I'm Hormonal | Hormone balance, gut health & nutrition insights

Stop Wasting Time on Hormone Hacks That Don't Work: Focus on This Instead | Ep. 110

• Bridget Walton, Women's Hormone Coach • Episode 110

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We explore why addressing hormone imbalances requires focusing on the underlying root cause rather than applying symptom-focused band-aids. Taking a foundational approach saves time, money, and frustration while creating lasting results for issues like PMS, irregular periods, and bloating.

• Root cause approach means fixing the actual problem (like repairing a roof leak) rather than managing symptoms
• Functional lab testing helps identify which specific body systems need support
• The same symptom (PMS, irregular periods, bloating) can have completely different causes in different people
• Track patterns and symptoms to gather data about your unique situation
• Addressing root causes isn't about willpower but about targeting the right issue

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Speaker 1:

My friend, if you are still battling unpredictable periods, acne or bloating, no matter what you try, then let me ask you this Are you just putting out fires instead of actually fixing the faulty wiring? In this episode, I'm going to show you why you need to start with the root cause, not with band-aids. Right, let's get to what's actually causing your hormone imbalance and stop wasting time, money and energy causing your hormone imbalance, and stop wasting time, money and energy. Welcome to I'm Hormonal, your source of information about women's hormone health and how to support your body. Naturally, I'm your host, bridget Walton, and I'm a certified functional hormone specialist and menstrual cycle coach. I am on a mission to hold these hormone conversations with as many menstruators as possible, because you deserve easier access to accurate information about what's up with your unruly menstrual cycle and with your fertility mysteries. Don't you think it's time that we figure this out once and for all? Hello, hello.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to episode 110 of I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, bridget Walton. I'm so excited that you are here to join me today for this conversation on root causes, because, well, I guess I'm biased, since I put the podcast content together, but this is so important. This is something that, for me, when I was trying to get my gut health sorted all those years ago, I wish that I had been informed like, hey, girl, find out what the root cause is. You need to dig deeper. You need to actually be focusing on what this core, baseline problem is and not just putting band-aids on your bloating, on your PMS. That's what I was going through. So if you are somebody who you are like, okay, hey, I'm trying the supplements, I'm trying the things, I'm making changes, but I'm not actually seeing any difference, any improvement in the quality of my period in my acne, in my digestive health, then this is going to be a great episode for you and I'm really excited to walk through all of this with you because, again, I just can't punctuate enough how impactful this can be. And when you finally realize, you finally learn that you need to reorient your focus from these band-aids, from these quick fixes, from these hacks, to actually going after the root cause. What's the big block that's going to push down all these other blocks? Or you guys know what I mean with, like, this small domino that's pushed us over. The bigger domino, the bigger domino. You feel me? Okay, I just really went in big with that intro, but if you are listening for the first time for today, I want to say a special welcome to you.

Speaker 1:

On these Tuesday episodes, I go in a little bit deeper, into more detail. Sometimes I have guests on, sometimes it's just me, and then on Thursdays, you can expect a shorter mini episode where we just boom, jump right in straight to the point and have some actionable takeaways for you there. So that's what we're doing here on the show. I want to say thank you to those of you who have listened before, those of you who have subscribed to the podcast, those of you who have shared an episode that really resonated with a friend or the sister, somebody else in your life. So thank you so much. I think I just have one admin note for you all, because last week I said, hey, connect with me on Instagram at I'm hormonal, but actually I gave you the wrong handle. I just updated my Instagram handle and so you can find me at I'm underscore hormonal. So at I am underscore H-O-R-M-O-N-A-L, and that's where you got me All right.

Speaker 1:

Now let's come back to this conversation, this topic of finding out the root cause of your hormone imbalance, your digestive imbalance, and really focusing on that. As a quick overview. What I'm going to go through in the episode with you today is just a bit more of an explanation of what the heck am I actually talking about. If root cause is a new term for you, don't worry, I got you. Give me just 30 seconds here we're going to walk through a couple of examples of different common experiences, like PMS, unpredictable periods, bloating, and what are the different, or potential different, root causes for each of those, just so you can understand like, oh okay, I get it. I get why maybe I'm dealing with PMS, but the solution for me is different from the solution for my best friend who has PMS. We'll also talk a bit about what information you might want to start collecting now to help you get to the root cause. And, overall, what I want to communicate to you is just why, if you are serious about balancing your hormones, balancing your gut, using a root cause approach will save you time, will save you money, will save you energy, like this is. I wish I could shout this from the rooftops, right, but in the meantime, I will shout it here in my office into this microphone. So thanks for participating with that.

