Best Naturopathic Doctor Herbs For Women's Health!

Dr. Nicole Sundene, NMD

Female Hormone Naturopathic Doctor

As a Naturopathic Doctor and Female Hormone Specialist I have a lot of favorite herbs for Women's Health! We had a lovely time at "The Sound of Music" by Desert Stage Theaters and as the song “My Favorite Things” got stuck in my head I couldn't help but begin to envision the Instagram video I made of all my top Naturopathic Herbal Medicine Favorite Things that can help women stay fabulous and feel great. 

The best part of Herbal Medicine is that it is relatively inexpensive so adding some of my favorite things into your daily regime should be easy to do, and good for your health. Please check with me or your own Naturopathic Doctor before starting any new herbs as it is important you know what you are doing, especially with patients challenged by Chronic Disease. 

These are a few of my favorite things for Women….

#1 Freshly ground flaxseeds- Menopause does not always require hormones as many women hire me to prescribe. For mild menopausal or perimenopausal symptoms, Flaxseeds are a "wonder drug" in my mind as a hormone specialist. One of the cheapest easiest things a woman can do to have fabulous skin, a happy mood, and balanced hormones. Simply consume 1-3 tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseeds as a bedtime snack in a protein shake, oatmeal, applesauce or yogurt. This will help with hot flashes and night sweats. Increasing fiber is important for detox and the omega-3's will have your dry skin as soft as a baby's bottom. As I discuss on my blog "Omega-3: Fish Oil vs Flax Oil.” Flaxseeds are superior as they contain phytoestrogens that help women that are perimenopausal and menopausal optimize their estrogen levels. They are estrogen modulating which means if your estrogen is too high or too low they will help improve hormone imbalance. 

So what is the catch? This sounds too good to be true….

You MUST grind them fresh daily or don't even bother with this. It is easy to purchase a small coffee grinder that is strictly used for grinding flax seeds and herbs so it does not taint the flavor. But flaxseeds turn into nasty rancid BAD FATS when you fall for the marketing hype of buying them pre-ground. If you are currently using pre-ground flaxseeds please just throw them straight into the garbage. Bad fats become BAD HORMONES, inflammation, pain, acne, PMS symptoms, and moodiness.

It only takes a minute to grind them fresh and take a few tablespoons of ground flax to add to smoothies, brown rice, soups, cereal, oatmeal or salads. Flaxseeds are also rich in protein, fiber, and have phytoestrogen-like properties for those going through menopause. A tablespoon of ground flax has 2 grams of fiber. So my hypothyroidism patients struggling with constipation will also benefit from flaxseeds!

QUICK FUNNY STORY ON FLAXSEEDS….

When I was a student Intern at Bastyr University working under the #1 Female Naturopathic Gynecologist, Dr. Jane Guiltinan, Bastyr's Famous Gynecology instructor,  I completely freaked her out one day. I worshipped her and wanted to do everything perfectly as she taught all of our Gynecology classes. I knew I wanted to specialize in Women’s Health so I signed up for all of her shifts and followed her around as her #1 fan. After a few months of working together she decided my nursing background required me to have very little supervision, she saw I was conscientious, good at diagnostics, prescribed mainly food as medicine and herbal teas, and quickly trusted that I was capable of working with little supervision. Until one day....  We always had a case review prior to our shift starting at Bastyr clinic. First, we presented the patients we were seeing with the instructor, the treatment plan we had prescribed at the last visit, and then our goals and treatment ideas for each patient visit that day. As I rambled on through all of my charts she suddenly stopped me on my menopause case and turned BEET RED and said... 

"WHAT NICOLE?!??!?!? You prescribed that lady 3 tablespoons of flaxseeds TWICE A DAY?!?!?!?" 

She was literally beside herself with stress and horrified and rushed to the computer to find research studies to confirm the safety of the upper-end dosing of flaxseeds. I told her #1 It's just a food, and hippies everywhere eating their flaxseed bars would be dead already if it were dangerous, #2 The patient has really bad eczema and dry skin #3 The patient was super constipated #4 The patient had terrible night sweats, hot flashes and insomnia and had not been able to sleep through the night in over 6 months and was at wits end that she finally slept. “2 Tablespoons is ALL I ever would recommend,” she said and then continued rambling at the computer "OMG, OMG, OMG” while she searched for something that told her what I had done was safe and could not find any answers.

