Leveraging Your Menstrual Cycle to Boost Fertility Naturally

Hey, it's Dr. Obama, host of Egg Me Sperm. And this is the best podcast to get all of the vital information that you need to support your fertility journey holistically for you and your partner, because fertility takes two.

Dr. Obama, and today I am joined by Jenna Longoria, AKA the period guru. She's a board certified functional nutrition practitioner specializing in women's hormones.(...) She is listed as the Huffington Post top 20 new health writers to follow. Her work has been featured in Mind Body Green, NBC, The Elephant Journal,(...) Southwest by Southwest,(...) and she's the author of The Period Solution, a 28-day hormone balancing guide.

Through her virtual private practice, Jenna helps women reclaim their hormones and digestive health with a multidisciplinary approach combining functional medicine, nutrition, and diagnostic lab testing in her one-on-one and group programs in her online course, The Period Solution.

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Join me today because

as I talk to Jenna

in this

interview,(...) we talk a lot about the foundations. Laying the foundation for good fertility starts maybe 10 to 15 years before we're actually trying to get pregnant.

(...)

In this chat, we're going to break down everything about a healthy period, what it looks like, what to look for, when to get support, and how to optimize fertility by laying a solid foundation. I hope you'll join me for this conversation, and I'll see you guys soon.

We're so excited to have you here, Jenna.(...) And I'm excited to talk about

foundations of virtuality, which we have to say starts with the menstrual cycle.(...)

So what does a healthy menstrual cycle look

Yeah, well, thank you for having me on. I'm so happy to talk with you about these things. And you're so right. You know, I feel like we get

of taken off guard on our fertility journey, because we wait too late, we're trying to get pregnant. And maybe these some of the women that are trying to get pregnant that may be having issues.

They look back. And maybe they were like, Oh, you know, I did have some problem periods, or I did miss a lot of periods, or, you know, they weren't always easy for me growing up. And that's why I got on the birth control pill. And you're exactly right, the foundations

ovulatory cycle menstruating is so important. And by getting that balanced earlier on, and not just ignoring those painful periods and taking

ibuprofen or the birth control pill, or ignoring the inflammation or the irregular cycles and actually getting to the root causes of that earlier, is going to set up set us up for more success

our fertility journey on our perimenopause journey on our postmenopause journey. I mean, so it really is starting as young as we can, really.

yeah. So I find that a lot of times,

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young women, especially have irregular menstrual cycles, or they have some symptoms.

And they kind of

ignore because like, we're

made to believe that these things are normal.(...) Right? So they go to some doctor, the doctor says, it's normal for you to be in so much pain,

all in your head, whatever that conversation goes like.

And then

may have been put on birth control. So by the time they

to the point where they're like, Okay, I'm ready to have a child,

they may have put that

on a back burner for 15 years.

what are some of the signs and symptoms that we could

earlier?

that we can be working on these things earlier in life and not have to wait till we are at that point of getting ready to get pregnant?

That's such a great question. And you know,

it is normal when we first start menstruating for the first few years

have irregular cycles to have really heavy cycles.

It takes a while, as you know,

for our hypothalamus pituitary ovarian, you know, access to kind of establish a really steady connection. So that's why, you know, if you're, you know, 13 or 14, we really can't diagnose with things like PCOS and things like that right off the bat, because it's so normal to have cystic ovaries at that age and to have irregular cycles.

And so I would say like in the beginning,

normal to have some of those issues, right? So just take that with a grain of salt.(...) So getting on birth control pill at the age of 14 for issues like that might not be necessary, because that's just that's a normal part of establishing our healthy menstrual cycle. So let's say you've been menstruating for like three, four years, and those irregular periods persist. So irregular periods, I would say, you know, we want our menstrual cycle to be anywhere from

to 35 days, but optimum really at least 24 to 25 days. And when I say menstrual cycle, for those listening, day one of your menstrual cycle is the first day that you're bleeding. And the last day of your menstrual cycle is the day before your next bleed.

we want that anywhere between, you know, optimum ranges 25 to 35, let's say that and

want to be bleeding the active part of our menstrual site, not active, but the period portion is when we're bleeding, we want that to be any anywhere from three to seven days.

