Root Cause Solutions For You

Navigating Hormonal Health: Beyond Symptoms with Eleanor Duelley

• Fabiola Reyes, Root Cause Expert, Cert. AK, CellCore & Nutrition Response Testing® Practitioner • Season 1 • Episode 17

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Have you ever wondered why some women can breeze through life with radiant skin, boundless energy, and a level head while others struggle with PMS, weight gain, mood swings, and fatigue? The answer lies in your hormones and how they are balanced. Join us for a riveting chat with Eleanor Duelley, a Holistic Hormone Specialist, Board-Certified Functional Medicine Nutritionist (CNS), and Licensed Dietician Nutritionist whose journey to balance her hormones has led her on a mission to empower all women to take control of their hormonal health.

We're going beyond just discussing symptoms and diving into a world of muscle testing and Dutch testing - an innovative yet often overlooked dry urine test that can give comprehensive insights into your hormones, thyroid, and liver function. We also touch on a topic that's often hushed - constipation. Yes, ladies, your bowel movements substantially affect detoxification and hormonal balance. Eleanor highlights how understanding these tests and embracing regular elimination can be a game-changer for your health.

But that's not all. We're also addressing the elephant in the room - toxins! Eleanor shows how everyday elements, including skincare products, air fresheners, and even water, can derail our hormonal balance. As we discuss the importance of organic food, non-GMO products, and clean drinking water, it becomes clear that a holistic approach to health is vital. Remember, healing is not an overnight process, but with patience, understanding, and the right approach, we can unravel the complex issue of hormonal imbalances. Tune in and begin your journey towards holistic health.

Ready to work with Eleanor?

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Disclaimer: The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these statements. This podcast is not a medical service; the information provided is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. The Root Cause Solutions For You, its practitioners, and employees make no warranties, express or implied, concerning the contents. The information shared in this episode is the opinion of the speaker and should not be considered medical advice. You should never disregard medical advice or delay seeking it because of the contents of this episode.

Fabiola :

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for being here for another episode of Root Cost Solutions for you. My name is Fabiola and I am your host, and today I'm very happy to have with us Eleanor Dooling, who is a holistic hormone specialist, and we are going to be talking about holistic hormone health, the Dutch test and that is the dry urine test for comprehensive hormones, so I'm super excited to be talking about this, and also muscle testing, a not invasive way of finding out areas of stress. Thank you so much for being here with us today, eleanor.

Eleanor :

Yeah thank you, Fabiola. I'm so excited to. This is my favorite topic, so I'm here for it.

Fabiola :

Awesome. Well, tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to be a holistic hormone specialist.

Eleanor :

Yeah, well, I think with most of us functional medicine practitioners, we kind of go through our own trials and tribulations and learning lessons and exploring new areas.

Eleanor :

When something doesn't work or it doesn't vibe with us internally or our intuition, Then we seek other things, and when I came upon the Dutch testing, it was really eye-opening to me because the information that I found out about myself I had actually been asking my doctors, my gynecologist, my OB. I had been asking them those questions for a long time, Like why do I get migraines before my period? They're debilitating, they're extremely painful, and I was really met with sort of a shoulder shrug and here's some painkillers and I kept asking like why did I have very difficult periods? Or, when I got off birth control, why were things so all over the place when I thought getting off birth control was the solution to heal my body? And so really finding out answers for myself gave me the first of all, it helped me to rebalance myself. But I just became so empowered and inspired to share this with women that have been asking these questions forever and really just being met with subpar solutions and medications as the only answer that could be offered to them.

Fabiola :

I think you know we don't ask these questions right. I think a lot of women don't feel comfortable talking to their doctors about their anatomy, their female body, things that they're going through hormonally, and when we do ask those questions it's like oh, it's normal, it's part of the aging process.

Eleanor :

That's the classic, oh, that's normal. But I'm here to tell you, on all of your listeners, that pain is not a normal status for the body. It's actually a clue that there is something that needs to be investigated. And so for a doctor, a practitioner, somebody of stature, an education, to tell us that, oh, what you're experiencing either isn't really there and you're kind of making it up, or it doesn't matter enough, those two things are just completely unacceptable, not only for women but for all people seeking care for their bodies. And so developing my practice around that mission to educate, empower and inspire specifically women about their bodies is really what gives me that passion.

