prepping to eat these dishes during pregnancy, nutrition is more important than ever. Consider the following strategies when meal prepping for pregnancy:

1. Lower Carbohydrate (In moderation)

• Blood Sugar Stability: After childbirth, many women experience fluctuations in blood sugar levels. A lower-carb diet can help stabilize blood sugar, preventing energy crashes and promoting consistent energy throughout the day.
• Avoiding Insulin Resistance: Some women may face insulin resistance or have higher blood sugar levels during pregnancy (e.g., gestational diabetes). Postpartum, focusing on lower-carb meals can support insulin sensitivity and help with long-term metabolic health.
• Weight Management: Postpartum weight loss or maintenance can be supported by consuming fewer refined carbohydrates, which can prevent fat storage and cravings. A more balanced approach helps maintain a healthy weight without drastic spikes or drops in energy levels. While weight loss should not be a top priority postpartum, eating nourishing meals will help your body naturally level out at the rate that is most appropriate for oyu.

2. High-Quality Animal Protein

• Muscle Repair & Recovery: Childbirth is physically demanding, and the body needs to repair and rebuild muscle tissue after the exertion of labor. High-quality animal proteins (like chicken, beef, turkey, eggs, and fish) provide essential amino acids that support muscle recovery and tissue healing.
• Breast Milk Production: Protein is also critical for producing breast milk. Amino acids from protein-rich foods are the building blocks of the milk, supporting both quality and quantity for breastfeeding moms.
• Hormonal Balance: Protein helps in balancing hormones, including the ones responsible for mood regulation (like serotonin and dopamine). Postpartum hormonal shifts can cause mood swings, so supporting hormonal health with protein is crucial.

3. Complex Fiber

• Gut Health: After childbirth, many women experience changes in digestion, including constipation or slower gut motility. Complex fiber (found in vegetables, legumes, and some whole grains) promotes regular bowel movements and supports gut health, which is vital for overall health during recovery.
• Blood Sugar Regulation: Fiber helps to slow the absorption of sugars in the bloodstream, preventing sharp spikes and crashes in blood sugar. This is important for postpartum recovery, especially if the body is recovering from insulin imbalances.
• Satiety: High-fiber foods also help keep you feeling fuller longer, reducing the tendency to snack on less nutritious foods or overeat. This is especially useful if you’re managing weight while also needing more energy for breastfeeding or caring for a newborn.

4. Slow-Cooked Meals

• Nutrient Retention: Slow-cooking, especially when using methods like stewing or braising, helps retain more nutrients in foods, particularly minerals and vitamins that are sensitive to heat. The longer cooking time at low temperatures allows for better extraction of nutrients, especially from tougher cuts of meat, bones, and fibrous vegetables.
• Digestibility: Slow cooking also breaks down proteins and fibers, making them easier to digest, which is helpful for a postpartum body that might be more sensitive to foods.
• Ease of Meal Prep: Slow-cooked meals are perfect for batch cooking, which is a huge benefit when you’re short on time during the postpartum period. A large pot of stew, soup, or curry can be made in advance, stored, and reheated as needed, saving time and effort. I recommend a slow-cooker with a latch-on lid for easy transport, and programming like this Crock Pot Cook & Carry.

5. Additional Benefits for Postpartum Health

• Anti-Inflammatory: Many slow-cooked dishes, especially those featuring bone broth or grass-fed meats, contain nutrients like collagen and gelatin, which help repair tissues and reduce inflammation. After childbirth, inflammation is common, and foods that support recovery can promote healing and comfort.
• Hydration: Slow-cooked meals like soups and stews can be rich in water, which is vital for hydration—important for breastfeeding and overall recovery.
• Comfort & Healing: Comfort foods are often slow-cooked, providing not only nourishment but also emotional support during a time of physical and emotional stress. The act of eating well-cooked, hearty meals can be soothing and help mothers feel nurtured during a challenging recovery period.

Meal Prepping Recipes

Here are some of my favorite recipes, to be prepared during pregnancy and enjoyed postpartum, or any time that you’re in need of a nourishing meal. Any soups or stews can easily be prepared ahead of time and frozen in individual servings, or ingredients can be stored together in freezer bags to easily throw in a pot or crockpot at a later time.

Breakfast

• Breakfast Burritos (make with almond flour or cassava tortillas)
• Low Sugar Baked Oatmeal (consider adding 1/2 cup collagen to the recipe)
• Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffins (use unbleached muffin liners and a toxin-free, stainless steel muffin pan)
• Paleo Breakfast Casserole
• Almond Flour Cheddar Biscuits (high protein, low carb)

Lunch/Dinner

• One Pan Chicken Fajitas (prepare and freeze ingredients separately. You can even freeze a pack of tortillas together with the bag of chicken and veggies. Or, serve with rice)
• Veggie-Rich Taco Casserole (make with rice or quinoa)
• Ratatouille Soup (add diced grilled chicken)
• Pasta E Fagioli (omit pasta, if you wish)
• Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken (serve with bagged salad)
• Beef Stew (sub tapioca starch for Paleo)
• Thai Chicken Curry Soup (store rice noodles separately in pantry, or serve with fresh rice/quinoa instead)
• Indian Curry Soup
• Chicken Potato Soup
• Zucchini Lasagne
• Chicken and Broccoli Casserole (no canned soup in this recipe! can omit cheese, and use bone broth instead of milk)
• Shepherd’s Pie
• Cabbage Roll Casserole (can substitute rice with quinoa for higher protein)

Snacks

• Protein Popsicles (made with silicone popsicle molds)
• Protein/Oat Balls
• Pistachio Date Balls (can omit oats)
• Low Carb Peanut Butter Bark

To sum it up, meal prepping for pregnancy is a smart, effective way to ensure that you and your growing family are nourished with wholesome, nutrient-dense meals. By focusing on simple, healthy recipes that are rich in high-quality protein, complex fiber, and slow-cooked goodness, you’ll be setting yourself up for smoother days, both during pregnancy and postpartum. Whether you’re meal prepping for pregnancy to manage your energy levels or preparing meals that support recovery after childbirth, the right foods will help you feel your best. So, take the time to plan ahead, minimize toxins, and create meals that are easy to grab, heat, and enjoy—your body and your baby will thank you.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

Become a Patient

Don’t miss out! Join the email list.

Sign Me Up!

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Want more Grab a copy of my new book, The Postpartum Check-In !

Reminder: The information on this post or anywhere else on this blog or other writing is purely educational, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any health condition.

