Empowered Wellness Functional Medicine

11/03/2025

The time change and less daylight has really gotten to me already. So excited to try this Happy Light. Comes highly recommended. Let’s hope it helps. Currently have it on while doing some things in my kitchen. What’s your thing to keep the winter blues away?

11/02/2025

🌤 Why Your Diet Can Make Seasonal Affective Disorder Worse

If you’ve noticed your mood 🥹dropping with the seasons, your food choices are a large part of the problem — not just the weather.

When your diet is full of sugar, alcohol, processed food, or you’re skipping meals and not getting enough protein, your brain chemistry and hormones take a hit.

Here’s how 👇
• Blood sugar swings from sugar and junk food lead to cortisol spikes → fatigue, anxiety, irritability.
• Low protein intake means fewer amino acids to make serotonin and dopamine → lower mood, low motivation, more carb cravings.
• Nutrient gaps (low vitamin D, B-vitamins, magnesium, omega-3s) make it harder for your brain to regulate mood and energy.
• Inflammation and gut imbalance from processed foods disrupt the gut-brain axis → mood changes, brain fog, and fatigue.

You don’t need another prescription—you need stability: protein, real food, balanced blood sugar, and nutrients that support neurotransmitters.

❤️Small nutrition shifts can help you feel more like yourself again—regardless of the season.

Goal: Disease correction & prevention instead of prescription dependencel

10/29/2025

You don’t need a cortisol test… your lifestyle is the test.

You work hard.
You take care of your family.
You’re juggling work, home, and everyone else’s needs — and trying to hold it all together.

No wonder you’re exhausted, wired, anxious, or can’t lose weight.
Your body’s been living in go mode for far too long.

This constant stress keeps your cortisol high, throwing off your hormones, energy, and mood.
And the truth is — you don’t need an expensive test to prove it. Your daily life already tells the story.

At ❤️ Empowered Wellness Functional Medicine, I help you understand what your body is trying to say and create real, sustainable plans to reset your stress response, balance your hormones, and restore your energy.

Let’s stop ignoring the signs.
Let’s figure this out together.

📩 Message me today to get started.

10/28/2025

You’ve struggled for years.
Tired all the time.
Tried every diet. Every supplement.
Listened to friends. Followed social media “hacks.”

And still… nothing changes. 😔

Your labs say you’re “fine.”
Your doctor gives no real answers.
You’re just told to “power through.”

But here’s the truth: feeling exhausted, bloated, anxious, moody, or “off” isn’t normal.
It’s your body waving a red flag 🚩

At ❤️ Empowered Wellness Functional Medicine, I don’t guess — I dig deeper.
And I’m so passionate about this work because I’ve walked this same road myself for over 20 years. I know what it’s like to be dismissed, tired, and searching for real answers.

That’s why I do what I do — to help you finally get to the root cause and feel like YOU again.

📩 If you’re ready to stop guessing and start healing, message me today.

10/24/2025

🧠 What your diet says to your brain matters.

Roughly 90% of serotonin—the neurotransmitter that supports mood, focus, and resilience—is made in your gut.

Your gut and brain are in constant conversation, and the food you eat sets the tone of that conversation.

🍔 The Standard American Diet — ultra-processed, sugar-loaded, inflammatory — doesn’t just disrupt digestion. If many of the foods you consume on a daily basis come from a PACKAGE, I’m talking to you.
The SAD damages the gut microbiome, increases , inflammation, and weakens the gut-brain connection.

When the gut is 🔥 inflamed, serotonin signaling is disrupted.
That means more mood swings, brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, and lower immunity.

🥦 When we choose real, nutrient-dense foods, we’re not just feeding our body — we’re nourishing our brain.
Supporting the gut microbiome = supporting mental health.

❤️🧠Heal the gut, and you support the brain, mood, energy, and focus too🧠❤️asi

10/17/2025

🧬 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids & Hormone Health: What You Need to Know

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) play an important role in our health—but the type and balance of these fats matter greatly when it comes to hormonal regulation.

🧠 How PUFAs Impact Hormones:
• Cell membrane health: PUFAs influence how flexible and responsive your cell membranes are. This directly affects how hormone receptors function.
• Inflammation & hormone disruption: Excess intake of unstable PUFAs—particularly omega-6 fatty acids—can promote chronic inflammation, which interferes with thyroid health, insulin sensitivity, and s*x hormone balance.
• Oxidative stress: These fats oxidize easily, creating free radicals that place additional stress on the endocrine system.

🥑 Common PUFA Sources (Omega-6 Rich):
• Vegetable and seed oils (soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, canola)
• Margarine and processed snack foods
• Fast food and fried foods

🐟 Hormone-Supporting Omega-3 Sources:
• Fatty fish (such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel)
• Flaxseed and chia seed
• Pasture-raised eggs
• Walnuts (if tolerated)

✨ Functional Medicine Perspective:
Balancing omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids can help support hormone signaling, reduce inflammation, and improve cellular communication.

