women's health Archives - PearlMD Rejuvenation

Pearls of Wisdom for Summer-proof Health and Beauty!

Enjoy the outdoors!

Being active outdoors in nature provides more brain benefits than the same amount of exercise would when done in a gym. A 30-minutes nature walk performed 3 or more times per walk as been shown to be as effective as anti-depressant medications in reducing depressive symptoms in mild to moderate depressed individuals. As Canadians, our summer season provides a great chance to be active outdoors with the added brain benefits of a little vitamin D boost from the sun. Whether it is a jog, run, cycle, swim or paddle in a kyak, canoe or stand up board- our Canadian landscapes, lakes and beaches provide endless options.

Wondering which mode of exercise is right for you? Consider our gene based lifestyle programs to get a personalized integrative health plan designed precisely to your genomic, nutritional and metabolic needs and matched to your goals!

Be Sun Smart!

The longer days of summer provide 30% more light and sun exposure than the shorter days of winter. While light is good for our mood and energy, the added UV exposure can be damaging to our skin. Commercial sunscreens often lack sufficient protection from UVA- which are the rays that cause aging, pigmentation and skin cancer. The SPF rating of a sun screen tells you only about the UVB protection factor- which are the rays that burn and tan you. An ideal sunscreen, will provide broad spectrum UVA and B coverage with naturally occurring physical sun-blocks such as micronized (not nano-particles) zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as well as non-benzone containing chemical agents to ensure complete the UVB coverage. By carefully reading labels to avoid potentially irritating and harmful ingredients such as parabens, phthalates, sulfates and benzone-derived chemical sunscreens you can help to reduce not only sun damage but also photo-sensitivity reactions that can be caused when commercial sunscreens interact with sunlight on certain sensitive skin types.

Protect SPF 30 is a slightly tinted silky facial sunscreen with broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection. It combines perfectly with our C-Shine emollient gel that provides a perfect base for sunscreen as it potentiates the sun protective benefits.

Boost your Block!

Omega 3 essential fatty acids such as DHA have been shown to increase the sunburn threshold, potentiate the protective effects of sun screen and reduce the risk of sun damage and skin disease including acne, eczema, psoriasis and skin cancer. The anti-inflammatory and brain benefits of omega 3 fatty acids like DHA have been well established, but their skin benefits are less well known. As our skin is comprised of cellulose, its maintenance and function hinges on a ready supply these important building blocks. A diet rich in healthy fats like salmon, nuts and seeds complimented by a DHA-rich omega 3 supplement can enhance the skin’s ability to shield from UV induced oxidative damage that can not only lead to skin damage but also DNA damage and skin cancer. Select a high quality omega 3 supplement that is pure from toxicities, potent in dose (aim for 1 gram a day of combined EPA and DHA), and enhanced with the additional benefits of astaxanthins, a super-charged carotenoid derived from fish and microalgae that protects from oxidative damage and UV exposure. Astaxanthins are what give salmon their rich pink colour and provide additional skin and eye health benefits.

Bend anti-aging formula is a UV defense skin health omega 3 supplement with a high potency EPA/DHA blend and added zeaxanthin, vitamin D and lutein for skin and eye health. Bend is available in soft gel caps or liquid formula with a natural citrus flavour.

Keep Hydrated!

Hot and humid summer weather can easily leave our skin and body dehydrated. Ensuring ample fluid intake is a great start but –we need more than just water for optimal summertime health and beauty! Increasing our intake of natural body boosters like the vitamins, minerals and electrolytes found in colourful fruits and vegetables is a great start. But beyond veggies and water- adding super foods like a super-nutrient enriched marine collagen can boost summer time skin. Collagen maintains skin structure and hyaluronic acid maintains hydration- holding 1000x it’s weight in water.

Ageless Collagen Protein is a vegan protein blend (hemp-rice-pea) combined with a marine skin matched collagen (10g) in a super-nutrient enriched formula delivering biotin, iron, vitamin C and digestive enzymes to optimally support hair, skin and lean body tissues. Available in unflavoured and chocolate, the formula can be taken with water or blended into your favourite smoothie recipe.

