What are the 3 Ways to Have a Clear Skin?

Skin Care

Clear skin performs an essential role in your overall health. Clear skin enhances your beauty and builds confidence in you when you go out. Here is how you can have glowing, vibrant skin in just three steps.

2. Stay Hydrated:

In order to maintain your skin looking clear and fresh, it is essential to stay hydrated. When we get dehydrated, our skin will become dry and prone to wrinkles. Drinking extra water allows our bodies to get rid of toxins that make contributions to the formation of imperfections like acne. 

2. Exfoliate:

Exfoliation helps to unclog our pores, get rid of dark acne marks, and boom blood circulation. Exfoliate about twice a week with gentle exfoliants like oats or brown sugar to see these advantages for yourself. Use these products on both your face as well as the rest of your body to attain clear. It is recommended to use makeup compounds or any skin care products that are compounded as per your skin needs and made with ingredients recommended by your doctor

3. Moisturize

Applying moisturizer is incredibly beneficial, even when you have oily skin. People with pimples often avoid moisturizing their skin due to the famous misconception that the best way to get rid of pimples is to dry the skin. In reality, the opposite is true. When our skin is too dry, our oil glands overcompensate by generating more oil. This oil production can lead to pimples. When we apply moisturizer, we stabilize our skin’s moisture level and maintain our oil glands from becoming overactive.

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How To Help If Your Partner Has Low Libido?

healthy Libido

It may be worrying when your companion has a low libido; as a result, you might start believing that there are issues in your relationship, or that your partner finds you much less attractive than they did years ago. But this is not the case because as men age, there are many hormonal changes in their body that ultimately leads to low libido. Men & women of all ages suffer from it.

Let us look at how you can help your partner who is suffering from low libido:

1. Approach the Person Diplomatically & Empathetically:

It is a known fact that men find it difficult to discuss their health issues with others, especially something related to their sexual performance in bed. As this is a particularly delicate subject and sex drive is frequently connected with masculinity and self-esteem, try to be empathetic and diplomatic in your approach. It can be useful to ask indirect questions such as ‘are you feeling extra tired than usual? From there, an open conversation with them can be established with them and you could discuss alternatives or find solutions to assist them to feel better. 

2. Reduce Stress Together:

Try to discover a way to reduce stress together as a family or in partnership. Ask yourselves when you have too many financial commitments, if either of you is working too much, or if you’re pressuring each other to perform with unrealistic expectations. Try to support every other where possible in your journey to handling everyday stresses and to building active relaxation into your day.

3. Improve your diet

If you happen to do maximum cooking in the household, try to make sure that the complete family is eating whole, unprocessed foods during most meals. An anti-inflammatory Mediterranean fashion diet is the best example. Encourage your household to eat six to eight quantities of fruit and vegetables per day, proper quality protein, low carbohydrates, and good fats which include avocados, nuts, and seeds, and decrease the consumption of fatty and fried foods.

4. Cut down on alcohol

Alcohol is a massive part of many people’s social and domestic lives. It’s not uncommon for couples to enjoy a drink together at home or while socializing with friends. However, in case you and/or your companion are often drinking extra than the recommended limits, do not forget that this addiction has an impact on metabolic and gut health, as well as testosterone levels. Just like enhancing your diet, try to reduce alcohol consumption together in order to encourage every other’s healthy lifestyle choices.

5. Exercise

Even gentle exercise can make a huge difference to metabolic health. Researchers now say that ‘sitting is the new smoking, so combat this by going for daily walks or bike rides together. It’s essential to ensure that you’re moving, rather than living a sedentary lifestyle.

6. Therapy

Long-time period relationships cause familiarity, where you and your partner become used to being around each other, and therefore daily interaction may not experience as exciting as it once did when you were first dating. While familiarity is essential for bonding and building trust, it can also make contributions to low libido.

7. Hormone therapy

We can perform blood checks that help us find out what might be contributing to the low libido, or erectile dysfunction if this is the case. We search for low levels of testosterone and DHEA, as well as estrogen, because when men are suffering from metabolic issues, the quantity of estrogen in their system increases, and this will affect the production of testosterone. Vios compounding medication can help improve the sexual wellness of you and your spouse. One can also go for bioidentical hormonal treatment to improve libido.

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6 Foods to Eat While Taking Antibiotics (and 4 to Avoid)

Food

Antibiotics are one of the most common ways to fight any infection or disease, however many don’t realize there are certain foods to eat and not to eat while taking antibiotics. 

