Heal and Stay Healed with Kelly B Haney
The Heal and Stayed Healed with Kelly B Haney podcast is for anyone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired, particularly those with autoimmune disease or other chronic illness. It's for those who are ready to truly heal, and more importantly, truly STAY healed.
Through my training as a Certified Nutrition Coach, but mostly through insight gained from my personal experience with overcoming severe Ulcerative Colitis, I want to equip you to get better, stay better, and to become healthier than ever.
I've been able to stay completely autoimmune flare-free for well over a decade, and I believe that if I can do it, then you can too! Our bodies want to heal. They know how to heal. We just have to give them the support that they need.
I'm honored to walk alongside you as you take the next step in your own healing journey. Let's heal and stay healed together.
Heal and Stay Healed with Kelly B Haney
A Functional Approach to Perimenopause with Dietician JeJe Noval
In this episode, we dive deep into the often misunderstood world of perimenopause with Integrative and Functional Dietician JeJe Noval. JeJe offers clarity, wisdom, and detailed recommendations for navigating this phase of life.
Highlights include:
- Understanding perimenopause: its symptoms and how it differs from menopause
- The role of minerals, particularly zinc and copper, in hormone regulation
- The connection between methylation, genetics, and hormone balance
- Why hormone replacement therapy isn't always the best first option
- The importance of gut health in managing perimenopausal symptoms
- Nutrition strategies for supporting hormonal health
- Exercise recommendations for perimenopausal women
- How stress affects hormonal balance and ways to manage it
JeJe provides insights into a functional approach to perimenopause, emphasizing the importance of addressing root causes rather than just treating symptoms.
Connect with JeJe Noval:
Website: www.jejenoval.com
Instagram: @gut.and.hormone.harmony
Program: Gut and Hormone Harmonizer
Website: www.kellybhaney.com
Email: info@kellybhaney.com
Instagram: @kellybhaney
Facebook: Kelly B Haney Wellness
Welcome to the Heal and Stay Healed podcast, where we talk about healing and, more importantly, staying healed from chronic disease and other ailments and issues. We'll cover all the crazy things about health and life the good, the bad, the ugly and the hilarious. My name is Kelly and I'm a survivor and overcomer of severe autoimmune disease, and I can't wait to share with you what I've learned so that you can heal and stay healed too. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show. Welcome, friends.
Speaker 2:Today we are talking about a hot topic, especially for females in their mid-30s to late 40s, and that is the topic of perimenopause. Right now it seems like there is a ton of conversation about this topic going on, but also a lot of confusion and misinformation that is out there related to this natural phase of life, and I know I am not alone in looking for some sound and solid information and wisdom here. So in this episode we are joined by an exceptionally qualified guest to guide us through the realities, myths, challenges and strategies surrounding perimenopause. Integrative and functional dietitian Gigi Noval is here to help us today. With 31 years of experience as a registered dietitian nutritionist, gigi holds degrees in nutrition and dietetics, a master's in clinical nutrition and a PhD in education, specializing in e-learning. Currently, she's an assistant professor at Loma Linda University's Department of Nutrition and Dietetics. Gigi is also certified as an integrative and functional nutrition practitioner, a gastrointestinal nutritionist and a menopause coaching specialist. Through her telehealth private practice, she helps clients overcome GI and hormone-related issues with her signature Gut and Hormone Harmonizer program.
Speaker 2:This information that we are covering today is not just of high importance for my female listeners. Hey fellas, understanding this topic is essential for supporting the females in your life, so please keep listening. In our conversation, gigi breaks down perimenopause into digestible bites for us, covering the intricate roles played by minerals, vitamins, methylation, gut microbiome balance, gene variations and stress. She goes deep into hormone replacement therapy, explaining why she believes it shouldn't be the first line of defense in most cases. Gigi also addresses the specific considerations for our vegetarian and vegan listeners in this age range and for all of us. We discuss in great detail how nutrition and lifestyle can make all the difference in this stage of life, just as in all stages of life. Here we go with the insightful Gigi Noval. Gigi, welcome, and thank you so much for being here for what is sure to be an enlightening conversation today.
Speaker 1:Oh, Kelly, I have been looking forward to having this conversation with you, so I am excited to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 2:Before we dive in, I'd like to just very quickly ask you a question that I love to ask guests of the podcast, but also I love to ask people in real life, because you just hear the most fascinating responses. Do you have a favorite quote, short poem or music lyric that has positively influenced you that you'd be willing to share with us?
