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I'm Hormonal | Hormone balance, gut health & nutrition insights
Welcome to I’m Hormonal — the podcast where we make sense of your bloating, brutal PMS, and missing periods… without blaming it all on “just stress” or “being a woman.”
Hosted by Bridget Walton, Women’s Hormone Coach, this show is your no-BS guide to decoding your cycle, calming your gut, and actually balancing your hormones (not just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best).
Each week, we break down what no one taught you about hormones, nutrition, and gut health in your 30s — especially if you're tired of guessing what your body is trying to tell you.
Expect solo episodes packed with real talk and root-cause tools, plus the occasional expert guest to help you feel less confused and more in control.
Because you deserve better periods, better digestion, and a better shot at getting pregnant — without burning out trying to figure it all out alone.
I'm Hormonal | Hormone balance, gut health & nutrition insights
Traveling Smart: Anti-Inflammation Swaps for Easier Periods | Ep. 117
We explore practical ways to combat inflammation while traveling to protect your hormone health. Inflammation, especially during travel, can disrupt cortisol levels and bamboozle your sex hormones, leading to irregular cycles and increased PMS symptoms.
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Hey there and thanks for listening to episode 117 of I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, bridget Walton. Today we're going to be talking a little bit more about inflammation, but we're going to be making it super actionable, especially for those of you gals who are traveling all the time. I know a lot of you listening travel, whether that's for fun or whether you are on the go for work, and for me at least, I don't know about you, but I have a suspicion. Being on the road, being in a new environment, in hotels, where you don't have that much control over what's in your room or what's in the hotel, what air are you breathing? You don't have your normal cozy environment at home. That's where there's a lot of exposure to inflammation. If you haven't listened to Tuesday's episode yet, go back, check it out. You'll learn about why inflammation is a thing that you should care about, especially if you have period problems, pms. You're trying to get things back in order this short version of why inflammation is important and be reminded that inflammation is this kind of overactive immune response. It's good, we love it, when it's acute and in the short term that can be helpful, but it's when it's prolonged and becomes more chronic. That's when our body says this is too much, this is not working. For me. What that means as far as your hormones go is that oftentimes, cortisol levels are going to be going up. Cortisol is your stress hormone, and when cortisol levels are high, that is going to bamboozle your sex hormones too. Right, it's not sending those signals of safety. It's saying, hey, there's something chaotic here going on. Maybe we don't ovulate this month, and what that could result in is irregular or unpredictable cycles for you, pms and more. So. That's the short version of what we talked about on Tuesday, but again, I'm going to jump right into it here. But what we're going to be going through are some considerations when you are traveling on the road away from home and what you may want to keep in mind some easy swaps.
Speaker 1:Let's dive in. One source of inflammation that might not be as obvious is a lack of movement. Right, this is something you're going to experience when you are on a flight, when you're sitting waiting for your flight, maybe when you have a long distance to drive and you're just not up and about moving. Maybe, when you have a long distance to drive and you're just not up and about moving, what's happening here is that your lymph isn't flowing as much as it would be if you are up and moving around. But that's so important because your lymph system needs movement, needs you moving, needs you taking deep, full breaths in order to be the pump that moves those fluids throughout your body. And remember that your lymph is that trash collection system, part of your body and that's where some toxins or cellular waste can collect and so, when stagnant, that can lead to additional inflammation.
Speaker 1:So a couple of things to consider here. If you're in a situation where you're like, cool, we're getting only you know whatever small amount of steps in a particular day, just remember that breath work is really important and can be something you can easily integrate anywhere sitting on the plane. It doesn't have to be something, it doesn't have to be a whole production. I guess that's what I mean to say. So, whether you are listening to a video you found on YouTube maybe there's another app that you like that's leading you through an exercise or you're just taking three minutes, even to really consciously and intentionally take big, deep breaths in, big, deep breaths out. That could be something that A helps you to feel less stressed another source of inflammation but also helps to move that lymph and get things, keep things from being stagnant. One other thought here could be if maybe you're in a part of your life when you get on a long flight, you get off the flight and you have some swollen feet or swollen legs, compression socks could be a good investment for you, because compression socks are going to keep that fluid from again stagnating in your legs. So if you are like me, I went on a flight to Europe a couple of months ago and I was like, oh okay, bridge, yes, we are in that phase of life where compression socks are necessary. My feet look like hamburgers, basically, they were so round. So hopefully that was 1% funny, but hopefully just another piece of inspiration to invest in compression socks.
Speaker 1:The next thing I want to talk about here are receipts, specifically, because receipts that are used when they have you know when it used gosh what's the term I'm looking for, you know what I mean. You get a receipt at the gas station, the receipt that gets printed out at a restaurant when you go to dine. It uses heat to print that receipt really rapidly and those types of receipts are high or relatively high in BPA. So BPA is one of the gazillion chemicals that's out there, and BPA is a chemical that's used to print out receipts. The reason why I'm calling this out is because we oftentimes, just right, we spend our whole life grabbing the receipt from the cashier, even though we're going to just throw it out. It's a super easy thing that you can just forego taking or, you know, go ahead and wash your hands afterwards. It doesn't have to be a big production. Again, these are easy, quick recommendations that I'm making for you. Again, these are easy, quick recommendations that I'm making for you.
