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

Is Inflammation Causing Your Period Problems? | Ep. 116

• Bridget Walton, Women's Hormone Coach • Episode 116

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Chronic inflammation could be the hidden factor disrupting your hormone balance and causing period problems, but understanding its signs and sources can help you restore easier cycles naturally.

• Inflammation is a prolonged inflammatory response characterized by an overactive immune system continuously releasing inflammatory compounds
• Signs of chronic inflammation include persistent pain, fatigue, insomnia, joint stiffness, skin problems, GI issues, mood disorders, and frequent illness
• Inflammation impacts three key hormones: cortisol (stress hormone), insulin (blood sugar regulation), and thyroid hormone
• When cortisol is high due to inflammation, your body may delay ovulation or not ovulate at all, leading to cycle irregularity and PMS
• Common causes include processed foods, sugar, alcohol, insufficient sleep, lack of exercise, environmental toxins, infections, and emotional stress
• Dietary changes like incorporating whole foods, colorful produce, and fatty fish rich in omega-3s can help reduce inflammation
• Regular movement, meditation, and quality sleep are foundational approaches to managing inflammation levels
• Adaptogenic supplements may provide additional support once the foundations are addressed

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Speaker 1:

Most people do not understand how inflammation could be impacting their hormone balance, but if you are trying to get your period, or PMS, back on track, then this episode is perfect for you, because you are going to understand how inflammation could look for you in your body and how you can start having easier periods ASAP. Let's do it. 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, welcome to episode number 116 of I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, bridget Walton. I'm so excited that you are here to join me for this episode where we're going to be talking about inflammation today. This is so important. This is something that a lot of the gals I work with overlook, and certainly something that I overlooked, didn't even know to consider inflammation. What even is inflammation? What does that mean? We will get into all of that and more here shortly, really quickly, before we dive in, I want to say a special thank you to those of you who are coming back and listening again, and especially if you have shared previous episodes that you loved with your friends or family or colleagues. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you so much. If you are listening to the podcast for the first time today, then a special welcome to you too. I'm Hormonal is about helping to equip you with the information that you need so you can understand what is your body trying to tell you, what can you do about it, what are the things that you're doing in your daily life, or that you could be doing in your daily life, that either help restore, maintain hormone balance or maybe work against that goal. So that's my hope for you that you learn how to understand what's going on with your body and what you can do about it, so that you can feel better, because that's what you deserve. Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, now that we're cozy, we're ready to dive in, let's go ahead and just do it. And I want to orient you to this conversation with a little story about myself because, as I mentioned earlier, I didn't really know what inflammation was, and even after starting my training in hormone health, for a long time I was like I don't get it. Inflammation, it feels like a ghost, like this thing, that we talk about it, but how do we actually measure it or see its impact on our hormone balance? And that's what we'll get into here. That's what we'll get into here shortly.

Speaker 1:

For me, I want to share with you about when I was in my early 20s. If you've listened before, you know that back then I was in the military. I was living in Japan at the time. I would not say that I was living my healthiest life. I exercised a lot. I exercised intensely, but I wasn't probably nourishing my body as well as I could have. I was eating a lot of processed foods. I was definitely crushing some Baskin Robbins, probably more often than I should, definitely drinking more alcohol than what I should have been, and all of that plus a lack of sleep. I would say I was getting maybe seven hours of sleep most nights. That all for me was this recipe for inflammation and it's not something that I realized at the time. I wasn't like, ooh girl, yeah, we're a little puffy today. I don't know. I just that was my normal. But it's now looking back on it, I can say, oh yeah, I see, literally see in images how I looked different during that time of my life and I can understand when I think of oh, wow, yeah, my periods were bad back then, understand when I think of oh, wow, yeah, my periods were bad back then. The way that I was feeling or the way that my digestion was, that was not so great back then, and I can see now how it's all correlated. I mentioned that because you are perhaps in the same situation where you're like this is just my normal, this is the status quo.

