| Transcript: Christine Garvin 0:01
Hey there and welcome to hormonally speaking. I’m your host, Christine Garvin, a functional health coach. Each week I speak with an incredible guest expert on all things women’s hormones. We’re here to empower you to take back control of your body health and well being, and to learn about the latest in research and solutions when it comes to getting your hormones happy. No part of this podcast should be construed as medical advice. And we always recommend working with a professional practitioner to figure out what’s best for your body. Now let’s dive in with today’s guests. Hey, everyone, welcome to this week’s episode of hormone Ely speaking. So happy that you are here with us. If you’re joining us for the first time, welcome. And if you’ve been a longtime listener, welcome to we’re gonna have a really good conversation today. Some stuff we’ve covered a little bit on the podcast before in terms of taking care of your pelvic health. And of course, dietary approaches. We’re going to talk about how some of that is connected. And we’re also going to cover some really interesting things in an area that I feel like is not talked about a lot. I think I’ve covered it my personal experience with a little bit at one point and that’s oxalates. So if you don’t know what those are, don’t worry, you’re going to know what they are by the end of the episode. So today’s guests is Eliza hippo who is a Certified Nutritional Consultant who’s passionate about helping individuals struggling with autoimmune and chronic illness. Eliza has her master’s degree in physical therapy and has been working as a physiotherapist for the last four years. Eliza also works as a personal trainer focused on active rehab and promoting health through physical exercise. After years of working with clients noticing a lot of chronic health issues, Eliza started studying ancestral diets as a way to heal from some of these chronic issues. Eliza uses protocols like the gaps which is a gut in physiology syndrome, carnivore keto and paleo as tools to improve health from the inside out. She is passionate about spreading awareness on the role of nutrition and to optimize our health and you can find her at eh wellness.co. Welcome. Eliza Hippel 2:11
Hi, I’m so happy to be here. Christine Garvin 2:13
I’m so happy that you’re here to talk to us today. You know, as we were kind of talking about before we got on, you have kind of an interesting story with what has gotten you to focus even more on nutrition even just this year, even though I know you were practicing nutrition before that. But tell us a little bit about your story and how you find yourself where you are today. Eliza Hippel 2:36
Yeah, for sure. So I’m originally from Edmonton, but I’m moved to Vancouver, and yours. And it was kind of VoiceThread when I first moved there, I started feeling really unwell. And I didn’t really understand why. So kind of having the background that I do in physiotherapy and health and wellness, I started researching a ton on diet and how diets impact our health that was listening to a bunch of podcasts. And there were a few things that started kind of clicking standing out for me. And one of the symptoms that I was dealing with at the time was chronic yeast infections and actions. And so I’ve been on a number of antibiotics. And you’re kind of it’s unfortunate, because when you’ve got the infection, you’re kind of in this fight or flight right, you need to deal with it. Now. There’s no other way. Yeah. So you go to the doctor, and they prescribe you the antibiotics without really giving much indication as to why you’re getting those recurrent infections. Yeah. And so, while I was in Vancouver, I, you know, I started not feeling the best, really extreme fatigue. And I realized that oxalates might be an issue for me. And Christine Garvin 4:13
before you continue, can you tell people oxalates are if they haven’t heard of them before? Eliza Hippel 4:18
Yes, for sure. So oxalates are essentially an anti nutrients found in many plant foods, and they bind to calcium. So they’re oxalate calcium crystals, essentially. And when you ingest them, your body has to break down the oxalates. And what’s interesting is many of the antibiotics that we take specifically for bladder infections, they degrade that bacteria that breaks down the oxalates. So, and a lot of the high oxalate foods are the quote unquote health foods right Christine Garvin 4:58
like kale. A big example right? Eliza Hippel 5:01
Yeah, exactly. Kale, spinach, chocolate, cacao, potatoes, cinnamon, all of these, many spices are really high Oxley. So if we’re unaware of our total consumption, the body naturally is going to protect you because the oxalates lay down in your joints, tissues, if it can’t be excreted fast enough. And it can also lay down an injured tissue. You have an injury, the oxalates will often bind to that is kind of what the consensus is. It’s like Christine Garvin 5:41
making that even worse, when you already have pain going on in a particular area. Eliza Hippel 5:46
Yes, exactly. So and I actually noticed cloudy urine for a while. And I didn’t really understand why and it wasn’t until I started reducing the oxalate load, or the Loxley concern that that all started improving. Christine Garvin 6:08
Gotcha. So were you having consistently cloudy urine? Or was it just like on occasion? Eliza Hippel 6:14
Um, so the cloudy alert urine was for about Christine Garvin 6:18
a year and a half. Oh, wow. Like every time you peed pretty much every Eliza Hippel 6:22