Speaker 1:But just being aware that BPA can certainly impact inflammation levels, which can impact ovulation, and it also can impact weight retention, which, if that's something that is on your mind too, just consider what is your exposure level to BPA too. Just consider what is your exposure level to BPA. Okay, the next thing I want to mention here bringing your own cup for coffee or tea, whatever hot beverage you prefer. I think that's such a clutch, easy move, not only because kind of off topic, like environmentalism, love the planet, love to not waste another one time use cup, but it's also going to prevent you from having potentially additional exposure to BPA, which is oftentimes in the lids of those coffee cups when the coffee, or rather the steam from the coffee collects on that lid, it gets hot. Some of the BPA can leach out and then just drip back down into your coffee. So spare yourself. Just avoid those reusable cups. Go ahead, pack your own stainless steel or glass cup mug to bring with you and that'll save you. That'll make things easier for you. Limit your BPA exposure.
Speaker 1:Something else that could be easy could be to bring your own pillowcase when you travel. If you are somebody who travels quite often, this can just be a normal part of your rotation. Where cool pack in my toothbrush, pack in my deodorant, let me grab this pillowcase. The reason why this is something to consider is because you don't know what detergent is being used at the hotel that you're staying at. You don't know what detergent is being used at the hotel that you're staying at. You don't know what else is it exposed to whether that's kind of dust or other chemicals that you're going to be putting your face on and breathing all night long. So this isn't something to be scared of. Like using hotels pillows. Please don't misunderstand me when I say that, but this is something that could be advantageous for you. Could be worth taking for a spin to see if you like it, if it's worth packing. Now.
Speaker 1:The next thing I want to mention are blue light blocker glasses. If you've listened to the podcast before, then you know that blue light can disrupt your circadian rhythm. Well, your circadian rhythm is this normal pattern that cortisol takes throughout the day higher in the morning, lower in the evening and that's how we like it. That's how we want it, because you want cortisol to be lower in the evening so that you can lay your precious head down on the pillow and fall right to sleep. Well, when we are out and about, especially traveling, especially in airports, there are so many fluorescent lights, overhead lights, which oftentimes have that blue light in them. You wouldn't know by looking at it, right, but fluorescent light bulbs equals blue light.
Speaker 1:So if you are able to invest in a pair of blue light blocking glasses, that could be a good way to just help give your body a little bit of support. Oh, I can't believe I didn't mention, right, your screen. Your screen whether it's your laptop, your phone probably is emitting blue light too. So consider getting a filter for that. But essentially you're just doing yourself a favor to keep your cortisol levels in check, kind of where you want them to be, and I think that could be worth spending a couple bucks on. If you're like me and you wear prescription glasses, then a lot of vendors these days are like well, I get my glasses from Warwick Parker, but I have to imagine everybody and their mom offers it. Anyway, you can pay a couple extra bucks to get the blue light filter added on as well. All right, my next thought here.
Speaker 1:This one will take a little bit more effort, a little bit more research to get into, but something that is becoming more and more popular are hotels that are actually prioritizing clean air, using less disruptive, less harsh products in hotel rooms, as well as maybe providing an additional filter for the water in those rooms. Tying this back to inflammation pollution in the air can certainly contribute to inflammation, depending on are you in the city, is there construction nearby, just what kind of pollutants are in the dust that's in your hotel room? There are also a lot of potential contaminants, or there are also a lot of potential contaminants or inflammatory agents that you can get through your water. So definitely filtering your water where you can is going to be good. One of my best friends got me for Christmas a few years ago, a water bottle that has a filter right in it. So you fill it up with whatever is the water source at your hotel and then it's going to filter the water right at your hotel and then it's going to filter the water right there in your bottle. So just another note there are some cool things out there. It's not always the best to, or I should say.
Speaker 1:My first thought, my first recommendation isn't like hey, go spend a bunch of money on things that you can bring to travel with you, but I think it is good to know what's out there. Make an informed decision about what might suit your goals or suit your budget. I got a little bit off track there because I was wanting to talk about hotels that have rooms specifically designed for wellness. You can check out Pure Wellness, their website. That's just one organization that works with hotels to curate rooms that align with what I just mentioned. Where there is an air purifier, there's a filter for the water, they use different products when cleaning the room. So you can go to their website. You can check out what hotels are a part of their program, and that spans different types of hotels Marriott, hilton, ritz-carlton, etc. So you have some options there. In my quest to figure out what options are out there in this regard, I also discovered that there are some air purifier necklaces. Now I've got some questions about how that works and exactly what the efficacy is there. But again, just to say, there are different options out there for you to check out, learn about and really just take control over. What are you interacting with? What are these sources of information that you can mitigate contact with and then go from there?
Speaker 1:The last thing I want to leave you with, super briefly coming back to snacks. When I'm on the road, maybe when you're on the road traveling, figuring out what you're going to eat and where can you get quality food from is a huge task. So just making sure you have those clean snacks that you like that you can go back to. You have those clean snacks that you like that you can go back to, also thinking like, hey, dehydration in and of itself can be a source of inflammation. So do I have the water bottle that I need to stay hydrated? Do I want to bring electrolytes? Can I pack some nuts? Can I pack some of these things that are going to make life easier for me, less stressful? Get me the nutrients that I need which equals less inflammation and help me feel good and happy while I'm out and about away from home. I hope that those were a couple of good ideas to spark some thought for you. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you do any of these things or recently started implementing them, and how you've been liking it.
Speaker 1:I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram. You can find me at. I'm underscore hormonal, and that's it for today. I'll see you back here next time for a long form episode after this shorty, and we'll see you on the next one. 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. All right, we'll see you on the next one.