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Welcome to Wise Health for Women Radio with Linda Prater. Women are pressed daily to give more, learn more, and be more, often at the expense of mind, body, or spirit. Each week with intriguing guests and topics, we'll bring you fresh ways to view your limited time, encouraging a shift to new, healthier perspectives. Wise Health for Women Radio, helping women thrive. And now here's your host, Linda Prater.
Good morning and welcome to Wise Health for Women Radio. I'm Linda Crater. And one of the things that we're going to talk about today with an amazing guest is how we can spark wholeness in ourselves. And wholeness means mind, body, and spirit are in balance. Not an easy thing to do these days or any day for that matter, but it's really important to seek it.
We're going to talk about practical solutions to a lot of things that have to do with mental health, physical health, spiritual health, all of the things that make us the best person we were created to be. I'm very excited to welcome Erin Carey to our program today.
And I'm going to have Erin tell you about her background and why she went into what she did. But she's really an expert and a coach and all sorts of things, podcaster, fellow podcaster, and all things that make you the best. Because so much is attached to our mental health.
Thank you so much.
holistic nutrition and today we're going to talk about a lot about gut health and what that means for your mental health and again all sorts of things including hormones that make us feel better and so tell a little bit about your background and why is gut health so important to how we feel.
Yeah. So my background is that I have struggled with my mental health for, I mean, I was just adding it up the other day. I think it started almost over 30 years ago, which is crazy. When I was a young girl, I suffered from PTSD that turned into a diagnosis of depression. And by the time I was a freshman in college, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which was then called manic depressive dysregulation.
illness. And now it's, you know, categorized as bipolar one, bipolar two, all these things. And, you know, before anybody goes, Ooh, bipolar disorder, because it still comes with a stigma. I need to clarify what that means is I would have periods of depression lasting weeks. And then I would have periods of highs lasting weeks or months or what, you know, and then the highs would be, you know, I'm a fast talker anyway, but it would be really fast talking rapid speech.
It would be, you know, big ideas, grandiosity. Like I think at one point I told one of my therapists I could get through college in a day and I really truly believed I did. It's almost like a God complex when you're manic or hypomanic. It also involved risky behavior and I'm a very cautious person naturally. So to have this
heady, high feeling on life. I mean, I was high on life for periods of time where I would just, I mean, I wasn't acting like myself at all. And so I think a lot of people, when they think about bipolar, they think about like a quick mood switch from, you know, day, you know, day and night, or I live in Texas. So like Texas weather, how it switches instantly, right? People think of it that way, but it's, it wasn't that way for me. It was
really more categorized more by depression. And then these slight highs here and there that would lead to some really bad decisions, maybe, you know, some staying up all night, maybe a lot of productivity and creativity that happened too. But it wasn't, you know, what people thought of. However, it was extremely debilitating and it definitely interfered with my life. And just having that dysregulated state of,
oh my gosh, I can't control my brain. Why can't I snap out of this? Why can't I just be quote normal? I just wanted to live a normal life and be like normal people and have a normal schedule and not feel controlled by these impulses of my brain and my body. And I knew, you know, it was both for me. A lot of times we think about mental health is just being in the brain at the brain level. But for me, my depressive episodes, I couldn't get out of bed. Like there was no...
It was more than no joy.
And so that was a big struggle for me that lasted throughout. I mean, all throughout college, I ended up getting pregnant my senior year of college due to some of these risky choices that you were making. Absolutely. And it was a side effect. And and that was pretty life changing. What I what I find so fascinating, you know, the hormone connection, the hormone brain connection is that during my pregnancy, I was extremely stable. My mom used to joke, you should just be pregnant all the time.
dozens of babies because you're so healthy when you're pregnant. It was doing something hormonally that really impacted my brain in a positive way and postpartum as well, which is very strange. I know that's not the case for many women. And it wasn't until I started my menstrual cycle again when things got hard. But I will say over, I mean, this would be probably 15 years ago, I discovered, well, maybe I could exercise a little bit for my mental health. Maybe that will help. Maybe I can eat a little bit better. I saw things slowly improve and
And then just about 10 years ago, I discovered the concept of gut health, which I know we'll get into. And that absolutely was life changing. And I've been symptom free for a good probably 15, 14, 15 years now. But in the last 10 years has really where I've seen the magic happen. And I've seen some changes.
