What if the missing piece in your PCOS journey has nothing to do with your ovaries? In Part 1 of my conversation with Sharon Cassar Galea on PCOS Unfiltered: Nourish, Heal, Thrive, we explore why PCOS is so much bigger than reproductive symptoms—and why women who know something isn't right deserve to keep asking questions. Sharon brings a unique perspective to this conversation. With a nursing science background and more than two decades working in women's health, metabolic health, diabetes, and functional medicine, she's seen healthcare from both sides. Her own experience navigating significant health challenges also led her to start looking beyond symptoms and searching for a more holistic understanding of what was happening in her body. Together, we talk about women being dismissed or told their symptoms are something they simply have to live with, why Sharon believes women should feel empowered to seek another opinion when they don't feel heard, and what the shift from PCOS toward the broader PMOS conversation may mean for how we understand this condition.
Listening is a great place to start, but lasting change happens when you begin putting these ideas into practice.
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This week, I want you to think about one question:
Is there something your body has been telling you that you've stopped asking questions about?
Maybe it's something you've been told is "normal."
Maybe you've been reassured that everything looks fine, but you still don't feel like yourself.
Or maybe you've simply lived with a symptom for so long that you've stopped wondering whether there's more to understand.
Sharon uses a phrase in this conversation that I love:
You are the CEO of your own body.
So this week, practice being curious.
❤️ What symptom or pattern keeps getting your attention?
❤️ What questions do you still have?
❤️ Do you feel heard when you talk about those concerns?
❤️ Is there a question you want to bring to your healthcare provider—or seek another qualified opinion about?
You don't have to diagnose yourself or figure everything out on your own.
Sharon Cassar Galea joins me for Part 1 of this conversation, bringing more than two decades of experience across nursing, metabolic health, women's health, health coaching, and functional medicine.
Through her work with Embrace Holistic Health, Sharon takes a functional and holistic approach to women's health, metabolic health, hormones, and helping women better understand the bigger picture behind their symptoms.
Want to learn more about Sharon and her work?
🌐 Website:
https://embraceholistichealth.com.au/
▶️ YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@EmbraceHolisticHealth
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/embrace_functional_medicine/
📘 Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sharon.c.galea
(0:00) If your practitioner's not giving you the answers, if your specialist's not giving (0:03) you the answers, you have every right to empower yourself and get the answers. (0:09) We're the CEOs of our own body. (0:11) If we don't feel that we are empowered enough to speak up and say, no, well, I'm not happy (0:17) with that, then something is wrong.(0:22) Welcome back to PCOS Unfiltered, where we help you understand what your body has been (0:26) trying to tell you all along. (0:28) I'm your host, Lindsay, nurse turned health coach, two-time author, and your body wisdom (0:33) guide. (0:34) Here, I help you understand the messages behind your symptoms so you can stop fighting your (0:39) body and start working with it.(0:40) Before we jump into today's conversation, I want to give you one last reminder because (0:45) we are officially down to the final few days to register for my free Stop Starting Over (0:50) workshop on September 30th. (0:52) If you've been listening to the podcast thinking, I know there's more going on with my body, (0:56) but I don't know what to do next, this workshop is for you. (0:59) We're going to step away from the idea that you need another diet, another set of rules, (1:04) or more willpower and start looking at your health through a completely different lens.(1:08) I'll help you understand why you may keep finding yourself back at square one, how (1:13) to start paying attention to what your body has actually been trying to tell you, and (1:17) some simple ways to start working with your body instead of constantly fighting against (1:21) it. (1:22) It's completely free, but we are almost here, so don't wait to grab your spot. (1:26) You'll find the registration link in the show notes, and I would absolutely love to (1:30) see you there.(1:31) Now, today's guest is Sharon Kassar-Ghalia, joining me all the way from Australia, and (1:37) I think you're going to hear very quickly why the two of us connected. (1:41) Sharon has spent two decades working in health and wellness. (1:44) She has a nursing science background and has worked across clinical care, diabetes education, (1:49) metabolic and hormonal health, functional nutrition, and functional medicine.