Episode – PCOS Diva: Recent Episodes
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We’re so happy to have Dr. Dana Cohen back on the PCOS Diva Podcast! This episode we’ll learn about Dana’s new book Fuel Up, Harness the Power of Your Blender and Cheat Your Way to Good Health.
Dr. Cohen explains how to boost your nutrition through a blender. She breaks down how blended up food does not make them lose nutrients and how smoothies have so many health benefits.
Tune in as they discuss:
- Why cheating or hacking your diet is okay
- Does blended up food lose nutrients?
- The Role of blending in nutrition
- How to properly hydrate
- Cheat your way into eating more vegetables pcosdiva · 210 – Cheating your way to good health [Podcast with Dr. Dana Cohen]Resources Mentioned:Fuel Up Book
The Benefits of Proper Hydration [Podcast with Dr. Dana Cohen]
Dana Cohen Website
Quench Book
For over two decades, Dr. Dana Cohen has been on the leading edge of integrative and functional medicine, guiding thousands of patients through protocols that initiate cellular repair and restore balance to the body.
Her unyielding devotion to her patients has helped countless patients on the brink of giving up hope to finally improve, recover, or completely heal from a variety of severe and chronic health issues.
The post 210 – Cheating your way to good health [Podcast with Dr. Dana Cohen] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
On today’s podcast Dr. Erin Ellis and Dr. Vinu Jyothi discuss PCOS and periods. Dr. Ellis explains how your period is the 5th vital sign into your overall health. Having PCOS means it’s usually common to have some sort of issue with your menstrual cycle, weather that’s not having a period at all, having a heavy period, unbearable cramps or just feeling terrible during your cycle.
Dr. Erin Ellis is a licensed primary care physician who found naturopathic medicine after her fight with cancer when she was just 31. She is on a mission to help people live their best lives and find optimal health. She helps women fix crappy periods, hormone imbalances and why they’re constantly running on empty.
Tune in as they discuss:
- How your period is the 5th vital sign into your overall health
- What you’re at risk for if you have a heavy flow
- How to know if your perimenopause symptoms are something to be concerned about
- Which inflammatory and processed foods effects hormones
- The importance of fiber for balancing hormones naturally
pcosdiva · 208 – How to know if your period is “abnormal” [Podcast with Dr. Erin Ellis]Resources Mentioned:Dr. Erin Ellis Website
Dr. Erin Ellis Instagram
Naturopathic doctor in Gilbert AZ, Dr. Erin Ellis helps women fix crappy periods, hormone imbalances or addressing why you are constantly running on empty.
Dr. Erin Ellis is a licensed primary care physician who found naturopathic medicine after her fight with cancer when she was just 31. She is on a mission to help people live their best lives and find optimal health.
The post 208 – How to know if your period is “abnormal” [Podcast with Dr. Erin Ellis] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
On today’s episode Dr. Vinu dives into the hypothalamus with functional medicine practitioner Deborah Maragopoulos, known as “the Hormone Queen”. Deborah is an Intuitive Integrative Nurse Practitioner, she bridges together the science of medicine with the art of healing. For the past 30 years, she has focused exclusively on neuro-immune-endocrinology. Through her extensive research and client work, she believes the root cause of disease is the hypothalamus – a small part of the brain that’s responsible for orchestrating the body’s symphony of hormones.
The hypothalamus controls your hormones, your immune system, and your neurotransmitters. It controls your weight setpoint, your metabolism, your temperature, your fertility. It controls your sleep cycles, your stress response, your memory, your moods. Just in the last few years, research has emerged providing evidence that your hypothalamus is at the root of many diseases. PCOS symptoms can be a sign that your hypothalamus is out of balance.
Tune in as they discuss:
- How to heal your hypothalamus
- The role the hypothalamus plays in menopause
- The connection of hypothalamus and fertility
- What are the five pillars for healing
- The challenges of diagnosing hypothalamic issues pcosdiva · 207 – Is your hypothalamus out of balance and worsening your pcos?Resources Mentioned:Deborah Maragopoulos Website
Deborah Maragopoulos Instagram
Deborah graduated from UCLA with a Masters in Nursing then went on to study nutritional science, functional medicine, quantum physics, genetics, neuro-immune-endocrinology, and metaphysical healing. After working in a variety of traditional clinical settings for 10 years, she opened a solo private practice where she specializes in natural therapies. Through her extensive clinical research and two decades of collecting empirical data, Deborah developed a unique holistic health care model that blends naturopathic and allopathic therapies. She also created a successful nutraceutical product called Genesis Gold®. This groundbreaking, holistic nutritional supplement, combined with her knowledge of natural healing therapies, has garnered Deborah widespread acclaim. Deborah is the Founder of Full Circle Family Health, Genesis Health Products, Inc and Divine Daughters Unite. She serves as clinical endocrine advisor to Genova Laboratory and Sansum Medical Clinic, and she is also the past president of the California Association of Nurse Practitioners.
The post 207 – Is your hypothalamus out of balance and worsening your pcos? [Podcast with Deborah Maragopoulos] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
One of the major symptoms of PCOS is elevated insulin levels. Elevated insulin levels in the body is considered a key indicator in acquiring insulin resistance (IR) which, unchecked, eventually can lead to diabetes. Ali Chappell join Dr. Vinu to discuss what living a low insulin lifestyle looks like and how to do it. Ali Chappell is Registered Dietitian with a MS and PhD in nutrition and metabolism, specializing in reproductive endocrinology.
Ali is the founder of Lilli Health is a comprehensive nutrition education and wellness company dedicated to supporting patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This episode has evidence based practical tips to lower insulin levels while having PCOS.
Tune in as they discuss:
- What insulin resistance is and what causes it
- What foods spike insulin
- What foods are low insulin
- Intermitting fasting pros and cons for insulin resistance
- What whey protein really is and where it originally came from
- The difference between glycemic index and insulin resistance pcosdiva · 206 – Living a low insulin lifestyle and it’s benefits with PCOS [Podcast with Ali Chappell]Resources Mentioned:Lilli Health Website
Lilli Health Instagram
Ali Chappell is Registered Dietitian with a MS and PhD in nutrition and metabolism, specializing in reproductive endocrinology. Ali is the founder of Lilli Health is a comprehensive nutrition education and wellness company dedicated to supporting patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Lilli Health is built on the foundation of a low insulin lifestyle, represented by the acronym Lilli. Through extensive research spanning over a decade, we have focused on studying the benefits of a low insulin lifestyle for women with PCOS. Now, we are thrilled to bring this valuable information out of medical journals and directly into the hands of PCOS patients who are seeking support and guidance.
The post 206 – Living a low insulin lifestyle and it’s benefits with PCOS [Podcast with Ali Chappell] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Pure carbohydrates set you up for a blood sugar spike and crash and this triggers your hunger hormones to go wild for the rest of the day and you’ll just be eating eating eating on this blood sugar roller coster”
In this episode, registered dietitian, nutritionist, and certified diabetes educator Lily Nichols discusses with PCOS Diva Podcast host Dr. Vinu about PCOS and gestational diabetes. Lily explains how eating protein is extremely beneficial to manage blood sugar in pregnancy. She explains what gestational diabetes is and how to manage it with having PCOS.
Tune in as they discuss:
- How much protein you should have while pregnant, especially for breakfast
- The effects of processed foods while pregnant
- Why do people get gestational diabetes diabetes and how to possibly prevent it
- Insulin resistance and gestational diabetes in pregnancy
- Inositol supplements benefits in pregnancy
- How gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes/prediabetes are related
- How to make sure you’re gaining a healthy amount of weight
pcosdiva · 205 – GESTATIONAL DIABETES & PCOS DURING PREGNANCY [Podcast with Lily Nicholas]Resources Mentioned:Lily Nicholas Website
Pregnancy Weight Gain Article
Real Food for Fertility Book
Real Food for Pregnancy Book
Lily Nicholas Instagram
Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based nutrition. Drawing from the current scientific literature and the wisdom of traditional cultures, her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and sensible. Lily’s clinical expertise and extensive background in prenatal nutrition have made her a highly sought after consultant and speaker in the field.
TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Vinu:
I’m really excited to talk to you. I’ve been going over the book and I have some questions ready here. And I just wanted to, you know, give you a little bit of idea what it’s going to be like, the session would probably be for about 3035 minutes. Okay. Have questions here. Mostly, it is going to be about nutrition, and gestational diabetes, I’m going to go a little more in depth on how any of this would impact PCOS women, especially us women who get pregnant and how it’s a little more different for them maybe in some aspects from the, you know, regular population. And, you know, at the end, I will just, you know, round it up with where our listeners can find more information about you or get interested how they can contact you.
Lily Nicholas:
Okay, sounds great. And can you remind me when this is planning to be published?
Dr. Vinu:
Um, I am not exactly sure at this moment, should be within the month. And when it does, we can keep you posted.
Lily Nicholas:
Okay, sounds good. I do have a third book coming out in February on on fertility, there’s like a whole chapter on PCOS. So, oh, yeah, that under I can either keep that under wraps and not really talk about it or not mentioned the title, since they won’t be able to buy it yet. Or if the episode could be published in like, after February 14, we could do that. And then I could mention it, but either way, I’m fine. Like it’s a, I want it to be a benefit to your audience. So if you need to get this January or whatever, that’s fine. And I’ll just keep the extra information out of it, you know,
Dr. Vinu:
Oh, yeah. No, we could, you know, we could have you back if you’re interested. Because that is a whole topic, you know, fertility and PCOS is like, you know, be so beneficial to our audience, you know, hear what you have to say on that. So, either, if you if you prefer, I could just include it in the introduction and say that you’re working on a third book, or, or you could do that at the very end, you know, that you’re working on a third book about fertility. So we were requested, you know, they can kind of follow up on it. That sounds great. Sure. Yeah. Okay. That sounds like a good plan then. And let me let me start off then. Okay, so I think the recording is in process. And by the way, just the audio is getting recorded, not the video. And if at any time you wanted to like pause or something, you know, just let me know. And we can always edit this after so we can just remove the parts that we need to edit anyway. Sounds good. Okey doke. So let’s get started then. I know everyone, I am Vinod Jyoti, preventive medicine specialist, and one of the members of the PCOS diva team, and I’m really excited to have with me today Lily Nichols. Lily is a registered dietician nutritionist. She is a certified diabetes educator, researcher and an author with a passion for evidence based prenatal nutrition. Her best selling book real food for gestational diabetes presents a revolutionary nutrient dense, low carb approach for managing gestational diabetes. Lily has a second book real food for pregnancy that outlines the problems with current prenatal nutrition guidelines and provide the evidence. Her work has not only Help 10s and 1000s of women manage the gestational diabetes, but it was also influenced nutrition policies internationally. I’m really, really excited to have Lily with us today. Hey, Lily, welcome to this podcast.
Lily Nicholas:
Thanks so much for having me.
Dr. Vinu:
Absolutely. So, I’m gonna start off with, you know, all of us have heard about how important nutrition is, especially during pregnancy. And I’m gonna start off with the term we usually hear, start eating for two, you know, so I would love to hear your take on that. Yeah,
Lily Nicholas:
that’s a that’s a really common one, I hear it all the time. You know, it’s not, it’s not wrong, of course, you are nourishing yourself and your baby and pregnancy. So, of course, you’re you’re eating for two. But I think the way that people interpret that is sometimes you need to eat like double the amount of food maybe. Or, Oh, you’re eating for two. So don’t worry about, you know, indulging in X, Y, or Z food. And really like there, there is an increase in energy requirements and pregnancy, but it’s certainly not a doubling of energy intake, you don’t need to eat twice the amount of calories. But you do need to eat a lot more of our nutrient dense foods, because your requirements for vitamins and minerals do go up pretty substantially. So I would say, eating for two, in terms of energy is really more like eating for 1.1, you need like an extra snack per day or slightly larger portions that your meal and not double the amount of food. And then you want to be focusing on improving your nutrient intake as best you can. So focusing on maximizing the nutrient density of what you’re eating? Not necessarily the portions being substantially larger. Yeah,
Dr. Vinu:
no, that’s good. And, you know, in your experience, what are some of the most common nutritional concerns that you encounter with pregnant women?
Lily Nicholas:
Well, I get a lot of questions. A lot of times, you know, people are not really given a whole lot of information about eating well during pregnancy. So, you know, they’re usually just given a list of don’t eat these foods, and maybe not given a list on foods you should emphasize. So a lot of my work is focusing on where are the areas in your diet, we can optimize to improve your nutrient intake and reduce your risk of various pregnancy complications. And what I often see lacking is protein intake, that is a nutrient that increases in requirements over the course of pregnancy. And a lot of women just are not getting enough. So that’s one area that I often focus on. And then again, as I mentioned, some nutrient dense foods, I’m often trying to help people improve their the quality of their diet, vast majority of Americans, including pregnant women, are eating a lot of what’s called Ultra processed foods. So things with a lot of like added sugar, or just based on white flour. And then, of course, all the things they add to it to make it taste good or look good. Like the colors and flavors and preservatives and everything else that goes in it, that actually makes up about 60% of the American caloric intake is ultra processed foods. So I’m usually trying to shift people away, you know, from those foods, eat less of those eat more of your whole foods that are more nutrient dense. By default, if you focus on protein that helps to displace a lot of the processed foods because it helps so much with your satiety as well.
Dr. Vinu:
Right. Yes. And, and, you know, nutrition, you know, we’re really concerned about that. But then 1/3 of your pregnancy and for some women, the whole of your pregnancy, they have nausea and vomiting, and you know, the ins and, you know, so how would you, you know, be eat nutritious food and the same time combat all of the symptoms that you’re having, you know, yeah,
Lily Nicholas:
the first trimester is usually when the nausea and aversions are at their height, and it’s a real challenge. You can have the best of intentions to eat super well. And when the nausea hits, sometimes you’re just trying to make the best of a really challenging situation. I wish I had advice that would work across the board for everybody to just, you know, eliminate that nausea. And unfortunately, that does not exist. There’s a wide array of tips that you can apply. I talk about it in real food for pregnancy. I have a blog article on first trimester tips on my website. And a lot of it is trial and error. And some of it even varies like day to day so some some basics though, so I’m not leaving you completely empty handed. Sometimes paying attention to the things that trigger your nausea can help you do lead to the things to avoid to, you know, avoid it getting worse. And one of those that’s pretty common is either under eating or eating and balanced meals or snacks, you’re very prone to actually having blood sugar drop a little too low, early in pregnancy, just based on how our blood sugar and insulin and everything changes, starting quite early in pregnancy. And that can trigger nausea. So if you eat small frequent meals, and try to get just a little bit of protein in there with whatever you’re able to keep down, because usually the thing that settles your stomach the quickest is carbohydrates. But unfortunately, they don’t keep you full for very long. And they trigger a blood sugar spike and a crash. So you go low blood sugar, again, very quickly, and your nausea returns, like even stronger than it was before. So I often recommend you know, eat a little bit of something to settle your stomach and then try to follow up with something that has protein. That can be really anything but sometimes like nuts or seeds, peanut butter, dairy products, cottage cheese, sometimes those settle your stomach a little easier. A lot of people do seem to have aversions to meat and and fish in the first trimester. And that that’s tricky when that’s like a great protein source. Sometimes eggs are a little easier tolerated. So you just kind of have to see what your symptoms have thrown at you for the day and try to make the best of it and know that it’s usually in most cases, just a phase that does tend to resolve as you get further in pregnancy.
Dr. Vinu:
Right. Yes, no, I hear you on that. There’s no one standard solution, right. It’s what works for you know, what works for you is what works for you. So you just need to figure that out. And it’s, you know, do you. So overall, we talk about nutrition, it’s kind of similar for all pregnant women. But is there specifically things that you know, you know, some of us we have to see how that fits us? Or is there things that we need to focus on? And I’m asking this from, you know, someone who’s had PCOS, from their perspective, what nutrition to the day follows it can be different from what a regular woman without PCOS would follow?
Lily Nicholas:
Yeah, it’s a good question. So, you know, there’s, as I’m sure you’re well aware, you know, a couple different subtypes of PCOS. However, the majority of cases have some level of insulin resistance going on elevated insulin levels. And with my specialty and gestational diabetes, of course, I’m well versed in both because having PCOS is a risk factor for gestational diabetes, because coming into pregnancy with insulin resistance already present is is a risk factor. By default, essentially, gestational diabetes is simply insulin resistance during pregnancy. So when you have it pre existing, and just by the physiology of pregnancy, we expect that insulin resistance is going to get worse, there’s a very good chance that over the course of your pregnancy, you’re just more likely for your blood sugar to exceed that threshold and put you in the category of gestational diabetes. So what I would say is some of the best things to focus on are things that help to improve how your body responds to insulin, so improves your your blood sugar response, and that may help lessen your chances of the insulin resistance getting so bad later in pregnancy that you do either end up with a formal diagnosis of gestational diabetes, or might help lessen the chance that you require medication or insulin to keep your blood sugar in check. So that would be prioritizing protein is a huge one, I mean, of all of our are three macronutrients are fats or carbohydrates and protein. Protein is the most satiating, it’s very good at stabilizing your blood sugar levels. It doesn’t, doesn’t trigger them to go up. In fact, usually the opposite. And especially when you’re careful about pairing your protein. With carbohydrates, you can lessen how much those carbohydrates spike your blood sugar. So that’s a huge one definitely needs a good focus. And more so in women with PCOS. Increasing the amount of fiber you consume. So non starchy vegetables for example would be a good example. Let’s see berries are pretty high in fiber coconut chia seeds. Fiber helps to kind of create a almost like a mesh in your stomach and your digestive system that slows down how quickly carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and raise your blood sugar levels. So that that is often really helpful because a lot of combating insulin resistance is just trying to minimize how frequently and how high your blood sugar spikes. And so fiber, both fiber and protein tend to be really, really helpful for that. Outside of the dietary component, exercise has been shown to reduce the chances of gestational diabetes by quite a lot. Generally, it tends to improve your insulin resistance. And then one other one I’ll throw in, I mean, there’s this, this answer could go on forever. But there is a pretty good amount of research now on supplementing with inositol. A lot of people in the PCOS community are already very familiar with inositol. But it is a nutrient that is also safe during pregnancy. So if you’ve been taking inositol, to help with your insulin resistance and PCOS beforehand, it can be safely continued throughout pregnancy. And there have been a lot of trials now looking at what it does to insulin resistance over the course of pregnancy, rates of gestational diabetes, or if you get diagnosed severity of gestational diabetes, and pretty much across the board, it’s beneficial. In a lot of ways, some of the mechanisms that works by are pretty similar to Metformin. But there’s less controversy, I guess, around using it in pregnancy. Even though of course, Metformin is also commonly used in pregnancy as well. So that is something that you could consider supplementing with even before you get pregnant and continue during the pregnancy, usually, they most of the studies are dosing around four grams a day of inositol. And yeah, it’s been highly, highly beneficial.
Dr. Vinu:
Oh, yeah. That’s awesome. Yes. And you’re right, a lot of PCOS women, before pregnancy are taking in hospitals, it’s a good idea to keep continuing that it’s good to not save during pregnancy, you know, yeah. That’s awesome. And so you talked about, you know, you kind of touched on it already. And, you know, you said, diet and exercise, you know, they’re kind of the pillars, right, of preventing gestational diabetes. So can you give us a little more in depth view of, you know, why do people end up getting gestational diabetes? And how is it different from, you know, regular, having chronic diabetes?
Lily Nicholas:
Yeah, well, in a lot of ways, it’s not that different. It is really, the physiology of it is very, very similar to pre diabetes and type two diabetes. Long time ago, our understanding of gestational diabetes was really coming from the perspective that it is something that only happens during pregnancy, and is only a response to several factors that are going on changes in maternal physiology, where you have central hormones, of course, you grow up placenta at the same time you grow a baby, and a lot of the placental hormones signal insulin resistance to occur. And this is really a built in mechanism. If you think about like the, the, you know, eras of human history, humans were exposed to famine quite frequently, and having insulin resistance as sort of like a default physiological mechanism that especially kicks in in the latter half of pregnancy when the energy requirements for baby’s growth are a lot higher. If your body is insulin resistant, it’s like you’re not going to be as you’re the maternal tissues are not going to be taking as much of that energy for themselves. And you can shunt that energy and those nutrients to the baby to optimize baby’s growth, even if there is some sort of a famine or food scarcity or it’s like a low harvest season or whatever. The body is always prioritizing the baby’s growth. Nowadays, that sort of adaptation doesn’t really work in our favor when we have an abundance of food, tons of calories, tons of processed foods, which are really high in calories and pretty low in nutrients. So in a way, like our physiology is almost like a mismatch to the modern food supply. But we used to think gestational diabetes was just something that developed during pregnancy. It’s just the insulin resistance caused by the placental hormones combined with you know, insulin resistance as a response to maternal weight gain. And that’s it once baby is born, it goes away. And now our understanding is gestational diabetes really is kind of like the warning light coming on in your car. There is something arise with your like blood sugar and insulin management. And when you have it, yes, it needs to be managed during pregnancy. And yes, it can kind of go away postpartum, but you are at a lifetime higher risk for Developing type two diabetes. And it depends on the research paper you’re you’re reading, but it’s anywhere from like a 30 to 70% chance that you will so called convert to type two diabetes in the five to 10 years after you’ve had your baby. It’s actually the number one predictor of type two diabetes and women if you have a history of gestational diabetes. So that’s what I say it’s like a warning light coming on in your car, it is a sign that like, your body needs some help with your blood sugar and insulin regulation. And it doesn’t, you don’t have to fall into these statistics. It’s not fate or destiny that you’ll for sure, get type two diabetes if you have it. But it is something where you probably want to pay attention lifelong, to your blood sugar and insulin. So pregnancy offers an opportunity where a we identify things because we’re actually checking blood sugar levels, which oftentimes outside of pregnancy, we’re not seeing them. The threshold for diagnosis is a little lower in pregnancy, because your blood sugar levels actually naturally should be trending lower than an average nonpregnant adult. So it’s a little more sensitive to screening for it and catching it. But then you’re also typically pretty highly motivated to take good care of yourself and pregnancy. And so the things that you’re learning about your blood sugar management can carry forward for the rest of your life, you’re going to learn which foods spike your blood sugar, which foods don’t, which foods keep you energized for longer, which foods trigger you to crave more, you know, processed foods. And those are usually pretty tightly correlated to what you’re seeing in your blood sugar readings, as well. So it’s not a diagnosis anybody wants to get. But I think it does offer the opportunity to learn a lot about foods. And then hopefully, maybe once you’re out of the early postpartum phase, when everything’s crazy, you can take some of those lessons that you’ve learned over the course of pregnancy and continue to apply to the way that you and your family eat. And then you don’t have to be a statistic necessarily.
Dr. Vinu:
Right. So So you know, let’s say PCOS women who do have insulin resistance, you know, they becoming pregnant. So is there a way to prevent gestational diabetes? Can you do anything you know, in your first trimester or later, that will prevent you from going in there? Or is it is it something that whatever you do, it’s still going to proceed. That’s the route it’s going to go in.
Lily Nicholas:
I have experienced with lots of clients who have avoided it and subsequent pregnancies or avoided it despite having a history of PCOS. So it can be avoided. There is no magic bullet where I could say for sure you do these things, and you won’t get the diagnosis because at some point, the way in which your physiology changes in pregnancy is not always entirely up to you. If you’re coming into pregnancy, at with your PCOS, pretty well managed, your blood sugar and insulin level have come down to a good level, your cycles have normalized a bit. If you’re maintaining a healthy weight or close to a healthy weight, if you’re physically active, all of those things work in your favor to reduce the risk of developing gestational diabetes, the inositol that we spoke about, there’s a number of other nutrients, vitamin D, magnesium, for example, that play a role in blood sugar and insulin regulation. Those things can all help. And while you’re pregnant, as best as you can, despite the nausea phase, eating healthy does help it when you eat healthy, and you kind of moderate your gestational weight gain. So you’re gaining like an appropriate amount of weight over the course of pregnancy. That also dramatically reduces your risk of developing gestational diabetes during that pregnancy. So there’s, there’s a lot and a lot of it. You can, you can do can move the needle a little bit. At the same time. There’s all sorts of risk factors that aren’t within our control, like our family history of type two diabetes, if our mom had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with us. Age, you tend to get more insulin resistant as you get older. You know, there’s a couple other examples but there are things where you do sometimes have the deck stacked against you and you can try to like slip that as much as you can with Lifestyle, but there’s never a guarantee that you for sure will avoid a diagnosis. That said even with a diagnosis, you can manage it well where your adverse risk factors even when You have a diagnosis can be almost down to baseline if you keep your blood sugar in a healthy range over the course of pregnancy, so I do want to throw in kind of the silver lining side of it, people get so worried about avoiding a diagnosis, and sometimes, sometimes you can’t avoid it, but you can manage it really well.
Dr. Vinu:
Now, I hear you on that all that you were saying, you know, if you cannot avoid it your case controlling it in the best way possible. So, you know, hear you on that. So we discussed, you know, nutrition and exercise and you know, things to do during pregnancy. Is there any kind of foods that you would say you should completely avoid? Or keep it to the bare minimum? You know, in the in the Twitter messages?
Lily Nicholas:
Yeah, well, it’s especially when they’re speaking about the blood sugar aspects. I don’t know about avoid completely, but keep minimal. For special occasions, I would say the refined carbohydrates are some of the biggest contributors to blood sugar spikes, which of course spikes your insulin levels as well. And over time, that kind of feeds this insulin resistance that we’ve been talking about. So refined carbohydrates being any, any whole food carbohydrates that have been processed to remove things from them, like remove the fiber, so you take a whole grain, and then you refine it down into white flour, or you take corn and you refine it down into corn starch, or corn syrup. Those are refined carbohydrates, they really don’t have any nutritional benefits. What’s left behind is either pure starch or pure sugar, which either way your body digests it into sugar, and it spikes your blood sugar. So those are the foods that you’d want to be really cautious with how much and how frequently you’re consuming them. It almost like doesn’t even matter what dietary type you’re following. If you’re like reducing the amount of refined carbohydrates, by default, you’re improving your micronutrient intake, your protein intake, your fiber intake, these things just kind of are they’re like filler foods, they take up a lot of space and a lot of calories, but they’re not really providing our body with the nourishment that it really needs for growing healthy baby. Those would be definitely like, the number one thing when you’re concerned with blood sugar, about trying to keep to a minimum. And so I’m not saying don’t have cake, you’re at your baby shower, some things. Certainly you should be having some treats now and again, but just trying to make sure they’re not like a daily staple.
Dr. Vinu:
Yeah. Right. Okay. Yeah, no, that’s good. And, you know, pregnancy, you know, it is common that you would gain weight during pregnancy, you know, that is the, you know, aspect of it. So how do you make sure you’re gaining a healthy amount of weight? And then, especially for women that do have PCOS, where weight gain? And you know, you have all of these weight related issues? How do you make sure you’re gaining a healthy weight, and then you preventing all of the other complications that might arise? Because you’re gaining more than needed, you know, more than the healthy weight is? Right,
Lily Nicholas:
right. Yeah. And it’s a sensitive topic, right? Because not not everything in pregnancy really is in our control. And sometimes your weight just does things that you don’t expect in pregnancy. I would say first and foremost, to work with your provider to determine what’s a healthy amount of weight gain for you. There really aren’t. There’s not one standard, there are like ranges that are recommended based on your pre pregnancy weight and BMI. And I will also add, there’s a lot of new research, it’s kind of questioning if those conventionally accepted ranges are still accurate, maybe they need to be adjusted a little bit. I do have an article on my website on weight gain and pregnancy that that people can go to for more information that has some the specifics and how new research is maybe starting to redefine where we should go. For example, women of size, especially BMI greater than 30 or greater than 40. There’s some research suggesting that the recommended weight gain range is maybe too large for those women and maybe it can be a little bit smaller than what we’ve recommended in the past. And that’s based on looking at like the chances of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including complications like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth, having a baby that’s like significantly lower larger than we’d expect, which is called macros OMYA. And then looking at what were the weight gain ranges for those women based on their BMI. In terms of like trying to control that weight gain, again, I’m gonna go back to that protein recommendation, it really does make a very big difference in your blood sugar levels and your satiety if you’re getting a sufficient amount of protein. So if you feel like whoa, the scales going up a little faster than I expected. Oftentimes, the first place that I look is like where’s your protein intake at, particularly at breakfast, because that really does set up your blood sugar control for the whole day. And breakfast is often when our protein intake is the lowest because you think about popular breakfast. So things like oatmeal, or fruit, or fruit smoothie, or cereal and milk, glass of orange juice, like these things are all just pure carbohydrates, and they set you up for a blood sugar spike and crash. And this triggers your hunger hormones to go wild for the rest of the day. And you’ll just be eating, eating, eating on this blood sugar roller coaster. It sounds too simple to work. But it really is important that you get that protein in first thing in the morning. Women especially often do well with 25 or 30 grams of protein at their breakfast. And that often sets you up at a good place just for the rest of the day. Like here, we are recommending you eat like a good amount of food in the morning. But it actually really does help to prevent potentially excessive weight gain and pregnancy and also sets you up for really good blood sugar levels for that whole day.
Dr. Vinu:
That sounds good. So as a follow up to that, you know, there’s a lot of people who are vegetarians or vegans. And a huge challenge with that is finding foods that are protein dense, right? So do you have any recommendations for you know, vegetarians or vegans on what they can take, that will give them the needed amount of protein in the diet?
Lily Nicholas:
Yeah, it’s a big, it’s a big challenge. Because if you look at all of our whole whole foods, at least vegetarian sources of protein, they do pretty much all come packaged with carbohydrates as well. Our nuts and seeds will have a lot less carbohydrates. They’re packaged with more fat than carbohydrates, but your legumes all have a significant amount of carbohydrates, your high protein grains like quinoa, you know, you’d maybe have like eight grams of protein in there, but that’s packaged with 40 Something grams of carbohydrates. I will say that focusing on more legumes and beans tends to be helpful and products that are made from legumes and beans. So like tempeh, and tofu, for example, will have more higher density of protein and lower density of carbohydrates. They do have, you know, protein powders made from all sorts of vegetarian sources that you could potentially look at. incorporating more nuts and seeds can be helpful. Sometimes you just have to get a little bit creative, but it definitely is. It’s especially from a blood sugar perspective, trickier when you’re trying to keep your carbohydrate intake in check. And that’s where I think sometimes there is a time and a place for bringing in like a protein powder. Now for like lacto ovo vegetarians who consume dairy and eggs, that’s a lot easier because eggs are no carbohydrates. So that’s easy. And lots of dairy foods also have no or very little carbohydrates like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese paneer, you can incorporate more of those alongside with the legumes and other vegetarian sources at your meal. That makes it a lot easier to hit the protein targets without exceeding your carbohydrate levels. So really just kind of have to play around with it. And see I would definitely say for vegetarians who are managing PCOS to pick up a blood sugar meter and start to observe your blood sugar patterns after different meals and combinations and you might be able to find some that work better. And there’s also like something to be said for, you know, some of these extra strategies that can help like incorporating vinegar into your meals or having some vinegar before you have eat your meal can really lessen the blood sugar spike. And so vegetarians might be more inclined to use some of those strategies to help with their post meal blood sugar readings.
