
Brief summary of the show:
In this episode, Dr. Janine discusses women's health and natural healing. She emphasizes the importance of education and empowering oneself to make better decisions for health. The most common issue women seek help with is weight loss, but Dr. Janine challenges the idea of an ideal weight and focuses on overall health and well-being. She also discusses the role of hormones in women's health and provides tips for managing hormonal changes naturally. Other recommendations include clean eating, good sleep hygiene, and being grateful.
Listen in as we talk about:
00:00 - Introduction and the Importance of Education
03:05 - Redefining Weight Loss and Overall Health
08:15 - Addressing the Root Causes of Weight Issues
12:56 - The Importance of Sunlight and Nature in Hormonal Balance
25:07 - Gratitude and Sharing Positivity
Notes from Natalie:
Seeking Health: www.natalietysdal.com/favorites
Connect with Me
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Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@j9naturally
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ @doctorjanine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drj9live/
View Transcript of the show
Natalie
Dr. Janine, so glad to have you on the program. I have enjoyed watching you and learning from you for, well, months now.
Dr. Janine
I'm so glad to be here. Thank you for, you know, inviting me on your show. It's fantastic to talk to, you know, another woman about women's health. I think that's what we're going to delve into a little bit. So, so honored to be on your show. Thank you for inviting me.
Natalie
You bet. Well, I spent decades and aging myself doing health news. And I have found that the most success I've had in as a woman and as a reporter is helping people help themselves naturally. And I know that's what you love to do too.
Dr. Janine
Yes, absolutely, yeah.
yeah, because I think education is such a big piece of empowering yourself over healing your own body. And there's so much misinformation out there, unfortunately, when we get into the space of natural healing. And I like to sort of really look at the research, but also based on my own personal experiences with my patients over the years, and of course with my own body, being a woman. And with things as they change at different ages and stages of your life, it's something that I think is really important to give out as much information. That's why I do so much social media and interviews and podcasts and things, so that the more information you have, you're more empowered to make maybe better decisions for your health. And of course, always from my perspective in a more natural way.
Natalie
Yeah, and when we understand it, and you use such great graphics and visuals, and when we understand it, we can take that step back and learn from it. So let's go into some specifics. What are, in your opinion and with your patients, what are the most common issues that you find women needing help with?
Dr. Janine
Yeah, so let's start with, I mean, most women, the first question when they either meet me live in person or they're coming to seek my advice based on something that they've heard or read, it's always about weight loss. And you know, I know.
Natalie
Isn't it? I feel like we could talk about that night and day. What's the deal?
Dr. Janine
What's the deal? And here's the thing. I think there's sort of this ideal weight. And when you look on Instagram and you see these women that are ripped abs, six packs, or muscular, and all these ideals that we have as women maybe aren't always the healthiest. When we really delve into, and I've spoken to people, and women especially, that they look like that, but on the flip side and on the inside, they're actual healthiest is not that great. Their hair is falling out, you know, they're dieting and then not dieting and then dieting again and doing this whole yo -yo thing. So really finding that common ground, like what is healthy? And of course that's gonna be individual, it's gonna be different for every woman. But getting to that anti -inflammatory state, not having pain, I mean, waking up and looking forward to your life and to your day for that day and your goals for your life. I mean, these are all sort of the context that I put into my own life in terms of being a healthy woman. But it's not some of these ideals that I think a lot of women strive. And you know, having been on TV, there's these aspirations to look a certain way. And yet, that's not always the healthiest way to be. So yeah, the weight loss question always comes up. And women are always, and I have a lot of content on weight loss just because.
I'm hoping to give the right information in a healthy way. So if you are actually in fact overweight, which we know is not a healthy state of being, that we're targeting it in a different way. And I talk about things that people don't really talk about because a lot of people, a lot of doctors even don't know about this whole thing about leptin and leptin resistance. So if you've seen my videos and you've heard me talk about leptin and leptin resistance, this is something from a hormonal perspective and what our fat cells are telling to our brain cells, how we are surviving, how well are we actually doing in the context of our life and our connection with our outside world, with nature. And all of our bodily functions, all of our hormonal sphere and everything that works internally is very much related to our external life. And this is something where there's, you know, I'm one of the experts now that's really talking about making those connections with our outer world.
