The Hormone Fix

Burn Fat Naturally, Boost Energy, Sleep Better, and Stop Hot Flashes, the Keto-Green Way

About the Book

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • For women approaching or in menopause, a revolutionary diet and holistic lifestyle program for easier weight loss, better sleep, diminished hot flashes, a clearer head, and a rejuvenated sex drive.

“Hormone balance is within reach, and this is the definitive guide for reaching that goal.”—David Perlmutter, MD, author of Grain Brain

As women approach menopause, many start to experience the physical and emotional indignities of hormonal fluctuation: metabolic stall and weight gain, hot flashes and night sweats, insomnia, memory loss or brain fog, irritability, low libido, and painful sex. Too often, doctors tell us that these discomforts are to be expected and that we will have to wait them out during “the change”; some of us even agree to be unnecessarily medicated. But Dr. Anna Cabeca’s research and experience with thousands of her patients show that there is a fast-acting and nonpharmaceutical way to dramatically and permanently alleviate these symptoms.

The Hormone Fix introduces Dr. Cabeca’s unique Keto-Green protocol, a plan that pairs the hallmarks of ketogenic (low-carb/high fat) eating with diet and lifestyle changes that bring the body’s cellular pH to a healthy alkaline level. The proven result: balanced cortisol and reduced output of insulin, the hormones most responsible for belly fat and weight gain, plus an increase in oxytocin, the “love and happiness” hormone. Whether you are perimenopausal, menopausal, or postmenopausal, The Hormone Fix offers an easy-to-follow program, including

• a 10-day quick-start detox diet to jump-start weight loss and reduce symptoms immediately
• daily meal plans and weekly shopping lists to take the guesswork out of a month’s worth of Keto-Green eating
• 65 delicious and easy-to-make recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, smoothies, and soups
• detailed information on vitamin and mineral supplementation that optimizes hormone balance
• simple self-assessments and recommended optional lab testing for a better understanding of your hormonal status
• tested and trusted stress-reduction and oxytocin-amplifying advice and techniques

With The Hormone Fix you can expect to trim down, tap into new and unexpected energy levels, enhance intimacy, and completely revitalize your life! Ready for your fix?

The Hormone Fix is a treasure trove of accurate and user-friendly information that all women who are suffering during menopause need to know and apply.”—Christiane Northrup, MD, author of The Wisdom of Menopause
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Praise for The Hormone Fix

“Hormone balance is within reach, and this is the definitive guide for reaching that goal.”—David Perlmutter, MD, author of Grain Brain

The Hormone Fix is a treasure trove of accurate and user-friendly information that all women who are suffering during menopause need to know and apply.”—Christiane Northrup, MD, author of The Wisdom of Menopause

“Dr. Anna Cabeca is a true innovator. She’s also a powerful crusader for women’s health. Her experiences help her to tell it like it is, but also to approach even the most delicate topics with warmth and compassion. The Hormone Fix is a perfect example of what happens when brains, heart, and fearless innovation come together.”—JJ Virgin, author of The Virgin Diet

“This is an urgently needed book that every woman should read. It provides clear, practical, and easy-to-follow steps that will correct hormone-related symptoms.”—Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FACN, FAAFP, CNS, author of The Better Brain Solution

“You’ll want Dr. Cabeca’s secrets to getting your sexy back! She shows you how to lose those last ten pounds, double your energy, and fall in love with yourself again, naturally.”—Robin Nielsen, CNC, BCHN

“Packed full of excellent information that’s all based on the latest scientific research, The Hormone Fix makes the subject of hormone balance understandable and, even better, it makes achieving it doable! Dr. Cabeca’s delicious Keto-Green recipes wisely point women toward a much more nutrient-dense way to do the popular keto diet.”—Leanne Ely, CNC, author of Saving Dinner

“Hormones impact all aspects of your health. Master your hormones, master your health, master your life. It’s never too late to thrive. This book is your guide to doing exactly that.”—Mark Hyman, New York Times bestselling author of The Blood Sugar Solution 