(1:54) But Sharon hasn't only experienced healthcare from the practitioner side. (1:58) She's also experienced what it's like to be the patient searching for answers. (2:01) And that's where so much of our conversation begins.(2:04) We talk about what happens when you know something doesn't feel right, but you keep (2:08) getting passed from specialist to specialist. (2:10) We get into PCOS and PMOS, gut health, hormones, metabolic health, adenomyosis, environmental (2:18) exposures, nervous system regulation, and the importance of looking at the body as (2:22) a whole rather than a collection of individual symptoms. (2:25) But one of my favorite messages from this conversation is something Sharon says early (2:29) on.(2:30) You should feel like the CEO of your own body. (2:34) That doesn't mean you have to have all the answers. (2:37) It means you get to ask questions.(2:38) You get to be curious. (2:40) You get to advocate for yourself. (2:42) And if something doesn't feel right, you're allowed to keep looking for answers.(2:46) And I think there's an important shift that happens when we stop immediately asking, (2:50) what's wrong with me? (2:51) And instead start asking, what's been happening? (2:54) What's changed? (2:55) What might my body need from me right now? (2:58) That's body wisdom. (3:00) As always, this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should (3:05) not be considered medical advice. (3:07) The views and clinical perspectives shared by our guest are her own and individual health (3:12) needs and treatment decisions should always be discussed with a qualified health care (3:16) provider.(3:17) Now go ahead. (3:18) Maybe grab your favorite beverage. (3:19) Get comfortable.(3:20) Have something nearby to take some notes. (3:23) And let's dive in. (3:24) Here's my conversation with Sharon Kassar-Ghalia.(3:34) Hello and welcome. (3:36) Welcome back to the show. (3:37) And welcome to Sharon.(3:41) I, yeah, we're doing this. (3:44) We're making this work, right? (3:48) Sharon's in Australia, but I think she has so much to offer to the audience and a different (3:54) perspective. (3:55) And I can't wait to dive in.(3:57) So let's start by just telling us about you. (4:02) You know, you've been in this for like 20 years, right? (4:05) Like for quite some time. (4:07) So yeah, so tell us, you know, how you got started with everything that you do, what (4:11) you do and, you know, kind of who you work with.(4:15) Absolutely. (4:15) Firstly, Lindsay, thank you for having me on the show. (4:19) I've been so excited for this for a few weeks now.(4:23) So yeah, you're right. (4:24) I've been in this space for two decades, working with women and men, but working mainly (4:31) with women in a functional space I probably didn't realize 20 years ago. (4:38) And I started in clinical practice.(4:41) So nursing science background and working clinically, you know, in health promotion, (4:48) in treating with extracorporeal shockwave therapy. (4:52) So injuries and working in that setting, working with women to get their pup screens, working (4:58) with kids to work with them for sexually transmitted infections, working with Indigenous (5:03) groups. (5:05) So I've done a lot of that in that health promotion slash, you know, clinical science (5:11) setting and then landed a job with Diabetes Victoria as a nurse holistic health coach.(5:21) And it fit in well with me because having babies and everything else, I could start (5:26) to do some things in my own space. (5:28) And I've been with them for 17 years. (5:32) And that role really broadened out because we started introducing, unfortunately, with (5:38) the prevalence of type 2 diabetes predisposition here, was working with a lot younger people.(5:45) We're working with women who had polycystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS, you know, now with (5:52) the name change and working alongside a lot of a broader category. (5:58) That sort of spanned me out. (6:00) And so at the same time, I ran my own business called the Holistic Health and Wellness Coach.(6:07) So I did that as an addition to what I'm doing now because I knew that there were (6:12) some gaps there. (6:12) So whoever couldn't get into the diabetes program, who were pre-diabetic and ended up (6:19) with type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes and other metabolic issues were falling through (6:24) the gaps. (6:25) So I wanted to provide that space.(6:27) So then I opened my own business for that and worked as a metabolic, you know, in a (6:33) metabolic sort of transition and metabolic practice, but also hormonal work. (6:39) So doing that, you know, sort of then spanned me out into perimenopause and menopause as (6:46) it does and endometriosis and PCOS. (6:48) And as I was working, I was studying more and I picked up on a few, you know, I was (6:53) studying functional nutrition.