Dr. Laura Paris, DACM

Metabolic health has been a hot topic in my practice lately! I’ve seen so many women in perimenopause struggling with mysterious weight gain, high cholesterol, or blood pressure spikes. After some investigative bloodwork, we often find they’re on the road to compromised metabolic health.

As we age, our metabolic health naturally declines, but perimenopause can speed this up. That’s why it’s crucial to understand your metabolic health markers and make positive changes during this stage.

I’m excited to share that I’m working on a metabolic health program specifically for women and a workshop for those in perimenopause, both coming this fall. Comment “interested” below, and I’ll make sure you get all the details. Meanwhile, check out our latest blog post on women, metabolic health, and perimenopause:

https://www.parishealingarts.com/empowering-womens-metabolic-health-perimenopause-and-beyond/

Fun little weekend in Vegas with the Paris clan, celebrating Al Paris’s 90th birthday party! 30 people came from Florida, Ohio and California. The Paris clan originally immigrated from Chios island in Greece, where the plant Mastica (Mastiha) grows. Ironically I‘ve used this plant as herbal medicine for stomach issues for decades before I knew it is a plant unique to my husband’s people’s island.

A really fun and refreshing break from regular life, albeit sizzling hot!🥵 Loving the return to the California coast weather. 🌊

First of all, I’m sorry I haven’t been around here in a while! It’s been good for my mental health 🥰

Plus, this spring I have been busy processing the death of my mom at age 87 in April, followed by a long ago planned two week trip to GREECE!!!

I’m pretty much back in mind and body, life is good, lots of things unfolding this year. I’ll drop in more often! But honestly, I encourage many of my patients to stay off social media, and I follow that recommendation myself. I spend very little time here and I recommend that for all.

However… Here I am and this post is all about my new blog post which goes into the nuances of weight loss drugs for women- there are definitely pros and there are definitely considerations. I work with women using them, considering them, and not interested in them but wanting to work on metabolic health and weight loss. I support all paths to metabolic health. 💪 If you want to read this new blog, just hit the link:

https://www.parishealingarts.com/weight-loss-drugs-women-and-natural-alternatives-a-functional-medicine-perspective/

Love you all, Laura

This day is feeling particularly meaningful for me this year. As some of you know, I recently journeyed to be with my mom and my 8 siblings through her end of life transition, which was April 10. My Aunt Virginia, who is a Catholic nun, wrote a beautiful prayer for the funeral mass, which included love and prayer for our mother Earth. 🌏

Yesterday I went to a song circle led by the amazing - which was exactly what my heart needed - and we sang love and prayer for our mother Earth. 🌎

Today, as planned, my group of 10 started my Love Your Liver spring cleanse together, and it feels so right to start this body-nurturing two week journey on Earth Day. I am loving the colorful foods we are eating, given to us from our beautiful mother Earth. 🌍

❤️ Love to all of you.

, ,

To support the 6 pathways of Phase 2 liver detox with food…All you need to do is incorporate these seven food groups into your diet:

1. 𝐀𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐬: Quality protein sources like whey, pea, bone broth protein, tofu, tempeh, lean organic meats, seafood, and eggs furnish vital amino acids essential for liver health.

2. 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐕𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬: Embrace broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, turnip, arugula, watercress, bok choy, collard greens, kohlrabi, and mustard greens, abundant in sulfur compounds and phytonutrients vital for detox pathways.

3. 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬: Indulge in garlic, onions, leeks, chives, scallions, and shallots, brimming with sulfur compounds and antioxidants that bolster liver health.

4. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐟𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐬: Savor chard, beet greens, spinach, lettuce, cilantro, parsley, and other leafy greens teeming with chlorophyll and antioxidants to amplify liver detoxification.

5. 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐞-𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐬: Incorporate beets, dandelion root tea, milk thistle, dandelion greens, asparagus, and artichoke to foster bile production and optimal liver function.

6. 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬: Relish lemons, mandarins, oranges, limes, and tangerines, vibrant with vitamin C and flavonoids.

7. 𝐄𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐬: Enjoy oily fish like mackerel, sardines, and salmon for DHA and EPA fatty acids. Sprinkle flax, pumpkin, and sesame seeds on your meals for omega-3 and 6 fatty acids.