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely. Wherever I am, whether it be teaching in the classroom with our nutrition and dietetic students, or in my concerts or presentations, I always love to share Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. And it says trust the Lord with all your heart. Lean not in your own understanding, but in all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. And I eat, breathe that text all the time because life, you know, some parts are good and then some parts are frustrating and scary. But then when I think about that verse and I remember to just trust in God and leave everything in his hands, then it helps the moment, it helps the situation.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing that, I think. Thank you for sharing that. I think it's always so helpful, and when we're really sick or ill it's extra beneficial to hold on to a faith in something that is much bigger than ourselves and much greater than our own very limited understanding about the big picture and especially when we're sick that brings so much comfort and peace.
Speaker 1:Right. Oh, I absolutely agree.
Speaker 2:Okay. So today we are going to talk about what I would say is a hot topic right now, at least in my own peer group, and it's actually been my most requested topic for the podcast. We're going to talk about perimenopause. Well, I'm sure we'll talk about menopause too, but not menopause so much as perimenopause. So you are an integrative and functional dietitian. Can you just explain for us what does that mean and what sets you apart from a more conventional dietitian?
Speaker 1:Oh, I love this question. This is such a good question. So I'm going to start off with integrative. Integrative means we still uphold Western medicine practices. Okay, parts of it we do. We're not throwing it all out. So, when it comes to certain medications, like for those with type 1 diabetes, they absolutely need insulin from outside because their pancreas isn't making it. So, yes, that type of medicine, okay, we honor that. So it's integrative because it also means that we believe in other practices, such as massage okay, acupressure, myofascia release therapy. So those are the other practices that are integrated with Western medicine practices. So that's integrated.
Speaker 1:And then we have functional, which there's also functional medicine. So when I think of functional medicine and functional nutrition, it's really all together in one. So functional is looking at the root cause. Why do we have these issues with perimenopause in the first place, or with diabetes type 2? Is it because of the inflammation? Where did the inflammation begin?
Speaker 1:And so let's work on that, on resolving the root cause, instead of jumping into medications right away for diabetes and then for perimenopause and the issues that might come along with it or that come along with it. Why do we jump right away to medications? And when I say medications. It's hormone replacement therapy, because it is a medication, and so what sets me apart is that I like to look at, in addition to lifestyle practices, what are the imbalances within our minerals that cause these issues to happen? What are the imbalances within our own blood sugars that we can work on to alleviate some of the symptoms that we have? And looking at root causes for GI concerns, instead of giving medication right away. So we like to look at the root cause, so I like to use all of the different practices that we have, because then it brings a synergistic effect to the table to help people truly optimize their health.
Speaker 2:I love everything that you just said so much and talk about setting yourself apart from the norm and from what so many of us are used to when we go to the doctor, which is kind of the opposite of everything you just said, and that's always been a key part in my understanding of true healing. We're not just slapping band-aids onto things. We've got to find those root causes, and the fact that you pull from all these different areas that are available to us to find those root causes and then to treat them is really magnificent, and I am very curious and excited to hear how all this applies to this topic of perimenopause.
Speaker 1:Yes, this applies to this topic of perimenopause.
Speaker 2:Yes, perimenopause, I think it's safe to say, is kind of shrouded in mystery for many of us. I mentioned in my own peer group this is a hot topic. We're starting to hear more about it, we're starting to try to talk to each other about it, we're trying to figure out how it affects us. But there's a lot of confusion because there is still not a lot of open conversation about menopause, let alone perimenopause, and like most everything else, there's surely a lot of misinformation out there. I've heard claims, personally, that span all the way from perimenopause is not a real thing to perimenopause is even worse than actual menopause. So please, gigi, bring some clarity here for us. Is perimenopause a real thing and if so, what is it?
Speaker 1:Okay, this is so important to really clarify because, yes, so important to really clarify because, yes, some other health practitioners will deny it when it is real. And if anything, though, I'm glad we're having these conversations, I'm glad that your group, your peers, your other mothers that you get to do life with you're talking about it. So the curiosity is getting better and better. But is it real? Oh, absolutely. In fact, what we call perimenopause and I'll explain it a little bit more in a second but it can begin for a good number of women as early as in your mid-30s, so even 35 years old. For me, though, I can pinpoint it, and perhaps mine was close to the mid-40s, and then I hit the actual menopause at 51. But I could definitely look back at my life and say, oh, yes, that was definitely perimenopause. So perimenopause is when, yes, our estrogen levels start to shift more, more so in the downward direction, but then it could still fluctuate up, but more so in the downward direction. Not just estrogen, but progesterone as well. Progesterone is working its way around, because in perimenopause, ladies still have their periods, but testosterone can also go down with estrogen. So here's the thing when these shifts happen, ladies can actually start experiencing vasomotor symptoms, such as the hot flashes, such as night sweats.
