TONTS. - Hormones, Perimenopause & Chronic Stress with Naturopath Freya Lawler

Episode Date: September 22, 2022

Freya Lawler is a bachelor qualified nutritionist, naturopath and natural fertility educator specialising in reproductive health, fertility and hormones. She is passionate about helping people achieve whole body wellness through a root-cause approach to women's health. In this episode we talk PCOS and gut health, fertility, heavy periods, PMS and PMDD, how to eat better for our blood sugar levels, alcohol and how it effects us as we age, breastfeeding from a nutrition perspective, perimenopause and menopause. To find specific answers to questions that are especially relevant to you, you can follow the time codes below.00:00 Becoming a Naturopath01:45 Love For Farmers04:16 Power of Nature07:32 Support Hormonal Health15:50 Other Conditions18:13 Claire's Story19:50 What To Do and Why Adrenals Are Important23:42 Dangers30:24 Perimenopause39:26 What To Do with PMDD41:48 Balance Mood with Food44:34 The Plate Rule46:34 The Order We Eat Stuff49:15 PCOS55:11 Alcohol and Hormones01:01:58 Nausea with Periods01:04:04 Breastfeeding01:07:25 Where To Find HelpFor more information and support you can find Freya at the links below:Instagram: @freyalawlernaturoWebsite: https://www.freyalawler.com.au/You can find more from Claire Tonti at www.clairetonti.com or on instagram @clairetontiShow credits:Editing - RAW CollingsMusic - Avocado Junkie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I create, speak, and write today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respect to their elders past, present, and emerging, acknowledging that the sovereignty of this land has never been ceded. Hello, this is Tons, a podcast of in-depth interviews about emotions and the way they shape our lives. I'm your host, Claire Tonti, and I'm really glad you're here. Each week, I speak to writers, activists, experts, thinkers, and deeply feeling humans about their stories. My guest today, Freya Lawler, changed my life, and that's not an exaggeration. I want to tell you a story. Back in January, I got COVID, like so many of us in Melbourne.

And while at the time the symptoms were relatively mild, I experienced afterwards an overwhelming sporadic fatigue, headaches, mood swings, dizziness, and brain fog that just kind of lingered and continued on. I also just kept getting sick all the time, maybe a product of parenting little people, but it felt like more than that. And in the two weeks leading up to my period, I would feel increasingly manic and exhausted, fragile and thin-skinned. If I'm honest, it was happening even before I got COVID. And I feel like maybe COVID made it worse, but it was a problem that was already there. It began to feel really debilitating and frankly, it started to feel scary.

I also felt like I had lost my sense of self and like I was constantly making mistakes or feeling overwhelmed by everything. I had some blood tests done and the GP, when I asked whether it could be long COVID or even perimenopause, a word we're going to talk more about in this episode, I kind of got dismissed. And the GP kind of just said, well, your iron and vitamin D are a little low, maybe take some more supplements, but really everything is fine and you just need to rest more, maybe eat some more veggies. And while when you're parenting, resting more doesn't feel necessarily like an option,

I also felt like there really was something else at the root of this. A friend, Hilary Holmes, recommended I go and talk to Freya Lawler, a bachelor qualified naturopath and nutritionist. And what she taught me quite literally changed everything. Freya asked me lots of questions about my life, about my medical history, about all the things that had happened to me over the last 10 years, about birth and the kids and just everything. She was really forensic with her questions. She also got me to get a whole lot of tests done, some further ones with my doctor to get me a better insight into my hormones, my immune system and also into my nervous system too. We'll talk more about it in this episode but in essence Freya showed me that if I wanted to really feel healthy again I needed to change things. The test

results came back and what it showed was a body that was under chronic long-term stress. My hormones had started shifting as well, which could be perimenopause, but also there was a whole lot of inflammation and markers around my immune system that were really heading in a scary direction. It was strange getting that kind of feedback immediately on paper and that what I'd been feeling in my head and in my body wasn't something I was just making up. So with that knowledge, I cut back at work. I stopped going to hardcore gym, which I'd been doing three or four times a week. I started on supplements and vitamins and started eating differently. And most importantly, I started to say no. I started to ask for more

rest. I started to go to bed earlier and I started to hold space for myself, really caring for my immune system in a different way that I hadn't done before. I also, and I know this is a privilege, but I took some time off work completely. Now, I'm not saying that I'm just suddenly miraculously healed and that everything is fine. And like so many of us, winter hit our family with viruses hard. But what I am saying is Freya taught me so much about being a woman with a cycle, a person with a cycle, with a hormone cycle who needs to care for herself in a really different way. And what it's allowed me to do is actually be a better parent, partner, and creator.

And I think that this is the point that we talk about a lot today. Sometimes as women, we end up at the bottom of the list and the things that we need to keep ourselves healthy and thriving seem kind of like luxuries or something. But Freya taught me that actually the opposite is true. That if we want our kids and our partners and our families and our communities to be strong and healthy, they first and foremost need us to be. And we've all heard that analogy, put on the oxygen mask yourself before you give it to your kids. And I'm here to say, I 100% believe that that is true. And that is actually about giving ourselves permission

to ask and protect our rest time. Anyway, so more about Freya before we go on. She's based in Melbourne and has an online clinic specializing in reproductive health, fertility, and hormones. She has a root cause approach going very deep, as we talked about, into our cycles. She also talks about conditions like PCOS and endometriosis and many other conditions facing women that we just don't give enough airtime to. We also talk about PMS and PMDD, how to eat better for our blood sugar levels, the effect of alcohol on our bodies, and most importantly, we look at perimenopause and menopause and how we can best support ourselves and each other through these transitions. Okay, here she is, Freya Lawler. Hello, Freya. It's so nice that you are on Tons,

and I'm so excited to talk to you about this because so many women that I know are having issues with their health, and they have so many questions. Why did you become a naturopath? Where did that journey start for you? Well, it started way back in southern Tasmania, where I grew up, very small town of about 3000 people. And it really shaped my views on medicine and an alternative way of living, sustainability, my love for farmers, because the town essentially, which is so interesting, it's pretty much split 50-50, for lack of a better term, rednecks and the other 50% hippies. So it's this really interesting little town and somehow it just works. Everybody just kind of molds in together. And my nan was the head of the Catholic school in town. My mother was raised Catholic. I was raised by a single parent and she,

whilst raised very conventionally, she was sort of the wild one of the family. So we always leant towards natural therapies. That was always first and foremost, our medical direction, I guess, something needed fixing. And I'm talking like cutting an onion in half and popping it over the ear for an earache, that type of stuff. We always utilized the GPs in conventional medicine when we need it, but it was always natural options at the forefront. Yeah, there were lots of healers and homeopaths and interesting people surrounding me as I grew up and that lifestyle just encouraged me to want to pursue it I guess from a really early age actually. Why do you love farmers? I think that's an interesting concept when you

think you're a naturopath. I know right I know well I actually originally started my degree out as a nutritionist and one of my favorite things to do ever, to be honest, I don't have that many hobbies because my career is, I'm so obsessed with everything that I learn. That's kind of my hobby. But the thing that I like to do outside of my consults and research is go to the farmer's market. Nothing makes me happier than meeting a farmer who grew these incredible vegetables and bounty in a beautiful way that promotes soil regeneration and looking after the ecosystem in a beautiful way, using minimal pesticides and things like that. And I just love as well to put my money in the hands of the farmer

