Dr. Negin Misaghi, ND

06/01/2025

You know that grounded, clear-headed feeling after eating something truly nourishing — like a few squares of quality dark chocolate or a plate full of greens?

That’s not just willpower. It’s biology.

Your gut is constantly communicating with your brain, helping you decide when to eat and when to stop. And while we often focus on calories or carbs, the real conversation is happening through hormones like GLP-1.

Here’s where it gets interesting:
💊 Medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro use this mechanism — artificially boosting GLP-1 to curb appetite.
🥗 But nature’s been doing it all along. Whole, unprocessed foods — especially the bitter and fibrous kind — naturally enhance GLP-1 signaling, helping you feel full, nourished, and steady.

It’s not about restriction. It’s about reconnection.
With foods that work with your physiology instead of against it.

🌱 These foods don’t just satisfy hunger — they help regulate insulin, support your microbiome, and stabilize mood and energy long after the meal.

So the next time a craving hits, ask:
Am I just feeding hunger, or am I feeding satiety?

Your body knows the difference. And it’s asking for something real.

02/10/2025

Saffron: The Golden Spice for Health & Wellness

Did you know that saffron isn’t just a luxurious spice but also a powerful natural remedy? This little red thread is packed with benefits for your mind and body!

✨ Mood Booster – Saffron has been shown to support serotonin levels, helping to ease symptoms of anxiety and depression. 🌞💛

🧠 Brain Health – Rich in antioxidants, saffron may enhance memory and cognitive function, making it a great ally for brain health!

🌿 Hormonal Balance – Some studies suggest saffron can help with PMS symptoms, reducing mood swings, cramps, and irritability.

❤️ Heart & Metabolic Support – Saffron may improve blood sugar control, support healthy cholesterol levels, and promote circulation.

😴 Better Sleep – Struggling with rest? Saffron can naturally support relaxation and deeper sleep.

💡 How to Use: see recent reel

Have you tried saffron? Share your experience in the comments! ⬇️💬

01/15/2025

Happy New Year! Here are some timely and impactful articles addressing socially relevant topics, such as the truth about alcohol’s health risks and the importance of spirituality in mental well-being, as well as seasonally relevant issues like tackling this year’s persistent flu-season cough.

Happy New Year! Here are some timely and impactful articles addressing socially relevant topics, such as the truth about alcohol’s health risks and the importance of spirituality in mental well-being,...

12/04/2024

When your hormones are out of balance, it can feel like your body is working against you—mood swings, fatigue, stubborn weight gain, and more. As a naturopathic doctor, I focus on finding the root causes of these imbalances and supporting your body’s natural ability to heal.

Through personalized care and tools like
🫛bioidentical hormones,
🌱herbal medicine,
☯️acupuncture, and
🩵 lifestyle modifications—including aligning your routines with your menstrual cycle—we work to bring your system back into harmony.

When your hormones are balanced, you’ll notice it in every aspect of your life: steady energy, better moods, clear skin, a sense of calm, and that amazing feeling of being in sync with your body again. Healing your hormones is about reclaiming your health and living vibrantly.

11/28/2024

I am offering an online class this week on Bio-identical Hormones

for peri-menopause, menopause, PMS, PMDD, brain healing post-concussion & more…

If you struggle with insomnia, anxiety/irritability, memory/cognitive deficits, fatigue, heavy me**es, hot flashes/night sweats, bone loss (or osteoporosis), cardiovascular health concerns, weight gain post-menopause…you’ll benefit from this information session.

We will be reviewing the benefits, indications for use and how these hormones are monitored in Naturopathic practice as well as a review of the research dismantling the long held false beliefs around HRT. This session is provided so that you’re able to make informed decisions regarding them and to reduce the one-on-one appointment time needed to give the full scope of their benefits & risks.