(6:55) I was halfway through my naturopathy course with Endeavor College of Natural Medicine. (7:01) I was also doing, you know, some other holistic health coaching. (7:06) And then suddenly I found functional medicine about 2010 and decided after my master's that (7:14) I wanted to look for what was seeking me.(7:17) So I always say that whatever is seeking you, whatever you're seeking is seeking you too. (7:22) And that's how I believe I fell in love with functional medicine because I already knew (7:26) it was there. (7:27) So I did the course.(7:28) Cost me a trillion billion to do and a lot of hard work over the years, you know, having (7:35) kids and raising kids and a husband that was on shift work and, you know, just the demands (7:40) of life. (7:41) But I got through it. (7:43) And Embrace was born.(7:45) Embrace was born a couple of years back. (7:48) It was launched, I think, 2023 or 2024. (7:51) Was meant to have launched prior to COVID, but we went into lockdown.(7:55) And as you're aware, Victoria, or might be aware, here in Victoria, we had the longest (7:59) lockdown globally. (8:01) So that shut that down and shut everything down. (8:04) I could only do what I was doing Zoom wise with clients, but people weren't invested (8:08) in their health back then.(8:09) So people had stopped looking alternatively and holistically. (8:14) And so that drove me batty because I was even more determined and even more that other side. (8:26) And yeah, that was another story.(8:30) But yeah, that sort of made things more difficult. (8:33) So I've worked through COVID and then Embrace was born and I'm here as a functional medicine (8:39) practitioner, my business name and logo. (8:43) And I've been in this space for Embrace since then.(8:47) And that's been a growing journey, Lindsay. (8:50) Absolutely. (8:51) Yeah.(8:51) Wow. (8:52) Yeah, you've had quite the journey, for sure. (8:57) What are some of like the biggest kind of like differences or challenges that you've (9:02) noticed from, you know, the conventional side? (9:04) You know, I've been on that side too.(9:06) So I'm always interested to see what other people have to say that have as well. (9:10) But yeah, from going, you know, from the conventional side to more of a, you know, (9:14) root cause approach. (9:17) Oh, yeah, absolutely.(9:18) It's apples and pears, isn't it? (9:22) I feel I got sick in between there. (9:25) So I ended up with a unknown autoimmune issue. (9:30) Because I was studying the nursing biomedical science at the time, I needed more (9:35) information on it.(9:37) So I felt like I was being dismissed. (9:40) So I think that helped me move into the alternative side because I started spanning (9:46) out for my own sake to say, right, I'm not happy with the diagnosis you've finally (9:51) given me after being probed and probed and tested and retested in my sensitive stain (9:57) hospital in my first year of university, that I was looking for other answers. (10:03) And I knew I love science.(10:05) I have a science hat. (10:07) But I wanted to complement that because I honour that. (10:10) I wanted to complement that because I knew there was more.(10:12) You know, I thought, well, there's a big universe out there. (10:14) There has to be more to it. (10:16) We can't just say that's one side of the coin.(10:19) We have a flip side too. (10:22) And as I investigated that and investigated that and in my diagnosis about 10 years later (10:29) with endometriosis, I come up with my own protocol because I wasn't happy with conventional (10:36) medicine's answer to everything. (10:38) I wasn't happy with their answer to my, they thought I was diagnosed with bone cancer and (10:44) leukaemia first and then it ended up being rheumatoid arthritis.(10:49) Yeah, I was bedridden. (10:51) I was practically, I couldn't walk. (10:52) I'd lost a lot of weight my first year of uni.(10:56) I was really, really unwell. (10:58) And the rheumatologist had said to my mum because she said, what's going on? (11:02) And he said, send her straight to hospital. (11:04) And he said, I wouldn't be calling the fire brigade if there's not a fire.(11:10) So, we really thought something was happening. (11:12) So, I was a curious person. (11:14) I was always a curious child.(11:17) So, even in that time as I was processing in hospital, I remember it was daffodil day. (11:22) They must have had me on so many cortisone, you know, medication and so forth. (11:27) I was going through the hospital in a wheelchair, just, you know, passing through and visiting (11:33) everyone and giving them daffodils and still wondering what's happening to me.(11:39) So, I always was vested in that. (11:41) And as I said, not happy with conventional medicine's answer. (11:45) I was grateful for the nursing care, the hospital care.(11:48) I was grateful for that. (11:50) I understand that. (11:51) Working with nurses, I've lectured them in the past.(11:55) I've worked with them in their study. (11:58) So, I appreciate them. (12:00) But I didn't appreciate what I was the diagnosis or what I was going home with.