The MINT Prjct

Mastering Prenatal Nutrition and Gut Health with Dietitian Bridgitte Mallinson

• The MINT Prjct • Season 1 • Episode 24

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What if you could arm yourself with the knowledge to provide the best care for your baby before they're even born? This provocative question sets the stage for our lively discussion with Bridgitte Mallinson, a registered dietitian who specializes in prenatal nutrition and gut health and CEO of Gut Personal. We chat about her journey to becoming an expert in her own body and discuss how nutrition is a vital aspect of prenatal health and postpartum recovery. Bridgitte is here to answer all your burning questions about prenatal supplements and what to focus on nutrition-wise during pregnancy.

We further discuss the significance of prenatal supplements and why it's crucial to start taking them at least six months before planning a pregnancy. Bridgitte shares her experience formulating her very own prenatal supplement and emphasizes the importance of testing these supplements for heavy metals. She also highlights the necessity of having enough of the right nutrients and methylated B vitamins in a prenatal supplement. To complement the nutritional advice, we delve into the world of gut health and how it directly impacts fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum recovery.

Our conversation with Bridgitte doesn't stop at nutrition and gut health. We also get a glimpse into her personal life as she shares her ambitious goal of being a successful entrepreneur and a dedicated mom. She stresses the importance of empowerment and personal wellness on this journey. By the end of this episode, you'll be inspired to take charge of your own health, make informed decisions about prenatal nutrition, and possibly even become a badass entrepreneur yourself. Join us for this enlightening chat with Bridgitte Mallinson!

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To learn more about The MINT Prjct and check out our programs and courses, head to TheMINTPrjct.com and follow us on Instagram, as well as your hosts, @bets.inthewild, @_coach.cara_ and @jesscarr.fit

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Mint Project podcast. We have Bridget Mallinson here today and we are so excited. She is a mama to be registered dietitian and the founder of Gut Personal, and as our lead nutrition educator, I'm so excited to have her here to talk about things a little bit more specialized than we usually hit on. And so, after healing a lifelong struggle with her gut, bridget has spent a decade studying functional medicine and nutrition as a registered dietitian and functional nutrition. So after this episode, we hope you walk away just with a deeper understanding of the ways nutrition plays such a huge role in your prenatal journey as well as postpartum recovery. So, bridget, welcome to the podcast. Give us a little background on who you are, what you do and how you got into specializing in gut health and nutrition.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm so excited to be here and so excited to have this conversation with you. So my journey really starts when I was back in high school and I was an athlete and always, you know, used exercise as medicine and I got injured, I had a concussion and I couldn't exercise anymore and it was me trying to figure out okay, how do I take care of my body? I grew up with a mom who, you know, always served salads at dinner and we were pretty health conscious and we tried, you know, to do things the natural way, and so I got really interested in nutrition all the way back in high school, and when I figured out that I could make a career out of it and be a registered dietitian, it was so exciting. So I went to college to become a registered dietitian and really was so excited at the concept of using food as medicine. But when I was in college, the healthier I ate and the seemingly better I took care of my body, the worse I fell, and so it didn't make sense, and I know a lot of women out there their health struggles and you know them. Taking care of themselves doesn't always correlate with how they feel.

Speaker 2:

Right, like I was going to doctors and I had migraines and hypothyroidism and I gained a lot of weight and all of these things. I was diagnosed with ADHD and I was taking such good care of my body. So I was going to these doctors and they were saying your labs are normal, which is like this incredibly disempowering phrase that so many of us women get, whether we're working on our gut health, thyroid issues, trying to get pregnant and it's like this wait, I don't feel well in my body, and that was my experience and it was like, all right, I need to become the expert in my own body. If doctors aren't going to give me answers, I have to figure it out. And so I went to grad school and found functional medicine and it was like, wait a minute, I can learn this really in depth information about my body and for me, my thyroid issues, weight gain, migraines, adhd, my gut issues it was all because my gut was a mess and so seemingly in hormone imbalances as well, seemingly.

