Cardinal Roots Wellness Functional Medicine

02/13/2026

If hormones were as simple as “one number being off,” most of you would feel better by now.

But you don’t.

Because hormone issues are rarely about ONE hormone being too high or too low. They’re about how your whole body is communicating… or not.

Here are 5 BIG reasons hormones stay stuck that almost no one explains:

1. Your gut
If digestion is inflamed, sluggish, or imbalanced, hormones don’t get metabolized or cleared properly. That can mean estrogen recirculating, poor nutrient absorption, and constant inflammation driving symptoms.

2. Your nervous system
If your body is living in fight-or-flight, hormones don’t stand a chance. Chronic stress disrupts the brain-adrenal-thyroid-hormone loop and keeps cortisol calling the shots.

3. Your daily patterns
Sleep, food, movement, stress. Not perfection — patterns. When stress is constant and rest is rare, hormones shift downstream whether labs look “normal” or not.

4. Toxins you’re exposed to every day
Plastics, pesticides, fragrances, cleaning products. These can act like hormones in the body and confuse your real ones — even at low levels.

5. Your emotional load
Unprocessed stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and burnout don’t just live in your head — they live in your hormones. And hormone imbalance feeds right back into mood, motivation, and resilience.

If you’ve tried hormones, supplements, or labs… and you’re still exhausted, gaining weight, moody, foggy, or just don’t feel like yourself — it’s probably because you’ve been looking at hormones in isolation.

And that’s not how the body works.

This is exactly why I do what I do.

You’re not broken — you’re just missing the full picture. 💚

02/12/2026

Many people are told their labs are “normal” while symptoms persist.

That’s often because conventional testing looks for disease, not WHY the body is struggling.

When symptoms don’t make sense, these are some of the functional tests I use to uncover root causes:

1. GI-MAP (Comprehensive Stool Test)
This evaluates gut bacteria, parasites, viruses, yeast, H. pylori, inflammation, digestion, and immune markers. It helps explain bloating, constipation or diarrhea, reflux, acne, eczema, autoimmune flares, hormone imbalance, anxiety, mood changes, and even cholesterol issues.

2. Organic Acids Test (OAT)
This urine test gives a deep look at cellular metabolism and brain chemistry. It provides insight into neurotransmitters involved in depression, anxiety, ADHD, motivation, focus, and mood regulation. It also shows mitochondrial energy production, nutrient deficiencies, detox capacity, oxalates, yeast and bacterial metabolites, and markers tied to brain fog, fatigue, and weight resistance.

3. Mycotoxin Testing
This assesses exposure to mold toxins, which can drive chronic fatigue, inflammation, sinus issues, hormone disruption, neurological symptoms, mood changes, and stubborn gut problems even when diet and supplements seem dialed in.

4. DUTCH Hormone Test
This looks at cortisol patterns, s*x hormones, estrogen metabolism, progesterone balance, and androgen activity. It helps connect symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, insomnia, weight gain, PMS, low libido, mood swings, and burnout to what’s actually happening hormonally.

These tests don’t label you with a diagnosis.
They help us understand what your body is dealing with so we can stop guessing and start supporting it strategically.

If you’ve been doing all the “right things” and still don’t feel like yourself, this is often where the missing pieces are.

02/01/2026

I shared this today because it landed so deeply for me.

Freedom doesn’t come from staying comfortable.
It comes from telling the truth — even when that truth feels inconvenient, uncomfortable, or disruptive to others.

So many of us swallow our truth to keep the peace.
We hold it in our bodies.
We carry it for our mothers, our grandmothers, our families, our roles.

And for women especially, unspoken truth doesn’t just stay emotional — it becomes physical.

Chronic tension, fatigue, hormone imbalances, gut issues, anxiety, inflammation, and **unexplained weight gain** often show up when we’ve learned to silence ourselves, over-function, stay in survival mode, or carry what was never ours to hold.

Weight gain isn’t always about food or willpower.
For many women, it’s the body’s way of protecting itself — slowing things down, buffering stress, and holding onto safety when life has required too much for too long.

But the moment we name the truth?
Something shifts.
The nervous system softens.
Inflammation can calm.
The body no longer needs to protect in the same way.

Living your truth isn’t always easy — but it is freeing.
And the relief that comes from speaking it is always worth the effort.

Choose freedom over comfort.

Today’s journal prompt (the one I shared in the video):
Where am I staying silent to keep others comfortable?
What truth is asking to be expressed — not to harm, but to free me?
What physical symptom — including weight — might ease if I honored that truth?

If this resonates and you feel like your body is holding unspoken stories, this is exactly the work I support women through — blending nervous system regulation, hormone and gut support, and belief rewiring.

