Episode 118 - How To Balance Your Hormones? Find Out From Holistic Hormone Expert Marisa Faye - Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 118.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker 2 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Speaker 2 0:27

you had mentioned earlier? Well, I guess I had mentioned earlier my cholesterol and but you had mentioned that cholesterol and hormones are related. And I would love to talk about that a little bit.

Speaker 3 0:37

Yeah, so a lot of times, your body will, first of all cholesterol, the vast majority of it your body makes, it's another one of those things very critical. You need it for healthy cell walls, you would die without it. So cholesterol is so important, your body makes most of it very little of it, you actually get from food. So the whole idea of donate eggs, because of the cholesterol police, anybody who says that to ask them where they learned that and if they've studied 1000s of hours of nutrition, because they probably haven't. So this is really important to know, what you're eating impacts your cholesterol if what you're eating is very inflammatory, right. So if you're eating a lot of those highly palatable foods, a lot of super processed foods right, then that's important. If you're exposed to a lot of toxic chemicals, you know, a lot of my clients who, for example, work in like a hair salon. That's a lot of chemical exposure they have right, so that could cause dysfunction there. But in general, if you have a relatively healthy diet, and frankly, even if you're just a woman who is aging, because this can be part of the process, it's very likely cholesterol is going to go up. And in fact, it's protective to do so in women especially. But the threshold for high cholesterol and functional medicine is much much higher than I think it is in western medicine and Western medicine, you can go back and look that guideline has changed over time based on them wanting to prescribe not based on any new data, not based on any high quality studies, nothing like that it's completely because of a desire to want to sell a medication. And not only that, but cholesterol is absolutely critical as we age and protective as we age because it is at the top of the steroid hormone pathway. So what I mean by that is you have to have enough cholesterol in order to make a whole bunch of other hormones. So any hormone you think of as like a female hormone, you need it for that any hormone you think of as a stress hormone, you need it for that. And there are plenty of other hormones too, that really need that presence and thrive from that. So if you don't make enough cholesterol, all these other things downstream are going to be lower potentially, or the body's going to do funky things like it's going to shovel it down one pathway but not the other. So it's going to make potentially more testosterone and not enough cortisol right or something like that. It's going to start to do wonky things. So when a woman has higher cholesterol, we have to first look downstream and see, well, what's going on with all these other hormones, is there potentially an issue there and perhaps a feedback loop where the body is saying, we're not making enough thyroid, like Knock Knock, knock, we need more. So let's make more cholesterol, right. So that can often be something I see actually, in women as they age, where thyroid is looking like it's being a little bit suppressed. I see cholesterol sometimes goes up. And that's I think part of what's happening. But cholesterol really gets demonized and villainized. And, in particular, when we look at women, the vast majority of women, based on the studies we've seen and what we know statins do, do not benefit from taking statins, the vast majority. And that is not medical advice, you have to make anybody listening, you have to make the choice that is right for your body. But I would just really encourage you to truly go on PubMed, look at the literature or talk to somebody like me who's looked at that literature have the conversations. So you can make a more informed choice to know if you're somebody who truly can benefit. Or if you're somebody who has a downstream hormone issue or a liver issue, because that's a big part of it because of where cholesterol is made and how it's used. And those are the things that need to be addressed. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 4:05

Do you have somebody because I have a lot.

Amy 4:08

Yeah, you go, and then I have something I want to circle back on from earlier. Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 2 4:12

So what you're saying is that if you do have like a hormonal imbalance that could affect your cholesterol and cause it to go higher than it needs to be. And so instead of a doctor checking your hormones, they just hand you a statin, it's not necessarily going to fix the problem. Yes.

Speaker 3 4:28

Correct. Okay. And not only is it not going to fix the problem, there are a lot of potentially negative side effects if you stay on it long.

Speaker 2 4:34

Yes, that sounds like me, like everything I've just realized. So isn't that funny? And I just was reading about a study and this is just for the listener regarding statins. It was a study that showed like they're very effective for people that are already deep into heart disease like versus preventative. The preventative this study showed that if you took a statin preventatively it added four days to your life for days. That's it like, it's insane. Like, what's, what's the point? So anyway, I digress. I just wanted to get that out there. Amy, what were you? Okay?