Speaker 2:

You know, before finding functional medicine, I was going to different doctors, and that's kind of how it is in the United States it's very siloed, right, and so it's frustrating for so many of us. And so, by fixing my gut I fixed everything, and that's why I'm so passionate about the gut being the center of health. You know, we hear that the gut is the center of health, and it truly is.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I that's. So it can be so frustrating. I've had a lot of clients with similar stories of well, they said my blood work came back normal, but this normal range is so gigantic that it might not be your normal range. So, yeah, that's such an amazing story of like doing the work yourself to get the answers and it kind of sucks that you did have to do it yourself. But now this amazing journey of oh, you can help all these other women that are struggling with this. And so, yeah, I'm grateful that functional medicine is becoming more of a well known thing because it is so needed.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and it is frustrating. You know, I was feeling so frustrated when I did have to be my own advocate and thank God, and most women don't have this, but thank God I had a science background, in a health background. You know it's really hard for most women to navigate the health care system. It's also can really feel like and I've started to feel this while being pregnant that we're kind of put in like this system that's not really listening to us and it's not really personalized, and that's why it's so great that people like us exist where we can be like. Let me help you through this, let me support you. So, yeah, it was a very disempowering, very frustrating experience, but it did create my purpose and my passion and I know that women, we deserve to feel amazing and there is answers out there and so it's like this glimmer of hope. If you find the right people to help you, it's going to be amazing.

Speaker 1:

Well, we're going to dive a lot more into gut health in a bit, but I want to touch because we are a pregnancy and postpartum company I want to dive a little bit deeper into prenatal nutrition and supplementation, because I would say the biggest question I get, or the most frequently asked question, is what should I be focusing on from a nutrition standpoint in pregnancy? What's the best prenatal vitamin? Or what's important in a prenatal supplement? What can I even supplement? So I know those are a lot of loaded questions, but let's start with what is important to be aware of in terms of nutrition and supplementation in pregnancy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think something that's really important that we don't necessarily think about is that our body and our nutrition status really affects fertility for six months, and so if we're thinking about getting pregnant, there's, I think, more awareness now that getting off birth control and rebalancing your hormones is important to do a year to six months ahead of time. So that's important. And then rebalancing your hormones from post-birth control is really great and in our practice we use a hormone test to actually look at rebalancing the hormones. In a more personalized way, from a nutrition standpoint, getting on an incredible prenatal at least six months before getting pregnant is great, and if you don't, you know if you get pregnant right away, that's totally fine. But trying to think about it, I think most women in their 20s and 30s can just be on a prenatal all the time If they're not really sure when they want to get pregnant. But a really high quality prenatal and we can dive into what those contain but is really an important piece of the puzzle.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would love to know more about, like what are the key things that women should look for or maybe avoid in it, because there's a million out there.

Speaker 2:

Yes, oh my gosh, there are so many, and this topic just gets me so jazzed because it is such an important part, you know. I also want to touch on, like why it's so important. You know a great prenatal can prevent so many complications during pregnancy, like gestational diabetes and fatigue and nausea. So, like that's the why not only are you going to produce a healthier baby and feel more energized during pregnancy, but you can prevent a lot of bad stuff that you don't really want. There's a couple really important things in a great prenatal.

Speaker 2:

The right type of B vitamins is really important. So a lot of us women have this genetic SNP. It's called MTHFR and that affects how you process B vitamins in your body. So, for example, what we've been told prenatally or during, like when we're pregnant, is to take folic acid. Folic acid most of us cannot fully absorb, right, and so methylfolate, for example. Like if you're looking at your prenatal right now, or if you can grab your prenatal, if you're listening to this, making sure folate is methylated. So it'll say next to folic acid or next to folate, it'll say methylfolate, so important to be taking. That's one key tip. And then same with our B12. B12 should also be methylated. So if you look at vitamin B12, it should say methylcobalamin next to it instead of something like cyanocobalamin or there's a lot of other really bad forms out there. So I look at that first when I'm looking at someone's prenatal, because it's really good sign of a high quality prenatal is that they're methylated B vitamins. That's really important.

Speaker 2:

And then making sure there's enough of everything. So, for example, a two capsule per day prenatal, I can already say there's not enough. There's just simply not enough. We need so much support in a prenatal that I've been working on formulating our prenatal for a year and a half Wow, and it's diving into so much research and now going through my own pregnancy experiences, kind of seeing what I've wanted to see more of and less of and everything like that. Colline is really important. Most prenatals don't have enough of that and we also, for our prenatal that I've been working on, are adding some of that blood sugar supporting nutrients can really help with that gestational diabetes, that blood sugar balance things that so many women struggle with during pregnancy. So I mean I could talk about simply a prenatal for years because it's so important to get the right one. So mostly when you're going to CVS, there's not going to be a great prenatal at CVS.

Speaker 4:

In that case, are there any brands that you do love, I know I mean, and tell us more about your formulating your own and when that's to be expected, and but in the meantime, anything you can point people in the direction towards that you really like.

