Hello to the most incredible community!
I hope you're taking care of yourselves out there — and if you're not, that's okay. That's what this newsletter is for.
This week's questions come from three people in very different seasons of life: a woman navigating menopause who's still exhausted on hormone therapy, someone rebuilding after quitting alcohol, and a reader watching their memory slip and scared it's the start of something bigger.
But here's what ties them together — your hormones, your gut, your brain, and the daily choices that either build them up or wear them down. When these systems are supported, everything changes. Let's get into it.
Here's what we're covering in today's questions:
(Click to skip ahead)
Thank you for being here. Now on to the questions!
When your brain is relearning how to feel good, give it the raw materials.
Nurse Doza mentions BLISS, often, for a reason. When you're rebuilding dopamine after alcohol, your body needs SAMe and Trimethylglycine — two methylated nutrients that help your B vitamins actually do their job, especially if you carry the MTHFR gene.
BLISS is our "natural mood booster" — a sublingual powder that works within seconds to minutes, giving clean, crisp focus and calm without caffeine or stimulants. No crash. No dependency. Just your body making its own happiness, the way it's supposed to.
May Special — 15% off.
👉 Try BLISS
Q: Hi Nurse Doza. I recently saw one of your videos about low testosterone in men. What about low testosterone in women? My doctor told me that mine is low and they put me on testosterone pellets to help me with my menopause issues. It helps some but I'm still tired all the time. Could the issue be something else?
A: Nurse Doza: Low testosterone in women is very common as you approach menopause. I tend to see testosterone and estrogen decrease in menopause, affecting a woman's energy, mood, libido and overall function.
I think estrogen support, over testosterone support, should be a priority for women at any age. It includes diet, lifestyle, supplements and possibly estrogen replacement therapy.
How to support estrogen (and healthy testosterone) in women:
Gut support: A healthy gut microbiome contains the body's estrobolome — gut enzymes that help recirculate healthy estrogen. Eating healthy probiotic foods (like sauerkraut, Kimchi, and fermented pickles), fasting for 24-36 hrs, taking Fish Oil, and supplementing with our GUT powder (L-glutamine) can provide the nutrients needed for a healthy gut.
Liver support: Most women are surprised to know that the liver regulates estrogen. The body can make inflammatory estrogen, and a healthy liver methylates estrogen so that it doesn't become a long-term issue (think any estrogen-related problem such as Endometriosis, PCOS, and even breast cancer). Liver detox nutrients like NAC, Milk thistle and Green tea extract have all been shown to act as phytoestrogens that help rid the body of xenoestrogens that can cause disease and cancer. Start our LIVER BOOST, which has 16 different nutrients to detox the body of xenoestrogens.
Support the adrenals: In menopause, estrogen comes from the adrenals and the fat cells. If the adrenals are over-activated (think being in "fight or flight" mode), the adrenal glands will likely cause adipose tissue (fat cells) to make inflammatory estrogen (80% of menopause breast cancer is related to estrogen). Taking our ZEN supplement, along with better stress management, can help.
I know this is a lot. That's why I recommend a consultation with me to go over all of this in detail and come up with your own plan.
Extra credit: Take our $10 Menstrual Cycle course where we talk about what to do before, during and after menopause to start feeling great.
Q: Nurse Doza, I'm trying to turn my life around right now. I stopped drinking a few months ago and I'm starting to feel better but I'm still depressed all the time. I go to work and it helps keep me distracted but at the end of the day, I'm struggling with sleep and stress. At least I'm not hungover when I wake up, but I would love to be able to not have brain fog for once. Any suggestions? Love all that you do to help people.
A: Nurse Doza: I'm glad you stopped drinking. It was the best decision I made 15 years ago and I wouldn't be here right now if I kept drinking. You are on the right path and I understand the struggles with stress and sleep too. The good news is that your life will get better and there are ways to help.
