Watch the LiveStream video: Amber Ratcliffe and Justine Shults discuss female sex hormone imbalance and why it may be what is holding you back from feeling your best.

What is a Hormone Imbalance?

Are you irritable, moody, and exhausted all the time, yet have trouble sleeping? Gaining weight despite diet and exercise? You are not alone. Up to 75% of women report suffering from symptoms that could be attributed to a hormone imbalance!

Hormones are important chemical messengers in our bodies such as Estrogen, Testosterone, Progesterone, Cortisol, Thyroid, DHEA, and Vitamin D. They are produced in one type of tissue and then move through the bloodstream to other parts of the body delivering “messages” for that part of the body to do something specific. When the messages get disrupted, it can have significant downstream implications.

Estrogen dominance is one of the most common hormone imbalance problems for women and that is a big deal because it has literally...

Watch the LiveStream video: Amber Ratcliffe and Justine Shults discuss thyroid disease and why it may be what is holding you back from feeling your best.

First a little about thyroid disease...

When your thyroid is not functioning optimally, you can feel dull, tired, constipated, gain weight, have dry skin, hair can become dry and even fall out, muscles and joints might ache, periods become irregular, you might have fertility problems, brain fog, sugar and carb cravings (your body is desperate for energy!), high cholesterol (even if your diet is amazing), and a host of other large and small symptoms.

• One in eight women will be diagnosed with thyroid disease during her lifetime

• The most common form is Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune condition

• Women are five to eight times more likely than men to have thyroid problems

• As many as 15 million women have an undiagnosed thyroid problem

• It is affecting girls as young as 6 years old, largely as a result of toxins

Did you...

Watch the LiveStream video: Amber Ratcliffe and Justine Shults discuss Adrenal Fatigue and why it may be what is holding you back from feeling your best.

Do you feel overwhelmed? Have trouble recalling words and feeling brain fog? Exhausted but wake up every night between 1 and 3 am and can’t get back to sleep? Do you have sugar/salty/carb cravings - putting on some belly fat? Frequently feel anxious?

You probably have Adrenal Fatigue.

Adrenal Fatigue is a silent epidemic caused by our fast-paced culture. Being “ON” all the time is exhausting and so many of us are experiencing burnout and serious health symptoms as a result. You know something is wrong, but you don’t know what.

Adrenal Fatigue isn’t just found in adults, it is becoming more common in kids too as they are stressed with school, activities, social pressures, and adrenaline filled video games.

Unfortunately, Adrenal Fatigue is often misdiagnosed as depression by most primary care...

Why on earth would you intentionally drink salt water with lemon in it? Most of us have accidentally gotten sea water in our mouths at some point and it is not a pleasant experience. When this was first recommended to me by my functional medicine doctor, the thought of drinking salt water had about as much appeal as gargling dish soap for better breath. Instead, I just started adding more sea salt to my food. I later found out that drinking salt water and eating salt are two completely different things, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

So, back to the “why”. Sea salt can help balance your potassium and sodium levels. This is actually an issue for many people but they don't realize it. When dissolved in water, potassium and sodium turn into ions which are essential for good functioning of:

• Neurological health
• Cardiovascular system
• Cellular health
• Muscular Health

We are essentially electric organisms: our brain and nervous system needs ions to fire neurons and...

In this video, Dr. Zendi Moldenhauer and Lori DiBartolo discuss Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS/PANDAS) - the symptoms, treatment options, and how you can help raise awareness of this serious condition.

Rages, Oppositional Defiance, Worsening School Performance, High Anxiety, OCD Behaviors, Irritability, Aggression, ADHD behaviors, Food Aversions, Sensory Issues, Mood Swings, Urinary Accidents, Verbal or Motor Tics, Sleep Disturbances, and the list goes on...

These are just some of the symptoms that can be associated with Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS/PANDAS) – one of the most misdiagnosed conditions seriously impacting our children and their families.

It is estimated that a child will see more than 5 doctors before being properly diagnosed and that as many as 1 on 200 kids have this condition.

PANS/PANDAS is a condition where the immune system attacks the brain, causing inflammation and myriad symptoms mistaken for psychological...

Neurofeedback is a drug-free approach to treating Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, Migraines, Insomnia, Memory & Cognitive Function and even Autism. The brain is not hard-wired, it is not limited or fixed in its abilities to heal. Join Amber Ratcliffe and Lori DiBartolo as they discuss how Neurofeedback Therapy can help you achieve life changing results.

Request a Free 20 Minute Consult to see if Neurofeedback is right for you.

A qEEG (Quantitative Electroencephalogram) is a diagnostic tool that measures electrical activity in the form of brain wave patterns. It is sometimes referred to as “brain mapping.”

It shows the cortical electrical activity in the brain. The brainmaps shows if the activity is too high or too low in particular areas, and it can reveal how your brain cells are communicating with each other. It may be helpful in many ways, including:

• Identifying cognitive and psychiatric problems
• Showing how your brain wave patterns can be improved
• ...

Watch (sideways  - oops) Arbor Health co-founders, Dr. Zendi Moldenhauer and Amber Ratcliffe discuss simple things you can do at home to decrease stress & anxiety from the inside out.

Key takeaways from the video:

Things that drive higher stress and anxiety

• Watching and listening to the news
• Negative social media. Fear and anxiety are contagious (so are peace and love).
• Self-isolation
• Mindset
• Lack of exercise
• Lack of sleep

The body under stress

• The mind-body connection: Your thoughts drive biochemical responses in the body and have tremendous power over our bodies. Negative thoughts are toxic to us, and thoughts of calm and gratitude have been shown to be healing.
• Stress activates the parasympathetic nervous system
• Impacts adrenal glands and hormones
• Impacts gut and digestion, which impacts nutrient absorption and neurotransmitter production
• Suppresses immune system

Things we can do to nourish and support our body

• Adrenal support – L-Theanine,...

Arbor Health co-founders, Dr. Zendi Moldenhauer and Amber Ratcliffe discuss things you can do to get clear on priorities, set expectations, and build relationships at home during COVID.

Today we are going to share a little age old wisdom on how to stay sane by getting clear on priorities, setting and communicating expectations & boundaries, being a bucket filler, and building your relationships even during quarantine.

These are challenging times with everyone home trying to work, home school, routines turned upside down - this is HARD. Please be kind to yourself and others - we are all struggling with this.

We have some advice to share, but we are the first to admit that we are not perfect and often stray from these principles as real-life gets in the way. What we can say for sure is when we return to them, life gets better for everyone in our houses.  

The Jar of Life - Prioritize what is Important to You

• Remember, the big rocks have to go in...

Watch Arbor Health co-founders, Dr. Zendi Moldenhauer and Amber Ratcliffe discuss simple things you can do at home to get some quality sleep without medications.

If you are struggling to get quality sleep, request a free 20-minute consultation to see if Functional Medicine might be right for you.  A clinical coordinator will reach out to you to find a time to connect.

Why sleep is important & why you need to make it a priority

• Rest restores your body and heals your brain – more than 700 genes are activated while you sleep
• Your brain actually allows more lymph around it while you are sleeping to heal it

Circadian Rhythm - Cortisol - Melatonin

• Cortisol and melatonin have an inverse relationship – cortisol should be high in morning and low at night
• Rest restorative sleep window is 9am-9pm
• Low progesterone makes them sleepless and irritable, stress steals progesterone

Good sleep actually starts first thing in the morning

• ...