time I pee, but there was no pain, necessarily, unless there was an infection. And what I know now is that the oxalates are essentially there. They form those calcium oxalate crystals, right? So when they’re leaving through the kidneys and the bladder, they’re causing this micro trauma to the bladder that you’re more susceptible Christine Garvin 6:47
for interesting. Yeah, that makes sense. And Eliza Hippel 6:51
the thing with oxalates, and this is why it can be really helpful to work with somebody who is knowledgeable in this is that you can’t just completely cut them out. Right? It’s actually quite dangerous. And to be honest, I did that. Oh, yeah. With a kidney infection. And then also not knowing I had a shoulder tear rotator cuff tear at the time. And when I did an ultrasound, it showed calcium oxalate crystals, which doesn’t really make sense in a two month old injury. Right, right. Yeah. And active at Diane. So it was a huge learning experience. Because, you know, you’re kind of discovering all this for the first time. You slowly have to almost lower the oxalate load detox out of consuming these oxalate rich foods slowly, and then supporting the audience early. Because when your body is detoxing, from anything, it’s it’s leaching. It’s pulling out your vitamins and minerals. Yep, as a way to protect you. Christine Garvin 8:11
Yeah. Ah, so, you know, I definitely want to get into talking about, you know, how you found that out that you are high in oxalates, and everything, but one of the things that I you know, like, in testing, though, recommend this sometimes, like using calcium citrate, magnesium citrate and taking that with the foods that you’re eating that are high oxalates. Is that true? Eliza Hippel 8:37
Definitely, I’m not, I don’t recommend calcium citrate as much as magnesium citrate. I think as long as you’re taking, you know, a citrate, it’s going to help break down some of those oxalates and then pairing it more with calcium rich foods. And it’s interesting because many of the traditional dietary or traditional dishes that have high oxalate foods such as spinach, for example, there’s an East Indian dish called palak paneer. And it’s the sauteed spinach with the cheese. Yeah. And it’s done in such a way where it’s very, very smart in the sense that they’re pairing this high oxalate food their first saw Tang it so it breaks down. And then they’re pairing it with the calcium. So the calcium can then bind to the oxalates. And it’s not interesting. It’s not building Christine Garvin 9:42
up as much, right? It’s like the traditional cultures and traditional ways of eating. We’re so intelligent and continue to be so intelligent right beyond what we understand. But you know, I do want to make that point because particularly things like spinach and kale that We’ve gotten into this, you know, idea that eating them raw, like thrown in a smoothie. All of that is, you know, healthy for us. And as you just mentioned, it’s like you if you were eating those foods, you want to be cooking them so that it is breaking down those oxalates or some of those oxalates and some of the other anti nutrients, right that, that. Vegetables, not all vegetables, but some vegetables have. Eliza Hippel 10:28
Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. And then I think it speaks to eating seasonally. Naturally, if you were to eat seasonally, you’d only be exposed to those particular compounds or at times for a period of time, and then your body can then you know, Christine Garvin 10:49
get rid of Yeah, yeah. Interesting. Eliza Hippel 10:53
It’s so funny you say about the smoothies, because when I moved to Vancouver, I started having spinach, Mango smoothies every day. Christine Garvin 11:04
And you’re like, there it is. And it Eliza Hippel 11:07
all makes sense, looking back, but I have no idea. And here I was in the health and wellness space, or about five years, not realizing all these kind of compounds or properties with the foods and how they can really impact the body. Christine Garvin 11:25
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And let’s talk a little bit about the Oh, tests, which I just want to, you know, before you kind of explain it, I will say that I have been trained in and utilize to. And that’s actually where I first learned that I had higher oxalates. So it wasn’t crazy high, but it was high. And it also had on there, the genetic marker for being genetically predisposed to it. Although I will say just as a caveat, I did do separate genetic testing. And I did not show it on there as being an issue actually history and issue on genetic test. But I do think it’s fascinating, and it wasn’t crazy high on those. So that, you know, kind of makes sense, the genetic marker, but I do think it’s really cool that through this test, we can see how those oxalates are doing. And then as I love for you to talk about what oxalates can be often found but you know, alongside which also is showing on those tasks, so take it away. Eliza Hippel 12:32
Yeah, yeah, so the oats test is, I believe the gold standard for oxalate testing from Great Plains laboratory. I also did the oats test, which didn’t show the higher end and but the what the oats test also shows is any fungal markers, or candida kind of yeast overgrowth, and then I believe some heavy metals. Christine Garvin 13:07
