Sisters-in-Service
Are you a women veteran who feels unseen and unheard? Do you struggle with finding your purpose after service? Sisters-in-Service is a podcast that gives women veterans the platform to talk about those exact issues and more. Hear from other veterans, military spouses and Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) just like you that have overcome their transition from the military. Every Tuesday this podcast encourages women veterans to stand up and be counted because as a group we have a voice. From your host - Cat Corchado - The Voice Connecting Women Veterans
Sisters-in-Service
Revitalize Your Midlife Symposium: Day 6 - Unleashing the Power of Gut Health with Dr. Mandy Patterson
Unlock the secrets to vibrant health as you join me, Cat Corchado, and our esteemed guest, Dr. Mandy Patterson, a holistic health and functional medicine expert, on day six of the Revitalize Your Midlife Symposium. Discover how nurturing your gut microbiome can revolutionize your well-being, and learn about groundbreaking research from Dr. Sabine Hazen that connects gut health with the severity of COVID-19 illness. From the impact of birth methods and breastfeeding to practical lifestyle choices like diet and stress management, we'll equip you with essential knowledge to maintain a healthy gut.
Eager to know how your genetics and diet intersect to optimize your health? We delve deep into the fascinating world of nutrigenomics, providing tips on incorporating nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, bone broth, and omega-rich foods into your daily routine. Dr. Mandy shares the benefits of fermented foods and the role of digestive aids like apple cider vinegar and bitters. By understanding the signs of microbiome imbalance—such as frequent infections and digestive issues—you'll gain actionable insights to address gut health problems effectively.
Discover the critical connection between gut health and hormonal balance, especially during perimenopause and menopause. Learn how a protein-rich breakfast can stabilize blood sugar and cortisol levels, and why managing stress through the adrenal system is crucial for hormonal health. We also explore the impact of gut health on mental well-being and neurological function, offering a holistic approach to achieving lasting wellness. Join us for an enriching discussion that integrates conventional and alternative medicine, empowering you to revitalize your midlife with vibrant health.
Thank you. Thank you, yes, I'm back. Welcome everybody to day six of the Revitalize your Midlife Symposium. I'm Kat Corchado, and we have an amazing discussion today about the microbiome, but before we get there, I wanted you to understand why I wanted to do this symposium, and it's a way for us to journey together through these things that we call midlife that affect all of us.
Speaker 1:I'm a lifelong learner. I feel as though I can learn from all of these speakers, and I have, so I've learned some quick tips, some great information that can maybe make my life just a little bit better. However, june is summertime and it's also my birthday month and, yes, I celebrate the whole month of June. So I wanted to be able to bring this symposium forward as a way to give back to health, wellness, fitness, but also to help me celebrate my birthday. So midlife is a time of reflection, growth and opportunity. It's a stage where we can harness our experiences, embrace change and step into the best version of ourselves with confidence and grace. My mission in creating this symposium is to provide you with the tools, insights and inspiration needed to navigate this exciting chapter of your life. So if you walk away with one golden nugget from this week, then I feel like this was a success. For those of you that can't join us live, there's no need to worry. Every moment of the Revitalize your Midlife Symposium will be available for replay. So, whether you're seeking strategies to enhance your health, fitness or overall well-being, this symposium is your gateway to a midlife filled with vitality and joy. I'm also letting you know that this is being sponsored by Small Space Pilates, where you can benefit from fitness in your own home and ensure that everyone can find the space to improve flexibility, strength and mental well-being. Now I have all of these speakers on my website, so if you go to smallspacepilatescom backslash revitalize, you can click on their picture and it'll go right to their website and you can find out more about them.
Speaker 1:So I am thrilled to introduce Dr Mandy Patterson. She's the founder of two online wellness consulting businesses. She's also an occupational therapist, certified holistic health coach, functional medicine practitioner, doctor of naturopathy, yoga instructor and mom of six. Oh, man, that made me tired. She shows women that they can have lasting, vibrant health. Mandy bridges the division between conventional and alternative medicines, creating a simple, holistic health plan that shows women that achieving wellness can be invigorating and fun. Her mission is to empower women and couples to dig deep in their quest for optimal health, to discover their confidence and to help them commit to mindfulness and a vibrant lifestyle. Dr Mandy, welcome to the symposium.
Speaker 2:Hi Kat, Thank you for having me here.
Speaker 1:Of course, I'm so excited for this discussion, so I have to tell you that I saw a documentary and it was all about the microbiome and I fell down the rabbit hole. Yes, because even though I've heard the microbiome, I didn't understand what it did, what it was and how it can help or hurt our health, can help or hurt our health. So, dr Manny, can you explain to our listeners, and to me especially, what the microbiome is and why it's important to our health?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. And so you know, our microbiome is just this vast world that, like in the last probably 10 years, more and more information and research has been coming out on it and it is quite a fascinating world and in fact there are trillions of more cells in our gut than like our actual like being. It's. It's fascinating, so it's its own planet really inside our body, and I like to frame it for people around that it's almost like our fertile soil. So what's going in is so important. The food that we're putting in our bodies and that we're eating, all of those things like hydration, can have a really huge impact on the microbiome.
