NourishDoc: So we are going to be talking about hormones, specifically sectional hormones, right? So we have Dr. Voloshin, she is a naturopathic doctor, in our studio today. She focuses on women’s health, hormones, libido, and fertility. Well, welcome, Dr. Voloshin.
Dr. Voloshin: Thank you for having me, Amita.
What Are Sex Hormones?
NourishDoc: Okay. So let’s just talk about, you know, we can focus on the sexual hormones and the libido. This is a topic that people are not very comfortable discussing. So tell us a little about focusing on the female sexual hormones part.
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Dr. Voloshin: Yeah, you know hormones are such a big topic for women in general, you know when we’re in the womb in our mother’s womb, we were just inundated, we were swimming in the hormones, especially estrogen, that was the major one of course, progesterone and testosterone were there also. But yeah, we’re constantly exposed to hormones, which help us develop into humans. I’ve been interested in hormones for a long time, so many women, you know, you could say most women struggle with either fatigue or PMS, or you see some sort of fertility issue or headaches, some kind of hormonal problem, right? So, there’s just so much to it: PMS, acne, low libido, PCOS, endometriosis, hot flashes, headaches, migraines, hair loss, weight loss, or weight gain. It’s just like, wow, so much there.
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NourishDoc: Yeah. So help us explain only the beta part; I know you specialize in low libido and especially for women; as you said, women have, we all of us have such an exciting and crazy journey, right? Right from our puberty to PMS and fertility and then moving on forward. So the low libido doesn’t happen only when women are close to menopause, or does it all? Can it also occur, you know, when we are going through PMS issues or fertility? I mean, well, what happens here?
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah, honestly, low libido can happen anytime. You know, it doesn’t have to be later in life with menopause. Actually, a lot of young women struggle with low libido, too. They just never really had a libido; some young women in their teens, you know, have a high libido. Then some just have no interest at all, so it can happen to anyone.
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Hormones For Healthy Libido
NourishDoc: So is it like the hormones controlling the libido? I mean, that’s what I’m assuming like, let’s say young teenage or, you know for a kind of a woman, you know in the 20s, if they have low libido, what is the reason for low libido at that time, you know during that timeframe.
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah. It can be hormones, for sure. So the main hormones responsible for libido are estrogen and also testosterone mainly. You know, for women, we have maybe ten percent of the amount of testosterone that men do, but still, it’s essential to get us aroused and then estrogen. So everything has to be in balance but then also stress and our mental-emotional picture, how are we raised with sex, A taboo topic which for most of us it was, I don’t know about you, but it was for me. It was like, oh, sex is like we don’t do that.
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NourishDoc: Yes. Asian people are the same way as you’re saying, right?
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah, exactly, so there are many reasons. Especially if there’s any sort of abuse that happens, you know, mental, emotional, or sexual abuse, yeah, that can really play a role, and every individual is different. You know you might have a similar story but respond differently to it. So yeah, if a woman came in with low libido, I would check out her hormones, not only her sex hormones but also her thyroid, because if your thyroid isn’t producing the right amount of hormones, then you know, it kind of causes a cascade and things just get pulled from other places.
Tests To Identify Hormone Imbalance
NourishDoc: So what type of test would you do? Like someone comes to your clinic, they are young, like in their twenties or thirties for that, you know, for them to be not having low libido problems from a specific point of view. So what kind of different tests would you stack, like you said, thyroid tests, hormone tests, or anything else? Then you understand their history as well as stress.
Dr. Voloshin: Absolutely. Yeah, I like to run a full-blood panel. Hence, you know CBC, which is a complete blood cell count; looking at iron, and white blood cells, you know their immune system and how there are kidneys and liver function. Then the thyroid hormones Tthree, Tfour, free Tthree, and free Tfour, TSH, and then the sex hormones, obviously estrogen progesterone and testosterone, but then I also would wanna look at LHS, FSH and then the breakdown of the different estrogens, estrone estradiol estriol and DHT, dihydrotestosterone, which is often seen as the bad one which when it’s in excess, it can cause you to know male pattern baldness and things like fat, cortisol, that’s a big one too, you know that has to do with stress and how much energy we have because if you have low energy, you’re not going to have energy for sex right? So, yeah, I always like to share the story about, you know, when you’re being chased by a tiger when you’re under high stress, you’re not going to produce a baby, you’re in survival mode, and so you know your ovaries are going to kind of shut down because that’s not important for you to survive. So handling the stress is going to be super important as well.