Speaker 2:

Sure, yeah, absolutely. So when we're recording this, we're almost in July. Our prenatal will be coming out in October, november, so it's really right now. It's going through heavy metal testing, so this is so important. Also, when you're looking for a prenatal, to look at heavy metal, making sure that they're doing heavy metal testing, because you could be putting something in your body that has lead and arsenic and you're trying to do something really great. Yeah, so that's really, and we're very. I mean, we're coming out with a couple of new products. We're also coming out with a collagen and we just got the lab results back and it was a hair above what it should be for lead and I was like absolutely not, nope.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I love that you're doing that, because a lot of supplements aren't regulated the way that other things are, and so when you are looking for supplements, it's really important to find a company that, like, tests their own products and has other people look at them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, that's so helpful.

Speaker 2:

Well, and just talking about the brands, I think there are some good brands out there. You know, when we go through and experience ourselves, I think it more personalized that we're looking at things with a fine tooth comb. And so the prenatal that I was taking is full Well, it's created by another registered dietitian. I think registered dietitians are, so are truly one of the best people to be formulating, because we get so much nutrition education versus. You know, some some prenatals are formulated by an OBGYN, which is fine, but they don't have as much nutrition in micronutrient education that we do.

Speaker 2:

So full well was the one that I used in the beginning of my pregnancy and it was great, but what I I didn't love about it was that it was eight capsules and it had a ton of magnesium. Oh yeah, and I actually I like when people are on a lot of magnesium, but from my perspective and what my company stands for is personalization, ok. So I pulled out a lot of and did a lot of different things, but pulled out a lot of magnesium because I want moms to have a lot of magnesium at night, because it helps with sleep and we know when we're pregnant that insomnia can hit hard, but not if we're taking adequate magnesium. So I saw a lot of okay and good prenatals, but I was like you know what I really wanna create? A great one.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that. And prenatals are designed to support your overall nutrition, right? So women should still be focusing on getting as much from their diet as possible. So, in terms of that relationship, what are the main things that a prenatalist may be filling in? The gaps of that are gonna be really hard to get from your diet, because we do need a lot more of certain nutrients.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's such a great question. Colline is definitely one of them. We get Colline through. Egg yolks is the main thing, and a lot of us women eat plenty of eggs, but it's just still not enough. I think like the overarching thing is that our food just doesn't have as much nutrition as that it used to. Right, and you are like shaking your head like yes, preach. It's kind of like this overall thing. It's not just you know even one or two things. It's like overall, our bodies just use more nutrients than they used to because we're more stressed and we do more, and then also that our food just doesn't have the nutrition that it used to. So it's really like a great prenatalist covering the gaps of so many things.

Speaker 4:

So you said that you I think this was before we were recording but that you've, like for sure, experienced that nausea maybe throughout your entire pregnancy, and I know we were all saying, like when you get hungry, that can happen. So how have you dealt with that and what is? Why does that happen?

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 2:

Yeah, so when we're pregnant, our body is way more susceptible to blood sugar shifts. That's one of the reasons. So that's why we added a lot of like blood sugar supporting nutrients into our prenatal. But what's really important is making sure you're getting in enough protein, and us women I think we typically, you know, kind of struggle with enough protein, and I don't know about you guys, but during my pregnancy the thought of chicken makes me want to throw up.

Speaker 4:

Especially like leftover meat.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2:

Alcoholic, alcoholic, oh Jesus, I might have to leave this recording for that. No, I'm totally kidding. But like last night, I had, like my husband's a chef and he makes great food and he made like these homemade chicken tenders and I was like, oh, this was the first time I could actually eat chicken. So something that us women typically struggle with is protein. But then also when we're pregnant, we have these adversions. In a lot of times that is protein. So you know, what's been helpful for me are like beef jerky sticks, like grass-fed beef jerky sticks, protein powders, like I've craved a lot of cereal. So I've been like, ok, how do I amp up this cereal? Ok, I'm going to throw pecans and protein powder and berries. So, yeah, I think protein is really powerful.

Speaker 2:

And then making sure you're eating three hours every three hours is great From a gut health perspective. That's going to screw up the gut a little bit. So that's why many women post-pregnancy not only because of hormonal shifts and because of the stress of growing and birthing a child, but then also because we have to eat so often during pregnancy that really can affect our gut health. Our gut really needs three and a half to four hours to fully clean itself. So anyways, just another pitch for fixing your gut. Post-pregnancy, postpartum.

