District Center for Integrative Medicine

District Center for Integrative Medicine The District Center for Integrative Medicine (DCIM) heals patients through a deeply individualized an

Long weekend highlights!Sewing projects Family time Bike rides Ice cream Date night What more can a girl want šŸ’—
09/09/2026

Long weekend highlights!

Sewing projects
Family time
Bike rides
Ice cream
Date night

What more can a girl want šŸ’—

09/08/2026

Sheā€™d already cut 40 foods. Still bloated, still in pain, still afraid to eat.

Thatā€™s usually the moment I stop reaching for one more elimination diet or intervention ā€” and start looking at the nervous system instead.

A gut thatā€™s stuck in fight-or-flight will treat almost anything as a threat, food included. More restriction doesnā€™t fix that. It just shrinks the list of things that feel ā€œsafe,ā€ while the underlying dysregulation stays untouched.

If this is you ā€” you donā€™t need to be more restrictive šŸ™šŸ¼. You need your body to feel safe enough to digest again. Click the link in the bio if you need support to learn more about our offerings and drop your Q below !

09/04/2026

Twenty-something me would not recognize gym me today. šŸ‹ļøā€ā™€ļø.

Sometimes mid- lift, I giggle at how much has changed! As a professional dancer earlier in life it was all about being tiny and slight ā€” taking up less space....and that was on top of what society already expected of me as a woman šŸ˜¤

Now itā€™s about the number on the bar and the muscle acquisition on my body scansā€” and how they correlate with my hormones, metabolic parameters, and inflammation metrics. My health THRIVES on a muscle forward body. And honestly, out-lifting half the guys at my gym is something Iā€™m kind of proud of! (195 pounds today!)

A few things I wish someone told me sooner :

šŸŽˆStrength was always available to me ā€” and fundamental to good health. Now, I am relentless in my pursuit to cheerlead for all women in my practice to embrace strength and muscles. Its never too late!

šŸŽˆMuscle isnā€™t the opposite of feminine. I know many women I talk to worry they will develop a body builder physique. Because we naturally lose muscle mass age we age, actively building muscle will not only help you stay healthy, and surprisingly also keep your aesthetic goals satisfied. The difference your headspace will be positive! *I train to live well, not be be skinny*

If youā€™re still measuring your body by how small you can make it, consider this your invitation to change the metric. What if the goal wasnā€™t to take up less spaceā€”but to build a body strong enough to carry you through the next 40+ years?

Go lift something heavy. šŸ’Ŗ

09/04/2026

Waitā€¦ is a sweet potato a vegetable OR a carb? šŸ šŸ‘€
Trick question: itā€™s BOTH.

Sweet potatoes are technically vegetables, but theyā€™re starchy vegetablesā€”meaning on your plate, they act more like a carbohydrate (think rice or potatoes) than a non-starchy veggie (think broccoli or leafy greens).
And thatā€™s not a bad thing! Carbs arenā€™t the enemy, and sweet potatoes happen to be one of my favorite nutrient-dense ways to get them. šŸ§”

šŸ  Rich in vitamins A and Cā€ØšŸ  Packed with fiber to support gut health and satietyā€ØšŸ  Loaded with beta-carotene, an antioxidant that supports eye healthā€ØšŸ  A delicious whole-food source of carbohydrates that can absolutely be part of a blood-sugar-friendly meal. Make sure to pair them with protein, healthy fats + non-starchy veggies!

So yes, sweet potatoes count as a vegetable AND a carbohydrate. No need to fear them, just know how they fit on your plate!

I personally love cutting them into cubes and roasting them until nice and crispy. How are you eating yours? šŸ‘‡

09/01/2026

This is not a post weighing in on a case in the headlines. But, it provided a spring board for my mind to start thinking about how we/medicine can improve care for women. This is actually how I started my practice ā€” on the heels of being a doctor offered an antidepressant **without a diagnosis** and with ā€œnormal labsā€ when there was not enough infrastructure or knowledge for medicine to understand me.

And last night I was up thinking about what we need to do to help postpartum women.

What I will say is this: if we actually want to protect postpartum moms, we must start treating it as the complex physiology it is, build research or at least consensus guidelines on what to do, and aggressively use our understanding of physiology to guide decisions in the meantime. For me that has been using bioidentical progesterone postpartum as another tool in my toolbox.