Restore your Skin!

For dry, dehydrated summer time skin- we offer a range of at home and in-clinic treatments to help you rehydrate and restore. Our HydraGlow hyaluronic acid serum is a perfect skin quencher to restore water content to the skin without clogging pores. For a more intense hydrating experience try our POLISH no downtime skin peel which uses a blend of antioxidants and moisturizers to hydrate and our new Nano-Gold Natural Collagen Rejuvenating Masks that boost any in-clinic skin treatment designed for the face, neck and décolletage.

Call us for a complimentary consult to help you achieve Ageless Vitality and summer-proof health and beauty!

It’s Time for the Health Sciences to Stop Treating Women as ‘Mini-Men’

The United Nations has declared the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day as one of “Inspiring Change” to celebrate the achievements of women while still focusing on the gender gaps that persist globally. Sadly, gender inequities remain pervasive across society and certainly throughout health care.

As a young medical student, I could never understand why our medical curriculum did not better differentiate human biology, physiology and pharmacology between the sexes. Often, women are contemplated as “mini-men.”

By most measures it becomes apparent that medical progress has improved the lives and health status of women to a lesser extent than it has men. While women are outliving men by an average of 6.3 years, they enjoy only an additional 1.5 years of disability-free years of life. This paradox points to an emerging gender gap in medical advancement.

Indeed, with a “male-centric” focus, biomedical research has yielded meaningful improvements in the detection and management of diseases that affect men, such as heart disease, more so than those that disproportionately affect women, such as chronic pain, depression, autoimmune disease and breast cancer. And it is not only the research agenda that is male-focused, but so too the subjects.

There is a significant sex bias in drug trials with serious underrepresentation of females throughout biomedical studies, from basic research to human clinical trials. While the average chronic pain patient is a 55-year-old woman, the average chronic pain research subject is a male mouse.

Females are excluded from both animal and human clinical trials often due to concerns about the variability introduced by their hormonal cycles.

Simply, it is easier to study males.

And so it is that early stage clinical trials study predominantly male animals and young healthy men. As a result, novel medical therapies that progress through to late-stage clinical trials and ultimately to market may be less effective, less safe and less relevant for women. Sex differences in drug effects and metabolism have largely been overlooked. But they matter.

Variable pharmacodynamics, or drug metabolism, mean that there may be risk of drug toxicity or, conversely, a lack of therapeutic effect.

Illustrating this problem is the case of Ambien, a commonly prescribed sleep medication. Reports of excess sedation in women due to slower metabolism have prompted health regulators for the first time to recommend lower dosages of the drug in women.

The study of epigenetics or gene expression is revealing how a shared genetic substrate may be differentially expressed in men and women. Approximately 70 per cent of the human genome shows sex-biased expression contributing to the gender differences seen in biology, behaviour and susceptibilities.

Lifestyle factors and environmental exposures affect the health of women differently from men.

Heart disease is a case in point. The traditional risks, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, are more specific to men. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, smoking, hormonal status and stress increase risk to a greater extent in women than in men. Accounting for the differentiated expression of the genome between the sexes will be necessary to the development of gender-specific preventative health strategies.

So what will the winds of change and medical progress mean for women’s health? Hopefully, a deeper understanding of the gender differences that exist from bench to bedside and the development of strategies to prevent, detect and treat disease accordingly.

Dr. Jennifer Pearlman is a physician focused on women’s health and wellness, a staff physician at the Menopause Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and medical director of PearlMDRejuvenation, a Women’s health and wellness facility.

6 Ways To Age Proactively

By Tiffy Thompson, She Does The City.
Aging is no picnic. Little lines start etching their way across your forehead, gray hairs seem to be cropping up more and more, and you have less energy than ever. But it doesn’t have to go down that way!

