When Your Body Speaks: Understanding Gut Health, Stress & the Root Cause with Lola MaClean

In this episode of Morning Tea with Coach Kennedy, I speak with Health Alchemist Lola MaCLean about the connection between gut health, stress, hormones, digestion, and the nervous system. Lola explains why symptoms like bloating, constipation, and fatigue often point to deeper imbalances—not just “normal” issues—and how they can reflect stress, hormone, and digestive dysfunction. She also shares practical, root-cause strategies to help you listen to your body, spot patterns, and support your gut and nervous system from within. ☕️

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Good morning, everybody. Today is Wednesday, August twelfth, two thousand twenty-six. And this is your morning tea with Coach Kennedy. Last week, we learned about rituals and natural products to help women better support their bodies with Chelsea Jambo. This week, we talk with Lola McLean about the connection between gut health, stress, hormones, digestion, and our nervous system. Stay tuned. Today's guest is Lola McLean, who is a health alchemist who helps high-achieving women, if I can talk right, overcome bloating, constipation, and fatigue through a root-cause functional medicine approach. Hi, Lola. How are you today? I'm good. How are you? I am good, thanks. We both seem to be having our little moments right now, but we'll get through it. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me today. I'm glad you can make it. I'm excited to see where this conversation goes. Would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself and how you found your path in life? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

So I am by training. Well, let me go back. So, as kiddo, always super interested in health and wellness, always from probably like elementary school, knew that I wanted to be some kind at that time like physician, right? Or doctor. And wanted to help people, wanted to work on healing, the body, loved all that stuff. Got into school, the real world, went to nursing school, then became a nurse practitioner, worked in primary care for about a decade, and then transitioned from kind of like conventional medicine into more of this functional medicine space. And so with that, coming into this functional medicine space, one of the big things that I struggled with was digestive issues. Also, a lot of the patients that I had in primary care would come to me for digestive issues as well. And then from a conventional standpoint, like we'd follow the algorithm. We'd go down the traditional roads of, like, oh, you go see the GI, there's nothing wrong. I don't have anything else for you. Right. So then became really interested in like, how do I actually fix this? How do I actually solve this for people? So that's how I ended up there.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

That is quite the journey. And I can I know that uh or I can relate really well to when you said about how you didn't really know what you were going to be doing, and that you tried all these other paths. Because at first, I think it I think like back in 2005, I didn't really know what I was. I was fresh out of high school, going into college, and I was being quote unquote pressured to pick a path. Or yeah, pick something. Just we have all this money here waiting for you to do something. So let's go. Don't waste your life, Sarah. And I'm just like, okay, so I knew that it was like psychology or something in the quote unquote medical field, such as you did. But I didn't really think that psychol a psychologist or a counselor was going to be my path. So I just kind of like left it there. And I chose medical billing and coding just to get me in the field to explore. That was my idea. But then I it became summertime, and my path drastically changed because I liked making money and it took a way different path of working in warehouses, retailing, you name it. I did it mostly warehouse work. And now here I am, a life coach. How it was circled back to the mental health is beyond me. But you know, it was just a little nudge. Like my body was preparing me to go on this journey uh to circle back, and here we are, 20 years later. So yeah, that's very, very relatable. And I think that that's that's so true.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Like we kind of have these innate knowings when we're little, right? Like, I always want like to be a healer, right? Like that was always something I wanted to do. But what's the avenue in which you actually do that? There's so many, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

