This Endolife

Today is a super quick episode, as I wanted to give you guys a bit more of a bite size one as I know some of you have been loving those. And just a reminder, these bitesize episodes are not heavy and full of information and research, but I will link to a couple of extra episodes for further information if you want to do a deeper dive. So today, I want to talk about stomach acid and endometriosis. You might be wondering what the hell stomach acid has to do with endo, but low stomach acid, is actually something I see a lot with my clients and students. And this is because stomach acid gets depleted by chronic stress, chronic fatigue and SIBO – all problems that many of us with endo face. Read more. Show notes: https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/10-root-causes-of-bloating-with-endometriosis-endo-belly-ibs https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/what-is-the-endo-belly-endometriosis-ibs https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-belly-treatment-endometriosis-ibs https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podc

Today’s episode is a replay for two reasons. Firstly, we’ve been on the road for four days heading to Italy so I’ve not been able to record a new episode this week, and secondly, I’m having a Black Friday Course Bundle Sale, and so if you’re wondering whether these courses could help you, I thought I’d share a success story from one of my course students. Before we head to the episode, I wanted to share some details about my Black Friday Course Bundle Sale. You get a year’s access to all three of my courses, plus two extra bonus masterclasses on surgery and pain relief, for just £99. As many of you know, this year I broke my ribs and punctured a lung, just when I was about to release a live course. And then, when I was gearing up to release another one in the autumn, I got covid, so I haven’t been able to deliver the live courses I promised this year and I know some of you are waiting for them, so I wanted to give you a chance to get them at a discounted rate before the year ends. So, in this bundle you’ll g

Today’s episode is one I’ve been mulling over for a while. The situation between Israel and Palestine has divided the world, and I didn’t want to add my voice to just basically add another voice into the chaos. I wanted to do something that felt useful and relevant - and so today’s episode, is part of that. Today I want to talk about ways to manage a humanitarian crisis when you’re already suffering so much with endo and your own health. Read more. Show Notes Sleep and HPA axis https://endometriosisnews.com/2020/09/17/5-ways-sleep-deprivaton-affects-endometriosis/ https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/night-waking-endo https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/tired-all-the-time-hpa-axis-dysfunction-and-endo\ https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/hpa-axis-dysfunction-healing-tips-endometriosis Compassion fatigue https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/compassion-fatigue https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7560777/ Charities https://www.actionaid.org.uk/supportchange/gaza-crisis-2021 http

Okay, so this week’s listener question is “How do I reduce bloating in the moment?”. So, this person is looking for short-term strategies for when bloating kicks in. Now, before I answer this, what I want us to consider is why the bloating is happening in the first place. There is always a root cause and so the key to long-term relief with the endo belly, is to work out the root cause of your endo belly. It might be SIBO, gut dysbiosis which is an imbalance of bacteria in your intestines, it might be inflammation, a food intolerance or it might even be adhesions affecting the flow of digestion. All of these are very possible with endometriosis and it’s likely that there’s not just one root cause, but perhaps two or even a handful. Read more. Need more help or want to learn how to work with me? Free resources: This podcast!  Endometriosis Net Column Endometriosis News Column Newsletter Instagram Ways to work with me: This EndoLife, It Starts with Breakfast digital cookbook Masterclasses in endo nutrition, s

Today’s episode is a replay because… I have covid! Yes, you may have noticed we didn’t release an episode last week and we just didn’t have a choice in the matter, neither of us were well enough to even put out a replay and I had no voice, so I couldn’t even record an intro. In this episode, I’m interviewing Arin Nicole, who you may know better as Moonli on Instagram. Arin is a functional hormone and endometriosis nutritionist with a particular interest in working with women and uterus owners who deal with hormone and inflammatory issues such as endometriosis, fibroids, period pain, mood swings, PCOS, and more. Her aim is to heal the root cause of people's symptoms through holistic nutrition. Arin has both endometriosis and fibroids, and is now in a place where her two conditions are really well managed and no longer cause her symptoms. I invited her on to talk specifically about fibroids, given that in the US, July is Fibroids Awareness Month. In this discussion, we talk about - What are fibroids The assoc