Dr. Janine
and going against what mainstream medicine has told us about the sun and sun exposure and when we talk to the beauty experts or dermatologists, they're all about stay out of the sun. The complete opposite is true when we're looking at our overall health, that anti -inflammatory response, the way that our brain is processing information, whether it is from our fat cells when we talk about leptin, when it's talking about hormonal balance, when we're talking about our stress levels and cortisol.
Dr. Janine
I mean, it's all part and parcel and this all ties into that weight loss story. And if for women that are struggling to lose that weight and hormonal changes that happen around perimenopause and menopause and that menopause middle that so many women complain about, there is a physiological function why we actually get a little bit more of that abdominal fat and it's actually a good thing.
Natalie
Yeah.
Dr. Janine
And this is what people don't realize, and women that are struggling. Yeah, it's one thing if you're 50 pounds overweight and you get an extra 10 pounds of menopausal middle. Yeah, that's a bit more of a problem. But if you're of normal weight going into perimenopausal menopause, then that weight comes on. It's not necessarily a bad thing. And that's what I want women to know, that embrace it. And kind of my analogy for myself, because I had a bit of that weight gain as well as the hormones were changing, was.
I didn't get down on myself when I was pregnant. I mean, I've had four pregnancies and I have five kids altogether, but four pregnancies and babies that I've delivered myself. Well, not myself, but of course with the help of professionals. Well, yeah. So I didn't, I wasn't down on myself through my pregnancies. You have that natural weight gain and you look beautiful and vibrant, you know, through weight gain. And so, you know, now fast forward in perimenopause and you lose, you know, you gain a little bit of that weight that is a normal thing and it's healthy, then I kind of made that connection for myself, which I educate other women about. It's not necessarily a bad thing. You need a little bit of extra fat tissue to actually support your brain function, to support your other hormones, because as we know, the ovaries and everything else is shutting down. So I think that's an important aspect for women to realize. The other little tip that I do have for women, though, if you are overweight going into perimenopause and menopause lose the weight now. So lose the weight now before you know that for sure it's gonna be that end of time in terms of having your regular periods so that you'll be more comfortable at that time. It's more difficult when you're going through menopause to target that weight loss that maybe you did have to lose. So that's just kind of a tidbit. Like if you're a woman, you're listening to this now and you know that, okay, you're coming into perimenopause soon and you know that you're maybe 15, 20 pounds overweight, lose it now, do that work now, you know, and it does, it does, yeah, yeah.
Natalie
because it does get so much harder. Yeah. Yeah. I want to talk about hormones here in a second, but since we're talking about weight loss, of course, the biggest thing in weight loss right now are weight loss drugs. Can you talk about what that does to the system? Are they good? Do they give people a step ahead if they really can't lose the weight? Or what is it doing to our bodies?
Dr. Janine
Yeah.
Dr. Janine
Well, yeah, well here's the thing. It really does depend. And I think there may be a place for these drugs for a very short period of time if somebody is morbidly obese. And that obesity is going to be such a high risk factor for other diseases. And there's a quick way to use those GLP -1 agonists to the drugs to get some weight off quickly in a short amount of time. Now, however, it is not the solution. It's not addressing the root cause.
of the obesity to begin with. And that's, as a naturopathic doctor, that's what I'm always looking at. Okay, why, what is the root cause of being overweight? Is it, you know, a mental, emotional, overeating kind of issue? Is it because you do have the leptin resistance that I talk a lot about? Is it that hormonal imbalance? Is it, you know, your exposure to electromagnetic radiation?
I mean, maybe you sit in front of a computer, a lot of us do sit in front of a computer, technology, all day you're not protecting yourself. Maybe you live in an area of anywhere in the world that has a higher EMF frequency that your body is becoming bombarded with, that your body is now mitigating that risk of your EMF exposure by putting on a little bit more body fat. I mean, these are all things that you have to look at the root cause for anything that anybody is struggling with.