Speaker 3:

Now that we're kind of talking a little bit more about the postpartum stage. We always tell women that this is a really important time to focus on recovery and rebuilding, and nutrition, obviously is just such a huge part of that. So for you, what are some of the key focuses from nutrition perspective, especially early on in those first few weeks postpartum, as far as recovery, rebuilding and the gut health?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, throughout pregnancy and then postpartum. It really is the same kind of concepts. It's really nutrient-dense, organic food. I do recommend eating meat, grass-fed organic meat. I think we can absorb nutrients so much better from that. But that's like a fourth of the plate, right, it's like that half of the plate that's ultra-colorful. You know, something that we've been prepping for in our house is I've never had a baby, so I don't know how demanding I can guess, and probably you mamas can tell me demanding that time is. So you're like, yes, it is wild, Just a little bit, a little bit.

Speaker 1:

So we're going to be fine, We'll be great.

Speaker 2:

We'll be great right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah we'll be great. I'll let you know, I'll shoot you DM. I love it. Yeah, it's going, but we're really prepping things ahead of time like really nutrient-dense meals like meatloaf and I'm adding beef liver to that and soups and really warming things and then also some really nutrient-dense smoothies that are kind of like already pre-packaged, pre-freezer made and then just making nutrition easy. I think that's something that I've always done, so it makes it less overwhelming. My guess would be, once you get to that postpartum phase, if you've really worked on nutrition-balanced meals before, then everything stays kind of the same. It's really just that balance with the protein, colorful things and then a healthy fat in there and you're good to go. It can be really simple and I think sometimes we try to overcomplicate it, which can be even more overwhelming.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I remember the first time I cooked a full meal after my daughter was born, it was like this most amazed. I was so proud of myself because I'm like, oh my god, I just cooked a chicken breast. Because, you're right, those first few weeks and maybe even months, you are just kind of trying to get your routine down and you're trying to take a shower and sleep and do all these eight other million things, and so I love that you're preparing now, like that's such a good tip, like get freezer meals made, get even like. One other thing that was so helpful was someone made me like a meal train and so people brought over meals. Not everything was probably the most nutrient dense thing, but it helped, you know like I was eating some food.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, that is such a great hack is like get simple things and start working on it now. We always talk about like learn about nutrition before you're pregnant so that you have an easier time just building onto it in your pregnancy, and then learn about what do I need to do postpartum while I'm still pregnant? Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I think from a gut health perspective, it's the variety of fruits and vegetables that you're eating. Even can be as simple. Again, with the simplicity if you usually grab raspberries, grab blackberries. If you usually grab a white potato, grab a sweet potato like these small, small shifts that we can do with variety make a big difference of our gut health. You don't want to start adding in a ton of like prebiotics or fiber powders. It doesn't have to be like that, it can just be really simple. And then also making sure your supplements you've got down. You know what I mean. Supplements to me are just so easy, right, Like when we could do all the things as new moms, just sticking to a great supplement routine. Make sure you're taking your prenatal, Make sure you're taking your magnesium at night in a great probiotic, I'd say those three things, an, a fish oil. So those four things, those four things. If you can really do that, of course, all throughout pregnancy but then postpartum, it's going to help your body so much recover.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's doable too. Like four main things to think about. What about? I know a lot of women experience constipation postpartum and I'm sure that's related to the gut. Why is that and what can help with that in those early weeks?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think there's a couple different things Depends on how much they've taken magnesium supplements in the past. We truly all need to be taking magnesium supplements. I've tested thousands of women, their magnesium and their blood. One woman was not deficient.

Speaker 3:

And she was taking it.

Speaker 4:

Wow, that is crazy.

Speaker 1:

I have heard that that's like the most common deficiency, so I actually started taking. You guys sent me one and I've started taking it. Yes, that's awesome, it's amazing.

Speaker 2:

Oh good, I'm so glad. It helps with everything that a pregnant mama, a mama, a woman in general needs. It helps with sleep and poop and stress. It's perfect.

Speaker 4:

The three trifecta the most important things in life. Yes, we still have them.

Speaker 2:

Exactly. Is there anything better? No, maybe good sex, that's it.

Speaker 1:

There you go, we'll add that in there. Yeah, that's for sure, we'll add that in.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, magnesium. So from being really depleted, if you didn't take enough magnesium during pregnancy, you are definitely very depleted postpartum. So that's one reason for constipation postpartum. The other I would say is if you're breastfeeding, it's dehydration or just dehydration in general. Right, you're trying to take care of yourself, trying to do all the things. If you're not drinking enough water, that can be something in them. I think physically right, there are wonky things going on from just pushing out a baby. So those would be the biggest. So, taking magnesium in high doses, you can go pretty high doses, you know 600 milligrams, 800 milligrams, and just get things going.