Many clients come to me for their endometriosis symptoms, often pain, bloating or menstrual irregularities, but when we work together, we look at the bigger picture and explore all of their symptoms, not just the classic endo ones, as it can give us more info about what’s going on. And when we do this, much of the time, sleep problems come up – especially waking up in the early hours of the morning. So, if you’re someone who suffers with insomnia or night waking, today’s episode may be helpful. If a client is struggling with this issue – my initial thoughts are: what are they eating for dinner? Is the plate balanced for blood sugar and are they eating enough carbs?  Read more. Show Notes: Episode 255 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40675-018-0103-x https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23419282/ https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.5384 https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/serotonin-the-natural-mood-booster#:~:text=One%20way%20to%20sneak%20more,chance%20at%20reaching%20your%20brain. https://p

Listener question: “Is flaxseed good or bad for endo? There is so much mixed info out there about it around increasing / decreasing eostrogen. Is there a better type of flaxseed - oil, roasted seeds, ground seeds, tablets high in flax?” Okay, I’m glad you asked this question because it comes up a lot and it’s not a straightforward answer. Flax is a type of phytoestrogen. A phytoestrogen is a type of plant compound which chemically is similar to oestrogen but isn’t a form of oestrogen and due to the similar structures, phytoestrogens can bind to oestrogen receptors in the body. When people hear this, they worry and think that means that it’ll increase oestrogen levels, when typically, the opposite is true. Phytoestrogens do not have the same strength as oestrogen, their oestrogenic effects are much weaker than oestrogen, so in theory, by binding to an oestrogen receptor, they are blocking real oestrogen levels, which is great if you’re someone who struggles with oestrogen dominance or high oestrogen levels. Re

We’ve been travelling from Montenegro to Romania and unfortunately this combination of a busy period and a new environment has really kicked off my POTS and MCAS and so I haven’t been able to record my episode this week. So, today I am resharing my interview with Adele Wimsett, who is talking to us about ADHD and the connection with endometriosis. As I have about 60% of clients diagnosed with ADHD, I thought this was worth raising up this feed, in case you’re also struggling. So, let’s get to it. Did you know that ADHD has been linked to patients with joint hypermobility, pain and dysautonomia? Given that endometriosis is now being associated more and more with hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorders, as well as POTS and dysautonomia, that means that there could be a reasonable percentage of people with endo also living with ADHD. So today on the podcast, I’m joined by Adele Wimsett to discuss this topic further. Adele Wimsett is a Women’s Health Practitioner specialising in cy

As some of you may know, September is PCOS Awareness Month. So, before we move into October, I want to wrap this month up with a replay of one of my favourite interviews with registered nutritional therapist, Megan Hallett. I’ll leave the old intro in as it gives you a dive into Megan and her work, but one of the reasons why I wanted to share this episode is because we’ve been talking a lot about blood sugar on the show lately and in this episode, Megan shares how to eat for blood sugar balance if you’re fully plant-based, as it can take a little extra work for some of people and Megan wrote an entire cookbook dedicated to this topic. Megan Hallett is the co-author of The Happy Balance, which she wrote with period expert Nicole Jardim. I absolutely love this book and recommend it to everyone. The cookbook not only gives us an awesome quick stop tour of our hormones and why health foundations like sleep and stable blood sugar are so crucial, but it also includes 60 beautifully nourishing, hormone feeding and b

So, as you know, I (and many other practitioners) use blood sugar regulation and anti-inflammatory nutrition to help manage endo. Today’s episode isn’t about that, but to give you context, we do this because blood sugar imbalances drive up inflammation and therefore pain, they can trigger hormonal imbalances and they can worsen fatigue. In terms of inflammation, pain is a symptom of chronic and heightened inflammation and inflammation is the key driver of pain with endo, and we can actually influence and lower our inflammation levels through the foods we eat and lifestyle choices. And we generally see very good results with these two methods, so they are a key component of most endo practitioners’ work. Now, there are some foods that are a bit notorious for causing blood sugar spikes, and one of those foods is oats. More specifically, hot oatmeal or porridge, as we call it in the UK. Today I held a Q&A and one of the questions, as you’ll come to hear, was about eating porridge for breakfast and being advised

