Guts and Girl Bits Episode #50

As we reach the end of Endometriosis Awareness Month I wanted to release a little recording I made a while ago for women’s health week, in which I spoke about Endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a condition that can significantly affect a woman’s quality of life, however, there is a lack of awareness and understanding of this condition.

It is estimated that 1 in 7-10 women may have this condition, however it can take many years to receive a diagnosis. In this video discuss some considerations of addressing this condition with naturopathic medicine, addressing the root causes of immune imbalance.

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Related posts:

Endometriosis

10 Ways to reduce period pain

Updates on Endometriosis

Heavy periods

Choosing the right products for that time of the month

Thrush

Transcript

0:08
Hi, everyone, you’re listening to Guts and Girl Bits. I’m Alison Mitchell, a practicing naturopath and I hope to share with you all sorts of information about women’s health and digestive health to educate and empower you to make informed choices about your own health. Please remember that all information is general and does not replace consulting with a healthcare practitioner.

0:31
It’s the end of March and March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. So I wanted to share a little video that I recorded a couple of years ago for Women’s Health Week as my latest podcast because in that video, I share all sorts of information about endometriosis, and about how to get to some of the underlying drivers that causes it. So I hope that that’s helpful for you. There has been more research coming out since then, as well. But most of the new stuff that I shared in that one is still relevant. So if you want to hear more information, then please subscribe to me on @gutsandgirlbits. And stay tuned as well for all my e courses that are coming out all about how to understand yourself by understanding your cycles and understanding your hormonal balance in more depth, which you can find over at my teachable account, which is gutsandgirlbits.teachable.com

1:30
Hey, everyone, I want to talk about endometriosis today. This is the last day of Women’s Health Week. So I wanted to finish it off by talking about a condition that I really love treating and that’s that’s endometriosis. So if anyone doesn’t know what endometriosis is, basically, it’s a painful condition that affects women. And it affects almost one in seven women approximately. And it can cause quite a lot of issues. So what’s what seems to be happening is that we women get these endometrial cysts, also known as endometriomas, or chocolate cysts, which are basically the content of the lining of the uterus being where it shouldn’t be. So when we normally have our period, what should be happening is that the lining should just you know, break down and dissolve and come out as normal menstrual blood. But sometimes what’s happening is that this isn’t staying in the uterus. This is actually forming little adhesions or cysts elsewhere in the body, such as around the lining around the outside of the uterus or in the fallopian tubes or stuck to the ovaries. And it can also happen in their peritoneal cavity where it’s actually attaching to the intestines, the bowel, bladder and those sorts of things.

2:55
So back up back when I was a student naturopath, we were taught that endometriosis is a condition caused by a hormonal imbalance. But with recent research, what we’ve come to understand is that endometriosis is actually an immune condition or an inflammatory condition. So it does have a hormonal component. There is certainly a hormonal driver behind endometriosis. And that is estrogen, but the immune system is actually the biggest player when it comes to endometriosis. And so there are a lot of different factors that actually feed into why the immune system is disrupted in the first place. But what we what we’re finding is that inflammation, in particular, coming from histamine imbalance, and coming from genetic imbalances and gut health is some of the biggest issues that seem to be driving our immune immune dysfunction. So there’s currently not really a great testing option available for endometriosis. It’s unfortunately something that can only be definitively diagnosed with a laparoscopy, which is a type of keyhole surgery where there will be some small incisions made in the abdomen, abdomen, and then they go in with a little camera. And so if they can see the presence of these chocolate cysts, then that’s confirmative of endometriosis. But the laparoscopy at the same time can be used as a treatment. But that’s not that’s not always the best option for every woman. Because for some women who are particularly inflamed or have a strong immune activation, then the actual incision or the actual surgery itself can actually worsen endometriosis. There, they will find that they might actually get some further adhesions developing where those original cysts were removed. There seems to be more of an issue when the laparoscopy is performed with the laser where it’s actually burnt off rather than incised. And that’s that’s something that again, has only really been discovered recently, but it seems to be

5:00
You know, while it’s a good thing for some women, but not for every woman, and again, it goes to show that endometriosis is a really, really complex condition. And so because of that complexity, everyone needs to be treated a little bit differently. And we need to try and figure out the cause of what’s going on for those women. So there’s a few, you know, possible causes as to why women can have that particular immune imbalance. And one of those things is a gut imbalance, so and or an infection. So if you’ve got an infection, then your immune system is going to be disrupted. And then if you’ve got that genetic tendency for endometriosis to go wrong, then that’s where it’s going to go out of whack for you. There’s some some naturopaths in the field at the moment that are doing research in this and they’re finding that there’s actually a whole different microbiome, which is your bacteria balance within the peritoneal cavity, which is basically the fluid that our organs swim in, and also within the vagina itself within our reproductive organs. And so if they are out of balance, if that microbiome in that area is out of balance, and our immune system is going to be unhappy, and correcting that can be helpful. Dealing with infections can also be really helpful to under to address that underlying imbalance. Now, the other thing that can sometimes happen is because what we know that it’s an inflammatory condition, and there’s an immune imbalance going on, but there’s certain genetics that are involved in that issue. And I find that the mthfr gene, which is a pretty common gene to have, and it doesn’t having the gene doesn’t always mean that there’s an issue, but it’s if that gene is not acting properly, then it affects the enzyme that deals with a lot of different processes in the body. But in regards to endometriosis, in particular, it affects our our main antioxidant recycler, glue to fire recycling of glue to fire. And now, if we don’t have enough antioxidants in endometriosis, then we can’t really mop up all that immune damage that’s going on. So it makes the inflammation worse. And so then, as a result, that makes pain worse. And that can also, you know, make all those other sorts of reactions worse as well.

7:17
One of the things that we also find going on is that mthfr gene affects the detoxification of certain hormones throughout the liver. And if we’re not detoxifying our hormones effectively, then we get that recycling and that uptake of those hormones through through the system, and so then we lead to having too much of certain hormones where they shouldn’t be.

