July 8, 2025 • 30 mins
Chronic inflammation could be the hidden factor disrupting your hormone balance and causing period problems, but understanding its signs and sources can help you restore easier cycles naturally.
• Inflammation is a prolonged inflammatory response characterized by an overactive immune system continuously releasing inflammatory compounds
• Signs of chronic inflammation include persistent pain, fatigue, insomnia, joint stiffness, skin problems, GI issues, mood disorders, and frequent illness
• Inflammation impacts three key hormones: cortisol (stress hormone), insulin (blood sugar regulation), and thyroid hormone
• When cortisol is high due to inflammation, your body may delay ovulation or not ovulate at all, leading to cycle irregularity and PMS
• Common causes include processed foods, sugar, alcohol, insufficient sleep, lack of exercise, environmental toxins, infections, and emotional stress
• Dietary changes like incorporating whole foods, colorful produce, and fatty fish rich in omega-3s can help reduce inflammation
• Regular movement, meditation, and quality sleep are foundational approaches to managing inflammation levels
• Adaptogenic supplements may provide additional support once the foundations are addressed
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Most people do not understand how inflammation
could be impacting their hormonebalance, but if you are trying
to get your period, or PMS, backon track, then this episode is
perfect for you, because you aregoing to understand how
inflammation could look for youin your body and how you can
start having easier periods ASAP.
(00:22):
Let's do it.
Welcome to I'm Hormonal, yoursource of information about
women's hormone health and howto support your body naturally.
I'm your host, bridget Walton,and I'm a certified functional
hormone specialist and menstrualcycle coach.
I am on a mission to hold thesehormone conversations with as
many menstruators as possible,because you deserve easier
(00:44):
access to accurate informationabout what's up with your unruly
menstrual cycle and with yourfertility mysteries.
Don't you think it's time thatwe figure this out once and for
all?
Hello, welcome to episodenumber 116 of I'm Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton.
(01:04):
I'm so excited that you arehere to join me for this episode
where we're going to be talkingabout inflammation today.
This is so important.
This is something that a lot ofthe gals I work with overlook,
and certainly something that Ioverlooked, didn't even know to
consider inflammation.
What even is inflammation?
What does that mean?
(01:24):
We will get into all of thatand more here shortly, really
quickly, before we dive in, Iwant to say a special thank you
to those of you who are comingback and listening again, and
especially if you have sharedprevious episodes that you loved
with your friends or family orcolleagues.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I love you so much.
(01:45):
If you are listening to thepodcast for the first time today
, then a special welcome to youtoo.
I'm Hormonal is about helpingto equip you with the
information that you need so youcan understand what is your
body trying to tell you, whatcan you do about it, what are
the things that you're doing inyour daily life, or that you
could be doing in your dailylife, that either help restore,
(02:08):
maintain hormone balance ormaybe work against that goal.
So that's my hope for you thatyou learn how to understand
what's going on with your bodyand what you can do about it, so
that you can feel better,because that's what you deserve.
Okay, now that we've got thatout of the way, now that we're
cozy, we're ready to dive in,let's go ahead and just do it.
(02:32):
And I want to orient you tothis conversation with a little
story about myself because, as Imentioned earlier, I didn't
really know what inflammationwas, and even after starting my
training in hormone health, fora long time I was like I don't
get it.
Inflammation, it feels like aghost, like this thing, that we
(02:53):
talk about it, but how do weactually measure it or see its
impact on our hormone balance?
And that's what we'll get intohere.
That's what we'll get into hereshortly.
For me, I want to share with youabout when I was in my early
20s.
If you've listened before, youknow that back then I was in the
(03:14):
military.
I was living in Japan at thetime.
I would not say that I wasliving my healthiest life.
I exercised a lot.
I exercised intensely, but Iwasn't probably nourishing my
body as well as I could have.
I was eating a lot of processedfoods.
I was definitely crushing someBaskin Robbins, probably more
(03:38):
often than I should, definitelydrinking more alcohol than what
I should have been, and all ofthat plus a lack of sleep.
I would say I was getting maybeseven hours of sleep most
nights.
That all for me was this recipefor inflammation and it's not
something that I realized at thetime.
(03:59):
I wasn't like, ooh girl, yeah,we're a little puffy today.
I don't know.
I just that was my normal.
But it's now looking back on it, I can say, oh yeah, I see,
literally see in images how Ilooked different during that
time of my life and I canunderstand when I think of oh,
(04:22):
wow, yeah, my periods were badback then, understand when I
think of oh, wow, yeah, myperiods were bad back then.
The way that I was feeling orthe way that my digestion was,
that was not so great back then,and I can see now how it's all
correlated.
I mentioned that because youare perhaps in the same
situation where you're like thisis just my normal, this is the
(04:42):
status quo.
But I think that inflammation isimportant to talk about and why
I'm talking about it today?
Because it's something that canbe a factor for every single
one of us and it's somethingthat at some point in our lives,
in our year, in our month, inour week, however that looks for
you, this is a factor.
We need to understand whatcontributes to it and what you
(05:04):
can do about it.
I also have seen relatively alot of posts and reels on
Instagram lately talking aboutinflammation and talking about,
oh, moon face or cortisol face,like, oh, I had cortisol face,
and then I drank cranberry juicefor seven days and now I don't
(05:25):
have it.
Okay, well, that's not all theinformation we need, so let's
talk about again what you canreally do to impact and support
ideal inflammation levels fromthat foundational and kind of
root cause perspective.
So, all of that being said, ifyou are somebody who has
(05:46):
unpredictable periods, if youhave PMS, maybe even if you have
some digestive concerns thatyou are just not sure what's
going on there, then this isgoing to be a really great
episode for you to dig into,because inflammation is
impacting absolutely all ofthose things.
Now let's go ahead and take aquick look at what does
(06:09):
inflammation actually mean?