They have detoxification markers on there. So it can kind of like point to this, particularly if you’re having problems with detoxification, which we know if you’re having problems with detoxification, then heavy metals are probably going to be an issue. But yeah, they have the yeast they have a cluster area, which is a you know, strain of bacteria that can definitely wreak some havoc. And then I love it too, because they have the B vitamins. So you can really see B vitamin levels in the body and B vitamins are so important when it comes to detoxification liver health. And then yeah, a bunch of other like, mitochondrial markers and things like that, too. So it’s a very comprehensive and in depth test. Eliza Hippel 13:53
Yes, yes. And definitely having the background because even when I did my test, I didn’t recognize on the test that it was showing high levels of mold. Mm hmm. So it is very much there’s an art to really, Christine Garvin 14:12
yeah. A while of like, you keep having to practice reading that test, right. Because yeah, you learned so much over time, the interconnections. Eliza Hippel 14:21
Yeah. Yeah. So I guess caveat, if, because you can order the test as a patient. So yeah, definitely need a practitioner. Christine Garvin 14:30
But if you don’t do it, Eliza Hippel 14:33
work with a practitioner to interpret the results. Yeah. But going back to your question about kind of what you often see is that triangle with higher oxalate, yeast, or fungal overgrowth, and then that can also be linked to a buildup of heavy metals. And so those three things kind of work. together and it can be hard to get out of that cycle because they all impact the other. So they’re impacting the microbiome health, your ability to detoxify. And then when you are getting elevated levels of the fungal overgrowth or heavy metals, it’s harder to break the oxalates down. It’s it’s kind of this cyclical cycle. But it, I guess, I should say, like, it can feel maybe overwhelming for somebody learning about oxalates. And coming to the realization that okay, this might be impacting me this. And the same thing happened to me as I heard it in a podcast, and it kind of spoke to me. I what I thought, Okay, I need to look more into this. And the more that I looked into it, I was like, wow, this is, this is more people need to know. Yeah, I’m Christine Garvin 16:02
definitely it’s something that’s not talked about enough. Yeah. Eliza Hippel 16:06
Yeah. And I think even the medical system, we just don’t have the knowledge there. Not nobody is trained in it. I was even talking to a urologist. Yeah. And I asked them about calcium oxalate crystals, and the extent of the knowledge was, well, they form kidney stones. Right. But what about before the stone fork? Right, Christine Garvin 16:29
exactly. It’s like they know it’s happening, because they know that that’s what it’s made of, you know? So it’s like, can we reach beyond it just being this fully formed stone out of nowhere? Eliza Hippel 16:42
Well, exactly. And if it’s already reached the point of kidney stone formation, I can, I can pretty much say that it’s definitely, you know, cause issues in other areas of the body. And everyone is different in terms of how the body detoxifies, and how the body deals with it. But I think if you’re kind of new to learning about oxalates, a good Facebook group is actually trying low oxalate. And they have a lot of good resources on there. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds, but just kind of introducing yourself to okay, what are some of these high oxalate foods? And how many on a daily basis? Am I consuming? Right? And then from a symptom perspective, do I do I have recurrent bladder infections? Do I have recurrent yeast infections or fungal infection? Was my health so look, can you help? I think another common symptom is joint pain. So oxalates can build up. So if you’re somebody who has just that, yeah, constant joint pain, especially around the sacrum, I would say the pelvic region, low back kind of a constant inflammation, their bilateral, so both sides. Okay. And you’ve been on many antibiotics? There it is. Yeah. Christine Garvin 18:22
I mean, it goes back again and again, right to the microbiome. And unfortunately, how many of us are, have been so impacted in our lifetimes by antibiotics? Because, I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that’s only had them once, or definitely not had them at all, you know, I mean, most of us have multiple rounds of antibiotics in our lifetime. And then if you pile on top of that, being on birth control pills, you know, I just taught a class this week at a local college. And I brought up the birth control impacts our microbiome, you know, and all of these like 19 and 20 year old girls were like, and it because we’re not taught that right then that these essentially act very similarly to antibiotics. And so you have to think about how much I don’t mean to be all dim and grim about it, but like how hard it is for our poor tummies or for microbiomes. Right, how much damage has been done. And so, there’s almost always work that has to be done to rebuild that good gut flora. And you see, you know, case in point, like the fact that you are not going to be degrading oxalates as well, because you don’t have that good bacteria that’s working to break it down. You know, so it’s like, we can’t even quantify or qualify how many different things in our body, the microbiome impacts. It’s so many things Eliza Hippel 19:59
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I feel like it’s kind of our lifeforce in a way. Right? Like, our gut isn’t doing well, we don’t feel well, right, our system is not functioning Christine Garvin 20:12
well, we can’t detoxify well, because it’s like, even though your liver and your kidneys are, you know, doing sort of the breakdown of everything, your a lot of it has to go out your gut. And if your guts messed up, and ain’t gonna get out, right, it recirculate. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, Eliza Hippel 20:30
