[Bonus Episode] All About Fibroids with Melissa Ramos

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I had one woman who said, well, my doctor asked me to do a hysterectomy and that I should also remove my ovaries as well.

Oh, my gosh.

She said, oh, I don't. I don't know if I feel comfortable with that. And he said, well, why are you so attached to your ovaries? And she's like, I don't know. Why are you so attached to your testicles?

Yeah, like, no. No man ever. They said, you know, we're going to yank those gonads out. That's totally fine.

Don't worry about it.

Hey, it's jj and welcome to Ask the Health Expert. But this isn't just any old Ask the Health Expert expert session. This is your bonus session. Yes, it's the weekend, and because it's the weekend, we are going to take some time with an amazing expert. So be on the lookout for these Saturday Ask the Health Expert bonus sessions where we're going to go deep into an amazing subject with an incredible expert to give you actionable items that you.

Can put into your life.

Hey, it's jj and welcome to the podcast. So today we are tackling a subject I've actually never talked about before, but it's high time that I did because it impacts 70% of all women by the time they are 50. And if I have anything to do with it with today's guest, that will not be you, my friends. So. And if it is you, we're going to share with you how to turn this thing around quickly. So today we're going to be talking about fibroids, what they are, how to know if you have one, and then what the heck to do about them. I have awesome show notes for you and a free guide@jjvirgin.com forward slash, fibroids. And of course, a fabulous guest. And this is a gal I met at an event, a couple events in Toronto. You'll hear from her accent because she says oot that she is a Canadian. She is just a load of fun. We're talking fibroids and natural remedies for fibroids with Melissa Ramos of Sexy Food Therapy and she is a nutritionist. Her background is in Chinese medicine and she has this super fun brand again, Sexy Food Therapy, where she helps women balance her hormones and digestion for regular periods and poops. And she is quite the celebrity out there in Canada. She's an expert on CTV's the Social. It's a super fun show. It's kind of like a hip or younger view. She's been a TEDx speaker, she writes for HuffPo, and she has a really cool online program where she helps everyone get healthier and again, balance their hormones. Plus she has a fabulous YouTube channel with really cool tips and videos and recipes. So I'm really excited to share Melissa with you today. And again, we have awesome show notes, so be sure to grab those@jjvirgin.com forward/fibroids. Now, before we dive in, a word about one of my favorites.

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Hello listeners, this is Anne Boeckle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week, I take all Things Books and Reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately. And I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading. Next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything, you'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what should I Read next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and Visit our website whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to find out more.

All righty. Melissa Ramos. Did I say your name right before I introduce you to the show? I know it's you did. Ramos. Ramos.

Okay.

I am so excited to have you here. Welcome to the show.

Oh, God, I'm so happy to be here.

Yeah, well, I had to have you on. So for everybody listening, I met Melissa, I guess, a couple of times, and you're just so much flipping fun. So this will be a super blast. Plus, what we're talking about today is something we've never even said a peep about on the show. So, like, I am really excited to talk about fibroids. And what the heck made you start to focus on this?

You know, it's one of those things that came from personal experience, first and foremost. So I had, prior to this, a history of ovarian cysts. And so one day when I went into the hospital and I said, listen, I think that I'm, you know, struggling with cysts again because the last cyst I had had ruptured and tore off a piece of my right ovary. Had an emergency surgery, the whole nine yards. So when I started to feel like I thought I had a cyst and I went to the hospital, luckily the radiologist was still there. They had said to me, yeah, no, everything in your transvaginal ultrasound looks fine. We see some free floating fluid. So there might have been a cyst there, but do you want a copy of the reports? And I said, sure. So I put them in my purse, went home the next day. I'm pulling out the report, and there it was. I had two fibroids they never told me about. One was a subserosal fibroid, and the other one was an intra. Intramural fibroids.

Well, you didn't ask about fibroids, Melissa. You just asked about cyst.

Nothing worth mentioning at all.

Right.

Oh, my goodness.

Wow.

That's crazy. That's so. So for everyone listening, let's, like, start with what the heck is a fibroid? Let's start there.

