Herb Spotlight: Ashwagandha—an ancient adaptogen for modern life

By Andrea Vannelli Ashwagandha is the common name for Withania somnifera, a plant root appreciated by numerous cultures around the globe. Most notably it’s been used for many centuries in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, with therapeutic use dating as far back as 3000 years according to some ancient texts. Ayurveda considers...

Herbals Teas for Late Pregnancy and Beyond

By Andrea Vannelli The third trimester officially begins at the 28th week of pregnancy. It’s a time of significant increase in fetal size, so keeping up with nutrient and mineral needs is important for the health of both baby and mom. However, the typical late-pregnancy maternal weight gain of one-half to a pound per week...

Sleep for Your Health

By Andrea Vannelli I often find that I’m urging patients to get more sleep and this can be a tough one for some. I can relate. As a young person, I was much more of a night owl, feeling most alert and productive in the later afternoon and into the night. Fortunately, I had a day job with regular hours that kept me pretty...

Cooked Foods for Digestive and Reproductive Health

By Andrea Vannelli In Chinese Medicine, we aren’t big advocates of cold, particularly where digestion is concerned. This includes practices such as icing body parts and consuming things like ice, beverages with ice, raw foods, cold foods, dairy products (considered cold in terms of energetic properties) and juices....

Music Therapy and Fertility

Did you know that something as simple as listening to music can help you with your fertility journey? Infertility is an extremely complex issue that has various causes. Oftentimes solutions to these issues can seem very overwhelming and at times quite invasive. However, studies have shown that the basic act of listening to music,...

Help for Managing Estrogens

Estrogens are a vital aspect of female (and male) hormonal health. When properly balanced, they play an important role in helping women protect against inflammation, prepare the uterus for pregnancy, boost muscle mass, keep us thinking sharply, make us feel sexy and support the production of serotonin. Pretty crucial...

To Check or Not To Check (Your Cervix)

Communication is the foundation of any healthy relationship and that includes the relationship you have with your doctor. Part of ensuring you have a safe and healthy pregnancy is all about over-communicating your wants, needs, fears and goals while being explicit about what you are and are not comfortable doing. This is so you can avoid...

Ladies, how’s your progesterone?

One of the best things for female health is regular ovulation, because if there’s no ovulation there is no progesterone, and progesterone brings many crucial benefits that I expect you will not want to miss out on. Most are familiar with the role of progesterone in supporting a pregnancy. As the name suggests, it quite...