A woman in her 40s came to me completely destroyed by stress. Doctor said she was fine. She was not fine. We fixed her cortisol, her gut, her nutrients, her sleep — comprehensively. She got her life back. Then she told me to write it all down. So I did. The Cortisol Fix — available for pre-order now, releasing May 15. 🧵👇

You’ve been taught to fear cholesterol. You should be far more afraid of metabolic dysfunction. Insulin resistance. High blood pressure. High triglycerides. Fatty liver. Visceral fat. Poor glucose control. Heart disease is largely a metabolic disease. If you’re obsessing over cholesterol while ignoring all of that, you’re missing the forest for one tree.

I'm a dietitian, and I wore a CGM before and after changing my diet based on my food sensitivity test. I kept eating carbs; I only changed which foods I ate. Here's what my Lingo data showed. Before MRT → after LEAP: Daily average glucose: 100 → about 80 mg/dL Same portion of rice: peak of 187 → 148 mg/dL 2 Medjool dates: peak of 163 → 115 mg/dL Lingo spike scores: 13–22 → 3–7 Why would a food sensitivity show up on a glucose monitor? When your immune cells react to a food, they release inflammatory mediators like cytokines. Cytokines such as TNF-alpha interfere with insulin signaling. In the Women's Health Study, women with the highest CRP (an inflammation marker) had about 4x the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even after adjusting for weight. The same foods I ate before LEAP produced smaller spikes after it. That points to something changing in how my body handles glucose, not just what I ate. To be clear: this is one person's data, not a clinical trial. MRT isn't a diabetes test. But it matches what other practitioners have reported, and it's worth testing for yourself. If you take glucose-lowering medication, talk with your prescriber before changing your diet, because doses may need adjusting. The full breakdown, with my graphs and the research, is here: thehealthyrd.com/food-sensit… Test, don't guess. #TheHealthyRD

Your LDL is flagged in red, but what does that number actually tell you, and is it enough? 🤔 LDL matters, but interpreting a lipid panel requires context, including triglycerides, HDL, ApoB, metabolic health, family history, and existing cardiovascular disease. Check the first comment for a link to our blog explaining how @bschermd assesses cardiovascular risk through a metabolic lens.

Clients come to me for one symptom. They often leave with five fewer. I sat down with fellow dietitian and LEAP therapist Royletta Romain on Healing By The Forkful to talk about one of my favorite things to watch happen in practice. Someone starts an MRT/LEAP protocol for IBS or migraines. A few weeks in, they tell me their pants are looser. Their joints don't ache. Their cycle is calmer. They can stand up without their heart racing. Let's talk about the weight piece, because it surprises people the most. Many of my clients lose weight on this protocol without counting calories, cutting carbs, or white-knuckling their way through a diet. We're not restricting food to lose weight. We're removing the specific foods their immune system is reacting to. Why would that matter for weight? Food sensitivity reactions drive inflammation. Inflammation brings fluid retention, puffiness, and bloating. It can also disrupt blood sugar and the hormones that control hunger and fullness. When the reactions calm down, a lot of clients notice: Puffiness and bloating go down, sometimes within the first couple of weeks Cravings quiet down Energy comes back, so moving feels possible again Weight starts coming off without a fight For someone who has dieted for years with nothing to show for it, this can be life-changing. It's not about willpower. Their body was inflamed. And weight is just one piece. In the episode we also talk about clients who've seen improvements in: → POTS: calmer heart rate, less dizziness, fewer GI flares → Migraines: fewer, milder headaches → IBS: a settled gut, often for the first time in years → Hormones: easier cycles, better balance → Inflammation: less joint pain, stiffness, and brain fog Why does one protocol touch so many systems? Because inflammation doesn't stay in one place. Lower the load and the whole body benefits. After 25+ years as a dietitian, this still amazes me. Sometimes you don't realize how bad you felt until you feel better. Full episode 🎧 buzzsprout.com/2392660/episo… Thank you, Royletta, for having me!