Speaker 1:Usually the conversation has been in menopause that you experience, that it actually begins with perimenopause. So we have the vasomotor type of symptoms. Moodiness can also take place for some people, Maybe they might feel they're more irritable or anxious, and palpitations can be felt. You might think whoa, how many prior heart issues and why am I having these really fast heartbeats? So there's that For some women, this might be the beginning of cholesterol levels skyrocketing. For some it can lead to insomnia or having disturbed sleep, and then, for some, fatigue can set in and then for some, brain fog. But if we're not doing anything about this now, then, yes, bone health can start leading to osteoporosis at this time, to osteoporosis at this time, and yeah, so those are the changes that can happen. Insulin resistance can start taking place too at this time because of the decreased estrogen, and so I'm going to leave it there for now with the symptoms. That's enough, right, I know.
Speaker 1:I mean, I could go on and on, but I will add one more. There is reflux. Some women start to have reflux at this time and, yes, it could also be due to a shift in estrogen and progesterone estrogen and progesterone.
Speaker 2:Wow, it's so eye-opening to hear you list off these symptoms, which are not even similar in nature. We just went all over the place and something like reflux, for example. It would be natural for it to come to mind. Like I have a GI issue or something like cholesterol. It's not your natural first line of thought to say, oh, this is related to perimenopause. And then, yeah, everything else you mentioned, of course, hot flashes, night sweats that's the one thing that I feel like our mothers were willing to talk about, but I'm sure our mothers weren't aware, let alone most of us probably aren't aware. All the other things that you just said. It's very eye-opening to hear and understand just how much our hormones kind of are the boss of everything.
Speaker 1:It sounds like To a certain degree, which I agree. So here's the thing. Typically Western medicine will say oh well, let's just put you on hormone replacement therapy. And I am what's the appropriate word to say? Well, baffled. Baffled isn't really the word, but my reaction to certain studies that have come out recently saying that, oh, hormone replacement therapy is not as bad as we think, Okay, With the side effects, and okay, good, I'm going to give it that right.
Speaker 1:But why does it have to be the first line of defense that many go to, that many other practitioners immediately just give you as the first choice? When, from a functional point of view, let's look at okay, how did God design us? When we look at minerals, when we look at those imbalances and when we look at what is the place of minerals and how they're connected to our hormones, then that means we could do something about getting our hormones and not necessarily we can't increase the amount of estrogen or progesterone as we continue to go on in life. But here's the thing even with decreased estrogen and progesterone, we can still have estrogen dominance, meaning the ratio of the estrogen at lower levels is still more than progesterone. So this is where the issues that I just mentioned actually stem from, because there are lots of women who have less estrogen, less progesterone and testosterone, but they don't have the hot flashes, they don't have the night sweats, they don't have the weight gain. Oh yeah, that's.
Speaker 1:Another symptom that I forgot to mention is weight gain, and so but how come they don't have it Right and it's like, but they have less estrogen and progesterone. It's the imbalance of estrogen to progesterone. So we could still have that. Now, here's the thing the spark plugs of our hormones is our minerals. So when it comes to copper, copper works with estrogen. When it comes to zinc, it works with progesterone and testosterone, and so when we look at our zinc to copper ratio, like on a hair tissue mineral analysis test, when that is too high or too low, it is telling us that we have a dysregulated copper level. So I'm going to get a little nutrition nerdy here on you.
Speaker 2:So I'm a huge nutrition nerd myself, so nerd away.
Speaker 1:That's right, okay, so. So here's the thing there is more and more research that is looking into copper dysregulation, and so, again, copper works with estrogen. But what we don't really realize is that copper needs to be bound. It needs to be bound to be active, to be bioactive, and it needs to be bound to a protein called cyralloplasmin. And if we don't have enough active vitamin A, retinol, then our cyralloplasmin will not bound with the copper, and so we have a lot of unbound copper floating through our system, going to our brain and going to our liver, our kidneys, and it's causing these other issues that we are experiencing in perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. And so if it's bound, then we're fine, it goes to the right places. Now, how does this happen? Well, okay, if there's a lot of unbound copper, then that means we might not be taking enough vitamin A, that is, active retinol, which is found in eggs, in salmon, in sardines, in whole fat dairy products. Now here's the thing If our meal pattern, dietary meal pattern, like vegetarian and vegan, which is naturally low in zinc, or we're just not eating enough bioavailable zinc, then the body will say, oh, zinc levels are low, we are going to wait till it increases to a normal level. So liver just hold off, don't release more cyralloplasmin. So then we think about uh-oh, if we don't have enough cyralloplasmin, what's going to bind with the copper? And so that's why it's so important to eat bioavailable zinc, which is found mostly. We can only truly find bioavailable zinc in animal products. So if that's off or we're just not eating enough of zinc, that can also lead to this copper dysregulation which can lead to the hot flashes which can lead to the high cholesterol levels which can lead to the fatigue, all of those symptoms. All of those symptoms. It begins with minerals, and then our other minerals such as sodium that works with estrogen, potassium that works with progesterone and testosterone. But here's the thing when we are just working, working, working, and we're not managing our stress, then our body will use up these certain minerals in our cells, throwing them off, and we need the minerals and vitamins to work as cofactors to help with our methylation system. So I'll talk about methylation in a second, our methylation system. So I'll talk about methylation in a second. But here's the thing the spark plugs of our hormones are minerals, and so that's what needs to be addressed first.