And specifically, today we'regoing to be talking about
chronic inflammation, which is aprolonged and persistent
inflammatory response in yourbody, which is characterized by
an overactive immune system thatcontinuously releases
inflammatory compounds.
(06:30):
So let's break that down.
When you have an immuneresponse, your body will
naturally release some of theseinflammatory compounds to help
your body to fight off thatvirus or fight off whatever it
is that's going on, right?
Maybe it's an allergen, andthat's a good thing, right?
Our body, our health we needthose compounds to be released
(06:53):
in order to help us get better,help us get over that acute
injury, acute illness, whateverthat is for you.
On the other hand, though, wheninflammation is going on for a
long time, when it's a monthslong or, for some people, years
long kind of picture, well, allof that continuous release of
(07:16):
inflammatory compounds is justtoo much.
It's just a lot for the system,and that's when we experience
inflammation, and specificallychronic inflammation here.
So I'm going to run you throughwhat are some of the common
signs of chronic inflammation.
How might that actually lookfor you?
(07:37):
So it could look like any oneor multiple items from this list
, including persistent pain,chronic fatigue, maybe insomnia,
joint stiffness, skin problems,elevated blood markers, maybe
GI issues.
A couple of final honorablementions could be mood disorders
(08:00):
, depression, anxiety,unintended weight gain or weight
loss, and then, last but notleast, frequent colds or flu.
So inflammation can present ina lot of different ways.
Maybe, as I said, some of thosethings you thought, oh, okay,
yeah, I know how that looks forme, because when I have long
(08:22):
periods of stress, yeah, I feela little puffy, I'm kind of
retaining more water orretaining more weight than I
normally do.
It could be maybe you'resomebody who gets sick really
frequently, and that's what thatlooks like for you or
especially after a period ofchronic inflammation, then that
(08:44):
could happen too.
So just a couple of examples ofwhat inflammation looks like.
And let's bring this back tohormones, because if you're
thinking, cool, bridget got itwhat inflammation is, but how
does this relate to my hormones?
Well, when you're experiencingchronic inflammation, that can
(09:06):
impact three hormones that I'mgoing to touch on.
First would be cortisol.
Cortisol is your stress hormone.
When you're experiencinginflammation, that is going to
drive up cortisol, which is alsotaxing your adrenal glands, but
your endocrine gland thatproduces cortisol.
Second, chronic inflammation isgoing to be impacting insulin.
(09:29):
Now, insulin is another hormonethat helps to support normal
blood sugar levels, also justbringing that glucose, that
blood sugar, into your cells soyou can actually turn it into
energy.
And then, third, your thyroidhormone.
So, when you're experiencinginflammation, that can impact
how one thyroid hormone isturning into another, or vice
(09:53):
versa.
And so, without all of thesmaller minute details there,
thyroid, insulin and cortisolare all going to be affected.
Now, this is important and youprobably know what I'm going to
say if you've listened to thepodcast before.
But all of these hormonesimpact what's going on with your
menstrual cycle right.
(10:14):
When cortisol levels are high,that's going to send this signal
to your brain that, hey, girl,we don't need to ovulate right
now, maybe that's not thepriority.
We don't need to procreateSeems like it's real stressful
out there.
Also, when insulin is.
If you develop insulinresistance, for example, that
(10:38):
would be when your cells needmore insulin, more of these
little insulin messengers to sayhey, cell, take in this blood
sugar, take it in.
And when there's more insulinin your system, that too can be
inherently inflammatory.
But it's also oftentimesresulting in higher levels of
(10:59):
blood sugar than normal, which Imean, again, inflammatory.
And that's a pattern too thatyou see right, super common in
conversation these days, of type2 diabetes.
And so keeping insulinresistance at an arm's length I
mean keeping cortisol levels ina good range All of these things
(11:21):
are extremely important formaintaining your overall health
and wellness and also happyperiods.
Now, the last thing I want tomention here, coming back to
thyroid hormone.
Thyroid hormone is reallyimportant for your menstrual
cycle too, and especially if youare trying to conceive, because
your thyroid hormone levelswill impact what's going on with
(11:44):
progesterone.
Progesterone is the hormonethat your body makes after you
ovulate in that second half ofyour cycle, and which would be
sustaining an embryo throughyour first trimester.
So all of these are important.
There's balance to everything,and chronic inflammation is
going to be throwing all ofthese out of whack.
(12:06):
I do want to come back andmention moon phase, which I
mentioned earlier, I think,because I see this on social
media sometimes too, and this issomething that ties back to
this weight retention, or changein weight, and also water
retention.
Right, what moon face is is aredistribution or retention of
(12:31):
fat in the face.
There also could be somewater-related retention in the
face.
Fat in the face.
There also could be somewater-related retention in the
face.
And, yes, this could be fromany of the sources of stress
that you have in your life, andwe'll talk about more of these
sources causes of inflammationhere momentarily.
But I do think it's worthmentioning here that that could
(12:52):
be caused by corticosteroid use,potentially, like longer terms.
Corticosteroid use that's mymini way to say hey, thinking
about what's going on with yourstress levels, with your
inflammation, is certainly goingto be impacted by what's going
on with medications that you'retaking or medications that maybe
you're not taking, whateverelse is going on in your unique
(13:16):
health picture.
Just being aware of sideeffects of things that you are
taking, as far as medications go, is going to be really
important when you are trying tonoodle through what's the right
thing for you to do.
Is A causing B, is B causing C,and what can you do about it?
Now I mentioned really brieflysome of the causes of
(13:39):
inflammation, and that's, ofcourse, what we'll get to next.
You'll notice that a lot ofthese things are the kind of
foundational areas of healththat I talk about a lot here, so
I don't expect that these willbe a surprise for you.
If anything, though, thisshould be a good reminder for
you that oh, yeah, okay, there'salways a good opportunity to
(14:04):
dial in the basics and to reallyprioritize these things,
because these are the areas thatwill move the needle.
Okay, let me just tell you whatthey are now.
