A Holistic Guide to Hormones: Ali Damron Talks Weight Loss, Hormone Imbalances, and More
“So many women believe hormones just affect things like reproduction and the menstrual cycle, but the truth is they affect everything.” For this week’s Women’s Health Wednesday, let’s talk all things hormones: weight loss, imbalances, sleep, and anxiety. , Originally from Western Nebraska, today’s woman dreamer, Ali Damron, is a woman of many talents: a business coach, acupuncturist, podcast host, and a mom to two young ones. We are excited to share her expertise!
1) Tell us your background and what prompted your interest in women's health specifically.
I grew up in Western Nebraska in a community where I didn’t really know anything about health in general, but definitely not holistic health. I had several family members go through serious health issues and it prompted me from a young age to wonder if there were any preventative measures that could be done. I also wondered if there were any treatments available that didn’t have such harsh side effects.
I went to college at Arizona State University and was exposed there to people who believed in holistic health and alternative health and they opened my eyes to these things. I became a personal trainer and did that job in several different settings from gyms, corporate wellness centers, wellness centers and a weight loss camp.
From there, I became more interested in becoming a holistic healthcare practitioner. I found acupuncture for myself as a way to help through trauma, stress and hormone issues I was having in my 20’s and became hooked. I went to acupuncture school and got pregnant at the end of it. I went on to have two healthy children, but I was feeling the effects of postpartum depletion, burnout, fatigue, insomnia and anxiety again.
It was through these experiences that I became very passionate to help women who were going through the same types of things. I think so many women are brushed off, confused and don’t know how to treat and heal themselves. It’s my mission in life to improve the quality of life of women of all ages.
2) Hormonal imbalances, sleep and anxiety are some of the most common conditions that affect women's health. Please tell us about how these play a role in women's health and weight loss.
These are very common issues that affect women. They are the most common of what comes into my practice, but so many are treatable!
Hormones affect us on a very fundamental level. So many women believe hormones just affect things like reproduction and the menstrual cycle, but the truth is they affect everything. Hormones tell us how to breathe, eat, drink and sleep. They impact how much energy we feel and our moods too. If a woman has a menstrual cycle, hormone levels are constantly fluctuating throughout the month too.
Weight loss is a very hormonal process. There are several at play such as cortisol, insulin, estrogen, testosterone and leptin and ghrelin. These all play largely separate roles, but are all important to be balanced when a woman wants to lose weight.
I like to look at hormones as a pyramid. The foundation of that pyramid is cortisol (our “stress” hormone), insulin, and adrenaline (our “fight or flight” hormone). These three hormones dictate the levels of other hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, melatonin, lepin and ghrelin.
When wanting to lose weight, it’s important to make sure you’re not dealing with hormonal imbalances first. If there are other hormonal imbalances, it can make losing weight more difficult. Like I said earlier, they are treatable though!
3) How do you help women 'heal their hormones'? What is some advice / testing you offer to your women clients?
I have a formula called the 5 Pillars to Hormone Health. The five pillars include: mindset and stress management, nutrition, sleep, exercise and vitamins, supplements and herbs to support hormonal imbalances. These pillars are all imperative in healing hormones.
There are several ways to test hormones: blood, saliva and urine. It depends on the data we want to know and which hormones we are wanting to test to determine the best course of action on testing.
I frequently use a hormone test called The DUTCH test. This test looks at several different female sex hormones, in addition to cortisol, neurotransmitters, organic acids and melatonin. It also looks at all the hormones metabolites which tells us how our body is detoxing and metabolizing our hormones. This is amazing scientific data because so many women have a hard time metabolizing hormones and that can cause a lot of symptoms that can be missed on typical blood work or other hormonal tests. I think it’s the gold standard in this type of hormone testing.
4) What are some treatment options in your practice that differ from mainstream medicine? How do these help with diagnosis and treatment?
I work with my patients 1:1 by asking them for a thorough medical history, lifestyle information, nutrition profile and head to toe symptoms they are experiencing. As a practitioner, we can gather so much data from just talking to patients about their experiences.
If needed, I suggest doing hormone testing for objective data as well.
When all the subjective and objective data is gathered, we go through a comprehensive treatment plan that consists of my 5 Pillars to Hormone Health. I tailor these pillars for their unique hormonal imbalance. There isn’t just a one size fits all lifestyle plan for hormonal imbalances.
5) As a dreamcatchers platform we have to ask, what is your next big dream?
I would love to write a book and also continue to launch digital courses to help more women globally!
Thank you Ali for sharing your expertise with us! We are excited to have you in our empowered women’s network!
Bio: I am a wife, mother to two sweet little boys, a licensed acupuncturist and a certified personal trainer. For the last nine years, I’ve run my own successful private practice as an acupuncturist. Over the last four years, I’ve taken my message to the online platform where I do 1:1 consultations for both hormonal health and business coaching and offer digital courses. I also have a podcast called The Ali Damron Show and You’re So Lucky.