We chatted with Dr. Jennifer Pearlman, a medical doctor and attending staff physician at Mount Sinai Hospital, where she helps run the largest menopause clinic in the country. She has an expert designation in Women’s Health, Mental Health and cosmetic medicine and is board certified in Anti-aging and Regenerative Medicine. Here, she gives her best tips on how to age proactively.

Balance your hormones

From our sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone), to the stress hormone cortisol and the king metabolic signal, insulin; our 200+ hormones regulate our health, wellbeing and aging. Keeping them in balance can help us deal with unpleasant symptoms like sleep and mood disturbances as well as reduce risk of disease.

Eat like the Islanders

Green up your diet! The longest living population of the Okanawi Islands off the coast of Japan consider their plant-based, whole food mineral-rich diet that is low down on the food chain and void of processed food additives and chemicals to be a key to their longevity.

Stay strong and move your body outdoors

A strong frame is required for a healthy brain. Outdoor activity has been shown to reduce depression and improve memory while weight resistance training can help maintain bone and muscle mass to reduce the risk of frailty.

Protect yourself from the sun

Young women tend not to be as diligent about sun protection and may start to see early sun and age related changes like laxity, fine lines, pigment as well as sunspots. As early as our thirties, women start to see some facial expression lines, like frown lines and forehead creases appear at rest and develop into deeper furrows. These lines may result in women looking angry, tired or sad even if they are not. As a result, many women in this age group seek preventative neuromodulator (i.e. Botox) treatment to relax these expression lines and prevent lines at rest for developing. This approach is coined “prejuvenation” as the goal is to prevent the signs of aging in the first place as opposed to waiting and having to undo them. By starting preventative treatments earlier, younger women truly have the choice to change the face of their aging.

Start preventative treatments now

For women, the decline in ovarian hormone function through the perimenopause years of our mid-forties produces accelerated aging. In fact, from 40 to 50 years women age twice as fast as any other decade. Throughout the menopause transition, a hormone balancing approach can help reduce unpleasant symptoms like flashes, sleep and mood disturbances and memory changes while also reduce the risk of diseases like bone loss (osteoporosis), memory problems (dementia) and heart disease. An individualized approach to evaluating risk and benefit must consider a women’s health history, goals and preferences under the careful guidance of a qualified physician expert in this area.

Your DNA is not your destiny

Your parents don’t control everything. While some of us may carry genetic predispositions, our DNA is not our destiny. Instead, it is a roadmap that is influenced by our lifestyle and choices in determining our health, risk of disease and aging. The new science of “Epigenetics” describes the interplay of gene and environmental factors in determining health outcomes. Genetic testing can help uncover some of these weak predispositions that when considered together can be used to guide a personalized lifestyle plan to optimize health and wellbeing.

At PearlMD we couple the most advanced diagnostic tests and assessments to uncover these risks and partner with our patients to build a customized lifestyle, nutritional and hormone plan. Our model of care lies at the frontier of personalized integrative medicine, and enables us to help our patients achieve AGELESS VITALITY by aging well from the inside out.

Originally posted as “Age Proactively: Dr. Jennifer Pearlman’s 6 Tips for Better Aging”, She Does The City.com.

5 Things To Do Now For A Long, Healthy Life: A Doctor Explains

By Dr. Jennifer Pearlman

Your health is not entirely predetermined by your genetic code. In fact, lifestyle and environment play a big role in determining how your genes get expressed, how healthy you will be, and how well you will age.

In other words, you can age proactively. But to age well requires that we first understand why we are aging. As we approach midlife, we begin to face accelerated loss of vital factors: our hormones, our nutrients, our sleep, and our telomeres. As a result of these losses, rapid aging ensues.

By selecting the right foods, getting enough exercise and sleep, minimizing your exposure to harmful chemicals, and supplementing your diet strategically with the right science-based supplements, you can make the most out of the genetic deck of cards you were dealt.

As a medical doctor focused on women’s health and aging, I often counsel women on the best ways they can optimize their health and aging. Here are my top tips:

1. Avoid refined and processed sugars.

Always read food labels to look for hidden sugar. Sugars entering your bloodstream attach to proteins, forming harmful molecules called AGEs. The more sugar entering your bloodstream, the more AGEs tend to be produced. Refined and processed sugars are more potent than those found naturally, such as in fruits.