The post Your Guide to Meal Prepping for Pregnancy appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

Progesterone is quite the buzz word these days. Whether you’re in perimenopause and considering hormone replacement therapy (HRT), you’re newly pregnant and having levels tested, or you’re experiencing some menstrual irregularities attributed to imbalances between estrogen and progesterone, the term has likely come up for you. But, what is progesterone What does it do for the body How do you know if you have enough of it How can you test progesterone levels at home Read on to find answers to all these questions and more.

What is progesterone and how can you test progesterone levels at home?

Progesterone is a hormone primarily produced by the ovaries in women, particularly after ovulation during the second half of the menstrual cycle. After ovulation, a gland called the corpus luteum forms which secretes progesterone. If you don’t ovulate, you can’t make progesterone because you won’t have a corpus lutem. You need progesterone because it plays a crucial role in regulating the body’s functions, including:

1. Menstrual Cycle: Progesterone helps prepare the uterine lining for potential implantation of a fertilized egg. It also prevents the uterine lining from getting too thick or shedding too quickly.
2. Pregnancy: If pregnancy occurs, progesterone helps maintain the uterine lining, supporting the developing embryo. This is where progesterone gets its name from: pro-gest(ation)
3. Breast Development: It also protects breast tissue from too much estrogen and prepares the breasts for milk production during pregnancy.

In addition to its role in female reproductive health, progesterone is involved in other bodily functions, including mood regulation, sleep and maintaining bone density. (Because it’s so important, and because many providers don’t test levels in office, it’s helpful to know how to test progesterone levels at home.) It is also used in hormone replacement therapy and in various contraceptive methods. Let’s take a closer look:

Progesterone and Brain Health

Progesterone significantly affects the brain and mood due to its influence on neurotransmitters and brain function. Here are some key ways it affects mood:

1. Neurotransmitter Modulation: Progesterone enhances the effects of certain neurotransmitters, such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which has calming effects and reduces anxiety.
2. Mood Regulation: Changes in progesterone levels during the menstrual cycle lead to mood fluctuations. Higher levels in the luteal phase (after ovulation) contributes to feelings of calmness, while lower levels pre-menstruation correlates with mood swings or premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
3. Anxiety and Depression: Studies show that progesterone protects against anxiety and depression, though the relationship varies from person to person. I describe estrogen as an “energizing” hormone, which motivates and gets you going. But all that energy, when not balanced by the cool, calming effects of progesterone, becomes anxiety and irritability. Knowing how to test progesterone levels at home is helpful when struggling with premenstrual symptoms like depression or anxiety. If you can track your levels, you can anticipate better how to support your mood.
4. Neuroprotection: Progesterone may have neuroprotective properties, potentially supporting brain health and cognitive function. Maintainin healthy progesterone levels throughout life decreases risk of brain fog and neurodegeneration.
5. Sleep Quality: Progesterone is also linked to improved sleep quality, which subsequently boosts mood. Insomnia is a problem for many perimenopausal women, and the most common prescription is estrogen hormone replacement therapy. However, progesterone actually is much more effective at improving sleep both in perimenopause and at other times of life.

Progesterone and Metabolism

Progesterone affects metabolism and blood sugar control in several ways:

1. Cortisol Interaction: Progesterone interacts with cortisol, the stress hormone. High levels of cortisol affect blood sugar levels and metabolism, and progesterone helps moderate some of these effects.
2. Reproductive Health: In women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or other hormonal imbalances, therapeutic strategies that increase progesterone also help regulate menstrual cycles and improve metabolic outcomes. In many cases, low progesterone levels in early pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, which is why it’s helpful to know how to track progesterone levels at home (so you can advocate for yourself in a healthcare provider’s office!)

Progesterone and Thyroid Function

Progesterone affects thyroid function in several ways, largely due to its interactions with thyroid hormones and the overall hormonal balance in the body. Here are some key points:

1. Thyroid Hormone Regulation: Progesterone changes how and when the body makes thyroid hormone, influencing metabolism. It also helps support the synthesis of thyroid hormones and enhances their effects.
2. Binding Proteins: Progesterone affects the levels of thyroid-binding globulin (TBG), a protein that binds thyroid hormones in the blood. Increased levels of TBG can lead to higher total thyroid hormone levels, and increased metabolic rate/response.
3. Metabolic Rate: Progesterone benefits metabolic rate, partly by influencing thyroid hormone activity. This dramatically impacts energy levels and weight management.
4. Hormonal Balance: In women, fluctuations in progesterone during the menstrual cycle influences thyroid function. For example, low progesterone levels are associated with conditions like hypothyroidism and infertility.

Progesterone, Adrenal Function and Cortisol

Progesterone has several effects on adrenal function and cortisol levels, primarily through its interactions with the endocrine system. Here are the key points:

1. Stress Response: Progesterone helps modulate the body’s response to stress. It has a calming effect and counterbalances some of the stimulating effects of cortisol and estrogen.
2. Hormonal Balance: The relationship between progesterone, cortisol, and other hormones is complex. High cortisol levels can lead to a decrease in progesterone, contributing to hormonal imbalances that can affect mood, energy levels, and overall health.

Does the birth control pill have progesterone?

Progestins, the synthetic versions of progesterone used in many forms of birth control, differ from natural progesterone in several key ways:

1. Chemical Structure: Progestins are chemically modified molecules of testosterone that have been changed to interact with the human brain and ovaries. Although they are chemically similar, they are not exactly the same.
2. Hormonal Activity: While progestins mimic some of the actions of natural progesterone, they can have varying degrees of activity on progesterone receptors and other hormone receptors (like androgen and glucocorticoid receptors). This leads to side effects that are not typically associated with natural progesterone. The progestins in birth control contribute to insulin resistance, thyroid disorders and depression whereas natural progesterone prevents those things.
3. Side Effects: The side effects of progestins differ from those of natural progesterone due to their altered hormonal activity. Many experience mood changes, weight gain, or acne with artificial progestins, while these effects don’t occur with natural progesterone.
4. Impact on Menstrual Cycle: Progestins can affect the menstrual cycle in ways that natural progesterone does not, such as altering bleeding patterns, causing lighter or more irregular periods, or even stopping menstruation altogether in some users.

The biggest takeaway is that using artificial progestins, by design, prevents your body from producing its own progesterone. If you have progestins, you can’t have progesterone, and you’re therefore automatically progesterone deficient. In this case, it won’t be helpful to test progesterone levels at home.

How to Test Progesterone Levels

The first and most important thing is to determine if you’re ovulating. If you aren’t ovulating, you can’t make progesterone because you won’t have the corpus luteum gland we discussed earlier. It is impossible to “test” progesterone levels at home if you’re not ovulating because you will not have any meaningful level of progesterone in your body. That means that if you’re using oral ceontraceptives like the birth control pill, or other forms of hormonal drugs like the implant, the Nuva Ring, or certain types of IUD, you aren’t ovulating and subsequently are progesterone deficient.