19 women recently diagnosed with breast cancer, none yet started treatment. They each did 30 minutes on a stationary bike at their own chosen resistance. Blood was drawn before, during and after. The result: cytotoxic T cells and NK cells, the immune system's cancer killers, rose sharply during exercise. Meanwhile, the cells that suppress anti-tumour immunity either stayed flat or dropped. There was a clear dose relationship too. The higher the exercise intensity, the greater the mobilisation of these protective cells. This is one study, in a small group of patients, and it looked at acute immune changes rather than long-term outcomes. It doesn't prove exercise treats cancer. But it sits alongside a growing body of research linking physical activity to better cancer outcomes, and it offers a plausible mechanism for why. Movement isn't just good for your waistline. It appears to actively reshape your immune system in real time, in favour of you. PMID: 38979417

PTSD doesn't just live in the mind. For many people, it shows up in the gut. People with PTSD have nearly 3x the odds of IBS. In a meta-analysis of more than 648,000 people, most of them U.S. veterans, that link held up clearly. → A 2025 systematic review found PTSD is associated with lower gut microbial diversity. Certain bacteria track with symptom severity. → People with PTSD tend to have fewer bacteria that make short-chain fatty acids. These are the anti-inflammatory compounds that keep your gut lining strong. → In a Harvard cohort of 191 women, closer adherence to a Mediterranean diet was linked to fewer PTSD symptoms and more of a protective gut bacterium, Eubacterium eligens. → The first prebiotic fiber trial in 70 veterans didn't lower average PTSD scores. But it shifted the microbiome, men responded more than women, and some individuals improved. → A small probiotic pilot in 31 veterans (L. reuteri DSM 17938) was safe and trended toward lower inflammation. My honest take as a dietitian: this is promising. Gut support belongs alongside trauma-focused therapy, not in place of it. One more thing. The Mediterranean diet isn't for everyone. Tomatoes, garlic, onions, legumes, and wheat can all be reactive foods for some people. If a "perfect" healthy plate still leaves you bloated or running to the bathroom, test, don't guess. Full breakdown, including the 9-step PTSD diet I use in practice: thehealthyrd.com/how-ptsd-an… #PTSD #GutHealth #Veterans #TheHealthyRD

Carnitine and creatine get lumped together — same supplement aisle, same "energy" label, same amino-acid-derived origin story. They do almost opposite jobs. L-carnitine is a transport molecule. It shuttles fat into your mitochondria to be burned for fuel. No carnitine, no fat oxidation — full stop. It's why deficiency (or being a vegan/vegetarian who gets none from food) blunts fat metabolism, and why a 37-study review found real reductions in body fat and weight, especially in people with a BMI over 25. Creatine is a battery. About 95% of it sits in your skeletal muscle as phosphocreatine, ready to regenerate ATP instantly during the first 8-10 seconds of a hard effort — a heavy lift, a sprint, a jump. It's one of the most rigorously studied supplements that exists. The ISSN's position stand reviewed decades of data and found no evidence of organ damage in healthy people, even with years of use. One fuels the marathon. One fuels the deadlift. The research on combining them is interesting — a randomized trial in adults 55-70 found a carnitine + creatine + leucine combo built more lean mass and strength than either alone, and a mechanistic study found the two together synergistically increased muscle protein synthesis beyond what either produced solo. Full breakdown — mechanisms, head-to-head table by goal, dosing, the kidney myth, the TMAO question, and where I'd actually source both (including a corn/allergen-free option) 👇 thehealthyrd.com/carnitine-v…

