Hi Guys. This is Lindsay, your host for the Untethered with Lindsay Tuttle NP podcast, where we go deep on truly becoming untethered in your life and health and experiencing exponential freedom.

We have the radical and uncensored conversations you have been craving and give you the tools for expansion and growth. I’m so glad that you are here and I can’t wait to connect with you.

Hey friends. I’m so excited for you to come take a listen to the episode today. I am with my friend Alicia. She is a dedicated board certified holistic health practitioner and functional nutritionist. And a board certified functional hormone specialist. Beyond her professional role, she is also a wife and a mother to three wonderful souls. And, um, we are fellow Aquarius and we have the same birthday. So that’s just a little fun fact that I’ll add.

So, yeah, I’m so excited to have Alicia, Alicia Thomas on this call. And, and, you know, it’s funny, we had connected on Instagram, I think for a while now and, um, had looked for ways to integrate our work and, uh, Alicia, I love everything that you do in the hormone space and how much you look to simplify things, especially for moms. And so I’m like, so excited that you’ll be able to, to bring your wisdom to this episode. And we were actually just talking about the fact that Alicia just finished a certification recently that’s going to expand her practice even further. So I’d love for you to share that because, uh, it sounds amazing. Tell us the things.

Yeah. Hi, thanks so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here with you guys. Today. And like Lindsay said, her and I connected through Instagram and it was just kind of like an instant click with each other, which was incredible. We share the same birthday, which is really exciting, something we found out about each other. We were like, no way. And so we connect on a lot of different pieces, but I’m super stoked to talk to you guys about hormones. Um, and yeah, I just recently have been going through the process of completing my advanced licensure.

Um, I’ve been in an advanced licensure course to broaden and expand my practice and what I can offer. So currently right now I offer, um, HTMA testing and a different hair and saliva tests and GI mapping. But once I have completely sealed the deal with my advanced licensure, I will be able to open the door to run Dutch hormone testing, which is a very interesting and very detail oriented, um, female physiology lab on the functional side of things, that tracks your cycle and how your hormones are actually cycling throughout the different phases of the month.

And so you’re looking at a skew of a lot of different things, cortisol levels. And so it’s one of the higher end, I would say female hormone labs that is ran in the functional space. And I’m so excited to be able to offer that into my offer suite with clients because, you know, I work with a lot of different women, specifically women with a lot of different hormonal imbalances when it comes to their cycle. And, um, how they’re cycling. And so being able to actually see like the scientific end of it with where their hormones are cycling on the different days of their cycle is incredibly fascinating. So offering that is going to be very exciting and really, um, will allow me to expand again, just what I’m offering within my practice and then running some, you know, other blood chemistry labs too.

The functional space is very fascinating when it comes to labs because the markers are so different compared to that of modern medicine. And so, you know, when we’re looking at an individual’s blood work, for example, on the functional spectrum of things, the levels of what we considered normal and abnormal really differ to that of the modern space. And so being able to really help women to understand their hormones on a very deep level with their cycle.

And then also, you know, a lot of my clients are coming to me feeling frustrated because they’ve been told they’re normal when they’re getting, you know, traditional labs done and looking over their labs and running functional labs, being able to get to the root of those issues has been such a blessing. And I’m so grateful that I get to do this work with a lot of women.

Yeah, I love it. I, um, used to work in the functional medicine space, and I have a healthy appreciation for just the testing and the labs and being able to get a much more deeper level consultation, which I think it’s funny. I was just reading something recently, uh, and I meant to reshare it and totally forgot, but it was like talking about, you know, why working with somebody like yourself or myself, you know, in that one on one timeframe and why it costs more typically right and seeing a Western medicine practitioner is because one it’s not a 15 minute session. It’s usually an hour to you know, I know my one on ones are two hours and then on top of that all the preparation that is done in and out of session. And you know all the customized care like, you know, and I think people fortunately are starting to get a greater appreciation of it.

And I think this is why, on a whole other side topic, I’m like, so passionate about people understanding the importance and the relevance of kind of just separating from traditional health insurance and looking for alternatives. Because, you know, the traditional health insurance just boxes people in so much, but anyways, a whole other topic. I’m so excited that you have been doing all this and also, uh, I have been wanting to get my, my Dutch testing done for a while. I’ve just been waiting until I was finally not pregnant again.

Like I just, you know, I’ve literally had it on my, I had it done like seven or eight years ago. And I really wanted to get it again after I knew I was really on a good pause with having kids. Uh, just because it’s, it’s very insightful information and I’m really working on some detoxing right now. And so I love that you’re offering that because I always tell people when they say to me, what is the hormone testing I should do? I tell them a Dutch test like that is my opinion. This is the gold standard. And, um, and typically, you know, actually seemingly, I think more affordable than a lot of the other hormone tests out there.