definitely. And I think that’s what kind of drew me into the ancestral diet, and looking at those really nutrient rich foods to kind of get ahead, because not only have many of us undergone antibiotics, we’re also eating foods that have such poor nutritional value. Yeah. And I mean, even eating organic, it’s like, like, I remember when I was younger, and getting into fitness, I was eating chicken, breast rice, and like some sort of vegetable everyday. And the nutritional value of that’s actually very, very low. And so that’s what I found fascinating. And I’m really starting to feel the difference, eating these nutrient rich foods. Where we’re going back to nose to tail eating, we’re eating some of the organ meats, we’re eating the fat on the meat, the fats, some of the most nutrient rich part, ordering the immune system supporting the epithelial lining of our gut. And so also, while we’re detoxifying, we’re getting enough nutrients to allow that process to occur. And if you are somebody who does have that higher toxic load, definitely, you’re going to be depleted a lot quicker of nutrients. So consuming a high nutrient diet is critical. Christine Garvin 22:10
Super important. Yeah. So how did you end up, you know, going on the path of ancestral diets? And can you maybe explain further, you know, if people haven’t heard that word, ancestral diets? Like what are some of the options that are out there in that world? Eliza Hippel 22:26
Yeah, I mean, I think the term ancestral has kind of become a buzzword recently. But it really speaks to traditional ways of eating. Every culture has their deep rooted traditions, food based around like ritual. And that was kind of how I started was I was researching different tribes, actually, some of the Maasai in Africa. Encinia, the Hudson. And I also stumbled into gaps, which is stands for gut and psychology syndrome. Or there’s a new book, gut and physiology syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell, McBride. And she’s a Russian neurologist that got her medical designation in nutrition. And she had come up with this protocol to essentially heal her son from autism. And all of the as the diet has progressed, over the years, a lot of families would come on board and do the diet with their son or daughter. And they noticed that they were recovering from a lot of autoimmune issues. It’s a Frania. Just kind of arthritis, so many, so many illnesses that the medical system has deemed as kind of incurable, right. And that really inspired me to look further into it. But essentially, it also goes back to the traditional styles of eating, where we’re eating foods that are homemade. We’re getting we’re prioritizing high quality animal products, animal and not to say that you necessarily need the animal foods, but there’s such a huge benefit nutritionally speaking, those foods and then just getting back to traditional ways of preparing so a lot of soups, bras, really cooking the foods making it easy for the body to digest, especially when you are in more of a chronic illness state. And then a lot of fermented food Foods to help support that healthy microbiome. So that was kind of Yeah, it started with the gaps. I had done that for about six months. And then I transition into more kind of keto gaps. And then I also tried carnivore. And all of them you’ve learned so much from I think, at the end of the day, they’re used as tools to kind of reset the body and also reduce toxic load. Yeah, I think that Christine Garvin 25:36
and I’ll just explain for those that probably most people this point know what keto is, although I think there’s different ideas around keto. And keto is really more fat is the focus like high fat, you know, sometimes I think people will think paleo and keto are very similar. When paleo was really focused more on that high protein, though. Different people approach it different ways. Right. So some, it tends to be definitely higher protein, but the carb ratio can kind of like, be higher or lower, depending on who you talk to. Versus carnivore, I have had somebody on the podcast before, if you want to go back and listen to that episode, anyone? I think it was in season two, two or three. Anyways, so we talked in depth about carnivore if you want to know more, but basically, carnivore is eating, if you’re doing it strictly, it’s 100% meat. So I think a lot of people are like, but really like all me, and it’s like yes, 100% me like you’re not eating any vegetables. You’re not some people don’t even you know, consume honey or spices or anything like that. Right? It’s just 100% meat. So just to clarify for everybody who’s listening who may not know what those those things mean. Eliza Hippel 26:51
Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah, it was interesting. Doing carnivore in the sense. I actually I felt quite good. And going from keto to carnivore, I felt a lot better doing over, you know? And yeah, it’s one of the it’s one of those things where, again, I think it’s just coming down to reducing the toxic load. So if you are somebody who maybe is reacting to some of the anti nutrients found in the plants, or you know, you’ve been following a somewhat healthy, balanced diet, but you still don’t feel good. Trying something like carnivore or keto can be helpful for a period of time and then you start to reintroduce those those women to it’s different than a man trying carnivore, and I’m sure you’ve kind of heard that. Just with our hormones, I think there can be a lot of value in having those carbohydrate foods. Yeah. And over the long term, Christine Garvin 28:09