So bleeding fewer than three days, you know,

points to an imbalance bleeding more than seven days points to an imbalance. So these are some things to look for. We want our blood, our menstrual blood to be bright cranberry red, that of a consistency of maple syrup, we don't want a lot of large clots

in our menstrual blood. So I would say anything larger than a dime and would be would be cause for concern if you're having a lot of clots, if you're having dark,

know, purple blood, if you're having, you know, brown, light pink, these all point to other issues that could be going on.

And we don't want it to be very painful. That's that is a myth in our society because because something is normalized, doesn't mean it's common, you know, because just because if there's a sick society doesn't mean that it's actually normal, it just means that it's, it's common. And you know, I'm not saying that our menstrual cycle, our period should be all rainbows and unicorns. And you should just like be singing the sound of music and like, Oh, I feel great. It's the first day of my period. Let's go for a run. No, I mean, some mild cramping is normal the first day, maybe even the second day. But hopefully things like, you know, if you have to take ibuprofen, or a hot water, you know, a hot heating pad or something should take away the cramping. But if you're having such severe pain that you can't get out of bed, that you're nauseous,

that you can't go to school, you're missing work,

an issue that is not normal.(...) So we don't want to have such severe pain that we're having to, you know, miss out on activities. And that, you know, I would say anything over a level two on a scale of one to 10 would would be a cause for concern. So those are some of the signs that we're looking for. And of course, the most important one of all, we want to be ovulating.

Now everybody, the period is so it's so you can't miss the period, because we have to use a product, you know, there's menstrual blood, we can't miss it. But ovulation many times gets missed, because it's this hidden event going on internally. And that's the most important event of the whole menstrual cycle. So if you're not menstruating, if you're not ovulating, then you're just having a withdrawal bleed, or a breakthrough bleed, and it's not the same as a true period. So we want to make sure that we're having ovulatory cycles.

that's awesome. So

like that you mentioned

how we shouldn't normalize

things that we notice. Those are really important.

Let's get a little bit into the different phases of our menstrual cycle. And what it looks like,

we're living kind of in sync

the rhythm rather than

you said earlier, which was like, Oh, I'm on my menstrual cycle. I'm gonna go for a run now.

(...)

Probably I know we're on the same page.

Like we probably don't want to do that. So let's talk a little bit about what

optimal,

harmony looks like through these different phases.

Yeah, absolutely. And,

know, I had no idea about this until,

you know, my late 20s. I had no idea about the four phases of the menstrual cycle. I had no idea that

hormones ebb and flow over this 28 ish days and that

are not

to have it is not normal for us to have the same energy levels every day of the month to have the same even interests in activities. It's not normal for us to have the same libido every day of the month. It's not normal of us to have the same productivity levels.

And

this was really empowering for me learning about the four phases of the menstrual cycle. So for those of you listening, you're like, what are the four phases of the menstrual cycle, we literally we have from day one of our period to the last day of the menstrual cycle, we have four phases. The first phase is the menstrual phase where we're bleeding. The second phase is the follicular phase. The third phase is the ovulatory phase. And the last phase is the luteal phase. It's everything post ovulation.(...) And they each one has a hallmark of a different ratio of hormones going on in our body. So for example, the menstrual phase, our hormones are at their lowest point.

So we are not feeling very extroverted, we have very low stamina.

in a state of kind of deficiency, we need to you know, rebuild our mineral balance, we need to rest.

(...) And so you know, in our society, we're in this kind of linear

dominated, male dominated 24 hour society where it's like, eight to five desk job, go, go, go all the time every day. And that's just not how women work. We are, we don't have like 100% productivity every day, we go in the cycle. So for example, like I would say,

know, instead of trying to fit our female peg into a square hole, which is not going to work, because we're very different, we need to the whole thing with living by these four phases of the menstrual cycle, which I'll cover a little bit is that we're embracing our physiology, we're working with our physiology, instead of working against it, instead of saying, what's wrong with me, maybe you're on day 26 of your cycle, you're about to start your period in four days, and you're working on this deadline at work. And you're like, what's wrong with me? I have no energy. And I just my brain's not working. I'm not as like, fast thinking as I, as I usually am. That's not your fault. You're about to start your period, your estrogen levels, you know, are your progesterone levels are very high at that point, which is very calming and grounding and kind of slow moving as well. And so we're more we're in a more of a, in that time in our luteal phase, it's a really good time. I know in my business, I save that time for like editing videos or editing projects or accounting, because the progesterone keeps us very grounded. So we have a very strong attention to detail. Whereas in the follicular phase and ovulatory phase, when our estrogen levels are really high, we are just,(...) you know, and then our serotonin levels are very high, we're feeling more extroverted, our vocabulary is more robust, we are, you know, we have these really innovative ideas.

