Wind Down with Janet Kramer and Imheart Radio podcast.
So obviously we're still in January. Do you guys like the whole New Year, New You thing?
Like?
Do you like when putin I couldn't even finish my sentence to get it out before we knew that one kit Cat came on?
What about new Year? Well? What about New Year, New you? Do you not like?
I just think there's a lot of pressure.
I like you, guys, I have a theory about this.
Are you ready? You're gonna like my way of doing life? Okay, January is not New Year, New You. It's just a new year, and you get all of January to figure out what are my goals and then you can start in February and it's the shortest month, so that feels cozy to but I feel like.
The February is also putting pressure on the February and then the rest of the year.
I think what Cat's point just said, Oh I know what you're saying. Okay, So no, I just think any like, I don't really do resolutions, Yeah, but I don't even like pressure on myself to even find a word or whatever anybody does.
Just January, just take a minute.
Yeah, I do think like I like like I like the like the feeling of like a starting over, like like the work. I really love it, like, Okay, what's the plan for this year? What's the Like it feels like a slow build usually for work, but like you can focus, Like I like that part of it, But I don't like the like what's your news resolution, what's your you know, and like I did do stuff lash January, but this January, you know what, I'm just kind of like not putting on a pressure on myself.
Because last January was it was prepping for the wedding, right yeah, like I'm going to do PMS program and just like I did because.
That's when it started, right, Yeah, it was like January eighth or something, which was fine, Like I think I handled that okay, But then I think what happened for this year because I did gain some weight back that I was like kind of putting that pressure on myself to do it again. Yeah you know what I mean. And I'm like, you know, I don't know that I really want that pressure on myself. Like I'm happy, I'm good. I don't know.
Do you weigh yourself?
Yeah?
How often do you weigh yourself.
I mean I weigh myself every day. You weigh every day, Like I've said, it is not a mental thing for me. Really, It truly is to keep up with Like I wouldn't know probably that I was gaining weight if I didn't.
Well, I think none of us were structured pants anymore, right, Exactly, there's no U.
And you're like, okay, like I'm getting a little you know, like I just always have. But when I was thirty pounds heavier, it truly didn't really affect me in like a mental weight where it does a lot of people.
So so like I mean, like when the number goes up or something you don't see, you say, that doesn't.
Affect you men?
Really no, So then I guess why do you weigh yourself every day just to like get nice thing?
That's like, I'm just like you really.
Kind of have it. I think from losing. It's more from when I was losing, I had to weigh myself every day to see if I was and that definitely helped me in the losing process. Yeah, but it's not like I get on the scale and see another number and then get you know, I'm like, hey, I should probably get that in check and do better. But like it doesn't really, but I know it does a lot of people, and I'm not a fan of that for a lot of people.
I'm one of those people.
Yeah, for sure, which one are you? Oh the number will effect me?
Oh it will.
It will mentally throw me so down the rabbit hole that I won't, like not eat if it's a number over like, I won't eat, I'll like do that whole thing. I mean, we've talked about this before, but it's it's a total mind Yeah for me, Yeah, I feel like.
Why I have to preface that by I do that. But for me, I have not found it to be an unhealthy habit, sure, whereas it can be a very unhealthy habit for a lot of people.
So for me now, because I know muscle is so good for me, and I've been I've weighed so much more than I do now because I had good muscle and I felt strong. Gosh, that was like I felt so hot in that moment. But I don't. It doesn't do that to me now, which is good. I would say I'm a good balance right in the middle. Right now, Well, that's got to be very like positive.
It feels good you know what I mean, Like, that's got to feel good to see your mental health kind of change around that.
That's so very cool.
But now it was weird because when I lost all the weight after the baby, it was because I lost the muscle because I couldn't work.
Out when I got so sad. Yeah, and that was weird. Sure, But then there are times where I will.
Get on this scale to get myself back in check. Yeah, because I have body dysmorphia in the way that I think it's so much more than it is.
And then I get on there and I'm like, Okay, Kristen, calm.
Down right, right, But it's just weird to gauge again because we're not wearing real clothes hardly ever, seriously, Like it's a weird.
I know, occasionally I put on my geens, I'm like, did they fit like this last time? I don't really remember.
No, But it's great because now you don't even remember.
It's actually Burvan.
It's like, I don't know, maybe they fit just like this, but it's been so long I can't.
I just want to be healthy. I think that that's my thing. Like I'm gonna like not stress about the number on the thing. I just want to be healthy. I want to get on my you know, all my levels good, all those things well.
And that is why we are doing this episode today. If you're hearing some noise in the background too, We've got our girl Nicole here and we're going to introduce her. She's going to put one more IVY and I was like, I just got an IVY because I'm like, oh, Nicole's on the rundown today. I was like, oh, I was like Ivy's girls. I get so excited. But you know, I think it's hard. I'm just gonna say this so and then we'll you know, we'll intro Nicole after she's poked kyb here.
But I how do I say this?
Because I don't want to discredit I don't want to discredit doctors because they have a very obviously important job and what they do is very important. But there's I think a different level of Uh. I don't want to say it's not science, it's a different level of really looking at blood work in a way that my doctor he would just draw the regular panel of vitamin D and iron. But I don't know, I've never truly gotten until last year, a full panel of all of my
levels checked because post Roman I was so screwed up. Yes, And I didn't even realize how messed up I was until I went to a place that and what do you how do you even like functional medical? Functional medicine.