I mean, remission, I would say my symptoms are in remission now. And I don't experience that dysregulation that I had for so many years. Sure. Do I still have trauma symptoms? Yes. PTSD is something that never goes away. It's only managed. It's never cured. Right. And so, yes. So I found lifestyle hacks, I could say, to help manage some things in a way that that life is doable. And I can live a thriving life in spite of, you know, these things that I was up against for a long time.
You know, one of the thoughts I was having is that people who go through what you go through often say when they're handed a pharmaceutical solution that they miss their creativity times. They miss those things. Everything gets flatter. There are less peaks and valleys and there are more regulated, but it's
It's it's artificially regulated. And so when you I was just wondering, because I'm curious, when your mother said that to you, you're so stable when you're pregnant. Did you then have the knowledge that hormones and the gut and nutrition controlled things or did that come later?
I think I suspected it, you know, because I did struggle from an irregular menstrual cycle for, I mean, probably since I started my period. Right. And so, I mean, I was even, I had such a heavy flow in seventh, eighth grade that they put me on birth control pills to manage it, which I do believe birth control pills massively deplete B6, which we need for serotonin. And that, I think that actually contributed to some of my depressive episodes because it was within a year of being prescribed birth control pills that
I went way low, way dark, way fast. So I don't, you know, I'm not a big fan of birth control for women because of the B6 depletion, because of the way that it can increase enhanced intestinal permeability, because of the magnesium loss, because of a lot of, I mean, there are plenty of published research studies on the micronutrient depletions caused by oral contraceptives. This is not new. This is not, you know, controversial at all. But I don't think people know it.
Right.
hormonally there were things that were off that they were trying to manage very early on. But I think of course that created more issues. So, um, yeah, I mean, I think all of us, and this is, this goes to all of us know intuitively if we could tune into our bodies, I think we can get a lot of really good answers intuitively, but it's, it's, it feels like, Oh no, but I need a doctor to
tell me what's wrong with me. You know, I need somebody and there's a place for that. Absolutely. I don't live in the either or there's both ends, but I think we so often minimize our intuition about our own bodies because we want somebody else to fix it, to tell us what's going on. Or to give us something that, you know, pop a capsule that'll make it easier, et cetera. Whereas doing the harder work of,
Taking the discipline to learn what your body manages well, what it doesn't manage well. And that's that gut connection, the gut brain connection that you were talking about. And I think this is a very valuable program to talk about exactly how you started to make those changes. And I'm very eager to hear about that. So what did you start with?
Well, what's interesting is I started with supplements. I had never taken a probiotic. I had never taken a multivitamin except for when I was pregnant or trying to get pregnant. And those things absolutely changed my life, realizing maybe I was deficient in some things. And when I established some health from playing with different supplements, it impacted my eating behaviors.
It impacted my need for sugar. I mean, I was a sugar and that's an interest. There's an interesting connection there, right? Sugar is something that that's our quick fuel and it gives us a poison. Oh yeah. And it gives us a little serotonin boost. And so we're all hooked on it because it does make us feel better in the short term, but it negatively impacts gut bacteria and our gut bacteria is what we need to produce neurotransmitters. And we need good, and you know, I could go into the microbiome and all of that, but, um,
everybody's talking about gut health these days. I mean, I think the last 20 years of research and specifically the last five years of research have really targeted the gut brain connection and how much the ecosystem in our intestines can really control everything about us from our metabolism and our ability to gain weight, lose weight to our immune health and whether we're going to catch a virus or not to our mood health. That ecosystem of bacteria is really running the show for us.
And so when we are over consuming sugar and processed foods, it's creating the overgrowth of pathogens and bacteria that maybe we don't want to go on and are at the gut level because we need diversity of.
of species that's going to be beneficial in creating neurotransmitters, chemical messengers like serotonin and GABA and even norepinephrine. And things that we need for our get up and go are really helped out by a good,
ecosystem at the gut, at the intestinal level. Do you think people still, I think there's still a deficit of knowledge in terms of the majority of our hormones are created in our gut.