So one of the first things thatcan cause inflammation in your
body is what's going on withyour diet.
Are you consuming a highlyprocessed diet?
(14:26):
Are you consuming a lot ofsugar?
Are you consuming alcohol?
I guess smoking?
You know that's not somethingthat's in your diet, but also
right.
What are you bringing into yourbody in that way, that could be
inflammatory.
Now you also want to thinkabout what's going on with sleep
(14:47):
.
Are you getting enough sleep?
This was something I mentionedearlier.
That was really, I think, forme a part of my inflammation
picture, because I was notgetting that much sleep.
So, making sure that you'regetting that seven plus hours,
figure out what it is that yourbody needs, listen to your body
when it tells you that it needsa little bit more rest, and
(15:10):
that's going to be reallyhelpful for you.
Number three here a lack ofexercise.
Being overly sedentary, thatcould contribute to inflammation
, as well.
As number four hereenvironmental factors.
By that I mean, what are youbreathing?
I guess we could put smokingunder this category too.
But also, do you work in abuilding that has those
(15:35):
artificial air freshenerseverywhere?
Do you go over to your bestfriend's house and there's
always a candle burning, butit's one of those candles that's
just burning chemicals, right?
Or what are you putting on yourskin?
What are you putting in yourhair?
Those kinds of things that canimpact your body through your
skin, through your breath,anything else that you're
(15:58):
ingesting.
The last two things I want tomention here first would be
infections.
So if you are getting I mean,any type of infection, whatever
type of illness it is, or I'mgoing to even say, think of
you're on a hike and you comeinto contact with some poison
ivy, right, that's going to be asource of inflammation for you.
(16:19):
Last but not least, stressitself, right?
The mental or emotionalcomponents of stress that can
absolutely and do impact what'sgoing on with your stress
hormone, cortisol, and canresult in additional stress or
inflammation in your body.
I want you to take just asecond, pause me, if you need to
(16:41):
and think about those items Ijust ran through.
And what is your life likeright now?
What are those environmentalfactors that you're coming into
contact with?
How great are you at getting tobed on time lately?
How well are you doing when itcomes to avoiding some of those
overly processed foods?
So, take a second to reflect onwhat's that like for you.
(17:05):
What are the areas ofimprovement maybe the top one or
two that come to mind that youcould start taking some actions
on, and we'll get more clear onthat here shortly too.
Now, before I start walkingthrough some of the
recommendations that I have foryou, I really want to emphasize
that getting clear on what'sgoing on in your body, taking a
(17:27):
look at what's going on in yourlife as a whole.
What do you have access to?
What changes could you make?
That's going to be reallyimportant.
That's absolutely the mostimportant first step before you
consider making any changesright.
The recommendations that I walkthrough in a minute here might
be things that you already do,or they just might not be
attainable based on yourlifestyle, and that's okay.
(17:49):
There are so many differentways to support your health and
to meet your health goals, andso it's not one size fits all.
It's absolutely not one sizefits all, and I like to just
give that little disclaimerbefore you think, oh shoot, how
can I be going to the gym threetimes a week or whatever it is
(18:11):
for you?
I also want to mention thatwhen I'm working with my
one-on-one clients, this issomething that we focus on first
in really making a detailedpersonalized protocol for you so
that we can take a look at thewhole picture.
We can take a look at all ofthese parts of your lifestyle
(18:32):
that I mentioned sleep, stress,nutrition, hydration, those
environmental factors of what'sgoing on in your skin how are
you eating, where are you eatingand put together a personalized
plan that works for you andthat will be a sustainable
change in your life.
So I'll get off my soapbox now,but it's so important to really
(18:55):
think critically about what willwork for me, and is this right
for me?
Right?
How do you know and how are yougetting to the bottom of?
What are those sources ofinflammation for you?
All right, with that out of theway, let's take a look at some
of these areas to start.
So, when it comes to nutrition,you can find a kabillion things
(19:19):
.
If you do a Google foranti-inflammatory diet, that
makes sense, right?
If we're talking aboutinflammation Overall, though,
when you do search that, or whenyou're just thinking of, okay,
what's my ideal diet, you wantto be putting together a diet
that is composed of whole foods,and whole foods that are rich
(19:43):
in antioxidants and probablyfatty fish as well.
Now, let me be clear when I'msaying diet here.
Well, of course, there are somediets that you may want to
adapt for a shorter period oftime.
I mean diet as a way of eating,not an acute intervention that
you feel like you have to bereally strict with you are
(20:07):
thinking of.
Right, it's Sunday.
Maybe when you're listening tothis, it's not Sunday, but think
ahead to the next time it'sSunday.
Whatever day that you are aboutto go grocery shopping, you're
planning your meals and youthink, okay, how can I
prioritize getting in wholegrains?
(20:29):
How can I prioritize eating avegetable or a fruit of every
color of the rainbow this week?
How can I prioritize getting insome of these diverse nuts and
seeds, which, honestly, are soeasy, because, once you get them
, you have that bag of chiaseeds or whatever it is for like
(20:52):
three months.
If you don't have any seeds inyour cupboard, if you're not
real big into having a varietyof nuts in your cupboard, that's
something I would reallyencourage you to consider this
week when you are hitting thegrocery store, because it's
something that's going to helpintroduce that additional layer
of diversity for your diet whichyour gut microbiome will love
(21:17):
and also is going to be packedwith good fats and antioxidants.
I mentioned fatty fish earliertoo, which I want to come back
to briefly, just because omega-3fatty acids are going to be
great to focus on.
Kind of a buzzword.
Could you get a supplement forthat?
Sure, could you go ahead andincorporate?
(21:37):
Could you incorporate fish likemackerel, sardines, salmon to
get some of those omega-3 fattyacids on their own.
That's also a great option foryou to start with whatever works
for you, whatever works foryour budget and what is
realistic to keep in yourroutine.