Speaker 1:

But I think that inflammation is important to talk about and why I'm talking about it today? Because it's something that can be a factor for every single one of us and it's something that at some point in our lives, in our year, in our month, in our week, however that looks for you, this is a factor. We need to understand what contributes to it and what you can do about it. I also have seen relatively a lot of posts and reels on Instagram lately talking about inflammation and talking about, oh, moon face or cortisol face, like, oh, I had cortisol face, and then I drank cranberry juice for seven days and now I don't have it. Okay, well, that's not all the information we need, so let's talk about again what you can really do to impact and support ideal inflammation levels from that foundational and kind of root cause perspective. So, all of that being said, if you are somebody who has unpredictable periods, if you have PMS, maybe even if you have some digestive concerns that you are just not sure what's going on there, then this is going to be a really great episode for you to dig into, because inflammation is impacting absolutely all of those things.

Speaker 1:

Now let's go ahead and take a quick look at what does inflammation actually mean? And specifically, today we're going to be talking about chronic inflammation, which is a prolonged and persistent inflammatory response in your body, which is characterized by an overactive immune system that continuously releases inflammatory compounds. So let's break that down. When you have an immune response, your body will naturally release some of these inflammatory compounds to help your body to fight off that virus or fight off whatever it is that's going on, right? Maybe it's an allergen, and that's a good thing, right? Our body, our health we need those compounds to be released in order to help us get better, help us get over that acute injury, acute illness, whatever that is for you. On the other hand, though, when inflammation is going on for a long time, when it's a months long or, for some people, years long kind of picture, well, all of that continuous release of inflammatory compounds is just too much. It's just a lot for the system, and that's when we experience inflammation, and specifically chronic inflammation here.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to run you through what are some of the common signs of chronic inflammation. How might that actually look for you? So it could look like any one or multiple items from this list, including persistent pain, chronic fatigue, maybe insomnia, joint stiffness, skin problems, elevated blood markers, maybe GI issues. A couple of final honorable mentions could be mood disorders, depression, anxiety, unintended weight gain or weight loss, and then, last but not least, frequent colds or flu. So inflammation can present in a lot of different ways. Maybe, as I said, some of those things you thought, oh, okay, yeah, I know how that looks for me, because when I have long periods of stress, yeah, I feel a little puffy, I'm kind of retaining more water or retaining more weight than I normally do. It could be maybe you're somebody who gets sick really frequently, and that's what that looks like for you or especially after a period of chronic inflammation, then that could happen too. So just a couple of examples of what inflammation looks like.

Speaker 1:

And let's bring this back to hormones, because if you're thinking, cool, bridget got it what inflammation is, but how does this relate to my hormones? Well, when you're experiencing chronic inflammation, that can impact three hormones that I'm going to touch on. First would be cortisol. Cortisol is your stress hormone. When you're experiencing inflammation, that is going to drive up cortisol, which is also taxing your adrenal glands, but your endocrine gland that produces cortisol. Second, chronic inflammation is going to be impacting insulin. Now, insulin is another hormone that helps to support normal blood sugar levels, also just bringing that glucose, that blood sugar, into your cells so you can actually turn it into energy. And then, third, your thyroid hormone. So, when you're experiencing inflammation, that can impact how one thyroid hormone is turning into another, or vice versa. And so, without all of the smaller minute details there, thyroid, insulin and cortisol are all going to be affected.

Speaker 1:

Now, this is important and you probably know what I'm going to say if you've listened to the podcast before. But all of these hormones impact what's going on with your menstrual cycle right. When cortisol levels are high, that's going to send this signal to your brain that, hey, girl, we don't need to ovulate right now, maybe that's not the priority. We don't need to procreate Seems like it's real stressful out there. Also, when insulin is. If you develop insulin resistance, for example, that would be when your cells need more insulin, more of these little insulin messengers to say hey, cell, take in this blood sugar, take it in. And when there's more insulin in your system, that too can be inherently inflammatory. But it's also oftentimes resulting in higher levels of blood sugar than normal, which I mean, again, inflammatory. And that's a pattern too that you see right, super common in conversation these days, of type 2 diabetes. And so keeping insulin resistance at an arm's length I mean keeping cortisol levels in a good range All of these things are extremely important for maintaining your overall health and wellness and also happy periods.