In our Love Your Liver spring cleanse, we make it easy for you by providing delicious recipes that feature these liver-supportive foods.

While Phase 1 is easily activated by daily foods, medications, and environmental toxins, Phase 2 often struggles to keep up. Phase 2 requires significant energy and nutrients, and there are six different metabolic pathways involved. Due to nutrient deficiencies, poor gut health, and genetic variations such as MTHFR, Phase 2 often lacks the required ingredients to meet the demands of Phase 1.

Therefore, an effective liver detoxification program should focus on providing Phase 2 nutrients to support the liver in eliminating toxins and waste products.

Navigating this nutritional terrain may seem daunting, but rest assured; you don’t need a biochemistry degree. With a strategic dietary roadmap, you can effortlessly meet each Phase 2 pathway’s demands through carefully selected foods.

More details in the next post!

Morning after the big waves.

Sometimes I roll my eyes at all the health and behavior resolutions and programs that people promote for the new year. If it triggers you to see something like this, I apologize!

But truth be told, the people I work with, and me included, love to focus on health changes in the new year! The holidays are over, life is quieter and more routine, and it can be a great time to focus on health projects.

For the past three years, I’ve co-led functional Whole30 groups with Kirsten Redding. Kirsten is doing great work with nutrition and exercise and weight loss right now, and I highly recommend you check her out! She’s got a lot to teach about energy needs, exercise, and macros. If you don’t know what your TDEE is, or even what that means, check her out.

Kirsten and I decided to take a break this January on leading our Whole30 group, instead I’m leading a liver-gut detox group program! 📣

When you do a detox for the liver, you need to focus on the gut as well. There are three detox phases - two happen in the liver and one in the gut. You have to do both. Think of the gut as the sewer, which receives all your waste from your liver via the bile. Your gut microbiome and elimination through stool need to be functioning well in order to get waste out of your body effectively. it’s crucial to start with the gut before activating the liver!

There are lots and lots of reasons to do a focused detox, some of them are listed above in the image.

Group detox programs can be fun because you get to learn in a group and have some motivation and accountability.

This is a safe and gentle program that is nurturing and doable during regular life. Nothing dramatic or extreme.

It’s on special through January 1! Click the link in the bio to learn more anout this approach and sign up.

Happy holidays and I hope to detox with you in the new year!

❤️ love, Dr. Laura

Like a really good soup recipe, if we put the right ingredients in a pot, magic happens, and we are comforted and nourished.

Identifying the ingredients we need for healing is the first step to creating the magic. What ingredients do you need? Let’s call them forth this season, my sweet friends. Name an ingredient and I’ll send positive thoughts and energy your way. ❤️

A message to be compassionate and gentle with yourself, and that there are things you can do on your own to get better. ❤️

Join us for a free workshop about doing a fall cleanse with an East-West approach, combining Chinese medicine and Functional medicine.

Link to register: https://her-immune-health.circle.so/c/live-workshops/why-do-a-fall-cleanse

This week I’ve spent a lot of time educating patients about how to reverse and manage a myriad of chronic conditions. Most of these were new diagnoses, and some of them made by me. This included:

✅psoriatic arthritis
✅hashimoto’s thyroiditis
✅PCOS
✅insulin resistance
✅CIRS CDR (chronic inflammatory response syndrome cell danger response)
✅histamine intolerance
✅reactivated Epstein-Barr virus
✅long covid

People have been so grateful that I spent the time educating them, and talked about how they don’t get this education from their other doctors.

I am really grateful that I get to do this, as good medicine starts with education. It’s important to understand your condition and how to manage it with things you can do on your own - lifestyle, nutrition, the right supplements.

You shouldn’t be left to get educated solely from the internet or social media! 😳

I am sad that education doesn’t happen regularly with all other providers. I don’t fully understand why it doesn’t… But yet, this is how it is.

I am passionate about providing medical and health education - I do this one on one daily, but I also do it through free articles, workshops, and newsletters, and accessible group programs.