Fabiola :

That's awesome, yeah, because, yeah, I mean, I'm one of those who, unfortunately, before discovering my root cause as far as headaches and fatigue and weight loss resistance and all that stuff, I was bounced from one practitioner to another, from one doctor to another. I didn't know how many women deal with infertility and go through all this processes of understanding why, and it's such a heartbreaking journey. But if someone had talked to us when we were in your 20s hey, this is what your hormones are going to be like. Okay, now in your 30s, now in your 40s and your 50s, so that you don't this stereotype concept that menopause is, you know, should be one of the seven circles of hell because women just go through it. So it's not fun, right? Yeah?

Eleanor :

and I would even go as far as to say you started at 20s. But what if we were to educate teenagers about their cycle and tell them your period is not awful, it's not a pain in the butt, it's not something we have to deal with in this negative way. But what if it was taught to us as an empowering way to use our female power and energy in a way to explode our energy and to if we're given the right tools of when in the cycle is the best time for us to rest and listen to our bodies, when is the best time for us to shine and be our best selves? All of this is cyclical and it happens for every single woman every single month, and for us to not even be aware of this happening is really just a disservice to the female culture.

Fabiola :

Yeah, it's true, you're totally right, because I think girls are getting their cycles earlier and earlier in age, right? And I'm like, wow, that is like that's such a shift, that's a physiological shift and what's pushing for the body to have to go through such a rapid change at that age? And then the solution is you get on the pill, right? Yeah, and teenagers, like you said, are on birth control because of irregular hormones, because their cycles are a mess. So how do you go about your clinical experience? A woman comes to you, they're experiencing hormonal imbalance, so what's your process of assessing and helping them?

Eleanor :

Well, I have a background in nutrition, so, off the bat, I just make sure that we are on the same page with understanding the basics, because the basics have changed over the years and the basics used to be in the 50s and 60s just don't eat anything, right. And then that for women. And then that morphed into let's not eat fat because fat has calories right. And then that morphed into let's not eat carbs. Because? So I go down to the bare basics of what the body actually uses for energy making, for muscle development, for hormone production, and are you getting it in your diet and or supplements and are you using it? Because I tell every person you could have, I could write you the perfect diet with the perfect nutrients for every enzyme that is needed for digestion, but if your body is not utilizing it because things are in the way, then it's not going to matter. People think if they just figured out the perfect solution for nutrition, everything would be fixed. But what I'm diving into and I know your practice does it is looking at what is in the way. Do we need to detox from things that our body has held on to forever? I mean, I'm talking viruses, bacteria, some talking exposure to heavy metals and different toxins that are in our everyday drinking water, that are in the air that we breathe and in the very fabric that are is our lives.

Eleanor :

And so, once I do the nutritional component, what I dive into is how did you get here? Whatever here is for you, if it's, you know, very bad periods, whether it's very bad menopausal symptoms, whether it's infertility, whether it's I've had young girls come to me who have lost their periods and you know we've worked to regain the cycle rather than put them on birth control and just say nothing's wrong with you. Let's actually deal with the imbalance, and I start every single person off with opening the drainage in the detox pathways through cell core, and I have found that even just that foundational step has moved the needle in ways people have not even. I've had people that have been constipated their entire lives, the entire lives and I get them to a state of having bowel movements daily and they just haven't even wrapped their brain, their brain, around what that would do for their bodies. So we start basic. Yeah, yeah, there were minor technical issues that we did.

Fabiola :

No, I'm sorry. Yeah, it's a transformation, right, I mean, you mentioned bowel movements, but yeah, the what that does. So what is being constipated due to hormones? How does that create imbalance?

Eleanor :

Yeah, I love this question because think about it like waste in the body, doesn't? Your body does not want that there. Okay, because it's full of things that the body wants to get rid of because they're not useful and they're harmful to the body. And when we are constipated meaning we are not pushing out the things that the liver has already pushed aside and said this is toxic, I don't need it the kidneys have filtered and so, if all systems are working properly, that waste is sitting in a part of your body, that if it sits too long, the toxins will be reabsorbed into the bloodstream. Okay, and that doesn't feel good. It makes us feel bloated. Does that sound familiar? Headaches, fatigue, all of these things that are in the way of your body properly processing food waste, toxins. So constipation is really at the forefront of getting waste and toxicity out of the body.