AGEs accumulate and can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and possibly other diseases as well as age your skin.

2. Eat the color wheel.

Phytonutrients found in colorful fruits and vegetables provide the essential vitamins, antioxidants, and micronutrients that we need for optimal functioning. In particular, B vitamins found in many fruits and vegetables help support cell turnover, energy production, and neurological function.

3. Don’t be afraid of eating fats.

Your body needs healthy fats to absorb certain key nutrients. Low- or no-fat diets may lead to poor skin and nails. I recommend eating plenty of healthy fats, including those found in seafood, nuts, and avocados.

4. Move your body.

Physical activity is required for healthy metabolism as well as maintenance of your lean body mass such as muscle and bone. Exercise, especially outdoors, has been shown to reduce stress levels and cut the risk of depression, memory problems, heart disease, and diabetes. Even a 30-minute moderate-intensity workout can help lower your blood sugar.

5. Get enough shut-eye, every night.

Sleep is your body’s repair cycle. Lack of sleep is associated with depression, heart disease, and obesity. Our brains require adequate sleep (usually six to eight hours) to store memories, learn new information, and reboot to be able to function properly the next day.

As we age, our sleep quality and quantity can be reduced, and it may take more effort to maintain sleep. A calming bath in warm water with essential oils in the evening can help ready you for sleep. Keeping the bedroom free of work and worries can also free your mind for shuteye.

Originally posted at Mind Body Green.

How To Expertly Navigate Menopause

By Dr. Jennifer Pearlman

Menopause is an eventuality that all reproductive women will reach; her final menstrual period. It is, however, a somewhat useless term as we define the menopause only 12 months after the fact. This means that during the time a woman is likely to be most symptomatic she may not realize that her symptoms are associated with changes in hormones and her impending menopause.
A more useful framework to describe reproductive aging is the concept of the menopause transition and the various stages from early peri-menopause to late post-menopause. This framework is based on the clinical history, including bleeding pattern and symptoms. However, testing hormone levels may help to confirm the stage.

As periods become more irregular, estrogen levels begin to decline and trigger further symptoms such as the hallmark hot flashes and night sweats.

Early in the transition, women often begin to experience disruptive symptoms such as sleeplessness and mood disturbance even while periods are still happening with a regular cycle. The higher estrogen state that can accompany the early peri-menopause may mean that she has swollen, tender breasts, heavy bleeding and increased pre-menstrual symptoms (i.e. PMS). During this phase she may not be offered much from conventional physicians as menopause hormone therapy is only indicated to control symptoms after menopause is reached. But there are several evidenced based interventions that may help buffer some early symptoms.

A healthy lifestyle is important to mitigate both symptoms and risks that arise at this time. Maintaining a healthy body weight, minimizing use of alcohol and caffeine and partaking in regular exercise are all important lifestyle interventions. Non-hormonal and herbal therapies such as researched derivatives of black cohosh, rhubarb, soy and red clover may be helpful and can be combined with progesterone therapy usually given in the second half of the cycle. While there are no commercially available forms, vaginal progesterone therapy is most effective with direct effects on the uterus and can be custom compounded to treat the individual woman’s needs.

As periods become more irregular, estrogen levels begin to decline and trigger further symptoms such as the hallmark hot flashes and night sweats. While anti-depressants and anti-seizure medications can be used off-label to control hot flashes, nothing is more effective than estrogen. Estrogen, given in combination with progesterone offers not only symptom control but for the newly menopausal and otherwise well woman, important preventative benefits toward the bone, brain and heart. Hormone therapy has been shown to meaningfully reduce the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures, memory problems, and heart disease.

