The Women's Wellness Series kicks off with round two this week with special guest, Dr. Bhavna Singh. Bhavna is a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Ayurvedic Practitioner. This episode is part one of her two-part episode special on The In-Between.
**Please note that topics and information discussed in this week's episode is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional medical advice.**
Bhavna is giving us a plethora of information ! Here's a look at this week's episode topics:
If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Singh, check out her website: https://drbhavnasingh.com/.
Click here to check out her Gut Revive Program.
You can follow her on Instagram @dr.bhavnasingh for health tips and free downloads.
Her supplement company is called Ojas Nutraceuticals - https://www.ojasnutra.com/.
Connect with me:
https://in-between.co
@in.betweenpod on Instagram
@elizabethcheney_ on Instagram
@theinbetweenpodcast on TikTok
The In-Between Podcast on YouTube
The Women's Wellness Series kicks off with round two this week with special guest, Dr. Bhavna Singh. Bhavna is a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Ayurvedic Practitioner. This episode is part one of her two-part episode special on The In-Between.
**Please note that topics and information discussed in this week's episode is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional medical advice.**
Bhavna is giving us a plethora of information ! Here's a look at this week's episode topics:
If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Singh, check out her website: https://drbhavnasingh.com/.
Click here to check out her Gut Revive Program.
You can follow her on Instagram @dr.bhavnasingh for health tips and free downloads.
Her supplement company is called Ojas Nutraceuticals - https://www.ojasnutra.com/.
Connect with me:
https://in-between.co
@in.betweenpod on Instagram
@elizabethcheney_ on Instagram
@theinbetweenpodcast on TikTok
The In-Between Podcast on YouTube
Hey everyone, Elizabeth here. I hope you're excited for today's episode. Before we begin, I just wanted to say topics and information discussed in today's episode is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional medical advice. All right, let's begin. Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another episode of the in between podcast. I'm your host Elizabeth Cheney and y'all it is time. The time is now. I've been talking about this for months now, but guess what? Dr. Bhavna Singh is in the his house today. I've been teasing her. Like I said, for so long now, life had other plans, but you know what? Timing is everything. And right now is. So great. Uh, before I bring on Bhavna, no, gonna let her intro herself. Talk about her background. We're going to get into all of the things. Uh, but I just want to say that this is part one of two for my March wellness, women's wellness series. So we're going to talk about a little intro and holistic health. What got Bhavna into, this practice, into this profession. We're going to talk about everyone's favorite power word. Hormones and everyone's second combo words, gut health. And then the next episode, we're going to talk about fertility hormones and a little bit more specific to women. So without further ado, everyone, welcome Dr. Bhavna Singh to the in between. Hello.
Bhavna Singh:Hello. Oh, thank you for that intro. That was awesome,
Elizabeth Cheney:Absolutely. Absolutely. So, uh, everyone, I'm very lucky that Bhavna is one of my personal friends. but we're. All very health, very healthy. Listen to me. We're all very lucky because she is the information knowledge base that we all wish we had. so yeah, Dr. Bhavna Singh. Can I call you Bhavna on the pod or would you rather me
Bhavna Singh:Go for it.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay. Maybe I'll just interchange it throughout, but no, welcome to the podcast.
Bhavna Singh:All right. Thank you. Yes. I'll let you know about my background a little bit.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah.
Bhavna Singh:with PCOS at 14 years old and hypothyroidism. I was put on all sorts of medications, birth control, like literally just shuffled around from doctor to doctor to doctor,
Elizabeth Cheney:I have 14.
Bhavna Singh:at 14, like none of them knew what was happening. Like my weight, it just kept increasing So yeah. Got no answers, and then I got more and more insulin resistant as the time went on, more and more inflamed, went on like two rounds of Accutane, was on birth control for like ten years or so, and, yeah, I personally wanted a better way of doing things, and I was like, there has to be something better out there, so I'm going to find it, and then I'm going to learn about it, and then I will help other people.
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh, I love that. So basically you were like gaslit for years. And that, that enabled you to be like, you know what? There's got to be more to this. Let me find the answers. That's so powerful and so
Bhavna Singh:that's the thing, like, women are just medically gaslit 24 7. I have not met a single woman who's like, yeah, they took my concerns seriously. You know?
Elizabeth Cheney:don't mean to laugh, but like, it's so true. It's so messed up. It's so, I mean, everyone raise your hand if you've ever been treated fairly and never, ever, Made to feel like you don't know what you're talking about by your own body.
Bhavna Singh:It's like, well, no, that's wrong. Women have bodies. We are just as important as men. If not more, so you know, let's do this. Let's learn about it. Let's try to fix our own body. Let's help other people and like that's my whole thing. Just education, empowerment, and amplifying, the female voice. Like if you have an issue, okay, tell me about it.
Elizabeth Cheney:so it wasn't just health, it was also this focus in women's health I mean, I'm sure I don't know the expertise that you do, but I know enough of the lack of research in women's health to know that that's a serious concern. I just found out like last week that ADHD studies were mostly men. Like they've never really studied ADHD in women. Ugh.
Bhavna Singh:Almost everything is mostly men. It doesn't like matter what it is. And the main reason why they don't study women is because of the cycles. And it's like, okay, you can study women just to use women, like it's fine, but like they don't do that. And then they base the guidelines for women based off of what men are. And it's like, women are not smaller men. We are separate entities. It
Elizabeth Cheney:So what do you mean really quick about the cycles? I know you're talking about like our monthly cycle, but like, why does that specifically, prevent them from wanting to research based on that?
Bhavna Singh:Anything can make the cycle kind of go haywire, right? So like, whether they're studying medications or herbs or different biohacking things like fasting, a lot of people, they just don't want to mess with the female cycle because it's really hard to replicate from like one woman to the next woman. Everybody has, their own individuality. So they're like, we're just not going to mess with it. We're just going to do most of the studies on men I was reading something recently about birth control for men. And they were like, OK, yeah, we're not going to have this be a thing because it impacts their hormones too much.
Elizabeth Cheney:You're kidding me.
Bhavna Singh:And I'm like, you guys,
Elizabeth Cheney:I'm just going to throw up in my mouth. What?
Bhavna Singh:yeah, and then like, what's even more interesting is that women are not taught anything about their cycle. So we're just like, Oh God, we're just going to be surprised every month, like when we have a period, whatever. But. it's a science. You have to like, really be in tune with your body. You can tell when it's coming, you can tell when you're fertile, when you're ovulating. If you just listen to the signs, these things have been ingrained in us centuries. And if you look at olden culture, stuff like that, like, we had ways of tracking the female cycle, tracking ovulation. But, the most annoying thing is that people think that, Oh, you can get pregnant every single day. Well, no, that's wrong. You cannot get pregnant every single day. It's only just a handful of days every month, but then women are the one who are, just like pummeled full of hormones and like birth control pills. When a man is fertile every single day, you know, like a woman can carry one child at a time for nine months, but a man can make multiple women pregnant every single day. It doesn't make any sense.
Elizabeth Cheney:It doesn't make any sense
Bhavna Singh:It's like mind, mind boggling when you like really get into that and you're like, wait, why are women bearing the brunt of the birth control in this country when it's just so bad, so bad. I
Elizabeth Cheney:I Can't even
Bhavna Singh:have not. Yeah. Like I've not met a single woman who's just like, oh yeah, birth control is great for me.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah, I mean sometimes it helps to cramp some things, it's just a band aid That's why I was talking to my mom about this prior to our recording. I got breakfast with my mother this morning We were talking about this episode and I was like, you know, we're gonna talk about why birth control is just the band aid of America like
Bhavna Singh:It is. yeah. A little bit more on how birth control is a band aid. Like, you could be a woman, you could be like, oh, I am getting migraines. They'll be like, cool, birth control. I'm getting a lot of stomach pains. They'll be like, cool, birth control. Like, no, it's passed out like candy.
Elizabeth Cheney:It is. I mean, when I went to, uh, my OBG last year, no, it's 2024 now. So 2022, end of 2022, I went in for my hormonal acne, I was like, I know you're not a dermatologist, because I think it's related to me coming off birth control. I just was curious. Cause. In my head, I'm assuming people come to her and ask these questions because, again, I know it's tied to birth control, hormones, gut, something like that. And she's like, oh, I don't know, but I mean, we can give you birth control. And I was like, well, I got off birth control for a reason, so I don't really want to get back on it. And she's like, well, I don't know what to tell you. And then that turned into, there is this other pill, but again, birth control, bandaid, not okay.