for all of their hard work versus dealing with the middleman. And I adore them. I always learn something new, whether it's a recipe or a trick, or I learn about the environment or the ecosystem in which, you know, the food that I'm eating came from. I live in Eltham and I think most of the people at the farmer's market are within, you know, they're farmers within a specific radius. It also connects me with my community, which when I work from home and don't have children can be a little bit tricky sometimes. Maybe I should go to the library more often,

but the farmer's market is really the way that I kind of get connected. Yeah. Is that because it's seasonal as well, so you're directly seeing what's growing at what time? We could actually do a whole podcast on my love for the farmer's market, but yeah, it's absolutely as well, Claire. It's the fact that these beautiful people picked this produce very likely the morning of or the day before. So the nutritional density is so ripe and ready. Hasn't been sitting in the storeroom for two, three months, hasn't traveled

from overseas, hasn't, you know, built up all of those food miles. So the seasonality aspect is something I'm really passionate about. And sometimes it can be tricky to fully align with the seasons if you've got a craving for blueberries and it's winter. But for the most part, I'm a huge advocate of aligning your nutrition with the seasons. It strikes me that you're a very connected person, like connected in with the earth and your surroundings. What is it that nature gives you, spending a lot of time in nature? Because you've taught me the power of that in our sessions. I think for me personally, it's a way to get out of my head.

I think our busy lives and particularly with running my own business online, I mean, most of the time I'm at home and else I'm staring at a screen. And I think for anybody else out there and certainly you Claire when you run your own business you could do that from 7am till 10pm and I think personally that connection with nature there's nothing else that quite gets me to that place of groundedness that nature does and to support that outside of the feeling that we get from being out there, there is so much research on the beneficial effects on health looking outside in nature, whether that's a grounding effect, whether that's being distracted because we can hear the sounds

of the beautiful birds. For me here it's mostly kookaburras and magpies most of the time, but, oh, tawny frogmouths, that's probably they are one of my favorites. I just, nothing is more grounding and waking up to the sound of the birds when you've got a day ahead of you where you're back to back doing meetings. I don't find anything more grounding than that. Even meditation. Yeah. Wow. And what's the research specifically? Do you mean that on our nervous system? Oh, yes. And our levels of creativity, particularly, and this is silly, I wish I had the name of it, but there was particular research conducted by Harvard University that showed

increased in moods, lower rates of depression and anxiety from two hours spent in green space per week. So often in my consultations, I'll share this information because if you spread that two hours out over one week, that's actually quite achievable. And particularly if you're in a place where you're experiencing big overwhelm, stress, anxiety, which I have to say is the main reason most people come to see me, even if they don't realize it at the time, often that's what's sitting beneath many of their symptoms. So just by getting that two hours outside in green space nature can be so unbelievably beneficial for your mental health. Yeah, I've really found that. Yeah. Yeah. I've found both of those just anecdotally in my own life. Absolutely.

Just changing the way I exercise from being indoors in a gym to being outside has profoundly changed so much for me. And we know that all of this stuff, you know, I should sleep more, I should drink more water, I should be outside more. Yeah. A lot of it is still all that practical stuff. What I love about you is you're a bachelor qualified naturopath and nutritionist and you have a focus on the root cause approach. So it's not just about these lovely holistic ideas. It's going deep into people's symptoms, right? And particularly your work supports reproductive health, endometriosis, hormone conditions,

fertility challenges, gastrointestinal complaints, the list goes on. And I loved what you said that actually, even within all of that so much is still about stress and anxiety. I find that so interesting. Absolutely. Can you talk to us about how to specifically support hormonal health in women and the kind of things that you see women presenting in their late 30s, early 40s? Most people who come to me do have a suspicion that something's up with their hormones. They're just not quite sure what. So just before we dive into that question, the biggest complaint that I see is people have gone to their GP because they

intuitively know that something isn't quite right. They've probably been dealing with it for many years, but something's just tipped over and it's no longer manageable for them. They will have their hormones tested and they'll have their general bloods done. And 80% of the time, the results come back and it's, oh no, actually you're fine. Everything is okay. And then we have these people going, but I feel like absolute rubbish. This can't be right. So first and foremost, I think people seek out seeing a naturopath or an alternative practitioner or functional doctor because they just aren't quite getting to the bottom of what's going on through conventional

means, which can be really challenging for a lot of people because many will then go on dealing with their symptoms as though they are normal based on our society and what they have been led to believe is normal, which I think is unfortunately a big part of the problem. But when they come to me and they're feeling like something's up with their hormones and we tease it all apart, what we'll do is we'll do a really in-depth initial analysis and I'll get updated bloods and fill in all the gaps and pieces of the puzzle of their health story. And then we'll start diving into it. but I would have to say from a hormone imbalance or fatigue perspective why people are feeling so rubbish is number one due to stress nutrient deficiencies being overworked anxiety and

depletion and there are a few really amazing key markers that I will look at in hormones to see what's happening there that really help us guide and refine that treatment plan. What I thought was interesting is you got me to test my hormones on the second or third day period, right? To get a picture of that. Why do we do that? Why do we test on the second or third day? Well, naturopaths and functional doctors and GPs who are quite well versed in interpreting hormones will always suggest that. So actually, it's something that is almost a little bit of a biomarker for whether your GP is a great one or not, is are they telling you to do your hormones on specific days of the cycle so the reason why i recommend this specifically claire on day two or three of your menstrual cycle is your hormones

will essentially be they're all at baseline you're bleeding in your luteal phase your hormones were peaking to build up that endometrial lining which you would then shed as a period. This whole orchestra of functions are playing out. And then when your period comes, it's kind of like, okay, we've just got a period of bleeding now. We don't have to do a whole lot. We've done all of our hard work, let the bleeding happen. And then once bleeding stops, we start that process of initiating ovulation. So when we test at day two or three, it gives me this amazing insight into your baseline levels of hormones, because they all should be at a very specific level. And that applies to most people. And it becomes very, very easy to detect whether there is an elevation of hormones at that time of the cycle or if your hormones are in fact low at that time

of the cycle. And what are some conditions that would be, you know, if you've noticed that their hormones are out of whack, what are some things that you can tell us? Like what specific conditions are you looking for? Yeah. Does that make sense? I don't know if I would. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. So two things from the primary female reproductive hormone space that i'll be looking for is do you have adequate estrogen levels on day two or three of your cycle so what this can tell me is if you're sitting above the optimal range how this might display in terms of how you feel and your symptoms could be estrogen is essentially, I describe it as a gross hormone. So estrogen is responsible for building that lining in the

uterus that you would then shed as a period. So often if somebody presents with a very heavy period or a very painful period or lots of symptoms of inflammation in the second half of their cycle, because estrogen is a growth hormone and it can actually drive inflammation in the second half of their cycle, because estrogen is a growth hormone and it can actually drive inflammation in that second half if it's a bit high, we get to see the baseline level and go, all right, what's your estrogen doing? Ah, it is in fact high. And there are a few different things that you can call this. You could call it estrogen dominance, estrogen excess. There's a number of different names floating around, but the reality is there. We need to understand why you have higher levels of estrogen and how