Speaker 1:

So let me take a step back when we think about what the root cause is. What does that mean? Think of it like this. It's kind of like if you have a leak in your ceiling, it's rainy, there's water coming in through your ceiling, through the roof, you're not going to just go try to waterproof your furniture, right. You're not going to try to just make the house smell better because maybe it's smelling a little bit musty, no, no, you're going to fix the leak right. You're going to go to that root cause, the most basic, high-level component that is causing the problem, in this case your soggy, musty living room, and that's what is going to be the most impactful. That is what is going to move the needle the most for you. Let me give you another example to to really bring this point home.

Speaker 1:

But if you're having car troubles, let's say your car is making some like weird sketch noise, and you're not probably going to just say, okay, well, let me get my oil changed, let me make sure my tires are properly inflated, let me make sure that I have enough windshield wiper fluid right Now. Maybe some of those things could help the performance of your car. But those are just kind of random guesses, stabbing in the dark, saying, okay, well, what could it be Now, instead of just stabbing in the dark, trying some different things to help out your car, what you will do is take it to the shop, where they will open up the hood. They will look all around. They will understand, okay, what happened in the lead up to you coming to the shop today, what's the history here. They will inspect what's going on underneath the hood and, using all of that information, they'll be able to figure out what the actual problem is, right. So I hope you're not like all right, bridget, move on, you've oversimplified it enough.

Speaker 1:

But I think it's really important to emphasize, especially in this world where, I mean, I don't know about you, but when I'm looking on Instagram I'm getting. My feed is plagued with quick fixes and recommendations and, don't get me wrong, I've absolutely tried some of them, many of them right. I've been very enticed by a probiotic that's perfect for your vaginal microbiome. I've been really tempted by castor oil packs and, you know, getting into a good habit of using those. Now, neither of those things are inherently bad, inherently wrong. They can be helpful, don't get me wrong. But the question is are they addressing the root cause? Are they helping to fix that leak in the roof or fix your transmission, whatever it is that's going on in your body. So hopefully that makes sense, because once you can get to the root cause, you're saving your time, energy, money, you're focusing on the right area of your health, the right system or function in your body that needs support, and you're not just You're not just incorporating band-aids or cover-ups that are going to be short-term pacifiers of your symptom, maybe, but the problem is still there. Okay, hopefully I didn't beat a dead horse with this one, but you feel me.

Speaker 1:

Next, I want to share with you some context about how, when I'm working with my one-on-one coaching clients, how we get to the root cause of their hormone imbalance or their digestive imbalance, and so the way that we start doing this is by taking a look at information data that she has already collected. So maybe you track information about your cycle in an app. Maybe, if you have some bloating, you have a digestive concern. You've got just a note on your phone or a page in your journal that you've been collecting information patterns about your experience. So those are just a couple of examples, but we would be taking a look at. Okay, how did we get here? How did we get to where we are now and understanding, with that data that you've collected about your cycle length, about your stress levels, about how heavy your flow was, maybe information about traveling, or did you have a big change in your diet? Did you change your supplement? Just a couple of ideas for where we're going to start looking so that we can, you know, connect these dots for what's going on Now.

Speaker 1:

The second and incredibly helpful component to identifying the root cause is using functional lab testing. So using either a gut panel or a hormone panel in most cases to say, okay, what are the quantifiables on this? What can we glean from the suggestions in this lab result to help us confirm which system of the body we need to provide the most support to. When I'm like, you hear me say system of the body, what does that mean, bridget? When I'm talking about systems in our bodies, I'm talking about blood sugar regulation, I'm talking about adrenal function. We're thinking of sleep, stress, eating a nutrient-dense diet. We're thinking of detoxifying hormones right and making sure that those pathways are supported with the nutrients that you need, that your body needs, maybe that your liver needs in order to function properly.