Yeah, it definitely, I would say, you know, if you’re coming to a functional practitioner and you are having a lot of different hormonal imbalances, especially when it comes to your cycle. If you do not know when you’re ovulating or what phase of cycle you were in, or if you were dealing with like very intense, heavy menstruation every single month, um, or a lot of distress, a lot of trauma and stress. The Dutch hormone test would definitely be the place to start because it really allows us a full picture to see how your stress levels are affecting your hormones and vice versa. There’s so much detail that goes into our hormones as women and a lot more than we actually appreciate, I think often, you know, we are boxing society into societal norms are oftentimes box into the, you know, that have a man cycle, but men’s cycle literally are like 24 hours.

They have the same testosterone levels. Sometimes it elevates in the morning as they age. Obviously, testosterone can decrease. But for women, we have four phases and it is so important to like tap into those different phases. And so when I’m working with women, one on one, that is really a high goal of ours is to help my clients understand your phases and the cycles of which your phases are affecting your body.

Ultimately, as a woman, there is lifestyle things that you can do during each phase. Nutritional habits that you can create around each phase. Even exercise, you know? Exercise is something that we honor throughout each phase, not something that we like vigorously do because we are wanting to, you know, look a certain way or be a certain way, or the societal norms of like the diet culture.

Diet culture has ruined women’s health. And I will scream it from the rooftops. It drives me crazy. And I am a huge advocate of nourishment over deprivation, especially when it comes to our bodies as women. And so, it’s just a really big piece that I think is missing, um, especially in the modern space. And I love that you said, you know, that we have to look outside of the traditional role of health insurance and there is a time and place, but I think when it comes to the functional space, it is with the understanding that, yeah, we’re spending a lot of time with our clients.

Every one of my clients, I look at them as a bio individual. I don’t look at them as just a number within my practice. We really dive deep into their specific needs and understanding the route to how all of their things became imbalanced. I always say your symptoms are red flags, they are not the root cause to your imbalances. Your imbalances are the systems underneath that have become unaligned. And there is specific things that are causing, you know, that trickle effect within your body. Your symptoms are like the red flags waving, like, hey lady, you need to look at this, like something’s going on. And so it’s really what that understanding and being able to dive deeper into that, that I’m just so passionate about.

Totally. I mean, I loved that you highlighted the difference between the male and female cycle, because I think finally people are finally just grasping just the difference there. Like it’s something that I feel like, you know, even just from being fellow entrepreneurs and women in business. Like everything around business is kind of, and with social media is very focused on a 24 hour cycle. And I know something for my, and it’s promoted, you know, like that’s all I see promoted. And I literally was just reflecting on this the other day, just because I am very passionate about business and entrepreneurship. I love it. I love that. Uh, I’m passionate about health, but they’re like, as a manifesting generator, I have both loves. And I, I just, sometimes I feel a little, I guess I was just reflecting just a little lonely in the space in the sense of. You know, I know, like, I’m purposely a lot of times holding back or because I’m purposely making myself rest and instead of just producing, producing, producing, which is literally what you see across the board.

And, uh, I think, you know, it’s like, we’re kind of like, um, we’re holding the torch for a new, for a new, uh, for a new like paradigm, you know? It’s, it’s interesting, you know, I just have noticed that within business and you know, something I feel like I’ve talked to a lot of close friends about is how are we embracing as women that, you know, when we are really connected to our cycle and our divine feminine energy and how we were created to be, how much more successful, happy and flourishing we are. Because we’re connected to that, you know? Um, which I think. You know, I’d love to see that conversation continue to, to expand.

But I’m curious, Alicia, like, how did you even land in this space? Because you weren’t working specifically in health before you were a teacher. So, I’m curious, I mean, how did, how did you get like, rerouted or were you always interested, but you just landed in teacher? You know, it’s so funny, we, it’s like, I think this was like a generational thing with our generation of, it’s like, you know, you just go to college and, you know, just go and front the bill later or something. And then you’re like, wait, this isn’t what I totally want to do.

Yeah. So I was, you know, brought up, like you work really hard in school and I was a collegiate. Or I was an athlete all through high school and even played, um, travel softball. And then was fortunate enough to get a scholarship. Um, and so I was a collegiate athlete and played softball. And so I’ve always been very interested in like the physiology, like kinesiology side of things. Um, when I first started school, I actually was like, I’m going to do like physical therapy, but then as I got going, you know, things changed. And so I did, after graduating, got into the educational space. Um, and I actually worked in the administrative side of things within education.

And so I ran a, um, title one program within our school district with 32 of our title one schools. And going through our education system. Obviously, we know across America, there’s a lot of things that are broken within education. Um, but as I was in that role, I got pregnant with our first son Sawyer and I was deathly ill during my pregnancies. Um, all three, unfortunately I had hyperemesis. And if for those listening who are not familiar with that, it is a medical condition to where you just are throwing up a lot and it’s very hard for you to keep things down. You become very malnourished. And I was just really sick with um, all three of my pregnancies. But with my son Sawyer, I had a lot of different, um, hormonal imbalances happening and I suffered from a lot of UTIs during my pregnancy and on top of being sick and just very nutritionally malnourished.