(12:05) So, me being who I am, I was really looking for more answers. (12:09) And I did that. (12:10) So, I found my own protocols and I fought my way through back to health and healing (12:17) by saying, right, I'm going to look at this in a holistic lens or a functional medicine lens, (12:23) which I probably wasn't aware of at the time.(12:25) I said to my dad, go to the local library for me and get this book because I couldn't, (12:29) I was bedridden. (12:30) I couldn't move. (12:31) So, he had to, they had to do everything for me.(12:34) So, he'd come back with probably a dozen books at a time and I'd be, right, (12:38) take them back, bring me this. (12:39) And I was just looking at more and more. (12:41) And that's where it come from, that thirst for more in that.(12:45) And that's where I studied naturopathy after that, you know. (12:48) So, I really needed to take a bite size in becoming a practitioner of this sort of area. (12:58) Yeah, yeah, yeah.(12:59) I mean, maybe that's why we clicked so well too when we first met because, you know, (13:04) my story was somewhat similar. (13:06) I never did the conventional route, but, you know, I ended up being diagnosed with (13:10) like lupus and then what we knew was celiac. (13:13) And yeah, I never got to a point where it was, you know, organ damage of any kind.(13:19) Like we caught it early enough. (13:20) But I think I knew in my heart after, you know, after my role in traditional healthcare (13:27) for all those years that I was like, they're not going to serve me. (13:31) They're not going to, they're just going to slap a bandaid on it, probably tell me I have, (13:35) you know, heartburn or something and give me pepsin.(13:39) Like, you know. (13:41) Yeah. (13:42) So, yeah, yeah.(13:45) And I think, I mean, I think that resonates with the audience too because a lot of women, (13:50) you know, PCOS, PMOS now, but, you know, whatever it might be or whatever other diagnosis (13:56) they might be dealing with, they're kind of just told to, you know, this is how it's (14:00) going to be, right? (14:01) You know, so how do you kind of, you know, what do you see like with your clients or (14:06) even, you know, in the day to day as far as kind of bridging that gap, you know, and helping (14:11) them understand that there's a, you know, something deeper going on here and not just (14:17) treating the symptoms? (14:19) Absolutely. (14:20) You know, Lindsay, I call it women's wisdom because I think we all have that intuition (14:27) that there's something more and I bridge the gap in the work I do. (14:32) I'm here because of the silos I went through myself.(14:36) I was sent from specialist to specialist area and given no actual conclusion or what do (14:47) I do next sort of thing. (14:48) So I say to women who come here mainly because they're exhausted and they've been to every (14:55) specialist and they've been to every avenue and they've had every test done and they've (15:00) got orthorexia from foods because they don't know what to eat anymore. (15:05) They're scared to eat.(15:06) They're scared to breathe, scared to eat, scared to go out, scared to do anything outside (15:17) the norm because it's going to create a trigger or a flare. (15:23) So I say to women, you know, who come in, I'm glad you're here because we can find out (15:29) what's going on underneath all of that. (15:31) And if you have a hunch that something is not right, then you should investigate that (15:37) further.(15:38) If your practitioner is not giving you the answers, if your specialist is not giving (15:42) you the answers, you have every right to empower yourself and get the answers. (15:47) And I think too often women are so scared because they'll say, oh, but, you know, I (15:52) wanted to ask my GP this and this, but my general practitioner was sort of overpowering (15:58) me and overriding what I was saying. (16:00) You don't need this test.(16:03) It's not what you think it is. (16:05) I don't think it's this. (16:06) It's anxiety.(16:07) It's depression. (16:08) So they're being undermined. (16:10) And, you know, I had a lady that came in for PMOS now, as we say, as we call it, the new (16:16) coined PCOS.(16:19) And, you know, she was told she was depressed and she needs to zip up her mouth and not (16:27) eat anymore. (16:29) And that was his answer to her. (16:32) He called it the PCOS.(16:33) She had a PCOS diagnosis, but that was the answer. (16:36) And she was just having to live with that. (16:40) Well, not to mention, not to mention, like, the approach.(16:43) If he literally, is that what the doctor said? (16:46) Like, I mean, that's, that's awful. (16:48) That's, I mean, that would like mess with you, you know, on top of whatever else you (16:53) have going on and you're trying to figure out what's going on. (16:55) Right.(16:56) That's crazy. (16:58) Oh, my God. (16:58) So dismissive, the dismissive approach, the, you know, the sort of, yeah, the way that (17:07) she, the abrupt approach that she was led to feel leaving that doctor's office, that it (17:16) was her fault she had this diagnosis because she ate too much or she was hungry or, you (17:22) know, not looking at the other issues.