Well, a fibroid is essentially thick muscle tissue that makes up uterine fibroids. And they essentially typically grow within the uterine walls. You know, and these things essentially are going. The symptoms of them would create really heavy bleeding in a lot of women. That's usually the biggest symptom that women get. Sometimes women feel constipated, especially if it's pushing on the bowels. It might make them feel that they have to pee more often. And to be honest with you, a lot of women don't feel them at all. So they almost just. They never even know that they have them. And they think that all these symptoms that they're getting have nothing to do with it. You know, in my situation, I actually felt them. So it's not uncommon to feel them, but for a lot of women, they don't at all.

Wow.

So then if you don't feel them and you don't really notice any symptoms, is it a big deal, like, can you just hang with them, or is there an issue, like a buddy?

It's one of those things where I would suggest that if you are one of the hallmark cases of it is heavy bleeding. That's a big one. And we believe it or not, the statistics on fibroids is a little bit astounding. Well, it is astounding. We have probably. They say about 70% of women will get at least one fibroid by the time that they're 50 years old.

But most people probably don't even know they have them.

Correct.

They just. They just are told, oh, you just have PMS or whatever.

Yeah, you got really heavy bleeding. Like, I wasn't in perimenopause or menopause when I found out that I had my fibroid. I was in my mid-30s. So it is possible for women to have it before even going into that next transition of their life. And for me, a hallmark case of it was really heavy periods. So if you do have really heavy periods, I would actually suggest getting a transvaginal ultrasound when you're not bleeding. Obviously not a comfortable ultrasound to get, but it is worth getting just to be able to rule out if that does come up. And make sure you always get a copy of your reports.

Well, you know what, Melissa? I hear this, and I think, why isn't this part of a routine visit, man? Like, am I missing something here? Like, shouldn't this. If 70% of women have this by the time they're 50, why aren't we looking for this?

To be honest with you, I don't even have an answer to that question. All I can think to you is that it possibly boils down to money. I mean, there's a lot of testing that doesn't happen with women. That should happen. There's a lot of thyroid tests women should be getting, and they don't get it.

I know we're gonna get on a rant here now about all this, but I bet if there was a really good medication or super expensive surgery, everyone would be getting tested for it.

Yeah, absolutely.

I hate to say that that was so conspiracy theory, but I'm doing it now. So 70% of women. Okay, so what?

Why?

What is going on?

So the biggest reason for this, it's twofold. Number one, progesterone deficiency. So you have. It was just a sex hormone, and you've got these hormones like progesterone. A lot of women have heard of estrogen as well, and there's an imbalance between the two. So you'll start to see low progesterone levels in women. And progesterone is supposed to make you feel good. When you don't have enough progesterone, you get what's called the progesterone blues. You get heavy bleeding, and you even can feel a bit constipated as well. If you've got low progesterone and you.

Don'T sleep well and you're crabby.

Correct.

And the problem is when you have that low levels of progesterone, by comparison, the estrogen levels will seem elevated, especially if you are a heavy drinker. We see women, you know, might not drink throughout the entire week, but then the weekend comes and we see a high prevalence of women who are binge drinking, which is going to help.

Isn't it okay to save up all of the drinks for the week and just have them on the weekend?

But I earned it.

It's fine. It's fine.

I know.

It's one drink a week. I saved them. No, I am kidding, everybody. And we are all big fans of dry farm wines here, too. So when we do drink, we drink low, low sugar and responsibly. But, you know, I'm looking at progesterone because it would seem to me that with the levels of stress out there, along with all the xenoestrogens, it's like estrogens and so many things that this would be. That's the reason. It's one of the reasons it's so common.

Yeah. And like, you look at it and, you know, estrogen tells the body to grow. Like, grow. And like, you're going to grow fibroids, you could grow cysts. It creates growth in the body. And like you said, stress is a huge component of it. Because when you get stressed out, your cortisol, that steroid hormone, is released in response to that stress. And if that's chronically elevated for a long period of time, it begins to munch away, like Pac man on your progesterone. So a lot of women, you'll see them taking bioidentical progesterone cream, which can be helpful. But if your stress is still out the roof and you're not sleeping enough, and ladies, sleep is one of the few things in life that are free.

