libido. One very important thing I tell my patients to do is to fi nd a way to implement some daily stress reduction techniques immediately. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are eating and exercising if you can’t begin to reduce stress levels.
Some techniques I commonly suggest are the following:
1. Find 5-10 minutes per day to sit quietly and clear your mind. You don’t have to meditate 30 minutes to an hour a day to get the benefi ts. A good time to do this is fi rst thing in the morning or at the end of the day…or both! 2. Re-engage in a hobby that you love – fi nd something that you can get lost in for an hour or so.
3. Get a massage, take a salt bath, go to the spa and pamper yourself.
4. Connect with nature – in the woods, at the beach, on a moun- tain.
5. Start a gratefulness practice – write down one thing each day that you are grateful for. 6. Manifest your perfect day. Remember thoughts can become things.
Dr. H: These are great ideas – I want to start them all right now! But I won’t do that, as I know it will just increase my stress level! What about some basic supplements that one can take for stress reduction?
Dr. C: I typically don’t like to make supplement recommendations without seeing a patient fi rst, but taking 1000-3000mg Vitamin C, 500-1000mg B5 and a daily dose of magnesium can help with stress. Vitamin C and B5 are very important for adrenal health and magnesium is a “relaxing” mineral in the body.
Dr. H: What other recommendations would you make as far as sleep, eating healthier, exercising and exposure to environmental toxins?
Dr. C: I tell all my patients to eat real food from nature as much as possible. That means organic, pesticide-free, non-GMO fruits and vegetables; antibiotic and hormone-free lean proteins like wild, smaller species of fi sh, pasture-raised chicken and turkey, 100% grass fed and grass fi nished beef; and healthy fats from nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil, butter, avocado and pasture- raised eggs. Basically, shop the perimeter of your grocery store - with the exception of the aisles where you fi nd healthy oils and vinegars. You need to avoid anything packaged, boxed, and processed. This means bread, pasta, cereal, pancakes, waffl es, crackers, cookies and desserts, even if homemade, should be eliminated.
As for exercise – I tell women to fi nd something they enjoy doing. I prefer a combination of HIIT (high intensity interval train- ing), strength training, and stretching like yoga or Pilates. But I love to play tennis and even though that is a long duration sport, I won’t give it up because it gives me so much joy. We also need to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Sleep is the best way to rebuild your adrenal reserves and sleeping between 7am and 9am is the most restorative for the adrenal glands.
Dr. H: So…the big question…if we are able to get our lifestyles in check, will our libido return?
Dr. C: Now if I had the answer to that I’d be a millionaire! Theoretically, yes. In a perfect world, if we are healthy and re-
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laxed, we should have an increased interest in sex with our partner. Sometimes we may need to add hormone replacement to help with vaginal dryness. However, there are so many factors at play for women when it comes to sexual interest and enjoyment that may have nothing to do with our physical bodies. I believe there’s a big psychological component as well – women need to be connected to their partner, intellectually stimulated, and feel that their lifestyles and hopes and dreams are aligned. There may be years of resent- ment and bitter feelings that have built up that need to be healed before both partners can feel safe in being intimate with each other. Like so many things in life, addressing the mental and emotional aspects often can lead to answers.
Dr. H: Now that’s defi nitely another topic for our next article!
Deanna M. Cherrone, M.D. is the director and founder of Natural Health & Healing, LLC in West Hartford, CT, a Functional Medicine practice that provides patients with a guided approach and individu- alized treatment plan on how to optimize health. Upon completing her residency at UCONN Medical Center and receiving board cer- tifi cation in Internal Medicine, she worked as an Emergency Room physician. She is certifi ed in NLP – Neurolinguistic Programming, Therapeutic Lifestyle Change, Quantum Biofeedback and is also a certifi ed Dream Coach Group Leader. She is currently in the process of receiving her certifi cations in Clinical Nutrition and Mind Body Medicine. Areas of focus in her practice include Therapeutic Lifestyle Change, Nutrition, Bio-identical Hormone Replacement - BHRT, Nu- tritional Supplementation, Detoxifi cation, Exercise, Sleep, Allergies and Food Sensitivities, Adrenal Fatigue, Thyroid Disease and Stress Reduction Techniques. See ad on back cover.
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