Why are you bloating during menopause
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[00:00:00] Hello. Thank you for joining me today. Today, we're talking about why are you so bloated? And you're going through menopause, why did this all of a sudden come about?
Well, we're going to dive into why menopause can change the environment of your gut, why you and possibly your best friend both going through menopause have completely different experiences, and why simply changing your diet or adding digestive solutions may not address the root problem.
And I believe you will start to look at not only this particular issue, but many issues in your body differently.
And you know why this topic excites me? It's because I dive into three points that actually lay out a bigger picture of how you can start to understand your body.
That's one of the things I love to do when I'm working with clients, is help them understand their body, to look at it different than, say, the internet and what most doctors are saying.
Because when I look at someone's symptom, I never look at it like something I need to address to get rid of.
I look at it as information.
Because we know that a lot of symptom chasing has been going on, but it never really gets to the root. I want to know why the symptom developed. I want to know what has gone almost backwards.
We start reverse engineering. We start going back through pathways. I love pathways.
I believe most women are looking down path A because that's what the internet's saying, that's what the health coaches are saying, and a lot of even natural health doctors.
But I'm saying I want you to turn and go down path C. Something completely different.
Because when we remember how God designed the body, He designed it to heal. It's extremely complex. It is very interconnected. Self-regulating system.
And so anytime we're looking at issues that deal with hormones, we have to realize that those hormones are communicating with everybody, the gut, the brain, the liver, the central nervous system.
It's not just the microbiome. They're not independent. They're all working together.
And that's why I no longer look at health primarily as a treatment-based model. For me, that does not really address root issues.
I wanna understand the environment. I wanna look at all the players involved.
When you understand the body and how they start to interact together, then it becomes a lot easier.
And so we're looking at the body differently.
All right? So let's dive into point number one, which is how is menopause really changing your gut?
Because you've always eaten an apple, but now you eat an apple and you look like you're pregnant all of a sudden.
Well, it's because estrogen and progesterone, they're not just interacting with the reproductive organs.
And even though you may be in menopause, you still have a small degree of estrogen, which causes hormone signaling to act differently, especially when we're talking about the GI system.
It intermingles with peristalsis, how fast things move through the digestive tract.
It interacts with the intestinal barrier. Your immune system and obviously the microbiome, which many people are very much aware of.
But when I think about the microbiome, I make that analogy, it's like a garden, and you can plant the exact same seeds in two very different gardens.
But what is different? The soil.
We're not looking at the seed. That's the same. We're gonna water it the same. They both have sunshine, but one environment is very different that is nurturing that seed.
And so when you have a body responding differently, we're looking at their environment.
It's almost like if you have a fish tank and the fish gets sick, we don't take the fish to the doctor. We change the environment, and the fish begins to heal.
Why? Because the environment changed. It was conducive to health.
And so you ate an apple, and the apple didn't change, but what happened is because of menopause, your environment changed.
So when we're looking at what actually is happening when you're going through menopause, number one, the first player is the environment.
There's a lot of different metabolites, which is the breakdown of hormones, even though it's small.
It is entering into the gut. And when it enters into the gut it attaches to estrogen receptors, and it signals something different.
It'll start to interact with how fast your food is moving through, how your intestinal barrier is receiving the food.
If things are hanging out too long, we're talking about inflammation.
We're talking about a different immune activity.
And so think about a 12-year-old girl compared to a 30-year-old woman compared to a 60-year-old woman and the different types of hormones in our body.
Three very different hormones coming out through the body. So that's going to produce a different environment.
And so in that gut environment, you're going to have different bacteria. You're going to have things interacting differently when food comes in. You're going to have a different immune system and it's not that the apple is bad.
And so the second player involved is your gut has to adapt to these new hormones coming in, creating new signals.
So what does your gut do with those changes? It has to adapt.
And everyone adapts differently.
That's why there is such a diversity going on amongst women when they eat food and some are having bloating and some are not.
And that brings me to point number two.
Why are they different?
It's because their history is different.
You're bringing in a whole different environment than, say, maybe your twin sister who is the same age, coming from the same genes, but how you lived your life emotionally, mentally, and physically has changed how your body receives these hormones and what it's going to do with them.
And the other point is menopause is not a bad stage of a woman's life.
It has gotten a bad rap because of the environment that's created by the woman who lived her life in a particular way.
And some of the ways, they're not your fault. You were just doing what you were told to do.
But when you look at the choice that you made and the consequences, the consequences were maybe broader and deeper than what you thought you were getting yourself into.
So when we look at the lifestyle, what has caused your body to respond this way to particular foods?
We're looking at antibiotic history.
Have you taken antibiotics for a long period of time?
Because when you stop taking them, it doesn't mean that the intestinal microbial community all of a sudden goes back to normal. It can take months, it can take years.
We look at medication history.
What medications have you been taking throughout your life?
Because again, medications, they linger in the body long after you have taken them.
We look at hormone replacement therapy, and hormones, remember, they communicate with every body.
The endocrine system is so powerful.
It has its fingers in all systems in one way or another.
And when I hear women saying, "Oh, I need a pellet because it'll make my hot flashes go away," or, "It improves my brain fog or my mood," it does that one thing, but it's influencing so many other parts of your body.
The next thing is the transit time, the time it takes as you eat the apple, chew it up, it goes into the stomach, and it goes through the process into the small intestines and so on.
