Dr. Anya Szigeti is a board certified chiropractic internist specializing in functional medicine and nutrition. In part two of this series, we explore more how gut health impacts hormones, stress, and PCOS. You'll learn about the role of trauma and nervous system dysregulation, and why conventional medicine often misses the mark when it comes to healing. We talk about how personalized nutrition and mindful habits can help you reclaim your health and balance your hormones—without obsessing over the scale. Whether you’re navigating PCOS, autoimmune issues, or just want to feel better in your body, this episode offers both science and soul to help you thrive.
In this second episode of the 3-part series, we cover:
Key Takeaways:
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(0:01 - 0:23) Hey there, and welcome back to PCOS Unfiltered, where we ditch the fads and get real about healing with PCOS. I'm your host, Lindsie, and today's episode is extra special because I'm joined by Dr. Anya Szigeti, a chiropractic internist specializing in functional medicine and nutrition. We're diving into the role of gut health on hormones and PCOS.
(0:23 - 0:46) You're going to walk away with real-world insights, a few laughs, and lots of empowerment. Let's jump in. How does functional medicine differ in the way it views healing compared to conventional quick fixes? Another good question. (0:49 - 1:15) We look at functional medicine in the realm that I'm in, holistic functional medicine. We really focus on the cause or the trigger and not so much on suppressing a symptom. We're looking at something that's personalized, specific to the patient and their health scenario, but also in a way that's going to empower them.
(1:16 - 1:45) Asking, why is this happening versus how can we mute or mask the symptom? Then once we identify certain imbalance, I personally will recommend things like food as medicine. We're focusing on foods that nourish and heal and set aside foods that maybe don't serve us during this phase of life. I also look at incorporating supplements and herbs to help to bring the body into balance.
(1:46 - 2:25) It's typically either we have an excess like dysbiosis in the gut, for example, or a deficiency from a certain nutrient like magnesium is a big one, or vitamin D, for example. Then we will add those in and then look at different lifestyle modifications that have huge impacts on our overall health, like the proper mindset and trying to be really mindful and movement and sleep and stress management. We look at all those different pieces of the puzzle, obviously look at what the patient's doing currently and then what do we need to focus on for their specific phase of life.
(2:26 - 2:53) It's an empowering process because my goal as a holistic functional medicine is to guide you, to educate you, to equip you, empower you so that you can make the best decisions for your health moving forward. I love all of my patients, but I don't want them to need me forever. So that's a huge difference from allopathic medicine or the conventional medicine business model.
(2:53 - 3:13) I'm here to help guide you along your journey and transform your health and empower you and then set you free. Yeah, that's definitely a huge one. Again, I see a lot of people that just you get into the healthcare system and you're stuck there and you think you need them.
(3:13 - 3:35) And then like you said about using foods to heal, that was a big wake up call for me that I could actually eat to heal my body. Yes, I was eating and it was hurting my body for years, but wow, I could actually eat better foods and help heal my body in that way too. That was a big one.
(3:36 - 4:10) So stress, we often talk about cortisol and stress and PCOS. You've already talked a little bit about the stressor piece, but can you explain the gut brain connection and how chronic stress affects both gut health and hormone regulation? Yeah, so chronic stress, when we're kind of looking at that, we're looking at not only stressors that we consciously perceive, but whatever our body subconsciously perceives. So that's what ties in a lot of the trauma piece of the puzzle.
(4:11 - 4:28) Because if we go through situations in life, things can trigger those past traumas that we don't even consciously know, which is a little bit mind blowing when you think about it. But so all of that is happening. So our brains are processing all of these things.
(4:28 - 4:44) Obviously the chronic stressor is like getting cut off in traffic or getting chased by a dog or something like that. Your body's going to go into that stress mode. But it's also could have, if someone says something and triggers an old emotional traumatic event, that can be a stress as well.
(4:45 - 4:56) And so what that's doing is it's triggering the HPA axis. So the hypothalamic, wow, I can't talk. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis.
(4:56 - 5:03) That's a mouthful. It is a mouthful. And so that's going to increase cortisol.
(5:03 - 5:15) So now cortisol often gets a bad rap because everyone's like, oh, it's the stress hormone, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, yes, but it's also necessary for life. This is the hormone that allows the moms to pick the cars up off the babies.