7:41
In the case of endometriosis, what we used to think, as I said before was that it was a excess of oestrogen. But in this case, it seems to be that it’s a displacement of estrogen. So there’s too much estrogen being activated in the area of the endometrial tissue lining going on. And that’s causing a reaction with some of our other immune chemicals. So one of these immune chemicals is histamine. So histamine, can you probably know about histamine as an allergic sort of issue like, you know, hay fever and sneezes and rashes, and, and all of those. Well, when are mast cells, the immune cell that causes the histamine to be in excess is actually in reaction to the estrogen. And that causes more of that inflammatory reaction. And so then, you know, you get the pain and the redness and, and those painful reactions, that’s so common with endometriosis. And as a result of the inflammation that takes place, then when there is that, I mean, immune activation in that area, that’s why we’re more you’re more likely to actually get adhesions forming. And so this can be a really big problem for women with endometriosis is that the adhesions can cause a lot of damage, they can stick for free, you can stick your organs together, you can get the uterus can be stuck to the bow or bits of the bow can be stuck together. It can, you can have the bladder being involved as well. And all of that can cause quite a lot of pain. And it can also affect fertility quite significantly as well.

9:14
Now, and adhesions do seem to have a bit of a problem and that they can only really be resolved with surgery. So as we were talking about before that surgery isn’t certainly a good option for some women, but it’s not not the first line option for every woman. It’s actually better if you can try and get on top of endometriosis in the early days. But the thing with endometriosis is that it’s actually a condition that a lot of people are getting dismissed and missed about, if that makes sense. What I mean is that women are going to and young girls are going to their doctors and they’re complaining of pelvic pain, period pain, and they’re basically getting dismissed and it seems to be about 70% of young women with endometriosis are getting dismissed and that’s a huge number 70% so if we can get on top of this condition in the early days before adhesions formed and things are going to actually work out a lot better for these women what we need to do is we need to have the funding into a better research system but we also need to have more awareness and women need to be more empowered and educated so that they can make make these make these choices make ask the right questions so i think the fact that the main testing method is a form of surgery is probably pretty off putting but we can do a lot in terms of natural treatment and dietary techniques to actually take this under control one of the things we need to do is to get our gut flora and underbalanced under control and we also need to look at reducing our inflammation levels throughout diet for a lot of women with endometriosis one of the main inflammatory things that’s going on is that they intolerant to certain foods and the key food that i find a lot of women are reacting to is is actually dairy or cow’s protein in particular and this can be you know pretty hard to give up for a lot of women but getting that out of the system can make a big big difference now we also need to look at supporting that mthfr gene which is the one that i was talking about before so the mthfr gene basically it works on a particular enzyme which is can never remember the name of it and let me find it – methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase – and basically that works on the conversion of our fault for late into its activated form in the body now it’s more than just taking folic acid in fact if you’ve got issues with this gene you probably shouldn’t be taking folic acid you should be taking different b vitamins or activated b vitamins and so this is where it gets pretty complicated because depending on what you’ve got going on with this whole methylation pathway taking methylated b vitamin can actually make you feel a lot worse because you can be methylating too fast or too slowly and so if you’re methylating too slowly and you take methyls then that’s going to make you feel like help so we don’t want to do that so that’s where you know seeing a practitioner can come in really handy but if you can get your methylation under control that does a few things it brings histamine into balance it improves your detoxification of your hormones through the liver and it can dampen that immune dysregulation and therefore inflamed inflammation that’s going on so those are some really key things that’s going on and one of the other things is that it really really really helps with your glue to fire and recycling which is what you need to mop up all that damage that’s taking place now there are a lot of other things that we want to work on with endometriosis and as we’ve said a few times get that inflammation level under control so one of my favorite things to do is Turmeric. now turmeric does have a little bit of a blood thinning properties so depending on what your your bleeding is like if you tend to be quite heavy bleeder it might not necessarily be the thing there’s something called VAGF which is basically your some women have a higher level of capillary growth to these endometrial lining and certainly doesn’t happen with everyone but actually getting improved mop up of that area can be quite helpful with certain again immune herbes and things like that as well we also want to again work on those antioxidant levels so working on methylation is helpful but herbs and nutrients that will actually help with your antioxidant levels can be helpful to one of those is n acetylcysteine or you potentially taking gluta thione itself but n-acetylcysteine is a lot cheaper and also it can be converted into the body in the body to glorify and so that’s something that can be quite helpful for people as i was talking about before in terms of diet you want to reduce the foods in your diet that you might potentially be intolerant to that could potentially cause some inflammatory reaction for you so those are some things that you want to do and you also want to work on while it’s not hormone only cause to condition it is hormonally affected so if we can work on getting estrogen detoxification under control then that’s going to help with the estrogen displacement that’s going on some people might know that sort of concept as estrogen dominance what’s really happening though is that there’s too much estrogen in the wrong place not that there’s necessarily a lot of estrogen everywhere going on because for women with with this sort of condition they might actually experience some symptoms of estrogen deficiency like you know brain fog or hair loss and skin dryness and thinning and that sort of thing but then in other instances they’re going to be experiencing symptoms of estrogen excess such as their their period abnormalities and or pms symptoms and those sorts of things so again it comes down to the individual so that’s where you know seeing a practitioner can actually be really helpful to get that under control