BHRT Information Session

Friday, November 29, 12:15pm
or Thursday January 9, 12:15pm

Recording will be available afterward if you can't make it live

For Booking, scroll to the bottom of treatments, select BHRT INFORMATION SESSIONS. LOGIN OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT and pay the $20 registration fee. See you online!

Appointment Booking Calendar

11/21/2024

Hormones changed everything for me—my brain, my energy, and my quality of life. If you’ve been feeling “off” lately or not quite yourself, there’s likely a reason for it. Don’t dismiss it as just aging, and don’t let anyone else dismiss it either.

Unfortunately, many women have grown accustomed to gaslighting themselves. Take a moment to notice when and how you do this. Even simply recognizing it is a powerful first step toward change. Being truthful with yourself means paying attention to how you feel and being honest about what’s going on.

For women in their late 30s, 40s, and beyond, so much of this comes back to hormones—and I’ll explain why in this session. I’d love to have you join me and learn how to feel like yourself again. Hope to see you there!

🔗Register using link in bio (space is limited, next session January 9, 2025)

11/15/2024

Trouble sleeping? Pistachios may help (see point 7) but also ....Try cutting back on caffeine and evening alcohol. Alcohol may feel relaxing, but it can actually disrupt your liver and cause restless sleep (Chinese Medicine has known this for centuries). Consider swapping that nightcap for a calming tea like holy basil, chamomile, or skullcap.

As for caffeine, remember that its half-life is 2–8 hours, meaning it can linger in your system for hours. If you’re a slower metabolizer, even a morning coffee could still be active by midnight. And as your body becomes more depleted, it often becomes more sensitive to stimulation—whether it’s caffeine, noise, or light. Keep caffeine to mornings and give your body the rest it needs! 🌙☕🌿

If the above changes don't suffice, you may need solutions that target potential other imbalances:

1. A strong adaptogenic herb like ashwagandha or a milder one like holy basil
2.Mindfulness practice throughout the day to regulate the nervous system (if you're in sympathetic overdrive all day long, your body will have a hard time switching to the parasympathetic mode for rest and sleep)
3. Addition of blackout curtains, ear plugs, cool room
4. Exposure to morning light
5. Or even a bit of cortisol support (depending! good deep sleep requires a small amount of this)
6. Vitamin and Mineral supplementation (B6 & Magnesium are required for the making of Melatonin)
7. Handful of pistachios (HIGHEST amount of naturally occurring melatonin per gram compared to any other fruit, vegetable, animal product or cereal); PMID: 24878439 & 5409706
8. Digestive Support as it's always important to remember that proper stomach acid and pancreatic function is required to break down proteins into amino acids for absorption (L-tryptophan is an amino acid required for Melatonin production).
9. Bio-identical Progesterone – can help calm nerves and has a natural sedative effect that supports sleep especially in cases of insomnia that come on the 3-10 days pre-me**es.
10. Bio-identical Estrogen – as it eliminates the physical symptoms that cause interrupted sleep (frequent bathroom trips)!

If you need help with any of the above ☎️2262137115

10/28/2024

Waking up twice between 2-5am? For women over 40, it's so common that I’m surprised to find anyone sleeping through the night! If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Modern lifestyles—think screens, stimulants, and constant go-go-go—pile up and, mixed with hormonal shifts, make restful sleep a real challenge.

I've seen it all: women sleeping with lights on and showing low melatonin on their DUTCH Hormone tests, or those in a relentless cycle of “do-do-do” without a pause. When the nervous system’s on high alert all day, it’s no wonder it struggles to unwind at night.

Studies back it up: postmenopausal women report more sleep disruptions and dissatisfaction, even if their sleep architecture* doesn’t drastically change. This journey is complex, but reclaiming restful nights starts with addressing both body and mind! 💤✨

*eg. Some studies suggest that testosterone may positively influence sleep architecture, particularly in promoting deep sleep (slow-wave sleep), which is restorative and crucial for feeling refreshed. Reduced testosterone levels could, therefore, lead to less restful sleep.