(17:25) So that, again, that hierarchy with the medical profession and not, you know, we should be (17:32) on par with our, our practitioners and feel like we're the CEOs of our own body. (17:38) If we don't feel that we are empowered enough to speak up and say, no, well, I'm not happy (17:44) with that, then something is wrong. (17:47) We're letting, we're allowing them to be in the driver's seat.(17:50) And I think this is what's happening in medical system. (17:53) It's been happening for such a long time with this overprescribing and the overmedicalization. (17:59) Yeah, yeah.(18:00) But it's, you know. (18:02) And it's almost like to no fault of their own. (18:04) I mean, that's how they're taught, you know, right.(18:07) But, you know, I mean, and my next question was going to be, what do you think of the (18:11) new, of the name change, you know, from PCOS to PMOS? (18:15) Because, yeah, because like, to me, that is signaling that maybe they're starting to (18:19) realize, you know, that it is more than just, you know, eat less, move more. (18:24) Like they, I feel like a lot of people, you know, a lot of women that I've talked to have (18:27) been told. (18:28) So, yeah, what are your thoughts on that? (18:30) Absolutely.(18:31) I love the name change. (18:33) I'm on an advisory board with Monash University because I work with women with PMOS through (18:41) the diabetes program. (18:43) And I mean, this is our voice finally speaking volumes because I was getting so sick and tired (18:52) of seeing clients who had every single sign out there related to PMOS diagnosis, as you'd (19:01) be aware.(19:03) They were coming back from the conventional setting with, oh, look, they said it's not (19:09) polycystic ovarian syndrome because I have no follicles in my ultrasound. (19:16) It's, you know, it's not diagnosed on my ultrasound. (19:18) And I'll have to say to them, PCOS or PMOS is not always diagnosed with an ultrasound.(19:24) There are other symptoms. (19:25) And if there are enough of those symptoms and everything's happening for you, you know, (19:30) as we said, if it looks like, if it walks like a duck and looks like a duck, it's one (19:37) of those things where I feel holistically with that sort of, with that name, with PCOS (19:46) branding or name, that wasn't fully encapsulating the holistic issues that PMOS brings with (19:56) that. (19:56) So when that name change came in a couple of weeks back now, a month ago, I think it was (20:04) thanks to the Lancet Journal, we, a lot of us were like, thank goodness.(20:12) Because I think a lot more women are going to come out of the conventional setting feeling (20:16) hurt and feeling like they're not going crazy. (20:20) Yeah, yeah, for sure. (20:23) I mean, I even, I recorded with her recently, but she was diagnosed with PCOS at a young (20:32) age and she was like, you know, I didn't even really think about what it meant even (20:37) at the time, you know, but because it was so focused on ovaries, right? (20:41) Just polycystic ovary syndrome or ovarian syndrome, you know, and now obviously they (20:46) realized, so she's like, even in my head, like I wasn't even thinking about anything (20:50) outside of that.(20:51) Like I was just focused on cysts on the ovaries, you know, and now obviously we're, you (20:56) know, we're starting to, to understand that there's the metabolic component and so many, (21:01) so many other things going on, right? (21:05) That's right. (21:05) Metabolic endocrine, you know, that whole insulin resistance issue. (21:13) Yes, yes.(21:15) It's the gut component. (21:16) I mean, how many I've had come in to see me, young women who have that gut component (21:21) that's not even looked at in the conventional setting, you know, there's more to it. (21:26) And I'm glad we're honoring all of that now.(21:30) Yeah. (21:31) And I think it'll be, it'll be picked up readily. (21:34) It'll be picked up more so for more women.(21:37) And so they can go off and do what they need to about getting treatment, sorting the (21:42) correct treatment for it. (21:43) Exactly. (21:44) I've been saying, because even when I, you know, decided to kind of specialize in PCOS, (21:50) when I was doing the research, it was like 12 to 20 percent or something of menstruating (21:54) women was what I was finding that have it.(21:58) And I mean, I've been on other podcasts even, and I've said, I think, I think we're (22:02) probably upwards of 30 percent, if not, you know, if not more. (22:06) I mean, I think there's so many other cases out there that because they've just either (22:10) they don't know it, they've been to the doctor and it's just getting missed or, you (22:14) know, misdiagnosed, missed altogether, you know, whatever it might be. (22:17) I think, I think we're going to see a lot more cases of it.