Speaker 3:

And you talked about breastfeeding a little bit, and is there anything that's off limits with that as far as supplements go or things that women should avoid, you know, generally with breastfeeding?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, with breastfeeding and being pregnant, the things that will never be researched are herbs. So herbs, for example, really won't be researched because it would be unethical, right, if you researched a pregnant woman, had her take herbs and then saw what happened. So we kind of know through anecdotal practices what is safe and not, but always just checking with your provider. You know if something has, if something isn't labeled pregnancy or breastfeeding safe. For example, we have a product called the Soother and it has licorice in it, which is really great for heartburn. I know that because it has this specific way that we process it it doesn't increase your blood pressure, which is also you know. I know these things because of being in the field. Someone might not know that.

Speaker 2:

So I took it to my OBGYN and said I really want to take this. Do you see anything wrong with it? And she was like no. So I wanted to have that other level, even though, truthfully, I trust my own self with that more than you know. And then this is just personal, more than the OB she also was like you know, it seems pretty good and it has aloe in it too. So you can always check with your provider and then you always have to check in with your gut instinct too. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

But as a professional I can say no herbs and sticking to vitamins. So all probiotics are usually really safe unless they have herbs added to them. Okay, what's the benefit of aloe? Oh, aloe is so good, so it's going to soothe the gut, and then it helps with movement, so like it helps with constipation as well, but it's really soothing. So we have this supplement, the soother, and it is like so great with stomach aches and bloating and cramping, but mostly like stomach aches and bloating, like people are obsessed with it, for my husband included Sounds delightful.

Speaker 4:

So tell us, while we're talking about, like some of the common things that, pregnant or not, women deal with, what are things? You said that this entire journey for you started with your own experience in functional medicine. What were the things? Would you mind telling us the things that you struggled with and kind of what resolve you found with them?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think the biggest that was so debilitating were migraines and while it doesn't seem like a big gut health correlation, for me, it was a very strong gluten sensitivity that I didn't know about. So migraines I had hypothyroidism so I was tired all the time. I gained a lot of weight. I had really bad periods, really uncomfortable, a lot of cramping, so that was like my hormonal mass, and then I was constipated. I remember going to Spain and I didn't poop for two weeks, which, oh my God, and I didn't realize how abnormal that was. Psa to all the ladies out there you need to be going to the bathroom every single day and I hear women that'll say you know, that's just not my normal. Or a doctor will even say you know, maybe that's just your norm. No, you got to take out the trash, ladies, so take your magnesium.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, you're putting stuff in. It's got to come out, it's got to come out.

Speaker 2:

It absolutely does. So those are huge things that I struggled with being diagnosed with ADHD. A huge thing with that is magnesium deficiency and poor gut health. You know too much bad bacteria in the gut and I know a lot of moms listening to this. A lot of children are diagnosed with ADHD and I used to see a lot of kids in my practice with ADHD and then actually autism as well. Huge gut health component and huge magnesium deficiencies there. Yeah, that can be. It supplements again can be so powerful.

Speaker 1:

Can you expand a little bit for the audience's sake on what does the gut do in our body and like what is gut? Health in general? What is a healthy gut?

Speaker 2:

Yes. So when we're thinking about a healthy gut, most of the time we're thinking of the microbiome. And the microbiome has all of our good bacteria and bad bacteria and it's about like six pounds of it in our gut. So it's a lot, trillions, trillions of small bacteria. And when we have a balanced gut, when we feel really great in our gut, in our mental health and everything, when everything feels great, there's a balance of good bacteria and bad bacteria. You know good bacteria is high, bad bacteria is low. And how we can know if there is that balance is we do testing. So, for example, the test that my company does is it looks at five pages of the microbiome, what's in there, what's missing, and so you can look at good and bad bacteria. That way, when we start to have gut symptoms like bloating, constipation or we're experiencing any of the other symptoms I've talked about that are related to poor gut health, that good bacteria is usually decreased and the bad bacteria is increased. So that's called dysbiosis and there's this imbalance. So that's when we're talking about like a healthy gut. That's the main thing that we're thinking about.

Speaker 2:

Also, why the gut is so important is it digests and absorbs our food, and so there's the saying in functional medicine that it's not what you eat, it's what you absorb.