Speaker 1:

Now, the last thing I want to mention here, coming back to thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone is really important for your menstrual cycle too, and especially if you are trying to conceive, because your thyroid hormone levels will impact what's going on with progesterone. Progesterone is the hormone that your body makes after you ovulate in that second half of your cycle, and which would be sustaining an embryo through your first trimester. So all of these are important. There's balance to everything, and chronic inflammation is going to be throwing all of these out of whack.

Speaker 1:

I do want to come back and mention moon phase, which I mentioned earlier, I think, because I see this on social media sometimes too, and this is something that ties back to this weight retention, or change in weight, and also water retention. Right, what moon face is is a redistribution or retention of fat in the face. There also could be some water-related retention in the face. Fat in the face. There also could be some water-related retention in the face. And, yes, this could be from any of the sources of stress that you have in your life, and we'll talk about more of these sources causes of inflammation here momentarily. But I do think it's worth mentioning here that that could be caused by corticosteroid use, potentially, like longer terms.

Speaker 1:

Corticosteroid use that's my mini way to say hey, thinking about what's going on with your stress levels, with your inflammation, is certainly going to be impacted by what's going on with medications that you're taking or medications that maybe you're not taking, whatever else is going on in your unique health picture. Just being aware of side effects of things that you are taking, as far as medications go, is going to be really important when you are trying to noodle through what's the right thing for you to do. Is A causing B, is B causing C, and what can you do about it? Now I mentioned really briefly some of the causes of inflammation, and that's, of course, what we'll get to next. You'll notice that a lot of these things are the kind of foundational areas of health that I talk about a lot here, so I don't expect that these will be a surprise for you. If anything, though, this should be a good reminder for you that oh, yeah, okay, there's always a good opportunity to dial in the basics and to really prioritize these things, because these are the areas that will move the needle. Okay, let me just tell you what they are now.

Speaker 1:

So one of the first things that can cause inflammation in your body is what's going on with your diet. Are you consuming a highly processed diet? Are you consuming a lot of sugar? Are you consuming alcohol? I guess smoking? You know that's not something that's in your diet, but also right. What are you bringing into your body in that way, that could be inflammatory. Now you also want to think about what's going on with sleep. Are you getting enough sleep? This was something I mentioned earlier. That was really, I think, for me a part of my inflammation picture, because I was not getting that much sleep. So, making sure that you're getting that seven plus hours, figure out what it is that your body needs, listen to your body when it tells you that it needs a little bit more rest, and that's going to be really helpful for you.

Speaker 1:

Number three here a lack of exercise. Being overly sedentary, that could contribute to inflammation, as well. As number four here environmental factors. By that I mean, what are you breathing? I guess we could put smoking under this category too. But also, do you work in a building that has those artificial air fresheners everywhere? Do you go over to your best friend's house and there's always a candle burning, but it's one of those candles that's just burning chemicals, right? Or what are you putting on your skin? What are you putting in your hair? Those kinds of things that can impact your body through your skin, through your breath, anything else that you're ingesting.

Speaker 1:

The last two things I want to mention here first would be infections. So if you are getting I mean, any type of infection, whatever type of illness it is, or I'm going to even say, think of you're on a hike and you come into contact with some poison ivy, right, that's going to be a source of inflammation for you. Last but not least, stress itself, right? The mental or emotional components of stress that can absolutely and do impact what's going on with your stress hormone, cortisol, and can result in additional stress or inflammation in your body. I want you to take just a second, pause me, if you need to and think about those items I just ran through. And what is your life like right now? What are those environmental factors that you're coming into contact with? How great are you at getting to bed on time lately? How well are you doing when it comes to avoiding some of those overly processed foods? So, take a second to reflect on what's that like for you. What are the areas of improvement maybe the top one or two that come to mind that you could start taking some actions on, and we'll get more clear on that here shortly too.

Speaker 1:

Now, before I start walking through some of the recommendations that I have for you, I really want to emphasize that getting clear on what's going on in your body, taking a look at what's going on in your life as a whole. What do you have access to? What changes could you make? That's going to be really important. That's absolutely the most important first step before you consider making any changes right.