Dr. Vinu:
Yeah, that’s a great tip. Yep. And and, you know, for everyone, I know you know, you’re taking energy dense foods and Oh, You know, you’re you’re trying to have a good diet. But would you need some kind of supplements in addition to your regular diet? And I know early trimester, you know, they always prescribed iron and folic acid, you know, for baby’s growth. But in addition to that, would you need like vitamins or minerals that you would recommend, you know, people take along with regular nutrition? Yeah,
Lily Nicholas:
I mean, for most individuals, I do recommend a prenatal vitamin, it really does help to fill in any potential nutrient gaps. And it goes beyond just filling in, like you said, supplementing with like two nutrients. There’s, it’s just the rates of micronutrient deficiencies are surprisingly high, it’s about half of women of childbearing age, have some sort of micronutrient deficiency. And it’s not always something like iron, and fully it might be like for vegetarians might be 12. If they’re not already supplementing. Sometimes it’s vitamin A, sometimes it’s iodine. Other countries, iodine supplementation is pretty much standard for pregnant women, and it’s not in the US. And maybe it should be because like half of women are too low in iodine, right. And you wouldn’t get that if you were only supplementing with those two nutrients you mentioned. So I do think a prenatal vitamin is a good idea. There are some instances where extra supplementation is needed. Really, depending on the case, Vitamin D deficiency is really, really common. So if you screen low for that, then depending on your prenatal, you might need a higher dose than what’s included in the prenatal vitamin.
Dr. Vinu:
Right? Okay. So any final words of encouragement or advice that you have for, you know, prenatal, women, especially, you know, PCOS women who were trying to get pregnant or gotten pregnant?
Lily Nicholas:
Well, I would say we I don’t think we really got into it a whole lot in this interview. But moderating your blood sugar levels, like getting those into a good place before you conceive really is ideal, it often does improve your menstrual cycle. And it also improves it improves your chances of conception in any given menstrual cycle as well. And then, when you think about all the changes that will be taking place during pregnancy, having your blood sugar in a healthy range ahead of time will lessen your chances of developing something like gestational diabetes, or potentially even some other complications. And a lot of these effects really are impacted by your diet and lifestyle choices. So you know, we don’t have a crystal ball for eliminating, you know, the risk of pregnancy complications, but we can stack the deck in our favor. So just do your best. A lot of the same things that you’re doing for managing your PCOS are also things that work for reducing the risk of pregnancy complications, like gestational diabetes, so it’s, it’s kind of one in the same.
Dr. Vinu:
Awesome, thanks, Lily. This has been really enlightening. And this has been a lot of great information. And for our listeners who want to know more about, you know, whatever you’re speaking about today, or would like to reach you. Can you tell us, where would be a good place to get in contact with you?
Lily Nicholas:
Definitely, yeah, so you can check out my website, which is Lilly Nichols, RD, n.com. On there, you can find my books. So the real food for pregnancy and also real food for gestational diabetes. And I do have a third book coming out on fertility. There’s a whole chapter on PCOS that will be coming out February 14, so keep an eye on that. Also, on my site, there’s a whole library with hundreds of blog articles, many of which are quite in depth. So if you wanted to read more about weight gain and pregnancy, for example, just search type YT into the search bar, and it’ll come right up. And yeah, you can find me on social media also. I’m usually on Instagram and my handles the same as my website. So it’s Lily Nichols, RDN.
Dr. Vinu:
Awesome. Thank you, Lily, thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing your expertise with us.
Lily Nicholas:
Thank you.
The post 205 – GESTATIONAL DIABETES & PCOS DURING PREGNANCY [Podcast with Lily Nicholas] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
We’re so excited to have Dr. Kela Smith on the PCOS Diva Podcast to discuss PCOS and pregnancy. Dr. Vinu and Dr. Smith discuss everything from things to do to prep your body to help you get pregnant to how to nourish your body postpartum. Dr. Smith also breaks down which lab tests are the most helpful for women with PCOS.
Dr. Kela Smith is a Holistic-Integrative Fertility and Hormone Doctor. She founded The Hormone Puzzle Society and the Hormone Puzzle Society Educational Institute for Coaches. The Hormone Puzzle Society is a health hub for fertility, hormones, and pregnancy and through this platform Dr. Smith and her team work with women/couples coaching them on how to optimize their body/mind/spirit so they can get and stay pregnant, bring home a healthy baby, have an easy postpartum as well as eliminate symptoms of hormone imbalance.
Tune in as they discuss:
- Navigating PCOS lab testing
- What to eat to help with androgen balance
- Managing mental and emotional stress for inflammation
- Customizing care based on your pcos type
- How to nourish your nervous system pcosdiva · 204 – PCOS and Pregnancy (Podcast with Dr. Kela Smith)Resources Mentioned:Dr. Kela Smith Website
The Hormone P.U.Z.Z.E.L Podcast
Dr. Kela Smith is a Holistic-Integrative Fertility and Hormone Doctor. She holds a Ph.D. in Natural and Holistic Medicine as well as Double Board Certification as a Doctor of Natural Medicine (DNM) and Doctor of Humanitarian Medicine (DHM). Dr. Kela is also a Board-Certified Functional Nutritionist (BCFN) and a 5x Board-Certified Health Coach (BCHC). She founded The Hormone Puzzle Society and the Hormone Puzzle Society Educational Institute for Coaches.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Welcome to the PCOS diva podcast. Today’s PCOS diva podcast is sponsored by the seven day discover your PCOS diva jumpstart program. Jumpstart is the place to begin when you’re ready to commit to yourself and jump into your healing journey. If you haven’t already, make sure you check out PCOS diva.com There I offer tons of great free information about PCOS and how to develop your PCOS Diet and lifestyle plan. So you can begin to thrive like a PCOS diva.
Hello everyone and welcome to another PCOS diva podcast. This is your host Vinod Jyoti. I am a preventive medicine specialist and a member of PCOS Diva with Team and
today I have with me Dr. Kela Smith, who is a holistic integrative fertility and hormonal doctor, functional nutritionist and the CEO of The Hormone puzzle society, a women’s health hub for fertility hormones and pregnancy. She works with women or couples who are struggling with infertility and hormone imbalance and teaches them how to optimize their bodies and hormones to get pregnant, stay pregnant and easy postpartum, as well as eliminate symptoms of hormonal imbalance from from menarche through menopause. She’s also the host of The Hormone puzzle podcast solving infertility Summit, and the healthy happy pregnancy Summit. She has over 25 years of experience in integrative health. And Dr. Caylor has created seven online courses and published multiple books on fertility, hormones, pregnancy, and total body events. I’m really excited to have Dr. Kayla Smith with us today.
Dr. Kela Smith
Welcome. Thank you. I’m excited to be here.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
So you know, let’s dive right in. And you know, our listeners and you will probably agree, PCOS and hormone imbalance kind of go hand in hand. So, you know, many women with PCOS irregular cycles is one of the first symptoms. So let’s dive right in. And I wanted to ask that to Kayla Smith. You know how PCOS and hormone imbalance always go hand in hand. And most of the women are first diagnose PCOS when they have irregular cycles. And the conventional treatment is usually with birth control pills. You know, so what are your thoughts on that and wounded some, you know, holistic methods that women could try if they are locked in to go on the pill?
Dr. Kela Smith:
For sure, yeah. So birth control what it does when most practitioners in the western world will put a woman on birth control because they say that it’ll help balance their hormones and regulate their cycle. But what’s actually happening is it’s pausing all the hormones, so almost putting a block, so it’s preventing the woman from ovulating, it’s messing with all the hormones. And so it’s it’s almost like a band aid. It’s not actually fixing anything, it’s just putting a bandaid over these to make the symptoms go away. So what I recommend is instead of doing birth control, I recommend a more holistic approach supporting the body holistically to balance the hormones through targeted nutrients, targeted supplements, lifestyle pieces, even a big driver of PCOS and all hormone related conditions is stress and finding out what’s causing the stress and then addressing that, and a lot of people roll their eyes when I say stress, but it’s not just mental and emotional stress and the busyness of our world, but it can be things like internal toxicities, deficiencies, imbalances, things where the internal body is stressed and it’s causing an external body to to manifest symptoms. So figuring out what’s causing the stress and then addressing that getting that stress to be minimal or to go away even will help the body to balance out it helps the cycles get back on track manages those low, you know, the high androgens, so it helps to lower them. And it helps the patients feel better. All the way around man whose body and spirits.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, no, that sounds right. And, you know, you talked about stress, and you talked about how it’s not just external stress, which as women, you know, all of us are juggling careers and family and, you know, we do have that, but you also talk about, you know, internal stress, you know, where you have, you know, a disarray maybe or other things that’s impacting you. So are they stress, or are there like lab tests that you would recommend or other ways that did women can find out, you know, what is going on with them?
Dr. Kela Smith:
Yes, for sure. And that’s one of my specialties as a functional medicine doctor, I like to look functionally. And I like to look for the roots that are driving these issues. And I do that through functional labs. And three main ones I like to run the most are the dried urine hormone test. And I like to run this test because instead of checking hormones and blood, I like to look in urine. Because what I can see in urine, it’s going to show me not just what the levels are, but how the body’s actually using the hormones how they’re being methylated detoxed and excreted. So an example of this, I’ll have a patient and she’ll come to me and she’ll say, Well, I did bloodwork at the doctor, they checked my estrogen and progesterone, they told me everything was normal. And then but she’s still having a lot of symptoms of maybe estrogen dominance, or, you know, having a lot of symptoms around PCOS. So we look in the blood, we look in the urine, and that’ll show that she’s not detoxing your estrogen appropriately, it’s being recirculated back through the body, and that’s causing the symptoms that she’s experiencing. So that’s just one example that we can find through that dried urine hormone test. It also will show your your stress hormones we were talking stress earlier. So this will also show if you’re in adrenal fatigue, if you have you know if your your androgens being too high because of PCOS is causing some adrenal dysfunction. And so we can look a little deeper and find out, okay, this the issue, we can look there and fix that holistically. So that’s kind of the first place I’ll look is that the endocrine system, then I also like to look in the microbiome, I find so many things are happening with our gut and with our microbiome, and a lot of people don’t look here, they don’t realize the importance of the microbiome. So I’ll run a full microbiome analysis on most of my patients. And what that’ll show me is, are there any fungus, bacteria, opportunistic bacteria, even parasites that can be causing some internal stress, which is going to cause the body again to be out of balance, and then it’s going to call the symptoms that we were saying earlier.
So that’s kind of the second test. And then the third thing I like to do is look at minerals, I find minerals are so undervalued. Again, a lot of practitioners will look in blood and bloodwork for minerals is just a transportation mechanism. So it doesn’t show us inside the cell what’s actually happening. So take magnesium for an example. A lot of times practitioners will look at magnesium and blood and say everything’s normal, your magnesium is fine. But magnesium is an intracellular mineral. And so if you don’t look inside the cells, then it’s a lot harder to see your true the representation of what your magnesium levels are in the body. So I like to do that through hair, which it’s the most the most non invasive tissue that we can look at cellular health through. So those were kind of the three tests, I like to run the most and I look for those things I said earlier toxicities, deficiencies, imbalances,
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
That’s awesome. That is a pretty comprehensive list, you know, so that’s, that’s awesome that you share that with us. And and you know, in addition to all of the testing you did mention, you know, a holistic approach and I’m assuming that means you know, nutrition and you know, movement and other ways to reduce stress. So is that something you also talk to you know your patients about people who come in with and are looking for ways or you know, holistically treat the PCOS or hormone imbalance for sure.
Dr . Kela Smith:
So that’s where we start first is through the foundational pieces, and I created something called the hormone puzzle method, which is all the foundations you need for holistic health to help manage and eliminate your PCOS symptoms. And so I can go through that briefly now. And once I lay these foundations for my patients, then I look at the labs and I dig in even deeper and so then that’s when we get more customized with certain nutrients and certain supplements and so you know, it’s a little bit more customized approach, but everybody can benefit from these foundational pieces and the hormone health funded. So what that is and I’ll go through it briefly now is the so puzzle is an acronym and it’s P proper whole food nutrition. You understanding supplements Z zapping stress Z or z’s, sleep l is loving encouragement II, resizing rent, so these are kind of all the pieces of that foundational health that I dive into for, you know, just holistic health and full body wellness.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
That’s awesome. You know, this is going to be specially beneficial to a lot of women because not everyone has access to functional medicine doctor such as you, you know, so if they have to go to a traditional doctor, Are they kind of have to advocate for themselves? Because, you know, they don’t have someone who knows the intricacies like you do. So just knowing you know, what tests to look for, and you know, just accumulatively, where you put in the basic things that they have to take care of, it’s going to be really helpful, I’m sure.
Dr. Kela Smith:
I was just gonna say what a lot of people don’t realize as well as most Western doctors are not trained in nutrition or holistic supplements. So you can ask your western Doctor all day long about this stuff. But if they’re not trained like this, and they’re not trained Functionally, they’re not going to know. So having somebody in your corner that’s trained in this way that can speak nutrition and supplements and herbs and minerals, and all the things is really beneficial, right? Yes. So would you also recommend, you know, supplements? And would that depend on what your tests show? Or would you recommend supplements, you know, either way across the board, because most of the people, this is where you know, you have a deficiency, and you’re better off taking them. Yeah, so I recommend Food First, always. But sometimes we can’t get what we need from food, because of the quality or the quantity that we have to eat to get what we need through a supplement. I do think before you start a supplement, any supplement, you need to talk to your health care provider. So I always put that caveat in. And I like to customize my supplements based on what I see on the lab tests. So this will tell me what a person’s specific body needs. Based on what I said earlier, do they have toxins that we need to detox to they have deficiencies, mineral imbalances. That being said, there is probably three supplements that I feel like pretty much everybody in the world should be on. And so those three are a really good whole food, either a multivitamin if you’re not trying to get pregnant, or a prenatal if you are, and I would start that three to six months before you are trying to get pregnant if possible, if you have that time, because it takes the body 90 days for the the dormant follicle to grow into the full follicle and release the egg that you’re going to ovulate with. So we want to give the body time and those nutrients to work. So definitely everybody whole food multivitamin or prenatal, then also I recommend a fish oil. Fish oil is so important. DHA and EPA are the fatty acids, and they’re the building blocks for hormones, we need cholesterol, we need fatty acids. So getting on a really high quality fish oil is going to be super important for just hormone balance for inflammation, lowering of inflammation, which is one of the key drivers of PCOS. And just for holistic health in general. And then the third thing I recommend, and I usually like to do this with a lab test just to make sure we get the right one. But if you’re somebody who maybe you’re not working with a functional doc yet, or you just really want to start something for foundation, most people need to be on a probiotic. But again, sometimes if your gut is not ready for a probiotic, it can cause it to be too strong. And it can cause a reverse reaction or, you know, it can cause a bad reaction that we don’t want. So if you start taking a probiotic, and you get bloating, diarrhea, stomach pains, constipation, any of those things, and that’s probably saying that probiotic is too strong. Or if you take one and you’re like, I don’t feel any different. I feel nothing. Nothing’s better. Nothing’s worse than your body’s probably not ready for that probiotic. But most people need a probiotic. So making sure that your gut is ready, and then adding it is going to be beneficial.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Yep, that’s awesome. Yeah. So yeah, so now I get it tailoring according to what your labs show, but in addition, you did mention ones that most people might need right across the board. That’s great. So, you know, you deal a lot with, you know, infertility, hormone imbalance and, you know, helping women. So do you specifically deal with women with PCOS? Because I, you know, I believe there would be a higher number of women with PCOS who could also have infertility, you know, and is there anything specific that these women would need to do in addition to um, you know, things you mentioned?
Dr. Kela Smith:
Yeah, I work with a lot of women that have PCOS and we really look to find out what’s driving the PCOS first, is it post birth control PCOS is it an inflammatory PCOS? Is it the high androgens? Most women with PCOS do have high androgens. We’ll see that one a lot. But then again, is it you know what’s driving those high androgens, so figuring out what the type is I feel is very important. And then I also look at doing things to holistically balanced those hormones, especially the androgens. So some things that I like to do in addition to the foundations is One makes sure there’s a lot of anti inflammatory diet definitely but even adding in some herbs to help with inflammation, you know, inflammation again is a key driver for every disease in the body, but definitely PCOS, so having things like tumeric and rosemary and ginger and cinnamon and those type of anti inflammatory herbs are going to help with that inflammation story, even adding a little bit of that into a supplement. You know, a curcumin supplement or something like that to lower inflammation can be helpful. I also recommend zinc rich foods. Zinc is a great mineral for androgen balance and helping to kind of lower the androgens naturally. So this is going to be shellfish. So lobster and shrimp and all the different kinds of wild calls organic shellfish, and then also eating poly phenols. So papers and cucumbers and sesame seeds, those kinds of things will help with zinc production. And then things like walnuts, cashews, what else almonds, some of these nuts and seeds are going to be really helpful there. And then obviously stress is a key driver for inflammation. It’s a key driver for androgen production. So making sure you’re you’re managing the mental and emotional stress but also the things we said earlier. So those are kind of the key things I say for people with PCOS that have have high androgens to help lower those and help minimize the symptoms with PCOS. And, and you know, you kind of mentioned the type of PCOS which in itself, not you know, a lot of practitioners are aware of or and you know, so they consider PCOS just like one thing fits all. So, I, you know, do you treat then you because you didn’t mention, you know, supplements and food that would kind of balance and virgins. So it would it be right to assume that you would kind of customize the plan based on the type of PCOS a person has and then kind of go from there? Yes, definitely. Definitely. And one supplement I forgot to mention that I always use for PCOS, which is kind of a substitute for Metformin would be my own eyes to tall, I feel so many women with PCOS are deficient in my own eyes at all. And it’s just a sugar molecule that helps balance out those hormones. And so I recommend a 401 ratio of my O to D Cairo. So just make sure the one you get is from a reputable brand. And that it has that reference that range of four to one. Yes, no, that’s a good point. Because this is something that PCOS Diva does have. And a lot of women, you know, prefer that over taking Metformin, and they’ve had excellent results with it. So, has their own supplements.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
That’s right. Yes. you know, so for some women, you know, they try all of this, but they still have to proceed with, say, artificial methods of conception and IVF. For you. So is there specific things that you would get advice that guarantees success with these procedures?
Dr. Kela Smith:
Yes. So I would say what I said earlier, whether you’re trying naturally, or you’re trying through artificial IVF IUI, you want to give your body time to be ready for these procedures to actually work. And so doing laying the foundation, doing the things that I mentioned earlier, anti inflammatory diet, managing stress, making sure you’re adequately hydrated, you know, you’re taking the right supplements, if you have three to six months, that’s going to be the most beneficial. If you don’t start as soon as you know, you’re going to go into that procedure. And I always tell people, even if you I know a lot of times in western medicine, they’ll say, Well, you’re 35, your advanced maternal age. But really, I’ve worked with patients all the way up to 45. So if you can take three months, even if you’re in your 40s, that’s not going to be a huge deal compared to the grand scheme of things. And your body really needs that time to get into optimal state for that IVF to work. So definitely do all the things that I mentioned. And that’s that’s going to be a great game plan for IVF.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
, that’s great. And, you know, once once a woman is pregnant, especially when you have PCOS, you know, there’s a lot of hormonal fluctuations, and there’s a lot of anxiety associated with that. So do you have any steps or anything that you would consider that would help mitigate these symptoms? Yeah, so once pregnant, it’s going to be similar as far as diet and lifestyle to pre pregnancy, you know, anti inflammatory diet, stress management, all of those things. A few other things that we didn’t talk about as far as stress, especially when pregnant is doing things
Dr. Kela Smith:
To nourish your nervous system. So deep breathing, meditations, hypnotherapy even I’m a trained Hypnotherapist. So my patients get hypnotherapy preconception while they’re pregnant and postpartum. And it really helps to calm the nervous system. It realigns the brain. So the brain function is you know, where it needs to be in its optimal. And it really calms all the all the nervous system, neurotransmitters, all of those things. So doing what you do before you get pregnant is going to be important while you’re pregnant. And after you’re pregnant, especially when you have PCOS, right, yeah, you kind of touched on it, you know, because I was gonna go to postpartum next because that is a very challenging time, even otherwise. And you know, Is there things that women with PCOS should be aware of, or you know, things that they should do, that would be helpful in the postpartum period. Yeah, so similar to what I said before, and preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, doing all the things that I said. And then I also feel like you should honor your body and what it just went through and giving birth and being a new mom. So try to rest I know, that’s really hard, it was hard for me, it’s hard for Type A personalities, but really rest and spend at least the first 30 days with your baby, and, you know, just nourishing yourself your nervous system or new baby and getting into that new realm of, of motherhood. But on the other side of that, I know a lot of doctors will say, you know, we’ll lay in bed for the first two weeks and really don’t do anything. And that’s not necessarily what’s most beneficial. Listen to your body, get up and walk, even if it’s walking around your bed for a minute, or walk to your baby’s room. And, you know, do something where you’re still moving a little bit you’re breathing or getting your muscles working. But don’t do anything too strenuous, too stressful, nothing that’s going to jar your nervous system, really spend that time resting and recovering bonding with your baby. And then you know, just really supporting yourself mind body and spirit.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
That’s awesome. you know, women, women with PCOS, and, we’re trying to conceive the they are in a very emotional state? And what kind of message do you have for them, because it’s a very anxious time. And, you know, they’re trying to kind of manage their own symptoms, but also trying to get pregnant. And you know, overall, it’s a very, very anxious time for women. So do you have any words of wisdom or any kind of advice that you have them?
Dr. Kela Smith:
Yeah, I think, you know, I feel that pain I’ve been there I was, you know, I struggle with infertility myself. And it is a very anxious time, especially when you have PCOS. But just really nourish yourself and advocate for yourself and know that you will get pregnant, you just have to put some of these pieces in place first. But I feel like trusting yourself trusting your body in this process that kind of alleviate some of that anxiety and that stress, and just knowing that it’s going to happen, and it will build trust in that process.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
have you noticed any misconceptions or any frustrations are surrounding PCOS, in general, or associated with fertility, that you think, you know, oh, this needs to be addressed. But this is something people should be aware of?
Dr. Kela Smith:
Yeah, I think there’s so many things, but the one thing I say a lot is that you there’s nothing you can do holistically to change your body, like you’re born with your genes, and you can’t change your genes. And so you know, you can’t do anything with diet and lifestyle and, and supplements, they just don’t work. And I find that so untrue. I mean, I see it in my own life, but in the lives of my patients day in and day out how much a difference it makes, when you’re on the right nutrition, you’re on the right supplements, you’re managing your stress, you’re trusting your body. So it definitely works. And it’s a life change. It’s a lifestyle change. And the other thing that I like to tell my patients is, this isn’t just a quick fix that you’re going to do and get pregnant and have the baby and then you’re done. This is something you’re going to do for the rest of your life to be as healthy as possible for your whole life. So we’re going for healthspan we want to live as long as we can and be optimal for as long as we can. So all of these things are going to help with that as well. So think that’s one misconception I hear a lot is that none of this stuff we’re talking about actually works. So the other misconception, let me think what’s some other misconceptions? There’s nothing you can do to fix your hormones. They are what they are. So I see that again. Every day. I see people that do these things and they fixed her hormones and their symptoms go away. Even putting PCOS into remission where they have no symptoms of it and they don’t even know
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
so that they have it. So there’s a lot you can do and the power is in your hands. So I love what you said at the beginning, you really need to be your own advocate. And if you’re, you know, your doctor, your practitioner is saying, like, this can’t be done, you know, your only choices IVF you can’t get pregnant because your advanced maternal age, I think you are your own advocate, and you know, your body, and there’s a lot that you can do to support that holistically. So listen to yourself and your intuition and not really taking no for an answer on that. Yeah. Yeah, that’s awesome. You know, that’s great advice. And it’s really very reassuring to hear that, you know, you have control, instead of just accepting, okay, this is what I’m given, you know, but there’s ways you could change that. And I agree with you that it’s a lifestyle change, right? It’s not just a one and done. It’s something that you you see it nourishes your body and makes you feel better, and then we just continue that, you know, as a livestock.
Dr. Smith, if our listeners wanted to know more about you, or you know, find out more information, where can they reach you about?
Dr.Kela Smith:
Sure. So the best place is my website, and that’s that hormone puzzle. society.com. And there I have many different freebies, I have a fertility meal plan, a pregnancy meal plan, and a hormone optimizing guide. So you can grab all of that there. And then I also have my own podcast. As you said earlier, the hormone puzzle podcast, we’ve done almost 300 episodes. So look at those as everywhere podcasts are heard. And then I am on social media. My favorite place to hang out is Instagram. And my account there is Kayla underscore health coach, and hormone puzzle method. So I’ve been on a couple different accounts on Instagram. So yeah, find me there. And then one of the things I wanted to say is that I am hosting a huge event. It’s our third annual solving infertility summit that will be airing on January 22. And we have over 45 different practitioners, doctors, nutritionists, health coaches, all talking about holistic health, fertility hormones, we have some experts on PCOS and Endo. And so definitely check that out. And you can do that at solving Dash and fertility.com. And you can register for free and get all the videos and all of that will be released on January 22. So yeah, check out any of those places.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
That’s awesome. Thank you for joining us today. Dr. Smith. This was really great information. Cuz I’m sure it’s going to be very helpful to our listeners, about you know, all of the things you’ve talked about, you know, the comprehensive lab tests to look for nutrition and everything.
Thank you so much.
Well, that wraps up our podcast today. Thank you so much for joining us on The PCOS diva podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you liked this episode, remember to subscribe to PCOS diva on iTunes, or wherever else you may be listening to this show. And if you have a minute, please leave me a quick review on iTunes because I love to hear from you.
The post 204 – PCOS and Pregnancy (Podcast with Dr. Kela Smith) appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Dr. Robin Rose explains how the gut microbiome directly affects PCOS and how a lot of the issues women face with PCOS like trying to conceive, hormonal imbalances, thyroid issues and increased inflammation are connected to gut health. Dr. Rose says “The gut microbiome is responsible for 80% of our immune health and overall health.” This means we should be paying more attention to how we can improve our gut health to improve our overall health and PCOS.
Dr. Robin Rose is a double board-certified specialist in Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine, specializing in functional medicine. Dr. Rose is the founder and CEO of Terrain Health where she practices next generation healthcare, integrating systems biology with an innovative approach that requires a deep understanding of each person’s biochemical, genetic, and lifestyle factors.
Tune in as they discuss:
- How stress affects your gut health
- Why birth control doesn’t solve the root problem of PCOS (gut health)
- Gut health & fertility
- How to give your gut a “break” to get better for it to heal
- Supplements & foods that help lower inflammation
- Why gluten is a problem for the gut pcosdiva · 203 – How Your Gut Health Affects PCOS [Podcast with Dr. Robin Rose]Resources Mentioned:Dr. Robin Rose website
Microgenesis test
Dr. Robin Rosa Instagram
The post 203 – How Your Gut Health Affects PCOS [Podcast with Dr. Robin Rose] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Binge eating can be a common issue with PCOS because of hormonal imbalances. Binge eating is also considered a disordered eating habit. Disordered eating is a circumstance that affects up to 75% of women.
On today’s podcast, Dr. Vinu talks with Lydia Knight about how our relationship with food affects our eating habits, how to change our disordered eating habits and take effective action. Lydia Knight is a certified health coach and eating disorder expert.
Tune in as they discuss:
- Our relationship with food The connection between emotions and food
- The different types of eating disorders
- How to break an eating disordered habit
- How to take effective action Fasting pros and cons with disordered eating
pcosdiva · 202 – EATING DISORDER & OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD [PODCAST WITH LYDIA KNIGHT]Resources Mentioned:The She Center Programs
The She Center Facebook Group
podcast.theshecenter.org/pcosdiva
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Hello everyone and welcome to another PCOS diva podcast. This is your host Dr. Vinu Jyothi. I am a preventive medicine specialist and a member of the PCOS Team.
Today we are going to be talking about a topic that I think is going to hit home for so many women listening. I can probably guarantee that when most of you go to the doctor’s office, we hear you need to lose weight. Either you need to go on a low carb or ketogenic or a paleo diet. You know, whatever the doctor thinks is the best approach for managing your PCOS lifestyle. I think for a lot of us the thought of just going on a strict diet. It sends us in exactly the opposite direction and can lead to a lot of stress eating and emotional eating. I have brought in an expert today to talk to us about ways that we can avoid that pitfall.
I want to introduce everyone to Lydia Knight. Welcome Lydia.
Hello, so wonderful to be on your podcast. Thank you for that beautiful introduction and super excited for our conversation today.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Absolutely. And let me introduce you to our audience.
Lydia Knight is the mission and founder of Mission Center is revolutionizing our culture by empowering individuals to move from self centered, self fulfilling and contribute the highest gifts you can imagine created of the Empower prosper in rice programs. Media embodies Effective Altruism initiatives that uplift women and children globally. She is a certified health coach, an eating disorder expert and recipient of the sacred service award. This groundbreaking approach has worked on a lot of recognition. So Lydia, I am really excited to be talking to you today. And you know, let’s start off with Yeah, I was just thinking about, you know, a podcast today and I was like, well sleepers hunger, you know, they’re all you know, basic requirements of life. But how did we end up developing such a complicated relationship? With food? You know?
Lydia Knight:
It’s a great question. Absolutely. It’s one of the things that can be so complex and feel sometimes powerless and sometimes overly exciting or inconvenient or we just have so much emotional charge around food. When you think about it. It’s something that we had an association with pretty much every day our entire lives. So emotional experiences, ups and downs and memories are all very centered and connected around that. And then the other side about it is that you have biology that really prioritizes us being nourished. Like we come from a lineage of human beings that are all here because they didn’t starve a lot in our biology that signals to us how important it is to eat too much to nourish ourselves to have energy to have pleasure, and it can feel like Battle sometimes. So it can be complex and also be very simplified in a way that we are very empowered. But yeah, pretty much everyone has a complex relationship with food. It’s been around
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
since a reward. Right? Absolutely. Yes. And, you know, the audience you know, he was he was, you know, some of them have been fighting some of them are struggling you know, the PCOS. And a lot of women with PCOS, it could be either due to the hormone imbalance that is of the process itself, and then the also the blood sugar fluctuations. There’s even statistics that say up to 90% of women with PCOS have some kinds of eating disorder. So, exactly. So this, you know, so how did you get introduced to eating disorders, you know, what’s your story and all that stuff?