There are many options available when it comes to hormone therapy. Bioidentical hormones are available by prescription in both pharmaceutical and custom compounded formats. Estrogen therapy has been shown to be both safer and more effective when delivered through the skin in a “transdermal” cream or patch. Vaginal estrogen therapy as the added benefit of protecting the vagina and lower urinary tract from the degenerative changes that occur in low estrogen states. While pharmaceutical estrogen patches are available, a vaginal cream containing both estradiol (ovarian estrogen) and estriol (a weak protective estrogen) may be preferred. Progesterone taken orally or vaginally when combined with estrogen has been shown to reduce the risk of clots, stroke and breast cancer. Thus, progesterone is markedly different than the progesterone-like synthetic analogues like Provera that have been shown to increase these risks.

From diet to herbs to hormones, there is much that can be done to successfully navigate the menopause transition.

By the later stages after menopause, hormonal needs tend to change. Typically, there systemic hormone therapy as described above would be discontinued possibly with a transition to lower dosed local vaginal estrogen therapy. Because vaginal dryness is the one certain and progressive symptom of the late post-menopause, vaginal estrogen therapy is critical to maintain the health of the vagina and lower urinary tract as well as for sexual health. This treatment is considered safe; even for many women with a history of breast cancer. Vaginal estrogen therapy can reduce dryness, pain, risk of infection and improve urinary dynamics and bladder control.

While there are no hard fast rules as to how long hormones can be prescribed, some guidelines recommend initiating therapy within five years of menopause and continuing for up to 10 years of therapy or the age of 60 years. However, hormone therapy requires a highly individualized assessment that considers each woman’s unique set of symptoms, risks, goals and preferences. When prescribed in the right form, dose and route by a well qualified medical expert, hormone therapy can be an integral part of navigating midlife aging successfully.

From diet to herbs to hormones, there is much that can be done to successfully navigate the menopause transition. For many women, starting this proactive approach in the mid-forties can manage early peri-menopausal symptoms and simultaneously reduce emerging health risks. For all women, the discussion of hormone therapy is important and should be conducted with a health professional who is qualified to discuss the goals, benefits and risks and monitor the safety of recommended treatments.

Originally posted at The Huffington Post.

The Surprising Health Benefits of Sleeping Naked

By Nicole Lippay

Either you feel super comfortable with it, or the thought if it makes you squirm: maybe sleeping naked isn’t for everyone—but it should be.

According to Dr. Jennifer Pearlman of PearlMD Rejuvenation, a Women’s Health Clinic in Toronto, sleeping sans-jammies can help to lower your body temperature and help you to get a better night’s sleep: “Research has shown that lowering the body temperature can result in fewer nighttime awakenings and can trigger the release of key anti-aging hormones melatonin and growth hormone, while also lowering levels of the stress hormone, cortisol,” she explains. We’ve all experienced the serious impact a restful sleep can make on your day—you’ll not only be in a better mood in the morning, but you’ll be able to concentrate much more easily at work.

Besides a killer sleep, your vagina will thank you for casting your undies aside. “More growth hormone and less cortisol secretion can support better sexual function and vaginal health. Wearing tight, restrictive clothing can lead to changes in the vaginal temperature and pH, which may induce overgrowth of unvafourable bacteria leading to infection and symptoms like itch, discharge and odour,” explains Dr. Pearlman. Getting some air to your lady parts will keep you much more comfortable and you’ll also have to wash fewer pairs of underwear! Truly a win-win situation.

It’s not just you that’ll enjoy sleeping naked—your partner will dig it, too. “Sleeping naked with a partner will enhance skin-to-skin contact and intimacy,” says Dr. Pearlman. While this may seem like a no-brainer, we often need that physical touch to bring us into the present moment and stop our minds from spinning around what we’re going to pack for lunch, or that meeting you have on Tuesday. “As women age, we require more time for arousal and so foreplay and sexual touching takes on a more important role. Skin-to-skin contact can induce the release of oxytocin, the feel good hormone which facilitates orgasm,” explains Dr. Pearlman. O, yes.

