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Welcome to Her Health Code, the podcast that helps women in midlife feel better in their bodies without the confusion or overwhelm. We’re two health coaches sharing real talk, personal stories, and our best coaching tips that help you reconnect with your body’s wisdom. Think of us as your health-savvy girlfriends, here to help you crack the code to feeling vibrant and strong again.
Jess & Michele (00:00)
Welcome back to Her Health Code. I'm Jess. And I'm Michelle. And today we are going to be talking about digestion upset in midlife. We are going to help hopefully decode some of the problems that we as women are having in midlife with our digestion. And we're going to go over some tips and tricks that help us and that maybe help you. So Jess, why don't you get started with.
one of the things that we were really gonna talk about today, which was bitters. Yes, we talked about bitters in another episode. So we will link to that episode because it's very important to know this little tip and trick that we had about bitters, helping to change your taste receptors from always craving sweets.
to actually enjoying eating more bitter food, which is actually better for our stomach, our liver, our gallbladder, all of our digestive system, prefers having bitter and sour foods as opposed to sweet and salty foods. that salty is a bad thing. Salt is not the enemy. However, our digestive system just prefers that. And at this time in our life, we start having
weird things happening quite frankly, like that we're not used to happening with our digestive system. And it's because of the decline in estrogen and progesterone. So you want to talk a little bit about some of the things that you've experienced personally with this shift. bitters is the solution, we're going to decode what's happening and then come back around to why bitters is the solution,
Well, let me just first start by saying some alternative bitter foods that help if you don't want to take the supplement bitters are things like dandelion greens, arugula. What you say? else?
You know, I'd say that those are the two best ones, arugula and dandelion greens. And I will say dandelion greens are really bitter. I don't know if you've tried those Jess, but they're really bitter. I love dandelion greens. grandfather, he was a gardener. Okay. And so he every spring, he would go out and he would pick the dandelion leaves off of the dandelions that were growing all over town.
And because back then, like people didn't have an obsession with like killing them all and making everything look perfect without weeds. Like you actually would go and harvest them and we would eat them with a little vinegar and oil. Okay. balsamic vinegar and oil and salt and pepper. Wow. as a kid. You ate them. I was eating. Bitter foods. Good for you. didn't even know it. Wow. So Jess had her taste, her taste buds changed much earlier than mine, but
So again, if you don't wanna do the bitter supplement, you can do dandelion greens that are found in the grocery store, as well as arugula or baby arugula is also found in the grocery store. So for me, my digestive stuff kinda happened, I wanna say it started happening more and more a couple years, maybe like five years ago. So I'm 50 years old now, so about 45.
I was really struggling with acid reflux and I could not figure out why because I was eating the same foods that I've always eaten and all of a sudden, but my stomach just like, felt like it just was not digesting properly. of course I first went to my doctors and all they wanted to do is put me on medicine and that really didn't help. They didn't make the connection of.
what time of life you were probably Yeah, they never made that connection. So I kind of did my own research. And for those of you that don't know, there are some foods that actually can help with acid reflux.
Some of the other things with digestive upset, feel that certain foods that I used to eat, and I think I was telling you earlier was beans. ⁓ I did a lot more plant-based food like years ago, and beans was a huge ⁓ part of my diet. And now, beans are a little bit more difficult for me to digest. So I can have a little, but too much, my stomach just goes nuts. And so,
learning to pay attention to what my gut was telling me with even foods that I've always loved and always eaten is really important. And so that is kind of one of the things that I've really paid attention to is how I'm feeling after I eat. And so for me, beans is, something I have to be careful with. It's always changing. It's always changing. Yeah.
