Gut Health, Bloating & Menopause: What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You | Serena Teddy

Andrea (: 00:00

So it sounds to me like it should just be called paramenopause, menopause, and you're not done yet, menopause. We could come up with a lot of names for that one. All right, so we're gonna move on because we're dying to know more about you, Serena, and to give some insight into you. You're so, so good.

Karen Viesta (: 00:05

Ha

Dawn Wiggins (: 00:13

Yes.

Andrea (: 00:17

so Serena is the founder of Steady Health and Wellness, where she combines functional medicine, nutrition, neuroscience, and psychology to help people uncover the root causes behind chronic symptoms, burnout, gut issues, and hormone imbalances. And after navigating her own autoimmune journey, she became a passion she became passionate about helping others move beyond survival mode and reconnect with themselves through practical science-based healing.

She is known for making complex health topics feel honest and relatable, just as she is here. And she focuses on the connection between stress, trauma, emotions, relationships, and physical health. Her work explores everything from gut health and nervous system regulation to the emotional patterns and chronic stress that can keep the body stuck. You got a lot on your plate, girlfriend. That's a lot. Yes, yes. So

Ozzie (: 01:07

Yeah, she does.

Andrea (: 01:12

It wasn't never.

Dawn Wiggins (: 01:14

But

I think that's the case with integrative practitioners these days, right? We do, we take it all on because we see it's all relevant. Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 01:22

Yeah. Yeah,

Andrea (: 01:23

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 01:24

it's all connected. Fortunately.

Andrea (: 01:24

Yeah. So let's get a little bit granular on this. So you know, a lot of women in midlife are suddenly starting to experience the bloating and all the food sem sensitivities and constipation and the weight gain, even though maybe nothing has really changed for them. So what is actually happening in the gut during those phases of perimenopause and menopause? What's going on there?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 01:46

So we have

we have receptors in our GI tract that correspond to estrogen and progesterone. And any women who's had babies will will say that's true. Because what happens when we get pregnant, we all have heartburn and we're all constant bloated all at the same time because we have a massive amount of hormones going on in our body. What's happening in perimenopause is that we start to see fluctuation in those hormones.

Andrea (: 02:00

Mm-hmm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 02:11

It's more of the up and down that's really kind of like a roller coaster ride, and the gut has a hard time dealing with that large change that's happening. So estrogen helps with things like you know, gut motility, helps with ⁓ in the immune health of the gut, helps with gear barrier as well as the estroblome.

Andrea (: 02:22

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 02:31

So when your estrogen begins to change, same with a progesterone, you begin to experience symptoms of like bloating, constipation, IBS, leaky gut. So it's because of the effects of those hormones.

Ozzie (: 02:42

Mm.

Andrea (: 02:43

Interesting. I always thought that the heartburn, or I was told when you're pregnant, that it's the baby has a lot of hair. Is that like they always say, your baby has a lot of hair. Remember my mom saying that.

Ozzie (: 02:51

Wivetale.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 02:52

Hmm. Mary's sister had

singer for birth her both babies came out bald, so I don't know.

Karen Viesta (: 02:58

Yeah.

Andrea (: 02:58

So no relation. Mama lied.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 03:00

I don't know.

The progesterone just slows everything down, you know, so and for good reason y your progesterone is there to kinda hold the keep your uterus in line so it's not you're not losing it in the first trimester of your pregnancy. But it what you're feeling is the effects of the progesterone.

And we see that in ⁓ women in the perimenopause, you when their progesterone and estrogen begins to change, they they do experience more gut symptoms. But not everybody experiences gut symptoms, which to me is fascinating because I think it's got to do with their estroblome, the microbiome in the gut ⁓ that helps with metabolism of estrogen. You know, that's I think what is one of the factors that can affect whether or not they develop gut symptoms or not.

Andrea (: 03:19

Interesting.

Mm.

Dawn Wiggins (: 03:43

That is fascinating. I was gonna ask if you found that most people have some level of leaky gut that then gets like exponentially worse during menopause, but you're saying, no, that's not the case.

Karen Viesta (: 03:43

And Serena ⁓ go ahead, John.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 03:58

Well, it's hard to say if it gets exponentially worse because you would have to measure them before they could develop gut symptoms and after. Most women come to me when they've already developed gut symptoms. So I can't tell if that leaky gut has been there for a long time. It's just gone worse, or this is the first time we're seeing it. You know, no idea. You know, but your estroom, ⁓ so you know you have an estrobilome problem if you respond to calcium deglucurate. So let me let me kind of explain that a little bit. So

Your estrobilome is this cluster of bacteria and they're they make a enzyme called beta glucuronidase. And beta glucuronidase does this, ⁓ what they do is they help with estrogen ⁓ carbohydrate

digestion, but they also help recycle estrogen back into the system. So what the liver does is when you've had excess of estrogen, the liver deactivates estrogen, throws into the gut, and what the gut does is stores it until it's time to exit. Right? Now your estroblome, what it does is when it makes this enzyme, it can uncouple

That estrogen making it active again, and it's just recycled through the gut back into your circulation. So when you have lots of data chucluronidase, you got lots of estrogen recycled back into the system. So you're what you would call estrogen dominant. Exactly. Estrogen dominant people have lots of bloating, they have a lot of gut sensitivity because your estrogen makes your pain receptors in your gut much more sensitive.

