As a certified personal trainer specializing in women's health, I get to work with a lot of women looking to uplift their health. Time and again, I meet with women struggling with symptoms like anxiety and low energy. You can always count on me to advocate for exercise in helping alleviate these issues, but I know exercise is only one part of the equation. More and more, I am becoming educated on women’s hormonal health; and I would love to awaken an interest in this topic for all women looking to improve their life.
Therefore, I am very excited for this interview with Dr. Mackenzie Vetter. Dr. Mackenzie is a chiropractor and women’s hormonal health expert in Kalispell, Montana. This interview is packed with great information for women of any age. Read on to find out how hormones can impact your body’s functions, like sex drive and the ability to maintain a healthy weight, as well as foods you can eat and supplements you can take to optimize your hormonal health to help you on your pathway to your best self.
Mindy: How did you get your start in women’s hormonal health?
Dr. Mackenzie: I started seeing a chiropractor when I was really young and became interested in chiropractic, so I went to school to become a chiropractor after high school. I started working with the Wellness Way in Kalispell after that. I was interested in tools for our office to assess overall function that went beyond the muscular and skeletal systems, because there's a lot of complexities when it comes to women’s hormones and underlying reasons for hormonal imbalances. So that is what opened the door to my interest in hormonal testing.
Mindy: Can you describe how a typical menstrual cycle affects our energy levels throughout the month?
Dr. Mackenzie: A typical cycle is between 26 to 28 days. There are four zones to our cycle. The first zone is our period, which is when we're shedding excess tissue from an unfertilized egg in our uterus. In week one, we see an incline in our estrogen and serotonin is on the lower end. During this week, energy tends to be slightly on the lower end (especially at the beginning of the week), and women may want to just connect and relax.
That's when we transition into week two, which is where estrogen really starts to peak. Week two is generally when we feel the best. We have more motivation and more energy. This is the time that it’s easiest for our body to metabolize and burn off fat, especially because of those estrogens and how our estrogens play with metabolism. Week two is the best time to really go hard at the gym because we're better at handling stressors during week two. We will also start to see a sex drive, because that's when the testosterone starts to increase as we get toward that ovulation point.
And then week three is ovulation, and estrogen and progesterone will go down, and serotonin along with it, so women will feel like they just want to relax, or like they just need to be by themselves and just be calm. This is the week women have to be extremely protective with our bodies because progesterone is such a fragile hormone. If your body is under any physical stress or emotional stress, your body is more susceptible to decreasing progesterone in week three. And that's really because of how our hormones are actually tied to our adrenals. If your adrenals are ever in a taxing situation and can't produce that cortisol, your body will actually pull from your own sex hormones to make more cortisol. So I tell women to really listen to your body in week three to protect yourself from hormonal imbalances.
Then the last week, both estrogen and progesterone will start going down and testosterone will increase. So similar to week two, during week four we will get a little bit more energy and another sex drive.
Mindy: What are the red flags women should watch out for that that would indicate hormonal imbalance?
Dr. Mackenzie: Heavy period, no periods, painful cramping, acne, significant emotional changes such as depressive moods, anxiety, extreme irritability.
Mindy: What types of things will create hormonal imbalances?
Dr. Mackenzie: In chiropractic, we talk about “The Three T’s.”
The first “T” is trauma to the spine. Any kind of stress to the spine, like a car accident, a sports injury, or any kind of repetitive stress. Because the spine protects the nervous system, and the nervous system controls everything from how your hormones are sent out to how organ systems function.
The second “T” are toxins. Toxins can range from inflammatory foods to beauty products. We call our Standard American Diet “SAD” for a reason because —it’s full of inflammatory foods, which can create changes with the hormones. Processed foods and foods with added sugars can increase our conversions with certain hormones, like converting your testosterone to your estrogens. Other toxins can be found in our beauty products. Sadly, our country only bans about 11 toxins from our beauty products. So, there can be a lot of different toxins and carcinogens that absorb into our bloodstream and create more stress, especially when it comes to our hormones.
The third “T” is our thoughts because mental stress can really play a role in how our adrenals function.
Most of the time, women have stressors in all three categories. With testing, we can figure out what your big stressors are, because a lot of the time, one stressor is more dominant than the others.
Mindy: I have read about production issues with hormones, and you also mentioned processed foods and foods with added sugars can increase our conversions with certain hormones. Can you explain what is meant by “production issues” and “conversion issues?”