I had never really been "in trouble" with any of my supervising doctors until that day. I broke out in a sweat and had never felt more anxious worried that I had harmed the patient and as a very conservative Naturopathic Doctor that hates medications I felt panicked that I had possibly harmed this poor woman with flaxseeds.

At the patient’s appointment, she came in as did Dr. Guiltinan for the first time.... because prior to my error Dr. G had been letting me do my own thing, trusting that I needed little supervision.... I asked how the patient was doing and she said "Those flaxseeds you put me on are AMAZING! I have not had ANY hot flashes, the nightsweats are all gone, I can sleep soundly through the night and look at how much softer my skin is and less dry after just a month!" Dr. Guiltinan was astonished, I was relieved I had not killed my patient with too many flaxseeds and although I normally recommend women use 1-3 tablespoons of flaxseeds it is nice to know that it is a food and you really cannot OD on Flaxseeds, although all Omega-3 rich foods have natural blood thinning properties and should be combined with blood thinners under the supervision of a Naturopathic Doctor that knows what they are doing! As soon as the appointment was over Dr. Guiltinan and I had a great laugh and I was so relieved it turned out well as she was the #1 Naturopathic Doctor I respected at the school and wanted to be exactly like her as a Naturopathic Gynecologist. So fortunately, nobody died from the 6 tablespoons of flaxseeds and I was still in Dr. G’s good graces!

# 2 Schisandra Berries: Not only are Schisandra berries utterly amazing for anxiety, depression, and detox... a 2016 study found them to be helpful for menopausal women for their hot flashes, palpitations and sweating. A recent 2021 study found Schisandra improved skeletal muscle strength in patients over 50 which is important as when we lose strength as women, and lean muscle, we become weaker as our testosterone levels naturally decline around age 35 then we burn fewer calories. Lean muscle=metabolism. Shall we just put Schisandra berries in the water with everyone being so anxious, annoying, and agitated these days? 

Schisandra is referred to as “Chinese Prozac” and should be used as the #1 Mental Health herb in America! Schisandra is a terrific day time adaptogen herb that does not make you drowsy just like Ashwagandha, two capsules with breakfast and lunch, or a cup of tea in the morning and afternoon.  It improved performance, vitality and stamina so if you feel like a forlorn broken down soul that has lost all hope and is always stressing out…. then this herb is for you! The berries can be made into a nice Schisandra Brandy which I will show you how to make soon so stay tuned to my Instagram page! I don’t always have time to post my herbal concoctions on my blog so make sure you are following me on Instagram and Facebook!

What is the most dangerous thing about Schisandra? Ladies, you MUST be careful there can be dire consequences if you are not careful with these berries….

Warning to Single Ladies: Schisandra BOOSTS YOUR LIBIDO! So if you don’t want that don’t use Schisandra otherwise you may run out and find a boyfriend!

#3 Dandelions: In my mind, there is no flower more glorious than the dandelion. No flower is more beautiful, magical or miraculous. Any rose can be beautiful with enough fertilizer, Miracle Grow, weed killer, manual aphid plucking, and diligent daily watering. But, frankly, I have a tough time respecting a flower that persnickety. Roses are too high maintenance to earn my respect. Plus after all that work they they don’t even grant you a free wish!

I admire a flower with the tenacity to grow through a crack in the pavement without Miracle Grow or special attention and still come out bright yellow and full of sunshine! Dandelions also refuse to be cut flowers. They will not play that game, they will not sit in a vase for you and look pretty. You have to enjoy them on their terms. 

The entire dandelion plant is full of medicine. The leaves of Taraxicum officinale lower blood pressure as effectively as furosemide. While most diuretic anti-hypertensives medications actually deplete potassium stores, dandelions comes conveniently packaged with their very own potassium to replete as it depletes!

Now mild cases of hypertension and edema will respond to this herbal medicine, but more moderate and severe cases will most likely need a stronger herb. Please do not combine cardiology herbs with your meds. You need me as your Naturopathic Doctor that knows how to do this otherwise it could be utterly dangerous!

The root of the Dandelion plant can be dug up in the fall and used as a liver tonic. Modern living could not be more toxic, especially if you live in Arizona where we have terrible air quality, horrible nasty tap water that nobody should ever drink, and toxic pesticides being sprayed around us every day by the City of Scottsdale….So if you REALLY want less dandelions in your yard then just harvest them every fall, or just call me up and I’ll come by and get them for you, dry them out and roast the roots to make an awesome coffee substitute or even better Dandelion wine!