Speaker 2:And what is really interesting is one of my friends, dr Sabine Hazen. She is a gastroenterologist. She actually was doing a lot of work around COVID to see what was going on with microbiomes and what she found was is that people that had a severe illness. She started looking at things and saw that bifidobacterium severe illness. She started looking at things and saw that bifidobacterium, which is prolific in our gut microbiome, that it was plummeting in these cases and so it had a direct correlation between illness and how people actually fared as far as if they did get illness. So it's a really, really fascinating space and you know, I've learned from Dr Alessio Fasano he's an Italian pioneer in the microbiome, gastroenterologist and researcher and he said I like this because it really just, I think, makes it easier to wrap your head around. But he said your gut is not Las Vegas. What happens in the gut is not in the gut.
Speaker 1:Gut is not Las Vegas. What happens?
Speaker 2:in the gut. I love that. That's awesome yeah, it is, and like it makes sense. So like what we're putting into our bodies and our guts, like it doesn't just stay in there, it impacts us systemically and like, as we're talking about midlife and you know the impact on our hormones, that is a huge piece for women's health.
Speaker 1:Oh wow. So, Dr Bandy, are we all born? Is our micro like our microbiome? Do we? Are we all born with a healthy microbiome as a child, you know?
Speaker 2:so that is such a good question and, in fact, the research that I've done and you know there's a real direct correlation between how a baby is born, if it's a vaginal birth versus a C-section. Another really, really interesting piece is moms that breastfeed versus those that bottle feed. We do know that people that do have more robust microbiomes were generally probably vaginal births and they actually were also breast. So you know there's things there that we can't even control, obviously, when we were born and come into the world. But we do know that that is an important piece and you know the expression of that we see many years down the road when we get into our thirties and our forties and beyond. So you know what our moms do in utero, you know, really can impact the health of the baby many years later.
Speaker 1:I love that. That answer Cause that. That starts to make this picture very clear for me. Dr Mandy, can you explain? You know, we hear bacteria, we kind of go ooh, we kind of do this, but there's good, there's bacteria in our microbiome that does good stuff. So can you explain that?
Speaker 2:a little bit Absolutely. So, yeah, like you know, like we're created magnificently, like our creator, that created us, you know, and so I really like to frame it around. That is that you know, the human body always wants to find a balance and it's always working to keep balance for us. And so, yes, we have this interesting world of bacteria, fungi. Even from a parasitic side of things, there's good guys, right, there's good guys and there's not so good guys. Really, really, what makes a huge difference here is what we're doing from a lifestyle standpoint that impacts the microbiome.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, we have many factors that work against us in modern day life, and that's because we live in a really rather stressed out, busy world. There's constant pressure, we don't really get much downtime and it's really hard to prioritize, especially if you've got a busy job and a family, and even our kids. I feel like it's, you know, a real problem, and even our kids, I feel like it's, you know, a real problem. So we have that, and you know, what's really interesting is, this was an area of my own work when I was doing my thesis.
Speaker 2:I did it on digestive enzymes, and so here's an interesting fact for the listeners tonight. But basically, like you know, by the time we're about 30 years of age, we're missing about half of our digestive enzymes, which are powerhouses for our for optimizing digestion overall immune health. There's ties in there to cardiovascular health Really interesting. And so you know we have to work hard to put good things back in, and we do that through our diet, do that through proper stress reduction, because we know that when we live in a busy, stressed out state all the time we're wearing down our stomach lining and those digestive which are so important for metabolism and assimilation of nutrients in our systems. You know, I like to talk about even the mitochondria, those little powerhouse cells that back in high school biology, right, we all learned about. But it's so important as we age and how that impacts aging gracefully.
Speaker 1:Mandy, how would I know if I'm going about my life? What kind of signs are there that maybe my microbiome isn't functioning the way it should?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question, Kat. So here's the thing. You know. Sometimes people might not know it. They might have frequent infections, like immune system challenges. But you know, for the majority of people what I hear a lot of is you know they have problems after digesting meals, like they might have abdominal distention, like gut, like bloating. You know into like, if we talk about poop which we got to talk about poop on here you know diarrhea, constipation, like gassiness and bloating. You know those are all real signs that you know things aren't good. Also, another thing that's like a myth really is stomach acid secretion. So a lot of times people will have reflux and think that they have too much stomach acid, but usually it's. They don't have enough. So if they're going to the pharmacy and getting PPIs, like those proton pump inhibitors like there's so many on the market, and they're taking those, they're further suppressing and driving down the acidity in their stomach, which is causing even greater issues.
Speaker 1:So so that's a little wow, I've you said so many things. My mind's going like this so we get to. We get in our thirties. We've lost some of those microorganisms in our in our gut. How do we get them back? How do we invite those little critters back in so to help our health?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's a good question. So as a functional medicine practitioner, I've been trained to test and not guess. Right now, if you came to me and you were like, oh, I'm struggling with these things, what can I do from a food standpoint, you know I would tell you. You know, I really believe in eating from the rainbow. So eating abundant fruits and vegetables every day, like nine to 12 servings, which for a lot of people that's a lot right. Also, getting quality protein. So, as women age, like we really have to work to keep our blood sugar balance under control. So that's another piece.