Now, when you take that out of the equation, one of the big risk factors for these injectables and these weight loss drugs is thyroid issues. So the GLP -1 agonist, the injectables, the once a week thing, the one that's out there and very popular right now that a lot of celebrities are using as well, it has an FDA black box warning. And what does that mean? It means this is some serious data that's come out that it's, you know,
gonna cause some thyroid issues potentially in some people so it's something that I think people need to be aware of and some people don't care and that's the thing you know people if you've spoken to people who have taken I don't care I mean the doctor warned me yeah there are these warnings but I don't care I'm losing the weight and everything's great but really is it getting what happens when you you get off of the drug does the weight come back a lot of times it does and you know I'm that's why I'm always about getting at that root cause if it is you know that mind -body connection
Dr. Janine
and you're overeating because you're bored or you're anxious or you know there's something else deeper going on if that's not addressed then is the drug really helping? I mean is it, is it? Right? So that's a big question. Yeah.
Natalie
Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Figure out why always in any of our health issues, right? It's the root cause. Okay, let's talk about hormones for a minute. So specifically when we're talking about women and it can vary, I know so much from myself and my friends and my reporting from 30s to 50s, you know, in this 20 year span, your hormones change and we don't know why or when.
Dr. Janine
Always the why. yeah, yep, yep.
Dr. Janine
Yeah.
Natalie
What can you give us advice to help us know when you're going through these changes, number one, and then how to naturally get through it?
Dr. Janine
Yeah, okay, great question. So supporting the body's detox mechanisms is something that I think is really important. One of the things that you can do ensure that, I mean, super simple, free, drink enough water. I mean, it seems almost too simple as an answer, but it's one of the cornerstones. We are...
Natalie
Yeah.
Dr. Janine
super dehydrated as women. So drinking enough water, good quality water, hopefully, hopefully not tap water, depending on where you live, is important. I like reverse osmosis water that's remineralized. I talk about soleil water, which is one of the things that you can make. I have a video on that. You just add, you know, some sea salt into your water to actually maintain your hydration in your cells. That's really important. Watching your stress levels. We know that when our cortisol levels go up, and as women we're really stressed. I mean, if we were to compare, I'm not saying that women, you know, hundreds and hundreds of years ago weren't stressed, they had a different type of stress, it was more of a survival type of stress, but our physiology doesn't know the difference between, you know, running from out of the cave and making sure that our family is protected and running from wild animals or running after wild animals, usually the men did that, of course, but to go and seek food different types of stress, but our body doesn't know the difference between the stress of being at a drive -thru picking up our coffee and somebody's laying on the horn. Our body doesn't know the difference between those stresses. And I always say that good stress is even stress to the body, or your brain and your physiology doesn't know the difference. So stress is a big component, and there's one mechanism in terms of our cortisol levels that ties back to that leptin resistance, and it's called pregnenolone steel and your body preferentially is actually gonna make more cortisol. It's gonna make more of that stress hormone in Pregnanol and Steel. So now our downstream hormones like testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, they're all suffering because our body's always making that cortisol. And so if we don't turn that off, and this goes into inflammation now, the more inflammation that we have, we've got more of that leptin problem, the leptin resistance.
We've got to sort of, again, get at that root cause. And when the hormones start to go awry, it's kind of like as a woman, you're like, okay, this isn't feeling exactly as it did. One thing is not to panic because, you know, certain changes are normal, if you can call that that, even though, you know, they're troublesome, you don't feel so great. But then there are supporting things that you can do. So definitely addressing the stress levels. Early morning sunlight, I'm a big proponent of that. Getting outside, connecting. Remember when we started talking, I talked about,
Dr. Janine
how our body is reacting and in relationship. So our internal world has to be in really good relationship with our external world. Meaning our inside physiology has to be properly connected to the sun, the moon, the light, the dark of the day. We have a lot of artificial light in our environment, even more so now, you know, compared to even 10 years ago, because we're all on our smartphones and our devices. That light coming from our devices, very detrimental to our internal physiology. It's sending messages. So for instance, you're on your cell phone scrolling through your social media at 10 p at night. That's telling your brain that it is midday. Midday with that blue light from your phone, that signals your brain that it's the middle of the day and that's gonna cause this chaos in your physiology and that can really offset your hormones, your insulin levels and there's studies that have proven this now. It's not just me saying it, that blue light exposure actually raises your blood glucose and you could be gaining weight just from that. So tying that back to the weight gain, right? So these are the things that I educate a lot of women about that one thing, yeah, those changes but you really have to look at your daily exposures. What are you doing on a daily basis? What?