Thanks for being here.
Hope your holiday weekend is going well! Monday is indigenous peoples day!
❤️

There are soooo many great supplements to help regulate the immune system. But we start with what your body essentially needs. The body doesn’t essentially need turmeric/curcumin. But it definitely needs these things:

✅Vitamin D, A, and zinc: These help fight viruses and autoimmunity. Aim for upper quartile on bloodwork.
✅Glutathione (you make this yourself but if needs are high or cysteine is low in your diet it can be low).
✅Omega3 fats - notoriously low in modern foods and diets, and key to resolving inflammation
✅Omega6 fats get a bad rep because we have way too much in our modern diets (compared to Omega3s) but there’s a special Omega6 called GLA that helps resolve inflammation, found in borage, black currant seed, and evening primrose oils.

So before going to the fancy things, like sulforaphane, resverstrol, and curcumin (my favorites), we start with the essentials, and we test them first. We use Quest labs because they provide all these markers and have locations across the U.S. They also offer direct-to-consumer labs if you don’t have a provider to order these.

Many social media influencers as well as health coaches and practitioners tell people that everybody with an autoimmune condition should avoid gluten and dairy. I 💯 disagree. This is not an actual thing.
There are good reasons to investigate if you react to gluten and dairy, among other foods. We want to keep the immune system happy and well-regulated, and if specific foods are causing inflammation and reactions, this can be a problem. However, this is ENTIRELY UNIQUE. There is NO SINGLE FOOD that is an immune trigger for all people.
The only way to determine if you react to a food is by testing systematically through a personalized elimination diet. This has been the gold standard for at least a century, and it has not changed. Blood tests can help inform the process, but these need to be interpreted carefully. There is no blood test that will accurately tell you what you are sensitive to.
Doing a personalized elimination diet is well worth the effort! You may be surprised at the results. You may find that you’re fine with gluten, but that is something else that is causing inflammation and flaring up your immune system.
We see lots of patients tolerating gluten and/or dairy just fine, and reacting to other foods they may never have suspected.
So if someone here on this app, or anywhere else, tells you that you MUST be gluten & dairy free, you can unfollow or simply disregard. Spread the word!
What have your experiences been with figuring out your food sensitivities?
                                              -inflammatorydiet

I don’t talk about my acupuncture very often here, because this account is primarily for my functional medicine work. I’ve been a licensed acupuncturist for 19 years! It’s truly an amazing addition to functional medicine (or as a stand-alone in some cases) for women’s hormone balance and reproductive health, including:

1️⃣Menstrual cycle treatment for PCOS, irregular cycles, PMS, PMDD, luteal phase deficiency, and painful periods.

2️⃣ Perimenopause symptoms, like hot flashes, insomnia, anxiety, sweats.

3️⃣ Fertility enhancement, both natural and to assist technologies like IVF

4️⃣ Pregnancy care, including nausea, fatigue, aches and pains, and labor preparation and encouragement (“induction”)

5️⃣ Postpartum! This is a much overlooked & undertreated time of a woman’s life, when hormones have crashed, and she’s overwhelmed with a new baby, and it’s hard to get treatment. I’ll have women bring in their babies to nurse, sleep, or let me hold them while they get treatment. And, I do house calls for postpartum. 🤗
Have you used acupuncture for any of these women’s health issues?

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
This patient (M) is currently in our 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 program. She has two autoimmune conditions: hepatitis and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). She came in on a strong immune-suppressant medication, yet her liver enzymes were elevated and she was suffering from a lot of joint pain and fatigue. The medication by itself was not getting her into remission, and she didn’t feel well.
She was concerned about being on such a strong medication long term. Her goals with functional medicine were to:
✅Stabilize her condition and then reduce the medication or wean off it entirely.
✅Feel more energy and get rid of the joint pain!
Her specialist (hepatologist) is adamant about no supplements. So our project was to work with diet, nutrition, and gut health.
We started with a comprehensive Functional stool analysis called the GI Map (a must for all autoimmune), and discovered that she was very low in many keystone beneficial bacteria species, and her gut immunity was suppressed. In addition there was a highly inflammatory bacteria present that is associated with autoimmunity. Normally we would use supplements to treat these findings but we needed to work with food.
We created a customized elimination diet, and we brought in foods to support her gut lining and microbiome. Within a month her fatigue was gone, and her joint pain was entirely gone except for a residual amount in one hand. She felt like herself again and her mood was significantly better. She was ready to start re-introducing foods, and that’s what we are doing now, as well as building in more gut-supportive foods.
At this time she redid her labs and her liver enzymes were normal! This got the attention of her hepatologist. 😉 If they are still normal in six months she has permission to begin weaning off the medication. This gives us lots of time for more healing. Great work M!