Let us look at the food that one should eat & not eat while taking Antibiotics:

6 Foods to Eat While Taking Antibiotics:

  • Prebiotics – Prebiotics are the building blocks for healthy gut bacteria. They assist to grow healthy gut bacteria in great numbers. One should eat yogurt, Kefir (fermented milk drink), and fortified cereals as they are rich sources of prebiotics.
  • Probiotics – Similar to Prebiotics, probiotics help in feeding the good bacteria and support them to develop and flourish. One can find probiotics in milk, yogurt, and kefir.
  • Fermented Soy Products & Kimchi – Both of them are filled with probiotics and prebiotics and contain Bifidobacteria which is another rich digestion-crucial bacteria.
  • Yogurt and Fermented Milk – Lactobacilli are an important element of digestion in the intestines. Both yogurt and fermented milk (kefir) boost the presence of Lactobacilli and also help in curbing the growth of bad bacteria.
  • Vitamin K – It is necessary that your body receives vitamin K while undergoing Antibiotic treatment. Eat leafy green vegetables, cauliflower, liver, and eggs to get more vitamin k in the body.
  • Coconut Oil – It contains fatty acids that will help in reducing the risk of growing antibiotic-related yeast infections. This is especially useful if you’re female.

Food to Avoid While Taking Antibiotics

  • Grapefruit One should avoid consuming grapefruit as it contains compounds that negatively affect the body to properly absorb antibiotics.
  • Excess Calcium – Excess calcium intake can interfere with the absorption of antibiotics.
  • Alcohol – Consuming alcohol and antibiotics can cause a lot of unpleasant side effects.
  • Sugars and Yeast In some patients (particularly women) antibiotic utilization may cause candida (yeast) infections. Avoid foods high in sugar and yeast. 

Doctors and researchers are now working hard to reduce the danger of antibiotic resistance every year. Customized compounding medication can help avoid any side effects as the doctor will prescribe ingredients to be used in the medication based on your body assessment, thereby increasing the efficacy of the antibody medication. 

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What are the 6 Major Benefits of Eating Chocolates for Your Health And Hormones?

Dark Chocolates

Chocolate comes from the seeds of the cacao tree, which are bitter in their raw form and processed so that it is pleasant to taste. You may also have heard of both cocoa and cacao, which are also products derived from cacao seeds. Although they’re spelled similarly and derived from the same plant, they’re very different in terms of their impact on health.

Let us look at the major health benefits of consuming chocolates:

1. Increased Libido

Research has proven that the flavonoid which is a naturally occurring compound containing antioxidant properties is found in cacao that can enhance blood vessel function, which includes improved dilation. Due to the fact that the blood vessels to the genitals dilate during arousal, it may be suggested that consumption of cacao can lead to an improved libido and better sex life.  If you have any sexual issues leading to a decrease in libido, it is recommended to improve your sexual wellness through bio-identical hormonal treatment.

2. Improve Heart health

Chocolate helps in blood vessel dilation, there’s no doubt that higher blood flow is good for your heart health. In addition, flavonoids help prevent the build-up of cholesterol, inhibit the clustering of platelets (lowering the hazard of blood clots), and decrease inflammatory immune responses.

3. Reduce Stress Levels:

Cacao present in dark chocolates contains a very high magnesium content and makes it an excellent addition to the diet for reducing stress, as stress and magnesium deficiency can be a vicious circle. Magnesium is important for helping the body regulate stress levels, while higher stress levels can result in magnesium loss.

4. Reduced Cravings:

Switching to cacao will help you reduce your sugar cravings over time as your body adjusts to a less frequent sugar intake schedule.

5. Enhanced Mood:

A study at University College London has found that people eating dark chocolate in 24-hour durations were 70% less likely to report depressive signs than those who don’t eat dark chocolate within the time period. This might be beneficial for those who experience mood dips because of hormonal imbalances.

6. Clearer Skin:

The antioxidant properties found in cacao may also help increase collagen production, reduce signs of skin aging and reduce the severity and occurrence of spots and acne.

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What are the 9 Ways by Which You Can Increase Your Happy Hormones?

