Hey, it's Antoinette and welcome to episode 5 of the hormone heartbeat podcast. Today's episode is sponsored by my post pill guidebook, which displays the top myths of a hormonal birth control and provides you with the next steps to rebalance your hormones and ease your transition back to hormone heaven without The Unwanted side effects and while preserving your future fertility. You can grab your copy in the show notes or by visiting www.koco.com. Today's episode. I will.Be interviewing spiritual nutritionist and digestive health specialists Kim Pega. She is the founder of modern Women's Wellness and she helps Millennial women who are feeling drained disempowered and defeated to have more clarity confidence and control in their lives. Kim is most passionate about empowering them to understand that how you digest your food is how you digest your life so that they can create the vibrant life that they truly deserve. It was a pleasure interviewing Kim and cussing digestion and gut health in a way that isn't considered mainstream. Thank you. And please enjoy welcome to the hormone heartbeat podcast a podcast about female empowerment through menstrual cycle Health the true heartbeat of your hormone status with each episode. We'll explore the foundations of Hormone Health with science Soulful and heartfelt conversations a dash of SASS and feminine Pizzazz. Our dream is to Army with exactly what you need to be an Unstoppable female Force ready to achieve all that your heart desires. And embrace your inner goddess and here's your host naturopathic doctor birth Doula fertility awareness educator hormone Enthusiast and lover of pretty things Antoinette Falco. Welcome Kim. It's so great to have you here. Why don't we start by telling if you tell us a little bit more about what led you to do the work that you do? Yes, so thanks for having me internet. So my journey began really four years ago when I had a really egg and izing experience with eczema. And this wasn't the first time I had eczema. I experienced it all throughout my childhood. I saw so many doctors and Specialists and they always told me the same thing always wrote me a prescription just increase the dose. I think this is kind of a common story. Many of us have I was just finished University. I was starting my career. How did the job everything felt like it was going into place and then all of a sudden I had eczema from head to toe which was I'd never had that before and I had always had this intuitive feeling that that these medications and these really potent steroid creams weren't the answer. So when I was at the doctor's office, Office four years ago and I was sitting in the chair and he was writing me another prescription and an increasing the dosages. I just had this big feeling what I know now is my intuition that said no we're not doing this anymore and that I left that office and that's when I began my holistic lifestyle shift and I did a bunch of research and I just kept digging and digging and just below the surface. I found a wealth of information. Made of a world of a difference to me started to connect a lot of dots field more layers for my symptoms and and I began to understand what was at the root of what was going on and that's why now. I'm so passionate about helping modern women who are feeling defeated drained and desperate just like I was to transform their lives so that they can have more self confidence self acceptance and just some more self. Love because we all know that we could use more of that in our lives. Well said Kim self-love there is if we could buy that in a pillar of formula sign me up for that because it's easy, right? Yeah. So I love what you said about. You know, how you define what your intuition was and what that meant for you. Can you share with our listeners? Just how would you describe intuition like it's not a word that you hear often. So if you could you Shed some light on what it means. Yeah. Well for me, it's just that that intuitive or let's say that instinctual feeling you have that gut feeling that you know, sometimes you just get this feeling inside of you. That's like I don't I don't know about that, you know, maybe you're gonna eat something and all of a sudden you feel like. Oh, I don't I don't know if that I should eat that or that instinct that you feel when you're going to go to when you have this option to go to a party or not. And there's that thing inside of you. That's like, I don't know. I don't think we should go and then you find out maybe maybe that wasn't the right group of people or whatever. It's but how I would explain intuition is your your own instincts. Mmm. So you're you know intuition around your body and what health, you know, what's right for your body on all different levels physically. Emotionally spiritually even awesome feature a lot of work with digestion and it's interesting how you said it's like that gut feeling so good. So if you could share it about how digestion and maybe you could tie in this piece of intuition how it's linked to Hormone Health. Yeah. Awesome. Let's begin by talking about how throughout history proper digestion and got Health has been revered as a pillar of health so Hippocrates he's been quoted as saying all disease begins in the gut also an era beta which is the sister science of yoga and is dated back 5,000 years ago in India, they teach that the science teaches that good health is dependent upon our capacity to our capabilities are to fully metabolize the nutritional emotional and sensory info that we ingest so from this we can really You see how digestion is is a pillar of hell? And before we move forward with our digestion and hormones are related. It will be beneficial for listeners to hear like what is the digestive