Pam's Pen

Pam's Pen -

March 8, 2010 is a day many Lab. West women won't forget.

The International Women's Day dinner, hosted by the Labrador West Status of Women, is always a big event in the community, where women come out in droves to celebrate how far we've come, but this year it surpassed my expectations.

As a member of the LWSW board, I was privy to many of the IWD plans - even though I had no hand in them - and though I was prepared for it to be another great feather in the LWSW hat, I still walked away in awe at the end of the evening.

The meal was fantastic, the Lab. City Legion was decorated beautifully, but the first thing that struck me was the sheer number of bodies.

A record number of 270 women filled the seats at this year's dinner, and when Dr. Natasha Turner, a naturopathic doctor from Toronto, ON and the guest speaker for the dinner, took to the stage for her presentation it didn't take long to realize why so many women were willing to pay $15 for a ticket.

Dr. Turner, author of The Hormone Diet, was a dynamic speaker who encouraged women to take control of their health by adjusting their hormones.

She was quick to say she didn't have all the answers, but her presentation on how hormones control our mood, sleep, and almost every other aspect of life was eye opening.

When she described symptoms of different hormone imbalances from excess insulin to low serotonin you could see women nodding along, obviously connecting with the information she was relaying.

For me, her presentation was like a blinding light.

It made me sit up and take notice of symptoms I didn't realize were symptoms and wonder if I'm working against my own best efforts.

In the days since, I've been tirelessly scouring the Internet looking for more information and have even ordered her book, so I can be better informed.

Her speech did raise some personal red flags - I'm not sure a two-week detox is in the best interests of anyone's health and I don't think I'd sign on to her weight loss plan - but I think there is wisdom in her words and if nothing else, Dr. Turner gave 270 women food for thought.

When it comes to health, there is no such thing as too much information. With so many diets and weight loss plans out there, it was refreshing to hear a doctor say diets don't work.

She stressed even though her book has diet in the title, it isn't a diet - it's a health plan. Whether that's true remains to be seen - I haven't read it - but it seems like a great opportunity to learn more about how hormones affect the body and if there are non-harmful ways out there to improve my health, you can bet I'm going to give it a try.

It's often the smallest lifestyle changes that make the most significant impacts and Dr. Turner's visit to Labrador West may have been the turning point many of us needed.