Yeah, it's a good mix between like super western and Eastern.
And we'll have Nicole, you know, describe functional medicine. But it was eye opening to me because I didn't realize, I didn't realize how much I needed it.
Well, what's wild?
And she can go into depth with this when she's done sticking in them. What's wild is what is considered normal and what is considered Like, you're fine because your level's at a certain level, but in reality, like how they get those numbers and what what why they come up with those numbers is so crazy and vast that it doesn't apply to every single person.
Well, and that's the thing too, because they're they're they're reading it different. Yes, they're also going to go into depth right in a different level.
For me, the whole reason I went is not necessarily because I felt bad or you know, like I felt you know, It was more the whole like vitamin thing was so stressful to me. Yeah, there are so many you hear all these things? Do you take this?
Do you take that as I'm posting like fifteen supplements? But I'm like yeah, but I was actually also taking all those supplements down, and I'm like, is this too much?
Like is there actually a reverse?
You know?
Yeah?
And I'd look at it like, well I should get that, and I should I don't know. So I finally just went and I was like, what do I need?
Well?
Also, it's wild too, because even brands of vitamins matter, like you can't you know, like certain vitamins don't dilute well, like the quality of the caseine and encapsulation, like all of that matters too, And so then when you start digging into that, it gets really overwhelming.
I think, well, and that's why you are the one that actually maybe was the one that introduced me to Nicole and all functional medicine. And I honestly it's not that I didn't I guess. I just I'm like, well, why didn't why didn't our doctors tell us this? Like why didn't our doctors run these panels and go, oh, you are so low in X, Y and Z. But there's just a whole level of more depth and in functional medicine. So let's take a quick break and then
let's get Nicole on and dive right into it. Nicole, thank you so much for coming on the show. Last year, I came into your office and I was so embarrassed because I mean, she doesn't know me that well, not well enough, obviously, not even close to like you girls, even though she's you know, looking at my poop samples and everything that that, like you know, she's we've given her.
It gets intimate fast, Okay, it sure does.
But I just started like bawling because she's like and I'm like, i.
Don't even know why I'm crying.
I'm just like I'm not happy and I don't know.
And then she and I was like, I'm so sorry, and like, how many do people A lot of people just come in your office and cry.
Well, she's like, well, like you too.
I think krist and I have had like a weekly cry sash together for at least a couple of months now.
I'm like, a hey girl.
It was like, well, it's hard because you feel like I didn't know why I felt the way that I felt. I'm like, you know, I went to therapy and and she's telling me I'm not depressed. I'm like, then, why do I feel depressed? Why do I feel like I can't get out of bed? Why do I feel so tired? Why do I like feel just like brain foggy?
And you, you.
Know, you obviously said the things that you said, but I guess just go into what So take me, for example, take my case and talk about what we did and how you kind of got me on the other path and what you saw in my blood work and things like that.
Yeah, well, obviously you came to me super postpartum and you had a lot of hormone abnormalities because of that.
And I think you know, Kristin and.
I we've talked a good bit about this, but there is a stigma around postpartum care that the fatigue, the anxiety, the overwhelm is normal. And sure, certainly to a certain degree it is normal. But I think in women's health, especially, you go in and you try and talk to your doctor about these things, and they just shove you off quite a bit. They don't look at hormones the same
way we do in functional medicine. And you had quite a bit of hormone dysfunction and so correcting that and then also discovering that you had a heavy viral load that's been suppressing your immune system, suppressing your hormone function. So we're still working on that, but you know, detoxing that and essentially just getting your body back where it needs to be so you can fully function and produce hormones and feel good the way that you're supposed to be feeling.
So and then what was the EBV? So everyone has EBV, but what my case was a viral like I had a high? Like what like when you look at the blood work, what do you normally see in Is everybody's blood work different like obviously all three of ours are? Is all of ours so different? Or do you see something that's common thread within women's blood.
Work, Within women's blood work in general, definitely hormone dysfunction, especially in our age. You know, I'm thirty, y'all are in your forties. Thank you love testauster, sorry, we're all twenty one. Especially at this age, we see a huge decline in testosterone. And there is this kind of theory in society that as you age, you just start to feel really bad, and so people start to feel things like increased anxiety and fatigue and low libido and brain fog.
And they're like, oh, this is it. I've hit thirty five, I've hit forty. This is you know, this is what all the generations before me say. But that's actually the case. It's just because that's when our hormones start to decline. And so that's definitely the commonality I see amongst our age group. EBV should not be elevated in everybody. That is, you have that special, that special thing about you. But Epstein bar a lot of people get it from having mono.
But you know, when you talk about medicine, the thing that separates us is we can all come into contact with the same pathogen, the same exposure, but you have to be susceptible to be able to develop that and to be able to not overcome it. And I think that's where a lot of people get caught up, especially when it comes to like genetic predispositions. We all have stuff in our history that's lingering in the background that we're scared of that we're like, oh, my gosh, you
know my parents had this, my grandparents had this. I do not want to develop this, And that doesn't have to be the case, like your genetics do not define you. We are absolutely in control of the expression of our genes, which is what is epigenetics is we can turn our genes off and on if you have you will power and dedication to seek out the healthcare that you need, to seek out people who know what to look forward to make sure that you're setting yourself up for success in the future.
