Whispering Wisdom

You’ve heard the phrase “beauty starts from within,” but did you know that’s quite literally true when it comes to your skin? In functional medicine we have been diving deep into how the gut microbiome affects the other systems of the body. One of the big connections is the gut-skin axis.

It turns out that the secret to healthy skin, but also overcoming chronic skin conditions are directly related to the health of your gut microbiome.

Your microbiome is a community of trillions of microbes—bacteria, fungi, viruses—that live in and on your body. Your gut microbiome, located in your digestive tract, plays a huge role in digestion, immunity, mood, and inflammation.

Meanwhile, did you know? Your skin has its own diverse microbiome, which helps protect against harmful pathogens, maintain the skin barrier, and regulate inflammation. The skin is technically the largest organ in the body!

These two systems—your gut and skin—are in constant communication. This is what we call the gut-skin axis.

Here’s how the connection works:
Leaky Gut = Leaky Skin

When the gut lining becomes inflamed or “leaky” (because of stress, medications, inflammatory foods etc) toxins and food particles can leak back out to the bloodstream - NOT what we want. This triggers systemic inflammation. Symptoms are varied, but one of these are skin issues.

Conditions like eczema, acne, psoriasis, and rosacea have all been linked to gut imbalances.

This “internal fire” often shows up as redness, puffiness, or flare-ups on the skin. Many people with skin/gut imbalance might often have other symptoms of inflammation, like digestive issues, joint pain, headaches or migraines or even fatigue.

Want to know more?! Check out our blog post: www.whisper-health.com/blog to learn what you can do to improve your gut AND skin!

The number one thing that you can do to balance your hormones…usually before even testing, is...??

1️⃣ Focus on optimizing blood sugar & insulin

Blood sugar imbalances are one of the most common causes of hormonal dysregulation.

Blood sugar imbalances can increase cortisol, testosterone, estrogen dominance, insulin resistance & more. Aka a hormone imbalance nightmare!

This is why I recommend focusing on blood sugar for women trying to:

🫐struggling with PCOS
🫐support a healthy pregnancy
🫐decrease PMS symptoms
🫐feel better postpartum
🫐decrease menopausal symptoms

3 Easy Ways to Start:
1. Eat consistently (every 3-4 hrs) to prevent blood sugar drops and spikes
2. Plan your plate with 1) protein, 2) healthy fats 3) non-starchy veggies & 4) low glycemic carbohydrates
3. Move your body all day long (with physical activity) and ideally after a meal (i.e. 10 min walk)

Visit our link in bio to learn more about balancing your hormones with our free masterclass!

Is it genetics or lifestyle that is causing your issues?

While genes do play a role, about 90% of all health concerns are due to POOR LIFESTYLE!

Hormones can be triggered and made WORSE by what you are doing (or not doing).

Some Culprits:

EXTREME STRESS: Mental & emotional stress, whether positive or negative, wrecks havoc on our hormones.

UNDER/OVERWEIGHT: Our bodies need a healthy amount of body fat to produce hormones. Too little & the body doesn't feel safe to make/maintain levels. Toxins are stored in bodyfat, and those with higher amounts are more at risk for many health conditions.

POOR DIET: Huge one!! Poor food choices will raise inflammation, causes blood sugar imbalances, nutritional deficiencies; we need nutrients to make hormones!

MEDICATION: All meds have side effects. The birth control pill suppresses the body's natural production of hormones. Antibotics & other meds also disrupt the gut bacteria.

INFLAMMATION: Signs include headaches, joint or muscle pain, digestive stress, acne, trouble sleeping etc. Inflammation shows chronic STRESS at a cellular level.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS: Too much exercise halts our hormone production, while a sedentary lifestyle raises inflammation!

POOR GUT & LIVER HEALTH: Our gut & liver are responsible for detoxification. Without proper function, hormones can get build up in our system!

CHRONIC TOXIC EXPOSURE: Environmental toxins from plastics, air supply, water supply, cleaning, beauty & self care products all contain chemicals that are classified as "endocrine disruptors".

As you can see, there are MANY factors to Hormone Health. Remember all systems are connected, so we must prioritize whole body wellness. Let's shift the focus from treating to HEALING! 🙌