Dr. Ruth Dana, ND

Sometimes stress is so sickening! If you feel easily derailed and you get that feeling of sinking in your gut, building gut resilience is likely the solution to better overall resilience, which is key in: mental and emotional health cognitive health (dementia prevention, memory, focus) immune health (improving overall immune resilience against viruses, etc, or in balancing an overactive immune system, such as in autoimmunity)... pain management metabolic health (blood sugar regulation, diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome) autism spectrum disorders, trichotillomania, and other neuropsychiatric conditions + more Over time, I have honed my ability to support the most stubborn of gut conditions. I’ve been through it myself, and I know how terrible it can be to feel those sinking feelings of despair, or like there’s nothing you can eat or not eat that may help. It’s not true. There are very real, tangible solutions. I love a positive attitude, but sometimes it isn’t quite enough and some bigger guns are required to treat pathology or support weakened systems. It can take some time, but it is a beautiful thing to watch yourself get stronger and stronger, little by little. There really is no one protocol for everyone that will get you the best results, quickly. I take all of your symptoms and your story into account when we choose the solution I think will give you lasting results as quickly as possible. It’s an artful, creative journey that we take together. Go to the link in my bio to request a complimentary discovery call to see if I can help you improve your gut and your life!

Dropping some 2020 gold for you all! Just please remember that this is not medical advice, but informational. I have used this stuff to change lives. I love to see people happier, more engaged, and living with greater ease. Also, when my patients have physical symptoms that come on with grief, this can be so powerful at resolving those complaints! Even things you would not expect to be treatable, I have seen resolve time and time again. I love that! It is best if you consult ...with a homeopathic doctor to help: Keep an objective eye on you Select the most appropriate remedy Help navigate proper dosing and potency of the medicine Have someone to share with that really cares and does not judge your symptoms (my patients often say that the intake alone is already super therapeutic!) Help you through what is often a process, involving changes in remedies/potencies over time Help you identify obstacles to healing (licensed naturopathic doctors are especially equipped for this!) Help you reach your health goals Please follow this account for more great info, and like and share this post! And DM me if you are interested in homeopathy as a natural option for your mental health concerns! It’s my passion! I do offer a sliding scale if you are having financial hardship, so please reach out if you would like support no matter what.

I really truly believe that healing starts with acceptance. Let go of judgement and love yourself today. Not only do you deserve so much love and compassion, but it is just a basic human requirement.... Besides, beating yourself up only causes more harm. Did things swing in a direction you weren’t hoping for today? Did you mess up majorly? It’s OK. If you give yourself more love and compassion this time, you are already winning. And if you give it to others as well, there is less harm all the way around. Was someone unkind or unjust to you? You never know why and it doesn’t need to affect you *quite* so deeply, if only you are supplying all the grace. You can do it! I believe in you! And as always, I’m here if you need a little support.

My people with PMS/PMDD/endometriosis! Worried that your cycle is going to derail you? Wanting to cut back on NSAIDS because they are terrible for your small intestine? Don’t worry, I literally feel your pain! But I feel less of it now that I just chug this tea through ALL the PMS. I have to give credit here to my old housemate @j_gnarshall who used to make me this tea whenever I was feeling blue! It is perfect for bringing cheer with it’s sunny and bright flavor, but also it... is super packed with natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant magic! My ND bestie @aisha_asmahan (who focuses a lot on hormones) kept reminding me in recent times how wonderful ginger is when it comes to helping manage PMS and I realized that I might as well enjoy my ginger tea with this awesome recipe! This is a game changer. And I don’t say that lightly... I’m that person who always thought that nothing natural could touch this horror, but I was wrong! This does help! And I feel like the deliciousness makes everything a little more bearable if you are like me and feel everything more deeply during this time, as well. I hope you enjoy this, ladies, really! I try to start to drink this tea at least twice a day a few days before I’m expecting to have any symptoms. I also snack a little on the ginger afterward and make curries with ginger and turmeric to eat, as well. Wanna know what else helps? make sure and get some cardiovascular exercise leading up to it meditate before and during pain use some acupressure points Clary sage topically an individualized homeopathic remedy (I can help you with this if you want) birth control Hey, sometimes needed and some are better than others. Be careful if you have endometriosis as more estrogen may make things worse! we could always get thorough and check your hormone cycles and come up with a super targeted, well rounded naturopathic treatment plan using herbs and supplements to balance hormones of course you need to make sure your gut health is on track! Estrogen needs to leave your body through being packaged up nicely then pooped out and that doesn’t happen so well with a super inflamed gut!

