#23 A Naturopathic Approach to Healing PCOS with Carol Lourie, L.Ac

03/02/18 • 45 min

Clean Eating for Women with Carrie Forrest, MPH in Nutrition

Carol Lourie is a Naturopath, Licensed Acupuncturist, Functional Medicine expert and Homeopath, with over 30 years of experience in providing integrative health care. Carol joins me today to talk about women’s health and polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS.In this episode of the Clean Eating for Women podcast, we talk about:

What PCOS is and Carol’s full spectrum approach to treatment.
How PCOS symptoms are different for everyone and it is difficult to get a diagnosis.
Increased environmental toxins can increase PCOS symptoms.

Some highlights of this episode on how to make veggies taste delicious:

I am a survivor of PCOS. This is not a condition that is easily resolved or easily tolerated. It impacted my life for two decades, and I've only had it under control for three years. [01:11]
Carol always wanted to be a medical doctor. In the 70s, She lived in New York in a spiritual community. She knew a chiropractor who did detox diets. Carol ended up working in his office and saw all the people that he has helped. Carol ran across a flyer for a College of Naturopathic Medicine, and she decided to go, and she graduated in the 80s. [01:48]
The more Carol has practiced, the more she has noticed the connection between the mind and the body. She has also noticed that all chronic disease has a foundation of a history of trauma. There are multiple factors and multiple symptoms in PCOS. Everyone's symptoms are a little different. This can be confusing for medical doctors, and it makes getting a diagnosis difficult. [03:38]
Carol has been treating PCOS for the last 25 years. She has seen symptoms become more severe and more hormonal disruption as toxins in our environment increase. [07:36]
People with PCOS have elevated sugar levels and increased cholesterol and cysts on their ovaries. Carol includes an underlying inflammatory process and the emotional component that she feels is very important too. As well as a hormonal imbalance. [08:24]
Metabolic syndrome or blood sugar disproportion is one of the spokes. Having extra sugar swimming around in your bloodstream has a direct impact on the formation of cysts in your ovaries. Targeted nutritional changes and supplements can make a big difference in blood sugar. Carol begins by getting a proper breakfast in place like a healing protein smoothie with milk thistle, probiotics, and vitamin C. [11:47]
The basics of Carol's approach is to work nutritionally to lay the foundation for cells and decrease inflammation. Stabilize your blood sugar and support your liver and your triglycerides will go down. Your body likes to be healthy and will respond in a positive way if you give it what it needs. [17:23]
The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis. The hypothalamus and pituitary are connected. There is a clear system of hormonal feedback loops. When one hormone is released it goes to the thyroid gland and then the thyroid gland releases thyroid hormone. When we are stressed, the body releases cortisol and this clogs up the messaging system. Everything we do relates to our health. [23:30]
Environmental chemicals that get in our body can be estrogen disruptors. This can also lead to excessive estrogen and other hormonal imbalances. Start with the toxin free home. Laundry detergent has estrogen disruptors. The sheets you sleep on and the towel you dry your body with are coated with estrogen disruptors. [30:38]

Links mentioned in this episode:
Show sponsor (affiliate link included):
- Otto's Naturals Cassava Flour (use code CLEANEATING for 10% discount + free shipping over $35 during checkout)
Join the Clean Eating for Women Community!
- Clean Eating for Women episode index
- Clean Eating for Women Podcast private Facebook Group (great for asking questions and connecting with me personally)

What PCOS is and Carol’s full spectrum approach to treatment.
How PCOS symptoms are different for everyone and it is difficult to get a diagnosis.
Increased environmental toxins can increase PCOS symptoms.

