THE AMAZING BENEFITS OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES

THE AMAZING BENEFITS OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES
ROBERT G CARLSON, MD, FACS


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3pc1lMEDKg&feature=plcp

HCG AND THE "SARASOTA DIET" Day #13 MAKING YOUR LOW CARBOHYDRATE APPROACH SUCCESSFUL BY SHOPPING CORRECTLY ROBERT G CARLSON, MD,FACS

HCG AND THE "SARASOTA DIET" Day #13 MAKING YOUR LOW CARBOHYDRATE APPROACH SUCCESSFUL BY SHOPPING CORRECTLY ROBERT G CARLSON, MD,FACS

Day # 13: 218.4

Went by the Deli at Publix and had them cut a pound of Turkey nice and thick, and then added a pound of smoked Gouda cheese. I ate that for lunch and I had a late dinner with it as well while working at the office on some manuscripts I'm trying to complete on Hormone Replacement Therapies and a second on The Myths of Cholesterol From A Heart Surgeon's Perspective. I focused on drinking more water today. Sometimes I forget, but I like the "rule" that whenever you feel like you want a "snack", just drink an entire glass of water and you will be amazed how that satisfies your hunger. But of course, with this approach there are no caloric restrictions , so you can eat anything (of course no carbohydrates) that you want and eat all day if you want.

Here is the last section on your Grocery Shopping Adventure, and How important it is to pick the correct foods( All Low carbohydrate, except romaine lettuce, spinach, and even asparagus are allowed and will consist of 75% of your carbohydrate input each day.)

The critical part of the Sarasota Diet or what I would like to think of as a New Lifestyle with limited carbohydrate intake( accentuated by HCG), is to firmly avoid the foods we have restricted on the Sarasota Diet. For the first round of 28 days you can’t eat these items because the sugar cravings will take hold and your weight loss will screech to a halt. Avoid those simple sugars like sugar filled drinks and juices, pastry, cookies, sweets and candy( STOP-IT helps you fight those nasty cravings: http://andlos.com/information/stop%20it%20booklet.pdf ). Also you absolutely need to avoid those complex carbohydrates that rapidly become sugar in your body like bread, whole wheat and white, rice, oatmeal and grains. We have been told that oatmeal is good for your, Brown rice is so healthy, and whole grain breads and pasta are the best things to eat. The answer to all of those is a resounding “NO”. All of these presumably “healthy items” contain massive amounts of carbohydrates and are absolutely restricted from the Sarasota low carbohydrate approach. My goal is to restrict the total carbohydrates to 20 grams for 4 weeks and with the use of HCG , you will have the strength to fight the cravings, the energy needed to carry on your daily activities and the development of a physiology that is the healthiest form to reduce inflammation, diabetes, triglyceride levels, without experiencing the “blah” feelings that are so common with diets that aggressively restrict caloric intact, and push people into a starvation mode.

This low carbohydrate approach will now train your body to live on the fats and not the carbohydrates which are promoting inflammation and making you feel so bad. This low carbohydrate Sarasota Diet will drive your body to ketosis , where it will preferentially learn to burn your excess fat because no excess sugar is around. We know that excess sugar in your body will cause insulin levels to rise and these chronically elevated insulin levels cause excess sugar to be changed into fat and then stored inside of your belly as visceral fat, inside your blood vessels, inside your liver, and in all kinds of places we just don’t want it to be. Blocking the insulin directed fat accumulation program, will result in using your fats as energy instead of as storage units. I won’t discuss hormonal balance yet but one hormone, specifically progesterone ( which is essentially gone in women over 45 and is immeasurable in men over 50, will block the forced accumulation of fat inside of your belly as visceral fat( I LOVE NATURAL PROGESTERONE)

http://progesteroneandmen.blogspot.com/.

This is not necessarily the fat I refer to as Dunlap’s disease..or” It Dun Lapped Over My Belt”, but this is the fat that wraps around all your organs, and causes diabetes, massive inflammation and heart disease. It’s really bad stuff and I want to train our bodies to use that visceral fat as an energy source, as well as to block the creation of that “belly fat”.