As if the above reasons weren’t enough, sleeping naked can be a great asset to your weight loss plan. “The increase in growth hormone leads to a more lean body mass and the decrease in cortisol means fewer food cravings and less of a risk of belly fat. Sleeping naked supercharges your brown fat stores, which are boosted by the need to auto-regulate the body temperature. Brown fat burns more calories than white fat, and improves blood sugar and cholesterol,” explains Dr. Pearlman.
If you’re not interested in having more sex, keeping your weight down or sleeping soundly—we’ll understand if you take a pass. But as for the rest of us, we’re kicking off our panties and climbing in between the sheets ASAP. Sleep tight!

Originally published as “Is Sleeping Naked Really Better for You?” at 29secrets.

Healthy Ways To Get Your Pre-Pregnancy Bod Back

Your little bundle of joy arrived and surprisingly weighed in at a small fraction of your total pregnancy weight gain. The numbers aren’t adding up and you may – like many moms – begin to wonder if you will ever get your body back after baby.

Celebrity moms like Victoria Beckham and Angelina Jolie that have rapidly snapped back from pregnancy to their previous svelte shapes have led many new moms to set unrealistic expectations. Well, don’t despair! It is neither realistic nor healthy to transform yourself so quickly.

Your post-baby body is still undergoing a lot of changes. Excessive weight loss worries and an overly restrictive diet can cause heath problems for both you and your baby, interfere with maternal-infant bonding and disrupt the supply of breast milk. So, forget the crash diet and consider instead these 10 doctor-and mom-approved tips to getting your body back after baby.

1. Don’t rush!
Savour the moment! Your little bundle of joy is changing by the minute – but you don’t have to. Don’t be too rushed in transforming back to your pre-pregnancy weight or shape. Just remember it took you nine long months to gain the weight – it can often take as long or longer to shed the pregnancy pounds. Stay the course with patience and determination.

2. Breast is best!
If breast feeding is an option, it is a great way to burn extra energy while bonding and feeding your newborn. Breast feeding consumes more energy than pregnancy and is a great way to help get your body back into shape. The daily caloric burn when exclusively breast feeding is 500 calories, while pregnancy burns 300 calories daily.

Breast milk not only provides infants with optimal nutrition it can help regulate mom’s metabolism and hormones, provides a kick start to baby’s immune system and has been shown to reduce the risk of ear infections, allergies and asthma. If breast feeding is not an option, you can get your partner involved with bottle feeding and take the opportunity to get in an extra work out or nap.

3. Make sleep a priority!
Sleeplessness is inevitable in the early post-pregnancy phase and can make it more difficult to lose the extra inches. Lack of sleep has been associated with poor eating habits and weight gain. Even if your nighttime sleep is disrupted, you can try to get some shuteye through out the day when your baby does. Make naps a priority. The stack of dirty dishes and pile of laundry can always wait until later.

4. Take a time out!
Time outs aren’t just for little ones. Parents may find they too need a break – even a brief reprieve from the stress of parenthood. Time outs can help us better cope with stress and keep cortisol levels controlled. Cortisol, the stress hormone, can block our best intentions around weight loss. Keeping stress at bay is good for baby and your body.

5. Get moving early on!
Invest in a good stroller with sturdy rubber wheels and equipped with a large carry basket. Pack a bag with water, diapers, and an on-the-go healthy snack like trail mix and get going! A long brisk walk outdoors with baby in tow is the best activity for you and your little one.

The moderate intensity is just right, the work required to push the stroller is a good transition back to weight training, and the sensory stimulation of the outdoors is good for both mom’s mental health and early brain development of the baby.

Vary your walking route and make it purposeful by walking to do your chores with trips to the grocery store or bank. Until your baby is ready for sleep training, usually around four to five months, stroller naps are considered by most experts to be an acceptable option.

6. Rebuild your core
The stretching of the abdominal wall to accommodate a growing baby will temporarily weaken your core. In about 15 per cent of women, the abdominal muscle sheath may split during pregnancy (called a diastasis) leaving a gap through which abdominal contents can bulge or herniate.