Yeah, you know, and that is an area, that's a rabbit hole that I am still, like, I've gone down the rabbit hole of the gut-brain connection for years and years. The gut-hormone connection is one that's newer to me. And part of that is from my own, I mean, I'm perimenopausal, right? Like, I'm in that age where we want to take care of those hormones, and I wish I would have been taking care of them for 15 years, you know? Sure. Well, you can't go back, but you can.
but you can go forward. No, exactly. And, but yes, absolutely. I mean, the health of, of even our, our just, like I said, the metabolic system in our body is so much assisted by what's going on at the gut bacteria level. And there are certain species of gut bacteria that's going to help us, whether we want to, you know, maintain a healthy weight for us. And, you know, that's different for everybody or, or, you know, prevent, prevent,
inflammation. I mean, there's just so much going on there. And yes, I think the gut hormone connection is still not being as talked about as much as the gut brain connection. But I know that that's all anybody's going to be talking about for the next 20, 30 years, for sure. I agree with you. And I think, you know, there's been a prevalence of putting labels on things.
because it's a good way for people to sell supplements or to gain business sense. But some of them are really good. And you talked about prebiotics and probiotics and maintaining healthy gut flora. And all of that is super important. But I think something else comes into play. Well, a couple of some things. One is that we're always on the go.
Oh, absolutely. And so if you're standing eating your meals or worse, having happy meals in the car as you're driving to 25 things to take your children to or yourself to for that matter, because there's a lot of boundaries setting that now that we're past the pandemic, people are going back to things and sometimes they're going overboard and going back to things. But sitting down at the table for a meal can make a huge difference as opposed to on the run.
Yes, this is actually, oh, I could talk about this for the whole rest of our time together because I think this is so important and we miss it. And this is foundational. But, you know, back to what you said about supplements, we have amazing supplements out right now. And they are, you know, helping to bridge the gap for people who are not getting the nutrients that they need. But one of the reasons we're not getting the nutrients we need is because we are on the go. And one of my favorite things that I always say is the body and stress won't digest. That is crucial.
crucial to everything I do as a health coach, to everything I do for myself, for my mental health. If I am constantly rushing and that even goes along to if I'm sitting down for a meal and I'm freaking out because I don't know, you know, is there because I do stay away from gluten and I currently am staying away from dairy for various reasons based on, you know, how they feel. Right. Yes.
if I sit down at a meal and I'm at somebody's house and they're serving me and it's, this is a hospitality situation, right? And I am paranoid about,
you know, what's in this, or am I going to be able to digest this? Am I going to be able to absorb that? That's going to be, I think more detrimental than if I have, no, I say this, if you have serious life-threatening food allergies, this is totally different. I can handle some gastrointestinal discomfort. I can handle, you know, a few days of brain fog, but the mindset about what I'm eating, I think sometimes matters more than what I'm actually eating. And I've seen this play out
For myself, I mean, if I'm, you know, I still have kids that are, I have an 18-year-old, but then I still have a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old that we do, like tonight, we have got two soccer practices in a row. And so I've got to plan our meals so that they eat before because as soon as we get home, they got to go to bed because I'm not doing late bedtimes, not dealing with that, you know, what's going to happen.
next day if they don't get their sleep or if I don't get my sleep, right? It's not pretty. Yeah. So even, so I live in certain days are more of a go, go, go, but I'm absolutely going to plan a meal for us all to sit and eat if we can, because food is just going to be better absorbed that way. And even when we're talking about
things like animal proteins, they're really hard to digest if you don't have strong stomach acid that's going to break that down. And if you're stressed out, that stomach acid is not getting produced the way that it should be because you're thinking a thousand thoughts and your body doesn't know the difference between running from a tiger or daily life stresses, you know, that's going to prevent you from optimally digesting a meal. And so...
sitting down and being able to take some deep breaths. We need oxygen to digest our food. We need to chew. The only thing we can control with how we digest our food is how much we chew it. Everything else is left to the mercy of our body and the mercy of whatever stress state we're in, right? And so being able to chew as much as possible, break that food down, activate
Activate salivary enzymes. Have some gratitude while eating. Really make it a sensory experience. What am I tasting? What am I smelling? Do I even like this? Or am I just eating this because I think I have to eat this? We want to make good, healthy choices, but sometimes we just eat the same healthy foods over and over again. And that does us no favors either because food should absolutely be a sensory experience. And when we hit all the different taste buds in our mouth, our body responds like, okay,
I got what I needed. You know, the problem with foods today is they've been bioengineered to hit the, you know, bliss point of food. Right. Well, but we still think we need more. If we're eating natural whole foods and, you know, as much as possible, and we're getting a variety of flavors and textures and even colors. Yes. And looking at it and enjoying it. Our body has a chance to go, oh, I think I might be full because I've gotten everything I needed. That's not going to happen with a bag of Doritos.