system anyway, because I remember being in that seat a few years ago before I started this work. So our digestive system is also called the gastrointestinal system. Also the gut is a very very complex system. So I like to think of it like an orchestra. So it requires many different instruments or in case or in this case organs to work together in concert and in harmony our digestive system its main job is fortune and to release nutrients that the body needs for balanced health. So for what we would call a homeostasis the digestive system begins at your in your mouth and all the way down to your anus so Includes your stomach your small and large intestine signs liver gall bladder pancreas. So how did I just the system relates to your hormones? I'll describe it in the different ways. So first of all nutrient absorption. So in order for our hormones to function properly in our body, it requires nutrients and where do we get these nutrients we get them from the food that we eat. But in order for a body to actually use these nutrients, they need to be broken down in our digestive. Item also for hormone metabolism. Some hormones get metabolized in the gut. So for example, the thyroid hormone converts into its active form in the gut another really interesting link between digestion and hormones is what I like to call the cortisol Merry-Go-Round so cortisol suppresses digestive function, but then at the same time digestion issues also raise cortisol, so when you explain it like, I explained it like a merry-go-round. It's just this thing that keeps going back and forth when you're really stressed cortisol gets released in your body which then suppresses your digestive system because your digestion is not it's in that flight fight or flight State. It's not wanting to digest your food and bring in those nutrients that you need. It's like hey, oh my gosh, we're stress. There might be something that we need to run away from let's use all of our gee to protect ourselves when really maybe you might just be stressed because you have a meeting but you're just sitting down and you're completely safe in your environment. And then what also happens in that case is your digestive issues. So if your digestion isn't working properly then that also creates stress in your body because your digestive system isn't working properly and stress can be added from foods that aren't digested. Separately for example, so it is this Merry-Go-Round where stress creates digestive problems and then digestive problems creates more stress in the body. Mmm. Oh, I love that analogy. I think I think that's hormones in general right there. All the Merry-Go-Round reminds me of the mechanism of the feedback loop, right? We move momentum One Direction. We're going to flow Pathways one way, but then if we do that too much, then we can't like backtrack and go the other way so it does all All work sort of together. Yeah and two other links that I think that are really important is gut bacteria and balances. So when your digestive system isn't working properly and there is an imbalance of your gut microbes and there isn't a good proper balance between the good and the bad bacteria in your gut. This can lead to hormonal imbalances and issues, you know cravings for sugar and carbs and it because it can become the breeding ground. Candida and small intestinal bowel overgrowth which I experienced on my journey as a result of my poorly functioning digestive system. And then lastly, you know, extruding hormones such as estrogen to prevent estrogen dominance. So even in these examples, you can really see how digestion and hormones and hormonal Havoc are really related and in such a good point to on, you know, first addressing. Seeing the gut health that's linked to so many diseases as you mentioned and historically has been shown to be related to so many aspects of her health. So I think it's easy to jump to fixing our hormone specific symptoms. We can't get there unless we work on the gut and I'm sure you're going to talk about that in our next question. So we'll just move right along. So tell me what are some tips you have for women who who would be struggling with a hormone imbalance. Like where where should they start where I would start? With that is of course in my experience in my own experience and with my own health and working with women digestion is number one for me. It's the pillar of Health. I mean, it's said that 90% of all diseases begin as a digestive issue something that I wish that I could tell myself beginning in my journey when I thought that you know hormones were the main problem for me. I wish I could tell myself that moments while they are beneficial and can be helpful for our health and bringing us back to balance. We can also use it as a Band-Aid solution. And so what I mean by this is I purchased so many supplements and I'm sure I'm not alone in having like a cupboard full of supplements. Oh, yes, and you know, even though a lot of those things might have been helpful for me what I realize now. With hindsight, is that it all it all really needed to be focused on the digestive system because no matter what you're eating if you're eating, you know, as my background as a registered holistic nutrition is my message is natural high vibrational live and Whole Foods when possible, but even if you are eating, you know, great food great quality food, if you are not able to digest your food nothing's happening. Which is the same with supplements because you're you need to be able to use the nutrients from the supplements and Foods in order to help bring your body back into balance. So one powerful shift that I had in my health journey is viewing my digestive system as higher. So in are beta they talk about the word