we can best support you in clearing that estrogen out of the system. So you could either be a high producer just naturally, which is myself. I'm always going to produce a lot. So in that case, I need to really work on just clearing that estrogen out really well or are your detoxification pathways backed up so you produce a normal amount but that estrogen is actually just struggling to get out of the system and whether that's due to poor liver function or less commonly known is slow bowels which is essentially the third step of detoxification of how our estrogen gets out of the system is through our poop so if you have got constipation or slow motility your detoxification of estrogen is going to be slowed and what can happen is when that estrogen is sitting in the

gut for longer than it should be there's a process it's a big word but it's called enterohepatic recycling and that estrogen will get resolved back into the system. And that circuit just continues. And that estrogen struggles to get out. And still, you get those bowels moving. So that's one presentation. Wow. By estrogen. Yeah. And then, you know, I put on my detective hat and work out why. And we come up with strategies to improve those levels levels right and you do that through nutrition but also through like can be hormone therapy absolutely and lifestyle changes too yeah i mean absolutely the reality is claire when most people come to see me nutrition changes

alone aren't enough usually people have been dealing with these symptoms for five ten years they've tried medications and they've also tried many things themselves and they haven't quite gotten to where they've needed to. Nutrition is first and foremost number one, but there's a few things to consider here. First of all, unfortunately, our soils in Victoria are quite deplete in essential minerals. We don't practice a lot of crop rotation, therefore our soils are actually quite depleted for that reason that we just keep on planting you know season after season and extracting all of those minerals without adding any back in so there's a whole there's a whole story to unfortunately the fact that nutrition if you're significantly depleted or significantly out of line with where you should be

may not actually be enough to fully get you to where you need to be. So that's when we'll bring in extra support from beautiful herbal medicines and supplementation, where the benefit is from a conventional medicine aspect is we don't have side effects. We just actually have better effects because these substances have far-reaching effects. We might be working on clearing that estrogen from the liver with a particular herbal medicine. The incredible thing about that herb is it can also work on your nervous system, on your gastrointestinal health, on your skin. That's the beauty of the medicine that I get to work with.

Absolutely. And there's all the things that we know, like take iron supplements and vitamin D supplements and make a massive difference when you're getting those things right. And there's all the things that we know, like take iron supplements and vitamin D supplements and make a massive difference when you're getting those things right. But there's so many other things as well that I've been taking and you've taught me about, which is fascinating. So I want to go back though to specific things. So there's the high estrogen that you show, but what are some other things that give you an indication of other conditions? Yes. So with the focus on women's reproductive health and particularly that age group that you said, Claire, you know, that mid to late 30s entering early 40s, the number one thing that I see when people come to me suspecting they have a hormone imbalance, there's pretty much always some level of depletion.

It's rare that I don't see that. The thing that I want to see is how their adrenals are functioning. And there is one hormone called DHEAS, and I call it your vitality hormone. So it's an androgen hormone produced by your adrenals, which are those little glands that sit above our kidneys. And that is where our cortisol is produced, our adrenaline, and there are a number of other functions, but they're kind of like our stress glands. This DHEAS serves as a marker of your vitality and your resilience and your ability to withstand the stresses that confront you. So most of the time when people arrive up in a session with me

is they're not able to actually deal with the stresses that are confronting them on a day-to-day level. It's too much. Like they can function and they can feed the kids and do the things that really need to be done, but if there's extra things added to the plate, it is often just it's too much. So DHEAS is an absolutely amazing indicator of your adrenal

function. And there are unbelievable herbal medicines, lifestyle adjustments, and things that you can implement to improve the level of that hormone. The main thing to consider here is this hormone actually declines with age. So if you're already at a very low level in your 35, 40, where really, and you do not adjust your lifestyle, reduce your stress or find ways to manage it, the reality is, is we're going to keep taking from that and it's already on a decline. So we're really entering a space of full-blown depletion. There is a term adrenal fatigue, which doesn't necessarily relate to what's happening physiologically, but many people understand that term. So that is my absolute favorite one to check. You can get your GP to look at it. And yeah, it's amazing. Claire,

I mean, I'm not sure if you want to share your story with that hormone and how it changed things for you. Yeah, but mine was very low it changed a huge amount for me just to see that score yeah yeah I remember we had that discussion when we looked at all my blood work and mine was so low and I just burst into tears which you said is really common right because it's like an affirmation of how bloody shit you're feeling basically and how I just felt I'd been saying to my husband I felt like my battery was so low yeah I was there was just nothing in the tank anymore and where before I would have crisis happen or big things in my life I could I could feel this surge of energy happening that was it was like a car that used to really rev when things went badly, which, you know,

when you have kids and life and running a business, all those things, and we all have different stresses. Life, unfortunately, there's always going to be terrible things that happen. So I used to feel like I had this big surge of, I guess it would be adrenaline now when I think about it, kicking into gear. And now I felt like that just wasn't there anymore. And even small things, I was just so fatigued all the time and at the end of my rope. So to have someone say from a medical perspective, it's not just that you need to meditate. There is physically things going on in your body. Yeah. And there's ways that we can address it. And you're not imagining that you feel so depleted. It's actually from a hormone perspective and a nutrient perspective. It was hugely powerful.

Yeah. I agree. That's true. So I want to kind of, two things. I want to know what people can do and what you recommend when people are in that situation. And I also want you to quickly explain why our adrenals are so important. Like what is cortisol? What is adrenaline? How is it supposed to work? So I guess first and foremost, being a naturopath with a very specific passion for pathology

and identifying the root cause, I would suggest to anybody who resonates with these symptoms to go and get your bloods tested. Hopefully you have a great GP. If you don't, that really is the time to seek out if that's an option for you, seeing a naturopath or an integrative GP or some kind of functional doctor who can help you with it. Because I will say when you're feeling so rubbish and you're at rock bottom, it can be really difficult

to pick yourself back up and know which direction to head in when you're in that state. And I think for a lot of people, when we interpret specifically that DHEAS hormone that we just spoke about, and people can feel validated that their symptoms are real and actually see something on paper, it is nearly often always the catalyst for really great change in their life. And that's why I say when I interpret that hormone with people, it's life-changing because it's a shock and it is scary as well. And it's the accumulation of 10, 15 years of stress. That hormone does not get that low in a year or two years. That's a significant portion of your lifetime's stress right there in that result. So first and foremost, to really make sure your

treatment plan is aligned and very specific to you, I really do recommend you go and get your bloods done, get that hormone tested and potentially somebody with more of a holistic lens to guide you through that process. In terms of the things that I would suggest if that is you, or even if you don't have that result and you're looking to find some strategies to improve your quality of life, I would say consider the most overwhelming thing in your life that could be impacting your body's ability to heal, or that could be impacting your stress resilience. So just sitting down and jotting it out on paper, what are the really big things that set me off? What are they? Are there 10 or are there two

really obvious ones that you could think about modifying or reducing or finding strategies to make them work a little bit better in your lifestyle. Because often it's not 10 or 20 things. Normally it's like two or three things. I think having the space to be able to sit down and really do that yourself can be really hard when you're in that position and you have a business and you have kids and things like that. So once again, having somebody there to guide you can be really amazing. But I think first and foremost, having to think about what are those one or two things that are actually really overwhelming my system that I could maybe reshuffle, reduce or eliminate out of my life. And that's going to be very different for each person.