NourishDoc: Sex is not just only a physical thing. It’s also very mental and emotional; you know, for all of us to connect with someone. It’s just not only at least for women; I would say that not only a physical thing, right?
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah. The mental-emotional picture is so important; you know how you feel about your partner, and you know that will play a role too. Do you feel close to them as women? We want to feel tight and have a conversation. You know, emotional intimacy before we want to have sexual intimacy. In contrast, men are the opposite; you know they want to have sex, they want to have physical intimacy, and then they want to talk.
NourishDoc: Yeah. Okay, so let’s say someone comes in, and then you do this entire panel test right, that you’re talking about. So how do you go about the therapy part of it? You know you are a naturopathic doctor; you will obviously do all-natural canopies here. What is that framework look like, just on a higher level?
Holistic Treatment For Low Libido
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah. So I really like to start with nutritional therapies, and you know how your sleep is? How are you eating? Are you getting the proper nutrients that you need, or are you eating foods that your body is rejecting, or you’re having symptoms, you know whether it’s diarrhea or constipation or bloating, so I want to look at the gut health. Are there any food sensitivities you know? Are you intolerant to gluten, for example, or dairy? Which two do I bring up because they’re super common? Most people know about peanut allergies, you know nut allergies, but, yeah, there’s so much more to it. Sometimes you think you’re eating something healthy, but your body rejects it. I recently had a client who, you know to do the autoimmune Paleo diet. She said she felt awful, she felt worse, and guess what, we did a food allergy panel. She does not tolerate almonds and cashews, and she was eating a lot of those, so it’s like, oh, no wonder you don’t feel good. So there is no one size fits all, you know. Still, definitely focusing on whole foods where you’re eating lots of plant-based foods you know your leafy greens, your root vegetables, Brussels sprouts, Low sugar fruits, you’re not eating, you know too much, mango or pineapple that are high in food. However, you know you can have those; it’s just making sure that you’re not eating five mangoes a day or you know you’re not relying on that high sugar stuff and getting up a ride, that’s so important to get proper flora in your gut and then to add certain nuts and seeds, for example, flaxseed has been really well studied but how it helps balance hormones, especially estrogen and so what it’ll do is, it will help your body naturally produce estrogen. Still, it will also help you excrete and metabolize any excess estrogen that has already been used. So, suppose you’re not excreting it properly through the bowels. In that case, they’re going to recirculate, and the metabolites are not healthy for you. Those are the ones that put people at risk of breast cancer and other conditions. So, nutrition is kind of like the baseline, the foundation. Then we can talk about supplements, you know, B vitamins or different herbal remedies, there are lots of beautiful herbs for fertility and for hormone balancing, you know like black cohost is a well-known one, Maca is really great for fertility, there’s fertility and libido, that’s what I meant. Some other remedies, IV therapy is a good one to get people’s nutritional status up quickly. Suppose I suspect that someone has lots of dietary deficiencies. In that case, I’ll usually do a micro-nutrient test, which tells me how much is in the blood but also inside the cell of each nutrient. Then we can customize it versus me just going based on symptoms because sometimes, you know, it’s a handful of things that it could be, and yeah, sure, it could give you all of those. Still, it’s kind of nice to be more specific with it.
NourishDoc: Absolutely. So there’s a lot of things like there’s testing. It’s going down to a cellular level to points right, for each of your prime and then telling them personalized recommendations or herb recommendation and what about the exercise and mindfulness and another kind of, do you also test about the exercise part of it.