Those transit times are very important.
When food hangs out longer than it needs to, you're looking at an inflammatory consequence.
The next point we look at is surgical history.
What about your gallbladder? Your appendix. Have you had a hysterectomy, thyroid surgery?
All of these components matter because they all are a part of an interacting ecosystem within your body.
We also look at dietary patterns.
How much variety, how much fiber, how much fruits and vegetables? What are the foods that you've been eating?
Next we look at stress, anxiety, the emotional component, the heart.
This is the most powerful component to your overall health, and it has everything to do with what is happening inside the gut.
We've kinda made that connection to the brain and the gut, but let me tell you, the heart, your emotional system, anxiety, shame, anger, frustration, fear, doubt, all of those have a different chemical soup that is communicating with your central nervous system, which is inside the gut.
Then we have metabolic health, the liver, the gallbladder, the HPA axis, which is the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal, the brain-gut communication, all of these affecting the metabolic system, which is in communication with the gut.
So we're not little pieces that independently work.
It is a communication amongst everybody, and all of those components are all affecting how we got to where you're at right now.
And it's not to shame you or to think that you're stuck in this place.
Remember, the body is designed to heal, and healing is available once you start to get that environment corrected and start to prioritize how you're going to heal.
So it sounds like a lot, and I'm going to give you a checklist at the end that you can start to look at.
And then this brings me to point number three, which is diet changes and digestive solutions, they may give you a temporary fix, but I do not believe they are helping you with the root problem.
And so if, let's say, fruit bothers you, people usually they'll say, "I can't eat fruit," or, "I can't eat broccoli. Cruciferous vegetables bother me," or, "I'm cutting out carbohydrates because of the sugar, and it makes me bloated, and I just can't eat carbohydrates."
Well, let me tell you, the body is designed to run on carbon.
We cannot change that.
But we can't just go to probiotics or digestive enzyme supplements, powders, restrictive diets to help with bloating because, again, you can do those things and have some relief, but I don't believe you're getting to the root of the problem.
And so what is getting to the root of the problem?
It is restoring the environment.
It is the inner terrain.
That is the key to your health.
We are looking at the food quality that you are eating and the variety. The microbial environment, the gut microbiome, digestion, transit times, physical activity, hydration, fiber content.
We're looking and evaluating what medication you've taken, the antibiotic history, hormonal history, HRT, previous surgeries that you've had.
We're looking at your heart, the stress, and the autonomic nervous system.
There's lots on the internet now about the nervous system, but are you addressing the central nervous system at a superficial level or are you getting to the heart of the matter?
Are you getting to what is really at the root of your nervous system producing anxiety chemicals?
We're looking at the overall system, and it seems like a lot.
People want, "Just give me an answer to help my bloating."
If you really want to solve the bloating problem, you have to step back and look at your body as a whole integrated system.
That's what I need to work with, and then the components of the environment.
You can start to look at which one is the most obvious one that you can identify, and then work on that system as you are creating the foundational healthier environment for all cells.
And the one note I did want to make about protein is that some doctors are saying, "Yes, take 30 grams of protein," and they wake up, and they have a flat stomach, and their body looks chiseled.
But let me tell you what is happening when you are eating high levels of protein every single meal.
You are influencing negatively your digestion because in protein, there is no fiber. It is not a water-delivering food.
You have to think, "What is happening to my kidneys? What is happening to the acids in your body that you have to deal with?"
Well, an acid is corrosive.
Your body has to borrow alkaline minerals. You are extracting minerals from your bones to help your body deal with all the protein that you're eating.
I'm telling you, when you're eating that much proteins, arthritis and inflammation, do you think it's a coincidence that America has so much osteopenia and arthritis in our 50, 60, 70 and up generations?
So going back to, as a recap, what are we looking at?
Menopause changes your gut environment.
It is an inner terrain issue and lifestyle has changed the inner terrain.
We look at the history and how it's impacted the digestive system.
And number three, we're helping your body all work together more harmonious.
When it comes to menopause, just from my experience, I didn't have menopausal symptoms.
I don't have bloating from foods, it's not because I can pinpoint it to one thing.
But what I can say is from an early age of 14, creating a healthy inner terrain, because that's how I learned to get healthy, following a diet that is healthy to the inner terrain. Taking care of the emotional and mental part.
Now, I didn't do it right in the beginning, but I did it right at the end and it's made a big difference.
So that is why going through a pregnancy at 40 was a really beautiful, wonderful experience, and going through menopause has just been a wonderful experience.
No hot flashes, brain fog, and sleepless nights, and those types of things.
I did have a short stint of dealing with hot flashes, but it was only when I went on the keto diet. And as soon as I got off the keto diet, two months later, I was back to no hot flashes.
I'm not saying all protein is bad, I'm saying when you overly eat protein.
I am going to put a checklist below so you can look at your lifestyle and maybe look at the different components of what's happening to your inner terrain.
I love to help women create a great foundation naturally so that their body begins to heal itself naturally.
We're not trying to heal one piece.
You learn how to take care of your heart in a way that comes from biblical principles and scripture to help Jesus heal your heart so that you can start to respond to life differently.
So if you have questions, please reach out.
I can't wait to talk to you in the very next episode.
Have a beautiful day. I love you, and bye for now.
