Episode 145: How (and Why) to Love Your Liver in Perimenopause and Beyond

In this episode, Dr. Lisa and Dr. Toni review why it’s so important to pay attention to liver health for hormone balance in perimenopause. The liver has a lot of work to do as the largest organ in your body, especially as you get older, and can benefit from some extra TLC when addressing symptoms like hot flashes and heavy periods. 

In today’s episode, we cover :

  • Why it’s important to reduce the amount of chemicals and toxicity coming from your environment, food and personal care products
  • How your liver function impacts your hormone balance or imbalance, especially relating to estrogen dominance
  • The connection between your intake of sugar and highly processed convenient food, insulin resistance and fatty liver
  • Some of the functions your liver has, including:
    • Filtering your blood and converting your hormones and other compounds in your body to a less toxic and less harmful form – detoxification!
    • Converting fat soluble vitamins to a more active form
    • Producing bile to support blood clotting and absorption of fat and fat soluble vitamins
    • Regulating fat and carbohydrate metabolism
    • Supporting immune cell function
  • Signs your liver is not functioning optimally physically and energetically
    • Skin itching, headaches, hot flashes, fibroids, breast and ovarian cysts, heavy periods, anger, irritability, frustration
  • Lab tests to consider to assess the health of your liver
    • Blood tests like AST, ALT, GGT, bilirubin, hemoglobin A1c, glucose tolerance test, cholesterol panel, iron and ferritin, CRP inflammatory marker
    • Ultrasound, CT scan, MRI if needed
    • DUTCH – dried urine hormone testing
    • Genetic analysis of genes coding for liver detoxification enzymes
  • Ways to support your liver function
    • Avoiding excess exposure to chemicals and toxic compounds like pesticides, bisphenols, phthalates
    • Support air quality in your home
    • Avoiding unnecessary medications
    • Limiting your alcohol and added sugar intake
    • Physical activity and movement to support your circulation
    • Drinking water and staying hydrated, also with green and rooibos tea
    • Increasing your intake of antioxidants 
      • Colourful veggies and fruits, especially garlic, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, artichoke, beets, dandelion greens, arugula 
      • Herbs and spices like rosemary, turmeric
    • Eating an adequate amount of protein to support your detoxification enzyme pathways
      • Eggs are also a good source of choline
    • Using a castor oil pack or getting bodywork like acupuncture, osteopathy
    • Express all your emotions in a healthy manner like punching a pillow, instead of suppressing or stuffing your anger and frustration

Today’s Mama Must-Have:

Dr. Lisa is a big fan of using crystals to help set intentions, invite in energies and dispel the negative, including selenite to dispel negativity and connect to higher self, rose quartz to promote self-love and love for others, and amethyst to absorb negativity and develop focus.

Dr. Toni recommends taking the time with friends or even by yourself – get your spouse or family on board for child care or get a babysitter! 

What’s Else is Happening?

Dr. Toni’s next HypnoBirthing session for expecting parents looking to decrease fear and anxiety to support their natural instincts around labour and birth is happening this fall. Join her at https://www.hypnobirthingcalgary.com/register

Dr. Lisa’s Wild Collective Masterclasses are happening next week: Oct 3rd and 6th – find out more about this revolutionary and international program. Sign up HERE and follow Lisa on instagram @drlisaweeksND.

Email us or connect with us on  Facebook  and  Instagram

We’d love you to subscribe, leave us a review and a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this episode.

You can also support us by visiting our Patreon page.

Please tell your perimenopausal mama friends about us, too!

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Disclaimer: The information provided is not meant to replace treatment with a licensed health care practitioner. It is for informational purposes only. Consult with a Naturopathic Doctor or other licensed health care professional to determine which treatments are safe for you.

Episode 144: How to Fight Loneliness, Live Longer AND Experience Real Transformation

In this episode, Dr. Lisa shares the benefits of community medicine and reveals that social isolation is just as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day AND can shorten your life by up to 8 years! Discover how you can take advantage of this unique approach to health that enables you to: up-level your body literacy; unpack and overcome your challenges in a supportive community environment; experience powerful health transformations that otherwise seem impossible to do on your own; and put on your oxygen mask first to then be able to give to those around you, without feeling drained and resentful.

