Functional Medicine | Women's Health
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Iron deficiency may seem like a very simple topic to write about, but it something that causes more than a little fatigue, and is extremely common in women, especially women in their 40's when periods start to get heavy (and also most teenagers!). Symptoms of iron deficiency include the following: Fatigue …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Fatigue, or tiredness is the number one complaint that brings people in for naturopathic care. There are many underlying factors to investigate in determining the cause of tiredness. Below is my top 10 list of factors that that can be causing your fatigue. Many of these are missed in a conventional medical work-up, or …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Is it time to put some attention on your nutrition? When we're struggling with fatigue, bloating, stress and body aches the first place to look is at our nutrition. Complete the following checklist and see how you do and where you might need some support: Do you have signs of unstable blood sugar levels (e.g. intense …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Food is information, and when the body becomes out of balance in an inflamed state, the quality of food becomes even more critical. I am a big fan of a ‘food-first’ approach with health, because it is incredible the impact that dietary changes can make on symptoms like joint pain, migraines, fatigue, skin conditions, …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I have been seeing lots of cases of vitamin B12 deficiency in the clinic lately, and wanted to write a short article about signs to watch for and causes of deficiency. Vitamin B12 is an essential water-soluble vitamin that is found in all animal foods - meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy. It is necessary to make red …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND You may be aware that certain foods don’t agree with your body. For example, you may have heartburn, indigestion, or gas after eating certain foods. What patients often miss, however, is the connection between food intolerances and the immune system. When the immune system is involved, there is …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I’m writing this article because it’s a pattern I see quite regularly, where exercise or nutrition habits are taken too far, and then some type of hormone imbalance develops. This is usually more subtle than an overt eating disorder, where the imbalance of caloric intake and energy burned is more extreme. There can be too …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I am introducing a program called the "Fasting Mimicking Diet" with some patients, and wanted to explain more about how it works. This 5 day modified fast was developed by Dr. Valter Longo, an Italian researcher who was initially studying fasting an its influence on cancer and chemotherapy. The Fasting Mimicking Diet was …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I'm sure that the issue of high dietary sugar intake is no surprise to any of my readers, but the fact that I am treating early signs of blood sugar regulation diseases in my practice every day tells me that although the message is heard, it may not be translating in a significant enough dietary change. Recent medical …
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