15:35
so i think i’ve kind of rambled a little bit there that seems to happen when there’s topics that i’m quite passionate about i guess one of the take home points that i really want to say with endometriosis is that we know a lot more about it now we know more about the immune involvement about the inflammatory involvement and so because of that we can actually do so much more for it we can actually get really better treatment happening and so if you know if you if you were seeing a naturopath for endometriosis five or 10 years ago you’d get completely different treatment most of the time now so i would say you know if you want to get some treatment ask your naturopath what they think is the main cause of it what they would do to treat it and if they’re talking about some of these new research that’s going on then give it another try because i have a lot of patients with endometriosis nowadays that i get real good success with and we follow these these routes of look at the infections that might be driving immune imbalance and support methylation support the detoxification of the estrogen but as less of a priority you got to get all those other factors under control get that inflammation down once that see improves things start to get better for them much quicker than it used to back when i first started trading where it would take you know a good half a year’s 12 months maybe to get things much better under control whereas now it’s it’s you know half a year mostly it does always depend on the person always depends on the severity of the condition as well you know for some women their endometriosis is so severe that you know surgery is what is really really required and sometimes even going on something taking something like the marina or getting the marina in is important because that actually helps to improve local progesterone in the uterus and so that can help to improve that imbalance and so if you’ve got less of that estrogen activity taking place then you get to have less of that histamine reaction most of that immune reaction going on so you know one of the first things i would say is get your gut the gut microbiome in the gut and also in the vagina under control is blackmores women’s bio balanced is a product that i do recommend as a retail option there’s also practitioner ones that i use Femex have you know a really fresh diet full of antioxidant rich foods lots and lots of veggies eat your rainbow every day those things are really really important and you also really want to get your stress under control because i mean as you know stress has a big role and a lot of different things so we’ve got this thing called the the hpa axis hpo axis hpt axis where all of our hormones are talking to each other all of the time and if there’s some other things going out of balance for instance our hpa axis which is where our adrenal glands are out of balance that’s going to throw out our hbo axis which is where we’re talking to our reproductive hormones so we want these to be under control and calm so doing some mindfulness and some meditation taking stress herbes taking all your nutrients those are really important too in regards to nutrients i mentioned in acetylcysteine i think that can be really helpful but i also do think that you need to get your core reproductive nutrients under control so that’s firstly get using copper ratio right because excess copper can affect your estrogen levels i also think that you need to get adequate magnesium for your stress levels also to reduce into smooth tissue cramping and calcium is important too you need to have that right ratio going on and i and is is really important so you don’t want to have too much iron because iron in excess can cause oxidative stress which can be inflammatory but if you’re into if you’ve got insufficient levels of iron then you’re going to be more likely to bleed more and that’s going to be a big factor for a lot of women a lot of women with endometriosis have really really heavy blades so we don’t want that that with iron that’s one of the things that i always recommend getting iron levels tested before starting supplementation and get the dose, right? I think vitamin D is important vitamin D is really important for your immune health. And I recommend getting your vitamin D levels over, over 80. You don’t want it to be higher than 150 or so.

20:19
And you also need to be considering things that are going to help to bring down your inflammation levels. As far as Herbs and so I’ve said, I’ve said tumeric, I do love tumeric. But again, you just got to be a little bit careful with it, depending on the periods. And I also think that good quality, facials can be helpful, but the same same sort of thing. Although they do they, we’ve always had this bit of a concern with fish oils is that you know, they can cause they can cause a blood thinning activity, or they could cause excessive bleeding. But some studies that actually measured the amount of bleeding that you create with officials has shown that it doesn’t seem to actually cause that greater quantity. So it’s not like you know, you’re going to bleed out or you’re going to have like massive amounts of blood loss or anything like that. Anyway, so activated B vitamins and stay away from synthetic B vitamins, and try and also stay away from foods that are fortified with synthetic B vitamins too, because while not everyone has this mthfr gene, if that mthfr gene enzyme gets unhappy, regardless of the genes presence or not, then that’s going to cause issues with all of those other factors. So it’s going to cause issues with the histamine, the hormones, the antioxidants. So all of those things that we want to work with. Thank you all so much for listening. I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s episode. Please join me over at the Guts and Girl bits Instagram page and share any other words of wisdom that you would like to contribute as well. TGuts and Girl Bits now has a collection of E courses that you can view online. The primary course available at the moment is natural menopause support, which provides a whole heap of information on supporting yourself through the major symptoms of metaphors and easing through this transitional life. You can find the collection of E courses at ghttp://gutsandgirlbits.teachable.com. And then you’ll also find a course of understanding underactive thyroid, and coming up soon will be a courses called The Cyclical Woman, Navigating the teenage years, children’s health, nourishing the mother, and more. If you’ve enjoyed today, please leave a review and share this episode to help spread the word. Thank you

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Health & Wellbeing Podcast #26

Most people will experience pain at some stage in their lives, however for some this pain can be chronic, at times severe. Many people struggle with the side effects of conventional pain medications, and turn to natural medicine for support.

Herbal medicine and food can be used to assist in the management of pain conditions, both in addressing the underlying cause of pain conditions, and in providing some pain relief.

Photo by Hailey Kean on Unsplash

Earlier this year I spoke at the Wise Women Gathering about Chronic Pain and Inflammation. What a wonderful event it was, full of many kind, wise and wonderful ladies. I was honoured to be asked to speak again and this year my topic was something quite different to my talk of the previous year, Herbal Medicine for Motherhood – I spoke on Chronic Pain and Inflammation.

In my clinic I see a lot of people who experience chronic pain of various degrees and the ways that this is dealt with conventionally is sadly, in many cases insufficient. The increasing reliance on potentially harmful medications and lack of holistic care is an issue that compounds the problem.

I had so much content I wanted to share at this talk, but not enough time to cover everything, so I have shared this now in my podcast. I am splitting the topic into sections, and I share with you now the first part, where I will be talking about the underlying issues that feed into chronic pain and inflammation.

Some topics that will be covered include:

• What is Pain?
• What is the difference between acute and chronic pain?
• Understanding chronic pain.
• Causes of chronic pain. These include:
  • Diet and lifestyle
  • Biological make up (including genetics)
  • Gut health
  • Hormones
  • Environment and Personal History
  • Chronic Infections
  • The Mind.