then I would say the luteal phases when we drive those ideas home.(...) So embracing our physiology, knowing the four phases. So yeah, definitely not going out for a long run or hit exercise in your menstrual phase. Resting is going to serve you more

in the long run during your menstrual phase, then pushing yourself too hard. So resting, and it doesn't I get it, some of us have kids, some of us have, you know, two jobs, some of us are going to school and and working. So you're like, I can't rest my whole menstrual phase. When I say rest, I mean, just maybe avoid doing intense workouts, taking some time for yourself instead of going to that party on day two of your menstrual cycle, if you feel exhausted, and you feel bad, telling them you can't come, say home and just rest a little bit, take some time for yourself. It doesn't have to be a spa day, you know, and then our second phase would be follicular phase.

As I said, the estrogen levels, testosterone levels are rising in the body. And so we have more stamina, our bodies are more accepted, you know, embrace,

some cardio, some more higher intensity exercises, heavier weights.

(...) And we don't fatigue is easy. We burn fat easier in this phase and ovulatory phase, we build more muscle, we build muscle easier because of the higher testosterone levels in this phase. So that would be the time and later follicular to ovulatory where you can kind of maybe have fun with exercises, push the limits

little bit, and not push the limits to where you're over fatigued. But push the limits, you know, outside of your comfort zone a little bit, a good sign that you've overdone it with exercising is if you're fatigued for the rest of your day after you exercise,

you don't have space for anything else, that means you overdid it. And our foods will also change through these through these cycles to you know, each one are appetites change. For example, in our follicular phase, we have high estrogen levels and ovulatory so that can suppress our appetite.

That helps us be more that helps us be more sensitive to insulin. So our blood sugar levels are naturally just a little bit more balanced.

Whereas when we get into post ovulatory phase luteal phase, we are hungrier because progesterone is thermogenic, it heats up our body heats up our speeds up our metabolism, we need to eat more calories, on average about 250 more calories.(...) And it also makes us a little bit more, you know, slow moving a little bit more, you know, you shouldn't be so tired that at you know, 3pm, you have to like go to sleep and you have no energy. That's not good. That's not normal. But you just feel a little bit more slow moving, I would say.(...) And you know, because of our estrogen levels are lower in this phase, we are more prone to blood sugar instability. So I would say make sure check yourself that you're, you know, getting a meal every five hours having a snack, you know, I would say every three to five hours in this phase is really good. No intermittent fasting, nothing like that. Take care of yourself.

And we could go on and on. But that's really just the I would say in a nutshell, we have four phases, you're not meant to be the same every single day. And that is normal. So by having this awareness and knowing what phase of your menstrual cycle you're in, it can make things in your world will make a lot of

Mm

absolutely, absolutely.

actually like message my business partner

about a week and a half ago. And I was like, I'm on fire. Like I'm knocking this stuff out. And I was in the shower reflecting like why is this so what's happening right now?(...) And it I of course I was in my follicular phase. And I was like, Oh, of course, like,

yes, of course, I'm superwoman.

And I,

I just messaging him like,

really figure out how to integrate this into our business because

the degree of awareness.

And like there are times I go through phases like I'll plan it into my calendar and then other times where I don't,

and the times where it's planned or where I can anticipate what's coming.

tend to prepare better, right? Like,

I know I'm headed into the luteal phase, or that like, really that week before the period where

really do want to rejuvenate, we want to actively slow down.

not a great time for me to have deadlines. Like, it's not a great time for me to be like, Hey, I need to do six presentations this week,

it would be not really using my energy

the right way. Right?