Speaker 1:

So just to say that in a different way we use these tests, we use these hormone panels and gut panels to help say, okay, now that we've got these quantifiables, we know that, okay, your liver needs a little bit more support. So we're going to incorporate the foods, maybe the tea, maybe the supplement that's going to help support that liver function, because when your liver is functioning properly, that's going to support your elimination of hormones which can impact your PMS, etc. Etc. So just one example to help make that make a little bit more sense. And from there I want to just reiterate that we're not focusing on your acne, for example. I mean, of course, we're keeping that in mind. Whatever your goal is, whatever the areas that you want to change, improve, focus on that is important. But when we are making changes to your diet, maybe with supplementation or other adjustments, we're focusing on that root cause and what are the systems and functions in your body that need support in order to perform better. Before I move on, I want to also mention these foundations, these systems that include digestion, lymphatic drainage, as well as methylation. So these are just three other examples, because earlier when I mentioned, like blood sugar, adrenal function, those were just kind of coming off the top of my dome. But I say these to say that we would help to support your digestion through things like eating slowly, chewing thoroughly, increasing your hydration, maybe increasing your fiber, some of these things that all come back to diet and lifestyle changes. Now, when it comes to methylation and this is one of the steps involved, or one of the functions involved with detoxifying and eliminating your hormones some people, though, have the MTHFR gene mutation Maybe you've heard of that before and people who have that going on, they generally need to support their body with additional methylated B vitamins. So I don't want to get too specific here, but this is just to say too like okay, does a Dutch test reveal to us that your methylation is not on par with where you want to see it? Great, we know that. That's one of the foundational areas, one of the root causes that we need to focus on.

Speaker 1:

Next, I want to go through and give you a couple of examples. I mentioned this earlier, but I'm going to walk through first PMS, next unpredictable periods, and then bloating, and talk about a couple of examples of root causes specific to those patterns, so that you can understand how. Oh, shoot, okay, I thought that all PMS was the same, but actually there are different approaches that might need to be taken. So, when it comes to PMS, premenstrual symptoms these are some of those unsavory symptoms that you might experience in that week to 10 days before your period. Now, they're often caused because estrogen can be in excess relative to progesterone, but there are still a couple of different things that could cause this.

Speaker 1:

So it could be, you know, is the root cause of someone's PMS kind of a sluggish or bogged down liver function? As I mentioned before, your liver does a lot of good work for you, especially when it comes to eliminating estrogen. So is it a factor of? Okay, we need to support your liver more. On the other hand, could it be a question of your digestion and constipation? Because if you are not having bowel movements regularly, if it is more than 24 hours, if you're not having a bowel movement every day, then some of your estrogen that would have otherwise been excreted through your stool, it can be recycled back into your system, which makes your body say, oh, estrogen levels are a bit high, huh.

Speaker 1:

Now the third example that I have here is relating to endocrine disrupting chemicals. Right, because if you are interacting or exposed to these chemicals and this could be through plastics, through air pollution, from combustion or other sources, through paints, through many of the products that we put on our skin that have these what's the word I'm looking for? Oh, preservatives in them. Whatever, it is right. Those products in some cases can send signals to your body that hey, girl, estrogen is up, higher, because we're filling up all of these estrogen receptors. So this is to say again that there are these three distinct and different root causes or focus areas the liver constipation, endocrine disrupting chemicals. That could all impact your body in a similar way by giving you the gift of PMS. Just some food for thought too, if you have PMS there. And let me mention, if you ever have any questions, as you're listening to an episode and you want to send me a message, you can do that through Instagram. Again, it's at I'm underscore hormonal. I would love to hear what questions you have, and so don't be afraid to reach out to me there.

Speaker 1:

Now, the next example that I want to move on to would be unpredictable periods. So if you've been listening for a minute, you've probably heard me talk about PCOS, which is polycystic ovary syndrome, and Even if you are somebody who knows that you have a PCOS diagnosis from there, there could be one of any four drivers behind PCOS, and PCOS is well, a syndrome that oftentimes results in irregular ovulation. And that's because, for most folks, although there are some nuances androgens, which are your hormones, like testosterone, androgen levels are elevated, you're not having regular ovulation and you have cysts on your ovaries. Could inflammation in your body be worsening it? Could blood sugar dysregulation be worsening it? Could your adrenal function be causing? I guess when I say worsening, I mean again, is that like the root cause? Is that the basic, most basic thing that you want to be focusing on? And then, fourth and final, for PCOS. Could it just be a side effect of sorts, after getting off of hormonal birth control, before your body gets back into the normal swing of things?

