You Don't Need to Spend More Money on More Supplements

In this episode, Coach Cate talks about trending supplements, what needs to happen before you buy another supplement from a brand you've never heard of (that likely won't work), and what you should do instead. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, hey, welcome back to Healthy Period. I'm Coach Kate, and today I want to talk about a conversation that is definitely going to step on a few toes, definitely gonna stir the pot, definitely make you unfollow me, but it needs to be said. Because today we live in a world where every single symptom has a supplement attached to it. And you can't go on Instagram without hundreds of ads for a supplement to fix what you're experiencing. Low energy, take this. Hormonal acne, take that. Painful periods, there's a powder for that. Bloating, oh don't worry. This is a brand that you've never heard of and it'll fix it in seven days. And I'm not anti-supplement. Supplements can be incredibly helpful. I actually have my own supplement routine that I do. But the truth is, from a nutritional therapy perspective, we do not want to be swapping medications for supplements because that doesn't fix the root cause either. If your body cannot absorb nutrients properly, you're literally making expensive pee. So no supplement, no matter how trendy, can override a dysregulated nervous system, unstable blood sugar, poor digestion, or chronic sleep deprivation. Now, I should stop that podcast right there. Full stop. That is the sentence. No supplement can override a dysregulated nervous system, unstable blood sugar, poor digestion, or chronic sleep deprivation. And a brand new supplement claiming to magically fix a symptom you've had for 10 years, that is clickbait, and you fall for it every single time. Before you throw a supplement at every symptom, there are three non-negotiables that must be addressed first. And that is why I'm making this podcast, because I am sick of women falling for the clickbait and coming to me on 20 different supplements, spending $500 a month, and still have all of their symptoms. Supplements are support tools, they're not a replacement for your foundations. So if you're trying to take a supplement so you can skip the foundational work to actually feel better, this is why you're still chronically sick. So if your digestion is weak, if your blood sugar is chaotic, if your stress hormones are constantly elevated, there is no supplement that is going to do the job for your body. Supplements are supplemental. They're to assist your body. They are not to do the job for your body. So I want to talk about the three things that I look for and look at with every single client before I even consider a supplement. So, number one, are you getting 30 grams of protein with breakfast? I start here for a very specific reason because how you start your morning, what you have for breakfast, sets the hormonal tone for the entire day. So let me say this very clearly. We're done skipping breakfast, we're done calling an iced coffee a meal, and I'm done pretending a granola bar fixes your blood sugar, because no supplement will fix the fact that you start your day on a blood sugar roller coaster. So when you wake up, your body is already experiencing a natural cortisol rise. That's normal and that's what we want. But when you don't eat, when you eat mostly sugar or carbs, or when you just drink caffeine, your blood sugar is on a huge roller coaster ride and it's gonna drop hard. Your body responds by releasing more cortisol and adrenaline to keep you functional. So that looks like anxiety, jitters, afternoon crashes, cravings, inflammation, disrupted cycles. This stress response directly interferes with progesterone production, thyroid signaling, ovulation, and gut motility. I say all of the time, it doesn't matter if you mentally feel stressed, your body can still be under stress. So we're going to have that cortisol response. So here's where most people don't connect the dots. A chronically unstable blood sugar is going to reduce your stomach acid, reduce digestive enzyme output, slows your bile flow, alters your gut motility, and shifts your gut microbiome. So food's not even going to get broken down properly. It's going to sit, ferment, and feed the wrong bacteria, and then we blame the food. So if you're bloated, even when you eat healthy, this is a huge clue. So why 30 grams of protein? We see this all over Instagram, but I'm gonna break this down for you. Protein stabilizes your blood sugar, it reduces your cortisol output, provides amino acids for hormone production, supports gut lining repair, and improves satiety and cravings. So this is foundational. Eggs, Greek yogurt, protein shakes, leftovers. I don't care what it is. On my Instagram, you'll see all the time that I say that breakfast food, you don't need to have breakfast food for breakfast, right? I don't care what it is, I just care that it happens because no supplement is gonna outwork a dysregulated morning. Foundation number two, you need to lift weights two to four times per week. And no, this is not a crazy MECCon. No, this is not using a 20-pound kettlebell for 400 reps. Strength training is not optional if you want hormonal health. You have to lift heavy. I know you love your yoga. Maybe you love Pilates. I know walking helps your stress, which we definitely want to keep in there. We want to keep those things, but you need to load your body. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. So the more muscle you have, the better you regulate blood sugar, the more insulin sensitive you become, the less inflammation your body produces, and the more resilient your hormones in your body is. So more muscle means steadier energy, fewer cravings, improved cycle symptoms, and better stress tolerance. So this is why strength training is so powerful if you have PCOS, endometriosis, thyroid issues, or hormonal imbalances. Blood sugar dysregulation is one of the biggest drivers of hormonal chaos, and strength training is going to create a sink for glucose, it's gonna reduce insulin demand, it's gonna lower cortisol overtime, and it's gonna support estrogen metabolism. So yoga is amazing for your nervous system. I want to keep that in. Pilates is great for stability, we can keep that, but they don't build muscle in the way resistance training does. You don't need to lift 300 pounds, you don't need to live in the gym for three hours a day, but you need a progressive overload consistently, specifically, and you need effective volume. And foundation number three, which is the non-negotiable, but I should have made this number one, is your sleep. Now, this one isn't sexy, it's not trendy, it doesn't make me money, it doesn't make any wellness influencer money. And it's the one that everybody wants to skip. But you can eat perfectly, you can train consistently, but if you are not sleeping well, you will not heal. If your sleep is trash, it does not matter how clean you eat or how much you work out. Sleep is where your body repairs tissues, regulates cortisol, improves insulin sensitivity, balances hunger hormones, supports your gut microbiome diversity, it clears inflammation. But poor sleep raises cortisol, worsens your blood sugar, increases your gut permeability. So that's where we're talking about a leaky gut, increases estrogen dominance, worsens pain perception. It's not that you're lazy, it's that your body's exhausted. So magnesium is not gonna fix a chronic sleep deprivation. Adaptogens are not gonna override circadian disruption, hormone supplements are not gonna land if your cortisol is high all night. Sleep is biological maintenance and you need that. So before you buy another hormone supplement or get in my DMs asking me about this specific supplement or gut protocol or another product, I want you to ask yourself: are you eating enough protein in the morning? Are you building muscle consistently? And do you actually prioritize your sleep? Because supplements are only going to work when your digestion works, when your absorption works, and your nervous system is regulated. Otherwise, you're just layering complexity on top of dysfunction, and then you have really expensive pee. So hopefully this was helpful. Uh, hopefully someone has explained it like this to you before, but if not, I'm really glad you were here and you were listening. And if this makes sense to you, what supplements should you be taking? I don't make any blankets up blanket statements. I want to make sure that your supplements are exactly what you need based on your labs. So if you have questions about what supplements you should be taking based on today, just shoot me a DM supplements and then we'll have a conversation about it. So your body doesn't need more stuff. It just needs the basics done really, really well. And the basics don't sell, the basics don't make money, the basics aren't sexy and fun to do. But your body doesn't need the clickbait, your body doesn't need what's in and trending right now. It just needs the basics that's done really, really well. So hopefully this one was fast and efficient for you. And I'll see you in the next one.