I just think that's such a refreshing statement because I remember the first time you told me, like my husband especially, is like, well, if you look at my you know, look at my dad, like because he doesn't come from like super athletic builds necessarily or like, you know, like he didn't. I come from a very stocky, sporty family,
Like all of them look like little tater tots. They grow muscles in their sleep, and they were always all athletic, and so I never like, my mom is really spunky and young and like you know, and so I have never felt that, like, oh, well, genetics will lead me to this. But I kind of was introduced to that when I met Preston Is He's like, well, you know, this runs my family or that runs my family whatever, And then he had Bell's palsy twice and functional medicine
was the only thing. The only people you and Nate the only people that would say this isn't in cure right. Everyone else is like, it's just bad luck. Even head of head.
Of neurology at Vanderbilt was like, bad luck.
Yeah, well, that leaves people feeling hopeless, and when you're hopeless, that's biblical. Even right, hope deferred makes a heart sick. But like losing hope in anything makes you so frustrated. So like when I sit down with you and you're like, what's wild? I do want to talk about this, because I think we all share this too. What's wild is that I'm like, I don't know why I feel like
the way I feel like I feel. Okay, I feel so satisfied with life and content whatever, but I was still feeling like I'm super anxious waking up at two or three in the morning. And Nicole is like calling it out. You're like, Okay, do you feel like this? Do you feel like this? Do you feel like this? And are you waking up between two and three in the morning? And I'm like, that's weird. How would you
even know that? And that's because tell us why women sometimes wake up between two and three in the morning.
Yeah, so very stereotypical. What we call a drenal fatigue. I refer to our adrenal glance, like our stress resiliency system. They produce two main hormones DHA, but also cordisol, which is our stress hormone. Cortisol is notorious for trying to peak at night when we want to sleep, and it has that inverse relationship with melatonin. So if it's peaking, melatonin's down and your body's like, oh, it's time to start the day, and you're like, wait a second, it's
two am. This is not how things are supposed to be, And then the opposite thing can happen. We can see it declined throughout the day, which means melotonin rises, which is why people oftentimes get that one to three pm afternoon fog. They tend to definitely go hand in hand. But cortisol abnormalities and adrenal fatigue comes from chronic stress,
chronic repetitive trauma. And it's not even necessarily that you're going through a lot of stress right here right now, Like you may be recovered from the stress previously, but your body carries that stress with you. We call it
the alastatic load. Your body literally hangs on to that trauma, and sometimes it has a really, really hard time getting back to baseline because we have to take some extra steps to be able to encourage it to be like, Hey, this is what you're supposed to be doing, this is how we're supposed to be operating.
What are some of the things that you know that you would tell people you know how to help with the crowning stress.
Yeah, so there's a few things lifestyle modifications that are free. These are the easiest ways to start.
Sunlight.
Direct sunlight first thing in the morning, ten to fifteen minutes, like immediately after you wake up, can absolutely change your life. It makes such a big difference other things that I find or people typically are electrolyte deficient when they have
adrenal fatigue. I have a little adrenal quote unquote cocktail that I like to recommend to people, which is like Maldarn's Real Salt or Maldron's Sea Salt or Redman's Real Salt combined with like a vitamin C component, like a tropical juice that you squeeze yourself and then like coconut water, for example, for potassium. So that's a little cocktail you can do in the morning. That's actually what I do.
I literally make that and then I sit outside and stare at the sunlight with my dog while he goes to the bathroom. So it makes it easy for me. But you can also do things at night. I'm a big, big advocate of red light therapy before bed to help lower our cord is all lower inflammation. Setting the tone for a good night's sleep, you know, avoid the blue light, avoid the TV, the cell phone, give yourself a nice, dark, quiet, old atmosphere. The body temp is supposed to decline in
the evening, so we want to encourage that. And then additionally things like meditation, deep breathing exercises and yoga.
I know, I can see you smiling.
I remember the first time I was like, listen, Jana, we have to implement these things, I know.
And I was, oh my god, She's just like.
I just mind yoga so boring. But Nicole did. She got me in this company and I'm obsessed with that's called loom Box.
It is.
It is a little pricey, but it's fantastic and it's red light therapy. So I've really been loving that. Actually I did it this morning though, but yes, well that's okay.
I mean I like it at night because it naturally helps to lower your cortisol levels. But certainly if you're only able to do it in the morning, like I will take that over not doing it at all. I know there's different supplements you can take too, you know, different like stress relieving supplements, Ashwagonda's really really popular, Holy Basils and other really popular ones. So, but taking I think the most important takeaway is that taking care of
yourself is the most important thing. I think as women were all givers, and especially you ladies with kids, like you're oftentimes the last person you're thinking about, and that plays a huge role in your ability to cope with stress.
I think it's really.
Underappreciated how self care is so important. It's so important, and I think as moms especially, it's easy to forget. You know, you're taking care of everyone else, so you have to have someone who's taking care of you as well.
I want to ask you one thing, because we are in the thick of January and a lot of places are cold and dark, so do the sun lamps work the same as like the Teminus sunlight because even here in Nashville we may get some unshine, which is like I think my only claim to fame still because it's getting too cold for my liking.
Yeah, I don't know why I'm here.
It's some place warm, but like is it, like do the sun lamps actually work? Like I know a lot of Michigan, like Jane and I are both from Michigan, and it gets really sad and it's really dark, yes and cold.