I think this is all even more complex and convoluted now that women have babies later and technically can be postpartum and perimenopausal at the same time.

We must do better.

And head over to my story of the day to experience my METTA moment after posting this reel!

Iā€™d love your thoughts

08/31/2026

The latest cocktail in our office!! : Exogenous ketones!!

Ketones are compounds your body typically makes through fasting or low-carbohydrate diets (ketogenic diet). However, you can also take themā€”as Iā€™m offering my patient here ā€” without a nutritional intervention ā€” and get ketone benefits in minutes.

I think about using these in a few categories:

šŸ‘‰Performance/Optimization: I personally use these instead of caffeine for my afternoon slump. They can also be used strategically before and after exercise to enhance recovery.

šŸ‘‰Health Conditions: Long COVID, cognitive support/brain fog, perimenopause/menopause, metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, seizure disorders, Alzheimerā€™s disease. These require more focused and prolonged ketone dosing strategies.

Friendly reminder that ketones are your brainā€™s best fuel. Theyā€™re a cleaner way to make energy because they avoid producing reactive oxygen species (free radicals) ā€”which means more efficient energy AND less cellular wear and tear.

Beyond the day-to-day mechanics, ketones also act as a signal. Their presence tells your cells to build more mitochondria, ramp up antioxidant defenses, cool down inflammatory pathways, and support repair.

This goes way beyond ā€œketo diet weight loss.ā€ Itā€™s about giving stressed cells a more efficient way to make energy and repair themselves which has far-reaching benefits! Shout out to Dr Catherine Johnson MD who shared her amazing clinical experiences with me as it relates to ketones.

AND tell me what surprises you the most?

5 breakfasts Iā€™d eat if I was trying to build muscle after 40... and yes, the last one is probably the most controversia...
08/28/2026

5 breakfasts Iā€™d eat if I was trying to build muscle after 40... and yes, the last one is probably the most controversial. šŸ‘€

As a functional medicine physician in my 40s, one of my biggest priorities is preserving muscle for the years to come. Muscle is one of the greatest predictors of healthy aging. It supports metabolism, blood sugar, bone health, balance, and independence as we get older. Thatā€™s why I encourage my patients to think beyond calories and start building their meals around protein.

Here are five breakfasts youā€™ll find on repeat in my kitchen:

šŸ„š 3ā€“4 eggs, not just one. Iā€™ll often pair them with sautĆ©ed vegetables, avocado, and a little fruit or quality sourdough. Protein comes first.

šŸ„¤ A protein smoothie loaded with fiber and functional ingredients. I rotate my protein sources between protein powder, plain Greek yogurt, or kefir. Iā€™ll then add berries, flax, chia, or leafy greens depending on what my body needs.

šŸ³ A sheet pan breakfast. Chicken or turkey sausage, roasted vegetables, and a nourishing starch like sweet potato make meal prep simple and satisfying.

šŸ« A nutrient-dense yogurt bowl. Plain Greek yogurt or skyr topped with berries, nuts or nut butter, seeds, and sometimes a sprinkle of high-fiber granola for crunch.

šŸŸ Leftover salmon for breakfast. It surprises people every time, but itā€™s one of my favorites. Itā€™s rich in protein and omega-3s, keeps me full for hours, and reminds us that breakfast doesnā€™t have to look like ā€œbreakfast.ā€

How do you feel about your breakfast habits? Are you working on bumping up your protein in the morning! Follow along Anjali Dsouza, MD @ DCIM for more ideas on how to eat for a healthy future, not just now!

08/26/2026

One of my patients was doing everything right on her GLP-1 ā€” protein dialed in, resistance training - check, dosing on schedule ā€” and still losing muscle. Something wasnā€™t adding up.
Turns out, it was hydration.

GLP-1s blunt your thirst response along with your appetite, so itā€™s easy to be quietly dehydrated without noticing.

Itā€™s one of the first things I check with patients on GLP-1 therapy, right alongside protein targets and exercise ā€” because the goal isnā€™t just weight loss on the scale, itā€™s fat loss with muscle preserved.

šŸ’” Starting point: half your body weight in ounces of water daily, more with heat, activity, or other unique needs

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