Lydia Knight:
Yeah. Thank you so much for asking. So I had myself for a very long time for many years. And it was what I felt so out of control, like into food, but not all the time, because I was a health coach and as a healthy person. And so most of the time I would feel very controlled and I was extremely intentional. And then there would be times I would just start eating and I felt like I could stop I felt totally powerless. I just kept going and going until I was physically in pain. Now, at the time I thought that I was just my own personal brand crazy like it really freaked me out. Like honestly, especially somebody who would assemble career. If you like something like this. I think this is very, very relatable I know intellectually, that it will change your life if you can see our life in a better and healthier way. But we see ourselves doing the opposite make it extremely confusing. So I had no idea that I had an eating disorder. I just thought it was really happening and I just had to fix it somehow and move on and never do it again. UNC Chapel Hill study came out that talks about 75% of women struggle with a sort of knee. And it’s really hard to know about that because a lot of people don’t know that they haven’t eat disorder. They think they’re just that dieting or they like sugar too much or they have no willpower. That is really something that can be directly transformed when we know how to do it. But 90% of people PCOS something like this is something where you know certain ways lifestyle, living health challenges, whatever it is higher. So it’s really important to understand that it’s not hopeless that you can absolutely shift and change but a lot of traditional thinking is about that. It is some sort of disease that we can never end but we know that there is hope, no matter what your health or your lifestyle is to really have a very peaceful and healthy relationship with food. It’s it’s just
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
that is such a horrible thing to say because a lot of us just accepted to the way I am, you know, oh, maybe something’s wrong with me, but then you have hope you could change the way you’re thinking about food. You know, we spend so much mental energy, thinking about it and thinking about food, and then it ends up being counterintuitive when you are eating more than when you plan for me, you know, so it’s a lot of resources and energy that goes into it, you know. So, the other the other follow up question I had whenever I’m feeling emotional. I know a lot of women do we tend to eat our feelings, you know, it’s literally like discomfort and you want to eat something you’re stressed you’re angry and the food becomes a company in control and you can contract is that something you see often?
Lydia Knight:
Great question. So the connection between emotions and food is something that is extremely associated because we are emotional beings. And so almost all the time, especially when you want something for comfort or something or something to wind down at the end of the day, and it is associated with emotions. So although those things are connected, it goes back to the same theme that we’ve been touching on which is just because something is presence doesn’t mean that it’s controlling you. It just means that there’s a factor so yes, it’s a hard day you feel high emotions that you feel shame, or anger or you feel anxiety, and you might find a pattern of but I feel this way then I need something sweet. And what’s happening there is that it’s not like eating something is changing our emotions, like yes, it shifts our state but it’s it’s not something that’s soothing or helpful. It’s it’s something that regulates where it’s like a high or a low, it has to feel more really it’s somewhere in the middle. But the wonderful and amazing things about emotions and how we experience them is that we can learn that emotions don’t hurt us and that we can fully experience our emotions that you move through us that we don’t need to seek to change or alter that we can just let ourselves experience the emotion and we don’t need to eat over it or we don’t need to try them on ourselves in some way. So all those things are very associated with the tools and patterns we can change those patterns in our life so that when we feel emotions, that’s what they are. We feel emotions instead of having to feel like we have to do something about it to feel a different way and that’s that’s life changing.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Oh yeah, jeven when you say, wow, it sounds very simple. Just experience the emotion, right? Whether it is angry, distressed, sometimes if you just sit and realize, Okay, I am stressed. You know, it’s part of my day and realize that we just experienced that and then you make a good solution. You know, that’s a beautiful way to look at, you know, to just experience that emotion. You very beautifully portrayed and I can really relate to that.
When we say eating disorders, right, we say like affordable value, or, you know, is it just you know, people who binge eat or emotion is that the only type or you know, what is an eating disorder?
Lydia Knight:
Yeah, this is a really great question, because a lot of times there’s there’s charged around our stigma around it. Where we will need to look at what that is because we don’t want that label. And actually, we need definitions for things right. So to be recoverable, good insurance, certainly whatever. When it comes to our real human experience, it’s more useful to look at what is our experience, how is it impacting our life, and to not so much leave it as a label that language is important so we can understand the different varieties of how we need other people to feel like us. We share a fairly will we can connect that way. But really the only difference between disordered eating and eating disorder is how frequent and how severe it is. And so when you say what are you experiencing, oftentimes there’s a cycle associated with it. So like with binge eating, it’s eating a large amount of food and certain times we look through the definition of it, and then there’s been like Alenia where we’re doing something about that, right, where there is a binge, and there’s some sort of purge to be extremely dangerous. So it was really hard to understand anytime you protect food, whether it’s through vomiting some other way, but especially through purging through vomiting that can instantly stop my heart so that can be instant death. And sometimes you can think of it as like, oh, you know if I overdid it, but that’s it. We got to do it. normalized, even though you’re talking about people that sometimes can be super dangerous, and things like anorexia, where it’s just the restriction. So there’s usually a cycle of there’s an engine of restriction that can look like different things. But the real issue is that when we do those behaviors repeatedly, it turns into a habit, and that actually drives the disordered eating or eating disorders getting on where you’re at. It’s a habit that drives it a habit. And so that’s something that’s really helpful as I was like, you can break that habit, but it feels so personal, about that cycle. So those are the elements you want to look at. There’s a whole spectrum of your personal experiences
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
that say, Yes, you know, like you said, I do I have disordered eating, or more than that, if you have an eating disorder, they will discharge next, what would be your strategy for them to you know, take that next step and kind of dig into deeper into what that is and you know, what kind of solution should they be looking at?
Lydia Knight:
Yeah, well, first of all, just celebrate. Once you have that awareness, and you take action around it, that is the very, very best thing you can do. Because the only way that we stay stuck is when we do the awareness was like when I want to continue to learn how to be more aware versus taking action. So just taking action is a fantastic professionalism. So first, we have the awareness right, and then need to take action. And if that action is an effective action, that leads to transformation, where it’s no longer just at raising awareness, action and transformation, but the only way that transformation happens is if that action is effective. So that’s why it’s so important to not do this on your own right. We we live in a world where there’s so much information out there, but information is not transformation. So I would really look at if you want to be done with this, once you have the awareness take action in a way where you’re partnering, celebrates effective action, where the action is going to lead to something lasting versus mentality of Well, I just want to work on this for the rest of my life and it might never get better but just manage it. That’s a lot of mentality around disorders. But would that be effective action that it can lead to a transformation where you can say I used to struggle with this, I don’t anymore. And that can be using on to bigger goals in life.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Beautifully said. it’s not just the awareness and also taking action. And we live in a world now where everything just happened so quickly, new information. You don’t have to wait for the library. You don’t have to wait to go there. So everyone is looking for these fast solutions. Nobody wants these, like in the middle of their action. I want them to sell stuff. You know, we live in such a fast paced world. And what would you say to people that you know, just want immediate transformation, whatever action you looking into put in?
Speaker 2
That is really important thing to investigate like, the questions because what’s really interesting is that the most effective solutions are oftentimes pretty rapid. When you’re doing something that has a lot of expertise behind it where it doesn’t optimize that a lot of types of solutions can happen quite quickly. But there’s also a whole just sort of like, you know, get rich fast enough like for instance like just like retire. Those things you want to be very aware of and sadly especially when it comes to women and their health, there are so many things out there that too, so much more harm than they do good. And a lot of times there’s going to be some sort of promise especially rapidly lost as a huge, huge, huge red flag or something where it’s been started about really fast because that actually that restricted dieting that rapid weight loss often comes from is because it’s 18 times more likelihood to have disorder. So something actually makes the problem worse long term. Like have had a trust where Okay, is this something that is trying to pull me in for something fast? It doesn’t talk about how we maintain this or how we make this long term what what are we going to do after we lost that but you know, if we’re not having a long term plan, and that’s definitely a red flag, but if you find something that is effective, where you can see the long term plan, long term plan is to just be struggling forever, where it’s like alright, chapter one, we’re gonna work on these things. And this is how we’re gonna make that last. That’s something that you can trust because a lot of times, especially when it comes to food and eating, especially with this sort of conversation, there’s this mentality of it’s gonna be forever but she doesn’t need to. So for instance, I mean we had clients come to us that after 40 years of struggling with an eating disorder, we’re completely free and have been for five, seven years now. And they were free within two weeks, 14 days or five weeks of working with us. So it can happen very quickly. There’s a lot of factors in place so that you have something really, really effective. So it’s sort of there’s a similar feeling successful and sweet. Have something you have a long term plan.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
And whenever people think about changes in accounting, and then they think I’m not going to be a deprovision and die people to my life, is that what the term is like, you know, and then that kind of spirals out into you know, oh, tomorrow something tomorrow is gonna be the first day and the first days never here, you know, that kind of fear that feeds into like, Oh, I’m gonna postpone this because this is going to be died in preparation. That’s what I’m looking towards. So how can you have a money? mindset shift? We’re not looking at this as you know, a punishment or deprivation and wanting something good that you believe in yourself, right?
Lydia Knight:
Yeah, this is a really important thing to look at, because you have a reaction to deprivation. And that’s, that’s natural. So it’s important to like, everything’s right if you have a negative reaction to deprivation, and what we’ve been talking about is permanent to freedom without restricting anything. Because as soon as we feel restricted as soon as we cut something out something that you feel deprived in it creates cravings for those things. So it really is a paradigm shift where you are doing the things that are nourishing and healthy for you not to try to temporarily do something to force your body to do something else. But it really is about changing those patterns. And I won’t even say it’s a lifestyle change because there’s so many restrictive diets that have been marketed as a lifestyle. But it is it’s a reasonable habits isn’t the relationship with yourself, and you can eat in a way that really serves you and your health without being in a state of deprivation. But there’s quite a bit of unlearning that goes along with it when we think about eating more vegetables. So many of us have a strong association with restrictive dieting to the point that our brain sees it in the same way. Even though you might have been through the diet. You can also be professionals because it’s something that is nourishing you’re choosing to do so it’s about working with your brain and your biology to do things that serve you really well without setting off those parts of your brain in biology that react to restriction and so being in that place, there’s a learning that happens there new patterns, it doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s so incredibly important to that that’s really what it consists of. Does that make sense?
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
yeah, it does.
when you say you know munching, eating, and then you know, not restrictive, so you know what are all the different values of keto diets and values, and people want to vegetarian nobody wants to be eaten, and they start considering your diet, because it’s not like a temporary fix. And then you’re always depriving yourself and trying to go back or you know, is that something that’s sustainable, then you could do it?
Lydia Knight:
Yeah, I think that if it were sustainable, and we could do it and y’all would have done like 1886. Setting is, you know, 95% failure, you got a couple more years and the failure isn’t set up to fail. And so a good way to be able to determine where your intentions are coming from. Again, this is a skill this is something we want to change but to put it simply in principle for you can ask yourself, if I knew that no matter this is gonna bring up some motions for some people, but just read through it and roll with it. Because there’s an important truth on the other side of this is if I knew that no matter how I need, I would say the same size and I would not lose it. Then how would I How would I show up? Because that’s those are the wires that get cross where it’s, oh, I want to eat this way because it’s healthy. But like 90% of that in the storm of our brain is like, I really wanna be there and I’m gonna want to lose weight. And as soon as we go into our bodies, that doesn’t mean that their bodies won’t respond. We’re going to accept lately, you know, being at a place where it’s healthier for us to be a little weaken our bodies will be our focus focusing on weight loss. If our focus is something that is essentially starvation on our bodies, then our bodies are going to react that way. So people that come from a place like it are supposed to be vegetarian because of course, like that’s their belief in life and it doesn’t matter what we eat, or some can be vegetarian or vegan or whatever it is because they’re really, really hoping that it’s actually going to untangle those things to really see where your intentions and desires are coming from and make it very, very sustainable. It’s a skill but it’s something you can’t practice
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Absolutely, I identify with that, because my husband is a vegetarian, by choice. He just has no desire for texture, you know, he’s not forcing himself it’s either been overcome something natural, but as you know, some Australian power, vegetarian, just as an example of depriving yourself of something that you always enjoy, and always be at the back of your mind. So what do you say, you know, if that’s what you want to do, and that’s what he likes to do two different things. That it is going from coming from different perspective, you know, so another thing I want to ask you if you’re this comes from a personal space because I always practice intermittent fasting, and I always thought it was really beneficial to me. And I also know it helps them in a lot of conditions. And also it helps with diabetes and keeping your insulin levels, you know, throughout the day keeps it pretty normal. Pretty. So that said, could that end up being restricted diet or is it just you know, you take the regular food, it’s more restrictive timing, because I’ve always heard two schools of thought, you know, intermittent fasting is just restrictive dieting, and other people say well you’re just making a little bit sharper, but then you don’t perceive yourself. So I am really curious to know your take on that.
Lydia Knight:
Yes, this is this is important because there are lots of ways to be healthy, and intermittent fasting has incredible health benefits, like many other things, and you only get some benefits if you actually do the thing, and it’s sustainable. So I bring this up, because a lot of times people can get in a cycle of intermittent fasting for the health benefits. But when you look back at what’s actually happening, it’s not happening right? It’s the whole day without eating because fasting things at night with the promise that whenever it’s asked, it’s about getting it tomorrow, so it’s okay, so it’s an unhealthy cycle. But it works really best for people who have zero issue with their relationship with food. If you already have a relationship with food, you would never want to change that you are totally, totally good with and it’s a great place to play with the way that you’re eating to have it be beneficial for you just have like a terrible example here. Like how many of us know sugar is not good for us, and have sort of like, Oh, I hope you shouldn’t have decided for me, but when we tried to restrict it or decline it and we’re actually eating a lot more sugar. So you need to look at what’s actually happening in your behavior and not getting so stuck on like oh, this is supposed to be really happy. Like, am I doing it with ease, and I can see myself doing this for years to come. And there’s no sort of like waiting to find start eating this other way again, if you can see that total ease and they do things and certain things that are healthy. But the issue is that there are a lot of women that approach and fasting with a really disordered relationship with food already. And that’s an attractive way to eat. Because it’s sort of a way of not having to eat for a while, right? It’s the substance that we can like I’m gonna be absent for booze, you’re gonna have to eat so it can be attractive to people that struggle with food because the way to control themselves more but there’s a huge backfire when it comes to that. So yes, it can be incredibly beneficial and healthy only if you’re actually doing an absolutely column with it. You actually already worked on your relationships that was absolutely the most successful.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
No, don’t get this word on that, you know, because I want to say that you know, so as long as you corrected them, and like you said we have that easy relationship with food that seems like a perfect thing, or else I can definitely see how it can backfire. Your
Lydia Knight:
parallel example there is running a healthy behavior totally. But if you have a broken leg, going for a run every morning, it’s not going to serve you even though it’s a healthy behavior. You need to kill your leg first have a good foundation. You’ve got to look at your process
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
in a one size fits all, you know, every person has to look at it for themselves and see you know, with stemming from the fact that you know, there’s never gonna be one solution that just works for everyone. That’s right, that’s going to happen. So we absolutely are. So this this has been an idiom. So what would you say to women that are listening and you know, they’re not thinking a different perspective on how to look at how to stop making that complicated relationship and kind of just simplifying, which which is you think about a mental note. It just makes it so much easier. And you know, what, what would you say more just add on to this?
Lydia Knight:
Yeah. Great. Great to look at that because, you know, on my heart, for say is that so many of our clients with PCOS there is this mentality of it’s a struggle, right? Like your your cravings, your insulin resistance, all of these things are coming up about waking. All of these things that make it feel more more hopeless or more difficult or because I have PCOS is a struggle and all of that is so valid, like our initial experiences are valid, but oftentimes is a shift of focus that makes all the difference. So to have a parallel example here, if someone has a temper, right, like you can look at the factors that you don’t have control over, you can say, Oh, well, my mother was with anger and she has these neuro chemicals or you know, hormonal makeup onto me or I have these circumstances that make me feel angry. And yes, there are things that you don’t have power over. But when you focus on the things you do have power over, like yes, you might have because of PCOS, craving for them, or sugar. And you also have the power to work with your habits and to work with your money and to work with your patterns to be able to change that despite some struggle. So to really focusing on spices and that one acknowledge that it’s not very simple, but it’s not easy. Like the truth of things are things that really matter in a difference oftentimes, are the most and the hardest things that we’ve ever done, because we’re really bringing ourselves to a truth of our power and our personal path. I think it’s a really important thing to look at. Because in my own story, I don’t struggle with food at all, which feels like a miracle because there are times where I didn’t want to keep living because I thought that the last breath I would still be thinking about food and that hamster wheel round and round. And to know that you can really have that shift when you have the right support when you have people in contrast around you. So that’s
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
that’s such a great message, you know, because your pleadings and so we have some things that are going into PCOS. But there’s a need to embrace that and you know, there’s a way to focus on the things and change mindset. That was a beautiful message. And our listeners would like to know more about you. Can you give us a way to reach you and other resources?
Lydia Knight:
Yes, absolutely. So, on a PC recipe books out there, we have something really fun for your community in particular, we have a collection of some of our best resources for you guys. So we have a really fun quiz that you can find out your relationship status goes to food, and our master class is under the beautiful cookies. It’ll be that way to take action like we talked about. So we have those on a special page for you guys. If you go to podcast dot the she center.org forward slash PCOS diva, then we’ll have a collection of those resources for you. So that would be a really fun thing to experience and we should update that. As you go there just remember to celebrate that. So many people stop after listening or they stop at the observing to go there to take action to really think of what is your next step is incredible celebration and just give yourself lots lots of credit, as you
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
know absolutely. So that would be awesome video. Thank you so much. It was real pressure documented technology information.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you so much for having me on.
Dr. Vinu Jyothi:
Thank you. Thank you. Definitely, really well. Thank you so much. I will see read information. I’m sure it’s gonna be really valuable to our listeners. Wonderful.
The post 202 – DISORDERED EATING & OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD [PODCAST WITH LYDIA KNIGHT] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
On today’s podcast, Dr. Vinu talks with Megan Kophamer about how she healed her PCOS and how she was able to get pregnant through diet, chiropractic care and lifestyle changes that she learned using the PCOS Diva Jumpstart program.
Megan is a stay-at-home mom of 3 who was diagnosed with PCOS when she was 20 and had some fears that she might not be able to have children. Listen in as she shares how she overcame her PCOS and was able to get pregnant.
Tune in as they discuss:
- Getting diagnosed with PCOS
- Effects of coming off birth control and getting on clomid
- Dealing with the stress of infertility
- How the
PCOS Diva Jumpstart Program was beneficial - Chiropractic care benefits for infertility
- Adrenal fatigue after kids pcosdiva · PCOS Infertility Success Story with Megan Kophamerpcosdiva · PCOS Infertility Success Story with Megan KophamerContact Megan:megan.kophamer@protonmail.com
The post 201 – PCOS Infertility Success Story with Megan Kophamer appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Today on the PCOS Diva Podcast, Dr. Gary Kaplan, DO, DABFP, DABPM, FAAMA, joins us to discuss the importance of sleep for women with PCOS and how the chronic...
The post 200 – Gut Health, Sleep & Reclaiming Your Health [Podcast with Dr. Gary Kaplan] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Fertility drives many women to their PCOS diagnosis. Women start to wonder if IVF might be the right choice for them but wonder where to even start. IVF can seem...
The post 199 IVF, Fertility Goals & Improving Egg Quality [Podcast with Lauren Haring] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
We’re so excited to have Dr. Jolene Brighten back on the PCOS Diva Podcast to discuss how to balance your hormones to improve your PCOS symptoms and your sex life. Dr. Brighten is a board certified naturopathic endocrinologist, clinical sexologist, and prominent leader in women’s medicine. Dr. Brighten empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones.
Many women with PCOS have a low sex drive, irregular periods, mood swings, anxiety and more. The good news is, there are things you can do to improve your hormones to eliminate these issues. On this episode of the PCOS Diva Podcast Dr. Vinu Jyothi and Dr. Jolene Brighten discuss lifestyle changes, supplements and medication options that may help improve your hormones.
Listen in and learn:
- How a woman’s menstrual cycle & PCOS affects libido
- How adrenal health impacts ovulation
- Signs your hormones aren’t “normal”
- How overall health contributes to sexual function
- How to tell the difference between perimenopause & PCOS pcosdiva · Heal your hormones to bring more pleasure into your love life [Podcast with Dr. Jolene Brighten] All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:Resources mentioned:Dr. Jolene Brighten’s New Book: Is This Normal
Connect with Dr. Jolene Brighten:Dr. Jolene Brighten’s Website
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Facebook
Previous Podcasts with Dr. Jolene Brighten:PCOS Diva Podcast Episode 87: STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT PCOS, THE PILL, AND POST PILL SYNDROME
PCOS Diva Podcast Episode 105: HOW TO MINIMIZE YOUR RISK ON THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL
Dr. Jolene Brighten is a board certified naturopathic endocrinologist, clinical sexologist, and prominent leader in women’s medicine. A fierce patient advocate and completely dedicated to uncovering the root cause of hormonal imbalances, Dr. Brighten empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones. She is an international speaker, clinical educator, medical advisor within the tech community, and considered a leading authority on women’s health. Dr. Brighten is also part of the MindBodyGreen Collective and a faculty member for the American Academy of Anti Aging Medicine. Her work has been featured in the New York Post, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, Bustle, The Guardian, and ABC News.
Follow Along with the TranscriptDr. Vinu
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the PCOS Diva podcast. I am Dr. Vinu Jyoti, a preventive medicine specialist and a member of the PCOS diva team. And my passion is to empower women not only to manage their PCOS symptoms holistically, but also to help them rediscover their true self. For more details, please visit PCOS diva.com My podcast guest today is Dr. Jolene Brighten. As some of you must already know, Dr. Brighten has been with us on previous podcast interviews, and I will link those interviews down below. And for those that are new, I would like to introduce Dr. Brighten. She is a hormone expert, a nutrition scientist and a thought leader in women’s medicine. She is board certified in naturopathic endocrinology and trained in clinical sexology. Dr. Brighten is the author of is this normal, a non judgmental Guide to Creating hormone balance, eliminating unwanted symptoms and building the sexual desire you crave a fierce patient advocate and completely dedicated to uncovering the root cause of hormonal imbalances. Dr. Brighton empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones through her website and social media channels. I’m really excited to welcome Dr. Brighten to our podcast today.
Dr. Brighten
Thank you so much for having me. It’s so exciting to be back. And I get to talk to you this time. So it’s gonna be a very, I think engaging and insightful conversation we’re about to have.
Dr. Vinu
Absolutely, I believe the same Dr. Brighton. So tell us about your new book, is this normal? And how our listeners could you know use this book? What way can they find it useful?
Dr. Brighten
I think that sexual health is one of the most overlooked issues that come with PCOS. So with PCOS, if you find the right doctor, they might start to talk to you about the cardiometabolic implications of it. But a lot of the times, you’re just told you have irregular periods, you might have a hard time getting pregnant. And here’s the pill and we’ll send you on your way. And there’s not a lot of conversation about all of the nuances. As you know, as your audience knows that comes with PCOS. If you’re someone living with PCOS, I’m not saying anything you don’t know because you live in this body. And you know exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to the other issues that you can face. So in Is this normal, the book is divided up into three sections. And the first section is your sexual self. Next comes your cyclical self, which everybody gets to, you know, talks about with PCOS, like where is the cycle and what’s going on with the cycle. And then we get into the 20 day program. Now that sexual self, that’s a piece of PCOS that research exists on but nobody really talks about it. So for example, in the book, I bring up that the research shows and anovulatory cycles, that is when you do not ovulate regularly or you’re not ovulating at all, is associated with what gets term sexual dysfunction, you have to ask, is it really dysfunction? Or is it adaptation I like to think of as adaptation. But when we’re not ovulating regularly, we see that our sexual health is impacted. So that’s not just like, what happens with the tissues, but it’s also what happens in our mind as well.
Dr. Vinu
Right? Yes, and I completely agree with that. So So my next question was, you know, you talk about hormone imbalance, right. And PCOS in itself is a hormone imbalance disorder. So how do do all women with PCOS have hormone imbalance? Or, you know, how is that different from someone who does not have PCOS? versus someone who does?
Dr. Brighten
You cannot escape the hormone woes of PCOS. I would love to be like, No, some people are okay. People who do present okay or are feeling like maybe I don’t have PCOS anymore. They’re employing like a lot of the things I talked about in the book, nutrition, lifestyle and supplementation really that Trifecta to help them manage their symptoms with PCOS. As we know the majority of those with it have insulin dysregulation. In the book, I talk about how insulin and adrenal health are really the foundation of our overall health. And I use a pyramid example. So that’s the base of our pyramid. Above that is the thyroid and at the very tippy top are the ovarian hormones in P with PCOS is that foundation is shaky, which it often is by the time you get the diagnosis, there’s already elevations in insulin. There’s definitely a pool in the adrenals. I talk about that in the book and what you can do for adrenal health. But you can also start to see issues with the thyroid and issues with the sex hormones as well. And as we understand PCOS, and I have to say I like want to do like air quotes. The bunnies in the air have we understand, because we don’t have research to really understand the root cause of PCOS. But one thing we do understand is that insulin stimulates the ovaries to produce testosterone. And if we’re producing more testosterone, at the expense of other hormones like progesterone, the only way to progesterone is to ovulation, then we’re going to see unwanted symptoms like unwanted hair growth on the chin, chest, abdomen, we’re going to see acne. But as I was talking about with the an ambulatory cycles, without that regular rise and fall of estrogen happening mid cycle, we see that women with PCOS, they may not find themselves thinking about sex, enjoying sex, wanting to engage in sex or even, you know, being receptive to what their partner is putting down, so to speak. And I talk about in the program, some ways to mitigate that. But I think it’s important to understand that there’s so many layers and PCOS, I feel like it’s always like, let’s talk about acne. Let’s talk about weight gain. And yet, there’s so much more because these hormones also impact our mood, which is why women with PCOS, they’re at much higher risk for things like depression and
Dr. Vinu
Yes, true, and it’s no more just periods, right. PCOS is normal just periods. It’s more than that. Your thyroid, your adrenals. And, you know, it affects so many different systems, you know, so? Yep. And so what are some signs that our hormones aren’t normal?
Dr. Brighten
Yeah. Okay, so I’ve gotten into some of it. And I love that you asked this question, because I think that the abnormal has been normalized. So we think like, oh, it’s just normal, that I’m not sleeping at night. And then I’m struggling to fall asleep, when in fact, that could be a sign of hormone imbalance. We’re also seeing issues. So as I was talking about with mood, maybe we’re feeling anxious more before our period. So if we’re not sleeping, and we’re having anxiety before our period, we started to think about a progesterone issue. This is important to pay attention. Because if you are someone with PCOS, who recovers ovulation, which therefore results in menstruation, so you recover a regular cycle, which might look like 35 days to you, it’s a myth, we should all have 20 day cycles. But if you recover this cycle, but you start to notice that, you know, I am feeling like I can’t sleep as well, I’m having anxiety, I’m starting to, you know, cry more easily or be more irritated by my partner. That can be a sign that the progesterone from your ovaries is falling short of where it really needs to be, and can be an early sign that whatever’s happening in your environment, or it and I think, you know, we always come back to like, oh, you know, diet, yes. And it can also be stress related. And so we have to look holistically at the environment, whatever is happening in your environment that’s affecting you in a way that’s causing that progesterone to decline. So that’s just one thing I think that women with PCOS should be tuned into, is that that can be an early sign that we’re going to we’re going to start struggling again. And that isn’t always something that we think about what I think that we often think like once we get the period back, like we’re good, right? Well, life happens. So that’s the progesterone piece. I think women with PCOS, we’ve already discussed some of the excess testosterone that’s really common to see, I wouldn’t call it normal, but it is common, and it is a sign that the ovaries are not doing what they should be. I think some less common symptoms that people think about, I talked about in the book, thyroid disorders as well. So seeing that you you know you’re not going to the bathroom as regularly so you’re filling constipated or you like you have slow motility. If it’s happening just before your period, that could be normal. But if it’s happening constantly, that could be a sign of hypothyroidism. Things like stepping out of bed in the morning and feeling that your feet are already tender. That can be a sign that we don’t have optimal thyroid hormone and it’s we’re not recovering our postural muscles. When the muscles that get a lot of use, those are going to be most sore. And then there’s the common thyroid symptoms people think of like feeling so tired or brain fog or losing your hair, which is what can make PCOS a little bit confusing because your hair loss could be antigen related. Or it could be thyroid related.
Dr. Vinu
Yes. So yeah, it’s like you you need to get tested. St. Louis that’s coming from right. Yeah, you’re down. Yeah. And are there any lifestyle factors that are impactful to bring your hormones back into balance?
Dr. Brighten
This is where it’s just so amazing stuff that keeps you out of the doctor’s office or makes your doctor go, wow, what are you doing? That’s all the stuff that you’re doing at home. So you’re getting tested, super important, getting guidance, you know, on your health and the health journey, really important, but we have to recognize that the majority of what it takes to heal the person is doing at home. So lifestyle factors absolutely play a role. And one of the things I talk about in the book, I actually set up a whole diagram on sleep. So sleep is something that maybe you want to yawn when I bring it up. I know people do at medical conferences, I will present this information. And when I present it in the way that I do, doctors are usually like, oh, my gosh, like the way that my patients sleep habits are affecting their infertility, the way that it’s causing their inflammation to continue, it kind of revives this idea of that we all need good sleep, right, but in a way that’s really tangible. So I have a diagram in the book where I show how poor quality sleep can cause inflammation to go up, insulin dysregulation will increase. So we’ll see increased insulin in a non PCOS person, we can see the development of diabetes increased visceral adiposity. So that is fat that packs around your organs, which is what I care most about is body composition. And where is the fat not just if you have fat because we all have fat, it matters where it’s at and what it’s doing in your body. But in addition to that, not sleeping, and not getting quality sleep can also impact your ovulation. In fact, our ovulation is tied to our circadian rhythms. So this is where exposing yourself to natural light first thing in the morning, when you get into room at night, your bedroom, dark lights as you make it as dark as possible, getting a nice mascot and eyemask make sure that you are keeping the room cool, especially important. If you do get your cycle back and you’re in that week before your period. Progesterone causes your body temperature to rise. And so we’ll need to like and that’s when I said oh but like you might not have enough to stimulate GABA and help your brain sleep. So keeping the room cool. These kinds of route that’s a really simple lifestyle practice light in the morning, dark in the evening. hugely, hugely impactful, not just for ovulation, but also for adrenal health. And if your ovaries are struggling as they can in PCOS to produce hormones at the right time, those adrenal glands are definitely taking a hit. If we’ve got the inflammatory component of PCOS, those adrenal glands are taking a hit. One of the best ways to heal them is to recover them at night. So on top of, we were talking about like the sleep hygiene. This is also where I talk to people about bringing in things like foster title serine, l theanine, passionflower, different aids that help their body get the restorative sleep that allows their hormones to heal.
