Show Notes
Why are so many young women experiencing painful periods, endometriosis, Hashimoto's and hormonal chaos? After falling ill with Graves Disease in medical school, functional endocrinologist Dr. Cassie Smith made it her life’s mission to chase these kinds of questions. In her new book Fix Your Gut, Fix Your Hormones (https://a.co/d/0gbCrVD6) she tackles the real gut-hormone connection behind estrogen dominance, PCOS, thyroid dysfunction, and painful periods. Dr. Smith shares the answers she found, a roadmap for better health, better periods and common-sense steps to become the CEO of your own health.
In this episode you will learn:
Why younger women are struggling with their periods
Why low progesterone is so common in women in their 20s
How constipation and poor fiber intake worsen PMS, bloating, and breast tenderness
The impact of long-term birth control use on hormone production
Simple, affordable lab tests most OBs don't order but should
Exactly how your gut affects your hormones, step by step, by way of your vagus nerve.
How a young person could experience a cycle of stress, a bacteria or strep infection, then their antibiotics for treating the strep as well as birth control and acid-blockers can impair their guts affecting their cycle.
How, if, as women, our estrogen leaves our body down the four-hydroxy pathway (the pathway that can lead to cancer), more often when we have increased visceral fat, excess stress or intense gut dysbiosis.
How important our health is, and the value in taking responsibility for our good health. Self-value, seeing the sun enough in a day and movement all play a role in balancing our hormones.
Not only can excess estrogen affect our moods, but it puts extra stress on our bodies revving up our cortisol and lowering progesterone (the calming hormone), throwing our mood and sleep out the window.
Nutritional changes can make a difference. Avoid sugar in your food and drinks (read the
labels!), and aim for thirty-five grams of fiber for regular, healthy bowel movements.
Estrogen dominance from dysbiosis doesn’t necessarily mean you have enough of the estrogen you need.
How having a Dutch test every few years is incredibly useful for locating early signs of hormonal imbalances.
A roadmap to fix painful periods. Laser in on how much sugar you’re eating (and drinking!) Don’t eat wheat made in America if you have Hashimotos, because it may cause a high TPO antibody to attack your thyroid.
How babies rely on their mother’s thyroid until 18 weeks in-utero, so if you want to get pregnant, optimizing your thyroid is a must.
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