What is the number #1 issue I hear from clients?  

CONSTIPATION.  

It's pretty much an epidemic in western societies, for a number of  reasons. And a lot of people still don't even realize they have it!  

In today's episode, I talk with Functional Nutritionist and Hormone  Expert Marieke Steen about what exactly constipation is, what the  underlying causes are, and most importantly, how to get things moving.   

She shares her own story of being constipated for most of her childhood  and young adult years, and the steps she took to get out of the  "stuckness."   

It's a layered approach, looking at physical, emotional, and energetic  aspects of digestion, but there's also a few things you can do to get  things moving RIGHT AWAY. Marieke shares all of these options with you.

And besides your gut thanking you, your hormones will too!  

Marieke Steen is a Functional Nutritionist and Hormone expert, helping  women with fertility issues, hormonal, acne, or other hormonal imbalance  or disorders. Her motto is: don’t accept feeling just ok, you deserve  better! You can find her at mariekesteen.com.

Want more information about constipation and hormones? Check out her article Why constipation causes toxicity and hormonal imbalances. And you can join her FB group here. 

*The parasympathetic essential oil blend that she mentioned during the episode is basically distilled lime essential oil and clove essential oil, so either buy one of each and  just put a drop of each on your finger and rub it on your mastoid bone  (behind the earlobes) or use the blend from vibrant blue oils: https://shop.vibrantblueoils.com/product/parasympathetic-essential-oil/

**The inflammatory blend she uses on her neck in the evening or on her shoulders or belly (and massage clockwise) has:

and the blend is available at vibrant blue oils https://shop.vibrantblueoils.com/product/anti-inflammatory-essential-oil/

This week, I dive into the emotional/energetic/soul connection to your hormone (and gut) issues. 

We can eat all the clean food, take all the great supplements, make all the lifestyle changes, but if we don't deal with our emotional landscape, our hormonal dysfunction will remain. 

Whether you have fibroids, ovarian cysts, polyps, endometriosis, adenomyosis, PMDD or other issues, it's necessary to understand your way of processing emotions, pattern pitfalls, past traumas, and how you move through life. I share the approaches that have helped me the most, including:

-AIT and EFT

-The Enneagram

-Learning about - and how to - respect my body's boundaries

-And what it means to "love from the inside"

Plus I lead you through a short exercise to connect with your well of self-love. 

Hopefully this episode will ground you even more deeply into your beautiful, complicated, powerful self!

Feel free to check out the IG post I talked about here. 

What is the OAT test?

OAT stands for Organic Acid Test, and are compounds that show up in the urine that are byproducts of metabolism. Everything we eat, all the toxins we take in, all the supplements we take are metabolized through processes in the gut, liver, and kidneys so that what is no longer needed can be excreted via our sweat, urine, and stool.

What’s particularly useful about a test like this is that it can show levels of some of the baddest guys out there, including:

*Mold

*Yeast

*Strains of Clostridia, which are part of dysbiosis in the gut

*Oxalates

It also shows you:

*How well our detox mechanisms are working when it comes to glutathione and B vitamins

*Levels of neurotransmitters

*What your mitochondria are up to 

So yes, it tells us a LOT. 

What does this have to do with hormones? I cover this and more in the episode:

-Dysbiosis, inflammation and hormones: how they are all connected

-Markers on the OAT that show you how you are detoxing, which can help guide you on dealing with estrogen dominance

-How oxalates might be impacting you, and why that green smoothie might be the *worst* thing for your hormones

I also get real about some of the health issues I'm facing at the moment, and how the OAT results are helping me to deal with them. 

It's a slam-packed episode! I recommend grabbing some tea and pen and paper to take some good notes, especially if you have already done an OAT. And if you want to see what the test looks like, as well as seeing the markers I'm referring to, head over to my Youtube channel.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about  coaching. Life coaches, business coaches, career coaches...the list goes  on. 

But health coaching is something that is unique. It provides a space and support for moving through the sometimes tough changes we have to make to improve our overall health and well-being.   

On today's episode, I talk with certified ADAPT Functional Health Coach  Ken Kiser to breakdown exactly what health coaching is, and how he works with clients. We even jump into a "mini-session" with me in the hot  seat.   

As a functional nutritionist, I'm finding how helpful it is to offer coaches to some of my clients who need extra support. So while I sit down and assess their health history and utilize testing, creating  nutritional protocols based off of these factors, Ken helps clients get  to the heart of what may be impeding change.   

If you know what health changes you need to make but are struggling with  the "doing" part, a health coach may be just what you need to get you  over the hump.   

Listen to the end for a special offer from Ken!  

Ken Kiser is a certified ADAPT Functional Health Coach that specializes  in working with patients who suffer from digestive health issues. He supports gut healing through empowering clients to make diet and  lifestyle changes that build health and vitality while minimizing flare  ups. Although Ken is very well trained, his greatest asset is his own health journey.  He too suffered from digestive health issues and was  able to heal himself through diet and lifestyle change.  It is through  his own struggles that motivates Ken to help others. Find him at his website.

Do you experience brain fog, memory problems, and headaches that you just can’t get rid of no matter what you try?

What about numbness and tingling in your arms or legs?

Digestive issues not getting any better even after trying every change of diet, supplement, and lifestyle approach possible?