Dr. Vinu
Right. So it I mean, it seems like a very simple thing, right? All of us, you know, we just say, Oh, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep, you know, and it becomes the normal, but it’s not it should not be the normal. In spite of all life’s challenges. I think we need to establish a sleep routine and kind of stick to it religiously. It sounds like your overall health.
Dr. Brighten
away, just want to say and to your point about the sleep is that we get away with a lot in our 20s and 30s. I think that perimenopause and PCOS, so perimenopause is hard. Okay, hands down, it can be really difficult in this modern world, you on PCOS to that picture and things can be so much more difficult. And one of the things that so many people have let go of is committing to getting quality sleep and committing to keeping this circadian rhythm. And I would challenge any of your listeners do this for five days and see how you feel. Just give it five days. My patients after five days are like I’m never going back to anything else. I feel so different.
Dr. Vinu
Oh, and you kind of brought that up. I was gonna ask a talk to you about that next or next Dr. Brighton. You know, with PCOS, you’re kind of used to not having your cycles regularly. So how do you differentiate from perimenopause and PCOS? But because they kind of mimic the same right? So how exactly would you differentiate between the two?
Dr. Brighten
You know, no one ever asked me this question. And it is something that I brought up in the book, because I think it’s so important. I’m so glad that you asked me this because exactly that so in the book I actually I have a diagram of like, is it functional hypothalamic amenorrhea or is it PCOS? And then I have another section on is a perimenopause so that you can Understand the difference in these. And so it can be really confusing because your cycles are irregular. But now you’re like you’re in your 40s. And you’re like, Well, is it Perry? Or is it just PCOS? Okay, so here’s the thing that we do know, at 45. If you do not have a period for a year, that’s menopause, and that’s considered normal at age 45. perimenopause can start as early as 10 years before then. And perimenopause. The irregular periods is more of a later stage perimenopause, like that when you you pass that midpoint and you’re getting closer to menopause. And once you are not year stretch to menopause, that’s when periods get really irregular. So this is what I would say, if you have PCOS. And you’ve been able to recover some kind of normality to your cycle. And they just want to say that sometimes you’re doing everything right, and you’re having a 48 day cycle, but it is coming every 48 days, like good job, because most of medicine is like you’re never going to be able to have a regular ovulation a regular cycle. But you want to know what your normal is. If you find that now it’s starting to stretch out further and you’re getting 60 plus days. And you’re you’re in that like 35 Plus, I would say with PCOS, really, if you’re in that past 40 range, that is looking more like perimenopause. And right before you hit menopause is when so remember menopause for people listening, that’s a year without a period. Right before you get to that stage. That’s when they’re really going to stretch and the really long and so you’re doing everything the same. Nothing significant has impacted your life. You’re like what gives, it may very well be perimenopause. Now in perimenopause, the first hormone to go is the hormone we already discussed being problematic in PCOS, and that is progesterone. This is why women have anxiety, insomnia, like the hot flashes that come on. That can be because of imbalances of estrogen and progesterone and the way estrogen is playing with your brain. So in PCOS, it can rdv that, like I’ve already struggled with progesterone. So you might feel like your your symptoms are really getting amplified. And while I think that’s bringing on you know, I talk in the book like ways to help your progesterone, so definitely decreasing the stress, getting the good sleep, but bringing on Vitamin C, Vitamin B six, these kinds of things can help your progesterone, but you may need to consider using progesterone replacement therapy or hormone replacement therapy, not progestin in the pill. And why differentiate that is because a lot of doctors will say, Well, you have PCOS, and you’re having Peri menopausal symptoms, let’s just give you the pill. But the problem is, is the pill doesn’t contain progesterone, and progesterone must be metabolized. And then the hormones that come from that metabolism can affect the brain that causes that sense of calm and helps us get sleep. And so what I’m saying here is it’s got to be an oral progesterone that you’re taking. And thankfully, you know, there’s some like, depending on your insurance, I don’t know where people are in the world. But in the United States, sometimes, progesterone hormone replacement therapy from a regular pharmacy is cheaper than getting the pill. So that’s a win.
Dr. Vinu
Good. I mean, I’m glad you differentiated between, you know, not just taking the pill, but actually getting progesterone replacement, right? Because it seemed it looks like there’s a difference between the two. And so you also did touch on, you know, the multivitamins that you would need any other supplements or Dr. Brighton that you would recommend that would help with balancing your hormones.
Dr. Brighten
Yes. So if we’re talking specifically about PCOS, I always recommend getting vitamin D testing, most people are going to do well to do 2000. I use vitamin d3 every day. And that’s not going to prove to be problematic. But the problem could be, you don’t have enough vitamin D as it is. So getting tested will help you understand you need to actually increase those levels. And we know that vitamin D can help with a lot of things in the body. But it absolutely can help with supporting testosterone balance, as can things like nettle and saw palmetto root. So Saw Palmetto is one that people sometimes think like Well, isn’t that for prostate health, I guess. And the reason why it works for PCOS is because it can inhibit an enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT. And DHT is what is behind. That’s the form of testosterone that’s causing us hair loss that’s irreversible on our head. So the miniaturization of the hair follicle that never comes back. So we want to get ahead of that as soon as possible, but also a hair growth on our chin, chest, abdomen, and can be behind the hormonal acne. So on top of the nutrients that I recommended, those are some of the herbs and I’m sure your community is familiar with Myo inositol. I don’t think that anyone I know that has I’ve come across with PCOS who hasn’t asked me or mentioned mio anon so tall. But it was important to understand about Nasr. Tom, is when I’m talking about sleep, this can be another sleep aid. It really can be a two for one. So yes, it can help with PCOS. But it can also help you get restful sleep. If you’re someone who, unfortunately, because these two do like to hang out sometimes, as PCOS and Hashimotos, there’s been research to show that Myo inositol can help with getting your antibodies into remission. So that’s a really, that’s another one I really love. And I would say, an acetyl cysteine. If there isn’t something it doesn’t win in the research. I just haven’t seen it. But NAC it can help with testosterone. But if there’s anybody that’s listening right now, who’s wanting to become pregnant with PCOS, Myo inositol is great for supporting a quality and it may help increase improve a quality and and acetyl cysteine. That is one it’s, it’s an amino acid that helps us make glutathione which is a really important antioxidant. But some research has pointed to it being beneficial in women with with PCOS, in helping prevent miscarriage and helping them have a healthy pregnancy. So it’s definitely worth considering.
Dr. Vinu
That’s a great observation. I think I think our listeners gonna appreciate that, you know, that was awesome information. And and you kind of touched on this Dr. Brighton that you know, your sex hormones kind of, you know, you kind of influence your libido. And with PCOS, you know, you we know that it has some impact on libido. So, what can we do? I mean, to, you know, for women to have better sexual health, especially women with PCOS?
Dr. Brighten
Yes. So one of the big things that I talk about, and I get into this in the 20 day program, there’s one ad program, there is all the cyclical soul of the hormone component, and then with your sexual self, so that you can really understand yourself, how many times can I say yourself, but you can understand the full picture of your health. And when it comes to PCOS, we do want to work on optimizing those hormones. So I do have strategies in the book for that. The other component of PCOS that I think it’s often overlooked, is body image concerns and body image concerns. So maybe feeling like you know, you’re you’re not the size you want to be your skin doesn’t look the way you want it to look, you’re, you know, you’ve lost some hair, you have some hair thinning, these different kinds of things that can come up, can really have a negative impact on us in a way that has been recognized in the research. So there’s a model in psychology called the dual control model. And what the researchers came up with is this analogy of gas pedals and brake pedals, basically, excitation inhibition. And when it comes to inhibition, some of us have more sensitive brakes. And those things can can make us feel like we have a low libido, when in reality, it’s more like these things and our nervous system just don’t jive together. And it’s well recognized that concerns around body image can be a break. And that can definitely be something that makes you feel like, why is it that I’m never in the mood? Or why is it I start to get aroused. And then I lose arousal or the ability to orgasm. And there’s a phenomenon known as spectating, which is just like what it sounds like you are basically on the sidelines watching yourself. People do this. I mean, you don’t have to have PCOS. Lots of people do this, when they start getting concerned while they’re having sex about, oh, you know, what is? What does my body look like? Can they see my stretch marks in this position? Like, do I have cellulite right now. And if you’re nodding your head, just know you’re not alone. The research tells us that just about everybody does this in some way. And so understand that you might be thinking you have a low libido. But in reality, it may be that there’s this whole component of self love that we have to work on. And as I talked about in the book, sometimes we have to just focus on pleasure for pleasure sake. And we need to focus on that connection with our partner like the other elements that we enter into sex for. And so I’ve just bring up this component, because it’s something that I’ve talked about in other interviews, but in TCU I feel like in medicine, this entire conversation around how you might feel in your skin kind of gets glazed over especially when we’re talking about libido and especially when people are like that you have testosterone issues, shouldn’t you have a high libido that elevated testosterone does sometimes track with you having a higher libido and having more clitoral sensitivity and having more orgasms, but the psychological component to PCOS and like I said before, being at higher risk for depression anxiety can absolutely impact to your libido. So we want to work on the hormone teas, we certainly want to bring down inflammation. But I would feel remiss if I didn’t speak to the fact that it can be a lot more complex than that. And you deserve to have all of that considered in your health.
Dr. Vinu
And it’s a great point, you make Dr. Brighten it’s not just the direct hormonal influence. It’s also the emotional quotient having PCOS and how you feel about yourself, that comes into the picture. Right? So, yeah, so you kind of, you know, kind of develop all of that and not just focus on what the hormones are directly doing. So yeah, that’s a great point. And so you kind of touched base on your 28 day program. So could you elaborate more I know, you know, 1/3 of your book focuses on the 28 day program for women. And it was a very interesting read for me. So can you tell our listeners a little bit more about the 28 Day Program?
Dr. Brighten
Yes. So you’re going to take that hormone quiz, that questionnaire that I talked about before, and that’s going to help guide you into what is going on with your hormones. If you’re wanting to take the sexual self and adventure on in the 28 days, there’s also a common sexual health questionnaire that I put in the book that’s going to happen in the libido chapter to help you understand that exact sensitivity of the brakes, the gas pedal and the brakes, and how that could be affecting your sexual desire, inhibiting your arousal, and then we’re going to apply it to the cycle. Now I talked to you about what if you don’t have a cycle in the book. So if you’re not currently cycling, you’re still going to employ these things. And I encourage people just follow the moon cycle, so that the New Moon is the period and the full moon is when you would expect to ovulate. And why I say just follow the moon cycle is because it’s in the sky, you see it every night. Maybe you don’t. But you can Google it, it’s pretty easy. So it’s a really easy framework to just get started with. But if you are cycling regularly, I talk about, you know how you can apply this. Now it’s a 28 day framework. And as I said, most people are not having cycles that are 20 days. But we always teach from this perspective, because it’s just like why we teach from the period being the start of the menstrual cycle, even though technically ovulation is the start of the menstrual cycle. But it’s a good way to understand and really grasp the information. But you can take this and you can apply it to your own cycle first takes understanding your cycle altogether. And like when am I in my follicular phase? Did I ovulate? What’s happening at these different times. So I take you through four weeks, 28 days, and in that you’ll be doing exercises to help you with your lifestyle, incorporate supplementations if you supplements if you want to go that route, how to be eating in a way that’s really nourishing to your hormones. I focus a lot on what do we bring in? How do we nourish our hormones, and less on what do we need to take out I think the PCOS community has heard, I mean, so much information about like, take this up, take that out. And you know, as a doctor who’s also nutrition scientists, there is there is good reason to take some things out. But I really think psychologically speaking, we all do better when we feel like we’re getting more and we’re getting we’re getting to bring stuff in. And so that’s really my approach. Now, in the book, the book is really big, as you know, fortunately, it is not a read from front to back. And why I say fortunately, is because we don’t all have time to just read an entire book. So you can get in get your questions answered. Some people that I’ve talked to, they’re like, I just started with the program, I just got that going. And then I worked my way backwards. So because the book is such a good size, we weren’t able to fit all the meal plans and recipes in there that I wanted. So instead, I wrote a digital cookbook that goes along with the book. So when you get into the program on page 302, there’s a URL there, you plug that in, and you can get a digital cookbook that has over 50 recipes. And it takes you week by week. And the reason why I did that no publishers were like, look, we want it we want more information, all of these health books, they all put recipes in, and we’ll just make a cookbook in the future. And for me, I’m like, listen, people do a lot better with framework. And I would rather provide people all the tools they need for success. So I was like, I’m just gonna rent that cookbook. Now to get two for one, you get two books in one. And so if you do want to go that route, you can grab those meal plans, and then they apply again to that 28 Day framework. And in those recipes, I teach you what about those recipes is helping your hormones. What about that recipe is going to help your thyroid? What about that recipe is going to help you you know, get your progesterone levels up. And then that way as you’re going through the program, you’re not only eating in a way that’s going to nourish your hormones and support them, but you’re learning how to incorporate those foods so that in the future and as you transition away from the program, you feel calm Putting in your own kitchen at the grocery store to be able to take charge of your hormones through the foods that you’re eating.
Dr. Vinu
Yeah, I did not check out the URL but I am I would be really interested in those recipes. And to all our listeners, Dr. brighten book Is This normal, it was completely awesome. And like she said, you know, the first she has three sections and I actually started with the second section myself and progress to the third. So it is available online and in all bookstores, and Dr. Brighten for our listeners if they wanted to find more information about your book and you Where could they go look for that information? Yeah, so
Dr. Brighten
my main hub is Dr. brighton.com, DrBrighten.com. And then you can find me all over social media at Dr. Jolene Brighton. And I have a ton of ease in my name but it’s Jolene Brighten.
Dr. Vinu
Yes. And any last your take home messages for our listeners, Dr. Brighten,
Dr. Brighten
you know talking to an audience of PCOS women, I really want you to understand that just because you have this diagnosis doesn’t mean you are this diagnosis. I think it’s really easy for practitioners to label you and then treat you as nothing but a label. But you have the capacity to heal and you are so much more than just a set of four letters.
Dr. Vinu
Awesome. Thank you Dr. Brighton. This, it was really great meeting with you. And I wish you the best of luck for your book.
Dr. Brighten
Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate your time today. This was a lovely conversation.
Dr. Vinu
Thank you. Bye bye
The post 198 – Heal your hormones to bring more pleasure into your love life [Podcast with Dr. Jolene Brighten] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
We’re so excited to have Dr. Izabella Wentz back on the PCOS Diva podcast to discuss adrenal health. Izabella Wentz is an internationally acclaimed thyroid specialist and a licensed pharmacist who has dedicated her career to addressing the root causes of autoimmune thyroid disease.
In this episode, Dr. Wentz explains what adrenal dysfunction is and tips for overcoming it. Adrenal health is often an overlooked factor in women with PCOS because it’s not understood by most medical professionals. The daily stresses we face can keep us in a state of chronic stress which causes fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, poor sleep, mood issues and adrenal dysfunction.
If you’re someone who feels sluggish all day long, needs a coffee around 3 pm and then feels wired and tired at bedtime, this episode is a must-listen for you!
Tune in to learn:
- What vitamins help adrenal fatigue
- How to restore your circadian rhythm
- Learn what the cortisol curve is and why you might feel wired and tired
- The benefits of red light therapy to promote sleep
- Tips and techniques for more sleep that are easy and free
- Why intermittent fasting might not be helpful while you’re healing adrenal fatigue
- The benefits of electrolytes
pcosdiva · Izabelle Wentz Podcast MP3All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:Mentioned in Podcast:Electrolytes for PCOS: PCOS Diva Revive
PCOS Diva Podcast Episode 94: The Latest PCOS Research and Hot Topics with Dr. Fiona McCullouch
Dr. Wentz Free Adrenal Healing Guide: ABCs of Adrenal Support
Dr. Wentz’s New Book: Reverse and Heal Adrenal Dysfunction
Connect with Dr. Izabella Wentz’s:Dr. Izabella Wentz Website
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Previous Podcasts with Dr. Izabella Wentz’s:PCOS Diva Podcast Episode 107: The Healing Diet for Hashimoto’s Thyroidosis, PCOS, and More
PCOS Diva Podcast Episode 66: PCOS and Hashimoto’s Shared Healing Protocol
PCOS Diva Podcast Episode 22: Got PCOS? What You Need to Know About Hashimoto’s and Hypothyroid
Izabella Wentz, PharmD, FASCP, is an internationally acclaimed thyroid specialist and a licensed pharmacist who has dedicated her career to addressing the root causes of autoimmune thyroid disease after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in 2009. She is the author of three books on Hashimoto’s: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause, Hashimoto’s Food Pharmacology, and Hashimoto’s Protocol, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller. Dr. Wentz currently lives in Texas with her husband, Michael, and their son, Dimitry.
Transcript:Amy:
Before we get started with today’s podcast, I am really excited to introduce a new PCOS diva podcast host, Dr. Vinu Jyothi. Dr. Vinu is a physician researcher, and she has a master’s in public health. She has her own personal journey with PCOS and she’s passionate about holistic medicine and healing, as well as understanding the science behind PCOS. Dr. Vinu lives in Cary, North Carolina with her husband Senthil and her two young boys. So a very warm welcome to Dr. Vinu.
Dr. Vinu:
Thank you, Amy. I’m really honored and feel grateful for being here. I have had my own journey with PCOS, you know, I still face some of the struggles, and I am glad to be a part of this community and to share my knowledge, and you know, all of the experience and also, you know, kind of go through this process with everyone else here. So,
Amy:
and I think that’s what you’re gonna be such a powerful leader and mentor for the PCSD the community. So let’s dive into today’s podcast topic, adrenal health. This is an often overlooked underlying factor in PCOS and it certainly was for me, adrenal health is not widely understood by most mainstream medical practitioners. What better person to demystify adrenals than Dr. Isabella Wentz, who blazoned a path towards wellness for thyroid and Hashimotos sufferers. I’m so grateful that Dr. Wentz is turned her attention to adrenal health with her latest book, adrenal transformation protocol. Welcome back on the PCOS diva podcast, Dr. Wentz.
Dr. Wentz:
My gosh, it’s such an honor and a pleasure to be here with you. I’m so excited to
Dr. Vinu:
welcome Dr. Wentz and I know you’ve been here on previous podcasts, but for those of our listeners who Who, who do not know much about Dr. Wentz, she is an internationally acclaimed thyroid specialist and a licensed pharmacist who has dedicated her career to addressing the root causes of autoimmune thyroid disease after being diagnosed with Hashimotos thyroiditis in 2009. She is the author of three books. And her her very recent book, The adrenal transformation protocol is supposed to be released very soon. I’m sure you’re excited about that book, Dr. Wells, and my first question to you was going to be what is adrenal fatigue? And how does someone know that they have it?
Dr. Wentz:
Sure, adrenal fatigue is essentially a constellation of symptoms that many of us feel when we’ve been exposed to a lot of stress. And so we sort of get stuck in this stress mode. And we end up with these symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, trouble sleeping at night, pain in the body, libido issues, feeling overwhelmed. These are some of the more common patterns that people see with adrenal fatigue. But it is, it is one of these conditions that’s not recognized by conventional medicine. So it’s been pioneered by the integrative medicine community because people were coming in to see their doctors and saying, like, I’m just exhausted, and I have brain fog, and I can’t remember things. I feel so awful and stressed out all the time. And unfortunately, people are always told, Well, everybody’s stressed, everybody, everybody has sleep issues. And you know, these, these symptoms that you’re experiencing are very common. Just because they’re common does not mean that they’re normal, or that they’re supposed to be there. So, there are various tests that integrative practitioners may recommend to test for adrenal dysfunction adrenal fatigue, such as adrenal saliva test or a Dutch urine test to look at our cortisol patterns throughout the day. However, I really think that an easy or straightforward way to figure out if you have adrenal fatigue is going to be if you feel a little bit dizzy when you stand up. If you go outside and you’re light, your eyes are sensitive to the bright lights, if you’re always having to wear those sunglasses, that’s going to be a good indication of adrenal fatigue. If you feel any of the symptoms like fatigue and brain fog, if you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, if you feel really, really snug, sluggish, irritable, anxious, these are all the patterns associated with adrenal fatigue. So I have a whole checklist that I go through with people where we go through various symptoms that they can Have and they can test themselves at home. For example, if you get up quickly and you feel like you’re lightheaded, if you tend to have a low blood pressure, this could also be an indication of adrenal fatigue.
Amy:
Dr. Fiona McCullough was one of the first folks that I heard talking about adrenal androgen form of PCOS. And it seems to affect a lot of women that are not that classic. You know, centralized sort of obesity, insulin resistant PCOS. And I’m definitely one of those women that I’ve really realized over the years that I have that adrenal driven PC form of PCOS. But when I And if anybody’s interested in learning more about that, listen to my episode, podcast episode with Dr. Fiona. And there’s also a post that we will put in the show notes about that. But that’s why I was so excited that Dr. Isabella Wentz was writing this book because so many of us also have that adrenal driven form of PCOS. But when I ever brought that up to my doctor, they looked at me with this like really confusing face and thought, well, if you don’t, you know, have Addison’s disease. You know, then then you really don’t have any adrenal issues. So why is it that mainstream medical just won’t acknowledge adrenal dysfunction?
Dr. Wentz:
I think the the main kind of adrenal dysfunction and a lot of it, I feel like is related to the terminology, right? And so Addison’s is a well recognized, very rare condition, but it’s an autoimmune condition that affects the adrenals leading to destruction of the adrenal glands, so they can no longer produce adrenal steroids and they can’t produce hormones. Now, this is a very it can be a life threatening condition. And generally people with this condition need lifelong supplementation or prescription medications such as cortisol to help them get through day to day life to replenish what their body is no longer able to make. Now that is the mainstream medical condition that’s recognized and this is a life threatening, very serious condition. However, adrenal dysfunction, adrenal fatigue, has some of the same similar symptoms, but they’re much more mild, and the adrenals aren’t actually fatigued. As you know, the early innovators in integrative medicine have suggested the adrenals are just fine. What they’re what’s going on typically, and adrenal quote unquote fatigue is that the brain is not communicating very well with the body. So there’s a bit of a feedback loop that’s been jumbled. And so people end up having these beautiful adrenals that are perfectly capable of producing enough adrenal hormones, but yet, they’re not producing enough or the producing too, too much of these hormones. And this is the pattern of adrenal fatigue. There. I think, a lot of times, you know, doctors will say adrenal fatigue doesn’t exist, but they’ll call it HPA Axis dysfunction, right? So that’s the that’s the actual term that if you look up medical research or published least research, HPA Axis dysfunction seems to be what is recognized as a real condition. Right. But the I guess the common common term in the world is adrenal fatigue or adrenal. I like to call it adrenal dysfunction.
Amy:
Well, I think with adrenal dysfunction, there’s so much that’s within your control. And I think you’ve done a beautiful job laying out step by step how to really heal and bring your your adrenals back into balance. And as I was going through your book, the different sections of the book really aligned with healing PCOS, so I’m just going to kind of go through those quickly balancing blood sugar, reversing inflammation, replenishing nutrients, restoring circadian rhythm, supporting mitochondria, distressing and building resilience. And I was hoping that you could kind of touch upon some of those areas for listeners.
Dr. Went:
Sure. So essentially, adrenal issues develop when we are under a lot of stress, right. And so our bodies tend to get stuck in a stressed out state. And I like to think of it that our body is in a bit of a danger response and so the way to rebalance that is, I want to send the body safety signals to let the body know that it can kind of relax and let go of the stress and digest and go from like a survival mode into more of a thriving mode. And part of that is looking at what are the physiological imbalances that occur from chronic stress. Typically, people that have been chronically stressed, they’re going to have issues with blood sugar. So we typically will focus on getting them on a blood sugar balanced diet to help to help send that safety signal to their body, that, you know, things are calm, that things are peaceful. Another kind of danger signal that our body perceives, is when we don’t have enough nutrients. On board, when we’re depleted, this is going to be this could be as a result of chronic stress. So we know that stress burns out our B vitamins, our electrolytes, our vitamin C, our magnesium. And so just, it’s like a vicious cycle where you You start off in this stress response, and then it sort of fuels itself right and you end up initially, people start off with very high levels of cortisol and over time, that just decreases and decreases until they feel burned out. And part of part of getting back into balance is replenishing those very nutrients that got burned out through the stress process. So making sure that you’re getting some B vitamins on board, lots and lots of vitamin C, magnesium and replenishing electrolytes is going to be tremendously helpful for rebalancing the stress response. I know people that will say they had issues with sleep being and pain throughout their bodies, and anxiety and fatigue, and just doing some of these very targeted and very specific. So safety signals, as I like to call them helps to bring the body back into balance and helps to let the body know that it’s okay you can you can sleep like you don’t have to keep watch. And you don’t have to feel so anxious, like everything is okay. And so I go through, I have 14 different safety signals that I outlined throughout the book. And they focus. There’s there’s a chapter on nutrition. And so those those are some of the nutritional safety signals. I talked about using various nutrients. And then I talk about things like circadian balance. Now, I know this is this is a topic that you’re very passionate about, as am I. And this has been something very, very close to your heart, right?
Amy:
Yeah, it’s something that really moves the needle for women with PCOS. And it’s it’s not hard to do. And it’s really enjoyable balancing your circadian cycle. We’ll we’ll link some articles in the show notes. If you want to read deeper, but tell us like what is your concept of restoring circadian rhythm.
Dr. Wentz:
So there’s a few different things that I like to implement. And essentially, we’ll see people with the people that I’ve worked with typically will say they have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. And they’re just so sluggish. They drag themselves out of bed, and then their their day is just like, they’re kind of in a fog until maybe like lunchtime. And after that they’ll have a little bit of energy, but then they’ll have an afternoon crash around three o’clock. And then then maybe kind of towards the evening, they like feel alive, right? They feel human again, and then but still tired. And then they it’s time to go to bed, but they end up feeling wired and tired. And then they have this. This what’s called the Flipped cortisol curve, what I typically a healthy cortisol curve. For those of you guys that aren’t familiar with cortisol, it’s it’s one of our stress hormones, you might hear that cortisol is bad, right? And it’s not bad. It’s actually essential for life. So we need just the right amounts of it at specific times throughout the day to feel energetic and healthy throughout the day, and to keep our inflammation at bay and to keep our bodies repair at bay. And we need very low levels of it at night so that we could fall asleep. I like to think of cortisol kind of like if you had like a cup of coffee, right? So that’s kind of the effect that you might get from cortisol. And typically we want cortisol to be very high in the morning or high in the morning, and then go down as gradually throughout the day. Now typically people with adrenal dysfunction they can present in a few different cortisol patterns. One common one is going to be low cortisol in the morning and we’re barely judging by we’re judging by and then towards the evening when that cortisol is supposed to be low. It actually ends up high and so they can’t sleep. They’re wired and tired. They’re like laying in bed. tossing and turning. Like what is going on? Right? Some people talk about night owls, right? Like, oh, maybe you’re just a night owl. But humans, we’re not cats or we’re not owls, right? We’re not nocturnal creatures. My, my, my five year old son is always talking about mommy what animals are nocturnal? are owls nocturnal are cats nocturnal. And so humans are not nocturnal, right. And so we all have the ability to have good energy during the day and restful sleep at night, there’s a very, there’s a few very specific things that we can do. And I know it sounds like very, very basic, but it’s like so game changing. So just making sure that when you wake up in the morning, and no matter what time it is, I know some people struggle with, you know, waking up at 10, right, or 11 that I’ve worked with, with fatigue issues. And just with chronic health issues, but trying to, if you could step outside, when you get up in the morning, and let the bright lights kind of let your body know that it’s daytime, it’s time to be awake, right? It doesn’t count if we’re inside of our homes, because our homes just don’t have enough light in them. Now, I live in Texas, and I live in California. And so I know this is super easy for me to do like most of the time. But um, but there’s a part of the world and I grew up in Chicago and I grew up in Poland and I lived in Colorado where where you know, it’s not necessarily possible to step out of your house. Or it may be the days aren’t Sunny, even on cloudy days, just stepping outside, you’re going to be able to get a little bit of light into you, that’s going to be helpful. Now, if you can’t step outside, you know, if you if you don’t live somewhere Sunny, and it’s wintertime, you can actually get one of a special light. There’s a whole bunch of different lights out there that I talked about a few options in the book, and I have some in a bonus guide that comes along when people purchase the book. But there’s sad lights, happy lights, blue light therapy, lights, full spectrum therapy, lights, and then I know we were chatting about Dawn stimulating lights that help our bodies know that it’s time to wake up, right. Part of that is actually so this is kind of like one part of it right is like making sure that you are exposed to as much like bright light throughout the day. And then in the evening times when the sun sets, making sure that you’re not exposed to bright lights and I know cellphones, we have our our laptops, we have our TVs and we have so many exciting entertainment options like at our fingertips in the evenings. But that isn’t doing us a lot of favors for helping us fall asleep. So one recommendation is to make sure about two hours before bedtime at least that you stop utilizing any screen time my husband and I we actually have red lights in our house so red lights and at a certain time once the sun sets they turn on in our house and our our whole neighborhoods like oh your you guys are in that red red light house right? Like what do you have going on in there. But red lights are very much they’re very fabulous for helping us promote sleep and letting our bodies know that it’s it’s time to rest. The other thing is if I recommend sleeping in a really dark room, that’s that’s actually a bit cooler than most people probably are used to sleeping. So typically, studies have found that the people have trouble falling asleep if the room is too warm and they end up with night wakings and nightmares. Generally, I would say like 60 to 65 degrees is probably the right temperature for most people to help them fall asleep and stay asleep. When we think of like our ancestors they were they were living in caves right and caves are dark and chilly. And then that’s what they were doing at nighttime and they were coming out during the day and they were out in the bright lights. Another another little thing that is I think very much under appreciated and my husband and my son and I just moved into a new house last summer and we there’s these little you know blue lights that we have in our bedrooms and they might be from from like an alarm or for us it was like our blinds that had this little blue light attached to it or maybe it was like the temperature the thermometer or you know whatever whatever sources of little blue light. I typically will cover them up with a Little bit of like black or dark blue tape, just so that I don’t see it at night because even a little bit of that light can wake us up. For a while I’ve bought a month or two after we moved into our house, I just kept waking up in the middle of the night and I didn’t know what was going on. And then one night, I just happened to look towards my, my blinds. And there was this really beautiful bright blue light shining right and deep into my eyes when I had realized that the little stickers fell off of fell right off of the blue lights. And so sure enough, when I replaced the stickers, it was like okay, my, my, my wakings my, you know, 123 am wakings that I had for a week were completely gone, right. And so these are just very like, I know, they don’t sound very, you don’t need a ton of supplements, or nothing really fancy. But these are things if you try them, just give them just give them a week and see how you do if you have more energy in the day, if you feel more rested and able to sleep at night.