So just.

Can I get an amen on that? I'm so, like, I'm always going on rants about sleep, so. I am so happy to hear you say that. I'm also happy to hear you say, because obviously now there's some really good progesterone creams and oils and. But, like, don't use this as a band aid if you're not fixing the flipping problem. Right. So let's talk about that. Like, what are the options? Someone now has felt this, has some symptoms, or maybe just realizes, hey, I should just ask my doc, tell them I have some symptoms and just have them check anyway. Since 70% of women have this, they find out they do, then what?

Well, they find out that they do, and then. Well, they. They. Essentially, the first and foremost is look at your lifestyle. That's the biggest thing that I start out with women because it's usually the part that women. Women come to me with a truckload of supplements that they're on and, you know, they might be eating well and it's still not budging. So lifestyle, get more sleep in, make sure that you get more water. Start with some of the basics. I would actually give your body a break from coffee. And please, people, I know if you're hearing this, please don't leave.

I didn't hear that. I'm plugging my ears.

You're like, the thing is, if you are someone like myself, I can't have even one cup of coffee a day because I start to clench my teeth. I start to.

You're probably a slow caffeine metabolizer. Very likely we do that genetic test. So I'm sad for you.

Yeah. And, you know, I do enjoy coffee on the weekend. Like, my background is Brazilian, so, like, it's in our blood. But, you know, that's one of the things I would suggest. I also would suggest making sure that you love that liver. Your Liver has over 560 functions and ways to do that is to either have some apple cider vinegar before you eat to be able to stimulate digestive juices. You can do bitters, which you can get online. Just don't do senna. Senna has cascara sagrada. Or sorry, Senna, not senna. My apologies. Swedish bitters has senna in it. And you don't want to be doing Swedish bitters. People think that that's a good bitters to do. But the problem is that. That senna is a laxative. You don't want that.

Well, and that's a laxative like those. Some of those laxatives like Huskara Sagrada and Senna, it works very differently than, say, magnesium and vitamin C. And that's because it goes in there and irritates things.

Yeah.

This is not the goal. Like, you don't want to poop more because you've. You've angered your intestines. That's not the way to pull it off.

Yeah.

All right.

And so, you know, love that liver. Make sure that you're getting in some bitters, even bitter foods. You know, you're looking at arugula, watercress, those greens. Greens in Chinese medicine helps to fuel the liver. So those are going to be wonderful foods to add into that. Getting in your omegas of fish oil, very important. Fish oil is paramount because it's an anti inflammatory. I know you're a big proponent of fish oil as well, jj. So that's a huge one to make sure that you're adding into your world and also your digestive. People don't. Which, I mean, the liver is a part of, but people don't often think that that is such a big deal. But to be honest with you, if you aren't pooping on a regular, where do you think those excess estrogen and those toxins are gonna go? They're gonna stay?

Well, you know what regular pooping is, because I swear to God, I'VE heard this, and it still blows my mind when I hear it. When I hear something like, well, I poop every other day, but my doctor said that was normal for me. I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. So let's walk through what normal digestion is, how often you should poop. Like, give your input on that.

Yeah. So you actually should be having a bowel movement once, ideally twice a day. It should not be hard, as in, it's challenging to get out. I always say to people, kind of look at it like it's a dog's tail versus a baby's arm, like, all bumpy and dry. So like a dog's tail, smooth. You want to make sure that you know when you are pooping. One thing that a lot of practitioners don't talk about is how many wipes. If you were wiping excessively after you have a bowel movement, that could indicate that there's a lot of mucus buildup in the colon, potentially from candida in the system. So that is one thing that I ask women as well. And even just before we even look at the poop, we also have to look at. A lot of people get bloated right after they eat. That is from your stomach, potentially, because there's not enough stomach acid that's being produced. So even taking an enzyme without hydrochloric acid in it could be very helpful to prevent you from bloating. If you actually take care of the digestive system from that very beginning, it can help you assimilate nutrients in the small intestine and potentially help you poop a lot easier.

