District Center for Integrative Medicine

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

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 — on the heels of being a doctor offered an antidepressant **without a diagnosis** and with “normal labs” 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!

I’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 them—as I’m offering my patient here — without a nutritional intervention — and get ketone benefits in minutes.

I think about using these in a few categories:

👉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.

👉Health Conditions: Long COVID, cognitive support/brain fog, perimenopause/menopause, metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, seizure disorders, Alzheimer’s disease. These require more focused and prolonged ketone dosing strategies.

Friendly reminder that ketones are your brain’s best fuel. They’re a cleaner way to make energy because they avoid producing reactive oxygen species (free radicals) —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 “keto diet weight loss.” It’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 I’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 I’d eat if I was trying to build muscle after 40... and yes, the last one is probably the most controversial. 👀

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. That’s why I encourage my patients to think beyond calories and start building their meals around protein.

Here are five breakfasts you’ll find on repeat in my kitchen:

🥚 3–4 eggs, not just one. I’ll often pair them with sautéed vegetables, avocado, and a little fruit or quality sourdough. Protein comes first.

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

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

🫐 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.

🐟 Leftover salmon for breakfast. It surprises people every time, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s rich in protein and omega-3s, keeps me full for hours, and reminds us that breakfast doesn’t have to look like “breakfast.”

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 — protein dialed in, resistance training - check, dosing on schedule — and still losing muscle. Something wasn’t adding up.
Turns out, it was hydration.

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

It’s one of the first things I check with patients on GLP-1 therapy, right alongside protein targets and exercise — because the goal isn’t just weight loss on the scale, it’s fat loss with muscle preserved.

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

08/19/2026

Many women in my practice feel anxious when my recommendation to them is to do LESS. Does this happen to you?

This is not a post on mechanisms in weight balance and to be clear this is about women who are in a healthy weight range but are hoping to squeeze out a bit more. But quickly : overtraining certainly disrupts the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, resulting in higher cortisol states. ADD “healthy” but insufficient caloric density and you have a recipe for weight loss resistance. This is often MISSED in a quick appointment where doctors can accidentally collude with a woman’s instinct to push harder when they say they are in a weight plateau.

But, what I’m most curious about is why this happens to us? Why is the conditioning so strong to do MORE...and ANXIETY set in when we dont?

And more importantly what can we do to trust our bodies wisdom? I find the instinct to “do something” so strong for this subset of women so in the transition I recommend considering “doing a reading session” “doing meditation” etc. It needs to feel like am action or the anxiety creeps in.

But I wonder if there are other strategies people use.
I’d love your thoughts!

5 things i don’t do as a medical professional that might put other doctors in a tailspin 🙄1. Expect you to blindly follo...
08/18/2026

5 things i don’t do as a medical professional that might put other doctors in a tailspin 🙄

1. Expect you to blindly follow my recommendations. I want patients to ask questions and ask me for more details. This is a relationship, you and me!

1. Immediately reach for a prescription pad: Medication can absolutely have a place but it’s not automatically my first or only tool.

2. Rush you through a 20-minute appointment:
I want time to hear the whole story, not just the chief complaint. That’s why our office requires an initial 90-minute appointment!

1. Dismiss a symptom because your labs are “within normal range.” I hear one too many times that patients were told they were just fine by previous doctors when their lab values say otherwise…

5. I won’t pretend I have all the answers. Yes, I was in school for 10+ years, but that doesn’t mean I’m an expert in every field of medicine. I’ve got a lovely referral network for this reason!

I’d love to support you in your health journey! Learn more about and our approach to patient care at the link in bio.

08/12/2026

my to-do list? it goes on & on & on….

A friendly reminder that your doctor is a person, too. 🤍
Yes, my office is one of my favorite places to be. I love what I do and I care deeply about my patients.

But I’m also a wife, a mom, a business owner and a human with hobbies, responsibilities, relationships and goals outside of work. And sometimes, I need to remind myself of the same things I remind my patients:

It’s okay to slow down.
It’s okay to say no.
It’s okay to say, “I need to stop.”

Sometimes our bodies need a minute to just BE. No optimizing. No checking something off the list.
Consider this your reminder that rest is allowed. ❤️

If you can relate, drop a ❤️ in the comments.

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1915 I Street NW, 7th Floor
Washington D.C., DC
20006

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Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm

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