HCG AND THE "SARASOTA DIET" Day 19, So Are You Overweight Because You're Not Sleeping Enough? ROBERT G CARLSON, MD,FACS

HCG AND THE "SARASOTA DIET" Day 19, So Are You Overweight Because You're Not Sleeping Enough? ROBERT G CARLSON, MD,FACS

Day 19: 215.6

Continuing to exercise and went to bed early last night...and lost more weight. Gotta Love it! I begin the morning with my coffee and had two hard-boiled eggs. Also took a three hard boiled eggs with me to work and ate those through the course of the day. they really suppressed my appetite. I only ate two Turkey and smoked Gouda roll-ups today and had a steak and salad with lots of Blue Cheese dressing for my dinner. I mixed a vanilla Atkins drink with ice and a handful of blueberries for dessert. I will continue with comments on weight loss and a good nights sleep.

Are You Overweight Because You're Not Sleeping Enough?

Everyone knows the importance of exercise and how it helps us with weight loss, but on some days don't you just wish you could have stayed in bed sleeping and lose weight at the same time?

Well, maybe you can. Because sleep is actually a critical part of your weight loss program!

This is a little-known fact, but did you know that sleep can affect your weight? Rather, it's the lack of sleep that can make you put on unnecessary weight. One may actually lose more weight if only they were to sleep more every day. Rather intriguing thought, but the facts are in and sleep is critical to weight loss....

In a review of several studies at the University of Chicago the impact of sleep on the regulation of metabolism and the secretion of growth hormone during the early phase of sleep was performed. In addition research has also identified the deleterious effects of sleep loss on the endocrine system and glucose modulation. One study examined the effect of sleep debt and sleep recovery on hormone concentrations. Sleep deprivation raised the 24-hour cortisol levels, and dramatically impaired glucose metabolism. A more recent study looked at the effect of 10 vs. 4 hours of sleep on appetite. Individuals who slept 4 hours were always hungry and craved starchy, sweet, and salty foods. These results suggest that sleep deprivation produces a signal supporting a negative energy balance and causing people to eat and thereby predisposing to obesity. Sleep deprivation also affected glucose metabolism and leptin levels and caused increase the appetite for unhealthy foods. Unfortunately this sleep deprivation had a greater impact on obese individuals and older adults. Research has also shown that sleep restriction might have worse effects in women than in men as well. So individuals that may be more severely affected by sleep deprivation are: (1) obese individuals, (2) older adults, and (3) women.

That's really crucial if you're a woman over 40,who is experiencing sleep deprivation from plummeting progesterone levels and not getting enough sleep. This will undoubtedly make you feel hungry constantly and crave for all the unhealthy foods even more as compared to other people. And the more overweight you are, the more you may be affected by the lack of sleep. So a recent study that identified women who do not sleep enough tend to be more overweight than women who get sufficient sleep really shouldn’t be of much surprise to you? So go to bed early tonight and lose more weight!

HCG AND THE "SARASOTA DIET" Day 18, So Are You Overweight Because You're Not Sleeping Enough? ROBERT G CARLSON, MD,FACS

HCG AND THE "SARASOTA DIET" Day 18, So Are You Overweight Because You're Not Sleeping Enough? ROBERT G CARLSON, MD,FACS

Day 18: 216.4

Got up early this morning and ran 5 miles. Had my coffee before I left, but waited to get home before I drank my chocolate whey milkshake. I am experiencing no significant sweet craving and feel confident I can complete this 28 day cycle, and you should feel like you can as well. Over the course of the day I ate a bag of almonds and focused on drinking at least 100 ounces of water today. For lunch had a ceasar salad with chicken in it. A big salad and without the croutons there was only about 4 grams of carbohydrates. I had some more bay scallops and a mixture of Romano and Parmesan cheese melted over it. After reading this segment though i think I will try to go to sleep a little earlier and take my progesterone ( will talk about this later in another blog).