yeah, definitely, after working with women, for the last three years, I found that a consistent low carb diet is not good for our cycle. Most women will lose their cycle, they’ll end up having, you know, other issues. So I know it’s tough because a lot of women do feel better on these diets for a while, you know, and, and it can be a long while they can still feel great, but not have a period. And that is an issue, of course, like we, you know, not even the period so much. You know, I always try and refocus people on ovulation is actually the important part of our cycle. You know, the period is just a signal that we’re sloughing off uterine lining, you know, and you may or may not have ovulated, you can still have your period, even if you didn’t ovulate, you know, so we care about the ovulation because that gives us that sweet, sweet progesterone, and we’re not gonna have that progesterone without ovulating. So of course, it’s important if you’re a cycling woman to keep ovulating, you know, I do find that so many of the studies and I actually wrote about this recently for intermittent fasting. You know, most of the studies and stuff that are out there on men’s bodies, right still to this day, it’s like, the, you know, they’re like, oh, sorry, there’s, it’s too hard with women because of your fluctuating hormones to study you, you know, and so not helpful at all when they’re saying, Oh, these things, do this, this, this and this, that is so great. But that’s for men’s bodies who have relatively consistent hormones throughout the month, you know, so, so I do think it’s interesting because when you’re talking about the carnivore, I thought about some of my colleagues, we got into like a discussion about carnivore one day and our group and everyone that had done it, they were like, Oh, my God, I felt amazing on it, you know, so I think it can be hard to you step off of that, because it’s scary after you’ve been feeling amazing. But the goal ultimately, I think, in my opinion, is to be sort of as balanced as we can, right in our in our foods, and so that we’re able to really have something from every part of the food world, you know, but sometimes we need to do some some healing for a little while. And that’s why looking at these, I’m glad you brought up that point a couple of times that looking at these as sort of temporary healing diets rather than like, Alright, I’m carnivore, and that’s it for the rest of my life. Yeah. Eliza Hippel 30:42
And I think when we get stuck in that dogmatic way of thinking that we actually lose the ability to tune in to what our bodies are telling us, because it changes just like you’re saying day to day. And as women, I think we’re even more sensitive to that with Yes, and, and it’s actually such a beautiful and powerful thing. Because when we are in tune with it, it really guides us on how to live our lives, how to. And I think that was actually one of the biggest things that I took away from doing these more stricter diets was that I regained the ability to tune in on what is my body telling me to be right in this moment. And I noticed it was aligning with my cycle. And that was such a cool thing. Because then you’re really like living up to your full potential. In terms of supporting your body, supporting your mind supporting your hormones, how you feel on a daily basis, so that you’re living optimally. Christine Garvin 31:58
Yeah. So I have a question for, you know, I think probably representing some people listening and definitely certainly some clients who I’ve brought up at different points, possibly doing something like carnivore. And they’re just like, I just don’t want to I don’t want to eat meat all the time. Like, I’m just not drawn to eating meat all the time. So how do you respond to that? Eliza Hippel 32:21
I think it will, it definitely has to be that person’s choice. I wouldn’t ever push anyone to do carnivore, it has to feel right. And I think a lot of times, for somebody to choose to do carnivore, they’re in a space where they’re very ill, they’re not feeling good. And it can sometimes be out of desperation. Like, I know, I’m committing to trying these different things so that I feel better. If somebody just wanted to do it for the fun of it. See ya, then, you know, that would be fine. But I think in a lot of cases, when that individual chooses to do it long term, it’s because they really are not feeling good. To your point something under. Yeah, that’s something underlying Christine Garvin 33:15
there. Yeah, absolutely. And one thing I do like to know with you know, carnivore, it I think it happens with keto, too, that they call it the, I don’t know, it has some kind of name keto flu or something. Yeah, and I do definitely know, with carnivore, I mean, my own experience is kind of hard to kind of talk to say that, because I lost half my colon. So like, things are gonna go off, you know, with my stomach very easily. But I have read this and heard this from other people that particularly in the beginning, have gotten carnivore, because your microbiome has been so used to fiber and you know, these other foods coming in, that it can make things a little cranky, for the first like, couple of weeks or three weeks, you know, you may be using the bathroom more often. So just so that people, you know, are aware that that can happen. And that usually it’s just a phase, I believe, and then things normalize after that. Eliza Hippel 34:09