Eleanor :

You cannot do a detox if you are not pooping, because poop, pee and sweat and breathing are the ways that your body gets rid of toxins, and if those pathways are inhibited, then your body just recirculates it. And why this relates to hormones in particular, especially for menstruating women and menopausal women, is because when we ovulate, the body makes a lot of extra hormones in the case that the egg gets fertilized. And when the egg does not get fertilized and the ovulation window closes, all of those hormones that were made by the ovaries and the adrenals get turned to waste. And if the body can't get those out, they recirculate. So recirculating dead estrogen, recirculating dead progesterone.

Eleanor :

It causes imbalance because it shouldn't be in the body. The body wants to get rid of it and to make fresh next month. But multiply that by how many menstrual cycles you've had since the age 14, 12, whatever, whenever you started. Multiply that by 12 months, a year times how many years. So how many cycles have your body not been able to get rid of those excess dead hormones? Yeah, that's why pooping is important.

Fabiola :

We don't think of it right. I mean, sometimes you ask people well, how many times you know how many bowel movements that you're having? They're like, oh, they don't think they're constipated, they're like, oh, it's, yeah, my normal. And what's your normal? Oh, you know, like every other day. And I'm like, no, that's not normal. You need to be going to the bathroom at least once a day. And then when we talk about even more, they're like what? So it's a new concept, even though it's such a crucial detox and drainage factor, right or tool of the body. Well, thank you for explaining that, because a lot of women, I think, do a wrong their cycles that get constipated, Yep and go ahead, yep, yeah.

Eleanor :

And, like I said, when constipation is holding onto toxins, so think, just, picture it in your body. You know what comes out. So if that is not coming out, it is inside of you, right, and headaches, fatigue, you know, just feeling blah, I mean, that is is a typical, common, maybe not normal, but that's a common complaint that I hear a lot in my practice. And that's the first thing that I go after because, like you said, it's transformational. Even the look on someone's face when they come in and have been pooping every day, they just they think it's magic because they just haven't been able to fathom living a life that in sync.

Eleanor :

And that we haven't even started on looking at the hormones yet. You know we're just doing, like I said, the basics, because for many years the diet industry and even the health industry has mucked up what should actually be healing in the body. So I really go, I dial it way down. You know we don't jump in and do all of the you know flashy stuff, because if we haven't done the basics it's not going to work anyway.

Fabiola :

Yeah, that makes sense. And I think by paving that foundation, then the other stuff, your other tools that you may use later on if things are not advancing, the way that this should be based on what you've done before are, you know, are easier to then gather more information, right, I've always been fascinated by the Dutch test because one. I think it gets dismissed a lot by you know, by some practitioners or sometimes doctors. I had a client who, unfortunately, was going through a really bad menopause and I said, well, unfortunately, in the state living in New York, I have very limited testing abilities. So I was like, hey, talk to your doctor, maybe they will be willing to order a Dutch test or, you know, let's get some solutions.

Fabiola :

And unfortunately the response was where you're, you're going through menopause, this is normal. Why would I run this test? Where you're going through is 100% normal. And I was like I think you need a new doctor. So it's totally, yeah, underestimated. So tell us a little bit about that tool. How is that tool? Because I love that what it is not just telling you about hormones, but it also tells you about, if I'm correct, thyroid function and liver function.

Eleanor :

So let me, I'll answer your first question and then I'll answer that one. So the reason conventional medicine doesn't use the Dutch test is well, I think it's two reasons and, in all honesty, they're not trained to read it and they don't understand how it's applicable. It's just not part of their education so that off the bat, it's discredited, okay. The second thing is the information that I can get out of the Dutch test, which is basically measuring metabolites or things that have been broken down in your body and cast for waste. Right, it's your urine, so it's waste. The things that I can find in that. You know, I kind of dig through the trash is what I say. It's not going to lead me down the road of which medication is going to help you. And so, if you think, as conventional medicine, at least in the United States, the model is set up as a business and if they're not going to make money off of a test result, they're not going to run it. This is why insurance doesn't cover it. So I'm not sure the state laws in New York, but I know that these things have to be out of pocket, at least in our current. You know the way that things currently are. I don't love it that way, trust me. But I know the value in getting that information and so do my patients. So, off the bat you know. If you're struggling with that decision, let me assure you that your doctor is not working to heal the problem unless they are looking at the reasons and the root causes. If it's just that's just the way it works, okay. It's not because they're not, they're bad people or anything. It's just that they're not educated and that's not the way that they're taught to treat. Practitioners like you and I are taught to look holistically at what is the imbalance, so that we're not diving in on symptoms. We're using symptoms, as you know, a roadmap and to guide us, but we're not jumping in on. Oh, if you have a headache, here's some painkillers for the headache. You're going to continue to get headaches, so it just doesn't make sense from a functional perspective to discredit this information. That's the first thing. I love the Dutch test because it gives us the foundational information so it can tell me if the issue lies with your adrenals, if the issue potentially lies with your thyroid. So it doesn't measure thyroid markers, but it gives me an indication to look there further. So if I get a test result back, I can say, oh, this looks like we need to now test your thyroid, and then I would order the blood work for a thyroid.