However, other health conditions may also cause low progesterone because of anovulation, like thyroid disorders, hypothalamic amenorrhea (stress-induced anovulation and lack of periods), and PCOS to name a few. If you aren’t having ovulatory periods at least every month, you are likely deficient in progesterone.

1. How to Track Progesterone Levels at Home with Ovulation

To track your progesterone levels at home, you first need to find out if you’re ovulating and when. The most straightforward way to know if you’re ovulating is to track your cycle using basal body temperature. I wrote a blog post all about how to do this which you can access here. You also can track ovulation using prediction methods, such as urinary LH testing or tracking cervical fluid, though it’s important to note that these methods do not confirm ovulation. Rather, they predict when (generally) in your cycle you may be close to ovulation.

When tracking ovulation, mark the following…

• The day before your basal body temperature rises above baseline
• The day after you have a positive LH test strip
• The day before your cervical fluid transitions from watery/ewcm (egg white cervical mucus) to a thick, dry, gluey texture

2. How to Track Progesterone Levels at Home with Luteal Phase

Once you have identified the day of ovulation, the next step in learning how to track your progesterone levels at home is calculating your average luteal phase length. The luteal phase is calculated from the total cycle length (i.e. 28 days) minus the day of ovulation (i.e. day 14). In the example just given, a 28-day cycle minus ovulation day of CD 14 would be a 14-day luteal phase, which is optimal.

A short luteal phase, which is less than 10 days long, is a sign of progesterone deficiency.

However, tracking luteal phase at home also helps you to know when the optimal day to test progesterone levels is, whether using a urinary hormone test at home or you are visiting a lab facility to have a progesterone blood draw. The optimal day to test progesterone levels is 5 to 7 days before your next period. Obviously, if you have no idea how long your luteal phase is, you don’t know when to predict that optimal 5-to-7-day period. This is why it’s important to track cycle length, day of ovulation, and luteal phase length for several cycles before tracking progesterone levels at home. Testing on the wrong day might give results that make it seem like you have a less-than-optimal level of progesterone.

Basal body temperature charts can also give indication of progesterone levels. While they are an indirect measure, if you have an elevation of your body temperature above baseline that is less than 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit, it may be a sign of low progesterone levels.

3. How to Track Progesterone Levels at Home with Luteal Phase

After the corpus luteum makes progesterone, the body breaks it down into a progesterone metabolite called Pregnanediol Glucuronide (PdG) which can be measured in urine, similarly to urinary LH test strips. While it is not exactly the same as progesterone, it reflects progesterone production and levels in the body.

PdG test strips can be purchased inexpensively over the counter, such as Easy @ Home, Proov and Inito (a comprehensive fertility hormone testing system that also includes estradiol, LH and FSH levels). Using urinary PdG, a level of 5 ug/mL indicates successful ovulaiton, which is roughly equivalent to a serum progesterone level of 10 ng/mL. The optimal levels for urinary PdG and blood serum progesterone would then be 7.5 ug/mL (urinary) and 15 ug/mL (serum) respectively.

How to Track Progesterone Levels at Home with Signs and Symptoms of Progesterone Deficiency

While clinical symptoms don’t confirm progesterone deficiency, they may serve as a clue that you are low on progesterone and should consider starting to test your progsterone levels at home. These include:

• Irregular Menstrual Cycles: Changes in cycle length, missed periods, or very light or heavy menstrual bleeding.
• PMS Symptoms: Increased premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms, such as mood swings, irritability, and bloating.
• Mood Changes: Anxiety, depression, or mood swings that are more pronounced around the menstrual cycle.
• Sleep Issues: Difficulty sleeping or insomnia.
• Hot Flashes: Symptoms resembling those of menopause, including hot flashes and night sweats.
• Weight Gain: Unexplained weight gain or difficulty losing weight, often due to changes in metabolism.
• Low Libido: Decreased sexual desire or changes in sexual function.
• Fatigue: Increased fatigue or low energy levels.
• Breast Changes: Tenderness or changes in breast tissue, including fibrocystic changes.
• Hair Loss or Thinning: Changes in hair growth, including thinning hair or hair loss.

Perimenopause

One of the hallmarks of perimenopause is a shortening luteal phase length, shorter menstrual cycles and less progesterone. Estrogen also takes off on a roller coaster ride. You can diagnose perimenopause with an elevated FSH level in combination with a normal or increased LH level, or with increased LH and FSH in combination with having had a menstrual period in the last 12 months. Being age 40 or above is also a good sign that your progesterone levels are changing.

Test for Progesterone with Lab Testing

Of course, the only way to know for sure that you have low progesterone levels (provided that you are ovulating) is to test them. A progesterone level of at least 4.44 ng/mL (this may vary slightly depending on the lab) is required to confirm ovulation. However, what we care most about is the peak progesterone level achieved in the luteal phase. Because normal luteal phases typically range from 10-14 days, you need to test your progesterone level between 5 and 7 days before the start of your next period.

If you have regular menstrual cycles and track ovulation with basal body temperature, you know exactly when you’ll reach the midpoint of your luteal phase. If you don’t know when you ovulate, look at the average length of your menstrual cycles. If your cycles are between 24 and 28 days long, I’d recommend scheduling a blood draw 5 days before your next expected period. If they are 29 days or longer, I’d recommend scheduling a blood draw to be 7 days before your next expected period. Note that this isn’t a perfect algorithm; it’s possible to have a 14-day luteal phase in a 24-day cycle and a 10-day luteal phase in a 33-day cycle. However, particularly in the case of perimenopause, a short cycle is more likely to be accompanied by a relatively shorter luteal phase. The target is at least 15.0 ng/mL at the peak progesterone production, however higher is always better. (Note: non-pregnant cycles rarely exceed 28 ng/mL)

Not having enough progesterone leads to a range of health risks and complications, particularly in women. Symptoms include irregular periods, heavy bleeding, or amenorrhea (the absence of menstruation). This hormonal imbalance also exacerbates premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms, leading to heightened mood swings, anxiety, and irritability. Additionally, progesterone deficiency is associated with an increased risk of endometrial hyperplasia, a condition where the uterine lining becomes too thick, potentially raising the risk of endometrial cancer. It also affects bone health, as progesterone plays a role in maintaining bone density; low levels may contribute to osteoporosis over time. Furthermore, inadequate progesterone leads to fertility issues, as it is essential for preparing the uterine lining for implantation of a fertilized egg. Overall, a lack of progesterone significantly impacts physical and emotional well-being, so if you are concerned about your progetserone levels, be sure to seek care from a functional medicine physician.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

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The post How to Test Progesterone Levels at Home appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

For many of us, that word brings to mind images of preserved critters and crawling things in a science teacher’s office, or the embalming fluide used for medical study of cadavers. I myself was exposed to high levels of formaldehyde while pursuing my doctorate while dissecting a cadaver in my anatomy courses. It was stinky stuff, and certainly not something I’d voluntarily breathe in with regularity.