And and the point that you said about how like doctors weren't like listening to you. So many doctors don't listen to us nowadays. It's so frustrating because we are trying to tell them, hey, something's wrong with my body. I know it because it's my body. Here I am telling you, and they just kind of look at you or say something that's derogatory almost. Like, how do you know what you have? You're not gonna tell me I've done the schooling, I'm the doctor. Basically, shut up and just take my diagnosis and be well. Goodbye. Here's some medicine, here's a band-aid, figure it out, bye. See you later.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Yeah, and that's that's definitely a huge difference in kind of that conventional versus functional space, hopefully, right? Because now one of the things that I'm seeing over and over again is like where conventional medicine is kind of like a pill for every ill, functional medicine is now shifting to that, well, there's a supplement for every imbalance, right? And that's that's not what it's supposed to be. And so with that, we are supposed to be listening to our bodies. Our body only speaks to us through symptoms, right? And so those symptoms are messages, and we know our body, we know what's not right. So being able to really advocate for ourselves and say something's off and have somebody listen, that's what we should be doing or what we need to be doing.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Yeah, it's really hard to find a practitioner that will actually listen, though. Yeah. Many women are told their bloating and fatigue are quote unquote normal. Why do you believe so many digestive issues get overlooked or mismanaged?

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Yeah, so number one, we normalize it so much, right? Like, oh, you know, bloating is a pretty normal thing that happens. You just ate the wrong food, or you know, you were you ate too much, you were in a hurry. It's not nothing, nothing's really big. It's not a big deal to be bloated, right? And same with fatigue. Oftentimes, or at least like what I was told a lot was, oh, that's just the stage of life you're in. You're in mom, you know, all this stuff is going on, you work a lot, like you're gonna be tired. And that's that is maybe true to an extent, but it wasn't the whole story for me, right? And so it just gets dismissed because it's not that big of a problem.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Yeah, exactly. I don't know how many times I'm like, if it just feels so drained. And people were like, Well, you're kind of burning both candles or you know, the candle at both ends. And I'm like, no, not really. I'm doing what any normal person would do when they're needing to work and support themselves and you know, run a household or whatever they're doing in that life, but I should still be able to have sustainable energy throughout the day without the need of caffeine or anything else of that nature to help me with that energy.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah, so like there's something deeper going on that needs to be explored.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Why are you often say IBS isn't a root cause? What do you mean by that? And what are some of the real root causes you see most often?

SPEAKER_00 9:16

So IBS is a BS diagnosis, right? So it really is a label that we slap on somebody when there's nothing acutely wrong, right? So from a conventional standpoint, your colonoscopy was normal, your labs are normal, you don't have inflammatory bowel disease. Thank goodness you don't have a cancer, you don't have these like issues that we can easily identify. So here's this IBS label, and usually with that, it's like eat more fiber, drink more water, manage your stress better, that's all we got. And you continue to have these problems. But from the work that I do, and from this like functional perspective, the goal is to continue to ask why. So, why is this bloating, this constipation, this diarrhea, this reaction to these different foods? Why is this showing up for you in your unique situation? And what I see in the work that I do, some really common causes of that tend to be poor digestive enzymes, so low stomach acid, which, you know, then we keep asking, well, why is this happening? So you've got low stomach acid because, oh, look, you've got some subclinical hypothyroidism. Though your labs were normal, these other things are showing up. They're telling us your thyroid's not functioning quite as well on that cellular level. Okay, let's talk more about that. Well, why do we have this lower thyroid function? Oh, well, yeah, because our stress hormone, our cortisol is out of balance. Okay, well, why is that happening? Oh, well, because I am not eating enough and I'm exercising too much, and I like all these other things that are going into play that are actually causing those IBS symptoms to show up, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:08

I've really never thought of it like that before.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

It's all super interconnected, and that's I think that's the picture that gets missed so often is like we kind of silo things here and there, like, oh, you've got gut issues or thyroid issues or hormone issues, or you know, here's a different label, but it's all all together, and for everybody it looks different. So we got to keep asking that why you? Why is this showing up in your life? You know.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

How you were talking about the stress and anxiety contributing to your gut health. How exactly does that affect our gut health?

