397. How to test your hormones - The nuance, age, stage, timing and situation: All the gold you’d expect with Dr Leah Hechtman

Did you feel like kids connected with kids and adults with adults regarding food? Separate times, separate tables, dumbed-down ‘fun’ food? This week we are talking food and little people - Toddlers to be specific given the wonderful Luka from Book to Food has a new book available for pre-order and soon for real “Toddler to Table”. It is a stunner of a book but what I love most about the book and our conversation, as someone who spent years educating on family food in the earlier years of Low Tox Life is that we talked about: how people’s backgrounds and childhoods affect our views on foodOur own experiences of shift work - two reformed Up-And-Go breakfast gals - true story and how conveniences needed re-teaching/re-defining.Luka explains why she’ll never do a day on a plate and why it’s easier for her to put a big focus on food in her life - LOVE THAT THIS CAME UP - Ever felt guilty following homemaker accounts, food accounts or zero-waste peeps? Remember they do it FULL TIME.Agency and choice within boundaries and a family food settingFood refusal - when to work on it as an ‘issue’ vs not sweating the small stuff.The Family Table and coming together and the impact it has.And so much more - enjoy! And Toddler to Table is available for Preorder if you or someone in your life has a toddler - it is a STUNNER and about so much more than just recipes. Bravo @boobtofoodAlexx xThank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@blockbluelight_official gives you 20% off site-wide, including their brilliant red light panels, to help you achieve the perfect light balance in your home and for quality sleep, rest and repair. Code: LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/4cRGf6d@cleannectarine gives you a huge 20% off site-wide to help you make your low tox personal care and beauty swaps achievable! Wow. So generous. CODE: LOWTOXLIFE (excluding water filters) https://bit.ly/4g1Ixm9Be sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being a teen is harder than ever before and it’s showing in the stats and research. BUT, this is not about going down the fear road, nor is it all about crying “it’s social media” as an over simplified solution. We also need to do a LOT more to diversify the ‘success’ picture during school years, help them matter, feel the love and find themselves as they journey through individuation into adulthood. All while they huff at us, sometimes act out, show us rudeness and do things beyond our comprehension often - now is not the time to be offended, nor to come down hard.So what do we do as parents, carers, teachers and coaches? We go in curious and from a place of love, while learning from the best: Enter @maggiedentauthor - A powerFULL show I have listened back to it again already. Tell me what you got out of it once you’ve had a listen, Alexx xLow Tox Life - The Podcast available wherever you listen to podcasts - Celebrating 400 shows and 8 years this month! Maggie’s latest book, “Help Me Help My Teen” is available on Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/4cWGQDQ Thank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@blockbluelight_official gives you 20% off site-wide, including their brilliant red light panels, to help you achieve the perfect light balance in your home and for quality sleep, rest and repair. Code: LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/4cRGf6d@cleannectarine gives you a huge 20% off site-wide to help you make your low tox personal care and beauty swaps achievable! Wow. So generous. CODE: LOWTOXLIFE (excluding water filters) https://bit.ly/4g1Ixm9Be sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’ve been confused about hormone testing - this week’s show is here to help. @drleahhechtman PhD, takes us through hormone testing options for age, stage and situation, as well as things that impact the accuracy of a test. We cover: Saliva, Urine and Blood testing - when which one or all are helpful and for whom. What reference ranges are based on - and most of us aren’t IT 😳Pill effects at puberty & perimenopause (without shaming!) The constraints with the medicare model for test ordering and clinical significance, ie, a lot can be done before a crisis occurs that requires a medication. How urine testing can be your best guide when considering HRTHistamine and run-away estrogen - there’s usually a 3rd party reason beyond hormones that this pathway is activated. How progesterone is the good, reliable friend that keeps estrogen from too many wild parties! What you can achieve without spending any $$$ exploring your hormone health, up to the breadth of what one can do if you wanted to. How’s that for ground covered!? Dr Leah Hechtman (PhD) is a globally respected naturopathic clinician, a revered lecturer and a sought-after keynote speaker who is widely recognised for her expertise, receiving numerous referrals from specialists and fertility