However, millions of Americans do exactly that, every night, unknowingly.

Formaldehyde is one example of a volatile organic compound or VOC. VOC’s are chemical gasses that are released from different products which we then breathe in. While we may or may not detect an odor from these VOCs, they have the potential to harm our health.

VOCs can be found in all kinds of household materials, like construction materials (carpeting, paints), DIY-projects (solvents, cleaning chemicals), and also in most synthetically produced foams, fabrics and and more. That “new car smell#8221; That’s all VOCs, and even if you like the scent, it’s important to know that what you’re smelling is off-gassing of manufacturing materials, many of which are neurotoxins, carcinogens, and respiratory irritants. Yikes.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Mattresses

If you’re a parent, you probably first learned about the potential dangers of different mattress materials when assembling the furniture for your baby’s new nursery. As is human nature, we consider safety causes for our children much more significantly than we consider them for ourselves. With children’s matresses, the warnings abound. As a new parent, we need to be concerned about:

• Avoiding anything other than a rated and certified mattress inside the crib (no toys, blankets, pillows or anything else)
• Avoiding anything with more than 10 degrees of incline
• Staying up-to-date on product recalls
• Ensuring that the mattress is made from safe materials to avoid off-gassing and toxicity

The first three bullet points in that list are a bit more straightforward, but the last bullet point is where the water can get muddy. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is responsible for publishing and enforcing safety standards for children’s matresses, especially crib mattresses. This includes safety ratings addressing everything from the fit of the mattress in the bed frame to softness and suffocation risk, and even down to flame resistance. However, there are relatively few restrictions on the material that the mattress itself is made from.

This lack of regulation is a problem because many of the common mattress materials release harmful VOCs into the air that babies (and their parents) breathe for 8 hours a night, possibly up to 20 hours daily for a newborn! This is a significant exposure, and VOCs like formaldehyde have been linked to everything from allergies, sleep apnea and eczema to SIDS, autism and ADHD. These risks, resulting from VOC exposure, are highest in mattresses produced from foams, including memory foam, gel foam, polyurethane foam, as well as the foam and plastic layers that add water resistance to natural materials. In addition to VOCs, many mattresses also include phthalates and even fragrance mixtures, which are implicated in endocrine disruption, hormonal disorders and endocrine disruption in both men and women.

These risks affect both adults and children, though parents of course are often very concerned about the safety of products for their children. New babies are so vulnerable and small that even small exposures to these toxins can wreak havoc on their health, potentially for a lifetime.

How to Choose a Safe Mattress Material

The Environmental Working Group recommends limiting exposure to VOCs and endocrine disrupting chemicals in mattresses and other furniture.

In general, the following materials should be avoided because they are considered unsafe:

• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
• Vinyl
• Polyurethane foam
• Flame retardant chemicals such as chlorinated Tris
• Fiberglass
• Fragrances
• Antimicrobials
• Solvent-based glue to adhere mattress layers together
• Plant-based foams (emit VOCs just like polyurethane)

It is also recommended to choose a mattress company that is transparent about the materials that they use in mattress production.

Safe characteristics to look for in a mattress include:

• Made with organic materials, like natural latex and cotton
• Certification from GOTS and GOLS (an organic processing certification for organic fibers and organic latex)
• Made from materials like: rayon, wool, polylactic acid batting to maintain fire safety standards
• Low VOC certification
• Alternatives to flame-retardant chemicals, such as the safer polylactic acid and wool
• If you choose a polyurethane mattress, choose one that is low-VOC certified such as by Oeko-TEx or Greenguard Gold
• Water-resistance from polyurethane laminate (PUL) or polyethylene

Are Latex Mattresses Safe?

Unlike polyurethane and other synthetic foams which emit high levels of VOCs, latex is a plant-based, renewable material made from the sap of rubber trees. It is naturally resistant to mold and dust, and holds up even better over time than foams made from petroleum. Organic, natural latex mattresses are easy to find at reasonable prices. Latex mattresses are one of the safest mattress materials available on the market due to their lack of VOCs and natural resistance to mold, dust and mildew.

Which Mattress Should You Choose for Safety and Comfort?

As a functional medicine doctor and parent of young children, I recommend an organic, latex-based mattress with organic covering that does not have flame retardants. This eliminates the problem of both VOCs and mold exposure, both of which have been linked to developmental disorders and even death in children and infants.

Try Mattresses from MyGreenMattress.com

My Green Mattress is a family-based company that produces certified organic mattresses that are made in the USA. Their natural, low-toxin, antimicrobial mattresses were the perfect solution for their own children struggling with allergies and eczema, and a commitment to developing a chemical-free alternative to the high-toxin products that are mainstream on the market. At an affordable price point, they are an excellent alternative to the riskier and pricier items that fall under major brand names.

They offer several different options for mattresses and bedding including:

• Emily Organic Crib Mattress which is both breathable and supportive
• Kiwi Organic Mattress, free of foams and flame retardants, available in all the standard sizes
• Natural Escape Organic Mattress, a thicker, luxury-style mattress
• Pure Eco Organic Kids Mattress, an 8″ latex mattress with a quilted cover, designed specifically for bunk beds

My Green Mattress also offers organic cotton mattress protectors, organic latex toppers as well as latex pillows for safe sleep.

My Experience with MyGreenMattress.com

We chose MyGreenMattress when we upgraded our children’s beds from toddler beds to bunk beds, and selected the Pure Eco Organic Kids Mattresses which are specifically designed for bunk beds. We opted for this brand because of the affordability and the safety ratings, the manufacturing transparency, and to support a family-owned company. We have been extremely satisfied by the quality. The measurements were as listed on the website and fit perfectly into our bunk bed structure. They are comfortable and soft and do not hold moisture to flare up the skin of our kids who have eczema and are prone to rashes. They also do not have any detectable odors, and nor do they release any of the toxic gasses that standard mattresses release.

The safety profile of mattresses for our children was a high priority for me both when our children were infants (we inherited organic mattresses from family members, used) and then as they grew to transition to twin beds (bunk beds.) I was so relieved that a company like this exists, and am grateful for the opportunity to promote their business. I highly recommend MyGreenMattress.com for safe, non-toxic mattresses.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine physician, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s health & hormones, addressing concerns like fertility, disordered eating, PCOS, endometriosis, dysmenorrhea (painful periods), PMS symptoms like bloating and mood changes and more.