For different people. And I have something I want to say here because I was of the view before I saw that result and you explained some things to me, well, I can't change my lifestyle. So you've got to give me some stuff, like give me some nutrients, tell me some diet stuff. I'll try and sleep better. I'll do some meditation. But I can't change those stressful things, Freya.

No, can't do that. And so often those big things, you feel No, can't do that. And so often those big things are, you feel like you can't change them. There's a lot of reasons why they just can't be changed. And that actually may not actually be true. And in some cases, it is true that there are certain stressful situations that that's just the way that it is. But often there are things that can be changed, but there has to be a real understanding of the gravity of not changing them and I want you to kind of articulate what is the real danger in not addressing depletion and fatigue and really low levels of this hormone where do things go if you just ignore it I think the scariest part and particularly for people with children and mothers particularly with young

children the reality is as if we keep going this way it sounds quite shocking but we are just not going to be able to show up for our family in the way that we want which I think is probably number one priority for people with children right above, sure, but your family is really number one. And we are such passionate, amazing beings, particularly females. I think if there were anything that would inhibit our ability to show up for our children and our partner, that's going to be so significantly impactful to us in so many different ways. So that is probably the biggest one is we are entering a place of chronic depletion. Okay, you might ask what that looks like. It looks like not being able to get out of bed. And it looks like not being able to exercise, maybe you might be able to get

out for a walk. It looks like not being able to keep up with the demands of your job. In some cases, people with chronic fatigue that I have worked with, chronic fatigue or depletion, adrenal fatigue, whatever you want to call it, they have to change their job. They cannot work for three months. They have to give up coffee. They have to give up every single stimulant thing that they love to properly heal. And it's really huge. And as you can imagine, that is somebody's life turned upside

down. So if we can have the ability to impact your health in a really sustainable, beautiful way before you get to that place, which we absolutely can, that's really the goal. We want to get in there before you can't get out of bed, because that is absolutely the reality and not being able to show up or have the energy to entertain or hang out and play with your kids, cook the dinners, go to the school shows, all of those things that mean so much to us. That's really what it looks like. Yeah. And would you say that also has an impact on our immune system too? Like, are we more likely to get sick then? Absolutely. So we have, cortisol's just so incredible, as is adrenaline. So it's very protective. It's, we want to have cortisol in

short bursts and we want it there to protect us. So you imagine, you know, somebody runs out in front of you. What is it? It's actually adrenaline that kicks in immediately, shocks you into having this laser focus, absolute laser focus of, okay, concentrate, brakes on. They are our stress hormones and they are life-saving. They are unbelievable. The problem is we use them for far too many things. And our foot is on the accelerator all day long, not just for when the person runs out in front of the car. So that's when we basically just suck out our adrenal battery down to zero. So adrenaline, the two primary stress hormones, adrenaline works fast and quick. And that's when that person runs out in front of you. Cortisol works a little bit slower,

but it stays in the system for longer. So they're both very protective. When we have got low levels of cortisol and we're really entering that depletion state, that can significantly impact our immune system because we want a mid-level of cortisol there all the time. We don't want a high level or a low level. High and low levels are going to suppress our immune system and significantly impact its ability to function. So does cortisol kind of bring down the adrenaline, that high spike? Yes, exactly. When cortisol comes, yeah, cortisol comes to the party,

adrenaline drops off super quick and then cortisol sort of kind of mops up the mess, I guess you could say, and it's longer acting in the body. Yeah. And so we really need it to be there. Oh, we need it. So that's the number. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. So that's that picture. So one of the things you said is if you write those stresses down and you really deeply think, can I actually change this because my life depends on it, really, my overall well-being and the well-being of the people I care about, my kids, my partner, as well as ourselves.

And I think sometimes we... And ourselves, of course, Claire. How did I figure that? I know, but women often do that. They put themselves at the bottom of the list. And I think actually the flip side should be true because when we are functioning better at a better level, actually that flows on to our kids and our partners, right? Which is such a hard narrative. It's not our fault either.

None of this is our fault. It's cultural. Absolutely. And I think I really do honestly believe, and I mean, Claire, you could speak from your own experience if we didn't have that data and I just told you that look Claire we're on a big journey here this is going to be a year of healing without any actual data to confirm or to fully give you permission to do this I wonder how you might go with compliance and sticking to the plan and taking your supplements and not going to F45 as much as you want to. Personally, I would struggle without seeing on paper what was actually happening at a physiological level.

What do you think? Yeah, I 100% agree with you. Because of our culture, it's almost like women don't feel like they have the right, and I know this is a spectrum too. It's not just women, people with wombs, men as well, but it's like we don't feel like they have the right. And I know this is a spectrum too. It's not just women, people with wombs, men as well, but it's like, we don't have the permission to rest. It's like, no, we're not supposed to be, we're supposed to be feeling guilty. We're supposed to be overworking. We're supposed to be stretching ourselves to the limit. And sometimes those things are unavoidable. You know, we need to pay mortgages and school fees and look after kids, but

there's a lot of things we can say no to. And when I saw that and then I heard that things could get even worse than they were for me, it was, yeah, life changing is the word. Because I realized I can't, I just can't keep operating like this. And why am I operating like this? And there are things in my life I can do to change that. And if that's saying no, and I've said no, thinking people will be cross at me and nobody cares.

And they don't care. They really don't care. And my partner didn't care either. When I said I can't do this, the flip side is like, yes, can you just sit down a bit more? Can you just chill out a bit more? And, you know, there's lots of luxuries within that, but I think such valuable advice. So we've talked about that particular hormone.

I wanted to ask you about this word we're hearing a lot, perimenopause. So you can kind of test to see whether that's starting to kick in too, can't you? Sure. Can you tell us about that big phrase? Perimenopause, I think, well, what I know is that it doesn't get the attention that it deserves. And this is certainly a conversation that we had, Claire, that beginning, like the perimenopause is essentially for most people, not everybody, but it's a 10 year transition often. So perimenopause could start anywhere, for some people it starts early, late 30s, probably more commonly around the early to mid 40s. And it's a process of major hormonal transition that can last for up to 10 years until you enter

menopause, and then menopause is complete. And you can liken the hormonal changes that are happening during this time, the rewiring of our brain chemistry to puberty. It is as significant as puberty. So for anybody who has children of that pubescent age, you know their moods can go wild, their voice changes, their whole brain is restructuring. They're starting to think about new things like sex and girls and, you know, there's pheromones floating around like there's no tomorrow. There's a really huge pivotal change in their life.