But I feel right now, I feel like I'm in a good place. Like knock on wood, I'm not struggling with acid reflux. I'm not on any medication for it. And eating whole foods and also not eating late at night. That has been a huge help for me. The other thing I have found is stress.
does affect my digestion. And so if I am super stressed, I'm even more conscientious about what I'm eating because I already feel like my stomach is not in a happy place. And so if I add foods that normally wouldn't make it upset, like, lot of chocolate or candies and stuff that normally would be fine. If I'm in a stressful state, my stomach cannot handle.
extra foods that are too hard for it to break down. So I have to be a little bit more sensitive in a stressful state as well. As far as digestion, I was struggling with like I started feeling that bloat before I got an HRT but I do feel like a lot of women call it the menopause belly. I don't know if you've heard that term before. Menopause middle. Menopause middle. But what I
And after kind of going through my own digestive upset and figuring things out from my gut is I feel like part of that the reason why a lot of women just end up feeling that belly it's because Digestion is not as efficient as it was when you were 30 You can't tolerate certain foods as well. You can't tolerate as much food as well anymore So your estrogen and progesterone levels no matter
what age you, if you're in perimenopause or if you're in menopause, your stomach is not working like it was when it was 30. It just isn't. Whether you're an HRT or not a HRT, your stomach as a midlife woman is not as efficient as it was when you were 30. And so because of that, we have to care for it with a little extra TLC. And for me,
The other thing I like to do is making sure that I am having ⁓ foods like kefir and sauerkraut, things with natural probiotics that help feed the good bacteria in my stomach to help it like work a little bit better. It's a thing to have to be much more conscientious. About how you're feeling after you eat. If something is off.
you know, kind of going back and being a detective and decoding. What was it? Yeah, that triggered that moment of acid reflux or indigestion or just that feeling of loading. Yeah, just being uncomfortable, uncomfortable, or sometimes you can even feel like your food just kind of sitting there for a lot longer. Yes. And you're like, what is happening? Yeah. So you just have to kind of
look back at the last meal that you ate and maybe you have to look back at like all day, did I just eat too much or was it the timing or was it something specifically that I ate? There's a lot of different little factors, nuances that could be triggering it, right? So it's just important to really bring mindfulness into this space of eating and figuring out like our new
Our new normal. Well, the other thing before you get started with how it affects you, I did want to say the other thing that helps with acid reflux prevention is taking a walk after your last meal. It is really helpful to walk for 10 minutes after your last meal of the night. And not only does it help digest foods better, but also helps you sleep better.
I get that lock in. Yeah. And it's good for your blood sugar too. It's really, really powerful tool to use for blood sugar ⁓ regulation, which I know you haven't really had any issues with as of yet, but that was kind of my first red flag was just some blood work that I had done this summer and my A1C was slightly elevated and I was freaking out. nobody wants diabetes. Nobody wants diabetes. My grandmother was diabetic.
but she was also obese and didn't have the best diet in the world. Didn't have the worst diet, but didn't have the best diet when it came to managing her weight. And I know a lot of it for her was not knowing, right? There was no education about, and I think her diabetes came in around this time of life and they didn't do HRT back then.
So that's a really powerful tool. It's something that I do quite often. I walk every day in the morning and I walk every afternoon or after dinner. It just depends on the time of year.
because that's just something that I've always done with my dog and now I'm realizing like my gosh I've been doing something that's actually so good for my digestion and my blood sugar this time of life and I guess like any time of life right anytime yeah watching this yeah it's just so good for us yeah and actually any movement right because even in the winter it's like I can't really get out for a walk after dinner if it's like dark out already
Um, so I might just make my dishes into a little workout routine. So as I'm doing dishes, I might like put a couple of spots in between each time that I'm bringing dishes from the sink to the dishwasher and just like any movement where your muscles are contracting and you're moving, you know, in a way that your lymph can move is really beneficial in general. Um, and we talked a little bit about our, our sleep episode. We talked about
different things that we did at night to calm our nervous system. And I do shaking at night on my back with my hands and legs up. So that's another good way to just get some movement in for your circulation. So there are a lot of different ways. Like if you don't have walking accessible to you after it's good after every meal, just to get some movement in, especially at night. Yeah. So don't feel intimidated. If you can't go out and take a quick walk after dinner, just
figure out a way to get a little movement in, walking around your house. Yeah, you actually create a track in your own house. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So have you had any digestive upset things that you've had to deal with in the last couple of years that have really been bothersome or that you've had to figure out on your own?