Bhavna Singh:No, it's it's a giant business. I think there's like a documentary or something out there. It's called The Business of Birth Control.
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh, well, not to get too off topic on this and maybe we can table it for next week's episode. But I was just going to say, I have a whole soapbox and how I think fertility and fertility treatments in this country are turning into a business. So let's, let's, let's, that's a great, okay. So everyone, that's a little tease for the next conversation. So, your profession is naturopathic, and I, I did have to Google how to sound that out.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. So it's naturopathic
Elizabeth Cheney:Naturopathic, oh my gosh, Google failed me, okay, well that's embarrassing.
Bhavna Singh:So you're fine.
Elizabeth Cheney:So okay, naturopathic, and then also you are an practitioner, which is a traditional medicine, system in India, correct? Okay, so let's talk about that and talk about Ayurveda as well.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so, the schools of naturopathic medicine in America, there's only like a handful of them, right, and they're accredited, they're good to go, really cool, so if you are looking for a naturopathic doctor, make sure that they have gone to a, residence based program, not like an online program, so there's some Different things, um, with the profession, but yeah, it's very holistic, you know, we learn anatomy, physiology, biochem, like all of those regular classes that you would have in your MD or DO school. But then we also learn about herbs and like homeopathy and hydrotherapy, IV therapy, just like a very well fleshed out program on how we can best help people beyond just like conventional care. And then the Ayurveda actually takes that a step further. And that's when you get like really bio individualized care so like you said, Ayurveda is the healing medicine from India. It takes into account the nature and like the seasons and the elements and like how we as humans kind of fit into that
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh, wow
Bhavna Singh:It's really, really powerful and it's really, really cool.
Elizabeth Cheney:feel like it shows how everything is connected. That's what it
Bhavna Singh:really is. Yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:Love that. Could you go into what the five elements three constitutions are?
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so the five elements Ayurveda are ether, which is space, air, fire, water, and earth, and these elements make up everything. So, like, different things in nature, and they also make up, our body, we all have all of these elements in our bodies, but we all kind of represent them in different ways. So, like, they'll be in us in different ratios, different amounts. So the three constitutions are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. And then these are all made of the elements. So Vata is primarily space and air. So these people, they're on the, like the thinner side, they might be a little bit like lankier. They're cold all the time, a lot of dry skin. They're very creative They're also prone to, like, a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, ADHD, things like that. It's like, what the hell is it? And then you have Pitha. And Pitha is made of fire and water. So these people, they're always hot. They have more of a medium build. They're more prone to acne and, like, oily skin. They're very ambitious. These people are, like, your goal getters business owners, leaders. they're not here to, follow, they're here to, make something happen. And then you have Cuffa, and this is made of water and earth, so these people are very strong, they might have a bigger build, they're very compassionate, very friendly, like you're gentle giants in a way. Like these people are just so sweet, you know? And I'm sure like we all know people who kind of fit into all of these, so most of us are going to be a combination of one or two of these. Even though we have all three of these in us. So it just depends on how we, portray them, how they're, like, represented in us, and what amounts, all those things. So it's really cool to know that, like, if there's, any time, let's say, like, the fall and the winter, the fall is a very high Vatha time because it's, like, really windy, so there's all that air, in our environment, and then I also noticed myself, even though I'm not a Vatha person, that in the fall I might get like a little bit more anxiety, my skin will get a little bit drier, and that's just like how Vatha in the season like manifests. And then summer is very hot, so it's like not the best for like Vitha people, so like I hate being out in the sun, I hate when it's hot, put me in a cold room any day, you know? And then Kapha, these people they love the springtime. And this is also more where you get a lot of seasonal allergies and like you kind of get like a little puffy. These people get really puffy.
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh,
Bhavna Singh:Yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:I'm over here like, I didn't realize I was gonna get a personality test in a way.
Bhavna Singh:yeah, it really is kind of like a personalities test. There's a bunch of quizzes and everything online and some of them are accurate, but it's really nice to have like that baseline of what you are, because then you can kind of like tailor things whether it's lifestyle based or nutrition based to help make sure that you're always in balance. The big thing about Ayurveda is like always how can we. Make the body be in balance, so just, if you have dry skin, okay, how can we add moisture back in? How can we add oiliness and some heaviness back in to help counteract that dryness?
Elizabeth Cheney:Do you use Ayurveda when you work with your clients? Like, in all your different, okay, so is that your approach with it? You kind of, like, organize them by their constitution and then
Bhavna Singh:Mm hmm.
Elizabeth Cheney:I also like that you're very specific in all of the, concerns. So rather than, like, looking at things broadly, you are truly treating the problem versus, like, the overhead. I don't even know if I'm saying that correctly.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, no, I, it's really great. I mean, I'm biased, of course, but, like, the combination of, like, Ayurveda, functional medicine, naturopathic medicine, like, oh my god, it's so good.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay. So before we transition to hormones, I want to ask a quick question. So you talked about what got you on this path and it was basically years of being gas lit years of, Hey, this isn't working, but you're just telling me to use the same thing that I don't want to use. That also isn't working. When you made that shift into this type of care, um, this type of this industry, so to speak. Actually I don't like the word industry. Let's say practice When did the light bulb go off? and this might not be a fair question, when did you really start to, or maybe a better question is, how much work did it take to get yourself right? After you started this?
Bhavna Singh:I mean, I feel like it's still ongoing, right? Like,
Elizabeth Cheney:That's fair.
Bhavna Singh:you know, just in my own health, like, I feel like my gut has done a complete turnaround. But even then I'm just like, okay, every time something is right, I'm like peeling back layers, whether that's physical health, mental health, even emotional health, you know, like it's all tied in together. you know, you might find that like, as soon as your physical body starts feeling a little bit better, maybe that is the time when you're able to release some emotions, improving your emotional health and mental health. So it can be a really slow process. I mean, like I. Have been sick since I was what like 14 years old and that's just when I was diagnosed So really it has been brewing under the surface for a while before the formal diagnosis was given So if you like think about it that way like it's been a really long time so it's gonna take some time to be completely like don't have anything, but I also don't really feel like That's the case because we're all growing and evolving on a daily basis, whether that's Healing something in our body or like healing something in our mind like all of it is gonna be connected.
Elizabeth Cheney:No, totally makes sense. So, on that note, let's shift into the ever elusive hormone conversation. I know we're going to talk mostly about gut health and some things that play into gut health, like PCOS, but, first question I've heard a lot about balancing hormones, but like, I don't even know what that means. I don't even know where to start with that. And when people say that, is it all related to your gut health?
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, first like before we answer this question, we kind of have to understand what exactly is a hormone so a hormone it's just a chemical messenger. it's a signaling molecule. It's made somewhere in the body and then it travels to somewhere else in the body to tell that area what to do. Or like, tell that body part, tell that process what to do. So, once you know this, you can work backwards, so why does that become imbalanced? It's not really necessarily a problem with the actual hormone itself, it's more like what's happening downstream. Or upstream, I guess, however you want to look at it. cause it is just doing its job. Whether it's not doing its job well, or like not enough, or too much, it's not because of The hormone itself it's a result of something else going wrong So for example, if you're eating a standard American diet, just like processed foods, processed sugars, bad oil blah blah blah Yeah, you're gonna be on the path to becoming pre diabetic and then Your insulin is gonna be going haywire. You'll have insulin resistance, but like It's not the problem of the insulin itself, why you're, being diagnosed with the diabetes. Like, I hope that's making sense. It's more of what are you doing here? That's causing something to happen here.
Elizabeth Cheney:okay.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, I don't think hormones are really a root cause of things going on in the body. It's a result of something else. So like, why are they becoming imbalanced in the first place? Yeah. Three things come to mind for this. The biggest one, stress. Everything, everything, everything comes back to stress. Like, we need stress to survive. Because, yes, there's
Elizabeth Cheney:lot of it. Sorry.
Bhavna Singh:well, there's a good stress and there's bad stress, every single day, you know, like what me and you think of stress, we're like, oh, shoot, we're busy. We have too many things to do. We have like anxiety, this, that, but there's little stressors happening in the body. That's making sure things are moving forward and that things are happening. We need that to happen, but the problem with stress is that when it becomes prolonged or like when the threat or whatever has passed, but we're still like kind of vibing up here and for most of us living, now in 2024 in America, it is a stressful time.