Speaker 1:

The recommendations that I walk through in a minute here might be things that you already do, or they just might not be attainable based on your lifestyle, and that's okay. There are so many different ways to support your health and to meet your health goals, and so it's not one size fits all. It's absolutely not one size fits all, and I like to just give that little disclaimer before you think, oh shoot, how can I be going to the gym three times a week or whatever it is for you? I also want to mention that when I'm working with my one-on-one clients, this is something that we focus on first in really making a detailed personalized protocol for you so that we can take a look at the whole picture. We can take a look at all of these parts of your lifestyle that I mentioned sleep, stress, nutrition, hydration, those environmental factors of what's going on in your skin how are you eating, where are you eating and put together a personalized plan that works for you and that will be a sustainable change in your life.

Speaker 1:

So I'll get off my soapbox now, but it's so important to really think critically about what will work for me, and is this right for me? Right? How do you know and how are you getting to the bottom of? What are those sources of inflammation for you? All right, with that out of the way, let's take a look at some of these areas to start. So, when it comes to nutrition, you can find a kabillion things. If you do a Google for anti-inflammatory diet, that makes sense, right? If we're talking about inflammation Overall, though, when you do search that, or when you're just thinking of, okay, what's my ideal diet, you want to be putting together a diet that is composed of whole foods, and whole foods that are rich in antioxidants and probably fatty fish as well.

Speaker 1:

Now, let me be clear when I'm saying diet here. Well, of course, there are some diets that you may want to adapt for a shorter period of time. I mean diet as a way of eating, not an acute intervention that you feel like you have to be really strict with you are thinking of. Right, it's Sunday. Maybe when you're listening to this, it's not Sunday, but think ahead to the next time it's Sunday. Whatever day that you are about to go grocery shopping, you're planning your meals and you think, okay, how can I prioritize getting in whole grains? How can I prioritize eating a vegetable or a fruit of every color of the rainbow this week? How can I prioritize getting in some of these diverse nuts and seeds, which, honestly, are so easy, because, once you get them, you have that bag of chia seeds or whatever it is for like three months. If you don't have any seeds in your cupboard, if you're not real big into having a variety of nuts in your cupboard, that's something I would really encourage you to consider this week when you are hitting the grocery store, because it's something that's going to help introduce that additional layer of diversity for your diet which your gut microbiome will love and also is going to be packed with good fats and antioxidants.

Speaker 1:

I mentioned fatty fish earlier too, which I want to come back to briefly, just because omega-3 fatty acids are going to be great to focus on. Kind of a buzzword. Could you get a supplement for that? Sure, could you go ahead and incorporate? Could you incorporate fish like mackerel, sardines, salmon to get some of those omega-3 fatty acids on their own. That's also a great option for you to start with whatever works for you, whatever works for your budget and what is realistic to keep in your routine.

Speaker 1:

The second thing that I want you to focus on is moving your body regularly. So I know that while I've been recording this episode, my watch has buzzed at me and told me that I need to get up and move my body. I've been sitting for too long. Maybe that's a reminder that serves you well. Maybe there's another tool. Maybe you can get into a good routine of going for a walk each morning. What is it that you can build into your schedule that is going to be easy and automatic? Is there a you know what's the first step of that task that takes two minutes or less, that you can focus on and make it your goal to accomplish that two minute or less task? To get your shoes on and get out to the gym? Or get your shoes on, get your hat on and go out for a walk. Just make sure that I mean best case scenario you are moving your body, doing something that you love and that is fun. Another thing and I'm not to jump ahead. But another thing that can be helpful when it comes to inflammation, when it comes to ideal stress levels, is having that time to connect with your friends, connect with people that you love. So maybe there's a way that you can do this whole two birds, one stone kind of thing by going to a workout class with your friend or going for a walk with your partner, whatever it is that works for you.

Speaker 1:

A third thing I want to mention here would be considering meditation. If you don't meditate at all, or if you haven't gotten into it yet, there are countless great apps out there that you can get started with. Personally, I like to use an app called Activations, which I guess, now that I'm saying this, it's actually not technically a meditation because it's an activation, but find what works for you. I've also used Headspace in the past, which I found to be a really great resource to kind of teach me about mindfulness and how to get started. So maybe that's a good spot for you.