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Preconception care offers support to couples with fertility problems and also for those who simply want their child to have the healthiest start to life. Our aim is not only to improve the chances of conception, but to also improve the chances of a natural and healthy pregnancy, birth and baby.  Starting by providing you and your partner’s bodies with nutritional ‘building blocks’ necessary for a healthy embryo we then work through the following:

• Toxicity and detoxification
• Healthy ovulation and charting the menstrual cycle
• Male fertility
• Reproduction dietary guidelines
• Stress management
• Optimizing conception- timing and techniques

At present it is estimated that 1 in 6 couples are infertile. This statistics are staggering, and unfortunately on the rise each year. It is thought that many of these issues are related to a Western lifestyle that has deteriorated rapidly. We live in a ‘toxic’ society. Environmental pollution, polluted water, toxic farming methods, chemicals, radiation, heavy metals are frequent problems. Nutrient levels in the soil are poor, we live sedentary lifestyle and don’t compensate with adequate exercise. Sugar, caffeine, alcohol and food additives are high in our diets. Add onto this the stress of progress and it becomes obvious as to why our modern lifestyle is affecting fertility levels. The approach is quite obvious- we simply want to bring prospective parents health back to optimal before conception takes place thereby giving your child the best chance of health and start to life!

The program consists of a monthly appointment for 4 months prior to conception. The reason that we advise on at least 4 months of preconception health care is to ensure optimal health of the sperm and egg. Sperm can take 116 days to generate and during this time are easily susceptible to damage. Similarly, the egg is vulnerable during maturation for around 100 days leading up to ovulation.

Fertility complications

 It is becoming more and more common for couples to experience difficulty conceiving a healthy child.

 Factors which can affect fertility health include but are not limited to:

• Environmental and lifestyle toxicity
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Age
• Stress
• Infection
• Immune problems

The same problems which lead to increased rates of infertility in developed nations also lead to increased rate of chronic health problems in our children, and the adults they become.

Conditions that natural medicine can be of assistance to which affect fertility include but are not limited to:

• Endometriosis
• PCOS
• Hormone imbalances
• Thyroid disease
• Blood sugar levels problems
• Obesity
• Immune problems
• Fibroids
• Amenorrhoea
• Problems with sperm (e.g. motility, morphology, count, etc)
• Varioceles
• Stress

Preconception Care

Preconception care involves the promotion of optimal health of ideally both partners in the time before conception.  This may include detoxification, nutritional and herbal supplementation, acupuncture and diet and lifestyle changes.

There is research showing the benefits of a good preconception care program in chances of conceiving, reduction of complications during pregnancy and birth and promotion of excellent health in the fetus and child, which continues into adulthood.

Preconception care aims to:

• Prevent congenital defects
• Prevent chronic health conditions such as asthma, allergy, immune dysfunction
• Support a healthy robust immune syndrome
• Support your child’s ability to resist damage from environmental and lifestyle toxicity
• Support the nutritional health of your child
• Ensure good fertility of your child

Couples are having children later and later (for various reasons) and a consequence of this is an increased difficulty conceiving, and increased risks of pregnancy complications and health problems in the child.  The good news is that the factors that cause this can be reduced with a good preconception care program.

Epigenetics

Diet and lifestyle has a big role to play in fertility.  Not just for you, but for your children and grandchildren’s fertility.  What you eat, drink and do in the 4 months leading up to conceiving affects the genetics of your offspring and their fertility health.

It can be pretty scary to think about, but what your grandparents ate and were exposed to can have an affect on the DNA of your offspring. There isn’t much you can do about that, but now we have the awareness of epigenetics it’s ideal to take steps to do everything to can to set up a good environment for conception.

For a bit of extra reading on epigenetics check out my previous article here.

If you are thinking of having a baby and you want to give yourself the best chances and give your child the best start in life, contact us today to start a preconception program.

Preconception Care Frequently Asked Questions

What is preconception care?

Put simply, preconception care is to ensure, as much as possible for any given couple the presence of all the factors required for fertility and creation of the healthy fetus and the absence of all the factors detrimental to fertility and for formation of a healthy fetus

Preconception care aims for the optimum general and reproductive health of both partners to ensure good fertility and the health of the egg, sperm and the womb.

It is the ultimate preventative medicine.  By undertaking preconception care you are reducing your risks of complications and promoting the health of your future child.

Who should do preconception care?

• Anyone planning to conceive can benefit, whether there have fertility issues or not.
• Both prospective parents (see below)
• Older parents
• Those who are overweight or obese
• Those with a history of environmental toxin exposure
• Those with a history of fertility problems, miscarriage or still births
• Those with a history of genetic defects, physical or mental health problems in their previously conceived children.
• Women who have previously been on medications which can cause nutritional deficiencies such as the oral contraceptive pill or methotrexate.
• Those undergoing IVF. Couples undergoing IVF are often having problems with egg and/or sperm quality, older in age, or have other factors affecting fertility health.  IVF is also associated with increased risks of genetic problems, pregnancy complications and miscarriage rate –  preconception care can help to reduce these.  Preconception care can also improve the success rates of IVF (saving you time, anguish and money).

What are the benefits of preconception care?

It can reduce risks of fertility, miscarriage, fetal defect, and unhealthy children.

It can also improve the chance of healthy conception, a healthy and full-term pregnancy, a natural, intervention free birth, reduce problems post birth such as post natal depression, and support long-term breastfeeding.

Comprehensive preconception care may reduce the risk of age-related sub fertility, miscarriage and fetal defects.

Diet and nutritional supplementation can affect genetics, reducing the rate of genetic conditions.  Essentially this means that good preconception care can switch off faulty genes in the developing fetus (like a light switch) and this benefit is passed onto their offspring as well.

By providing an optimally healthy environment, your child’s genetic blueprint will be strong and robust.  Not only will they be healthy children but that health continues into adulthood.  What a great gift for your child.

How long should I do preconception care for?

Preconception care should begin well before conception (minimum of 4 months) and continue through pregnancy and breastfeeding.

It takes 100 for eggs to mature and 116 for sperm to generate, so it is recommended that preconception care be undertaken for at least 4 months before you attempt to conceive.

The instant that egg and sperm combine an irreversible blueprint is formed for the development of the baby.  This blueprint is reflective of the health and toxicity levels of the egg and sperm in the 4 months prior to conception.

