Uncover the Root Causes of Your Energy Crash, Weight Gain, and Skin Issues

Feeling like your body is working against you with symptoms like heavy periods, hair loss, stubborn weight, or constant fatigue? 
Especially for women, after about 40 this is a common frustration!

These aren’t just random problems—they’re your body’s way of asking for help. In this episode of the Limitless Health podcast, Kate dives into the hidden energy crisis impacting your body’s ability to function and how overlooked issues like mitochondrial health and mineral imbalances could be at the root of your struggles.

Learn why doctors often miss these deeper connections and how symptoms like chronic fatigue, hormonal imbalance, and poor skin health tie back to your body’s energy systems. Kate also shares actionable tips to support your energy and overall health, from detox pathways to addressing stress and emotions.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

•The connection between mitochondria, energy, and your symptoms.

•Why hormonal imbalances are only part of the puzzle.

•The surprising role minerals play in your body’s energy systems.

•How liver health impacts your sleep, skin, and mood.

•Simple steps to start supporting your body naturally.

Links & Resources:

•Book your free discovery call: HERE

•Visit the website: alignednaturalhealth.com

•Follow us on Instagram: @alignednaturalhealth

Call to Action:

Ready to uncover the root cause of your symptoms and take back control of your health? Book your free discovery call today at alignednaturalhealth.com. Your body deserves to feel its best!

*** This podcast is for information purposes only. By providing the information contained herein, we are not diagnosing, treating, curing, mitigating, or preventing any disease or medical condition. Before beginning any type of natural regimen, it is advisable to seek the advice of a licensed healthcare professional.

Transcript

Kate McDowell [00:00:08]:
Do you ever feel like your body's working against you with symptoms like heavy periods, like hair loss, like stubborn weight, or constant fatigue? What if these aren't just random issues, but it's your body's way of actually asking for help? In this episode, I'm diving into the hidden energy crisis that could be behind it all and why many doctors often miss this. So get ready to see your symptoms in a whole new light. Hey there. 

Welcome back to the Limitless Health podcast. I'm Kate, and today we're diving into something that I know many people can relate to. Have you ever been told it's just a normal part of aging when you bring up things like heavy periods or hair falling out or stubborn weight? Or what about feeling exhausted all the time? I know I have. And let me tell you, it's one of the most frustrating things you can ever hear when you know something is not going right with your body. I remember sitting in my doctor's office explaining how tired I was, how my hair seemed to be falling out in clumps, and how I just couldn't lose weight no matter how much I tried, no matter what I did.

Kate McDowell [00:01:20]:
And instead of getting answers, I got a prescription for birth control pills. And then I got a suggestion that maybe I just needed to eat less and exercise more. Sound familiar? Here's the thing. Those symptoms weren't random or inevitable. What if they're actually your body's way of trying to ask for help? And that's exactly what we're going to be exploring today, the hidden energy crisis that your body may be experiencing and how it connects to the symptoms you've been dealing with. Let's start with the idea of energy. When we think about energy, we usually think about how tired or how awake we feel during the day, but your body's energy goes much deeper than that. It's how your cells function.

Kate McDowell [00:02:06]:
Inside every cell in your body, these little power plants called mitochondria, and mitochondria are responsible for producing the energy that your body needs to do everything. Everything from keeping your heart beating to growing healthy hair and to balancing your hormones as well. And here's the kicker, when your mitochondria aren't working properly, your body doesn't get the energy that it needs. And when that happens, things start to break down. Maybe it's your hormones go to balance, which leads to heavier periods. Maybe it's your metabolism slowing down, making losing weight feel impossible. Or maybe it's something like hair falling out or fatigue that doesn't improve no matter how much sleep you get. Here's an example.

Kate McDowell [00:02:55]:
I had a client, let's call her Sarah, who came to me feeling like her body was just falling apart. She felt exhausted. Her hair was fitting, and she felt like she was dragging herself through pretty much every day. And the thing is, her body wasn't failing her. It was actually trying to protect her. Her energy systems were struggling, and those symptoms were just her body's way of kind of waving a red flag and saying, hey, something's not right here. Now, when we hear about symptoms like the heavy periods or the weight gain, the first thing most of us think is hormones. It's gotta be something with my hormones.