Mm hmm.
That's a great question because you're spot on, especially here in Nashville. You know, January's where we typically experience that first snow and like nobody's going outside to sit and stare at the sun, you know, in a couple of inches of snow or whatever. But the sunlight lamps are great, and I highly advocate for them when we're not in the ability to go out and get that direct sunlight. So because it's not always practical. The biggest thing we're
wanting is vitamin D two. So a lot of people will supplement with things like vitamin D three K two in the winner to help support that.
And then they have to have the K two in it, right, Yeah, something that's to know the vitamin D needs the K.
Two absolutely, yeah, So vitamin D K two is what helps us to actually absorb vitamin D. But even as we talk about like transitioning in life like Perry postmenopause, when you talk about your estrogen levels going down so you're starting to develop things like osteoporosis, you'll oftentimes hear that people are taking calcium supplements. But if you are not taking vitamin D with your calcium, you're not going
to absorb it well. And if you're not taking vitamin K with your D and your calcium, that calcium is actually going to go towards plaque build up, so atherosclerosis, which can lead to cardiovascular disease, versus being reabsorbed back into the bone where obviously we actually want it since we're trying to reduce things like osteoporosis, very very important.
So this is I get them a touch on this real fast. This is where I get very frustrated. So you don't work with children, right.
Not typically like I see kids from time to time, but I much more work.
I'm not trying to change a subject, but it has to do with the vitamin D. So when I took my fifteen year old boy and my almost thirteen year old girl to their regular pediatrician visits. The boy is supposed to be taking calcium, the girls are supposed to be taking vitamin D, and I'm like, is anyone going to mention anything else? So like, should they also be taking vitamin D plus K two?
Yeah?
So with pediatrics, like I said, adults are my specialty, but generally speaking yes, Yeah, generally speaking yes, and most children's vitamins, like the well rounded quality ones will also include that in there to a very small degree.
Yeah. That's just where I get frustrated, because now that I know that, I'm like, is anyone gonna tell me that?
But also with super frustrating, and I'm going to just go on top of this. I was sitting there talking to her about Nicole about vaccines, and I was struggling. I was like, listen, I'm going to give some and I'm some of them I'm having really tough time with and I just don't know. And she was, well, don't do tailan al. You know the one thing the damned doctor say before and after, make sure you give them
tilan all if be there before or after. And She's like do not give talan all because I say or after vaccines.
I mean, ever, if I had it my way, It's interesting. Research actually shows of all the medications in the world, tyland All is considered one of the most dangerous medications on the market.
It's yeah, I know, and especially to.
Follow that like post vaccine, I think what happens to a lot of people is, you know, in today's vaccine world, kids are getting a lot of vaccines at once, a ton, back to back to back to back. It's you know, there's a lot of things in vaccines outside of just this stuff that we want, a lot of metals and
whatnot that are used for preservative purposes. However, when you flood the body with a whole bunch of different heavy metals that are in these vaccines and then you give them thileanol, thileanol depletes glutathion, which is our master antioxidant, which is what protects us from things like heavy metal toxicity. Do you talk about kids who experience things like vaccine injuries? And this is a really really big reason why we see this. So yeah, post vaccine, no tileanol.
Because it takes away the gluteithion, or it not takes it away, but it blocks it enough.
It blocks it. Yeah, isn't that insane.
I'm like, I want to like go into my pediatric and pediatrician and be like, why are you telling me this?
Why are you telling all of this?
It's just so hard because I do believe in functional medicine obviously, but I also do believe in my kids going to the pediatrician and vaccines, and so it's just like this balance, but I don't feel like I'm getting all the correct and for it. It's just it overwhelms me. It completely overwhelms me.
You've been like, functional medicine to me has always been like the good balance for me because holistic medicine is beautiful and lovely and I've done that and it was effective ish, but there is I mean, listen, I'm sitting here with rods in my back, Like I believe in modern medicine and I believe in doctors and nurses and all of those things. I just also feel like it doesn't have to be all or nothing, and it felt
like there was nothing right in the middle. Yes, and so to sit with someone that has a brain like yours and say, like, you know, I don't want to be on zoloft postpartum, and I was in it while it was lovely and it helped me at the time mood wise, it also made me not super want to have sex that sucked because I really enjoy that, like sure, and it makes me feel like a girlfriend, and that makes you feel better postpartum, you know, like so to sit with you and say, like you can come off
of that. We have to be careful how we do it and slow, but like just all of those things where and I never want to throw any obs under the bus because quite honestly, I have like the cream of the crop.
I think she's brilliant.
That is what is suggested pretty quickly when you do the postpartum checklist and you score low.
Yeah, it's like, okay, we need to.
Look into something, and it is effective and helpful.
It is.
But also my body was a train wreck. I mean my first round of labs, it was like no testosterone at all, right, I mean like at a three.
Yeah, namesies, yes, I'm pretty sure y'all. Suveles couldn't even be read because they were so low. That's the lesson thereach.
I didn't but as a forty year old woman, you know, I didn't know that testosterone like we were supposed to. We even should have our testosterone taken. Like, so, I'm like when you when you were saying like I need testosterone shots, I'm like, what, Like, isn't that only for men?
Yeah?
I was so confused.
I mean, I did know that, but I had no idea when was that low though.
