Does nutrition make a difference in breast cancer prevention, treatment, and recurrence? If so, what specific changes make the most difference? There are so many myths about breast cancer nutrition that I wanted to find out what's really true by talking with an oncology dietitian who specializes in breast cancer. I wanted to know... is it true that sugar feeds cancer? Do you have to go vegan after a breast cancer diagnosis? What about soy? And more... In this episode, I'm talking to Tamar Rothen...
Oct 25, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 47
If you're thinking about trying to conceive... why might you want to consider working with a doula? What's the difference between a doula and a midwife? Can you work with a doula if you're having a hospital birth? When should you reach out to a doula during pregnancy? I had these questions about working with a doula and more, and I suspect you do too! In this episode, I'm talking to Erika Watson-Lawson, who is not only a doula but a dietitian as well. In fact, she refers to herself as a Doula-Di...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 46
I wanted to do something a little different today and help you decide if enrolling in my PCOS course, The PCOS Root Cause Roadmap™, is the next best step for you at this time! The PCOS Root Cause Roadmap is my signature program that has already helped over 700 women with PCOS: Get regular periods Regain energy Banish cravings Have clearer skin and thicker hair Lose weight Get pregnant naturally and more... So in this episode, I walk you through why I created the course in the first place, who it...
Oct 12, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 45
A Breast Health Episode October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so it's a great time to think about breast health. What's normal, what's not, and what can you do to keep your breasts healthy all year long, not just during October! In this episode, I'm talking to Dr. Linsey Gold, a breast surgeon who is not only a practicing medical doctor but also shares her insights as a host on The Breast of Everything Podcast as well as on their Website. She is a Fellowship trained Breast Surgeon, has worke...
Oct 04, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 44
How do you know if all the changes you're making to manage your PCOS are actually working? How can you tell if your PCOS is actually improving? I got that question from a member of The Hormone Dietitian Community recently, and I thought you might want to hear my answer as well, so I dedicated this episode to answering how to know if PCOS symptoms are improving! PCOS is complex, and the symptoms can affect nearly every system in the body. And every case of PCOS is unique — different symptom prese...
Sep 27, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 43
An Infertility Advocacy Episode If you're struggling to get pregnant, are you public with your journey? Infertility advocacy is not easy, and it puts your private life in the public eye. But my guest today decided that the pros far outweighed the cons of sharing her journey to becoming a mother. As a result, she built a strong infertility community of people who understand the struggles where she shares others' stories and helpful resources. Wife, mom, women's health, and infertility advocate. M...
Sep 20, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Did you know that September is Interstitial Cystitis Awareness Month? Until a few years ago, I had never heard of interstitial cystitis (IC), even though it affects an estimated 4–8 million women in the US alone! Also referred to as bladder pain syndrome or painful bladder syndrome, symptoms can commonly include urinary urgency, frequency, and pelvic pain. With the causes and treatments not being well understood and with lack of awareness among even healthcare practitioners, having IC can be inc...
Sep 13, 2022•56 min•Season 1Ep. 41
A Nutrition Episode You KNOW you feel better when you take the time and energy to plan out healthy, balanced meals and snacks... but for whatever reason, you're just not making it happen regularly. Maybe you're too hungry by the time you get home from work to come up with a healthy dinner game plan... or maybe your fridge and pantry aren't stocked with the staples you need to be able to pull together a meal quickly. So you end up relying on takeout again. Or maybe you're in a mealtime rut or you...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Is there a connection between the recent overturn of Roe v Wade and fertility treatments? Unfortunately, the implications for women's healthcare and reproductive care are far-reaching beyond simply allowing states to ban abortion. And there are a lot of considerations that reproductive-aged women may be facing now that they hadn't before. And having a chronic condition like PCOS only complicates matters more. I've been fielding questions about what these changing laws mean when it comes to women...
Aug 30, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Cannabis is a hot topic in wellness these days, from CBD infused teas and kombuchas available at your local grocery store to gummies and tinctures. But there's more to cannabis than just CBD and THC — there are actually hundreds of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other active compounds found in hemp plants that can impact health. But what do they actually do and are they safe? Since I work mostly with women, I field a lot of questions about cannabis and women's health: Are there hormonal conditions ...