Dr. Voloshin: Yes. Absolutely I want people to be active, and I want people to be involved in a fun way for them; you know what’s enjoyable? Do you want to be just running on a treadmill to motivate you? It doesn’t inspire me; for example, I want to be upside down or I want to do something fun like, you know, dancing, Zumba or yoga or something like that. So I encourage people to find something fun and exciting and maybe change it up too and not just do the same thing repeatedly; variety is the spice of life, right? Mindfulness, if that is very important when we’re rushing throughout our day and just go and like scarf our lunch quick in five to ten minutes; it doesn’t really give our body time to digest. It’s the same thing as being chased by a tiger; you can’t really digest. It’s either fight or flight when you’re being chased or rest and digest when you know you’re eating or want to have sex to make a baby, you know, and relax and sleep too. So you have to be in that mindful state; I just before this talk to someone about, you know, sitting down for her meal and taking a few belly breaths before starting to eat because she’s one of those that’s very busy, high-achieving women and, you know she’s not chewing her food either. So that’s just one of those things I coach people on, and sometimes also if that includes taking a breath between each bite. Have you heard the recommendation of putting your fork down between each bite?
NourishDoc: No.
How Stress Affects Hormones
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah. That’s something that is suggested for people that eat quickly, you know you can do the fork, or you can take a breath, whichever one works for you. Still, early on in my career, before I started this career, I was taught by my naturopathic doctor, you know to take five to ten deep breaths before each meal to get myself to rest and digest. Do you want to start the juices flowing in your mouth and then the fluid flowing in your stomach so that you’re producing the right amount of acid and enzymes to break down food? Otherwise, you can’t absorb the nutrients you need, and then we have to rely on supplements, and you know things like that.
NourishDoc: Relish your food right when you’re eating, enjoy it right, and that’s what, in your appreciation, you know that culture still exists to some degree. I think in the United States, we are always in a hurry, you know I grew up in Asia, you know in India, and then the food is a big thing that you used to be, I mean it’s still is when we’re I go, visit, and it’s a huge thing. Still, I think we’re so busy here that we just don’t have time to eat, and our food goes down.
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah, exactly. That is one downside to being in America, you know we have, the most extended amount of work hours and the least amount of vacation time and like maternity leave and paternity leave and so it’s, yeah, it’s a price that we pay and get it back.
NourishDoc: Yeah, and everything affects the libido gut, you know all these things that you’re talking about in the small intestine, but it does make a difference, right?
Dr. Voloshin: It’s common for stress to be a factor in libido. It’s one of the number one reasons behind it, and mindfulness will help; I think I have a spider right in front of the screen. Oh my gosh, so funny.
Lifestyle Factors For Healthy Libido
NourishDoc: Okay. So, these are excellent suggestions and what women can do to improve their libido. How would you summarize? Like what would you tell these women now?
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah, I would say look at your foundation, diet, and lifestyle. Are you being mindful? Are you taking the time to be with yourself to breathe and feel into your body? You know, slow down and smell the roses, that you know, little cliche. Still, it’s so true and making sure that you’re hydrated, you’re getting proper nutrients with your fruits, your vegetables, your root vegetables, that’s not to say that you can’t have meat, but you know, making sure that you’re getting your fruits and veggies and also how is your relationship with your partner? You know, are you guys communicating? If he’s not turning you on, maybe talk to him about things that do turn you on and what you like that he does or he used to do, you know, when he’d come home. He’d kiss your cheek or your neck or something like that; you know you can remind him, hey, I like when you do that and bring back that spice.
NourishDoc: Okay. Yeah, bringing back the spice, I think for a lot of, you know, a lot of people is essential because that is the spice of life, right? That’s what we talk about, and then anything else before we wrap up?
Dr. Voloshin: Yeah, if you need help, don’t try to do this on your own, you know it will take you ten times longer, and it will be much more frustrating trying to do it on your own. You know, reach out to me, your naturopathic doctor, or your functional medicine doctor. We are there for you, and we are happy to guide you.
NourishDoc: Thank you. Thank you so much. I know that you know we wanted to touch on this topic; I mean, this is a little bit like you don’t feel comfortable talking about sex and libido. Still, we want to bring all kinds of issues to our talk show so that, you know, people can understand how natural therapies can pretty much help you for any of the chronic conditions and any of the issues, of course, except for some emergency. But that is the whole thing; let us know if you want to see any other topic, and please give us feedback. Thank you so much for being with us, and then have a great day, everyone, and thank you, Dr. Voloshin, for being with us.
Dr. Voloshin: Thank you. Have a good day.