Speaker 1:

So, if your periods are unpredictable, there's this PCOS potential. On one hand, I'm not saying that that's what you have by any means, but this is an option for some folks. Now, on another hand, though, for someone who's experiencing a lot of stress, that can also cause irregular periods. Right, and this happens to me too. I mean this could happen to anybody where I've noticed that. You know, if I'm traveling a lot, or especially when I used to work in sales and I would be traveling a lot for work. I would be on the move. Sometimes. If I was supposed to ovulate during the week that I was on the road, having a lot of stress, then my period would be late that month because I would ovulate late. Stress when cortisol levels are high in your body. That just sends this signal to your brain. Like, okay, looks like things are a bit chaotic out there, so we're going to delay or forego ovulation altogether until this war is over. Right, your body doesn't know that. It's just your manager or Susan in HR who's pissing you off.

Speaker 1:

So, again, when it comes to irregular periods, unpredictable periods, you have PCOS here. Stress here. What's another option? Well, could it be that your estrogen levels are really low and maybe that's because you have a really low amount of body fat? Right, Because in our adipose tissue, that's in part where estrogen is converted. Well, where testosterone is converted into estrogen, it's also made in your ovaries. Yes, but their body weight or body fat percentage is still a factor. So, without diving too deep into that one again, this is just to say you can have the same exact experience as your friend or as somebody on the internet, or even as me, right. Maybe you're like, oh yeah, I had a regular period so when I was stressed too, but it also is individualized to you and there's some more digging that needs to be done to understand what is it for you that's going to move the needle the most and what is going to get you to your goal the fastest.

Speaker 1:

Now, third and final, let's take a look at bloating, right, because for some people, bloating can be exacerbated by having low stomach acid levels. Now, we all have stomach acid, but depending on your stress level, depending on what you're eating, depending on I don't know how many different types of prescriptions or what type of prescription you might be taking Are you eating on the go or are you sitting down and eating All of these things to some degree can influence your level of stomach acid. And this is important because your level of stomach acid, if it has the adequate level of acidity, then that's setting up the rest of your digestion for success, whereas, on the other hand, if you're not producing adequate levels, then that can also slow down the rest of the process or otherwise prevent the enzymes that you need and want to. You know it'll prevent them potentially from being excreted, or at least in the amounts that you want, which can just inhibit the digestive process. So, coming back to the baseline, is it low stomach acid and is that even further tied to stress or something else that's going on? Or something else that's going on Now, bloating could also be a factor that's related to dysbiosis, so an imbalance in the bacteria that are in your gut, and this can happen for a number of reasons.

Speaker 1:

It could be because of something that you ate, right, maybe there's some opportunistic bacteria, but it also could be. I don't know if you're like me, I can't believe how much sugar I have consumed in my life, and especially just like a quick story on me, right, because I mentioned earlier, like bloating, I spent, I mean, probably most of my 20s being bloated and not even realizing that it was a thing, that it was an issue, because I just was like I don't know, I guess I'm fat, okay, I'm getting a little bit, I'm getting off track, but what I was starting to say was that eating a lot of sugar or other kind of inflammatory foods, those can also, you know, feed some of that opportunistic bacteria that overgrows. You've probably maybe heard of somebody who has a candida or yeast overgrowth. So the options here for dysbiosis. There's a plethora of them, but this is all to say. On one hand, could low stomach acid be contributing to bloating. On the other hand, could it be dysbiosis? On a third hand, over here, do you have sensitivities to some food and when you're eating it, that's what's causing this inflammation and causing the bloat, because your tissues are, you know, reacting and getting puffed up, inflamed. For lack of a more thorough explanation. Now, all of these things being said, hopefully you're like oh okay, I get it. Now I get that, even though I have the same experience as somebody else, there's still more information to gather to understand. What do I need to do? Because maybe that bloat supplement works for person A, but maybe it doesn't work for you because, again, you have a different root cause that's influencing or exacerbating the patterns that you're seeing. Now, this is where I'll just reiterate that if this is you, and if you're serious about getting to the bottom of what's going on, then I would really encourage you to start by tracking what's going on, tracking it in an app, making a note on your phone, using a journal, whatever it is that best suits you that you can be consistent on, so you can start to identify those trends.