Dawn Wiggins (: 05:17

estrogen dominance. Wow!

Andrea (: 05:19

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 05:29

So in the sense, like working on your gut microbiome can actually affect your hormones because you're working on addressing the estroblem, but you also need to address the other pieces of what affects your gut health, like your stress, your toxin exposure, your lifestyle choices, yada, yada, yada. Does that make sense?

Andrea (: 05:29

Mm.

Karen Viesta (: 05:49

That's very interesting, Serena, because I only recently started becoming very sensitive to gluten to the point where I'm so bloated and uncomfortable that I I have basically cut it out of my diet. So what what you're saying is interesting.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 05:57

Mm.

So when if you develop like new sensitivity, I would say don't guess, get tested. Okay, because sometimes we are very good at DIY, right? We all fix our own problems. Something needs to be working, we go on to online. plumbing, we can fix that, you know. Electricity, maybe not that, but you know, something needs to be

Karen Viesta (: 06:12

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Ozzie (: 06:16

Yep.

Chat GPT

Andrea (: 06:23

Mm-hmm.

Ozzie (: 06:24

comes in handy.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 06:25

Exactly. Exactly.

Karen Viesta (: 06:26

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 06:27

So if you're noticing, hey, I'm having more symptoms with gluten, maybe you're not having symptoms with gluten, but maybe you're having symptoms with yeast.

Karen Viesta (: 06:27

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 06:35

Maybe you're having symptoms because you're not clearing your stool regularly. So you're not pooping as cleanly as you should. Maybe there is an issue with motility. Things aren't moving the way they should. So and we think, that's because I've become I have leaky gut. And I'm like, that may not be the case. You may not have a leaky gut. It might be a motility issue. It could be a dysbiosis issue. It could be

true true sensitivity and we're using bloating as the as the symptom but we're clustering it and said I have a leaky gut because I'm bloated. I'm like that's too linear.

Ozzie (: 07:08

Right. Right. You gotta you gotta open the hood. Click under the hood.

Andrea (: 07:08

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 07:11

You gotta you gotta

Andrea (: 07:11

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 07:12

that clanking noise is not always the carburetor or whatever car particle.

Ozzie (: 07:16

But

Dawn Wiggins (: 07:17

Yeah, you're talking about being able to really

Karen Viesta (: 07:17

Yeah.

Andrea (: 07:18

We don't know.

Dawn Wiggins (: 07:19

nail down some level of causality. That's very cool.

Karen Viesta (: 07:19

Yeah, yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 07:22

Yeah. And then so you avoiding

Ozzie (: 07:23

Yeah, and Serena, talk about people like

me. So I I process estrogen, as you know, quickly. So estrogen doesn't so talk about in that. And I also at the same time have some one of my symptoms is has has for a long time been been constipation. That when motility is not is not always at where it needs to be, and my gut stuff starts to activate. So so let's if you don't mind talk about that.

Andrea (: 07:50

Ooh, tell us.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 07:50

Talk about

conservation. So talk about

Ozzie (: 07:54

Talk about where?

Andrea (: 07:55

Tell us about her

constipation.

Ozzie (: 07:57

Talk about my constipation.

Karen Viesta (: 07:57

Ha ha ha

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 07:59

There's a lot more sophisticated people out there than people realize. You know, and you know when you've made a good poop when you just suddenly feel really, really clean. And I see that people like I don't know what that means, but if you've gone through it, you know what that means. Everything's cleared out. Now, technically we're supposed to clear out whatever we ate

Ozzie (: 08:10

Mm-hmm.

Andrea (: 08:15

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 08:20

the last 24 hours overnight and then out it goes, right? But sometimes we don't clear it out completely. And when we don't clear it out completely, that bacteria in our soul actually ferments more food as it comes out and it causes that bloating. So part of the solution to chronic bloating is actually making sure you poop on a regular basis. And one of the issues is people actually don't get enough fiber in their diet. Every everybody tells me, I'm eating a salad, I'm like great, do you know how many fiber there is in a in one cup of salad? There really isn't very much.

And then all of us are low carb because we're all afraid to like gain weight. So we're missing all the beans and the lentils, all the things that are high in fiber, and also all the things that causes bloating. So we miss out all those. So we don't get enough fiber in our diet. And as a result, we don't actually poop completely. And we're chronically stressed. You know, so when we're stressed, you know, our parasympathetic nervous system doesn't completely activate when it's supposed to. It you're you're it's almost like I tell people like if you're chronically sympathetic, you

You

are a car that's constantly on. And even when you're in the driveway and your car is parked, your car is still on. It's not turned off, not completely. So for people who are chronically constipated, one, unless they had an issue of like, I had a GI infection X number of years ago, and after that, my gut changes. Now that could be because there's ⁓ damage to the motility, or it's because like they're chronically stressed that could affect their gut motility.

Andrea (: 09:29

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 09:47

Or it could be that they actually need more fiber in their diet. You know, so there are many reasons as to why people are constipated, but a lot people a lot of people are actually more constipated than they actually believe that they are. I had I did an experiment with my one of my patients and it's a ⁓ beet experiment. I had her eat beets and had her wait a few see how long it took for it to come out. Two days before she saw the beets. And she poops every day.

Andrea (: 10:02

Mm.

Ozzie (: 10:13

For beats.