Elizabeth Cheney:Nervous laughter.
Bhavna Singh:And this chronic stress is literally like killing us, it's putting us at risk for so many diseases, hormone issues being one of them, gut issues being one of them, stress is the ultimate root cause, it's emotional stress, like traumas that haven't been processed, your daily, like, Oh God, am I making enough money to pay my rent, just like the compounding effect of everything. day in and day out without a healthy outlet, so many people also they're like very, very lonely society right now. That's also stressful. So it's all these like little things like they go hand in hand. And then when you have a lot of stress, you have a lot of inflammation. So stress also leads to inflammation and then inflammation also leads to stress. And the same thing with stress is that we need inflammation to survive. But we need it in like teeny tiny controlled amounts because it helps us heal. Without inflammation, like we wouldn't really be healing. But when it goes haywire and the threat has left and we're still inflamed, like that's when the body's basically fighting against itself. It's like, Oh. the danger is gone, but, you're still kind of acting crazy or like whatever, you know? So this is also where autoimmune conditions happen, because it messes up with your immune system. And then as far as hormones go, excess inflammation can cause things like painful periods. Heavier flow and another interesting thing about periods and stuff is that we're all told that oh having period pain is normal Having monthly cramping is normal. It's not periods should be painless and effortless. Yes
Elizabeth Cheney:I feel like anyone listening who's had a period is probably mind blown right now. I don't think I know anybody that's never had a painful period at one point in their life.
Bhavna Singh:yeah, it's so common right now just to like have all just so much pain like it's so debilitating for some people
Elizabeth Cheney:But I also remember that being young, like I remember when I first got my period, like, sorry, TMI, but also not TMI, but like, I think I was 13 and I remember that being painful. So why is a 13 year old having what is a not natural, painful period?
Bhavna Singh:Oh my gosh.
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh, is that a big question? I
Bhavna Singh:we'll be getting into that. That's, when something like that happens at such a young age, the health foundations are just not in place. everything, like, no matter what is going on with you, whether you have, like, heart disease or, PCOS or, gut issues, autoimmune disease, it doesn't matter. You have to focus on the health foundations. like, think about a house. If the house doesn't have a strong foundation, it's just going to, pop over.
Elizabeth Cheney:So foundation, is that like checking your mental health, checking your emotional health, checking
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so we'll actually
Elizabeth Cheney:health,
Bhavna Singh:get into that. Yeah. So it's basically like, doing stress reduction exercises, making sure that you are being as low tox as possible,
Elizabeth Cheney:Which feels impossible though. I'm going to
Bhavna Singh:It's impossible, but it's, um, it's impossible to be completely toxin free nowadays, but it is possible to be low tox,
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay.
Bhavna Singh:So like, your period supplies, like, they could be causing your period pain,
Elizabeth Cheney:Love that.
Bhavna Singh:yeah, you know, making sure that you're getting, the organic cotton ones, and then nutrition, are you eating a standard American diet? Because if you are, I'm not surprised that you're, having a lot of period pain, or like, inflammation, or gut issues, and then making sure you're sleeping well, if you're not sleeping, of course, you're going to have issues. Of course, you're going to be inflamed because that's when the body heals
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh.
Bhavna Singh:and then also just like healthy movement. Like we're so sedentary as a society, just go out and walk at least three miles a day if you're coming from nothing, but ideally like around five ish miles a day. Like just walk, a walk is like, walking is so relaxing, it's so healing, it's so gentle, and it like really, especially for women, it's so good, like it's so good. Yes,
Elizabeth Cheney:Just a light walk. Not like a, not a HIIT workout. Not strength
Bhavna Singh:hit workout.
Elizabeth Cheney:Not a stationary bike.
Bhavna Singh:strength training is really, really good for women. I do not recommend HIIT. I mean, we're jumping all over the place. I
Elizabeth Cheney:Well it also plays, we're talking about the foundations and that. So,
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, but yeah, HIIT for women, especially when you're already dealing with hormone issues, I mean, what is that HIIT doing? It's increasing your stress. Like, your heart rate goes through the roof. It takes a while for it to come back down. Cause you're just like, okay, now you're stressed and you can't it just doesn't come down. So you have to kind of work up to like having that heart rate variability where it like goes up, but then you're also able to drop back down. And that only happens when you focus on like stress reduction activities for a while. Things like walking, strength training. Those are my top two exercises for women. And then adding in some more like slower workouts, like yoga and Pilates.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay. Got it. Okay. So balancing hormones essentially is getting your physical, mental, emotional, even let's just say spiritual health in alignment, which is probably something you will be chasing your whole life. Just FYI. So, which is okay. That's okay. Like, like, as you said, we're always a growing and evolving. That's also something I definitely preach.
Bhavna Singh:it'll always be changing, but like what you can master though are the health foundations themselves. like if you're coming from a background where you barely cook for yourself and like you were constantly eating McDonald's on a daily basis. You know, we can work on that slowly and just like change your nutrition, just like cook more at home but yeah, things are always going to be evolving. There's always something that you can do better, but I think it's also really important to know that, it's okay to not be perfect at the same time. Otherwise, trying to be well and like all like wellness stuff becomes a chore and that in itself. can become stressful. So we want it to not be stressful, and we want it to just like, be really flowy, and have a lot of ease with it, with a lot of compassion for ourselves. If we fall off the wagon, it's like, okay, just get back on the next day.
Elizabeth Cheney:That's good advice because I, I feel overwhelmed by it,
Bhavna Singh:Oh, no, it definitely is overwhelming. Like, I don't understand how any person is supposed to be like, okay, I'm gonna wake up, like, at this time, I'm gonna do my warm lemon water, I'm gonna do my exercise, I'm gonna do my meditation, I'm gonna run a business, I'm gonna like, deal with my family. I want to deal with my pets. Like it's so much,
Elizabeth Cheney:So with all this said, and you've kind of already dabbled into this a little bit, but let's just answer it maybe more directly. So do hormones play off each other related to gut health? And I feel like you've kind of already spoke to that, like, this leads to this, this leads to that. So, how do Balancing hormones, but just all of our hormones in general, how can that play into your gut health? And why gut health specifically like why is the gut like the thing the thing? Why is it the thing?
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so I mean like you look at like functional medicine ayurvedic medicine According to them like all disease begins in the gut like it doesn't matter what you're coming in for whether it's like heart disease autoimmune disease like women's wellness issues it does not matter You always start in the gut, because I can guarantee you, nobody has an optimized gut, especially not today in this society. So, the gut and hormones are, like, really, really closely knit together, you know, like, you have something like thyroid hormone, which is actually activated in the liver, and then you have, estrogen, excess estrogen actually gets, like, packaged up and, like, ready to, like, You know, like you poop it out and if you're not able to like do that correctly, then it gets recirculated in the body again, causing like high estrogen issues. So,
Elizabeth Cheney:huh?
Bhavna Singh:so you need proper gut functioning to excrete excess hormones. If you're not able to do that, they end up getting recycled in the body again. And then you also need the gut where they're turning into like their activated form so they can go where they need to go and like do their work, their magic there. So, the gut is like the central hub of the body, you know, like what happens in the gut does not stay in the gut. Like, it's everywhere.
Elizabeth Cheney:I love that
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. I feel
Elizabeth Cheney:Like that should be like a good thing whenever you do make merch that should be like what happens in The gut doesn't stay in the gut
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, like seriously, like I want that on a t
Elizabeth Cheney:I Love that but yes continue
Bhavna Singh:But like that's the thing, like feeling good is everybody's birthright. And, and your body wants to feel good, that's like the number one thing. But you have to start in the gut. I don't care what issue you have, whether it's acne or dry skin or whatever, like, of course we can give you interim things that can help ease the symptoms, but that's not really fixing anything at the root cause. So, like, while we, like, do things on top, we also want to be doing things on the bottom. So, like, you don't have this problem forever.
Elizabeth Cheney:And did you say earlier that, I think you said hormone imbalances, but maybe specifically can gut health lead to autoimmune disorders?
Bhavna Singh:Yes, like, dysregulated gut health can.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay. Like Crohn's, for example, because I have a lot of friends who have Crohn's. I'm
Bhavna Singh:Mm hmm.