Like, yes, I still have energy, but I shouldn't necessarily use it to do those types of things. I feel like I'm better off doing more things that need more reflection. I like what you said about paying attention to detail is really prominent during the luteal phase.

have conversations with clients, a lot of times they're like, well, but I work for a company and I can't tell them that I need to change the deadline, or I can't tell them that I can't go to this networking thing because I'm on my cycle.

Any tips for times when people feel like they have left control over what they're doing in their cycle?

Yeah, you know, it's not always, we can't always plan

percent to match up with our menstrual cycle. I mean, that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

I think what we can do is

the best of our ability. So okay, you know, if you have to go to that big networking group, or, you know, or presentation, and you're in your menstrual phase, and you're you know, then make sure that you're going to bed as early as you can that night, make sure to not come home and do something else, make sure to maybe lay down and rest and, you know, nurture yourself with a hot cup of ginger lemon tea, instead of like maybe going out after that networking group or presentation with everyone and having drinks and talking and pushing yourself over the limit. So just in any way that I would feel like especially in your menstrual phase, in any way you can conserve energy conservation is the kind of the name of the game here. So yeah, sometimes we have to do things like that, especially with certain jobs.

So just where can you save energy? Where can you maximize that? You know, can you wake up? Can you sleep in a little bit that morning instead of working out and get a little bit more rest or, you know, maybe sit down and have a cup of whatever you drink in the morning and journal or reflect instead of like maybe hitting the gym and carving space for yourself that way. So just saying you know, be as

as

doesn't have to be as I said, a spa day doesn't have to be like I take the

day of my period, I don't work at all, I take the full day off, you know, not all of us get that, you know, and, and, and it doesn't have to be like that. But there can be things that you do for yourself, maybe take a long lunch break and make sure that you're nourished and having a really, you know, nourishing lunch to fuel you.

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Yeah, yeah, go for a walk and spend some time in nature. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Awesome.

you mentioned that foods can also change during these different phases? Do you want to share a little bit about?

What do you recommend? Like, are there specific types of foods that people should or shouldn't eat during these different phases?

Yeah, you know, well,

overall, there are and we can, you know, there are certain foods that really help us during each phase. But I would say for the overall,

optimal hormone health, we want to make sure we're getting enough protein, first of all, you know, I would say before,

been very big on the on the different foods. And I have, you know, I've made meal plans for people based on each

menstrual phase and things like that. But over time, I've started to kind of shift my, my viewpoint on this a little bit, because I feel like sometimes people get overwhelmed with too much information. And they're like, Oh, no, I should eat raspberries in my follicular phase, and not in this phase, and I need to do this. And, and then they freeze, and then they just don't.

so I'm more now on just

the foundations and what we really should be focusing on first. And once you get those foundations, and then okay, we can fine tune things later on. But first of all, I mean, everyone just we need to make sure we're getting enough protein.

I don't know if you find this too, in your practice, but everyone coming to me is not eating enough. I'm like, you are not eating enough, especially a not enough protein. So making sure you're getting at least 30 grams of protein each meal, eating within an hour to 90 minutes of waking up, no, no intermittent fasting in the mornings, absolutely not.

you know, making sure that your your prioritizing protein, as I said, healthy fats,

these are some of the things that we can do to, you know, I feel like are the first things that we can start doing now.

follicular and luteal for breaking it up in these two kind of, you know, two half dimensional cycle, we are hungrier in the luteal phase,

is normal. So knowing that we're dynamic. And so instead of like, if you're following a certain diet or meal plan or something that in a book that you've read or with a dietician or whatever you're doing, and they're not accounting for

luteal phase where you need about 250 more calories, you are hungrier, you're more prone to blood sugar, and, you know, instability. So if someone's telling you no fast, you need to continue fasting and go at least seven hours without eating. Absolutely not. And our luteal phase honor your cravings honor your hunger. It is not static. You should not be eating the same way in your luteal phase as you are in your follicular phase. Absolutely not. You need to be eating more.

And maybe you need some more starchy carbs in the luteal phase too.

So

would I would say that was that would be like the biggest emphasis, you know, just making sure you're getting enough protein, making sure you're honoring your cravings and the luteal phase.

And,

know, during our follicular phase, or the end of our follicular phase and our ovulatory phase, our liver is going through a lot of work because it has it's having to detox all the estrogen we're making because we're having that estrogen spike as we get closer to ovulation.

