274-SYNCPodcast_PersonalizedHealth

[00:00:00] Jenny Swisher: Welcome friends to this episode of the Sync Your Life podcast. Today we’re diving into why personalized guidance in your health is the key to optimizing your health. I believe that women’s health care is most definitely a broken place of the world. And thanks to what I often refer to as diet culture, especially in American society, women everywhere are led to believe that there’s a one size fits all approach to the body they want.

[00:01:22] Jenny Swisher: About 14 years ago, I was sitting in a room full of health coaches when a guest speaker who was also a registered dietitian and research scientist asked this question. He said, who in here can tell me the number one nutrient that we need? There was a pause before hands started to raise. Health coaches started shouting out things like protein and various vitamins.

[00:01:43] Jenny Swisher: The speaker then said, the number one nutrient that we need is the number one nutrient that you need. And you, and you. He pointed fingers at people in the audience. This was the first time that I would hear of this idea that health is individual, yet for the next 13 years I found myself trapped in the diet culture philosophy of work out harder, eat less, and follow the next fad thing.

[00:02:07] Jenny Swisher: I’ve been vegan, pescatarian, and even keto. You name it, I’ve done it. But I distinctly remember a moment in my functional medicine doctor’s office around eight years ago that stands out in my mind. We were reviewing my lab results, my food sensitivities, and my unique hormone imbalances. I remember saying, but I thought eggs were the healthy protein for breakfast.

[00:02:28] Jenny Swisher: To which she answered, they are. For some, not for you. You’re sensitive. Once again, there it was. Health is individual. Recently, I came across a blog article by Dr. Sarah Gottfried that I’ll link up for you in the show notes. She says in it, quote, The current healthcare continues to adopt a one size fits all approach, and the solutions offered to women are derived from research mainly made on men, women, and and adapted for women.

[00:02:54] Jenny Swisher: However, we are not simply smaller versions of men, and women need personalized solutions tailored to their unique physiology. End quote. This echoes the sentiments of Dr. Stacey Sims and her viral TED Talk called Women Are Not Small Men. Not only do we need personalized attention to our health based on our female physiology, we also need to dig deep enough to understand our genetics, Our unique imbalances and deficiencies, and tailor our health regimen to our bioindividuality.

[00:03:24] Jenny Swisher: Interestingly, Dr. Sarah Gottfried calls attention to trauma specifically, and how it impacts us as women especially. She says, quote, Thirdly, women are disproportionately affected by trauma, particularly sexual trauma. The more trauma and adverse childhood experiences you’ve experienced, the higher your chance of suffering from psychological and medical problems, like chronic depression, cancer, or coronary heart disease.

[00:03:47] Jenny Swisher: Understanding your health and well being as an adult may mean looking back to your childhood trauma. Connecting the dots can encourage you to take action to heal your present and protect your future health. She goes on to say, Women have double the rate of insomnia, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease, four fold the rate of autoimmune disease, and a lower risk of cancer.

[00:04:08] Jenny Swisher: Conditions like thyroid disease and fibromyalgia affect far more women than men. Other conditions such as endometriosis, PCOS, and fibroids only affect women. She also goes in depth into heart disease as the leading killer in women as well. So what are some ways that we can approach our health in this way?

[00:04:28] Jenny Swisher: Well, here are my top tips to consider. Number one, find a functional medicine practitioner. You simply won’t find a root cause approach to your health with modern medicine. If you don’t know where to begin, start with a virtual consult with our resident hormone health doctor, Dr. Page. I will link up details for you in the show notes.

[00:04:47] Jenny Swisher: Number two, ask this functional practitioner about root cause testing, genetics tests, annual Dutch tests for hormones and specific lab work can help you get an idea for your bioindividuality. Number three, consider wearables as a way to learn your body better. I love the aura ring. I wear it every day. I love its insights.

[00:05:09] Jenny Swisher: Being able to see your trends and stress throughout the day and whether your body is getting good quality sleep each night. These are crucial things in your hormone health and your longevity. Number four, keep a close eye on your hormones. Once again, Dutch testing can be hugely beneficial, but only really if you’re working with the right kind of doctor who can read the results appropriately and provide bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and supplementation as needed.

[00:05:33] Jenny Swisher: Number five, finally, don’t fall victim to the gaslighting that’s happening in doctor offices across America. It’s happened to all of us, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept it. If it happens to you, just know that it means it’s the wrong doctor for you. Trust me, I get it. This is a journey in itself, but self advocating is what’s going to get you maximizing your energy, which is what this is all about.

[00:05:56] Jenny Swisher: When you start working on you, your traumas, your sleep, your nutrition, and when you start using supplements unique to you and your unique deficiencies and needs, You can step into the energy that you deserve. A one size fits all approach of birth control prescriptions to mask your symptoms or Keto to lose weight or low carb low fat diets or overdoing the cardio to burn calories These are all things that simply don’t work Mastering the five fundamentals of hormone balance and how your body needs those Optimized is the way.

[00:06:31] Jenny Swisher: So as a reminder, the five fundamentals are sleep, exercise, supplementation, fitness, nutrition, and managing your traumas. Obviously our traumas are unique and how we choose to work through them is also unique. EMDR therapy may work for some. Ayahuasca might work for some. Talk therapy might be great for some.

[00:06:50] Jenny Swisher: Everyone is unique. Some women thrive on extra sleep. Most women are under eating due to good old diet culture. And we have all been guilty of asking another woman what she’s doing to lose weight or look good. And then we go google that thing she’s doing.

[00:07:06] Jenny Swisher: You are not Jane and Jane is not you. And until you realize this and dive deeper into your own health, you will remain stuck. I want you to feel good. I want you to be your best for those you love. I want you to learn this information and then turn around and teach your daughters this information so that they can understand it from an earlier age.

[00:07:28] Jenny Swisher: Health is individual. I hope this is helpful, friends. This is just a short, sweet episode here to remind you that new thing on the market, customize it for you, or spend your money elsewhere on a root cause approach to your health. Step into what we call body literacy, the understanding of your unique body, because it’s game changing.

[00:07:49] Jenny Swisher: Thank you so much as always for tuning in. I hope this was helpful and powerful until next time we’ll talk soon. Take care. Bye bye.