Elizabeth Cheney:your take on that? Because doesn't Crohn's affect like the GI tract or something like that, or am I
Bhavna Singh:It does. Yes. So Crohn's comes in the term of like irritable bowel disease or like IBD. So I have a lot of clients who come to me with that and the thing with Crohn's is that, you can get all of your colonoscopies done. You can get it assessed, make sure it doesn't get worse, but then you have a lot of flare ups and where conventional medicine is really, really good. Like, you know, thank you for doing the colonoscopy. Thank you for diagnosing me. And whatever, but like, they kind of don't know much beyond that. So when it comes to things like Crohn's, like, you have all that gut inflammation, we want to find out, why is your gut just so inflamed? Are you having any overgrowths? is there a parasite in there? Do you just not have enough of the good bacteria? Are you not eating in a way where it would be, like, supportive of you? Like, what are you doing in your nutrition, in your lifestyle, but then beyond that, what's your gut like, actually? what's your microbiome like? we can get a lot of relief that way, like, will it be reversed? Most likely not, once the changes actually happen to the cells. But, can we prevent it from getting worse? Oh, 100%? You know? That's totally possible.
Elizabeth Cheney:I'm even embarrassed to ask this because I know what you're going to say, but like hormonal acne, I don't know anybody who, uh, maybe me who struggles with that, but I feel like based on everything we've already talked about, like that's a loaded question. And I have not done any real solid research other than what you and I've talked about with
Bhavna Singh:Mm hmm.
Elizabeth Cheney:So I need to do my due diligence and go down my own rabbit hole, but it's overwhelming. Is it really just diet and it's really bad and it's painful and I just i'm tired of it
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so a lot of women can get like that rebound, hormonal, acne type picture especially when they come off of birth control. Yeah, I can guarantee your hormones are gonna be a little wacky If I do hormone testing on you, but even then you know We can do things that can help you that can help the symptoms that can help the pain But we really want to optimize the gut like why are there circulating hormones in your body beyond what should already be there So I can guarantee you because that's happening your gut isn't working, right? And once we kind of like fix that picture then we can do more target therapies on the hormones if they need it. But like, eight times out of ten, you know, someone's coming in with hormonal acne or hormone issues. We can get a really good handle on them just by focusing on gut health and like, eating right for your body. Doing what you're supposed to do, preparing your foods in a really good way and then focusing on the health foundations.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay
Bhavna Singh:I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, but if you don't have good foundational health, then, you can't add in anything else.
Elizabeth Cheney:No, you're totally right and I don't think i'm super unhealthy. I don't eat choo choo horribly, although I have a sweet tooth that's gonna bite me in the ass. I know it. Um, I am trying to switch to healthier candy. Baby steps, baby steps. But my problem is like, I don't eat, full meals. I do a great dinner, and I've read that this is like an ADHD thing, I need to be better about it, but, I'm just gonna admit And, you can tell me I'm silly all you want, but I know I'm not the only one. I just thought I could get some kind of supplement, a probiotic, some kind of iotic, and that was going to solve my problem. But basically what you're telling me, no, that's not. So now I'm curious, is supplements just an industry here in America to I mean, I don't want to be a bull and say they don't help because I know there's certain things that help But what is your take on probiotics because there's only a bajillion different brands out there dare I say is it is a probiotic gonna help? This is a two part question So that but then all this testing you're talking about I feel like you can't get that done at your normal doctor Like you need to go to a specialist. So for people who don't maybe have access to that is there supplements or things like besides like diets and maybe going to therapy, stuff like that, that you can do to help. And then on that note, what is your take on supplements, probiotics, prebiotics, all that kind of stuff.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:I know I kind of like threw a lot at you.
Bhavna Singh:I'm going to go, I'm going to talk about, like, the probiotics really quick. Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. So, Yeah. So the best way to figure out like what kind of probiotics you need is through gut testing, so like microbiome testing. So some strains, some combos of strains can make things worse for people. It just really depends on like what you need. but again, the best thing with probiotics is to take a food first approach. So things like yogurt, if you're not lactose intolerant, sauerkraut, kimchi, all of these are great fermented foods that boost the good gut bacteria. And then yes, the supplement industry in this country, it's like a billion, I forget how many billions, but billions, billions of dollar, worth industry. And most supplements on the market are actually absolute trash. And most people don't even know. So what you're really paying for at the end of the day when you're buying supplements like at Publix or wherever the heck you're getting them, you're paying for some really expensive pee and some like really expensive poop. It's like, most of this is not going to be absorbed, what you want to pay for, whatever, it's your money. But like, the best thing to do with supplements is to make sure that you're getting a practitioner grade brand. So these are like medical grade brands. These don't have any fillers and they're made with stricter requirements from the labs, the formulas, everything like they get tested regularly. And they're just overall better. These supplements, are they more expensive? Yes. But you know what? At the the day, it's better to have a supplement that is more expensive, that is practitioner grade, over like, your 10, like, random supplement from Publix that doesn't even do anything.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah. Or if anything is doing harm is
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. exactly. And then if you do wanna take a probiotic supplement, one that I found that is generally well tolerated by most people is a spore based probiotic. So the best one is Mega Spore Biotic by Microbiome Labs. And the one shameless plug for my own supplement brand, and the probiotic that we have.
Elizabeth Cheney:well then we want that for sure. Okay.
Bhavna Singh:so, and then these are like gentle. Most people are able to handle them. It also just depends because if you have a diet already, where you're not getting any fermented products, adding any supplement might, give you some gas, might give you some bloating and it's like something that you have to build up to. So, I know everybody like, is like, oh, I want to be on a probiotic. I want to be on this, but like, you
Elizabeth Cheney:I, I'm the same. I'm, I'm, I'm like thinking like, well, we must've all been fed the same Kool Aid or something. Cause where did that idea come from? I've always been kind of. Told, fed, whatever, through social media and people. Probiotic. Oh, your gut health. It's because you need a probiotic and that's just where my ignorance started and ended. All in the same place.
Bhavna Singh:no, it's like sometimes it is that simple and then sometimes it's also not that simple either, like I have Some clients right now were I looked at their like gut testing and I was like, you need this probiotic. Oh my gosh, this one lady, she's like, my acne got better. My energy is better. This was like the magic pill and then like other people, they come to me and they're like, taking this long list of probiotics. I'm like, what are you doing? We're going to not take any of these and we're just going to see what your gut does. And then we will like add in things slowly.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay,
Bhavna Singh:So, everything is just so bio individualized, it really just depends, like yeah, you can trial and error some things on your own, but at the end of the day, like how much money are you really wasting with that?
Elizabeth Cheney:yeah. Well, it's so hard to keep up with like, I was drinking, what was it? Was it seaweed? Oh my gosh, I'm now, no, not Seamoss, but Seamoss is one that I saw. But like, there's different things that you see that are trending. And I'm like, why should I take Seamoss? Like Mama Ruth's, Mary Ruth's, I think
Bhavna Singh:Oh yeah, the merrier, it's organic.
Elizabeth Cheney:hopefully you like that brand, I don't know. But like, there's so many, mean, it's a seemingly healthy brand and then there's 30 different tinctures and they all seem to have different things. So like, I'm that person who gets bamboozled by that and then I think I need all of them, which I know can't be the truth. do you think there are certain things that, I don't know, like, do you think it really all just comes down to nutrition and those balances or are there things that do elevate or enhance your biome, your biology?
Bhavna Singh:So. the first thing is, when you think about supplements, they should just do what is in the word. They should just supplement. And a lot of people, use them as, like, little band aid quick fixes, when, that's not the case. You can't, out supplement a bad diet. it's not gonna work. You have to have, the foundations in place for the supplements to, do a really good job. Otherwise, you know, you're just wasting money. some people are also like, okay, well, I'm taking these supplements. I'm just going to eat like crap. I'm going to eat fast food. I'm going to do this and do that. And the supplement is going to take care of it. It's like, okay, well, like you can't do that either.
Elizabeth Cheney:Wait, I can't eat fried chicken and just take sea moss and it's all going to work out?
Bhavna Singh:Unless, I mean, you could get like, organic chicken and put it in the air fryer.
Elizabeth Cheney:There you go, there you go. Also it was chlorophyll. That's what I was taking because I'd read that chlorophyll helps like filter out your body. So I was like, oh, hormone, health, acne. There we go.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. I like chlorophyll. I like it cause I kind of like the taste of it, which is, I know it's like a little acquired, but I like the taste of it. And I do. Notice that it'll help my skin Yeah. and it's like one of those things where it's just in a dropper. I'll put it in the water I know it's not like doing any harm.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah. Okay. Well, that's good to know. So it's not going to hurt you, but it's not going to heal you.