There's always those little things that pop up and happen in the moment a little bit of acid reflux if you eat too late at night, which I think we already... ⁓
covered a little bit and you can, link to that episode because there's a lot of great tips about sleep in that episode and how, how it's, that's also really important this time of life is to make sure you're getting good sleep in and how to do it. But, ⁓ I would say that that's the biggest thing that I've found is if I just eat too late, it's, it's not going to sit well with me. and I do digestive bitters and I wasn't aware of all of the benefits that
it has besides just keeping your taste buds on track, wanting bitter food or enjoying it more, ⁓ it actually helps you to, and you're gonna have to say that the acid, the stomach acid, hydrochloric acid. So it affects your hydrochloric acid. So a lot of times acid reflux could be caused by too low of hydrochloric acid and hydrochloric acid is what breaks our food down in our stomach.
And so we definitely need that and you don't want to be deficient in that. And our body naturally produces that, but as we get older or we decrease in estrogen, that also gets affected the hydrochloric acid, which they refer to as HCL. So bitters actually stimulates the HCL in our system and can help. And bile production in saliva. all of these...
things that are part of our digestive system from the time it hits your mouth to the time that it hits, you know, the pancreas, even the pancreatic juices are stimulated as well by the bitters. that acid is also helping to absorb nutrients. So you actually absorb nutrients better. Yes. So it is a win-win. And when she says bitters,
she means the bitter supplement or the bitter foods that we mentioned earlier. So you could do either or. Both work efficiently as far as the body is concerned at creating that bitterness in our body to retain all the benefits. Another one was reduced appetite. In fact, I think there was some research that showed that eating more bitter foods can stimulate the GLP-1, which you know is all the buzz.
right now is so many people are on GLP-1s, but just taking more bitter foods can actually reduce your appetite. Yeah, and that's huge. ⁓ And this would be something that you do before a meal. Like 10 minutes before a meal, you have your salad with dandelion greens. would be my dinner salad, right? Yes. Yeah, or the arugula. Yeah, or the arugula or the bitters. And that is going to help your body start.
creating that pathway for stimulating the bile, stimulating the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, and then food comes and it just, ⁓ it actually deals with everything much better, more efficiently in your system. And the GLP1 helps us to know when to stop eating. It's the signal for us to be full. And so I think...
know, when you mentioned that it's ⁓ important to kind of just preface that with well, what is it? You know, what is GLP1 one? Right? Because I know we hear it out there. It's a buzzword right now.
maybe just incorporating some of the bitter foods or bitters as a supplement might actually help, ⁓ help feel better. Yeah. And I just have to say that if you're listening to this and you're cringing, when you hear that you might have to eat arugula or damn you lion.
as your salad before dinner, I get it. if I wasn't in a young age, given that to become part of my palette, it would be a hard thing to eat.
For some people that might feel really challenging and cringy, right? And so the digestive bitters, it's not an expensive tincture at all. Definitely always check with your physician, especially if you're already on medication or if you're already experiencing any type of health concerns. You wanna check in with all of the ingredients, because there's...
somewhere between like seven and 12 ingredients in the most digestive bitters. The one that I like will link. It's a formula by Gaia, but there are, Swedish bitters as well. They've been around forever and you'll find that on your store shelf ⁓ very easily and not have to order it on Amazon. ⁓ The one that I buy, I can't find it anywhere. So I have to order it either through the company or on Amazon. It's not super
pricing investment for all of the beneficial returns. It's really a great way to get it in, just a quick little shot and then you're done. Yeah, but if you don't want to worry about ingredients or you're concerned that it might affect you because you're on medications, then just try it the natural way.
I know people laugh. over it eventually. Yeah, it is not that big of a deal to take a little handful of arugula, because I do it all the time, and just put it in your mouth and just start chewing. it like a champ. And you might cringe. I'm telling you, you might cringe that first time. You're like, why is she, what is she making me do? But I'm telling you, it actually does help digest your food much better. If you just have that little handful of arugula and just put it in while you're finishing plating your plates, it's not that big of a deal. Yeah.
It's true. It becomes less and less daunting the more you do it just like anything, right? It just takes practice. Yeah, it just takes practice. Yeah. So I think that is a really well rounded amount of information for you to digest. Yes, for you to digest. So hopefully something resonated with you today. And hopefully you take away some tips and tricks that worked for us. And hopefully your stomachs are feeling pretty good at home. And until next time, I'm Michelle and I'm Jess.
Thanks for joining us.