Happy Person with happy hormones

Everyone in the world makes an effort to be happy. Being happy is a truly great feeling that can take over your mind and body, making you laugh or maybe cry. One of the main reasons that we feel upbeat, happy, chirpy, or elated is because of very complex chemical reactions that happen inside our bodies. Happy hormones are one of the driving factors that create these happy moments and good mental health. It is therefore important to generate these happy hormones as much as possible. 

Let us look at the ways by which one can increase happy hormones:

1. Regular Exercise

Everyone is familiar with the fact that exercise releases endorphins. Any form of movement that will increase your heart rate will prompt a wonderful feeling, and exercise can cause a workout-induced euphoria. Endorphins help relieve pain, improve mental health, reduce stress, and improve your sense of well-being.

2. Healthy Diet & Food

The foods that you eat also play an essential role in the creation of hormones. Dark chocolate with high cacao solids consists of the neuromodulator phenylethylamine and when consumed in small quantities could make you feel happier. 

3. Sexual Activity

All kinds of hormones are released like Endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine during sexual activity. These hormones create a feeling of relaxation and sexual satisfaction. If you have any sexual issues it is recommended to improve your sexual wellness through bio-identical hormonal treatment.

4. Body Massage

Massage or a soothing touch of any type can help the discharge of endorphins and stimulate oxytocin manufacturing in both the person being massaged and the masseur. This relaxes the body and moderates pain.

5. Meditation

Meditation has many advantages which include relaxing and focusing the mind. This practice is also tremendously rewarding in terms of the discharge of hormones and neurotransmitters, triggering endorphin release as well as dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin.

6. Laughing Therapy

Laughter boosts endorphins and decreases strain, improves immune function, and usually lifts your spirits. It’s also used as a cognitive behavioral therapy to deal with patients’ stress and depression.

7. Use of Essential Oils

The sensory system in the body that is used for smell triggers the brain to release serotonin and dopamine in reaction to the scent of essential oils. This is why aromatherapy is so famous for those who experience stress, anxiety, depression, and different mood disorders.

8. Listen To Music

Both listening to songs and singing can release oxytocin that gives you a relaxing feeling. Research studies have found that patients recovering from open heart surgery made a faster recovery after regularly listening to relaxing music.

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What is a Migraine Headache? What Causes Hormonal Migraines?

migraine headache

What is Migraine Headache?

A migraine is a really painful headache that usually starts on one side of the head and causes nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light. The pain is so severe that the patient feels like someone is hammering their head.

Other symptoms of migraine include: 

  • Sense of fatigue
  • Loss of appetite
  • Acne breakouts
  • Joint Pain
  • Decrease in urination.
  • Lack of coordination.
  • Constipation.
  • Food cravings, cravings for salt, alcohol, and sugar.

What Causes Hormonal Migraines?

Hormonal migraines usually occur in women of childbearing age, women in perimenopause, or maybe women who’ve already entered menopause. Women experience Hormonal Migraines due to various factors. Let us look at the top 5 reasons why women experience hormonal migraines.

1. Women in Menstrual Cycle:

When a female is on her menstrual cycle, the estrogen levels in her body suddenly drop. In some women, this triggers a menstrual-associated migraine, which may be a very painful monthly recurrence. Compounding medication with bioidentical hormone for women can restore the estrogen level in the body.

2. Migraines Due to Perimenopause and Menopause

Estrogen levels drop during both menopause and perimenopause. This change in estrogen levels leads to hormonal migraines and sometimes these migraines can be very painful.

3. Women in Pregnancy (First Trimester):

It is very common for women to actually experience their first hormonal migraines while being pregnant. This is specifically true during the first trimester of pregnancy when hormone levels in their body are rapidly changing.

4. Oral Contraceptives:

Oral contraceptives can lead to drastic hormonal changes in women’s body as it causes hormonal levels to rise and fall throughout the month. Women on birth control pills generally experience hormonal migraine during the last week of their pill packet.

5. Hormone Replacement Therapy at Incorrect Levels

Many women in perimenopause or menopause are prescribed HRT supplements to help them maintain the hormonal levels in their bodies. However, if they are not given the correct dosage the hormone replacement therapy may actually trigger painful migraines.

At Vios, we have experienced licensed practitioners who can prepare the correct dose and medication as per the individual needs of the women and as per doctor’s prescriptions.

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What are the Signs of Hormonal Imbalances in Men & Women?

Hormonal Imbalance
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People experience a hormonal imbalance in every stage of their life. It is very difficult to understand if men or women are experiencing any hormonal changes in their bodies. 