Bhavna Singh:not gonna hurt you. Yeah
Elizabeth Cheney:Fair, very, very fair, very fair. So, these are some questions that people, sent in when it related to gut health. So, someone asked, and we already talked about probiotics and things like that. What are prebiotics?
Bhavna Singh:Yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:I didn't even know that was a thing.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. Yeah. So prebiotics are food for the microbiome. So for your like good microbiome, like the good bacteria. when you're like feeding, I mean like when the bacteria are feeding on these prebiotic foods in the colon, they actually produce this short chain fatty acid called butyric acid, which is also butyrate. So butyrate is actually the like the cellular food for your, intestinal cells and for the microbiome and we need butyrate and we need it in good amounts because it's just so preventative like it helps prevent colon cancer, insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, like atherosclerosis, so like it has far reaching effects in the entire Body, but that's like the thing that I was saying earlier what happens in the gut doesn't stay in the gut So you need to feed you're good bacteria the good microbiome. You need to feed them and Prebiotics are basically just their food now there's a bunch of brands that do have a prebiotic powder that you can just like mix in take it with some water But my whole thing is while that's great, like you could see benefit from that, why not just cook with foods that have been shown to produce that butyrate? So things like garlic, asparagus, onions, dandelion greens, bananas, leeks, chicory, artichoke, like all of these things are foods that are really, really, really rich in the prebiotic food that the microbiome needs. And
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm. I did not know
Bhavna Singh:so it's like, yeah, so like, increase your food sources and then if you're like, okay, maybe I want to now graduate to try an actual supplement, you can definitely try that. I don't know, my whole thing is like, just try, just like cook more, like make something for yourself, make something for your husband, just like have a good time with it, get things through a food first approach,
Elizabeth Cheney:Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
Bhavna Singh:and then add in the supplements, then add in the prebiotics.
Elizabeth Cheney:I see what you're
Bhavna Singh:Mm,
Elizabeth Cheney:And my approach has always been supplement first because it feels daunting to try and figure it out the other way.
Bhavna Singh:Well, like, if you do it that way then, you know, like, you'll open up your supplement cabinet and you'll be like, oh, god, I have, like, 50 things in here, do I just take them all?
Elizabeth Cheney:that's talking to me, girl. Talking to me, I'll admit it. Like, I don't mind. I don't mind being the dumb guinea pig for this episode. I don't mean to
Bhavna Singh:I need to look at my supplement cabinet. I'm always trying something, but like at the end of the day, if you need, a supplement to keep your skin clear, and the moment you're off of it, you get acne again, like, what's that really doing?
Elizabeth Cheney:right.
Bhavna Singh:You know, it's basically like taking, a medication.
Elizabeth Cheney:No, exactly.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:no, that makes sense. So next question, why am I always bloated even when I don't eat? Interesting.
Bhavna Singh:Hmm. Is a loaded question, because one, you shouldn't be bloated in general, but like, if you're bloated when you're not even eating, then like, it could be for a few reasons. So, not eating itself could be triggering a stress response, which could be triggering the bloating. yeah, so I do have a client currently and she's just always bloated. She's like I'm bloated whether I eat whether I don't eat and by the end of the day She looks like she's like six seven months pregnant every single day.
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh,
Bhavna Singh:So her I'm just like, let's eat in a way that's supportive for your body type and then we'll go from there, but yeah, not eating can be a really big stressor and women do well or Amazing in a well fed state. We need to eat and we need to eat enough And so the body freaks out and we don't want it to freak out because that can cause a bloat another reason could also just be just not digesting carbs well, having gluten intolerances, parasites, constipation, some bacterial overgrowths going on. So it really has to be tailored to why you are. Bloating when you're not eating and one of the best ways to find out is like to do microbiome testing to see Okay, like how are you digesting, do you have any parasites? Do you have any overgrowths? let's kind of like talk to your gut in a way like that
Elizabeth Cheney:On that note, and I know I actually think I asked this earlier I got us off topic, but because you said that your PCP or general practitioner can't do this kind of level of testing and if someone doesn't have access to say someone like you in your profession, like what could they do to test? Is there, dare I say like at home testing kits that you, I mean, I'm sure that's definitely not ideal, but like what do you recommend?
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so for me, I work my entire practice is virtual. So it doesn't matter where you live as long as you live in
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh, perfect. Okay.
Bhavna Singh:so I, I mean, I have people who are all the way in Oregon and like Maryland, Texas, California, like kind of like all over the place. Yeah, you know, if you have access to the internet, you can have access to a whole breadth of people who are like me and do practice virtually. But if you want someone in person, then I would recommend looking for a functional medicine provider. you can just find one in your area, the IFM website, it's like ifm. org. They have a list of functional medicine providers that you can search by like a zip code and state and see if there's one close to you. but yeah, like the actual testing itself though, like the gut testing that I'm talking about, I use the GI map in my practice, and this is a pretty expensive test. It does range anywhere from 450 to 600. It just really like that's just that's just it, you know, like there's
Elizabeth Cheney:so specific. you're not getting like, you're getting your general levels at a physician. Like, if you have serious health issues, or not even serious serious, but just like, honestly, it feels like everybody needs one of these, given
Bhavna Singh:Oh 100 percent like I this should be a requirement but like, you know, it is expensive It is it's not covered by insurance and think of this your car, you know, you have your car insurance, but you still go into the shop to do maintenance, and get all of that done, like, think about like, you're doing that for your body, you have your health insurance That's there for like emergencies and all of that, but what are you doing in between how are you like maintaining your body? How are you doing with the upkeep require all of that like if we're doing it for our cars And we do it for our homes Because we have home insurance, and like, we get, little renovations done, If we're doing all of this for like other areas of our life, but not, Why not our body?
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah, I was just thinking like why Why and I'll just speak from my lens
Bhavna Singh:No.
Elizabeth Cheney:when I hear that price I think about my issues and like yes that is money that I would invest in myself to find those answers, but Regardless of my own personal bias it's interesting to as a society, like we don't think to put that money in us like it's like a luxury, oh, oh, like we could spend our money on other things like that's not important. Like, why do we take that approach
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, mm
Elizabeth Cheney:Because it's our health. We could be fixing so many issues. Causing us less pain, like peace. Thanks. And prosperity could be right,
Bhavna Singh:yeah, no, 100 percent
Elizabeth Cheney:why maybe it's just toxic capitalism,
Bhavna Singh:it's, yeah, it's just so much, you know, no one is really taught, oh you like you're important You should pour into yourself. You should invest into yourself and that price that's just the Pricing of the test like that is included in my program, which is, a low, like four figure type investment, but like, I'm there with you, for six months and like, I've even elongated it for some women, up to nine months. I'm like, whatever you already paid me once. I'm not charging you for this.
Elizabeth Cheney:And it's very thorough
Bhavna Singh:it's just so thorough and like you're working with someone closely, but this is not normal part of society, most people are like, oh, I'm just going to go to the doctor when I'm sick. My goal is like, I don't want you to. Go to anyone. I want you to be so empowered with knowledge and like how your body works and your health that when we are done with our time together, you feel so good about taking care of yourself. And you can, also do this and like taking care of your spouse, your children, whoever, because some of the fundamentals are not going to change for anyone. it's like you change your little world or like yourself, and then you help the world around you. Because of the medical system and all these people, they thrive on you being sick
Elizabeth Cheney:Right. And that's probably also why people don't want to do this because one, this, like you said, this isn't covered by insurance because it could actually help you. Then you wouldn't need the system.
Bhavna Singh:You know, look at doctor's appointments and stuff too. Like, who has had a doctor's appointment that's more than five minutes? Like, I went to a dermatologist just a few weeks ago because I had like a little thing that wasn't healing. She felt it and she gave me three prescriptions. She was in the room for a grand total of two minutes. And I was like, this is what's wrong.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah.
Bhavna Singh:Thank you for disproving every point to me
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah. Yeah.