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 38
A Self Care Episode We know that self care is important, but adding self care to our never ending to do list can add more stress than it alleviates. And furthermore, the ideas about what self care looks like that are promoted on social media may not be accessible for all people. Luckily, taking care of ourselves doesn’t have to cost a lot (or any money) and it doesn’t have to take much time either – the important part is making it a consistent habit. Valerie Agyeman is a Women's Health Dietitian...
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 37
A Hair and Hormones Episode Hair is one of the first things people notice about us. And according to hair and nutrition expert Samaria Grandberry, hair is also a barometer of our inner health. Hair issues like thinning, loss, dryness, and breakage and scalp issues like seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis, and eczema are common. But what is the root cause of these hair and scalp issues? In this episode with RDN and Certified Trichologist Samaria Grandberry, we dive deep into root causes of hair issu...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 36
A Hormones and Mental Health Episode Why is it that so many women struggling with hormone imbalances also struggle with anxiety? Turns out that the root causes of anxiety overlap with the root causes of hormone imbalances... and having hormone imbalances can contribute to anxiety as well. From an integrative and functional perspective, anxiety is not a "diagnosis," per se... it's a SYMPTOM. And in order to identify the best approach to treating it, we have to uncover what the root causes of anxi...
Jun 28, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 35
We've talked about gut health and the connection between gut health and hormone health on this podcast. Gut imbalances and dysfunction is a common root cause of hormone issues, because if the gut isn't working right, your hormones won't be either. But the gut doesn't become imbalanced on its own. So in this episode, we're digging into some of the root causes of gut issues, and one specific gut issues that's more common than you might think: PARASITES. (Fair warning if you're squeamish!) In this ...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 34
A PMS & Period Pain Episode Should you take the pill for PMS? What about for period pain? Despite what you may have been told, there are more options out there than taking the pill. Furthermore, the pill doesn't *actually* address any of the underlying root causes of PMS or period pain. So in this episode, we're asking the million-dollar question - what other options are there besides the pill for PMS and period pain? I'm talking to Dr. Saru Bala, and educating women on options besides the p...
Jun 16, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 33
How fertile are you? This may not be something you're even thinking about unless you're planning to try to conceive. But my guest today wants to change that. Dr. Aimee is passionate about empowering and educating every woman about her egg health and how fertile she is... whether she's thinking about trying to conceive in the near future or not. With more and more people putting conception on the back burner while they focus on their careers or delay family building for other reasons, it's import...
Jun 07, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 32
What's the best diet for PCOS? Depends who you ask! You might see that you "have to" eat gluten- and dairy-free for PCOS. That you should eat low carb or keto. Does glycemic index matter? On the other hand you might see that you should give up all animal products and go 100% plant-based. You may even see that Intermittent Fasting is the secret key when it comes to managing insulin resistance and PCOS. Should you count calories? Macros? Anything? No wonder there's so much confusion! In this episo...
May 31, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Are you trying to get pregnant but not sure where the process is going wrong and why? Getting pregnant, staying pregnant, and having a healthy baby is complex and there are many places where this process can go awry. But to a functional fertility practitioner, these can all be clues to understanding what the underlying root causes affecting your fertility actually are. In this episode, I’m talking to a prominent fertility expert, Dr. Jaclyn Chasse Smeaton who is a licensed naturopathic physician...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Like most women’s health issues, endometriosis is complicated! It can take years to receive a proper diagnosis, we still don’t have a good understanding of the underlying causes and triggers, and conventional medicine treatment options are surgery or heavy duty medications. Fortunately nutrition and lifestyle can make a real difference in symptom intensity, but what diet is best for endometriosis? Today we're talking to fertility and endometriosis nutrition expert, Stefanie Valakas, APD, about e...