Yeah, I don't. I don't know that you're so shots anymore now.
But it wasn't really helped me. She was like, well, then don't do it.
And I was like, see, I noticed that I do notice the difference when when I don't do the shots. I really do, like my energy level is different and I feel and now that I'm taking the dhah, which what is DHA?
So that is the other hormone that comes from our adrenal glance. We're talking about adrenal fatigue. You know, people who have experienced lots of chronic stress, lots of previous trauma. You can see there's different varying levels. Yeah, Jack, check, there's varying levels of adrenal fatigue. And when that DHA level starts to go down, when it's low enough, I will supplement with it.
You mentioned this earlier where it's even if you're not in the PTSD chronic stress or trauma right in this moment, it still can be in your body. And I think that's something that I've taken to heart because when I'm like, well, everything's amazing, I'm getting you know, I was getting married and I have a beautiful baby, and you know, life is good and work is good, and it's like, why do I feel like this load? And You're like, well, it could still be in you from when your PTSD
or abusive relationships. And I'm like, what that's like. I didn't know how much that really affected the body present.
Oh yeah, one hundred percent. It affects you present day. And when you talk about hormones as a whole, I always try to explain it like think of it like a like a line, like your adrenals have to work for your thyroid to work. Your thyroid has to work for your sex hormones to work. So if you have hormone dysfunction at the very top, like with your adrenals, like what you're experience and saying that's going to give
you full body repercussions. And so I always start I'm always like, you know, treat the adrenals first and then go from there because oftentimes if you have that right dysfunction, it could come from that. Sex hormone dysfunction also comes from that, and so treating that in you especially is so important. But for everyone else out there, you know, it's all the hormones are connected. Our body is one giant system, which we're not trained to look at it
like that. Inconventional medicine. We're actually trained quite the opposite. And I can't tell you when I was in commisional medicine the number of times I was like, oh no, I don't treat that.
You have to see so and so.
Uh.
It is not until I went into functional medicine that I realized, like, oh wait a second, everything is actually related needs to be treated as such.
So what do you think is the biggest I don't want to say fad, but something where you know, obviously there's you know, the whole new year, new, this new thing, Like what is the thing that you look at and you're like, you know this this diet is is there a certain diet? They're like, don't do that? Or like what is or there is there a product? Or is there something? And they're something that you're seeing. That's like, it shouldn't be promoted the way that's being promoted.
Yeah, I think I have two answers to this.
With the diet, it feels like everyone goes carnivor Keto, which I'm not the biggest fan of. I think, you know, short term diets, any kind of diet is fine, but a lot of people hop on these diets and then they stay on them long term. And what's interesting about both of them is typically the people you'll see that hop on these diet trends are, you know, people who have quite significant weight to lose or they have dealt
with things like insulin resistance. Do they lose weight, yes, But if you already have something like metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance, the likelihood is that you already have things like high cholesterol, plaque build up, possibly leaning towards that cardiovascular disease state. And when you do something like the carnivor diet, you lose all your phyto nutrients. Most people are not eating like a colorful plate of fruits and veggies.
When you do something like keto, same concept, your fats go sky high because you're going low carb. Both of these can have really negative repercussions in people who are probably already experiencing some of this from having insulin resistance and being overweight or obese to begin with. So I always like to tell people well rounded is the way
to go. I mean, I think we've all probably heard of the Mediterranean diet, but getting things like anti inflammatory diet yep, whole whole grains, omega three fatty acids like these are some of the best things you can do for weight. It's fine to go a little lower carb and higher fat, but it shouldn't be an all or
nothing scenario. And I definitely see time and time again people who've been on these diets for a long time, they actually end up having kind of long term repercussions to their health, things like plaque build up and being at a higher increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Down the line.
What do you think about alcohol?
So there is a lot of research to say that red wine does have its heart health benefits, and red wine is actually recommended in the Mediterranean diet. So I think everything in moderation.
What would you say is like a moderate like to have a glass of wine, Like, what would you say is a moderate level or for a week or a month.
Recommended for a week, probably like one to two glasses a week.
Wanted to Yes, I have a question when it comes to like seafood, because Mediterranean diet is glorious and beautiful. Yes, we also live in the United States, Yes, and we specifically live here right in the middle where they're like, yeah, super landlocked and no.
Fresh Like where what is our best way to get.
Things like like I can eat salmon now mcause I know it's good for me, yes, but also if you're eating not good meat, yes, it's not good for you. So if you're not eating great seafood, you might as well just not eat it at all.
That's fair.
Yeah, So where do we go?
Yeah?
And so I think is there a site that you order that you like?
So that's a good question. I still pick up my seafood here locally. I'm actually, truthfully, I'm not a huge seafood eater. I forced myself to eat salmon a few times a week because I know it's good for me, but it's not not my jam lean proteins. The other way to go chicken and turkey, And I think the thing that we can look for and this is accessible to anybody depending on where you're located.
Is you just want to find someone.
Who locally produces their meat essentially grass fed, pasture raised. That's the most important things you can look for. There are some like smaller markets even here locally in Nashville that will sell things like this, like your farmer's markets and whatnot. But typically, you know, in different communities, you can ask around and there's usually places or farmers who will sell. There's also lots of Facebook pages for this.