Um, I was not in a very good place mentally. And then at 34 weeks I went into sudden labor with my son Sawyer and, um, he was born as a preemie. And I remember just the emotional capacity now looking back, um, during that process, there was a lot of things that obviously, as a first time mom, like, you just don’t know, right? And so when we went into the hospital, I woke up in the middle of the night bleeding. They checked me, my water broke, um, and I, I literally remember asking the nurse, like, what does that mean? She’s like, sweetheart, you’re having a baby tonight. And I just remember sobbing to my husband because we just had our baby shower and I wasn’t like, you know, the picture.

Yeah. The picture perfect, you know, thing that you think of when you have a child as your first, especially like labor. I had this whole picture in my mind and it definitely was not that and I think oftentimes that’s what happens to a lot of women within the hormone and you know, um, labor spaces. You have one vision and oftentimes it doesn’t turn to that. So, um, I, yeah, I had my son early and he had a lot of health challenges and, um, you know, we tried the traditional route for his gerd, he had like severe acid reflux, was super jaundiced, very colicky. I had a very difficult time nursing him and I swear we were at our pediatrician’s office what felt like every single week and just not getting answers.

Um, and there was just like something intuitively in me that was telling me like, seek other options outside of the modern space. Like you need to seek functional medicine. And so, um, I really started diving into like the essential oil space at that time with our son, Sawyer, which healed a lot of his imbalances and helped him tremendously. Um, and then that kind of like catapulted me diving into like the functional space. And then with my second pregnancy, um, I ended up having to take progesterone because we found out in between my first and second that my progesterone levels just tank and that’s why I went into labor with our son early.

Um, and then with our third, um, she was our surprise baby number three, but the biggest blessing to our little tree, the end of our trio here. Um, but I was really very sick with her and, um, it was during, you know, Lindsay and I had babies around the same time. Um, and it was during the time we had her literally the first day of the lockdowns and you want to talk about like feeling isolated, it was a very difficult time for me. Um, I had suffered from some pretty severe postpartum depression and, um, I just felt very alone, even though, you know, my husband was like my greatest champion and the biggest support. I just felt, you know, very alone.

And if anyone on here that’s listening has has ever gone through postpartum depression, you know that it’s such an outer body experience and being able to like really now look back on that. We have no support as women after having babies. Like you have your six week visit and unless you have like a, you know, very, um, in depth like midwife or, you know, a doula, we really don’t have a lot of support, especially when it comes to postpartum depression. And so, for myself, after having my babies with all three, I just struggled with a lot of different health challenges. And I just knew there had to be a better way. Every time I went to my OB, all they wanted to do was either prescribe me antidepressants, birth control, or offered me like just getting a hysterectomy. I am 36 years old. And that was just like astonishing to me. Like. to just try to do like a quick fix like that.

And I know that some women don’t have options, you know, and they have to have certain situations where those things can be put in place. But for me, I knew that that was not the route that I wanted to take. And as I started, you know, with our first obviously diving into the functional space. I’m like, you know, I like if I’m not getting answers from my OB, I’m gonna go back to school because I want to understand my body as a woman. So my journey to becoming a practitioner was really that of my own. I wanted to understand what my body was doing and where I had imbalances.

I mean even growing up I struggled with miserable cycles and a lot of gut related imbalances. I had surgeries as a kid for my stomach issues. And so as I dove in further and further, I was just astonished. Like, why are we not taught this stuff from a young age as girls? Like, why are we not taught about our cycle and our hormones? I remember, and I don’t know if you remember going through sex ed in school, but it was literally like, a video from like the 1960s.

I know. I was, I know I was literally thinking of that when you were talking because I was thinking gosh I don’t know what it is now, but I remember because it really stuck out what you’re saying and I want to reference a book. Uh was just that I, yeah, I remember it was kind of like a shameful thing. It was just everything around your cycle was kind of very embarrassing. Like I remember learning in our little elementary school library and fifth grade and just kind of like, you know, no boys allowed to come in. And it was just kind of, I just remember associating cycle with a lot of shame.

And then I remember when I went through, you know, an eating disorder for several years, um, starting when, when I was 9, but then really when I was like, hit 13. I was definitely afraid of getting my cycle and to me, I associated cycle as being fat and as being like, something was wrong with me. And, um, instead of like naturally getting support for my cycle when I was, uh, 16 or 17 years old, I was put on birth control so that I would get a cycle that way. And, um, and so it’s just kind of wild. And then I remember it was when I actually, I, I decided to go off birth control, uh, after I got married and I, um. I was like, I just want to like, I was just starting similar to what you’re saying. You just know there’s something else here, something math, the math’s not mathing.

And yes, and I decided to, um, do like, just see what my body did. And I actually started, uh, looking at alternatives at that time. I started taking Vitex and, uh, within a couple of months of taking Vitex and this was after like nine months of nothing happening, happening. After a couple of months of taking Vitex, I got my period and it was like my first cycle, it felt like, you know, um, which was very healing. It was still like a lot to work through mentally, but, uh, I remember reading from kind of the OG hormone guru, uh, Dr. Christiane Northrup, um, and I’m gonna, I don’t totally remember what book it was, but I was reading a book. I think it was either through her or it was through Kate and Northrup. And Kate, was Kate is the daughter of Dr. Christine. And she was just talking about how when, uh, girls and her family got their cycle, it was a celebration and like, it was a whole day and it was just, you know, very much like a lot of connection, a lot of love, a lot of encouragement, a lot of support.

