Articles
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and Heart Health
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 | Articles
By Mahalia Freed ND
This article highlights a common women’s health concern seen in my practice. Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, affects not only reproductive health and fertility, but also cardiovascular health.
Definition and Clinical Consequences
Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a label referring to a complex and broad health picture. PCOS is diagnosed by presence of two of the following three things: (i) irregular ovulation or absence of ovulation, (ii) clinical and/or biochemical signs of high testosterone, and/or (iii) polycystic ovaries seen on ultrasound. While presentation varies, the most common clinical manifestations are infertility, male pattern hair growth, obesity, and absent or infrequent menses. However, these concerns represent only the tip of the iceberg with respect to the PCOS picture. Less obvious consequence of PCOS lie below the surface. Women and transgendered men who have PCOS are at risk for hypertension, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, type II diabetes, and abnormalities in blood lipids such as elevated triglycerides and oxidized cholesterol. Additional complications include increased risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer, an altered (increased) stress response, and difficulty maintaining or attaining desired body weight compared to people who do not have PCOS. Finally, there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Linking Heart Disease and PCOS
Metabolic Syndrome, or Syndrome X, is defined by a constellation of factors including obesity (30-60% of women with PCOS are obese), insulin resistance, hypertension, and the blood lipid abnormalities mentioned above. Each of these items is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and each is commonly found in women and trans men with PCOS.
Treatment Approach
While biochemically complicated, and clinically variable, PCOS and associated risk factors are well-addressed via the individual, holistic, preventive approach to health care embodied by naturopathic medicine. According to one article published in the US journal Cardiology Review (2006), “the key elements involved in managing… metabolic syndrome are dietary and lifestyle modification”. Diet and lifestyle – the cornerstones naturopathic practice! Additionally, there are a variety of evidence-based naturopathic treatment options available to address an individual’s cardiac risk factors, along with their other presenting concerns.
Depending on the person, naturopathic treatment goals may include decreasing free testosterone, regulating blood sugar, decreasing insulin resistance, inducing regular ovulatory menstrual cycles, changing the profile of blood lipids, and reducing elevated blood pressure. In practice, I address individual risk factors via therapeutic diet plans, lifestyle modifications, and a range of specific herbs and supplements as indicated.
What can you do?
The 2 best things you can do for yourself, whether you have a diagnosis of PCOS or not:
- Exercise: 5 –7 days a week. With PCOS, ideally 30 minutes or more of aerobic exercise per day. Exercising (even 3 days a week) is a well-proven way of reducing your risk of everything from diabetes and heart disease to colon cancer and breast cancer. Exercise improves mood, making it part of the treatment for both PMS and depression. Find something fun, get out there and move your body!
- Eat well: dietary fibre (from whole grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, and ground flax seeds) and dietary antioxidants & other nutrients (from vegetables, fruits, nuts & seeds) are irreplaceably important in regulating blood sugar, maintaining healthy blood vessels, and even in correcting hormone imbalances. Eat more whole foods, try to make a rainbow on your plate at every meal. Need inspiration? Ask for cookbook and recipe suggestions.
Need more individual advice? Ready for a comprehensive preventive treatment plan? Consult with Mahalia Freed for a personalized assessment and treatment protocol.
Naturopathic Pregnancy Care
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 | Articles
Optimizing Nutrition and Addressing Fatigue, Nausea, and other Common Concerns of Pregnancy
You are pregnant! Congratulations! 
The first trimester is a time of great transition and a myriad of potential emotions as you adjust to the idea of a new family constellation. It can also be a difficult time physically, with profound physiological changes as your body adapts to the needs of the growing fetus. For some women, the first trimester is dominated by nausea, extreme fatigue, and great confusion over conflicting prenatal advice or warnings. But, there is no need to suffer while you wait for the months to pass!
Do you have questions about how to ensure your baby is getting what it needs from your diet? About whether or not to take iron if it makes you sick? About differentiating between various Omega 3s? About the safety of herbs during pregnancy? Ask a naturopathic doctor!
By adding a licensed naturopathic doctor to your care team, you will not only be able to resolve existing concerns including fatigue, nausea, anemia, vaginal infections, blood sugar changes, low thyroid function, constipation and heartburn, you can also learn how to optimize your diet to offer the best possible nutrition for you and your baby and develop a personalized supplement plan to address your unique pregnancy needs. The goal of naturopathic perinatal care? To promote a pregnancy free of complications, an efficient labor, successful delivery, ease with postpartum healing, and a healthy baby, naturally.
Did you know:
- That ginger and vitamin B6 are clinically proven to be safe and effective for nausea in pregnancy, according to randomized controlled trials?
- That probiotics during pregnancy are associated with lower rates of allergies, eczema and asthma in infants and young children?