(5:16 - 5:32) We need cortisol for sure. We will die without it. But the problem is most of us are stuck in this sympathetic overdrive, sympathetic nervous system from all these chronic stress and triggers where our bodies are constantly in this fight or flight mode.
(5:32 - 5:57) We're pumping out so much cortisol that it's inhibiting the parasympathetic, which is the rest, digest, regenerate, heal, procreate. That nervous system is being inhibited because they both can't operate at the same time. When we're stuck in that sympathetic overdrive, that can cause like bloating and can trigger a leaky gut, inflammation.
(5:57 - 6:16) It's going to disrupt our body's ability to be sensitive to insulin and properly produce our hormones. And it's like this vicious cycle that we get stuck in the sympathetic nervous system overdrive, and then our bodies aren't able to regenerate, to heal, to reproduce, to rest. Yeah, yeah.
(6:16 - 6:50) Makes a lot of sense. I mean, I feel like we kind of, let me ask you this, but I feel like we kind of answered, but how do things like trauma that you've mentioned already, the burnout, the nervous system dysregulation, disrupt gut function and in turn worsen PCOS? So if we think about something like the unresolved traumas that I mentioned about or adverse childhood experiences, and then our bodies are kind of burnt out in that stressed system, we're stuck in that fight or flight mode. And so everything is shifted away.
(6:50 - 7:01) Even blood flow is shifted away from the digestive system, reproductive systems. The gut becomes inflamed. The cortisol elevations are going to hijack all of our hormone balances.
(7:02 - 7:30) And so when we are evaluating the whole person and all the pieces, we need to look at things like past traumas, the stress resiliency, the nervous system balance or imbalance, because they are going to for sure all negatively affect gut function and hormone imbalance and worsen things like PCOS as well. And Hashimoto's thyroiditis too. And yeah.
(7:30 - 7:50) And sometimes those can all go hand in hand. You know, that's why I feel like that's probably why you see like autoimmune conditions paired with PCOS or, you know, a couple autoimmune conditions, you know, together. And I mean, I know I remember hearing it back in the day that, yeah, like, you know, you usually don't just have one autoimmune condition.
(7:50 - 8:00) You usually have a couple. Unfortunately, once you have one, they say it kind of opens the door for others. Yeah.
(8:00 - 8:48) And the way I get it is that the majority of autoimmune conditions or anything with like a syndrome is they have a lot of foundational similarities, unfortunately, imbalances, foundational imbalances that are similar. And so if you have systemic inflammation and you have, you know, you've had poor stress resilience and you have leaky gut and dysbiosis and poor nutrition choices, all of those can lead to, you know, triggering certain types of autoimmune conditions, but also PCOS and different types of syndromes too, because a lot of those foundational pieces, those foundational imbalances are similar across the board. And it's almost like it's going to find the weak link for you and head there and manifest.
(8:49 - 8:57) Yeah. And then it's a domino effect because we, you know, unfortunately with allopathic conventional medicine is looking at the symptom. So they're addressing the symptom.
(8:58 - 9:11) They're not looking at typically the foundational imbalances. And so then you're just continuing that doors open and just continuing down the path of other imbalances and diagnoses and different things. Yeah.
(9:11 - 9:38) Yeah. So what are some practical first steps to begin healing the gut, especially for women and women with PCOS? So I love to do this with diet. So, and not saying diet as in like mindset or lifestyle whatsoever, but looking at foods that are going to calm inflammation and help to repair and rebuild and rebalance.
(9:38 - 10:17) And so looking at anti-inflammatory foods, looking at foods that are balanced out the blood sugar and stabilize the blood sugar. So we're looking at full actual foods, like single ingredient foods, looking at plant based fibers, lots of different colors, wide variety eating the rainbow, for example, looking at healthy fats and some of my favorite healthy fats that help with balancing hormones and healing the gut are things like avocados, avocado oil, coconut, coconut oil, olives, olive oil. And then we're looking at high quality protein.
(10:18 - 10:41) So you want to make sure that you're getting, if you're consuming meat products, for example, animal products that you're getting grass fed, red meats and organ meats. I know organ meats are tough for some people. I have some, I'm working on a couple of recipes that incorporate some different organ meats because they just are so nutrient rich that I want to try to bring those to America.
(10:42 - 10:59) I'm actually in Europe right now and eating organ meat is much more prevalent here. And so I have, I'm practicing with some recipes that I can bring back to my USA people. And then if you're eating poultry and eggs, making sure you're selecting organic.