So right now, someone goes into the doctor's office and they find out they have fibroids. What's the typical thing that happens next?

It's normal. Every woman gets them. Well, that's the first thing that doctor will say. And I think women have to realize that it's common, but it's not normal. Often doctors will just say, well, it depends on the size of it. So if they're small, a doctor will say, well, let's just monitor it every six months. We'll give you an updated transvaginal every six months.

Watching it does what?

I don't know. It's just sitting there and looking pretty. Like, I have no idea. Actually do very much by way of intervention. Like, they. If it's small enough, they kind of just leave it as is. If a woman has a very large fibroid and they are really struggling because they're having heavy periods, they could put them on A variety of different medications, or they could even suggest the removal of those fibroids. I've even had women say to me, well, you know, my doctor's recommending a hysterectomy. And the prevalence of women getting a hysterectomy is massive. Massive. And like, I'm looking at statistics that are saying one in three women will actually end up getting a hysterectomy that by the time that they're 60 years old. 60 or 70 years old. But that's huge. That's like a third of us.

You know, is this the primary cause of getting hysterectomies?

It's not the only primary cause. There's others that are, that generally they're all based off of the estrogen related conditions like the cysts or the fibroids or the endo. If a woman's in extreme pain, it's usually what the doctor will say is like, well, just get a hysterectomy done. And. Or, you know, I had one woman who said, well, my doctor asked me to do a hysterectomy and that I should also remove my ovaries as well.

Oh my gosh.

She said, oh, I don't, I don't know if I feel comfortable with that. And he said, well, why are you so attached to your ovaries? And she's like, I don't know. Why are you so attached to your texticles?

Yeah, like, no, no man ever. They said, you know, we're going to yank those gonads out. That's totally fine.

You don't need them, don't worry about it.

And when you take people through your process and I know you have a free guide for everybody, so yay. This is coming up. Stay tuned. Do you find that you can just like shrink these things and make this a non issue?

Well, it's interesting that you say that because there are a subset of people who think that fibroids are not something that just go away. And I actually completely disagree with that because I no longer have fibroids. So I look at it like, well, if I could do it, I think that any woman can do it. So yes, you can shrink them. And it really depends on the case. And it depends on a woman's level of commitments because we're all biochemically unique. So it really does depend. But I mean, I've seen a lot of women who I've worked with who have most certainly been able to get rid of their fibroids 1000%. It's just a matter of going down that healing journey and saying, okay, I'm going to reduce my estrogen, I'm going to support my progesterone. I'm going to make sure my digestion as well. Change those lifestyle factors and, yeah, sleep.

Now, when I hear all those. And it's funny because you look at, like, the genetics for longevity. You look at what you need to do for weight loss, you need to look at what you need to do to help with reducing or reversing diabetes. Gosh, it's always the same stuff. Yeah, yeah, right.

It is. But, you know, the thing is that we see these issues that pop up in our life, like, especially with our menstrual cycles, and women will say, oh, my God, I hate my cycle. I hate my body. God, it's always so heavy. Your cycle is not the problem, ladies. Your cycle is revealing the problem. And that's so important to understand because quite often, as we mentioned off the top, it is. It just. If you drill it right back, it comes all the way back to stress boundaries, saying no. These are very difficult things for women to do. And before you create any of those boundaries and saying no, you got to take accountability for where you played a role in some of those resentments that you're carrying.

Yes. Progesterone cream won't help with that.

No. No.

So I know you have a free guide for everybody. I was teasing you offline that you call it free fibroids. I'm like, I don't want free fibroids. Yeah, but it's your. Your free guide on how to, I guess, like, get rid of Reverse Risk. So tell us. Tell us what you got for everybody.

So this guide is actually going to help you to take those steps that you need to take to be able to balance your hormones and be able to get rid of those fibroids. That's what this guide is meant to do. And in it, we've got some tools from you, from a supplement, from a food perspective and even from a lifestyle perspective that I suggest are absolutely crucial to get you started on this journey.