And I remember I was like walking on a hike while I was listening to this and I was like crying because I was thinking like, I would love to see that normalized. And I would love for people to experience that culture shift of celebrating and connecting with our cycle instead of running away from it and wanting to do other things and wanting to take out our organs. And so I just, you know, I’m so grateful for, for people like you and, and, and just like people who really do specialize in, in the hormone field. I think that, you know, I would’ve loved to know that this existed when, yeah when I was in my, like late teens, early twenties. Uh, and just didn’t get a cycle and was a hundred percent in adrenal burnout every single day.

Um, and so I’m, I, I’m curious too, with just, I know you were just talking about like, you know, that period of not having support. So it sounds like during that time was when you were like, I’m going to start studying this, getting into this. And kind of, why did you choose the route that you did as far as like the specific certifications?

Yeah, so. You know, obviously going through my own imbalances and struggles as a woman and with my own cycle, um, having super heavy cycles. My cycles were like 12 days and they were like miserable, like hunched over crying. I had like cysts all the time on my ovaries. I had a couple of rupture and that felt like worse than labor, honestly.

Wow.

It was brutal. But when I really started diving into understanding, like, okay, well, why am I getting cysts? Because cysts are not normal. That’s not something that just happens to you as a woman. Like, yes, it’s common, but it’s not normal. And so, um, with our second son is when I, you know, after our first and his health challenges diving into like some of the functional, like, um, homeopathic space with our second, I really wanted to do things differently, like nutritionally.

And so that’s when I really started diving into like more of the fascinating side of like functional nutrition and like how to actually support my body, especially with my hypermesis. I was like trying to do everything and anything that I could just to like, not be vomiting all day, every day. Um, and so that’s when I really dove into like functional nutrition and specifically like nutrition and being a woman, because how we eat as women is should and is vastly different of that of a man. And I know there’s so much skepticism around like what you should eat and when you should eat. And intermittent fasting, don’t intermittent fast, like keto, don’t keto, like all of these different diet fads. I don’t believe in any of that, to be honest, as a practitioner, like being very transparent, I believe in nourishment. I believe in feeling your body with what I call creating a balanced plate when I’m working with clients.

And so really diving into the functional nutrition space was really like what catapulted me along with having my own like severe PMS and postpartum and really wanting to understand like, okay, what does our bodies do as women? How can I heal my own body? And so I went on, like, this very deep journey of, like, healing myself. Because I knew that if I could heal myself, I could turn around and help other women do the same. Um, I’m similar to you. I’m a manifesting generator. And so I constantly am, like, like, wanting to really dive deeper into different topics. And so when I had my own imbalances, I’m like, okay, well, I am not getting answers from my doctors.

And we don’t really, and where I live in Reno, we don’t really have a ton of functional medicine doctors. Um, and so I really decided like, okay, I’m going to really focus on myself first. Because I, I believe as a practitioner, you have to lead yourself first and order to be able to lead others. Um, and I’m sure with your, the work that you do too, Lindsay, like you had to heal yourself first before you can turn around and like help others.

Totally. And I always tell people, like, I, I really consider healing to be a lifestyle, you know? So it’s like, I’m still, like behind the scenes, like doing, I have to do daily work, you know. Like I, I don’t feel like I’ve arrived and I, I don’t ever want to be like, I see it as like a continuous lifestyle.

Yeah. Um, I think, you know, healing is not linear. And I think that’s where we oftentimes like get things wrong because our society focuses on quick fixes. I will tell you like, and the hormonal space, especially as a woman, like there is no quick fixes to fixing your hormones and it’s not linear. Like even for myself, like you said, I am forever still, you know, a student and arriving myself, like I still have my own health challenges that I deal with, you know? Especially as we age, we go through different phases as women, perimenopause, and then you approach menopause. But we can do those stages gracefully with knowing how to support our bodies when it comes to lifestyle and exercise and nutrition, you know?

You can really approach those different phases as a woman with a lot of grace. And a lot of acceptance, but we’re taught, like you said, from a young age to feel shame around our cycle. Our cycle as women, literally, is like our superpower. Our cycle is literally our ability to heal and to remove toxicity. When we get our bleed monthly, it is our body’s way of naturally removing different toxicities and endocrine disruptors and it should be celebrated like you said. And what’s crazy in a lot of other cultures it actually is very celebrated.

Okay guys, I’m so stoked to talk with you about one of my favorite things ever and that is my King Organo coffee. I’m obsessed with this coffee. I’ve been drinking it for about four or five years now, and it is a coffee that is good for you. It is one of those things that I tell people, if you love coffee, you need to be drinking King.

It is tested for heavy metals, tested for mold. It is a clean, organic coffee that just won’t make you feel super jittery or on edge after taking it. It has the most amazing, rich, bold taste. I’m obsessed and my husband is obsessed, which is saying something because we totally are coffee snobs. I am not afraid to say it. We are such coffee snobs and this King coffee is just the best. It’s an organic coffee with reishi spores. And if you’re not familiar with reishi, guys, this has been used for thousands of years for its immune boosting benefits. It’s really hard to find a coffee out there that has reishi at such an incredible dose.