Here are the common signs & symptoms of hormonal imbalance in men and women.

What are the signs of hormonal imbalances in Men?

Men experience hormonal changes in their bodies especially after they attain a certain age. Most of the are related to low low testosterone. There are many symptoms of low testosterone in men that you should be aware of.

  • Chronic fatigue, which means you usually feel tired even though you’ve had plenty of relaxation and sleep.
  • A lack of muscle mass, even though you are regularly working out at the gym. This can be unexplained and unexpected 
  • Increased body fats 
  • Decreasing bone mass. This is detected when you break a bone by doing some simple activity.
  • Frequent mood changes & depression.
  • Lower mental capacity, lack of focus & reduced decision-making ability.
  • Feeling irritable and angry about unrelated things
  • Experiencing “brain fog” and mental confusion.

If men are experiencing any of these symptoms quite frequently, it is recommended to go for bioidentical hormone therapy for men.

What are the signs of hormonal imbalances in women?

Women experience hormonal changes in their bodies at every stage of their life. They experience an increase or decrease in estrogen and progesterone. These hormonal symptoms can be of the following

  • Frequent fatigue even after a good amount of sleep and rest.
  • Night sweats.
  • Hot flashes come without warning and you experience extreme heat and sweat at any time irrespective of the room temperature.
  • Decreased libido and low sex drive.
  • Unexplained weight gain.
  • Insomnia affects your sleep pattern and health.
  • Becoming easily irritated and always being angry.
  • Anxiety and depression.
  • Feeling of coldness in your feet and hands.

It is recommended to go for bioidentical hormonal therapy for women formulated with compounding medication if they frequently experience any of these symptoms.

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How to Boost Your Testosterone Levels Naturally With Healthy Habits

Boost Your Testosterone Levels
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The testosterone levels in the body start to naturally drop after the age of 40 which causes many health problems like reduced sexual function to mood disturbances like depression, sadness, anxiety, and more. While people undergo bio-identical hormonal treatment with compounding medication to boost their testosterone levels, there are natural ways to enhance your testosterone levels.

Here are 6 healthy habits to naturally boost your testosterone levels:

1. Get a Good Amount of Sleep:

It has been proven in many research studies that a lack of sleep can negatively affect a man’s testosterone levels. People who are above the age of 40 should ensure that they get at least eight hours of sleep every night. This can help maintain their testosterone levels in the body.

2. Have a Balanced & Healthy Diet:

It is a known fact that diet plays an important role in your health. A healthy and balanced diet can help keep a check on your testosterone levels. People above the age of 40 should avoid junk food and eat a healthy, balanced diet of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.

3. Maintain a Healthy BMI:

Men who’re overweight often have decreased testosterone levels. In order to keep your weight from affecting your testosterone to drop, you must maintain a healthy BMI for your height. Losing weight may help to decrease your testosterone levels. One can use weight loss compounding medication to lose weight as it is customized as per your body’s needs and has reduced side effects.

4. Do Regular Exercise:

Exercise can help maintain a healthy testosterone level in the body. Exercise also helps in improving your heart health, weight loss, and the release of endorphins that enhance your mood.

5. Keep Stress at Bay:

Stress wreaks havoc on our bodies, which includes losing men’s testosterone levels. People should avoid stress with the help of guided meditation practices, yoga, etc.

6. Vitamins and Supplements

Eating certain supplements rich in vitamins can help in maintaining your testosterone levels. These consist of taking vitamin D, DHEA, and magnesium.

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8 Ways to Naturally Manage Your Hormone Levels

Hormonal Changes
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Any hormonal changes in the body can affect a lot of aspects of our lives. Hormonal levels can make or destroy your appetite, mood, sexual wellness, weight, mood, and more. People can manage their hormone levels naturally which can help them lead a healthy life. 

Here are 8 ways to manage your hormone levels

1. Eat Protein Rich Food:

Protein needs to be a part of every meal you eat. Scientific research has shown that eating the right quantity of protein gives you a sense of fullness. This helps you not overeat and helps increase your body’s fat-burning processes and metabolism. This is due to the fact that protein decreases levels of your “hunger hormone” and increases the production of hormones that make you feel full after a meal.

2. No Sugar and Refined Carbs

Scientific studies have shown that decreasing the amount of sugar and refined carb intake can regularize the hormone levels in the body. Reducing your sugar consumption helps you to reduce your insulin levels, which decreases your chances of getting diabetes.

