For the past months, I have watched someone I know prepare for her wedding. It has been exciting, stressful, and wonderful for her all at the same time. She is young, and ready to conquer the world so her energy is unbounding. Her answer to all the stress is “GOD IS LOVE, LOVE is the ONLY WAY”  I love that!  I hope she never gets cheated on, lied to, pissed off, or otherwise “LOVE STINKS”-ed.  Ha! Anyway, her journey through love to marriage is fantastic and I can’t wait to attend her wedding this weekend and send her off to LOVERS LAND. God Bless her.

The flip side of LOVERS LAND is LOVE IS DOOMED LAND and LOVE SUCKS land. This is the other part of the circle I have been witnessing lately. When women who are close to you realize their partners are not faithful or not honest. The heart crushing pain that comes with wading through lies and truth. What the F$$&  were these penis endowed people thinking????  I mean, if your marriage sucks so bad that you want to horizontal mambo someone else, then for God’s sake TELL your wife before you cheat!  I have witnessed two of my gals become angry, jaded, sad, depressed, and energy-less just in the recent months. Yes, maybe they will heal and perhaps even repair their marriage but maybe not…..Trust is broken and trust cannot be earned back. Yikes! This part of the life circle really is sad to watch or even think about.  I know the ladies will survive and come out even stronger than before…..until then hang on for the ride.

I know I am venting today but really just in that kind of mood. The sun is coming in my window and my coffee tastes good. My life circle is actually circle shaped and not a pear or abstract figure right now so I feel good……………I hope your circle is a circle and if it is not, it will be someday. Remember that happiness and health go hand in hand. Stress kills…literally.  Be positive, put out there what you want, and LIVE.

Love and hope….Dr.GB

The hcg diet is NOT dangerous for most people. At my office, we medically screen potential clients to make sure they can do the diet.  There are some people that can NOT do the diet and some people need help with drug management over the course of the diet. The diet is only 6 weeks long…not months and months like some think. In six weeks no one in America is going to die from malnutrition…remember you are eating your own fat for nutrition (that is what the hormone hcg does for us).  I guess religious fasts of 20-40 days are socially acceptable but a medical weight loss program causes huge controversy.

Someone recently said “hcg caused a bladder infection in my friend”. I say BULLSHIT to that….dehydration causes 90% of urinary tract infections and if she wasn’t drinking enough water she probably caused the infection all by herself. Coincidence. Coincidence. I did tell this person that sex causes UTIs too…so maybe we shouldn’t have sex either????? Come ON!

The hormone hcg is present in the 100,000’s in pregnant women…injecting 200 iu/day is a pinprick amount compared to that. In fact, the more times you are pregnant the lower your risk of breast cancer. Now I guess I could say that hcg lowers cancer risk…I am not going to say that but these are the claims that get made for or against drugs/programs/vitamins/herbs etc…

With about 3000 people through our HCG program (I did it way before the FAD hit) we have had no serious medical problems. In fact, we have had hundreds of medical miracles…people go off of blood pressure medications, migraines go away, blood sugar stabilizes, rashes go away and hundreds of other maladies disappear.  If you can convince people that what they eat matters and directly causes disease and health issues then we have succeeded…no matter how many pounds they lost.

I do hate the fact that people do the program and then gain their weight back and then want to do it again. These people irk me. I want people to change how they eat forever….be thinner forever, be healthier forever. I love the lifelong success the program can jump start in folks. I have over 1000 testimonials I could share and they are the above folks…they lost 30-100lbs on the program and are now LIVING life and maintaining their healthy new self. Love you!  When people say “hcg didn’t work for me” I think they meant to say “I didn’t work while doing the hcg”.  If you want to do the program do it right, don’t waste your time or money. Agh!

So enough of my verbal diarrhea…I hope you get the idea. HCG is a great jumpstart to a healthy new life and anyone who says differently is ignorant or makes money prescribing drugs and seeing sick, fat people. Good luck!!!!!!!

rgds,

dr.gb

I think that the hcg program jump starts anyone’s journey towards wellness. Yes, you might lose 25-40+ pounds and feel great but medically speaking you have just really improved your health. Your heart thanks you for releasing some burden off of its action, your blood sugar might register on the normal side now, your blood pressure might not scare the person taking it, your brain might not want sugar/empty carbs when bored, your appetite might not be that of a grizzly bear before hibernation, your kidneys have to deal with less fluid, and YOU LOOK FRICKIN’ FABULOUS!