So Are You Overweight Because You're Not Sleeping Enough?

I wanted to review different reasons why we may not lose the anticipated weight we want to lose. It may not be our fault. And, reasons once identified, may catapult you into successful weight loss, not only achieving your goals but maintaining the weight loss you have achieved . Everyone knows the importance of exercise and how it helps us with weight loss, but on some days don't you just wish you could have stayed in bed sleeping and lose weight at the same time?

Well, maybe you can. Because sleep is actually a critical part of your weight loss program!

This is a little-known fact, but did you know that sleep can affect your weight? Rather, it's the lack of sleep that can make you put on unnecessary weight. One may actually lose more weight if only they were to sleep more every day. Rather intriguing thought, but the facts are in and sleep is critical to weight loss....

Unfortunately this sleep deprivation had a greater impact on obese individuals and older adults. Research has also shown that sleep restriction might have worse effects in women than in men as well. So individuals that may be more severely affected by sleep deprivation are: (1) obese individuals, (2) older adults, and (3) women. More to follow.......

Sleepless in Sarasota……..get ready for the Best Sleep You’ll Ever Have Robert G Carlson, MD

Sleepless in Sarasota……..get ready for the Best Sleep You’ll Ever Have

Robert G Carlson, MD

Do you have trouble falling asleep? Or perhaps you’re able to fall asleep, but then plagued by constantly waking up throughout the night, resulting in a broken, restless sleep that leaves you feeling like a zombie the next morning?

Have you been given sleeping pills to help with your sleep, pills that leave you spaced out, like you’re moving in slow motion and not fully rested? Not being able to sleep is critical, resulting in loss of memory, ineffective work habits, and increasing irritability. Starting in their early 40’s, women are commonly plagued with sleeping problems. The answer is really quite simple. About ten years before menopause, ladies progesterone levels start to plummet. This sets them up for sleepless nights. Progesterone, natural progesterone that is soy-based, not the peanut oil pharmaceutical progesterone product called Prometrium, provides improvement in sleep, dramatic reduction in irritability (who wouldn’t be irritable if you can’t sleep and remain exhausted), reduction in headaches and the reduction in the signs of estrogen dominance. Besides natural progesterone, NOT synthetic progestins like Prempro or Provera, have now been shown to reduce breast and uterine cancer, reduce cholesterol and reduce heart disease. And it also makes you feel better!

Sleep medicines don’t deal with the real underlying causes of why women are having trouble sleeping as they get older. The major reason is because progesterone levels are so low. Progesterone is like nature’s valium, it is the Feng-Shui of hormones providing calmness and relaxation, factors critical in falling asleep.

With women who are either perimenopausal(which can be up to 10 years before menopause), menopausal, or suffering from surgically induced menopause (hysterectomy), the progesterone levels can drop to such low , immeasurable levels that women simply can’t sleep. It often takes women an hour or more to get to sleep or they find themselves waking up throughout the night.

So how does bio-identical hormone replacement therapy help? When natural progesterone is taken as a pill, versus in the cream, it travels to the brain and interacts with the GABA receptors. These receptors when activated naturally promote sleep and help patients reach the restorative sleep (REM sleep) more quickly.

How does hormone replacement with progesterone differ from taking sleeping pills when it comes to the quality of sleep a woman might expect? Sleeping pills are synthetic, not natural. There is nothing natural about them, and because of that the natural restorative REM sleep is never achieved. Yes, sleeping pills will help you get to sleep, but you won’t get the quality of sleep achieved naturally. When treating women struggling with sleep issues in their 40’s and 50’s, sleep undoubtedly affected by progesterone levels, one of the most common responses I hear after starting progesterone is ‘This is the best sleep I’ve ever had’.

How quickly can patients expect results? Patients will experience results very quickly, sometimes within the first one or two doses. They often can’t believe how rested they are when they wake up and want to get rid of their sleeping pills as soon as possible.