Speaker 3 5:09

There's cool studies too, that actually look at women and show it actually takes time off your life potential. So, and this is the whole thing where women and I mean, female, right? female sex physiology, very different than male, when it comes to this.

Amy 5:25

Interesting. Okay, so we could go on and like, we'll probably need you back for part two, because we have so many other things. But can we just talk to our listeners and give them some simple tips for hormonal balance that they can do right away? Like, obviously, there's the button all the other stuff we talked about, but like, what some simple things? Yes.

Speaker 3 5:42

Okay. So first and foremost, protein, protein, and more protein. So protein is your friend and kind of how I've touched on a few times in small ways, but muscle right, muscle is the most beneficial thing for you to nourish, and try to grow within your body. So high quality protein, and at least having three really high quality meals every day with at least 30 grams of animal based protein. And yes, I am that specific that it's animal based. Part of that is because

Amy 6:14

so not a shake with protein, we mean, yes, meat chicken, yes,

Speaker 3 6:18

this, you know, you could do a shape that has a protein that's like I use like a grass fed beef isolate. But something that is a complete protein. By the way, collagen is not a complete protein, so it doesn't count towards that goal. But you could get a really high quality, truly animal derived protein powder, and that could be okay for somebody. But it may not be as satisfying and satiating, but at least 30 grams of an animal based protein breakfast, lunch and dinner. Okay, really important, it's going to help with insulin regulation that's going to help with hormone production is going to help with your appetite it's going to help with so so many things, sleep potentially, like just so many things. So really important that you're getting enough protein in throughout the day. So that's key, first and foremost. Second of all, you need to be eating within an hour of waking up. This whole idea of depriving yourself of food, and it's good. If you wake up and you're not hungry is a lie. A healthy body wakes up and is hungry within about an hour of waking that is a healthy metabolic response. And anytime we're talking about metabolic response, we're talking about healthy hormones. So that's really key. We want to be eating that first high protein meal within an hour of waking up, which means coffee, caffeine, even your matcha happens after breakfast not before

Speaker 2 7:36

is I've been hearing that more often. And that's because of like cortisol spikes and things like that. Is that part of that as well?

Speaker 3 7:42

It can it can be but it's also because it can dis regulate blood sugar. And it also can be used as a tool for appetite suppressant, right? So a lot of women will use it so that they don't have to eat. And when you don't feel your body when it really needs it after it's done a lot of hard work restoring overnight, right? When you deny it, that it's not a good thing.

Amy 8:05

Yeah, I also heard that just drinking and I'm so guilty of it. But drinking coffee on an empty stomach just isn't good for your gut, right acids and things like that

Speaker 3 8:15

very acidic, right? And a lot of women as they age start to do more and more with reflux. And most instances of reflux are actually low stomach acid, not high stomach acid. And so putting coffee into an environment like that is rough. That is rough. Yeah.

Amy 8:32

Yeah, I'm very guilty of this. I'm very guilty of not eating breakfast, because I am truly not hungry in the morning because I'm not a morning person. But I have to really force myself, which was actually it's funny when I was talking about my vacation on vacation. I had breakfast every morning. I mean, I don't know if I felt any different. But I was eating like a proper breakfast every morning, which is probably better. But I just Yeah, I got to work on that. Yeah, well, better

Speaker 3 8:57

body to to do that. So if you're somebody who's coming from like, where you are, Amy, you know, you don't have to jump right to that 30 grams of protein for breakfast, you could do something smaller, right. So a lot of clients. And I also teach this to the women in my course, like you could do a small protein rich snack. So you could do, you know, three quarters of a cup of Greek yogurt with some berries within an hour of waking, right. And the ultimate goal is that over time through doing that you start teaching your body because our body is really smart and it wants to be on that rhythm. It actually wants to be on a rhythm with the sun if we're getting very technical. So when you are waking up, you're exposing yourself to sunlight, your body is going to start to know Oh, okay, I'm going to be hungry here soon and I'm gonna get fuel soon. I'm gonna get nutrients soon. And I like that. And so you're gonna start to actually prime that appetite and make that a part of your regular life.