- That there are a variety of herbs that are safe in pregnancy, including some for immune function, energy, mood, digestion, and more?
Nourishing Pregnancy Tea
(*Custom Blend Available From Mahalia Freed, ND*)
Combine Equal Parts of:
- Red Raspberry Leaf
- Nettle Leaf
- Alfalfa
- Peppermint (optional: for taste, and for some women to help with nausea)
- Oatstraw (optional: nutritive and calming)
Use 1-2 tbsp per cup of boiling water; Steep, covered, up to overnight; Drink warm or cool, 2-3 cups per day throughout your pregnancy
Dr. Mahalia Freed ND has a family practice at Lifecycles Wellness with a clinical focus in women’s health including fertility, perinatal care, hormone balancing and breast health.
“Listen to your gut” – Stress and Digestive Function
Monday, June 14th, 2010 | Articles
Have you ever had something hit you so hard, emotionally, that you felt nauseous? Have you ever eaten out of sadness, boredom, anxiety?
“Butterflies in the stomach”, “Gut instinct”, “Nervous stomach”;
There are many expressions linking emotions to our digestive tract. In fact, the gut is often referred to as the “second brain.” Rather than being a figure of speech, this is a physiologically accurate portrayal. The gut is innervated by the two branches of the autonomic nervous system, which is controlled by the brain, as well as by the enteric (of the intestines) nervous system, which operates entirely independently. Serotonin, the neurotransmitter famous for its role in treating depression and insomnia, is highly active within the gut and ninety five percent of the body’s serotonin is actually manufactured in the intestines. No wonder people with gut dysbiosis, or an altered balance of bacteria and yeast in the gut, experience mood symptoms! Perhaps it would be more precise to label the gut as part of the brain? In any case, it is clear that the health of our gut affects our mood, and our mood affects the health of our gut.
So, what happens in our nervous system when we are stressed out?? › Continue reading
Eating Through Your Skin: Sunscreen Safety
Monday, May 10th, 2010 | Articles
By Dr Mahalia Freed, ND
Our skin is porous. We get this, intuitively, when we observe moisturizer being sucked up by our thirsty winter skin. The implication? Anything you put on your skin you are effectively “eating”, but without the benefit of the digestive tract’s extensive immune system and processing. Absorption through the skin is well-established scientific fact. Unfortunately, only 11% of the 10 500 ingredients in personal care products are tested for safety even by the industry’s own internal review panel. There are still known hormone disruptors and carcinogens even in “natural” personal care products. And sunscreen is no exception. Indeed, because of the lack of regulation, many sunscreens on the market not only contain toxic ingredients, but may not even protect us from ultraviolet radiation. The US-based Environmental Working Group has analyzed sunscreens annually since 2007. Of 1,802 name-brand sunscreens on the market in summer 2009, “2 out of 5 sunscreen products offer inadequate protection from the sun, or contain ingredients with significant safety concerns”. Despite label claims, some sunscreen ingredients are found to actually break down in the sun, rapidly losing their effectiveness. As well, common sunscreen ingredients are known to absorb into the blood, and in some cases build up in our bodies and the environment. They are linked to hormone disruption, allergic reactions and oxidative damage. While consumer pressure has resulted in some improvements in sunscreen manufacturing in the past couple years, overall, only 8% of products tested in 2009 met the EWG’s criteria for both safety and effectiveness. Their criteria: “blocking both UVA and UVB radiation, remaining stable in sunlight, and containing few if any ingredients with significant known or suspected health hazards”.
Mahalia’s Favorite Quinoa Salad
Thursday, May 6th, 2010 | Articles
Adapted from: “A Call to Women: The Healthy Breast Program and Workbook” by Sat Dharam Kaur, ND
Ingredients:
Salad
- 1 2/3 cups dry quinoa
- 3 1/3 cups water
- 1 cup chopped or grated carrots
- 3/4 cup chopped parsley (or cilantro)
- 1/2 cup cucumber, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup red pepper, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (or 1 can of black beans, drained)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (can use roasted if desired)
- 1/2 cup soaked* arame, wakame or hijiki (seaweeds)
Fiddleheads!