It is enough to just take Folic acid?

No.  Folic acid (the synthetic form of folate)  is well known for its ability to prevent neural tube defects – however folate is important for much more than this and it is NOT THE ONLY nutrient required during preconception and pregnancy. There are many other nutrients that have such as many important effects in preconcetion and pregnancy and are often forgotten – Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Iodine, Iron.

Additionally, too much folate taken without the rest of the other B vitamins can actually mask a deficiency of vitamin B12 – this can actually cause spinal development problems as well!

Some people have a genetic problem called MTHFR which affects their ability to convert folic acid to its activated form.  These people need folinic acid (the activated form available in Australia) and folate found in food (the naturally occuring form, not synthetic added form found in some packaged foods) and again this must still be taken with the other B vitamins.

While folate is very important, we require COMPREHENSIVE preconception care.

Should my partner do it too?

YES!  Sadly, many women incorrectly blame themselves for fertility problems and/or miscarriage.  Poor sperm health can contribute to miscarriage, genetic defects and fertility issues.  Problems related to sperm health do not end at conception.

• Sperm are more vulnerable than eggs because they are smaller, more exposed and are developed entirely within the present environment.
• Some studies have found that 75% of infertility is due to male factors.
• Sperm is at least 50% responsible for the health of the baby and the pregnancy.
• Studies have found certain conditions are linked to the health of the sperm such as leukemia, asthma, bronchial/respiratory system and mental development/disease.
• Not only does it affect fertility, miscarriage rate and the health of the baby, but poor sperm health can also affect the health of the mother during pregnancy. Partners of older males have been found to have an increased rate of pre-eclampsia, regardless of the age of the mother. So just because you have fallen pregnant in the past doesn’t mean the guy doesn’t have to help out too.

What is my partner doesn’t want to come to the appointment?

Ideally preconception care involves both partners.  However if for some reason the male partner cannot or will not undergo preconception care…  One partner is better than none.

What is I’ve already fallen pregnant?

Congratulations! Now take a deep breath, relax: just because I’ve been talking about how I think it is important for couples to undergo preconception care if they have the opportunity it does not mean that NOT doing it will mean you have an unhealthy baby or terrible pregnancy. There are plenty of healthy babies out there that were conceived accidentally or under non-ideal health situations, the human body is amazing!

Remember that preconception care is about doing the best you can do, and if you’ve already conceived then take the steps now to work on your health, read more about naturopathic support in pregnancy here.

If you are thinking of having a baby and you want to give yourself the best chances and give your child the best start in life, contact us today to start a preconception program.  

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Health and Wellbeing Podcast #4

It’s time for podcast number four, and in this one I talk with fellow naturopath Laura Burton about stress, neurotransmitter health, adrenal health, ways to deal with and reduce stress via diet and lifestyle techniques.

Podcast Breakdown:

4:27 What have Laura and I been up to? Laura has been busy with her Tea Club and clinic life, and I have been busy in the clinic as well. I also have the Stress Talk coming up this Saturday at Windsor.

5:50 Stress has a big impact on our everyday life and it can be difficult to recognise stress because it comes in so many different forms. Sneaky stress!

7:00 The impact of over-exercising or the wrong forms of exercise on stress and adrenal health.

8:22 Stress impacts on nervous system balance.

8:54 The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

9:24 Serotonin

 10:45 Histamine

12:52 GABA

14:14 Dopamine

14:46 Adenosine

15:26 Laura talks about diet and nutrients for neurotransmitter and mood health

17:30 Digestive health is important in neurotransmitter health because we need to be able to breakdown our foods to absorb the nutrients required for neurotransmitter production

18:22 Vitamin C and other nutrients required for neurotransmitters and adrenal health

21:28 Iron supplementation risks, haemochromatosis and anxiety

22:40 Laura sums up how a balanced diet can usually provide the variety of

22:11 Adrenal health: How norepinephrine and epinephrine work in the body, and why high cortisol can impede muscle gain from exercise. Chronic stress can suppress out immune system and reduce our ability to heal from injuries.

24:50 Adrenal fatigue symptoms we’d look for in clinic.

26:36 Saliva testing for adrenal fatigue

28:00 Diet and lifestyle ways to deal with adrenal fatigue

29:29 Hugs for relieving stress!

30:39 Meditation increases dopamine and serotonin

31:09 Mindfulness, meditation and breathing exercises.  One moment meditation video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eFFCi12v8

35:29 Changing our mindset and ways of thinking

37:43 Gratitude practice

40:31 Our favourite stress herbs

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Health & Wellbeing Podcast #2

This is my second podcast and this time it’s all me. Today I’m talking about reasons for fatigue. Energy problems can be caused by a huge range of issues, so I wanted to discuss some of the most common ones. While it’s not a 100% conclusive list, I hope that this gives people a good place to start when they’re trying to work out why they’re so tired.

Want to subscribe to get podcasts automatically? You can do that here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/health-wellbeing-podcast/id1006574743

Podcast breakdown:

2:30 Mitochondria – The powerhouse of your cells, where energy is made. The health and quantity of our mitochrondria determine our ability to make energy, and they can they are susceptible to oxidative damage, and can be depleted by certain nutritional deficiencies.

5:22 Inflammation, particularly chronic inflammation can affect energy and cause other imbalance.

7:40 Andropause, also known as male menopause

8:16 Some tips on reducing chronic inflammation

9:14 Stress is a major cause of fatigue, usually presenting in the form of adrenal exhaustion of HPA Axis dysfunction.

11:28 Thyroid problems are another major cause of fatigue, especially hypothyroidism.

13:36 Nutritional deficiencies that can cause fatigue, Iron, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc

16:12 Certain medications can affect energy levels

16:46 Inadequate exercise can cause fatigue, but this isn’t always straightforward

18:27 The wrong diet – not enough food, too much food, or the wrong type of food for you.

20:39 Sleep. Most of us aren’t getting enough, or it can be an issue with the quality of sleep. I discuss some tips on sleep hygiene.