Speaker 1:So when a practitioner says, oh, don't worry about hormone replacement therapy because the research is so much better. But then you want to question who sponsored, who funded those hormone replacement therapy studies? Right, you got to think about that. And big pharma, big pharma is always pushing their medications. And we have to remember that perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause is not a disease. It's a beautiful transition in life. And postmenopause is not a disease. It's a beautiful transition in life. And so when we work at the cellular level, with our minerals, with our gut community, with our blood sugars, a lot of times women realize I don't need to have hormone replacement therapy because then those symptoms get alleviated. So Western medicine immediately say oh, go ahead and take hormone replacement therapy when it is band-aiding or masking all of these imbalances within our minerals and our vitamins. And then the methylation system that we are designed with amens, and then the methylation system that we are designed with.
Speaker 2:Can we talk a little bit more about hormone replacement therapy? I know you said it's a band-aid Right. What are the concerns with it? Because there's a lot of women, I think, who aren't knowledgeable about everything you just said which, by the way, we hold on to your listener. We will dig a little deeper into what exactly needs to be done, but first I think we should definitely talk about HRT. I spoke to someone not too long ago who said I was just so miserable and what you just said recent studies have shown that it's quote unquote safe. What are your concerns when it comes to HRT, and why would it be your preference that your clients don't go that route?
Speaker 1:Okay, so well, yeah, it would be my preference that they try the functional way first and then, after they do all that and they still don't feel good, then okay, let's get them ready for HRT. So here's the thing. Now, if you look at the fine print of these studies, they do say that if it's just by itself and I hope I don't mess this up but if it's just by itself, the estradiol, then the risk of the other medical conditions are way less. And then I believe that when they add the progesterone to it, that some other concerns can rise or the risk of those can rise.
Speaker 1:So here's my concern is that when women are on estradiol especially okay, so there are three different types of estrogen, but especially synthetic it will compete with copper to get to cyralloplasmin, so it will usually win out over copper, and so now there's not enough cyralloplasmin to bind with copper, and so now we have a lot of unbound copper floating through our system, which can lead to all these other concerns, medical conditions, later on down the road. So causing a copper dysregulation is one of my main concerns. And the other concern is that when women take this, they don't think about addressing their minerals, vitamins, methylation system, and so yeah, and it's a medication. And if we don't need an additional medication in our body and I know some medications are why should we add this synthetic form? Why should we add this synthetic form?
Speaker 2:I know there's bioidentical hormone replacement therapy but those also have its own concerns as well, too. Okay, thank you for that. That's very helpful because it is something that has historically been pushed as what you said a first response, as what you said, a first response, and I think it is very concerning that this is being prescribed to how many women out there without any kind of conversation about minerals, without any conversation about nutrition and lifestyle factors. That's a big concern because, as you mentioned, something that seemingly sounds innocuous copper dysregulation is not innocuous and is actually a big deal and can lead to some pretty severe issues, and that is something that we should know, right?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, absolutely, you nailed it. And so here's the thing. Yes, for some women it is helpful. Some say, oh, I've gotten my life back, and okay, that's good, but you really could have gotten your life back if you address things from a cellular level. Now, not everybody can even take on hormone replacement therapy. Well, why is that? So I'm going to try to quickly explain methylation. And some practitioners don't check this before they start the monohormone replacement therapy, and this needs to be addressed.
Speaker 1:So methylation is when a carboxyl group which consists of one carbon and three hydrogens, when this is added to DNA, to genes, and it can turn on and turn off certain genes. It can turn on and off genes, and it is also methylation is involved with our detoxification process. It is involved with our hormone regulation. So when women say, oh, I felt worse, or I didn't do well on hormone replacement therapy, why did I get worse? Well, I wish that the practitioners would check their methylation process. And so methylation, once again again, is when we have these carboxyl groups one carbon, three hydrogens, they're added to DNA, it turns on and off genes, it can help with our detoxification process, it helps with our hormone system, our hormone regulation system, and so if there are any glitches in the detoxification pathway, and for some women when they have an MTHFR gene variation, so that's methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase gene variation. If they have a variation, for that it can make it very difficult to break down and get rid of the hormone replacement therapy going through the system. It will take so much longer. It might take longer in the system to get out, and so that's why some women do worse on hormone replacement therapy. But that's not just the only glitch in the methylation system. There's vitamin B12. If we have a gene variation for vitamin B12, then our methylation system can't work well. If we have a gene variation for magnesium or zinc, those are important cofactors that are helping the methylation system. So that's why some women don't do well on it. But then when we work on optimizing our methylation system you don't really need any hormone replacement therapy because you will feel so much better.