I'm a member of multiple different Facebook pages like Frenchy Moms of Tennessee or something like that, who they constantly have like people who can produce this stuff and will sell it to the general community. So going back to the salmon, just so I can also say this too, I think there's you know, you hear fresh never frozen, and you always want that to be the direction that you go. But a lot of the live bacteria that
live in salmon die when you freeze it. Though it's not always the worst thing if your salmon's frozen to begin with.
Okay, great, Going back to women's health and in forties, obviously testosterone in hormones. Was there anything else that we should be of concern as we age and go into perimont and pause or anything else that we should go. Okay, we're in our forties now, this is something we should really look out for.
Yeah.
I think when we enter our thirties and forties, that's when kind of lifestyle things that we've done for a long time really start to come into play. And you also had asked me earlier about trending supplements, like.
Don't look at my Starbucks cup? Okay, I like, like, I like I saw her to stare at it. I'm like, I'm not giving up my Chi tea.
Yet. We can only do so much one thing at a time, one thing.
At a time.
Yes, my husband jokes that that is my crutch too. So I live an eighty twenty lifestyle. Eighty percent of the time I do very well. Twenty percent of the time. I drink Starbucks.
Okay.
But yeah, I think when we start to enter thirties and forties, the lifestyle things that we've had, like our childhood in teen years is when you really start to see those things come to light. So gut dysfunction is huge here and I hear it all the time. It's like, oh, I've been fine for all these years, and then suddenly I'm just getting bloated randomly, or I'm constipated or diarrhea
or whatever. And it's typically because things from our childhood are really starting to like affect us, like multiple rounds of childhood antibiotics, for example.
Or the cherries that we would just eat from, like the Marciano cherries.
That yes, they're really just a vehicle to get sugar straight to your bloodstream.
I was always.
Popping them by the bartender that like is so I never liked them. I was the olive girl. But it's something you.
Would do the olive girls. So yes, all right, sorry, I go back to what you're saying. No, you're totally fine. But yeah, I think gut health is the other big one, and it's important for so many things. Not only do you really start to see dysfunction in the thirty thirties and forties, but gut health is kind of that gateway
to develop things like chronic disease. And so I think we've all heard the term leaky gut like over and over again, which is literally what it sounds like, like your cells aren't as close together anymore due to toxins, antibiotic stress, YadA YadA, all that good stuff, and so different things that we eat or pathogens we come into contact to you can start to enter into our body in places it's not meant to be, and then our body builds up antibodies, and that's when we see things
like autoimmune conditions develop food sensitivities. Like I think y'all both done the food sensitivity test and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm allergic to like eighty different things. Now it's just because we have a leaky gut, So our gut is like I need to produce antibodies to these things that I wouldn't normally. There's also a lot of theories out there that this is also kind of the developing of the epigenetic changes in the development of things
like cancer. And so, to answer your question from earlier when you were like, are there supplements out there that you feel like are trending? All those websites that are like, if you just buy this one gut health supplement, you're life life will be changed.
Will it help you? Sure?
I mean a lot of them do have good ingredients in there, but you're not actually fixing anything. You're kind of just adding a layer of like probiotics, which is great, and some gut health support, so your symptoms are minimized, but what caused it to begin with is actually still probably not being treated.
So okay, is there something somebody can do that's listening that doesn't have you besides this podcast.
Or a functional medicine place in their area?
Like, is there like a protocol that you could in this Maybe a no, that's okay, but like if is there like a general protocol you could say would be helping people get towards like healing from leaky gut or I have a leaky gut a fence right now because I have a leaky gut.
We have determined Yes, but also.
Like you know their overall too, like is it going to you know, lab blood draw and then having someone be able to read Like how does someone even do that? And I also know it can be expensive too, so what's the Is there a company that you know can be a little bit better with the pricing on things?
Yeah, So when it comes to really figuring out exactly what's going on in the gut, it does generally require some comprehensive stool testing, but that being said, I definitely have patients who are like, like you said, it's a pricey test. So I'm like, you know, they're like, listen, I can't afford this, So what can I do? So
there are some good rules of thumb. There is a protocol that I use and I'm happy to share that you can kind of just do your best to follow with what you know, even if you don't have the resources to be able to get like that full fledged gut program. So it's something I learned from the Institute of Functional Medicine. It's called the five R gut program. So Step ones remove You want to remove anything that
you have. Food sensitivities too. If every time that you eat gluten you get bloated, you're going to want to remove that. You want to remove toxins. You want to move alcohol certainly if you do, like you know, vaping or anything like that, anything harmful to the body, we want to just get rid of that. And then when we move on to step two, we're really replacing. So what is it about the digestive process that's not functioning? This is where have that advanced testing can come into
hand and come and be useful. But you know, If you have acid reflex, you probably have low stomach acid. If you have batty looking floating stools that are weird colors, your gallbladder's probably sluggish. If you have undigested food in your stool, it's probably low pancreatic enzymes. So you want to take digestive enzymes or whatever's appropriate for you. And that's the replace. You move on to reinoculate your probotics, your probiotics. Then you move on to repair. That's where
you're really repairing the leaky gut. Things like el glutamine and alivera can be so helpful for this. And then last, but not least, is the rebalanced component, which just means, however you ended up here, whether it's stress, toxins, anabiotic use.
Avoid that.