I mean, the spores that are in the King coffee retain all of the same immune and health benefits. As if you were to get the seeds of the spore powder. And so you’re getting 17 to 18 times the strength and potency. And you’re getting all the bioavailable nutrients. It’s absolutely incredible. And so, things that are, that you can notice from being able to get the benefits of Reishi, especially with King is just that immune system boost. You don’t feel any of that caffeine spike or jitters. It’s actually really amazing for blood sugar regulation. It’s just not as acidic. There’s no cortisol spike that you’re gonna get from it. There’s no crash that you’re going to get from taking it.

And Reishi guys is just an incredible biofilm buster. And so that is something that is just amazing to be taking and having on hand if you’re working through cleansing as well. And so it is a really high quality coffee and something that we just love to have in our home. As I said, I take it, my husband takes it, and I’m going to link for you guys in the show notes, and on my website, you can find it under brands I love. You can grab your own set of King Coffee to try at home, I also really like the Royal, which is another, uh, brand that Organo has that has lion’s mane in it, which is amazing for your nervous system health and your cognitive health. And also really great for the immune system.

So make sure to go check it out. If you are looking for a really great tasting clean coffee. This is it.

I have to mention, so I was thinking, what was the book that I read? Like, I was trying to remember as you were talking, because I remember there was just something that introduced to me a completely different perspective and I found the book. So I’ll definitely include it in the show notes. It was, it’s called Moontime. It’s really just about connecting to your cycle and, but on this feminine sacred, like you were saying, like, it’s like what connects us to generations of women before us and other cultures forever. Like, and it was just so wild because it was 1 of those things that I was like, dang, I wish I had learned this in school, you know, you just kind of like, learn this very 1 dimensional response to everything.

And I think for me, when I really started learning deeper about the cycle, like you’re saying, and you know, it just, I felt so much more connected to myself and to just every female before me and all around me. It was so, so empowering. And I mean, this is a whole other topic, you know? Then you’re like, okay, so why are we just so dumbed down when it comes to our cycle?

You know, I really think it’s, it’s a threat on women and our, are connecting with ourselves, connecting with the beauty of birth and with, um, you know, our ability to, to be moms, not that that wants, not that, that that has to be everybody’s choice or decision. But I think it’s just like, you know, from, we’re very conditioned and programmed from the get go that we are that, you know, unfortunately what every culture does differently.

And when you were talking about, um, that postpartum support. I was thinking of a book that really shifted my, uh, life on this as well. Again, kind of just goes to ancient cultures is just, uh, the first 30 days, which is, looks at things from a Chinese medicine perspective. And you’re like, oh, wow, like this doesn’t have to be, so like I give birth, then I go back to work in like three weeks. And then I’m doing all this and then like all of a sudden everything’s normal again, you know? I was just like, oh, I just love, I think, you know, everything around the hormone space is really so sacred.

And, um, you know, I love one of the things that you really highlight on, uh, that’s a big need. And I know one of the freebies that you’ll be sharing with listeners is just really focusing on the nutrition component. And I love that you, you have resources for this because I’ll just be honest, you know, as I’ve been getting back into detox work myself, I felt very intuitively led to do some deeper detox going into 2024. And I felt like my nervous system was ready for that, which is another conversation that I had to get my nervous system and check so that I wasn’t reacting, you know, to all the things.

Um, but, uh, yeah, I just feel like one of the biggest challenges that I’m sure you see this with a lot of the clients you work with is just making the time to and getting your systems in place when it comes to optimizing your nutrition and making that fun and not something that is like, you know, just another chore.

Yeah. You know, I am a huge proponent of meal prepping. Um, I do it every single Sunday. It’s just like a ritual that I’ve done for a very long time and it has just become a part of our lifestyle, but it’s really set you up for success for the week. Because, you know, as busy moms and wives and, you know, whether you’re in the corporate space, stay at home, whatever, you know, your lifestyle looks like, being able to just have food prepped and ready for you to grab that, you know, is like nourishment for like where you’re at in your cycle. Because the four phases. There’s different times, like for example, during your menstrual phase, that is a time to really turn towards like warm nourishing food. Like, we consider the menstrual phase winter. It’s where you want to go inward. You typically are more introverted. You’re not really, you know, wanting to go be a social butterfly. When you’re looking at the nutrition side of things and how to support your bleed, because when you’re bleeding, you’re also losing a lot of key minerals. that charge and support our hormones. You’re losing a lot of vitamins. Um, and it’s your body’s natural way of cleansing.

And so, you know, the topic of birth control, that’s a whole, that can be like a whole other episode because it is crazy. Like birth control is not a fix to your hormonal imbalances. I will scream that until I am like blue in the face. Birth control is a bandaid and when women are on birth control, specifically like hormone induced, inducing birth control, like the mini pill, the pills, the Marina IUD, um, the depo shots, you literally are being charged with synthetic hormones. So when you get a bleed monthly, that is not a natural cycle bleed. That is actually a withdrawal bleed from not having those synthetic hormones and your bloodstream during that week. And so women who are, you know, really struggling to get off hormonal birth control, um, sometimes can feel like a catastrophic like rollercoaster, because your body is now trying to find its natural rhythm.