Speaker 2:But, like, if I do a deep dive into somebody's microbiome, I do comprehensive stool testing and it basically. So you take like a little poop sample out it's kind of like a science experiment and you ship it off to the lab, right, and then we can actually look at it and see what is going on, like from a microbiome balance, like in, like what guys are, like how they're all like cohabiting together. We can see, like, if there's pathogenic bacteria or if there's parasites, you know those can cause a real problem for people, especially if they have a blunted immune system. So, like, like, when we approach things, we usually call it the five R's in functional medicine, and the first step is to remove things that aren't good. So that would look like removing sugar. For some people, gluten is problematic and I'll be honest with you the longer that I've been in practice, the more I think people have problem with gluten, and that's because for a couple different reasons, but it is heavily sprayed with glyphosate in the United States, which is Roundup.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And our bodies just do not like that. So the other piece of that is to, for some it's just inflammatory, um, you know, in general, um, dairy might be another one. Dairy is hard because probably 75% of the people on the planet are lactose intolerant. Um, and as we age it gets harder and harder for us to digest dairy. So, um, you know, a lot of times I might suggest, like maybe taking some sort of enzymes to help facilitate that process and really optimize digestion.
Speaker 1:Wow, dr Mandy. If someone is always getting sick and they feel like, oh, I've been around kids or I was traveling or whatever, if they're always sick, is looking at someone's immune system or maybe looking at their microbiome? Is that kind of a trigger for you going? Let's look there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Prior to having my own practice, I worked in the hospital setting for many, many years, so I have a keen eye from a conventional lens, but then I also have the functional eye as well, and a lot of times when I see suppressed immune systems, I go back to the gut, because a massive portion of our immune system is in our gut and there's usually things that are off like imbalances there that we need to correct, you know, and sometimes it's micronutrients. And the challenging part is is because of all those toxins that are coming at us all the time along with, you know, stress and then even standard American diet. It just wears down that gut lining and I'm sure maybe some of the listeners have heard about leaky gut, right? So leaky gut happens when those digestive secretions get worn down. We start getting little micro tears throughout our stomach lining and people end up with food sensitivities.
Speaker 2:So, you know and it's to like you might hear of a friend who literally has sensitivities to everything under the sun it's because the gut needs to be healed. You've got to go in, you've got to balance it with certain foods, and other herbals and other supplements can help. And then what you do is you go in and you seal off that gut. So it's, you know it has its fence back because it's almost like a fence that we have along that microbiome barrier.
Speaker 1:Dr Mandy, we have a question from Donna Bender. She said can you talk about antibiotics and gut health?
Speaker 2:Yes, I absolutely can talk about antibiotics and gut health. So here's the challenge with antibiotics. So a lot of times we see people end up immunosuppressed because they keep being given antibiotics and, honestly, in my practice with middle-aged women, a lot of times we'll go back into their history because, like again, I'm like a detective, so I'm going in and looking at that root, those root causes that are going on, and we'll see people have a really lengthy history with antibiotics. So antibiotics are one of those things that like wear down that gut lining. It's that wear and tear over time and then it just really ends up. You know it temporarily fixes the situation, but a lot of times we'll just see these recurrent infections over and over and that's because we're literally just putting a Band-Aid on it, right?
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So, like a lot of people need remediation if they do do an antibiotic, I do like probiotics. I think probiotics have a place in time. I think probiotics have a place in time, but you know it's. You need to use it strategically and you want to make sure you're getting really good quality strains, and that's why it's helpful to have a deeper dive into that microbiome to know, like, what your body's needing more of. You know from a strain standpoint.
Speaker 1:Can you talk about the difference between a?
Speaker 2:prebiotic and a probiotic from for the audience. Yeah, so prebiotics like those are going to be more of your foods, like coming from like nutrients that we would get from different they're different fibers that are really beneficial and helpful. And I like to say, like prebiotics and probiotics, you need both of them. Like, to an extent, prebiotics are kind of like that fertilizer we're putting on the soil in our gut that it really boosts the microbiome and then you have the. You know gosh, where am I going with this Probi? Um and probiotics. There's different strains of those guys that all kind of work to achieve balance in the body and so, um, you know, like acromantia is one of them. So, um, interestingly enough, acromantia? Um is really intimately tied in with blood sugar levels, um and um. A lot of times I see people like that being depleted and so, like you can go in and add probiotics in from that standpoint. So yeah, it does so.