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Yeah. So, like my unique situation, right? Definitely, I would call myself a more anxious person, right? Tend to be like high functioning, overperform, want to people please, all of those things, right? And I did a lot of work on my mental health. I did, I do meditations on a regular basis, I do a lot to like reduce my stress, quote unquote. But when those practices are in play, my anxiety was still a big thing. And then my doctor was like, okay, well, you need to go on a medication for anxiety. And I did not want to do that. And her big thing is like, oh, well, it's gonna help with the anxiety, it's also gonna help with your IBS issues. And it's like, I have seen this so many times. I do this in practice, and it never works, like it doesn't work for people. And so then going down the functional medicine rabbit hole, I was like, well, maybe my anxiety is not just in my head, maybe there's something else at play that's going on. So did a deep dive really looked at my gut, and yeah, there was a lot going on. I had an H. pylori overgrowth, I had what we call enhanced intestinal permeability, so that leaky gut. Both of those things kind of contribute to this underlying state of inflammation within our bodies, and that inflammation then in and of itself kind of raises our cortisol levels. So not only am I just like spiraling mentally, that's kind of elevating my cortisol or that stress hormone, but also physiologically, my body is under stress. And so now all of that kind of forward feeds in the sense of, well, we're gonna shut down your digestion because when you're stressed, we're not supposed to be digesting anything. So, okay, here comes the constipation, here comes the bloating, here comes the nausea, here comes the I react to every single food that I put in my mouth, right? So then addressing what was going on in my gut then also allowed my anxiety to get better because we kind of healed that leaky gut piece. So now I could actually absorb a lot of the nutrients and things that I needed to help my cognitive load, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:07

How can someone tell if their digestive systems are related to hormones, nervous system imbalance, or something they're eating?

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Yeah, and again, like all very much tied together. But one of the big things that, you know, people kind of poo-poo, but it is super helpful to do is actually to start tracking when things show up, right? So we have this program in our mind where we're like, oh, you know, I'm bloated, it's not that bad. Okay, well, it happens every once in a while. And then you start to look at it, and you're like, oh wow, no, this happens, you know, around my cycle, or oh, this is happening more when I'm eating these specific foods, or this is happening all the time, right? And that those patterns give us a lot of information to be able to tell us, like, oh, this is more of a hormonal thing, or oh, this is maybe more food related, or oh, this is maybe more actually stress and gut brain related than it is actually just gut brain.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

How do you keep people motivated to keep track of what they're doing?

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Patterns. Yeah. Yeah. So my big thing is information is really, really, really, really helpful, right? When we have data, that can empower us to make a lot of changes. So when we start tracking, usually I'll have people do it like, let's just start with three days, see what happens. Let's start with five, see what happens. So we can start to notice patterns, right? And then while a lot of people are able to recognize these patterns, like I also have that gift of like, okay, I see this all the time. This is my job, like, this is my wheelhouse, my knowledge. So, oh, look, here's some other patterns that maybe you're not actually seeing that are popping up, right? And so that data really, I think, inspires people to keep going and to really see, like, oh, this is making a difference, or oh, you know, this isn't making a difference, or this is showing up here. Like, it really helps to know what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yeah, it really does help to know. But, you know, those are really good tips on how to stay motivated to make sure that you're paying attention and potentially correcting the issue ahead. What role do functional tests like the GI Map or Dutch play in uncovering the full picture of someone's health?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah, so that goes back to that data piece, right? So, like, for example, the GI Map, which is a comprehensive stool test, it can really elucidate for us a lot of things about our microbiome. So, what bacteria, what fungi, what parasites are there? You know, how are our digestive enzymes functioning? What kind of inflammation is present in our digestive tract? And then, like with the Dutch test, which is that hormone testing, you know, what's going on with our estrogen and progesterone and testosterone, our cortisol, like how is all of that interplaying? And that, like, first and foremost, like, I'm a nerd and I love data. And so all day I would love it if everybody could do those things, right? Because it does, it provides a lot of clarity. But also, like testing should really only be one part of the picture. Like, if you're gonna test something, you wanna make sure you're gonna be doing something with that information. You shouldn't just be testing things just to test, right? And so a lot of times when I'm working with people, we honestly start with like the very basic stuff before we jump into testing, because a lot of the basics can help to mitigate symptoms. And then once we kind of peel back, like, okay, now this stuff isn't showing up anymore, but here's what still is that gives us a lot of clarity on like, okay, well, would this test be appropriate for you to provide us more information to focus even further? Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

Perfect. Yeah. Earlier you were talking about myths about the health, the gut health. What do you feel is the biggest myth that you wish that people understood about gut health or functional medicine?