Amy:
Yeah, and I pretty much guarantee that you will if you if you try some of these techniques, and like we were saying they’re very enjoyable, it’s not hard to do. You have some other really nice distressing ideas. And I would love for you to share some of your favorite ways to de stress. women with PCOS tend to have elevated levels of cortisol. Stress is something that we have to distressing is something we have to work on on a daily basis. And I think we could all use some, some maybe new ideas.
Dr. Wentz:
One of the things that I really love and this is fabulous said that time to can promote relaxation in the evenings is taking an Epsom salt bath. And just getting into a warm bath and having some absence putting one or one to two cups of Epsom salts, and letting yourself soak from anywhere from 15 minutes. My husband usually cuts me off about an hour, but I’m out of there, you know, what are you doing, that can just really put your body and your mind at ease and get you ready for bed. I guarantee you no matter how stressful your day was, if you take the time for an Epsom salt bath, you’re going to feel better, your joint pains are going to be lessened, your anxiety is going to get better your mood is going to get brighter, just taking anywhere from 15 minutes to depending on the time of day, right? Sometimes upwards to an hour can be such a game changer. The other things that I really really love adding into my day to day life are just like very simple, pleasurable activities. I feel like a lot of us and I’m I’m I’m I say I’m a new mom. But I have a five year old right. So I still feel like a brand new mom, right. And a lot of us just so like we have our work and we have our families we have our kids we have some of us are like in the sandwich generation. So we have our elderly parents that we need to take care of. And we end up like caring for everybody else. And have like a long list of things to do. Like, you know, you’re remodeling your house, you’re decluttering your house, you’re buying stuff to furnish your house, whatever, whatever is happening, you’re, you’re always on the go. And sometimes it feels like all of these things we’re doing, it’s just like, more and more tasks, but taking some time to do something like pleasurable. And just just for fun, and just for the enjoyment of it. You know, whether that’s going to a bookstore and browsing for a little bit sitting down and if you’re a great artist, maybe painting and you know, not painting for selling it and feeling because that that can put pressure on us but just just painting for the enjoyment of it. Or I like adult coloring books, I don’t have any artistic tendencies. So just taking that time to do things you really enjoy throughout the day, even if it’s like 10 to 15 minutes a day going for a walk. Like that can really reset our stress response. And just get us out of that. Like go stress go stress, right. Oh, are we muted?
Dr. Vinu:
No, you’re good. That one’s okay. And I just wanted to add a couple of things growing up. I did have a red light because I wouldn’t sleep without a light my parents had a red light in the bedroom. Makes a lot of sense now, and maybe I should carry on doing that. And like you said I did join a dance class recently just because you know, no other idea but just Do something for myself. So it’s definitely distressing. I agree with you completely on that. So, the other thing I wanted to ask you was, what is the typical day look like on the adrenal transformation protocol?
Dr. Wentz:
Sure. So typically, what I recommend is waking up right? Once you wake up, making sure you get a little bit of sunshine into your, your eyes, onto your body, whether that’s stepping outside, or if you’re having trouble waking up, some blue light simulation can help. I love recommending the adrenal kickstart drink. And that’s going to be a little bit of orange juice, a little bit of coconut cream, and then also a little bit of sea salt to help balance electrolytes, and a little bit of protein. So we’re going to have a little bit of protein, a little bit of fat, a little bit of carbohydrate from the OJ that’s very rich and vitamin C and a little bit of sea salt to just help support the body and help to people tend to have lower cortisol in the morning. So when we have that lower cortisol in the morning, getting a little bit of the vitamin C, getting a little bit of the sea salt is going to help us we can awaken right. And then throughout the day, I recommend generally making sure that you are eating ample protein and fats. I know like fasting is super popular, and it can be very helpful for a lot of things. But and I feel like people in the adrenal dysfunction phase, a lot of them may not be quite ready to fast. And so in the initial stages, they may actually need to just work on upping their protein and fat intake, and then eating and snacking, perhaps every two to three hours. It depends on the person. But generally, what I found with my clients is that they do need to initially have a little bit more of a window of a shorter window of going without food, because we tend to have a lot of blood sugar swings in the early stages of trying to heal adrenals.
Amy:
That that I just want to interject, I think that is great advice, because a lot of women with PCOS, intermittent fasting is such a hot topic right now. And they feel like failures because they can’t, they can’t do it. And I think adrenal health is one of those kind of clues as to why it’s difficult for you to do intermittent fasting. So I’m glad you brought that up.
Dr. Wentz:
Yeah, it’s such a it’s such a trending topic. And I think it helps so many people, but it’s like, depending on what your is going on in your body right now is like you need to tailor that to you. And if you’re having trouble getting up in the morning, then there’s a good chance that you need to support your that you need to support your cortisol levels in the morning. And then if you’re having like fatigue throughout the day or anxiety throughout the day, this is a sign that you have blood sugar swings, and a lot of times people will say, oh my goodness, that like one of the things I recommend is a three o’clock snack. And it’s usually like a maca latte where people will utilize a little bit of adaptogens with with some coconut milk, and maybe some sometimes protein powder, or we’re having a little bit of a snack right at that time there say like, that’s such a game changer for my energy levels. And for my you know, I don’t get that three o’clock slump anymore, and I don’t have anxiety issues. So I, I recommend these little, little loves little doses of love for yourself throughout the day in the form of of nutrition and balanced nutrition. And then in the evening times, I recommend utilizing, making sure that you you know, like you move your caffeine to earlier in the day, you can utilize some herbal teas to help you relax and fall asleep, making sure that you’re not exposed to any bright lights within a few hours of bedtime. And these are some of the lifestyle changes I recommend. And of course, finding time for pleasurable activities is going to be something that we’re going to build on the first phase that typically I’ll have people just try to follow like the blood sugar balanced diet as they kind of get into the program. And then after that I’ll start recommending some targeted supplements. Some supplements that are really, really helpful when we are in adrenal dysfunction are going to be adrenal adaptogens and I already talked about B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium and electrolytes but adaptogens are going to help us be become more resilient to stress. They’re going to help us feel more energetic throughout the day and they’re going to help us get sleep better at night. We’re going to feel less anxious when we take them They just sort of like just make stress more tolerable. So stress might still be out there, but we just perceive it a little bit differently. And our, I would like to say like our, our ability to handle it just grows when we take adaptogens. I like to say that like the people in my life becomes less annoying when I take adaptogens, right, that’s kind of like a common pattern. And I’m like, Well, I know that my adrenals need a little bit of support, if like, people are being very annoying to me, and it’s like, everybody is annoying. And for a while I, I sadly just lost my dog. But I was like, even if my dog is getting on my nerves, that’s a sign that like, maybe it’s me, right, maybe it’s my adrenals that needs support. And so those are, those are few targeted supplements, I typically recommend magnesium at nighttime, because it can be very helpful for helping us fall asleep and relax us. Myo-inositol is also a fabulous, a fabulous supplement that people can take, and I know you recommend that as well and combined with de Chiro inositol. For PCOS, it’s helpful for balancing blood sugar, it can be helpful for reducing anxiety. Typically, I like to use it in the evenings to help people fall asleep and sleep better, we have fewer blood sugar swings at night and fewer night waking. So then we’re more rested and more energetic throughout the day. As well as some mitochondrial support is what I’ll typically recommend, as part of the whole package. And amazingly, it’s only six supplements that people typically need. So it’s not like my brother says, some people are like pillowball Baggins, because they have, you know, like 35 different pills that they’re taking throughout the day. But it’s just a few targeted supplements to really support our stress response, support our energy levels, support our electrolytes. I know, I’d love to talk a little bit more about that if we have some time.
Amy:
Yeah, please do. Electrolytes were a big game changer for me. And it was one of the reasons that I brought the the PCOS Diva formula on and it’s not electrolytes, you know, I think about my, my kids that all play sports and you think about electrolytes to replenish after sweating. But and while that’s really important, I never really understood how helpful that can be for adrenal fatigue. So I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.
Dr. Wentz:
So it’s interesting that you know, when they studied electrolytes, and I like to utilize electrolytes that have vitamin C and D ribose. And this great blend of nutrients in there to support the mitochondria as well is that they studied them in like endurance athletes, right. And they found that endurance athletes recovered faster when they utilize electrolytes, right from their extreme sports. Well, I feel like for many people with adrenal issues, they feel like day to day life is like, you know, an ultra marathon, right? It’s like an endurance event. Like when you feel so overwhelmed and so depleted. Just like really, like easy, simple tasks, like putting away the dishes like that can be overwhelming and draining, right. And so this is what electrolytes can do for us. They can give us some of that endurance to recover from like the day to day stressors. And, and amazingly, people will say, like, wow, I had all this pain and cramps in my body. The electrolytes help that. I typically like to use them in the mornings as well to people with people with adrenal issues. And Addison’s is very well known for this they’ll have electrolyte imbalances, right? And so giving you electrolytes in the morning is going to help to help us support healthy levels of cortisol to making sure that we have more energy throughout the day. typically don’t like to use them at night unless you like to, you know, wake up a lot of times at night to go potty. But yeah, there’s it’s just very helpful to have these strategies that you use throughout the day and also knowing like what time throughout the day to use them. You know, using your electrolytes in the morning and your adaptogens in the morning, your B vitamins, vitamin C in the morning to drive up your energy right and bright lights in the morning and then in the evening. We’re looking at getting some getting some inositol and getting some magnesium to help us relax more and help us sleep. And that just does a really beautiful job of helping us have more energy in the day and helping us get restful regenerative sleep at night. Can we feel so much better?
Amy:
Yes, the whole concept that’s really hot of like by biohacking your body. I mean, you’re kind of biohacking that cortisol curve by doing some of these timed strategies, like you mentioned. One thing that really helped me with I suffered from that inverse curve. And in the morning, my cortisol was really low. So I used to sleep with a little tincture of licorice and ginseng, like right next to my bed. So I would kind of down that before I even got up so that it gave me like a little bit of energy. And it helped to raise my cortisol during that time of day when it was low. And I know in your book, there’s a tremendous appendix with all of those in information of about supplements beyond what we talked about in today’s call. I mean, there’s there’s a lot of other adaptogens and herbs that can really help with supporting your cortisol cycle.
Dr. Wentz:
Yeah, I have information about like, if you have low cortisol in the morning, there are certain things you could do so licorice, I love licorice, that that was super helpful on my journey as well. You can utilize, you can actually eat great fruit. So grapefruit helps to extend cortisol in the body, the bright lights are super helpful, as well as just getting more electrolytes into your body. Sometimes I’ll recommend for people to make soul, which is sounds fancy, but it’s just a mixture of sea salt with water, and then you sip on that throughout the day. And that helps to support a healthy blood pressure, healthy energy levels, healthy cortisol levels when we want them to be a little bit higher. Now, I also have recommendations for people who tend to have higher cortisol, like specific recommendations for that. Typically, most of the recommendations in the book are available to everybody, just anybody that’s stressed out will benefit from them. But I also have specific things for if you have like, if your core symptoms are libido issues, like if that’s an issue for you, I focus on you know, making sure you have maca can be helpful or Shatavari.
Amy 37:15
There’s specific Shatavari Yeah, that’s an amazing adaptogen or Ayuredic or that, that can really be helpful. It’s not sure about it that much.
Dr. Wentz 37:29
It’s funny, I think that like the name means like, women have 100 husbands, and I often wonder like, Okay, wow, that woman must have a lot of energy and a lot of like, you know, to have 100 Husbands, right? So, so I love having these little, I have a bunch of little protocols like I have a tired mommy protocol in there. So if you’re, the book was really actually inspired by my my son. And being a new mom, I have a lot of experience with adrenal issues from my own health and health of lots of people with Hashimotos that I’ve helped throughout the years, but the kind of integrative approach is typically quick coffee, get 10 to 12 hours asleep, take lots of supplements, including these hormones. And when I was I think like eight months postpartum, my baby was still waking up every two to three hours, I was still nursing. And you know, like, I started drinking coffee for the first time in my life. And so I was like, I can’t sleep 10 to 12 hours to like, get my energy levels off, right? And I can’t like I can’t like, I’m not quitting caffeine, like, this is just not happening. Like, I need this right in my life. Um, caffeine, you know, addiction can be a symptom of adrenal dysfunction, right. And then the other thing was like, I can’t take hormones, and I didn’t feel comfortable taking a lot of supplements because I was breastfeeding a baby. And so I had to come up with like, a whole host of new adrenal supporting strategies, which the circadian rhythm and a lot of these nutrients that are just so, so helpful for everybody, and so balancing, as well as the mitochondrial support, and, and some brain support was what I eventually came to. And I was like, I need to get this out to more people, because I’m sure there’s people that can’t take hormones, they’re not willing to quit caffeine, maybe they can’t sleep. And so I ended up releasing my book as a program in 2020 Out of all times, and like the results were so phenomenal, like 93% of people had had like, improved brain fog within within like, less than four weeks. And so I was like, Okay, maybe maybe I’m onto something here because I just, I just had previously been recommending these very, very foundational integrative protocols, and I was like, Okay, I have some new ones. Maybe I can share these with the world.
Amy :
But it’s an amazing book. And I think if you find yourself you can’t get through your day without, without coffee and you can’t unwind without your wine. That’s often a sign that you you need to read Dr. Isabella Wentz his new book.
Dr. Wentz:
Absolutely. And I know, some some programs would like be safe stop cold turkey, what I focus on is helping people get their energy levels up first, so that they naturally don’t need all of that caffeine. And they naturally don’t need all of that wine because they just feel more calm. Right. So there, they have more, I guess more resources available to them to reach for so that they don’t rely on that.
Amy:
So you had mentioned some free bonuses with, you know, for people to pre buy your book or, or tell us about those?
Dr. Wentz:
Yeah, absolutely. So I have a, if people go to thyroid pharmacist.com/abc, I have a little bit of a guide that focuses on the fundamentals and the foundations of adrenal balance. So it’s getting adaptogens on board, B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium, some of the stress reduction strategies that are so incredibly helpful and life changing. And people can get in, get that over at thyroid pharmacist.com/abc. And then they can learn more about the book on Amazon. And whenever they purchase the book, I also have some blood sugar balancing recipes. So it’s a two week meal plan and recipe guide for blood sugar balancing, which is one of the key things we can do to to feel significantly better. And then when you buy the book, I mean, I have a whole library of of resources, including like insomnia, like ebooks on insomnia, ebooks on anxiety, and it’s, it’s, it’s going to it’s available to everybody that buys the book, and then there’s a special link to get that.
Amy:
Oh, that those are great resources, you know, for women with PCOS, I mean, you have to get that blood sugar balancing guide. But that’s really the first step for managing PCOS. And it’s just so so many of these symptoms overlap. So if you you know, follow Dr. Wentz this program. It’s just going to help with your PCOS in general. So killed. What is it two birds? With one question? Yes.
Dr. Vinu:
Yes, not a snake. I was gonna say I agree to that. You know, that’s going to be a great resource, you know, getting the book and then it looks like she is stressing on so many things that women with PCOS deal with. So it definitely is gonna work. So I’m Dr. Wentz. I was going to ask you what was some surprising things that you learned while you were developing this protocol?
Dr. Wentz:
Oh, wow. I think one of the bigger surprising things I’ve learned was that that that the mitochondria they play such an important role in adrenal dysfunction. I know I had heard about like, all these potential causes and reasons of adrenal dysfunction. And I just didn’t realize how mitochondria were involved and that supporting mitochondrial health for many women was part of the answer when they previously failed other protocols. The other thing that I learned and I kind of feel like, you know, I didn’t do my clients a service many years ago, was I thought that adrenal issues were caused by having drinking too much caffeine, right. I thought that was like the cause. But then, over time, I realized that like the drinking, like them being addicted to caffeine was because of an underlying issue. And so it was a coping mechanism. I know, I had one client that was waking up a lot at night, and having a lot of bladder issues throughout the day and super anxious, having headaches and stuff like that, and she was drinking like six espressos a day. And I was like, there is your answer, right? Like, quit your coffee. And then, you know, she quit the coffee and everything and she’s like, I’m still having everything. Like, it’s still going on. And the coffee was just a coping mechanism for her to try to feel somewhat alive. Right. And so, um, you know, kind of not not fixing, there’s underlying issues that needed to be fixed, to allow her to sleep well at night and to allow her to have energy throughout the day before. You know, like as a practitioner before I could ask her to like quit coffee, right? And so that was that was a big, big kind of like humbling moment for me because I feel like sometimes you know, you learn certain things and you have enough people that succeed with it, that you feel like oh, well this person, it’s just them and you don’t realize you don’t realize the underlying patterns that can be driving driving some imbalances. So I would say that’s probably like the biggest thing that I was like, oh, okay, this makes sense, right?
Amy:
Well, you know, thank you so much for using your struggles and turning them into you know, a brand new program for that’s really going to help a ton of women and I’m actually looking forward to going through your program I’m feeling a little a little bit and adrenal fatigue. And you know, I will I’ll be a guinea pig and be happy to share with everyone how your program you know, turn things around for me. So, so thank you for being on the PCOS diva podcast and thank you Dr. venue for you know, coming on and and being our new show host.
Dr. Vinu :
Thanks, Amy. And yes, I have to agree with you. You know, the tired mommy program. Yeah, it screams my name. So, Dr. Wentz. I’ll be more than happy to be your guinea pig to along with me.
Dr. Wentz:
Thank you so much for having me. I really would love to have you. I know we all just part of life is is managing our stress and it’s it’s a daily effort. So it’s an honor and a pleasure to be here with you and to help and thank
Amy:
you everyone for listening. We look forward to being with you again very soon. Bye bye.
The post 197 – How to overcome adrenal fatigue – Podcast with Dr. Izabella Wentz appeared first on PCOS Diva.
On today’s podcast, we get to know Dr. Vinu Jyothi, MD, MPH. Dr. Vinu is our newest member of the PCOS Diva Team. She is a preventive health expert, public health advocate, medical reviewer and women’s health advocate with a passion for healing PCOS naturally.
In this podcast, Amy interviews Dr. Vinu. Amy and Dr. Vinu both share a passion for holistic PCOS healing. Listen in as we get to know Dr. Vinu and hear about her personal journey with PCOS. She shares what helped her heal her PCOS symptoms and she discusses the importance of sleep, diet, intermittent fasting and more. Dr. Vinu also shares how she’ll be contributing to PCOS Diva team and what her plans are for the future of PCOS Diva.
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:pcosdiva · Vinu Podcast 23Mar FINALDr. Vinu is a preventive health specialist who attended undergraduate medical school at Madras Medical College. Dr. Vinu did her master’s in public health at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, because of her passion for preventive health, especially women’s health. Along with her passion she also brings her expertise and more than 10 years experience in clinical research and preventive medicine. Dr. Vinu has had her own personal journey with PCOS in her graduate years and firmly believes that a holistic approach is the best and efficient strategy to manage and thrive PCOS in women of all ages. Vinu is an avid intermittent faster and is convinced that a balanced diet can serve as the best medicine. She embraces a holistic lifestyle and spends her free time exploring North Carolina’s greenways with her family.
Transcript:Transcript:
Amy:
This year PCOS Diva will mark its 15 year anniversary. What began as a small blog in 2009 has grown tremendously to include coaching online programs, almost 200 podcast episodes, meal plans, PCOS supplements and a best selling book healing PCOS all to support women on their healing PCOS journeys. There continues to be so much hope for women with PCOS to heal and thrive. And as PCOS diva continues to grow, I’m delighted to announce that the PCOS Diva team is expanding. I’m thrilled to welcome an amazing women’s health expert, Dr. Vinu Jyothi. MD, MPH to PCOS Diva, along with her passion for preventative medicine. She also brings her expertise and over 10 years of experience in clinical research. Dr. Vinu has her own journey with PCOS and she firmly believes in a holistic approach for healing. Dr. Vinu lives in Cary, North Carolina, with her husband Senthil and her two sons, Krish and Ishan. Her husband Dr. Senthil Samy, PhD is also a clinical researcher, and is the executive editor for cancer journal. Both Dr. Vinu and Senthil are avid intermittent fasters and believe in a healthy diet as the best medicine. They embrace a holistic lifestyle and spend their free time exploring North Carolina greenways and engaging in activities that their kids are passionate about. I’m thrilled that the addition of Dr. Vinu and Senthil fills a gap at PCOS Diva for detailed medical research. So after 15 years of running PCOS diva, I am going to be taking a step back from the day to day operations of PCSO Diva moving forward. And you are going to be in very good hands with Dr. Vinu for managing clinical content strategies and operations. So, in this podcast, I really want to introduce you to Dr. Vinu and for you to get to know her a little better as she is going to be heading up the clinical research and content of PCOS Diva. So welcome back to the PCOS diva podcast.
Dr. Vinu:
Thank you, Amy. I’m really happy to be here.
Amy:
So we’ve done a couple podcasts kind of, in tandem together teaming up. But I thought this would be a good opportunity for our listeners to get to know a little bit more about you. So in addition to kind of the overview that I gave, tell us a little bit more about yourself.
Dr. Vinu: I did my medical school. And once I was done, I knew my heart was in preventive health, as in window treatment was you know, I was passionate about it, it was not more the preventive aspect that I was more interested in. So I did some clinical research, I got involved with clinical research. And that further, you know, cemented it for me that public health and preventive health is where my passion lay. So I did my Master’s in Public Health at the U ut Houston campus. And since then I’ve been involved in public health, preventive health and specially women’s health. So PCOS, as we know, is like a major issue in women’s health. And I’ve had a lot of personal experience and I’ve been with family and friends who have gone through it. So women’s health and PCOS is something that I have always been my focus.
Amy:
well, and you also have your own PCOS journey. So tell us a little bit about that.
Dr. Vinu:
Yes, just like everyone else. This was in 12th grade, I was really young, I was a teenager, you know, it was a lot of stress. I had to study I was awake at night and you know, I ended up having really irregular periods actually missed periods for like a few months and I didn’t know what was going on. So I had to go to a doctor and then they did an ultrasound and they were like you have PCOS. And at that time, it was just you know, alphabet. So what is PCOS you know, and in that busy schedule, I didn’t have time to figure it out. And the other option at the time was to my mom, you know you could watch it for a couple of Months, or you could start her on OCPs. So that was like one of the two options that I was given at the time. And so I was too busy to go investigate or what it was what was going on. But since then I’ve always had irregular periods. And once I went to medical school, I was like, Okay, I need to look into this, see what exactly it is, and kind of see what my options are to help manage the PCOS aspect. So it’s not just me, I think a lot of women go through this, and I’ve had family members experience almost a similar scenario, where, you know, when they are stressed, they have other life stressors going on, and you know, they get diagnosed, and then they feel lost. They’re like, Okay, what am I supposed to do? You know, other than OCPs? What are my options? And there’s not many out there. So it’s like, we’re stuck in the cycle of either treating it or, you know, figure out ways and see what else is out there kind of thing. So,Amy: yeah, well, stress, as we all know, really wreaks havoc on pieces. And, and, you know, your, I think your story sounds so similar to most of us with PCOS, where, you know, we’re not really offered much from mainstream medical, I know, for, for me, it was the birth control pill, Metformin. And those things made me feel worse than with you know, and I was already feeling pretty sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. And way too young to feel so old back when I was really struggling in my 20s and early 30s. So tell us a little bit about your healing PCOS journey.
Dr. Vinu:
In the very beginning, I didn’t even have to try as much, because once I started medical school, and you know, once I was in, on my way to being active, and you know, the stresses were removed, once I finished 12th grade, and you know, it was a little more relaxing, not in medical school is ever relaxing, but, you know, the first couple of years were okay. And I, I was being active, I was eating good food, and I was so you know, just having a better lifestyle. And without me actually making an effort. I, you know, my periods were regular, I was feeling better. But then that was just for a few years in between. And again, whenever life stressors presented, I, it would again, go back to that old cycle. So until I made a conscious decision, and looked it up and saw what it was that would help me manage PCOS to thrive or to confirm my symptoms. That’s when I, that’s when I realized, you know, good sleep, good health. I mean, good diet, all of these kind of play their part, you know, so it’s not like one or the other, but just chill all of those add in to how you feel and how you deal with your PCOS. So, I’ve definitely made a conscious choice since then, you know, there are days I don’t want to exercise. I don’t want to do certain things. But I think, you know, overall, this is what protects my health makes me feel better. And, you know, I tried to stick to that routine and follow that.
Amy: So, you know, as we know that there really isn’t a one size fits all for a dietary approach, but I’m just kind of curious, what has worked for you. You know, are you a low carb person? Are you keto? You know, what, what works for you.
Dr. Vinu:
I am most of the time in vegetarian, or, you know, at least I prefer vegetarian. I feel better when I take vegetarian. But what has really worked for me though, is intermittent fasting. I know it’s, it’s like the latest trend now, and a lot of people are talking about it. But honestly, how it came about was when oncologists and rheumatologist are kind of prescribing the intermittent fasting approach. And I wouldn’t exactly call it a diet, it’s more of like a lifestyle, I would say. And they were prescribing that approach to their patients, because it helps with autophagy. It helps with you know, removing those toxins from your body, it helps your body heal, and it really keeps your hormones in check. So it kind of does all those wonderful things. And and the best part of that was, it’s almost become a lifestyle for me. My husband and I both do it. And it’s just part of what we do now. And I don’t have to count carbs. I don’t have to watch what I’m eating, as long as it’s healthy food made from scratch, and don’t you know, it’s just easier for me to follow his lifestyle. And personally, I’ve seen In a lot of benefits with intermittent fasting, the very beginning, it’s almost like, you know, the detoxification that you would do, and you don’t feel so well, you know, you kind of feel feverish, and you have all the symptoms, because your body’s used to certain things in certain ways. You know, you’d have some cravings and, but once you get through that, it’s almost like a sense of euphoria that you feel, you know, I actually enjoy not having food. I mean, it feels good. I could think, well, you know, I, I am faster, and I get really good sleep, you know that I have no dreams. And it’s, I feel so well rested. So many benefits that I have personally experienced since I’ve been an intermittent faster, that now I don’t want to do it any other way. It’s almost like Like it says, lifestyle for me at this point.
Amy:
So like, diet, there really is no one size fits all approach. And I think fasting is very much the same. I know, when I wrote my book, Healing PCOS, I was really recommending at least a 12 hour fast. So giving your body a chance to detoxify for 12 hours that would look like you know, is ending eating by 7am. And resuming by, I’m sorry, 7pm, resuming at 7am. But so I wrote healing PCOS in 2018. And now here we are in 2023. And I’m just that much older, my metabolism has even shifted more. And that time, and I have been experimenting with a longer fast, anywhere from kind of having an eating window from eight to six hours, is what seems to really work for me. But I’m just curious, what is your kind of fasting schedule that seems to work best for you.
Dr. Vinu:
I’m actually doing COVID, because we were home a lot, we weren’t getting out and doing active stuff, my husband and I moved to one meal a day, where we would just have one full meal. And that really helped me during that time. And because you know, I wasn’t getting much activity, I was really stressed out with my kids at home. And you know, I was just overwhelmed with all the things that was going on. So about a year, I actually did one meal a day, you know, and it was it was perfect, we would cook this really good big meal and you know, have it together as a family. And then I was done. And you know, it’s just nothing more to cook and do other things in the day kind of thing. So that was easier to manage. But since then I do like a six hour window, which I find is more sustainable, long term. And, you know, especially when, when I’m working and it’s just easier for me because I have better focus, but I’m also reaping all the benefits of intermittent fasting. And like you said, Any, I would say there’s not one size fits all at all. It’s always about what works for you and what works for your body. So each person reacts a different way. And it takes some trial and error to find your sweet spot to you know, know when you if you find it sustainable, but you’re also reaping the benefits from faster. So you know, you you push it you you know, you see your trial a few hours, and you’ll see what works. And finally you figure out, okay, this is where I feel my best.
Amy:
I think what I really like about it is that you you don’t have to be rigid. You know, you can kind of it’s sort of ebbs and flows. For example, my boys were home for spring break, and they wanted to go out for breakfast. And I don’t typically know, fast until about 12 or one o’clock. But of course I’m not going to miss out on the opportunity to go for breakfast with my boys. And that’s you know, and, and I did and it’s in you know, I just kind of get right back on it the next day. So I love the flexibility of it. And and I also have seen the benefits in terms of on certainly being able to maintain my weight with the brain fog and the loading inflammation that kind of comes along with insulin resistance and kind of like that inflammatory root cause of PCOS. But you have mentioned a tautology when you were talking about the benefits. I don’t think all of us really understand what autophagy is and I was wondering if we could explain.
Dr. Vinu:
Sure. With cancer or let’s say any autoimmune condition, right, your body is producing toxins, you know, all the time when you’re digesting, when you’re, you know, when some kind of digestion is going on, or any kind of activity is going on your body is producing these toxins. And when you take food, there’s so much energy that is needed to digest that food, that all of your body’s resources are being sent, you know, just imagine, like, this is a war and, you know, all of all of the, you know, the soldiers all of the whatever resources you have, it’s being focused in one spot, because that’s where it’s all need, you know, so that what happens, your stomach, you know, all of your energy is being sent there. Because digestion is a huge process, you know, and you need that kind of energy to process food. So when you are giving your body the kind of rest, literally letting your body rest, because now it’s just doing the basic function of breathing and circulation, but it doesn’t have to take care of digestion, it now has to go protect, or to discard the toxins, or to repair the cells that need to be repaired, it’s like it can focus its energy elsewhere, you know, so we, as we get older, you know, there are cells that are dying in our body, and, you know, our body’s changing in ways and, you know, so those cells need to be repaired. So this kind of gives the body or, you know, time and energy to go spend on those cells. And then in the process, all of the toxins that are in the body are getting removed as well. So autophagy is like a beautiful thing, and our body can self repair, which is such an amazing that can do, we just need to give it the space and the time to do that. So that’s what intermittent fasting basically does, like, lets you let your body do its thing, just let it you know, go free for a few hours, and so that it can focus his energy elsewhere.