As a physician, I get so sick of other physicians telling their patients to lose weight and then offering NOTHING to help them. Well, this hcg program is an option for my clients. Yes, it is a drastic, invasive, seemingly crazy way to start a weight loss journey but HELLO—-if you lose 25-40+ pounds maybe, just maybe you will begin to change your life forever! I do lots of other weight loss programs for my patients that need to lose 5-20 pounds but when someone needs to lose more than that, the hardest part is EMBARKING on the journey.

I have had lots of patients lose over 100 pounds….without surgery or harsh drugs…THAT  ROCKS!  Those people will tell you HCG saved their life.

I have had people lose 25 pounds and then change the way they eat forever. Oh, and they even go to the gym now….WOW! Oh, and their health is better now than ever!

I have had people gain back every pound they lost within 2-3 months of the hcg program. I HATE that…HCG is NOT a quick fix, nothing is. If you are not ready to be healthy forever, then save your money and time. You will need the money for insulin and blood pressure medication eventually anyway.

The hcg program is also a great cleanse for people. It is also a hypo-allergenic diet. I have had many people figure out they were allergic to wheat or dairy or corn or soy or….after doing the program. I have seen many medical issues disappear while on the hcg program…after all, food can cause illness or disease. I have seen eczema, GERD, migraines, acne, hypertension, high cholesterol, edema, PMS, menopausal symptoms, and many others issues DISAPPEAR on the diet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If that doesn’t teach folks that what they eat matters then nothing will.

Thanks for reading the soap box….Next time someone wonders why this physician does HCG with people, I can refer to the soapbox. HA!

Dr.GB

1. Estriol suppositories–the gentlest of the plant estrogens. Used nightly for 7-14 nights and then even 2-3 times per week feeds estrogen starved saran wrap tissue. It is 100% successful and is treating the cause of the problem to begin with. I DO NOT prescribe premerin or estrace cream for the same issue….synthetic estrogens are GROSS and scientifically WRONG. 

Find the suppositories in my online store…1 mg for mild issues, 2 mg for very dry VaJJ.

2. Fem Dophilus–good “flora” down there is a must to prevent infections. It keeps the areas ph healthy and fresh. You take 1-2 capsules per day of these GOOD bugs for the privates!  Find FemDophilus in my store.

3. Apple cider vinegar and water douches occasionally can balance the entire area. (use only once in awhile)

4. Use it or lose it….no explanation needed.

Dr.GB

LISTENING is my best skill….and probably the most important. Now, I do admit there are times when I may be distracted and don’t listen as intently as I should but most of the time my  job is to sit back and listen to the person (patients) story.

My appointments are 30 to 90 minutes long…the less I know you the longer your appointment (for example, the first visit is always the longest). I need to know who you are, what makes you tick, what makes you sick….so to speak.

I want to give you a few examples of stories I have heard over the last year that have nothing to do with health but still affect health:

1. A woman came in and before I even introduced myself she began:  “I am sorry I am such a wreck today but last night I found out my husband of 23 years is having an affair”  BULLET straight to the heart!  For the next hour and a half we talked about love, love lost, and how stress can kill you. 

2. A man who recently lost his young wife to a devastating cancer came in to talk about sex. Lack of sex after your mate dies talk………DEEP, HEARTWARMING, and IMPORTANT! We had a great conversation and I hope eased his questioning brain.

3. Last week a woman came in with no emotions….flatlined and gone. The beginning of the conversation was rough…not many words. Then she said “we have been through a lot in the last year and last night our adopted child was taken from us”….the bomb dropped. The story is much more complicated than I will let on but for her privacy the details are unnecessary. We talked about 90 minutes about her situation and how it is affecting her body and brain chemistry. She left with a smile on her face and a “sense of hope for the first time in a long time”. 