Speaker 1:we're so used to kind of diagnosing ourself a little bit. Do you feel like taking a prebiotic or a probiotic should come from someone like yourself or from a doctor before we just go out and buy something that we think would work?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question, Kat. So here's the challenge. You know anybody can go on Amazon and order anything that they want. You know it gets shipped to their house within two days, but the challenge is is we don't really know who's selling it to us. We don't know how long it sat on a shelf and most people really aren't educated in vetting really good companies that are looking out for our best interest. So I really do feel like it is helpful. In fact, on my website, I have a full script dispensary where you guys could go in and see all my protocols and I actually make recommendations around really good companies and products. So I do think it's really valuable. I know not everybody has access to like somebody that they can trust, but you know, I think that it makes sense to make sure that you have you're getting the right things for what your needs are.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. We have another question from Denise Millay Do you see a place for vitamin supplements in our diets?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. So. Here's the thing you can get a lot of information from your basic labs, and this is labs that you would have run at your doctor's office, maybe annually. If you have a really good practitioner who's functionally oriented or even like integrative, they're going to have a keen eye from a functional standpoint on what labs should look like and you can see if you have deficiencies. So, for instance, vitamin D is one of them that I like to test on a lot of people.
Speaker 2:I know there's a lot of controversy around this, this, and I really like people to go get their vitamin D from the sunshine, but not everybody can just get their needs met that way. I'm actually one of those people. I actually do genetics and nutrigenomics. I run that in my practice to really help people optimize health, and one thing that even came up on my own labs was that I'm a really bad converter, so I need much higher amounts of vitamin D than the average person. So having not only your basic labs but even maybe knowing your genetics nutrigenomics is valuable.
Speaker 2:Another thing that I can see is, like you know if there's a need for more B vitamins. Your MCV is actually a level you can see on your labs and a lot of times when that's trending higher, we know that there's probably more of a need for B vitamins. Magnesium is another really easy one to test with red blood cell magnesium. So, yeah, I do think supplements have a place. I do believe that, because of the toxic world that we live in and the busy, fast paced world, I do think that supplementation really is valuable when used too quickly.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I've been chronically low in vitamin D and I was also told by a doctor that I could sit outside all day. I don't recommend that, by the way, but he said you would never get enough vitamin D. So is he trying to say that I'm not a good convert?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So some of us just aren't, you know, we're not great at it, and so we have higher um higher need for um vitamin, vitamin D. So, and you know, you can get vitamin D from food too. Yes, I, as a naturopath, I really encourage people to get everything they can from clean food, because I would much rather you spend money on your quality food than like buying all these supplements, because I've seen people come to my practice. They have like a 10 page document of all the supplements that they're on and I'm like, ah, you know, I don't think that we need to go that extreme, but I do really feel like, yeah, it does have its place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what types of foods that you know of can help I don't want to say recreate, but help repair our microbiome?
Speaker 2:No, that's a great question, like just in the nutrition realm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Okay. So we could talk about this all night, but I really have to like condense it for you guys. Again, like fruits and vegetables, like quality fruits and vegetables. Like get them from your farmer, a local farmer you can trust, or a farming CSA. My husband and I are part of one in our town in Indiana, and so eating the rainbow is so important, like we talked about, for that fiber and those phytonutrients and antioxidants.
Speaker 2:You know another thing, like from a gut healing side of things that people are really struggling, like with gut issues bone broth. Making your own bone broth can be so valuable. It's literally medicinal, and so that's like one food that I really love and I really help people incorporate into their diets. It's summertime right now, so it's a little harder to drink and sip bone broth, but it can be so good. Some other things are omegas.
Speaker 2:We're so deficient as a society, so like getting some flax seeds and, you know, chia seeds. Chia seed is really great for gut healing. It's really soothing to the gut. And another food that comes to mind that some might not think about because it's like a lot of people don't eat it, but okra is literally mucilaginous, like chia, and so it really helps to coat that gut lining and soothe it. And then I love herbs and spices, like turmeric is a powerhouse nutrient. Cinnamon helps with women as we age and helps with blood sugar balance. Um, so helps with that. Um, and like really just so many different herbs and spices that you could get, um, you know, can be so good, like cayenne pepper and like those kinds of things can be so helpful.
Speaker 1:I had heard that this is probably not the right word, but fermented food, like pickled stuff, is good for your gut. Is that true?
Speaker 2:It is so good for the food and so, like, when we're talking about prebiotics and stuff, like you know, fermented food is packed with those wonderful nutrients and so, like you know, making your own cabbage, like actually make that myself, it's so easy to do. You know other things like I'm not sure if the listeners like kimchi, but kimchi is a great one, cabbage like for me, and it's so good, yes. And then you know there's so many different things that you can make fermented wise, um, you know so very easy to add into the diet, um, and really we don't need that much. So like, maybe, um, people are easing into it, maybe go a little slower because, um, just throwing it all at our gut might get a little upset, it could be a little bit much for it. But like coconut yogurt is you know making your own coconut yogurt, sauerkraut, like so many different things.
Speaker 1:So Before we go through our. I called it halftime time. Donna said her question is what are your thoughts on apple cider vinegar?
Speaker 2:Yes, donna, that's a great question. I love apple cider vinegar and I'm I tell all my people that I work with I'm like there's, there's. It's so important to have as we get ready for our meal Because, again, a lot of us are really depleted. We need that extra acidity and if, if you don't like apple cider vinegar, another really good alternative is bitters. So bitters are essentially just bitter herbs that they make into tinctures. I actually prefer bitters because I'm not a real big ACV person myself. I don't love it, like just drinking it, like with water even. But I do love bitters and I think they're fabulous and I think pretty much everybody should have them with every meal if they can.