One of my patients, Erika, is a perfect example of the difference a good night sleep can make. Erika, who was in her early fifties, presented with major concerns of sleeping issues ,stating “I just can’t sleep”. She had been experiencing “on and off sleep” – waking up frequently throughout the night for years. Essentially sleep deprived. The lack of sleep was making her feel older than her years, and mentally and physically exhausted. She told me, “It was horrible and very hard to function.”

After only a few weeks of bio-identical hormone replacement however Erika reported to me with excitement in her voice, “I can sleep now. I can think clearly now. It’s unbelievable.” Though still dealing with the stresses and pressures of before, she finds it easier to deal with, now that she has the benefit of a full and restful night’s sleep. “I really do feel like this very huge dark cloud has been lifted, thanks to you, Dr. Carlson.” She said fighting off tears of joy. “I see everything in a different view.” Her words of encouragement to women struggling with menopause and sleeping problems are: “I’m sleeping through the night and feeling like I’m back in my twenties or thirties. It’s amazing.”

Youthful Skin with Bioidentical Hormone Therapy

Bio-Identical Hormones make you look younger

So how much control do you have over how quickly your face ages? You know, sagging cheeks, wrinkles and frown lines? The surprising answer is that you have more control over facial aging than you think. Factors such as divorce, smoking, and the use of anti-depressants dramatically accelerate facial aging. So what is beneficial in making women’s faces look more youthful? Hormone replacement therapy. Yes , a Case Western Plastic surgery study found that hormone replacement therapy made a big difference by reducing the aging process.

Aging, especially in the skin seems to accelerate after menopause in women. Aging faster with wrinkles spreading rapidly, skin quickly loses elasticity and smoothness are common features in postmenopausal women not receiving hormone replacement therapy. The basis for the use of topical estrogen therapy stems from the documented evidence of reducing diseases of aging, including heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer but also in the estrogen depleted chronological aging of our skin. To a large degree the features of aging skin seem to result from the decline in estrogen levels after the menopause. Of all hormones that decline with age, estrogens have the most dramatic effect on the skin. Estrogens are known to protect women from heart disease, and now it seems that they also slow down skin aging. Several studies indicate that postmenopausal women on estrogen replacement therapy develop less wrinkles and have better skin texture and elasticity than those not taking estrogens.
Studies in postmenopausal women have demonstrated significant decrease skin thickness with marked thinning of the epidermis (outer skin layer), loss of critical collagen resulting in deterioration of skin structures, deepening of wrinkles and widening of skin pores. The more rapid the collagen loss, which occurs in the first two years after menopause, the more dramatic the appearance of aging in these women. Studies have shown up to a 30 % loss of skin collagen immediately after menopause and the loss continues if there is no estrogen replacement received. This British Medical Journal study amazingly showed that women who then received topical estrogen therapy experienced an increase in skin collagen content 48 % higher than those who did not received hormone replacement therapy. Proper bioidentical hormone replacement with estrogen, progesterone and testosterone replacement is a complex decision requiring the analysis of one's medical history and a physician who has the knowledge to expertly balance a women’s hormones.
Women after menopause have been shown to have improved skin benefits using estrogen topical preparations. A University of Vienna study in postmenopausal women demonstrated a marked improvement in skin elasticity and firmness after only six months of therapy; wrinkle depth and pore size decreased by over sixty percent in both estradiol and estriol groups. Skin moisture and collagen synthesis increased significantly.
I believe that estrogen creams could also improve the signs of aging in premenopausal women as well although further studies are needed to confirm that. The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery article showed that hormone replacement therapy dramatically reduced the appearance of facial aging in women. So not only does hormone replacement reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer , and osteoporosis, but it also makes you look younger. So now you have European and American studies that support the benefits of Hormone Replacement therapy on the skin. The benefits of Hormone replacement therapy on the heart, bones, memory and cancer are being clearly documented in the medical literature. So, it’s about time we took the fear out of HRT and provide women with a safe and healthy approach to wellness. Now that sounds like a great idea to me.
Robert Carlson, MD, FACS

The Best Sleep You'll Ever Have....is in your grasp and so simple

The Best Sleep You’ll Ever Have…….is in your grasp and so simple.