So reset your life to make sure that you can be successful in the future. That's a guideline I give to my patients and it works really well whether or not you have the gut test. The gut test really is just very specific. So I'm like, oh, you need this probiotic strain or you know whatever.
Yeah, because I know from doing the bestual tests, like we have a certain probotic now that I have to go on, which is so fascinating, Like, depending on which strain it is that you need, is crazy supplement wise that you love. I know we've talked about armor, which again is it's a very it's a pricey supplement. But I'm telling you, I just like and I don't even do.
I did one ad for them, but I haven't since, but i've that's how I found them, and I just I always say that's the reason why I wasn't sick for my wedding, because I just was like taken that closterrum. But like, I don't even really know what it is or how or why I like it so much. I'm fatty fifteen. But what else do you recommend?
Yes?
Too, love armor, It's awesome.
Armor plays a big, really big role in the like immune system function of our gut, so that's probably why it was so beneficial for you in terms of not getting sick.
What I guess what is the closterum is? Like from I thought it was like parents your boobies.
Yep. Essentially, Yeah, you're spot on.
Yeah, it is super super nutrient dense. It just contains a lot of very very healthy, essentially composeonents that are you know you were spot on.
That's the first.
Thing that you introduce to the baby, like red after birth when it comes from Yeah.
Yeah, hopefully hopefully that's the first.
Thing back to them postpartum loop.
Okay, it's because it's so nutrient dense and it boost it boots up their immune system tremendously, So it really is beneficial in that sense for like overall health, and that's why people see so much dramatic improvement with things like Armora claustrum. You said fatty fifteen, love fatty fifteen. It's an essential fatty acid that's a little challenging to get through food, but it is considered the best fatty acid for anti aging and metabolic health. So it makes
a really really big difference in that front. Outside of those two in terms of name brands, I have companies I really like, but I just have general supplements I recommend to people. Almost all of us are deficient in vitamin D. We talked about this a little bit earlier. Vitamin D three K two is huge. This is a fat soluble vitamin, so you do want to have your levels checked. But conventional meta and says thirty to one hundred is normal. But you actually will not form adequate
memories if it's less than fifty. And so anyone who tells you your levels are normal than less than fifty, I personally would recommend a little bit higher and.
A different doctor and a different doctor.
Yeah. Well, and in all fairness, you know that's how we were trained initially from the get go. But essential fatty acids in general, like your omega threes are so important as an anti inflammatory, boosting immune health. You know, salmon is a really good place to get this, but extra virgin olive oil that is pure is also a really great way, as long as it's raw, not used in cooking because that defeats the health benefits. And then magnesium is the other one that I recommend. So many
people are deficient in magnesium. It's one of the top things that people are deficient in when you talk about anxiety, immune health, adrenal support. Just making sure you know it's how we absorb vitamin D. It is so so crucial. I also love to recommend people do like magnesium salt soaks, like when you're pmsing rate for muscle health. So it can be a really big game changer too.
One I've looked two more questions. I have an ultrasound later today because I keep getting fibroids and sis.
Why does that happen in women? Is it hormone related.
Or yeah, So fibroids and endometriosis, I kind of categorize them together because they form from the same problem, which is estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance is not that your estrogen's crazy high, but that in relationship to progesterone, the ratio is off, so you have way more estrogen than progesterone. And this is also a really big reason why women sometimes will struggle with infertility is low progesterone. You have to have a certain amount of progesterone to sustain pregnancy.
But what happens with endometriosis in fibroids is that that estrogen rich environment allows these estrogenic related conditions to develop. So that's where you get things like fibroids, and then
even indometrios is specifically, it's such a vicious cycle. Endometrial tissue also secretes estrogen, so you get a patient who's estrogen dominant with indimetrial lesions, you do everything you can to fix their estrogen dominance, but you're really fighting an uphill battle because it's also secreting estrogen, so it can be a really challenging thing to get on top of for sure.
Can I ask you a personal question? Oh yeah, about fertility?
One hundred percent?
Okay, we've chatted in obviously the room you've been trying How long have you been trying to have a baby?
About three years? Yeah?
Is it hard for you to know what you know and then to feel helpless not to be able to be like, like, you know all the ins and outs of medicine and you know how to help so many people. Is it hard for you to go why? Like how can I not? Like what can I do? Or why am I not doing this? And like what can you
say those people? Because a lot of people listening also have in fertility issues and so what are you doing to control also that, because that's got to be really hard, Like you know everything, so it's like why then why can you not be pregnant?
You know?
And I'm also like why can't she? Because I'm like she knows everything I know? Yeah, so uh in here just kind but I just want to.
Found out now I'm happy to talk about it.
And here was your switch to functional mines.
This is the whole reason. Yeah, this is why I got into it. So the first time I had surgery on my reproductive organs, I was in the seventh grade. And that's when I was diagnosed with indometriosis. After so many doctors telling me I was crazy, they told my parents I needed to see a psychiatrist like all these things, and all that was really happening is that I had into matriosis. After that is when I found out I
had uterin fibroids. So it's really just kind of been a downhill slope for my reproductive health since like middle school, and it was not that long ago. I guess it was the end of twenty twenty one, and I distinctly remember talking to my doctor. My husband and I were getting ready to do things like IUI so we could try for you know, pregnancy, and I was like, what can I do? There has to be something I can do, Like how can I support my body to just stop
this from just getting worse? And she literally just said nothing. She was like, maybe IVF, and not that I'm opposed to IVF whatsoever, but you know, I'd love to try other things first if that's possible, And that's exactly right. That's how I got into functional medicine. I went home literally that day and I just went to Google, and I was like, what can I do for this? I found the Institute of Functional Medicine. I found a ton of resources. I learned that high dose spidamin D can
suppress things like uterine fibroids. I found out about estrogen dominance. Realized I'd been suffering from estrogen dominance my entire life and the only thing that they had done for me was put me on birth control, which, so we're on the same page, puts our hormones in a state of menopause.