Dawn Wiggins (: 10:16

That is really clever.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 10:16

So what she poop

I know, but that what she was pooping was actually poop from two days ago.

Dawn Wiggins (: 10:23

And then there's the fermentation you're talking about in the bloating. Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 10:25

That's the fermentation

that I'm talking about. So she's pooping daily. So she's not wrong. I'm pooping daily. But things aren't just clearing out properly.

Ozzie (: 10:31

Well, what do beats do?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 10:33

It it dies the student red.

Dawn Wiggins (: 10:35

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 10:38

You can do Cheetos right now.

Ozzie (: 10:38

So it

Andrea (: 10:38

Mm.

Ozzie (: 10:39

No, no, no.

Karen Viesta (: 10:40

Yeah.

Andrea (: 10:41

She does.

No, no.

Karen Viesta (: 10:44

Yeah.

Ozzie (: 10:45

No thanks.

Andrea (: 10:46

And shouldn't it I I think I'm pretty sure I heard this that when you are pooping clean, I mean you should be able to just wipe and like it is clean. You may don't you don't even need toilet paper when your body is so clean and it just comes out like that. We'll we'll say that. Uh-oh.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 10:59

You should write the response.

Ozzie (: 11:02

⁓

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 11:04

But if you're like in the ⁓

obviously, but if it's using like streaks, you're not wiping completely, it could be because of a valvular issue, you know, the the rectum isn't closing completely, there's you know, some ⁓ mucus coming out, so there's there's stuff happening. There's stuff happening.

Andrea (: 11:15

Mm-hmm.

Dawn Wiggins (: 11:22

You opened Pandora's

box, Andrea!

Andrea (: 11:25

this isn't the poop episode.

Ozzie (: 11:26

It's a very shitty conversation.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 11:29

It

is a great conversation.

Andrea (: 11:31

Well, I do want to touch base on you you mentioned about all the DIY stuff out there. And women are constantly trying to do that through social media, podcasts, supplements, wearable devices, Google, and now, of course, AI. And there's so much conflicting information also around the probiotics and fasting and gluten and dairy and detoxes and gut healing. So, what are some of the biggest myths that you see women believing right now? And what should we actually be focusing on? Can you give us just a couple?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 11:36

Yeah.

Yeah.

Andrea (: 12:01

Examples.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 12:02

Yes.

The g biggest myth is that it's a leaky gut or it's SIBO and this supplement will fix it. That's usually what I get a lot of. You know, I have these symptoms. I took these supplements. I think I'm better, but I'm not really sure, but I still have bloating. That's the kind of patients I see. You know, and what they're failing to do is they're failing to address all the stuff that's free.

Andrea (: 12:09

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 12:25

So we're talking about diet, we're talking about lifestyle, we're talking about sleep, we're talking about better boundaries, they're failing to address an exercise. Exactly. An exercise. They're failing to address those because those are usually what fixes a majority of the problem. But most women, ⁓ because they're so busy, because they have so many roles, they're reaching to supplements and hoping that that's the answer. And then they're adding more and more.

Ozzie (: 12:30

Exercise.

Andrea (: 12:47

Mm.

Ozzie (: 12:47

The fast.

Mm-hmm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 12:49

You know, going from one supplement company to another, to another, to another. And before I know it, they're like taking like five antimicrobials. And antimicrobials, you will think, they're just natural. They should be fine. I'm like, we shudder when we have to go on an antibiotic. What do you think an antimicrobial is? It's an antibiotic, but it's natural. It still has antibacterial effects. And so what are we doing actually to our gut where we just take these things without really getting tested?

Andrea (: 13:05

Yeah.

So do you have them stop taking it or you like quit with the supplements?

Ozzie (: 13:16

Or knowing her about it.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 13:19

It

it depends on their symptoms. I've had a few patients that I had a I had one patient come to me with like forty-seven supplements and I'm like and and that not you actually was someone else. I think I can't remember how many my place and when I drastically reduced to only the ones that they needed and

Ozzie (: 13:32

I had a lot.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 13:38

only that I did nothing else but only that because they're waiting for new things to arrive. Their bloating like almost went away completely. I think it's because the liver was not processing so much information. You know it's almost like we're screaming at our body do this, do this, do this, do this, do this. And your body's like, I don't know what you want me to do. And they just kind of stall.

Ozzie (: 13:59

Well, and the body also knows how to do it on its own. So if you're adding more things, excuse me, if you're adding more things to try to help it, right? ⁓ you're you're you're just over whatever the word is, overwhelming it. Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 14:12

Overwhelming the system.

Yeah. Really overwhelming the system. So sometimes less is more. And sometimes depending on what their symptoms are. And I've been in ⁓ practice long enough to kind of be able to tell like what's probably happening. And so when I meet people for the first time, I usually have an idea what's happening. And when I run a test, it's just to confirm the suspicion. And that's what generally good medicine is. You usually have an idea what's going on. We run tests just to confirm our suspicion. That's what the test is there for.

Andrea (: 14:40

Mm-hmm.

