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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SERVICES
    • Naturopathic Medicine
    • Digestive Health >
      • Constipation
      • Crohn's & Colitis
      • SIBO
      • Food Sensitivities
      • Gas & Bloating
      • Heartburn
      • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
      • Leaky Gut Syndrome
    • Hormonal Health >
      • Acne
      • Adrenal Fatigue
      • Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
      • Infertility & Miscarriage
      • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
      • Post Birth Control Syndrome
      • Thyroid Disorders
    • Diagnostic Testing >
      • SIBO Testing
      • Comprehensive Stool Analysis
      • Food Intolerance Testing
      • Female Hormone Testing
      • Male Hormone Testing
      • Adrenal Hormone Testing
    • Services & Fees
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
  • COVID-19
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Publications On Natural Health

14/5/2020

Bee Products and Your Gut

AMAZING BENEFITS YOU MAY NOT ‘BEE’ AWARE OF

Honey bees, or apis mellifera, have been helping humans since the dawn of time. They’ve not only provided us with a long standing source of honey and wax, but have played an integral part in helping our agricultural growth and in sustaining our ecosystem. Honey has been a cornerstone to most pantry shelves as a natural food sweetener or agent to soothe a sore throat. But as it turns out, our little buzzing friends and the delicious liquid they provide us is even more helpful to our health than we once thought. Modern research has discovered many bee byproducts have proven benefits on everything from our gut microbiome to our immune system, and maybe even our fertility.

Honey Micriobiome

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13/4/2020

Fundamentals of the Autoimmune Protocol

autoimmune protocol AIP
Millions of people around the world live with autoimmune disorders, which is why it’s so important that our understanding of these disorders continues to grow rapidly. A growing body of research suggests that chronic illness responds best to a multifaceted methodology of diet and lifestyle changes that include a focus on anti-inflammatory nutrition, moderate exercise, adequate and plentiful sleep, and reasonably reducing stress. This approach to managing autoimmune disease has been termed ‘the Autoimmune Protocol’ (AIP) and may be the key to successfully managing autoimmune disorder symptoms.

​What you eat matters.
 
What we put into our bodies has a significant impact on our health – even for those of us considered generally healthy. Processed foods, refined sugars, and saturated fats can contribute to the onset of autoimmune symptoms. But even some ‘good-for-you’ foods may affect gut flora and result in recurrence of autoimmune symptoms.


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13/3/2020

Hair Loss & Your Hormones

Hair Loss Natural Treatment
​Hair thinning and/or hair loss is a familiar experience for many, especially as we age. It’s a topic close to home, as I’ve struggled with my own personal battle with hair loss. Until recently, the cause of male or female pattern baldness was not widely understood and thought to be primarily to be an inherited trait. But it turns out that a specific androgen – DHT – plays a significant role in hair loss. 

​What is DHT?
Dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, is an androgenic hormone derived from testosterone. We often think of testosterone as being mostly a male hormone, but it can also be found in smaller amounts in females, and is essential for mood, energy, and reproduction.
​

In men, the androgen group of hormones, including DHT, play a significant role in the development of male sex characteristics such asdeepening the voice, body hair growth, increased muscle mass, growth of male reproductive organs, and how fat is stored in the body.
 
While testosterone is the most abundant androgen found in men, playing the greatest role in controlling and maintaining many physiological and reproductive processes, DHT also helps influence these processes. In fact, DHT has demonstrated to be 2.5x more biologically active than testosterone, however it is found in significantly smaller amounts.


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10/3/2020

Could Birth Control be the Root to Your Chronic Gut Issues?

hormonal birth control
​The use of hormonal birth control one of the most common and effective ways to prevent pregnancy, as well as manage unwanted symptoms of reproductive health.

Hormonal birth control, whether a pill, an implant, or a patch, all functions in a fairly similar way. They introduce synthetic hormones into the body to prevent ovulation and increase cervical mucus – a tandem effect that helps prevent pregnancy. Birth control pills are also prescribed to help alleviate symptoms of certain gynecological conditions, like endometriosis, and regulate menstruation.

However, if you’ve have been diagnosed with a chronic gut dysfunction disorder and are struggling to treat it, your birth control may be an attributing factor.


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3/2/2020

PCOS: Maybe She’s Born With It

PCOS Pregnancy
      PCOS is a medical condition that affects hormone levels in women, impacting 5%–20% of women of reproductive age worldwide and characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphology. Women with PCO end up producing a higher amount of male hormones, like testosterone, and often experiencing resistance to the metabolic hormone, insulin. These imbalances can lead to issues with acne, and missed menstrual periods (impacting fertility), amongst other symptoms. The 2003 Rotterdam criteria are currently the internationally accepted criteria by which PCOS is diagnosed.  