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You're bringing to mind, my daughter has three little ones. And we've talked about this a long time because we were raised by my mother, I was raised by my mother, to eat very healthfully. And so she followed on with that, which is interesting because if you start with early inculcating good habits, it really does help. But not everybody has that experience. I want to ask this specific question that I have been following and it has been working wonders for me. I don't know if it's
valuable to others is that you talked about the digestive enzymes one thing that I was told and I I don't drink milk I I believe milk is for cows in my view um but is that I no longer drink with my meals I drink following my meals I sip here and there I'm certainly not going to choke
But I found that digestive enzymes can work better when you don't dilute them. Do you have that experience? Oh, absolutely. And that's another part. I'm so glad you mentioned that because that's another part of eating that I think is we over drink while we're eating and it inhibits the breakdown of our food. Right. So, I mean, if we're even if it's water right now, I would say a little bit of water with some lemon in it can help.
with acid production, especially people who struggle with things like acid reflux or bloating, all of that. But I am a huge fan of digestive enzymes. And that's what I do when I am eating, like I said, to avoid the stress response. If I'm eating somewhere, out at a restaurant, because we do cook most of our meals at home, I just feel better that way. But if I go out somewhere to a restaurant and there's a lot I can't control, and that's okay. If I go to a friend's house, I'm going to be popping out those digestive enzymes and I eat them or I take them
about probably three or four bites in. So I give my body a chance to produce its own and then I help it out with some digestive enzymes. And I think that makes a huge difference just even for me to know it's okay, my body's got this, I'm gonna give it a little bit of support and I'm gonna be fine and I'm enjoying myself.
If I'm going to be eating at a restaurant, and that goes back to that stress response. If I'm eating at a restaurant or if I'm eating with friends, I want to be enjoying it. I'm not going to be eating in my car, you know, McDonald's or like you said, like a happy meal or whatever it is, because that's a hurried state. And that's food that my body might not recognize as nutrient-dense food. It's friendly. Right. Right. Yeah. And so I want my body to recognize...
food as best it can. I've got plenty of immune system issues that I do think contributed to some of my mental health issues early on. That gut-brain immune system connection is very strong. We have this phrase, psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology these days. So say that three times fast. Yeah, right. Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology. It's a real thing. It is a real thing. And we're
Yes, like they're treating certain forms of mental illnesses now with immunosuppressants. Why? Because our immune system might just be overactive, hypervigilant, and that's impacting what we are experiencing at the mental brain level. So anyway, all that to say...
The reason I say that is I want to protect my gut health and I want to protect my immune system. And I want to make sure that what I'm putting in my body, my immune system recognizes as a friend and not a foe. And so part of that is that stress response, slowing down, digestive enzymes are huge, maybe a little bit of lemon in water, but not drinking too much during a meal. But I mean, all of that, it's eating hygiene is what I call it. It's just- It is.
And it's funny because I also believe strongly in hydration. So don't get the impression that I'm saying don't drink during meals just because you don't hydrate. By all means, hydrate, but not while you're eating. Give your stomach a head start. Okay.
But I also am curious. I think that during the pandemic, which nobody knew was going to last as long as it did, a lot of people went straight to comfort foods and making bread and, you know, staying home. And it was kind of a mini holiday to start for some until the fear and uncertainty, all of that rose. But it is.