Is snacking ‘bad’ for endo belly? I had a client recently ask me this and she’s not alone. Many who come to me for chronic endo belly, are worried that their snacking habits are making things worse. So, is snacking a problem? It’s a tricky question to answer… Let’s start with what happens to the gut when we snack. Between meals, two hours after you’ve eaten, a cleaning process is switched on so to speak, in your small intestine. The small intestine should only house food for about two hours, then the food moves on, and the rest of the digestion occurs in the large intestine. This wave-like motion clears the small intestine of food debris and bacteria that should actually be in the large intestine and this in turn keeps the small intestine clear and prevents gas, bloating, etc. that can occur if food and bacteria are allowed to build up in there. Every time we eat or drink something that has calories (so say a flavoured water, or a coffee with milk) it turns off. However, the process, called the migrating mo

Today I am sharing a personal experience podcast, in the hopes that it might help you. Social media in summer is full of people’s holiday pictures and I think for people with chronic illness, that can be quite isolating because we may not be able to travel or travelling can be hard to navigate. I’ve been sharing some of my videos and pictures of our travelling recently, and I’ve noticed that a lot of people make assumptions about what that means – they assume I’m well, happy and in a good place, and I think it’s important to share the reality. To me, travelling is worth it and the best thing I’ve done in my life, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon or settling down, but it comes with ups and downs and has come with some unique health challenges. I am grateful that endo hasn’t really played a part in many of these (except for some cycle disturbances which I’m working on), but it’s really been based around my mast cell activation syndrome and dysautonomia, which I was diagnosed with officially las

Today’s episode is all about improving fertility outcomes with endo with Dr. Amy Beckley. Dr. Amy Beckley is a PhD scientist and co-founder of Proov - a company dedicated to empowering women at every stage of life to track their own hormones quickly and easily at home.  After Amy experienced multiple miscarriages and three years of infertility, Amy applied her own science expertise to her fertility struggles and with the help of her doctor, Amy was able to get pregnant with her daughter.  As an endo warrior herself, Amy is deeply passionate about helping others in the community to conceive. On today’s episode we discuss: Amy’s own personal endo story and fertility experience. The prevalence of fertility issues within the endo community. Why endo could cause fertility issues and how these can be addressed/improved? The key strategies she suggests for improving fertility outcomes within the endo community. How Amy’s company, Proov is helping those trying to conceive. Where Amy suggests people start if the

Today’s episode is a repost as I am off on annual leave this week and a client’s experience with painful sex has inspired me to share this episode with you. This episode is a follow on episode from my ‘Root Causes of Painful Sex’ podcast, so if you’re interested in learning more about that, I’ve linked in the show notes. Of course, this episode already has an intro so I’m not going to intro the intro - I’ll just let you get to it! I hope you find this episode helpful. TRIGGER WARNING: This podcast contains brief references to sexual trauma. I wanted to do an episode on the back of my 9 Root Causes of Painful Sex with Endometriosis episode, as I talk about bloating, bladder pain, brain fog and fatigue a lot, but I haven’t covered painful sex much lately.  This episode contains a range of strategies, some long-term, some more short-term and this list certainly isn’t exhaustive. Many of the changes you make to improve your endometriosis in general, such as healing the gut, are not covered here but will certainly

If you’re a long-time listener of the show, you’ll know that endo belly – that classic bloating many of us get – is not just caused by endometriosis itself, but it is often the result of co-conditions and complications that people with endo face, such as small intestine bacterial overgrowth and microbiome imbalances. Gut dysbiosis, which means an imbalance of the bacteria in our gut, has been found in the research in people and animals with endometriosis. Whilst some more drastic measures can be taken, such as using antimicrobial herbs to kill off the ‘bad’ or opportunistic bacteria, one of the most essential and core things you can do to bring about balance, is to support your healthy gut bugs with their favourite foods, so that they can get back to the right numbers again. Many of us think that eating for gut health is about taking probiotics and drinking kombucha, but in fact, these strategies are just drops in the ocean – they are the paint on the walls, but first, we need to build the wall. We need to b