And when you’re on hormonal birth control, your natural cycle is just completely shut down. And so from a young age, women are being taught like, oh, just go on birth control. When you have a heavy cycle or you have severe PMS and like cramping and all of this discomfort. But it’s just masking. And so as you get older and you start to, you know, intuitively learn more about your body as a woman and your cycle health, a lot of women that I work with like regret going on birth control, even for myself. Like if I would have known what I know now from a young age, I would have never wanted birth control when I was like 15 years old. Like never, it would have never disrupted my natural like cycle. I would have.

That’s what is so alarming. I have to add this in that even, you know, now I remember this was something that was going on in Colorado when we were living there. I mean, just about to move, but this legislation was going through that, you know, anybody can just go get birth control without parental consent and people don’t understand here is the problem with birth control. There’s, there’s this, there’s like an, you know, this is a mini tangent here, but I know we’re on the same page about it. Um, it’s like people think that this is empowering women. It is not empowering women to like not be like 14, 15 years old, where I don’t know anything about my body yet and my brain is still developing and not fully developed till age 25. And I can just walk into any clinic get birth control, not knowing any of my family history when it comes to strokes or clotting, you know? All these things that are big adverse effects that can happen and then also really truly what the, the potential harm you’re doing to your body…

Yes.

…long term. It’s just anyways, they approved in Colorado that women could go ahead and do that and it was just so frustrating because people just don’t understand the full picture here and how this does a disservice to women. Um, a big disservice. And, um, anyways, we’re, we’re, we’re seeing it. We’re like…

Yeah, no, we’re like standing on the top of the hill. Yeah, we’re on the hill. But you know, when you really can understand, like my hope for my own daughter is that I can teach her how to really celebrate when she gets her cycle, like you said. And create that new norm and that new, like generational norm within my own family. Um, and luckily like my mom was very supportive, like always, you know, like supportive, but she didn’t have the mechanism to really understand like what was happening with our cycle. Right. Because like, even for her…

They just didn’t know.

Yeah, they didn’t. And like back in the day, like after you had babies, you just had a hysterectomy. Like that was like the norm, right, which is like a whole other thing. And so, um, you know, working through these different imbalances. Yes, it can be frustrating and you can feel like you were hitting like a dead end, um, continually. But I just would encourage anyone listening that is feeling through a lot of different hormonal balances and really going through it right now. Like, healing is possible. It really is, but you need to work with the right practitioners. And you need to really start to understand your body. And like, lean into that intuitively. Um, take the time to like, understand yourself and your body. Um, because it’s very empowering as a woman. It is one of the most empowering things you can do to understand your cycle. And to know when you’re ovulating.

The whole goal of our cycle is to ovulate and to essentially conceive and make babies. Like God definitely knew what he was doing when he created us as women. And I think when we can really lean into that, that’s where like the true magic happens, like it’s very empowering. And, um, nutrition just plays such a huge part in that and really helping my clients to understand how to nutritionally fuel their body and not deprivate their body.

I would say, you know, 90 percent of the women that I work with, they come to me being very malnourished. Not because they’re intentionally doing that, but just because they don’t understand how to properly fuel their body when it comes to nutrition and looking at, you know, protein, carbs, fats, and fiber. And how do you like create a balanced plate to like intercate all of that into each one of your meals. And like protein, you guys, especially as women is like the MVP for hormones. Those amino acids are so crucial, especially as we age. And so if you’re listening to this and you’re just unsure where to start on your journey, the very first place to start would be with your nutrition.

Because if you can really focus and hone in on your nutrition and specifically for like the phases of your cycle, you will miraculously see like some pretty huge turnarounds with your health. Um, you know, there was, there’s this quote that goes around all the time and it’s, um, that all disease begins with in the gut. And I truly.

I disagree. Oh, really? You believe that? Okay. Well, so I disagree.

Okay. So let’s talk about it.

I believe it. Well, okay. So I do believe that disease does start in the gut, but I don’t believe all of these starts in the gut. I believe that disease, on an emotional level starts with an imbalance in the heart and then the heart is part of the gut heart brain access. So I think, you know, it’s all connected.

Yes.

Um, but I think that ultimately when we are like when we have on the emotional level the heart is the subconscious brain. So yeah, when that is out of sync, you know that is going to then lead to an imbalance in all these other areas. So from a from an emotional metaphysical standpoint, I would I disagree with that, but I get I get where that comes from.

Yeah, I know I love that.

The first book that I got introduced to that I remember talking to about that concept was, um, and really to highlight your point about nutrition, you know, I, uh, when I was in my early twenties, kind of like you were saying, you have this revelation there has to be something else. Like, I had been on all these antidepressants for so long, um, not at that point, but I had been for a lot of my teen years and I just kind of was like, why did all this stuff happen? Because people were just kind of like, oh well, you know, this just happened to you. I’m like, you know, whatever.

