Ep. 113: Inflammation's Impact on Women's Health & Fertility, with Chiara Estes, RD

Does inflammation really matter? Does it make that big of a difference? Registered Dietitian, Chiara Estes (no relation), shares how inflammation impacts, not only our overall health, but our reproductive system. This episode reviews what causes inflammation, what role diet really plays, signs that chronic inflammation may be affecting you, and even ways to improve it -- and how you'll feel afterward! Chiara gives a well balanced approach that doesn't forbid donuts or fried foods, but puts them in a context of their possible impact on chronic inflammation. This incredibly helpful interview is worth a listen for those who value and want to improve their health!

SHOW NOTES:
Ep. 57: Why & How Gut Health Affects Fertility, with Chiara Estes, RD
Natural Fertility Nutrition with Chiara Estes, RD

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Transcript

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Caitlin 0:06

Welcome to the Woven Well Podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you on your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started. Welcome back to the Woven Well podcast. We mention frequently here how our reproductive systems are not isolated from the rest of us. Each of us is a complex human being that is both mind and body and spirit, and even our bodies are beautifully complex systems that all work together to keep us going physically. You can't treat one system without expecting effects on the rest of the body and vice versa. Well , one of the things that can cause both whole body effects and reproductive-specific effects is inflammation. Now I think inflammation itself is a pretty general term. You know, what is it? Where does it come from? How do we know if we have it? What can we do about it? Well, to help us answer these questions and more, I'm excited to welcome today's guest, Chiara Estes. No relation unfortunately, but she's an outstanding registered dietician who has focused her practice on women's health and she seeks to help women advocate for their health and restore and preserve their fertility. Chiara, welcome to the show.

Chiara Estes 1:30

Hello. I'm so happy to be back.

Caitlin 1:33

I'm happy to have you back too. Yes, we're going to make sure to have your previous episode, which we aired last year in 2023, in the show notes. We talked about gut health and that's a very important topic, but today we're going to be talking about inflammation. So why don't you get us started by explaining what inflammation is and how we can even know if it's affecting us.

Chiara Estes 1:55

Yeah, so inflammation at its most basic is our body's immune response to injury or illness. And so this is what we would call acute inflammation. And it is actually a good thing. This is a good design that our body has, because you know, we need to be able to fight off infections. We need to be able to fight off injuries. And so what this looks like is, so say you have an injury or an infection, your body sends out inflammatory cells to help kill off bacteria and to help heal damage tissue. You know, it increases blood flow, it brings immune system cells to help with healing , to increases temperature. So a good example of this that kind of paints a good picture of what this really looks like is , if you have a virus that gives you a sore throat, right, your throat's going to hurt. You feel it because you know your temperature's being increased, it's killing off some cells in there to try and kill the virus. It's bringing increased blood flow to the area so that you feel that as some pain, like, okay, I know something's wrong here. And so that aspect of it is good. It tells us that something's wrong and it helps our body to fix it. And so that's what we would call acute inflammation. Good thing--acute inflammation. Where it can become an issue is when acute inflammation turns into chronic inflammation. So that quick response that is designed to be resolved pretty quickly turns into a response that essentially never goes away. And so it's as if your body is in this perpetually fighting off something state, whether due to acute infections or illnesses that are just never completely resolving or due to things that are constantly being thrown at our body. And because our bodies aren't designed to be chronically inflamed all the time, it can sometimes show up as symptoms like persistent pain, persistent swelling, brain fog, dizziness, anxiety, depression, like extreme fatigue. We're all tired but like extremely tired. Something that's out of the ordinary. Poor digestion, skin issues, a little bit of puffiness, whether in your face or like in your hands body. Reproductive wise , oftentimes, this can present itself as cycles that are much more painful. So bleeding and cramping that's more painful, a little heavier, just generally more dramatic symptoms around that time of your cycle. Because if your body is in this heightened response, generally, it's also going to have a heightened response during reproductive times too. But most notably those who have known inflammatory conditions such as endometriosis or even endometritis like an endometrial infection, those are both inflammation driven. So that could be a known factor there too.

Caitlin 4:59

Yes. And I love so much, Chiara, that you started off by saying that inflammation can be a really good thing. Like our bodies are designed , we are designed, to have inflammation for a very good purpose. And so we want to celebrate that our bodies can have inflammation because it is a good function of the overall system. However, there are instances where it is not good for us. And you describe that so well, that chronic scenario where we just can't keep up with these factors that are causing the inflammation throughout our system. So that's so important to know. And so that makes me want to know what are those factors that contribute to our overall chronic inflammation. You know, what are the biggest culprits that we see play a part?