✅ Hormone-Friendly Swaps:
• Replace vegetable oil with avocado or olive oil
• Limit processed foods and choose whole-food sources of healthy fats
• Incorporate omega-3 rich foods several times a week

Balanced fat intake supports healthy hormone production, stable energy, and reduced inflammation—key pillars for optimal wellness.

10/13/2025

❤️ Steward your body. Lead your home. Build your legacy. ❤️

Your health isn’t just about today — it’s about creating a ripple effect that impacts your family, your community, and the generations that follow.

When you choose to nourish your body, you gain the energy and clarity to lead your home with intention. And when your daily habits reflect wellness and alignment, you’re not just living well — you’re building a legacy of strength, health, and vitality.

As a functional medicine APRN, I believe your body is not a problem to be fixed — it’s a system to be stewarded.
✅ Steward your sleep
✅ Steward your stress
✅ Steward your nutrition
✅ Steward your hormones

Your future self — and your family — will thank you.

❤️ Start leading from the inside out.

10/12/2025

🍭 Hidden Sugar Bombs you might be eating every day:
🥣 Acai Bowl → 40–75g sugar
☕ Pumpkin Spice Latte→ 50–63g sugar
🥡 Sweet & Sour Chicken → 45–60g sugar
🍏 Caramel Apple → 60–70g sugar

👉 That’s like drinking 2–4 cans of soda in ONE sitting 😳

⚠️ Big sugar spikes = big problems:
• 🚨 Insulin surges + fat storage
• ⚡ Energy crashes + cravings
• 🌀 Hormone imbalance + weight gain

✨ Better swaps:
• Acai bowl → unsweetened base + protein toppings
• PSL → fewer syrup pumps + no whip
• Sweet & sour chicken → grilled chicken + low-sugar sauce
• Caramel apple → sliced apple + drizzle of nut butter or dark chocolate 🍫

Balanced blood sugar = better energy, mood, and hormone health 💪

10/09/2025

📢 Let’s Talk About Abdominal Obesity — It’s More Than Just Belly Fat

Abdominal (or visceral) fat isn’t just sitting under the skin — it surrounds your organs and acts like an active endocrine organ, producing inflammatory signals and disrupting hormones throughout your body.

🔴 Why it matters:
• 🫀 Increases cardiovascular risk: Belly fat releases inflammatory cytokines that raise blood pressure, cholesterol, and plaque buildup.
• 🧠 Impacts brain health: Chronic inflammation can contribute to brain fog, mood changes, and increased risk for cognitive decline.
• 🩸 Worsens insulin resistance: Visceral fat makes it harder for your body to regulate blood sugar — a major driver of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
• 🧬 Disrupts hormones: In both men and women, abdominal obesity can lower testosterone, increase estrogen dominance, and disrupt cortisol rhythms.
• 🦴 Increases inflammation & aging: It accelerates inflammatory pathways that contribute to fatigue, pain, poor sleep, and slower recovery.

✨ The good news? Abdominal fat is metabolically active, which means with the right nutrition, movement, sleep, and stress management, it can be reduced — improving energy, hormone balance, and longevity.

👩‍⚕️ This is a core focus in functional medicine — we don’t just target the scale, we address the root drivers like insulin resistance, cortisol dysregulation, inflammation, and hormone imbalance.

10/06/2025

💗💙 Alcohol & Your Hormones: The Truth Both Men and Women Need to Know 💗💙

We often think of alcohol as “just a drink,” but in functional medicine, we look deeper — and the truth is, even moderate drinking can throw your hormones off balance in ways that impact your energy, mood, weight, and long-term health.

💗 For women: Alcohol increases estrogen levels and impairs liver detox pathways — the same ones that metabolize hormones. That means estrogen can build up, contributing to PMS, perimenopause symptoms, fibroids, weight gain around the hips and thighs, and even increased breast cancer risk. It also lowers progesterone, which is key for mood, sleep, and stress resilience.

💙 For men: Alcohol reduces testosterone production and increases aromatase activity (the enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen). Over time, this can lead to lower libido, muscle loss, increased belly fat, mood changes, and even fertility challenges.

💗💙 For everyone: Alcohol disrupts blood sugar balance, gut health, and sleep — three pillars of hormonal regulation. Even “social drinking” a few times a week can have ripple effects on cortisol, thyroid function, and metabolic health.

💗 Functional medicine is about root cause care — and if hormones feel “off,” alcohol is one of the first habits we examine. You don’t have to quit completely, but becoming mindful of your intake could be a powerful first step toward balanced hormones and better health.

💙 Ready to dig deeper into what’s driving your symptoms? This is exactly what we uncover in functional medicine — and I’d love to help you get started.

10/04/2025

If your rest (sit around) you RUST!!! Movement is essential to our bodies and our mental health. We were made to move not sit and consume screens day and night. Lack of movement actually makes us feel worse.

10/02/2025