I want to talk about two specific seed oils today, because most "seed oils are bad" content stays vague and I'd rather give you something concrete: my own data. I ran MRT/LEAP food sensitivity testing on myself a while back — it's the same test I use with clients to figure out which specific foods are driving their inflammation, rather than guessing from a generic list. My two most reactive foods, out of everything on the panel, were sunflower and soy. Both the seeds/legume themselves and both of their oils. For me, that shows up as: — Head congestion, almost like a low-grade sinus response, dizziness, vertigo — Gut inflammation — bloating, irritation, the whole pattern — Skin flare-ups — And a few other symptoms that took me a while to connect back to these two foods specifically Here's the part I think matters most: this isn't a population-average finding from a research paper. It's personalized immune data about my own body. Somebody else could run the same panel and have zero reaction to sunflower or soy and react strongly to something totally different — almonds, egg white, garlic, whatever it turns out to be for them. That's the gap that "sunflower oil causes inflammation" or "soybean oil is fine, the studies say so" headlines can't close either way. Population studies tell you what happens on average across thousands of people. They can't tell you what your body does. Testing can. And this isn't just my own case. Across every client I've run this testing with — and at this point that's a lot of clients — every single one reacts in an inflammatory way to at least one seed or seed oil. The specific one varies person to person, but the pattern of "something in this category is a trigger for you" shows up again and again in my practice. To be clear, I still think there's a real, non-political case for limiting industrial seed oils broadly — how they're extracted and refined, how unstable they are once heated, glyphosate exposure on the crops, what they displace nutritionally. I laid all of that out, including the genuinely contested research on linoleic acid and inflammation, in my full updated post. I'm intentionally staying out of the politics of this topic — I only care what the evidence (and in this case, my own testing) actually shows. But sunflower and soy specifically are personal for me in a way that goes beyond the general seed oil conversation. If you've ever had unexplained congestion, skin issues, or gut symptoms that don't line up with anything obvious, this is exactly the kind of thing MRT/LEAP testing is built to catch. Full post with the complete list of seed oils, the research on both sides, and what I use instead: thehealthyrd.com/the-list-of… More on how MRT/LEAP testing works:thehealthyrd.com/mrt-test-th… My own testing story: thehealthyrd.com/how-mrt-tes… #TheHealthyRD

Taurine vs. Caffeine: The Amino Acid Everyone Misunderstands If you've ever looked at an energy drink can, you've seen taurine's name sitting right next to caffeine. Most people assume they do the same job. They don't — and once I dug into the research, I realized how much gets oversimplified here. Caffeine vs. taurine: not the same mechanism Caffeine blocks adenosine, the brain chemical that builds up all day and makes you sleepy. That's a real, direct "on switch." Taurine has no such switch — if anything, it leans calming. Cornell researchers have even floated that taurine may contribute to the post-energy-drink crash rather than the buzz itself. In a controlled trial, caffeine alone sped up reaction time. Taurine alone did nothing. Combined, taurine actually blunted some of caffeine's benefit. But in a separate sprint-power study, caffeine + taurine together outperformed either one alone. The truth: the interaction depends entirely on what you're measuring — power output and reaction time point in opposite directions. No one has fully explained why yet. Where taurine food comes from Almost exclusively animal foods — scallops, mussels, and dark tuna top the list at 400-800+ mg per 100g. Dark poultry meat has a moderate amount. Beef, chicken breast, and dairy have very little. Plants have essentially none, which is one reason vegans and vegetarians tend to run lower. What the science actually supports: 💪 Muscle recovery — dose and timing matter more than "more is better." A 2g×3/day protocol reduced exercise-related DNA damage; a tiny 0.05g pre-workout dose reduced fatigue and boosted antioxidant enzymes; oddly, a big 6g single dose didn't help lactate the way smaller doses did. 👁️ Eye health — taurine is the most concentrated amino acid in the retina. Human evidence includes children on long-term IV nutrition without taurine showing measurable retinal damage, and a documented genetic case where taurine treatment halted vision loss in a child. Still mostly early-stage human evidence, not large trials. 🧠 Mood — a 2026 review of 8 trials (244 people) found small, inconsistent mood/cognition effects from single acute doses — real, but weaker and less reliable than caffeine. 🦠 Gut health — new mouse studies show taurine reshaping gut bacteria for the better: more beneficial Lactobacillus, more short-chain fatty acids, less of the "bad guy" bacteria linked to gut inflammation. Animal data only so far, but the mechanism (taurine's role in bile acids) makes biological sense. 🐱 Cats — this is where it gets essential, not optional. Cats can't synthesize enough taurine on their own (proven experimentally back in 1978). A true deficiency causes heart disease and irreversible blindness, which is why it's mandatory in commercial cat food. My own experience: I take taurine on stressful days — kind of like how people use creatine, except mine is situational, not daily. Creatine's great (real evidence for strength and lean mass, no argument there), but it's always given me a "loaded," slightly heavy feeling. Taurine feels different in my body — more focused and relaxed at the same time, without that heaviness. Purely subjective, no head-to-head trial exists comparing how they "feel" — but it's part of why taurine is my go-to, and it's actually what got me paying attention to it in my cats' diets too. Full breakdown with doses, safety considerations, and every study linked: thehealthyrd.com/taurine-vs-… #TheHealthyRD — test, not guess.