(22:01):
The second thing that I want youto focus on is moving your body
regularly.
So I know that while I've beenrecording this episode, my watch
has buzzed at me and told methat I need to get up and move
my body.
I've been sitting for too long.
Maybe that's a reminder thatserves you well.
Maybe there's another tool.
Maybe you can get into a goodroutine of going for a walk each
(22:21):
morning.
What is it that you can buildinto your schedule that is going
to be easy and automatic?
Is there a you know what's thefirst step of that task that
takes two minutes or less, thatyou can focus on and make it
your goal to accomplish that twominute or less task?
(22:42):
To get your shoes on and getout to the gym?
Or get your shoes on, get yourhat on and go out for a walk.
Just make sure that I mean bestcase scenario you are moving
your body, doing something thatyou love and that is fun.
Another thing and I'm not tojump ahead.
But another thing that can behelpful when it comes to
(23:04):
inflammation, when it comes toideal stress levels, is having
that time to connect with yourfriends, connect with people
that you love.
So maybe there's a way that youcan do this whole two birds,
one stone kind of thing by goingto a workout class with your
friend or going for a walk withyour partner, whatever it is
(23:25):
that works for you.
A third thing I want to mentionhere would be considering
meditation.
If you don't meditate at all,or if you haven't gotten into it
yet, there are countless greatapps out there that you can get
started with.
Personally, I like to use anapp called Activations, which I
(23:46):
guess, now that I'm saying this,it's actually not technically a
meditation because it's anactivation, but find what works
for you.
I've also used Headspace in thepast, which I found to be a
really great resource to kind ofteach me about mindfulness and
how to get started.
So maybe that's a good spot foryou.
(24:08):
If you are yeah, if you're justgetting started with meditation
and trying to understand, like,what does this work?
How can I make it fit into mylife?
It doesn't have to be some big,like I need to have an altar
and light candles and whatever.
Maybe whatever the picture isthat might be in your head right
now can be really easy andattainable for you.
(24:30):
I want to give an honorablemention.
Shout out to going for a walkwithout your phone.
Take a lap around your block,take a lap around your office
building, take a lap from Idon't know, leave the door of
your work and just walk for twominutes, count to 100 and come
(24:52):
back.
I know that none of this isrocket science per usual, we're
not doing anything super, supercomplex here but it's these
basics and having this time toreset, relax and ground yourself
that can really make adifference.
I want to share with you acouple of supplements or
(25:13):
additions to your diet that youcould consider, because, again,
let's start with the foundations.
Let's start with getting to bedon time, start with
incorporating a diverse diet,start with getting those
processed and really sugaryfoods out of your diet.
Do not get me wrong, that isthe most important thing.
But I also use other adaptogensor other supplements to help me
(25:39):
out and help me perform andfeel my best.
So I don't want to act like I'mover here just, you know,
meditating and taking deepbreaths only to help me.
To help me, you know, achieveoptimal or ideal inflammation
levels.
I shouldn't even say manageinflammation, that's probably a
(26:00):
more accurate way to put that.
I've mentioned Symbiotica before, or if you've ever listened to
one other podcast, I feel like Ihear about Symbiotica
everywhere, but Symbiotica isone brand that I do recommend.
If you want to check out acouple of products, they have a
few with adaptogens in them.
(26:20):
One is called InflammatoryHealth, the other one is called
Golden Mind.
They have a lot of other greatproducts, too, but those are two
that I've used, that I like,and I did just order another one
that's a mineral-basedadaptogen.
I will have to report back toyou guys on that one, though,
(26:41):
once I get it and once I take itfor a spin for a little while.
On that one, though, once I getit and once I take it for a
spin for a little while.
That is most of theconversation that I wanted to
bring to you about inflammationtoday.
Right, and just in recap, let'sdo a quick little recap.
We first talked about whatinflammation is, which is this
(27:01):
prolonged release ofinflammatory compounds by your
immune system, or it could be anoveractive immune system that's
oftentimes presenting in theform of pain, chronic fatigue,
insomnia, joint stiffness, skinproblems.
You might see some of theseelevated markers like C-reactive
(27:23):
protein or cytokines.
Oftentimes, too, gi issues,mood disorders, changes to
weight or frequent colds or flusthat can be tied back to
chronic inflammation as well.
We also talked about what aresome of the things that
contribute to chronicinflammation.
What are some of the thingsthat contribute to chronic
(27:44):
inflammation, which include diet, sleep, exercise, environmental
factors, infections and thenstress itself.
So you've caught the picturenow of okay, what is stress,
what can contribute to it?
And okay, how does this impactmy period?
Again, like, why are we talkingabout this?
And I'm hormonal and that'sbecause when inflammation levels
(28:06):
are high, that's going to beincreasing your stress hormone,
which that is going to be a bigfactor in cycle regularity.
When cortisol levels are high,your cycle oftentimes is longer
than normal, and by that I meanthat your ovulation can be
delayed or you may not ovulateat all in a cycle, and that is
(28:29):
also going to impact what'sgoing on with PMS, because if
you are not ovulating or if youdon't have a particularly strong
ovulation, then that can alsoresult in PMS.
So a couple of ways that we'rebringing this full circle.
What I want you to do is noodlethrough what did I mention
(28:54):
today that applies to you, likewhat resonated with you, and
where are a couple of placesthat you can start making
changes.
Whether that's well, you don'tneed me to go through the list
again, but take that for yourhomework this week.
What do you need to do to helpsupport ideal levels of
inflammation in your body?
I forgot to mention, too, thatif you do decide you want to try
(29:19):
out any of the Symbioticaproducts, then you can use the
link in the show notes to save15% on your order.
So take advantage of thataffiliate link if that is your
jam.
Okay, gang, that's what I've gotfor you today.
Thank you for hanging on withme for this slightly longer than
normal episode.
If you feel like, even afterlistening to all of this, you're
(29:41):
like I, bridget, I don't knowwhat is the next step for me.