Speaker 1:And another thing why some women don't do well on hormone replacement therapy is because their gut community is out of balance and the specific bacteria that is designated to break down estrogen can be in an imbalance.
Speaker 1:And when that specific bacteria called astrobalone is out of balance, then this enzyme called beta-glucuronidase increases, and now we have too much of this enzyme, our own estrogen. When it goes through the liver it gets broken down through the detoxification system in phase one and phase two of the liver. It deactivates it, it breaks down the metabolites, just right, and then it'll make those metabolites not as dangerous for us. So it says, okay, you are ready to go to phase three of detoxification in the gut, ready to go out. But when the gut community is out of balance and there's more beta-glucuronidase in there, then when it gets to the gut it will say oh, you know what? Actually, let's have a party, let's undo what the liver just did, let's reactivate the estrogen metabolites. Oh, and why don't we recirculate it back into the system which leads to the estrogen dominance? So there are these other areas to look at for both women who are on hormone replacement therapy as well as those who aren't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right. So I'm going to go out on a ledge here and say that it sounds like it all starts with our nutrition and our diet. Is that fair to say if we are trying to take a natural approach to perimenopause and menopause to perimenopause?
Speaker 1:and menopause To a very huge degree. Yes, yes, a very, very huge degree. Because here's the thing. Other practitioners will say oh, just eat well, have lots of plant-based food items. Yes, that's important, but we need to know specifically what our nutrigenetics is. We need to know where our glitches are, so to speak.
Speaker 1:However, even if we are eating according to our mineral needs and our nutrigenetics, but if we are not managing our stress, it's going to override what we're doing and throw things out of balance. And if we're not getting enough quality sleep, then that will also throw all these other things out of balance, all these other areas, and if we are not mindfully moving it on a regular basis. But then there are some women who think oh, exercise is good. Well, let me run marathons, let me do excessive, high intensity workouts, like seven days a week, and we are just regulating our system. So you could still be eating well for you. But if we are putting all this stress on our body and not taking care of our sleep and not always being on the go Because a lot of women are always on the go, always on the go I used to be that until I realized, ooh, that's dysregulating my autonomic nervous system which will then affect my minerals and everything else. So, yes, nutrition is so big, but what are the precursors to throwing that?
Speaker 2:off. You touched on something I would love to hear more about, because this is another area where I feel like people just want to throw their hands up in the air Exercise for a woman around this age range that we're talking about. I've heard the complaints of well, they tell me to exercise, but now they're telling me I exercise too much or the wrong way. What does an ideal exercise situation look like for best promoting our health during this phase of life?
Speaker 1:Yes, during this phase of life, low impact, low impact for sure. So walking is great and if women still want to run, just don't run for miles on end and run at a comfortable speed. Why do we have to run so fast, so fast? Yes, it's nice to get PRs back in the day, I get it. But when we are doing that for more than an hour, really high, intense running really fast for more than an hour, that throws our gut community out of balance. So joyful movement is best at a lower impact. But then we cannot forget strength training, because the more muscle we have that will also help us with balancing and managing our blood sugars the more muscle we have on board.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Low impact, cardiovascular and strength training that's our sweet spot right now.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's absolutely our sweet spot, but I know some women like the high intensity, so just as long as it's not really more than I think what's best. More than 30 minutes and maybe up to three times a week. If they still want that, then OK. If we take that away from people, it might also feel like we're withholding oxygen from some women. So, um, but what's really sweet is the low impact yeah, we touched on gut health.
Speaker 2:I said earlier, wow, hormones are really the boss, but really it's our microbiome that's the boss or maybe you can tell me which is the bigger boss, but clearly both are extremely important. So that kind of brings us back to I always want to go back to the nutrition conversation. We're both nerds, so, yes, yes, yes, we're talking about eating right to foster this, getting enough zinc, absorbing enough zinc and then dealing with the copper regulation properly. You mentioned testing for this. Is this something that we should be doing if we are having these symptoms? Is this something we should do preemptively? How does the testing and where does the testing fall in?