It's hard when you have maintained your health and eating right, and then suddenly, or you go into menopause or perimenopause, and you've got this stuff around the middle. One of the things that people have done
that I know many friends who have done is they just went cold turkey off fats, off of anything but protein. And your body needs a variety of things in order to digest well and also not to put on weight in certain areas for women especially. Men do it too. They just put it in a different spot. And so I think that being mindful that you didn't get there overnight –
And it's going to take steps and time to get back to where you want to be is being kind to yourself. It's that kindness, the compassion and the spiritual side of things that says, I'm OK. It's just going to take me a little longer to get there.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think a lot of us, we are searching for safety for many reasons. Security, right? Yeah. And we're searching for safety through our food. And one of the things that I like to ask a lot of my clients is, what can you do to nourish yourself this week? And that could be...
a wide range of things. You know, nourishment can come at every level. It can be nutritional food nourishment. It can be activities. It can be movement. It can be meditation, prayer, you know, any of those things. Right. But I think we forget that
food, like you said, a lot of people want to take away things. And I kind of like this principle of addition over restriction. I like the idea of adding in, right? Like what can we add in? Like I think all the time, what can I add in for my brain to function better? Lately, I've been on a cruciferous veggie kick, partly because of hormones, right? Like I'm trying to do some biohacking with my hormones right now. But cruciferous veggies, that's the broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage. Which can upset your gut.
If you switch over to it really fast. That's true. And for people who eliminate all the vegetables trying to go carnivore, which sometimes I think, you know, short term that can be beneficial. I've seen that for my husband. He went carnivore for a brief time, but now he's having a hard time re-assimilating vegetables.
Well, it's hard to eat that way all the time. Yes, exactly. And so I, you know, I have been, I've never had a problem with them. I know some people do, but I've been just increasing my cruciferous veggies to help cleanse excess estrogen from my body because I'm seeing a dip in my progesterone, which kind of lends to estrogen dominance just via the fact that my progesterone is dipping. Just nutrition, right? Yeah. It's very important. And cortisol, the stress hormone doesn't help.
Absolutely. Yes. And something a lot of women don't understand, and I think this is so important, is when we go through menopause, our body is used to depending on ovaries, our ovaries, right, for hormones and estrogen and all those things. Right.
But after the ovaries check out and they're kind of done, our body needs to rely on the adrenals to support this. And if our adrenals are checked out and done from years of stress and go, go, go and raising kids and going to all the games and all the practices and all the things, then we don't have much left to support us. And so it's really important to just manage that.
being gentle, like you said, being gentle with ourselves and managing what am I adding in? I'm not going to go crazy and hard on myself about, you know, what I'm not doing, but what am I doing to nourish myself this week? And how can I support my stress levels? So, I mean, stress is going to happen. We're all going to be stressed at some point, any point, most, most times the day, you know, we're going to have little stressors, but we can learn healthy ways to manage it. And I think for women in their twenties, thirties, um,
That is under emphasized because you get to your 40s and it's like everything's falling apart. Well, goodness gracious, you mentioned that belly fat. Well, what is that? That's cortisol. Exactly. What do they say? Abs are made in the kitchen? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I...
It's true. It's so true. And it's like, but if we're running on the go and eating the foods that our kids are eating, and I'm trying to change, I've been working for 10 years on changing what my kids eat. But I think a lot of moms, they just eat what their kids are eating because it's easier and faster. But it's sending stress signals throughout the body. When we're eating foods that our bodies are like, eh, I'm not really sure if that's like a real food or if it's chemically processed. I got to do a whole bunch of stuff to make it fit.
then that's going to increase stress. Any kind of blood sugar imbalances is going to increase stress. It's all connected and that's going to impact estrogen dominance. And we have an epidemic of estrogen dominance in women. And what's that going to do to the brain? Because estrogen and serotonin are connected. Progesterone and GABA are connected. And so we get all these mood imbalances, but really it's hormone imbalances because of stress imbalances, because of maybe blood sugar imbalances. It's all connected. Well, and...
you left out thyroid, you mentioned adrenal glands and I mean, you mentioned all the other, but there's also thyroid issues and, you know, very, very,
Few people have true thyroid issues, but we can screw ourselves up. One system affects the next system. It used to be the little song, you know, the shin bones connected to the leg bone and blah, blah, blah. But the same thing is true internally. Everything is connected in all we do, whether we surround ourselves with good people who are positive to keep, you know, positive vibes around us, whether we have people
grounding and nature and God and prayer and stillness in our lives. And food is the one thing we can control the easiest out of all of that. But I think I'd be remiss if I don't add in laughter.
yes because laughter makes me sleep better um if i if you can amuse easily if you can master the highs and the lows a little bit better because you're eating better you're taking care of but you're nourishing yourself better because eating can still be a joy but not if you cut everything out yeah yeah exactly and and that's and
And unfortunately, I think a lot of women get to the point where their bodies are so depleted. They have to do some kind of an extreme restrictive eating plan just to get their bodies to find some safety again. And then you add things back in. You're not sure what you respond to. And I would just love for women to have a variety of diet enough early on to where the body isn't deficient, doesn't have to go haywire. Because even like you said, thyroid, I mean...