Speaker 1:Thank you, dr Mandy. Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. Thank you, hi everybody, welcome back. If you just joined us. We are talking to Dr Mandy Patterson about our microbiome and this is the Revitalize your Midlife Symposium. If you have any questions, you can pose them in the chat and we will try to get to them. And, dr Mandy, you don't mind me calling you that, do you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you do perfect.
Speaker 1:You call me whatever Calling you, dr Mandy will do her best to answer those questions. So I do have to say with kimchi, I was actually in the military and I was stationed over in Korea and they use the kimchi is like their side dish, like like we do with salad, and I'd never had kimchi before. It is really, really good. I'm just going to say, I'm putting it out there.
Speaker 2:It is so good. And you know another thing that I cause I was thinking about all the fermented foods I actually make so another one that's really easy to do and I can share some of these recipes with you guys if you want them. But you know I have six kids that are 22, down to 10. And I'm always trying to pack nutrition into them.
Speaker 2:One thing that I make that they absolutely love is we call them dilly carrots. So you can actually ferment carrots. I slice them up into like little wedges and then I put dill in it and you really just put, like you put salt water in with it and let them ferment for like a week and they then my kids love them and they they're. They have a little bit of a taste like a dill pickle because they've got dill, but that's like one like really easy thing. So if anybody has kids here and they're trying to work on, you know, getting better nutrition into them, that might be a good start, because I know some kids would be like ooh, when it comes to kimchi, it's just.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's just fermented vegetables. I mean, you know, one of my favorite is cucumber kimchi. I love it, it's so good. So let's talk a little bit about how your microbiome impacts your mental health and cognitive function or does it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so this is a great, great question.
Speaker 2:So, yes, so here's the thing If we are like, if we're eating good foods all of the time and we're still struggling because, again, a lot of us have dysbiosis or leaky gut, just from modern day living, there's so many things that we can't control but that is going to impact the level of wellness in our gut, is going to impact all the other cells of our body, because if our body's not adequately breaking down and assimilating nutrients, then the rest of our body is going to suffer.
Speaker 2:So, like, from a brain health standpoint, you know this is so important and so for the longest time, we always thought that the brain talked to the gut, but actually we know it's bidirectional, so the gut actually talks to the brain as well. Actually, we know it's bidirectional, so the gut actually talks to the brain as well, and over 75% of serotonin is actually generated in our gut. So, yeah, right, so, and that's our feel good hormone right, like, our feel good, like doing great, you know, and all of that. So when we have these gut challenges going on, it really does have a direct impact on our mental health, and we know that women, as we age like we. You know we have many things that are coming up and stressors and all those things, and so over time you know like we can end up with some depression or like anxiety, and that's just like usually, because I like to always go back to the gut and kind of look at that. It's really, really important to assess that.
Speaker 1:I think what you're saying to me and tell me if I'm wrong is that the heart is number one, but the microbiome is number two you and, as far as importance is concerned, in our body.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, the other piece of it from a midlife standpoint is, you know, the microbiota plays a major role in our reproductive systems and endocrine systems in a woman's, in a woman's lifetime so and it's always interacting with estrogen and testosterone and insulin and other hormones. And so if we have that imbalance in the gut composition, it can lead to disease and dysfunction and, like some of the mental health challenges we were just talking about, so how does I just had Dr Lakeisha come on yesterday.
Speaker 1:She was talking about perimenopause and menopause. Yep, how does that affect when we're going into perimenopause and menopause? Does our? Are the if we have a gut issue? Is it exacerbated by the hormonal imbalances of perimenopause and menopause?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, because as we're getting older, you know, our, our hormones are starting to kind of go, go down right, like they don't just fall off a cliff, which can.
Speaker 2:It can feel like that for some women, especially women that do hot flashes and like a lot of those, you know, challenges from an adrenal standpoint.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, so whenever our gut is off, like then, we start to see other things like from a hormonal side, because again, there's so much that's generated um in our gut that's going on all of the time. Our immune system we've got, you know, um neurotransmitters, um that are being generated there, um, and so there really is, we can see that, and so, especially as women age, I feel like blood sugar balance becomes even more critical. So, making sure that, you know, we're starting our morning off with a really good, healthy, protein packed meal, and as we age, we have higher amounts of protein that we need from a dietary standpoint. So and you know, I know a lot of women don't like to eat when they first get up, but it is really important, even if it's just something small, to kind of get the metabolism going and that really helps to establish blood sugar levels throughout the day. And we know how intimately tied in blood sugar levels are with hormones as well.
Speaker 1:You know, I was kind of doing wishful thinking and when you were talking I was like, wow, if we, you know, if we really treat our gut and repair our gut, that maybe the hot flashes and all those other things wouldn't be so bad. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part. Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 2:A lot of times this goes back to our adrenal system.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we'll take a little break from the gut, but the adrenal system and the thyroid system are very intimately connected and what happens is is cortisol levels can really have an impact on those downstream hormones. And so for women here, cortisol is kind of like our master hormone and you know, when we're getting up in the morning, that's when our cortisol levels are coming up and they're getting us out of bed to start the day, and what happens is is if we aren't eating a really good quality meal at the start or having enough protein, that can kind of skew cortisol throughout the day and that's really connected in with those blood sugar levels. So for a lot of women that are struggling with hot flashes and those things I really do feel like in many cases it's tied back to cortisol dysregulated cortisol levels, stressed out adrenals, where we're just putting too many stressors onto that adrenal system and then things kind of get flipped upside down and then, like those symptoms are side effects of that, if that makes sense Right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, very much does. We have a question from Denise. She said how does our microbiome affect our neurological system?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's, that's a great, great question.