Some highlights of this episode on how to make veggies taste delicious:

I am a survivor of PCOS. This is not a condition that is easily resolved or easily tolerated. It impacted my life for two decades, and I've only had it under control for three years. [01:11]
Carol always wanted to be a medical doctor. In the 70s, She lived in New York in a spiritual community. She knew a chiropractor who did detox diets. Carol ended up working in his office and saw all the people that he has helped. Carol ran across a flyer for a College of Naturopathic Medicine, and she decided to go, and she graduated in the 80s. [01:48]
The more Carol has practiced, the more she has noticed the connection between the mind and the body. She has also noticed that all chronic disease has a foundation of a history of trauma. There are multiple factors and multiple symptoms in PCOS. Everyone's symptoms are a little different. This can be confusing for medical doctors, and it makes getting a diagnosis difficult. [03:38]
Carol has been treating PCOS for the last 25 years. She has seen symptoms become more severe and more hormonal disruption as toxins in our environment increase. [07:36]
People with PCOS have elevated sugar levels and increased cholesterol and cysts on their ovaries. Carol includes an underlying inflammatory process and the emotional component that she feels is very important too. As well as a hormonal imbalance. [08:24]
Metabolic syndrome or blood sugar disproportion is one of the spokes. Having extra sugar swimming around in your bloodstream has a direct impact on the formation of cysts in your ovaries. Targeted nutritional changes and supplements can make a big difference in blood sugar. Carol begins by getting a proper breakfast in place like a healing protein smoothie with milk thistle, probiotics, and vitamin C. [11:47]
The basics of Carol's approach is to work nutritionally to lay the foundation for cells and decrease inflammation. Stabilize your blood sugar and support your liver and your triglycerides will go down. Your body likes to be healthy and will respond in a positive way if you give it what it needs. [17:23]
The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis. The hypothalamus and pituitary are connected. There is a clear system of hormonal feedback loops. When one hormone is released it goes to the thyroid gland and then the thyroid gland releases thyroid hormone. When we are stressed, the body releases cortisol and this clogs up the messaging system. Everything we do relates to our health. [23:30]
Environmental chemicals that get in our body can be estrogen disruptors. This can also lead to excessive estrogen and other hormonal imbalances. Start with the toxin free home. Laundry detergent has estrogen disruptors. The sheets you sleep on and the towel you dry your body with are coated with estrogen disruptors. [30:38]

Links mentioned in this episode:
Show sponsor (affiliate link included):
- Otto's Naturals Cassava Flour (use code CLEANEATING for 10% discount + free shipping over $35 during checkout)
Join the Clean Eating for Women Community!
- Clean Eating for Women episode index
- Clean Eating for Women Podcast private Facebook Group (great for asking questions and connecting with me personally)

Previous Episode

#22 Eating Disorder Recovery & Finding Balance with Holistic Nutritionist Erin Holt

Erin Holt is a holistic nutritionist and a very strong woman. I have been listening to her podcast, and it is an honor to have her on the show today to talk about a subject that is very sensitive to me. Today, we discus eating disorders and recovery from eating disorders.In this episode of the Clean Eating for Women podcast, We talk about:

Erin’s health journey
Eating disorders and diet culture
Healing never comes through restriction (there is a time and place for therapeutic elimination diets)

Some highlights of this episode:

Erin grew up as a chunky kid, but as she grew and became more lean she received a lot of positive reinforcement. She started running and drastically reduced what she was eating, and she started a 13 year struggle with eating disorders. She started clinging to the restriction model in high school, but in college she was introduced to bulimia. [02:40]
Erin decided to get her life together and become a dietitian. After graduating, she decided she didn't want to become a dietitian. Conventional medicine looks at things in a black and white way. She became a health coach, a yoga teacher, she stopped dieting, and starting eating whole food. She finally started to heal. [05:58]
After getting married and having a baby, her health fell apart and she was diagnosed with systemic scleroderma an autoimmune disease. This influenced how she lived and practiced nutrition. She wants to empower women to live free of diet culture and chronic disease. [07:54]
We don't have to let diet culture dictate our lives. We can break free from that. How we live our lives and the thoughts we have all matter. [08:42]
How chronic illness makes us feel betrayed by our bodies. There is a huge correlation between eating disorders and body Image issues and the way chronic illness can make you feel. Your body hasn't betrayed you. These things are actually protective mechanisms to try to keep us safe and keep us alive. [10:03]
How responsibility means responding to the situation. We don't have to follow every restrictive message and take more and more things out of our diet. How restriction and the diet mentality is beat into us. How people with autoimmune diseases are taught that healing comes from restriction. Even with autoimmune disease, Erin tries to move away from the restriction. [13:19]
How healing never comes through restriction.The stress of the diets were outweighing the potential benefits for Erin. Why would you be given something in which the only solution is restriction. Food manipulation is pretty easy. Changing our relationships to ourselves, other people, and stress is where the hard work is at. This is also where the magic and the healing happens. [17:44]
First and foremost, things need to be approached with love. Weight loss and healing are not always simultaneous goals. It's very rare that Erin sees healing come through dieting. Erin actually had to put on 10 pounds to feel better. This really created an internal struggle for her. [20:17]
Listening to our bodies and connecting with how foods make us feel. How we need to find a way to get back online with our bodies. This is how Erin healed from an eating disorder and an autoimmune disease. Getting back in touch with yourself and feeling things including how your body responds to food and how you feel emotionally. [29:35]