The exact same thing is happening for somebody entering this beautiful time of perimenopausal transition. And I think as well, I feel so grateful to do this work because it can be unbelievably validating for people that I work with when you go, oh, okay, right. I've just seen, you know, this particular pattern in your hormones, and this is sort of the beginning of your transitionary period. and that's very big for some people Claire particularly I work with a lot of subfertility so at times this information can come and be deeply distressing depending on a person's goals from a fertility perspective that is not to say that there aren't still really amazing things that we can do and IVF

and things like that to support people in this situation. But the reality is, is it's a really ginormous time in a person's life. And when does it typically start? Yeah, so late, typically, there is a condition called premature ovarian insufficiency, which I do work with quite a bit that can happen often, you know, 30 to 35. The normal time is that late, late 30s to early 40s when that might kick in. You can put it down to many different changes from your mood changing, your periods, having these random periods that are very heavy, very light, irregular, beginning early stage hot flushes, night sweats. This is just

often the beginning of that hormonal rebalancing, I guess, starting to kick in to your new normal. But this does go on for some time. So if we can be educated and empowered to start embracing it and become aware of these changes, we can totally use it to our benefit. Yeah. And how long are we talking? I've heard 10 years. Yeah. 10. Yeah. So the whole, yeah, it's a 10 year period of transition. Wow. And then, so then menopause is when your period finally stops. Yeah. Yeah. Is that the idea?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And when you say it's like puberty we know like you get hairy everywhere when you hit puberty you know your boobs might come in you might start getting I don't know erections like all of this stuff when you say it's like that what changes do we actually see yeah so we start to see changes in our I guess when I say puberty we often think about erections and pimples and hair. I'm not necessarily saying we're all going to get piggly and hairy, but it's a restructuring of our neuronal networks and our neurotransmitter function. And how that happens is our primary

reproductive hormones, which are produced from the first time we get our period from menarche up until our final period, they are all this whole hormonal cascade is in place for reproduction, essentially. And our bodies are just basic, not just, but we are baby making machines. That's why we have a period. We're built to recreate. So when we start to enter this phase where those hormones are starting to decline, or they're starting to increase and then drop, which is typically what happens in the early stage of perimenopause, it's not a structured experience. It's kind of a roller coaster. And if your hormones are going high, super high, super low, there are flow and effects to our

neurotransmitters. Because each hormone is going to have an effect on a neurotransmitter. For example, progesterone. Progesterone, if we could have progesterone in a drip, we would all be so much calmer and happier. But our progesterone will start to decline during that phase and subsequently progesterone would usually go off to produce our calming neurotransmitter called GABA. So all of these beautiful cycles that would usually happen start to shift and change. So we might find we're more anxious, we're more stressed and we're more strung out. We think

it's all in our head, but then when we dig a little bit deeper and start to see that that perimenopausal transition is kicking in, we're like, oh, no wonder. Progesterone's a bit lower, estrogen's a bit higher. It makes sense. Let's do everything we can to really soften this process and make it more enjoyable because there's certainly things we can do there. Anecdotally, because I've asked a lot of women, I know in myself too, a lot of women my age are saying they've started feeling like those second two weeks of their cycle things get hairy as in not hairy physically as in like mood swings despair rage anxiety fatigue and almost really dark feelings particularly just before their period that maybe they had PMS before

but this feels like a whole another ball game. Is that common with perimenopause? I would say certainly that the derailing and re-establishment of the hormonal fluctuation, you're naturally going to notice the change in your mood. Absolutely. But there's a few other things to consider. What we have to think about is when we usually get to this time of life, the cumulative amount of stress that we have been under in our lives is far greater than, say, somebody who's at 30. So the potential for us to be more exhausted, more depleted, more nutrient deficient is much greater. So I think absolutely that the perimenopausal hormonal transition can play a role,

but I also believe that there are many other factors just based on, you know, how long we've been around and the things that we have faced that can contribute to us feeling like this. But on that note, I think so frequently I see in clinic a presentation called PMDD, which many, many people are not aware of. And they come thinking that they have PMS, which. Which is premenstrual tension. Yes, exactly. PMDD you could say is, you know, plus 10 times worse and they get it every single month before their period. And then when their period comes, they say, ding, I'm a new person. So it's interesting. I'm not quite sure what's happening at the moment, but I'm seeing a lot of people with this presentation who thankfully are feeling so

much more validated regarding their symptoms that there is actually something happening here. Certainly people where, you know, their partners are going, you're crazy. Certainly people where, you know, their partners are going, you're crazy, you're mad, you know, blaming them for something that is seemingly out of their control. So it's actually really heartbreaking in a lot of circumstances. But at the same time, if we can have a look at your hormones, see what's going on and get to the bottom of it, there's some really powerful things we can do to get you feeling so much better. But it is really, these signs and symptoms are really our body's way of telling us that our systems are overwhelmed. How else is our body going to tell us that something's out of whack? It can't talk to us, but it can give us signs and symptoms. So I'm always really encouraging of getting women to

tap into those signs and symptoms that their body is giving them because they are clues as to what is going on. The pathology supports these clues and, you know, gives people the permission sometimes that they feel like they need. But I really encourage you to really think into those signs and symptoms because they do mean something and those symptoms are not they're not normal they might be common but they're not normal so and what can people do if they do have PMDD obviously going to see GP yes I'm going to see someone like you as well yeah yeah but what are the what are some of the things you'd recommend

yep so absolutely go and see your GP. The conventional first line of treatment for diagnosed PMDD is an SSRI, which is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, which is your classic antidepressant. And these might be prescribed just in that luteal phase of your cycle or the whole way through, depending on your presentation. I've got so many friends, patients that do very well on an SSRI, and I have also got so many that do not. So I feel so grateful that there are other options that don't come with a lot of those nasty side effects that a lot of people experience. So just know there's always another option, but in the GP's toolbox, they've got a referral to a psych

and they've also got an SSRI to prescribe you but always good to go and have a work up there or see a naturopath to help you get to the bottom of it. There are specific herbal medicines that are extremely powerful to support people with these symptoms but I think again back to that original comment that I made of, we need to think about what are those top few things that are overwhelming your system's ability to function at a normal level? Is it holding on to a really deep past trauma that hasn't really been explored? You've just sort of pushed it to the back. That really would love some attention and some time. That can be unbelievable for some people. Having a look at the nutrients required to actually produce the hormones that keep you

feeling great. Having a look at your nutrition to see if you're keeping your blood sugar balanced. I find those symptoms of anxiety and low mood in some people, not everybody, but it can really be as simple as getting them feeling safer in their body by feeding themselves the right way to keep their blood sugar stable and reducing those big peaks and drops that then lead to this intense feelings of hangriness is really kind of the best way to describe it. We always want the body to feel safe. That's our number one goal to have our body feeling safe and blood sugar balance is absolutely key there. Can you tell me how you recommend we eat for that, for mood imbalance? Because I've just, that's been life-changing for me, your recommendations in a general way. Obviously

it is personally like specific too, but I think there's some overall ways that you've taught me about that have been wonderful. I totally, I don't believe that there is a one size fits all diet for everybody, but what I do believe is keeping your blood sugar balance is essential for every single human. Yeah. So, and there are a set of principles that you can apply and you will feel better in a really short amount of time. And the first thing I love to do with people first and foremost is to not overwhelm them, particularly if you have family and, you know, different needs of children and things like that. So I like to start with breakfast as the most important meal of the day. And my advice is to go high protein, high fat,

and pretty low carbohydrate. So this basically looks like lots of eggs, lots of avocado, yummy halloumi, bacon, smoked salmon, veggies, Greek yogurt, berries, and nut butter, these types of things. If we can provide our body with lots of fat and lots of protein at the start of the day, our body has the most remarkable ability to achieve blood sugar stability for the remainder of the day, regardless of what we eat. It's a bit of an insurance policy. So even if you, you know, were on the go and you could only get, I don't know, some takeaway for lunch or dinner and some pizza for dinner. If you can nail your brekkie, it sets you up for success for the entire day.