Natalie
Wow.
Dr. Janine
is not necessarily as natural as what it could be, then making those better choices for yourself and reconnecting with nature. So that's why the early morning sunlight, getting grounded. I mean, a lot of these things, they seem very simple, but at the same time, they're telling.
Natalie
Yeah.
Dr. Janine
your body, your internal physiology, that you're in a safe place and that you're in connection with nature. And that's actually what my next book is all about. It's coming out very soon, so I'll be very excited to send you a copy once we have it. And it's all about this. It's all about everything that we're talking about today.
Natalie
good, yeah.
Natalie
Yeah. Well, okay. So let's go back to women and hormones. So sometimes I like it that you went in that direction with the cortisol and the sunlight because I sometimes I just want to go sit out. I just want five minutes of that sun on my face. Like it feels so good. And I am always thinking like vitamin D, I need the vitamin D like feels good. But how does that compare to the natural things that happen in our bodies as we go into paramenopause and menopause? And we don't always know the brain fog.
Dr. Janine
yeah. Yeah.
Natalie
the more hunger, that all of these things that are part of menopause or paramenopause, and how do you know, aside from go to my doctor, get the panels, they're gonna try to, or will they give us some type of not natural way to just feel better? Can we get through this naturally?
Dr. Janine
yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm living proof of it. And that's one of the things that I use herbal medicine, some of which are very powerful to be able to balance those hormones. And every woman's body is gonna change in different ways depending on your stress level. So here's the thing, if you were super stressed in the years leading up to perimenopause and menopause, now it is your fat cells that are taking over because your adrenals are, they're knocked out. They're macular.
Natalie
Yeah.
Dr. Janine
out in terms of their ability to help to balance some of that estrogen and progesterone. And so your fat cells have to take over to kind of try to help with some of that excess hormone that you need a little bit of, right, especially as the ovaries are shutting down. So yeah, it really is very individual depending on the woman, but some of the basics are, you know, clean diet. You can't get away with the way that you used to eat, maybe with the sugar, the alcohol when you were younger, and yet everything in moderation. I'm big into
to doing full body detox, so using specific herbal medicines, you know, once per quarter, that's sort of my rule, especially for women and balancing the hormones, we know that our liver, our kidneys, our skin lymphatic system, they are integral in keeping that balance with the hormones. Our gut microbiome is another area of getting that gut healthy because it's your gut microflora. If you have the imbalance, you know, too many of the bad guys, which I talk a lot about in my videos, too many of the parasites, the candida that make you crave the sugar and...
give you the brain fog and all these things, some of the symptoms that could mask sort of the perimenopause menopausal symptoms, is it related back to your gut microbiome? So again, delving into the root cause as to why you've got some of those symptoms, and then finding that balance. And not to stress about it, because I think as women, you're like, this doesn't, it doesn't feel good, it just doesn't feel good, I'm not myself.
my energy levels aren't great, maybe you have gained a bit of weight, then the sleep could be disrupted, maybe you've got the hot flashes, the hormonal flushes and all these things happening. It's one step at a time and you start to make these little changes for yourself, then you start to really see on the flip side, once you don't have your cycle anymore that, yeah, I can do this, I can manage this, I did manage it, I was able to do it. And it really is a time, I think, from a mind -body perspective that women and a lot of my patients that have told me over the years that,
It's just such an enlightening. There's like certain things from a mind -body perspective that used to really bother you and you used to worry about and spend time lamenting over things and you hit a certain age and it's beautiful because like you don't have the time for that stuff anymore. You see how like minuscule certain issues were that used to bother you. So there is an enlightening that happens as you age as a woman and I think we need to embrace that. We need to.