Yeah, definitely the increase in meat, protein, and fat is going to change the microbiome and the elimination of those starches and fiber. But I think and this is why it’s helpful to work with somebody is you can’t just jump in to carnivore right can do. And like I was saying before, it can actually be quite dangerous. Not to scare people, but if your body is not ready to detox, it’s, it can actually cause damage to your system. And, and to be honest, that’s kind of what happened to me was I have learned about all these things. So I said, Okay, let’s do it. Yeah, yeah, I’m ready. Like I mentally was ready, but My body was not ready. And I, like I said, I ended up with that kidney infection, my hair was falling out, like all these things started happening. And I didn’t have the knowledge and the support to really understand what was going on until looking back. And so that’s why if you are going to go into something like carnivore, you want to be on a lower carb, in my opinion, way of eating for a period of time, or be cutting out a lot of these starches and vegetables before you just go cold turkey. Christine Garvin 35:40
Yeah, yeah. And I think this is so true across the board with any kind of, you know, quote unquote, detox that you do, right, because what I’ve definitely found in my practice is, you know, most of us need some support and opening up our drainage pathways, before we truly start to move things, right, because we want to a make sure that it is like moving out of the body and not, you know, staying in your body and wrecking havoc, you know, and be doing it as sort of gently as we can, right and really kind of like trying your best to take care of your body in, you know, a good way in this process. And like you said, it’s like, our brains are often like, let’s go, like, people want to, like do it and get it over with, you know, and I often will tell my clients when we step into doing, you know, like an eradication protocol based off of their GI map and that kind of thing. You know, I’m like, let’s start low and slow. You know, we always want to start low and slow and see how your body responds. And they’re like, but I want to just get to the, you know, ultimate end, it’s like, you’re gonna regret it. You know, like, you’re not gonna feel good, your poor body’s gonna be like, you know, it’s like, let’s, we want to minimize the negative symptoms, you know, there’s always going to be a little bit when you first start something, but like, if you’re, if it’s crazy, intense stuff, and you’re having it, you know, beyond three days, I’m like, alright, you gotta you gotta pull back. He gotta give your body arrest. Eliza Hippel 37:15
Yeah, yeah. And to that point, looking at lifestyle, and kind of those daily practices to support the stress associated, toxic stress with life. And just being ready from that perspective, it’s like, you know, is your job really stressed? Right, working a lot. Christine Garvin 37:38
I traveling a lot for work or whatever. Yeah, yeah. Eliza Hippel 37:41
Or do you have those kind of daily stress management practices? Or you’re doing a bath to support the process? I think that’s so important. Yeah, Christine Garvin 37:57
absolutely. Detox support, that’s isotope, the physical detox support is what I call it to, like, you know, like, I mean, we’ve got the meditation visualization, getting into your parasympathetic nervous system component, but then we’ve got the like, the Epsom salt baths, the castor oil packs, you know, the coffee enemas, all those kinds of things, too, that are just going to help you feel a lot better. I just had this with a client where she, you know, didn’t want to do coffee enemas, and I get it was, you know, some people just are like, no, but she was open to a colonic, and she did the colonic, she’s like, Oh, my God. Like, yeah, because, you know, when we’re doing some going in and working on those bad guys, like having a way for them to like, really get out of your body is gonna make a huge difference. Eliza Hippel 38:43
Yep. Yeah. And I must say, with the carnivore diet, I found, and other people that I’ve talked to if somebody is struggling with constipation, carnivore diet can actually be the method as opposed to keto to Yeah, and it’s counterintuitive, because we’ve been taught increased fiber to relieve constipation. But if your microbiome and your gut is damaged, that fiber can be very irritating might actually be slowing things down. Christine Garvin 39:21
So very good point. Yeah, when we removed Eliza Hippel 39:25
the fiber, I find it just kind of gets things moving again, which is such a good feeling for somebody who has been struggling with constipation. I Christine Garvin 39:36
actually much prefer fiber for loose stools than for constipation, like it’s like just adding on you know, and I tell people all the time because we have been taught right that people think that me like purifies in our stomach and just like does all it just like doesn’t break down and you know, stays there for seven years and whatever kinds of things have been talked about you And, you know, I tell people all the time that think that vegetables are easy to break down and meat is not. Because I have experience having an ileostomy, which is, you know, my small intestine not being connected to my colon and being on the outside of my body, I really got to see how food breaks down in terms of your, you know, your, your small intestine and your stomach and your small intestine. And it’s like me meat cruise through actually, you know, it’s interestingly enough, it’s like, yeah, it was adding those vegetarian, you know, foods, and I wasn’t even allowed to eat most vegetables in the beginning, because you can get a blockage, you know, from that fiber and all that kind of stuff. And so it’s like, no, in fact, vegetables are much harder to break down. I’m not saying that we don’t you know, that they’re not useful. And they’re not good. But it’s the opposite. I think of what a lot of people think. And so, you know, makes perfect sense to me, that carnivore would like, make you go, because I was just like, meat would just go right through me. You know, my Well, there it is. In the pudding. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So when did you transition off of carnivore and how did you do it? Eliza Hippel 41:24