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yeah, so I think one of the biggest myths that I see in the gut health space is that probiotics are the panacea, right? Everybody thinks that if I take a probiotic, it's gonna resolve all my issues, my bloating is gonna go away, my constipation is gonna go away, all this is gonna be better. And generally speaking, it does work for a lot of people. However, it can make things worse for a lot of people too. If you're just taking like a general probiotic, right? Like you need to know what is going on in your microbiome to tailor it to that. Because if you have things like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, that can make your bloating worse than you take a probiotic. If you've got inflammatory bowel disease, certain probiotics are definitely gonna cause some flares and make things worse. So that's the big one. Like probiotics are not the fix-all or the magic pill, right? And then I think like with functional medicine, it's that same thing that I was talking about earlier, where it's like it really isn't about expensive testing or about all the supplements, like true functional medicine at its root is about asking why. Why is this happening in your body? What is it about your lifestyle? What is it about your unique physiology that's making these things show up for you, right? And really like deep diving.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

And you know that a person's environment also can play a huge part in their digestive system. I couldn't think of the word. But like, say, for an example, if someone is in a very toxic or stressful environment, they can be packing on the visceral fat because that's your body's way of protecting you. And then if you go outside of that environment, like remove somehow yourself from that environment, that visceral fat will automatically just decide to quote unquote melt off. Do you find truth behind that, or do you think that that's a myth?

SPEAKER_00 20:40

That's I think that that is a very good topic. So one of my favorite mentors, her, the way that she describes it is that weight or like that inability to lose weight is protection against an uncertain future. And yes, definitely our environment plays a huge role in our physiology, right? We're not just, we're not an isolated entity, like we are in connection with everything. And sometimes that is simplifying it when we're like, oh, just remove yourself from this and everything's gonna be fine. Because there's also a lot of other things that are at play. So when somebody's like, oh, well, I'm out of that toxic relationship, or I left that job, or whatever, you know, and they're still not losing weight, like, okay, well, there's still more inflammation, there's still something else that is triggering this, right? So yeah, that's a really good, that's a good question.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

I've heard it everywhere. So I think that's a good thing. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

A lot of people, and especially the core, like, because that goes in with that cortisol face, which I've been seeing everywhere recently. It's like, oh, everybody's got cortisol face, you need to do all these things, and then it's better. It's like, oh, you actually need cortisol, right? Like it is, it is a very important hormone. Like, yeah, you can have too much or you can have too little, it needs to be Goldilocks, but it's not a bad guy. We need it, right? And so labeling something as like, oh, this is a bad guy does detriment to us all, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:15

How do you help clients move past restrictive diets and rebuild trust with food with their bodies?

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Yeah. A lot of the women that I work with tend to have very restrictive diets because a lot of foods will trigger or they think that the foods are triggering their digestive issues. And when we are working on this, number one, I'm a big fan of diversity. Right. Like no restrictive diets, no like, oh, only carnivore or only this or only that. Like everybody is unique and we need a diet that supports us. But we also need to be nourished. And if we're not getting a lot of diversity in our diet, our microbiome will shift. And that can actually compound those food sensitivities. So now we don't have the capability to digest certain things and we're always going to be reacting to it. But when we actually address the terrain of the gut, so are we digesting things appropriately? Are we absorbing things appropriately? Are we able to move food, move stool through the system without a whole lot of, you know, fermentation and overgrowths? You know, is our bile flowing properly? Are we actually cleansing stuff? Then that helps to actually change those reactions to food. A lot of times we're sensitive to foods that we eat all the time because of that leaky gut, that enhanced intestinal permeability is a big part of it. And so when we reduce that permeability, when we knock down a lot of the inflammation, you can eat a buried diet again, which is really nice. And it is a lot of it is some of that emotional support where it's like, you can do this. It's I know it seems scary, but let's try it out. Let's see what happens. Like it's gonna be okay, kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Have you ever seen someone with food sensitivities that you've worked with that have overcome them?

