This is the question I have been hearing it a lot lately maybe because we are now past holidays season and some of that celebrating took a toll on our skin

Well, if you only listen to the dermatology, cosmetic and plastic surgery advice you will end up with a multitude of cream and potions and procedures.

I take a different approach. What if I tell you the secret to have a beautiful young-looking skin is about what you put in your body and about how you nourish your body. Things like food intolerance, toxins and nutrient deficiency will affect your skin!

That does not mean you should not take care of yourself from the outside-there are great products that I recommend to my patients. But that’s not going to ultimately going to solve the problem especially if you have acne, eczema or psoriasis for example.

So, for today I am going to focus on nutrient deficiency!

Our skin requires vitamins, glucose from healthy carbs, ceramide, fatty acids to heal, perform and look good.

So, what are the most important vitamins for the skin?

Vit A and C – will help skin retain moisture and hydration. Vitamin A also helps the skin make new collagen so make sure it is s present every day in your diet. Collagen is the matrix that holds our skin together from inside so cannot forget about this one.

Vit D – helps with healing and has anti-inflammatory effect not to mention the important role in autoimmune illnesses like psoriasis. Soaking up the sun is the way to get it but do not get fooled-it takes a good amount of time being outside to achieve that and most of us are not doing that frequent enough.

Vit E – healing, you know when you have small ulcerations or small skin cracks? that’s the one that might be missing!

Vitamin B deficiency can mess up your skin bad too – flaky skin, cracked lips, wrinkles …and let’s not forget we are talking about 8 different types of B vitamins.

Copper Increases skin thickness and elasticity so that’s something we always check as well with a blood test.

Zinc and selenium have antimicrobial activity and prevent photodamage aka sunburn.

And these are just few of the ingredients our skin needs!

So, what do you do?

We diagnose the imbalance, address the causes first and then help the body repair and regain balance. The body’s natural ‘’healing’’ intelligence takes care of the rest.

Testing for all those vitamins and minerals is easy and it is a finger pricking blood test. Once we get the results, we can build a regimen that is meant for you instead of a plain multivitamin that might not cover your needs.

If you have struggled with skin issue, what strategies did you use to make it better?

To your health and amazing skin,

Dana Neacsu, MD

Learn more info at www.mcimatlanta.com and Share this with someone who needs it!

Let’s Talk About Anxiety: Mental Health in 2020 event for Piedmont Women’s Heart Institute.

Time: July 16th at 3pm

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Here is my approach to fatigue:

1.Always exclude the most common, conventional causes of fatigue like anemia, uncontrolled diabetes or kidney problems. In my experience, however most people have ‘’normal’’ blood work and they still don’t feel well.

2.Get tested for adrenal gland dysfunction or fatigue, this is different from the adrenal insufficiency recognized by conventional medicine and so is the testing. Functional medicine tests the salivary cortisol and couple of other forms because these levels are indicative of cellular function wellbeing. The treatment usually involves addressing nutrition, sleep, stress reduction and a supplement protocol including some herbs known as adaptogens (they will stimulate or relax your body depending on whatever your body needs at any given time)

3.Check your thyroid with an extensive panel including T4 and T3 which are the active hormones and work with your doctor to determine what is the cause of thyroid imbalance (for example food sensitivities, gluten intolerance, adrenal dysfunction). Choose the right hormonal preparation to suit your body’s needs and not just the well-known Synthroid.

4.Always consider a mitochondrial imbalance as a possible cause of fatigue. Mitochondria is a little powerhouse existent in every cell and responsible for energy production. Unfortunately, is extremely sensitive to any kind of nutrients deficiency or environmental chemical toxicity. Luckily we can test for this imbalance as well and then correct it.

5.Make sure there is no chronic, low grade infection or inflammation in your body and I am thinking here particularly about digestive infections. I would like to emphasize the fact a lot of people do not get necessarily digestive problems with this type of infections but rather something like fatigue, skin rashes, achy joints, hormonal imbalance and so forth. Functional medicine uses a different type of stool testing much more detailed than the regular one used by conventional medicine and we also have a lower threshold for treating certain bacteria.

6.Think about food intolerance and sensitivity is an extremely common cause as well and most people are only aware of the food allergy (rash. redness, swelling of face, difficulty breathing) which is completely different and easier to recognize. Food sensitivity can be diagnosed by a blood test or even better by correlating symptoms with certain food ingested. The most common culprits are: gluten, dairy, soy. It is important to remember it takes your body a long time 4-6 weeks in average to get rid of the antibodies to a certain food so don’t expect major changes within the first couple of days. I would also recommend working with an experienced nutritionist/health coach.

