Fresh beginnings all around: here’s to a new year and a new decade. Will the 2020’s be a new instantiation of the Roaring 20’s? Whatever the zeitgeist, we hope that the 20’s see our readers achieve new personal goals with just enough leisure to savor and enjoy life along the way. This month, we feature a number of topics that we hope will help you accomplish this.

Dr. Krysten DeSouza, ND shares her insights on the health benefits of spiritual practices, specifically prayer. Several studies have documented associations between religious practice and reductions of anxiety and depression. Although this just seems to make sense on the surface, Dr. DeSouza delves into the hormones and neurocircuits that may help explain this.

Dr. Conan Jones, ND examines the health benefits of fasting. There are many forms of fasting, but they all cause the breakdown of glycogen, and some degree of ketosis. Dr. Jones explains how this has been shown to benefit health.

Following in the same stream, Dr. Chris Habib, ND contributes his insights on ketosis and the ketogenic diet. Ketosis has been associated with changes in neurocognitive function as well as metabolic health. Dr. Habib provides some general guidelines as to how one might conduct a ketogenic diet; although it is always recommended to consult a licensed healthcare provider prior to undertaking such an intervention.

Dr. Christine Novokowsky, ND tackles the ever- challenging topic of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Most women suffer from some form of PMS, whether this be related to mood changes, fluid retention, bloating, digestive changes, etc. Dr. Novokowsky shares her insights on the use of herbs and supplements in this area.

Finally, Dr. Kaitlyn Zorn, ND discusses headaches. A number of natural health products and therapies have been shown to benefit headache sufferers, and Dr. Zorn reviews the evidence on each of these topics.

We hope that these topics get you off to good start in 2020!

In health,
Dr. Heidi Fritz, MA, ND