So with my patients, we work on brekkies, get them nailing brekkie, number one goal. And then we add on additional steps from there once they're ready and once they've been able to implement that. And we're not talking about perfection. I love the 80-20 rule, roughly, you know, five days of the week, try your best, two days of the week, have whatever you want. You'll probably notice the difference, but you know, balance is so important. Yeah. The thing that I've loved about that breakfast thing, you said to me, because I was like, eggs, great. I love eggs. Sometimes mornings just go bananas, can't get there. And you said, right, just get a bowl, put some Greek yogurt in it, put some spoons of nut butter,

peanut butter or whatever, get some berries and eat that. And that saves me so much because I can do that in five seconds. It's ingredients I always already have in the fridge. And I do genuinely feel better having that in the morning and it's something I can grab and go. So that to me has been so helpful. And then if I've got the time, the eggs and avocado, easy stuff like that has been so helpful. Can you tell us where when we talk lunch, and I know this is a bit speedy, but what's

your rule about our plate? Because that's really helped. Yes, the plate rule so many people come to me and they say hey can you do up a fandangle meal plan for me and all this jazzy stuff the reality is if we don't i'm so passionate about educating from the ground up and getting people across the foundations because i can put a fancy meal plan together but if you don't know why i did it or why there's particular things in there it's probably not going to be sustainable for you to maintain. So the idea around creating a balanced plate is one amazing way to build your foundations because it doesn't really matter what you've got in the cupboard.

You should usually be able to compile this. So my recommendation is half your plate are full of above ground veggies. That's the rule. Above ground veggies. A quarter of your plate protein and healthy fats. And then the other quarter is your carbohydrate and ideally some kind of slow carbohydrate or low GI carbohydrate. So we're talking brown rice, we're talking legumes, we're talking sweet potato or cooked and cooled potato or a beautiful grainy sourdough or a nice wholemeal spelt pasta or something like that. If we can get that ratio down, Pat, which is pretty straightforward, we have an amazing ability to balance our blood sugar, feel safe in our body, achieve consistent energy, reduce anxiety, hangriness, and also our blood sugar balance. If

our blood sugar is high or low, this is a major trigger for inflammation and cortisol release in the body. Our body wants to feel safe at all times. There is a medical scientific term called homeostasis, and it is the goal of every single system in our body to keep balance and maintain balance. And if we can help our body to do that through balancing our blood sugar, we reduce so much potential stress on our body. Super powerful. So amazing. Can you tell us about the order we eat stuff and why that matters? Yeah. So we've gone through lots of layers with Claire. So this is like fourth or fifth console in. This is not all happening at once. I know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is layer after layer. So there's another little trick and this trick works super well if say you're not able to follow the method of what I just said and your partner is absolutely cracking at making carbonara and they love to make that three times a week and you love it too so that's clearly quite a high carbohydrate dinner right still delicious but ways that you could work to mitigate a big blood glucose spike from that carbohydrate is super simple, fill your tummy with fiber before those carbs come in. So my tip to people is veggie sticks and dip, olives, cornichons, pickled veggies, have them out as you're preparing dinner. Have them on the table for the kids and snack on them before you dive into your yummy

carb-y meal. Even if you do this before your well-balanced plate, it's just going to improve your blood sugar balance again. But the way that it works is, let's just say you've got your veggie cucumber, capsicum sticks, you eat them before your pasta. They essentially line the gut and create a padding so that when all of that carb comes in the carbohydrate which is broken down to glucose is far more slowly absorbed into the system because it's got this padding there to slow it down so it means you get a much slower spike in your glucose and a lot more consistency which is always what we're wanting to aim for balance and consistency.

So that's a super hot trick. I love pickles and olives and things like that. It's also an amazing way to reduce that tendency to overeat sometimes because we've had a snack on some beautiful nutritious veggies, which really hard to get enough veggies in the day. We've added some padding and maybe we don't need to go back for that second bowl because we've already added in a bit of padding at the start. And with a bit of olive oil or something like that.

I love also I've been putting apple cider vinegar in my water and that to me has been a game changer too. I just love, I can't explain, there's just so many things that have been really specifically tailored to me from Freya that have been beautiful. But these, I also just feel like everyone should know it's like a public service. Everybody should know it. I just want to tell everyone.

Yeah, because they're things we can do. Now, I've got some specific questions that I wanted to ask you. One of which we've talked about PMS and PMDD, which I hadn't really heard about. The other one that I think goes very under the radar is this thing called PCOS. Can you tell us what PCOS is? Yes. There's a lot of hype at the moment actually on social media about this. So I'll just break down a few things. PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome and it is a syndrome which means there isn't a clear set of diagnostic factors to diagnose it you basically just need to tick two boxes out of three criteria to qualify

so it's not like you have high blood pressure you're diagnosed with this it's you could just tick a few of these symptoms and fit that fit that mold and then you could be diagnosed. So one of the ways to diagnose it is through a pelvic ultrasound and one of the things they may find is cystic, multi-cystic ovaries which the cystic term really needs to be redone. They actually follicles they're not cysts but many people are going to have a pelvic ultrasound alone just the pelvic ultrasound and they'll have multiple follicles on their ovaries above the normal range and they will be immediately diagnosed with PCOS. You cannot diagnose PCOS or ultrasound alone so you also need evidence of either an ovulation, which is the inability to

ovulate regularly, and or pathological signs of elevated androgen hormone in the blood, or clinical signs and symptoms of PCOS, which are one of three things, acne, hirsutism, which is abnormal hair growth for you. So that could be dark, whispery hair around the nipples, back of legs, upper lip. It can also be hair loss. So there's a number of different sort of categories that you need to tick in order to qualify. In my clinical experience, most people that come to me with polycystic ovarian syndrome do experience irregular periods that can range from anywhere from 20 to 60 day cycles. Not all, but majority do present often with skin concerns

and more often than not metabolic concerns. So real struggles with their weight. And it's unbelievably challenging because many people will go to the GP and the GP will say, just go and lose weight and you'll feel better. The reality is polycystic ovarian syndrome has a significant impact on our hunger hormones. So there are aspects of our hunger and our eating signals that are not within our control.