Speaker 2:

So many of us don't have enough stomach acid or digestive enzymes to break down our food. A way that you might know if that's you is you feel like food just sits in your stomach after you're eating, or you feel really bloated after eating. Those can be those symptoms where you're not absorbing food, and so that's really important too, especially with a prenatal or postpartum journey. If you're trying to eat all of these incredible things and you're not absorbing them, you know it's really not so helpful. So I think, to get a really great look at gut health if someone's out there that's like I don't think I have a balanced gut the most powerful thing you can do is do testing, and that's really gonna give you a personalized look. You know, at my company we also have a quiz that I developed that'll really give you a great protocol. But if you're someone who's like I've been needing to work on this for a while, testing is truly the best approach.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because correct me if I'm wrong there's multiple things that could be going on. If you're trying to treat the wrong symptom, that's a recipe for disaster as well. Trainers, did you know that 85% of women will become pregnant in their lifetime? This means that you will work with pregnant and postpartum clients, so get the information you need to safely and effectively guide your clients through this chapter of their fitness journey and become an expert in the space. Not only will you learn about movement, you'll learn about nutrition and mindset, from fertility through pregnancy to postpartum, as well as how to market yourself as a professional in this space. You'll interact with the Mint experts throughout the course, giving you the guidance and accountability to finish and get to work. Head to theMintProjectcom and go to the education tab to learn more.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, you couldn't have said it. I couldn't have said it better, like that is so true, and I could go on and on about what could be and couldn't be in the gut. I think the bacterial balance and how you're digesting are just two of the 10 things that we look at with testing. So you're so right, because what's trendy on TikTok right now might probably isn't what you need. Like parasite cleanses are really hard on the body and, gosh, what if you don't have a parasite? You don't need to do it, right oh gosh yeah, yeah, or go on a really restrictive diet.

Speaker 2:

I think those are like two common things that are promoted and, as a dietitian, it kills me because if people are having sensitivities to food, it's not because of the food. Most of the time it's because of their gut. It's because their gut is a mess that they are reacting to these foods.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so that brings up a follow-up question. You hear a lot about detoxing when? You're so what are your? It seems like that's probably not the answer.

Speaker 2:

Well, it really depends, okay, but correct, correct. So when we're talking about detoxing, like, of course our body is always detoxing through the liver and kidneys, but if someone has a lot of symptoms of like brain fog and achy joints, like, yes, that might be a sign that you need some liver support. But with liver support, you have to heal the gut first. Our liver detoxifies and then dumps toxins into our gut and then we poop them out or we pee them out and we say we go on a detox. Holy cow, you just have toxins just sitting around in your body.

Speaker 2:

Think of like really stinky trash that's in your house. Gosh, you're just dumping it in there. You're just dump exactly. So a detox or a cleanse is most likely what you do not need. I really think of healing as more like what to add in, and I think that can feel so much more empowering as well than what do I need to remove, what do I need to take out? It's like this energy we put towards our healing and how we think of our body as something that can heal is really powerful. That's the mindset piece of a healing and really nourishing relationship with your body.

Speaker 4:

We're looking clearly, functional medicine is a very whole body approach. So can you talk a little bit about gut health? I mean, you've touched on like brain fog and I would assume mood goes along with that. So how can whether it's anyone especially like postpartum? How can gut health affect that?

Speaker 2:

Postpartum depression is really something that is affected by gut health. We know there's some bad bacteria that affect how we feel mentally and then also you know being deficient in magnesium and then being deficient in omega-3s, which is a fish oil. So how we can support our body, our gut brain connection, really it's called For postpartum. Any depression and anxiety is getting those nutrients in while we're pregnant. So magnesium and fish oil really powerful and then a really great probiotic prenatally and postpartum is really good as well.

Speaker 4:

And is there anything in there or kind of expanding on that? I know we're going a little backwards here, but how does that affect fertility? Oh gosh, Fertility Sure. That's a whole nother podcast in and of itself, but at least according to like prenatals taking them earlier, things like that, Like what are the main highlights with fertility health?

Speaker 2:

From a 30,000 foot view. If the body is too stressed out, it will not get pregnant, and I'm not just talking mental, emotional stress, your gut being the center of health. You know. You guys heard me talk about everything that it affected. For me, gut health affects fertility in so many different ways. If we're not absorbing our nutrients, if our gut is a mess, it's a huge load and stress on the body and if we think about getting pregnant, it's really you're gonna be nourishing. A second thing If your body isn't already nourished in general, it's not going to want to get pregnant. And I think what we do with fertility is we test the gut and we test hormones we don't and we really personalize approaches and it can be really powerful and even just starting with the gut, because when we're talking about hormones, hormones start and are detoxified through the gut. We don't have to get into that. But basically, gut health has such an important role in fertility and hormones and we have to start there If we start honestly with healing the hormones. There's things that we're missing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, for sure. Yeah, I have a client who's struggling right now to get pregnant and it seemingly has exhausted all of the options, but this is one thing that might be the next step to dig into.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it's really powerful and empowering. I think functional medicine can be slightly overwhelming for some people. My approach and how I've always been as a practitioner and how now our lead dietitian practices, is it's from a very empowering place. When we do testing, we always find things that are off, but the language that we use, the energy that we come to with it, is if your client's having struggling getting pregnant, we are gonna look at her test results as yes, oh, my God answers. Now we know what to do with it. There's nothing wrong with you. But there are things that we can rebalance and I think in especially functional medicine you not only need that, but people need to be seeing the right people to be giving them answers. So we work a lot with other practitioners of if they're not doing testing and we do. It's like this collaborative approach to really feeling good and healing.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and how do you find, how do you go about finding that good functional medicine doctor, or finding a doctor that you know can? How do you bring up to them? You know, can you please work in collaboration with someone that really understands these things? You know, how do you register a dietician that specializes in functional health?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think that's probably different for everyone. For example, my company we are virtual and we are all over the country, so if someone wants to see someone in person, I mean it. Referrals from other people who have been through it I think is really important. I wouldn't rely on your PCP to give you a referral. You know what I mean. If you're like I need someone functional medicine, can you please work with me? They're not going to advocate for you or most of the time they won't right, Because they just don't have the tools and they just don't know, mostly at the time, what functional medicine is. So I think it's about doing your own research and asking people who have been through it and it's taking, you know, podcasts like these and this being the thing that you need to say okay, that's what I need to work on. I'm just going to take action on that.

Speaker 2:

For me, getting overwhelmed and doing trying to do all the research myself, even as a scientist and a practitioner, can be overwhelming. Just take action in what feels good for your gut. Like, literally that gut instinct, that intuition. If you're hearing this right now and you're like, oh, my God, I want to do testing, go for it, girlfriend. Like take action on that. I think we get so paralyzed about next steps that we miss the action piece and we're just paralyzed with what do I do now? If you're hearing this and you want to do testing, come see us. Simple, I love that.

Speaker 4:

I'm so glad to hear that you guys are virtual too, because I think you know it can be so hard to just select someone in this kind of field based on location, because, at least in my experience, functional medicine is not usually covered by any kind of insurance and can get pricey depending on how many things you're trying to approach. So putting that much financial and physical trust in someone simply based off of their proximity to your house is a little risky. So it's good to hear that you guys are virtual. I had one more question. This is your first kid, right? Yeah, yeah, so I would love. I mean, obviously you'll be discovering and learning as you go, but as someone who's worked with kids, which I already, have decided that we need to do a podcast with you on like approach to kids health and even just eating things like that kids nutrition from that that zoomed out standpoint.

Speaker 4:

But what is your approach going into keeping your own child healthy once they're outside?

Speaker 2:

I love that question. So something that I've seen with friends, with clients, is really taking care of your gut health during pregnancy, because so many things that children deal with nowadays, especially infants, are related to their gut. For example, constant infections like ear infections. That's related to the gut because 70% of our immune system is in the gut. Food sensitivities, like you hear a lot of women like oh, I can't eat dairy because the baby can't have my breast milk, which has dairy immune proteins in it, so they have to take out dairy. That is a gut health problem, it's not a dairy problem.

Speaker 2:

And so what I've been doing is I take a supplement called the Healer that we have which is basically immunoglobulins which come from, like colostrum. It's a dairy free source of colostrum. It actually comes from the blood of cows Fun fact, don't think about it too much when you're taking it Instead of coming from the milk of cows, because dairy can be a tough thing on people's immune system. And then I'm also taking other probiotics because all these things skin issues, food sensitivities and infants constant colds I know one of my girlfriend had group B strep and we're actually coming out with a probiotic in a month from now. That it's the only two research strains for group B strep. So she had group B strep, had to have an IV of antibiotics at birth and her daughter now has acid reflux at a year old.

Speaker 2:

Acid reflux and colic and just so fleshy, and so what we're doing with her daughter is taking that dairy free colostrum and adding it to bottles now, which is very, very healing for the gut. So really what I've been focused on is that kind of like for six to 12 months. Right now, feeding the baby, which is going to be mainly breast milk, is working on myself.