You don’t have to carry what isn’t yours anymore.

01/29/2026

If you're feeling chronically exhausted, don't accept "you're just getting older" as an answer. Fatigue is a symptom, not a root cause.
We look at energy production through a systems lens:

Are your mitochondria supported?
Is your thyroid truly optimized?
Are your adrenals firing appropriately?
Are you absorbing your nutrients?

Rest isn't enough when your body is struggling to generate cellular energy. You don't need to push through, you need to investigate, and we can help. Stop guessing. Start testing. Book your 1:1 consult and receive a science-backed protocol tailored to your unique biology.

01/24/2026

01/20/2026

01/20/2026

I tried blaming everything for the exhaustion I had…

Hormones.
Food.
Toxins.
Infections.
Cold Ass Michigan Winter.
The planets being weird.
Yes… all of that matters.

But the real energy thief?
Chronic stress stored in my body.

Turns out I was carrying emotional weight that was never mine.
I journaled. I meditated. Ripped it up and I let that s**t go.

And my energy came back.
No new supplements.
No protocol.
No detox or new diet.

Sometimes you’re not tired — you’re just emotionally overpacked.

If your tired of being tired, Watch the video.

01/20/2026

Progesterone support isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing LESS of the things that drain it.
If you experience brain fog, forgetfulness, or mental fatigue during the second half of your cycle, it’s likely tied to your hormones... not just stress or “mom brain.”

Right after ovulation, estrogen drops and progesterone rises. While progesterone is calming, it can also slow cognition when it's not well balanced. This is especially true if there’s inflammation or adrenal dysfunction in the picture.
Supporting progesterone naturally and reducing inflammation can dramatically

• Eat enough, especially carbs + protein
Low-carb, skipping meals, or fasting = higher cortisol → lower progesterone

• Prioritize sleep before midnight
Progesterone is made and used best when your nervous system feels safe at night

• Lower stress, not willpower
Chronic stress steals progesterone to make cortisol

• Support blood sugar
Protein at every meal = fewer hormone crashes

• Magnesium matters
Low magnesium = more PMS, anxiety, and poor sleep

• Warm your body
Cold exposure, under-eating, and overtraining suppress progesterone

• Caffeine after noon can sabotage it
Especially in the luteal phase

• Gentle movement > intense workouts
Walking, stretching, yoga beat HIIT right now

Progesterone thrives in safety, nourishment, and rest. Not hustle.

01/19/2026

Colds, flares, and crashes don’t happen randomly. They’re the result of load + threshold. When your body hits its limit from poor sleep, processed food, unprocessed emotions, or silent infections… the immune system sends a message. Symptoms are that message.

Instead of suppressing the symptom, let's ask: What filled the stress bucket? What can we remove to lower the load?

This is how we stop treating sickness as “bad luck” and start seeing it as intelligent feedback. Your symptoms are messengers. Let’s decode them together.

01/16/2026

If wine, sauerkraut, or aged cheese make you flush, itch, or anxious, you might not be allergic. You might be histamine intolerant.

Histamine isn’t just about allergies 🤧
When histamine is high, it can quietly drive a LOT of symptoms people don’t connect.

High histamine can contribute to:
• High blood pressure and heart palpitations
• Anxiety, panic, irritability, feeling “on edge”
• Headaches and migraines
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Flushing, redness, itching, hives
• Nasal congestion or post-nasal drip
• Acid reflux, nausea, bloating, diarrhea
• Insomnia or waking around 2–4am
• Hormone chaos (worse PMS, estrogen dominance, intense cramping and heavy bleeding)
• Brain fog, poor focus, derealization
• Temperature intolerance (hot flashes or chills)

Histamine is a neurotransmitter, immune signal, and inflammatory driver.
When it’s not being broken down properly, your nervous system stays stuck in fight-or-flight.

This is why “doing all the right things” still doesn’t help for some people.

Root causes I often see:
• Gut infections or dysbiosis
• DAO enzyme deficiency
• Mold or toxin exposure
• Chronic stress and high cortisol
• Nutrient deficiencies (B6, copper, magnesium)
• Hormone imbalances

If antihistamines help… but don’t fix it
If symptoms come and go randomly
If wine, leftovers, or fermented foods wreck you

Histamine might be the missing piece.

01/06/2026

Sometimes the rain isn’t here to ruin the day.
The rain doesn’t just water the earth.
It cleanses. It clears. It releases.

It washes away the bulls**t stories, the fears, the old programming that’s been running in the background of your life.

Sometimes healing isn’t about adding more.
It’s about letting go.

What are you ready to let the rain take today? 🌧️