So just being told to go and lose weight without any backstory, I think is extremely offensive for people with this condition because they are battling against multiple different levels of hunger cues and signals that somebody without PCOS would not have. So I see a lot. It's unbelievably common, polycystic ovarian syndrome. I often see it when people are trying to conceive. There can be some difficulties there. Obviously, ovulation is essential in that process. And what are some, and I'm sure there's just so many things depending on the person as to treatments. Like I know it's just like a needle in a haystack

but what are some immediate things that you think can help if they get this kind of diagnosis? Well the probably something that I didn't mention but with the metabolic factors of polycystic ovarian syndrome you can have PCOS basically there's about four different types metabolic type and adrenal type and inflammatory type but the most common is the metabolic type so often what i'll see is elevated levels of insulin and fasting blood glucose in the blood that can significantly impact the ability the body's ability to ovulate and maintain regular ovulation so something like PCOS, you can absolutely manage more often than not your symptoms through lifestyle adjustments, depending on how chronic or how immediate your fertility

plans are. So everything we just said about blood sugar is exactly what I will share with people wanting dietary, nutrient and lifestyle advice for their PCOS. Because if we can manage that blood sugar and get it down, their body will have a far better capacity to ovulate regularly. That is something that's absolutely in your control is to follow the creating a balanced plate formula. And that can be unbelievably helpful. I've seen some people turn their PCOS around just through dietary factors, but from an exercise perspective, anything that builds muscle is going to help us handle our blood glucose better because our muscles love glucose. So if we have greater muscle mass,

every time that blood glucose goes up, it'll shoot straight away over and feed that muscle rather than circulating in the blood and potentially getting stored as fat if it has nowhere to go. So creating a balance, weight balancing your blood sugar and building muscle are the best lifestyle strategies. Amazing. Gosh, there's so many conditions that women just aren't even aware of that they battle with every day. And so many women I know have experienced so much that has been completely underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed and dismissed. And that's a whole other conversation about women's pain and women's illnesses and symptoms. Even I saw a meme recently

about how there's like a thousand different, you know, breast implants, skin things to fix our beauty stuff. And when you compare what is out there for dealing with these kind of debilitating conditions, it's anyway, it's a rage inducing. Now I have a few other questions. One question a friend asked me is about alcohol and how does that affect our hormones as we age? Well, first and foremost, before we get into that, I would like to run through what is defined as a heavy drinker according to Australian regulations and health standards. This is quite frightening. I recently presented a talk and we spoke about it and there

were shrieks in the audience. So what qualifies you as a heavy drinker for females is more than 10 standard drinks per week so we know that often one drink isn't a standard drink often it's about one and a half so i calculated 150 ml glass of white wine is 1.6 standard drinks. So that's six and a half glasses of white wine per week qualifies you as a heavy drinker. So I just wanted to start this conversation with that because it's quite frightening and that is normal for so many people. How this can impact us and our hormones, I think first and foremost, there's so many different ways, but I think particularly in that sort of later 30s perimenopausal phase, the alcohol can significantly impact our sleep. There is so much research on it. We might sleep for eight hours, but the actual quality of that sleep we get has been proven time and time again to be so suboptimal. And I think

particularly when you're going through this perimenopausal transition where you're already battling with mood changes and hot flushes, an overwhelmed nervous system, you want that sleep to be as deep as you possibly can to renew and revitalize. And particularly if you're somebody who has that low DHEAS or depletion. So alcohol will reduce your melatonin and it will impact your ability to get that deep sleep. Also, what happens is alcohol, particularly when you consume it above the average range, it will overwhelm your detoxification capacity. So we have so much research that links elevated estrogen with high alcohol. So the alcohol can basically just block up our

estrogen detoxification pathway, increase that circulating estrogen, and hey presto, what are symptoms of high estrogen? Puffiness, water retention, heavy periods, irritability, fibroids, clotting, those types of things. So so unfortunately the positive effects of alcohol are far outweighed unfortunately by the negative in terms of our hormonal health our sleep and actually our blood sugar balance as well particularly when we're drinking things that are not a clear spirit which is always my advice with patients if you're drinking drinking, have a martini, yum, or have a vodka soda or have a gin soda or something like that. They have far less ability to impact our blood sugar. The wines, the Proseccos, the ciders, the alcoholic ginger beer, all of those yummy things

really muck up our blood sugar because they're full of sugar. And we forget that. Lots of people come to me and go no no no I don't eat sugar but I do have two bottles of wine a week um and I think we all need to consider our relationship with it definitely it's a huge thing all of this because it strikes me that no one is perfect and so much of this stuff it goes into pressure we put on ourselves, the culture puts on us, and then alcohol is something that gives us that little bit of time, space, calming, feeling, fun. And it's just, it's really complex, isn't it, to unscramble that egg. Do you have any advice for patients who probably do acknowledge

that they drink far too much where to start? Because it's not as simple as necessarily just being like, all right, excellent. I'll just stop the wines. It doesn't always really help that way. Oh, and this is a really deep question. I got asked this and to be honest, I didn't have an amazing response. But I think even just little things like being conscious of how fast you consume your drink can play a ginormous role. My partner will just drink beer like water. It literally, like water,

like a bottle of water, just can absolutely knock it back. And I look at it and what am I? It just, I think really simple things like that, you know, how fast are you drinking that drink? Could you be more mindful in how long it takes you to drink that drink? Because the reality is if you drink it slower, you're going to consume less. Could you go and have a glass of water each time you finish your drink? Could that be your little internal rule? Nobody else has to know about it. You know, that can just be you ticking away. And then I think as well, starting to think what's behind it. Why are you continually reaching for it? Is it because you're stressed or overwhelmed? Like, what is it? Is it your job? Do you need to have a conversation with your boss? Do you actually need to change your job? Is your job

driving you to drink and that's impacting your health in a really damaging way? If that's the case and it's been happening for some time, I think we really need to reassess how good that job is for us because if it's negatively impacting our health to that degree, I would say it probably isn't really the best job for us, is it? So yeah, I think certainly being more mindful about our consumption and how fast we drink is just a great place to start because we all love it. It's delicious and we feel good and we can enjoy it in a healthy way. But perhaps just being a little bit more mindful in the way that we use that drug could be helpful. Yeah, completely. And I do also think for women, because we have this idea

in this relationship with alcohol that, you know, hashtag mum life, for instance, you know, women who are mothers, it's sort of this like freeing, oh, I'm being, you know, living dangerously. You're not living dangerously, but you know, it's that idea that you're being such a good mum and wife and person and carer doing fulfilling so many roles you're like now I'm gonna kick back and have that wine and it's for me it's been building stuff into my life that gives me that sense of self that sense of identity that sense of who I was before I had kids that isn't about consuming wine, that is about making stuff or creativity or whatever lights you up.

You know, if it's going for a walk with that friend, if it's joining a pole dancing class, you know, it's finding something that gives you that same sense of liberation. Finding a different avenue. Absolutely. Just fulfill yourself. I totally agree, Claire. Completely. Okay.

What helps with nausea when you've got your period, like from essential oils to, you know, nutrients, stuff like that? Are there things specifically that help with nausea? There are. I first and foremost want to say that that isn't a normal symptom. That's not a regular symptom. It's not a normal symptom. It's not something we should experience. Depending on the degree of nausea, it's really not normal. We shouldn't have symptoms, cyclical symptoms that significantly sort of disrupt our quality of life, I guess, is the general rule of thumb. So if you're finding that you're stopping and feeling like you're going to be sick, that's really an invitation to look further if that nausea is so significant for you.

