https://www.naturopathicbydesign.com/

Dr. Corina Dunlap, 254 Commercial Street, Ste 258, Portland, ME (2026)

06/22/2026

When most people think about brain health, they think about it decades from now.

What we don’t talk about enough is that many of the habits that influence long-term cognitive health is especially important to focus on in perimenopause. This is a time of significant neurological change.

Estrogen influences memory, learning, neurotransmitter function, inflammation, and the way the brain uses energy. As hormone levels begin to fluctuate, many women notice changes in focus, mental clarity, stress resilience, mood, and memory long before they reach menopause.

Fortunately, there are things we can do to support the brain during this transition.

The research consistently points toward a handful of foundational factors:
✨ Omega-3s
✨ Resistance training
✨ High-quality sleep
✨ Stress management
✨ Mediterranean and MIND dietary patterns
✨ Appropriate hormone therapy when indicated

Notice that none of these are quick fixes. Brain health is built through consistent inputs over time.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s creating an environment that allows the brain to adapt, recover, and function well throughout this transition and beyond.

Your future brain is being shaped by what you’re doing today.

Which of these feels like your biggest opportunity right now?

06/21/2026

I think many women spend years trying to solve the wrong problem.
They assume they’re struggling with motivation. So they look for ways to become more motivated.

They assume they’re struggling with discipline. So they try to become more disciplined.

They assume they’re struggling with mindset. So they work harder to think positively, stay consistent, and push through.

But what if the issue isn’t who you are? What if the issue is what your body has been carrying?

Because many of the women I work with aren’t lacking motivation, discipline, or willpower.

They’re DEEPLY exhausted.
They’re navigating hormonal shifts that affect the brain, nervous system, sleep, mood, energy, stress resilience, and cognition.
They’re carrying years of chronic stress without enough recovery.
They’re operating from a nervous system that has spent far too long in survival mode.

And yet, because our culture tends to frame every struggle as a mindset problem, women often assume they simply need to try harder.

More routines. More self-improvement. More optimization.

What gets lost in that process is curiosity.

Curiosity about what the body is trying to communicate. Curiosity about whether symptoms are signals instead of shortcomings. Curiosity about whether support is needed more than self-criticism.

Some of the most profound healing I’ve witnessed begins when a woman stops asking “What’s wrong with me?” and starts asking “What is my body asking for right now?”

Because the problem isn’t who you are. Sometimes the problem is that you’ve been trying to carry too much for too long.

If this resonates with you and you’re looking for personalized support, I’d love to help! Book a free discovery call with our team through the link in my bio.

06/21/2026

Many women have heard they should be taking magnesium.

What often gets missed is that different forms of magnesium have very different jobs.

Magnesium isn’t just a sleep supplement. It’s a mineral involved in 300+ biochemical reactions throughout the body, and the form you choose determines what it actually does for you.

For example:
👉🏼 Magnesium glycinate is often used to support sleep quality, relaxation, and stress resilience.
👉🏼 Magnesium L-threonate has been studied for its ability to increase brain magnesium levels and may support memory, cognition, and mental clarity.
👉🏼 Magnesium citrate is commonly used for digestive support and constipation.
👉🏼 Magnesium oxide is widely available, but it’s generally not my first choice when the goal is brain health, sleep, or correcting a deficiency.

This becomes especially relevant during perimenopause.

Many women are navigating brain fog, disrupted sleep, increased stress sensitivity, anxiety, and cognitive fatigue all at the same time. While magnesium isn’t a magic solution, understanding the differences between forms can help you choose one that aligns with what you’re actually trying to support.

The right form for improving sleep may not be the same form I’d consider for supporting cognitive function. And that’s where a lot of the confusion comes from.

If you want my full breakdown of how to use each form, comment CHEATSHEET and I’ll send it to you 🤍

06/20/2026

What health habit do you fight hardest to protect when life gets full?

For me, it’s sleep. 💤

Not because I’m perfect at protecting it. Quite the opposite. Some weeks I struggle with it just like everyone else. But I’ve learned that when my sleep suffers, I feel it everywhere else.

My stress tolerance decreases. My focus isn’t as sharp. My energy changes. My ability to handle challenges feels different.

After years of working with women, I’ve noticed something interesting… the habits we struggle hardest to maintain are often the ones our bodies need most.

Sleep is one of the most powerful foundations for brain health, hormone balance, stress resilience, recovery, and overall well-being. Yet it’s often the first thing sacrificed when life gets busy.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s recognizing which habits have the biggest impact on how you feel and doing your best to protect them.

What’s the health habit you fight hardest to protect when life gets full?👇🏼

06/20/2026

If you’ve recently noticed more breakouts, increased skin sensitivity, rosacea flare-ups, hair shedding, thinning hair or dryness that won’t improve, your body may be asking for a deeper investigation.

This week I’m sharing what skin and hair changes can reveal about your hormones, gut health, stress response, inflammation levels, and overall health.