Yeah, so I started not feeling as good after a few months on carnivore. And I think that was my hormones speaking to me. And so I transitioned off more back to keto. I’m having some carbs but more in the form of fruit. And I was feeling really good having the fruit. I remember the first day after a couple of months having my first I think it was something simple, like blueberries and the rush. I got it. I have three pre workouts I don’t take pre workout, but that’s what it like. Yeah. Um, yeah. So then I started having more fruit and meat. And then and then I just really started listening. I had a potato. And it sounds so silly, but I had this potato, and I remember feeling so guilty after eating and laughing and just feeling so good after this potato. And I used to eat potatoes all the time, and never felt that. Actually, I it was one I felt really good on and I’m saying that, you know, back to Colombia, and pretty much my I ate twice a day and my first meal was potatoes and eggs. But then when I learned about Oxley, I was like, oh, you know, I maybe shouldn’t be having these potatoes. But again, it depends on cooking the potatoes, right? So now I I boil them, strain them and then I’ll fry them and it reduces oxalates Yeah, and I feel really good having the potatoes and I find I’ll have that around my cycle. So about a week before my period I will or the bleed week. I will have some more potatoes I’ll have squashes have bit more citrus fruits and just kind of seeing the effect because all the cravings that I used to have they’ve kind of gone away like when you listen Christine Garvin 43:44
right when you give your body what it needs. Yeah, I think that’s a beautiful you know sort of description of intuitive eating and intuitive eating is not simple because we have a lot of messages coming from us but it is the the work the healing work that we do on our bodies does actually get us more in touch with our body’s needs if we’re you know, up for listening and not trying to like control the situation. Eliza Hippel 44:08
Definitely. Yeah. And the other thing that I found is really made an impact is I’ll eat a few pieces of raw liver. Christine Garvin 44:18
Okay, I was gonna ask you if you want yeah Eliza Hippel 44:23
I honestly prefer the taste over cooked liver. Okay. Am I rush after eating it? It feels good for me. Yeah. And I find it’s, it’s kind of become my multivitamin. So I stored in the freezer and then I take a couple pieces out every single day. And I’ll just eat that kind of before after breakfast. And it’s I think the trick, yeah, just really upping the nutrient value and then I also try to have and kind of for the last two years, I’ve been having some sort of soup or broth every single day. And there’s something about eating a homemade soup. That just feels so healing. Christine Garvin 45:17
You’re getting you’re getting so many nutrients from it right? I mean, it’s just so nutritious. Yeah. easy to digest. Eliza Hippel 45:23
Yes, bioavailable. You’re getting Yeah, all the nutrients that you really need. Christine Garvin 45:29
Yeah, though, I will put a little caveat. With the histamine issue, you do have to watch out sometimes for bone broths if people are having the histamine, so, you know, again, bio individuality right and figuring out what works for you. Eliza Hippel 45:45
Definitely. And actually the gapps protocol, which is primarily based around soups, they’re very specific on that you didn’t have bone broth. And also the minerals if your gut lining is not in a good state, it can the minerals from the bone broth can actually be quite irritating. And so it’s very specific in the sense of you’re only cooking the broth for a few hours. And then I think that would also limit the histamine Christine Garvin 46:18
reaction. Yeah, yeah. So we got to wrap it up soon. But I did want to talk just a little bit about because we talked about this before we got on this connection you’ve seen in doing pelvic floor therapy, with people being vegetarian. Eliza Hippel 46:38
Yeah. And so this is anecdotal. Put that caveat in there. But when I moved to Vancouver, for the two years, there was a huge push, I was seeing with all of the clients I was working with as a physiotherapist to become vegetarian. And I actually myself had become vegetarian, which is where the mango spinach smoothies came from. Yeah. And what I was noticing is, a lot of women coming into my practice, with a similar presentation, kind of have chronic irritation or inflammation arrayed around their SI joint low back. And they would be always pointing to the spine, kind of where their pelvis was. And when, in some of the cases I would ask them, you know, what their diet was like, and a lot of them it said they had recently become vegetarian. And not to say that there’s something wrong with being vegetarian, but having that knowledge base on what foods do on the body