Speaker 1:

Now, do you have PMS every single month? Which days of your cycle does it normally fall on? Do you know if you're ovulating or not? I'm just going to blurt out a couple of questions for you to noodle on. Do you have PMS depending on? I don't know? Were you drinking alcohol or consuming caffeine and did that exacerbate your PMS? So that's relevant.

Speaker 1:

When it comes to irregular periods, you want to be thinking about stress. You want to be thinking about maybe even sleep, because that kind of ties into stress. You want to be thinking about how much you're eating. Are you eating enough? How much protein are you eating? And then, when it comes to bloating, just thinking of okay, well, am I bloated, basically after I drink water in the morning? Am I bloated by 3 pm each day, by the time I go to bed each day? Is there a certain food that worsens it? Is there anything that helps to relieve it? Am I normally on the go when I'm eating? Am I normally chill when I'm eating?

Speaker 1:

A couple of things for you to noodle on, and we're going to be wrapping up here in just a minute with this conversation, but I just want to reiterate to you because, again, this is something I so wish that I had had access to back in I don't know 2019, 2018, and beyond, just understanding that if you are able to get to the bottom of the root cause for whatever is going on with you, it's going to save you so much time and energy and money. Right, because instead of if you're experiencing acne, instead of just trying another skin line and another skin line, or getting these facials which your girl, your girl loves a facial don't get me wrong, but those things are not necessarily impacting what's going on in your gut, because, actually, gut imbalance, that can be a big, big root cause behind acne for some people that's how it was for me. Or if it is a hormonal imbalance, then those facials still aren't, you know, addressing what's going on hormonally. So it's just get facials if you love facials. But in some cases, right, a facial might not be what you need to get to the bottom of your acne, and I'm sure you know where I'm going or you all have a different experience as it relates to the time that you're spending trying to resolve these things.

Speaker 1:

For me, too, what was actually even worse than just the time spent was, you know, just feeling like kind of hopeless Like damn. No matter what I try, I'm still in the same situation, despite feeling like I'm a healthy person, being active, trying to eat my best, like going to you know share my bloating, my PMS experience with my physician, but not really getting any support from them. I was just like man. I guess it's, I guess it's a me thing.

Speaker 1:

So let me actually wrap up this episode by really emphasizing for you that this isn't a you thing, it's not about willpower, it's not about discipline, it's not about oh, I just need to be a little bit more consistent, I just need to try it a little bit longer, right? It's about getting to the root cause and then addressing that root cause so you can see changes, so you can feel better, so you can feel more energetic, so you can have clearer skin, so you can be confident in your reproductive health and in your fertility that much sooner, because that's what you deserve fertility that much sooner, because that's what you deserve, and you deserve access to the information that will help you to get there sooner as well. So that's what I've got for you today. I hope that this was helpful for you in understanding why it's so important to get to the root cause why that's so critical.

Speaker 1:

If you're feeling really inspired to get to the root cause why that's so critical, if you're feeling really inspired to get to the root cause of your acne or energy or unpredictable periods, then I would love for you to apply for one-on-one coaching with me. You can check out the link in the show notes or you can go to wwwimhormonalcom and there'll be a link there for you to apply. So that's it. I will see you on Thursday for a mini episode. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you on the next one.

Speaker 1:

If you loved today's episode and got something good out of it, make sure you subscribe so that these episodes show up automatically in your feed, no work needed on your side. Let's put it on autopilot. As always, I need to give you my reminder that the information I share with you here is for educational purposes only, and it should not be used as a replacement for medical advice or diagnosis. Now, if you are, on the other hand, in the market for some one-on-one support, then I would love for you to take me up on my offer for a free strategy call. You can find these links and more in the show notes.