#4 Ginger is amazing for pain, inflammation, weight loss, dermatology disorders and well known for Immune Boosting, as I go on and on in my Blogs about “Antiviral Herbs,” “Ginger for Weight Loss,” and my “Gingerberry Blaster Recipe.” My chronic pain patients that follow my Gingerberry Blaster recipe report much less pain and also find it easier to lose weight! 

Plus ginger is super inexpensive and you can buy it at the grocery store and throw a chunk of it in your smoothie every morning as I show in my “Anti-Pain Smoothie” recipe on my Instagram page. When I worked four years at a GNC health food store in college, people were always dazzled by all of these fancy and expensive products from reading marketing hype and my #1 pet peeve in Naturopathic Medicine is patients with “Shiny Object Syndrome” that are looking for the next shiny pretty thing to fix them when really some of the best things are right in your grocery store’s produce department! The more I can teach you to incorporate herbal medicine into your daily regimes, meals and routines the less bottles of Vitamins and Supplements you will need to buy. 

#5 Curcumin: Did you know that curcumin plus 200mg of vitamin E actually helped reduce menopausal hot flashes? While putting together the research studies for my “Sunshine Milk” Latte recipe to give ONE FINAL LAST ATTEMPT to get people to stop using useless ineffective Turmeric for chronic pain, that I personally find worthless for my own chronic pain as an autoimmune patient, I found that research study along with 17 other Randomized Controlled trials showing Curcumin works as an antidepressant, helps with weight loss by lowering blood sugar metrics in diabetics with Insulin Resistance, is Antiviral, heals the skin, heals the gut and is anti-aging...which is why patients never think I am actually old enough to take care of them. But now you know the secret behind what keeps the 46 year old doctor looking so young!

#6 Ginkgo: Is best known for enhancing memory performance, especially in the elderly. I cannot tell you how many times patients have said, “Doctor, what is the name of that herb you put me on for my memory again…. I need more of that herb….but I cannot for the life of me…. remember what the herb is called?????” We always have a good laugh about that because nothing is worse than losing your memory and they notice an improvement immediately when they start taking ginkgo and their memory worsening as soon they run out of it.  Now memory problems, brain fog and poor concentration can be a classic sign of hormone imbalance. So if you have that going on then you need to pop on over to my appointment SCHEDULE page and treat yourself to a consultation and hormone testing as this is very common with hypothyroidism and menopause.

While Ginkgo is gangbusters for brain health and memory, it is also one of the most researched herbs available with a lot of other random uses including improving vaginal lubrication and hot flashes for menopausal women. So why should women NOT be taking ginkgo if it helps their memory and helps them with the very vaginal dryness they hire me to fix with bioidentical hormones? Ginkgo is not without side effects as it does inhibit platelet aggregation so with people wanting to prevent blood clots from “The Virus” it is certainly a good herb to have on board for prevention. In research studies, Ginkgo decreases platelet aggregation and prevents strokes and other diseases related to emboli. Therefore if you take any blood thinners you should absolutely NOT take gingko without working with a knowledgeable Naturopathic Doctor such as myself that is very well experienced on this topic after working 10 years in a retirement town for many elderly patients on blood thinners that still needed to use herbs. So I am not saying it cannot be done I am just saying it should not be done without someone that is an expert on combining herbal medicine and prescription medicine such as myself.  

Ginkgo has been researched to be effective as a treatment for migraines. The herbal medicine delays the mental deterioration in early Alzheimer’s, and is fantastic for treating tinnitus, vertigo and cochlear deafness. It is also used for diabetic retinopathy, retinal insufficiency, macular degeneration, cataracts, intermittent claudication, Raynaud’s disease, varicose veins, generalized peripheral arteriopathy, and erectile dysfunction. Ginkgo can also decrease asthma symptoms. Therefore I cannot think of a better Naturopathic Herb for the women in my tribe to be taking for prevention!

#7 Cornsilk Tea is the Rodney Dangerfield of my Women’s Health Herbal Queendom that simply does not get enough respect. Women with bladder problems everywhere are unwittingly THROWING AWAY AMAZING MEDICINE when they are shucking their corn. This must stop. When I worked for many female MD’s while simultaneously going through Naturopathic School at Bastyr University,  my Docs would often come to me with their frustrating female patients that get chronic UTI’s, have bladder pain, frequency and urgency. What can we do for them? They knew full well how useless allopathic medicine was for chronic bladder problems and were willing to try just about anything...especially when antibiotics and pyridium had already failed the patient. We all know that constant antibiotics for women with bladder problems is destroying their microbiome and vaginal flora and is doing more harm than good.