(10:59 - 11:18) And then if you're consuming seafood, selecting wild caught. And then if you're doing plant-based protein, just be mindful that we typically need to consume a higher amount of plant-based protein just because we're not absorbing as much. And so, but you want to make sure you're selecting organic from those.
(11:18 - 11:43) And then things that typically aren't serving us in this phase of healing are things like gluten, dairy and processed sugar are probably the three biggest ones that I would say, you know, let's hold off on those for this phase of life and work on focusing on the things that are going to heal and nourish your body versus the things that can irritate and cause further imbalance. Yeah. Yeah.
(11:44 - 12:08) One thing like during my 90 day program and my mindful eating challenge that I have is we talk about how we as a society are overfed and undernourished. And so, yeah, so even, even if you just start adding in some of those nutrient dense foods without even removing anything, because that's where the mind starts playing tricks on you, of course. But yeah, even just by starting to add in some of those things, you can start healing.
(12:08 - 12:24) And then because as you've talked about, your body is very, very smart. It's going to start saying, you know what? I don't need all that other stuff anymore because you're giving me all these nutrients that I do need with these foods. So you know what? Those other foods don't taste very good anymore.
(12:24 - 12:26) So yeah. Yeah. That's a huge one.
(12:28 - 12:49) And how does nutrition differ with the functional medicine side versus, you know, traditional medicine, diet, culture, you know, all that stuff. Yeah. So functional medicine is about abundance and healing and nourishment and not restriction.
(12:50 - 13:15) And, you know, the way that I work, I personalize it to the individual's biology. So it's not just like a one size fits all, but it's about supporting optimal function, hormone balancing versus chasing a number on a scale or, you know, a visual image of what you want to look like because that traditional diet culture is very triggering. It's restrictive.
(13:16 - 13:43) It is unattainable, unachievable. And I think, again, we can all raise our hand and say we're guilty of trying all these crazy diets and things because we were told that they would help us and make us feel better. And, you know, whatever false promise we were fed to do all these things that actually cause way more damage, not just to the scale, but they can tank your hormones like crazy.
(13:43 - 13:59) They can damage your gut. They stress your thyroid out and stress your adrenal glands out and they can cause and be actual one of the root causes of issues later on down the road as well. So I think that we could add that to the list of things that a lot of us didn't know.
(14:00 - 14:10) Yes. Yeah. It's like, when did eating get so complicated? You know, it shouldn't like, yeah, it shouldn't be that complicated.
(14:10 - 14:25) And then if you are the one that's eating, like we're supposed to eat, like our ancestors ate back in the day, like you're not the normal one. You're the one that, you know, like, then they think you are on a diet. So it's, it's a, yeah.
(14:25 - 14:33) I get examined anywhere we go. Oh, yeah. What's this? What's that? Like, why are you eating this? Why are you doing that? Like, why aren't you? Oh, okay.
(14:33 - 14:41) It's fine. This is just like, this is what helps my body to stay nourished and balanced. And I feel the best and, you know.
(14:41 - 14:45) Exactly. Yeah. And then the point you made about, you know, chasing number on a scale.
(14:45 - 15:07) I mean, yeah, that's huge too. You know, whether it's a weight loss journey or a health journey, you know, you, you have to really go by how you feel and all those other small little things that add up, you know, those small wins and stuff, instead of just that number, that number is like the tiniest, tiniest little piece. It's good to have some information.
(15:08 - 15:20) Yes. Yeah. Yes. Okay. There are areas we definitely know, okay, if you're at this certain number, then, you know, we definitely need to make some drastic changes. But I think we can tell that without.
(15:20 - 15:27) Exactly. Yeah. And especially stepping on the scale every day, because like you said, these things don't happen overnight.
(15:27 - 15:39) So there's no way that overnight, that number on the scale is going to change that much. And then you also think then at that point, well, I'm doing all this stuff and it's not working, you know? So yeah, like. Keep yourself up and then.
(15:39 - 15:46) Yes. Yep. Yep. Increase your cortisol. Yes, exactly. We're just spiraling over here.
(15:46 - 15:52) Yeah. But then you can't look at the composition either. And I'm sure you, you touch on this a good bit as well.
(15:52 - 15:58) But women, we want muscle. We need muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. Yeah.