Bhavna Singh:You know, so it's like we need to bring that Relationship back in health care and just getting better
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah. And just to say like this episode is not giving you health direction. Like this is not like us saying this is general. This is for you to take this information and you make your own decisions
Bhavna Singh:do your
Elizabeth Cheney:see that this is out there and it's not talked about and start small. Like maybe you can afford the testing. Maybe you're like, you know what? I'm going to go try eating some more asparagus because well. There we go. There's some prebiotics. I'm going to eat some more yogurt. Because from what you're saying, it sounds like small changes out over time. if you do stick to them, you stick to them, you're consistent, you will start to see a change. And I think that's. Part of my problem is, I expect it then. Maybe not right then and there, but I'm like, I've been doing this for two weeks, why am I not different? You know, I don't know why I expect my body just to react immediately, but it takes time.
Bhavna Singh:No, that's I mean, that's all of us. But like, if you think about it, how long did it take for you to not feel well, or get to this point, it's not going to be an overnight fix. And anybody promising you an overnight fix is just a salesperson, because that does not exist. The only thing that's going to get you better is just consistency and focusing on yourself a little bit every single day. Every single day, you just have to do a little bit more than the day before. You don't have to like move by like leaps and bounds. Because eventually you will get there. Just little baby steps.
Elizabeth Cheney:Mm. I like that. Makes it feel a little less overwhelming, because it feels like a mountain. It does.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, because, I mean, wellness has become like a chore these days. People are like, Oh, you need to do your cold plunging, you need to do your red light, you need to do your this, you need to do that. And it's like, oh my god.
Elizabeth Cheney:and here's the thing, all those things probably still are good for you, like, you know, but it's just, it's like, that's how I feel. It's too much. I get online, I'm like, I'm getting offline, you know, like,
Bhavna Singh:That's why we do it in steps. The women in my program and stuff like that. we also have group calls and everything. And I'm just like, you guys. Focus on one thing. now we'll focus on, just like, cook a few more meals at home. We will take the slow, cause slower changes are, make like, lasting changes. Yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:it. I think that must be an American thing. Maybe it's like, you know, a little bit of habits. 5 minutes now is 5 hours later. But like, why is that so daunting? Because then you think, well, 5 minutes is not going to do anything, but then you never start in the 1st place. It's just an endless. Weird cycle. So, thank you for saying that, because it feels overwhelming. So, let me just start by eating yogurt every day. Okay, I can do that. You know, like, I mean, I'm being funny, but, like, essentially, yes, why not? Why not? Because then you do it long enough, and then maybe you stop eating fried chicken every single day. And then it's, you know, balanced,
Bhavna Singh:we're just like or if you want the fried chicken, you know what like have it Maybe you will your gut will be in such a good spot that you can afford To have something every now and then and it's not gonna mess you up
Elizabeth Cheney:One thing I've gotten, I keep saying fried chicken because my husband loves fried chicken to a serious fault. And, uh, I've started to make almond crusted, fried chicken and I'll fry it in avocado oil. And he's like, oh my god, this is so good, babe. And I'm like, yeah, it's almond flour and it's avocado oil. None of that nasty vegetable shit that you do. Like, and he's like, Kyle, you could have fooled me. And I'm like, mm hmm, that's what's up. So, yeah, C starts small.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, exactly and then next time, you know, like throw it in the air fryer see how that goes
Elizabeth Cheney:Exactly. I, there we go. I should try that. That's my next one. Um, okay. A few more questions before we close out today's episode, but one is what is a natural laxative that is safe to use on a consistent basis to support gut health? so I'm assuming that their issues, their bowel issues are probably because of issues, but do you have a, um, recommendation on like a natural laxative for our friends who can't poop?
Bhavna Singh:yeah, the best one out there is Trifola. It's a Ayurvedic laxative. It's just, but how's it spelled? T R I P H A L A. And it's non habit forming. It's non addictive. It's actually the powder of like three fruits mixed in together and you take it in the evenings, like before bed. And then like, hopefully by the morning you should have a bowel movement.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay, well then we will, I wrote that down, I wrote, when you split it, I was like, write that down. We'll make that, we'll put that in the show notes, everybody.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, for sure.
Elizabeth Cheney:okay, so.
Bhavna Singh:is awesome.
Elizabeth Cheney:Alright, good to know. So, Triphia, laxative, I, I don't really have bowel issues too often, but when I do, oh my gosh, that is so inconvenient. Like, very
Bhavna Singh:it's the worst.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah, talk about feeling bloated and just, I, yeah. Being constipated. yeah, no, I don't like that. That's something that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable and I want nothing more than just to roll down a hill and then, yeah, all right, anyways, help me get off Adderall. What are natural ways to combat ADHD? And I put next to it any supplement, but now I'm even embarrassed because I feel like supplements are not the word,
Bhavna Singh:no, supplements can totally help with ADHD, but even Even with something like this, you know, it's such a, like, multi factorial approach, again, we want the health foundations in place because ADHD, I think there has, have been some studies out there showing that, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, artificial, flavorings can exacerbate ADHD symptoms, so a lot of this is also, very, like, diet related, and I know in children, The artificial colors is huge. Like the, like the yellow dye and the red dye. These are huge culprits for why kids and adults have ADHD. So let's, dial back down on like the artificial things, increase real whole foods, and then we can add in some supplements. But there's also this component of ADHD that kind of like ties in with like perfectionism, at least for adults. At least for adult women you're not fully allowing yourself to be seen by yourself and also by others, so you're kind of like covering yourself in this tendencies where, you like nitpick every last detail and you get lost in the sea of like things that just aren't important. You know what I mean? So, kind of like focusing on that aspect of it as well, whether it's through therapy or whatever else, you want to do, but kind of making sure that that mental health component is also talked about a little bit.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yes. No, I think that's a great point. Thank you for saying
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, and even like, Ayurvedically, ADHD, like we talked about, in the beginning, is an, issue of having excessive vatha. So, like, that excess airiness, that excess iness. So, like, what do we do when someone is, having a lot of, air and, like, a lot of space? We have to bring them down. back down to earth. So we have to do a lot of grounding activities. So eating heavier meals, like root vegetables, meats, anything that's really heavy will really help to calm down, all like the airiness kind of like bring it back down Sleeping bringing warmth back into the body. These people are generally more on the colder side Oil massage because they have a lot of dryness as well Sauna is really good to also bring back warmth to the body Meditation, you know didn't just making sure that you are are constantly, grounding. So whether that's, you're gonna sleep for, like, eight, nine hours, because these people do need more sleep than, normal. Making sure that, you're doing, your regular walking exercises, you're taking warm showers, things like that, will also really help to kind of negate the excess airiness and spaciness. And then, beyond that, when it comes to supplements, magnesium and saffron.
Elizabeth Cheney:Saffron, interesting.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, for adults, it's like anywhere between like 50 to 80 grams a day of saffron has been shown to be as effective as Ritalin.
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh, wow. Okay. I'll
Bhavna Singh:for sure. So saffron can be a really powerful supplement for people who have ADHD Without all like the come down side effects of like being on ADHD meds.
Elizabeth Cheney:I will definitely be checking that out And I've heard magnesium also helps like anxiety,
Bhavna Singh:Yes. Magnesium helps anxiety, helps your muscles to relax, helps you go to bed. Oh my gosh, magnesium is so good. It's like, if this was one mineral supplement that I would want everybody to be on, it would be magnesium.
Elizabeth Cheney:We stand magnesium. Got it.
Bhavna Singh:Yes. Yes, we do. Yes. That's also going to be on a shirt. Yes.
Elizabeth Cheney:with your marketing already. There we go. Um, okay. So magnesium is saffron ADHD. Got it. All right. We're going to check that out. so one thing else I want to talk about, and I feel like we'll also talk about this on our next episode when we get more into women's health, fertility, hormones and that, but PCOS, there was lots of questions that were submitted about PCOS. I know. I personally have a lot of friends who have to struggle with it. and before we started recording, we were talking about how it's connected to gut health. So let's talk about like what are causes of PCOS, diagnoses, like how do you get diagnosis? Um, and I know this is like, again, a very layered, nuanced subject, so I'm going to give you the floor and you hit the main points that you want to hit.