Agni, which is called your digestive Fire or the Fire Within so when we think about our digestive, System as a fire when it is Burning Brightly, you are able to digest your food and reap its benefits. You are physically and mentally sound but on the contrary when your fire is depleted and out of balance everything starts falling out of balance. Whether it's your skin your skin you start seeing skin inflammation with acne or eczema like me hormonal imbalance and moods being able to view it as a fire really helped me because I'm a very visual person. Sanaya really helped me to shift my perspective and brought some more a more empowering approach of trying to understand. You know, what why is digestion important and so for for women who are struggling with hormonal imbalance and they want their starting to question. Okay. Well, how do I know if I have digestion and balances so where I would start is, you know, your stools believe it or not are your stools? All formed you have strain when you go to the bathroom. Also, how do you feel after you eat? Do you have a lack of energy? Are you still hungry? Do you all of a sudden get really emotional or moot or have like a big spike in your moods? Just your own experiment is is what I would recommend. I mean, that's what I did in my journey. I just I just knew that the only person who was able to really create the true transformation. In is myself because even when you go to a practitioner, they're asking you for your own feedback. So if you're not aware of what's going on, even if you have someone helping you it's hard for you to be aware of things. If you are not paying attention yourself because you are the experiment right experiment and the detective. Yeah and the expert right? You're the expert expert of your own health your own circumstances. So awareness. I think that is so Beautiful how you touch on that because we don't know what's not working unless we know what's going on. Right and we're both Healthcare practitioners. And of course, we're there to support women and ask them probing questions, but at the end of the day, they are the expert. We're just here to help facilitate. Yeah, you said about supplements just going back because I always, you know, I always tell my clients like don't waste your money, like don't throw money away on supplements like spend it on food. Food because food is going to heal your gut and then you'll be able to absorb the supplements. You're taking all the supplements that you choose to take it. You might need down the road. Yeah, but supplements can be helpful. But sometimes you just are investing in really expensive P. Yeah, ain't nobody need that. Oh, no, and I also wanted to share with your listeners three of my tips for improving digestion. Really. Steps one is what I like to call the 30 by 30 rules. So water away from meals so monitoring your water intake 30 minutes before your meal. So not having water 30 minutes before and then limiting it 30 minutes after and if you as you begin this process your mind might be like, oh my gosh, I'm thirsty I need water. So if you need to take like a little sip here and there while you're having your meals, that's okay. Okay, but the idea behind this is let's get back to the egg me the digestive fire when you're about to eat. You need your fire to be strong. And when you drink water, you're depleting that fire and you're not able to fully reap its benefits. Number two would be to eat fruit alone because fruit is digested very quickly in the body. So if you're eating fruit along with some, you know, Carbohydrates or protein they these all have different digestive digestion and Transit time. So what can happen is if you eat all these Foods together, it can create fermentation in the gut because say you have a strawberry and then you eat a potato and then you eat an animal protein. These are all digesting at different times and your body isn't able to keep up as efficiently, especially if If your digestive fire is not strong to begin with and then third is to actually chew your food and I think it's a really important topic to bring up because if you're scarfing down your food you're not actually fully digesting your food because interesting about the body and the digestive system is your in your mouth. There are digestive enzymes that are created so it's called amylase and it helps. And it begins at digestive process. So if you're just having like one or two choose and then swallowing your pretty much swallowing Whole Foods and you're allowing your body to actually break down those nutrients thus having more digestive issues, like bloating like gasps like constipation. We're in such a fast-paced world. I just think of how many times I hear, you know eating I'm eating on the go. I'm eating in the car. I'm like scarfing something down on my way out to bring my Kids somewhere, you know, we're just our society is fast-paced and I think that translates even into our how we're eating and the practices around our food and eating those eating that quickly and that in and like how you said is really affecting digestion. And yeah totally and I think that what we're beginning to see especially as modern women is that this isn't working for us and so that's why I created the modern. As wellness program which is my private coaching program because each women is bio identically unique and that means that we have different cycles and rhythms in our bodies and we all have different needs. That's why we need to begin to look at ourselves with our own microscope and realize that we can't compare ourselves to each other that we all there. Maybe, you know Common Thread along the way but we're all coming at it from different angles and that's a really beautiful. Thing and we need