Just for T4 to T3 conversion, there are nutrients, specific nutrients that we need to facilitate that. Things like selenium and iodine and zinc and tyrosine and vitamin A. I mean, there are so many different nutrients that are beneficial for thyroid health, but if we're not getting them in our food...
and we're not taking supplements that are in the best form. There's a lot of crap supplements out there. Yes, there are. Everybody wants to make a buck off of supplements. But if we're not getting that, and then if we are living a stress life without joy because we're just going through the motion, that's absolutely going to wreak havoc in the body. And so then you're in your 40s, and you've gained all the belly weight from the stress. Your thyroid's all wonky. Your period's all- Your adrenals are depressed.
I mean, there's so many things that can happen. But the good news is, and I've seen this in my life. I've seen this even, I'll say maybe it's a little bit easier with kids. But my last born, we reversed some chronic disease dynamics with him and reversing an asthma diagnosis. There are so many, the body is so resilient. There are so many things we can do with even just the basics, just the basics of slowing down when you're eating, going
creating some space for meditation or mindfulness, drinking more water in between meals. There's so many things. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I apologize. I'm excited by all of this too. Me too. I get excited. I am a slow eater and I'm grateful because that way the ghrelin kicks in and the leptin and it tells me, okay, you've had enough.
And it works out okay. People who eat really fast, I'm always the last one at the table and it annoys people. But I have one granddaughter who does that too. So she and I are just buds about that. But I think sometimes if you can, as you said, two more, slow down. Eating is not a race anymore.
I'll give you something that I remember as a young mom. You have to be somewhere so much. And then I remember one day coming home and going, okay, let's go, let's go, let's go. And I got into the kitchen. I said, kids, can you come here? And they came and I said, you know what? We don't need to race out of the car.
We're home. And I apologize. We can take this easier now. We don't have to rush because I didn't even realize that everything else had been, okay, go take your bag, go to soccer. Well, home was becoming that way. Okay, get your bag, let's take your stuff and get back into the house. Well, but it was a pivotal moment and my kids remember it.
Because we did make efforts to eat at home. They got the fruit roll-ups on the field because that's what snacks were in those days. I know, I know. Well, they switched to orange slices and things like that. But I left. But I do understand that. I want to switch places.
because I keep writing myself notes to ask you questions. One of the things that I think is super interesting that we can't control, but we can ask more questions of our physicians that are annual physical or annual blood work is that so often the lab work isn't specific to T3, T4, estradiol, FSH, testosterone, those sorts of things, vitamin D, magnesium levels, um,
Often the lab work isn't there, but if you know to ask for it, your doctor will probably order it. Yeah. And it gives reasons why, because so many times people are not informed, but the more informed you are, the better you can work with your allopathic, your physician, medical doctor, and still practice the holistic practices, which I find to be as powerful, if not more powerful, than
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I think, you know, the doctor's hands are tied. They're kind of at the mercy of insurance companies. Insurance is not going to cover functional labs, you know, so that that does make it really tricky. I've had some bad experiences with allopathic doctors. I've had some really good, amazing experiences. And so it just depends on who you're going to and what questions you're asking. And are they willing to advocate for your health with you?
Not everybody is. And so that just depends on who you go to. And so, yeah, I mean, and what's what I find interesting is there is I have I'm looking at it right now. I have this book on my desk. That's it's a functional medicine. I love certified physicians. They make a big difference. Yeah. Yeah. So do osteopaths.