clinics on a global scale. Such a pleasure to have her back on the show. Hope you love it as much as we loved recording it for you, Alexx xThank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@blockbluelight_official gives you 20% off site-wide, including their brilliant red light panels, to help you achieve the perfect light balance in your home and for quality sleep, rest and repair. Code: LOWTOXLIFE@cleannectarine gives you a huge 20% off site-wide to help you make your low tox personal care and beauty swaps achievable! Wow. So generous. CODE: LOWTOXLIFE (excluding water filters) Be sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As promised: Part 2 is here, with microbiologist @kiranbiome and it is a deep dive into the mechanism for “leakiness” of our body’s barrier functions. He took my nightclub bouncer and ran with it and I think you’ll find more empowerment when it comes to understanding and working with issues related to:  Leaky GutLeaky SkinLeaky Brain …as we explore: Why does it happen? What’s going on with these issues? Why treating the symptoms is not the best way forward and how can we build healthier barriers and immune responses? Enjoy the show - Low Tox Life podcast is anywhere you like to listen to podcasts - send it to anyone experiencing inflammation - with gut issues, skin issues or cognitive symptoms. It is jam-packed and we’re here to help. Be sure to go back to Part 1 that we did here, centred mainly on gut health building blocks and pitfalls. https://www.lowtoxlife.com/show-387-thriving-body-biomes-part-1-with-kiran-krishnan/Kiran Krishnan is a research microbiologist and a health and wellness expert who aims to make complex information understandable to all. He has founded a number of successful health and supplement companies over the last 20 years including co-founding and leading Microbiome Labs, the preeminent, microbiome therapeutics-focused brand among healthcare professionals. Can’t wait to see what you think of the show, Alexx xThank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@waterscofilters From August 1 to September 15 you have 12% off all new @waterscofilters water filters, including their under-sink and shower filters. Use code LOWTOXLIFE at the check out. Filter out all the nasties, add back in 60+ trace minerals + upgrade your water. Enjoy! https://bit.ly/3WJvOgd@ediblebeautyau is a naturopath-crafted personal care & makeup brand with plenty to rave about. They’re giving us a $79 product for FREE which happens to be my fave in their range (ok, it was my idea! Hehe) Add it to your cart, then all you have to do is spend $75 on whatever else you fancy trying or stocking up on from their range; use code LOWTOXLIFE at check out and hey presto: The price of the serum will magically become $ZERO https://bit.ly/3yxNC4uBe sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we talk MILK with @fat_pig_farm Matthew Evans - the dairy kind, the plant kind and the many aspects to consider when considering either. Do you consume dairy products? Do you have issues with lactose, casein or both? Do you think plant milks are nutritious and planet-friendly? Do you think plant milk has a lighter footprint? Do you think Raw milk is safe? Dangerous? We go everywhere on the topic of milk and Matthew’s research into the topic for his latest book, MILK, is thorough and revealing as well as appealing to the deep thinker and person who wants a truer food system. Matthew Evans is a Tasmanian food writer, television broadcaster and chef who lives and works on Fat Pig Farm, a soil-to-stomach regenerative farm and restaurant. He’s been the host of six series of Gourmet Farmer and two documentaries on SBS TV. Matthew is the author of 15 books on food, including On Eating Meat, and his latest cookbook, the updated and revised The Real Food Companion. His book SOIL is a hymn to the remarkable, and underappreciated bit of Earth that gifts us life. His most recent book, MILK, unpacks the truth and lies behind the original superfood.Matthew’s Website — https://fatpig.farm/ . His Books are also available on Amazon.com.Enjoy and let me know what you found most interesting about this exploration. Alexx xThank you to this month’s show sponsors: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@waterscofilters From August 1 to September 15 you have 12% off all new @waterscofilters water filters, including their under-sink and shower filters. Use code LOWTOXLIFE at the check out. Filter out all the nasties, add back in 60+ trace minerals + upgrade your water. https://bit.ly/3WJvOgd@ediblebeautyau is a naturopath-crafted personal care & makeup brand with plenty to rave about. They’re giving us a $79 product for FREE which happens to be my fave in their range (ok, it was my idea! Hehe) Add it to your cart, then all you have to do is spend $75 on whatever else you fancy trying or stocking up on from their range; use code LOWTOXLIFE at check out and hey presto: The price of the serum will magically become $ZERO https://bit.ly/3yxNC4uBe sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you frustrated with the medical system when it comes to chronic illness? Perhaps frustrated with the obvious hold industry has over public service institutions? What if you had the power to cultivate a level of safety for your system that helped you feel more well and resilient in today’s world and less reliant on the system in the first place? Today we explore both of these with Dr Olivia Lesslar. Olivia and I discuss: There is a need for more nuance and deeper thinking in medicine today and in what the public takes to be ‘truth,’ whether that be believing something is a silver bullet fix, ‘bad food’, or ‘safe and effective medication’. We ALL need to think more. We look at the path from the research lab to product to clinician and how we can do better in that processWe look at how caring for patients has lost its way, so often reading for symptoms that match up with medication and not seeing the nuance or the opportunities to build a greater independence from needing external medication. We look at the conundrum for many: Complex illness requiring expert clinicians and cost often being prohibitive: Of course the doctors are worth it for all the study and experience they bring, but at the same time, often being a last resort, patients with chronic illness have limited funds. We look at safety signaling in the body and how we can cultivate a mindset of health by looking to the emerging and established evidence in neuro/immune connectionHow can I be less breakable and shakable? Working on that is one of the most powerful health cultivation focuses we can have. A powerFULL episode for all inspired towards a better model of healthcare, and a world with fewer people suffering chronic illness. Thank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low-tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@waterscofilters From August 1 to September 15 you have 12% off all new @waterscofilters water filters, including their under-sink and shower filters. Use code LOWTOXLIFE at the check out. Filter out all the nasties, add back in 60+ trace minerals + upgrade your water. Enjoy! https://bit.ly/3WJvOgd@ediblebeautyau is a naturopath-crafted personal care & makeup brand with plenty to rave about. They’re giving us a $79 product for FREE which happens to be my fave in their range (ok, it was my idea! Hehe) Add it to your cart, then all you have to do is spend $75 on whatever else you fancy trying or stocking up on from their range; use code LOWTOXLIFE at check out and hey presto: The price of the serum will magically become $ZERO https://bit.ly/3yxNC4uBe sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a rite of passage should be: A powerful graduation into a new phase of life - something one grows into and is supported into during the transition. What they often are instead because we lack proper rites of passage?A piss up for your 18th or 21st with gloating about who got the drunkestA sexual encounter you might not feel ready for but ‘all your friends have’ and you’re X age now, so you feel you have to or should want to. Depression or anxiety because of a lack of support into a new chapter (adulthood, parenthood, elder life). As a couple of examples… This week, we talk about how long-standing community GP Dr Arne Rubinstein started noticing his patients were suffering all sorts of unhealthy situations in their lives. Many of them stemmed from a lack of solid grounding and really getting to ‘grow up’ properly or enter new phases in life. They lacked recognition, transition, and community support. Arne founded the Rites of Passage Institute as a result and for 3 decades has now been taking groups around the world through programs to reintroduce this vital acknowledgement of growth and ceremony and honouring into our lives and the world is better for his work. I hope you love this conversation as much as I did hosting it. You won’t leave without a thought or two very much provoked, that much I can promise you. Connect with Arne and his team’s work at the Rites of Passage Institute to learn more. Head to the shownotes on lowtoxlife.com/podcast to download the resources - Golden Check In and 7 Parenting Strategies. Thank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@waterscofilters 12% off all new systems from Waters Co for the month of August till September 15 - CODE LOWTOXLIFE - A market-leading filter solution for every budget - not just taking hte bad stuff out, but putting all the good minerals IN for optimal hydration. Enjoy!