Bhavna Singh:Okay. For sure. So yeah, PCOS has a huge tie in with gut health and I'll get into that in a little bit, but it's also one of the most, it's the leading cause of infertility in the US. So anytime someone's oh, like, you know, I'm in trouble getting pregnant, staying pregnant, like PCOS is the first thing on my mind. So it's characterized by a combination of different symptoms. So like you have irregular cycles or the absence of having a cycle or you're not excess androgen production. So these are your male sex hormones. So like you get things like excess acne, hair loss, like in a pattern way, but then hair on your face, on your chin, like where, men have thicker hair, increased testosterone, and also on an ultrasound, small little like cysts along the ovaries. and then PCOS also leads to things like inflammation, weight gain, metabolic issues, insulin resistance, infertility, like we talked about. So it's really this thing there is just so much going on and a lot of conventional doctors and stuff like that and especially with my own history with this, people don't know exactly how PCOS is even caused. Some people think it's genetics. Some people don't. I don't buy into the whole genetic thing because, your lifestyle can turn on and turn off various genes that are expressed. So, it must be much deeper than, genetics. the whole, basis for PCOS is actually insulin resistance. So, this is when your body fails to respond to insulin, which is normal part of, when you intake. sugar, insulin comes, helps to shuttle it to everywhere. So excess insulin can actually trigger the ovaries into producing an excess amount of androgens, which is the male sex hormones. And then these male hormones interfere with the ovulation process and it results in the cis formation and also the infertility. And then the These elevated androgens help to cause the PCOS symptoms like acne and excessive hair growth. So for me, it all comes down to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can also be triggered by inflammation, which can also be triggered by stress. So it's this like triangle of stress, inflammation, and insulin resistance.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah.
Bhavna Singh:And you kind of need like the perfect storm for all three of these things in place. Like kind of happening at the same time because sure there's women, you know Who are also under stress and also have inflammation, but they don't get PCOS Because they don't have that insulin resistance also going on So you need like kind of everything working together under the surface like all at once and then there might be some triggering event Again for a lot of women the triggering event could be some kind of trauma like emotional trauma physical trauma mental trauma like something It's triggering this or a lot of negative self talk because there's this there's a huge picture Yeah, a lot of these women are being diagnosed with PCOS when they're really young So like what's happening in your childhood? Where are these traumas coming from? How are you speaking to yourself? Because all of these things are gonna manifest as physical symptoms and they're gonna manifest as like any kind of disease
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm.
Bhavna Singh:and then you have like that, but then there's also like environmental factors that can contribute to the development of PCOS. there's so much childhood obesity going on, even like kids, but also like teenagers and people in their 20s and things like that, even though they're not kids, And then like sedentary lifestyles, poor diet. So again, we want to make sure that we have the health foundations in place, even for something like PCOS and including, are you sleeping enough? What's your toxin load like? Because all of these can make it worse. And if you don't have PCOS, it can also increase the risk. for developing it down the line. So, again, when it comes to nutrition for PCOS, I'm gonna recommend, a very similar thing. Whole foods, organic, eat the rainbow, cook your foods, cook your vegetables. Eating isn't, that complicated, but, we're all just, overcomplicating it with these, really fancy diets. We don't need any of that. Just eat clean, eat organic as much as you can. Cook your foods and make sure there's a rainbow of veggies going on. And then we want to decrease inflammation through food. So dairy free, gluten free is something that I recommend for people with PCOS. Because PCOS can also lead to something called leaky gut. And then leaky gut can also lead to inflammation. And then the inflammation can make the PCOS worse.
Elizabeth Cheney:Geez.
Bhavna Singh:I know so everything is like a cycle, but like you can get out of a negative cycle It's possible and then you also want to focus on Having a good amount of protein at every meal because one thing I've noticed is that women PCOS We love to snack I love snacking so much and it's been one of my biggest downfalls so making sure that you're getting at least 30 grams of protein at every meal because that protein is It helps you stay fuller for longer, and if you add like a little bit of fat to that, not a whole lot, a little bit, that will ensure that you're not like mindlessly snacking. And it also helps to increase your, improve, I mean, your relationship with food.
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm. Mm
Bhavna Singh:If you're snacking all the time, you're just like eating because you're bored. Like, you should be eating because you're hanging out with your friends, or you're eating because, like, you want to nourish your body. Kind of changing The, vocabulary around, food a little bit will also help. And then,
Elizabeth Cheney:point.
Bhavna Singh:reducing carb intake. I love carbs, but people with PCOS, are probably eating, way too many carbs. So it's important to find your carb tolerance. So, eat a normal meal. If you're falling asleep after that, the carbs are probably too high. So, like, the next time, just dial that back down a little bit. Find the amount where, once you're done eating, you feel really energized. that's a good sweet spot for you for carbs.
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm.
Bhavna Singh:And then beyond that, if we're talking ayurvedically, PCOS also comes with this, thing, this I can't think of the word, but, like, this, concept of having decreased digestive fire. So we want to make sure that before we're eating, we're warming up the body so we can get like that hydrochloric acid flowing to help us digest our food and one of the best ways to do this is taking a little piece of ginger, adding a few drops of lime juice and topping it with some sea salt and just chewing on that like 10 15 minutes before a meal and that like is a natural way to like boost hydrochloric acid production.
Elizabeth Cheney:And what does that do again? Hydrochloric acid production. What does that do to the body?
Bhavna Singh:It helps to digest your food, in your stomach, and helps to, break down food. And that also, gives us the hunger. Hydrochloric acid and, your digestive fire are, like, directly correlated.
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm. God, I did not know that. I thought that was stuff you put on your face. I feel so dumb.
Bhavna Singh:No, you don't want to put hydrochloric acid on your face.
Elizabeth Cheney:Hydrolonic acid, that's what you put
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, yeah, it's hyaluronic acid. Yeah, you want to put hyaluronic acid on your face. Do not put hydro
Elizabeth Cheney:I am dying.
Bhavna Singh:Don't do that. Don't sue me. Whoever listens to this.
Elizabeth Cheney:No, no, no, no, no, I'm like, so wait, but hydro Okay, yes, that's what you put on your face. Not hydrochloric acid.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. Hydrochloric acid in your stomach breaks down food. Like, if you put hydrochloric acid, on a table, it would cause a hole.
Elizabeth Cheney:That's in our stomachs?
Bhavna Singh:Yes, ma'am
Elizabeth Cheney:wonderful, love that. So, is that what causes leaky gut? When it's not checked?
Bhavna Singh:No, so leaky gut actually happens okay So like imagine this is our like a gut lining like all of these are cells We want it to be nice and taught like next to each other Things are not passing in things are not passing out. Leaky gut is when it's like this there's spaces between the tight junctions in our intestine, so things are going in things are going out there's toxins being released There's food particles being released into the bloodstream. It gets really messy You can reach all sorts of things like brain fog acne like what have you so leaky gut symptoms yeah, you'll get like stomach aches and abdominal pains bloating, gas, but you'll see a lot of manifestations just elsewhere in the body. You might notice that your joints become really stiff and achy, that, you have like brain fog after a meal where you have to lay down and you just can't think. And then you have acne and you might notice that your face gets really red. So, yeah, we definitely want the junctions in our intestines to be, like, nice and tight. Because we don't want things going in and we don't want things going out.
Elizabeth Cheney:And a way to reinforce that is better nutrition, cooking your
Bhavna Singh:Better nutrition,
Elizabeth Cheney:vegetables, which I
Bhavna Singh:yeah. Even, like, bone broth. Very, very good for leaky gut.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay. That's like a good intermittent like snack or something.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. Like, bone broth is amazing for leaky gut, yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:okay. So a few last little questions. One is if you have multiple health issues, how do you get an integrative care approach?
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so this is gonna be really because you know, you want like good care, but most of the medical community, like they don't believe in this kind of approach. So it's really important to find someone who does believe in this kind of approach. And that might take, some like trial and error, finding people off of like the IFM website that I told you about earlier, that's a really good place to start. But as far as, Western medical system, if you want, that more, like, holistic, integrative care, you most likely are not gonna find it. So, finding someone who, It's like in functional medicine is going to be your best bet.
Elizabeth Cheney:Yeah, that's what it sounds like.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah.
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm, why is there hair growing on my chin? And I know you kind of talked about this earlier, but like an overproduction of testosterone?
Bhavna Singh:yeah. It could be overproduction of testosterone. Uh, it could just be like getting older. Sadly. Um, it could also just be like, you know, depending on what part of the world you're from. Like, Middle Eastern cultures, South Asian cultures, stuff like that. Even the women, like, we are just gonna be hairier.
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm,
Bhavna Singh:So it might not be, a hormonal issue in general, it just might be, genetics.
Elizabeth Cheney:Your DNA, yeah.
Bhavna Singh:yeah. unfortunately.
Elizabeth Cheney:Fair, fair. Uh, best tips for battling seasonal depression? Ha!