And I found, um, the gut and psychology syndrome by Dr. Natasha McBride, which people know as the gaps diet. And my life changed from that book. I tell people all the time, my life really did change from that book. I literally, I did not know prior to that, that mental like things like bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, ADHD, where gut primarily gut issues.

Yes.

And, um, I felt very, um, I was actually kind of like heartbroken about my nursing education because I felt like nothing had been taught to me of that.

Yeah. Um, and let me ask you how many hours of like nutrition education did you guys get during?

Always a good question. Yep. So yeah, I tell people this because people assume and put doctors and nurses and nurse practitioners on pedestals, which I think, um, you know, especially during the 2020 era. Blessing and a curse. I mean, I, I’m very happy to have my degree. It does help me leverage a lot of different things. Wonderful. But I always tell people at the end of the day, I’m not doing my job unless I’m empowering you to heal yourself, you know, and be your own practitioner. Um, but anyways, with nutrition, we get maybe… I had like a basic, basic, basic, like nutrition class part of my undergrad, but never in nursing and never a part of nursing school or my bachelor’s or my master’s. And I think I only got a little bit more exposure during my master’s because I purposely chose to precept with functional medicine trained nurse practitioners in the program that I was in. But, um, you know, otherwise zero, it would be zero. Like you can graduate and prescribe for people with zero experience in nutrition.

Yeah. It’s just astonishing to me because, you know, the food pyramid hasn’t changed in a million years. It’s still the same. And it’s like, it’s so misaligned and unproportionated. And I think, you know, at least, and I would say the last few years, especially. You know, functional nutrition has really become at the forefront now. There is a lot of different stance with what is right and what’s not right, what you should eat and what you shouldn’t eat. And my stance is fuel your body properly with a balanced plate method and you will really see a drastic turn in your health.

Like, if you can really focus on supporting your body, especially as a woman and your cycle with nutrition, that would be like the first step to take to begin your healing journey. And when I, with the quote, you know, going back to that quote, like all disease begins in the gut. When I’m looking at it from a hormonal, like nutritional standpoint, like you’re either fueling your disease or you were helping to kill it. And nutrition plays such a crucial role in that, um, you know. If you’re eating McDonald’s like every single day, of course you’re going to feel like crap and your health is going to be, you know, going down the drain.

I’m always like, how are people drinking Starbucks every day? My gosh.

And you know, with my clients too, there has to be an equal. And, uh, equal balance, right? And so I work with my clients on like an 80 20 approach, because we’re human. And even for myself, I’m human. I enjoy a treat every now and again. Right. Um, and so I think that there has to be an equal balance because that’s where you really start to see those downward spirals and like the obsessive behavior. And like you were saying, if you’re eating disorder. You know, that can really take charge and a hold of you. And so having a really beautiful balance for yourself, I think is very important. And I think as women, we need that even more so than that of a man, because we have very compulsive behaviors. Um, especially with society and like what we are told of how we should look and how we should act and all of those different things. And so my…

Yeah, I’m just thinking a whole other episode for sure.

Yeah, my ultimate goal with my clients is always to number one, help them to understand deep nutrition when it comes to really supporting your cycle and your hormones, but also to understanding like do not beat yourself up. If you eat one bad thing, like that doesn’t derail your entire day.

Totally, totally.

The next meal, focus on more of a balanced approach. Um, and so, yeah, I do have an entire e book coming out on ycle nutrition and how to eat for the different phases.

So exciting!

Yeah, so that should be within…

Wait, when is this out? So it will be hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

It will for sure be out by the, um, first week of November.

Okay, perfect. I think that’s about when this goes live. Great. Yeah. I’ve already, I’ve already like, I want that because I, I tell you like, that was my big focus, Alicia, with just, um, getting into this deeper cleansing work. And I, I really want to, I have a couple of questions I just want to wrap up with, but I wanted to say to people just like, you know, cleansing and detoxing and the hormone is, is really, it’s, it’s not a quick fix, like you said. And knowing this and knowing that I wanted to do some deeper like parasite heavy metal detox work. I really, my beginning steps was like, okay, how am I getting in my zone with nutrition? And really focusing on optimizing my detox and drainage pathways these next few months before I even get there.

It’s not like this one day. One week, you know, thing. It’s like, you know, it’s understanding how the female body works. You know, you can’t just jump in because we have a cycle, you know, and that was one question I want to ask you if you can just share some brief thoughts on it is something I’m seeing a lot lately. And I’m curious your thoughts on it. And whatever you can share, I’m seeing a lot in regards to, um, seasonal eating or eating based off of your, like, where you live and kind of what, um, kind of taking that into consideration. And so how do you think that impacts things and how do you kind of integrate that?

Yeah. So seasonal, um, I love the idea of really focusing on seasonal eating when it comes to, obviously, when you’re grocery shopping, um, looking at seasonal fruits and vegetables, when things are in season, you’re going to get more of the nutrients from those specific, you know, seasonal items. Um, and so right now being we’re in the month of October, you know, peaches and apples are in season. Apples can be very nourishing to your gut. Specifically, like the pecan within apples when you are like boiling them, that specific antioxidant comes out and a lot of richness and it can really heal like your gut lining.