Taurine vs. Caffeine: The Amino Acid Everyone Misunderstands If you've ever looked at an energy drink can, you've seen taurine's name sitting right next to caffeine. Most people assume they do the same job. They don't — and once I dug into the research, I realized how much gets oversimplified here. Caffeine vs. taurine: not the same mechanism Caffeine blocks adenosine, the brain chemical that builds up all day and makes you sleepy. That's a real, direct "on switch." Taurine has no such switch — if anything, it leans calming. Cornell researchers have even floated that taurine may contribute to the post-energy-drink crash rather than the buzz itself. In a controlled trial, caffeine alone sped up reaction time. Taurine alone did nothing. Combined, taurine actually blunted some of caffeine's benefit. But in a separate sprint-power study, caffeine + taurine together outperformed either one alone. The truth: the interaction depends entirely on what you're measuring — power output and reaction time point in opposite directions. No one has fully explained why yet. Where taurine food comes from Almost exclusively animal foods — scallops, mussels, and dark tuna top the list at 400-800+ mg per 100g. Dark poultry meat has a moderate amount. Beef, chicken breast, and dairy have very little. Plants have essentially none, which is one reason vegans and vegetarians tend to run lower. What the science actually supports: 💪 Muscle recovery — dose and timing matter more than "more is better." A 2g×3/day protocol reduced exercise-related DNA damage; a tiny 0.05g pre-workout dose reduced fatigue and boosted antioxidant enzymes; oddly, a big 6g single dose didn't help lactate the way smaller doses did. 👁️ Eye health — taurine is the most concentrated amino acid in the retina. Human evidence includes children on long-term IV nutrition without taurine showing measurable retinal damage, and a documented genetic case where taurine treatment halted vision loss in a child. Still mostly early-stage human evidence, not large trials. 🧠 Mood — a 2026 review of 8 trials (244 people) found small, inconsistent mood/cognition effects from single acute doses — real, but weaker and less reliable than caffeine. 🦠 Gut health — new mouse studies show taurine reshaping gut bacteria for the better: more beneficial Lactobacillus, more short-chain fatty acids, less of the "bad guy" bacteria linked to gut inflammation. Animal data only so far, but the mechanism (taurine's role in bile acids) makes biological sense. 🐱 Cats — this is where it gets essential, not optional. Cats can't synthesize enough taurine on their own (proven experimentally back in 1978). A true deficiency causes heart disease and irreversible blindness, which is why it's mandatory in commercial cat food. My own experience: I take taurine on stressful days — kind of like how people use creatine, except mine is situational, not daily. Creatine's great (real evidence for strength and lean mass, no argument there), but it's always given me a "loaded," slightly heavy feeling. Taurine feels different in my body — more focused and relaxed at the same time, without that heaviness. Purely subjective, no head-to-head trial exists comparing how they "feel" — but it's part of why taurine is my go-to, and it's actually what got me paying attention to it in my cats' diets too. Full breakdown with doses, safety considerations, and every study linked: thehealthyrd.com/taurine-vs-… #TheHealthyRD — test, not guess.