My goal is to help you achieve better health than you could ever imagine.

Learn more…

The post What Is the Safest Material for Mattresses (Foam, Polyurethane and Latex, Explained) appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

One of the most common stories I hear from my patients when they come to me for functional medicine treatment is that they primary care doctor told them they were “fine.” In some cases, their doctors even ran a blood panel, reviewed the test results, and proudly told the patient that nothing was wrong. The problem is, for these patients, that wasn’t good news.

That’s because they didn’t feel like everything was “fine.” Quite the opposite, actually! These patients had made appointments with their doctors (and often waited a long time to see them) because they were dealing with troubling, debilitating symptoms. From fatigue and brain fog to digestive distress, and more. Seeing a healthcare provider only to be told there is no diagnosis feels dismissive, invalidating, and frustrating because no answers means no treatment; and no treatment means they need to keep feeling bad.

The Problem With Traditional Medicine and PCPs

The traditional medical model sets us up for failure in these cases. If a PCP exhausts his or her tools for screening a patient, that patient is left in the dark to figure things out on their own, or to find another model for medical care. That’s where functional medicine comes into play.

Functional medicine’s goal is to identify the root cause of disease. That means understanding the patterns of breakdown in bodily systems that lead to devlopment of disease. Diagnosing disease, for the most part, is not that hard. You simply need to run the right tests and conduct the right clinical exams. In some cases, doctors do a bad job of this, but that phenomenon isn’t simply a consequent of traditional medicine. (There are good doctors and bad doctors everywhere!) But where a given disease process isn’t obvious, we need to also recognize that underlying processes which will one day result in clinical disease, create pathological symptoms in the mean time.

Take blood sugar problems, for example. Type 2 Diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin, and the body’s cells fail to respond effectively to insulin, enough to keep blood sugar levels from rising dangerously. In this disease, the high blood sugar levels cause poor blood circulation, organ damage, vision problems, nerve pain and loss of sensation, low energy and weight gain. However, before Type 2 Diabetes develops, we see prediabetes. Before prediabetes, we see insulin resistance. Before insulin resistance, we see patterns of abnormal blood glucose spikes and drops. Where traditional medicine says “You’re good! You’re not diabetic!” in thise early stages, functional medicine recognizes the red flag that those early pathological states are, and validates the fact that patients in those early disease states still experience symptoms worth addressing.

But we need to be able to clinically diagnose those early disease states, because the feeling of rising-and-falling blood sugar are similar to the early stages of subclinical hypothyroidism, perimenopause, allergies, anxiety, and so many other things. In the absence of accurate test results, it’s easy to tell a middle-aged woman that her symptoms are “probably” due to aging and perimenopause, for example, or a a young adult with chronic allergies that the other symptoms are “probably” just part of those allergies. “Allergies are bad this year!”

But “probably” is not a diagnosis. “Probably” doesn’t help anyone.

Functional Medicine Tests to The Rescue

With the blood sugar example outlined earlier, in order to understand whether a non-diabetic patient is dealing with prediabetes, or insulin resistance, or poor blood sugar control, or a problem entirely separate from metabolic dysfunction, we need to run testing to identify what’s going on.

To do that, functional medicine doctors use two types of testing: more comprehensive standardized tests, and specialized functional medicine tests.

Comprehensive Standardized Tests

In this discussion, “standardized tests” refers to testing that a traditional medical provider could and may actually run, but typically doesn’t. As an example, about 50% of PCPs that I co-manage care with run vitamin D tests on patients as part of an annual screening and the other 50% do not. My husband’s primary care doctor ran it without him even asking and mine did not put the order in until I directly asked. Some others flat out refuse even though it’s completely reasonable for them to do so.

Similarly, with the topic of metabolic health, PCP’s could run fasting insulin levels in addition to hA1c, fasting glucose and triglycerides. In the realm of cardiovascular health, a PCP could easily test LDL Particle Number in addition to LDL levels on a cholesterol panel. It’s not typical but it is definitely possible.

Here are some other examples of comprehensive testing that could be run in a standard medical office:

• Fasting insulin in addition to hA1c, fasting glucose and triglycerides
• A full thyroid panel instead of just TSH
• Inflammatory markers, like hs-CRP and sedimentation rate
• Cycle-specific testing of estradiol, testosterone, progesterone and DHEA levels
• Ferritin, serum iron, % saturation and TIBC in addition to a CBC
• Vitamin B12, folate, zinc, magnesium and vitamin D levels

The Cost of Testing

Because these tests are available through traditional labs, they are often able to be covered by traditional health insurance, provided they are used correctly and coded for correctly. In some cases, however, you should be aware that insurance companies may refuse to pay for certain tests to be used as screening. So, if a provider orders them for you, as with all testing and procedures, you should call your insurance company first to know what you might be expected to pay.

The reason most primary care doctors don’t run these comprehensive tests is because it’s not the easy, standard model. It’s more complicated to code for these tests, and more comprehensive follow-up is necessary. Unfortunately the way our current medical system is built, doctors just don’t have time for those things. The average doctor’s appointment is less than 20 minutes, and patients typically see their doctors less than once per year. It’s an overburdened and broken system for sure. That’s why we need not only functional medicine doctors to fill gaps, but a reform of the system to provide better care in general.

Functional Medicine Specialty Testing

Beyond the comprehensive testing that’s available through traditional labs, functional medicine doctors sometimes run tests that are not available through the traditional medical model. Additional training and enrollment in laboratory services is required for these higher-level tests. These tests are at the cutting edge of medical testing, and they don’t necessarily lead to diagnosis of a clinical disease, like Type 2 Diabetes, for example. However, they help identify some of the earlier disease processes that lead to both current symptoms and future development of disease.

Here’s an example: there is no medical diagnosis in the traditional model for a deficiency of beneficial bacteria in the human body. However, we all know just how important probiotics are for human health, and the problems that are caused when we wipe them out (like from overuse of antibiotics.) We know that bacterial imbalances cause severe digestive distress, and also that they create a breeding ground for new infection (C. diff for example.) Functional medicine offers stool testing to identify bacterial imbalances which both create risk of future disease as well as present-day symptoms.