      However, the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is poorly understood. Part of the research conducted on the origination of the disease has shown that the likelihood of PCOS development in women may be determined at birth. Research in primates suggests that excess fetal androgen exposure may predispose the infant to later development of PCOS through alternations in the epigenome (1). If there is an imbalance of hormones from PCOS during pregnancy, then there is an increased likelihood the baby may also develop PCOS if the infant is born female. Additionally, exposure to testosterone prior to pregnancy could lead to PCOS even when women have children later. 



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17/12/2019

Hyperandrogenism: High Testosterone and DHEA in PCOS

High Testosterone issue women
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the leading medical conditions now impacting women of reproductive age, and can also have substantial impacts on a woman’s physical and emotional well-being. We’ve already covered symptoms and diagnostic testing of PCOS here, but let's dive deeper into one key hormonal disruption that seems to be particularly troublesome for my patient population – hyperandrogenism.

​Hyperandrogenism is common in PCOS, often seen as elevated testosterone and DHEA levels on blood work. And while these two hormones are often seen as synonymous when evaluating total androgenic burden, there is a significant difference between the two. Testosterone and DHEA are both classified as androgenic hormones, however some women with PCOS may have elevated testosterone, with normal DHEA levels, and vice versa. You also don't have to have cysts on your ovaries to present with hyperandrogenism (in fact, only about 20% of women with high androgens have cystic ovaries), and cysts on your ovaries don't always mean you’ll have high androgens. Have I lost you yet?


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13/11/2019

Important Findings on the Gut-Brain Connection

​For decades, the gut and brain were looked at as two separate entities. What we now know is that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Modern research is discovering that mood hormones play a direct role in the mechanisms of digestion (challenging the thought, are they truly just ‘mood’ hormones), and even more interestingly, the microbiome. 
 
If you’ve ever had a ‘gut-wrenching’ experience or felt ‘butterflies’ when stressed, you’re likely no stranger to the influences stress can have on the way our digestive tract feels. However, have you ever stopped to think about why this happens, and how? 
Picture

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24/10/2019 0 Comments

Autoimmunity – What is it and Why Is It Increasing?

Picture
     Autoimmunity is an umbrella term for a number of medical condition with one common problem: the immune system. In autoimmunity, the body’s immune system mistakenly identifies healthy cells as invaders, and attacks them. This disease can present in various forms, and can affect any part of the body. For some, autoimmunity can disrupt hormone production, as in Hashimoto’s or Graves. In other people, it can present as symptom of inflammation, fatigue, and pain. Some people even experience neurological changes, as in cases of MS.
     And while autoimmunity is not news to modern medicine, the increased number of reported cases per year is. It poses the questions -  why are incidence reports on the rise, what, if anything, is causing its increase, and is there anything we can do about it?


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9/9/2019

You Are What You Host: Are Fecal Transplants the Way of the Future for Gut Health?

Gut Microbiome
​According to a new study presented by Dr. El-Salhy at the United European Gastroenterology week in Spain, fecal microbial transplants (FMT) may significantly improve the pain and distress caused by irritable bowel syndrome, if transplants come from what has been termed a 'super-donor'.
​
The double-blind, randomized control trial study found that 75-89% of recruits aged 18-75 receiving 30-60 g of endoscope administered feces into the duodenum donated same day from a human 'super donor' reported significant benefits in their overall IBS symptoms after 3 months, with no long term adverse effects (1). Slightly greater benefits were observed in the patients receiving higher dose transplants and/or repeat transplants (2). Furthermore, Dr. El-Salhy suggested that preliminary results show 90-95% of the patient who responded are still well 1 year later, and 50% are 'cured' (3). 


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16/8/2019

3 Facts You Need to Know About Calories and Weight Loss

Calories weight loss
Calories in versus calories out was the de facto weight loss equation for decades. To lose weight, you simply reduce the number of calories consumed while increasing the number of calories used. However, the simple equation that we have adhered to as part of a healthy lifestyle may have actually been hindering our weight loss efforts. As our understanding of health and nutrition improves, so does what we know about the simple calorie equation – and this knowledge is changing the plate of the modern diet.

1. Not all calories are created equal.  
​
One reason why strictly counting calories can be an ineffective way to lose weight is that not all calories are good calories. While the energy content of calories is essentially the same in that they are an equal unit of energy, calories derived from whole foods are more effectively processed by the body than those found in processed foods. In other words, where a particular calorie comes from will have varying effects on hunger, hormones, and weight. 



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DR. COURTNEY HOLMBERG, ND

Platinum Health and Wellness
​​955 Queen St W, Unit 111
Toronto, ON
M6J 3X5

​647-351-7282
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​© 2018 Courtney Holmberg ND. All rights reserved. Dr. Courtney Holmberg, ND does not endorse or have professional affiliation with any discussed supplement or lab companies. All material provided is for general education and may not be construed as medical advice. The information is not intended to assist in diagnosing to treating a medical condition. Legal & Medical Disclaimer, sitemap

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