Marjoram tea isn't just a folk remedy — it has real clinical data behind it now. In a randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study, women with PCOS who drank marjoram tea twice daily saw meaningful improvements in insulin sensitivity and reductions in DHEA-S, an adrenal androgen that runs high in PCOS. A 2025 study went further, using serum metabolomics and molecular docking to map exactly how marjoram's compounds — particularly apigenin and oleic acid — interact with the hormonal and metabolic pathways disrupted in PCOS. Researchers found measurable improvements in oxidative stress markers, hormone levels, and ovarian tissue health. It's not a replacement for a broader treatment plan, but it's a legitimate complementary option — not just folk wisdom. I broke down this study plus 10 other research-backed marjoram benefits (blood pressure, pain relief, memory, antimicrobial effects) here →thehealthyrd.com/11-marjoram…

Effects of time-restricted eating in early-stage Huntington's disease: A pilot study nature.com/articles/s42255-0…

Ten years ago, a celiac blood test told me I was fine. It was wrong. I didn't find out until I did MRT testing and went through a real, structured food reintroduction. My panel showed I was only mildly reactive to rye — barely a blip on paper. Then I ate a few plain rye crackers for a couple of days in a row. Just rye flour and salt. Nothing else. My gut reacted like I'd eaten a loaf of wheat bread. My intestines felt "glued" together. That reaction only showed up because I'd done a full elimination first, then reintroduced one food at a time and paid close attention. A single blood draw for celiac missed it completely. This matters more than ever right now, because a widely-cited 2025 Lancet review just argued that most people who think they react to gluten are actually reacting to FODMAPs or experiencing a nocebo effect — not gluten itself. I want to be clear about what that paper actually is: a literature review pooling older trials, not a new study that tested anyone's immune system. Being in the Lancet doesn't make a review immune to the limitations of the studies it's built on. In my own practice, using blinded MRT testing, about 75% of my clients show a genuine inflammatory reaction to wheat and/or gluten-containing grains — including plenty of people who had no idea gluten was even being tested. I wrote up the full update — the newest research, where I push back on it, my own false-negative story, and the science on 13+ real benefits of going gluten-free — here: [link] If you've ever had a "normal" celiac panel but still feel awful around bread, this one's for you. thehealthyrd.com/13-gluten-f…

I was iron deficient for years. As a dietitian. I didn't feel "tired" in the way people expect. I felt weak, foggy, a little anxious, and I had cold hands that never seemed to warm up. My labs came back "normal" for decades before anyone thought to check ferritin — the actual storage marker for iron. That gap between "normal" and "actually enough" is the whole problem, and it's why I just rewrote our iron myths post from scratch. A few things most people (and a lot of doctors) still get wrong: → Spinach and red meat are not the iron powerhouses you think they are. Plant iron absorbs at ~11% max, and spinach's iron content looks better on paper than it performs in your body. → New research on a hormone called hepcidin shows that taking iron every day can actually block absorption. Alternate-day dosing — same dose, taken every other day instead — improves absorption AND cuts GI side effects dramatically in recent trials. → "Normal" ferritin isn't the same as optimal ferritin. Standard labs flag anemia risk, not whether your levels support your hair, energy, or brain function. Research on hair shedding specifically points to a much higher target than most labs consider "fine." → Frequent blood donors: I see iron deficiency in this group constantly. Ask for ferritin, not just hemoglobin. Test, don't guess. Full post with the research, linked below. #TheHealthyRD thehealthyrd.com/10-myths-ab…

Are chicken wings healthy? Yes — and it's not close-for most people. The real problem was never the chicken. It's the reused fryer oil most restaurants use. Updated with the 2026 research on saturated fat, pasture-raised omega-3s, and what to actually watch for. This also includes personalization 👇 thehealthyrd.com/are-chicken… #TheHealthyRD