Here are some other examples of “above-and-beyond” testing in functional medicine:

• Salivary and urinary hormone metabolite testing
• Microbiome testing
• Intestinal markers of digestive enzyme activity, inflammation, and short-chain fatty acids
• Cardiovascular markers like LPA PLA2, lipoprotein(a), omega-3 levels and more
• Comprehensive heavy metal testing
• Mold testing
• Organic Acids Testing
• SIBO Testing
• Continuous Glucose Monitoring

…and so much more

Cost of Testing

Because these tests are highly specialized and on the cutting edge of medical advancement, most insurance companies will not pay for them. While some testing panels may include elements that would be covered by traditional insurance, such as occult blood in stool or 17-hydroxypregnenolone, for example, the laboratories themselves do not contract with insurance companies and therefore it is not possible to have coverage for them. The cost of individual tests that may have coverage outside of the panel are negligible when run as a full panel, which offers much greater value than trying to piece together individual tests a-la-carte and not having the full picture. The primary value of these tests, of course, comes from their ability to explain symptoms where traditional labs fall short.

The beauty of functional medicine tests is that they provide a way of diagnosing and describing a person’s symptoms and health status with objective, medical data, creating the possibility of creating a treatment plan as a next step. When doctors and patients understand the health condition at play, the suffering person can finally find healing.

Because, I think we can all agree that if a person is experiencing symptoms, they aren’t “fine.” If the lab tests come back normal, it means the right lab tests haven’t been run yet. And until a diagnosis is made, that person is going to keep on feeling terrible and potentially create lasting health problems in the long run. But functional medicine offers the solutions needed to meet patients where they are and help them restore their health before it is too late.

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

Become a Patient

Don’t miss out! Join the email list.

Sign Me Up!

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Want more Grab a copy of my new book, The Postpartum Check-In !

Reminder: The information on this post or anywhere else on this blog or other writing is purely educational, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any health condition.

The post What Are Functional Medicine Tests and How Can They Help Your Health? appeared first on Dr. Alexandra MacKillop.

But, what’s to be done about it? You’ll find answers to that question and more in this post, which discusses the differences between diagnosis and management of eczema and psoriasis.

Two of the most common categories of skin rashes include eczema and psoriasis, and these categories both include several different subtypes within them. However, all of these subtypes share certain etiological similarities and have similar approaches to treatment even though they are individual types of eczema and psoriasis. At the same time, psoriasis and eczema share similarities, such as the inflammatory and immune components, but they are, of course, different things.

In this post, we’ll explain how psoriasis and eczema are similar but also how they’re different, so you can get a better understanding of the Psoriasis vs. Eczema equation and know how to best work with your doctor in approaching the issue, whether it’s you, your child, or someone else you know who is suffering.

Psoriasis vs. Eczema: Types of Conditions

Types of Eczema

Eczema on it’s own is not fully considered an autoimmune disease, though it is closely related to a dysfunctional immune response, and many of the treatments both in Functional Medicine and the traditional medical model treat it as though like an autoimmune condition. Eczema commonly accompanies other autoimmune condition. However, while autoimmunity involves the immune system attacking the self, with eczema, the response is more like an allergy, with the immune system inappropriately attacking allergens and irritants due to a compromised skin barrier.

1. Atopic Dermatitis (Atopic Eczema)
   • Chronic condition, often begins in childhood. May even appear on babies, and many often confuse it with “baby acne.” (Baby acne typically appears within a few days of birth and resolves by 3 weeks, whereas rashes that persist or appears for the first time after 6 weeks of age are more likely to be eczema.)
   • Itchy, red, and inflamed skin, typically on the face, hands, and behind the knees. Underarms are a less frequent location for eczema, and may be more likely to be a yeast rash, such as Candida.
   • Linked to genetics and environmental factors (allergies, asthma, antibiotic use and other gut-related conditions).
   • Skin may also become “weepy,” or crusted from dried, oozing lesions.
2. Contact Dermatitis
   • Triggered by contact with irritants or allergens. When severe, contact dermatitis may closely resemble atopic dermatitis, and doctors easily confuse the two if the causative agent is not obvious.
   • Irritant Contact Dermatitis: Caused by direct irritation from substances (e.g., chemicals, soaps).
   • Allergic Contact Dermatitis: Caused by an allergic reaction to substances (e.g., poison ivy, nickel).
3. Seborrheic Dermatitis (“Cradle Cap”)
   • Red, scaly patches on oily areas of the body, such as the scalp, face, and chest.
   • Often associated with dandruff or oily skin.
   • Often appears on newborn babies and may persist for years if untreated. Because this is a type of dermatitis, if other irritants contact the inflamed skin, it may progress to other forms of dermatitis such as atopic dermatitis.
4. Dyshidrotic Eczema
   • Small, itchy blisters on the hands and feet.
   • Often linked to stress, allergies, or sweating.
5. Nummular Eczema
   • Coin-shaped, deep red patches of irritated skin, usually on the arms, legs, or torso.
   • Often triggered by dry skin or winter weather.
6. Stasis Dermatitis
   • Occurs on the lower legs due to poor circulation.
   • Common in people with venous insufficiency or varicose veins. May also be accompanied by the appearance of bruising, spider veins and possibly even bleeding from ulcerations over veins.

Types of Psoriasis

We consider psoriasis a true autoimmune disease, and sometimes is accompanied by other autoimmune symptoms like joint arthritis. With psoriasis, the immune system attacks itself, creating thickening and reproduction of skin cells which form the inflammatory plaques.

1. Plaque Psoriasis
   • Most common type, characterized by raised, red patches with silvery scales.
   • Typically affects elbows, knees, scalp, and lower back.
   • Tends to be worsened by certain medications, like beta-blockers and lithium. It’s also worsened by stress, infection, and injury.
2. Guttate Psoriasis
   • Small, drop-shaped, red lesions, often triggered by infections (e.g., strep throat, COVID).
   • Common in children and young adults.
   • May be worsened by puberty and other hormonal shifts.
3. Inverse Psoriasis
   • Red, shiny lesions that appear in skin folds (e.g., armpits, groin, under breasts).
   • Triggered by friction and sweating.
4. Pustular Psoriasis
   • Characterized by white pustules surrounded by red skin which eventually pop and flake/itch.
   • Can occur on any part of the body, but most common on hands and feet.
   • Easily confused with infectious rashes.
5. Erythrodermic Psoriasis
   • Extremely rare, severe form with widespread redness and peeling of the skin, often across the whole body.
   • Can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention.
6. Nail Psoriasis
   • Affects the nails, causing pitting, discoloration, and thickening. May affect one nail or multiple nails, as well as the nail bed.
   • Often seen with other types of psoriasis.

Differences Between Eczema and Psoriasis

It’s important to note that eczema and psoriasis are similar, but their differences are significant enough that they need to be treated differently. However, before we dive into the differences, it’s important to remember what is similar about them.