Karen Viesta (: 14:42

Well, and it's

interesting that you say that, Serena, because you know, I have seen functional medicine doctors for years. Every single time I meet with one of them and and they have my blood work, right? There's no mystery about it. They know exactly what what the blood work is showing. I invariably leave that appointment with two or three more supplements. So I I too take a lot of supplements, but I think I've gotten myself to that point because

This is how the doctors have guided me. It's not me saying, I'll just pull these off the shelf, right? I'm being guided by functional medicine doctors to take this one and now we're gonna add this one. And so it's just it feels I I I, you know, and and I'm someone who is knowledgeable about this. I'm not, you know, I I would say probably, you know, as someone who's a certified health coach, I have a little bit of an understanding of this. And still I feel as if it's a hard nut to crack because

This is what we're being told to do by our medical professionals.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 15:46

Well, I I'll be honest. I think a couple of weeks ago I discharged three patients because they were better. I'd worked with them for a period of time, they've gone better, and I said, Okay, bye, you don't have to see you again until you need me, you know? And that's what's really hard as a business owner is that when you discharge patients, those patients don't come back. Now you gotta find new patients. So that's a terrible business problem.

Andrea (: 16:06

Mm.

Karen Viesta (: 16:08

Right, right.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 16:08

You know, because I'm constantly looking for new people

because when I get people better, they leave my practice and then I don't see them again until like maybe a year down the road or like six months down or when something happens. Right. And and I had work for a functional practice where that is the worst thing that can happen is that that person doesn't come back anymore. And now you've kind of like lost that income.

In a sense. So sometimes we end up treating numbers when there's no symptoms to back it up. And I think it's important patients to know, like, hey, are my symptoms really better? And do I need to focus on, you know, doing things that are like

Andrea (: 16:34

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 16:51

maybe this gonna get me a little bit better. But for me to take five things to get me a little bit better, is it worth it? You have to have that honest conversation between you and the practitioners and you have to make that decision for yourself because there is no good answer. You know and go ahead.

Ozzie (: 17:05

Also it also

what you did with me, you had me run a number of of tests so you could see what's going on or you could prove your suspicion, right? And and that gives you data, right? I did a DNA test and you were able to see, you know, how my body processes certain things. Not that it gives you everything, but it certainly gives you enough information to know how to treat a patient and to know what to do and and certainly not to just throw supplements at me.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 17:11

Mm-hmm.

Ozzie (: 17:32

you could see by the data that you that's in front of you. Okay, so so Ozzy's body does this, this, and this, and this, and this is how she processes this, this, and this. And then what I think would might help here, maybe, you know, she needs more vitamin C or maybe more vitamin E and maybe, you know, encourage her to eat more orange, whatever it might it might have been. But I think you need that, a little bit of that.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 17:51

Great. Yes.

Yes. And I think the danger with DNA testing is that we are thinking that if my DNA says this, therefore this is true. I'll give you an example. MTHFR. We all have heard about it, all of us touched about it, all of us on some methylated supplement, yada yada yada. But and everyone who has an MTHFR SNP is gonna believe that they have these symptoms, but the majority of them actually don't have that gene turned on.

Dawn Wiggins (: 18:01

Hmm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 18:18

You know, and the way I explain to people is like if you carry a cancer gene or an Alzheimer's gene, that gene can stay dormant for a very long time and you need to do absolutely nothing except for live a healthy life until that gene gets turned on.

You know, and I think the danger of DNA tests is that DNA test is going to reveal every crack that you can potentially develop. And I use the word potentially because you may not have developed any of those symptoms yet. And if you start taking a bunch of supplements because of these potential, that doesn't guarantee that your health is going to be optimal. It just means that now you're taking a bunch of supplements and at

some point you're gonna be like, I have no idea if any of these supplements are doing me any benefit or if it's causing any harm because my DNA test says so. I think it's we I think we need to be judicious about interpreting DNA tests without ⁓ without symptoms.

Ozzie (: 19:11

Hundred percent.

Dawn Wiggins (: 19:13

Well, and then we're perseverating on having that snip, right? And, you know, freaking out about it. And I even feel myself tempted to say like, Serena, what are your go-to list of supplements that you do recommend? But it's individualized, right? I'm clearing this head cold right now and I muscle tested myself for vitamin C yesterday and my body said no. How many people?

Ozzie (: 19:30

So individualist.

Andrea (: 19:31

Mm-hmm.

Dawn Wiggins (: 19:37

would be sick and consider not taking vitamin C, my body doesn't need any right now. It told me very clearly it didn't need it. ⁓ And that's probably the best answer, right? Is like,

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 19:44

Right.

Right, right. But not everybody but not everybody knows how to muscle test. We don't already have access to muscle testing. You know, so they're going to lean on information out there to treat information inside because we don't have access to how to fix ourselves. And so we're leaning w like what you're saying earlier, we're outsourcing.

Ozzie (: 19:48

Chicken soup done.

Andrea (: 19:53

That's what I was gonna say.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 20:08

You know, where I had a I even had a patient's like, Are you sure I'm better? And I'm like, do you have any of the symptoms you came through with? They're like, No. Then I'm like, that means you're better. And I'm like, Yes, I'm sure. But they're asking me how they should be feeling. I'm like, mm, there's something wrong with this picture.

Dawn Wiggins (: 20:17

No self trust. Yeah, no self trust.

Ozzie (: 20:17

Yeah.

Andrea (: 20:18

Mm-hmm.

Karen Viesta (: 20:18

Yeah.

Andrea (: 20:27

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 20:30

My question.