Speaker 2:So, even kind of talking, going back to the gut and the brain are always talking with one another, right, and if our gut is not primed in in like the best optimal health, then that is going to directly impact, from a neurological standpoint, all these other things.
Speaker 2:So when we talk about the nutrients that we need that are cofactors for that mitochondria, so the powerhouses of our cell like churn out that energy that we need to sustain us throughout the day, you know, a lot of times there's micronutrient deficiencies, there's heavy metal toxicity, that are directly impacting that brain as well. And so you know, and sometimes with people, like when we talk about basic labs like the MCV, which is the microcluscular volume, when we see that we can see if that's from a balancing side of things, if that's higher or lower. A lot of times we can see when it's high, then we need more B vitamins, you know, for to run from a neurological standpoint, and people can have side effects of that, like you know. Sometimes they can, you know, feel almost faint and not have that energy. So you know, so there's a lot of things there that we could dive into.
Speaker 1:So you know, so there's a lot of things there that we could dive into, but there's so much that the microbiome does that affects so many things in our body. When I watched the documentary about the microbiome and it talked about how it could be related to other diseases. So can you talk about the relationship between our microbiome and chronic diseases like diabetes or heart disease?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so.
Speaker 2:Here's the thing, you know, going back to our garden and what we're growing and thinking about the gut, as this garden that we're we're tending to right and like when we're not giving it what it needs, and that can be for many different reasons right stressors, the foods that we're eating that don't agree with us, the toxins.
Speaker 2:So a lot of times I see, from a micronutrient deficiency standpoint, like depleted minerals, that kind of goes hand in hand with heavy metal toxicity.
Speaker 2:So what happens from a cellular side of things is if we have too much mercury on board, for instance like that's a big one or aluminum, those are competing for the cellular sites on our cells and where nutrients would normally come in, heavy metals can like impact that and it's almost like this lock and key where those heavy metals grab onto and so we end up more in a toxic environment. And so like when we see that, you know, we can see a lot of times that people that might have cancer or infertility, they have real acidic systems and meaning that it's perfect ground for inflammation in the body. So all disease and dysfunction in the body goes back to imbalances, right, so you know. And so like, for instance, like hypertension, right. That's one that a lot of people struggle with and are challenged with. A huge piece of that is just not having adequate minerals Like magnesium is huge, and over 75% of people on this planet are probably magnesium deficient, maybe even higher.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, that's huge, that's a big number.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and if you think about like the cheap seed oils that are in our grocery stores, like vegetable oil, canola oil, all of those like those like are like really inflammatory foods and it's added to so much of our foods at restaurants and other places and so that's driving inflammation as well.
Speaker 1:Dr Mandy, if I go to the doctor, I feel like I'm having a gut issue. I'm not sure what it is. Are doctors well-versed in talking about the microbiome or are they more and I'm talking in general from what you've seen, or are they were like oh, here's a script and give me something to settle my stomach.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and fortunately so. I see a lot of gut cases and a lot of cases where you know they've been to every specialist. They are unable to get to the root of what's going on and in fact, this is very near and dear to my heart and the whole reason I got into functional medicine is because my son, my oldest one he was born three months premature, weighed a pound and 14 ounces and ended up with two bowel surgeries and ileostomy for a period of time. So unfortunately, most doctors do not have an understanding of the microbiome and the challenges that there are and they really don't understand the nutritional piece or they just don't have training in it. Right, it's not to downplay them as specialists and experts in their field, but they're trained from a pharmaceutical side of things.
Speaker 2:So I do see a lot of people are, you know, um, you know I have got a lot of people with celiac and even gluten sensitivity and then, like they will end up on steroids and other very, very expensive medications that are, you know, from an immune side of things, like I mean, ridiculously expensive. So I would suggest to the listeners tonight, like if they really do have gut issues or, like you know, just wanting to improve their immune system or whatever. Make sure you like, do your research, look for somebody that's well vetted, that you know, that know how they think and that they're willing to have like a conversation with you about that they think and that they're willing to have like a conversation with you about that right, because a lot of times we're just dismissed when we go in for a doctor's visit that's roughly seven minutes long.
Speaker 1:You know, like if you tell them I don't think it's seven anymore, I think it's five, yeah it's three actually.
Speaker 2:But you know, the challenge is is like if you tell them you're constipated, they'll be like oh well, okay, but really people need to understand that you need to be pooping two or three times a day. You got to take out your trash, or your trash starts accumulating and it's not good. It's not good.
Speaker 1:I love that Take out the trash. Yeah, I love that Take out the trash.