I feel like I've done all thesethings, I've tried all of these
things, like we've been herebefore, I would love for you to
schedule a free strategy sessionwith me.
We can talk through what's goingon with you.
We can talk through what mightbe the right.
Best next step and you can dothat at the link in the show
(30:20):
notes or by going toimhormonalcom slash apply All
always.
I need to give you my reminderthat the information I share
with you here is for educationalpurposes only, and it should
not be used as a replacement formedical advice or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
my offer for a free strategycall.
(30:41):
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.
All right, we'll see you on thenext one.
Most people do not understand how inflammation
could be impacting their hormonebalance, but if you are trying
to get your period, or PMS, backon track, then this episode is
perfect for you, because you aregoing to understand how
inflammation could look for youin your body and how you can
start having easier periods ASAP.
(00:22):
Let's do it.
Welcome to I'm Hormonal, yoursource of information about
women's hormone health and howto support your body naturally.
I'm your host, bridget Walton,and I'm a certified functional
hormone specialist and menstrualcycle coach.
I am on a mission to hold thesehormone conversations with as
many menstruators as possible,because you deserve easier
(00:44):
access to accurate informationabout what's up with your unruly
menstrual cycle and with yourfertility mysteries.
Don't you think it's time thatwe figure this out once and for
all?
Hello, welcome to episodenumber 116 of I'm Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton.
(01:04):
I'm so excited that you arehere to join me for this episode
where we're going to be talkingabout inflammation today.
This is so important.
This is something that a lot ofthe gals I work with overlook,
and certainly something that Ioverlooked, didn't even know to
consider inflammation.
What even is inflammation?
What does that mean?
(01:24):
We will get into all of thatand more here shortly, really
quickly, before we dive in, Iwant to say a special thank you
to those of you who are comingback and listening again, and
especially if you have sharedprevious episodes that you loved
with your friends or family orcolleagues.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I love you so much.
(01:45):
If you are listening to thepodcast for the first time today
, then a special welcome to youtoo.
I'm Hormonal is about helpingto equip you with the
information that you need so youcan understand what is your
body trying to tell you, whatcan you do about it, what are
the things that you're doing inyour daily life, or that you
could be doing in your dailylife, that either help restore,
(02:08):
maintain hormone balance ormaybe work against that goal.
So that's my hope for you thatyou learn how to understand
what's going on with your bodyand what you can do about it, so
that you can feel better,because that's what you deserve.
Okay, now that we've got thatout of the way, now that we're
cozy, we're ready to dive in,let's go ahead and just do it.
(02:32):
And I want to orient you tothis conversation with a little
story about myself because, as Imentioned earlier, I didn't
really know what inflammationwas, and even after starting my
training in hormone health, fora long time I was like I don't
get it.
Inflammation, it feels like aghost, like this thing, that we
(02:53):
talk about it, but how do weactually measure it or see its
impact on our hormone balance?
And that's what we'll get intohere.
That's what we'll get into hereshortly.
For me, I want to share with youabout when I was in my early
20s.
If you've listened before, youknow that back then I was in the
(03:14):
military.
I was living in Japan at thetime.
I would not say that I wasliving my healthiest life.
I exercised a lot.
I exercised intensely, but Iwasn't probably nourishing my
body as well as I could have.
I was eating a lot of processedfoods.
I was definitely crushing someBaskin Robbins, probably more
(03:38):
often than I should, definitelydrinking more alcohol than what
I should have been, and all ofthat plus a lack of sleep.
I would say I was getting maybeseven hours of sleep most
nights.
That all for me was this recipefor inflammation and it's not
something that I realized at thetime.
(03:59):
I wasn't like, ooh girl, yeah,we're a little puffy today.
I don't know.
I just that was my normal.
But it's now looking back on it, I can say, oh yeah, I see,
literally see in images how Ilooked different during that
time of my life and I canunderstand when I think of oh,
(04:22):
wow, yeah, my periods were badback then, understand when I
think of oh, wow, yeah, myperiods were bad back then.
The way that I was feeling orthe way that my digestion was,
that was not so great back then,and I can see now how it's all
correlated.
I mentioned that because youare perhaps in the same
situation where you're like thisis just my normal, this is the
(04:42):
status quo.
But I think that inflammation isimportant to talk about and why
I'm talking about it today?
Because it's something that canbe a factor for every single
one of us and it's somethingthat at some point in our lives,
in our year, in our month, inour week, however that looks for
you, this is a factor.
We need to understand whatcontributes to it and what you
(05:04):
can do about it.
I also have seen relatively alot of posts and reels on
Instagram lately talking aboutinflammation and talking about,
oh, moon face or cortisol face,like, oh, I had cortisol face,
and then I drank cranberry juicefor seven days and now I don't
(05:25):
have it.
Okay, well, that's not all theinformation we need, so let's
talk about again what you canreally do to impact and support
ideal inflammation levels fromthat foundational and kind of
root cause perspective.
So, all of that being said, ifyou are somebody who has
(05:46):
unpredictable periods, if youhave PMS, maybe even if you have
some digestive concerns thatyou are just not sure what's
going on there, then this isgoing to be a really great
episode for you to dig into,because inflammation is
impacting absolutely all ofthose things.
Now let's go ahead and take aquick look at what does
(06:09):
inflammation actually mean?
And specifically, today we'regoing to be talking about
chronic inflammation, which is aprolonged and persistent
inflammatory response in yourbody, which is characterized by
an overactive immune system thatcontinuously releases
inflammatory compounds.
(06:30):
So let's break that down.
When you have an immuneresponse, your body will
naturally release some of theseinflammatory compounds to help
your body to fight off thatvirus or fight off whatever it
is that's going on, right?
Maybe it's an allergen, andthat's a good thing, right?
Our body, our health we needthose compounds to be released
(06:53):
in order to help us get better,help us get over that acute
injury, acute illness, whateverthat is for you.