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so dairy and gluten are big ones, right? That I see over and over again. Even myself, like I growing up, I was always lactose intolerant, right? And so anytime, yeah, TMI, but it's like, okay, you eat ice cream, don't go near Lola, like we can't do this, right? Or on the other end of things, it's like just constipation for days. And then actually working on my digestive health and really kind of fixing that terrain piece, like, no, I can I am not lactose intolerant. I just needed the actual support from my body to heal itself and repair that enzymatic process. And yeah, I can drink milk, I can eat ice cream, it's not a problem, right? That would be nice because I think it's yeah, it's a big thing for a lot of people. And once we understand what is going on in our body, right? So, like that dairy or lactose intolerance, because they're two separate things, but the lactose intolerance, okay, well, something's going on with that brush border in the small intestines. Okay, well, what what are we doing to our small intestines? Are we, you know, eating on go? Are we drinking a lot of alcohol? Are we, you know, not eating enough? Do we have low stomach acid? Do we have these overgrowths? Once we start to address those, then things heal up.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

What does lasting gut health look like? And how can women make sure that it's sustainable for a long period of time?

SPEAKER_00 25:47

I think you've heard me say multiple times now, terrain, right? So when we're talking about long-term sustainable gut health, it really is about the terrain or the environment of our digestive system. And so are we digesting and absorbing our nutrients? Are we moving stool through appropriately? Are we detoxifying things on a day-to-day basis? Are we in a physical environment that supports our digestion, right? So again, not eating on the go, not rushing through things, not feeling stressed out when we're sitting down and eating. Because once we support that terrain, you know, if we think about our gut as a garden, we want good soil. We want the good plants to naturally crowd out the weeds and the bad guys, right? And it should take care of itself. So when we're supporting it, that's what that sustainability is about, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Would you say that everyone differs from what works for them and what doesn't?

SPEAKER_00 26:55

I think there's a lot of like similarities, but again, like our microbiomes are so unique. There are more bacteria in our guts than there are stars in the Milky Way, right? And everybody's is different. So, like, we all have different fingerprints for the most part. We all have different gut microbiomes, and that can bring a huge play into how yours works in the environment you're in. So, again, general recommendations will work generally, and we should be focusing on the basics. Like, are you actually eating to support your body? Are you moving to support your body? Are you sleeping well? Are you well hydrated? Are you in good relationships? And that for most people is enough. But if there are still things that are going on and you're doing all those basics, you know, then it's time to do a deeper look and see what's going on with your microbiome.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Perfect. For women who are busy and overwhelmed, what are the simple simplest first steps they can take to start improving their gut health?

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Yeah, I my big one is eating hygiene. And this is it's so simple in theory. You just have to do it, right? Which is number one, sitting down to eat your meals, right? Not eating on the go, not eating while you're standing at your desk, not eating while you're in the car, but sitting down to eat your food and then really chewing your food thoroughly, not drinking or chugging a whole bunch of water at mealtimes, those that eating hygiene is like the biggest thing to make a difference for people. And it's so easy to do if you just actually do it.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Why do you say that it's so important that we do not eat on the go and that we're sitting down not drinking a bunch of water before or after mealtime?

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Yeah. So when we are actually digesting our foods, there that is a parasympathetic process, right? So if we're thinking about the nervous system, we have two primary branches of the autonomic nervous system. So sympathetic is that fight-flight, go, go, go one. Parasympathetic is rest and digest. So we need to be in that rest and digest state to digest our food. But when we're eating while we're doing work, while we're eating on the go, while we're kind of like rushing through our meals, eating like snakes, then we're in that go, go, go, fight, flight mode. And our body, just again, in its wisdom, is like, nope, we're not digesting. This is not important right now, right? Even though, like, there might not be mental stress or things that way. That's a physiological stressor. And so our body's like, nope, not gonna do it. So that's the big reason why.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

What is your recommended amount of time for someone to actually set aside to be able to have enough time to properly eat and digest without messing up their routine or whatever?