I taught them about how to prescribe Cornsilk Tea and they began to prescribe it to every single female patient with bladder pain and problems they encountered. Keep in mind these docs are seeing 40 patients per day and they are the perfect busy docs to conduct my herbal medicine experiments. 

The female doctors would report back to me about it and say, “That Cornsilk Tea recipe is seriously a miracle bladder tea!” What I love the most about Cornsilk Tea is that it is SO inexpensive, gentle and safe. The problem with the majority of chronic bladder conditions like recurrent UTI is that once the bladder becomes inflamed and irritated especially after taking antibiotics it loses the natural mucosal barrier that protects the bladder from bacteria adhering to it. It’s the vicious bladder cycle I see happen all the time and commonly have women come to see me too many years too late after trying everything and going to every Urologist imaginable to no avail. 

I could not LOVE cornsilk tea more for my female patients with chronic bladder pain. Now there are a whole host of other “demulcent herbs” in this same family that have mucilaginous properties we can use if for some reason you are adverse to Cornsilk tea but it is so gentle we can even give it to children. It is dirt cheap and it is not endangering the plant such as with slippery elm bark by taking the tree’s bark. Always work with an experienced Naturopathic Doctor when giving children herbal medicine as you need to be careful and know what you are doing with pediatric naturopathy! 

#8 Passionflower: Did you know passionflower is not only the COOLEST flower in the world...but was shown to be just as effective as sedatives in the benzodiazepine (valium) family. I find this truly amazing as a Naturopathic Doctor that does a lot of Hormone Testing and Neurotransmitter Testing for mental health patients to try to determine the underlying ROOT CAUSE cause and get them off their prescription drugs!  Why not taper off the valium and start using something natural? This is something we have to do together because you should not be mixing your mental health herbs and meds when you do not know what you are doing. You need an Integrated “Holistic Psychiatrist” such as myself that knows exactly how to do this and is very experienced in implementing natural medicines while tapering down prescription drugs. 

In recent research, passionflower tincture at 45 drops per day was shown to be as effective as oxazepam (similar to valium). This nervine herb is also “antispasmodic” which makes it great for people with constant nervous twitching, chronic pain, and also high blood pressure. As women age their arteries lose elasticity and also become constricted. Therefore as their Naturopathic Doctor I am targeting treatments such as Omega-3’s in flaxseeds to improve elasticity and muscle relaxing herbs that work to relax muscles can also help lower blood pressure. Not to mention most of my hypertension patients are under a lot of stress which only worsens their BP!

#9 Red Clover: Is simply an amazing, delicious, mineral rich flower that everyone should be drinking like green tea. This herbal medicine is an important phytoestrogen herb for women in menopause, it is less well known as a sedative but this makes it the perfect cup of tea for perimenopausal and menopausal women to enjoy before bed! If you are over-heated and having hot flashes it is a cooling herb, rich mineral source and mild blood thinner. This herbal medicine calms the system and has a special affinity to the lungs, throat, and salivary glands. Not only is it a perfect balancing tonic herb but it also is a beautiful addition to a glass teapot. When we have a pretty tea to drink we are less inclined to indulge in alcohol and unhealthy foods. Pretty Tea=Happy!

If you are still not happy with your pretty flower tea, you can have that glass of wine.

#10 Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale, Brussels’ Sprouts aka Cruciferous Veggies. Are they an herb or a vegetable? I call cruciferous vegetables “functional food” because it functions as a potent herbal medicine by eliminating toxic estrone or “bad estrogen”  that gives you acne, PMS, weight gain, bloating, moodiness, and even breast cancer. As I discuss in my blog all about how “Sulforaphane is the #1 Hormone Balancer,” If you are in perimenopause have PMS, PCOS or other estrogen dominant states then to increase your cruciferous veggies such as broccoli Brussels’ sprouts, Cabbage, Kale, and cauliflower. Lettuce and other veggies are useless and do not have DIM and sulforophane. Now, if you are a man living with a woman that has PMS why not conduct a simple research study for the sake of women’s health? First,  keep a period tracker app on your wife and then make sure you are serving her ½-1 cup of lightly steamed cruciferous veggies during days 18-28 of her cycle? This does mean you will have to cook dinner for 10 days straight but it may be a good thing for everyone! 