I ask you, what DRUG or pill gives “hope for the first time in a long time”?????????????????  Listening to clients is the best medicine! I urge you to find a physician who does listen and one that you listen to as well.

rgds,

dr.gb

I do believe it is YOUR choice to do it or not but what do I tell patients who ask my opinion? I say this…”since the invention of mammogram, breast cancer detection has improved drastically. Cancer is caught earlier and treated and then women are CURED and SURVIVE.  The new digital technology exposes you to far less radiation than the old mammogram machines so maybe they are safer. No one knows for sure if the squishing/procedure causes any harm or not. I do tell patients to get a baseline mammogram at 45 years of age…then if you decide to do yearly or every other year that is up to you! 

Our local hospital will NOT do an ultrasound on a suspicious lump unless you have a mammogram first….sucks but it’s true. I can’t tell you how many times I have sent someone to check out a suspicious area and they end up with a $650 bill and a “come back in 6 months” note…Ridiculous if you ask me.

I have offered thermograms in my office as well. A doctor comes in twice per year and does them for my patients that chose this diagnostic method. The thermograms are very cool and I think someday will be the standard for cancer detection. NO radiation, no squishing, no invasiveness at all….Thermograms detect heat in the body tissue – cancer and other problems usually emit more heat than normal body cells. Insurance does NOT cover thermograms yet but may in the future. 

I hope I haven’t confused you more….the bottom line is mammograms are your choice! If you have any increased risk for cancer (family history, personal history, drink/smoke, fibrocystic breasts, etc..) you should have a baseline young and proceed yearly. Self breast exams and your physician are the first line of detection and mammograms/ultrasounds/thermograms are the next line.  Good luck and I hope your boobies are healthy!

rgds

dr.gb

I went into medicine to “help people” as I bet 99% of all new med school students do. I decided to really help people you have to listen to them, really hear them and their story. I became a naturopathic physician because naturopaths are trained to do this “listening” the best. I am very science-driven and don’t do anything to weird so I guess I am a green-allopath of sorts but one thing I do with every patient is give them the time to share their story and I listen. (my office visits are 45-90 minutes long)

I get very attached to my patients. We form friendships and a tight bond. That being said, my heart and soul are sometimes tested. When a patient ends up with a cancer, illness, or even a personal problem it causes my heart to ache and sometimes to second guess what I have done with them as a doctor. I try my best to prevent disease and illness in everyone I see but sometimes the path is already laid or genetics are a bitch.

I do a weight loss program (hcg diet) at my office that the general public can do without being a “patient” of mine. All they want is the quick weight loss solution and they couldn’t careless about prevention and health (not EVERYONE is like this). I am finding I can’t stand that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have managed to gain several FABULOUS patients who have done the hcg program and want to continue the journey to good health.

I guess what I am trying to say is that for a doc like myself to enjoy what they do and feel adequate we need good relationships with our patients. Our patients must WANT to heal and be healthy.  Getting to know my patients, their stories, their families, their dogs, their sex life etc…is the BEST part of my job. I care about YOU…please remember I am being the best DOCTOR I know how to be and that I still am an emotional bitch too!

rgds

Dr.GB

Well, SOBS, we all have stress in our life, no matter how perfect your little universe is. Stress affects us at a cellular level and changes our internal chemistry. After awhile, all these changes cause our adrenal glands to give up on us. I am not going to bore you with the science of it all…instead I am going to tell you the signs of adrenal fatigue and then what we can do about it. You might always be a SOB but you will feel good doing it!

The symptoms of adrenal fatigue or stress-induced-exhaustion are as follows: 

Weight gain around the middle or hip area

Fatigue

Sleep disturbances

Depression/Anxiety

Low blood pressure

Low blood sugar

Changes in skin pigment

NO libido (sex drive)

Menstrual irregularities

Sensitivity to caffeine or other chemicals

Allergies

Basically, you just feel like shit and you don’t know why!  If you go into any doctors office in the world and complain about the above they might test your thyroid, check for anemia, and then probably suggest an anti-depressant as treatment. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! That really cracks me up and pisses me off. Treat the cause not the symptoms people.

So let’s talk treatment…SOBs have to take charge of their own health to change it!  We can’t get rid of stress but we can make our body tougher and more resilient to it.  The results of treatment are slow but over time you will feel better and your body chemistry will change.  Here are the treatment options I lay out for my SOBs:

1.  Lower your cortisol (stress hormone) whenever you can.  Whether that means breathing for 5 minutes, a massage, exercise, reading after the kids are in bed, drinking (no, just kidding), just relax and take some ME time.