Then there may be something deeper at play. And that thing is mold.

I’m so excited to share this episode with you, because mold is an  underlying health issue that isn’t getting the coverage that it  deserves.

I dive deep with Functional Nutritionist Ellen Lovelace into one of her areas of expertise, mold toxicity. We talk about how  mold gets into our bodies, the most common place where mold comes from,  and signs and symptoms of this often debilitating illness.

I ask  her about how mold impacts hormone health (yep, unfortunately it does),  as well as other ways it shows up in our system (spoiler alert – it can  get into our brain and also cross the placenta!).

She shares her own story of dealing with mold toxicity, and what it took to get her life back on track.

Though  it’s not an easy road to get rid of mold toxicity, Ellen explains the  best ways to test for mold both in your house and inside your body. She  talks about some of the approaches to getting rid of mold, and the  timeline you are looking at for the process.

In my opinion, this  is required listening because it’s something that is being overlooked in  much of the medical community. It may be the hidden key for what ails  you.

What does fitness mean to you?

Is it pushing your body to the limit in order to make gains, or is it pushing yourself to get off the couch to do anything at all?

The truth is, neither of these options are the best for your overall health and well-being. And, there is a different way. 

In today's episode, I chat with fitness specialist Jenni Hulburt about how to tap into your own body's cycle in order to move in a way that feels best to you. 

We talk about how your body needs different movement depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle (and also, where you are in the cycle of the year, as well as your life). Jenni breaks down what types of movement are best during your follicular phase, and then what supports you best during your luteal phase, and finally, your period. 

We also discuss how to use your intuition when you’re not motivated or consistent with moving your body. This is a big one for many women who just aren't inclined to move their body because of previous harm from fitness or society's pressures, as well as those who have never felt called to do much movement. 

I love Jenni's spiritual and cyclical approach to movement, and I know you will too!

Jenni Hulburt is a fitness specialist teaching movement that’s part cyclical, seasonal, sweaty, and spiritual. She has a Bachelor of Science and Masters degree in Exercise Physiology and Sport Psychology.  As a student of nature, and wellness advocate with doTERRA, she works with plant allies in the form of essential oils to teach others about the gifts of the earth for our well-being and our connection to life. Find out more at her website, or follow her on IG. Also check out her podcast, Wild Wellness. 

In today's episode, I sit down with Chinese Medicine practitioner Ashley Kuper to talk about acupuncture, herbs, hormones, and everything in-between.

If you've never quite understood how acupuncture works, you'll totally get it by the end of this interview. 

We also talk about what it means when practitioners look at your tongue, take your pulse, and assess your body in ways that are so different from the Western medical approach. 

Best of all, we dive deep into how Chinese Medicine views hormonal imbalances and approaches to healing (including a fascinating explanation of the yin and the yang). We find spots where functional health and TCM intersect, as well as how they differ. 

If you deal with:

-Fibroids

-PMS

-Endometriosis 

then tune in to this episode to learn how TCM can help with these painful hormone issues. 

Ashley Kuper L.Ac., Dipl.OM practice is located in Asheville, NC and focuses on fertility/women’s health, acute and chronic pain, digestive disorders, psycho-emotional issues, preventative medicine, Cosmetic Acupuncture and overall health maintenance and stress relief. 

Have you struggled to get pregnant, or experienced miscarriages?  

Do you have a diagnosed (or suspected) underlying hormonal issue such as  PCOS or endometriosis?  

If *any* of that is part of your experience, today's inspiring episode  is for you.   

I'm talking to my friend and colleague, Ashley Looft, about her  incredible journey towards a viable pregnancy after dealing with  multiple miscarriages and hormone imbalances.   

You are GUARANTEED to learn something new (at least I did!) about what  you can do when nothing else works. Ashley covers:  

1) The importance of "cleaning up your gut" when you are trying to get  and stay pregnant 

2) The need for bioidentical progesterone for much longer in a pregnancy  than most doctors are going to admit if you've previously had  miscarriages 

3) The fascinating and scientifically-supported option available if you  are at your wits-end, that you more-than-likely have never heard of  before  

Ashley bravely shares her experiences to help you find your way to  carrying your dream baby to term.   

Ashley Looft is a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner who helps  women experiencing fertility and cycle struggles dig deep to find the  root of their struggles and uses nutrition, supplements, and lifestyle  to support their bodies in healing so that they can live their most  healthy, happy, and fertile life. She came to this work through her own  struggles with PCOS, Endometriosis, and 4 pregnancy losses.   

Ashley was tired of going to the doctor and being told that her only  options were the pill or to get pregnant so she decided to take matters  into her own hands and apprenticed with Nicole Jardim to become a  Women's Health Coach and then continued on to go to school for  Nutritional Therapy. When Ashley is not working to help others she loves  to spend time with her husband and two dogs traveling, reading,  cooking, running, and hiking in the beautiful Arizona desert. You can  find her online at wholehealthyhappylife.com or on social media  @wholehealthyhappylife.

It was a BIG year on many levels. In today's episode, Christine shares what her biggest realizations around health were this year, including getting to the deeper underlying issues that are at play for nearly every one of us. 

If you want to think about what part of your health you'd like to focus on next in 2021, this episode is a great place to start!