You may be hearing a lot of buzz about HRT, and wondering why, given it got such a bad rap 40 years ago, it is now making a come-back. If you are currently asking yourself this question, you are not alone. It is helpful to understand the history and evolution of HRT over the last few decades. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) most commonly refers to the supplementation of estrogen and progesterone—the female sex hormones that decline significantly during menopause. Early Estrogen Sources...

The Omega-3 Index is a blood marker that reflects how much of the marine omega-3 fats EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are built into your red blood cell membranes. Because red blood cells turn over slowly, the index is often used as a more “long-term” indicator of omega-3 status than a one-time diet recall or a plasma fatty-acid test. It is defined as the combined amount of EPA + DHA in red blood cell (RBC) membranes, expressed as a percentage of total RBC fatty...

Catastrophizing is a common thinking pattern where your mind jumps to the worst-case scenario and then treats it as likely or inevitable. In therapy circles, it is often called “cognitive distortion”. It can increase anxiety and make problems feel monumental and unsolvable. Just thinking catastrophic thoughts has been shown to increase blood inflammatory markers temporarily. Interestingly, in men these markers returned to normal levels when they stopped catastrophizing, but in women the...