Dr. Janine
you know, share the good news with other women. I know when women get together, they talk, my hot flashes, I've gained weight, my belly fat, my pants don't fit, and all that. You're lamenting about some of the stuff that you don't like so much, but at the same time, are we talking about, and I don't think women, we don't do this enough. It's like, this is great, I used to worry about that stuff, and now, you know? So I think the more we talk about this as women, especially on the fact that, you know, we're talking publicly here, that we really have to garner more of that positivity and really embrace these fantastic changes that are happening as our hormones are changing.
Natalie
Yeah, yeah, I agree. Okay, so you gave me a couple specifics, but give me maybe three more things for women going through this stage of life they can do right now. We talked about water, good water, you like the reverse osmosis. Okay, good water, clean eating. What do you mean by that?
Dr. Janine
Yeah.
I do, yes.
Yes. Clean, okay, so foods in season. So everybody lives in different parts of the world. It's a different season, you know, no matter, you know, when you're listening to this. So you try to, again, being in tune with nature. So you try to follow what is readily available to you now in the season that you're in. For instance, I grew up, you know, close to Niagara Falls and it's, there's a lot of fruit farms there in the summertime.
Natalie
Okay.
Dr. Janine
So peach farm, strawberries are coming out, you know, usually towards the end of June. So I think back to how I ate it as a kid, my mom, thankfully, was very in tune with this, and she fed us the way that, you know, you would live off the land. In the wintertime, colder climate here in Canada, you know, you eat potatoes because you'd be, and apples throughout is really the only fruit, or maybe some pears that you would be able to keep throughout the winter months. You wouldn't be eating, and I have a video on this, no bananas in Canada.
In the wintertime, unless you have a banana tree that you can grow where you live, you're not eating that. And that is where we all get it so wrong. And I think the more you actually look, again, that connection with nature, you're looking at what is growing around you in the season, that's what your body is going to be able to digest, absorb, and utilize properly to balance your hormones. And this is so important. It's such a simple thing.
Dr. Janine
but just tune back into nature. If you can grow it, if you can eat it, if you can harvest it in the season that you're in, that's what you're eating. So for some people that are vegetarians, follow that. If you're a carnivore, follow that. It's gonna be individual to everybody who's listening.
Natalie
Okay, so we talked water, talk about clean eating. What are some things that women can do right now to start feeling better?
Dr. Janine
Yeah, so sleep, please sleep. And that's hard because a lot of us, you know, you've had a busy day, just speaking for myself, you've had a busy day, finally I get the kids settled, they're in bed or wherever, the older ones are out and about, whatever. But it's time, you have to have a good sleep hygiene, good sleep schedule, meaning that you're aiming for at least, at least seven and a half to eight hours of sleep night this becomes so much more important as you're aging because sleep is when your body is detoxifying sleep is when your thyroid hormone is most active for women you know who have thyroid issues which is often connected back to that leptin resistance okay so this is something that again this is important that you're allowing for that restoration to happen as you're sleeping and your body's regenerating. This is your anti -aging is having that good sleep. There is such thing as your beauty sleep. It is a real thing. So sleep, because a lot of women, what they're doing, they have this stressful day, whatever, got everything done, and then you're like, I just need a few minutes to myself. And what do you do? You turn on the TV. You're watching the TV, or you're on your iPad, or whatever. You're scrolling, and you're, no, no. You gotta turn it off.
Dr. Janine
you gotta shut it down and have a regular sleep schedule, meaning that, and it depends on the season, and I get flack for this on social media because I say get up with the sunrise. Well, that's not always in very northern remote places on the earth. That's not feasible to get up at 3 a and start your day. Of course not, but waking up with as much as close to the sunrise as you can, which is feasible. You have your seven and a half to eight hours of sleep, have a restful sleep.