Happy Wife= Happy LIfe! 

#11 Pine aromatherapy is one of my favorite scents and also a very potent antioxidant which means anti-aging and chronic disease prevention for women! I love how when I am blogging nobody really cares about disease prevention until I say “Anti-aging” and then everyone is like…. WHAT IS THAT ANTI-AGING THING I NEED????? WHERE DO I BUY IT???? WHAT IS THE EXACT BRAND YOU BUY??? WHAT IS THE DOSE??????

Personally, I love diffusing pine for that happy smell of “Christmas” as well as it being an antiviral, antimicrobial essential oil. If you want to “clean the air where you work like I do then this is a great choice to diffuse. For me, it's the aromatherapy that brings back those happy nostalgic memories of bringing the family Christmas tree into the house with my family. 

When I go mountain biking there is no better smell than the fragrance of warm sunshine on pines to put a smile on my face. In addition to putting a smile on our faces, we can also decrease the wrinkles on them because pycnogenol from pine bark is one of the most potent antioxidants that money can buy! Not everyone loves to drink a cup of pine tea but personally I find it delicious with a little bit of honey and I enjoy the Nostalgia of the scent that brings back happy Christmas memories. Did you know the Japanese actually have a word for this? “Natsukashina” means “This smell reminds me of another time” that is why aromatherapy is SO powerful for our emotions as the olfactory center or scent center is smartly connected right to our memory. So whether the scent is good or bad we will NOT forget it! Nature designed this so we remember not to eat food that is poisonous. This is why you either LOVE a smell or HATE a smell and there is not a lot in between for many people. So that is your word for today Natsukashina!

#12 Thyme: When I first heard of “The Virus” in early 2020 instead of panic buying toilet paper like everyone else,  I will admit that I panic bought FIVE POUNDS of bulk organic Thyme not knowing what to expect or what the best effective treatments would be. I just wanted to make sure I had enough antiviral medicine for my 2000 patients in my Women’s Health practice. Fast forward 18 months later we have great research demonstrating that Thyme oil is one of THE BEST herbs studied to kill the virus. A February 2021 review is discussing how we can turn this in to a drug to treat C-19. So put this in your diffusers, do an herbal inhalation if you are sick, and if you are stuck at home with no supplements and nobody to go to the store for you I usually ask my sick patients…. Do you have Thyme? Add 1 Tbl to 8 oz boiling water and let sit covered for 15 minutes. Strain and drink 2-3 times daily.  Check out my Immune Boosting Blog to learn more about how you can Soup up your Soup!

#13 Ashwagandha: This is probably one of my favorite herbs. Unlike most nervine, sedative herbs that are designed to be taken at night and put you to sleep, both ashwagandha and schisandra are terrific “adaptogenic” herbs that help us tolerate our stressful days that could be made much better when we don’t over-react and tweak out to the stressful situation and stay calm and focussed and work through the challenge. You can make ashwagandha tea like in my “Invincible Mommy” recipe, take caps of the organic herb twice daily for anxiety and depression or make my “Anti-Rage Latte” Recipe. This herb is amazing and is a powerful “Workhorse” that will get you back on track, restore you, and have you feeling like yourself again if you have been through a horrible amount of stress. 

#14 Aloe Vera: Did you know you can drink aloe vera? While it is super important for so many Dermatology conditions as I discuss on my Blog “Seborrheic Dermatitis, Scalp Psoriasis and Itchy Scalp” and I use it for my Acne and Eczema patients combined with essential oils as my first choice as a Holistic Dermatologist. You can also take Aloe vera internally. I would not recommend this if you tend towards diarrhea as it generally is a bit of a stool softener, but a properly prepared aloe drink FREE of the latex (latex= diarrhea) is amazing for digestive issues. I prescribe aloe vera to my female patients all the time complaining of weight gain and bloating, and see it being helpful for healing digestive disorders, leaky gut syndrome, ulcers and heartburn. It is excellent for gas and bloating. My weight loss patients that feel bloated tell me they INSTANTLY feel like they lose 10-20 pounds when they start it because really a lot of abdominal distention is just gas and bloating. Which only helps us want to try harder to lose weight when we get rid of that bad bloating! A fresh preparation of the gel is amazing for the scalp in stimulating hair growth. I recommend using the fresh aloe leaf, follow my Instagram page link below, and you will soon see how I harvest and use it otherwise I like the “Lily of the Desert” inner filet brand as my #1 choice if you are not going to make it fresh.