Speaker 2:So, dr Mandy, can an unhealthy microbiome contribute to weight gain or obesity? Absolutely, we know that and even from a genetic things we know that. You know, certain people are just more prone to obesity and a lot of times those people are they're poor methylators, which basically means from a methylation side of things is from a toxin side of things, how good are we at detoxifying? And some of us are really sluggish and like we and I'm saying that for myself because my weight has always been something I've struggled with since I was a young kid but we do know, like I even know with myself, I'm not really a good detoxifier and so I have to work extra hard in the foods that I eat. You know the practices that I do.
Speaker 2:You know, like infrared sun is like one of those that can like really help like detox for those that aren't like really good sweaters, um, or you know, um have that challenge. So, yeah, it's it's. And it's really interesting because if you dive into scientific research, you will see that people that struggle with more obesity, um, like diabetes, um, their microbiomes are not as robust. So there is a correlation between the robustness of the microbiome and like actual, like weight.
Speaker 1:So yeah, how do you want? How would I know if I'm a good detoxifier?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. So so I genetic testing is very helpful, and that's actually what I one of the services I offer in my practice. I work with a company actually I teach for them it's called Intellix DNA, and they do a deep dive into the genome, and the thing that I love about their test is they give you not only nutraceutical and lifestyle suggestions, but also pharmaceutical. So if you were to go in and need a surgery, you would be able to hand the report to the anesthesiologist and say these are my unique genes and these are the drugs that are actually going to work for me, you know. So a great way to look at detox pathways would be genetics, and even like hormonal tests, like Dutch hormones, can give you a lot of really valuable information on how you're detoxing.
Speaker 1:Let's take a question Donna has asked do you think high colonics are healthy to get rid of all the toxins?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I actually do like colonics. I think they can be really really helpful. Um, you know, a lot of people just don't have that resource available near them. Um, you know, and honestly, like it can be a little um uh uh intrusive is what I would say, so like some people wouldn't go for that. But honestly, we know, from a detoxification side of things, for those that are like under methylators or they're just not great at detoxing, polonix can be really valuable and you know, there that is a great tool to use for many different issues.
Speaker 1:So and Donna said and my last question LOL, how do you find out about microbiomes in babies?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's a really good question. You can actually like take a poo sample and send it in, and so I had to do that on some peds cases where you know like baby's not doing well, like, or you know sometimes babies have like really severe GI stuff or like eczema or like those kinds of things Um, so you can do it much like an adult you send in. Now, like for the stool testing companies, they like them to be about two Um, that's like the baseline um before they actually recommend doing a poo test Um. But you know like you can do like a standard poo test, like actually like at the doctor, but it's not going to be like the level of stool testing like the functional companies.
Speaker 1:Wow yeah, dr Mandy. What are some of the latest findings about the microbiome? Is there anything where you just went? Whoa, this is huge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that, like, oh my gosh, there's so much there. So what's interesting is something that I, you know, have looked at myself, and especially as we talk about midlife, right, like you know, we're starting, our bodies are starting to change and like our hormones are changing and it's like, you know, how do we optimize our health and continue to age gracefully, which I'm so passionate about, and why, you know, looking at these things is so important. But, like bifidobacterium so the one that I was, you know, bacteria that I was talking to you about earlier it's actually been found. Like the people that have more robust bifidobacterium in their gut, they actually have a reduction in TNF, alpha and cytokines, which are basically inflammatory cells. Um, and these are so important um, as far as from a bio biomarker standpoint and inflammation expression and treatment.
Speaker 2:So, when we talk about women's health, um, you want to have, um, you don't want to have inflammation in your body, right? Um? So, actually, like, working on gut health can be so valuable, um, adding in really good quality, clean foods, um, adding in some supplements that can be valuable and helpful. You know, I think that's really an interesting piece of research that's been done. Also, something else is they've actually looked at HSCRP levels, which is basically inflammatory markers in the body, and actually that is a lab test you can get on your basic labs, but they actually found that women that actually had that had significantly reduced amounts of inflammation in the body and they also saw like an increase in lactobacillus rhamnosus, another really valuable strain of bacteria that we have that's actually also associated with like blood sugar regulation in the body.
Speaker 2:So Wow, that just kind of went whoo, whoo, I know, I know it's its own world. It's so fascinating.
Speaker 1:I mean I literally I started looking up all the information I could because I was like, what is this microbiome thing and why is it so important? And I just, you know I love information, I'm an information junkie and I always want to know things. So, dr Mandy, can you share a story of someone that their microbiome was just on the brink? You just kind of brought them back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay. So I had a client I worked with her for over a year and a half, and so I like to frame this for people that actually do want to take a functional medicine approach to their health. It's a commitment and you're going for transformation is what I really help women achieve in my practice. And so this particular client came to me. She was overweight, depressed, like just just overwhelmed. She's like 50.
Speaker 2:So on the cusp of menopause, really struggling with hormones and sleep, and so we spent a lot of time like looking at her labs and, you know, creating a protocol for her, and we really worked on optimizing her nutrition, adding in more quality like fruits and vegetables, and like starting the day out with ample protein to help with blood sugar regulation.