Chiara Estes 5:51

So there are, there are a handful of different culprits out there , and diet is one of those that plays into it. I don't consider diet a main culprit, but it's one of those that either makes things worse or makes things better. And so I'll kind of explain what I really mean by that , either like sensitivities both in your diet or the environment. A lot of like lifestyle, the way we live these days, there's a lot of toxins and chemicals and pollutants that are just thrown at us that didn't use to exist. Especially depending on the area in which you live. So sometimes that's unavoidable. And so sensitivities in environment and in diet. So obviously if there are foods that you know you don't do well with, that's going to cause inflammation, allergies, things like that. But then autoimmune disorders as well that can cause inflammation. Because that's our body thinking that there's an invader in our body all the time and we need to fix it. So that's, it's doing what it's supposed to do, but it's just kind of stuck in that. Then , some other sources would be like the persistent acute inflammation. So things that you're never fully recovering from. Little infections that are just brewing there all the time. I think a pretty common one that people don't realize is maybe poor dental health. If you're somebody who has like chronic gum inflammation that's just not getting resolved and you just don't realize it, that's a chronic inflammation there that your body is constantly fighting. So that's one that I like to, that I like to tell people, go get your teeth cleaned . That's one big area that you can fix. Yes, you can see that a lot of them are unavoidable. But what we see with diet now is that the pattern of our diet can either be putting out the flames of inflammation or stoking the flames of inflammation. So there are certain food groups , and certain types of foods where if we are eating too many foods that tend to send out more pro-inflammatory signals tend to do things that wreck gut health tend to have more pro-inflammatory end products. Those types of food are eaten more heavily in a standard American diet. And so that's why we see these issues more often. And they're just really exacerbated by our diet. Because obviously we're not going to stop eating. So it's one of those things that either daily is helping our inflammation or could be hurting our inflammation. In contrast to that, there are the foods that help it. So oftentimes those would be things like your healthy fats and your phytonutrients and antioxidants, all like the colorful fruits and vegetables, things like that will help to combat the inflammation. So it's not , I think sometimes people think that there's single foods to blame and while there are single foods that are pro-inflammatory, it's more the pattern of the way that you're eating to make sure that you are balancing out pro-inflammatory with anti-inflammatory foods.

Caitlin 9:00

Yes. That big picture here. And you did a great job of listing so many different influences that can affect that chronic inflammation in our body. And I think about how some of those, as you mentioned, are things we have no control over. Others are within our control, but we're unaware of them. And then there's this category of things that we know about and we can do something about them. And you mentioned some of those. Also as a side note, I love that you're not throwing any one particular food or food group under the bus because, you know, I know we've talked before and a well-balanced approach is the best approach to have. And I completely agree with you. I am not an expert in any way, shape, or form in the dietetic world. That is not an area of expertise for me at all, which is why I have you on. But I do think that well-balanced approach seems to be the best one. So with even the suggestions you gave, would those be the way that we can get rid of this chronic inflammation? Should we try to get rid of it? Is it something we should just kind of expect to live with? You know, what's within our power? What's realistic, I guess?

Chiara Estes 10:12

It is. I think giving our body the tools to be able to fight chronic inflammation is the goal. And that is a goal that we are able to achieve. So while inflammation itself, we are not ever going to get rid of because it's a system of our body that's important. The chronic inflammation, we, we always want to make sure that we're giving our body the tools to be able to handle it. And so the tools being avoiding what we can from the environment. So whether it be toxic exposures, things like that , you know, definitely making sure we're being on top of exposures that we're bringing into our home, whether it's in products or other things. But then more importantly , the lifestyle that we're living. So the pattern of our diet. So making sure we are staying away from ultra-processed foods, majority of the time. I'm never going to be out there saying, you know, never have a donut again. Or never have like a fried food again, because that's not realistic. But if you know that majority of the time you are cooking your foods at home and you're filling your plates with the colorful phytonutrients found in the antioxidants and fruits and vegetables and the healthy fats found in your fatty fishes or your nuts and seeds, if we know that you have an abundance of those and those certainly outweigh more of your ultra-processed foods or your hydrogenated oils, then you don't have to lose your mind over having that donut . Or you don't have to lose your mind over whatever diet situation that you can't control, because you know, your body has the tools to handle that, that one donut or whenever it might be in your life.

Caitlin 12:00

Yes. You know, earlier when you mentioned it either stokes the flames or it reduces the flames, you know, so you are freeing us to think of that donut is not the cause of your chronic inflammation, but a daily donut followed by a daily fried lunch, et cetera , is going to be stoking those flames of chronic inflammation so much that it may be hard to get on the other side of it. But if we have those tools and we're living in that fully well-balanced sort of an approach where we're thinking about the things we put into our bodies, we're thinking about the things that are around us, then we're giving ourselves the best chance possible to be at that healthy place and to reduce that chronic inflammation , which is so important. I mean, I know with my clients, when we're talking about women's health, reproductive health, we talk about what products do you use? What products do you put inside your body? What products do you put in sensitive areas because they have an effect. And so, as you mentioned, even thinking about potential toxins or chemicals that are in our environment, yes, there are ones out in our city, i n our state that we can't control, but within our home, what can we do to help improve that? I think that's important. We c ould very easily take it so far that it feels overwhelming, but starting small, which I feel like that's your approach as well. Starting small and realistically can make a big difference overall.