Eleanor :

Now, one special one thing that I want people to understand is that when you go to a gynecologist to get hormones tested, I have so many clients come into my office and say, oh, I have, I've had my hormones tested and I'm fine, and I'm like okay, well, why are you here then? Right, because you have a lot of symptoms that are bothering you. So perhaps the testing that you got done wasn't conclusive enough. So blood work measures an instant in your life, like the blood is extracted at an exact moment. But what is not asked of you when you get this blood work extracted from your body is where are you in your cycle?

Eleanor :

Did you have a really rough morning that created a lot of cortisol, a lot of stress? Did you have a crappy night's sleep? Did you not eat well yesterday? Did you have two cups of coffee this morning instead of one? Are you a menstruating woman in your 30s or are you a 50 year old man who's never menstruated? These are pieces of information that we need to know when we're looking at ranges of testosterone and estrogen and progesterone. So if we're just looking at a chart that says your estrogen is low because of this blood work, we need to ask it's low compared to what? It's low for who? Is it because I just finished ovulating and now my body's preparing for menstruation? Because if that's the case, my estrogen should be low.

Fabiola :

Yeah.

Eleanor :

So that's why the value in the Dutch chest is it. You know it refuses to go away because it works and it has helped so many women that it's just it's undeniable that it can just be dismissed.

Fabiola :

Yeah, well, I love it. That's very powerful Because it's you're right, it's asking about the quality of the question, right, it has so much to do. There's so many different factors that could contribute to the results of the test at that point of time. And I do believe that when we do this type of testing, any test that we do, even regular blood tests, solution of baseline, and then, with the intention of using that information, to retest again to see if what we've done has created a shift, obviously people may feel better, may feel worse, but sometimes, having those, that information from your body, those numbers that don't lie, can one reassure someone. Yes, we're going on the right direction, is the right path. Just need to give your body a little more time. Or is it time to continue shifting gears and digging in that? I love that analogy digging through trash because it's like a private investigator. Yeah, you know, you're like looking for things that other people have dismissed.

Eleanor :

Yes, yeah, yeah, so powerful and yeah, that's why I use it in my practice, and it's not going anywhere, so that's awesome.

Fabiola :

So we've talked a little bit about diet. You know like your approach as far as like establishing the basics, building a foundation and some of your testing tools, lifestyle changes, like what are some of the things that you know like? If you're working with a woman who unfortunately has heavy cycles, cramping or a lot of breast tenderness, headaches, migraines, super tired, cranky, I feel like that's like such a stereotype of someone who's just before their period. You know like. You know it's not supposed to be that way. They wake me for your cycle. You're not supposed to feel that way and I'm on a mission about breaking that, that concept of just that.

Eleanor :

Yeah, that misconception, it's like a stigma of being a menstruating woman or even a menopausal woman, and I totally agree that we need to abolish it, because, for women that are suffering with that, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to suffer. It is not fate, you're not predestined. It's just telling you there's something in balance. So, specifically, what you're talking about is, in a manner of detoxing, and so when women and they come to me, they present with these things. I asked them about their lifestyle. Are they using products that have chemicals in them? Do they have air fresheners plugged in in their house, in their office, everywhere they go? Are they wearing heavy perfumes? Are they using cosmetics? Are they using shampoo that has fragrance in it? Because these are basics that we can remove easily without causing a huge disruption in our lives. So that's really the first place I start. What kind of food are you eating? Is it organic? Is it GMO? Is it on the go because you're super busy? Is it catered? What are these things that you are being exposed to? What kind of drinking water do you prioritize? And this isn't a way for me to judge and tell them what's wrong. It's a way for me to educate that there are toxins built into the very fabric of who we are in this state of the world today and if we can do better. I have a dual prong approach. It's reducing toxicity in our environment, so the things that we use, the places that we go, the choices that we make for food and other things, and the internal detox that we do through cell core products and other ways of opening drainage pathways and getting to the root cause of all of these things living in our body, and even to go one step further with people that have infections bacterial infections, gut infections, fungus, mold these things live in our body and when they are exposed to certain toxins in our everyday life, the bacteria actually changes. So if you've ever heard of good bacteria and bad bacteria, that's not really a thing, but I do like the fact that it highlights that there are bacteria that are beneficial and there are bacteria that are detrimental. They can be the same bacteria.