Bhavna Singh:get lots of sunlight. As much as you can. Like, even in the winter, like, you see some sun, just, like, go stand out in it for a little bit. Get a sunlamp. Um,
Elizabeth Cheney:Oh yeah, light therapy, I've seen that.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, focus on health foundations, take vitamin D, take melatonin in the evening. Make sure that you're really focusing on your sleep and wake cycles. Like sleep on time, wake up on time, watch the sunrise, get that early morning sunlight in. That would really help.
Elizabeth Cheney:Okay, I think that's fair advice.
Bhavna Singh:Mhm.
Elizabeth Cheney:okay, mushrooms. I'm a big fan of, mushroom, like, not so much the trippy mushrooms, although I know that's a whole thing. Um, I'd love to learn more about that, just haven't dabbled into it yet. But, I'm, like, I got my Nana on Lion's Mane because she was having brain fog and it's, like, made a whole 180 difference. Because she was getting, she was scared that she was getting dementia and this and this, which, I mean, I understand that. She went through a very traumatic loss with my pop leading up to it, like his care. She was his full time care provider, not care provider, caretaker, excuse
Bhavna Singh:Mm hmm.
Elizabeth Cheney:Lion's Mane. I've seen 180 difference. So big fan of mushrooms. I feel like mushrooms are fab right now. And I don't want to say fab because I don't want them to go out, but like it's more mainstream, their benefits. One of which is like mushroom coffee. Somebody wrote in asking about mushroom coffee. So what's your take on like the mushroom coffee?
Bhavna Singh:I love mushroom coffee. I love anything with mushrooms in it. I think mushroom coffee is great. Um, yeah, I use mushrooms all the time. They're really good to, like, regulate your mood, your anxiety. They work as an adaptogen, which increases your stress resiliency over time. So I'm a huge fan just when it comes to like mushroom coffee and things like that like just make sure that like you're not Taking so much caffeine in because that's not going to be that beneficial to the body Just like if you want that caffeine get a little bit in but like yeah I really focus on caffeine free sources of that energy if you can and mushroom coffee is great
Elizabeth Cheney:Hmm, wonder if that should be a route I'd take for ADHD, getting that zing with the coffee and a mushroom.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, just try it. You can also try like some matcha like matcha is great as like a replacement Mm hmm.
Elizabeth Cheney:it's just my local Kroger doesn't sell it anymore. So I need to, I need to go to Whole Foods and get some. Um, okay, well, the last question I had for you for today's episode, which it's been so fabulous. I was taking notes. While you were talking and I'm gonna have to edit this so I'm gonna get them again, but I'm just like wow so much to research But curious. What is your morning routine morning ritual and your evening ritual? Like I think you know, especially since you are a subject matter expert in this everyone would like to know what do you take or do in the morning? What do you do or take in the evening?
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, so in the mornings, like my, one of my goals lately is to wake up even earlier. So I'm shooting for around like a 530 wake up time these days and just like getting some stuff done. But what I like doing in the morning, wake up, like do my tongue scraping, brush my teeth, have some warm water with lemon because that is a gentle way to wake up your body for the day. And then beyond that, I like to do just like a quick, 10, 15 minute meditation, on the days that I remember to, that helps my energy throughout the day. I'll have a matcha and then I'll also make some breakfast, things like that. So yeah, that's my morning. Some days I'll do it more, some days I won't. So it really just depends on the day how Extra, I feel, but those are probably my baseline things that I'm doing on a daily, regular basis. Some days I will add in the oil filling, some days I will add in oiling my body, so it just like really depends, but I do the basics on a daily basis. And then in the evenings, I like to, I'm having trouble with this one, but I like to put my phone away. But I know it's so, it's so hard. But I got this like red light filter thing for my phone where I press the side button and like turns red. So it's easier on my eyes. I'll wear my blue light blocking glasses. I like to put oil on my feet's feet. God, I put like on my feet in the evenings. what else do I do then? Wash my face, do my skincare, maybe I'll like read a little bit, but I've been trying to be better about that. I haven't been as good. So that's something I'm hoping to add in, which is like, it's more reading.
Elizabeth Cheney:So you don't take any kind of supplements or anything?
Bhavna Singh:Oh, no, I do my supplements too. I just, yeah, so like as far as supplements go, I'm taking glutamine, magnesium, curcumin, glutathione, inositol, And like, plant enzymes.
Elizabeth Cheney:don't know what any of that is. You said something gluten like twice or beta, beta something
Bhavna Singh:Oh my god.
Elizabeth Cheney:I'm like, what is that? I don't even know.
Bhavna Singh:Yeah. No, the glutamine is for, it's to help leaky gut. Magnesium in the evening, just like, help me, sleep, help me relax. Curcumin, overall inflammation. Glutathione, overall inflammation. Inositol for PCOS, and then the plant enzymes were to just like help me digest food if I'm having like a heavier meal or anything like that.
Elizabeth Cheney:So interesting. Oh my gosh. I wish I had your brain. Oh, wow. Gosh. Well, Bhavna, no, this has been so wonderful. I cannot wait for us to record and talk getting into the nitty gritty of fertility
Bhavna Singh:Yes, that's gonna be, that's gonna be a fun episode,
Elizabeth Cheney:It's going to be fun. I think it's going to be very informative and I just, I appreciate you taking the time today. I know we talked about literally so much and I know
Bhavna Singh:hmm.
Elizabeth Cheney:we could
Bhavna Singh:I know, this is like all over the place.
Elizabeth Cheney:it, but it was so helpful and I think there was so many good starting points for people to do their own research and explore. Um, for example, what was that last supplement you said that for specifically for PCOS that you take? What was that?
Bhavna Singh:inositol.
Elizabeth Cheney:Inositol. How do you spell that?
Bhavna Singh:I am O S I T O L.
Elizabeth Cheney:That might be something worth checking out for some of my fellow listeners to do their
Bhavna Singh:Mm hmm.
Elizabeth Cheney:you know, again, talk to your provider. Do your research, talk to your medical professional. Um, but if you feel like you're being gaslit, then maybe that is the time for you to, think about a more holistic approach like Dr. Singh here is talking about. So, uh, for everyone listening, share where they can find you. Also. Also. You casually mentioned your supplement company, let's talk about that too, so mention that and, I will make sure that all of this is linked in the show notes for those listening, so this is your, your time to spiel your shtick,
Bhavna Singh:Oh, my God. So, yeah. So, you can find me on Instagram. My Instagram ID is at dr. bhavnasing. So I have, a bunch of stuff on there. You can sign up for any of my, free guides. I have, three or four, like, freebies on there. So let me know what you think when you download one of those. And then my supplement company is called OGIS Nutraceuticals. And We have 17 products, everything from like, gut health, to inflammation, to heart health, and insulin resistance, so we have a good, range of products, and I use these products on a daily basis, and I love them, and they're practitioner grade, and made in a facility that is really, really strict on what exactly goes in, and everything that like, we say is in there, is in there, there's nothing else.
Elizabeth Cheney:ooh, I love that, truth, truth on a label, who would have thought,
Bhavna Singh:Yeah, no, that's like one of our things is honest labeling.
Elizabeth Cheney:I love that, thank you, thank you for leading the good fight in this very convoluted world of health, that shouldn't be as hard as it is, is from
Bhavna Singh:shouldn't be, but it is, and it's like, the powers in charge could completely change it, but they're not, so, you know, just educate,
Elizabeth Cheney:money, money, money, money, which, you know, love that feeling when it's like your health, right?
Bhavna Singh:yeah, no, for sure, but there's a lot of information out there too, luckily, so, you know, educate yourself, empower yourself as much as you can, and that comes, like, through education,
Elizabeth Cheney:Absolutely. Knowledge is power. That's what they say.
Bhavna Singh:for sure. Yay!
Elizabeth Cheney:for our next recording. And for those listening, like I said, all of everything that she mentioned, I'm going to link in the show notes, and obviously she'll be tagged in all the posts. So if you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with a friend, co worker, family member, everyone and anyone who will listen. We all need to get this information out there. Take charge of our health. Maybe we just need to eat some more greens. Maybe that's my problem. I have no idea. Uh, but thank you so much for being here. You can follow me at Elizabeth Cheney underscore at, or at end up between pod and then tick talk and YouTube at in between podcasts. So until then, we'll see you next time. Bye.
Bhavna Singh:bye!