Absolutely. And so this book that I'm looking at it, it, that I bought myself for Christmas this last year, it takes a different, yeah, right. It takes a different look at lab work and even just your basic CBC or CMP, what it does is it breaks
So here's the reference range, right? This is what we consider, quote, normal. But let's look at a more narrow lens. And if it's at the higher end of the reference range, if it's at the lower end of the reference range, what's that telling us? And there's a lot that we can learn from just the regular insurance covered labs. True. That...
might not show up in the allopathic medical world. And so that book is a book that's been very helpful for me to use, even when working with my clients and even for my own health. But there are definitely awesome functional labs. The only concern, you know, I think that we run into when we start getting into, well, let's run this $500 test and this $500 test is that it does get pricey and it goes back to some-
But it's interesting, if you do go to a functional medicine physician or if you're looking for hormone optimization, one of the things that makes me so sad is that – and I'm a little older than you are – is that the –
Doctors are not well trained after they reach a certain age. They never had a nutrition course in most cases. Never. Right, right. And so they aren't trained in those sorts of things. But if you have a good physician you can chat with...
When they say your hormones are fine for your age, well, fine for your age doesn't mean you're feeling good, which is why hormone optimization has now become more known. And it really makes a huge difference. Speaking personally, it makes an enormous amount of difference. So hormones really rule the world for women.
And it is just something to be mindful of. I'm not suggesting taking very expensive tests, but there are ways that you can look into what if I think this is low or I know this is low, I can use this method. There are a lot of things out there that are really very, very helpful now for not only immune boosting, which is kind of an interesting concept, but
hormone optimization as well. Yeah. And I think the other thing, you know, that I always consider when I'm working with my clients who are like, well, maybe I should get this test done or maybe I should get this test done is that
There, you know, people respond differently to tests for some people, just the confirmation that there's something going on that wasn't caught. Right. You know, from the traditional, you know, allopathic lens that can be helpful for some people, but for some people, you know, they can get all the tests in the world. And if they're not willing to make those basic lifestyle changes, what good are those tests really going to do? Right. That's the backfiring on getting so many tests. Yes. Yes.
Yeah. And so, I mean, if you've got the money and you want to, you want to spend the money just to find out and see what's going to happen. Okay. Whatever. Don't make any changes. But, you know, I think that it really is. It's like, okay, this can confirm what we are, that we already know there's something going on, but I,
I think it really, it just depends on the person. It depends on the individual and what they're willing to do and what changes they're willing to make, because you can run all the labs in the world, but if you're not willing to make foundational changes and just try to learn to manage your stress a little bit, then it's not going to do you much good. So that that's a, that's a big thing. And now I'm going to go to what I think is the most important aspect of health and that is sleep.
Mm hmm. Yeah, that's where we recover. That's where we heal. That's where we get still. And it makes it makes a big difference. Yeah. Yeah. Gosh, sleep is so under emphasized. But that's that's another hard one, because there are so many different medications that can impact our REM sleep. Oh, I'm not suggesting medication. I'm suggesting more mindful medication.
Sleep hygiene. You mentioned other hygiene. Sleep hygiene is huge. I have a friend who he's older and he's very...
uh, obstinate and there he and his wife have no window treatments on their room at all. So he doesn't sleep in the dark. And so he wakes up at five o'clock and he's now 78 and he's not getting his rest and he's, he's getting hit with all kinds of colds and blues and all sorts of things. And, you know, I, I mentioned, you know,
blackout drapes, simple solutions, inexpensive that you can manage, keeping the room cool, having a routine, going to bed at the same time, getting up at the same time. Those are the things that I go to. If I start to feel my health slip a little bit, I make sure that I adhere and do not deviate from
from getting a good night's sleep because it's a recovery period. Do you agree? Absolutely, yes. And that's something I learned very early on with my mood management is that sleeping, it changes everything. A good night's sleep changes everything.