Eleanor :

It's kind of like that movie in the 80s the Gremlins. If you've ever seen that movie, please okay, I had a client the other day who had never heard of it. She was too young. So if you're out there listening, please smile that you understand what I'm saying. But in the movie there was this cute little stuffed animal that was super great and loving, and then, when it got exposed to water, it turned into this detrimental devil that just wreaked havoc.

Eleanor :

And that's exactly what happens to the bacteria in our gut. It gets exposed to certain toxins in our makeup, in our shampoo, in our drinking water and it changes to become detrimental and to cause problems in the gut. This is a cascade effect that affects hormones, it affects our energy, it affects our pooping, it affects all of these things that are interwoven into this functional approach, this holistic approach that you and I as practitioners that's what we're telling people is what needs attention. Because if you go to a conventional doctor that looks only at gut health and not gut health and hormones and all these other things, then if you tell somebody to look for a zebra, they're going to see a zebra. They're not going to look holistically at what are the other possibilities. And this is why I think muscle testing is so impactful for both you and I on how we integrate this into our practice, because it is going to skyrocket not only the effectiveness but the efficiency and how quickly we can allow our bodies to heal.

Fabiola :

Yeah, I agree, yes, and you bring up such an important point. The cascade effect of things and, just like those toxicity that you were talking about affect many different areas. It's when we look at hormonal balance, we can't just think of, oh, it's just a thyroid, or it's just adrenal, or it's just the ovaries, or this and that or the liver. It's like, how does everything work together? And you can't just the thyroid is not an island, it's not one single organism that just operates on its own and whatever with everything else or deliver, and it's with muscle testing we're guaranteeing to that. I do often find that, once we find that priority, what is that organ that is screaming for help and saying, hey, please, I need some assistance. How did other systems in the body feel the relief from that? And they're like, oh, wow, okay, help is coming. And things start to work different because the body is an organism. Right, it's an organism, yeah.

Eleanor :

And it's astounding to me that conventional approaches is to cut out the problem and unfortunately for my mother and a few other of elder generation in my family have just had organs removed because they couldn't figure it out and it was screaming for help and I just do not believe that that is a healing approach.

Fabiola :

Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, I mean you know time of my life where I did not have my cycle for like six months and I thought the best of it because, you know, if my cycles were not always the greatest, you know like heavy, lots of clodding, just like migraines, headaches and just moody and just imbalance of hormones. So when I did not, one month after the other didn't get my cycle, I was like in heaven, yet not realizing the hormonal mess that I was, and come to find out it was because I had been exposed to mold, specifically black mold, and that started a cascade of hormonal imbalance for me. So I'm like, yes, gosh, there's so much to learn. Right, it's like the human body is just an open encyclopedia and you can learn something about it every day.

Eleanor :

I don't really know everything at the end of the day, yeah and it's important to for us to give ourselves grace, because when you're exposed to black mold, it's not like oh, I found that out, I'm going to take this pill and tomorrow I'm going to be all better. Yeah, and you know, I have clients. They end, they get frustrated to three months in and I remind them that we have to unravel the built upon issues, because not doing that is is covering things up and it's pretending they're not there and then when they come back with a screaming vengeance, with you know, whatever symptoms come back, we have to, we have to go back to it. So I want to remind everybody that healing is not fun. It hurts.

Eleanor :

It hurts for a reason and we think that this healing should be everything, should be wonderful and everything should have. I should just start sleeping all out again and I should just start cycling, perfectly, and yes, that's the goal. But healing is the messy, scabby, itchy, painful part where your body is actually changing. So don't get it confused that everything should be perfect tomorrow, because that's not how it works. Unless we are ignoring the problem and muting symptoms with cutting things out of our body or, you know, painkillers. That's not how it works. So it does take time and for things that are so deeply seated like mold exposure and lime. These bacteria live and thrive in different corners of the body that we have to get to, but it doesn't happen with one pill or one session or one supplement.