and be rotating of the foods. And a few of them, sent them back to their the doctor, it turned out, they did have an underlying bladder infection. And when they started to cut down on the oxalates, yeah, when they started to cut down on the oxalates, their low back pain, kind of SI joint pain substantially, in some cases diminished completely. Wow. Yeah. And actually, thinking back on it, I had a similar symptom was just that constant, low, low grade pain. And I had gone as far as doing even prolotherapy. And I remember, after doing the GAPS diet for a few months, I felt like I had a new spine. Hmm, interesting. Yeah, I remember sitting on the pier and kind of cross legged and was like, oh, like, I haven’t been able to sit like a kid. With my spine and yours. You know, just under 30? Yeah, so that’s not normal. Yeah. It’d be the case. Yeah, Christine Garvin 49:02
absolutely. Wow, the power of diet. I mean, I see it. I see it all the time in, you know, working with clients, particularly like we do, you know, some food sensitivities, testing alongside the GI map often and, you know, I mean, food sensitivities, these foods aren’t meant to be out for the long haul, same thing that we’re talking about, right? It’s just to help sort of bring down that inflammatory response for a period of time while you’re working on healing that gut lining because really, the food sensitivities come down to a leaky gut situation, you know, but like, how the joint pain goes away, you know, how these like random things that people have had for years, suddenly they don’t have you know, so it’s, it’s just so fascinating, right? Because, you know, I try to always remind people like the body wants to work correctly. You know, it wants to work well and be healthy and it’s always trying like all of these things that are coming up. or just letting you know that there’s an imbalance happening. So it’s just like, well, let’s figure out what this imbalance is. And sometimes it takes a little bit of trial and error. That’s just unfortunately the way it is, you know. But luckily, we do have some of these tests and everything that can really help in the guidance of which way to go. So one last thing, before we head off, you said that there was mold issues alongside about a place for you. So did you also end up having to work on detoxing mold to at the same time? Eliza Hippel 50:32
Yeah, and it was through the oats test that it showed up, the higher levels of mold toxicity. And it made sense given just that chronic fatigue, even though I was doing the diets. I wasn’t seeing I wasn’t getting to the other side, I still felt really awful, actually. But it was good, because I learned through the diets. And definitely now I’ve moved back to Edmonton, just to kind of reset my nervous system. I’m doing saunas every day, nice to detox from the mold. And I listen to the podcast you had about mold, and I definitely related. It’s one of those things it takes years, right for your body to kind of just return back to balance again. And those consistent practices really do pay off. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then supporting myself with really nutrient rich foods constantly, you know, with every meal, trying to think of okay, what’s the, how can I maximize nutrient and bioavailability of nutrients? And then, yeah, working during the saunas regularly moving my body breathing? Christine Garvin 51:55
Yeah. I love it. Yes. The Mole thing is definitely, you know, I’m seeing it more and more in my practice. I’ve talked about this on the podcast before, it’s, it’s a tough one, because our homes are kind of built for mold to easily grow. And you know, I mean, I live in Asheville, North Carolina, which is just moderate rain forests, you know, and so, you know, particularly if you’re kind of doing all the things and things aren’t working, and you’re still struggling, particularly like with fatigue, and things like that, it’s like, looking, it’s worth looking into the mold possibility. Eliza Hippel 52:31
For sure. And I find it interesting, because you can take two different people and put them in the same environment, react differently to it. Yeah. And I think it speaks to, of course, there’s, you know, some genetics that play a role, but your toxic load, and I think, coming, you know, when I moved, my toxic load was already quite high. And the history of using multiple antibiotics did not help. Yeah, so then you put your body in an environment where there is elevated mold, not to say that that’s toxic for everybody, right? But when the cup is already so full, your body is unable to detox properly, and then backing up. And it lets you know, and that’s, that’s the beautiful thing is rather than getting frustrated, or and at times, of course, it can be easy to But listening to those signals and thanking our bodies for telling us and sending that message so that we can work with it to Christine Garvin 53:41
absolutely yes, so true. Such a good conversation with you today. So thank you so much for sharing all of that personal experience. Eliza Hippel 53:51
So you can find me most actively on Instagram, my Instagrams, naturally, dot e Eliza Eli zety. and my website is www dot E. H wellness.co. And I am taking clients right now for kind of nutrition and lifestyle consulting. So if it is something that you’re I spoke to you and you would like to learn more. I do have free discovery calls on my website. Christine Garvin 54:25
Awesome. Perfect. Well, thank you again for being with us today. And I’m so happy that you were here with us today. And I will see you guys next time. |
