As I mentioned last month, I’m on an innovative program to lose weight and improve my type 2 diabetes. The program is the brainchild of Eric Braverman, MD, the clinical assistant professor of integrative medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and the director of the PATH Medical Center, in New York City. Dr. Braverman believes that deficiencies in your brain chemicals—specifically, the neurotransmitters dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and GABA (short for gamma-aminobutyric acid)—can cause the problems we normally chalk up to aging, including energy loss, memory problems, and weight gain.

What became clear after meeting with Dr. Braverman and his staff over several visits was that weight and blood-sugar problems weren’t my only concerns. What I really needed to address was anxiety. I don’t think of myself as anxious, but in retrospect, I can’t believe I missed it—the insomnia, the worrying, the tension. I’m not experiencing those simply because I have pressing deadlines and many responsibilities, as I’d thought. It’s a biochemical issue. Another revelation: My anxiety masks an underlying minor depression I never even realized I had.

The program Dr. Braverman put me on will lessen anxiety and improve my mood, and it will also help me lose weight. It has several key components.

Hormones. My blood tests revealed that my levels of estradiol, an estrogen component, are so low as to be practically undetectable. That’s way lower than normal, even for a woman like me who’s past menopause. My levels of thyroid hormone and progesterone are also lower than they should be. Deficiencies like these can lead to the problems I’m dealing with. Part of the remedy: bioidentical hormones.

Now I’d refused hormone replacement therapy when I entered menopause. It’s a natural transition, I told myself, so why take drugs? I didn’t want to increase my risks for heart disease or breast cancer, and I’d never, ever take Premarin, the estrogen replacement made from pregnant mare’s urine. Making the stuff brutalizes horses. (I did take the herb black cohosh—it successfully lessened my hot flashes.) But unlike synthetic pharmaceuticals, bioidentical hormones are the same as those your body produces.

I’m now taking natural estradiol, progesterone, and thyroid hormone, all of which are compounded specifically for me.

Next page: I’m taking a whole bunch of supplements too