On the other hand, though, wheninflammation is going on for a
long time, when it's a monthslong or, for some people, years
long kind of picture, well, allof that continuous release of
(07:16):
inflammatory compounds is justtoo much.
It's just a lot for the system,and that's when we experience
inflammation, and specificallychronic inflammation here.
So I'm going to run you throughwhat are some of the common
signs of chronic inflammation.
How might that actually lookfor you?
(07:37):
So it could look like any oneor multiple items from this list
, including persistent pain,chronic fatigue, maybe insomnia,
joint stiffness, skin problems,elevated blood markers, maybe
GI issues.
A couple of final honorablementions could be mood disorders
(08:00):
, depression, anxiety,unintended weight gain or weight
loss, and then, last but notleast, frequent colds or flu.
So inflammation can present ina lot of different ways.
Maybe, as I said, some of thosethings you thought, oh, okay,
yeah, I know how that looks forme, because when I have long
(08:22):
periods of stress, yeah, I feela little puffy, I'm kind of
retaining more water orretaining more weight than I
normally do.
It could be maybe you'resomebody who gets sick really
frequently, and that's what thatlooks like for you or
especially after a period ofchronic inflammation, then that
(08:44):
could happen too.
So just a couple of examples ofwhat inflammation looks like.
And let's bring this back tohormones, because if you're
thinking, cool, bridget got itwhat inflammation is, but how
does this relate to my hormones?
Well, when you're experiencingchronic inflammation, that can
(09:06):
impact three hormones that I'mgoing to touch on.
First would be cortisol.
Cortisol is your stress hormone.
When you're experiencinginflammation, that is going to
drive up cortisol, which is alsotaxing your adrenal glands, but
your endocrine gland thatproduces cortisol.
Second, chronic inflammation isgoing to be impacting insulin.
(09:29):
Now, insulin is another hormonethat helps to support normal
blood sugar levels, also justbringing that glucose, that
blood sugar, into your cells soyou can actually turn it into
energy.
And then, third, your thyroidhormone.
So, when you're experiencinginflammation, that can impact
how one thyroid hormone isturning into another, or vice
(09:53):
versa.
And so, without all of thesmaller minute details there,
thyroid, insulin and cortisolare all going to be affected.
Now, this is important and youprobably know what I'm going to
say if you've listened to thepodcast before.
But all of these hormonesimpact what's going on with your
menstrual cycle right.
(10:14):
When cortisol levels are high,that's going to send this signal
to your brain that, hey, girl,we don't need to ovulate right
now, maybe that's not thepriority.
We don't need to procreateSeems like it's real stressful
out there.
Also, when insulin is.
If you develop insulinresistance, for example, that
(10:38):
would be when your cells needmore insulin, more of these
little insulin messengers to sayhey, cell, take in this blood
sugar, take it in.
And when there's more insulinin your system, that too can be
inherently inflammatory.
But it's also oftentimesresulting in higher levels of
(10:59):
blood sugar than normal, which Imean, again, inflammatory.
And that's a pattern too thatyou see right, super common in
conversation these days, of type2 diabetes.
And so keeping insulinresistance at an arm's length I
mean keeping cortisol levels ina good range All of these things
(11:21):
are extremely important formaintaining your overall health
and wellness and also happyperiods.
Now, the last thing I want tomention here, coming back to
thyroid hormone.
Thyroid hormone is reallyimportant for your menstrual
cycle too, and especially if youare trying to conceive, because
your thyroid hormone levelswill impact what's going on with
(11:44):
progesterone.
Progesterone is the hormonethat your body makes after you
ovulate in that second half ofyour cycle, and which would be
sustaining an embryo throughyour first trimester.
So all of these are important.
There's balance to everything,and chronic inflammation is
going to be throwing all ofthese out of whack.
(12:06):
I do want to come back andmention moon phase, which I
mentioned earlier, I think,because I see this on social
media sometimes too, and this issomething that ties back to
this weight retention, or changein weight, and also water
retention.
Right, what moon face is is aredistribution or retention of
(12:31):
fat in the face.
There also could be somewater-related retention in the
face.
Fat in the face.
There also could be somewater-related retention in the
face.
And, yes, this could be fromany of the sources of stress
that you have in your life, andwe'll talk about more of these
sources causes of inflammationhere momentarily.
But I do think it's worthmentioning here that that could
(12:52):
be caused by corticosteroid use,potentially, like longer terms.
Corticosteroid use that's mymini way to say hey, thinking
about what's going on with yourstress levels, with your
inflammation, is certainly goingto be impacted by what's going
on with medications that you'retaking or medications that maybe
you're not taking, whateverelse is going on in your unique
(13:16):
health picture.
Just being aware of sideeffects of things that you are
taking, as far as medications go, is going to be really
important when you are trying tonoodle through what's the right
thing for you to do.
Is A causing B, is B causing C,and what can you do about it?
Now I mentioned really brieflysome of the causes of
(13:39):
inflammation, and that's, ofcourse, what we'll get to next.
You'll notice that a lot ofthese things are the kind of
foundational areas of healththat I talk about a lot here, so
I don't expect that these willbe a surprise for you.
If anything, though, thisshould be a good reminder for
you that oh, yeah, okay, there'salways a good opportunity to
(14:04):
dial in the basics and to reallyprioritize these things,
because these are the areas thatwill move the needle.
Okay, let me just tell you whatthey are now.
So one of the first things thatcan cause inflammation in your
body is what's going on withyour diet.
Are you consuming a highlyprocessed diet?
(14:26):
Are you consuming a lot ofsugar?
Are you consuming alcohol?
I guess smoking?
You know that's not somethingthat's in your diet, but also
right.
What are you bringing into yourbody in that way, that could be
inflammatory.
Now you also want to thinkabout what's going on with sleep
(14:47):
.
Are you getting enough sleep?
This was something I mentionedearlier.
That was really, I think, forme a part of my inflammation
picture, because I was notgetting that much sleep.