Speaker 1:Oh, this is a great question. You know, I really think, especially when we're having symptoms, it would be good to have this hair tissue mineral analysis test done. And what happens is that when you go close to the nape, to the scalp, and you get like an inch, a little over an inch, from the scalp, and you get it at several places you just need about a teaspoon full of that. That tells us a lot. It's complementary to blood work. Hair tissue mineral analysis gives us a good picture of what has been happening for the past three months, how we have been responding to stress, what minerals we have been burning through due to stress. So that is a very important test to do, along with blood work.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying it's a one and only test that you should just only do, but it tells us a lot because a lot of us are very depleted in our cells of sodium, potassium, zinc, cobalt, and we need those to help us produce stomach acid. And if we don't have enough stomach acid, then the food that we eat, the bacteria that comes in the food that we eat, the bad bacteria or the undesirable bacteria, can't be killed off because we don't have enough of those particular minerals that help with stomach acid production, so we can get information like that there. It could give us clues as to does this person have a copper deficiency or sorry, copper dysregulation or not? Also, calcium and magnesium those are involved with our blood sugar regulation, so that gives us a clue of where we're at and it's very important to be able to do. But yeah, especially when you're having symptoms would be a good time to take it. But if you want to be super proactive, it does not hurt to get that before things start to happen.
Speaker 2:So, when you identify issues through lab tests and through doing this particular type of testing with your patients, is this something that is addressed purely through lifestyle? Are there supplements involved? How do you go about treating your patients?
Speaker 1:So as much as possible, like with calcium, because calcium a lot of women us women don't get enough from the food and the beverages that we drink. So just bringing awareness to that and having them really work on increasing their intake of that mineral through food and beverages, that's really the best route to go and to keep calcium supplements to a very bare minimum. So that's one aspect. Supplements to a very bare minimum so that's one aspect. But with sodium and potassium there are certain electrolyte mixes that I feel comfortable having my patients or my clients take on a regular basis that they could add to water.
Speaker 1:They're not all created equal, so I'm always very careful with the ones that I recommend, and so it's always whole food first is the route that I prefer to take. But there are times when supplements are needed, like if there is an MTHFR gene variation and women need specifically methylated B12 or methylated folate or both, or just one or the other. Then yes, there are times for supplements. For sure I am not the type of practitioner that, oh, let's do everything through supplements. I'm also very cautious. There is a time and a place for it. But I'm also cautious not to do it excessively.
Speaker 2:Great. And then you mentioned zinc and how it's so important to make sure we're getting the correct amount dietarily, and that's something that is an animal product. What about vegetarians and vegans? How should they approach?
Speaker 1:zinc. That's a good question. I mean, hopefully, those who are lacto-ovo-vegetarian can do eggs a little bit more regularly, and for vegans, it's something that, yeah, they would have to consider taking a supplement, but not for long. It's not even as bioavailable itself, but then we have to be very careful with zinc supplements and not take it all the time, because then it can easily throw off copper. So that's a challenge that they would have to be really on top of should they stay there.
Speaker 1:But I know I have clients in which I'm not pushing, telling them you got to get out of being vegetarian or vegan, but I see their struggles and I know what it's due to, like our brush border enzymes at the lining of our GI tract. In order for that enzyme to be produced, we really need bioavailable zinc. That's just one example, and I see their GI issues. It's improving slowly but surely, but I cannot force them to say, well, let's reconsider. So, yes, there are the supplements, but it's something that they have to walk very carefully on, otherwise they can throw off copper. But the zinc in our food and when we are eating the other things appropriately, then it balances it out with the copper.
Speaker 1:So what's nice about being vegetarian and vegan, though, is that you easily meet your fiber needs. In fact, you over-meet your fiber needs, and so that can be an issue, because when there's also a lot of fiber, there's also a lot of fiber. There's also a lot of phytates these components in plants and excessive amounts of fiber and phytates can decrease the absorption of zinc, calcium, iron, selenium, while these minerals are already low to begin with in this meal pattern, and then you have the excess fiber and the excess phytates, then what are you absorbing, you know? So it affects absorption, so it's something for them to think about. It's challenging, oh boy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. It's rare that we, when talking about fiber, that there's a warning that there can actually be too much, but that does make sense. Just very high level, generally speaking, for your average woman. I'll use myself I'm about to turn 44 for your average 44 year old woman, what is your general high level? This is the diet that you should be pursuing.
Speaker 1:Okay. So, as you can tell, I'm not of the type to say, go vegetarian, go vegan, but I am a believer in and I can't take credit for this before I say this I like that. So I like to promote a plant forward omnivore meal pattern. So the base of our meals come from plants and it's important for us to get 30 different plant based food items per week to increase the diversity of the good bacteria in our gut community. To increase the diversity of the good bacteria in our gut community, but then to also get the appropriate, not excessive, amounts of animal products so that we get the bioavailable form of protein, vitamin B12, zinc, all those other nutrients. So that's what I would encourage women to do.