Fabiola :

Yeah, yeah, it's true, and I think it's different approaches and preventively right. Our young generation right now who unfortunately, potentially have gone through a lot of hormonal imbalance and might be already cyst right Ovarian cysts and for some reason had a partial or full removal of, you know, uterus and ovaries, and people who've gone through that. And how do women avoid that from happening? It's never too late, absolutely.

Eleanor :

And one of the most miraculous things about your body is that when those unfortunate decisions are made, it's not a mistake. Don't take it that way. Take it as your body is going to miraculously overcome and recompensate however it needs to, and sometimes that requires additional supplements because maybe that organ was making something that is needed. But this is not a there's no lost cause. Every single human and animal actually can benefit from increased detox. Yeah, in an environment and internal, all the time, every day. And I will say that until I take my last breath because it is so true and it's something that we've normalized and disregarded.

Fabiola :

Yeah, no, totally. What is your opinion about hormone replacement therapy?

Eleanor :

So I don't use it in my practice. I'm actually not very much educated on it because I got my masters in a holistic and integrative way, so I do not offer it. I would recommend for anybody that's considering it or maybe their doctor has recommended it to look and see if there's a way that your body can heal and balance without it. First, I have had many people come to me before they've tried it. I've had people come to me after they've tried it. But think about it this way Anytime that you're getting anything synthetic and you can tell me bio identical, you can use all the fancy words, but it is not made by your body, it is not made by your body. It's something that is foreign to your body. And think of it as forcing your body to do something it's not naturally doing and to your benefit. Maybe you're getting these symptoms are relieved and you know things are going well, but at some point the body will normalize to that level of receiving that. So there will forever be increased support needed if the root cause is not addressed. And so if we're adding in extra genius hormones into our body, what is the extra exit strategy? Yeah, do you sit with your doctor and say I'm going to do this for three months and then at the end of three months, I should be all good, because if that's happening, please let me know. I don't believe that's what the conversation is. I think it's you're going to continue to pay me to do this for the rest of your life, in increasing installments until you are till you are so deep in that you couldn't do anything else. Your body's so reliant on this extra testosterone, this extra estrogen. So I'm not saying it's not needed.

Eleanor :

There are. There are women that just cannot bounce back from making estrogen. But I would encourage them to try it first. Try to see if your body can do it, because I think nine times out of 10, people are women are jumping the gun on doing it because it's quick and it's it's. You know it's a yeah, I think it's a pellet in the, in the behind and in your off to the races.

Eleanor :

But for me, I don't. I want to wake up and have my body do that all by itself, and I don't want to have trays and trays of medication that I got to take and doctor's appointments that I got to go to and all of that stuff. That's my goal for my personal aging process and you know my husband and my kids and and whoever I can educate and help my clients and that's what they want to. So if you feel like you're in that boat, there is things you can try, no matter who's telling you there isn't or they're not effective. How about you try them first? It's actually cheaper in the long run, to be honest with you.

Fabiola :

Yeah, no, it's true. Why, if your body is at the age where you're still producing abundance, or you know of those hormones, why are we not producing them? And if your bodies at the age were in no longer, I mean, there's a reason why the body is no longer producing those hormones, right? So, yeah, to give it even more, I don't know. It's yeah, it's it's. It's. It's controversial for sure, but at the same time, I think it's we're looking for to feel better, absolutely.

Eleanor :

And, at the end of the day, for me the route to feeling better is healing the imbalance. Yeah, some peoples, the route is getting rid of the symptom. Yeah, but I can tell you, if you don't get to the root of the imbalance, you might mute one symptom, but it will return in a different way. So if you have, you know, skin issues, you know itchy skin and you topically treat one area without getting to the root cause of why that is manifesting that way, something else will pop up. You'll get you know. A fungus infection under your nail. You'll get an itchy patch on your leg, you'll get you know. So getting to the root cause has its extreme benefits to being patient and allowing your body to take care of it for you.

Fabiola :

Yeah, that's true. You talked about hormone production and stuff and the normal pathways, right that it is an innate ability of the body to create those hormones and to find the cause of that imbalance, if there's any imbalance. But can we talk a little bit about cholesterol? Because I think, like cholesterol has been demonized by, yeah, for so many decades now cannot even you know remember how long now but how does cholesterol fit into hormone production?