Amy 9:48

Yeah, I think for me, too. I get lazy and I don't want to make anything so like what's your point? Like? I have hard boiled eggs all the time. So like I could just eat that. I was just trying to find things that I can grab because I don't necessarily feel like spending the time to make anything. But um, yeah, that's a very good thing to remember. And I'm actually not I'm thinking about it. I was eating like, a nice proper breakfast lunch dinner. And I didn't find myself like hungry or craving any like snacks in between, because I was probably very satiated. So it's almost like I gotta force myself to eat even though I don't feel hungry.

Speaker 3 10:22

Yeah, definitely two more tips that are really good. One is yes, close your vegetables, cook them, stop it. Like, we're not robbing it like. So one of the most amazing things you can do is start to look at food and think about like, is this nourishing for my body. And when you think of the word nourishing, I want you to think of warming since warming my body, because as we age, and this is borrowed from Chinese medicine, but as we age our body cools off. But we also see that actually, when we monitor our body temperature, we can sometimes see that happen over time. But if you're having slower digestion, right, if you're having hormone dysfunction, and you're a woman, you're likely having things slow down, right, not get faster. So when we have things slowing down, we want to keep it warm. We want to keep it supple, we want to keep it moving, right? You're not going to do that by throwing cold things in your body all day long. So really, truly, first of all, ditch the freakin fiber powders like that is not most people's problem for the record. And a cup to two cups of cooked vegetables, lunch and dinner. could change your world.

Speaker 2 11:32

Interesting. I love cooked vegetables. But yeah, it's but you have to like, you got to do it. You got to take the time to cook them and do it

Amy 11:39

right. Or you could do like a like a chicken broth. What's it called? Like a chicken broth? Because that has protein right. And it's warming bone broth.

Unknown Speaker 11:48

You couldn't you know, I mean bone broth. Sorry.

Speaker 3 11:51

To have frozen vegetables, like no shame in my game. Get the frozen vegetables like those are pre cooked. Throw me to pan they'll heat up in two minutes. You're done. Yeah,

Amy 11:59

totally. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay, what's the next one's a really good reminder. Okay,

Speaker 3 12:04

the next one is you've got to get serious about your toxin exposure. And so many of us are trying to be really mindful of, for example, drinking enough water. And we're not paying enough attention to what's in our water, right. Or we're really mindful about getting into skincare and keeping our skin really nourished. But we're not paying attention to what's in our skincare. So it's time to really prioritize the things that I like to say the things our bodies is going to absorb the most stuff that are either going into your body or staying on your body for a long time, are really the things you want to prioritize first replacing if it feels daunting to do this. And I really, really recommend, first of all, bread is not enough your fridge filters, not enough. It's not enough, a whole house filter in many cases is not enough, you need a much higher quality, quality water, really important. And you also need better skincare products, friends. And there are easy ways to do that. So ew G the Environmental Working Group, they have a fantastic app or website called skin deep. There's also an app called Think dirty. And there are a number of other apps. So you can play with the ones and find the ones you like. And you can go through everything you have and use when it comes to personal care and see where it rates and try to find upgrades. And then when it comes to water filters, there are a couple that I really liked. But it depends a little bit on your water quality. So check your water quality. So Ew, g.org/tap water, you can check and see what is in your water personally. And then you can choose a filter that's going to work the best for you. For example, there's fluoride in my water. So I want to filter that out because fluoride is a neurotoxin, and damaging to our thyroid and I have history of a thyroid issue. So I filter out fluoride and that was really important for me. But I have clients who live places where they don't add fluoride to the water so they wouldn't need something that had that extra capability.

Amy 13:55

A quick mention I wanted to say two things. We did an episode a couple months ago with a company called Million marker that does all of this measurement arounds endocrine disruptors in the house, so it's a really interesting episode to get tips around how to do this in simple ways around your house, what you're putting on etc. And I also use an app called yaka y UK, which is similar to think dirty, which is also really eye opening. And that's made me make better choices too. So good thing to like, go back to that episode and listen, and yeah, it's really important. Those three tips are really helpful,

Speaker 3 14:30

too, by the way that this going through your toxin exposure is important is because of Xeno estrogens. So these are synthetic hormone like substances that are in all of these different kinds of toxins that are in all these kinds of products and in our environment. And literally in your body. Your body will try to plug it into the same place that it's going to plug estrogen in so then you have a toxic substance being plugged in there. And that is why they're so problematic. And this is also very critical to anybody dealing with any kind of hormone issue and it's why it's it's a whole module in my DIY course because it's so darn important like you really, you can't avoid it.