to honor that mmm. Yes, we are. We're all you know, we all have different our bodies. Our teacher our bodies are different our systems are different and most importantly like just the way we processed food, right and yeah entrants. Yeah, and and we know as modern women that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work anymore me now. Definitely doesn't I think I think we've had a lot of we've had a lot of movement in women's health around like body positivity and I love to see The same with Women's Health in terms of like hormonal health and how we're approaching, you know, things like menstrual issues and digestion like those those more internal topics that either are getting overlooked or they're just not getting the attention that they need. So thank you for doing the work that you do that is helping women to speak up about that stuff and and ask for help and even knowing that there's a problem. Right that I think is the first step. Absolutely. Thank you. And I mirror that back to you and work that you were doing so my favorite topic and what I'm like super excited to talk about in today's episode. I mean all the content we've gotten so far has been fantastic, but I want to talk about emotions because I want to go deeper specifically how it relates to health. So let's talk about some of the emotions that you find women are might be struggling with that are Towing something going on in the digestive system got health and emotions there, you know intertwine they are linked. There's a connection there. You know. I have a two-part answer for you. So number one. I just an effect digestion affects your mind and your mood and your thoughts because how you digest your food is how you digest your life. I say this from the perspective that your body is just a metaphor is a metaphor for how you are showing up in your life. So if you are having Having difficulty digesting your food what areas in your life. Are you having difficulty digesting? Are you having a difficult time digesting your relationships? Are you having a difficult time digesting your emotions around yourself or your career or you know insert here we have for whatever it is. But that is the the psycho-spiritual the holistic perspective of digestion. Is that how you digest your food is How you digest your life? Oh, that's so great. I think also many women it can really will hear that and and see some connection or be able to you know, Echo it in their own lives example of you know, constipation and constipation being like stuck and maybe there's something around there but like not being able to let go exactly yeah. Are you are you not able to let go where in your life are you trying to have control over something you don't? Have control over and I say this with a smile on my favorite because I've been that woman. I've been that woman who is you know, your body your body's always talking to you. That's the interesting and profound thing. It's just that we haven't been taught how to speak the language of the body and that's why I'm so passionate about helping women to tune back in and reconnect with the wisdom that their body has and to really extract that potential. Kim and I are having this conversation on a video call. So it's really great. I if I could paint a picture for her of her smile from ear to ear excited she is about this topic, you know, I think you you are doing something you are doing fantastic work and the women that you're going to get to share your message with are so incredibly lucky because this is something that is it May in the short term the something that may help digestion, but once that's fixed it then opens. Up the whole, you know whole world of possibilities when I come to your maybe your Hormone Health your relationships. You know, how you feel is a woman like what you're what you're destined to do on this planet like all these like huge things. Yeah. This is this is a fantastic. So laughs. I'm really I'm really excited and I love that I get to share this part two of my own we're both so passionate about this topic we could just go on so let's go on talking about the amazing. In fact that your gut is your second brain. Yes. Tell me more about that the brain and the gut are in constant communication and they're connected by your vagus nerve and what is so interesting is that most of the communication is from the gut to the brain not the other way around when I heard that and I learned about that. It was like wow. Oh my gosh, so my brain is getting Most of its information from my gut and that's why the gut health is so important and the gut contains a hundred million neurons, which is more than your spinal cord or your peripheral nervous system. I was insane is that that's why they're saying that's why all this research this Rich research is coming out of the importance of that. He'll you know, 95% of Serotonin, which is our Good hormone is located in your gut and this is why gut health and mental health research is becoming such a Hot Topic because of the role gut bacteria plays, you know research is showing that got health or sorry gut bacteria can both indirectly and directly influence our serotonin levels. And this makes sense when we talk about the gut Grant but bring axes because our mental well-being is connected to our digestive well-being. Our thoughts emotions. These have a very significant impact on our digestive system and we're really in their research only beginning to discover the wealth of information that lies in our in our digestive system. Mmm. So so well said, I think it's we're seeing more and more now and thanks for bringing up the research, you know diseases like, you know depression or anxiety they are Affect all of us and I hate to use it the word, you know disease