And that's a lot of work. Our liver has to work at neutralizing estrogen, just like as it would neutralize, you know,

toxins and pesticides and, and things like that, it also has to get rid of these endotoxins. So something we can do during that phase to help support it or maybe, you know, eating some bitter greens, dandelion, root teas, things that help support the liver beats, so maybe increasing that amount cruciferous vegetables,

fiber intake, that can really help in your follicular phase and leading and through your ovulatory phase to help, you know, give your liver some love.

know, don't shoot the messenger, but you know, alcohol is not the healthiest thing for us. And it really gets in the way I think of it like a bouncer at a nightclub. You know, your liver is a bouncer at a nightclub. And,

and, you know, you have all the people waiting to get through and the liver. So think about the liver and it has all these toxins waiting to go through to neutral, to, you know, to neutralize it so it can get out of the body and

will always get into the club first,

always, your liver is going to prioritize, you know, get, you know, detoxing you from the alcohol. So if you like drink a few glasses of wine, because, and then, then your estrogen is going to take a back burner and everything else you're exposed to in the day, if you're still using, you know, if you have products that have perfumes or toxins and things like that. So limiting alcohol consumption, especially during that time.

I think these would be some of the key hallmarks. And yeah, we can definitely get more into it and talk about like certain foods that are definitely

supportive for each phase. But I would say focus on the foundations

and get those in place.

Yeah, absolutely. I think

foundations are so crucial. And I like that

keep it relatively simple, you know, like eat based on what your body is telling you,

especially in the luteal phase. And then the other big thing that I heard you say, which I agree with is

with the fasting,

fasting is good

and sometimes good for women in very specific situation.

most of the time, like, it's not great for our menstrual cycles. It's not great for

especially.

you're doing fasting while

or like that early period, that two weeks where you're not sure you're pregnant yet,

you happen to be intermittent fasting,

your take on that? What what would happen if they were fasting in the early luteal phase? I think it could be seen as a stressor on the body. And it can tell the body that hey, we're in a famine right now. And we don't have enough food and resources to support a baby. And so,

you know, it could it, it could potentially be an issue with not being able to carry pregnancy full term.

if that goes for trying to conceive as well, you know, I mean, we should be nourishing ourselves more at this time. I eat like you're pregnant before you're pregnant. Yeah, I say that all the time. I love that because

like, we very infrequently do I hear of a woman who's like, Oh, yeah, I'm intentionally not going to eat while I'm pregnant. Like no one has to do that if they have the resources they're going to eat.

And most of the time we have this belief,

which may or may not be what I stand by. But this idea of like eat for two, you don't really need to eat for two, but you need to eat more than you're

normally accustomed to during the follicular phase, for sure.

Absolutely. Yeah, I know. I was really surprised by that.

was reading something like and you might know the exact number, but I was reading that it's actually like really only about 500 more calories a day we need during pregnancy.

this eat for two thing, I'm just,

yeah, I don't know where that got into the mainstream narrative, like, and we always see in the TV shows, you know, growing up as like the pregnant woman is eating like pickles and a whole jar, like an ice cream out of a tub. And I'm like, become normalized.

(...)

Yeah, it's it's not not normal. You guys don't do that if you're pregnant.(...) But yeah, absolutely. I think that

a little bit more is a good thing. And then once you find out you're pregnant, you can eat.

I think that is I want to say it's like 500 to 800 calories the way that ages for the trimester, right? Like, I think it changed. And you know, if you look at the side is back in, you know, hundreds of years, thousands of years, pregnant women would get

this special like the organ meats and the the most prized foods and they would conserve those for the pregnant women because

needed more nutrients. They knew that, you know, and so I feel like

not necessarily eating for two, but it's just being a little bit more aware and conscious of are my getting enough

support this pregnancy? Yeah, am I eating enough, you know,

and so it you know, you're just being a little bit more mindful and aware.

So imagine if you're doing that preconception.

(...)

Yeah. And and what you just said, so just to reiterate these like organ meats or high nutrient density foods, that's what we're gonna get.

