The Tips I Give All My Patients To Lower Inflammation, Balance Hormones & Restore Gut Health

Inflammation is my specialty. But more and more, I'm convinced that hormones, inflammation, and gut health are like a trifecta. When you have one imbalance, it creates an overall imbalance. And when you fix one, the other one improves. I call it the "Wellness Trifecta."

How do you know if you're suffering from imbalances in any of these areas?

Inflammation: Acute Inflammation is a normal mechanism our body uses to heal wounds. But chronic low-level inflammation isn't good — it's associated with many problems, including fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, acne, allergies, and autoimmune disease.

Hormones: With a hormone imbalance, you may experience the above symptoms, as well as heightened PMS and dryness.

Gut: If you gut is unbalanced, you may also have bloating, constipation, or acid reflux.

Vegetables contain hundreds to thousands of phytonutrients — literally plant hormones — that have a hormone-balancing effect in the body. Vegetables (as well as fruit) also supply us with fiber that binds itself to old estrogen, thereby clearing it out of the system, leading to better overall equilibrium. This is great for both men and women who suffer from estrogen dominance.

Vegetables also supply prebiotic fibers that good bacteria feed on in the gut. This fiber is most abundantly found in asparagus, chicory root, leeks, onions, and garlic.

Everyone is different. Still, for many people, foods like processed dairy, gluten, alcohol, sugar, processed snacks, omega-6 oils, and soy can incite inflammation and manipulate hormones.

Your friendly fats: coconut oil, avocados, olive oil, grapeseed oil, and other healthy sources of saturated fat that boost testosterone or female hormones. Cholesterol is needed for formation of healthy cell membranes and is a precursor to all steroid hormones (progesterone, estrogen, FSH, etc.). We can't have proper hormonal balance without adequate amounts of saturated fats.

Chronically elevated cortisol could be the hormone that's sabotaging your wellness trifecta — even if you're doing everything else right. Even naturally thin people have to worry about cortisol: Researchers at Yale University, for example, found slender women who had high cortisol also had more abdominal fat.

Cortisol was my personal nemesis — limited sleep, too much coffee, stressful days at work and with the kids, and long, hard cardio threw me into a crisis.

Excessive caffeine raises your cortisol and slows down your thyroid. Plus, it aggravates acid reflux and gut disorders.

The key word here is excessive. That's not to say that you can't have a cup of coffee or tea. Plus, depending on your genetic makeup, you may be a better caffeine metabolizer than others.

Vitamin D is actually a hormone, and it plays a significant role in GI health. There are actually D receptors in our teeth, salivary glands, esophagus, and stomach. Low vitamin D levels are linked to slow stomach emptying and bile production, putting the trifecta in flux — inciting inflammation, and triggering hormone disruption.

Endocrine disrupters, or hormone disrupters, hit the trifecta hard. Not only do they affect your hormones, but they also have adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects. This spells inflammation and gut flora imbalance.

Hormone disrupters are everywhere, unfortunately. We just know about the tip of the iceberg with regards to chemical endocrine disrupters. The comprehensive list is about 870, and we don't even know them all! But what you can do is be cognizant and educate yourself about the most harmful ones.

I used to be a sucker for long, slow cardio, so this one was hard for me — but it works! Long cardio sessions can actually lower your thyroid function and increase cortisol and inflammation. Contrarily, interval training increases your HGH (human growth hormone) and slows down aging.

Adaptogenic herbs — especially maca, rhodiola, and ashwagandha — help the body adapt to stress. Adaptogens improve the entire body's resistance to stress (not just a particular organ or system) and create balance and harmony in the body, thereby reducing inflammation and balancing hormones.

Maca, high in minerals and fatty acids, is especially famed for hormone harmony. Many women notice less PMS, increased fertility, and improved skin, while men notice increased sperm production and libido and better sleep. Bonus: It tastes great in smoothies.

Unless absolutely necessary, I recommend weaning yourself off hormonal birth control. The synthetic hormones could hurt your thyroid function, hormones, and digestion.