“Dr. Cabeca's Keto-Green eating plan is an incredible gift to women over forty. If you're struggling with weight gain, lagging energy, sleeplessness, and other hormone-related issues, this book is your road map back to better health!”—Tess Masters, author of The Perfect Blend

The Hormone Fix is a must-have resource for women who are wrestling with hormone-related health challenges and want to get their lives back on track.”—Terry Wahls, MD, IFMCP, author of The Wahls Protocol

“Dr. Anna Cabeca is the authority on fixing women’s hormones by using an innovative nutritional strategy that combines keto dieting, alkaline food choices, and lifestyle techniques that balance three key hormones. No one has put these pieces together until now. Follow Dr. Cabeca’s program and experience rapid yet safe weight loss and resolution of your most nagging hormonal symptoms.”—Josh Axe, DNM, DC, CNS, author of Keto Diet and co-founder of Ancient Nutrition
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Excerpt

The Hormone Fix

Introduction

Being a gynecologist and obstetrician for over two decades has given me the true honor and pleasure of taking care of generations of women at different stages of their lives, from their early teens through pregnancies, menopause, and well after. Wherever you are on that continuum, let’s imagine it’s you in my office. We’re discussing your health and hormones and how you are honestly feeling. I close the door, and we sit down to talk after your annual Pap smear and physical exam. It’s a vulnerable moment, I know. You’ve probably grappled with weight gain—maybe a little or a lot. Perhaps you’ve felt very forgetful, anxious, or moodier than before. Maybe you’ve started having hot flashes that go off like si­lent bombs inside you, or night sweats that make you want to sleep with the covers off, then on, then off again.

And what’s your sex drive like? Is it fizzling out? Do you tire easily? Can’t sleep a whole night, or wake up still tired? On top of everything else, do you no longer enjoy yourself or feel like your life isn’t at all what it should be?

You might tell me about other symptoms. Perhaps you’ve been gain­ing weight, and you don’t know why. Your relationships are fragment­ing, along with your confidence. Thoughts may be swirling through your mind like: “Will I ever feel better? Am I just going downhill from here? Am I just going crazy? Or maybe there is something very wrong with me! Is it early Alzheimer’s? Do I have cancer—thyroid, breast, ovarian? Is there something in my labs or my exam? Do I need a sur­geon? Psychiatrist? Divorce attorney?”

Whoa, now!

I’ve sat with thousands of women in your situation, and I have com­municated with many more thousands through my online interactive programs, including the two most popular, Magic Menopause and Sex­ual CPR, so I know that moment when you’re ready to do anything. You want things fixed—now! But you may also have lost hope that it is still even possible. Take a deep breath. It is possible, it’s not going to take a lot of time, and you’re not alone. I assure you, you are a powerful woman, and you can turn things around fast.

I understand what’s happening to you. You’re struggling with the physical, mental, and emotional indignities of hormonal fluctuations and an ensuing “metabolic stall.” The result: weight gain, hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, insomnia, memory loss, hair loss, brain fog, irrita­bility, diminished libido, discomfort during sex, pain, and more. Your body is winding down its reproductive machinery, and you feel like you’re losing control—and losing your mind.

Too many women are resigned to accepting these changes, living un­happily with them, and muddling through for years to come. Many oth­ers will agree to be unnecessarily medicated for their symptoms. They’re told this is normal or it’s the best it’s going to get. I know this because I often meet women after they have tried everything else and have gotten fed up with their medical care—yet still haven’t given up hope.

And I also know what you’re going through because I’ve been in this terrible place—twice!

My first experience with these hormonal changes occurred long before I approached menopause, and was triggered by a personal tragedy—my eighteen-month-old son died in a terrible and senseless accident. My insurmountable stress, deep grief, and subsequent depres­sion thrust me into premature menopause and ovarian failure. My hor­mones were a mess. I was eighty pounds overweight. I couldn’t lose a pound no matter how hard I tried. I started to lose my hair in clumps. My joints ached. At the time, I was the mother of three (two daughters and one stepdaughter), and I very much wanted another child. But be­cause of my tragedy-induced premature hormonal changes, I was told by experts I could never get pregnant again and that I would have to live this way forever. I was devastated.