# 15 Cranberries: Inhibit e. Coli bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall so my female patients with chronic bladder issues should be drinking REAL cranberry juice not Ocean spray ….if your cranberry juice has food coloring or high fructose corn syrup it is NOT MEDICINE. To make real Cranberry juice more palatable get real blueberry and real cranberry juice from Trader Joes or Whole Foods and use a half and half mixture the blueberry juice has the same medicinal properties and makes the cranberry juice less nasty. I also recommend cutting it with water so ½ cup water + ¼ cup cranberry juice + ¼ cup blueberry juice for women with chronic UTI’s. If you HAVE a UTI you need to drink that three times daily and make an appointment with me or your Naturopathic Doctor.

#16 BLACKBERRIES- My Grandma Marie lived to be 105 years old and I attribute this mainly to her eating blackberries or blackberry jam nearly every single day! As I looked at the USDA Flavonoid research chart it suddenly dawned on me that she probably lived to be 105 years old because she consumed one of the most potent antioxidants available to us without having to pay for some fancy exotic fruit from the rainforest. 

The best part about blackberries is that with proper planning you can harvest them and not pay for them! You can have blackberries all year round by freezing and preserving them as jam. Flavonoids are shown to reduce hormone imbalance for women, decrease pain and inflammation, decrease weight, and prevent dementia and Alzheimer's. My Grandma Marie ate blackberries or blackberry jam nearly every single day of her life because she lived by the most delicious blackberry patch and every summer we would pick blackberries together and make jam.

Some of my best and most dangerous stories of my young adult years oddly involve my Grandma Marie wanting me to climb up on a cliff, a tree or an abandoned boat to reach THE BEST blackberries. You have to realize that you cannot rationalize with a stubborn Norwegian woman and if I was not going to climb up on the abandoned boat that SHE at 90 years old was going to do it. Since I could not allow that to happen, I sacrificed my body for the blackberries and would return home looking like I had returned from combat. My parents would take one look at me all bruised and covered in cuts and say “What happened to you?!?!” 

“I have just been picking berries with Grandma.” Then they would nod as it made perfect sense. 

No matter how crazy her plans were to get as many blackberries as we could she always was a super ethical and conscientious wild crafter and while sending me on many utterly dangerous black berry picking fools errands would simultaneously sing "One for the birds, one for the seeds, and one for me!" The one for the seeds was so that the blackberry patch could keep replanting itself. So even though I was the victim of many dangerous hair- brained schemes to collect as many blackberries as possible for my Grandma she always felt it was important we only harvested 1/3 of what we saw so that the animals and Mother Nature had what they needed. If your berries are a little tart try sprinkling them with a packet of stevia!

The freezing process of blackberries actually makes the proanthocyanin pigments inside more bioavailable. Eating a cup of lightly thawed blackberries daily is a delicious trick for slowing down aging, protecting your heart, and reducing inflammation. Blackberries have more flavonoids in them than blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries in that exact order, and are therefore a powerful antioxidant!

So I hope you have learned a few fun, delicious and inexpensive herbal remedies I recommend and rely on as a Women’s Health Naturopathic Doctor and Female Hormone Specialist to keep you feeling fabulous, healthy, preventing disease and looking your best!

Dr. Nicole Sundene, NMD

(480) 837-0900

Dr. Sundene is a Naturopathic Doctor in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is considered a Female Hormone Expert  in Women's Health and Bioidentical Hormones. She specializes in Holistic Women's Health for Menopause, Thyroid, Hashimotos, PMS, Perimenopause, Autoimmune, Postpartum, Chronic Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, Food Allergies, Digestion, Dermatology , Acne, Psoriasis, Eczema and Adrenal Hormonal Conditions. In 1999 she began working for a Hormone Doctor prior to starting Naturopathic Medical School. With over 22 years of experience in both Prescription and Natural women's health and hormones she presents to women the best integrated health solutions for their Chronic Disease. She has been an Herbalist for over 27 years and enjoys teaching women how to use herbs to balance their hormones, nutrition and optimize their health. Dr. Sundene relies on blood testing for her hormone metrics. The hormone testing is covered per the patient's insurance plan and conducted at certain points in the woman's menstrual cycle. To learn more about Hormone Testing for Women Visit: Bioidentical Hormones. Follow Dr. Sundene on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more tips on Women's Health, Female Hormones and Naturopathy!