Amy:
Yeah, I think of this analogy of being in an office after hours. So I remember when I was working in corporate America, I had a little office and I often would work late, and the cleaning people would come by, you know, wanting to empty my trash or, or clean vacuum, my office, you know, after hours, but if I was in the office, often they would just pass by, and that you wouldn’t clean my office, but they would clean the other offices that are empty. So I think it’s a lot like that cleaning crew. If you have food that you’re still trying to digest that process of offered autophagy or like the detoxification, that cleaning crew doesn’t visit your office when it’s time for cleaning up and detoxification.
Dr. Vinu: Yeah, that’s a great analogy. Yeah, exactly what you said, you know, so and, and even, I would suggest, even if you cannot go into full blown intermittent fasting for whatever reasons, sometimes just having an early dinner, and you know, kind of a late breakfast, like you said at least a minimum of 12 hours, right. And just having that early dinner, helps your body to finish all of the digestion before you go to bed, which gives you then a good night’s sleep. Because when your body is still digesting food that you ate, which goes on for about three to four hours after you’re done, you know, and when you go to bed, you know, just say an hour or two after you’re after you had your dinner, your body’s still working on it. And that’s when you get dreams and you know, because your brains active too because some other function is going on. But just having that early dinner, I feel it gives a lot of benefits, especially a good night’s sleep, which then carries over into the next day and into how you feel the next day as well.
Amy:
Yeah, and sleep is is so underrated for women with us. When we sleep well. We feel so much better. And you know a lot of women with PCOS have a hard time sleeping. So if you do definitely experiment with intermittent fasting, I want to just call out a couple resources. I really love gin Stevens work. She has a book Fast feast repeat. I think that’s one of her latest and she’s also you know that the acronym omad one meal a day she’s kind of an omad person like you back to renew. But I really I really like her her books and and the research and time that she’s put in to show the The benefits of intermittent fasting. And then I just picked up this book. It’s it’s it’s just been released. It’s called fast like a girl by Dr. Mindy pelts. And I’m actually just I’m reading through it right now. And I wanted to just call out something that Dr. pelts wrote about PCOS and some latest research about intermittent fasting in women with PCOS. So, if you bear with me, I’m just going to read this little excerpt. So, Dr. Powell says your ovaries are very responsive to a tautology. This makes a toffee G fasting useful during your perimenopause years, and when you are trying to get pregnant, or with a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, as they can bring health back to your ovaries and balance out your hormones. studies done on PCOS are proving that a key root cause of this hormonal condition is dysfunctional autophagy in 2021. A small study of 15 women with PCOS revealed that five weeks of restricting their eating window to an eight hour timeframe not only improved menstruation, but also contributed to weight loss, a reduction in inflammation and lower insulin levels, all hot Hallmark challenges of PCOS. Because the fetal cells surrounding your ovaries are so influenced by autophagy. hormone production is best balanced using a longer fast. And although that study was relatively small, I hope that in the future that will be you know, reproduced with a larger cohort. But I think that even at that it’s you know, it’s worth a try. A lot of PCOS is managing it is trial and error. And, you know, it’s worth a shot.
Dr. Vinu:
Yes, Amy, I’m glad you brought that up, you know, because just a personal story. I had a cousin who was trying to conceive at a very late age, and I was willing to fasting by then. So I told her, you know, why don’t you try intermittent fasting, you know, because let’s see how it goes along with, you know, good sleep, good exercise, especially yoga. So yoga is more than just, that’s the other thing I believe in yoga is just more than exercise, right? Exercise, your heartbeat rate goes up, and it’s all good for you. But yoga, on the other hand, it’s kind of like massaging your endocrine system, like literally. So it works in ways where your, your hormone, your hormonal axis, like they call it the your pituitary, ovarian adrenal axis, right? That is being set into place. And whenever I practice, yoga, religiously, like you know, as an everyday thing, again, just like intermittent fasting, I’ve seen a huge change in how I feel. And you know, I, I do have my regular periods, you know, my face clears up in so many benefits that I noticed happening internally, and not just as part of an exercise, you know. So anyway, I was telling her to, you know, do yoga and intermittent fasting, and she was almost like, giving up hope. And, and, you know, how she wasn’t like, you know, very, she wasn’t in a good place, I should say, but I was like, you know, just give it some time, make a plan, you know, stick with it for a few months. And if not, you know, you have some of the plan a plan B to fall back on. And it really worked for her, she is now the mom to a little girl. And, you know, I I was very excited. She was very excited. And so even more it strengthened my belief that you know, hormonally it’s it keeps you in a good place. You know, it’s not just a diet, but just giving your body a break. You know, it really does help.
Amy: Yes, and I think for so many women with PCOS, as we mentioned, stress really wreaks havoc, and women have come that adrenal androgen form of PCOS. So, it’s really important to try to keep your cortisol levels balanced. And I think mine mind body exercises like yoga. You know, gentle stretching can be really really helpful.Amy: I’m thrilled that you joined the PCOS diva team, but Tell me why that was something that you wanted to do and why that was, you know, kind of a lead that you made.
Dr. Vinu:
So when I was researching PCOS Diva right, I was looking for a holistic way of treating it or managing it, I should say, because that’s what I grew up with. In my home, my grandmother, we rarely went for medication, if you had a cold, you would grind something up, and, you know, boil it in water, you had all of these herbs and these tried seeds, and you know, berries, and she knew a lot more names than I could name right now. But that’s what I grew up with, you know, that system of treating, or, you know, whatever food you have is, you know, nutritious food. And it is medicine in itself kind of thing. And always believed in like a holistic way of treating, not just pills, not just hormonal pills, you know, not just the symptom itself. But just looking at the person as a whole to see, what are the lifestyle changes would help? How are you going to better manage this kind of thing? So I actually Google to see what was out there to kind of see, you know, what are other? You know, what other way is there available to manage PCOS. And I should say, Amy, you kind of hit the nail on its head with whatever you proposing it aligned with exactly what my thought process was, and what I believe, you know, what helps a person with PCOS thrive. So, when I saw all that you are, and you know, all that you’re doing, and just my interest in passion for women, you know, women’s health in general, and anyone with PCOS, with just dealing with so many family members and friends going through it. And it just was like, you know, it was like meant to be.
Amy:
I know, we there’s so much synergy between the way that, you know, I view PCOS healing, and you do, I think what I’ve loved that you bring to the the PCOS diva team, is your background and clinical research. And that’s something that, you know, I, you know, I have a background in business in art history, that was my, my majors in, in, in college. And, you know, I, I’ve done the best that I could kind of fumbling through the research. But it was really exciting to me to have, you know, you and your husband, who are both, you know, doctors in your own right, and really wrote, you know, have a robust clinical research background. So, so I’d love to hear more about, like, your future thoughts on the direction of PCSD?
Dr. Vinu:
yes, you know, how science is, like, ever changing. And, you know, we always, you know, we, we do what we think is best at this point in time, but down the road, there’s new research, there’s new articles coming out, there’s like a new thought process. So I always believe, you know, you look at the evidence, you look at these articles, you know, you kind of see what the sample size is, is and, and I’ve been in a place where I can do my own research on, you know, who is sponsoring these articles? What kind of findings do they have? And, you know, what kind of sample size are they using? How effective are these results? Because, like they say, just because they say research suggests it doesn’t mean you believe what it says. So I, I do have that advantage point where I can look deeper, dig deeper, to see what exactly the research says, and if it does have the data to back it up. And I am hoping that I will be able to share that with the PCOS diva team, and kind of, you know, segregate what’s good, and what is possibly good, but down the line, you know, could change or what I would just based on research available, but I would think you know, you would hold off right now, and let’s look forward to more research, kind of just present that and, you know, stay on top of all of the latest offerings that do come out in the market. So that’s where I see myself contributing as part of the team and hopefully help women out there, you know, even better than what they are right now. And I also see a global on a global perspective there. Just because you know, I come from, from a country where not all women can afford this kind of, you know, the kind of information or have access to a kind of health care information we Do I do have a, you know, some part of me that wants to give back in a way to these women to kind of, you know, provide them with the, you know, the research that’s available or whatever resources that they would need to manage their PCOS just the way you know, we do. So, those are the two things I have in mind right now.
Amy:
That’s fantastic. I mean, I think I’ve always sort of prided myself in trying to be on top of sort of the latest trends. The latest, for instance ozempic is and by blue tide is all the rage in the PCOS community but trying to give women accurate information to make informed decisions on their health and definitely if that’s something that you’re interested in check out the podcast that I did late last year 2022 with Dr. fluey skirmish, and you know, we’d love for you know, maybe Dr. Vinu can weigh in on her her thoughts after looking at the research on ozempic and semaglutide and PCOS but that’s what you know, we hope to do is to continue to be kind of on the cutting edge of of the latest research and get that information to use from from a source that that you that you trust.
Dr. Vinu:
Yes, Sounds good, Amy.
Amy:
So, Dr. Vinu, thank you so much for joining me today on the DCS diva podcast and giving you know giving our listeners an opportunity to get to know you now that you’re joining the PCSD the team and kind of allowing me to make you know what I think of after Gosh, I’ve been been really in the PCOS based on working with PCOS diva for 15 years but before that working with the PCOS Association and you know, other PCOS organizations, I think now it’s gonna we’re going to be going into my 18 year and I’m ready to kind of take a step back and I appreciate you sort of stepping in and helping me to, to do that.
Dr. Vinu:
Absolutely. And you have a ton of resources in here and a great group. I’m really happy to be pitching in. And as always, anyone listening you can always reach me at Amy at PCOS diva.com And in addition to continuing doing private coaching, I will still be here to support you. It really has been such an honor and a blessing to serve this community of amazing women. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting your trust in PCOS Diva and you know, I’m going to be handing over the the PCOS diva podcast to Dr. V News. So she’s got she has some exciting episodes that she’s going to be recording in the very near future.
Amy:
And I’ll be looking forward to listening to those speakers. Thank you everyone for listening to this episode and we will look forward to supporting you on PCOS diva.com
KEYWORDS
pcos, fasting, works, feel, diva, women, clinical research, research, body, benefits, manage, intermittent fasting, tautology, detoxification, intermittent, eating, healing, late, stressThe post 195 – Get To Know The Newest Member of The PCOS Diva Team [Podcast with Dr. Vinu Jyothi] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
On today’s podcast we learn all about Ayurveda with Dr. Shivani Gupta. Dr. Gupta created a Modern Ayurveda program and Fusionary Formulas to fuse east and west practices for self-care, digestion, stress reduction and metabolism.
PCOS Inflammation is a root cause of so many health issues. In this podcast, Dr. Gupta explains at home remedies to reduce inflammation naturally to help with bloating, brain fog, fatigue, skin issues, depression and more. She explains that Ayurveda has three different types of Doshas which are: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Everyone has a dosha that you’re born, knowing your dosha can help you live a healthier and more balanced life. It can provide insite for how you should respond to stress, what you should eat and how to personalize self-care for YOU.
Tune in to learn:* The 3 different types of dosha & what they mean * Simple practices of Ayurvedic self care * How to manage PCOS inflammation with Ajurveda * How to feel at home in your body & feel whole * The benefits of Turmeric * Learn how to come back to your home dosha base
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:pcosdiva · 194 – Ancient Ayurveda Tools to Bio-Hack Inflammation [Podcast with Dr. Shivani Gupta]Dr. Shivani Gupta, Founder of the Fusionary Method, has a passion to help others experience unparalleled health, vibrant immunity and to become happier humans, ready to do their great work in the world and live a life full of joy.
Having had a fascination with health and wellness from a young age and seeing first-hand how it profoundly affects not just the quality of an individual’s life but also their loved ones, she discovered that her upbringing in both the United States and India gave her rare insight into the particular strengths of Western and Eastern health practices. After studying with some of the leading experts in the health field and receiving advanced degrees, Dr. Gupta realized that a Fusionary Formula was the secret to health and that “healing” and “holistic” were not at odds with each other but rather, the way to wellness.
With a mantra of, “Sleep, Food, Exercise, Movement, Self-care”, Dr. Gupta believes that a strong immune system is attainable for everyone. Her highly acclaimed Fusionary School is a popular and powerful resource for anyone committed to staying happily healthy
Resources mentioned:Discount:
Fusionary Formulas: 15% off teas and anti-inflammatories. Use code PCOSDIVA
Dosha Quiz:Discover Your Dosha
Connect with Dr. Shivani Gupta
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TRANSCRIPT:
Amy Medling:
Dr. Shivani Gupta is an Ayurvedic practitioner who’s spent over two decades studying gurus, leaders and changemakers changemakers and Ira VEDA. She’s also the founder of fusion airy formulas and Ayurvedic supplement company, and she helps patients to improve their longevity and vitality, reduce chronic pain, acute and low grade inflammation and optimize their health. And I’m really thrilled that Dr. Gupta is here with us today because she’s going to be teaching us about ancient tools and strategies from Ayurveda for biohacking our own PCOS inflammation. So welcome to the PCOS diva podcast, Dr. Gupta.
Dr. Shivani Gupta
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Amy:
So I love to lead our podcasts with the background story, because I think most of us health practitioners have our own struggle that we dealt with that. And then we conquered. And we’re here to sort of share what we’ve learned along the way. And I know I read your story, and I know you have one of those. So why don’t we start with your story?
Dr. Shivani Gupta
For sure. So you know, I grew up thank you for asking that I grew up in America, born and raised in a very Indian family that had just immigrated to the US. And growing up no matter what health issue I had, my grandpa would pull out her, we call them a salad honey put this like spice box that we use every night for cooking. And she’d like to say, Oh, you need turmeric or Oh, you need hing or oh, let me make you this tea or this recipe. And so what I loved is she always pull out a solution that was natural, simple and came right from the kitchen. And it took me many, many years to understand how powerful those tools were because I now use them as a mother on my own children. But I remember growing up, I used to get chronically sick, whether it whether it was me going to India every year to visit the grandparents, or just going to school, if someone seized, I would catch it. And so by high school, I had started taking augmentin and antibiotics month after month after course after course, because back then if you go to the doctor with a goal and give you an antibiotic, you get better faster and you move on. That was the thought process. And so it took me going to college to finally realize, Wow, I have to step up and defend my immune system in a proactive way. What does that mean? What do I need to do about that? And then I went to college in India, when I was in college, I got catastrophically sick once and I was so frustrated that I was about to go to the hospital sick and I thought what have I done wrong? Like I tried to do good things I tried to eat well, I tried to exercise I tried to sleep well, I tried to be a good kid. And yet it’s still something missing. And so that’s where I said, You know what? I’m done. I’m gonna go find a new way. And I said, I’m in India, land of Yoga and Ayurveda. And you guys are reaching into the wrong toolkit to try to help me I’m gonna go to discover this one myself. And so I went on this journey. And I realized and learned through all my studies that inflammation is the root cause of most diseases. The Diabetes that was ravaging my family was due to stress, inflammation, obesity and these kinds of issues. And my goal was, how do I reverse it for my family? And how do I build a successful life but never have those things happen to me. And so that’s where I Aveda came in. And, and now as an entrepreneur, and as a mother, I find that I learn more and and embody more in practice more from my RV that every year because I need it more and more year after year. And you have such a unique opportunity I find with our VEDA to dive deep and keep getting more and more tools as you need them through your health journey.
Amy:
I am going to just sort of focus on inflammation on this podcast, but I imagine after being on all that augmentin, you must have had some gut issues and I you know, and I Aveda is a great tool. Well, we’ll have to do another podcast talking more about God. Sure.
Dr. Shivani Gupta
For sure. I’m still repairing my gut from high school. I swear it’s taking a lifetime but it’s worth it because I am stronger and healthier than ever.
Amy:
Yeah, it’s amazing one course of antibiotics it just really can knock you off for a long time. So for those who are new to Ira VEDA, can you give us like a little 101 explanation about wise Ira data?
Dr. Shivani Gupta:
Yes, so IRB, there’s a system of medicine and health and healing from India that’s over 5000 years old. So to give it reference, just like you have homeopathy, naturopathic medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, all these amazing systems of medicine. Ayurveda stands alongside them. And within our VEDA, we have multiple modalities that we use to help people. But I evade them means the science of life. It means a way of life that we can live every single day. That’s truly preventive, of diseases and issues. But it also is a way of life that puts us into alignment to feel our best to have our body be so vibrant. A lot of times people are like, how do you look? So yeah, I’m like, I don’t know, I just live this lifestyle and it’s beautiful. And it keeps me feeling like I’m in my 20s energetically. So it encompasses diet, digestive fire, really honoring, honoring digestive system as the primary focus, circadian rhythm, living according to nature’s clock, understanding your own body, constitution and living according to that. So nutrition, detoxification, sleep and self care, and all these things come together to embody a lifestyle. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. I like to break it down into the simple golden nuggets that people can use that help them make their life easier, make their life healthier, take themselves out of crisis situation, and let the body ultimately heal itself.
Amy:
All of that sounds so good. I mean, I think that most women who are listening have kind of tried the conventional medicine route, the Metformin birth control pill, and realize that healing requires so much more than just a pill. And I think that’s why I love ayurveda because it takes into account the whole person and, and suggests a real holistic means of healing. And I was sharing with you before we started recording that, over the last year, I kind of embarked on creating a series of five day mini courses to live in accordance with the seasons. And those are all based on Ira Vedic principles and women with PCOS really need to honor their circadian cycles. And we’re finding out that that circadian cycles are can be dysregulated, and women with PCOS and I have found that living according to your according to the season, in accordance with your dosha I don’t know if I’m saying that. In accordance with I’m not sure that’s the right terminology. But that is really helpful. So maybe you can if this all sounds really interesting to somebody, where does one start exploring Ayurvedic medicine and whether you know how to apply some of those principles in their own lives?
Dr. Shivani Gupta
You know, it’s a great question that I, I find, I read that it’d be so vast that sometimes it’s, it can feel impossible to dive in. So I always start with the dosha, I’ve created a dosha quiz on my website, it’s free, you just go to Shivani gupta.com. And it’s right there. And my goal was if I just showed you what your those shot is, and give you some understanding of Ella, mentally who you are, you might be more fire, you might be more wind, you might be more Earth water. That self understanding, just beginning is very important. And once you understand those shots, and you start to adjust your dosha that creates huge shifts in your life and your body. I can fix fixes the wrong word, but I can support people on their health issue journey. With dosha then we go to circadian, then we go to self care rituals, then we go to diet, then we go to data so far. So your dosha is really kind of the key. It’s the center of the circle, before we embark on everything else.
Amy:
Yeah, you know, I’m glad that you said that. And I encourage listeners to go to your website and take that dosha quiz. We’ll have the link in the show notes. But that was such an aha moment. So I’m pretty much 100% vata type, I might lean a little more of Sebata is kind of winter. We’re recording this in December, as we’re kind of in the middle of vata season. And I have found, I remember feeling really depressed every, like October into November, and I could never really understand it. I know that the light had something to do with it, but I knew that there had to be something greater than that. Just the light, the light change in daylight savings. And it wasn’t until I discovered I was a vata and I was living really Eat in a way that was aggravating to my dosha. And once I learned how to balance it with the food that I ate, the even the music I listened to the colors I wore, I mean, it sounds kind of crazy, like the colors you wear, it made a huge impact and I don’t have that, that, you know, kind of darkness heaviness that I used to I definitely feel more lighter and brighter at this dark time of year just for balancing my dosha
Dr. Shivani Gupta
Sure, it can be profound, you know, I think, I think as we all explore and unfold and develop personally develop spiritually become aware of health implications and health practices, based on the symptoms, or the diagnoses that are kind of put on us, we have that unique opportunity to keep learning and keep diving in deeper. And so like you said, once you understood your dosha vata people, when I give them the Ayurvedic kind of prescription or blueprint of what they should do, it’s like, insanely life changing, because you go from being someone who has a tendency towards being overwhelmed and anxious and all over the place and never finished things like this. Tornado energy is how I kind of feel into the vodka. And you go all Sunday is settled, and nourished and whole, and finishing the things you commit to, and feeling more balanced in your mind and feeling more balanced in your body and getting proper sleep. And so truly, it’s a quality of life issue. I meet a lot of guff about women, so I’m a better and I’m very good at also supporting kappa women, because God for women feel heavy, they feel heavy in their bodies, they feel like they’re too slow and steady to win the race, which supposedly does win the race. But they feel so different in their bodies compared to their original cells. Originally, they were more pitta. And so when they’re more Earth, and Earth water, they crave that bringing back towards center that they had. So my job is always to understand your original dosha and how to help you bounce back to it. And I find, you know, over time, I can’t wait to see in this world, how we correlate science to prove what we as practitioners get to feel into with people, you know, it’s going to be fascinating to see, like, is PCOS inflammation? Or all inflammation based issues? Just a dosha imbalance? Is it the fit that’s going overboard? Is it the What does not balancing these five ways with food? So it’ll be interesting to see that.
Amy:
So So we talked a bit about vata and how it correlates with with winter. Can you explain the other two doshas a little bit? Sure, so
Dr. Shivani Gupta
Vata is air water, and that element dictates all the traits about the person then in wiry and tends towards, you know, being a busy body doing things all the time. And then there’s certain things that have tended to go to tend to go out of balance. And certain things they can do to balance themselves a bit that person is fire, straight up fire with some water. So a bit this kind of in the middle, medium bodied, tends towards reddish skin, reddish hair, skin erupts with certain tendencies as it does, but does tend to be entrepreneurial go getter, like, tend towards burn out, every word related to fire and burn relates to the bit, we tend to just go at it until we explode like volcanoes on others. That’s a fifth identity. So I advise my mythos to cool the Jets all the time, so they don’t explode their relationships, they don’t implode their life. You have to be careful when you’re a bit that because you can really cause some collateral damage. Then there’s the golfers golfers that Earth, Mother Earth, nurturing, loving, feeds everybody like that. You think of your grandma, like an Italian Grandma, that’s a very Kapha energy. And so Gotha is the loyal the nurturing group, they’re very strong, they’re of the earth, they can be big boned. They have certain beautiful traits to them. Golfer out of balance is very tough, they tend to be depressed and, and low and that kind of thing. So we have these three main archetypes of doshas, and everyone is some combination thereof, and the understanding of why you are way over in another dosha and imbalanced and dysregulated. And doing the work to come back to your home base to your original dosha from birth is really profound work. And I find that that’s oftentimes why we don’t feel well we don’t feel good in our bodies. I remember post kids I was having a major golfer imbalance, and just bringing myself into alignment back into FIFA has been the most profound One thing I’ve done for myself, doesn’t matter how successful I am and all those other things that come with life. The fact that I feel at home in my body is the greatest gift I’ve given myself.
Amy:
Yeah, it really gives you such a sense of feeling grounded and balanced and whole. I think for a lot of women with PCOS who suffer from brain fog and fatigue, and you know, anxiety and depression overwhelm, I Aveda is a great tool in your toolbox. And please go figure out what your doshas on Dr. goop is site. So I want to now that we have a kind of a sense of what Ira Veda is, I mean, there’s so much to it, like you said, but how can we use our Vedic techniques to help with inflammation and I think PCOS driven inflammation is I think it’s one of the most the tougher things to treat. Women’s joints hurts you feel bloated? With skin issues, certainly acne, rosacea, all of those things caused by inflammation. How, how do you like to manage it using Ayurvedic techniques?
Dr. Shivani Gupta
Oh, that’s a good one. You know, I look at it as layers because no human body living through this time can honestly easily stay perfectly healthy. I love living for vibrant health and optimal health and, and some people see me go to biohacking conferences, because I’m curious, like, what else can we do? And I really believe that, although there is biohacking and pushing the envelope with our health, it’s the return to the simpler, anxious practices, that allows the body to truly win in the area of health. In the sense that we want our body we all have different goals with our health. But let’s say the goal was longevity. Let’s say the goal was a pain free life, a healthy life, to get to that fourth quarter of our lives without horrible chronic diseases that leave us doing medical management of ourselves as opposed to just retiring and living a peaceful life. I like to work on things in layers. I like to assume that no given year am I going to be perfect. Like right now I’m battling my own rosacea. Right now I know I have some leaky gut issues, and I work on my health, kind of on like a full time basis. I’m consistently managing my health practices. So I look at it as seasons and layers, when are we willing to dive in and focus on it? And when we do number one, understanding your dosha is key because it helps you stay balanced. Number two, understanding what is the perfect circadian rhythm for you, based on your dosha based on your lifestyle based on your career based on your setup of your home and life, you might have young kids, you might have older kids, but understanding where you need to give yourself a breaks and the rest periods. Understanding how to optimize sleep is key. So to me reducing inflammation is multipart one. If we don’t sleep well, we’re not going to clear inflammation. So I really do focus on sleep. In my supplement company, which we can talk about, I built a deeply formula and deep sleep tea, just to ensure that we get better quality sleep, that restful sleep that recharges us because we want lymph and we want inflammation to clear overnight, otherwise we don’t win. Then second, I always approach inflammation with turmeric. I did my Master’s in AI or Vedic sciences. But I did my PhD on tumeric. So I happen to be obsessed with Tumeric curcumin, the potency. And so my job for these last seven years has been innovating and formulating and creating ways that we can take you know, a supplement and reduce that inflammation significantly. But after that, I tell people look, you can’t always take a pill for a problem. I’m sorry, we have to do the work. So what is the work? Number three, choosing an anti inflammatory diet, gently adjusting the foods that we eat to not constantly and consistently cause inflammation in us. And thankfully, there’s so much knowledge on that now we see so much about cut the processed foods. You know, look at how much dairy, gluten, alcohol meat and sugar you’re in taking. Find the right diet for your individual body. I am an Indian vegetarian. I eat veggie food all the time. But a lot of my clients I say you should probably be pescatarian you should probably eat white meat we really customized so everyone’s satiated and full and happy and supported. I tell people maybe not dairy cow milk, but goat’s milk is fine for you like let’s self tap. Let’s evolve with it. I like to run a 21 day I already detox so we can clear out the inflammation I understand what those problem foods were. And now take just the foods that are going to support us and keep those in. And then also understand how to ebb and flow and play like we’re in the holiday season. So during these times, I do play a little, I also pay a price for it. And then I have to reduce that inflammation again, and I can see it clearly in my body. Another powerful way to reduce inflammation from Irv, that is the self care aspect. So we have certain rituals that you can do daily is super efficiently, you can use a tongue scraper, for example, that is going to detox that’s going to clear inflammation. Tanks favor cost you six bucks, and you own it for life. And it takes less than 510 seconds a day to do that self care Tip Tip, or I teach Tea Time is me time, like one of my favorite personal self care rituals is I pause, and I enjoy a cup of tea a couple of times a day. And I use that as a powerful anchor that I stopped sip my tea, and I programmed my mind to say, Okay, what do you need today? What are you going to eat today? Are you planning to hydrate? What is your plan to make sure you’re okay, what do you need to adjust in the schedule, so that you are supported. And to just allow your intuition to guide you. And to allow your intuition to say, hey, I need to go for a walk, hey, I need to make sure I fit in my workout, hey, I need to make sure I take my turmeric or whatever. That alone is a profound healing tool that allows us to stop drop into our parasympathetic nervous system instead of being in fight or flight and make the highest and best choice for ourselves. So that we can do all these things that we know are good for us. And that I find reduces the mental inflammation, because we’re constantly I don’t know about you guys who are listening. But I constantly have the list of oh my god, I didn’t do that either. Oh, my gosh, I didn’t do that. And it’s constant, that voice in my mind that telling me what I didn’t do. And I call that mental inflammation. If my own mind is going to cause me stress constantly, then I need to have a workaround that lets me pause and say, Okay, what can I do today? What do I need to write down and assign to the weekend, and then go from there.
Amy:
I love all of that, especially the tea time. You know, as I’m sipping on my tea, before I got ready for the interview, that is an important part of my day, several times a day. I think I I like loose leaf tea, because it’s kind of a ritual. But I need to check in with myself in that real deliberate way like you were describing. I take it as more of a pause. But I think you’re right, it’s a great opportunity to check in and ask, okay, what do I need today? I think today, I need a nap this afternoon. That’s what I’m feeling. That’s what my body’s telling me today. But, and it’s hard. I think during this really busy season, I’m not sure when this will probably be airing in the new year. But you know, we push, push, push, and we don’t allow ourselves to rest enough. So yeah, a great way to check in. I’m also a huge fan of Tumeric that I I have a supplement called diva de flame and it has tumeric and ginger and bas Wella in it. And proteolytic enzymes, and it’s really helpful with quelling inflammation. You know, tell us more about some of your formulas in your Fusion every formulas brand, that could that would that might be helpful for women with PCOS.
Dr. Shivani Gupta
Sure, so about seven years ago, I had finished my PhD on tumeric. And I was such an evangelist of Tumeric that my family around me was like, if you’re gonna really tell everyone all your everyday for us your life to take it for everything, you should make your own. And I said, Okay, let me go on this journey. And so as I did, you know, in South Florida, where I live, I’m surrounded by surgeons and doctors. That’s who my family is that I married into. And I thought, You know what, why don’t I build something that can be used by doctors in western medicine all day long, because they’re going to give us NSAIDs, they’re going to give us drugs that are going to reduce that inflammation, but at what price because again, my body doesn’t respond well to outside chemicals. And I had tried that when I had plantar fasciitis. I took Advil for a week straight, and then my stomach hurt for weeks and I couldn’t understand why every time I ate my stomach hurt. Or I threw out my back when my daughter was one and they gave me an injection and they gave me a muscle relaxant and an opioid and I almost fainted because again, I don’t tolerate outside things very well. And I thought, Gosh, why can’t you guys give us a natural solution like there are natural solutions for this. So I built turmeric gold and inflammation relief as a way for everyone who has chronic and acute joint pain to take a natural solution. And what I’ve done is it’s in about 100 doctors offices in terms of orthopedics, rheumatology, functional medicine, chiropractic and primary care doctors, that’s where I started, and the doctors are recommending it all day. So let’s say they see 50 patients in an afternoon, they’re gonna give it to all, they’re gonna give the option to all 50 patients to take this natural solution. And then I get to hear the Patient Testimonial. So, so many people have called me hundreds of people, probably 10,000 People have taken it by now that they can walk again, they can walk up the stairs, again, they don’t have back pain, they can sleep better. Most people buy it for their moms for knee pain and joint pain and hip pain. And these things. A lot of people who started to lose function, their hands, their hands got too stiff, they take it and they can keep their function. So that to me is the best part of illusionary and I would say 90% of the time people are coming to us for that potent curcumin that I sourced. That’s in those two formulas. And then after that sleep, so I built a deep sleep tea, that’s a loose tea that’s super decadent. And it’s stuffed with like from me and ashwagandha and osmanthus flower and I basically designed it to be the most decadent sweet tea I could design.