So I do think seasonal eating has its benefits 100 percent and I would focus on, you know, trying to eat seasonally, especially with fruits and vegetables. Now, focusing strictly on that. I think can sometimes do a disservice also because you don’t want to deprive yourself, especially, you know, depending on you as a bio individual. What is happening within your GI system, what foods would essentially heal you or what foods are maybe causing some disruption to your gut microbiome?

And so I do think seasonal eating is a beautiful approach to incorporating more um, a richness into your palate and your diversity. But I wouldn’t focus solely on just like seasonal eating alone to heal hormonal imbalances specifically. Um, but I do think it has its benefits, um, when it comes to like the nutritional aspect of it and what you’re getting from those seasonal foods. And then can you repeat the other question?

Well, no, I think it was, it’s kind of connected. It was just in regards to people’s like location, like based on where they are, what they can get. Um, so yeah, I was just curious because I know that’s been kind of like, the forefront of conversations that I’ve seen, um, but I totally agree with you that, you know, it’s one of those things that, again, what’s kind of more of the bio individual approach that you need. Um, so, yeah, Alicia, I’d love to know. So, just wrapping up, where can people connect with you, find you, be able to book with you? Tell us the things.

Yeah. I love that. So I am on across socials, um, at HolisticallyWhole.Co on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. I share a lot.

I didn’t know you were on TikTok. I’ll have to…

I am on TikTok. Yes.

I’m such a millennial.

You know, I just started dabbling into the TikTok space. I don’t know how I feel about it yet, but…

I know, right?

Um, you know, just another space. I do like the, um, idea of just like freely sharing videos and stuff over there. So that’s a lot of fun. But yeah, I’m on TikTok and I’m on Instagram. I share primarily on Instagram. And so that is a really beautiful place to connect with me and my DMs. Um, and I do free discovery calls for people. I do, you know, a 15 to 30 minute free discovery call because I want to make sure that all of the women who are reaching out to work with me, um, one, I understand deeper, you know, what is going on with their imbalances and their struggles, but also to, I want to make sure we’re a good fit.

Um. I am never one that if I feel, if I don’t feel like we’re a good fit to just work with you to work with you, um, I have turned people away before within my practice and I’ve referred them out to other individuals. Um, and so I always want to make sure that we both feel like we’re a good fit to work together because I do think that the working relationship with your practitioner is very important. And I want to make sure that the trust is built there as well. And so doing those discovery calls is, is an important step because it allows me more insight into what’s been going on. Um, and then also to, you know, it gives individuals a chance to ask questions. Um, and I share more about my practice and my services.

And then, um, you know, moving forward, whatever route they choose to take, um, would be the next step. And so yeah, finding me on my socials and DMing me would be like the first step. Or if you want to book a discovery call, I do have like within my link in bio, you can just book a discovery call and we can set that up. So um, that’s a beautiful place. And my website too is www.holisticallywhole.co. So I try to keep all my socials the same across the board to just make it very easy.

I love it. Oh my gosh. I’m so excited for people to listen to this. And I’m pretty sure it like we’ll go live in early to mid November. So that’ll be great timing with everything that you’re sharing. I’m, I can’t wait for that guide. Cause that’s just been on my mind, quite a bit. I think now that I’ve gotten out to 18 months postpartum, um, not that it wasn’t a priority before, but just kind of, you know, there’s a shift that happens. You’re starting to get a little farther out. Um, I know kind of coming closer to the end of the nursing journey or just not nursing as much. And so I feel like I can really start getting back into my own detox, my own, like things that I really want to focus on. Because there’s, you really, it’s not as um, like we were talking about with the testing, you know it’s not something that right after a baby I necessarily tell people to go.

Yeah, absolutely not.

Because it’s just going to be inaccurate.

So yeah, there’s a lot of healing that takes place. Especially after a baby even after coming off of birth control um, I wouldn’t recommend testing for at least um, you know after three natural cycles because removing those synthetic hormones. It does take time. And so there’s things that you can do post birth control to really focus on the, expediting the process of healing, but when it comes to like testing, I don’t ever recommend anyone just get testing right off the bat because it’s going to be very skewed and inaccurate to what’s actually going on with your natural cycle.

Totally. Totally. So I’m so excited for people to take a listen to this and connect with your work. So awesome. Thanks for being such a rad guest. And, uh, yeah, like introducing it to us, to all this. Cool stuff. Um, it was so fun to, to learn and hear your insight. And, uh, thanks so much, Alicia, make sure you go ahead and check out the show notes and give Alicia a follow.

Thank you so much. You guys for listening to the show. I’m so glad you’re here. Come say hi on Instagram at Lindsay Tuttle NP, which is my practice page or find me on Lindsay on the Haven, which gives you the behind the scenes of my day to day intentional living on our homestead.

Make sure to send me your favorite part of the episode and subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts. Send me a screenshot of your rating and review for a free unlock your inner healer guide. Chat soon, friend.