With a diastasis present, women must be extra vigilant when starting on an exercise program and are best off avoiding exercises that excessively strain the central core muscles. Oblique curls and planks are preferred and attention must be paid to the pelvic floor.

7. Restore your floor
Further destabilizing a mommy’s middle is the combined impact of pregnancy, labour and delivery on the tone of the inner core – the pelvic floor. Having a larger baby, prolonged labour and a vaginal delivery can all increase the likelihood of having laxity and weakness in the pelvic floor muscles and experiencing difficulty with bladder control. Incontinence can persist and significantly impact a new mom’s quality of life if left untreated.

But with proper diagnosis and treatment, it is possible to repair the pelvic floor. Kegel exercises are key to successful recovery. Kegels work best when co-ordinated contractions of the pelvic floor muscles are supported by activation of adjacent muscle groups like the abdominal, gluteal and leg muscles.

There are training devices and specialists that can help you further hone the perfect Kegel. Consider seeing your doctor or a women’s health expert to ensure you have properly diagnosed the problem and what type of pelvic floor rehab is right for you.

8. Eat purposefully
With a frequent feeding schedule and disrupted sleep profile, a three-meal-a day-diet plan may not work best. More frequent and smaller meals may better match your energy needs and hunger. If breast feeding, ensure that you are eating and drinking sufficiently with each feed.

Plan your diet to be rich in plant-derived phytonutrients and healthy sources of protein and fat and low in potentially harmful chemicals like pesticides, added flavouring and colouring chemicals in processed foods. The addition of supplements like vitamin D3 and calcium can help meet the higher needs of breast feeding women.

9. Join a mommy group or class!
New babies and their never ending needs can lead to social isolation. Make an effort to join a new mommy group or sign up for baby programs to meet other new moms. Stroller classes and other post-pregnancy fitness programs can keep you socially connected, fit and help foster baby’s development.

10. Take care of mommy, too!
Don’t skip out on your own health needs and self-care. Take time to visit your doctor to discuss any new problems like; persistent sadness, crying, hair loss, breast or nipple pain, excessive fatigue, bladder difficulties, acne or brown spots, and sexual health problems including pain with intercourse and low libido. These are just some of the many common health concerns that can emerge in a new mom and which can be properly investigated and treated by a doctor.

Getting your body back also means taking care of yourself. Take time to eat right and exercise. Take your time outs and cat nap. Listen to your favourite music and pamper yourself with a spa day.

There are many safe and effective treatments to help you on the journey including skin-tightening treatments offered by medical experts that can help tighten lax skin, contour the mommy tummy and shed the extra few pregnancy pounds. Skin tightening devices that combine radiofrequency with magnetic therapy can also minimize the appearance and symptoms of a diastasis.

Originally published at The Huffington Post.

Watch this video to find out more about Venus Freeze Skin Tightening Body Contouring treatments.

Win the Battle Against Age-Related Weight Gain

Originally posted at The Globe and Mail as “Five steps that can help you win the battle against age-related weight gain.”

By Dr. Jennifer Pearlman

Despite our collective obsession with counting calories, we are now the fattest generation in history. Obesity levels in Canadian adults have increased from 3 per cent in 2003 to 18.5 per cent in 2012, according to Statistics Canada, with the greatest rate of increase seen in women.

These extra pounds aren’t just about calories. A tidal wave of risk factors for obesity and metabolic problems is wreaking havoc on our physiology and contributing to the fat phenomenon.

Our evolving understanding of these risk factors is shedding light on the question of why calorie-restricted diets, regardless of regimen, don’t work, or may seem to work only temporarily but are inevitably followed by rebound weight gain. This vicious cycle of weight loss and gain is hazardous to our health. Recent research suggests that yo-yo dieting redistributes toxins from fat tissue exposing the brain to their harmful effects.

So if calorie counting doesn’t work, what can we do about age-related weight gain? The first step is redefining the problem and moving away from a quantitative approach and toward a qualitative framework. I encourage focusing on food quality (not calories) and body composition (not simply pounds on the scale). There are no cookie-cutter solutions, but by understanding an individual’s metabolic, inflammatory, hormonal and psychological status along with their habits and lifestyle a comprehensive plan may be born.