Speaker 1:

Well, and then setting the example is the biggest part, right, like they learned from us. But, man, I wish I would have known you when I was nine years ago. My daughter's nine now, oh my gosh, I struggled with a lot of that stuff. And now, like putting those pieces together, like my doctor was like oh yeah, don't have dairy. It seems like she's allergic to dairy, so I cut it out and that was like the hardest, the hardest. I'm like it's in everything.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I'm like yogurt, I like cut it. She's so, yeah, and she was extremely had reflux, had colic, I'm sure it was related, but I feel we've come so far since then in terms of these things that, yeah, that's like such good information for moms now to start thinking about that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and even you know, when she's still, when she's nine. You know it sounds like you guys have done a lot of great things and she's in a good place, but, like, just adding in, these healing things can be powerful because, you know, for me my biggest gut issues showed up when I was in my teens. Yet they, one of the big root causes for me, was constant Shrep when I was younger and constant antibiotics. And yeah, you know, something else in the teenage years that us women go through that really affects our gut is birth control, and so it's kind of like, you know, I didn't even think nine is a perfect time to make sure. Okay, well, she's still eating at our house. What can we do to even support her Supplement? Wise, like, as she moves into teen years and 20 years, you could have an effect on her fertility now, which is wild to think about.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, are there supplements that kids like going into their teens, like his magnesium one that they should already start focusing on, or are there others that we can start thinking about to make sure, because kids can be picky eaters, right, like we do our best to eat your veggies, eat your meat, but there's gaps for sure. Hey, mitt, mamas and trainers, if you enjoyed our information, you will love our programs and resources. We have a pregnancy fitness program, postpartum program, along with guides on movement modifications and nutrition, all designed to help you safely and effectively stay active through pregnancy and return to exercise postpartum. You can even bundle our programs and save so that your whole journey is covered. You can find all of these resources at the mint projectcom.

Speaker 2:

Of course. So right now I'm drinking our gut greens and reds, which a lot of kiddos love, especially with the magnesium powder in it. So that's great, if you can. It doesn't taste like grass, you know what I mean. That's like a great gap, and then a probiotic too, and so we have a probiotic that's just a powder and it's really balanced for kids. It's called the go to junior and it's just a powder, so you can just, you know, buzz it in, froth it into pretty much anything. You know your magnesium powder at night. So you could make this great concoction for her and it's like a nighttime drink and a lot of kids like it, you know. You just have to like play with it a little bit. Maybe they want it sweeter Okay, add in a little bit more magnesium. Or, you know, maybe they don't like the color of the greens Okay, so take out the greens, you know.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. Well, and if like mom's having her nighttime drink and daughters having hers, I think that's a little bit more encouraging as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah it, like you said before too, leading as the example, like if she sees you do it. I know our director of operations. She has two little girls and they love taking their supplements because their mom is doing it too and they want to be like mom yeah so cute.

Speaker 1:

Is there anything Bridget, that we missed on any of these topics? I know we could probably talk for two more hours, but is there anything top of mind? Pregnancy, postpartum, women's health like that you'd liked it. Make sure we get in. I.

Speaker 2:

Think the only thing is the mindset piece. I think you know I've worked with so many moms I'm not a mom yet, you know I had still have that month but so many Moms and and women in general, we put ourselves last, we put ourselves our health last, or taking care of ourselves, and there are these small, simple things that you can do, but I think the root of it is that you need to know that you deserve to feel well and I think if we don't have that mindset, it makes it a lot harder to heal and makes it a lot harder to be consistent Is that we deserve to have all the energy in the world to feel our best, to not be bloated, to poop every day. We deserve that. Amen, so it's figure amen. So know that you deserve to feel amazing, and it it might not be, you might not be far away from that.

Speaker 1:

That's such a good message you deserve. To poop, yes To poop yes and sleep yes all the things have good sex. I mean, we're just talking about it all. Well, we're gonna drop some links in the show notes to your website and your socials, but just tell everyone where they can find you, more about you and your companies as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I'm Bridget Malley on Instagram. In a month from now You'll see, hopefully, a beautiful baby daughter, so She'll be coming very soon. I also do behind the scenes of growing a company. I'm really Really big on female empowerment and especially in entrepreneurship, and we're doing really exciting things on the business side of my company To show other women that we can frickin do this. Yeah, be moms. You know, my one of my biggest goals is to be a badass entrepreneur and be a mom, and so Actually my first speaking engagement postpartum is seven weeks, so you guys can maybe say I'm crazy, you're gonna do great.

Speaker 2:

No, that's amazing, yeah, but it's, um, it's, it's really exciting. So I'm really excited for that Chapter. And then, if you're wanting to work on your health, I know you guys have a discount code that people can use and go take the quiz, figure out what you need, what are those personalized supplements for you, grab the magnesium, or even you know your guys's code for your audience will work for testing too. So really go take action in what you need and and have the energy of you deserve to feel amazing.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely so. Thank you so much for coming, bridget. We're so happy and we're gonna have to have you back on for sure. But yes, guys, head to the show notes, get that discount code and take action.