Gary, I mean, and I know everybody has different ideas now, especially in this world

vegan is very popular, but there was just a study that came out. I just feel just very recently, and it was showing that that

higher in fruits and vegetables can reduce actually a miscarriage.

is sort of showing it they studied, I don't know how many women they followed, but the ones that ate more fruits and vegetables, and dairy as well.

there were fewer miscarriages reported. And I just think that's really interesting, because dairy gets such a bad rap nowadays with the oat milk and with everything. It's like dairy is

my and I don't know if you agree with me or not. But

my view, I think it is the perfect fertility food.(...) Because it has a perfect if you can digest dairy. I mean, I was like a goat milk goat cheese machine in my first trimester, I craved goat milk and goat cheese, like all day long. And that doesn't have lactose. So a lot of people who can't do cow dairy can can digest goat dairy. But dairy is a is a great resource. And, you know, it's it's it's a perfect food. I mean, it's a third carbohydrate, a third fat, a third protein has fat soluble vitamins.

And so, you know, I,

but we could go on and on about diet and it's a very it's a very, you know, people are very have very opinionated opinion, strong opinions about it, as well. So, yeah,

yeah, I think, I, regardless of dietary choice, I think the key takeaway is like, what what had the most

nutrients

what it is that you choose to consume.

So,

fruits and vegetables, especially vegetables are, if you're eating loads of green leafy vegetables, they're really high in almost every single nutrient.

The only thing you can't get from vegetables is B12.

Everything else you can get from vegetables.(...)

as much of it as you can and being aware and conscious about

integrating more of these foods into our diet so that

really like creating an environment that that our body feels nourished, like that overflow of,

yes, I have so much abundance of nutrients that I can give some to this baby.

so

really kind of

on the things that are going to support baby even before conception. I really like that eat, eat as if you're pregnant, even if you're not pregnant, even if you're not trying, because

(...)

trying and that's the thing fertility gets this

it's like it's become a dirty word sometime in a way that people think, you know, especially women who are not wanting to get pregnant right now.

(...) And when I'm like your fertile health, like, you know, women in their 20s, they're like, Oh, I don't want to get pregnant. I'm like, No, that's not what I'm talking to your fertile health, you should always want to be, you know, have peak fertility, you should always want to have healthy menstrual cycles. It doesn't mean that you want to get pregnant right now, just because you're fertile, you know, fertility is not it doesn't it doesn't apply just to those who are trying to actively get pregnant, we always want to have

fertility, we always want to ovulate, you know, we want to ovulate monthly, this is a sign that our body is working in harmony and that there's homeostasis, the processes are working. I mean, imagine if you just stopped going to the bathroom and you didn't go to the bathroom, that would be a cause for concern, would it not? It's the same thing if your period disappears, if you stop ovulating, that is not a good thing. That is not something to be ignored. This is a body bodily process that is there for a reason, whether you have kids now or never. So yeah, we should always be eating to support fertility. Absolutely.

yeah. Awesome.

there any

or advice or insights you can share about troubleshooting

like PMS or irregular menstrual cycles?

I feel like a lot of women these days are coming in with like,

perimenopause or early symptoms.(...) I don't know what is happening, but it seems to be like growing drastically.(...) And

so I'm curious if you have any thoughts on that.

Absolutely. Well, you know, we live in a very fast paced society.

we're exposed to a lot of toxins more than ever an unprecedented amount of toxins. And we're going going going. And then we're also we are, we are overburdened with toxins and we're underburdened with nutrients that we need for phase one and phase two detoxification.

can mimic the symptoms that stress can cause an menstrual cycle and on us can also mimic perimenopause symptoms.

So if you're like 32, and you're going to the doctor, and they're saying you're an early perimenopause, I would take that with a very large grain of salt.

(...) Because you know, a lot of these symptoms can mimic them like shorter cycles or you know,

low low sex hormones, a lot of these things can can be mimicked from stress or undernourishment. So

talk about I guess some of the fewest ones I see I see, you know, I would see a lot of a lot of people that have really heavy periods prone to fibroids or very insists

kind of group, maybe, you know, really bad PMS or painful periods.