3. Do Regular Exercise:

Exercise is very good for your health and mental peace. It also helps reduce your insulin level in the body. By regulating your insulin levels, you decrease your chances of inflammation, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Exercise also helps you to keep your metabolism in check.

4. Management of Your Stress Level:

Stress releases cortisol and adrenaline in your body. These hormones can lead to high blood pressure, overeating, obesity, and anxiety. It is recommended to do stress-relieving activities like deep breathing exercises, yoga, or meditation. One can use compounding medication to manage the hormonal level in the body.

5. Don’t Overeat or Undereat:

Both overeating and undereating can affect the hormonal level in the body. Overeating can increase the insulin levels in the body, while undereating will increase your cortisol levels. To maintain balanced hormones, you should eat the right amount of food, which should be at least 1,200 calories a day. If you are obese, it is recommended to consult your doctor and go for weight loss compounding medication.

6. Eat Healthy Fats:

Eating healthy food that contains healthy fat with medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) helps reduce insulin resistance in diabetics. It also helps people who are overweight or obese. MCTs can be found in a lot of oils, which include palm oil, coconut oil, and pure MCT oil.

7. Eat fatty Fish:

Fatty fish helps in fighting inflammation as it is full of Omega-three fatty acids. It also helps in decreasing your body’s stress hormone levels.

8. Sip Green Tea

Green tea helps in regulating the healthy insulin levels and insulin sensitivity levels as it contains metabolism-boosting caffeine and an antioxidant known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

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What are the Main Causes of Hair Loss and Baldness?

hair loss
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Hair loss is a common factor among people of all age groups. Hair loss can be caused by a variety of factors like illness, poor nutrition, hormonal imbalances, allergy due to chemical hair care products, medication, stress, etc. 

Let us look at the major causes of hair loss:

1. Hair loss due to Thyroid problems:

Hypothyroidism or overactive thyroid can result in hair loss because every condition causes a hormonal imbalance. Every function of the body is regulated by hormones, which include hair growth. Any hormonal imbalance can cause hair loss. People suffering from thyroid problems suffer from loss of hair growth. A bio-identical hormonal treatment combined with compounding medication can help balance the hormonal level in the body, especially the hormones needed for hair growth.

2. Hair Loss due to Pregnancy:

During pregnancy, women experience wildly fluctuating hormonal levels in the body which leads to hair loss. This hormonal imbalance continues after pregnancy and childbirth. It takes time after pregnancy for hormone levels to go back to normal, so it is not at all unusual for postpartum moms to experience patches of baldness and thinning hair.

3. Side Effects Due to Medications:

Blood-thinning medications, oral contraceptives, drugs for depression, NSAIDs, and beta and calcium channel blockers can all result in thinning hair or baldness. Too much vitamin A and vitamins can also cause hair loss. Medications for cancer are known to cause hair loss.

4. Hair Loss Due to Emotional Stress:

The normal cycle of hair growth gets disrupted when you are handling significant emotional stress or life-changing events like a divorce or break-up, financial ruin, the loss of a home, or the death of a loved one.

5. Hair Loss Due to Diet Deficiencies

The important vitamins and nutrients, like protein, which you get from a healthy, varied, and well-balanced diet ensure a healthy body. Poor nutrients or a fad diet can lead to all sorts of nutrient deficiencies, which in turn can result in hair loss & thinning of hair and cause baldness.

6. Alopecia:

Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss. Alopecia may also cause hair loss only on the scalp or all over the body. It may also result in thinning hair, patches of hair loss, and some balding. Alopecia can be the result of hereditary genes, hormonal changes, aging, and medical conditions.

7. Hair Loss Due to Physical Stress:

The natural cycle of hair growth and resting gets disrupted when your body is under tremendous physical stress resulting in hair loss, often in the form of thinning hair strands.

8. Excessive Hair Care:

In order to create a stylish hairdo, you could actually cause significant harm and breakage to strands, which could result in hair loss and thinning hair. Shampooing or blow-drying too frequently can cause hair loss.

9. Infections:

Infection and disease can also lead to hair loss. Fungal skin disease and bacterial infections like syphilis can all be responsible for balding or thinning hair. 

10. Autoimmune Diseases:

Alopecia areata is frequently related to an autoimmune disease, people suffering from autoimmune diseases like diabetes and lupus experience hair loss problems.

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