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Yeah, you know, I think like honestly, 15 minutes is a pretty good amount for most of us, right? Where it's like, okay, here's what I'm eating. I can sit down, let me take a breath, to just kind of like, I am here, I'm ready to eat this, and to just be really present with what you're eating, right? Like taste it, look at it, enjoy it. And that, you know, for most of us that's 15 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

So and would you would you say that that 15 minutes would apply no matter if it's like a snack or a meal time? Because sometimes we don't have 30 minutes to an hour to carve out of our days. Yeah, even in the evening times, because there's so much going on.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

So again, kind of like proportionate to the meal, right? Like a snack. What is that? That's maybe like five minutes if you're gonna eat, like, let's say you're eating an apple, right? It's not gonna take me 30 minutes to eat an apple. That would be a really intense exercise, but because I'm just sitting there thinking like, okay, let me chew this, let me swat, like, let me think about this. Like five minutes, you know, just don't like inhale it and be present with it. That's the that's the biggest thing, right? Just be present with what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Is there a one simple thing that can keep clients present and not inhaling their food so that way they can get into a better eating habit and not have so many digestive issues?

SPEAKER_00 31:29

I think what I have seen work the most is again, like that, okay, I'm sitting down and then just like taking a few deep breaths before you start the process. So, generally speaking, if we're taking, you know, we do a short inhale and a longer exhale, that helps us to get into that parasympathetic state. But it also just reminds us, like if we actually sit and take a breath or two, that oh yeah, okay, this is what I'm doing. We're not, we're pulling ourselves from our mind where we're like, okay, go on to the next thing, onto the next thing, onto the next thing. This is just a task that I need to get through and reminding ourselves that okay, like this is a body experience. Let's actually enjoy this. It takes practice, it's a practice, right?

SPEAKER_01 32:17

Yeah, that's that's why I said because a lot of us are rushing around. That's why I was thinking about like if someone could just have one little extra thing that they could okay, yes, this is what I'm going to be doing. Is there anything else that you would like the audience to know about you, what you do, how to work with you?

SPEAKER_00 32:41

I think the easiest way to find me these days is Instagram, right? And so a lot of different educational material, a lot of just thoughts. I really like engaging with people, so any questions or things that way, more than happy to jump on and talk. And then that's I guess really it. Not a whole lot of other things are popping up.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Perfect. Well, Lola, thank you so much for your time today. It's been very educational getting to know about gut health and all the proper ways to correct it if we can. Hopefully we can without too many medical interventions from doctors that don't listen anyway.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Yeah, or if they're not listening, you know, that's start looking for other alternatives because you know your body, you need to listen to it.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