Eleanor :

Okay, I love this question because if you were to go to the doctor and get blood work and your cholesterol came back high, right, the doctor's route is let's medicate you so we can bring it into the zone where they deem you should be right. Yep, that's it. That is it what happens in the body. Okay, the body makes cholesterol because it's a helper. It's actually a really good thing that your body makes cholesterol because if there are damage to cells, if there's damage to your arteries, cholesterol, the brain gets the signal okay, there's damage. Let's make some excuse me cholesterol so that the body can heal. Right, I look at it as kind of an internal bandaid.

Eleanor :

Now, when women are going through fluctuations of making estrogen. So if they're transitioning to perimenopause, menopause, postmen, all of those things, it doesn't matter where you are and what word you use to label yourself. So, wherever you are, there are going to be fluctuations in how much you're going to make each month. It's nature. That's what happens. Now, think of this Cholesterol is where hormones come from. Hormones cannot be made in the body without cholesterol. So think of your body going through these fluctuations. Maybe it didn't make a lot of estrogen one month and the next month it's making a little bit more to kind of even you out. But your cholesterol? So your cholesterol demand was a little bit higher and you happen to get your blood work done at that time and the doctor said well, I'm going to give you all this medication to get rid of all of this cholesterol so that the blood work looks pretty. So we reduce the cholesterol in our body chemically, but what's left to make the hormones? Oh well, the doctor wasn't looking at that part, he was looking at the number that came out on the blood work and if that number's in the green, he doesn't really. Did he ever ask you if he where you were in your cycle? Did he ask you if you were fluctuating? Maybe there was a need, maybe you had an infection somewhere in the body that cholesterol was helping you to fix and heal. But nope, we're just going to cut it down.

Eleanor :

The thing is, if it is high, let's find out why it's high. You're in simple Okay, if you have a junk food diet and you go to a fast food restaurant three times a day and you don't sleep and you drink a lot of alcohol and you have a very unhealthy lifestyle, your body is desperately trying to fix it by making a lot of cholesterol, but I'd say between seven and eight. At least nine out of 10 of people that come see me have really good diets. They take care of themselves. They wouldn't be in a functional medicine practice asking for healing if they didn't already take care of themselves in some way, shape or form. So I'm guessing they're not junk food junkies that need a better diet. I'm guessing that their body has an infection or inflammation or a need to make more hormones, and that is why the cholesterol is high.

Fabiola :

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, and I think cholesterol jumps at me when working with clients who are having issues getting pregnant. Yes, and how that? I'm like okay, let's look at cholesterol levels, let's look at your lipid panel. Why are we not making these hormones? And so, yeah, thank you for explaining that. That was, yeah, you're right, it's that. Why is cholesterol showing up to begin with and what's the reason why?

Eleanor :

Because your body is making it. Right, this isn't something that you're absorbing. So your body doesn't make mistakes. It desperately wants to be in a state of homeostasis and balance, and that's the same for weight gain and weight loss and and things that the body makes for us. It makes it for a purpose, and if we don't explore the purpose, we're kind of shooting in the dark as to how to how to fix it.

Fabiola :

True, true, that's true. Now, what about? I mean, we talked a little bit about gut health and you touched on that a little bit, and obviously we talked a little bit about diet and stuff, but, and then we talked a little bit about bacteria. Anything else you want to, you know, stress on on the importance of good gut health and hormonal balance.

Eleanor :

They do go hand in hand. It kind of boils down to so when we talk about gut health, we're talking about where the imbalances are and what is being affected. So, like it goes back to that toxin load. Like, are we eating foods and they might be quote, unquote healthy foods. Like you know, some people can't tolerate spinach because it has a high oxalate count. So I don't want you thinking that something is deemed healthy by who, from where, from what, like.

Eleanor :

So we need to ask questions about our individual constitution. And that's the part of you're in my practice is we take the time with the individual, because when we go to Dr Tick Tock and Instagram for probiotic advice, we're getting a hodgepodge of people trying to sell things to you and we'll say anything. So we need to look at what, what are we doing, what is the purpose? And if you kind of have nowhere to start or you're kind of bewildered, then this is the perfect time to come and talk to me. Come and talk to you, like, ask some questions and, you know, start poking around and going. This doesn't really make sense to me. Can you explain what's going on here? Because the gut hormones, you know, all of these systems in our body are intertwined and if any practitioner is only looking in one place, they're missing. They're very much missing out on the whole picture.