(22:22) Yeah, absolutely. (22:23) I agree. (22:24) Yeah, yeah.(22:26) So you mentioned the gut health thing. (22:28) So, you know, when people automatically, you know, when we talk gut health, they may not (22:36) understand that it's, we're talking more about like the microbiome, right? (22:39) You know, not just digest, simple digestion issues. (22:43) So how can, you know, how can the gut affect hormones, you know, whether it is PCOS, PMOS (22:50) or, you know, anything else, endometriosis, whatever that might be, what role does the (22:55) gut play in that? (22:57) Absolutely.(22:58) So if we're not clearing hormones adequately through the gut, through the estrobilone, (23:06) which are estrogen receptors in the gut, then we're not adequately utilizing hormones (23:14) the best way we can. (23:16) So we end up with an imbalance of hormones, because to explain that further, if we're (23:23) not excreting xenoestrogens or recirculated estrogen adequately, then it can cause chaos (23:36) and that can cause a total imbalance to the gut microbiome, to the bacteria specifically. (23:44) And then that increases lipopolysaccharides to move into the microbiome to further create (23:54) ill health.(23:56) That then, with the vagus nerve, will affect brain. (24:02) That signaling will affect thyroid because of the axis between the gut and the rest of (24:10) the organs. (24:10) And we know that a gut that is a gut with dysbiosis or hyperpermeability, which is where (24:24) we're having a disproportionate number of good bacteria and bad bacteria, are going (24:30) to cause implications on thyroid health.(24:33) So if thyroid health is off in that sense, then the signaling is off and that can create (24:41) further irregular cycles that can create metabolic issues that can create insulin resistance (24:48) as well. (24:49) So the gut is integral to the whole part and parcel of it. (24:54) I'm fascinated in it and I'm fascinated that we're only 10 years into our understanding (25:00) of the gut microbiome where Hippocrates said that it begins and that all disease manifests (25:06) from the gut.(25:08) So it's sort of exciting to see it, at the same time crucial not to miss. (25:15) So I feel that when we're talking about PMOS, we can't dismiss the gut totally because (25:24) often the women that sit in my chair or my couch over here, they all have some degree (25:32) of gut issues, whether that is poor gut bacteria or whether that's leaky gut or malabsorption (25:39) issues or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which has that potential to affect the risk (25:45) of Hashimoto's disease. (25:47) So until we sit there and we look at that, that some of these issues can be masked, that (25:55) we don't know the correlation or the connection until we start doing all the mapping for it (26:01) in our session.(26:02) So it's important to really honor the role of the gut in looking at hormones because (26:11) it's a bit like taking, I'll just say like HIT, like how many clients will come in and (26:18) they'll say they're on hormone replacement therapy and suddenly they've got a whole (26:22) host of other things going on. (26:24) If they're not adequately excreting those hormones through the gut and then through (26:29) bile into the liver, et cetera, into the third phase of detoxification, then they're going (26:34) to have issues. (26:35) They're going to have a buildup of these hormones.(26:37) And it's a bit like sort of our bin not being collected and then going out into the trash. (26:51) It's that recirculating of estrogen and I think hormones that should be disposed of. (26:59) The other thing too I find with women with PMOS will have a really poor stool as well.(27:07) So their elimination's not great. (27:09) So they might not always have an elimination. (27:12) So they might not always be going to the toilet every day and not realizing until I speak (27:19) to them that that's actually an issue as well.(27:22) So important to look at excretion, assimilation, absorption. (27:27) Gut has that role, obviously, with all of those. (27:30) Yeah, I mean, that was part of my journey.(27:35) I went to the functional health, like I said, and yeah, I had no idea. (27:41) You don't learn that in nursing school, right, about the gut. (27:46) I didn't realize, though, that I guess it was that new still, though.(27:50) You said like 10 years that it's, I guess, really been talked about and studied. (27:55) Yeah, only 10 years. (27:56) We understand the role of the microbiome in our food choices, our mood, our everyday life, (28:08) how we get up in the morning, how we get to bed at night, our energy levels.(28:13) Our gut is forever speaking to our brain. (28:17) It actually speaks to our brain before our brain speaks. (28:20) We think it's the opposite, but it's not.(28:22) Yeah. (28:24) I love that phrase, my gut microbiome made me do it, (28:29) and I learned that in my functional medicine course. (28:32) I think it was a woman in the U.S. who had gone to court for, (28:39) well, was going to be sentenced for murdering her husband, (28:43) so wore a t-shirt, apparently, that said my microbiome made me do it.