Both eczema and psoriasis are immune-mediated conditions, meaning it’s wrongful activity of the immune system that drives the condition. Both create inflammatory skin changes, which influence the microbiome of the skin, favoring the growth of inflammatory bacteria. This bacteria, typically related to Strep and other species, further triggers the immune response and worsens the condition. Because the gut microbiome also influences both the immune system and the skin microbiome, gut health plays a strong role in controlling both eczema and psoriasis.

Although the types of eczema and psoriasis are varied, in this discussion we will be focusing on the most common types, which inclue atopic dermatitis (eczema) and plaque psoriasis.

• Cause (Psoriasis vs Eczema):
  • Eczema: Primarily linked to allergies, immune system dysfunction, or environmental factors that trigger an overreactive immune system. Eczema may also be triggered by food sensitivities as well as allergies and problems with gut health.
  • Psoriasis: Caused by a self-reactive immune system, leading to rapid skin cell turnover and skin thickening. Psoriasis is not as closely linked to allergies as eczema, and is more likely to exist concomitantly with other autoimmune diseases. May be triggered by food sensitivities.
• Appearance (Psoriasis vs Eczema):
  • Eczema: Typically presents with red, inflamed skin, and sometimes blisters that weep and form yellow crust.
  • Psoriasis: Characterized by raised, thickened, scaly, and often silvery patches.
• Itchiness (Psoriasis vs Eczema):
  • Eczema: Often intensely itchy.
  • Psoriasis: May or may not be itchy, but can cause discomfort, pain or physical dysfiguration.
• Triggers (Psoriasis vs Eczema):
  • Eczema: Allergens, stress, temperature extremes, and irritants. May also be paradoxically triggered by moisture and sweat, such as in the summer, or dry air as in the winter. In children, teething may worsen eczema.
  • Psoriasis: Infections, stress, injury to the skin, and certain medications.
• Location (Psoriasis vs Eczema):
  • Eczema: Commonly affects the face, hands, feet, and behind the knees.
  • Psoriasis: Commonly affects the scalp, elbows, knees, and lower back.
• Chronicity (Psoriasis vs Eczema):
  • Eczema: Often a long-term condition, that may flare up seasonally or when exposed to certain triggers.
  • Psoriasis: Also chronic and can have periods of flare-ups.
• Traditional Treatment (Psoriasis vs Eczema):
  • Eczema: The traditional medical model treats eczema with moisturizers, such as colloidal oatmeal to reduce itching and petroleum-based skin protectants. Severe cases may be treated with corticosteroids such as (short term) hydrocortisone/clobetasone butyrate or (longer term) fluocinolone. Antihistamine medications may also be prescribed. Some providers may recommend skin-prick allergy testing. More recently, biologic medications such as Dupixent and Adbry have been approved for adults and children with eczema.
  • Psoriasis: Treated with topical steroids, phototherapy (including UV light exposure), and systemic chemotherapy (methotrexate) or biologic (Humira, Enbrel, Cimzia) medications for severe cases.

Psoriasis vs. Eczema: Functional Medicine Treatment

Through functional medicine, treating psoriasis and eczema both emphasize the same principles of building a foundation of health upon which the immune system can function normally. This necessitates overall good nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management practices, control of exposure to environmental toxins, and accurate diagnosis of the underlying root causes of immune dysfunction.

Here’s the thing about immune dysfunction, whether overreactive to self or overreactive to triggers: it all depends on exacerbation of the Th2 division of the immune system, meaning the division of the immune system responsible for “fighting” and “killing” invaders. For both psoriasis and eczema, the Th2 division becomes overreactive, “fight” and “killing” things it shouldn’t. At the same time, there develops a relative deficiency in the activity of the Th1 immune system, which is responsible for cleaning up damaged cells. When these cells fail to be cleaned up properly, the Th2 immune system ends up creating an inflammatory response against those cells, too, snowballing the problem.

The Functional Medicine Basics for Psoriasis vs. Eczema

Gut Health: The gut mediates the immune system. Everything that enters our ears, eyes, nose, mouth and stomach ultimately gets to our digestive tract, where our bodies need to decide whether what we’ve swallowed is COVID, a turkey sandwich, or ourselves. Bacteria play a tremendous role in informing our immune systems in this way. In my practice, the starting point for all skin conditions is the gut: testing for the microbiome (probiotics, commensals and pathogens), as well as screening for intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”), the ability to break down protein, carbohydrates and fats as evidenced by stool residues, as well as screening for inflammatory markers like calprotetin, lactoferrin, lysozyme and changes in pH. I also look for chemicals that play a role in maintaining the gut barrier like butyrate.

Stress: With all immune-reactive conditions, stress makes matters worse. This is a highly individualized situation, and I cannot diagnose a person’s stress the way that they themselves can. I do screen for cortisol and DHEA on blood work as well as other markers of a chronic, dysfunctional stress response. But only a person themselves (or the person’s parent, in the case of a pediatric patient) can evaluate for stress. (Stressors in children often relate to moving homes, starting daycare or school, family conflict, teething, addition of new siblings, potty training, teething, and more.)

Nutrition: Micronutrient deficiencies as well as deficiencies of essential amino acids impact the skin barrier and immune system. I test patients in office for zinc, selenium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and ensure that their diet contains animal foods. It is nearly impossible to have enough healthy protein while maintaining carbohydrate intake on a vegan or vegetarian diet. It’s also essential to limit sugar, to avoid immune-reactive foods, and to treat insulin resistance if it is present.

Exercise: The benefits of exercise for stress reduction and immune system modulation are innumerable. That’s all I will say here. Adults and kids both need to move their bodies daily.

Sleep: Adults need 8-9 hours of sleep and children need 10-16, depending on their age. Screening for sleep problems is beyond the scope of this post but if you are concerned you may have sleep apnea, or that your child may be struggling with sleep, please have an evaluation done.

Toxins: This is the big one. The term “toxins” refers to chemicals (biological, synthetic or otherwise) that enter the body or come into contact with the skin and drive a dysfunctional immune response. These may include additions to personal care products, ingredients in medications or injected pharmaceuticals, pesticides, food additives, exposure to environmental toxins in air or water, and even household cleaning chemicals. If it triggers inflammation or an immune response, it will invariably trigger the eczema, or the psoriasis, of any sort. I recommend using the Environmental Working Group and Yukka apps as starting points for eliminating toxins.

Functional Medicine Treatment for Eczema

Beyond a firm foundation outlined above, functional medicine also offers specific strategies for treatment. In eczema, the keys are allergies, inflammation and supporting the skin barrier.