May 17, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Getting pregnant is just the first of many hurdles people with PCOS face. With higher risks for pregnancy complications and then unforeseen issues after pregnancy like difficulty breastfeeding, it may feel as if the universe is against you. But in this week's episode, we're tackling breastfeeding with PCOS, what complications may arise, and what to do about it. IS it true that people with PCOS have more issues with milk supply? Why is that and what can we do about it? What if you had gestational...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Did you know that your gut health impacts your hormones and vice versa? When it comes to gut and hormones, there are multiple ways they impact each other! We know that conditions like IBS and IBD are more common in people with hormone-driven conditions like PCOS and endometriosis, we know that menstrual cycles impact digestive symptoms, and we know that a healthy gut is necessary for proper estrogen elimination. We also know the gut impacts blood sugar balance and inflammation, nutrient absorpti...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Real quick - what's your stress level right now? Did you know that stress and burnout can wreak havoc on your hormones and fertility? In this episode, I'm talking to Callie Exas, a burnout & fertility dietitian about what burnout is, how to know if you're in it, and most importantly — how to heal from it. Callie has built her business around helping women heal from burnout to optimize their fertility. She's a NYC-area dietitian and personal trainer, who like me, takes a non-BS approach to nu...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 26
The journey to becoming a mother is not necessarily a straight path, even for those who have regular cycles. And often conventional fertility doctors don't have the answers and recommend jumping straight to IVF at the first sign of a problem. But my oldest, dearest friend was not taking no for an answer. This week I'm sharing a really special episode — an intimate chat with my bestie about her journey to becoming a mom. Heather Snyder Ippolito, 45, is the owner of The Graceful Body , a mother of...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 25
My clients come to me because they want to take control of their health and manage their symptoms. One of the most powerful ways my clients can do that is by getting to know our bodies' own unique rhythms. As a hormone dietitian that specializes in finding the root cause of my clients' symptoms, I recommend that my clients track their menstrual cycles and symptoms. One of the most accurate ways to track our menstrual cycles is by using basal body temperature tracking. However, the process can be...
Apr 12, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Many people come to a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist after they’ve tried getting pregnant or are currently pregnant. But the earlier in your fertility journey you can start working on nutrition, the better — I’ve never heard anyone who’s pregnant say they regretted working on their nutrition and lifestyle! So that’s where we’re starting. This week’s episode is for everyone out there who wants to start looking into nutrition and lifestyle recommendations for fertility, whether they’ve been try...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Struggling with infertility is the worst. And struggling with infertility while also having PCOS and Type 2 diabetes is a whole ‘nother ball game. But our guest, Stephanie, did not let her diagnoses get her down. She kept searching for answers even as she struggled to find access to care for her PCOS symptoms, trying all the diets and getting no results, and having all of the symptoms but none of the solutions. Unlike a lot of women with PCOS, Stephanie actually got pregnant pretty easily but ha...
Mar 29, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Infertility is a difficult situation for so many people. And more often than not, those struggling to conceive are not getting any real answers from conventional medicine. Receiving a diagnosis of unexplained infertility is essentially a medical dead-end and a big old shrug. And it’s incredibly frustrating to be told “we don’t know what’s wrong.” Many of my clients were told that IVF was their only option if they wanted to become parents. Well, it turns out that IVF is not your only option. An i...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 21
As a registered dietitian who specializes in helping women naturally overcome hormone imbalances, many clients come to me looking for answers for their fertility struggles. On top of the initial issue of struggling with infertility, there is a ton of misinformation online and even in doctor’s offices. Because of the conflicting and sometimes outdated information, it can be difficult for my clients to decipher which advice is useful, which isn’t, and which will work specifically for their needs. ...
Mar 15, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 20
As a registered dietitian, I get a lot of questions about how people can balance their hormones with over-the-counter supplements. But I only ever give one answer to that question: It depends. Plenty of “hormone-balancing” supplements can be helpful, and I do use and recommend them in my practice as needed (in specific, targeted, and usually short-term ways). However, many of the hormone-balancing supplements on the market are nothing but fancy marketing, not right for the condition they’re bein...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In functional medicine, we’re always seeking the root cause of symptoms. More times than not, imbalances in the gut are responsible for causing symptoms elsewhere in the body. If you think your gut health is “pretty good”... you might want to dig a little deeper. Your gut plays a major role in your overall health. Your gut health can affect not only your digestion and absorption, but also your hormones, your skin, your mood, and more. If you're having some hard times in the bathroom or are feeli...
Mar 01, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 18
