By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND The latest findings around the gut microbiome are showing that it is more valuable for your immune system and overall health to have diversity in the organisms. Similarly, recent research is showing that botanical diversity in our diets has a more protective role compared to larger amounts of foods with fewer …
Food is Medicine: How to eat a nutrient-dense diet
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND One of the best ways to shift your relationship with food is to remember that food is medicine. Because we eat so often, and such a large volume of food in our lifetime, it is a significant factor in either creating disease or creating health. There are countless of examples of using a nutrition plan to reverse or …
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5 Physiological Reasons you have food cravings, and why mastering your cravings isn’t about willpower at all
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I’ve had several in-depth discussions with patients in the past week about their food cravings, and how powerless they feel about them. We’ve been led to believe that it’s all about willpower, and cravings are simply a sign of poor will-power. This unfortunately leads to a spiral that feels even more out of control, …
6 Surprising signs that point to insulin resistance
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Testing for blood sugar imbalance and specifically insulin resistance is a very frequent test I request. The reason is that we are experiencing a growing number of cases of blood sugar imbalance, and diabetes at much younger ages. It is extremely important to detect insulin resistance early, because this is the phase of …
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A Fresh Take On The Spring Cleanse
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND It's that time of year again, when we're suddenly motivated to make positive changes in our health - eating more vegetables, exercising regularly and looking for a boost in our health to match the boost in our mood that naturally comes with the change of seasons. Spring cleanses used to be very popular, and I'm …
Getting to the root of female hair loss
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Hair thinning is actually a very common issue that I see in the clinic, and it can be extremely distressing. In this article, I will review some of the causes of hair thinning that I test for, and some solutions to get your hair growing again. One important thing to note is that getting the hair into a re-growth cycle can …
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The impact of overtraining on your hormones
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Overtraining syndrome is not a condition limited only to competitive athletes, and I actually find more cases in recreational athletes who have a frequent intense workout schedule. It is absolutely critical to build in rest days, fuel your body for your workouts, and cross-train to avoid overworking the same muscle groups. …
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Lectins in Food – A Key to Inflammation
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I’ve been really digging into nutrition lately, and looking at an integrative approach to customized nutrition plans. As I’m sure you know, there is no one-size-fits-all food plan and we need to look at many variables such as health issues (autoimmune / cardiovascular / blood sugar), blood type, food sensitivity, …
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What affects hormone balance?
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND As an ND with a main clinical focus on hormone balance, most people find it very interesting that we don’t dive right into supplements and support for hormones first. In fact, we get MUCH better and lasting results when we take a look at your overall health, and start upstream - stress levels, gut function, toxin …