MORE BLOG POSTS — Weight Loss
Losing Weight Without Losing Muscle: The Hidden Key to a Faster Metabolism
Posted by Lena Edwards MD on
Many of us celebrate every pound we lose with a high-five and a moment of gratitude for our trusty bathroom scale. But before you get too excited, it's important to know exactly what you're losing. Shedding body fat is certainly something to celebrate—but what if some of that weight is coming from muscle instead? The truth is, the number on your scale doesn't tell the whole story. If you're losing muscle instead of fat, you could actually be slowing your metabolism, weakening your bones, and making it harder to keep the weight off in the future. That's why successful weight...
You Can't Out-Diet a Metabolic Roadblock
Posted by Lena Edwards MD on
If you're like most women who are eating less, exercising more, and still watching the scale refuse to move, you're probably wondering what gives. In fact, this is one of the most common frustrations I hear from women over 40 who are doing everything right, but nothing's working. For years, we've been told that weight loss is simply a matter of eating less and moving more. While calories certainly matter, that advice assumes your body's still following the 20-something playbook. For many women over 40, it isn't. As we move through perimenopause and menopause, your body undergoes a number of...
Hair Loss in Women After 40
Posted by Lena Edwards MD on
One of the most common complaints I hear from my female patients over 40 is that they're losing more hair than they used to—even if they haven't changed a thing. Sometimes it's the growing collection of hair wrapped around the shower drain. Sometimes it's the increasingly crowded hairbrush. Other times it's a ponytail that seems noticeably thinner than it once was. The truth is that some degree of hair shedding is completely normal. Most people lose dozens of hairs every day as part of the natural hair growth cycle. But if you're noticing more hair than usual in your brush,...
Histamine Intolerance: The Menopause Symptom Nobody Warned You About
Posted by Lena Edwards MD on
Hot flashes. Anxiety. Insomnia. Heart palpitations. Headaches. Brain fog. Random itching. A nose that suddenly behaves like it’s allergy season year-round. A glass of wine that used to feel relaxing but now leaves you flushed, wide awake at 2 a.m., and questioning every life decision you've ever made. Sound familiar? I thought so…. Most women assume these symptoms are simply part of stress or aging. And to be fair, many of them are. But there’s another player that often flies under the radar—one that can quietly stir up a surprising amount of chaos—especially during perimenopause and menopause. Meet histamine, an...
How Medications Quietly Disrupt Your Stress Hormones
Posted by Lena Edwards MD on
Many women don’t realize that prescription and over-the-counter medications can affect the levels and patterns of the stress hormone cortisol. I’ve worked with countless women who had many symptoms of stress system dysfunction—fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, sleep issues—but their system couldn’t course-correct because some of their medications were tying its hands behind its back. In some cases, medications are necessary. But it’s important to understand which ones can affect cortisol and the stress system—and how they do so. Medications That Affect the Way You Perceive Stress Your brain constantly scans your environment looking for potential threats—whether that’s a...