23:00 Sleep apnoea

23:40 Shift work

26:30 Obesity and fatigue

28:57 The importance of gut health; gut problems can cause fatigue as well.

30:00 Toxicity affects the mitochrondria- what is toxicity, where does it come from, how can you identify if you’re toxic?

31:13 What do you do if you’ve been tired for a long time and you don’t know why? Start by working out a timeline. If you can’t do this because the fatigue has been going on for such a long time then testing may be helpful. There are several different types of testing available, but you may not need to do all of them.

33:00 Some tips for reducing inflammation and improving energy through diet

34:30 Depression is a common cause of fatigue.

35:29 My favourite herbs for energy

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In the Media:

Published in Australian Natural Health: Eat Yourself Happy

If you’ve noticed your mood hasn’t been as vibrant as usual lately, one of the first things to consider is tweaking your diet. It never ceases to amaze me what amazing results can be produced with small dietary changes.

Pick up a copy of Australian Natural Health this month to have a read!

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The link between MTHFR and Thyroid health

MTHFR is a gene that has been known for several decades now, but the implications that this gene can have on our health are only becoming well known recently.

If you’ve tested positive for the MTHFR gene, you’re probably still learning about all the impacts it can have on your health. If you haven’t been tested for it, but have some concerns about your health, then I definitely recommend learning more about it and consider getting yourself and your loved ones tested.

MTHFR is just one type of gene that we can have issues with and certainly it’s not the be all and end all of our health (nothing is) but it is showing to be a very important one with some wide ranging health implications such as mental health, heart disease, digestive health, fertility issues and more. MTHFR is also linked to the health of our thyroid, and the health of our thyroid has an impact on the activity of our MTHFR gene.

I know I tend to get a little carried away when writing these articles, so for those of you have are in a hurry, I introduce my new addition to my articles, a TLDR summary (TLDR = too long; didn’t read).

TLDR:

• The MTHFR gene produces an enzyme which is responsible for the conversion of methylfolate, the activated form of folate, folinic acid and the synthetic, not good for us form, folic acid.
• A fairly large proportion of the population has some form of mutation in this gene which causes underactivity of certain chemical pathways in the body (known as methylation) à which causes methylfolate deficiency à which causes lots of health problems because it’s a very important nutrient in our biochemistry.
• Our thyroid status affects the expression of the MTHFR gene, regardless of whether you have the polymorphism (gene mutation) or not.
• MTHFR polymorphism can reduce detoxification of chemicals and also affects immune health, which can contribute to the presence of autoimmune thyroid disorders such as Graves and Hashimotos disease.
• If you don’t have methylation working properly, you’re not turning your genes on and off properly, and this can be linked to cancer, in particular thyroid cancer. There is an increased risk of thyroid cancer in those who with homozygous C677T MTHFR.

Still reading? Cool!

Here’s a bit of a summary about what MTHFR is and its impact on your health.

The MTHFR gene produces an enzyme in the body called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase which is responsible for converting folate, folic acid or folinic acid into a form that the body can use – methyltetrahydrofolate, or commonly shortened as methylfolate.

Some people have a genetic mutation in the MTHFR gene which affects this pathway, and as a result causes a lot of other issues in our health.  This methylation pathway is central to our biochemistry, so defects in this gene cause wide ranging implications and are associated with a huge amount of conditions, including but definitely not limited to:

There are two main MTHFR genes we are currently aware of (there are some other types but these are rarely tested or implicated in conditions), and your combination of these genes, as well as you diet and lifestyle, affects how much of an impact this gene has on your health. If you have the MTHFR gene mutation and you are consuming synthetic folic acid such as from fortified foods and certain supplements(*cough*most supplements out there), this can worsen your health as well, by blocking up the methylation pathways and your blood can accumulate with unmetabolised folic acid (UMFA). Accumulation of UMFA has been linked with inhibition of part of your immune system, particularly suppression of your natural killer cells (1).

MTHFR and Thyroid Health

If you have hypothyroidism, it’s likely your MTHFR gene is sluggish

And this can be whether you have the polymorphism or not.

If your thyroid is underactive then you have lower levels of a thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) in the body. Our body converts T4 to T3, and those who have an underactive thyroid are mostly prescribed T3 medication, bypassing the T4 deficiency.

Giving T3 in isolation may address the thyroid function, but T4 is involved in the process of making vitamin B2 into its active form, flavin adeninde dinucleotide (FAD) (2). If you don’t have enough T4, you can’t covert Vitamin B2 to FAD properly, and your supply will be reduced.

If you don’t have enough FAD, your MTHFR enzyme slows down, causing low methyfolate levels, and subsequently can mimic the issues caused by having the MTHFR polymorphism (3).

“But my thyroid is normal.”

It’s important to be aware that the standard test for thyroid health is TSH, and if this is within normal range most people are brushed off, being told that their thyroid is ‘fine’.

I believe that solely testing TSH levels gives an incomplete understanding of thyroid function. The current ‘normal’ range of TSH 0.5-5.0 debatable, and in addition to this, other factors such as the presence of reverse T3 (which competes with natural free form T3) and the ratio of T4:T3 (which I recommend to be 3.3:1) is rarely considered.

It’s not uncommon that even if T3 and T4 are added to a test request that they will not be performed is TSH is within normal range. This is due to the restrictions placed on doctors and labs regarding what can be covered by Medicare. If you suspect that you have an underactive thyroid and your TSH is greater than 2, it may be worthwhile discussing whether you would benefit from seeking deeper investigations with your health practitioner, and it is likely that further testing will have to be paid for yourself.

MTHFR impact on thyroid

Conversely, if you have the MTHFR polymorphism then it can impact thyroid health. MTHFR polymorphisms can cause issues with detoxification of chemicals and immune health, factors which can contribute to the development of autoimmune conditions such as Grave’s disease and Hashimotos. Chemicals such as organophosphates and those in the halide group (fluoride, chlorine and bromide) can interfere with iodine levels, an essential mineral for thyroid health. We are exposed to these chemicals on a regular basis, and unless we are making steps to minimise our exposure they can often be in harmful amounts. People with MTHFR polymorphisms have a much harder time detoxifying these chemicals, and so their effect on the thyroid function is greater.

