Dr. Sarah Giovinazzo, ND

Facial acupuncture is one of my favorite antiaging hacks.

The needles help to stimulate collagen production and bring blood flow to the face. This helps to promote a youthful glow and brighter appearance.

Facial acupuncture can be done to improve:
• Fine lines and wrinkles
• Sagging skin
• Acne
• Puffiness and swelling
• Jaw tension

Even if you don’t have these concerns, this is such a great treatment for prevention as well. We’ll build a customized skin care routine for you to follow in between appointments for maximum results.

DM to book your skin consultation.

Have you ever noticed that if you slept a few hours less or had a really poor night’s sleep, you were hungrier and craved carbs a lot more the next day?

We all know sleep is important but studies are now showing how it actually affects our metabolism, hormones and weight.

Sleep restriction can cause:
• Decreased glucose tolerance
• Decreased insulin sensitivity
• Decreased leptin (satiety hormone that tells the body to stop eating)
• Increased cortisol levels at night
• Increased ghrelin (hunger hormone and increases food intake)
• Increased hunger
• Increased appetite

When it comes to regulating hormones and weight loss, sleep quality and duration are a key part of the lifestyle efforts that need to be place. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3065172/

When it comes to leaky gut, quercetin is one of my favourite treatments to include.

Leaky gut can be caused by inflammation in the digestive tract, overexercising, certain medications, chronic stress among other things. This creates passages in the digestive tract where there shouldn’t be any, causing food to interact with the immune system. This creates more inflammation, food sensitivities and can eventually lead to other chronic conditions.

Quercetin is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substance. Keeping inflammation levels down is essential to gut healing.

Quercetin also heals the passages in the digestive tract, sealing off the interaction between the food and immune system. This is essentially “fixing the leak” part of leaky gut.

Quercetin has a third role in this by working on the mast cells that contribute to leaky gut. These are the cells that release histamine and play a big part in allergies. By stabilizing mast cells, the histamine doesn’t get released, which is a cause of leaky gut.

We can get a lot of quercetin from the diet. Here are the top quercetin foods:
• Black/ green tea
• Capers
• Apples
• Red onion
• Kale
• Cranberries
• Asparagus

Save this post for the next time you’re doing a blood test for hormones.

Did you know there’s an optimal time of your cycle and time of day to check certain hormones?

Check out this list:

Estrogen – day 3 of your cycle
Progesterone – 5-7 days after ovulation (this is usually day 21 of a 28 day cycle)
Testosterone – before 10 am or within 3 hours of waking
DHEA – in the morning, 1 week before or after your menstrual cycle
Cortisol AM – before 9 am
Cortisol PM- around 4:00 pm
Thyroid – between 7-9 am and on days 1-9 OR days 21-28 of your cycle

Progesterone is one of our main female hormones.

It peaks in the second half of the cycle, after ovulation. There are some key clues that can point to low levels of progesterone.

Irregular periods, spotting or short cycles
Weight gain
Acne
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Anxiety
Low mood

Some of these are actually similar to estrogen dominance. That’s because when progesterone is low, estrogen is the more dominant hormone, even if the levels are normal.

This is why testing is so key. Understanding which hormones are imbalanced is essential to safe and effective treatment.

Antiageing ingredient: lactic acid

This acid is naturally found in milk and is part of the Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) family.

This can be a component of chemical peels but also as part of a regular skin routine, depending on the strength.

Lactic acid improve fine lines and wrinkles through:
• Exfoliating cellular debris
• Firm and strengthen skin
• Enhance cell turnover

Other uses for lactic acid are:
• Enlarged pores
• Hyperpigmentation
• Uneven skin tone

Zinc has become popular for its beneficial effects on the immune system.

But zinc is also essential for thyroid function, metabolism, wound healing and is needed for taste and smell.

Some of the foods highest in zinc include:
• Meat
• Shellfish
• Beans
• Legumes
• Nuts
• Seeds

Save this list!

Have you ever eaten bread and all of a sudden didn’t feel well?

Gluten has become known as an inflammatory food that more and more people are considering whether it’s a food sensitivity. A reaction to gluten doesn’t necessarily mean celiac disease or an allergy, but there can still be an immune response to gluten that triggers symptoms when you eat it. Something else to keep in mind is that it can take up to 4 days for food sensitivity symptoms to show up.

Some of the signs of a gluten sensitivity include:
• Digestive concerns – gas, bloating, stomach pain, bowel movement irregularities
• Headache/ migraines
• Fatigue
• Brain fog
• Joint pain
• Skin concerns

If you think a gluten sensitivity may be causing your symptoms here are a couple of things to consider:
1. Food Sensitivity Testing – sometimes it’s not gluten but it’s a sensitivity to other ingredients in foods commonly paired with gluten like wheat and yeast. This will test the IgG immune response to the gluten protein gliadin.
2. GI MAP test – This will show you IgA immune response to gluten. It will also test parasites like giardia that can mimic celiac-like symptoms.

DM me GLUTEN if you think you might have a gluten sensitivity.

Skin Myth: Sunscreen only needs to be worn in the summer.