Mine was a health crisis that traditional medicine could not solve. I couldn’t even solve it, despite being an Emory University–trained, board-certified ob-gyn and expert in functional medicine, plus a con­sultant in age management medicine. Dismissed by fellow doctors, I was informed that I would just have to live with infertility, weight gain, de­pression, fatigue, and hair loss. The only solution I was offered was anti­depressants and sleeping pills. I felt shattered.

But I would not let myself stay broken.

I refused their options because I had seen my mother struggle under the weight of many medications, and I had to live for my daughters and search out solutions for myself. Survival alone was not enough. Eventu­ally, by using an early version of the diet and lifestyle program I will share in this book, I lost those eighty pounds and went on to compete in a sprint triathlon (which is quite a personal accomplishment, because I hate to run!). My hormones leveled. My depression lifted, and I became someone who felt great all the time. Joyously, at age forty-one, I con­ceived a healthy baby girl. What traditional medicine said could not be done was done.

The second time happened in my late forties, more or less when most women expect to start transitioning away from monthly periods and into menopause. But just because it was expected didn’t mean it was easy! My hormones mounted another attack on me. Weight gain that creeped to five pounds, ten pounds, then twenty pounds. More fatigue. Emotional volatility. Stress that made me feel like jumper cables were attached to my heart.

I didn’t take this lying down. I went looking for answers and help. Unfortunately, I was again met with a “Well, this is normal” attitude and an ill-equipped medical system that could not, and would not, help. Can you relate? We’re expected to tolerate and power through these disturb­ing changes, medicate them, or grin and bear them, right? No!

I knew what I had done previously to lose weight, fix my hormones, and overcome complete metabolic stall. I began to tinker with those same solutions again. It took me a lot of trial and error before I figured out the best way to reclaim my body, mind, and soul. I changed the way I ate. I changed lifestyle habits that were standing in my way. I tapped into my inner power and felt more contented and spiritually at peace.
 
Ultimately, I got myself back in tune. I was able to keep the creeping weight off, felt much more even-keeled—and really, like a younger ver­sion of myself. And that happy experience has inspired me to help other women, especially those struggling through hormonal chaos with no­where to turn.

About the Author

Anna Cabeca, DO, OBGYN, FACOG
Anna Cabeca, DO, OBGYN, FACOG, is triple-board certified and a fellow of gynecology and obstetrics, integrative medicine, and anti-aging and regenerative medicine. She has special certifications in functional medicine, sexual health, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. The author of the USA Today bestseller The Hormone Fix, she is the creator of the highly acclaimed virtual transformation programs Women’s Restorative Health, Sexual CPR, and Magic Menopause; she offers keto-alkaline nutrition plans to online subscribers; and she developed the alkaline superfoods drink Mighty Maca Plus as well as Julva feminine cream. She has been interviewed by all the major television networks and has been featured in InStyle, HuffPost, and MindBodyGreen. She lives on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, with her daughters, horse, and dog. More by Anna Cabeca, DO, OBGYN, FACOG
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About the Author

JJ Virgin
Anna Cabeca, DO, OBGYN, FACOG, is triple-board certified and a fellow of gynecology and obstetrics, integrative medicine, and anti-aging and regenerative medicine. She has special certifications in functional medicine, sexual health, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. The author of the USA Today bestseller The Hormone Fix, she is the creator of the highly acclaimed virtual transformation programs Women’s Restorative Health, Sexual CPR, and Magic Menopause; she offers keto-alkaline nutrition plans to online subscribers; and she developed the alkaline superfoods drink Mighty Maca Plus as well as Julva feminine cream. She has been interviewed by all the major television networks and has been featured in InStyle, HuffPost, and MindBodyGreen. She lives on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, with her daughters, horse, and dog. More by JJ Virgin
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