Speaker 1:

If you are yeah, if you're just getting started with meditation and trying to understand, like, what does this work? How can I make it fit into my life? It doesn't have to be some big, like I need to have an altar and light candles and whatever. Maybe whatever the picture is that might be in your head right now can be really easy and attainable for you. I want to give an honorable mention. Shout out to going for a walk without your phone. Take a lap around your block, take a lap around your office building, take a lap from I don't know, leave the door of your work and just walk for two minutes, count to 100 and come back. I know that none of this is rocket science per usual, we're not doing anything super, super complex here but it's these basics and having this time to reset, relax and ground yourself that can really make a difference.

Speaker 1:

I want to share with you a couple of supplements or additions to your diet that you could consider, because, again, let's start with the foundations. Let's start with getting to bed on time, start with incorporating a diverse diet, start with getting those processed and really sugary foods out of your diet. Do not get me wrong, that is the most important thing. But I also use other adaptogens or other supplements to help me out and help me perform and feel my best. So I don't want to act like I'm over here just, you know, meditating and taking deep breaths only to help me. To help me, you know, achieve optimal or ideal inflammation levels. I shouldn't even say manage inflammation, that's probably a more accurate way to put that.

Speaker 1:

I've mentioned Symbiotica before, or if you've ever listened to one other podcast, I feel like I hear about Symbiotica everywhere, but Symbiotica is one brand that I do recommend. If you want to check out a couple of products, they have a few with adaptogens in them. One is called Inflammatory Health, the other one is called Golden Mind. They have a lot of other great products, too, but those are two that I've used, that I like, and I did just order another one that's a mineral-based adaptogen. I will have to report back to you guys on that one, though, once I get it and once I take it for a spin for a little while. On that one, though, once I get it and once I take it for a spin for a little while. That is most of the conversation that I wanted to bring to you about inflammation today. Right, and just in recap, let's do a quick little recap.

Speaker 1:

We first talked about what inflammation is, which is this prolonged release of inflammatory compounds by your immune system, or it could be an overactive immune system that's oftentimes presenting in the form of pain, chronic fatigue, insomnia, joint stiffness, skin problems. You might see some of these elevated markers like C-reactive protein or cytokines. Oftentimes, too, gi issues, mood disorders, changes to weight or frequent colds or flus that can be tied back to chronic inflammation as well. We also talked about what are some of the things that contribute to chronic inflammation. What are some of the things that contribute to chronic inflammation, which include diet, sleep, exercise, environmental factors, infections and then stress itself. So you've caught the picture now of okay, what is stress, what can contribute to it? And okay, how does this impact my period?

Speaker 1:

Again, like, why are we talking about this? And I'm hormonal and that's because when inflammation levels are high, that's going to be increasing your stress hormone, which that is going to be a big factor in cycle regularity. When cortisol levels are high, your cycle oftentimes is longer than normal, and by that I mean that your ovulation can be delayed or you may not ovulate at all in a cycle, and that is also going to impact what's going on with PMS, because if you are not ovulating or if you don't have a particularly strong ovulation, then that can also result in PMS. So a couple of ways that we're bringing this full circle. What I want you to do is noodle through what did I mention today that applies to you, like what resonated with you, and where are a couple of places that you can start making changes. Whether that's well, you don't need me to go through the list again, but take that for your homework this week. What do you need to do to help support ideal levels of inflammation in your body? I forgot to mention, too, that if you do decide you want to try out any of the Symbiotica products, then you can use the link in the show notes to save 15% on your order. So take advantage of that affiliate link if that is your jam.

Speaker 1:

Okay, gang, that's what I've got for you today. Thank you for hanging on with me for this slightly longer than normal episode. If you feel like, even after listening to all of this, you're like I, bridget, I don't know what is the next step for me. I feel like I've done all these things, I've tried all of these things, like we've been here before, I would love for you to schedule a free strategy session with me.

Speaker 1:

We can talk through what's going on with you. We can talk through what might be the right. Best next step and you can do that at the link in the show notes or by going to imhormonalcom slash apply All 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. All right, we'll see you on the next one.