This is completely false.

Although we don’t feel the warm of the sun during the winter, and it’s uncommon to get a sunburn, the rays can still have damaging effects. This leads to faster aging and wrinkles.

In the winter, the need for sunscreen on the face is compounded. Not only are we getting the rays from the sun directly, but they are also reflected in the snow by up to 90%. This means we can be exposed to almost double the rays.

It’s important to know that although glass windows blocks the majority of UVB rays, it does allow around 50% of UVA rays to pass through. If there is a lot of natural sunlight coming into your home through the windows, this is something to think about. The UVA rays are the ones that are mostly responsible for premature aging and wrinkle formation.

Wearing SPF daily as of a skin care routine is one of the best ways to prevent wrinkles and aging.

Why is topical vitamin C an essential part of a skin routine?

As we age, the amount of vitamin C in our skin decreases. Combine this with the depletion caused by UV radiation, pollution and smoking and we can end up having much lower amounts over time.

Good amounts of vitamin C are needed for so many functions when it comes to healthy skin. Some of the most important include:
🍋 Stimulates collagen production which reduces fine lines and wrinkles
🍋 Antioxidant to protect the skin from damage (even sun damage)
🍋 Decreases melanin production which can minimize dark spots
🍋 Lowers inflammation common in conditions like acne, rosacea and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation
🍋 Supports the immune system, fighting pathogens on the skin

Topical vitamin C can be combined with a diet rich in vitamin C for even better support!

One of the keys to gut health is …. Butyrate.

But what is that??

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that helps the gut by:
• Giving fuel to the intestinal cells
• Supporting the immune system
• Protecting against digestive disease
• Decreasing inflammation in the digestive tract

The best way to increase butyrate levels is through eating a high-fibre diet. This can be done through consuming a diet rich in whole food, plant-based items. Some of these include:
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Whole grains
• Legumes
• Nuts/seeds

Keeping fibre levels up has many more benefits than just the butyrate. Be sure to drink enough water to avoid constipation!

Could the oils you’re using be making migraine pain worse?

Let’s take a look at linoleic acid vs. omega 3.

Linoleic acid is found in these oils: safflower, grapeseed, poppyseed, sunflower, h**p, corn, soybean, walnut and sesame. Omega 3 is mainly found in fatty fish, flaxseed and chia seeds.

Studies have shown that diets higher in fatty fish and lower in vegetable oil decreased inflammation along the pathway that causes migraine pain. After a 16 week dietary change, participants had a 30-40% reduction in total headache hours, severe headache hours and number of headache days per month.

This is a subtle change in diet that can make a big difference in migraine pain.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1448

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Inflammation is the basis of so many different health conditions.

There may be elevated levels of inflammation in our bodies even if we don’t know it. This is where testing is so helpful. We can test inflammation levels in blood work as well as test the foods that can cause inflammation in your body.

Inflammation can show up in many different symptoms and can be the root cause of:
• Migraines
• Weight gain
• Autoimmune disease
• Joint pain
• Mood changes
• Fatigue
• And so much more

Although diet and lifestyle are the most important pieces of keeping inflammation levels down, here are my top anti-inflammatory essentials:

Fish oil
Curcumin
Boswelia
Castor Oil (topically only)

If you think inflammation can be causing your health concerns, send me a DM with the word INFLAMMATION.

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Hi everyone 👋 I just wanted to do a quick self-care check-in. The winter blues are in full force for many of us, so I’m here with a few tips to help you get through. We’re in this together!

My first tip is to add light to your home! Open your blinds and curtains during the day as vitamin D from natural light can help improve your mood. ☀️

My next tip is to stick to your schedule. It’s common during the winter for us to want to sleep more and socialize less. Keeping yourself on schedule will help keep your spirits up!

Do something for yourself every day that makes you feel confident! Having a self-care routine will boost your mood. Mine is taking the extra time to make sure I do my morning and nighttime skincare routine!

How are you beating the winter blues? Share with everyone your tips in the comments!

Here’s one ingredient that can combat acne! As a part of the beta-hydroxy acid (BHA) family, salicylic acid is an oil-soluble exfoliant that can pe*****te into pores and unclog them.

Let’s work together and tackle your acne. Send me a message to chat!

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Take charge of your health! No one knows your body as well as you do, so it's important to listen to what it's telling you.

Signs you need to take a different approach to your health:
- You're experiencing symptoms but they're being dismissed.
- You've been unsuccessful in determining the root cause leading you to continuously struggle with symptoms.
- You've have been told that everything on testing is "normal" but you're still experiencing symptoms.
- You don't feel like you used to but are told that it's part of the aging process and to just accept it.

There's a lot we can do with functional medicine testing to uncover the root cause of your symptoms. Using your body's unique data we create customized treatment protocols to help you feel your best!

DM if you have any questions or to find out more!
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Migraines are the worst, trust me I know! I struggled with migraines for years before learning how to get to the root of them.

If you relate to any of these symptoms your migraines could be caused by your hormones! However, the best way to find out for sure is for us to test.

Not sure if your migraine symptoms are hormonal? Send me a message!

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