Andrea (: 20:30

Okay, well, we're

gonna move on to our legs wide open section where you're gonna give us a little bit more of these myths, possibly that we're dealing with. okay, so here's our game. I'm gonna throw out some popular wellness trends that women constantly hear about online during menopause and paramenopause. So, ladies, if you have your paddles, Serena doesn't have one, but we have our yes or our no. So green is gonna be that it's helpful.

Ozzie (: 20:45

Okay.

Andrea (: 20:54

Read as if it's harmful. And then we're gonna ask you, Serena, if you agree or disagree and kind of let us know why are women trying it? Does it actually work or is it more harmful than good? Cool? Everybody ready? All right. Number one, cortisol mocktails. Are these trendy hormone balancing drinks actually helping with our stress or are they just expensive juices? Cortisol mocktails. ⁓ I meant that way.

Ozzie (: 21:20

What the heck is Corazone

Mocktail?

Andrea (: 21:22

Let's hope Serena knows.

Dawn Wiggins (: 21:26

I wasn't sure at first either, but then I gotcha, right? And the answer is probably, depends.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 21:33

Cortisol mocktails, which I honestly have no idea what they are, but I can guess what they are. They're basically these cocktails to either bring your cortisol down or bring the cortisol up, right? So here's what's interesting about cortisol. Cortisol does not show up when you're initially stressed. Cortisol shows up minutes after you can't resolve your stress. What actually shows up first is actually adrenaline.

So if you can't resolve the stress, then cortisol shows up. But usually about like five to ten, sorry, about like yeah, five to ten minutes after the trigger of the stress. So cortisol mocktails is running off the idea that if I drink this thing, it will bring my cortisol down. That's a terrible

Andrea (: 21:59

Mm-hmm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 22:18

process because you want your body to respond appropriately as it should. We should not be the ones deciding whether or not we decide to pull the finger out of the fire. Our body should be the one doing that normal reaction, automatic reaction. no, it's a myth.

Andrea (: 22:30

Hmm.

Hmm. Myth. Outta here. Outta here. All right. Next one. All right. We have fasting during menopause. So d can fasting help inflammation and weight gain in midlife, or is it just kind of backfiring?

Ozzie (: 22:36

Aren't the kids doing this? Yeah.

Karen Viesta (: 22:39

is that right?

Ozzie (: 22:50

It depends on you and your body. It's so individual.

Andrea (: 22:50

⁓ yeah.

Karen Viesta (: 22:51

Yeah, I think it depends.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 22:55

So a

Karen Viesta (: 22:55

But but I

think I've heard that there's a lot of data to support the fact that it actually stresses women women's systems in menopause. So

Andrea (: 22:59

Benefits.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 23:02

Okay, so this is a little

kind of like according to Dr. Stacey Sims, which I'm I'm not sure many of you know of Dr. Stacey Sims.

Ozzie (: 23:07

Mm-hmm.

Karen Viesta (: 23:08

Yeah, love her.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 23:10

So for women, we don't necessarily benefit as much with fasting as they do in men. Most of the data is actually on men. And what women need to do if they're going to fast, I would say you need to fast between meals. That's probably what's gonna help you the most. Women tend to snack a lot because we get peckish or you know, we feel some sort of emotion. We need a piece of chocolate.

But I think fasting meals is super helpful because that's when you activate your mitochondria motor complex to help move the food from a small intestine to your large intestine. But fasting in the morning before you work out is probably gonna hurt you more than if you ate a little something before you work out. And why is that? Because our cortisol goes up and when we eat, we actually ⁓ bring our cortisol down, and that actually helps regulate it for the rest of the day. So

Andrea (: 23:34

Mm.

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 24:01

women between meals yes four to six hours in the morning if you're going to do a morning workout eat a little something to try to help regulate cortisol before you go work out and it doesn't have to be a big anything it can just be a bite of cottage cheese it's just to signal to your body we have food we are good we're safe let's move on throughout the day so same

Ozzie (: 24:21

You're okay.

Andrea (: 24:23

Mm, I like that.

Dawn Wiggins (: 24:24

Fantastic answer.

Andrea (: 24:26

Yeah, it's really good. All right, number three, magnesium before bed. Is that as helpful as we think it is with sleep and anxiety? We're all saying yes, but dawn's on a

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 24:35

Yes.

Dawn Wiggins (: 24:38

Well,

because I do think that, like, I don't think my body needs any more magnesium anymore. I think I've taken so much of it. Not none, right? But I think I'm at an optimal level. So again, it's like, if I were to muscle test for magnesium lately, it would typically say there's enough there. So I'm only saying, I'm only flipping to say, we should...

we should have some level of understanding about what our individual bodies are actually saying.

Ozzie (: 25:08

Do

you muscle tests for everything that you take, by the way?

Dawn Wiggins (: 25:12

Often.

Ozzie (: 25:13

Okay. Maybe we need a whole episode on muscle testing. I know nothing about it.

Karen Viesta (: 25:16

Yeah. Serena,

Andrea (: 25:16

I know.

I don't even know what it is.

Karen Viesta (: 25:17

do you Serena, do you use muscle testing with your patients?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 25:19

So

I don't. I don't use muscles. I'm not I'm not well versed enough to use it with my patient. I have dabbled in it once in a while to kind of usually to ask for spiritual answers more than anything. But with that said, when it comes to magnesium, there are different varieties of magnesium. There's magnesium that help replace deficiency. There's magnesium that help with constipation. There's magnesium that help with, you know, reducing headaches. There's magnesium that help with ⁓ our mood.

