Gut Health and Hormone Havoc: Why You Don’t Feel Good and How to Reclaim Your Vitality!

“I’m so sick and tired of feeling sick and tired all the time.”

It’s a comment I hear a lot because most of us are going through life not feeling all that great. Not so sick and debilitated that we can’t actually function, but sick and tired enough to affect the quality of our lives or to prevent us from doing all those things we’d really like to if we had more energy.

Have you ever said any of the following?

“Ugh, I just don’t FEEL good.”

or

“I’m just SO tired all the time”

or

“I just wish I had more energy”

or

“I’m just sick and tired of feeling sick and tired all the time.”

And maybe you’ve said those exact same things.

For a long time, those were things that I would say.

After struggling with my weight for a long time, it wasn’t like I was 100 pounds overweight. I wasn’t morbidly obese, I could still function, I still went to the gym, I still ran a business (okay, three), I was still a mom, and I still socialized.

Over time, I just sort of got used to not always feeling great while I was doing all of those things.

The reality is that so many of us DO feel this way so much of the time that we THINK it’s normal. We think it’s no big deal. We get so used to feeling sick and tired ALL THE TIME that we think that this is just the way things are or the way things have to be.

And here’s what else I’ll say—and bear with me as I go on a little tangent here—if you feel this way, that is, if you’ve just gotten used to feeling sick and tired—you’re allowing your life to be STOLEN from you, one little tiny piece at a time.

There is a better way! There IS a way to feel good again and a way to have more energy.

The 3 Root Causes to (Almost) All That Ails Us

The truth is, if I had to distill it down to the absolute simplest explanation of what’s actually happening within our body, there are (almost) always three root causes to ALMOST all that ails us.

Insulin Resistance

The first of these is insulin resistance and blood sugar imbalances. Many of us don’t even realize this is going on in our bodies, because it’s (kind of) an invisible problem. But the truth is that as we get older and our hormones start to change, it can be really easy for us to become insulin-resistant. Meaning, our cells aren’t responding properly to insulin, and as a result, they’re not able to take in the glucose from our bloodstream.

And of course, it doesn’t help that the Standard American Diet—basically all the crap highly processed foods and refined sugars we’re all eating all day long has basically directly caused this crisis of insulin resistance in our society.

And make no mistake—it IS a crisis. Insulin resistance is more than just common, it’s basically an epidemic. In fact, it’s estimated that as many as 85% of adults in the United States have some form of insulin resistance.

And maybe that makes it sound like it’s no big deal if it’s THAT common right? If SO many people are struggling with this, then why aren’t we all talking about it?

But insulin resistance IS a big deal, and here’s why: When your cells are resistant to insulin, they can’t take in the glucose from your bloodstream. This forces your body to release even more insulin into your system, which leads to more weight gain and SO many other issues like fatigue, brain fog, digestive problems and heartburn.

It also directly contributes to another common condition known as Leaky Gut Syndrome, the second big root cause of most of our health problems.

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky Gut Syndrome means your digestive system is no longer functioning properly. Your intestines are supposed to protect you from toxins and bad bacteria in the food you eat. They do this by creating a barrier between what enters your body and what doesn’t.

But when that barrier becomes weakened—or “leaky”—it creates all sorts of problems. Because things like toxins and bacteria and other things that are supposed to stay OUT of your body can get IN. This leads to all kinds of issues like inflammation, bloating, gas, allergies and food sensitivities. And it can also lead to more serious things like autoimmune diseases and even cancer. It also directly contributes to things like anxiety, depression and even migraines.

And when I say all, I really do mean ALL. Or almost all. Leaky gut syndrome is so common that it’s currently estimated to affect 90% of the population. NINETY PERCENT. 

That means if you’re listening to this, it’s almost guaranteed that you have at least SOME FORM of leaky gut. Unless you’re a freaking unicorn with magical healing properties.

Because that’s everyone.

And yet again, no one’s doing anything about it. And that’s so crazy to me. Because what we’re talking about here is not some mystery disease with no cure. It is REVERSIBLE and fixable. It doesn’t have to be something we just choose to live with and suffer all the huge amount of consequences.

But I’m probably getting a little ahead of myself.

Because there’s a third big root cause of our health issues that is especially prevalent for women, especially women of a certain age.

Hormonal Imbalances

All those hormonal imbalances that start happening as we get older and closer to menopause. Not only that our hormones are so intertwined and interconnected with all of the other systems in our bodies, which means that if one particular hormone is out of whack, the dominoes start falling, and they ALL get out of whack.