Links mentioned in this episode (some affiliate links included):

Erin Holt Health
Funk’tional Nutrition Podcast
Erin Holt Health on Instagram
Erin Holt Health on Pinterest
Chris Kresser Revolution Health Radio
Why I Gained 10 Pounds
Jessica Flanigan
Otto’s Cassava Flour (use code CLEANEATING for 10% discount + free shipping over $35 during checkout)
Rachel Yehuda

Next Episode

#24 Meal Prepping 101 with Single Parent & Fitness Pro Marek Strojvus

Marek from Marek Fitness is here today to talk about meal prepping. Eating healthy can take extra work and meal prepping can solve the temptation to cheat for convenience. Marek is a single parent and shares some of his great meal prepping tips.In this episode of the Clean Eating for Women podcast, we talk about:

Marek’s fitness story
How Marek’s son is involved in the kitchen
The basics of meal prepping

Some highlights of this episode:

Marek is from Slovakia, but he has been in the states for 12 years. Meal prepping has been part of his life for a long time. Getting a divorced and becoming a single-parent gave Marek a chance to start fresh and prepare his own food. It also brought him back to his Slovakian roots and nutritious homemade meals. [01:55]
Marek is an electrical engineer with a demanding job and a single-parent. He also competes in men's physique competitions and plays competitive volleyball. At first, cooking seemed almost impossible. Meal prepping for Marek was the missing piece of the puzzle. [04:14]
Meal prepping means prepping food for 4 to 5 days at one time. Meal prepping Sunday means prepping dishes for 4 to 5 meals and measuring them up and storing them for the week. [04:56]
He Googled and watched YouTube videos and watched people cooked ten pounds of chicken at once and really tried to figure out how to incorporate this into having a healthy diet. He started small just making his lunches. Then he started figuring out ways to make it easier, more efficient, cheaper, and better. [07:37]
Budget is a huge benefit of meal prepping. Time is the number one benefit, but saving money is the number two benefit. Cooking in bulk saves time, and time equals money eventually. Buying in bulk and in season also makes the food better. It also costs less. [09:27]
He uses vegetarian chocolate protein powder and organic cocoa and oat flour to make healthy muffins. He also uses fruit like bananas. Then he lets his son cook with him and add dark chocolate. This is one way to keep his son involved and encourage him to eat healthy also. [14:18]
Meal prepping for beginners. Start small you can't change your whole life that wants. It's a marathon not a sprint. Prepare foods and ingredients you enjoy. Get proper containers. The air around your food affects how long it can keep. Eliminate as much air as possible. Try getting glass or plastic containers from Rubbermaid or Pyrex. [17:10]
Utilize your oven for multiple items at a time. Also start with the item that takes the longest. While the potatoes are baking you can get your chicken and veggies cooked at the same time. Also jazz up your meal with spices. Split your chicken into three different groups and use three different types of spices. This will give you variety. Know what you like and always have your staples on hand. [26:54]
Make avocado ice cream with organic chocolate, frozen banana, and frozen avocado. This is going to be Marek's new ice cream recipe. Once he finds the ratios, he is going to make it in the food processor. [32:15]

Links mentioned in this episode:

Show sponsor (affiliate link included):