7.Nutritional deficiencies are a well-known cause of fatigue and easy to diagnose with a blood test like Spectracell or Genova. These tests are different from the conventional medicine ones and most of the time much more sensitive.

Once it is determined what type of deficiency you have a supplement protocol can be designed for your needs at also you can look for certain foods rich in that nutrient. These tests are different than what conventional medicine does because they will show you the intra cellular level which is the most important for our bodies.

8.Reduce the toxic load our bodies carry and support your liver. kidneys and skin as major detox organs. A high chemical load will eventually impair every function in our body including hormonal and energy production.

Are you ready to start?

To your health!

Dana Neacsu, MD

 Supplements

Consider starting Magnesium at bedtime and a good brand of Omega 3 fish oil. Most of the time, these supplements are extremely safe but always check with your doctor first, especially if you have any kidney disorder or take a blood thinner!  Magnesium helps with the anxiety/irritability part and also prevents the headaches associated with menopause.  Fish oil is a great anti-inflammatory agent and I even heard from my patients it helps them think faster and clearer.

 Botanicals

One of the best-known remedies is Black cohosh and it can be  pretty efficient, especially combined with other plants like St. John’s Wort. Even used as a tea in the evening, it has an additional effect on stress reduction. Both botanicals are not a good choice if you have liver disease and St. John’s Wort can interfere with quite a few medications! So, again, checking with your doctor is a must.

In addition to that, I would suggest:

– an adaptogen such as Ashwagandha to support your adrenals;

– Maca powder, especially if taken in the morning.  It can increase your energy, libido and hormone levels.

– Sage tea, 3-4 cups a day, is especially good for hot flashes.

Make sure you get your supplements from a reputable health store for both safety and efficiency purposes.

Finally, if you decide to use hormonal replacement for menopause try to take the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration possible. Consider bioidentical hormone therapy if possible since their structure is like ours.  I also like trans dermal (patch) form in terms of safety.

And keep in mind that 50% of women experience recurrent symptoms after discontinuing the hormonal treatment!  So, try using all the above methods prior to, during, instead of, or after hormonal replacement, as they could be extremely helpful.

Consider the potential risks and benefits of each available treatment!

But menopause hormonal testing is not needed most of the time, unless we are trying to rule out an adrenal fatigue or a thyroid problem for example. The same is true for adjusting the dose.  Your doctor should rely more on how you feel and how your symptoms are changing rather than testing.

I will group my thoughts on what can help you feel better during menopause in two short posts – this is a lot of information, and we don’t need to be additionally overwhelmed right now!  Let’s start with the basics:

Most of the time, I would suggest to make sure there is no major nutrient deficiency or imbalance by using something like Spectracell or Genova blood testing. Such imbalance is known to possibly play a role in slowing down your hormone production.  The same is true for adjusting the dose.  Your doctor should rely more on how you feel and how your symptoms are changing rather than testing.

Exercise and stress reduction techniques are extremely important in this phase of your life.  And they work!  Based on numerous studies, the effects don’t take long to show up and help you feel better. Start with something easy like the 4-7-8 relaxing breath: inhale while counting to 4, hold your breath while counting to 7, and exhale all the way to 8.  It’s easy and really works for everything including bad traffic!

 Diet: I always start with discussing the anti-inflammatory diet, eliminating sugar, processed foods are among the most important first steps. Certain foods like flax seed and organic non-GMO soy can help as well, due to their phytoestrogen content.

The conclusion? Women who should not or do not want to take hormones may turn to herbal and nutritional therapies for managing their menopausal symptoms and risk factors.

These natural therapies are increasingly popular and have a growing body of scientific evidence to support their efficacy.

Supplements, botanicals and essential oils will be covered in my next post.

Feel better!

NOTE: The below blog may contain information that some may find disturbing.

Do safer cosmetics really matter? In light of what I know and now my work, yes, they do. I have found myself lately in great conversations with friends on the topic. I try really hard to not be that annoying friend that always talks about ingredient safety. I often bite my tongue and sometimes it’s easier than others. I can truthfully say that I get a lot more excited about a friend or loved one using a pure essential oil or cleaner cosmetic product than for the sale.

Several recent conversations prompted this blog. It is never my intent to scare people; it is always my intent to offer information and make people think.

In one scenario, I shared the Closing Presentation: Gregg Renfrew, Founder & CEO Leadership Summit Keynote 2017 with a friend. This is the note she sent back:

“Mary, once again, thank you for sending the link to this video. This was super informative and inspiring. I realize more and more how very little I know about all the chemicals and ingredients that go into my cosmetics. Now I am researching parabens, sulfates, you name it….this is super helpful.”