I would say a lot of times, that is one of the best things that we could do is support our liver,

that it can detoxify the estrogen that we're making every day.(...) So how can we get you know, estrogen dominance is a buzzword. Everybody's like, Oh, estrogen dominant, I took a quiz and I'm estrogen dominant. And it's like, it's not that easy. Like, you could actually have low estrogen and be estrogen dominant, you could have high estrogen and then you know, or have normal estrogen and have no progesterone and be estrogen dominant and estrogen is good. It's not the villain. But we want to make sure that we are detoxifying the estrogen that we make.

So supporting your liver, eating lots of green leafy vegetables, eating a lot of fiber,(...) flaxseed is excellent, bitter greens,

reducing your exposure. So two toxins

be like number one, getting a quality water filter, making sure that the products that you put on your skin are fragrance free are chemical free, because these are all mimic our hormones. And this is one of the reasons we are having more of the estrogen dominant, the fibroids, the heavy periods, the clotting, because we have all of these, you know, estrogens that,

keep us in this that an elevated state of estrogen and they they prevent our real estrogen from locking into the cells as well. So it creates a huge issue. It's it's not natural with these chemicals that we have in our environment. So I would say first step reducing exposure.

You know, second step supporting your liver eating enough fiber, making sure you're having a bowel movement every day. If you are not having a bowel movement every day, you are not able to get rid of the toxins that you need to be getting rid of, you know, detoxification, sweating, peeing, pooping, we need to support our bile. So you know, our bile has to be free flowing. And I see a lot of times, especially on the GI maps, I don't know if you run GI maps in your clients, but you see that stedicrate marker where there's large undigested particles of fat. And I see that almost all the time with, with the women that have fibroids or heavy periods or these estrogen issues, because they're not making enough bile, they're not able to get rid of this estrogen. And so that's what I would say for that type of period troubleshooting. And then if you're someone who is, let's say not perimenopause, you're not postmenopause, you're, you know, under 37 ish or under 40.

And you're having missing periods, really, if you are menstruating, only bleeding for one day, light pink blood, it's not bright red. When you take a hormone test, you have very low sex hormones.

Your adrenals are probably I would say low, maybe having some thyroid issues, you're in a state of deficiency. So on that, it's eating more, more protein, more nutrients, resting more or not go, go going, I would say this is like probably the two stereotypical hormone imbalances that we sometimes can see, right? So that like kind of go go going state of a deficiency, having to restore adrenal function, having to restore nutrient deficiencies.

(...) And so

that would be probably,

know, we could talk about this all day. But if I'm trying to like generalize something, like what are some things you could do, you know, and I think everybody could benefit from

I'm such a big, I'm such a big fan of this. I'm like, everybody focuses on what they should eat first. And that's great.

But then it's like I see someone eating the perfect diet, and then you walk into their house, and they have like a million scented candles, and they're putting on gurgen scented lotion all over themselves. And then they're spraying themselves with it. And I'm just like, they're drinking tap water. And I'm just like, that's the first place to start. And I'm not trying to judge anybody who's still doing this. If you're listening to this, like, oh my god, I do that.

No, this is just

healing opportunity. Let's like just make some clean swaps in our in our house.

Absolutely. I think that is a really great starting point. And

guys like, for those who are listening, and on the summit, they're gonna hear me say this a million times, but talking out

products.

Oh my gosh, yes. Probably the biggest game changer, right? Like swap out your tampons and pads, you guys. I cannot even stress this enough.

80 like we've had 80% of our people come back with

Oh, my period pains went away completely or went way down from like a nine to a two,

by changing period. And

level of toxins that were being exposed to from the they go right, you insert like a tampon that's bleached and non organic cotton. So it's tons of glyphosate on it, which is a bad, horrible pesticide. You know, it's we're considering it to our vagina, it's going directly into our bloodstream.

(...)

So it's really important to get you know, if you're using tampons, organic tampons, or period panties, or a commensural cup, something that works for you. Yeah, that's a great point.

I love it. This has been such a great conversation. Thank you for sharing your time and your expertise with us today and all of the amazing with them. I feel like there are a lot of things in this specific

that

really easy to do things that

essentially like, I call them low hanging fruit, like we can just go and do it today. Right? Like, and things are usually free. Like, that's what I'm always like, like, the best things are really free, that you can't buy them, but it takes a little bit of commitment and time.

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