The pandemic has left so many women feeling disconnected, unfulfilled and “going through the motions” of life without any purpose or passion. Did you know there is another way to health care, outside of the regular one-on-one medical visits? Community medicine is the wave of the future; loneliness and social isolation numbers are on the rise and community medicine is the answer. 

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why Britain appointed a Minister of Loneliness
  • How loneliness affects your health
  • How habits and happiness are contagious and can spread depending on who has influence over you
  • Why different community projects like Wild Collective can improve your body literacy, as well as expanding your social network and helping you achieve your needs

What is the Wild Collective about?

  • International and revolutionary women’s health community initiative 
  • Recipe for connection and community; remedy for loneliness; instruction manual for your body, health and lab testing
  • Actionable items to start to up-level your health, mindset and relationships
  • Empowered health education to be your own health advocate (and for your family), know which questions to ask and which lab tests to ask for
  • Learn in-depth about digestion, detox, thyroid, hormones, blood sugar, nutrition

The Wild Collective is the answer to loneliness, social isolation, overwhelm and feeling disempowered on your healing journey.

INFO SESSION DATES: Mon Oct 3rd at 7pm EST and Thurs Oct 6th at 2pm EST

Spots are limited to 20 women to establish connection and allow enough time for women to share

Today’s Mama Must Have:

Dr. Lisa is a big fan of the show Dietland on Prime Video

What’s Else is Happening?

Dr. Toni’s next HypnoBirthing session for expecting parents looking to decrease fear and anxiety to support their natural instincts around labour and birth is happening this fall. Join her at https://www.hypnobirthingcalgary.com/register

Join Dr. Lisa’s new Meetup group Wild Woman Adventures Toronto if you want to get out in nature, connect with other women and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Activities include: sunrise/sunset SUP, tree-top trekking, a new moon workshop and more!

Dr. Lisa’s Wild Collective in Fall 2022: get on the waitlist: wildcollectivetoronto.com

Email us or connect with us on  Facebook  and  Instagram

We’d love you to subscribe, leave us a review and a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this episode.

You can also support us by visiting our Patreon page.

Please tell your perimenopausal mama friends about us, too!

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Disclaimer: The information provided is not meant to replace treatment with a licensed health care practitioner. It is for informational purposes only. Consult with a Naturopathic Doctor or other licensed health care professional to determine which treatments are safe for you.

Episode 143:  Are You Getting Your Needs Met? 

In this episode, Dr. Toni discusses the difficulty that many of us have with connecting to and meeting our own needs. Everyone who has flown in an airplane knows that you must put on your own oxygen mask before helping others, but how often do we meet our own needs on a daily basis? Listen in for ideas on how to start to connect with your needs and actions you can take to achieve them to feel happy, whole and connected.

Episode 142: PCOS, the Pill and Perimenopause: a Conversation with Dr. Lara Briden

Dr. Toni chats with Dr. Lara Briden, ND, about: the misconceptions around PCOS; how the pill masks your symptoms and may not be the answer; what happens to your hormones in perimenopause; and what to do to start to take back control of your hormonal health. Dr. Lara is the best-selling author of two books: The Period Repair Manual and The Hormone Repair Manual. She was also an expert featured in the movie, “The Business of Birth Control”.

Episode 141: Bloated and Uncomfortable? How to Avoid Having to Undo Your Top Button By the End of the Day

In this episode, Dr. Lisa and Dr. Toni discuss the different reasons why you could be experiencing bloating and what you can do about it. If you look and feel pregnant at the end of the day (and definitely aren’t!), it could be due to a number of different hormonal, digestive and structural issues that can happen in perimenopause. 