I just wanted to mention that. But my favourite thing to do from essential oils and therapeutic perspective is ginger. Actually two. Ginger. So ginger essential oil or ginger tea. You can buy tea bags. They're super easy. Otherwise, my favourite thing to do is just smash up some ginger in the mortar and pestle, boil it for 10 minutes and make a strong ginger tea. Pop it in your hot flask, sip it throughout the day. Ginger is

unbelievable for nausea. My other favorite is old school Iberogast, which you can just pick up from the chemist. It should be in everybody's medicine cabinet. It's an old German herbal formula that's safe for a whole family. And you do 20 drops in water just before you eat or after you eat. It doesn't really matter. And you can do that, you know, two to three times across the day. It is very well indicated for any digestive symptoms, bloating, constipation, reflux, nausea. It's safe during pregnancy. It's so good. Any type of tummy upset and that will work in a similar way for the nausea. From a dietary perspective, you want to avoid things that are really fatty. And this actually goes for even a fatty piece of salmon. If you're already feeling nauseous, he's going to set that off. So just be conscious of your intake of fatty foods,

even if they're beautiful, healthy, fatty foods as well. That's really great advice. Another tip for someone who is still breastfeeding and feeling completely depleted. Do you have advice around that? Can we do a whole podcast on this, but I'll condense it. I think we need to have you back because we've just kind of touched on all these. I'll condense it. First and foremost, my main comment for breastfeeding is, and I want to scream this out loud, is your nutrient demands during breastfeeding are higher than any other time, which, you know, you've got a newborn, so just do the best you can, is to continue taking your natal supplement, please, please, please, please, because it will provide you with the backup that you either lost during your pregnancy from a nutrient perspective or that you are unable to get through your

diet. So baby comes first, basically. Breastfeeding, those nutrients that are getting fed to bub are getting extracted from your own stores. So if you're not bringing in an adequate amount of nutrition for yourself to cover yourself, you're going to be running at a deficit. So continue your prenatal multi, that's fine. There are postnatal formulas, which are amazing. And that's really simple, easy, accessible way to cover yourself. Number two, our hydration requirements are so much greater whilst we're breastfeeding. So most of the breast milk's made up of water. There's lots of other beautiful things in there,

but we must keep on top of our hydration. That's really, really important if you're breastfeeding. Herbal teas are an incredible way when you're breastfeeding, they're warm, soothing, calming, beautiful. DHA, which is an essential fatty acid, is highly concentrated in our breast milk. And that is to help our baby's brain and cognitive function. If we do not have enough DHA of our own, baby gets it. So same scenario. So I do recommend either ensuring you're getting fatty fish at least three to four times a week. I love sardines. I love king aura or wild salmon, mackerels, awesome too. Or supplement. If you're getting to the point where you're that low, that's the time where supplements can be really useful. So that's DHA. They're really the top ones from fatigue and breastfeeding.

Actually, one more. Every postpartum mama I work with, I recommend they get their six-week postpartum bloods checkup. And this is to check their thyroid. The rates of postpartum thyroiditis are unbelievably high and often go unchecked, but also to check all thyroid. The rates of postpartum thyroiditis are unbelievably high and often go unchecked, but also to check all of those beautiful nutrients that you require to function, your B12, your iron, your vitamin D, your zinc, to see whether they are still replete from your pregnancy. Because if they're not, like I said, you are just running at a deficit without replenishing those nutrients and your experience of postpartum will be more challenging we know specifically with a zinc deficiency that your

rates of postpartum anxiety and depression are like 40 percent higher these are all things we have the potential to mitigate if you have the right care and the right nutrition and the right people in your support circle to help you. So last question, if this resonates with someone in something we've talked about, they're really struggling, right? Like when I came to you, I was at the bottom rung of where I could function and go. How do people find that team?

Is that a difficult answer I mean obviously finding your site and you've got another new naturopath that works with you yeah yeah how do people go about finding some help I think something that I encourage people to do is never to settle for you're okay nothing has come back back in your blood if you feel rubbish. So I encourage people to continually get a second, third, fourth, fifth opinion and to be warriors for their own health. And it can be tough when you're exhausted and you've got nothing left in the tank.

But I think the reality is nobody else is going to be able to do that for us, to be able to go and find that GP for us or find that beautiful support network. So I really encourage you all to hang in there, be that warrior for your own health. Ask your girlfriends, do they have a great GP? And I'll be honest, even as a naturopath with a big referral network,

I do struggle finding these great referrals because often the really excellent people are fully booked or they've got a long wait list, but there are great caring healthcare providers out there. You just have to keep looking. If you haven't found one yet, ask your work colleagues, have you got a good GP? Because that referral is going to be absolutely gold and crucial for your healing journey. And I think that's a great first place to start is getting a great GP. Yeah. Particularly if you're not able to dive straight into seeing a naturopath or somebody like that because we can help

with that big support network. But the GP is super accessible. But my advice is always get a second opinion if you don't feel satisfied with what you've come away with. Trust your intuition. I think you know our modern world has disconnected us to our superpower of intuition which is really that feeling in our body that we get, that feeling in our gut, not what our mind is telling us. Took me a long time to figure that out, actually. Something so innate. I had to really spend quite a bit of time back into that. So I encourage everybody to do the same thing and don't settle

for less and just know that you do not have to take the GP's word as gospel. I think our poor GPs have really copped it, particularly during COVID. We go to them hoping for a solution for everything when really they're trained in, you know, looking for acute chronic diseases, not the funny tangly stuff in between. They don't have the time. They have a consultant consult. How can we expect them to be able to figure that stuff out for us? So that's when broadening that support network can be so useful. Freya, thank you so much for the work you are doing. I just, it is life-changing. It has been life-changing for me. I know that there are so many women in my

life that are struggling from a health perspective. And this has just been a huge amount of information in one podcast, but so incredibly valuable. I encourage people to go look at your site and, and just your approach to life and this idea of being more connected, more caring for everything, for our planet, for our earth, for ourselves, hopefully it's leading to more women getting more help than they need, you know, and the information they need. So thank you for the gift of what you do. It's such an honour to be on here today and it's such an honour to be able to do this work.

Thank you. And maybe we'll chat again soon. You're welcome. Yes, yes, definitely. I've got so many other questions now. Great. Thank you so much. Thanks, Claire.

You've been listening to a podcast with me, Claire Tonti, and this week with the wonderful Freya Lawler. For more from Freya and her team, you can head to freyalawler.com.au where you can book an appointment with her. It's 100% virtual. Otherwise, you can also head to her Instagram account where she has so many beautiful recommendations for different ways of being, particularly when it comes to caring for ourselves through conditions like endometriosis, heavy periods, PCOS, PMDD, iron deficiency, and also fertility as well. So head on over to at Freyalola Naturo, that's N-A-T-U-R-O on Instagram. I totally recommend going to get

more information about her over there. And as we talk about today, if this feels like a wake-up call for you or you have more questions, seek someone to talk to. Go to see a GP. Go and find a good one. Don't take the first answer as gospel. Find people. Ask your friends because really we need to be caring deeply for ourselves so we can really show up for our kids and our communities. For more from me, you can head to at Claire Taunty on Instagram or on my website, clairetaunty.com. And if you have any questions, email in. I can always ask Freya lots more things.

So talk to me at tauntspod at gmail.com. And if you loved this episode and you found it helpful, please share it with a friend or anyone that you think might get a lot out of it. There's so much information here that I didn't know. And I'm re-listening to it again to take more notes. So if that is you, please share it with people in your life as well. And I also have another podcast which comes out on a Thursday with my husband, man, James Clement,

which is a comedy show with recommendations. So if you're after things to watch, read and listen to, head on over to Suggestible and you can subscribe there. Subscribe to Taunts and give us a rating or review in iTunes and on Spotify. You can do that as well. It helps this show get made and be found. And I would just really love it if you could do that.

Okay. As always, big love to you out there. Look after yourself this week and talk to you soon. Bye.