As impaired methylation causes lower levels of methyfolate, which is involved in the production of biopterin (BH4) (1) (4). This is needed to convert tyrosine into its active form and tyrosine is needed for formation of the thyroid hormones.

Some research has found that the MTHFR genotype C677T (homozygous) can increase the risk of developing thyroid cancer in caucasians (5) (6) (7). This is a pretty scary thing to hear, but rather than view it in a negative light we should embrace this knowledge and make the steps to reduce our risk factors. Also remember that the genes don’t cause problems in themselves, rather it is our diet and lifestyle that influences the expression of these genes – we have a lot of power over our health.

It is a good idea to make steps to avoid the harmful halide chemicals and other toxins, and ensure we are getting adequate nutrients necessary for our thyroid health (you can read more about this here). Ensure you’re getting the right nutrients for methylation through your diet, and definitely avoid synthetic folic acid. If you are homozygous for C677T it may be a good idea to get baseline thyroid ultrasound, and repeat this every year or so.

If you would like to learn more you can watch a presentation by Dr Ben Lynch here.

Works Cited

1. Lynch B. [Video Presentation].; 2013 [cited 2014 November 23. Available from: http://mthfr.net/mthfr-and-thyroid-disorders/2013/07/18/.
2. Cimino JA, Jhangiani S, Schwartz E, Cooperman JM. Riboflavin metabolism in the hypothyroid human adult. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 1987 Feb; 184(2).
3. Hustad S, Nedrebø BG, Ueland PM, Schneede J, Vollset SE, Ulvik A, et al. Phenotypic expression of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase 677C–>T polymorphism and flavin cofactor availability in thyroid dysfunction. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2004 October; 80(4).
4. Miller AL. The methylation, neurotransmitter, and antioxidant connections between folate and depression. Alternative Medicine Review: a journal of clinical therapeutic. 2008 Sep; 13(3).
5. Yang YM, Zhang TT, Yuan L, Ren Y. The association between the C677T polymorphism in MTHFR gene and the risk of thyroid cancer: a meta-analysis. European review for medical and pharmacological sciences. 2014; 18(5).
6. Chen Y, Wang B, Yan S, Wang YG. Significant association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and thyroid cancer risk: evidence from a meta-analysis. Genetic testing and molecular biomarkers. 2014 Oct; 18(10).
7. Ozdemir S, Silan F, Uludag A, Atik S, Erscelcan T, Ozdemir O. Increased T-allele frequency of 677 C>T polymorphism in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene in differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Genetic testing and molecular biomarkers. 2012 July; 16(7).
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Perhaps you’ve heard about one of the latest health buzzes when it comes to mental health – a cheeky enzyme known as MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase).

If you have a mutation in this gene then it can cause your methylation processes to work too much, too little, or not enough at all.  Methylation is essentially a process that occurs where DNA gets tagged with a ‘methyl group’ which lets the rest of the body know not to read that particular bit of DNA.  It’s also involved in the production of neurotransmitters, detoxification of chemicals, nerve health and processing of certain hormones and nutrients, to name just a few.

When the MTHFR genes work properly, you have adequate enzyme activity and that means you can more efficiently make proteins, use antioxidants, metabolize hormones, enjoy more stable brain chemistry, better eliminate toxins and heavy metals, and manage inflammation.  So if you’ve got a problem with this gene, it really can be a bugger.

How does it affect your mood?

Many people with the MTHFR gene experience mood imbalances.  This gene affects your mood in a few ways.

Reduced MTHFR enzyme means that you cannot make and recycle a very important antioxidant, glutathione effectively.  Glutathione is responsible for a vast array of activities in the body and low levels have been associated with conditions such as depression, inflammation, bipolar, chronic fatigue syndrome and autism.

If your body cannot methylate the chemical homocysteine (you can find out if this is too high via a blood test) that results in decreased production of SAMe.  This leads to decreased production of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine, neurotransmitters all responsible for mood balance.

If there is a reduced ability to detoxify chemicals and heavy metals (which is a factor for those with the MTHFR gene) this can also affect your mood.  Digestive and liver health can have an indirect affect on your mental health, for several reasons such as the health of your gut flora, increased inflammation and an impact on your neurotransmitters.  Digestive health problems have been linked to mental health problems in several studies.  Click here to read more.

A lot of people with MTHFR gene also have a condition called Pyroluria (also known as Pyrolle disorder, Mauve factor, Kryptopyrrole, Kryptopyrroluria.  People with this condition produce excess amounts of a substance called Pyrolles which bind to certain nutrients such as Vitamin B6, Biotin Zinc and GLA (an essential fatty acid).  There are several conditions associated with this disorder but namely it is involved in several mental health conditions such as Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Manic depression and ADD/ADHD.  This condition is also strongly linked to the state of the digestive system.

MTHFR and Folate

One of the main issues we have come to understand with MTHFR is that people with this gene cannot process folic acid into folate effectively and so cannot handle synthetic forms of the nutrient.  This can become a bit of an issue because synthetic folic acid is in pretty much every multi-vitamin, and a lot of foods are fortified with it.  If you are consuming synthetic folic acid and you can’t process it, it clogs up a lot of the pathways that require folate and as a result a lot of health complications arise.  You can also be prone to problems relating to deficiencies of folate, such as miscarriage and neural tube defects.

Photo by Braňo on Unsplash

People with MTHFR require a special activated form of this nutrient, the type found naturally in some foods.   How much depends on the level of the gene mutations present (there’s a lot of variety that you can have) and your diet and lifestyle can have a big impact on it as well – it’s completely possible to have this gene and be symptom free and healthy if your diet and lifestyle is fine, and the gene hasn’t been ‘switched on’ (usually by stressful events).  In Australia the closest to natural folate that we have available is folinic acid (calcium folinate) supplements, however this may still be difficult to metabolise for those who have very poor methylation.