Speaker 2:Um, we also did some continuous glucose monitoring, because I find that really valuable tool to see how different foods are impacting um blood sugar levels throughout the day. Um, and so she had so many gut challenges um dealt with diarrhea, constant gut pain, gas, bloating, which makes sense why her downstream hormones were just a wreck, because I tell people, hormones are the downstream impact of everything upstream, so you've got to go up Um, and she just graduated Um, this was probably about three months ago, she lost over 50 pounds. Yeah, she did an overhaul. She had committed to strength training, which for our midlife women that is so important, so huge. Yes, and, as a therapist over the years, direct correlation between the women that are doing that and have good bone health outcomes and a muscular side of things as well.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's, that's a particular story and, honestly, when we finished, she didn't have gut issues anymore. We took care of all of them, um, and she was feeling a lot better. So so what I'm hearing?
Speaker 1:is that it takes. It takes time to repair. You have to be patient, you have to do all the things. It's not just a one and done. If you're really committed which it sounds like you have to be to get your microbiome back so that you can be healthier, you have to be committed to doing what's what's necessary.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah, and it's just a journey, right, and I think, unfortunately, our society has been trained that, oh, you go and you pay your twenty, five or thirty dollar copay and you go on your way. But I think for the most of us, the majority of us are like this is not working anymore and we need solutions. And honestly, I really do feel like the solutions are more of a community health standpoint perspective. So I run group coaching programs in my practice for women and make it more community, because you know we're like social creatures, like we need each other and we're tribal in that, and so I think that that's going to be the key to our massive epidemic of health challenges currently.
Speaker 1:I tend to think that as women, when I was talking to Dr Lakeisha, I said when you're going through perimenopause or menopause or even issues with your gut, that you feel like you're the only one going through it, like you feel so alone. Is that the way it is with the microbiome? Also in in you know um the, the clients or the people that you help?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're just exhausted, right, they have been through the system, they've been to multiple doctors and they just are so tired and overwhelmed, you know, and so that's where, like you know, I help come alongside of them as their mentor and their coach, um, and really helping them reclaim their health and their vitality, and getting to the root cause of those health issues. So they understand, you know how how to change that.
Speaker 1:Wow, we have one more question. I'm not even sure if I know what this is, but Donna asked what would you recommend for people who have been diagnosed with C diff? Yeah, so they do not get it again. She obviously knows. Take it away, dr.
Speaker 2:Mandy, that's a great question, Donna. So basically C diff is a gut infection that happens for people that are really immunocompromised. So a lot of times in the hospital and over the years I saw so many C diff patients and they're very sick and they're very depleted. So the way to avoid getting that in the future is really to build up that immune system which is in the gut and get to the root of the other gut challenges that are there in correcting those things. And so a lot of times those people are malnourished, they don't have enough nutrients to overcome things and they have to take things slow. So those that struggle with C diff, it's a longer term thing, but really working on that immune system and that gut health can be so beneficial.
Speaker 1:Wow, you know your stuff, dr Mandy. I mean, I'm just like. I'm like what about this question? What about this? How about this? We're getting close to the end of our hour together, dr Mandy. Can you give us one to three tips that we could put into play today to help our gut health?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. So what I would number one suggest doing is really working on your stress management strategies. Would number one suggest doing is really working on your stress management strategies? As we age you know stress can we become less stress resilient in many ways and that's partly because of the shift in our hormones that we've got going on and middle-aged women like we're so good at taking care of everybody else but ourselves.
Speaker 2:So really just working on stress management, that could look like gratitude journaling, grounding outside, moving your body, getting out in the sunshine just sitting in the sunshine is so important. Diet, from a gut health standpoint, is so important and really making half of your plate be fruits and vegetables mainly more vegetables and then the other half being a good solid protein with a good quality complex carbohydrate, and that might look like a sweet potato or it might look like some quinoa, but I really find that people do better with more of an anti-inflammatory like Mediterranean diet. And last but not least, I would say, from a gut health standpoint, I think movement is really important. So I think that, as women, like I said, so busy doing all the jobs and tasks that we have to do that we do know that women that actually exercise. That actually increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is as good as an antidepressant.
Speaker 2:So it's not only helping our gut and moving and getting rid of that trash that we've got stored up, but we're also, like really positively impacting our brain as well.
Speaker 1:Dr Maddy, this has been fascinating. I was so looking forward to this conversation because, as you could tell, I'm just all in. I'm like, let me know about this, what about this? Thank you so so much for being here today. I think you're so well-versed in. I just want to go to your website and start looking at different things and, by the way, if you go to smallspacepilatescom backslash revitalize, you can click on all of the speakers and it will go right to their website. Dr Mandy, thank you so much for being here today and talking about the microbiome. We're going to continue this conversation. We have one more day left. We're going to be talking sleep with Christine Meyer. Who doesn't need that? Who doesn't need more sleep? So, thank you for everyone who is asking the questions. This lives on YouTube, so if you go to youtubecom backslash cat Corchado, you can watch the replay, and I'm so, so grateful, dr Mandy, for you being here. So until tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Thanks, you're so welcome. Go Outro Music.