Can probiotics affect your period?  The answer is yes. Surprisingly, probiotics can affect your period in many ways. Keep in mind that there are also many other factors that are involved in having a healthy period. Probiotics have many health benefits. One of these benefits includes its positive effects on female health. For example, people eating probiotic-rich foods or taking probiotics have a reduced risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs). New research even shows that probiotics influence the amount of hormones that your body has throughout the month. This is especially true if you have a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome. Sadly, this condition negatively affects your reproductive health. By helping support a healthy microbiome, probiotics help the body eliminate undesirable hormones from the body. The way probiotics do this is by enhancing the enzyme called B-glucuronidase. This enzyme helps break down estrogen. By breaking estrogen down it is then inactive and doesn’t recirculate into the bloodstream. Too much estrogen can cause women to have abnormal periods including heavy periods. Excess estrogen can also cause: ➡️Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) ➡️Mood swings ➡️Increase the risk of PCOS ➡️Increase breast cancer risk Also by decreasing stress and anxiety, probiotics can help balance hormone levels in the body. This ultimately helps to normalize periods in many women. Probiotics also decrease PMS symptoms. How Probiotics Affect PCOS The health of the gut affects the health of the reproductive organs in all women. Probiotics can help: Reduce inflammation Improve metabolism Improve hormone levels Help reduce toxins Unfortunately, if you live in the United States, you have at least a 1 in 5 chance of having PCOS. Sadly, this condition reduces the quality of life of women. PCOS also causes excess hair growth, changes menstrual cycles, and even reduces fertility according to the Journal of Reproductive Science. As lifestyles move more towards processed foods and toxins, the percentage of women with PCOS is expected to continue to increase as well. The good news is that eating a healthy diet and adding in probiotics may reduce the symptoms of PCOS. A healthy lifestyle with probiotics may even improve fertility. For example, one recent study found that a multi-strain probiotics supplement along with improved diet and lifestyle helped to make women’s menstrual cycles more regular. Fascinatingly, the probiotics used also helped to improve sex hormones by reducing testosterone levels. These probiotics also reduce belly fat and improve the waist-to-hip ratio. Also, these women had an increase in quality of life compared to a placebo. The probiotic types used in this study were: Lactobacillus acidophilus Lactobacillus rhamnosus Lactobacillus reuteri Lactobacillus plantarum Lactobacillus casei Lactobacillus fermentum Bifidobacterium bifidum Prebiotics called fructooligosaccharides (FOS) Other research shows that using probiotics helps to reduce excessive hair growth known as hirsutism in these women. It may do so by increasing sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and reducing testosterone. Probiotics Plus Metformin Work Better Than Metformin Alone Yet another study found that the use of probiotics improved menstrual cycle regularity. In this study, probiotics also increased the rate of ovulation and helped balance hormones. For interventions, they used either metformin, metformin plus probiotics, or probiotics alone in this study. Interestingly, improvements in fertility were best in women getting both metformin plus probiotics. An impressive 75% achieved ovulation versus only 55% in the metformin-only group. Additionally, another study found that using probiotics increased the rates of pregnancy in women with PCOS. Probiotics Reduce Endometriosis Symptoms Another common cause of period problems is a condition called endometriosis. Endometriosis affects between 6-10% of women who are of childbearing age. A recent research study found that the use of L. gasseri probiotic supplements was effective in reducing endometriosis symptoms. The women who received the probiotic had a reduction in menstrual pain and abnormal periods compared to the women in the placebo group. Researchers indicate that this probiotic strain helps to improve the body’s immune response. Immune health helps to reduce endometrial issues. Other Causes of Abnormal Periods While we have reviewed some of the most common causes of abnormal menstruation including PCOS and endometriosis, there are a lot of other reasons that you can have irregular periods. