Natural Balance Naturopathic Medicine

10/21/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19sEadtWcp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

❄️ WE’RE HIRING FOR THE 2026/27 SKI SEASON! ⛷️

Love winter? Come work where everyone else comes to play!

We’re getting ready for another incredible season at Mansfield Ski Club, and we’re looking for enthusiastic, hardworking people to join our team across ALL departments!

We’re hiring for:
⛷️ Ski Instructors
🚡 Lift Attendants
🚑 Ski Patrol
❄️ Snowmakers
🔧 Outdoor Maintenance
🧹 Chalet Cleaners
🧸 Daycare Staff (ECE/EA)
💳 Cashiers
👨‍🍳 Prep Chefs
🍽️ Dishwashers & Bussers
🍻 Servers & Bartenders

📅 JOIN US AT OUR JOB FAIR!
Sunday, November 1st
⏰ 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
📍 Mansfield Ski Club, Mulmur, Ontario

Come meet our team, learn more about the available positions, and discover what it’s like to be part of the Mansfield community!

Can’t make the Job Fair? No problem! We’re accepting resumes right now, so there’s no need to wait until November 1st to apply.

📩 Send your resume to [email protected]

Know someone who would be a great addition to our team? Share this post and help us spread the word!

❄️ Great People. Great Team. Great Season.

Mulmur DufferinCounty SimcoeCounty

09/27/2026

Hello lovely patients! This coming week (starting Sept 28th) is the final push on the resurfacing project for Victoria street. As such, it will be closed much of the time so please access the clinic through our rear entrance - off Church Street. Parking is also available behind the building. Happy Fall!

08/13/2026

Congratulations to Didi V. For winning our potato festival raffle! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth, hope to see you again soon!

06/28/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KzH4aM6LC/?mibextid=wwXIfr. Why we love progesterone in peri menopause!

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁.

Most women going through perimenopause and menopause know estrogen gets the attention. The hot flashes. The brain fog. The bone loss. All estrogen.

But progesterone. The quiet one. The one that declines first and fastest. The one whose loss drives some of the most debilitating symptoms women experience.

Nobody explains progesterone properly.

Today that changes.

*What progesterone actually does in your body*

Progesterone is produced primarily by your ovaries after ovulation each month. During your reproductive years it rises in the second half of your cycle, preparing your uterus for potential pregnancy and then falling again if pregnancy does not occur.

But progesterone does far more than support reproduction.

It activates GABA receptors throughout your brain. GABA is your primary calming neurotransmitter, the same receptor system targeted by anti-anxiety medication and sleep aids. Progesterone is your brain's natural tranquilliser.

It promotes slow wave sleep, the deepest and most restorative stage of sleep where your body repairs, consolidates memory and regulates hormones.

It counterbalances estrogen's stimulating effects on the uterine lining, protecting against endometrial hyperplasia and cancer.

It supports thyroid hormone function and has anti-inflammatory properties throughout the body.

It regulates mood, reduces anxiety and supports emotional resilience by directly influencing neurotransmitter activity.

*Why progesterone declines before estrogen*

This is something most women and many doctors do not know.

Progesterone begins declining significantly in your late 30s and early 40s, often a full decade before estrogen dramatically falls. This happens because progesterone is produced after ovulation and as ovulation becomes less frequent and less consistent during early perimenopause, progesterone production drops accordingly.

This means many women spend years in a state of estrogen dominance, where estrogen is still relatively present but progesterone has already significantly declined. The symptoms of this imbalance include heavy periods, breast tenderness, bloating, anxiety, poor sleep and mood instability.

If your symptoms began in your late 30s or early 40s before hot flashes ever appeared, progesterone decline is almost certainly a significant contributing factor.

*The difference between synthetic progestogens and micronised progesterone*

This distinction is critical and most women are never told about it.

Synthetic progestogens such as medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) and norethisterone are manufactured compounds that activate progesterone receptors but are not chemically identical to the progesterone your body produces. They have been associated with increased breast cancer risk in combined HRT, particularly in the older formulations studied in the 2002 Women's Health Initiative trial. They do not convert to neurosteroids and therefore do not provide the same calming and sleep promoting brain benefits as natural progesterone.

Micronised progesterone, sold under brand names including Utrogestan and Prometrium, is body identical. It is chemically identical to the progesterone your ovaries produced. When taken orally it is converted in the liver to neurosteroids including allopregnanolone which directly activates GABA receptors in the brain, producing its calming and sleep promoting effects.

The E3N cohort study, one of the largest observational studies of HRT safety, found that combined HRT using micronised progesterone showed no significant increase in breast cancer risk compared to a meaningfully increased risk with synthetic progestogens.

If you are on HRT with a synthetic progestogen and your sleep, anxiety or mood have not improved, this may be why. The question to ask your doctor is whether you can switch to micronised progesterone.

*Who needs progesterone support*

Any woman with a uterus taking systemic estrogen therapy requires progesterone to protect her uterine lining from estrogen stimulation. This is non-negotiable.

But progesterone support may also benefit.