(15:58 - 16:12) I'd rather be, you know, 10 pounds heavier than I'm supposed to be and have muscle than be an ideal number on the scale and be fat, like have fat content and no muscle. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
(16:13 - 16:26) So are there any specific foods or habits that you recommend to support gut health and hormone balance? Yes. Some of my favorites are bone broth. Love bone broth, especially homemade bone broth.
(16:26 - 16:39) Um, leafy greens, uh, cruciferous vegetables. My, one of my favorites for hormone balancing is broccoli sprouts. It's very detoxifying for estrogen specifically.
(16:40 - 16:57) Um, and that is something that I very often will grow myself. Get like a little sprouting jar and make my own broccoli sprouts and just add them to literally everything on top of salads, on top of meats, on top of eggs, whatever you're having. Um, I, I have often throw them into a smoothie as well and just blend them up.
(16:57 - 17:16) Um, so that way you're getting, there's zero excuses to incorporate broccoli sprouts into soups, everything. And then some of the, like the high quality proteins that I kind of mentioned before and the, um, the healthy fats as well. Um, but there's a few, um, lifestyle habits that I want to recommend too.
(17:16 - 17:36) So making sure that you're chewing your food, which is like mind blowing to me that I didn't do this. And I was like crazy rushed when I was eating, especially in the military and corporate America. Um, but sitting down and actually chewing your food and being mindful.
(17:36 - 18:03) Um, I go through this entire series called love your guts, all about digestive wellness and, um, optimization. And one of the key pieces is like actually physically making your own food and that triggers all of your digestive juices to start the process and then physically chewing your food. So it's the consistency of baby food before you swallow it, because that's the majority of the mechanical digestion is in the mouth.
(18:03 - 18:18) And then if you're swallowing bigger chunks of food, especially like proteins or like very fibrous foods, your body's not going to be able to break that down. So then it's going to stress your digestive system, trying, you know, attempting to break that down. And then you're not going to absorb the nutrients from it.
(18:19 - 18:32) And so that's, that's a big piece of it. Um, so eating mindfully, um, avoiding late night meals. So there's a lot of talk about fasting and intermittent fasting and all these different things.
(18:32 - 18:48) But, you know, we were kind of made to have our last meal kind of around sundown, which throws me out of the loop here because the sun sets at like 830 here. It's like still light out. I'm like, what's happening? And then it rises at like five something.
(18:48 - 19:04) And I'm like, what is going on? So that throws me for a loop here. But in Florida, when the sun is setting, like that's when we should be having, you know, finishing up our last meal and then not eating again for 12 to 14 hours. And so I think, you know, again, raise my hand myself.
(19:04 - 19:21) I definitely did this. Late night eating is usually not the healthiest choices. It's usually something sweet, something salty, um, or something alcoholic that, uh, you know, we definitely don't need to be having any of those before we go to bed because then we're overloading our digestive system again.
(19:21 - 19:41) We could be imbalancing our hormones again. Um, so those are a couple of key pieces, um, making sure that we're moving our body and our bowels every day. Make sure we're moving those and then practicing mindfulness.
(19:41 - 20:07) However, that resonates for you individually, focusing on quality sleep and getting sunlight, not only in the morning, but actually in the afternoons as well. And so actually one of the things that I've started doing is not wearing my sunglasses like almost ever anymore because the sunlight helps to set our circadian rhythms, which is often thought of as our sleep-wake rhythms. It's another way to look at it.
(20:07 - 20:30) And that's helping to balance out our cortisol, helping to balance out our melatonin, getting our quality sleep, getting us into the parasympathetic rest and digest nervous system. And so it's helping with all, basically everything we've talked about today. Yeah, I actually, uh, read something about that not too long ago about the sunglasses and yeah, and removing them.
(20:30 - 21:20) Yeah. So it's very interesting. Um, so can you share a client's story where gut healing significantly improved their symptoms, maybe specific PCOS symptoms? Yep. So, um, I had a patient that had really severe, like cystic acne, very irregular periods, um, and like a lot of fatigue. And so we did a stool test on her and it showed candida overgrowth, which is, um, a common fungus, but when it's overgrown, that is signifying to me that the immune system is, um, not resilient. It is worn down because a normal immune system, a healthy immune system can handle, um, and balance out candida.
(21:20 - 21:37) And then she had pretty significant dysbiosis. So this is a imbalance in the, um, the microbes, the healthy microbes within her gut. Um, the food sensitivity test showed that she was sensitive to about a dozen healthy foods.