Free 14 day challenge with weekly meetings and daily engagement for those of you who paid $14 for my Brain Balancing Basics webinar! If you did not register yet, don’t forget! You will be able to view the webinar at your convenience if you cannot make it for the live stream which is: Saturday July 11th at 9 am Pacific time... Link to register: https://mailchi.mp/21e9a71/brain-balancing-basics-for-bfrds You’ll get a welcome email with the Zoom meeting room once you register. If you didn’t, sorry, please try again! This group is full of awesome, strong individuals who are committed to making positive change in their mental health through self care and through the tools that I am sharing which have made my condition so manageable! We would love to meet you, so don’t be hesitant! Give it a shot! Also, after 14 days you will have the option of getting deeper through a 30 minute visit with Dr Dana in addition to a 30 day bootcamp. This is over $460 in value but is just $200 right now! When you are enrolled you also have access to steep discounts on supplements including hair growth stem cell derived growth factors and cytokines, and services such as homeopathic/naturopathic consulting or microdermabrasion abrasion for those of you near Long Beach, CA. If you at an appropriate stage of healing, it is great to help with regrowth! You can continue on with monthly individual consulting and weekly group meetings for the same price, or downgrade to meetings only after the bootcamp. I am confident if you get involved and are willing to implement certain lifestyle changes, you will see improvement!

Come and learn how to create the conditions to heal your brain so that you can have better impulse control naturally! When: Saturday at 9:00 am PST Cost: $14 suggested, but free if you are on a tight budget and just curious!... I am a naturopathic doctor who has a special focus on functional neurology and mental health. I am passionate about helping people with trichotillomania and other BFRDs, and this webinar will focus on that specifically. I know what it’s like to struggle with this, how it can be damaging to your body and self-esteem, and I also know some amazing tools to aid in recovery. I will be sharing some things you can do at home to make progress right away, so don’t miss out! Register using the link in my bio! Looking forward to seeing you there!

More on zinc! It’s so important in brain development. Do you know that adults still have the capacity to make new neurons? If you want to improve your mental health and cognition, you may want to get your zinc levels checked!... PS, zinc supplementation is no joke and if you have been doing it chronically due to the pandemic (or for whatever reason) without checking your levels, STOP IT. Don’t hoard the zinc and hurt yourself. Zinc toxicity is not super common, but it is possible to have some neurological effects that may be irreversible with too much zinc. Consider supplementing with zinc only when you feel under the weather rather than every day if you are hoping to fight COVID and do not have a known deficiency. Lastly, yes, I think optimal zinc is important if you are trying to recover from trichotillomania. See my second slide to see why and remember that TTM can be associated with low glutathione and altered GABA and glutamate function. Also, with my trichotillomania recovery program, we do work on stimulating the brain for better functional connectivity. Zinc is needed in order to generate new neurons and aid in plasticity in areas that we work to improve such as the prefrontal cortex (regulates impulses and habits) and the amygdala (involved in processing emotion). If you want to learn more about my approach to #trichotillomania and other #BFRDs, make sure and register for my webinar: Brain Balancing Basics for BFRDs, Saturday July 11 at 9 am PST. Cost: $0-14 to register is here: https://linktr.ee/drruthdana

Are you tired of having to fight and control urges and wonder what can be done to heal from trichotillomania or other BFRDs, naturally? If we give the brain what it needs to heal, you’d be surprised how much you can grow, even as an adult. The basics of what the brain needs to achieve better balance can be broken into 4 basic categories:... 1) Nutrition (stable blood glucose plus nutrients needed for proper neurotransmitter activity) 2) Lower inflammation (may involve finding and treating triggers and/or using supplements appropriately to lower neuroinflammation) 3) Stimulation (ie brain based exercises, making sure there is adequate blood flow and oxygen for neurons) 4) Rest (stress management, restful sleep) That’s it! Sound tricky? It really only takes about 15 minutes a day of specific exercises plus some lifestyle shifts which you can achieve gradually! Cost: 0-$14! You are invited for free if you are a newbie, but you may make a contribution via Venmo if you like! Please do pay the $14 if you’ve done more than 3 of my free support groups in the past! Venmo is @Ruth-Dana Link to register in my bio! I am passionate about helping others on this journey and I even have an amazing trichotillomania group where you can get affordable integrative care plus accountability and connection! We would welcome folks with other BFRDs if you’d like to get involved! The webinar is a good first step, or get started as early as tomorrow at 8 am PST with our first group visit! Contact me for details.