So, making sure that you'regetting that seven plus hours,
figure out what it is that yourbody needs, listen to your body
when it tells you that it needsa little bit more rest, and
(15:10):
that's going to be reallyhelpful for you.
Number three here a lack ofexercise.
Being overly sedentary, thatcould contribute to inflammation
, as well.
As number four hereenvironmental factors.
By that I mean, what are youbreathing?
I guess we could put smokingunder this category too.
But also, do you work in abuilding that has those
(15:35):
artificial air freshenerseverywhere?
Do you go over to your bestfriend's house and there's
always a candle burning, butit's one of those candles that's
just burning chemicals, right?
Or what are you putting on yourskin?
What are you putting in yourhair?
Those kinds of things that canimpact your body through your
skin, through your breath,anything else that you're
(15:58):
ingesting.
The last two things I want tomention here first would be
infections.
So if you are getting I mean,any type of infection, whatever
type of illness it is, or I'mgoing to even say, think of
you're on a hike and you comeinto contact with some poison
ivy, right, that's going to be asource of inflammation for you.
(16:19):
Last but not least, stressitself, right?
The mental or emotionalcomponents of stress that can
absolutely and do impact what'sgoing on with your stress
hormone, cortisol, and canresult in additional stress or
inflammation in your body.
I want you to take just asecond, pause me, if you need to
(16:41):
and think about those items Ijust ran through.
And what is your life likeright now?
What are those environmentalfactors that you're coming into
contact with?
How great are you at getting tobed on time lately?
How well are you doing when itcomes to avoiding some of those
overly processed foods?
So, take a second to reflect onwhat's that like for you.
(17:05):
What are the areas ofimprovement maybe the top one or
two that come to mind that youcould start taking some actions
on, and we'll get more clear onthat here shortly too.
Now, before I start walkingthrough some of the
recommendations that I have foryou, I really want to emphasize
that getting clear on what'sgoing on in your body, taking a
(17:27):
look at what's going on in yourlife as a whole.
What do you have access to?
What changes could you make?
That's going to be reallyimportant.
That's absolutely the mostimportant first step before you
consider making any changesright.
The recommendations that I walkthrough in a minute here might
be things that you already do,or they just might not be
attainable based on yourlifestyle, and that's okay.
(17:49):
There are so many differentways to support your health and
to meet your health goals, andso it's not one size fits all.
It's absolutely not one sizefits all, and I like to just
give that little disclaimerbefore you think, oh shoot, how
can I be going to the gym threetimes a week or whatever it is
(18:11):
for you?
I also want to mention thatwhen I'm working with my
one-on-one clients, this issomething that we focus on first
in really making a detailedpersonalized protocol for you so
that we can take a look at thewhole picture.
We can take a look at all ofthese parts of your lifestyle
(18:32):
that I mentioned sleep, stress,nutrition, hydration, those
environmental factors of what'sgoing on in your skin how are
you eating, where are you eatingand put together a personalized
plan that works for you andthat will be a sustainable
change in your life.
So I'll get off my soapbox now,but it's so important to really
(18:55):
think critically about what willwork for me, and is this right
for me?
Right?
How do you know and how are yougetting to the bottom of?
What are those sources ofinflammation for you?
All right, with that out of theway, let's take a look at some
of these areas to start.
So, when it comes to nutrition,you can find a kabillion things
(19:19):
.
If you do a Google foranti-inflammatory diet, that
makes sense, right?
If we're talking aboutinflammation Overall, though,
when you do search that, or whenyou're just thinking of, okay,
what's my ideal diet, you wantto be putting together a diet
that is composed of whole foods,and whole foods that are rich
(19:43):
in antioxidants and probablyfatty fish as well.
Now, let me be clear when I'msaying diet here.
Well, of course, there are somediets that you may want to
adapt for a shorter period oftime.
I mean diet as a way of eating,not an acute intervention that
you feel like you have to bereally strict with you are
(20:07):
thinking of.
Right, it's Sunday.
Maybe when you're listening tothis, it's not Sunday, but think
ahead to the next time it'sSunday.
Whatever day that you are aboutto go grocery shopping, you're
planning your meals and youthink, okay, how can I
prioritize getting in wholegrains?
(20:29):
How can I prioritize eating avegetable or a fruit of every
color of the rainbow this week?
How can I prioritize getting insome of these diverse nuts and
seeds, which, honestly, are soeasy, because, once you get them
, you have that bag of chiaseeds or whatever it is for like
(20:52):
three months.
If you don't have any seeds inyour cupboard, if you're not
real big into having a varietyof nuts in your cupboard, that's
something I would reallyencourage you to consider this
week when you are hitting thegrocery store, because it's
something that's going to helpintroduce that additional layer
of diversity for your diet whichyour gut microbiome will love
(21:17):
and also is going to be packedwith good fats and antioxidants.
I mentioned fatty fish earliertoo, which I want to come back
to briefly, just because omega-3fatty acids are going to be
great to focus on.
Kind of a buzzword.
Could you get a supplement forthat?
Sure, could you go ahead andincorporate?
(21:37):
Could you incorporate fish likemackerel, sardines, salmon to
get some of those omega-3 fattyacids on their own.
That's also a great option foryou to start with whatever works
for you, whatever works foryour budget and what is
realistic to keep in yourroutine.
(22:01):
The second thing that I want youto focus on is moving your body
regularly.
So I know that while I've beenrecording this episode, my watch
has buzzed at me and told methat I need to get up and move
my body.
I've been sitting for too long.
Maybe that's a reminder thatserves you well.
Maybe there's another tool.
Maybe you can get into a goodroutine of going for a walk each
(22:21):
morning.
What is it that you can buildinto your schedule that is going
to be easy and automatic?
Is there a you know what's thefirst step of that task that
takes two minutes or less, thatyou can focus on and make it
your goal to accomplish that twominute or less task?