Generally we recommend magnesium at night because magnesium has a tendency to help our muscles relax. And what do we want to do at night? We want to relax.

So therefore magnesium at night, but that doesn't mean you can't take magnesium in the day. So for patients who have a lot of like muscle tension, I might sometimes give them magnesium in the daytime to just kind of help them, you know, relax their body. However, with that said, same with the odomets, like it really depends. And I'm not kind of like take this for the rest of your life. It's just kind of like, hey, this is a tool, this is what it does, and here's how you're gonna use it.

Andrea (: 26:21

Okay, great, great. Okay, here's one that I have heard is pretty good, but let's see. Hormone pellets. Is it a miracle for your libido and your energy, or should women be cautious about that?

Ozzie (: 26:22

Love my magnesium.

I don't know much about the pellets, guys.

Dawn Wiggins (: 26:38

I did them for years,

like, again, it didn't solve the thing, right? It was a temporary...

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 26:46

Are we talking about testosterone pellets? Right?

Andrea (: 26:48

Mm-hmm. Yeah. The one right? Are those the ones you put yeah. In your butt?

Dawn Wiggins (: 26:49

⁓ I think they put all of them in my, they put all

Karen Viesta (: 26:49

That's yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 26:53

And

Dawn Wiggins (: 26:53

of

them. Yeah, yeah. It was like measured and then they put it all in a pill. They surgically implanted. I did get pregnant when, right? Like the HRT did probably help with the fertility. So.

Andrea (: 26:59

Yeah.

Karen Viesta (: 27:05

I think now they use testosterone pellets ⁓ to help with libido, which is which is I think where the question was leading, right?

Ozzie (: 27:15

Interesting.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 27:16

I've had women really benefit from testosterone pellets, but I've had women go on testosterone pellets and still not want to have intercourse with their partners because there's other deeper things going on. Now they're just horny and frustrated.

Andrea (: 27:29

Yeah.

That was my girlfriend. She's like Yeah. My girlfriend took and

Karen Viesta (: 27:31

Not a good combination.

Ozzie (: 27:33

good combination. Wait, while we're on that while we're on that

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 27:34

Well

Ozzie (: 27:36

subject of libido, what about ⁓ estrogen ⁓ creams?

Andrea (: 27:41

⁓ In between the thighs, the yam cream and stuff.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 27:41

accession creams for for libido.

Ozzie (: 27:45

Well, I think they're using for the B, but other other there are other things that it's actually really helpful for now that I mean, again, I don't know if this is just what is being fed to us again, but that's what everyone's talking about now is the estrogen creams.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 27:56

I usually when you do estrogen

creams, I don't see that so much for libido unless the estrogen is also doing other things to help alleviate the woman's symptoms. You know, but what's interesting when it comes to hypo hyposexual arousal disorder is that the one medication that we do have, Addy, is not hormone-based. It's serotonin-based.

Ozzie (: 28:07

Mm.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 28:21

So that is actually what turns on women on, quotation mark. And do you know that joke that they have?

Andrea (: 28:27

That's the pink pill.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 28:29

Yes, the pink what turns women on isn't like one big button, like men is like simple. Women, our arousal and our libido is, you know, related to other factors, how we feel about ourselves, in our relationship with our partners. And now with that said, I like to challenge that thought a little bit, which is polycystic ovarian syndrome, those women have lots of testosterone. They don't necessarily have more libido.

Karen Viesta (: 28:29

Pink tail, yeah.

Ozzie (: 28:52

Mm-hmm.

Andrea (: 28:56

Mm.

Ozzie (: 28:58

Makes sense.

Dawn Wiggins (: 28:58

So what's your

relationship with insulin?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 29:02

Yeah, it's a ⁓ PCOS is an insulant problem, but those women, that's why they have acne. That's why they have better growth. It's from the testosterone, but they don't necessarily have better libido. So I'm not sure if the pellets are 100% improving libido, if it's there's a slight placebo placebo effect. You know, so that that's just kind of like my thought.

Ozzie (: 29:07

And hair.

Andrea (: 29:14

Mm.

Ozzie (: 29:28

Dawn't believe everything you see on Instagram.

Karen Viesta (: 29:30

That's right.

Andrea (: 29:31

Okay, well what about this one? Apple cider vinegar shots for gut health. Game changer or overhyped social media trend?

Ozzie (: 29:37

Depends

on your right, if your h your body's highly acidic, right? You probably don't

Karen Viesta (: 29:39

Yeah, I think it depends.

Dawn Wiggins (: 29:39

Yeah, okay, you're.

Andrea (: 29:40

I yeah, I okay, I heard it was good.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 29:43

Yeah, depends on your gut.

Yeah. It it does help with blood sugar though. Apple cider vinegar, the acetic acid, it helps with, you know, regulating your glu your insulin re ⁓ release. So it does help metabolically. I will caution people with apple cider vinegar, just make sure you mix in water and not do a straight shot because of your teeth. Your dentist is probably not gonna be very happy about that, but you know who cares about your teeth?

Andrea (: 29:55

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Who cares? Okay.

Ozzie (: 30:10

No, we should care.