So I've been in menopause.
My hormones had because I didn't have a cycle for sixteen years because I was on continuous birth control. Wow, And all my doctors were like, yeah, it's fine, because it's controlling your endometriosis.
That is not fine.
You have to ovulate, you have to have a cycle. That is what's normal, and that is how the body is supposed to function. And so through all this I discovered, Wow, like I there is so much more opportunity here. I think for me personally, I'm backtracking quite a bit. I also have a ton of scar tissue. So I've been working with some other doctors like acupuncture and whatnot to try and really get away from that as much as possible. And I think that's my biggest issue, is like my
literal ability to implant. The inside of my uterus is full of scar tissue unfortunately, so there's just not a lot of viable tissue.
But have you got that scraped out because I had scar tissue that had to be scraped out.
Well the last time I did in twenty twenty one. Yeah, but I'm honestly probably do. But yeah, I think the biggest thing is if you have things like horrendous PMS symptoms or PCOS or whatever. First of all, birth control is not the answer. But second of all, that is just not normal. Like PMS is not normal. That is a sign that you have estrogen dominance, super heavy bleeding, crazy cramping, feeling like you just you know, mood swings are all over the place. That is just not how
it's supposed to be. And instead of suppressing it with birth control, the best thing we can do is figure out how to get on top of it.
If you can get on top of it, you don't have to go through what I've gone through. I spent years being cut open and my hormone suppressed, thinking that was the way, and it was actually opposite and has significantly reduced my odds for fertility as I sit here at thirty.
So what are your percentages of fertility now?
So when they told me in twenty twenty one, they told me maybe like a thirty to forty percent chance. Says, I have pretty extensive endometriosis, Like it's on my bowl and it's like in my bladder and all that kind of stuff. But that's also because this entire time, I could have been doing stuff to get rid of my
estrogen dominance, and I just had no idea. Like I had no idea that the plastic I was eating out of every single day was giving me plastic toxicity, or that my teflon pans were giving me heavy metal toxicity, or that how I was choosing to eat and support my body nutritionally, like not consuming progesterone rich foods for example. Like, I just had no idea all the stuff I could be doing. And if you're able to catch it on the front end, I think you can save yourself a lot of trouble.
Well, that's why, So would you recommend? Because again, I have a thirteen year old daughter middle school, you know, started her period a couple you know, that's scary to think about, Like you don't go to the doctor, you don't have these things checked at this age, right, it's not until you know, a friend of hers could barely get out of bed that she finally was like you have to take all her labs, like something is not right here to figure out that her iron was extremely low,
her vitamin D was dangerously low.
You know.
So it's like, what can people do? And I know, you know, we all want as moms to get healthy, but we also are moms who have to think about our girls, Like that's terrifying to think all this started at that age. Yeah, and how do we prevent that for our daughters?
Yeah?
Absolutely. I was placed on birth control when I was twelve, and it's definitely.
Not because I was sexually I have so many friends that are like, when they're fifteen, they're getting on birth control, and I'm like, no, yeah, please don't do it.
It's so detrimental to hormones. So what you can do. We've talked a little bit about it. But I think when it comes to estrogen dominance, specifically talks and exposure is huge in the world that we live in today. You have to go out of your way to really accomplish this. You have to find the glass containers for food storage. You know, Stanley's in the similar are really popular right now. You need to find brands that are
not rich in things like heavy metals. You need to encourage them and this is something I was terrible about growing up. But you need to encourage them to have a well rounded diet, Like a lot of the stuff that we talked about earlier is so important. I always talk about the phido nutrient spectrum, which just means the more colorful the fruits and the vegetables, the more nutrient dense they are. You just want to have like the rainbow on your plate. And that's a really, really good
way to support it. The other things that you can do is check out their stress. How are they coping with stress. I don't know about y'all, but when I went to school, it wasn't a great time. I had a stressful school experience for sure. Lots of bullying, you know, lots of things that we deal with as women lots of mean girl scenarios, and I think that played a really really big role in my mental health. And kind of like we talked about earlier, it can affect kids too.
Those adrenals affect the thyroid, affect the sex hormones. You see girls, teenage girls in today's world get heavily affected by stuff like that and it really puts their mental state in a negative mindset, which can also perpetuate the estrogen dominance.
Yeah, well, Nicole, thank you so much for sharing your story. It's obviously heartbreaking how you got into functional medicine, but thank you for what you do because you're helping a lot of people. Where can our listeners find you if they have questions, like tell us, tell us all that.
Yeah, I think the best place to find me is through Instagram, So that's primarily my social media. My Instagram is Nicole Stroup, which is st r p NP for Nurse Practitioner, and any updates I have through my workplace will always be through there and definitely the best way to get in contact with me and schedule an appointment.
Awesome, Thank you Nicole so much.
Thank you.
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