You need to support your dopamine. It will help you find true happiness and motivation, and it's possible you might have an issue making a lot of dopamine to begin with.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that gives us focus, happiness and motivation. But it also gives us pleasure and reward. Alcohol can give us dopamine after a few sips, but the dopamine released in the body when alcohol is consumed is short-lived, causing us to drink more. Or try other things like drugs, gambling or even smoking to try and get more dopamine. None of these activities is sustainable long-term for our health, and the quicker we figure out healthier ways to get dopamine, the better your sleep, your stress and your life will be.
How to make more dopamine naturally:
Fix your gut. 50% of your dopamine is made in your gut. (Watch our "Fix your gut in 5 simple steps" podcast)
Support your adrenal glands as they make dopamine too. Bovine adrenal gland is my absolute favorite, as glandular supplementation can help provide nutrients to the glands to help them make hormones naturally (like an adaptogen).
Take our BLISS supplement, which has SAMe & Trimethylglycine, two naturally found amino acids that help support the body's ability to make dopamine. It's a sublingual powder that works within seconds to minutes for some people, providing them with clean, crisp focus and energy without stimulants or caffeine. (We talk about this supplement a lot in our MTHFR class.)
Natural morning sunlight (10-15 minutes). If you don't have access to morning sunlight, invest in a red light panel. Red light has been shown to help increase dopamine production in the brain. (This is the red light panel I use every single day at home and in the clinic. My family loves it too! Code: nursedoza)
Methylated vitamin B9 & B6 can help make dopamine. Most people are deficient in these two vitamins their whole life, leading to a possible lifetime of addiction. I have seen wonders when people start taking their B vitamins. (This is ours, called BOOST.)
I am so proud of you. Don't give up. You have no idea what you are capable of — and how great you will start to feel if you follow these steps. You got this.
Extra credit: Take our $10 Mindset course where we discuss recommendations for issues like depression, addiction, stress, longevity and even imposter syndrome.
Want to geek out and go deeper?
I have a LIVE weekly MTHFR course running right now — and it ties directly into everything above: dopamine, methylation, mood, and brain health.
Classes are Tuesdays @ 5:30pm CST.
I am losing my memory, Nurse Doza! I keep forgetting little things like where I placed my phone or keys. I am also forgetting the names of people I have known for years. Dementia runs in my family and this is starting to scare me. Can this be reversed? What do I need to doHi Nurse Doza, I'm addicted to sugar. What should I do?
A: Nurse Doza: I think dementia can be prevented. Brain support needs to start as early as possible, and it comes from lifestyle — one that helps support long-term health.
How to support optimal brain health (at any age):
Make sleep a priority. Sleep clears out plaque buildup in the brain — the same plaque that is found in dementia.
Daily sunlight. Sunlight decalcifies the brain. Fluorescent lights calcify the brain. If you can't get daily sunlight, invest in a red light panel. (Code: nursedoza)
Repair your gut. Your gut is your 1st brain. We make more Serotonin, Acetylcholine, GABA and Melatonin in the gut than we do in our brain.
Take a fish oil. The brain is made of Omega 3 DHA. Most people don't eat healthy, fatty fish.
Detox the liver. The liver & brain make Glutathione, an antioxidant that reduces inflammation. Our LIVER BOOST can help you make more Glutathione.
Get out of constant "fight or flight" mode. Chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation, which leads to chronic dis-ease. (Watch our "90 day adrenal reset" podcast)
Extra credit: Take our $10 Brain Health course. Every 65 seconds, someone is diagnosed with dementia. We spend trillions of dollars on dementia research with no cure in sight. Don't wait. Start taking care of your health and your brain now!
If today's answers clicked for you, there's a whole course behind each one.
One of the biggest sleep myths is that people don’t have enough melatonin.
If today's answers clicked for you, there's a whole course behind each one.
Understanding why your body craves sugar, how your gut drives those cravings, and what your dopamine levels have to do with all of it — that's just the beginning.
Nurse Doza's courses at the School of Doza go deeper on all of it, and right now they're just $10.
👉 Explore all courses: schoolofdoza.com/courses
Your body isn't broken. It's asking for better inputs.
Better hormones. A gut that actually works. A brain that's protected for the long haul.
Start with one change. Do it daily. Repeat.
To your health,
Nurse Doza