Several days later, the same friend:

“I was checking my skincare and was amazed….my day cream, body cream have parabens….[X] brand has parabens. I can’t believe it! I am just getting rid of everything now.”

This is what I consider a huge success – I made someone aware and that resulted in action on her behalf. Did she buy Beautycounter from me? No, at least not yet, she is doing her research. I appreciate people like that!

Scenario 2: A very close friend of mine made the statement:

“I just don’t want to have wrinkles, I don’t care what I put on my skin.”

There was a big lump in my throat after that statement. I love this girl; she is one of my best friends. Deep breath. I didn’t say anything but let me tell you what went through my head.

What I really wanted to ask her is:

Have you ever seen anyone go through or die of cancer?

If I had to guess, it would be no. I have. I have seen a perfectly healthy man who ate right, worked out, was happy, etc., etc. be gone from my life in a year and a half. That man was my dad. He died at 48. I witnessed his frustration having a hair fall into his food when he lost it, jumped out of his chair, grabbed the electric razor and asked me to shave all of his hair….that was one of the effects his chemo had. He loved to eat….but then said everything tasted like metal….that was another side effect of chemo.

He managed greatly through his first round of chemo but then cancer came back and spread out quickly. It impacted his brain. I remember me complaining about something small and his response was: “I can’t do the little things, I am not the same person, soon I will be gone and I will no longer be a burden.”

I remember the day when they marked dad’s face with markers to target radiation area. He left the facility with the marks on his face. He got home and took a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and started rubbing hard and jittery to take it off; he was trying to look calm but by his movements and the look on his face, I knew he wasn’t.

I remember vividly his last days begging the nurse for an overdose to end the pain. We begged him not to do it.

I was barely 19. I went through all that trying to be his rock, to stay positive and to have faith that somehow his cancer will go away. He wasn’t of the lucky ones.

I did an event for cancer survivors with other wellness folks. As we were watching the parade of people moving down the street, one of the doctors said: “These people have gone through hell and back”. I believed her…..

Scenario 3, I was having a discussion on vendors with another wellness person. The vendor in question offered products with retinol – EWG Rating. Retinol is frequently used in anti-aging cosmetics. I was uneasy with the vendor choice. As the conversation kept going, she mentioned that we don’t want to have wings at the event because they aren’t healthy. I had to stop her! We are now conditioned to think about food and what we put IN our bodies. The personal care and cosmetic industry is where the food industry was 10 years ago. We still don’t think that what we put ON our bodies matters. But it does. Skin is our largest organ. Anything we put on the skin goes into the bloodstream and different body organs thus impacting our health.

We will never know why dad got cancer. My family was exposed to the Chernobyl accident. My dad and mom are also Ph.D.’s in Biochemistry and both worked with radioactive materials. It is believed my dad’s cancer was due to environmental toxins.

While there is nothing we can do about the air that we breathe, there are often small changes that can add up to make a big difference. Some of those changes, like switching to safer cosmetics, is easy to do. Other changes like eliminating air fresheners, plugins, dryer sheets, and so forth are also easy to do as well. Marketers won’t tell you that. You do not have to believe me either. Do your own research. Read. Empower yourself to make safer choices for you and your family. Also, believe me, my family isn’t making all the right choices and all the time either but we are trying. Absolutely not judging here.

I remember there was a blog a mom had written saying something like: “Let me put whatever products I want on my child”. I totally agree we are all entitled to choices. I know that any mom will make the best choice when it gets to her kids. I simply want to encourage more to be aware of what is in those products. I can assure you that once you read a couple of research papers on harmful ingredients, you will for sure think twice. I have been there. I was shocked by all the things I did ‘wrong’ when my daughter was little. But I know that I made the best choices in light of what I knew then. It just happens that now I know more.

All that said, if I happen to be that friend that asks you to please throw away the fragrance potpourri from your bathroom, please know that I am only doing it because I truly love ya and your family.

My parents taught me that I should not fall a victim of circumstances but that I should take lessons learned and turn them into opportunities. Yes, maybe I was traumatized by what we went through.

However, I can’t think of a better way to honor dad than to become part of a social movement aimed to raise awareness about environmental toxins. I can’t change what happened to my dad but hopefully, I can impact another family’s life. Yes, this is a very personal journey for me.  

P.S. I have stopped using fragrance candles. I have a few in case of electricity loss. We lost power for about 10 minutes yesterday; I lighted 4 candles for 10 minutes. This morning, I woke up with red dotted circles around my eyes – this is how my body now reacts to harmful ingredients. 4 candles, 10 minutes. Food for thought.