Cool. We love to have the. You know, what I'm always looking for is how to cut through all the noise and go, here's the things you need to do. And everything you've mentioned here is even. It's so in line because it's not just, hey, take some progesterone cream. It's going to be looking at every single aspect of your life, which will not only help you with the fibroid issue, it's going to help you with everything else. So, you know, you, you bring yourself up together. If you fix the fibroid issue, you're probably going to fix a lot of issues with stress and sleep and, and belly fat, et cetera. So that's what's exciting is this all works together. Now I'm gonna throw a curveball at you, Melissa. You personally, what is one thing you do every day that you feel like makes sense the biggest difference in your life.

Honestly. Oh God. This is really hard to pick, but I would say one of the biggest thing that helps me is that I Time block. Yeah, time blocking would have to be it. So at the end of my day, I just do a brain dump. I brain dump everything that I have to do the day after and I put how much time it takes to do each task and then I create my to do list for the day after and it's all blocked in time segments. And now that might sound totally anal retentive, but at the end of the day it really helps with overwhelm. And I'm able to schedule my meditation, I'm able to schedule when I journal, I'm able to schedule when I walk my dog, or when I self study in the morning, or when I work out and when I have to do all the other things. But all the time things that I actually time block aren't just things that I have to do by way of work. It's also things like my self parenting, which that's what I call self care. It's self parenting because it's like, go to bed, Melissa. Okay, this is, you know, I gotta go to bed. But yeah, it honestly is one of the biggest things because it has helped me tremendously to be able to reduce that level of overwhelm.

It's interesting. Early on in my life, I still can't believe I got to do this. Stephen Covey, you know who he is, right?

Seven habits, right?

So I went to a workshop early, early on. Me and 50 people and Stephen Covey. And he taught how to do just this and how to figure out what was urgent, emergent, you know, not so important, et cetera, and how to do this quadrant. And it's just a habit I've done every single day. And I never even think about it. Like every night I do just what you explained. I've got it for the, the day, the week, the month, the year, backed it down. And you know, we all have crazy busy lives, but when you organize that way, it keeps you from being stressed out and also unproductive where you go, gosh, I just drove across town and I forgot to do X, Y and Z there. So I love that you said that because that in itself will help with stress hormones. And if you help with stress hormones, you help with progesterone. If you help with progesterone, you help with fibroids. And see all these things, all these things that you would think, oh, it's just like a diet thing. Nope, it's an everything thing.

So 1,000%. And I really think that those are those, like, little lifestyle techniques. And I'll say it, you know, when I do that time blocking, that self care is written in lane. That's one thing that women just put in everything else except for that. But you got a crazy.

It is.

You got to schedule yourself in people. You really do.

You've got to schedule yourself first.

Yes, 1,000%, absolutely.

That's like really my biggest secret to say success is putting myself first, which sounds selfish and I believe it's selfless. I think the martyr syndrome needs to be squashed. I bet you fibroids are a big, like one of the biggest symptoms of, of fibroids or causes is being a martyr and like, you know, taking care of everybody else. And that doesn't actually help you or your family. So that's. I'm going to just do a little takeaway on that. Put yourself first. And I. And do that right now by grabbing the free fibroid guide. So you can get that@jjvirgin.com fibroids. It'll be in the show notes. All the show notes will be there as well. So you'll be able to get that there. We'll also give you the hookup for dry farm wines. So if you are going to drink, you're going to drink low sugar and you're not going to save them all up. And I've had that. You know, I've been, I've been coaching people for 30 years, so I have seen that. Well, I know I'm supposed to not have more than one drink a day, so I'll just have seven on Saturday. I'm like, oh, no.

No, no.

Anyway, I know, I know.

Smacking my head over here.

I'm telling you yes and no and no. Wine doesn't count as fruit. Just to clear it up.

Right.

All right, well, I so appreciate you. I want to remind everyone again to go to jjvirgin.com forward/fibroids. Melissa, thank you so much for taking time out to be with us today.

Well, thank you so much for having me here. I really appreciate it.

There was your deep dive bonus episode of Ask the Health Expert. We will be dropping these bonus episodes as amazing experts and incredible titles come to us. You don't want to miss out on this, do ya? Stay in the know. Be the first to know. Go to subscribetoj.com and I'll hook you up. SA.