With school now a two months in, most people use September as a ‘new year’ for health and goals before the holidays and the official New Year. However, if you have kids/a family/work or a life in modern times you likely have just settled in routine and October/November is the realistic time to start your health reset.
The most common health reset is weight loss. Most of us have struggled over the years with fluctuating weight and despite the knowledge of ‘eat less and exercise more’ we can’t seem to make lasting progress.
There are many reasons we aren’t successful with weight loss and why fad diets and extreme measures don’t work, but mostly it comes down to underlying hormone imbalances and the fact we’ve completely confused our basal metabolic rate by ‘eating less and exercising more’
In recent years I have been researching more on how we can use evidence based medicine to our advantage to lose weight without adding a complicated fad diet to our already busy lives.
What I have found is reducing cortisol (our long term stress hormone that effects our sleep and raises insulin resulting in belly fat), supporting liver function (this organ is highly underrated for metabolism!) and correcting leptin resistance (the hormone that we’ve down regulated with fad diets and that helps increase our basal metabolic rate).
If you have more than 20 pounds to lose I often prescribe Saxenda or Ozempic in conjunction with naturopathic support for cortisol and liver detox. Saxenda is a health Canada approved medication that is given as a daily injection which corrects insulin resistance, leptin resistance and helps people lose weight without a restricted diet plan. The benefit fo using Saxenda or Ozempic is that the wors with your body to reduce insulin and leptin resistance, in addition to helping your body crave health, nourishing foods while also increasing your basal metabolic rate.
If needles are a barrier, that’s ok, there are many other ways to correct the three common imbalances causing weight gain.
If you would like to learn more, please contact my office at 778-478-0048 or through www.drpratt.ca
Dr. Emily Pratt BSc ND
Naturopathic Physician
314-3001 Tutt Street
Kelowna, BC
778.478.0048