Dr. Michelle Dillon

12/25/2025

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May Christ Bless you in all ways of your life and reveal himself to you in all ways.

He is the reason for the season!

Let's make 2026 the best year to come!
Optimize your health , to be the best version of YOU.

Visit CharlotteNaturalWellness.com for more information.

12/21/2025

Happy National Crossword Puzzle Day!

12/19/2025

Can nutritional supplements help people with acne?

Researchers asked that question in a review of 42 studies published in JAMA Dermatology.

They found:

🔹 The highest quality studies showed potential benefits from vitamin D, green tea extract, and probiotics.

🔹 Other studies suggested benefits from vitamin B5, omega-3 fatty acids, and gamma linoleic acid.

🔹 Zinc was the most commonly studied nutrient, but it only showed benefit in half the studies. Higher doses were more helpful but were also associated with adverse effects.

This type of review is helpful because it allows us to take a birds-eye view of all of the research to date rather than just one individual study.

It’s limited by only looking at supplements rather than foods and dietary patterns, but it’s good evidence that nutrition can make a difference for skin health!

Schedule today - www.charlottenaturalwellness.com

12/15/2025

Estrogen & Weight Gain 👇

The fear of gaining weight is one of the main reasons women are often hesitant to take estrogen in any form—whether it’s for contraception or at menopause.

So is the fear valid?

A report (involving a complex literature search and a summary of 10 studies) found that NO!

Just the opposite, actually.

Estrogen taken as the pill or as hormone replacement at menopause INCREASED metabolism (resting energy expenditure)—suggesting it may actually protect against weight gain.

Be sure you are taking a topical non synthetic form to be safe! Estrogen protects the heart, brain, and bones! (in the proper form)

The better we understand these mechanisms, the more informed choices we can make.

Schedule today to learn more!
www.charlottenaturalwellness.com

12/12/2025

Prescription drug use in the US is at an all-time high ➡️

A study out of Penn State shows that Americans can expect to take prescription drugs for about half their lives—a little more for women and a little less for men.

Does that bother you?

Some of the medications that are being prescribed more than ever include blood pressure medications, cholesterol-lowering medications, and antidepressants.

For example:

A girl born in the US in 1996 could expect to take antidepressants for 5.55 years of her life, but by 2019, that number jumped to 12.52 years.

This👆is just one of the many sobering statistics from the study.

I am not against medications, but there are often less invasive and more effective ways to support health, and many of the most commonly prescribed meds treat conditions that respond dramatically to lifestyle.

Prevention is truly the best medicine—starting with food, water, movement, and rest.

Schedule a Discovery Call today - visit charlottenaturalwellness.com

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12/08/2025

Intermittent Fasting vs. Calorie Restriction:

🤷‍♀️ Which works better?

A study compared them in a group of 75 people with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Here are the highlights:

▪️ Participants were randomly assigned to intermittent fasting (freely eating between noon and 8pm daily) or caloric restriction (25% calorie reduction).

▪️ After 6 months, those doing intermittent fasting had lost twice as much weight on average (-3.56% vs. -1.78%).

▪️ Both groups experienced similar improvements in average blood sugar levels (measured by HbA1C).

Caloric restriction is the norm in diet culture, but it’s hard to follow (this study also showed better adherence to intermittent fasting than calorie restriction), and a LOT more goes into healthy eating and weight loss than just calorie counting.

Intermittent fasting is not for everyone.

This is something I discuss on an individual basis with clients to come up with the best plan for each person.

Visit CharlotteNaturalWellness.com schedule an appointment today.

12/05/2025

450.

If you menstruate, that’s about how many periods you’ll have in a lifetime.

Yet even though half the world’s population is menstruating for half their lives…we have very little research on what the hormonal effects actually are…especially in relation to the brain and mental health.

That’s why this study 👆 is so remarkable.

Neuroscientists tracked 30 women over the course of their menstrual cycles with MRI brain scans and hormone tests—and found brainwide structural changes that correlated with hormone fluctuations 🤯🤯🤯

For example:

🔹 Just before ovulation (when estrogen is high), brains showed changes that indicated faster information transfer.
🔹 The rise of FSH before ovulation was associated with thicker gray matter.
🔹 Progesterone after ovulation correlated with decreased cerebrospinal fluid volume.

What does all this mean?

It means the hormone changes throughout the menstrual cycle influence MORE than just the ovaries and uterus. The more we learn about these hormone-brain connections, the better we can make sense of the domino effect of female hormone balance.
Is your mind blown?

12/01/2025

Stress Stoppers 👉👉

You know that moment when your heart races, your muscles tense, your mind checks out, and everything in your body just wants to escape wherever you are?

It’s our acute stress response, and we call it “fight or flight.”

When I notice this happening (the first step is awareness!), here are some things I do:

💡 Notice my thoughts or emotions.
☀️ Reframe negative thoughts to the positive.
👣 Put my feet to the earth to feel grounded.
🌬️ Take some deep breaths.
⛰️Change my location.
💃 Move my body (dance, shake, jump, walk).

None of this is easy.

It takes practice.

But learning to stop stress in its tracks is one of the best things you can do for your current health and your future self.

Which of these ideas do you like best?

11/27/2025

11/22/2025

Have you heard of left nostril breathing?

🧘‍♀️ Yogic traditions teach that the left relates to moon energy: cooling, calming, and reflective. The right relates to sun energy: fiery, energizing, and awakening. So, the yogic practice of left nostril breathing is thought to have a calming effect on the body.

🧠 A more science-y way of explaining this is that left nostril breathing puts the body into a parasympathetic state (instead of the “fight or flight” mode of the sympathetic state). Studies have even shown that left nostril breathing changes brainwave activity on EEG. Pretty cool!

Left nostril breathing is simple:

👍 Just press your right thumb against your right nostril, and breathe slowly and deeply through the left nostril.

That’s it!

You can combine it with other breathing practices, like box breathing (inhaling for a count of 4, holding for 4, exhaling for 4, and holding for 4) or just breathe deeply.

Will you try it?

11/18/2025

💫 How I manage stress as a [your title].

Because as much as I wish it weren’t true—we ALL go through things.

I know my work and relationships suffer when I’m under a lot of stress, so here are some things I do to keep it in check:

1️⃣ Prayer-
Taking a quiet moment with the creator of the universe does wonders for my soul. It brings me peace and comfort when things are chaotic.

2️⃣ Exercise -
Getting to the gym or just going for a walk, helps to release stress and endorphins that change your mood right away.

Did you know a 10 minute walk works better than most prescribed anti-depressants?

3️⃣ Playing an instrument.
I love my ukulele and after playing it, I feel more balanced and less stressed.

I believe we all need to find the strategies that work for our unique bodies and minds. It’s part of what I support my patients in discovering.

Visit charlottenaturalwellness.com for next steps.

11/14/2025

Should I exercise when I’m stressed?

There are a lot of mixed messages out there, so let’s look at some facts.

Intense exercise causes a temporary increase in stress hormones BUT:

✅ The cortisol spike during intense exercise reduces the cortisol response to subsequent stressors in life AND
✅ Exercise releases endorphins, which naturally combat stress AND
✅ Regular exercise over time supports a healthy cortisol rhythm.

Some exercises, like yoga and tai chi, combat stress by putting the nervous system into a more parasympathetic state.

So, for most people, exercise helps to combat stress.

Exercise only becomes a problem when it’s extreme and intense—particularly in people who are already stressed by other things in life.

It’s all about looking at the big picture!

Visit www.CharlotteNaturalWellness.com