Allergies: I recommend blood testing for allergens and the foods you most commonly consume if you are an adult. Skin-prick allergy testing done by an allergist is not sufficient, and does not translate to eczema because these aren’t typically contact allergies driving the eczema response. It’s oral tolerance, or lack thereof. In my office, I run IgE blood test. For children, watch them like a hawk. Pay attention to any signs of redness, itching, hives, scratching, fussiness, reflux, vomiting or abdominal pain in the 3-6 hours following consumption of a particular food. If it happens more quickly, it is much more likely to be related to an IgE-mediated allergy. Then, when these foods have been identified, confirm the suspicion with an IgE blood test for each food. (Note: for milk, eggs, soy, peanut and certain other high-risk allergens, I recommend a “component panel” rather than just the IgE. Some foods have multiple identified immunogneic proteins, i.e. “Milk Component Panel” rather than “Milk, IgE.”)

When allergens have been confirmed via blood work, or even if the IgE is negative but the skin reaction is apparent, eliminate all sources of these foods for 6 months minimum. One skin is clear, reintroduce one-by-one to evaluate for tolerance. If IgE levels were detectible, re-test the IgE level after 6 months and consider reintroducing in your pediatrician or allergist office. Always consult with a physician when conusming allergenic foods.

Skin Barrier: Babies have thin skin with a poorly formed moisture barrier, making them more susceptible to irritants, especially chemical toxicants, abrasion, irritation, moisture, dryness and other triggers. I recommend using a thick, water-protective barrier ointment on all diaper changes, as well as a lotion containing saccharomyces ferment medium/filtrate such as Tubby Todd AOO. The chemicals in this fermentation filtrate protect the skin and calm inflammation, and also play a role in inhibiting the growth of inflammatory bacteria (see below.) Food-based oils do not make a good moisture barrier because they absorb quickly and are also likely to stain clothing. Instead, I recommend using either beef tallow or a beeswax-based non-petroleum product. That being said, I’m also okay with recommending Aquaphor, which contains petroleum and also castor oil, simply because it works really well and is much safer than steroids in the grand scheme of things.

In addition to topicals, supplementing with the amino acid L-Histidine upregulates the production of fillagrin, a protein that plays an extremely important role in mintaining the skin barrier. I recommend that my adult patients take 3-6 grams daily and pediatric patients somewhere between 0.25 and 1 gram depending on age and stature (capsules can be opened up and mixed with food). This needs to be supplemented long-term, for months or years, and takes time to create change so it should be combined with other strategies listed here. I also recommend my patients take an oral prescription of the probiotic saccharomyces boulardii as well as humic acid taken three times daily before meals to prevent overgrowth of commensal bacteria.

Inflammation: Inflamed skin favors the growth of inflammatory bacteria and that bacteria, in turn, worsens the immune response. It goes like this: eczema breaks out, and the skin barrier is compromised. Staphylococcus and other skin-dwelling bacteria take advantage of the situation and enter the cracks in the skin, triggering a worsened immune response, which worsens itching, prompts scratching and the eczema snowballs. This needs to be interrupted.

In extremely acute cases of eczema, I prescribe a triple-action ointment prepared using anti-fungal medication, antibiotic ointment and topical corticosteroid to be applied to the affected areas as follows: 4 times daily for 4 days, followed by 3 times daily for 3 days, twice daily or 2 days and then once daily for 1 additional day. This will help the itching/inflammation initially calm down, control infection and allow healing to begin. You can prepare this ointment at home using a 1:1:1 ratio by weight of Polysporin Ointment, Hydrocortisone 1% Ointment, and Miconazole 2% Ointment. Note that where indicated, you must use ointment rather than “cream.”

Once the skin has begun to calm down, or even if it hasn’t, I recommend my patients utilize a twice daily application of ozonated olive oil. The ozone in the olive oil produces reactive ozonides that kill bacteria, destroying their cell wall. They also stimulate the Th1 (healing) division of the immune system to clear infection, close wounds and restore the skin barrier. The OOO should not be used as a preventative, but should only be applied to areas of redness with limited spots of broken skin.

Functional Medicine Treatment for Psoriasis

Beyond a firm foundation outlined above, functional medicine also offers specific strategies for treatment. In psoriasis, the keys are prebiotics and oxidative control.

Prebiotics: Prebiotics are the precursor fibers to the growth of probiotics. Without enough “food” to keep them growing, probiotics will die off and not stick around long enough to do anything for the skin in terms of calming the immune system. Fructooligosaccharides tend to work best for psoriasis, but note that they will flare up individuals sensitive to FODMAPs or who are struggling with SIBO.

Oxidation: In addition to the benefits for eczema in controlling bacterial colonization, the Th1-stimulating properties of ozonated olive oil work tremendously well for psoriasis. OOO should be applied in a thin layer, twice daily, to any area that shows a flare. Take caution with areas of the scalp because the oil may create unfavorable changes to hair. For a standard shampoo, I recommend using a tar-based product. Coal-Tar Shampoo suppresses skin cell growth by preventing abnormal differentiation. It also helps calm inflammation and pain, and can be used as a topical wash for non-scalp areas. Coal-Tar ointment works well for non-scalp areas.

Moreover, UV exposure is essential for controlling psoriasis, as it has a similar effect to coal tar in controlling abnormal skin cell differentiation. We often think of UV exposure as a danger or risk but it provides tremendous benefits to the skin, especially inflamed skin such as in the case of psoriasis. I recommend my patients receive 30 mintues of direct sunlight exposure twice daily, or supplementation with a UV lamp or other at-home device. Note that UV lights are not the same as black lights, “blue lights,” or “sun lamps” used for reptiles.

A third factor in controlling psoriasis is omega-3 fatty acids which, when taken above daily requirements, control inflammation, immune reactivity and abnormal growth of tissue. I recommend a minimum of 4,000 mg daily for adults (often up to 8,000 mg daily) and a minimum of a standard adult dose for my pediatric patients. Be aware that doses this high might have a blood-thinning effect which can be dangerous when taking blood thinners, if having surgery, during injury or with those at risk of stroke.

Overall, skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis can be tricky to treat, and it can be very disheartening when seeing a PCP or dermatologist and receiving a lifelong steroid prescription.

That being said, functional medicine has so much to offer, wether for psoriasis vs. eczema. Natural healings can literally be in your hands!

I’m Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, a functional medicine doctor, food scientist and nutrition expert.

I specialize in women’s nutrition & hormonal health, addressing concerns like longevity, fertility, postpartum, PCOS, endometriosis, and gut symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea and more.

If you’re looking for a new way to approach your health, I’m here to help you through it.

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Reminder: The information on this post or anywhere else on this blog or other writing is purely educational, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any health condition.

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