Women who have had a hysterectomy and are experiencing anxiety, poor sleep or mood instability on estrogen only HRT. Progesterone's brain benefits apply regardless of uterine status.

Women in early perimenopause whose dominant symptoms are anxiety, broken sleep, heavy periods and emotional volatility even before hot flashes appear. These are classic low progesterone symptoms that respond well to targeted progesterone support.

Women who are not yet ready for full HRT but whose sleep and anxiety are significantly impacted. Low dose micronised progesterone is sometimes prescribed as a first step.

*How micronised progesterone is typically used*

Oral at night: The most common approach. Taking micronised progesterone orally before bed produces maximum neurosteroid conversion in the liver, delivering its calming and sleep promoting effect at exactly the right time.

Vaginally: When used vaginally micronised progesterone is absorbed locally with less systemic neurosteroid conversion. This route provides uterine protection with less sedative effect, useful for women who find the oral sedative effect too strong during the day.

Dose: Typically 100mg for sleep support and uterine protection during perimenopause and 200mg for full postmenopausal HRT regimens. Always individualised by your prescribing doctor.

*What to ask your doctor*

✔️ Is my progesterone being addressed alongside my estrogen in my current treatment plan?

✔️ Am I taking micronised progesterone or a synthetic progestogen and what is the difference for my health?

✔️ Could low progesterone be contributing to my sleep disruption, anxiety and mood symptoms specifically?

✔️ If I have already had a hysterectomy could I still benefit from progesterone for its brain and sleep effects?

✔️ What dose and delivery route is most appropriate for where I am in my menopause transition?

Progesterone is not a supporting character in your hormonal story. For many women it is the lead.

Its decline explains symptoms that estrogen alone cannot account for. Its restoration, in the right form and at the right dose, can make a profound difference to sleep, anxiety, mood and overall quality of life.

You deserve to know about it. And you deserve to be offered it.

N.B: Educational information only. Always discuss progesterone therapy with a qualified menopause specialist.

𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

Drop the answer below!

Share this with every woman on HRT who has never had a proper progesterone conversation with her doctor.

She deserves to know this.

Follow my page for daily education on women's health, vitality and thriving through every stage of life.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day! Today we celebrate all the mothers and mother figures in our lives, and share the excitement of those waiting to be mothers, and send love to those who are struggling to become mothers.
❤️

05/08/2026

Celebrating Naturopathic Medicine Week - At Natural Balance we celebrate the love of the craft, the ability to truly support my people and the lifetime of learning and educating!

05/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18sNR8vQ2D/

May is Lyme Awareness Month. Please share because you care!

The ticks are especially active in 2026, and we are seeing many examples of influencers and mainstream media providing terrible advice that increases your chance of chronic illness.

Not all ticks carry infections, but an increasing percentage do. In addition to Lyme disease, ticks can also transmit many other viral, bacterial and parasitic infections such as Babesia, Tularemia, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Borrelia miyamotoi, Bartonella, Bourbon Virus, Heartland Virus, Powassan disease among others. Many studies have found ticks infected with two or more of these pathogens can result in more serious symptoms and prolonged illness.

Transmission of Lyme and other bacterial, viral and parasitic infections can take place in a matter of MINUTES, particularly if the tick partially fed before biting you (so pathogens are in the tick's saliva) or if the tick is not removed properly. There is no minimum attachment time for transmission of a Lyme disease infection. The arbitrary 24-48 hour minimum attachment presumption is extremely misleading and can have life-altering consequences if an infection is not treated early.

Considering there truly is no safe harbor attachment period, prevention is critical:

✅ Take steps to prevent a tick from attaching in the first place. Avoid tick-infested areas, walk in the middle of trails, treat skin, clothing and gear with appropriate repellents (i.e. permethrin on shoes/clothes, lemon eucalyptus or DEET on skin), wear light colored clothing which makes it easier to spot ticks, and tuck pants into socks.

✅ Perform routine, at least daily tick checks anytime you are outdoors, even if your only exposure is in your own yard. Ticks can be as small as a poppy seed and may look like a freckle. Ticks like to attach around moist areas of the body, and can often be found between the toes, behind the knees, in the navel and groin areas, armpits, back of the neck, skin creases, and in hair.

✅ Carefully remove any attached ticks. Use fine-point tweezers to grasp the tick at the place of attachment, as close to the skin as possible. Gently pull the tick straight out, without twisting. Wash your hands, disinfect the tweezers and the bite site with an alcohol pad or similar disinfectant. Do not grab the body or use heat, oils or other topical agents which may cause the tick to expel potentially deadly pathogens from the gut of the tick into the host. Save the tick for testing in a small container or baggie labeled with the name, address, date and estimated hours attached.

✅ Consider prophylactic antibiotic treatment. The medical care provider and patient should carefully weigh the risks and benefits of prophylactic antibiotic treatment in the case of a known tick bite, even before symptoms appear. The Lyme bacteria can reach the central nervous system within 24 hours. A disseminated infection can be much more difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate.

03/14/2026

03/14/2026

Day three of MAPS (medical academy of pediatric special needs) conference, so much information to bring back for my patients!