I I I recently went to a doctor for an unrelated issue. It was but for my skin. And I said, Hey, I have this issue with my skin, and he just looked at me when I had told him that I had gone to an the emergency room because the regular doctor was unavailable when it first started. And the person in the quote unquote emergency room or walk-in clinic gave me this cream for my skin. And yeah, it took away the issue because it was like a rash. But it I could tell that there was something inside of my body that was causing the rash to come out. And so after I can't believe that I waited such a long time. But after a year of dealing with this rash thing that it would not absolutely go away, it would go away and it would come back. So I think that that's why I waited for such a long time because I didn't think it was a quote-unquote issue. But then I finally said, I can't. This is getting worse, it's not going away. And I went to my, you know, PCP and I said, This is what I'm dealing with. I showed him the rash. He was like, Oh yeah, here's some shampoo. And he prescribed damage of shampoo to put on my rash again and took it away. But I'm like, can we please do some because I'm I'm pretty sure that there's something inside of my body that's causing this rash, like maybe a fungal infunction inside or something. And he absolutely refused to do the labs because I didn't quote unquote have the right coverage because I've gone from working from an for an employer to working for myself. So now my health coverage kind of sucks, but I do get coverage. And so I said, okay, well, thanks for the shampoo, doc. And it took it, but I did like some research and I kept seeing these ads. And in my opinion, if I keep seeing an ad for something, it's the universe trying to tell me, hey, alert, alert, alert, pay attention. This is what's going on, this is what's gonna help you fix it. Please just dive into this. And so I started taking oregano oil. Yeah, okay. And it started actually helping me feel better. My rash kind of comes and goes, but it's not as bright, it's not as vibrant when it does reappear. So something still is going on, but I've got I'm managing it on my own without no help of a damn doctor because I've learned this secret. I didn't even know that I was doing it, but I actually learned what it was called by another interview, and that's I'm biohacking my body. So I'm just like trying to like, and it's a little bit scary doing homopathic testing on myself, but it's working, and I'm very grateful that I have been able to trust myself enough to go down this healing path for myself because if not, I think that I would have been suffering forever. And come to find out there when your body goes through such an event, such as even a rash, it can damage your nerves and cause nerve damage, allowing your body to have like phantom rashes or fan phantom symptoms of whatever you might be going through. And I'm like, what? I did not know that it was causing nerve damage. And that's why when I found out that I had gone like the whole year almost, well, it wasn't a year. Let's see, how long was it? Probably like eight months, a good eight months, a good portion of a year though. And I was like, I was causing myself nerve damage. Dang, girl. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

And I think that's that's again that like we need to really listen to our bodies, right? And if you think something's off, like, okay, then let's start exploring other alternatives when you're not getting the answers you want. And that oregano oil, that's great, right? Because a lot of, especially when I hear this repeated rash, and okay, the oregano oil is like kind of helping with it, immediately, microbiome is the first thing I think of because that's kind of what the oregano oil is working on. And not that you asked for unsolicited advice, but one thing that I would also think about is seeing what is going on with your stomach acid, right? So doing like a simple baking soda test to see like, do I have low stomach acid? And that could be contributing to kind of like the environment that is supporting these rashes, right?

SPEAKER_01 38:30

I I actually think that my stomach acid is kind of high. High because when I eat just normal food, I feel a lot of acid or like um not not a lot of acid, but it just feels like acid yet.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

That actually can be another myth, right? Like when we have low stomach acid, it doesn't close that lower esophageal sphincter all the way. And so we when we're eating, that pressure builds. And since that sphincter is not closed all the way, the acid goes into a place it's not supposed to, right, which is our esophagus and creates kind of that burning. Also, like if we're not like we have that lower stomach acid and we're not digesting our foods all the way, that creates more pressure too, and so you get like more gas and bloating that pushes it up and can create some of that acid reflux kind of feeling, right?

SPEAKER_01 39:20

Well, I feel like the acid feeling more like in my stomach region, not necessarily my esophagus, but just like in the lower, well, it would be upper abdomen, but in the lower region of my body, not yeah, yeah, like more the stomach rather than the esophagus, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, it's just a process of elimination at this point, and I'm more than willing to do experiments on my body because I'm just I'm just gonna trust the process, and I have all these nice little books here that can help me. I have this one. Oh, yeah, okay, on the Popecary. Yeah. And then um, whoops, as everything comes tumbling down. Encyclopedia medicine. Yeah, so I mean, I'm set. I have all the resources that I can handle at this moment.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

Yeah. It's trusting your body to like find what is working, right?

SPEAKER_01 40:17

Mm-hmm. Perfect, perfect stuff. Thank you so much, Lola, for all the educational stuff that you shared with us today. I hope that you continue to do wonderful things, and I thank you for your time. Awesome. Thank you so much. Talk to you later. Yep. Bye. Bye. And there you have it, folks. If you want to work with Lola one-on-one, learn more about your dot health, feel free to look her up on Instagram, Lola McLean. And for more coaching tips and tricks, or to work with me one on one, feel free to check me out at Guiding Pathways on Facebook or Instagram. Until next week, everybody.