Speaker 2:So not eating the highly processed junk food.
Speaker 1:In addition, yes, I mean when we say not, the human reaction will make someone want it more. So we like to say minimizing the highly processed foods and not to be afraid of processed foods like tofu, like rice. We can't just eat rice from where it's growing, Otherwise we won't be able to eat it, so it has to be processed. And so, yes, there's process, but it's the highly processed. And so, yes, there's process, but it's the highly processed. But occasionally, once in a while, we're on vacation, we're at a family event, let's not carry on this halo of stress that, oh no, it's a highly processed food. Oh, it's not good for me when we live with that kind of mindset. We are adding this extra layer of stress on us and it's not healthful at all. It is actually canceling our moment of joy with family, with friends. But it is best to keep it to once in a while.
Speaker 2:Perfect. I couldn't agree more. I think the diet you just described, in my opinion, is not just ideal for perimenopause or hormone regulation. It's ideal for pretty much everything.
Speaker 1:Yes, indeed, so true. And the omnivore is not to be confused with carnivore. So some people get that mixed up and a carnivore is just purely just eating meat products and hardly touching any plant-based food items. So that I do have an issue with because when you don't have any fiber, any of the phytonutrients from the plants, then we're missing out, gut is missing out on those benefits, causing issues.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that carnivore diet is a little hard to wrap my head around.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know Same here, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually. There was a time where I wanted to be strictly plant-based and I attempted it for a while and I felt horrible and my labs showed deficiencies and my naturopath reminded me that, with a very scarred colon, I have some absorption issues and plant protein can be harder to absorb than animal protein, which is much more bioavailable.
Speaker 1:Right, oh, that was a very wise naturopath you worked with, so I'm in agreement, for sure, and I'm glad that you complied accordingly and you also listened to your body as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting. I've experimented a lot. Those who are familiar with my health journey know and that's the way we learn right we make mistakes and then we correct those mistakes.
Speaker 1:So true, I have been there too. And then for me, from 15 to 30, I was vegetarian, left to oval vegetarian and maybe at times vegan. But I definitely see how I set myself up for a difficult perimenopause. I believe it laid that foundation for a copper dysregulation. And now I see, with the heart beating fast and just getting irritable, you know all that like oh. When I look back I'm like, oh, that was perimenopause. I wish what I know now I knew back then. So that's why I'm so passionate to share this with my younger sisters like you, and spreading the word, because this transition can be beautiful, we can do something about it and it doesn't have to always necessarily be menopause replacement therapy or hormone replacement therapy.
Speaker 2:Before I let you go. We've, in passing, mentioned stress several times throughout this. What has your professional and your personal experience taught you about what are the ways that we can manage stress? Because women in this age range, you know life isn't really easy. We've got a lot going on We've got kids, We've got older parents, We've got spouses. We've got a million activities. Potentially, some of us not all of us like myself, I try to limit the activities, but even still we're at a challenging point in life and we're having to deal with all these other things that are starting to happen. So what do you recommend? How do we better manage our stress?
Speaker 1:Okay, but first of all, I do want to start off with what you're already doing, which I'm so proud of you cutting back on all the activities. Now here's the thing I know as kids get older, they have more friends and they get all these invitations to all these different birthday parties. What have you? And I get that. I understand that that's part of their growing up, but do we have to go to every single friend's birthday party? Could we say, for every two yeses, we have one no. Or every three yeses, have one no, and balance it out and with other activities that come on?
Speaker 1:Yes, it's nice to be involved with church volunteering, but how much can we be involved with as well, even though that is important? Do we over-volunteer? So we need to look at our daily and weekly schedules. Where can we say no, what is absolutely not needed? Because the more we're always on the go, our autonomic nervous system is just in sympathetic mode. So that's the first thing.
Speaker 1:And then the second thing is to be an observer of yourself throughout the day. See where in the day you're tight in the neck, the head, certain parts of your body, check your breath. Be an observer of yourself and say, whoa, I'm really tight. What's making me tight, but let me slow down. To take at least more is better, but at least three slow, deep breaths. More is better, but at least three slow, deep breaths. And if we could do these checks just for a minute or two throughout the day, pull ourselves out from sympathetic and get us into parasympathetic, then, even with everything happening around us, that can still be helpful in bringing down those cortisol levels.