because I think there's a certain level of it may exist in everyone based on disturbances in the gut because we are moving away from eating real foods eating slowly eating nutrients like not not packaged food. So I think this is this is cool. This this area of research is awesome and tell me more about what would be some of your strategies for women that how they could You know explore these emotions and look at how it's affecting their gut health and what maybe you know, some of the root cause the root causes of the hormone Havoc for bringing it all together. Mmm. Well most importantly I if I could have, you know, a microphone and just spread this message to all these modern women out there who are listening you are not crazy. Yes you have All the answers within but the journey is to begin to shift your perspective of your body and to trust that your body knows what what to do that. It's a naturally healing self-regulating system and that your instincts and your intuition will guide you to what your body needs I say that so passionately about you are not crazy because In today's society that I think that's just a cheap shot for women, you know talking about like, oh she's just on her period because she's hormonal and like, oh, she's just acting crazy because she's going to have her period like know that that to me is not helpful because women are wired differently. They have a really strong endocrine system and hormonal system and when things are out of balance, it's not because something Thing is there's nothing wrong. Like your body isn't a default. It's not like you created with something wrong. Like they forgot to give you something. It's just that we have to reconnect with our bodies and work with our bodies rather than against it and a Latin allowing a space for your body to to express to you what it needs for you to know. So back to my journey with eczema, even though that was one of the most agonizing Icing experiences that I've ever had in my health history here. I am now teaching on it and making my message my message. So that's number one. That's if I could give a take-home would be you're not crazy and you know back to the digestive system when we have a strong digestive system when things are imbalanced. We then have a strong terrain and Foundation to build upon so you're able to digest Your food and your emotions and you have that that Foundation to them work upon. So perhaps perhaps you know that you might need to focus a little bit on your hormonal health and then perhaps that may lead you to something else but at the end of the day all comes back down to your digestive system because as we've been discussing it is the pillar of health and everything and everything in your body is working in. It together with your digestive system and so small steps. You know, I'm a very big picture person and what I'm realizing is that when you're a big picture person, what you get to do is you get to honor and you get to honor the fact that small steps gets you to where you want to go. It's not always about big Mammoth steps. It's rarely. I know it's all about small steps, you know, like when I was beginning my journey, of course, I was thinking how am I going to get from A to B. It seems like, you know, just mammoths way it seems like how am I supposed to be from where I am now covered in eczema to living a life of freedom from this skin inflammation and this discomfort and agonizing pain, but I'll all it takes is just small steps and the first most important step in this is the first step that I facilitate with the women that I work with in my program is awareness because as we just touched on awareness is key to True transformation because you cannot change and transform something that you are not aware of and like we said be your own expert start to make connections of how you're feeling, you know, I was really at first resistant to like logging and logging it down like a in a food journal, but once I actually did that I was able to connect the dot and it's very empowering to be your own health care practitioner, but then also to be supported by other women as well who can help you move forward in your journey and share share the wisdom that each of us has So well said yeah, you can't fix what you don't know right you did if you don't know what's there. So that's the really good. Yeah, really good point and then the same would go for after when you start to feel better than when you have something that you know is a trigger for you you it makes so much more sense versus before you would be like, oh, I don't know what it is. There's so many things that could be at fault. I don't know. What's what exactly because what you're doing is You're Building. Your toolbox. Yeah, I'll so well said, can you give us some examples of some of the women that you've worked with? Yeah, actually, I'm excited to be launching my private coaching program. The modern women's wellness program, which is a 12-week program to see that I have created to support women in discovering how to enhance their Mind Body Connection so that they can optimize their gut health and better digest their lives. So I take on clients and work with women who are really motivated who are ready to transform their house and take action. Ian and who understand the power of a holistic approach beautiful? Yeah. So I think we've definitely highlighted in this episode how important a holistic approach really is to overall health. Absolutely. I think the idea of separation is what has held us back in health. Yes because it is all beautifully connected and it is not separate. Everything is connected. It we live in live in the Synergy between the body mind and the spirit and it's all connected. I think this is where we have to