Kate McDowell [00:03:33]:
And while, yes, hormones do play a role here, they're not the whole story. Hormones are like messengers. They send signals to your body to do certain things. But guess what controls these hormones? Your body's energy your body's energy symptoms. So when your mitochondria aren't working so when your mitochondria aren't producing enough energy, it throws off the balance of everything else. Hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and even thyroid hormones all end up out of sync because they're relying on energy to do their jobs. So yes, you might feel like it's just your hormones, but in reality, it's a deeper issue that starts with your body's inability to generate the energy it needs. This is where so many of us get stuck.

Kate McDowell [00:04:31]:
We treat the symptoms, the heavy periods, the hair loss, the stubborn weight, but we never ask why are these things happening in the first place. I had another client, Maria, who had been taking hormone replacement therapy for years because she thought it was the only way to manage her symptoms. But we found out that the root of her issue wasn't her hormones at all. It was the stress that she'd been living in that was draining her body of key minerals and throwing everything else off balance. And when we address that, her symptoms started to improve naturally. So let's talk about one of the most overlooked pieces of this puzzle. As I just mentioned, minerals. Your body needs specific minerals, minerals like magnesium, like copper, and yes, even iron to keep up your energy systems running smoothly.

Kate McDowell [00:05:18]:
But here's the thing, our modern lifestyles are practically designed to deplete these minerals. Things like stress or poor diet or even some medication can strip these minerals from our body, which leave us literally running on empty. And when your minerals are out of balance, your mitochondria can't produce the energy efficiently. So that's when we start seeing these symptoms, the fatigue, the heavy periods, and even hair loss. For example, you've probably been told at some point that you need to boost your iron if you're dealing with fatigue or heavy periods, but has anyone ever told you that too much iron is can be really harmful, can make things worse, or that if your body's not able to actually move the iron throughout your system, that can actually cause more problems as well. No one ever talks about that. One of my clients, Lisa, had been taking iron supplements for years because her doctor told her she was anemic, and what we found was that her body actually wasn't lacking iron. It was lacking the ability to process it properly and to move it.

Kate McDowell [00:06:25]:
And so once we address that, yes, her energy levels improved, but her symptoms improved dramatically as well. And here's where it gets frustrating. Traditional medicine is incredible at treating acute issues. But when it comes to chronic symptoms, like the ones we're talking about today, the things that keep coming back, this is where Western medicine often falls short. Doctors tend to focus on treating symptoms rather than investigating what's causing it. So you're told your labs are normal, but you still feel awful and it's not because you're imagining things. I had a gynecologist years ago who told me that it was probably just all in my head when I said I have had no period for 5 years because guess what? My labs come back came back as normal. But symptoms are trying to get a message to you, trying to communicate that there's something not right.

Kate McDowell [00:07:13]:
And it's because traditional lab work often doesn't look at the deeper imbalances that are actually creating these symptoms. That's why so many women often feel unheard or dismissed. They're asking the right questions, but they're not getting the right answers. And I've been there. I've sat in that doctor's office. I've sat there feeling like I had to prove that something was wrong with me. But the truth is, your symptoms aren't just something to fight against. They're a clue as to what your body actually needs.

Kate McDowell [00:07:46]:
So what does this all mean for you? It means that your symptoms, whether it's heavy periods, hair loss, stubborn weight, or even fatigue, aren't the enemy. They're your body's way of waving a flag and asking for help. The next step is to start asking better questions. I think there's a Tony Robbins quote that talks about the quality of your life is based on the quality of the questions that you ask. And this is very much true in health as well. So let's switch our questions to what's really going on. What's missing from my body or what's getting in the way of my energy systems working properly. These are the questions that lead to the real answers, not just band aid solutions.

Kate McDowell [00:08:27]:
And here's the thing, this is something you don't have to figure out on your own. This is exactly what I help women uncover every day. So if you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and start discovering what's really going on, let's have a conversation. Check out the resources linked in the show notes of this episode and let's figure this out together. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope this help episode has helped you see your symptoms in a new light. They're not problems that we need to fix. They're actually messages that we need to start learning to listen to.

Kate McDowell [00:09:01]:
If this resonates with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Head to kate.mcdowell.wellness@instagram.com, or I'll actually drop the Align natural health link in the show notes as well, and send me a message or check out the other links in the show notes as well. So you can book a free screening with me. Let's dig deeper and figure out what's going on with your body so I can help you get rid of these symptoms rather than just putting band aids on them. Your body is always trying to work for you, not against you. It's about learning how to support it in the ways that it needs. So until next time, take care of yourself and know that I'm here to help you every step of the way. See you on the next episode.