Preventing age-related weight gain requires an individualized, multifaceted approach as diets alone are doomed to fail. The following five steps target the metabolic, hormonal, psychological, environmental and lifestyle factors contributing to weight gain.

Reset insulin sensitivity

By the time we’re 50, our ability to effectively metabolize dietary carbohydrates has plummeted to about 50 per cent of our level as teenagers. We acquire a varying degree of insulin resistance that makes us more prone to elevated insulin levels even in the setting of normal blood sugar. So while we are not yet diabetic, an unfavourable metabolic cascade is at play with faulty insulin signaling and inflammation. As a result, we become adept at converting the carbs we eat to deep stores of body fat, especially in the belly. Cutting back on grains and highly processed food along with increasing aerobic exercise can improve insulin sensitivity and stop the mid-waist drift.

Restore hormone balance

Declining estrogen and progesterone in women and testosterone in men produces changes in body composition with redistribution and accumulation of deep fat stores coupled with a loss of lean body tissues such as bone and muscle. The role of hormone therapy is well established for maintenance of lean body mass while its role in preventing weight gain is less clear. The decision to initiate hormone therapy must be a highly individualized one between a patient and their qualified physician that considers the total risk-reward profile. While hormone therapy may not be right for all, an easily accessible first step is to reduce harmful environmental exposures. Common household products like skin care and cleaning agents may contain hormone-disrupting or estrogenic chemicals known as “xenoestrogens” that can interfere with hormone balance and increase risk of breast cancer.

Repair the gut

Overgrowth of unfavourable gut bacteria can adversely affect human health and metabolism. New science has shown that the typical Western diet fosters gut bacteria that are more efficient at harvesting energy from food. These gut bugs are much better able to convert the food we eat into calories – literally delivering an even faster version of fast food to our cells with the extra energy being stored as fat. To keep the microbiome thriving, a plant-based, high-fibre diet is preferred as it increases transit time and supports favourable flora. Fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut may have an edge on a store-bought probiotic pill as these traditional “germy” foods contain a naturally derived symbiotic blend of both the necessary pre-biotic substances and probiotic organisms. So at once we can live clean and eat dirty to better balance the gut.

Rethink calories

Be mindful of portion size but think mostly in terms of quality, not calories. An energy-equivalent portion of kale and processed fast foods are not equivalent in any other way, as the cruciferous kale is akin to a warehouse of nutrition with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-carcinogenic health benefits. Get more nutritional punch with each bite by loading up on cruciferous vegetables like kale and broccoli instead of starchy ones like potatoes and avoiding processed foods that often have hidden calories.

Reboost brain controls

Sleeplessness and stress are both strongly associated with weight gain and poor dietary choices. Chronic stress produces a state of elevated cortisol, which in turn can lead to insulin resistance. Psychological stress has been shown to alter levels of the satiety hormone, leptin, leading to overconsumption of comfort foods that are high in fat and sugar. Mindfulness-based interventions and stress-management techniques such as tai chi, yoga and deep breathing have been proven to be effective in keeping stress at bay and improving sleep.

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Pearls of Wisdom for Summer-proof Health and Beauty!

It’s Time for the Health Sciences to Stop Treating Women as ‘Mini-Men’

6 Ways To Age Proactively

5 Things To Do Now For A Long, Healthy Life: A Doctor Explains

1. Avoid refined and processed sugars.

2. Eat the color wheel.

3. Don’t be afraid of eating fats.

4. Move your body.

5. Get enough shut-eye, every night.

How To Expertly Navigate Menopause

The Surprising Health Benefits of Sleeping Naked

Healthy Ways To Get Your Pre-Pregnancy Bod Back

Win the Battle Against Age-Related Weight Gain

Reset insulin sensitivity

Restore hormone balance

Repair the gut

Rethink calories

Reboost brain controls

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