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 | Articles, New
Like Forsythias in their opera of yellow, and magnolias in their pink or white blossom-song, fiddlehead season is short, sometimes only 2 weeks. Fiddleheads are wild, their joy fleeting, their origin and taste unique. The fiddlehead is the new growth of an ancient plant family, the ferns. While there are many species of ferns, the fiddleheads available in Ontario markets in late April or early May are usually those of the Ostrich Fern. Interestingly, fiddleheads resist cultivation (they prefer swampy edges of woods), and are one of the few commercially available wild-crafted foods. Fiddleheads taste like…themselves. Some people compare their flavor to a combination of asparagus, green beans and okra. They are great on their own, in pasta salad, in frittata, lightly pickled, with other delicious seasonal veggies. The joy of eating fiddleheads, though, goes beyond their fresh green flavor and nutrient density: There is also the satisfaction we get from being in alignment with what is local and in season – an intellectual satisfaction born of making an ethical, politically-correct food choices, but also a purely physical one, as we nourish our bodies with truly spring food. Increase veggie variety in your diet, join the local seasonal bandwagon, support internal detoxification: try fiddleheads this year! Below is a recipe to get you started. › Continue reading
Plastics, Pesticides and Periods: Xenoestrogens and Health
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 | Articles
Yes, there is a connection between hormonal balance and exposure to pesticides and certain plastics. That connection is xenoestrogens, an ever-expanding group of synthetic chemicals similar enough to our own estrogens that our bodies respond to them, but foreign enough that we cannot adequately get rid of them. They can build up in our bodies, stimulating estrogen-sensitive tissues and throwing off our delicate hormone balance. Xenoestrogens are linked to breast growth in prepubescent girls, gynecological concerns such as PMS, hot flashes, endometriosis and fibroids, and have clearly been shown to enhance the growth of breast cancer tumors. Studies also suggest that xenoestrogens decrease sperm counts in men, contribute to increased rates of testicular cancer and affect developing reproductive systems in utero. Thus, effective treatment & resolution of any of the above concerns must address this class of chemicals.
The Power of Placebo
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 | Articles
Reframing and contextualizing research on prescription antidepressants
Dr Mahalia Freed, ND
So, the jig is up: An international meta-analysis on prescription antidepressants conclusively found them to be as effective as placebo (Kirsch & Sapirstein 1998.) Over a decade later, the hush-up is getting frayed around the edges, as evidenced by the recent article in Newsweek, titled, “The Depressing News About Antidepressants” (http://www.newsweek.com/id/232781).
According to Kirsch’s findings, which were confirmed again in 2008, careful analysis of all eligible studies on antidepressants reveals that prescription antidepressants are clinically as effective as placebo for mild to moderate depression (Kirsch & Sapirstein 1998; Kirsch et al 2008). These findings do not mean prescription antidepressants are “not effective”, only that the placebo effect is powerful, and the drugs’ perceived effectiveness may be attributable to the power of our belief in the medicine, rather than the medicine itself.
St John's Wort in bloom
As I have written before, your beliefs are powerful in directing your healing. › Continue reading
Beautiful Beets: Beyond Borscht
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 | Articles
Mahalia Freed, ND
Beets have always appealed to my aesthetic sense, with their rich colour, and the beautiful rings that show when you slice them the right way. One of the few vegetables available locally, year round, beets are affordable, nourishing, and easy to prepare. Furthermore, they are a traditional blood building and liver cleansing food. March heralds spring, the season for liver support and cleansing. What better time to get reacquainted with beets?
The pigment that gives purple beets their gorgeous colour, betacyanin, is an antioxidant known to have powerful cancer-fighting properties. In the research, it is particularly effective against colon cancer. Beets are known as a “liver food” due to their betaine content. Betaine, or trimethylglycine, specifically supports phase II liver detoxification. It is also anti-inflammatory. Beyond their fibre content, beets contain folic acid (136 mcg per cup, boiled). While folic acid’s importance for preventing neural tube defects in utero is well known, the nutrient is essential for healthy cell division in general, making a diet rich in folic acid important for cancer and dysplasia-prevention. As well, beets have been researched for their ability to help normalize elevated blood pressure, increase HDL (good cholesterol), and decrease triglycerides. Who could have guessed? For cardiovascular health, liver health, detoxification, and fertility, go, beets!
NB: If your urine or stool is red after consuming beets, don’t be alarmed! It is simply the beet pigments. You may actually use this to assess your bowel transit time and kidney function: how long until you see red?
For more information about beets, from history to nutrition to health benefits, see the write up at World’s Healthiest Foods: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49
Cervical Dysplasia & HPV
Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | Articles
Abnormal Paps, Cervical Dysplasia and HPV
A Pap test – the primary reason women are encouraged to have gynecological exams – is an evaluation of the health of your cervical cells, and a screening test for cervical cancer and precancerous changes. What does this mean? The cervix is the lower portion, or opening, of the uterus, through which blood, sperm and babies pass. You can feel it with your finger at the end of the vaginal canal: while the vaginal walls are muscular and soft, the cervix feels like the tip of the nose, with the opening palpable as a little indent. For those of you who like pictures, see www.beautifulcervix.com for a great selection of photos.
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Dr. Mahalia Freed, ND
94 Cumberland St., Suite 805
Toronto ON M5R 1A3 Canada
tel: 416.856.4682