👋I am Dr. Laura.

I love to solve puzzles. Most days I open the NYT games app long before I open this app 😜! I play Wordle, the daily mini, and the new game Connections. On weekends I often do the Sunday crossword. I also play a handful of Words With Friends games. These all stimulate my problem-solving brain 🤗
In my medical practice I definitely use my problem-solving brain ALL THE TIME. I act like a detective as I collect all the clues and fit them together.

These puzzle clues include:

✅My patient’s family history
✅Her own history from in utero onward
✅Her medical data such as labs, blood sugar, blood pressure, heart rate, type of menstrual blood, etc
✅Her current symptoms and how she presents physically
My problem-solving left brain takes the micro pieces and connects them into a macro big picture. Like connecting the dots to reveal a clear image.
Besides this left-brain puzzle work, I also like (and need) to use my right brain for a more intuitive, creative, and emotionally aware approach in my functional med work.
For each patient I want to tune in and assess:

🧚What does she really want from this work? What are HER goals?
🧚What is her style of making change and what kind of support works for her?
🧚How are her symptoms affecting her life? Has she been mistreated, ignored, or gaslighted (gaslit? 🤔) when she’s tried to get help?
🧚How do any past traumas, experiences, or disappointments play into her healing journey?
There’s so much more that unfolds in each visit and I always look forward to the next puzzle to solve! 💕

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of combining conventional medicine with functional medicine. Functional care is meant to complement good conventional care. That’s why it’s called “complementary” medicine.
But every single day I hear disappointment and frustration from my patients about the limitations of conventional care, and the ways they are treated in this model.
Can you relate to this? Any frustrations or disappointment you experience with the conventional model?

These steps go so far and work beautifully! This is what we help women with in our 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 1:1 program for women wanting to heal from autoimmune disease with safe and holistic approaches.
Do you have an autoimmune disease and how is it going for you?
If you need more help, please reach out with a DM! This is our specialty, and we love helping other women live well and thrive in spite of one or more autoimmune conditions! You can do this!
-inflammatorydiet

Absolutely!
De-inflaming your body starts with food! What you put in your mouth can make or break inflammation. Although this project can be complex in some situations, a simple food-first approach is highly likely to bring meaningful and measurable results for everyone. Watch your lab markers improve as your aches, pains, swelling, stiffness, puffiness, and allergies calm down. Enjoy a sharper mind, less bloating, better energy, and smoother menstrual cycles as you de-inflame your body and mind with food. And, like me and hundreds of the women I work with, you CAN go into remission from an autoimmune flare.
What is a food-first approach to stop inflammation?
This means two simple steps:

1️⃣Eat the ingredients your body absolutely needs to de-inflame, in the quantities you need to get lab levels into optimal ranges. We are talking about foods, nutrients, spices, and botanicals that:
✅ modulate your gut microbiome, key to regulating your immune system
✅ are rich in antioxidants, as well as precursors that help you build your own master antioxidant called glutathione
✅ balance prostaglandins by the right amounts of the essential fatty acids EPA, DHA, and GLA
✅ lower destructive inflammatory cytokines like TNF alpha, IL6, and IL17
✅ balance your blood sugar and make your metabolic engine purr
✅ give you adequate bioavailable protein so that you can repair the damage from inflammation
AND
2️⃣ Identify and reduce the foods that inflame YOU. This is individual, as there is no single whole food that’s inflammatory for every person. There is no reason to restrict a whole food from nature unless there’s proof that it inflames you personally! The project is to identify which foods (if any) inflame you.
An elimination diet is THE classic tried-and-true method to accomplish this project. This involves tuning in to how you feel and function in response to foods.
These are the two steps we do as a small group in my upcoming women’s medical program called the Functional AIP* (anti-inflammatory protocol). We have a few spots left, check out the link in my bio to learn more and apply.