Dawn Wiggins (: 30:12

Thank you, not treating

the human body like a car.

Andrea (: 30:15

yeah, right.

Ozzie (: 30:16

We should care and that's a whole other episode, guys. We should do a a whole episode on Keith and how it's connected, yeah.

Karen Viesta (: 30:19

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 30:20

It's

Andrea (: 30:21

About things we should care about.

Okay, just a couple more here. ⁓ mouth taping for sleep. Is that legit? TikTok get way too far away on that. I've never tried it, so I can't even say. Somebody

Karen Viesta (: 30:35

I don't know, I'm gonna say yes.

Ozzie (: 30:36

I tried it. I

Dawn Wiggins (: 30:36

I mean,

Ozzie (: 30:36

didn't I didn't think I slept any better.

Dawn Wiggins (: 30:37

you

Karen Viesta (: 30:37

I'm gonna say yes.

Dawn Wiggins (: 30:40

It's not good to mouth breathe. that's real, right? But like also if we did all the things TikTok told us to do, like I would be frightened of myself.

Andrea (: 30:50

We'd be like, we don't know what we'd be doing.

Ozzie (: 30:51

Yeah.

Dawn Wiggins (: 30:53

But

can we address the reason we're not, the reason we're mouth breathing in the first place? Like, can we get to that issue that we don't have to tape our mouths?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 30:59

Yeah.

So the whole point of mouth by the way, there's myotape. I don't know if you guys have heard of myotape. They're just tape that goes around the perimeter of your mouth. So you can still open your mouth, you know, because some people feel like if they tape their entire mouth completely, they're suffocating. Right? Myo allows you to still open your mouth. It just your your your face has to work a little bit harder to open your mouth. Now, if you are mouth breathing, you're probably not breathing through your nose. And so if

Ozzie (: 31:16

Mm-hmm.

Andrea (: 31:16

Yeah.

Ozzie (: 31:28

Which means what?

Andrea (: 31:29

No.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 31:30

Which means something's happening in your sinus, you're breathing in something. So you probably should address that rather than suffocating yourself at night by mouth taping.

Ozzie (: 31:37

Yeah, but what happens when you don't get just so that the listeners can hear? If you if you're not breathing through your nose, you're not what?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 31:43

If you're not breathing through your nose, so your nose is designed to clean and as an immune organ, your mouth is not. So when you breathe through your nose, anything that comes in that's a pathogen, your nose is designed to get rid of that. So when you're mouth breathing, you are your teeth is very dry. So then your teeth is more prone to cavities. You know, you're also inhaling God knows what into your mouth. And your mouth, which is not designed to have to have that immune function, you're gonna ingest that into your gut.

Andrea (: 31:56

Sneeze.

Ozzie (: 32:10

god. Okay.

Andrea (: 32:11

Mm.

Dawn Wiggins (: 32:11

Because

we have two different types of immune system, right?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 32:14

We do have two different kinds of ⁓ immune response, but I think with regards to mouth breathing, that's mainly just to ⁓ help you breathe mainly through your sinuses and not through your mouth so you're not ingesting things. And your mouth does have antimicrobial effects, it's just not as strong as your sinuses. Because it's just not meant. It's our nose is supposed to be meant to moisten and also to and that's why we have hairs in there to prevent stuff from entering. Our mouth doesn't have hairs.

Andrea (: 32:44

Mm. We hope not.

Ozzie (: 32:46

Speak for yourself.

Dawn Wiggins (: 32:47

Yeah,

great.

Andrea (: 32:49

Depends what's been in your mouth.

⁓ gosh, dirty mind. Okay. Last one. But you got me. So you're just on the same ride as me. All right. last one, because I know quite a few that drink this. A matcha instead of a coffee. Is it really better for hormones, cortisol, and anxiety? Or is it another social media claim?

Ozzie (: 32:57

You said it. I d

Karen Viesta (: 32:59

Ha ha

ha.

Ozzie (: 33:04

Been a while, guys. It's been a while.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 33:18

I don't know if it's better.

Dawn Wiggins (: 33:21

I know I don't care.

Andrea (: 33:24

You just love them, is that it? You drink it?

Dawn Wiggins (: 33:26

No, no, no, no. I saw her real recently

and it got me and it was like, watch my face as I eliminate coffee and sugar from my diet. And I was like, this eye and I'm watching it. And she goes,

Andrea (: 33:39

Yeah.

Dawn Wiggins (: 33:44

Like she just got sad, right? Because she loves coffee and sugar.

Ozzie (: 33:48

Ha ha ha.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 33:48

Well,

Andrea (: 33:49

that's great.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 33:50

matcha does have phytochemicals which are good for our gut flora. But so does coffee. Coffee has benefits too. So to say one is better than the other, I don't think that's fair because each of them have benefits. And I think it's bad for us to say one is better than the other. Now, Japanese who drink a lot of matcha, they don't just drink matcha, they also do a whole lot of other things to keep themselves healthy. It's not just matcha.

Andrea (: 34:04

Mm-hmm.

Ozzie (: 34:15

Hmm. Dawn't believe all the hype.

Andrea (: 34:16

Mm. Mm. There we go.

Dawn Wiggins (: 34:17

And if you're ordering your matcha,

if you're ordering your matcha from Starbucks, they're probably putting a whole lot of like corn syrup in it.