(21:38 - 22:04) So just a little bit of information on food sensitivity, because there's a lot of different levels. And of course, with everything, a lot of misinformation, but typically with an allergy to a food, you're going to know because you're going to have a response to that food pretty quickly. And so one way to think about that is like an anaphylactic reaction with your, like your throat closing with someone that has a peanut allergy, for example.
(22:04 - 22:21) So I don't typically test for allergies. I test for sensitivities because a sensitivity can take up to 72 hours, so three days before a symptom shows up. And the symptom can be very vague, like fatigue or joint pain.
(22:22 - 22:49) It can be very specific, like a specific symptom like diarrhea or constipation or bloating. But when it's three days later, it's really hard to tell. Was it that banana that I had for breakfast? Or the broccoli I had for dinner? Or the blueberries I had for dessert? You know, what caused it? So that's why I really love sensitivity testing.
(22:49 - 23:13) And the food sensitivity test that I use also has that gut barrier panel in it. So I'm able to see how damaged is the gut lining and how much work do we need to do to really start to rebuild? So we were able to figure out things like bananas, broccoli, and blueberries were actually causing her sensitivities and causing her issues. So we pulled them because they weren't serving her on this journey right now.
(23:13 - 23:25) So luckily, she was very compliant. And we worked together pretty... I don't want to say aggressively, because that's kind of a scary term. But she was very dedicated for three months.
(23:26 - 23:35) And we did the target nutrients and gut protocols. And then her skin started to clear up. And her period started to balance.
(23:35 - 23:43) And she started to have more energy. So it's like, I don't want to paint it as like, oh, it was that easy. But in a sense, it can be.
(23:43 - 23:58) It can be once we get identified the foundational imbalances and work to resolve that. And I have lovely, very compliant patients that follow the recommendations because it's your body, your choice. At the end of the day, I'm the guide.
(23:58 - 24:07) I will, you know, interpret the tests for you and translate them in so you can understand. But you're the one doing the things. Like, I'm not sitting there with you at every meal. (24:07 - 24:15) And every time that you're eating something saying, don't have that. Like, that's not how it works. It's your body, your choice.
(24:16 - 24:21) This is what's serving you. This is what's not serving you. And we go from there and work together.
(24:21 - 24:42) Yeah, yeah. So I actually do have a food timeline tool that is in the notes that you can go in and check out. But it basically, without getting the testing, you know, even before you get the test, I like, like, I wish I would have done that myself.
(24:43 - 24:46) Yeah. Something like that. I did eventually get the testing.
(24:46 - 25:01) But you can start tracking some of this stuff. Even, you know, if you take like three days, because like you just said, okay, how am I feeling when I eat the food? How am I feeling during? How am I feeling right after? And then, yeah, long after. And whether that's, you know, a couple hours later, the next morning, three days later. (25:02 - 25:09) You can start putting some pieces together and start like realizing, okay, I had that. Now I feel like this. I had it again.
(25:09 - 25:14) I feel it worked, you know. And you can start doing some of these things. Yeah.
(25:14 - 25:25) Even without the full testing. Me too, on that same thought process, because that's a similar tool that I use for my patients as well. It's a simple food log.
(25:26 - 25:30) Yeah. Everybody hates doing it. And trust me, I hated doing it too.
(25:30 - 25:48) But it is so clarifying. One, to physically see what you're consuming and look back on it. But also the accountability of, I'm eating this piece of chocolate and then I have to write it down and send this to somebody else.
(25:49 - 25:55) It's kind of like a, oh, wait a minute. Yeah. Am I really going to do this? Yeah.
(25:55 - 26:03) Yeah. I mean, and if you're prioritizing your health, like I usually say like three days. I think you do the same, right? You know, yeah.
(26:03 - 26:08) Okay, three days. Some people go up to seven, but a minimum of three days. I was going to say seven would be optimal.
(26:08 - 26:22) Or eating the same stuff over and over and over again too. So that's enough. That's why I usually try to say like at least like one weekend day and then like a couple other weekdays.
(26:22 - 26:31) Yeah. Because I feel like a lot of the times running through Friday, we're probably eating a lot of the same stuff. So even if you can include like at least one weekend day on there, that can kind of help.
(26:31 - 27:11) Your routine's probably not normal, depending on what kind of schedule you work. Then yeah, then that can help too. Until next time, keep nourishing your body, healing your heart, and thriving unfiltered and unstoppable.