Chiara Estes 13:30

Mm-Hmm.

Caitlin 13:30

So obviously we know that inflammation is going to cause some noticeable symptoms once we know how to spot them. You've done a good job explaining what some of those are. So when we give ourselves these tools that we need and we're trying to reduce those flames, what are we going to notice once we reduce our inflammation? Will we see signs of improvement? I'm just curious what those would be.

Chiara Estes 13:56

So like anything, especially if we're looking at it from a fertility lens, you might not see it very quickly.

Caitlin 14:03

Yep.

Chiara Estes 14:04

Nothing with our body is a quick fix, but generally, you know, less pain, especially with your periods, better digestion, less sensitivity , oftentimes clearer skin. So if you're somebody who had lots of redness, lots of rosacea, lots of acne , sometimes that can be really improved because, you know, acne, rosacea, that's a source of inflammation that's a inflammatory condition of your skin. So that can be something that you'll notice more quickly than other things. Let me take like a huge step backwards for a second. If inflammation is a symptom of something being incredibly wrong, anything that's a huge stress that our body senses, that's something that's a huge burden on our body. Like, oh , now's not a good time to reproduce. It will usually ramp down reproduction. So it could be one of those burdens that is maybe for you, personally , is like the last straw for your body. Like, oh my gosh, the that gum inflammation or whatever , that digestive inflammation, whatever's going on that's causing this underlying source of chronic inflammation is the last straw that kind of ramps down your body's priority of reproduction. Yes. And sometimes that's seen in like lower hormone levels or poor ovulation.

Caitlin 15:28

Yes. Or irregular or delayed cycles. I talk about the impact of stress often with clients because we can see it happening on the chart. And we talk about stress isn't just mental, it isn't just emotional, it is physical too. And you're giving a great example of that.

Chiara Estes 15:47

So it'll be seen in that and because oftentimes even, so from that standpoint, it affects reproduction, but then even from a more literal standpoint, it'll affect reproduction from that inflammatory environment of the uterus. Right? So conception, it's hard for conception to occur in an inflammatory environment , due to receptivity. So it could have a hard time implant in an environment that's too inflamed. So yes, even seeing just more success with fertility in that sense, like in the being able to conceive sense, we can see that as well sometimes.

Caitlin 16:26

Yes, it's so important that both you have more success with trying to conceive if you're reducing inflammation. And also as you mentioned, you have an improved quality of life. I am a big fan of making sure women know that they deserve a high quality of life right now, not just when they're trying to conceive. So you're absolutely right. It's for any reproductive goal, your health can be improved and you can notice those symptoms when you reduce that chronic inflammation in your body. You know, you gave the example earlier of painful periods. I don't know any woman, regardless of her reproductive stage or category or goal, who doesn't want less painful periods. And so anything we can do to help women have that better experience every cycle or every month , I'm all about that. Now. You talk a lot about chronic inflammation in your nutrition program, I think. So if listeners wanted to join that next program or learn more about what you teach in that, what would be the best way for them to reach out to you?

Chiara Estes 17:35

Yeah, so inflammation is a big nutrition topic for all of my clients. I work with clients both privately and then I also now have a course called my restore course. It's a self-paced course. And module number five out of nine talks all about anti-inflammatory pattern of eating. If you are somebody who is looking for more individualization and help, then I'm always accepting private clients where you'll be able to get to the course and more coaching access from me as well. So that can be found at on my website at naturalfertilitynutrition.com or my DMs on Instagram are always open if you want to chat with me more about either of my program options.

Caitlin 18:23

That's awesome. And listeners, Chiara is a part of our trusted provider network at woven natural Fertility Care. So that means clients of ours who are part of this specific program have the opportunity to work with three of our trusted providers for a consultation without any additional out-of-pocket cost to that provider. So if you'd like to learn more about Chiara 's services or ours , check out the links in the show notes. We'll make sure to make that easy for you. So Chiara, thank you so much for being on the show today and sharing all of your knowledge.

Chiara Estes 18:53

Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure.

Caitlin 18:56

We at Woven Well care so much about women's health and about your health. We believe that every woman deserves to be treated with respect and dignity as she is made in the very image of God. We hope these resources help you to understand more about your body, your health, and how to advocate for your needs. If you'd like to hear more about these topics, make sure to subscribe here to the show and get these short weekly episodes wherever you listen to podcasts. As always, thanks for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.