It’s open! My new group medical program where I share my 25 years of expertise squashing inflammation through food. And if you’ve worked with me - you know that I am NOT a fan of unnecessary restrictions and I am a BIG fan of:

✅Using food as medicine
✅Identifying your best CORE foods and branching out from there
✅Diet diversity, diversity, and more diversity!
✅Honoring food as nourishing, social, comfort, and fun - as it should be!
✅Rejecting patriarchal diet culture in all its forms!

This program is limited to 12 and we have 9 spots left. It’s packed with all you need to learn about beating inflammation with food, and it’s live and experiential.
Apply in the link in bio. Ask any questions in the comments below.

Next free workshop in my women’s health community. This will be a great intro to my upcoming group medical program called the 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐈𝐏.

sign up for this free workshop through the link in bio.

-inflammatorydiet ’sWarrior -inflammatory

My dear friend and office partner is in need of community support right now. Please check out this link to learn more:

Help Courtney Musser Beat Cancer, organized by Laura Paris Our beloved friend Courtney Musser is one of the kindest and most compassionate people e… Laura Paris needs your support for Help Courtney Musser Beat Cancer

This is a great venue to come and meet other women working on autoimmune health, and share struggles and successes. You can ask Laura and Juliet any questions related to autoimmune wellness and your own situation. 🌸

Please share this if you have any loved ones you think might be interested. We are passionate about helping other women work toward remission and feel better!

Comment “invite” below for the invite link.

📣 I’m super excited to tell you some big news! My partner Seth and I just published a new app, called Easy Movement, where you can access our Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® lessons on demand. We have wanted to create this app for years… And finally, it’s here! 🥳

You can download this app on Apple or on Google Play. 🤗
If you’d like a 7-day free trial to check it out, comment “trial” below.
These unique somatic movement lessons use neuroplasticity to bring about immediate change in your habitual movement patterns. (Neuroplasticity is your brain's ability to learn and change in structure and function at any age.)
I've taught Awareness Through Movement lessons since 1994, and personally practice these lessons regularly in order to stay active and flexible. Throughout my challenging history (a traumatic car accident, many repetitive strain injuries, and rheumatoid arthritis), these lessons have continually helped me release aches and pains, develop deeper awareness and relaxation, and improve my movement abilities and comfort in daily life and in all types of exercise.
If you have chronic pain or an autoimmune condition, these lessons are for you!
Live classes are great, but the ability to take a class (we say "do a lesson") in the comfort and privacy of your home, whenever you want, is invaluable. This approach lends itself well to an app format because you don’t need to watch or copy a teacher. Rather, you listen to gentle instructions and cues as you explore your own comfortable range of movement. Since the Easy Movement app went live, I've loved the ease of opening it on my phone, scrolling for an appealing lesson that fits the flavor of my current needs, pushing "play," and feeling remarkably better in 30-45 minutes.
Comment “trial” for a link to a 7-day free trial to this app.

Blue skies and warm sunshine this weekend… make for happy moods and immune systems. Get outdoors and enjoy! 🤸🏼🏊🏼‍♀️🏃🏿‍♀️🚴🏽‍♀️

Today! See stories for the link to join. This is hosted in our free women’s health community.
xoxo Dr Laura

See stories for the link to join!
xoxox Dr Laura

Breakfast is the meal that brings up a lot of questions. The traditional American breakfast is not always the best for autoimmune women. It totally needs a makeover! The questions that come up all the time include:

❓When to eat breakfast? (And how long should you fast prior to breakfast?)

❓ How much protein to eat and what type of protein?

❓ What kind of breakfast best supports blood sugar balance throughout the day?

❓ What kind of breakfast foods are best eaten to manage inflammation throughout the day?

❓ What do you even eat if you have a problem with gluten, dairy or eggs? (These are commonly problematic for autoimmune, although we don’t recommend avoiding them, unless you’ve identified that they are actually a problem!)

❓ How can you make a fairly quick breakfast that is healthy and nourishing and sustainable?

For a discussion of all these questions plus more, come to our free breakfast workshop tomorrow and bring your questions! You’ll leave with lots of ideas on how to give your breakfast a makeover.
DM to RSVP, or comment “breakfast” below.