2.B-Stress Complex–one or two per day with food.  I give a liquid B-Stress formula that is like rocket fuel…it works! I have it as a product for sale on the site.

3.B5–I recommend an extra B5 per day.

4.Adrenal glandulars/herbal combination–I like a combo product that is POTENT. I use ADR and do 2-4 caps/day

5.Omega 3 oils–2000-3000mg/day (fish is best)

6. If testing (saliva is what I use) reveals a high cortisol at night—Seriphos (phosphatidyl serine) 2 caps/bedtime

7.If testing reveals low cortisol all day, I do prescriptive cortisol 2-4 times per day. This has to be prescribed by a qualified physician….

8. DHEA– 10-25mg/day if testing reveals low levels

9. Anti-oxidant support–resveratrol, Vitamin C, Vitamin E

10. Diet–Whole foods (which means no crappy processed food–lean proteins, fruits, veg, whole grains)

11. Magnesium citrate–500-800 mg/day

I promise that if all you SOBs make a committment to change by doing some of the above your body will love you for it. You will age slower, you will feel better, you will lose weight, you will SURVIVE!  I, personally, treat my adrenals every day with my basic supplementation/wellness guidelines and then do more aggressive treatment once or twice per year to keep my stress in check. I may still be a SOB but atleast my body is reacting healthfully to the stress.

rgds

dr.gb

So it is said that “libido is 90% mental”…that would mean that only 10% can be blamed on hormonal imbalance. I agree with this to a certain extent. I try to maximize a gals hormones to make her horny as her husband would like but it is often the last thing to improve (if at all)….sorry to deliver the news.  I do measure testosterone and DHEA levels to make sure they are OPTIMAL and do supplementation as needed. Hormones can help but often there is more to the lagging need to get naked.

If your issue is that you can’t have orgasm then the testosterone will help you (especially when used clitorally! Yeah!). If your issue is dry vaginal tissue, then estrogen will help you (see the dry vagina post). If your issue is low energy and lack of desire then we might have to work on other things to get you perky again.

I think that boredom and low energy are the main reasons for low libido.  When you have been married for 10+ years, it becomes all to usual…same old, same old routine. Doesn’t sound exciting does it? Well, if you spice it up a bit with toys, new things to try, fantasies, etc…I am sure it can be more exciting but then the low energy holds us back.

I have known a number of women whose husbands divorced them because of a poor sex life. I wonder how many husbands cheat on their wives because of the need for more frequent sex? I do understand that women can be the cheaters and that men can have low libido too but it is much more common the other way.

All I am saying is this…do everything you can to maximize your hormone balance and good health…it will help your sex life no matter what age or sex you are. I heard a physician say that sex 2-3 times per week increase our longevity by 7 years! So do what you need to spice it up out there!

rgds

dr.gb

I read the article and about blew my top. The argument in the article is that exercise makes us hungrier so most will eat more on days they exercise…hence negating weight loss.  There are bunches of studies in the article which are fascinating but exercises benefit to the body is never really mentioned.

Doesn’t everyone know that in order to lose weight you have to eat less and move more! It is pure physics people! So if I burn 300 calories at the gym and then get a protein smoothie at the snack bar that is 400 calories is my workout not worth it? Well, technically yes…prob won’t lose much weight on that plan BUT the benefits to your body are still worth the workout. Your muscle mass will go up (which burns more calories than fat mass), your cardio system is stronger, your lungs are stronger, you got a nice serotonin boost, you will sleep better at night, you will feel better about yourself, and your energy will be better.  WHAT WAS THAT ARTICLE TRYING TO DO TO US fat AMERICANS?

Another thing the article said was that people who go to the gym for an hour per day tend to then be lazy or sit at a desk the rest of the day. I guess not working out at all would help those who work at a desk all day???? Wrongo.  Any amount of movement is good….really good.

As I stared at those chubby teenage girls, I grew angry with America…why do we encourage fatness. Our food is pathetic, our attitude stinks, our diabetes and heart disease kill, our depression meds make billions, but yet exercise is just a myth.    Please, please encourage exercise and good eating habits in your kids, your partners, your coworkers,  your family, and most importantly YOURSELF! Together we can make America healthier and trimmer!