(22:42):
To get your shoes on and getout to the gym?
Or get your shoes on, get yourhat on and go out for a walk.
Just make sure that I mean bestcase scenario you are moving
your body, doing something thatyou love and that is fun.
Another thing and I'm not tojump ahead.
But another thing that can behelpful when it comes to
(23:04):
inflammation, when it comes toideal stress levels, is having
that time to connect with yourfriends, connect with people
that you love.
So maybe there's a way that youcan do this whole two birds,
one stone kind of thing by goingto a workout class with your
friend or going for a walk withyour partner, whatever it is
(23:25):
that works for you.
A third thing I want to mentionhere would be considering
meditation.
If you don't meditate at all,or if you haven't gotten into it
yet, there are countless greatapps out there that you can get
started with.
Personally, I like to use anapp called Activations, which I
(23:46):
guess, now that I'm saying this,it's actually not technically a
meditation because it's anactivation, but find what works
for you.
I've also used Headspace in thepast, which I found to be a
really great resource to kind ofteach me about mindfulness and
how to get started.
So maybe that's a good spot foryou.
(24:08):
If you are yeah, if you're justgetting started with meditation
and trying to understand, like,what does this work?
How can I make it fit into mylife?
It doesn't have to be some big,like I need to have an altar
and light candles and whatever.
Maybe whatever the picture isthat might be in your head right
now can be really easy andattainable for you.
(24:30):
I want to give an honorablemention.
Shout out to going for a walkwithout your phone.
Take a lap around your block,take a lap around your office
building, take a lap from Idon't know, leave the door of
your work and just walk for twominutes, count to 100 and come
(24:52):
back.
I know that none of this isrocket science per usual, we're
not doing anything super, supercomplex here but it's these
basics and having this time toreset, relax and ground yourself
that can really make adifference.
I want to share with you acouple of supplements or
(25:13):
additions to your diet that youcould consider, because, again,
let's start with the foundations.
Let's start with getting to bedon time, start with
incorporating a diverse diet,start with getting those
processed and really sugaryfoods out of your diet.
Do not get me wrong, that isthe most important thing.
But I also use other adaptogensor other supplements to help me
(25:39):
out and help me perform andfeel my best.
So I don't want to act like I'mover here just, you know,
meditating and taking deepbreaths only to help me.
To help me, you know, achieveoptimal or ideal inflammation
levels.
I shouldn't even say manageinflammation, that's probably a
(26:00):
more accurate way to put that.
I've mentioned Symbiotica before, or if you've ever listened to
one other podcast, I feel like Ihear about Symbiotica
everywhere, but Symbiotica isone brand that I do recommend.
If you want to check out acouple of products, they have a
few with adaptogens in them.
(26:20):
One is called InflammatoryHealth, the other one is called
Golden Mind.
They have a lot of other greatproducts, too, but those are two
that I've used, that I like,and I did just order another one
that's a mineral-basedadaptogen.
I will have to report back toyou guys on that one, though,
(26:41):
once I get it and once I take itfor a spin for a little while.
On that one, though, once I getit and once I take it for a
spin for a little while.
That is most of theconversation that I wanted to
bring to you about inflammationtoday.
Right, and just in recap, let'sdo a quick little recap.
We first talked about whatinflammation is, which is this
(27:01):
prolonged release ofinflammatory compounds by your
immune system, or it could be anoveractive immune system that's
oftentimes presenting in theform of pain, chronic fatigue,
insomnia, joint stiffness, skinproblems.
You might see some of theseelevated markers like C-reactive
(27:23):
protein or cytokines.
Oftentimes, too, gi issues,mood disorders, changes to
weight or frequent colds or flusthat can be tied back to
chronic inflammation as well.
We also talked about what aresome of the things that
contribute to chronicinflammation.
What are some of the thingsthat contribute to chronic
(27:44):
inflammation, which include diet, sleep, exercise, environmental
factors, infections and thenstress itself.
So you've caught the picturenow of okay, what is stress,
what can contribute to it?
And okay, how does this impactmy period?
Again, like, why are we talkingabout this?
And I'm hormonal and that'sbecause when inflammation levels
(28:06):
are high, that's going to beincreasing your stress hormone,
which that is going to be a bigfactor in cycle regularity.
When cortisol levels are high,your cycle oftentimes is longer
than normal, and by that I meanthat your ovulation can be
delayed or you may not ovulateat all in a cycle, and that is
(28:29):
also going to impact what'sgoing on with PMS, because if
you are not ovulating or if youdon't have a particularly strong
ovulation, then that can alsoresult in PMS.
So a couple of ways that we'rebringing this full circle.
What I want you to do is noodlethrough what did I mention
(28:54):
today that applies to you, likewhat resonated with you, and
where are a couple of placesthat you can start making
changes.
Whether that's well, you don'tneed me to go through the list
again, but take that for yourhomework this week.
What do you need to do to helpsupport ideal levels of
inflammation in your body?
I forgot to mention, too, thatif you do decide you want to try
(29:19):
out any of the Symbioticaproducts, then you can use the
link in the show notes to save15% on your order.
So take advantage of thataffiliate link if that is your
jam.
Okay, gang, that's what I've gotfor you today.
Thank you for hanging on withme for this slightly longer than
normal episode.
If you feel like, even afterlistening to all of this, you're
(29:41):
like I, bridget, I don't knowwhat is the next step for me.
I feel like I've done all thesethings, I've tried all of these
things, like we've been herebefore, I would love for you to
schedule a free strategy sessionwith me.
We can talk through what's goingon with you.
We can talk through what mightbe the right.
Best next step and you can dothat at the link in the show
(30:20):
notes or by going toimhormonalcom slash apply All
always.
I need to give you my reminderthat the information I share
with you here is for educationalpurposes only, and it should
not be used as a replacement formedical advice or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
my offer for a free strategycall.
(30:41):
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.
All right, we'll see you on thenext one.
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