Speaker 1:And then another thing is to be mindful of how much we're looking at our phones before going to bed, because we want the blue light to stay away from us as much as possible to allow the melatonin levels to rise appropriately. And while, yes, it's good to also watch shows together as a family, can we cut back on that and do some creative activities together where we don't need the screens, where that could bring laughter and joy and creativity that doesn't take a lot of work to put together? Like, even for adults, coloring is such a therapeutic activity that you could do with the kids. And then, last but certainly not least, pausing to meditate on God's word for like a minute or two, like with the verse that I love trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not in your own understanding. Just thinking about that, pausing and meditating. It doesn't have to be long meditations, but peppering our day with those deep breaths and pausing for a minute or two doesn't have to be long. That can help us manage our stress daily.
Speaker 2:That's great. I personally love my coloring books. Awesome, I love hearing that. Well, I feel like I still have a million questions I want to ask you. We could talk about this for hours, but I want to be respectful of your time, so is there anything that we didn't touch on today that you feel like it would be important for us to know?
Speaker 1:Yes. So here's the thing we have choices in life, not that we didn't talk about this, but I just want to emphasize that we have choices in life. I'm not saying that people shouldn't have hormone replacement therapy. If that's the route you take, then just know it does come with consequences. We're band-aiding the situation and when those mineral imbalances, gut imbalances, are not addressed, it will come to bite you later on down. So we have to prioritize that what's important for the individual.
Speaker 1:I don't want people to feel like, oh, we are shaming them or bashing them for wanting to go the hormone replacement therapy route. We have choices and so that's a choice. But then there's also another wonderful choice that we can still work on decreasing our risk of heart disease and decreasing our risk of osteoporosis, bone health, with all these other aspects that we talked about, and so there's that choice too. So the choice is up to you, but it depends on your own philosophy. It depends on which route you feel is truly best for you. Yeah, I want women to feel okay. Yeah, she talked about this way, but I still wanna go this way, and that's fine. I still want women to feel good with the choice that they make as they transition, go this way and that's that's fine. I still want women to feel good with the choice that they make as they transition into this journey Beautifully put.
Speaker 2:Okay, gigi, I want to thank you so very much for being here. Your expertise has been incredibly valuable and I'm sure our listeners are eager to learn how they can benefit from your knowledge. On a more personal level, in your private practice, you work one-on-one with women navigating these waters, these tricky waters of hormone-related concerns, as well as gastrointestinal gut-related issues. Can you tell us a little bit about your gut and hormone harmonizer program and also how can people reach out to you for more information?
Speaker 1:Okay, yes, thank you so much. But first of all, I want to say thank you, kelly, for having me here with you, because I really enjoy talking about this topic and talking about it with you. It was very wonderful for me. So thank you, and I'm proud of you for taking charge of your health and being an excellent example to so many women that you can overcome battles that we've had when we were younger and live a life where you feel so amazing. So thank you for being that example to all of us. Thank you, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:Okay, yes, so the gut and hormone harmonizer program is a group hybrid program with a lot of one-on-one, so I believe in community and so that's why there's that aspect of it and so. But here's the thing it does include those tests that I talk about the nutrigenetics test, the hair tissue mineral analysis and the GI map stool tests. So I send those kits out and then the individual sends the samples out to the lab and then I actually record myself going over the results and then personalization takes place with a lot of back and forth through Practice Better, the HEPA compliant platform that I use, and in addition, I also have two monthly group calls where I always deliver a hot topic in the area of gut and hormone health, so there's a whole lot more to it, but the way to contact me is through my website, and it is simply ggnovallcom, and gg is spelled j-e-j-e-n-o-v-a-lcom, or I can also be reached on my Instagram account. At my Instagram account, which is gut and hormone harmony.
Speaker 2:Gigi, you are a beautiful soul. Thank you so much for the extremely important work that you are doing and I hope you'll come back sometime soon and share more with us.
Speaker 1:Oh, will do. I'm excited to come back and have another conversation with you, Kelly Will do.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to come back and have another conversation with you, kelly. That was such a helpful conversation for me and I'm confident it was for you too. Gigi just knows so much about this topic, obviously, so reach out to her if you are inspired to learn more or if you are interested in working with her. We'll have her contact info in the show notes. A quick note that I wanted to add we talked a bunch about animal products.
Speaker 2:If you do eat animal products, I always highly recommend that you look for the highest quality, sustainable and most ethical sources. A good practice is to get your meat, dairy and eggs straight from a farmer who is open and willing to talk about their practices. Thank you so much for listening today and I hope you received value from this episode. If you did, please take a moment to support my ability to produce this podcast by downloading the episode, subscribing to the show, rating and reviewing, and please share this with anyone who you think may find value in it as well. I am so honored to walk alongside of you as we heal and stay healed together. Bye.