almost untrain our brains because we grew up with Western medicine where it's you know, it's so ingrained in our physiology that you fix something when it's broken and you you go get one medicine to cure this one thing but going to something come else comes out you need another medicine, you know, it's very it's almost become a commodity. A good way to put what Healthcare typically what we know of it. So we have to then retrain our brain that actually that's not really how our body works our systems don't work in isolation. They're all connected. They're all work together and it's about how they're all working together. And what what is the least invasive thing that can give us the most amount of benefit on all of those systems and you know, I think we're on the same page and with this one in terms of like really the gut and the food make good choices. This is around the food the food. You choose the food habits. You have the practices all of that. Yeah, so but it's good that we have to have people sharing the message that it's it's like the brain relearning that that's not the only way and giving ourselves permission to accept that the body works as a system. Exactly and I really want to highlight what you said the word isolation. Because it can feel really isolating to embark on this journey on your health Journey when you're when you're shifting from the separation lack mentality to now understanding like oh my gosh, everything is connected. And so what I want to say to your listeners is that you don't need to be isolated in this process that just like you said, everything is working everything works together. So just like what we were talking about the orchestra. Of the digestive system. We can also see that on a macro level in terms of there are people out here who are ready to support you, but you have to be ready to take that step. Okay. So for our listeners who are ready to take that step for their health. Where can they connect with you? Yeah, so they on Instagram so at Kim Pega on Facebook. I have a Facebook page at Kim Pega spiritual nutritionists. And if any of your listeners, really Dated with what with me and my message and the work that I'm doing and they're interested in learning more. I invite them to book an exploratory call with me where we can continue this conversation and see we would be a good fit to work together. All right, great, and we'll post all of those in the show notes. So thank you so much Kim for joining me today. It was wonderful to have you I even learned some things which I love learning. So it's fantastic. Thank you so much. Thanks so much and I was lovely. I love chatting with you about this topic. Kim Pega has a special gift for all the listeners of the hormone heartbeat podcast. And that is a copy of her Ultimate Guide to decoding digestive dilemmas and you can access that guidebook by clicking the link available in the show notes. If you enjoyed today's episode be sure to subscribe so you can be notified of all future episodes. Codes and don't forget to check out the show notes for all guests details and your free downloadable goodies. Your feedback is important to me. So, please please leave a review so women can find and be empowered by this knowledge. If you have a topic you'd like to see discussed on the show or have a recommendation for guests you like to see interviewed. Please get in touch by emailing the hormone heartbeat podcast at gmail.com.
In today's episode of the Hormone Heatbeat Podcast, we discuss the foundations of the digestive system and explore the root causes of gut dysfunction and how it relates to other health conditions. We will also investigate how emotions and life situations can significantly ultra gut function and it's an important step in your healing journey. Our special guest today is the wonderful,  Kim Pega, she's a spiritual nutritionist and digestive health specialist. As the founder of Modern Women's Wellness™, she helps millennial women who are feeling drained, disempowered and defeated to have more clarity, confidence, and control in their lives. Kim is most passionate about empowering them to understand that how you digest your food is how you digest your life so that they can create the vibrant life they deserve. Details of today's episode:   Introduction with Kim Pega   Defining intuition or having a "gut feeling"   Intuition and hormone health    Digestion is a pillar of health    What is the digestive system and how it works    Gut and hormone metabolism    Cortisol merry-go-round   Gut microbiome and hormone imbalances   Digestion and hormone havoc    Where's the best place to start when working on hormone health   "Agni" or your digestive fire    3 simple steps to improve digestion    Digestion and emotions    How you digest your food is how you digest your life   Listen and connect to your body's wisdom   Your gut is your second brain    Strategies for exploring emotions and how it relates to gut health, and hormones    How to digest your food AND emotions    Benefits for a food and mood journal    How separation has held us back in our health  Resources & Goodies referenced in today's episode: Download your copy of Ultimate Guide to Decoding Digestive Dilemmas Connect with Kim Pega  Email: kimpegarhn@gmail.com Book an Exploratory Call with Kim Facebook: Kim Pega Holistic Spiritual Nutritionist  Instagram: @kimpega Connect with host: Dr. Antoinette Falco, ND Download your copy of Post-pill Guidebook Website: www.antoinettefalco.com Instagram: @drantoinettefalco Please send all inquiries and suggestions, including topics you'd like to see covered on the podcast to thehormoneheartbeatpodcast@gmail.com If you'd like to be a guest on the show and you think you'd be a good fit, please reach out! 