🕸️ To see a sample dutch test report refer to 12 posts below or visit dutchtest.com

🗓️For a Comprehensive Initial Naturopathic Assessment book in totalhealthnd.janeapp.com

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10/17/2024

Do not believe them when they say this is a 'normal' part of ageing!

True, as we age, we lose muscle mass. Lack of muscle reduces the caloric needs of the body so you can be eating the same but ending up with excess calories. But you don't have to lose muscle!

As hormone levels drop, insulin resistance begins to set it. Insulin being an inflammatory AND a GROWTH hormone will stimulate fat deposition (among many other detrimental health concerns including memory loss, aches/pains, cardiovascule disease, osteoporosis and more). But there are solutions to this too!

Insulin resistance itself creates a vicious cycle of sweet cravings that then worsens insulin resistance -if there's no change, this vicious cycle tends to feed itself to create more problems.

In my upcoming post I'll share a solution to help you address this change to set a ｖｉｒｔｕｏｕｓ cycle in motion! ;)

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10/10/2024

Are you feeling like fall flowers, barely holding on? Hormonal changes in your 40's, 50's and even as early as your late 30's are unfortunately the current norm in females. I have many patients coming to me wanting to fix their "hormones" -such a general term to describe so much!!!
👏🏼Insulin is a hormone, 👏🏼so is cortisol, 👏🏼so is estrogen & testosterone and 👏🏼thyroid hormones!
Interestingly it wouldn't be incorrect to say that there's a shift in ALL💥 or most of these hormones during these transitional years of peri-menopause into post-menopause!
In the next series of posts I'll be sharing the specifics of these hormonal interactions and how best you can support them to ease this transition with minimal suffering (in moods, sleep, energy, night sweats/hot flashes, cycle irregularities,  weight gain, and more...).
If you can't wait for these posts and are ready to get a handle on your health, come in for a consult.

P.s. Dahlia's flower all the way through the fall until frost hits and the way they hang on -though barely- reminded me of what our body tries to do in the transition to menopause. Let's give them some support! 🌺
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☎️ 226-213-7115
📧 drnegin .com
📍 784 Richmond St. (just North of Oxford)
🌐 totalhealthnd.com

06/04/2024

exhausted, depleted, doing everything for everyone, can't say no, de-prioritizing needs, pushing through, fatigued, sleep-deprived, not eating well (no time or mental energy to plan or cook healthy meals) ➡️ majority of my female patients in the 30-60 age range. What do they all have in common? none or very limited boundaries.

It's so essential to learn this important interpersonal skill. Not only because it'll benefit your health and general sense of well-being, but because over-functioning to pick up someone else's slack or feeling responsible for someone who isn't taking self-responsibility is actually a disservice to the other.

It takes great practice to learn this if it was never modeled for you. And not only practice but drawing the smallest boundary will cause great discomfort and that is normal and expected simply because your nervous system is not used to it. Work through it. Seek out the help of a therapist/coach/counselor. But know that without this essential skill, you may not be able to get a handle on your burnout no matter how many herbs/supplements/labs/biohacking we do together.

Let me know if this is you and how I can support you. I can help you come up with a plan to get started by teasing out the biggest energy drains and finding the simplest boundaries to start with.

Yours in health,
Dr. Negin

05/21/2024

Happy International Tea day!

Some of my favourites are matcha, rooibose, holy basil (tulsi) and saffron.

I consider these medicine but i also just simply love their flavour and switch them up depending. Rooibos is a great decaf anti-oxidant rich tea. Matcha is a great boost (caffeine) but also well balanced with the Alpha brain-wave boosting properties of L-theanine for balance and of course the super anti-oxidant EGCG. Holy basil smells wonderful and is calming and goes oh so well with ginger. And saffron is a pick me up for moods and hormones (think pms).

What are some of your favorites and how do you enjoy them?