And it’s SO easy for us to get out of balance as we get older, obviously, if we’re going through significant hormonal changes like menopause or having a baby, but also because life and lifestyle affect our hormones in other ways as well. Stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, over-exercising—all these things have a BIG effect on our hormones.

If you have a lot of stress, you’ll have high cortisol, and cortisol is a HORMONE. Or maybe you’ve been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which means your thyroid is not producing enough of your thyroid hormone and is an incredibly common condition. Or maybe you’ve got PCOS, which means you have too much of the male hormone testosterone among other female hormones.

And on top of that, if you’re part of the 80+ percent of the population with insulin resistance, then you’ve also got that working against you because INSULIN IS A HORMONE.

And somehow we’ve normalized this, right?

But even though it is so COMMON for so many of us, it’s NOT normal.

All of these root issues—insulin resistance, leaky gut syndrome, and hormonal imbalances—are all 100% treatable and in almost all cases, 100% reversible.

If you’re NOT addressing those root causes, you’re basically just accepting the idea that this is somehow normal.

You are CHOOSING to be sick and tired.

Because there IS actually a way to completely reverse almost all of it.

How to start feeling better

The ROOT CAUSES of all these health issues that we’re dealing with, contributes to making us feel like crap. Whether it’s chronic fatigue or inflammation or digestive issues or brain fog or anxiety, if the root cause comes down to these THREE things—insulin resistance, leaky gut, and hormonal imbalance—then it would stand to reason that the way to FIX It and start feeling better is to actually HEAL the insulin resistance and the leaky gut and the hormonal imbalance right?

I mean what a completely OBVIOUS solution that is.

And yet, that’s not what we do.

If you’re dealing with heartburn and acid reflux, do you think, “Oh this is insulin resistance and I need to find a way to fix that”. Nope, you start taking antacids.

When dealing with pain and inflammation, do you think, “Oh this is probably caused by my leaky gut so I better figure out how to heal that.”. Nope, you start popping Advil like they’re candy.

You may be feeling depressed or anxious, you take an antidepressant or an anxiety medication.

Or you could be diagnosed with hypothyroidism, your doctor puts you on Synthroid.

Or if you’ve got high cholesterol, you get put on statins.

If you’ve got digestive issues, you take antidiarrheals or laxatives.

ALL of these things are TEMPORARY FIXES.

And what’s worse, is that all of these medications have side effects. Some are very serious, and none of them even address the actual root cause of what’s occurring in our bodies. In some cases, the very medication that is MASKING the issue is actually making the UNDERLYING issue much worse.

The answer isn’t drugs or medication.

The answer is to change what you eat.

It is actually pretty simple—it just takes dedication and effort, which most of us are not used to doing when it comes to our health. We’re used to taking the easy way out, we’re used to looking for the quick fix or the easy answer.

You need to start by healing your insulin resistance and leaky gut. It’s just a matter of eating the right foods. Avoiding carbohydrates and sugar, avoiding heavily processed foods and seed oils, and then making sure you’re loading up on nutrient-dense proteins and LOTS of healthy fats and probiotic-rich foods.

You heal your gut and reverse insulin resistance, and your hormones will fall in line.

Because it’s all connected.

Honestly, the more I talk about this, the more I research this, the more I dive into the reasons we all feel so sick and exhausted all the time—the more I have to share what I find. There IS a solution to this madness! And it’s not all this medication that’s ultimately just making us feel worse.

When you finally APPLY this to your life, it is AMAZING how good you can feel. The energy. The vibrancy. The aging in reverse happens when suddenly your skin gets clear and you don’t have those dark circles under your eyes and the excess weight just starts to fall off because you’re fueling your body the right way.

I honestly just want to shout it from the rooftops.

THERE IS A BETTER WAY TO LIVE!

Next Steps

If this was helpful to you, or eye-opening, and there’s someone in your life who you think could benefit from hearing this too, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH THEM. Also, I invite you to watch our brand new FREE on-demand video training all about how to lose weight and transform your health (without dieting, drugs, or making yourself miserable)!

And if you want to find more support and recipes that will begin to start healing those root causes we talked about, then consider joining the TAS Program because we go SO much deeper into all of this in our program—and there’s a community of nearly 800 other women who are on the journey to healing their bodies and feeling their best too!

TAS stands for Thin Adapted System and is our main program here at Thinlicious.

If you are READY to get serious about transforming your health in a really significant way, then please be sure to check out that training video linked above.

If you liked this post, you’ll absolutely love our podcast on the same topic (and so many more!) Listen to Ditch the Carb Podcast now!