If you don't have a good quality sleep, this can be a problem as well. And this is gonna be different for everyone, but if you're lacking in certain nutrients like magnesium, your calcium, your vitamin K2, your vitamin D, hopefully you got that sun exposure, natural sun exposure is another big tip as well, which of course everybody says the complete opposite. We have to protect ourselves from the sun. If we're getting too much UV, then we are aging ourselves. No, doing safe sun exposure is one of the...
best things that you can do for your health and really, you know, taking in that energy from the sun because that's what actually runs all of our metabolism and that whole brain connection is really important. So safe sun exposure, big, big, big component and the older we get, the more sun we actually need. So you see these couples, if you've ever been on a sunny Caribbean vacation, you see these couples that are out basking in the sun, they're all nice and tanned and they look very healthy, they are very healthy. And I just like marvel at these.
Dr. Janine
You know, people that are, they know, they just know. And if you actually tune back, and here's another big point for women, tune back in, ask yourself, ask your body what it needs. And if it says chocolate cake, it says chocolate cake, I'm just kidding. But you tune back in and follow your intuition because your intuition actually sort of spikes again as your hormones are changing over the age of 50. Your intuition, you sort of reconnect.
The earlier years, it was all about the family, the kids, the husband, whatever, the business, whatever, right? But now over the age of 50, there's a different perspective. And you tune back into who you are, what you need, what makes you happy, and you'll start to get those messages, go outside, I need to go outside right now, I need to get some sun, especially, you know, I'm in studios, I know that you know that from your, you know.
Dr. Janine
and being on television in studios all the time, artificialized, not good. Like you're gonna have that craving to go out and get some fresh air and be out in natural sunlight. That's a huge thing and it's so simple to do, right? Take your shoes off, get grounded. These are simple, simple things that we can do as women to really help to regulate all of our hormones and make ourselves healthier.
Natalie
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, anything else we can do right now to start feeling better? Give me one last chip.
Dr. Janine
One last thing, just be grateful. Be grateful. Be grateful for everything that you have. Yes, be grateful for the things that have been challenging in your life that have really pushed you to the edge, maybe losses. It could be anything, but be grateful for where you are, the fact that you're alive right now.
listening to this, getting some good information, pass it on to others as well. Share the good news. I think too much of what happens in our modern world is all on the negative. It's on the lesser side of things where we need to uplift ourselves and be proactive and inspiring to other women.
Dr. Janine
Do more of that and share more of that with your girlfriends and your family members and then we'll see how things change as time goes on.
Natalie
I agree sharing it's such it's starting with gratefulness and then sharing that with others. There's something we get back from that. I heard someone say the other day, this really resonated with me that part of the high levels of anxiety, which we didn't talk about, we can talk about that the next time we spoke, we speak, okay, because it's such a big one. But the high levels of anxiety come from things that we can't control. So when we watch the news all day, which I did for many, many years when I delivered the news, I can't control that the chaos in the world.
Natalie
And the more of that we consume, the more out of control we feel. And I think that's what I love about what you and I talk about every day, is we can control these things if we understand them. And so understanding these health issues and taking control of our own health makes us feel better, less anxious.
Dr. Janine
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely true. So yeah, turn off the news.
Natalie
Listen to more podcasts like this one. I think so too. Yeah.
Dr. Janine
Exactly, exactly. And I think more and more people are doing that, Natalie, right? So I think, and that's so, you know, that's so powerful that, you know, we can share positive information. And even if you just take one little itty bitty thing that we talked about today and you start to actually do that and start to make those changes for yourself, that's when you're going to start to see those big, you know, gains in the end. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Natalie
Yeah, take one thing, get some more sunlight today, be grounded and you'll start to feel better. Thank you so much, Dr. Janine, it's nice to talk to you. I look forward to doing it again soon. We'll find another topic and help people out next time. All right, where can people find you? I see you on Instagram, but give us more information on where we can find you.
Dr. Janine
Absolutely. Thank you so much for inviting me on.
Dr. Janine
So yeah, Instagram at J9Naturally on TikTok. I have a YouTube channel and I have my own show every Tuesday, which goes live at 11 a Eastern Standard Time. So yeah, you can find me. Just look me up, Dr. Janine, and you'll find me on social media.
Natalie
and you'll learn just like I have from you. Thank you so much. Good to talk to you.
Dr. Janine
Thank you, thanks for having me on, have a great day.
Natalie
You too.