Episode 70: Constipation. Diarrhea. Gas and bloating. If you’re experiencing gut issues after 40 and you’re a woman in midlife, you might assume the discomfort is caused by what you’re eating.
You make an appointment with a doctor who specializes in gut health and they offer you a blood test. When the results come back, the doc says you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) caused by the laundry list of foods you’re “sensitive” to based on the blood test.
The recommendations include eliminate the “sensitive” foods and take a handful of supplements and your gut issues will be gone.
Frustrated, hungry, and confused, the tension in your gut increases. You try eliminating most of the foods on the list. Some of your gut issues improve, but not completely. Now what?
Eating is stressful, especially when you don’t have time to cook a whole food meal from scratch to avoid “sensitive foods.” And your family still wants to eat bread, cookies, and pizza. You hate to cook separate foods. Your stress level increases. The tension in your gut increases. Frustrated, you start eating the “sensitive foods” again to keep the peace in your family. Your gut issues continue.
Sound familiar? Is food really the problem? What about all the other stressors you’re juggling in midlife?
My guest in this Savor Food and Body Podcast episode is Dr. Erin Hayford a Naturopathic Doctor, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and Intuitive Eating Counselor in-training.
As a mind-body specialist, Dr. Erin is interested in all the ways we are attuned (or not attuned) to our bodies and how this impacts overall well-being. She specializes in the emotional causes of physical illness, a common but often overlooked cause of many health conditions.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
- What’s the definition of stress?
- What is neuroception and how does it relate to mental health?
- Dr. Erin explains the physiological impact of stress on the gut.
- How Dr. Erin interprets gut symptoms as messages from the body, and why they shouldn’t be suppressed but listen to.
- Dr. Erin shares her history of Crohn’s and how somatic medicine or mind-body work helped her reconnect to her body.
- Full disclosure, Dr. Erin admits the way she used to treat IBS/SIBO and other gut issues (with restrictive diets and supplements) created a lot of food fear, additional symptoms, and didn’t help resolve her patient’s gut issues.
- Learn how Dr. Erin has changed her therapeutic approach with intuitive eating and somatic work to support mind and body healing in the true sense of holistic health.
- We wrap up with Dr. Erin’s advice for women in midlife who experience intense physical and emotional symptoms of perimenopause.
If you’re a woman struggling with gut issues after 40, somatic medicine might just be the resource you’ve been looking for.
Learn more about Dr. Erin’s somatic medicine practice on her website
Watch the video on the Savor Food and Body YouTube Channel
How’s your relationship with food? Take the quiz to find out!
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