Because symptoms don’t appear randomly. They’re often your body’s way of asking for support.

Comment JOIN to receive this week’s newsletter. ✨

06/19/2026

Most women are taught to think about hair and skin health through the lens of products.

A different shampoo.
A new serum.
A stronger treatment.

But healthy hair and skin are often built long before you step into a salon or skincare aisle.

When I work with women experiencing breakouts, increased skin sensitivity, thinning hair, or excessive shedding, I’m often looking at things like:
➡️ Blood sugar regulation
➡️ Stress and cortisol patterns
➡️ Sleep quality
➡️ Nutrient status
➡️ Omega-3 intake
➡️ Hormonal health and ovulation
➡️ Protein intake
➡️ Inflammation levels

Because your skin and hair are not separate from the rest of your body. They’re often reflecting what’s happening beneath the surface.

This isn’t a checklist you need to perfect overnight. It’s a reminder that lasting changes are usually the result of consistent habits, nutrient-dense foods, healthy hormone function, and supporting the body’s foundations.

Which one of these are you currently focusing on?👇🏼

06/18/2026

Your skin is often one of the first places your body signals that something deeper may be happening.

Many women assume breakouts, dryness, redness, sensitivity, or accelerated aging are simply skincare concerns.

But skin health is influenced by far more than the products you apply.

Gut health. Nutrition. Inflammation. Stress. Sleep. Hormones. Environmental exposures.

These factors can all impact how your skin looks, feels, and functions.

That’s why when women come to me for support, we don’t just focus on symptoms. We look for patterns. We investigate potential root causes. And we create a plan that supports the body as a whole.

Because healthy skin isn’t simply about covering symptoms.

It’s often the result of
supporting the systems beneath them.

Have you noticed your skin change during periods of stress, hormonal shifts, or major life transitions?

I’d love to hear your experience below. 🤍

Interested in exploring what may be contributing to your symptoms? Comment CALL and I’ll send you the link to book a complimentary discovery call.

06/18/2026

Save this grocery list for your next shopping trip. 🛒

One of the most common things I see in practice is women trying to solve hormonal symptoms without first looking at the foundation.

The reality is that your hormones don’t function in isolation. Every day, your body relies on nutrients from food to support hormone production, blood sugar regulation, detoxification pathways, neurotransmitter function, energy production, and inflammation management.

When those foundations are missing, symptoms can start showing up in ways that don’t always seem hormone-related at first:
👉🏼 Brain fog
👉🏼 Fatigue
👉🏼 Mood changes
👉🏼 Anxiety
👉🏼 Difficulty regulating weight
👉🏼 Low libido
👉🏼 Hair changes
👉🏼 Hormonal acne
👉🏼 Fertility challenges
👉🏼 Increased stress sensitivity

That’s why I often encourage women to focus less on “perfect eating” and more on consistently filling their plates with nutrient-dense whole foods.

This grocery list includes many of my favorite foods for supporting:

✔ Healthy blood sugar regulation
✔ Liver and detoxification pathways
✔ Omega-3 intake and brain health
✔ Hormone production and metabolism
✔ Inflammation balance

And while no single food will “fix” hormones, the cumulative
effect of nourishing your body consistently can be incredibly powerful.

Which food on this list is always in your cart? Let me know in the comments!

**SMASH fish = salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring. These fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and tend to be lower in mercury.

05/19/2026

There’s a conversation happening in women’s health right now that I think we need to examine more carefully.

Women going through perimenopause are increasingly being told they need to “fix everything else first” before hormone therapy should even be considered. Fix your gut first. Balance blood sugar first. Reduce stress first. Optimize your lifestyle first.

And while I deeply believe those things matter, I also think we need to ask ourselves a harder question... Why are women being expected to suffer through hormone deficiency while proving they’ve worked hard enough to deserve support?

Hormone deficiency in perimenopause and beyond is not a moral failing. It is not a lack of discipline. And it is not something women can reverse by having a better morning routine.

For many women, especially those navigating early perimenopause, premature ovarian insufficiency, surgical menopause, or early menopause, this is a physiological transition with real downstream effects on the brain, nervous system, sleep, mood, cardiovascular health, and bone health.

And yet so many women spend YEARS trying to “do it naturally” while quietly struggling.

I know because I was one of them.

The reality is: lifestyle medicine and hormonal support are not opposing philosophies. They can coexist. In fact, when the body is no longer functioning from a place of deficiency, everything else often becomes easier: sleep, stress resilience, energy, mood, motivation, and capacity to care for yourself.

This is the conversation I explore in my newest Substack.

Not from a place of “hormones fix everything.” But from a place of asking whether women deserve more nuanced, compassionate, physiology-informed care than they’re currently receiving.

Comment “SUBSTACK” and I’ll send you the link to read it!

Dr. Corina Dunlap

06/22/2026

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