Reminder: True Nature TTM Support starts tomorrow! - https://mailchi.mp//reminder-true-nature-ttm-support-start

First home roasted coffee! I did it in my air fryer! Though it doesn’t look super even (I hear air popcorn poppers work great if you don’t want to buy a single use roasted), it’s still super fresh and tastes amazing! Fresh roasted coffee retains more antioxidants. The darker you roast and the more time that goes by after roasting, you have more degradation and less antioxidant activity. Freezing it doesn’t really help, it’s more about time and *not burning* it. You could either go buy freshly roasted coffee from a roasted nearby or roast your own! It’s fun! I’m gonna go have a yummy cup! @ Long Beach, California

The #sunflower is my symbol for my #mentalhealth journey. They are my favorite uplifting color, yellow, and the seeds are in a fractal pattern. I used to think of this pattern as becoming more organized on the inside, and the symbol was about finding my centersomething that took work and peeling back outer layers. I am struck today, however, as I learn more about the fractal pattern of a sunflower:... When the angle of rotation is not simple like 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4, but instead is an irrational fraction of the circle, then the angle never quite repeats itself, and much more complex patterns are possible. Sometimes these arrangements allow [sic] a much more efficient packing of seeds. I love knowing that it is precisely the imperfections in the angles of the sunflower that allow it to make not only a beautiful, but an efficient pattern. In my #trichotillomania journey, I used visualization as part of a comprehensive plan to ease my urges. At first it helped a lot to imagine my hair perfectly straight. That vision made me feel more calm. My urges became non-disruptive and manageable. I touch my hair a lot, but it doesn’t bother me. In a recent challenge with the trich group that I run, I was able to quit touching my hair almost 100% most of the time for a few weeks. But then my gums and throat started hurting. And any type of strep including s. mutans (the type that causes cavities) usually sets me back into a bit of a flare. What that looks like for me now is mainly searching through my hair for course hairs and pulling just those while I multitask. I saw the dentist but it will be a bit before I can get the resolved! In the meantime, I would rather not manually thin my hair. So I convinced myself to leave the course hairs alone. This was pretty distressing the first time. Something made me believe it was disgusting and needed to go. In reality, imperfection is beautiful and natural. #perfectlyimperfect I had to really sit with and accept the feelings behind the beliefs in order to move through it. It gets easier and I thank myself often for progress. Send me a if you feel this. I hope sharing helps!

#trichotillomania is absolutely associated with decreases in functional connectivity in regions of the brain that control reward, motivation and impulse control. It just so happens that decreases in these networks can have a negative impact on your immune system. Alterations in the immune system is one theory behind trich as noted in mice studies with excess grooming and Hoxb8 genes. But if this is the case, can we do something about our gene expression and how it effects our... immune by treating the brain? The research points to yes. Look into anterior cingulate cortex and the default mode network if you want to learn specifics. And you know what is a powerful way to treat the cause and improve immune function? Treat the brain. Create the conditions for healing. Then stimulate the pathways that are week. Your body will thank you! So who wants to learn how? I’m taking #trichotillomania patients through a process I am confident will help as of July 1st. We will use neurodevelopmental movements and functional neurology exercises while also implementing a simple plan to reduce neuroinflammation and allow the brain the best chance to heal. It will take at least 15 minutes a day and some discipline with diet and a few supplements, but it is completely doable and you will have tons of moral support. This encompasses how I recovered from this disorder taking hours of my day whenever I was stressed paired with new research I’ve been obsessed with that has helped my mental health really level up regardless of stress from COVID. It’s not based on flimsy theories, but through using tons of research to design a comprehensive, well rounded plan. If you’d like to see me offering similar groups for #depression, #anxiety, #ADHD, #OCD or #bipolardisorder, please let me know! I have been focusing on this type of thing and running successful groups for years. Go to the link in my bio and request a 15 min Q&A if you are ready to make some health gains with amazing support! I want anyone who is committed to join us July 1st. It’s affordable but will go up substantially in price, so join now if you are on the fence. PMID: 23777938, 28126500