Speaker 2 15:06

Speaking of your DIY course, I want our listeners to know exactly how they can find you. So, we found you on Instagram. What's your Instagram handle? Reminds me again. Yes. So

Speaker 3 15:17

I'm at Marissa Fay wellness. So one s Mar Isa, and then fe, fe y e wellness, and I'm on Tiktok and instagram with that username

Speaker 2 15:26

and your you teach a course or you have a course available and you also work, one to one with clients as well, correct?

Speaker 3 15:34

I do yeah, I do both. So if you want to check out the course, you can go to balanced hormone blueprint.com. And if you want to learn a little bit more about me and potentially working one on one with me, you can go to Marissa feiyr.com. And also just something special for anybody listening, I have a free training, it is over an hour long. So this is like jam packed. And you can get lots of info and tips from here. But I have a free training all about three secrets to balanced hormones. And you can pick that up at bit.ly/hormone training. And because people have trouble with this, I'm just going to spell out the bit.ly. It's B I T period, l y slash and then hormone training.

Amy 16:14

That's great. Is that all of your website as well?

Speaker 3 16:16

It's actually I'm web redesigning my website, which has been a month long. Yeah, so it's it will be there. It is not okay.

Amy 16:25

But good to have the direct link. Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:28

Yeah, we know how we know all about building out that website takes time. So

Amy 16:33

super quickly before before you leave us let's do a quick wrap session because I'm sure our listeners are dying to know, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack.

Speaker 3 16:42

I mean, my favorite hack is literally what you do on the inside takes care of the outside. So it really is hydration with good water and minerals. You got to add nutrients there and these balanced meals that are really the cornerstone of what I do throughout the day. And then on top of that, really I'm a huge fan of natural kind of medicinal skincare. So I lately have been using bee products on my face. And I'm obsessed with it. I feel like it's moisturizing and glowy and just so good.

Speaker 2 17:15

What is this B product is that the brand? The brand is the product? No,

Speaker 3 17:18

it's not actually what I'm using right now is a jar I got in Greece, but I do use oh my god, what is the brand beekeepers natural so I do use a number of their products but I really like to use like royal jelly. Things that have like BEE POLLEN groundup and in them as long as you don't have an allergy to bees or pollen. Even a little bit of me so a little bit of honey with some good olive oil. That's great facemask like, yes, yes.

Speaker 2 17:48

Okay. All right, this next one we call it our five minute flow you just got out of the shower and dried off an Uber has pinged you they're five minutes away. What are you going to do to like quickly get it together, get you know, your look on and get out the door and in that Uber on time?

Speaker 3 18:03

I mean, moisturize always right, it was one of those things I just mentioned for sure. And then I love a I love a beauty knockoff hack. Like I love a good product that's less expensive and not more toxic. And so I love like tart has a lot of products I love even elf has a number of lower toxin products. So I'm gonna like put some foundation on, put some mascara on, put some lip gloss on and a little bronzer and get out the door. So that's kind of my, my thing that I focus on.

Amy 18:37

And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Unknown Speaker 18:39

Oh, I try. I don't know if I do it.

Amy 18:44

Well, maybe your water drinking. I mean,

Speaker 3 18:47

no, honestly, I feel like my morning sets me up for my day. So I really am a fan of wake up and get outside. You don't have to walk by the way. Literally, I sit outside. And oftentimes I'll listen to meditation or calm music, although sometimes I don't sometimes I'm on my phone, right, which nobody's admitting, but it's true. So I get though, almost as soon as I wake up, I do a meditation in the morning and I do walk in the morning and I think that is really big to set me up for a day where like, I'm ready and focused and I can be at peace.

Speaker 2 19:22

Yeah, that sounds lovely. Alright, well, Marissa, thank you so much for being with us today. This was like a very eye opening episode. Yes, I know. I love it. This might end up being a two parter. Thanks for being with us. We really appreciate it. Well,

Unknown Speaker 19:35

thanks for having me.

Amy 19:38

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.