Getting tested

If you suspect that you have this gene, then you can easily get yourself tested via labs such as Healthscope, Nutripath or 23 and Me.  You may like to get this organized with a health practitioner who is knowledgeable in the realm of MTHFR, so they can guide you with treatment if needed.

Learn more: MTHFR_Related_Health_Problems

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Losing weight can be a long and frustrating process.  Some people can change their diet slightly or do a small amount of exercise and their weight just drops off.  However, some people find that no matter how much they exercise they cannot lose weight at the rate they want.

If you are struggling to lose weight with the normal methods, it may be that you have an internal barrier to weight loss.  There are several hormonal and chemical issues that can stop you from losing weight more effectively.

In the last newsletter I discussed different hormonal imbalances that can affect your ability to lose weight.  If you missed it, click here to read it: Are hormone imbalances affecting your ability to lose weight?  In this edition I will be covering some other factors that can impede your efforts as well.

Aciditiy

If the pH (acid-akaline balance) of the body is too acidic, then this can cause problems with weight loss.  Ideally our internal pH should be around 6.5 for healthy functioning.  pH can be lowered (made acidic) by drinking soft drink or eating acidic foods such as too many grains or meats, or by stress.  Your pH can be measured by a simple urine pH test.

Food intolerances

If you have an intolerance to a food and you continue to eat it, this can cause all sorts of problems in the body, due to the way it upsets the immune system, causes stress on the nervous system and increases inflammation.

Most often food intolerances cause digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea, constipation, reflux, or bloating.  However food intolerances don’t always express the same way in everyone – some people may get mood swings, headaches, skin problems, immune problems, hormone imbalances, fluid retention or aches and pains as a result of eating it.

Food intolerances can be difficult to identify because they can cause symptoms up to 48 hours after eating a food, and because the problems they cause aren’t always obviously food related.

Food intolerances are usually caused by the immune system developing an antibody or immune memory to a food, when the protein of the food slips through an enlarged pore in the digestive system and is then taken up by the immune system.  The next time you eat that food, the immune system recognizes it as being something foreign, so launches an immune attack.

Eating foods which you are intolerant to will affect normal functioning in the body and can interfere with weight loss.  It can also cause bloating and fluid retention, making your feel larger than you are as well.  Most people who cut out food intolerances lose some fat mass after a few weeks.

These can be identified by an in clinic test called Food Detective via a finger prick, with the Hair500 test, by a blood test in external laboratories, or with an elimination/challenge diet.

Gut & Liver Toxicity

There are many toxins present in our environment, and some people can have difficulty detoxifying them normally.  When we are presented with more toxins than we can process and eliminate, our body will still them in our fat cells.  This presents a problem: our body has put these toxins away for a reason – it cannot cope with them, and therefore it will block weight loss until it can effectively detoxify through the gut and liver.

People with gut and liver toxicity may carry weight in a band around the bottom of their rib cage (Naturopaths refer to this as a ‘liver roll’) and they may also experience symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, bad breath, stomach upsets and a foggy mind.

Not only will toxicity cause us to store away fat, but if we have problems with our digestive processes than it makes our weight loss efforts all the more futile.  If there isn’t enough stomach acid and enzymes being produced to break down your food for easy absorption, then all the fuel we’re putting into build our muscles doesn’t get used properly.    There more muscle you have, the better your metabolism, so if you can’t make enough muscle than it makes fat burning very difficult.

 There are many factors which can contribute to this, such as stress, bacterial imbalances, medications, food intolerances and more.  The good news is that when this problem is remedied, weight loss happens much more quickly and smoothly.

The degree of digestive toxicity can be tested by a urine test known as Urinary Indicans (first morning sample only) which is performed by your naturopath.  A VLA/bio-impedance analysis can also indicate if there may be toxicity present This test is no longer available.

A good detoxification program that supports gut, kidney and liver function will allow your body to release these toxins safely.  Most people will lose a few kilos just from detoxifying, and find that weight loss can occur much more easily after the detox is finished as well.

MTHFR

If a person has a particular gene known as MTHFR, they cannot convert folate to its active form in the body folinic acid.  This causes an increase in an inflammatory chemical, homocysteine, which can cause several problems such as weight gain that is very difficult to shift, depression, heart disease, clotting problems, and blood sugar levels imbalances.

A cheek swab or blood test can be done to identify if you have this gene present.  A blood test to assess for elevated levels of homocysteine could also be done to assess the inflammatory impact of this.

Leptin

Our fat cells produce the hormone leptin which regulates our metabolism and determines how much fat will be stored. Altered levels of leptin can cause problems with food cravings, over eating, hunger and difficulty losing weight.  This can be tested by a blood test.

Poor sleep

Is a known risk factor for weight gain, can increase appetite and blood sugar metabolism problems.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Certain nutritional deficiencies can cause a reduction in metabolism and reduce your ability to burn fat, in particular Vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency can be identified by a blood test.  Your Naturopath may be able to tell you if you are showing signs of mineral or vitamin deficiencies by asking symptoms and with some simple in clinic testing.

Inflammation

People suffering from chronic or systemic inflammation may find it hard to lose weight. This is because the inflammatory process diverts energy into fat cells, causing them to thrive and grow. This can make it very difficult to lose weight! The inflammation might come from an existing health complaint, such as an injury, digestion problem, arthritis, allergies etc, or it may be related to current dietary and lifestyle sources.  There are some markers that can be measured by a blood test to assess for inflammation.  A VLA/bio-impedance analysis can also indicate if there may be inflammation present.

If you feel like you have one or more of the above issues that is affecting your ability to lose weight, make an appointment to see how we can help you. We will go through your case history and can suggest which factors may be relevant for you, and can discuss your testing options with you. Once we have identified what is happening we can create a treatment plan to naturally and safely address your internal barriers to weight loss.

The post Internal Barriers to Weight Loss – Part 2 appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.