Fabiola :

Yeah, true. And then going back to the muscle testing, I find it that you know people when they come in, they already have, like you mentioned already, on some sort of health path. They're taking a probiotic they're taking they saw something on Tick Tock, they saw something on a commercial and that spoke to them, and so they're on the right path as far as potentially needing that. But what I love about muscle testing is that when people do bring sometimes they're shopping bags of supplements that are taken, because that happens, then sometimes some of those supplements, the body does not, does not want them, and but I said, you know, I said this is not testing. Well, for you, at this point of time where their body is saying, for whatever reason, it could be an ingredient, could be a sourcing, could be that truly is just something not needed for the gym.

Eleanor :

Yeah, we saw that we saw that last weekend we were at a conference together. It could be the packaging that it comes in.

Fabiola :

Yes, yes, the water, that's true. Yeah, so it's. It's. Yeah, so you're right. Just because the label looks, you know, cute or there was a really good commercial, you know that means that the company did really good marketing. So they're paying their marketing team. You know it's working Right. You're right, social media, but, yeah, so if you're working with someone who, who muscle tests, you know you can ask them.

Fabiola :

You know, could you see if my body wants this, because sometimes my clients don't even tell me. Hey, I started this and I'm like, hmm, something's, something's off. And I had a client who started taking vitamin E out of the blue and on car thyroid started acting funky. And I'm like why is your thyroid starting funky? Like we've been working on this for a while and this was finally stable. And I said do you change anything? And she was like well, I started taking vitamin E. I was like, oh, okay, can you, you mind telling me what brand, where is this? You know, bring it so we can test it. And it was soy derived. And I was like, oh my gosh. And yeah, so even those little details can do matter. So do talk to your practitioner, whoever you're working with.

Eleanor :

Yeah, yeah, a similar thing happened there was gluten in a product and this and my client had been gluten free for years very, very strict and her body it just it overcame with hives, and so it matters. And that's why I think practitioners like you and I who do the critical thinking, you know it's not, oh, you know always, you know one plus one equals two and it's just like well, let's look it up, let's see if we're there's any other variables we're not thinking of. You know, and you know I talked to other practitioners and I go hey, I'm having this, have you seen it before? And this is how we learn and grow. And I think practitioners that practice that way are are growing their education as well, so that we can serve better. And that that's my whole goal and the mission with my practice is to do better, to do better than what is being provided right now for our patients.

Fabiola :

That's true, and there's a lot of people to help. Yes, there's definitely not a shortage of that. So how does one go about? Because you work with clients virtually, if I remember correctly how do you, how can one find a practice? I mean who you know? People are going to be listening to this. I need to start working on my hormones.

Eleanor :

Yeah, so if you're in the Dallas Fort Worth area, you can come visit me in my. In my practice I have one in McKinney, texas, but for those of you I imagine are outside of that area, I do take virtual consults. So you would just set up a free zoom call. You can go to my website and I will post it in the show notes. It's nourishingnutritionnet, and you can set up a free zoom and I walk through what my process and I listen to what is going on with you so I can match them together and see if we're a good fit.

Eleanor :

I mean, not everybody's a fit for everybody. I want to make sure that the service that I'm able to provide is in line with what you're looking for. So you can set up a free appointment and then we go from there. I will order testing and I will get it sent to your house. If you live inside the state of New York City, we will figure it out. It's a little bit tricky but we can still do it, and I provide gut testing. I can do remote muscle testing as well, so I make it work for the client.

Fabiola :

That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, no limit. There's no limits. Now, right, you can do it all. That's so cool. That's awesome. Thank you so much, eleanor. Are there any last words of wisdom? Anything else you want to leave listeners with any books you recommend to learn about hormones.

Eleanor :

Well, my words of wisdom are you don't have to live with pain and discomfort, and nor should you, so if there's something nagging you that you haven't been able to figure out, it can be looked at and addressed. So don't gaslight yourself and don't let other practitioners tell you it doesn't matter, because you do matter and you matter to me. So I would love to meet you. If you want to reach out, please do.

Fabiola :

That's awesome. All right, Well, thank you so much everyone for listening to this episode and when nothing else will be signing off. All right, Thank you so much.