Amy:
So I’ve got to have to try some of that. What so what is it is it very herbally like what is the flavor?
Dr. Gupta: Because I always try to jam so much I or Vedic stuff into something, I had to use a lot of florals on top to hide the flavors. So it’s a very rose, lavender yummy taste, because I jam so much in there. And then I built another tea called hormone balance for women. And I made it more towards menopause symptoms, because that’s the biggest request I get that has three types of Tulsi it has shut the body, which is a potent adaptogen.
Amy:
I love I love that
Dr. Gupta
For female reproductive like that the uterus supporter, I put it as a jasmine green tea because I love Jasmine Green and I wanted to taste to be awesome. But I wanted to deliver like supplement level results through teas really honoring that I Aveda believes that a tea can really fix all. And so it’s that fusion of East and West that fusion of supplement level potency into tea form, but also honoring the full herbal plant in a loose form as well. So that’s fusion Aryan. And you know, my goal is to get visionary out there sold on my website. And I really love that. There’s so many doctors out there MDS DEOs, chiropractors, practitioners functional medicine, who are open to giving us natural solutions and offering an actual tool. So my what I do all day is meet with the doctors and show them how to offer this as yet another tool for the patient to utilize
Amy:
That’s honestly amazing to hear. We’ve made such progress, I think. And you know, just in the last, let’s see, I’ve been doing this for almost 14 years. And that would not have been a solution when I was going to doctors.
Dr. Shivani Gupta
Yeah, pandemic has changed things I am getting 100 times more likely a Yes, from a doctor post pandemic. So, you know, there’s a lot of bad, but there probably are some good things that came out of this, which is the mindset shift of the consumer of population based but also health practitioners.
Amy:
Well, I am going to try those teas. I’m very interested. And I know that you are generous enough to give pieces Steve is a coupon, which I’ll be using after I get off.
Dr. Gupta:
Yeah, yes, your code will give them all 15% off.
Unknown Speaker 28:57
Awesome. That code is PCOSDiva. So and I will put the link in the show notes, but tell us what the the URL is to get your supplements.
Dr. Gupta:
Sure. So it’s fusionaryformulas.com. And then the website earlier was Shivanigupta.com.
Amy:
Awesome. And so, you know, in closing, I thought you could just give us a few tips for you know, this this season this far to season and how to, you know for all doshas to kind of bring themselves more into balance.
Dr. Shivani Gupta
Sure, but the season is tough. I feel like I’m battling an uphill battle to stay balanced throughout the season. And honestly, I feel like 90% of people deal with a vata imbalance year round. So although we’re in winter and it’s an acute issue in winter, I actually believe modern day society He has created as a year round issue. So my number one tip is self care rituals, choose the self care rituals that you can fit into your day. I really empower people to do way more self care than they ever believed possible. But I think self care is that jumping off point that allows us to do so much more with our lives than we ever thought possible. So self care includes starting your morning with self care, what is the first thing you do before you get out of bed, doing a meditation, or when you brush your teeth, adding in a tongue scraper, each act of self care is reminding you in your mind that you matter, that you can stay balanced that you deserve to be nourished, and bowl, my number two is to really be conscious of diet. So we tend to live in this very smoothie salad lifestyle where we think that we’re being healthy, when in fact, soups, stews and root vegetables are really key when you’re feeling out of balance, or when you’re feeling that but that imbalance or when it’s winter time, and you want that nourishment and that groundedness. So I encourage everyone eat more healthy fats, add in avocado, or Greek yogurt, or Satsuki, or whatever it means to you nuts to keep you grounded. Another big one is focus on sleep, but make sleep delicious. Like to me I look forward once the evening hits, I’m looking forward to bedtime. I’m like, I’m going to get my amazing sheets. And I’m going to have my deep sleep tea in bed. And I’m going to journal and I’m going to do self care before bed to you know, maybe I’ll do a mask or I don’t know dry brushing up young massage from IRB. There’s a very powerful tool to balance but the two there’s different rituals that we use at bedtime that are your investment into oven called perfectly but amazingly stunning sleep. That then lets you wake up ready. And what I find when the sleep is awesome, we really have a better balance day the next day. But it’s that practice of investing in amazing sleep that gives us the result we want for the next day.
Amy:
I love that mindset mindset shift that investment in your sleep it’s so it the rewards pay off tenfold. It’s been an absolute pleasure chatting with you, Dr. Gupta. And again, go check out what your dosha is if you’re listening on Dr Gupta’s website and check out her teas and curcumin I think I might buy some from my mother and mother in law. In a bowl both have joint joint issues.
Dr. Gupta:
for Chris let’s call it pain solution bundle. and the pain solution bundle is what all of our chronic joint pain people take. and they’ve taken it for years. they rely on it. they said I can come off of all the other stuff I was taking to take that now, which is why that’s fantastic.
Amy
Well thank you for the work that you do and for joining us on today’s podcast.
Dr. Gupta:
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Amy:
And thank you for everyone listening I look forward to being with you again very soon. Bye bye.
……………………………………………………..
The post 194 – Ancient Ayurveda Tools to Bio-Hack Inflammation [Podcast with Dr. Shivani Gupta] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Amy and co-host Dr. Vinu Jyothi interview Dr. Poppy Daniels.
Dr. Poppy is an OB-GYN and specializes in bioidentical hormone therapy, integrative thyroid treatment, and holistic health. Her philosophy toward wellness and hormone balance, together have shaped her view of women’s health, hormones, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
On today’s podcast, Dr. Poppy explains the effects COVID-19 has had on women with PCOS and the fertility effects in both men and women of childbearing age. She explains what she has personally seen in her fertility clinic and the types of treatments.
Listen in as we discuss:
- Types of treatments for PCOS during menopause
- How to tell the difference between “regular” PCOS symptoms vs starting menopause
- Saliva hormone testing vs blood hormone testing
- How long haul COVID affects women with PCOS
- Fertility effects in men and women of childbearing age from COVID
- How the birth control pill affects young adolescent women with PCOS
pcosdiva · 193. How PCOS Affects Menopause & Fertility [Podcast with Dr. Poppy Daniels]All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:Dr. Poppy Daniels is a gynecologist who attended undergraduate and medical school at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She completed a residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at Drexel University/Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has been in private practice since 2003. Dr. Poppy Daniels is an obstetrician/gynecologist and hormone specialist. In addition to traditional OB/GYN services, she has undertaken many specialized hours of training in bioidentical hormone therapy, integrative thyroid treatment, and holistic health. She and her husband, Dr. Dennis Daniels, who practices Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, live in Ozark, MO. They have five sons and one daughter.
Resources mentioned:Previous Podcasts with Dr. Poppy Daniels:The Progesterone & PCOS Connection [Podcast with Dr. Poppy Daniels]
The Dangers of Depo Podcast with [Podcast with Dr. Poppy Daniels]
Dr. Poppy Daniels Book:The Dangers of Depo: The World’s Most Dangerous Birth Control
Dr Poppy’s Fertility 101 Guidelines
Connect with Dr. Poppy DanielsWebsite
Instagram
Facebook
Research:https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/18/10881
https://www.acog.org/news/news-releases/2021/07/acog-smfm-recommend-covid-19-vaccination-for-pregnant-individuals
https://www.asrm.org/news-and-publications/covid-19/statements/joint-statement-regarding-covid-19-vaccine-in-men-desiring-fertility-from-the-society-for-male-reproduction-and-urology-smru-and-the-society-for-the-study-of-male-reproduction-ssmr/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6294055/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9710872/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9294036/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2796427
Transcript:Amy Medling:
On today’s episode of the PCOS diva podcast, we are putting one of our favorite OB/GYN in the hot seat. Dr. Poppy Daniels has agreed to come on to the podcast and ask some of your burning questions. But before we get to that, I just wanted to introduce my co-host, Dr. Vinu Jyothi, MD. After finishing medical school, she did her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Texas at Houston. Because of her passion for preventative health, especially women’s health, along with her passion, she also brings her expertise and 10 plus years of experience in clinical research and preventative medicine. And Dr. Vinu who has her own personal journey with PCOS. And she like me for you believes that holistic strategies can be the best teaching strategy. So thanks for being here with me, Dr. Vinu as we interview Dr. Poppy.
Dr. Vinu:
I’m really happy to be here and I look forward to hearing from Dr. Poppy Daniels as well. So before we begin, here’s a little bio about that Dr. Poppy Daniels is a gynecologist who attended undergraduate and medical school at the University of Missouri Columbia. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and she has been in private practice since 2003. She is also a hormone specialist. And in addition to traditional OB/GYN services, she has undertaken many specialized hours of training in Bioidentical Hormone Therapy, Integrative Thyroid treatment and Holistic Health. We are very happy to welcome you Dr. Poppy Daniels.
Dr. Poppy:
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Dr. Vinu:
I know you’ve been on previous episodes of this podcast where you talked about progesterone therapy and PCOS, and also about your book The Dangers of Depo. That talked about the dangers of the Depo shot. For our viewers who are new, the show notes do have recordings of the previous podcasts which you could go back and listen to. And Dr. Poppy, we did open up to our viewers, you know, we asked them what questions you’d like to ask Dr. Daniels, and they had some questions for us. So I’m gonna start with one question that a lot of our viewers have. And that was how to address hormone changes at menopause, when you’ve already dealt with your PCOS issues.
Dr. Poppy:
Yes, and I think that there’s kind of this idea that if you reach menopause, you won’t have to deal with PCOS anymore, because you don’t have periods anymore. But that’s actually not the case. And so whenever a woman transitions to not having periods be the issue, but having more sort of hormonal system. Honestly, my approach is the same whether you have PCOS or not and that is that I like to test hormones. And I prefer a saliva hormone testing, it is more accurate than blood work when it comes to the sex hormones and the adrenal function. Amy mentioned adrenal fatigue and or adrenal insufficiency or hypo function. It that is a huge problem in our stressful world. And most of us, you know, are doing a lot of things being productive and have lots of our multitasking things that we’re doing. But with stress and lack of sleep and dietary, you know, variability, that our adrenals can really be affected by all of those things. So the reason I really enjoy saliva hormone testing is because it includes adrenal testing. And so you’re looking at your female hormones, your male hormones or your androgens, which obviously is a big issue for women with PCOS and then your adrenals and so androgens you know, with PCOS can be produced in the ovary or in the adrenal gland. And so it is good to sort of track those levels as you’re going in transitioning into menopause. I of course, use natural or bioidentical hormone therapy for women of all ages. So that certainly doesn’t change going into menopause transition. But it’s interesting because even women who don’t have PCOS and are used to having regular cycles as they enter their 40s and then turn the peri-menopause. They’re often often experiencing irregular periods. And so they’re like, what’s going on here? And of course, PCOS women are very familiar with that issue. And so a lot of women are just like, am I menopausal? am I Perimenopausal? Or do I just have PCOS? And so we can utilize using FSH or LH testing, to see if it looks like you know, you are sort of in the transition, or it looks like you have kind of moved through that, as opposed to this is just a long period of an ovulation. And of course, that is common with PCOS patients.
Amy:
You mentioned saliva hormone testing. I was just curious what your opinion is on the DUTCH test or the dried urine sampling for your hormones?
Dr. Poppy:
Yeah, I am not a huge fan of the DUTCH test. I know it’s kind of the new kid on the block, and everybody is talking about it. First of all, I don’t think it makes sense to look at urinary metabolites, when you aren’t able to directly measure hormone levels. So to me, it’s like I don’t really want to know what the downstream hormone levels are. I want to know what the actual hormone levels are. I also think it’s very expensive.
Amy:
I just looked at the price today, I think was $499
Dr. Poppy
My saliva tests are usually under $200. They’re very reasonable for patients. I use two different companies; CRT lab and diagnos test. I don’t get any kind of reimbursement from the for them. So this is not advertising. But I just have used both of those companies through the years. And I’m very comfortable sort of reading and interpreting those reports. And so lots of women will come in and say, Okay, this was what was going off my hormones a year ago. This is what was going on with my periods a year ago. Here’s what’s going on now. And so usually we use a combination of blood work, and saliva hormone testing to kind of figure out where that woman’s hormones are at currently.
Amy
And you really need that baseline to do, you know, move forward with any type of therapies.
Dr. Poppy
Absolutely. And I like to show the patients their levels and say, Here’s where you were, here’s what your level shows. This looks like you are ovulating. This looks like you weren’t ovulating. And this is what’s going on plus, you know, they’re telling me what their symptoms are. They’re having hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, mood swings, vaginal dryness, you know all of the hormonal type symptoms, and that helps us to develop a treatment plan from there.
Amy:
So what happens when your doctor tells you that a hysterectomy will make all of your PCOS symptoms go away? At this point?
Dr. Poppy:
Well, the reason that’s not true is that we continue to produce androgens and the adrenal glands. And so you’re not going to have your adrenal glands removed when even if you have your ovaries removed. So on and I have definitely documented this on women who had her post hysterectomy, with bilateral removal of the ovaries, that they are still producing excess androgens and the adrenal gland. So they could still be dealing with PCOS type issues, even if they’re not having a period.
Amy:
What are some of the key treatments I guess for women with PCOS in menopause, that you suggest to your patients? Is there kind of like overarching first line therapy?
Dr. Poppy
You know, I think it just really depends on their symptoms. And so it’s just like anything else with PCOS. It’s a very individualized treatment plan. Obviously, you Amy for a long time have focused on dietary issues, supplements, sleep, stress management. All of these things are super important for everyone, but especially PCOS patients. You know, of course, with the metabolic side of PCOS, we always want to see is that getting worse now that I’m getting older, as you guys probably know, metabolic changes increase as you get older, your metabolic rate goes down. So insulin resistance can start to be more of an issue as you get older. Obviously, your activity levels may change and that you know, can affect your metabolism as well. But it’s just sort of a coordinated look at your actual symptoms, how you look on paper as far as your blood work, and how you feel, you know, physically and emotionally.
Amy:
Right, What’s our second question?
Dr. Vinu:
With the last couple of years, you know, all everyone’s been dealing with has been COVID. that’s where we’re going next. So how does COVID impact women with PCOS? are, you know, PCOS women with PCOS? More likely to have the long haul symptoms due to COVID?
Dr. Poppy:
That’s, you know, that’s hard to say. I would say that long haulers. You know, we do know that long haulers do tend to be more predominantly female. Um, and I would say a lot of long haulers to sort of have some similarities with patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic epstein barr virus, and they can be dealing with nutritional or vitamin deficiencies. So but we do see that something with COVID affects the mitochondria. And that is why there’s so much fatigue with COVID infections. So the mitochondria, you know, I always say that remember from high school biology, your mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, everyone remembers that. They have no science interest at all, everyone remembers that. If you’re trying to make ATP and you’re trying to make energy, if your mitochondria are negatively affected by this virus, then you’re going to be extremely tired. And of course, that is, I would say, almost universal symptom that people have with COVID infections as just extreme fatigue, even above and beyond normal respiratory stuff, you know, like I am dealing, I’m getting over a cold right now. I’ve got some post nasal drainage down the back of my throat. And I sound terrible, but I feel fine. So I can go to work, I can function. I’m not like debilitated, like I was when I had COVID. And so you know, some people are already dealing with mitochondria issues, you know. And so adding COVID back on to that, I think sometimes it ends up sending on some people on a path of chronic fatigue syndrome, and having a really, really hard time recovering for them. So I really believe that a holistic approach to for long haulers has to involve Nutrition has to involve treating vitamin deficiencies, and giving supplements for mitochondria support, trying to deal with this sort of chronic reactivation syndrome that we became familiar with with Epstein Barr Virus. So you know, you have mono when you’re 15. And then when you’re 30 or 40, you’re like, going through these bouts of fatigue and achiness and flu like symptoms, and you know, you go to the doctor and they say you’re fine. And of course people love to tell women it’s in their head and you know, you’re making this up and you just getting older or you have kids, you know, the usual stuff women are told when I’ve heard a medical issues that they don’t ever tell men that they never say to a 50 year old man, you know why you’re getting older and you have children? That’s why you don’t feel well. Oh, I think that’s a big part of the long haul or part.
Do I think that PCOS women are necessarily more susceptible to COVID? I mean, all of that. There’s so many factors that play into that, you know, whether you have other medical problems, whether you do have diabetes, whether you have you know, your immune system is down or you have autoimmune disease, or your vitamin D is really low. You know, we know the data is it really good to show that people who have vitamin D deficiency do much worse with coke. That’s, you know, something most most PCOS patients know that vitamin D is very important and keeping their levels up are important. So if your level is low, then you are going to be more susceptible to COVID and other you know, respiratory infections.
Amy:
It’s so frustrating to right now, because I know I went to have my fists To call, and I asked for a vitamin D test. And they said, you know, unless you were low previously, your your insurance won’t, won’t pay for that. So it shouldn’t even they make it very difficult for us to find out what our vitamin D level is. And I think that you need, just like you need a baseline hormone test, you need a baseline vitamin D, because, you know, some, if you go to your store, you’ll see vitamin D, like 10,000 units, you can see it, you know, 2000 units seems to be sort of the standard, but you wouldn’t know how much to take unless you have going on a rant here. But yeah, if they don’t make it easy for us is my point.
Dr. Vinu:
Yes, you’re right. I mean, every every physical like the out of pocket to get my vitamin D tested. And then it’s low enough that I need to get prescription strength vitamin D, like you said, it’s not just enough, it’s over the counter, sometimes.
Dr. Vinu:
The next question on that is, is there actually a correlation between infertility and the vaccine, therefore making it a double whammy to women with PCOS?
Dr. Poppy:
Yeah, so I mean, it’s too bad. We don’t have like three hours to talk, because we could probably talk for three hours about this issue. I mean, there, there are a lot of problems with the rollout of the vaccine in regards to women who are of childbearing age, and potential, and men of childbearing age. This was brand new technology, we had no prior mRNA vaccines or medications that were being used. And on top of that, it was obviously fast tracked. And so unfortunately, there really was very minimal. I’m looking at fertility effects. And honestly, you can’t really tell fertility effects. For years, you cannot tell in one year or two years, I mean, really, you need three to five years with ongoing assessment to identify fertility concerns. And so I think that my concern, all along with the pandemic was a lack of informed consent. And as a physician for 20 years, I have always been very dedicated to the concept of informed consent, because otherwise, then, patients can feel coerced. Patients can feel pressured, patients can feel that they don’t have adequate information to make a decision, but they feel rushed. And all of that took place over the last three years. And it’s appalling because that approach was really supported by our national organizations. And, and I can I give you some, I have some statements that were issued by the American College of Obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), of course, that’s my national organization. I don’t really identify with them anymore, because they don’t represent me well. So I stopped paying dues to them a long time ago. But a lot of obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYNs) and a lot of doctors in general, are very busy. And they’re seeing patients and they’re busy. And they rely on these national organizations to guide their clinical practice. And it’s a, it’s a shame to say that many of the doctors are actually not reading the literature, they’re not reading studies. They’re just saying, Well, my national organization wouldn’t recommend it if it wasn’t good. Or if they’re not expressing caution, then it must be fun. Okay. Because, you know, it. It’s sort of one of those things we can’t fathom, that they would take a risk with our health. When, you know, they’re, they’re sort of, it’s sort of all of our public health. I’m sure you know, this mean, that, you know, we would expect that they wouldn’t be representing our best interests and preserving our health.
When it seemed to come out that there was this immense pressure to go ahead and accept this technology. Without question, I think that I was immediately concerned about that. I obviously have a very large fertility practice. Because, you know, I see a lot of PCOS patients to horses, PCOS is the number one cause of hormone related infertility. And so I see lots and lots of PCOS patients, but lots of patients who are just dealing with infertility in general. And so, to me, it was extremely concerning that there seemed to be no level of caution whatsoever on the part of our national organizations. And the concern with COVID, of course, is obvious to nobody is not concerned about COVID. And, of course, it was very scary. It was very concerning. It was very, you know, nobody really understood what was happening. This is the first time something this, this global scale, in our lifetimes has happened. And so I don’t know about you, but I was reading and reading and reading as much as I could do, trying to understand, you know, the process of what was happening. It really bothered me with the American College of Obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYNs) and I’ll see if I can pull up the exact statement that they made. I have it right here. And it wasn’t just the American College of Obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), but it was also the male society. So the neurological, the neurological institutions, were basically doing the same thing, which was they were saying, you know, it’s, it’s not a big deal. So, let me just read you. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine is the national one of the national fertility organizations. And they made a joint statement. The vaccine rollout was December 2020, and in January 2021 we have recommended that the COVID-19 vaccine should not being withheld from men desiring fertility to meet criteria for vaccination. COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to men desiring fertility similar to men not desiring fertility when they meet criteria for vaccination. The only thing that they said was that it should be noted that about 16% of men and the Pfizer bio and tech COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial experienced fever after the second dose, and fevers can cause temporary decline to sperm production. So because of the fever, you might have a change in your, you know, sperm production. And obviously, you know, that’s true. Yes, fever can cause a change in your sperm. Production. But saying that and saying, you know, well, there’s no way it’s actually the vaccine that’s affecting your sperm production, that that’s a problem. The American College of Obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYNs) and the society of maternal fetal medicine, recommended the COVID vaccine for pregnancy. And, you know, I just think it’s completely ethical to offer a new technology to women who are trying to conceive or who are pregnant when you have no safety data. You certainly don’t have any long term safety data, but even immediate safety data. You can’t even I mean, if you’re recommending it, you know, a month after rollout you have no idea what’s going on. So I found this hugely irresponsible. And I thought that that was a terrible idea.
At this point. We didn’t even know the effect of COVID on fertility. So if you don’t even know what the infection is doing, how do you know what the new technology vaccination is doing? So I’ve always been a bit of a skeptic in general. I am someone that works for myself. I’m independent, so I did not work for a hospital. I’m sure it would have been much more difficult for me to it was still difficult for me to voice these concerns. I’ve been majorly censored on social media, or so
Dr. Vinu:
Dr. Poppy when I was researching for this podcast, right, I looked up articles about menstruation and how it’s been impacted by the vaccine. And a couple of articles that I looked at talked about you know, the menstrual cycle is delayed, you know, there is definitely a delay. They say and all of them both, both of the articles. Let’s say there was not enough information or not enough research done. And in fact before the rollout of the vaccine when they even in the testing phase of menstrual cycle or you know, if it’s impacting wasn’t even in the questionnaire, or wasn’t even one of the concerns for the vaccine. If that wasn’t a concern, fertility is like so far off, I would think right
Dr. Poppy:
I want to point your listeners and you all to a systematic review that was published in the journal called “Vacunas”, the lead author is Maheen Nazir and article title is “Menstrual abnormalities after COVID-19 vaccines: A systematic review”. This is a very large systematic review 78,138 patients and 52% So more than half of the women who took the COVID vaccines experienced menstrual abnormalities. This is a very high level I mean, more than half that’s one and two, basically, we’re experiencing menstrual abnormalities, and so the variation with that is great. So there were a lot of women experiencing heavier periods, more frequent periods, passing clots, having really, you know, went from being very regular to being very abnormal. Then on the flip side, you have women that were not having their period at all. In fact, there is a national there is an international group called Where is my cycle, or in French? It is collecting data in France and other European countries, about women who are not having their period, for lack of a period after vaccination. Of course, many of those women were wanting to conceive and not having your period is obviously evidence of not ovulating. So this group has, it’s more of a grassroots effort. That has come forth and they are started demanding public hearings about the menstrual abnormalities that are happening because of vaccination. So obviously, you know, if you take someone with PCOS who already has irregular periods, and then they have worsening of that, that is just a terrible situation for PCOS patients.
Amy:
Have you seen in your practice, kind of anecdotally, any correlation and and also, you there’s sort of talk about miscarriage rates potentially rising? I mean, are you seeing any evidence of that correlate and I know it just like asking in your private practice?
Dr. Poppy:
The answer to that is yes. The answer to that is yes. miscarriages, premature birth, stillbirth, a large amount of placental abnormalities. So we’re seeing a very strange phenomenon of irregular or misshapen placentas. Now the interesting thing is not all of these women were vaccinated. And so there’s a concept that’s talked about shedding. So in shedding is kind of a weird term to use because whenever we think of shedding, we think of viral shedding, right? So if you have a viral infection, and it’s active, that virus can be in your body fluids. And if you’re exposed to someone, probably the easiest one to understand would be the herpes virus. So if you have a herpes infection, you have a herpes lesion on your mouth. You have herpes virus in your saliva, and you kiss someone, then you can transfer that virus. So a lot of people were like, shedding their thinking, you know, viral shedding, but when it comes to vaccination, the problem that you have is a massive production of Spike protein. That is actually the nature of the vaccine.
People can relate to the concept of shedding from viral shedding if you have an infection. And so whenever people say shedding, it’s kind of a weird concept to them when it comes to the vaccine. But the idea with the vaccine is that the intention of the vaccine is to produce five core protein in your body. So the mRNA is programmed to produce spike protein. And that spike protein is produced in actually great quantity and the ribosomes in the cells and then are distributed throughout the body. So this is a big area of controversy because when the vaccines were first rolled out, the implication was this is just happening in the deltoid after injection, that is not going anywhere else in the body. And actually we know that to be false because of Pfizer’s own data of biodistribution. So it’s actually Japanese data of bio distribution of Spike protein in the body after injection. And it goes everywhere in the body and can Concerningly it actually goes and is concentrated in the ovaries and in the adrenal glands, and many other organs. And so basically your body is turned into a spike protein factory, and as churning out tons and tons of quantity of spike protein. The objective was to produce spike protein to initiate an antibody response. So then you would be a meal to the spike protein. But unfortunately, if you’re mass producing spike protein, then you’re going to have that spike protein be all over your body and then in your body fluids. So the concern is that if you were near someone who was recently vaccinated, and I would say it is more likely to have an effect, if it was within a week, but maybe probably up to a month, maybe even longer than that. That you could just be exposed to their body fluids or even just, you know, through touching through breathing. You don’t necessarily have to be kissing this person to be getting an effect from them. So lots of women were experiencing menstrual abnormalities being around recently vaccinated people, even if they themselves were not vaccinated. It sounds crazy. Because of that, this whole conversation that we’re having if we had this conversation a year ago, it would have certainly been labeled misinformation, fake news. Disinformation, and instead of what it should be, which is just a discussion about what people are experiencing, and about the technology in general. And so the menstrual abnormalities makes you say, Okay, if there are a period problems, then there are hormone problems. And then if there are hormone problems, then there are potentially fertility problems. And this sort of concern that we’re discussing and talking about here, was very actively dismissed, if not suppressed. From general discussion, especially in social media. So if you sort of brought up any concerns about this, then they would censor you, even me as a physician. It didn’t matter. Because if you have your social media groups employing fact checkers, these fact checkers will say, you know, this person is a poor source of information. This person posts misinformation about COVID instead of us just being able to have an educated discussion about what is being seen. And so that’s kind of a long winded answer, but it is a very complex topic. And the fact that we were really not allowed to discuss it publicly, is very concerning as well.
Amy:
Thank you so much for giving us your insights. I can absolutely tell you firsthand that I experienced a lot of what you were talking about. With PCOS Diva, and I’m glad you know, I’m hoping that we can finally have this conversation and not be censored. Just you know, I wanted to just follow up with what are your thoughts on on some of these detox protocols? I know, pine needle extract is one of those things that I keep seeing is a way to kind of detox spike proteins. I mean, I know there there isn’t a lot of research done but anything that you have found might be promising.
Dr. Poppy:
Yeah, this is a really difficult thing. Because I’m, a holistic sort of functional minded practitioner. I am very interested in detoxification for many different reasons, you know, and I do employ it with my patients. But this this is concerning because what you’re doing, at least with the Pfizer and the moderna vaccine, the mRNA you’re literally programming your body to make a protein. And it’s really hard to say how we can eliminate that from your body. The other problem that you have is the mRNA is very fragile. And so they encased the mRNA in what’s called lipid nanoparticles. And this is basically like a little fatty ball that helps the mRNA to get into the cells because otherwise, because it’s so fragile, it would be degraded. So they wrapped it in this lipid nanoparticle that also contains polyethylene glycol or peg, then polyethylene glycol is very allergenic. It there are people that are allergic to peg, but it it can cause anaphylaxis and those patients. And so, peg is concerning, in general, because it is a known allergen that can trigger the immune system just from that. But there is literature that shows the look that the lipid nanoparticles themselves are actually dangerous and harmful to the reproductive system. And this is this is actually data that was out way before the vaccine. And I have an article site you hear that? This is an article by lead author Wang, W A and G. And it’s published in the International Journal of Nanomedicine and the title is potential adverse effects of nanoparticles on the reproductive system. And so, this article basically says that there’s evidence that these named lipid nanoparticles, they can pass the blood testicle barrier, they can pass the placental barrier, and they can accumulate in the reproductive organs so that can be in the testes and the ovaries and the uterus. And it also showed that there’s evidence that these nanoparticles can disrupt hormone secretions and so it can actually affect your production of LH FSH and that is your brain trying to communicate with your ovary about ovulation. So these these, these nanoparticles these lipid nanoparticles are themselves inflammatory, and they cause oxidative stress and they basically cause cytokine release in your body. And as you probably have heard about just from regular COVID infections cytokine storm is part of the phase the second phase of an active COVID infection and when you have cytokine storm going on in the body, you basically have a massive release of chemicals or cytokines that cause you to become very ill. And so it’s sort of a very dangerous phase of the COVID infection because a lot of people especially if they have underlying health issues, or they’re older, they can’t tolerate that they become very, very ill and you know, that release of cytokines intentionally by taking something into your body intentionally, is a whole another ballgame. And so it’s not just the spike protein that we have to worry about. It’s the lipid nanoparticles we do have some autopsy data of people who died, who had had the COVID and COVID vaccine, who had massive amounts of Spike protein in their organs at autopsy. So we really honestly don’t know how long this can go on in your body. And we don’t honestly we don’t know how to remove spike protein and we don’t know how to remove lipid nanoparticles, normal detoxification things that you what you mentioned Amy, pine needle of course, people use a lot of different things for detoxification, they use glutathione or NAC and acetyl cysteine. This is your body’s main target against toxins. So taking those things in addition to you know, anti inflammatory or or anti oxidants like Tumeric like vitamin C, resveratrol, these kinds of things are very important to try to maintain your body’s hold on these things that are causing oxidative stress. But the truth is, we don’t honestly know if we can get rid of these things or not.