(28:49) I have not heard that. (28:53) Interesting. (28:54) And if you look on Amazon, you will see t-shirts that my microbiome made me do it.(28:59) Oh, my gosh. (29:01) So, your microbiome. (29:01) I mean, when we look at our cycles, I mean, our gut microbiome is so entwined in our cycle.(29:09) It knows exactly what's going on. (29:13) I have women say just before they bleed, they may have burning in their gut. (29:18) They may get nauseated.(29:19) It speaks so much in terms of, it increases prostaglandins, so all the pain chemicals. (29:29) It's just, yeah, it's quite, you know, that women's intuition comes from that gut instinct. (29:37) Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah.(29:39) That's the exciting bit. (29:41) Yeah, and so that brings up a good point, too, because then if you're at it, like, (29:44) I know, at least here in the U.S., birth control is the common go-to (29:48) for women with, you know, PCOS or PMOS. (29:52) So then I would imagine that's going to be affecting, right, if you're not, you know, (29:57) affecting the gut and how, again, how you're processing hormones and the role that plays (30:03) in everything.(30:03) I mean, even after, probably after you get off of it, right? (30:07) Absolutely. (30:07) Yeah, yeah. (30:08) Absolutely.(30:10) We know, yeah, like, antibiotic use. (30:14) Yeah, of course. (30:15) You know, which is, I think I hear every second or third person right now, because we're just (30:21) hit winter here, is on a course, and we know that that wipes out colonies of good bacteria.(30:29) You know, we know that we don't have, we've got a barren desert in comparison to, you know, (30:39) maybe tribes in Africa, like in the Dandes, like, who have really flourishing microbiome. (30:48) Look, they're probably eating 80 to 100 different berries than what we have. (30:53) And there's not, the agricultural movement is different there as well, because we are (30:58) subject to fertilizers and glyphosates, which wreck and ruin microbiome, unfortunately, (31:05) and a lot of other pesticides used readily on our fruits and veg and other foods and crops.(31:12) I mean, look at gluten, gluten intolerance. (31:15) I mean, you can't find a PMOS client who doesn't have gluten intolerance. (31:21) They go hand in hand.(31:23) Yeah, yeah, whether they know it or not. (31:25) But yeah, yeah, yeah. (31:28) And that's, you know, that's one thing too, I've said, you know, I was never diagnosed (31:31) with it.(31:32) But like looking back, I definitely feel like there were signs, you know, there were signs (31:37) years that I had stuff going on that I ignored. (31:40) But even I feel like I might have had signs even of, you know, maybe like PCOS at the time. (31:45) You know, I mean, I went, I went like almost a year without a cycle.(31:49) You know, like just things that now looking back, knowing what I know, and I'm like, (31:53) oh my gosh, like, I might have been headed that way. (31:57) I might have had it at some point, you know. (31:59) I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Sharon, because I think it brought us right (32:04) back to one of the biggest messages I want you to hear on this podcast.(32:08) Listen to your body. (32:09) No shame, no judgment, just curiosity. (32:13) You don't have to understand every symptom or have all the answers, but you can start (32:17) noticing.(32:18) You can ask better questions. (32:20) You can advocate for yourself. (32:21) And sometimes you can simply slow down long enough to hear what your body has been trying (32:26) to tell you.(32:27) And if that message resonated with you today, this is your last chance to join me for Stop (32:32) Starting Over. (32:33) We're just a few days away from the free workshop on September 30th. (32:37) And if you're tired of starting another plan, trying harder, doing well for a few weeks (32:42) and somehow ending up right back where you started, I created this workshop just for (32:47) you.(32:48) We're going to look at why that cycle keeps happening and what can change when you stop (32:52) finding your body and start understanding it. (32:55) Registration is free and the link is in the show notes. (32:58) So grab your spot now and I'll see you on September 30th.(33:01) And if you want to keep this conversation going, send me the word body on Instagram. (33:06) Tell me what stood out from today's episode, what you're struggling with, or what you'd (33:11) like us to talk about next. (33:13) I'll also send you the link to join us inside the Healthier After community.(33:17) If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share with (33:21) someone who needs to hear it. (33:23) Because healing doesn't come from doing more. (33:26) It comes from understanding better.(33:28) I'm sending you so much love and I'll see you on the next episode of PCOS Unfiltered. (33:33) Nourish. (33:34) Heal.(33:35) Thrive.