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, abnormal periods can also be caused by: Excessive exercise Perimenopause Thyroid disorders Poorly controlled diabetes Multiple kinds of medications Eating disorders Uterine fibroids Endometrial polyps Birth control Sexually transmitted diseases Probiotics Reduce Harmful Bacteria in the Reproductive Tract Another major benefit of probiotics is that they help balance the healthy bacteria that reside in the reproductive system, especially the vagina. This is called the vaginal microbiome. Abnormal bacteria growth in the vagina is known as bacterial vaginosis. Luckily, a systematic review of clinical research in women with bacterial vaginosis found probiotics helpful for this condition. The use of probiotics reduces the risk of bacterial vaginosis by more than 50%. In these studies, the most common type of probiotics used is called Lactobacillus probiotics. Using Lactobacillus probiotics makes sense. This is because they help produce lactic acid which favors healthy bacteria instead of harmful bacteria. Fascinatingly, healthy probiotics may even reduce the chances of getting severe bacterial infections in the vagina called toxic shock syndrome (TSS). However, more research is needed. Probiotics Can Affect Your Period by Easing Perimenopause While entering perimenopause is natural, some of the symptoms can be lessened by using probiotics. Perimenopause often happens between the ages of 45-55 for women. A common issue of perimenopause is irregular periods. Not surprisingly, the menstrual cycle during this time of life can be anything but normal. However, you can help manage your symptoms naturally with probiotics. For example, probiotic yogurt improves both sleep quality and mood in women who are postmenopausal. Recent research shows that using multi-strain probiotics increases the levels of follicle-stimulating hormone in perimenopausal women and postmenopausal women too. By doing so, women enjoy a  reduction in period issues and symptoms of menopause as well. Consuming probiotics and eating probiotic-rich foods may also reduce the risk of diseases of menopause. This includes bone loss, memory issues, breast cancer, and heart issues. In women suffering from menopause, the use of Lactobacillus acidophilus probiotics improved: Quality of life Memory Physical health Improved sexual function These improvements indicate that probiotics may be a nice alternative for women who need to or choose to avoid hormone replacement therapy. Another strain of probiotic that helps with sexual function for perimenopausal women is Lactobacillus gasseri according to a research study published in the Journal of Nutrients. Probiotic Foods A natural way to get more probiotics in your diet is to eat probiotic-rich foods daily. However, be aware that some probiotic foods are high in sugar, so this may reduce their benefits. Make sure to choose yogurts, kefir, and kombucha that don’t have added sugars for the most benefit. Probiotic-rich foods include: Fresh sauerkraut Fermented vegetables Kimchi Plain yogurt Kombucha Kefir Fermented rice Miso Natto Many people struggle to eat these foods regularly. A probiotic supplement may be helpful to reduce period symptoms. Probiotic Supplements Taking probiotics is a good option to help optimize your menstrual health as well as mental health. Doing so may help correct hormonal imbalances that your body has. In general, the more probiotic strains you can get, the higher the chances that you may have symptom relief. Also, a general rule of thumb is to consume around 20 billion colony-forming units per day of probiotics. However, if you use soil-based probiotics such as Bacillus probiotics, you can use lower doses to achieve benefits. These types of probiotics naturally encourage the growth of healthy bacterial strains in the gut like Lactobacillus. Bacillus strains are known to help metabolize estrogen too. Keep in mind that most research has focused on using Lactobacillus strains.

Updated my kids' probiotics guide with the latest research — and there's good news: specific strains now have solid evidence for shortening respiratory infections, easing antibiotic-related GI upset, and reducing colic crying time. Strain-by-strain breakdown + product picks here: thehealthyrd.com/best-probio…

The Limited Evidence for Reducing Saturated Fat Intake for Cardiovascular Disease: A Commentary on the Cochrane Collaboration Review academic.oup.com/nutritionre…

New research on wildflower honey's antibacterial power, cough relief, heart health & wound healing. Plus: the science on local honey for allergies has shifted — but if it helps yours, keep it. Science is an imperfect art. 🍯 thehealthyrd.com/9-wildflowe… #TheHealthyRD

Slapping a “mental health diagnosis” on every other person and putting them on lifelong drugs, is one of the biggest crimes against humanity the world has ever seen I hope that future generations look back with horror at what the medical profession and the world of psychiatry are doing