Ozzie (: 34:22

⁓ You're not doing

Andrea (: 34:25

Yes.

Ozzie (: 34:25

yourself

any service by getting the matcha from from Starbucks.

Dawn Wiggins (: 34:27

No.

Andrea (: 34:28

Yeah to make it yourself.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 34:29

I

Andrea (: 34:30

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 34:30

think think some people it actually increases the oxalate levels and it ac it can attribute and cause joint pain for some people. You know, so it's yeah, yeah, it's you know. Mm-hmm.

Ozzie (: 34:38

Mm-hmm.

Dawn Wiggins (: 34:38

Is that like kale that has the oxalate? Like kale.

Andrea (: 34:38

Mm.

Karen Viesta (: 34:41

Yep. Yes.

Ozzie (: 34:42

And almonds too. Almonds with a with

a k the the peels.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 34:46

Well, that's what I think like extreme dieting is dangerous, is that you just hyper focus on one food and one food only. You believe it or not, actually shift to flora. So and you want a resistant flora one that is, and this is my my last tip for everybody. Okay. My biggest tip for everybody if you were to leave, you don't hear anything that I said is this, okay? Aim to get at least 30 different plant foods a week. Okay. That improves that diversity.

Andrea (: 34:55

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Ozzie (: 35:01

Last one?

I'm gonna write this down.

Andrea (: 35:10

⁓

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 35:14

Okay, and then try to get one to two servings of polyphenols a day that improves, you know, the bacteria that helps you make postbiotic that keep you healthy. So polyphenols are basically dark-colored plant foods. Your dark chocolate, your green tea, your blueberries, your pomegranate, all those dark colored foods, those polyphenols, they can make antioxidant compounds with the help of your microbiome.

Ozzie (: 35:23

Can you tell the audience what polyphenols are?

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 35:44

Okay, they need your microbiome to transform into something powerful. So just taking a supplement isn't going to help. You actually need the help of your microbiome. So 30 different plant foods a week, you know, and and that includes spices, by the way. So if you're doing coffee, that's one right there.

Andrea (: 35:50

Mm.

Ozzie (: 36:04

Is coffee a spice?

Andrea (: 36:05

Okay.

Dawn Wiggins (: 36:06

Coffee's a plant food. I love Serena Teddy.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 36:06

No, but it's a plant food. Yeah, it's

Ozzie (: 36:08

right, wait, wait, wait.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 36:09

not a spice in the action. There.

Andrea (: 36:09

⁓ I didn't know that. I didn't

Karen Viesta (: 36:10

Ha ha ha

Ozzie (: 36:12

Dawn

Andrea (: 36:12

know it

Ozzie (: 36:12

is a big fan now.

Andrea (: 36:12

was plant food.

Dawn Wiggins (: 36:15

And

I keep my polyphenols incredibly, incredibly, incredibly handy.

Andrea (: 36:21

Ugh!

Karen Viesta (: 36:22

Ha

ha ha.

Ozzie (: 36:25

Love it. Love it.

Andrea (: 36:25

Love that about you. ⁓

and with that, we are closing the legs on that segment. Thank you so much. I think that was super helpful for us to kind of know what we should be focusing in on and what we shouldn't. So, Serena, why don't you tell us where everybody can find you? You're so amazing and valuable. Tell us where we can find you.

Ozzie (: 36:30

No.

Karen Viesta (: 36:32

Yeah.

Ozzie (: 36:43

Yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 36:45

So you can find me on Instagram, although I'm not as active there as possible because boundaries. but ⁓

Karen Viesta (: 36:50

Ha ha ha

Andrea (: 36:52

Can't talk about poop.

Karen Viesta (: 36:54

Yeah, yeah.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 36:55

I like social media to a certain extent, but I really enjoy reading and researching and I don't really I'm not very good at on social media and that's part of the problem. But you know, if you are looking for a functional practitioner or you're looking to get some answers, you know, you can find me on my website at steadyhealth.com. And then there's a way for you to, you know, make a discovery phone call while I'll talk to you for free for 15 minutes to see if I can actually help you. And if I can't, I will tell you here are the people you need to

Andrea (: 37:07

Mm.

Amazing.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 37:25

go and if I can, you know, then we'll we'll dig a little bit deeper.

Andrea (: 37:29

Perfect. We'll put all of that in the show notes because Steady is actually S-T-E-D-D-Y, very clever. So for Serena Teddy, Steady Health. I love that. ⁓ so good, so good. Okay, so to the listeners out there, we hope you absolutely loved this episode as much as we did. We got so much great information. So tell us what symptom has your body been trying to get your attention with lately?

Dawn Wiggins (: 37:35

See what she did there.

erena Teddy PA-C, MS RD FMCP (: 37:35

I know.

Yeah. Exactly.

Andrea (: 37:52

DM us with your story. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram at Menopause Love Lounge, or you can email us at theladies at menopauselovelounge.com. And if this episode made you feel seen, please share it with the woman in your life who's exhausted from trying to hold it all together. And don't forget that full episodes are up on YouTube. Please don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. They're so good. You get so much more value out of it on YouTube. So don't forget to check us out.

Ozzie (: 38:06

No smelling.

Andrea (: 38:18

All right, that's it for us today. We will see you guys next week here in the lounge. Thank you, Serena, so much. Bye. Bye.