Amy:
So I’m hoping that you could send us some links to some of the studies that you’re mentioning so people and Dr. Vinu will post the links that she was talking about as well put those in the show notes so people can, you know, do your own investigation and research to follow up on this question, but I was wondering if you had time for one more question. Sure. So I thought I would kind of bring it full circle from the menopause. Back to PCOS and adolescents. And I’m asking this for kind of a selfish reason because now I have a 14 year old whose mother has PCOS and grandmother and odd and you she’s had one period at 13 and a half and she’s 14 Now she hasn’t had another at what point? You know, do adolescents are they diagnosed with PCOS and how can you go in empowered to your doctor’s office to refuse the birth control pill because I know that if I go to her pediatrician, that the first thing they’re gonna say is Oh, we’ll just put her on the pill and it’ll regulate the cycle.
Dr. Poppy:
Absolutely, Amy that could probably do a whole show in itself, how to add how to advocate for yourself and the doctor’s office. You know, the question of is this PCOS or is this normal puberty? That is a very big question. Okay. Because you have excess androgen production during puberty. You have irregular periods during puberty. You know, a lot of times we say okay, it takes up to three years for the pituitary, the natural access to really mature and start operating normally. And so you don’t want to label someone with PCOS who just has normal sort of delayed puberty or you know, things like that. But if someone has had a period and then not had another period for a year and has a family history of PCOS, I would certainly have that very high on my radar. And I would certainly do testing for you know, LH, FSH, prolactin, I would look at their sort of metabolic side, their lipids, their insulin, their a one C. They’re a EMH level. They’re FSH LH ratio, and I would be trying to ascertain Is this someone that I need to try to get to have their period and I probably wouldn’t be giving them a trial progesterone to see if I could bring the period on. Because you need to know is this just someone who is just kind of slow to get into puberty and you need to look at their secondary sex characteristics, their breast development, their hair development, and take all of that into account when you’re trying to determine the best route? But unfortunately, Amy, you and I both know very well. You know, my saying birth control has dumbed down doctors, and honestly and nurse practitioners and PAs and midwives. And honestly, they just want to give birth control for everything. They don’t want to use their brain. They don’t want to do a workup. Well, let’s just start you on birth control. And that is really difficult when you have as much knowledge of the process of these hormonal imbalances. And so what my main advice is really seek out a holistic gynecologist if possible. The other source is a doctor that’s trained in naprotechnology which is actually an offshoot of the Catholic Church and they don’t use birth control. So they use a lot of natural hormones and much more of a comprehensive approach to women’s health. So you can look at fertility care or to find a medical consultant who is trained in a pro who does not use birth control. You can look at the Society for Reproductive professionals, which is not the one that I mentioned is not the mainstream group that is also focused on getting to the bottom of these gynecological issues with patients. And then finally, if you go to the saliva testing websites, many of them will have practitioners on there that utilize saliva hormone testing. Those are the ones who want to seek out who are more holistic who use Bioidentical Hormones, who are less likely to just knee jerk prescribed birth control.
Amy:
All excellent resources. And I’m going to be checking those out. Thank you so much.
Dr. Poppy:
You’re welcome.
Amy:
Thank you so much for coming on and answering these you know, some difficult questions.
Dr. Poppy:
It’s not an easy topic, but you know, what, if we don’t talk about it, we’re not going to move forward. So you know, it should be the free exchange of ideas and information so that people can start to develop questions, to start to understand science start to apply critical thinking to the things that are going on around him and I mean, that’s a good thing. That’s not a bad thing. So we need to do more of this kind of thing.
Amy:
Yeah, and I appreciate you taking the time to do that with us today.
Dr. Poppy:
It is my pleasure, Amy.
Amy:
And and Dr. Poppy How can we learn more about your, your work and your practice and tell us again about your book?
Dr. Poppy:
Okay, so I have a website, Dr. Poppy.com. On that website, I actually have an e book. That is fertility ebook that I put my lots of fertility pearls in and it’s very low cost, especially compared to an office visit or especially compared to going to see a fertility doctor specialist usually.
It’s a great starting place for people who are just trying to figure out their fertility workup and questions to ask. I have a book called The The Dangers of Depo that is available on Amazon. I am my co-author who was actually a patient who was not my patient, but a patient that was impacted by the Depo shot. She and I co-wrote the book together and it’s a lot about the side effects of depo and how to recover from that. I am on Facebook Dr. Poppy, I am on Instagram and Twitter at Dr. PoppyBHRT I am on telegram and telegram is dr_Poppy and I’m happy to connect with anyone who has questions on those platforms.
Dr. Vinu and Amy:
Thank you so much Dr. Poppy. It was a real pleasure talking with you today, and thanks to all listeners.
The end.
……………………………………………………………………………………
The post 193 – How PCOS Affects Menopause & Fertility [Podcast with Dr. Poppy Daniels] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“It’s about getting to know our nervous system and recognizing those different states. And then having a range of tools that we can use that attune to where we’re at.“Women with PCOS tend to have an upregulated nervous system. This means there is more nerve cell firing, making it harder for your body to relax after a stressful situation. It’s important to know the role of the vagas nerve and how it affects the way your body processes stress.Amy has invited Jessica Maguire on the PCOS Diva Podcast. Jessica is a knowledgeable Trauma Informed Physiotherapist. Her specialty is teaching patients about the vagus nerve and how stress-related illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and autoimmune issues can arise from dysregulation after chronic or traumatic stress.In this episode, Amy and Jessica discuss how our vagus nerve plays a critical role in our mental and physical health and tips for managing anxiety and stress with PCOS.Listen in and learn: What the vagus nerve is and the role it has * Tools for managing anxiety & stress * The difference between the thinking brain vs the survival brain * How to pay attention to your emotions and recognize how to respond * The benefits of co-regulation All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:*pcosdiva · 192. The Vagus Nerve, Anxiety & Tools to Manage Stress [Podcast with Jessica Maguire]Resources mentioned:Jessica’s website
Jessica Maguire is a trauma-informed integrative Physiotherapist, passionate about teaching people the tools and resources that reshape the brain and vagus nerve. Knowledge is power and the right tools bring increased self-regulation, a more balanced nervous system and greater resilience to face life’s demands. This also lies at the heart of improving chronic & traumatic stress, as well as chronic pain and illnesses.The post 192. The Vagus Nerve, Anxiety & Tools to Manage Stress [Podcast with Jessica Maguire] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“I want everybody to understand that you can consume life, you can bring more life into your life, which that’s why eating raw foods is so important.“Women with PCOS tend to be very insulin resistant, which is why exercise is so such an important piece to healing PCOS.
Today we’ll be talking about how mindset can help your wellness goals with Bela Castro, she is the founder and head trainer of B-FIT where she helps women to glow from the inside out.
Bela explains how to reveal your inner motivation and how that can help you succeed in your health and fitness goals.
Listen in and learn:
- How to build a healthy relationship with food & nourish your body
- Ways to incorporate more raw unprocessed foods in your diet
- Learn what your inner motivation is & how it can help you achieve your goals
- How to heal by connecting your mind, body & soul
- What it means to achieve higher energetic vibrations through food
- How to match your daily existence with that ideal version of you pcosdiva · 190 – HACK YOUR MINDSET TO TRANSFORM YOUR FITNESS GOALS [Podcast with Bela Castro] All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:Resources mentioned:B-FIT Website
Bela is the founder and head trainer of B-FIT where she helps women to glow from the inside out. As a former collegiate tennis athlete, Bela’s Brazilian heart pumps for actively transforming lives.
Coming back from the breakthrough of her divorce, relocation and career change she found resilience and self love. Through the deep transformation she went through mentally and physically, she decided to devote her time to acquire the expertise to launch B-FIT. Now she wants to continue this path and be a changing force in lives around the world.
The post 191 – Hack Your mindset to transform your fitness goals [Podcast with Bela Castro] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Align your life in order to create life. And I think that also means aligning your life’s work, what you’re doing in the moment, during that fertility process.”Today we’ll be talking about pathways to pregnancy with bestselling author, international speaker, acupuncturist, and high-performance coach Mary Wong.
Mary is the founder of Alive Holistic Health, which combines traditional Chinese medicine with Western science to nurture the body and soul. She has helped over 10,000 women in counting overcome infertility, PCOS, and other health challenges.
In her book – Pathways to Pregnancy – she explains the power of combining Western and Eastern medicine to improve your chances of having a baby. In her book she shares peoples real stories so that women can feel empowered, have hope, not feel alone, and not have shame on their journey towards motherhood.
In today’s episode, Mary and Amy also share their personal stories about struggling with infertility, their journeys to motherhood, and overcoming the labels Doctors put on them.
Listen in and learn: The positive effects acupuncture and herbal medicine have on fertility * How to let go of labels a Dr. may have put on you about your “infertility” * How to manage working while going through IVF * How to encourage a pregnancy and align yourself to create life * The connection a demanding job has on fertility and how to manage that stress All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:Resources mentioned:Mary Wong’s Book:*
Pathways to Pregnancy
Connect with Mary Wong:
My Fertology Podcast
Alive Holistic Health Clinic in Toronto
Other Mentions:
Podcast with Dr. Nancy Dunne
Best selling author, international speaker, acupuncturist, and High Performance coach Mary Wong is the founder of ALIVE Holistic Health, one of North America’s leading wellness clinics.
She has helped over 10,000 women (and counting) overcome infertility, PCOS, and other health challenges, often when everything else has failed. Mary’s life mission is to bridge the gap to care, helping humans thrive in mind, body, and soul.Mary co-hosts, My Fertology Podcast helping to Boost Women from fertility and beyond and is a health expert on Cityline, Canada’s longest running daytime TV show specifically targeted to women.
The post 190- Overcome PCOS Fertility Challenges [Podcast with Mary Wong] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Before you do any diet regimen, any new supplement regimen, start with hydration. You have to start here.”Dr. Dana Cohen is NYC’s leading Holistic Doctor and has been on the leading edge of integrative and functional medicine for over two decades. She practices with an emphasis on the individual, understanding that no two patients are alike, and limits her patient’s reliance on prescription medications by using diet, lifestyle changes, and nutritional supplementation.
Her recent book – Quench – explains the benefits of proper hydration and how it can dramatically affect your health, vitality, and overall quality of life. She explains the right way to hydrate and how to get the water you drink deep into your muscles, cells, and fascia (the connective tissue of your body), where it’s needed most.
It’s important for women with PCOS to be hydrated. Water is a major component of every cell, tissue, and organ. It plays an important role in almost every bodily function. Increasing your water intake will also help both insoluble and soluble fiber do their job to avoid digestive distress, which is a common symptom of PCOS.
Listen in as we discuss:
- How what you eat affects how you absorb water
- Debunk myths about “getting enough water”
- Benefits of salt for hydration
- Tips for how to drink and absorb more water
- How micro-movements throughout the day keep you hydrated
- The many ways dehydration affects your mind and body
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:Resources mentioned:Dr. Cohen’s Book:
Quench
Connect with Dr. Cohen:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Products Mentions:
Beast Blender
Dr. Cohen NYC’s leading Holistic Doctor and wellness guidance counselor. At the heart of her work lies her mission to find the root cause of disease through advanced functional testing, and then to activate the body’s natural healing mechanisms through nutrition, supplementation, healing therapies, and more. She has helped the hopeless finally improve, recover, or completely heal from a variety of issues.
The post 189 – THE BENEFITS OF PROPER HYDRATION [PODCAST WITH DR. DANA COHEN] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“We all want that magic, just fix-it pill, but every single treatment, every pharmaceutical has side effects.”Dr. Felice Gersh is a ground-breaking thought leader in the field of PCOS. She is a multi award-winning physician with a dual board certification in OBGYN and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Gersh returns to the PCOS Diva podcast to discuss the pros and cons of a pharmaceutical drug called Semaglutide, also marketed under the name of Ozempic and Wegovy.
I’ve heard many women with PCOS talking recently about Semaglutide as a new “magic pill” for PCOS symptoms and weight loss. And this pill is not only being used by women with PCOS and type 2 diabetes, but it’s apparently the hot new weight loss drug celebrities are using in Hollywood.
In this podcast, Dr. Gersh explains how this so called “magic pill” (Semaglutide) is a chemical mimic of GLP-1 which your body naturally produces when everything is working right. GLP-1 helps to regulate your appetite and helps create energy by utilizing stored glycogen (a form of stored fat). In this podcast we explore the pros and cons of Semaglutide so you can make an informed decision.
Listen in as we discuss:
- Pros and cons of taking Semaglutide
- The concerning effects of getting off the drug
- Breaking down the study that “supports” the drug and how the study didn’t include women with PCOS
- The importance of informed consent
- Natural ways to encourage your body to regulate your appetite to lose weight
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:Resources mentioned:Other PCOS Diva podcasts with Dr. Gersh:
PCOS Diva Podcast #178: What you need to know about PCOS and menopause
PCOS Diva Podcast #144: PCOS S.O.S. – A New Guide to PCOS
PCOS Diva Podcast #115: 3 Changes to make before trying to conceive
JAMA Study:
Semaglutide study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
Dr. Gersh’s Books:
Menopause: 50 Things You Need to Know
PCOS S.O.S
PCOS SOS Fertility Fast Track: The 12-week plan to optimize your chances of a successful pregnancy and a healthy baby
Connect with Dr. Gersh:
Integrative Medical Group
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Dr. Gersh is the medical director of the Integrative Medical Group of Irvine, and is board-certified in Integrative Medicine and OB-GYN. She is a globally-renowned expert in women’s health and complex disease management. Her focus is on understanding women’s innate physical and emotional make-up. Through her research and practical experience, she has come to understand that women have internal, natural rhythms that are absolutely essential to female health. These rhythms are controlled by hormones, particularly estrogen, and may be kept in balance through both conventional and holistic treatments.
The post 188 – MAGIC PILL FOR WEIGHT LOSS AND PCOS? [PODCAST WITH DR. FELICE GERSH] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“The more energy we put into a positive emotion, the bigger it grows.” On today’s podcast, I talk with Monique Rhodes, she is a master at teaching you how to...
The post 187- How to find happiness in the current moment [with Monique Rhodes] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“That was such a big aha moment for me because I thought I tried everything. What is this sugar? Why is my skin not reacting to it? I look and...
The post 186- The ancient art of sugaring for hair removal appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“When I looked at the studies to try to find out how Vitex was raising LH, what I actually found was that it’s lowering LH. And I also had to...
The post 185- Myths and Facts about Vitex; what you need to know if you have PCOS appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Why would we choose happiness for our children if we didn’t think it was the greatest gift life has to offer and what we most want for ourselves? The purpose...
The post 184 – Be the Best You with Sherry Stirling Fernandez appeared first on PCOS Diva.
In today’s podcast, I talk with Dr. Jennifer Mayes about her fantastic healing success using the PCOS Diva Jumpstart program & Meal Plans. Jennifer is a Professor of English at...
The post 183- PCOS Diva Success Story with Dr. Jennifer Mayes appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Nutrition plays a significant role in managing PCOS. Research says that anywhere from 65 to 70 percent of individuals with PCOS are insulin resistant.” With Over 10 years of struggling...
The post 182- Global Spotlight: PCOS Club India appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Bringing uric acid levels down in women diagnosed with PCOS helps them to gain better control over their blood sugar, their blood pressure, and certainly their predilection for making increased...
The post 181- The Surprising Connection Between Uric Acid and PCOS appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Gut health isn’t a one size fits all approach. It’s individualized based on your gut, likes/dislikes, and nutrition science” – Jillian Smith Women with PCOS often struggle with gut issues...
The post 180- 3 Steps to Heal Your Gut appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Nutrition is complicated, but seed oil disrespect is easy.” – Dr. K In today’s podcast, I talk with Dr. K and Ashley, founders of the Seed Oil Rebellion. They are...
The post 179- The Inflammatory Effects of Toxic Seed & Vegetable Oils appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“We have to decide that health is a priority and we have to decide this at every stage of life, including Menopause. It takes work. We need to be ever...
The post 178- What you need to know about PCOS and Menopause appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“No matter how frustrated you are with your dental health, you are not stuck with the mouth you have. You’re not stuck with the gums you have. You’re not stuck...
The post 177- Oral Health as the Gateway to Total Inner Health appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Once you start to release the processed foods from your diet and start introducing healthier foods, your body chemistry actually changes, and your taste buds will respond to the foods...
The post 176- Eliminate Processed Foods & Eat for Life appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Shifting from hopelessness to hope is a choice. And like all choices which change our lives, it happens in a moment of decisiveness when we are ready to feel differently...
The post 175- PCOS Mindset: From Struggle to Hope appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“I started to honor how I was feeling in different phases of my cycle and adapt my yoga practice to support all these shifts that were happening day to day...
The post 174- Yoga & Cycle Tracking for Hormone Balance appeared first on PCOS Diva.
We take in these micro toxins that some strains of mold emit and we breathe them in through our nose and that information goes right to the brain. It goes...
The post 173- Could Toxic Mold be a Problem for You? appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“You are enough. You are not broken. And I am living, breathing proof that if a little girl from Gilbertsville, Kentucky can turn around a lifetime of chronic diagnosis, anybody...
The post 172- Six Commonsense Steps to Radical Healing appeared first on PCOS Diva.
If you can get your heart rhythm into a nice coherent, relaxed state, you can start doing that to the centers of your brain that deal with decision-making, pain, sleep, and...
The post 171- Overcome Anxiety with HeartMath appeared first on PCOS Diva.
With PCOS, there’s an increased risk of hypertension, high cholesterol, depression, anxiety, insulin resistance, diabetes, all things that can put us at risk for heart disease. So, I wanted to...
The post 170- THE LINK BETWEEN PCOS AND HEART DISEASE #HEART4PCOS ADVOCACY appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“To entice yourself to eat healthy in a simpler way, I encourage you to take effortless dishes and elevate them.” I speak with my friend and neighbor, Liz Barbour, in...
The post 169- Intermittent Fasting Tips and Healthy Cooking Shortcuts appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“When you’re on the PCOS journey, sometimes you feel like you should be doing it on your own, not understanding that actually it’s a full family approach that will really...
The post 168- Children and Healthy Eating: Easy, Cost & Time Effective Solutions appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Most people want to be witnessed in their pain. They don’t want it fixed.” – Michelle Chalfant So often with PCOS, doctors don’t prescribe the inner work that is absolutely...
The post 167- Transform Unconscious Wounds that Hold you Back appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Are you ready to be inspired by the courageous story of my former client Nafsheen Luhar? I know this podcast will open your heart and help you rediscover hope that...
The post 166- Transforming Adversity into Life Purpose appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Once you identify with being a highly sensitive person, things just open up in remarkable ways. From healing to learning how to heal, healing the way it works for you....
The post 165- The Revealing Connection Between PCOS and The Highly Sensitive Personality appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Dr. Renee Wellenstein is a double board-certified Ob/Gyn with over 20 years of experience. When she found herself struggling with deep burnout and found no solutions in traditional treatment, she began...
The post 164- Expert Advice to Boost Libido & Recover from Burnout appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“I can tell you exactly what to eat and how much to sleep, and when to meditate, and all the supplements to take. But the first step to this process...
The post 163- The First Step to Fertility appeared first on PCOS Diva.
‘When we come together in person, or even virtually, everyone leaves feeling more empowered and supported. It’s like a big hug in the room.” – Sasha Ottey September is PCOS...
The post 162- PCOS Advocacy & Awareness Month 2021 appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Regulation of blood sugar levels is a critical factor in managing PCOS. I have long advocated for glucose monitoring, but new technology like continuous glucose monitoring is making it easier,...
The post 161- Modernizing Blood Glucose Monitoring for PCOS appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Healthy hedonism is balancing the things that nourish your body with the things that feed your spirit, remembering those things and leaning into them.” – Phoebe Lapine Phoebe Lapine is...
The post 160- Is SIBO Causing Your Gut Issues? appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Hair loss will take a lot from you if you allow it to. Although it doesn’t always feel like a choice, we do have choices to make. We have choices...
The post 159- PCOS & Hair Loss: Managing the Physical & Emotional appeared first on PCOS Diva.
Dr. Heather Seay is a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine who has been in practice for 12 years. She is also a fellow of the American Board of Oriental...
The post 158- Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine for Fertility appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“It’s truly frightening how often we’re pushed to rely on drugs and surgery for problems that can be resolved with dietary changes, mind/body support, and natural medicines including targeted nutrients...
The post 157- Manage PCOS Naturally [Podcast with Dr. Aviva Romm] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“There is a time for pharmaceuticals and there is a time for bioidentical hormones. Do all women need them? No. Do we deserve to see if we can get to...
The post 156- Natural Perimenopause & Menopause Solutions appeared first on PCOS Diva.
We all know women in that age group, into menopause, after perimenopause, where they just get a lot of stuff done. They’re running volunteer organizations, doing a PhD, or traveling...
The post 155- Hormone Repair- Menopause Edition appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Too often your voice has been drowned out by the hostile cross-examining lawyer that exists in your mind, constantly telling you that you are not good enough, pretty enough, capable...
The post 154- The Betty Body, a Geeky Goddess’ Guide to Balanced Hormones, Intuitive Eating & Transformative Sex appeared first on PCOS Diva.
At the heart of the PCOS Diva philosophy, we are striving for connection to our bodies rather than control over them. Today’s podcast guest Emily Francis and I agree that...
The post 153- Connecting Your Emotions to Overall Health appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Among all of the different hormonal imbalances I had, estrogen dominance was one of the easiest to reverse.” – Magdalena Wszelaki Do you have symptoms of estrogen dominance? A better...
The post 152- Naturally Resolve Your Estrogen Dominance appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“If you can fix your lifestyle to some degree and move in a cleaner direction across the board, sleep, stress, clean eating, clean drinking water, that kind of thing, you...
The post 151- Your Practical Guide to Dodging Environmental Toxins appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“In the case of acne, key nutrients can work to reduce inflammation, stabilize hormones, and repair damage to your skin cells, thus healing scar tissue. When you allow your diet...
The post 150- It’s Not Just Acne- Getting to the Root of PCOS Acne appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“I don’t believe in magic bullets, but I do think that because of essential oils’ ability to get into our system through inhalation and topical application, they can be a...
The post 149- Using Essential Oils for PCOS Relief appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“The problem is a lot of people who have PCOS are brainwashed into thinking you have to be on a low carb diet. You end up having tons of protein...
The post 148- Vegetarian or Vegan Diet for PCOS? appeared first on PCOS Diva.
If you have Epstein-Barr virus, you have so many tools at your disposal, and there’s not something wrong with you. When you provide the body what it needs, it will...
The post 147- Is Epstein-Barr Virus the Root of Your Symptoms? with Dr. Kasia Kines appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“I was looking for the perfect pill, the perfect doctor, the perfect diet, the perfect solution. And I was looking for someone else to be the grownup in the room, someone else to be the hero who was going to save me, someone else who’s going to be a better friend to me. And … I realized I am the one, I am the one who’s going to save me from this.” – Stacey Robbins
Stacey Robbins is an inspiration. I love her sense of humor and sage approach to illness, healing, aging, and life in general. She encourages us to use every circumstance, including a diagnosis, to transform our victim mindset, rediscover our sense of humor, and learn to love ourselves again. Listen in (or read the transcript) as we discuss her journey through PCOS and Hashimoto’s, extreme weight gain and loss, healing, and finding the path to loving herself. Many of us will find commonality with her as she describes how it took her diagnosis to convince her to listen to her body, seize the opportunity, and heal from the soul out. No matter where you are in your journey, you owe it to yourself to hear her wisdom about how to heal and truly thrive.
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on
[Complete Transcript Below]
Mentioned in this podcast: * You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone * An Unconventional Life: Where Messes and Magic Collide * Staceyrobbins.com * Staceyrobbinscoaching.com * Stacey Robbins on Instagram * Stacey Robbins on Facebook
The post 146- The Opportunity in Your Diagnosis [Podcast with Stacey Robbins] appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“As women with PCOS, we want to be empowered with choices and not just take prescriptions without really understanding why we’re taking them.” – Dr. Rashmi Kudesia
If you Google “PCOS” you may or may not connect with the first set of symptoms described. PCOS is experienced in many ways. This has led the PCOS community to begin to describe “types” or phenotypes of PCOS. I asked renowned reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Rashmi Kudesia to help us make sense of the types of PCOS which are being discussed and the relative pros and cons of labeling the differences. Listen in (or read the transcript) as we discuss:
- Getting the right diagnosis & conditions which mimic PCOS
- Types of PCOS and what makes each unique
- Why your PCOS type may change over time
- The critical reason to understand and track your cycle whether or not you are TTC
- Why there is so much hope for women with PCOS
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on Mentioned in this podcast: * Improving Quality of Life with PCOS [Podcast with Dr. Rashmi Kudesia] * The Period Repair Manual by Dr. Lara Briden. * PCOS & Ovulation: The How and Why [Podcast with Dr. Lara Briden] * PCOS and Genetics [Podcast with Dr. Andrea Dunaif] * Dr. Kudesia on Instagram (@rkudesia) and on Facebook (@rkudesia)
The post 145- Should You Know Your PCOS Type? appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“People take control of their health by understanding the process that’s going on in their body and how to repair it and get back to a state of metabolic homeostasis where things are aligned with the way nature intended.” – Dr. Felice Gersh
Dr. Felice Gersh is a double board certified, ground-breaking thought leader in the field of PCOS. She returns to the PCOS Diva podcast to discuss taking control of your lifestyle before trying to get pregnant for the sake of the mother’s pre and postnatal health, ease of conception, and future health of the child. As Dr. Gersh explains, “If an unhealthy woman somehow achieves pregnancy through luck or through different techniques and gets through that pregnancy, that child is more likely to have a whole slew of issues; whether it’s ADHD or even increased risk of autism, or things like metabolic syndromes, diabetes and weight gain at younger ages, cardiometabolic issues, and mood problems.” Listen in (or read the transcript) as we discuss:
- The food you should include in your diet every day
- The critical factor of circadian rhythm
- How timed eating may help
- The brain/gut/inflammation connection and how to make it work better
- Benefits of aromatherapy
- The dark side of alcohol
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on
Mentioned in this podcast:
- Integrative Medical Group of Irvine
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Dr. Gersh’s Books: PCOS SOS & PCOS SOS Fertility Fast Track
-
PCOS SOS [Podcast with Dr. Felice Gersh]
- Article about Circadian Rhythm by Dr. Gersh: Resetting Your Clock Series Part 1: Circadian Rhythm
- Article by Dr. Gersh about PCOS & Inflammation: PCOS and Inflammation: Transform from Inflamed to Tamed
- Essential Oils for PCOS Mini-course
The post 144- 3 Health Changes to Make Before Trying to Conceive appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“Exercise doesn’t have to look the way that you’ve read about in the fitness magazines, from the gym or workout video, or from a personal trainer. Just ask yourself these questions, “What movement would best for me right now? What would be fun? What would be enjoyable? What would ignite some movement within me from the inside?”
–Jenni Hulburt
You know how sometimes your mind wants to go, but your body says no? Jenni Hulbert is a holistic fitness specialist, and she helps women “live and sweat in sync with nature.” I love this more intuitive and mindful approach to exercise, movement, and fitness. Exercise doesn’t have to be about training harder, causing stress, overtaxing our system, and creating more problems. Jenni encourages tracking your natural ebbs and flows, whether it is syncing with your menstrual cycle or other natural rhythms. Learning when your body wants to move-it and when it needs rest can be the key to long-lasting habits. Listen in or read the transcript to learn more about how to pair movement with your natural cycles and get the results you are looking for.
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on Mentioned in this podcast: * Jennihulburt.com * WILD Cyclical Body Quick Guide * WILD Wellness Podcast * Workout Without Burnout Blueprint
The post 142 – Maximize Fitness: Pairing Movement with Your Natural Cycles appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“You are not defined by your fertility. That’s not a talent. That’s not anything that you’ve done. It’s like bragging that your right-handed… You’re defined by what type of person you are and how you contribute to this world and make it a better place… There is a lot of opportunity in life to find fulfillment and if, God forbid, it doesn’t happen the way that you originally wanted, there are things that you can do.”
– Dr. Mark Trolice, M.D.
The journey from infertility to fertility can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining. Dr. Mark Trolice, M.D. is the kind of knowledgeable and supportive doctor we all need. Double board certified in both OB/GYN and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, he shares the wisdom he has gained in his years of research and practice with compassion and a gift for clearly communicating options. Listen in (or read the transcript) as we discuss:
- The 4 issues that can impact your fertility
- Managing the emotional toll
- Possible impact of endocrine disruptors, caffeine, hot tubs, saunas, and cell phones
- Things your partner should consider
- The Type of doctor to see when you’ve been diagnosed with PCOS & you want to start trying to conceive
- Financing options for fertility treatments
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on Mentioned in this podcast: * Dr. Trolice’s book: The Fertility Doctor’s Guide to Overcoming Infertility * PCOS Diva Podcast # 118 – What You Need to Know About PCOS, Fertility, & Pregnancy with Dr. Trolice * Reproductivefacts.org * SART.org * Fertility CARE: The IVF Center
The post 141- PCOS & The Fertility Doctor’s Guide to Overcoming Infertility appeared first on PCOS Diva.
“The whole purpose of what I do is to not put you on a restrictive diet for the rest of your life. It’s to get you to live as normal life as possible. Feel the best that you can, eat as many foods as you can. But obviously we’re always going to want to keep foods that are going to cause inflammation out of your body, but some of the high histamine foods are really nutrient dense. I want you to be able to eat some of these foods again. That’s why we work on these underlying causes.” – Dr. Becky Campbell
Histamine intolerance is the root of many symptoms we write off as environmental allergies such as migraines and hives and flushing, vertigo, congestion or runny nose, low blood pressure, dizziness or lightheadedness, eczema, anxiety, menstrual irregularity, and diarrhea. Dr. Becky Campbell has a solution to determine if these symptoms are actually a function of your diet and how to fix it without eliminating otherwise healthy foods that you love. Listen in (or read the transcript) as we discuss:
- The symptoms of histamine intolerance
- The link between histamine intolerance & the development of autoimmune disorders
- High histamine foods
- Histamine v. food sensitivity
- How to manage histamine intolerance
All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on
Mentioned in This Podcast: * Previous podcast with Dr. Campbell: 7 Hidden Triggers That Are Keeping You Sick * The 30-Day Thyroid Reset Plan: Disarming the 7 Hidden Triggers That are Keeping You Sick * www.drbeckycampbell.com * The 4-Phase Histamine Reset Plan: Getting to the Root of Migraines, Eczema, Vertigo, Allergies and More * Dr. Campbell’s Histamine Guide * Hashimoto’s disease * PCOS Diva Private Facebook groups * Leaky Gut * Fatty Liver Disease * N-acetylcysteine * Castor oil packs
The post 140- Histamine Intolerance: Getting to the Root of Migraines, Eczema, Vertigo, Allergies and More appeared first on PCOS Diva.