Robert G Carlson, MD

Do you have trouble falling asleep? Or perhaps you’re able to fall asleep, but then plagued by constantly waking up throughout the night, resulting in a broken, restless sleep that leaves you feeling like a zombie the next morning?

Have you been given sleeping pills to help with your sleep, pills that leave you spaced out, like you’re moving in slow motion and not fully rested? Not being able to sleep is critical, resulting in loss of memory, ineffective work habits, and increasing irritability. Starting in their early 40’s, women are in commonly plagued with sleeping problems. The answer is really quite simple. About ten years before menopause, ladies progesterone levels start to plummet. This sets them up for sleepless nights. Progesterone, natural progesterone that is soy-based, not the peanut oil pharmaceutical progesterone Prometrium, provides improvement in sleep, dramatic reduction in irritability (who wouldn’t be irritable if you can’t sleep and remain exhausted), reduction in headaches and the reduction in the signs of estrogen dominance. Besides natural progesterone, NOT synthetic progestins like Prempro or Provera, has now been shown to reduce breast and uterine cancer, reduce cholesterol and reduce heart disease. And it also makes you feel better!

Sleep medicines don’t deal with the real underlying causes of why women are having trouble sleeping as they get older. The major reason is because progesterone levels are so low. Progesterone is like nature’s valium, it is the Feng-Shui of hormones providing calmness and relaxation, factors critical in falling asleep.

With women who are either perimenopausal(which can be up to 10 years before menopause), menopausal, or suffering from surgically induced menopause (hysterectomy), the progesterone levels can drop to such low , immeasurable level that ladies simply can’t sleep. It often takes women an hour or more to get to sleep or they find themselves waking up throughout the night.

So how does bio-identical hormone replacement therapy help? When natural progesterone is taken as a pill, versus in the cream, it travels to the brain and interacts with the GABA receptors. These receptors when activated naturally promote sleep and help patients reach the restorative sleep (REM sleep) more quickly.

How does hormone replacement with progesterone differ from taking sleeping pills when it comes to the quality of sleep a woman might expect? Sleeping pills are synthetic, not natural. There is nothing natural about them, and because of that the natural restorative REM sleep is never achieved. Oh yes, sleeping pills will help you get to sleep, but they don’t get the quality of sleep achieved naturally. When I treat women struggling with sleep issues in their 40’s and 50’s, sleep undoubtedly affected by progesterone levels, one of the most common response I hear after starting progesteroneis ‘This is the best sleep I’ve ever had’.

How quickly can patients expect results? I have seen patients experience results very quickly. Sometimes within the first one or two doses. They often can’t believe how rested they are when they wake up and want to get rid of their sleeping pills as soon as possible.

One patient of mine, Erika is a perfect example of the difference a good night’s sleep can make. In her early fifties, I met Erika with major concerns of “I just can’t sleep”. She had been experiencing “on and off sleep” – waking up frequently throughout the night for years. Essentially sleep deprived. The lack of sleep was making her feel older than her years, and mentally and physically exhausted. She told me, “It was horrible and very hard to function.”

After only a few weeks of hormone replacement however Erika reported to me with excitement in her voice, “I can sleep now. I can think clearly now. It’s unbelievable.” Though still dealing with the stresses and pressures of before, she finds it easier to deal with now she has the benefit of a full and restful night’s sleep. “I really do feel like this very huge dark cloud has been lifted, thanks to you, Dr. Carlson.” She said fighting off tears of joy. “I see everything in a different view.” Her words of encouragement to ladies struggling with menopause and sleeping problems are: “I’m sleeping through the night and feeling like I’m back in my twenties or thirties. It’s amazing.”