And when we don't sleep well, that throws off our hunger hormones throughout the day. It makes us snackier. It impacts how our blood sugar is handling the food that we consume. And it impacts, again, our dopamine, motivation, all of that. But one of my favorite things with sleep, and I did mention, I want to touch on the medication. There's so many commonly prescribed meds that interfere with sleep. And they are prescribed for sleep, but they are wrecking your sleep. So talk to your practitioner about that. Make sure you are...
getting informed consent, that's important. Because when we're talking about sleep hygiene, you know, we want to make sure that we are maybe not eating food a good two hours before we go to sleep, because that's where your body gets that optimal rest and digest time. And then in the brain, at the brain level, we have something called the glymphatic system, which is one of my favorite
things to talk about. It's like, you know, a scrub brush for your brain cells. You're cleaning out the old and making space for the new. And as we age, we want to prevent cognitive decline. And I've got all sorts of dementia and Alzheimer's in my family history. And so, I mean, sleep,
If I can renew my brain cells by getting a good night's sleep, I am going to do that. And I even advocate for some clients, can you get 10 hours of rest time? And that doesn't mean you're sleeping the whole time. But can you wind down for a little bit by reading or doing journaling, something that's not going to be overstimulating like a screen. Meditation. Yeah, meditation. Stretching, not exercise, but stretching.
but stretching and easing and slowing your mind. Yep. And blocking and blocking out time, a good portion of time for rest because so many people struggle with insomnia. Well, they're going straight from their hyped up lifestyle to their hyped up Netflix show and then laying down and expecting to instantly go to sleep. It's not going to happen. You know, like you need that wind down time. Well, I do. Um,
And so I'm very mindful of that. And I honestly don't let much interfere with that. Sure, there are times you go out and you stay out late and you've had alcohol and you're just waking up in the middle of the night and that kind of thing. But they're few and far between these days because I want to feel better.
good each day. Yeah. And I got to touch on red wine or any wine for women is awful for sleep. It's terrible. I've made a deal with myself. If I'm going to drink wine, I have to have it with food, with a dinner. That's an early dinner or I know I'm only drinking white wine these days.
Oh, interesting. Yeah.
Again, coping mechanisms were low for people during the pandemic. And so those habits have now, I've seen remarkable changes in people, good changes and optimism returning. And one thing that I think we, you and I have spoken about many times is, is being grateful. Gratitude and thankfulness can calm you almost instantly. And if you add breathing to that,
It's a good, you know, stop letting the tiger chase you. It's a good way to go. I'm going to sit down and the tiger will go away. And it makes a big difference. Yeah. Yeah. And they're anti-inflammatory. They impact even just the inflammatory cytokines in the body. I mean, there are so many things that change when we are making space for gratitude and, you know, wonder and just thinking about things.
things that make us that fill us with joy, it can make a huge impact at the cellular level, because every single cell in the body is listening to the thoughts that we have. And your body doesn't know the difference between perceived threat or real threat. And so by making time for gratitude and mindfulness, it absolutely changes just the chem on the chemical cellular level.
Well, and it puts us into a mind state that is receptive. And so I think that is a long way towards calmness. Now, we only have a short time left, so I want to make sure people know where to find out more information about you and your wonderful podcast and your coaching and all of that. So the website is sparkingwholeness.com.
So it's Sparking, S-P-A-R-K-I-N-G, wholeness, W-H-O-L-E-N-E-S-S.com. And tell us a little bit about what's on your site because I know there are some things that are interesting. So please go to that website and look at all that Erin is doing. Yeah, I definitely have a lot of recipes on there and they're all, you know, most are gluten-free, dairy-free. There is maybe, there are some with dairy, but lots of recipes. I
I have all my, you know, podcasts that come out right now. That's mainly what I'm posting on my website. But I've got tons of recipes, tips on managing stress and thoughts on gut health and nutrition, all of it. You know, it's in my Instagram is where I probably post most of the time. And I'm, you know, real time. What am I making and what am I eating for my mental health? That kind of thing.
So what is your Instagram handle? It's sparkingwholeness as well. Okay, same thing. Got it. Excellent. Well, I am so glad to talk to you about all these things today because I think wholeness is something that...
we don't think about all that often, but it really does matter. So what you, who you surround yourself, what you read, what you watch, who you talk to know how to set your boundaries. I mean, you and I could talk, we'll probably do this again sometime soon because there are so many things that make us whole and happy, whether it's music or your pets with their unconditional love. There's so much that,
that we really have in our lives to be grateful for. And I am grateful to you. So thank you for coming on today and talking about sparking wholeness, which I love the name of your website and your program, because we deserve and need to be our best. So thank you, Erin. Well, thanks for having me on. This is a great conversation. I loved it. Same here. Everyone make it a great week ahead.
Thank you for tuning in today. You can find more shows at wisehealthforwomenradio.com.