@ediblebeautyau Receive a free Exotic Goddess SerumBe sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode.q Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Habit-making / Habit breaking got you down? This week’s new show is for everyone who’s ever made or broken a habit - or felt like they’re a constant failure at doing so. You are not the failure! One curve ball moment, day or week where you don’t stick to your plan doesn’t mean “you have failed and it’s over”. The cookie-cutter approach to habits is the failureI’m genuinely excited to bring you this conversation and the insights that will help any type of person move the needle in the ways you seek to in your life. @drginacleo has a PhD in Habits, and her work, her book and this show help everyone find success regarding habits. She is passionate about translating scientific evidence into simple, actionable strategies to help improve health, wellness, mindset, and lifestyle-related habits – long-term.Gina has a PhD in habit change, is an Adjunct Professor at Bond University and is an Accredited Dietitian who has recently published a book, The Habit Revolution.Enjoy the show + tag me @lowtoxlife on Instastories with your shares and highlights from it. Are you a fellow tooth-brushing overthinker like us? This was possibly my favourite revelation. It’s not just me! Alexx xThank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@koalaeco gives you 25% off all of July CODE: LOWTOXLIFE. It’s a delicious range of home and personal care products using no new plastic, fake fragrances, dyes, harmful preservatives or phosphates. I’m a bit obsessed with their clothes-washing liquid, stain spray and doggy wash are all on repeat order at our house! https://bit.ly/KoalaEcoBe sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pop Quiz: How do you feel about aging? Do you feel bad about your age? Wish you were younger? Go to serious lengths to come across as younger? Did you turn 32 AGAIN this year? This week’s show, @carlhonore invites us to stop buying into the cult of youth, and explore what the world might look like when we do. If you’d love nothing more than to change the way you view ageing, change the things you say about age, brush off the pressure to be ‘young’ then join us. Words like vitality, energy, enthusiasm, vibrancy and ‘crushing it’ don’t belong to any age - they belong to the people who embody them at any age. Carl has always made us think through his books, and challenge how we think about and do things. In Praise of Slow, challenged Hustle Culture; his book “Bolder” in 2018 challenges us to rethink aging and the notion that at a certain point we should be put out to pasture. I know you’ll love this chat. So good. Can’t wait to hear what ahas come from it for you. Alexx xThank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@koalaeco gives you 25% off all of July CODE: LOWTOXLIFE. It’s a delicious range of home and personal care products using no new plastic, fake fragrances, dyes, harmful preservatives or phosphates. I’m a bit obsessed with their clothes-washing liquid, stain spray and doggy wash are all on repeat order at our house! https://bit.ly/KoalaEcoBe sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nervous system, somatics and what true regulation means. We go there again with a brilliant practitioner. It’s a biggy this week. It’s going to be a cause for reflection and compassion for many of us, I think! I wanted to have @irenelyon on the show because I’ve become concerned myself about AI and the impact on education online - models hired to demo a few ‘easy exercises’ to regulate system and modules churned out by computers, funnels built by bots and everything geared to algorithm eye catching… it’s the Wild West out there and we’re playing with humans who actually need support. What people ‘think’ doing work to regulate the system might have gone through to need it: WarPhysical or mental abuseDifficult experiences around big moves, big illnesses, bullyingCrime or violence committing, “troubled youth”.What experiences also can mean regulation work can be neededIllness, surgery, difficult birthsContact sportsShaming or being in the care of “overreacting adults” as a childBeing left to cry oneself to sleep as a babyHead trauma such as a fall/hitting head Break ups, grief, job lossAnd the list goes on! We unpack the many ways to know if you’re connecting with a good person/platform to work with - how to spot ‘quick fixing red flags on the internet’ and then some of the common situations where people go through every possible treatment for whatever it is they’re experiencing as adults, only to find it stems from dysregulation. I hope you love the show as much as I love bringing this one to you, Alexx xThank you to this month’s show sponsors for helping you make your low tox swaps easier: @ausclimate gives you 10% off their range for the whole of 2024, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating range. code LOWTOXLIFE https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate@koalaeco gives you 25% off all of July CODE: LOWTOXLIFE. It’s a delicious range of home and personal care products using no new plastic, fake fragrances, dyes, harmful preservatives or phosphates. I’m a bit obsessed with their clothes-washing liquid, stain spray and doggy wash are all on repeat order at our house! https://bit.ly/KoalaEcoBe sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs of this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.