See previous episodes:

Factors that can cause bloating:

  • Eating large meals or eating late at night
    • No time to digest
    • Physiological bloating
  • Pressure in your stomach from weight gain or pregnancy
  • Diastasis recti or abdominal wall laxity
    • “mummy tummy”
  • Food intolerances or sensitivities
    • Visceral hypersensitivity can be stimulated by inflammation of the gut lining by foods, especially gluten, corn, dairy
  • Sugar alcohols especially sorbitol, less with erythritol, xylitol
  • Sugars like lactose or fructose
  • FODMAP foods
    • short chain carbohydrates found in many fruit, veg, legumes
  • Gut dysbiosis and microbiome imbalance like H. pylori and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
    • Especially after antibiotic and antacid medication use
  • Low stomach acid due to eating while in stress mode or sympathetic nervous system 
  • Low pancreatic enzymes or pancreatic issues
  • Gallbladder removal or issues
  • Slow gut motility and constipation
  • Hormone changes in perimenopause and premenstrually
    • Progesterone is a mild diuretic, so low progesterone in perimenopause can lead to more water retention
  • Cortisol imbalances and stress
    • High cortisol can lead to more water retention
    • Women who have experienced trauma are 50% more likely to experience IBS
  • Uterine Fibroids, hernias, scar tissue
  • Endometriosis
    • over 80% of women with endo experience bloating

Testing to consider:

  • Elimination challenge or low FODMAP diet trial
  • HCl challenge to test for hypochlorhydria
  • Food sensitivity blood test
  • Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis
  • SIBO breath test
  • H. pylori breath, blood or stool test 
  • Liver and digestive panel blood test
  • Electrolyte blood test
  • Thyroid panel to check for potential cause of constipation
  • Female hormone panel with cortisol testing in saliva or urine
  • Endoscope with biopsy, colonscopy, laparoscopic assessment
  • Abdominal ultrasound

Natural approaches to address bloating include:

  • Start by tracking symptoms
  • Avoid food triggers
  • Fermented foods – sauerkraut, kim chi, yogurt with active bacteria
  • Enteric coated peppermint oil capsules or peppermint tea
  • Bitter vegetables and foods: artichoke, arugula, radicchio, dandelion greens
  • Herbs: ginger, chamomile, fennel, anise, dandelion tea (root and leaf)
  • Apple cider vinegar or lemon in water
  • Chew your food well and eat while sitting down, calm and relaxed
  • Avoid drinking too much water while eating
  • Probiotic supplementation
  • Antimicrobial herbs like oregano, garlic, thyme, goldenseal or prescription rifaximin if needed for SIBO or dysbiosis
  • Digestive and motility support like D-limonene, DGL, slippery elm, marshmallow root, melatonin
  • Manual visceral therapy by trained osteopath, physiotherapist, naturopathic doctor
  • Castor oil packs

Today’s Mama Must Have:

Dr. Toni is a big fan of having a spray bottle with water and peppermint oil on bedside table to use when hot at night

Dr. Lisa loves having her 2 minute daily cold showers and doing breath of fire and/or the Wim Hoff breathing exercise to energize her when feeling tired

What’s Else is Happening?

Dr. Toni’s next HypnoBirthing session for expecting parents looking to decrease fear and anxiety to support their natural instincts around labour and birth is happening this fall. Join her at https://www.hypnobirthingcalgary.com/register

Join Dr. Lisa’s new Meetup group Wild Woman Adventures Toronto if you want to get out in nature, connect with other women and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Activities include: sunrise/sunset SUP, tree-top trekking, a new moon workshop and more!

Dr. Lisa’s Wild Collective in Fall 2022: get on the waitlist: wildcollectivetoronto.com

Email us or connect with us on  Facebook  and  Instagram

We’d love you to subscribe, leave us a review and a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this episode.

You can also support us by visiting our Patreon page.

Please tell your perimenopausal mama friends about us, too!

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Disclaimer: The information provided is not meant to replace treatment with a licensed health care practitioner. It is for informational purposes only. Consult with a Naturopathic Doctor or other licensed health care professional to determine which treatments are safe for you.