It’s August and some of us will be heading off on our holidays, but a big concern for many of with endo, is whether we will have a flare up or our period whilst on holiday. Typically, on holiday, inflammation levels will rise; we may be drinking more, sleeping less, eating less veggies and eating more sugar – all scenarios that have been shown to raise inflammation levels and unfortunately, inflammation is a key driver of endo and menstrual pain, and pain in general. Now, whilst it is never, ever your fault if you have a pain flare or endo – let’s be clear, you didn’t choose to have endo and you certainly didn’t cause it – there are some strategies we can adopt that can prevent such high increases in inflammation levels, and therefore, can reduce the chances of a flare, or at least minimise the severity of it. Whilst I cannot guarantee this will work for everyone, as after all, endo is unpredictable and there are multiple factors which can influence a flare, today I am offering three ways to counteract some o

Today’s short solo episode is another one that I hope will provide you with some practical tools for living well with endo, today I want to briefly talk about acupuncture. Now, I am not an acupuncturist, so I am not an expert, but as a certified endometriosis health coach, it is a type of alternative therapy that I often recommend to clients, especially when they are struggling with pain and are looking for a tool kit of modalities to help reduce it over time. So, let’s first talk about what acupuncture is. Acupuncture is rooted in Chinese medicine, but it has now been adopted throughout the world and is even acknowledged to be a beneficial therapy by western medicine. At a very basic level, acupuncture is the practice of gently inserting very fine needles into specific points of the body, and traditionally, the idea behind this was that these needles would help to encourage correct and healthy flow of Qi, which is  - again, in basic terms – our life force or life energy. Read more. Show Notes 1) https://ww

So, if you’ve been listening to my podcast for a while now, you’ll know that the proper balance of oestrogen and progesterone can significantly help manage endometriosis symptoms. Not only is endo an oestrogen dependent disease, but the symptoms of oestrogen dominance can look a lot like what we associate with endo symptoms, such as heavy bleeding, clots, cramps and bloating. Oestrogen excess put very simply, is when we have too much oestrogen circulating in our body, whereas oestrogen dominance is when the oestrogen to progesterone ratio is off, and oestrogen is dominating over progesterone in the second half of our cycle, when it should be the other way round. The other issue that can occur is when our liver isn’t properly clearing out oestrogen. This can result in oestrogen building up, creating excess levels, but the liver can also convert oestrogen into an unhealthier metabolite, which can cause more exaggerated oestrogenic effects. Read more. Need more help or want to learn how to work with me? Free re

Many of us with endo have what we call ‘endo belly’, that swollen, distended abdomen. For some of us, endo belly can be constant, or it can come with a flare up and may also be accompanied by IBS issues like gas, nausea, diarrhoea or constipation. Whilst you’ve heard me say over and over again that the endo belly is likely caused by gut issues like low stomach acid and digestive enzymes, microbiome imbalances and SIBO (as well of course, inflammation from endo itself), there’s also another culprit I don’t talk about a lot, and that’s NSAIDS. Read more and show notes Need more help or want to learn how to work with me? Free resources: This podcast!  Endometriosis Net Column Endometriosis News Column Newsletter Instagram Ways to work with me: This EndoLife, It Starts with Breakfast digital cookbook Masterclasses in endo nutrition, surgery prep and recovery and pain relief Live and Thrive with Endo: The Foundations DIY course One to one coaching info and application This episode is sponsored by Semaine. Semain

Something I hear a lot of people struggling with is the overwhelming amount of supplement options out there. Many of us don’t know which ones to choose, which ones can help us personally and how and when to take them, and how long for. As a result, when I meet clients some of them are on double figures of supplements, and others have given up taking any entirely. So, today I wanted to share this tip when choosing supplements. Find 1-4 supplements and choose ones that can target multiple symptoms – and then commit to them for 3-6 months minimum. So, what do I mean by choosing supplements that target more than one issue? Most of us have trouble with bloating, fatigue, PMS, blood sugar issues, histamine intolerance, pain and heavy bleeding to name a few, so ideally, we want a supplement that doesn’t just target one, but multiple. Read more Show Notes https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/supplements-shown-to-target-endometriosis https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/supplements-for-period-pain-menstrual