Dr. Mackenzie: In your body, we have three main places that produce hormones: our ovaries, our adrenals, and our fat tissue. These are the spots in our bodies that need to produce hormones to do whatever job they need to do, whether that's helping with our cycle, helping with metabolism, or helping regulate our brain hormones. If one organ system is not functioning efficiently, that’s a production issue.
Conversion is when our hormones have to convert down into other types of hormones. It's almost like they have to convert down to smaller forms, so then your body can properly get rid of the hormones. Because our bodies have to make hormones, but we also have to get rid of them.
Mindy: As a fitness instructor and personal trainer, I am a big believer in exercise and its benefits, and I know that exercise can help balance hormones. Can it pull it out of whack, too, though?
Dr. Mackenzie: During weeks one and weeks three of our menstrual cycle when women are more susceptible to stressors, I recommend gentle types of exercise like walking, yoga, or Pilates; anything that will increase overall blood circulation to give oxygen to the uterus.
Mindy: I work with a lot of women who are looking to lose weight. Can you touch base on how hormones can impact weight loss?
Dr. Mackenzie: Inability to lose weight is the most common frustration I hear from women who come into my office. They will say they have tried every diet, every exercise, yet can't lose weight, and a lot of the time, it's because of a hormonal imbalance. If your hormones are out of balance, your body will try to hold onto fat cells to absorb those hormones, or so you can produce and convert those hormones. If you can get those hormones functioning, that should allow you to better regulate your overall metabolism.
Mindy: What foods should women eat and not eat to optimize hormonal health?
Dr. Mackenzie: One of my favorite recommendations is cacao. [Cacao is the seed from which cocoa and chocolate are made.] Cacao chocolate is different from milk chocolate or Hershey’s chocolate (which are not beneficial for us because of the sugar content). Cacao has high amounts of magnesium, which is essential for everyone, but it’s especially great for women because it can help support estrogen. Also, cruciferous veggies can help certain hormones properly convert down into one another.
Foods to avoid are inflammatory foods like gluten, cow’s milk, soy products, and processed sugar.
Mindy: So, when it comes to gluten, do you suggest women to stay away from it altogether or only if they're sensitive to it?
Dr. Mackenzie: Some people can be a little bit more lenient, but overall, I recommend people avoid gluten altogether. It doesn't matter if you have celiac or if you're allergic to it; gluten can trigger an immune response, which will ultimately set off a whole cascade event of creating more inflammation and putting stress on the organ systems.
Mindy: Are there supplements that you recommend that pretty much all women should be taking?
Dr. Mackenzie: One of my favorite supplements that you really can't go wrong with is a female glandular in a capsule form, which has both ovary and liver organ. There is also liver glandular with just liver organ, which is one of the most nutrient-dense foods. It has high amounts of vitamin B, vitamin A, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, and Zinc in it and is a huge support for your liver.
Mindy: Can you tell us about the hormonal testing that you do?
Dr. Mackenzie: A lot of times I have women come in and they've told me they've had comprehensive hormone testing done, but usually they are referring to a small little blood panel which gives you an incomplete view of only estradiol, testosterone, and maybe a couple other hormones that are in the mix. Getting your hormones properly tested is not just a blood test. In our office, we test blood and urine, and sometimes saliva. We really want to do a complete testing panel that will give us the full picture, especially if women are dealing with any kind of symptoms or if they're at risk for estrogen-dominant cancer. Also, women who are on any kind of hormone replacement therapy or bioidenticals should be getting their hormones properly tested every six months. I don't want to just have people come in and just get tested if they are having symptoms. Pretty much from the moment a woman is cyclic and on, we can do all those tests. I recommend annual checkups for overall function, which will include a urine test called the Dutch test, along with blood testing.
Mindy: If you could suggest just one place for women to start uplifting their hormonal health, what would it be?
Dr. Mackenzie: I would say the biggest one is to avoid added sugars because nearly everyone can benefit from reducing sugars. Processed sugars are in the majority of packaged foods at grocery stores, and they have a huge impact on your body.
Dr. Mackenzie mentioned that many companies do hormonal testing, and that there are many Wellness Way clinic across the country. You can connect with Dr. Mackenzie through the following links: Instagram: @dr.mackenzievetter Email: kmercier4@gmail.com
Article by Mindy Cochran. Mindy is a practitioner, teacher, and performer of aerial silks, aerial hammock, and aerial hoop; as well as a health columnist for Montana Woman Magazine. Her column shares expertise for elevating health & wellness which she has acquired through her certifications as a personal trainer, nutrition coach, and life coach. To connect with Mindy on Instagram, please visit: www.instagram.com/aerial.mindy; or visit her Linktree here.
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