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

Caitlin Estes:

Welcome to the Woven Well Podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you and your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started.

Caitlin Estes:

Welcome back to the Woven Well Podcast. If you've listened to our podcast before then, you know that we deeply believe that every woman was crafted with love and purpose. By God. We are image bearers of God, which means that not only do our minds matter and our souls matter, but our bodies matter. We work to educate and empower women in knowledge about their bodies so that they can properly honor and respect them specifically as it relates to our fertility. So today's episode, we're going to learn about how even our gut health can have an impact on our health and fertility. From our guest fertility dietitian, Chiara Estes, no relation. Unfortunately, Chiara is a wife, mother and registered dietitian who helps women gain clarity and confidence in their nutrition, improve their fertility, and become pregnant naturally. Chiara, thank you so much for joining us today.

Chiara Estes, RD:

So excited to be here.

Caitlin Estes:

I'm glad too. So tell us a little bit about what you do and what brought you to women's Health specifically.

Chiara Estes, RD:

Yeah. So I have been a registered dietitian for over seven years now. When I first became a dietitian, I worked in the clinical space as many dietitians do, in hospitals, ICUs, rehab centers for many years. But what brought me to women's health specifically was both a combination of my own experiences with poor care in the women's health world, and then that mirrored with the contrast of the beauty of N F P and learning more about that. So I was on birth control for a very short time. And it was completely awful. Oh, I was not myself, depression, all anxiety, all those things. And I went to my doctor who told me that that was normal. . And that was just fine and it would go away. And so I never saw her again. And after that, I switched to natural family planning, you know, which was both better in line with my health, but better in line with church teaching too.

Chiara Estes, RD:

And at once I switched, I was just in such awe of how beautiful our bodies and our fertility is designed, and I couldn't help but want to learn more. So in my journey to switching to that, I learned a lot more just because I wanted to, . But it was when multiple fcps such as yourself. Yeah. When they found out that I was a dietitian, they would tell me there's a huge nutrition need in this fertility space. And so I did, and I've never looked back. And here I am, three years of serving women this way. And it is just such a joy and an honor.

Caitlin Estes:

Oh, that's a great story. I love how your personal life intersected with the work that you'd already been called to do, and you're able to combine all of those passions to meet a very important need. So that's great. I mentioned that we're going to talk specifically about gut health today. So let's start with why is gut health even a part of our fertility consideration? Why should we be paying attention to that?

Chiara Estes, RD:

I mean, gut health generally as a science is a very new science. We're still learning a lot about it. We're, there's still a lot that we do not know, but we do know that there is a solid relationship between gut health and fertility. There are studies that show that fertility conditions such as P C O S and endometriosis are associated with alterations in gut microbiota. So basically just changes in how our gut functions, the good guys and the bad guys. And there tend to be less of the good guys and more of the bad guys, and that can really wreak havoc. What's really interesting about these studies, they would do, fecal transplants. And so a fecal transplant is what it sounds like. And what they found was when they transplanted fecal samples from animals who have P C O S into animals that do not have P C O S, those normal animals developed insulin resistance, ovarian cysts, higher testosterone, higher lh.

Chiara Estes, RD:

And so it just goes to show, even just taking the gut health of someone with hormonal issues and giving it to somebody without it creates the hormonal issues. So the connection there is very strong. They found similar results to, doing fecal transplants with animals with endometriosis versus animals that do not have that. So wow, there's a strong connection between the two. And so not only is that connection there, we also know that when gut health is poor, it can lead to things like poor nutrient absorption, poor hormone excretion, particularly estrogen. so oftentimes those with poor gut health rather than our estrogen being excreted through our stool, so processed through our liver and then excreted through our stool. If the gut health is off, oftentimes estrogen is recirculated into our blood system causing imbalances that way, generalized inflammation, insulin resistance. So poor gut health leads to all of those things, which all of those things can really throw a wrench, so to speak, speak in maintaining overall hormone balance.

Caitlin Estes:

Wow. I did not know any of that. So I am already fascinated. I'm already hooked. So what does it mean to have poor gut health or good gut health then?

Chiara Estes, RD:

So when we talk about gut health, we're talking about the relationship in how the, I like to call them the, the little pets in our gut , the relationship between how they function. So how many of the good guys are there, like I mentioned before, and how many of the bad guys are there? When we say good gut health, we mean there are more good guys that are helping our digestion function than the bad guys, which can lead to often awful gut symptoms.

Caitlin Estes:

So how could someone know then, if they have good gut health, what are the symptoms that they could spot maybe if they don't or vice versa? Are there any tests, you know, how could someone figure that out?

Chiara Estes, RD:

Some common symptoms that can point to gut health being off would be your classic GI symptoms. So things like diarrhea, excessive bloating, constipation, not having regular bowel movements every day. And when I say things like excessive bloating, you know, if you had a whole giant bowl of pasta, like everybody gets bloated af after a bowl of pasta, that's just how digestion works. But some other less common symptoms could include things like skin rashes, skin sensitivities, like really generalized fatigue, headaches, migraines. Sometimes it can present itself as things that are not gut issues. Or you could have both. But then on the other coin, lack of any of those things, can generally tell you that your gut health is probably probably doing pretty good.

Caitlin Estes:

That's really interesting. And I like too that you said that it could manifest as other symptoms in the body because I bet a lot of people when they experience a rash or a migraine, they go to a doctor that's specific to that issue and that Dr. May or may not be thinking about gut health. So the more we know about our bodies and the more we know about things like gut health can really empower us to look at our overall quality of health. So that's great. Now, I would imagine that repairing your gut health is not a quick fix. I don't know, but I would imagine that, and so obviously working with a registered dietitian like yourself would produce the most results. But are there any things that women can implement today that can help them begin to repair their gut health?

Chiara Estes, RD:

Absolutely. So similarly to hormones and diet, like that's not a quick fix either. Gut health is certainly not a quick fix because we're talking about repopulating an entire ecosystem, that lives in our gut. But, well, I love this question, because I think my answer is often different than what people are expecting. Most are expecting me to, to suggest a probiotic supplement or something like that. Like those types of things.

Caitlin Estes:

That's all I know. Yeah. That's all I was thinking. Yogurt, probiotic, that's all I've got.

Chiara Estes, RD:

Yeah! But what I really find to be the most foundational for good gut health is fiber and a variety of fiber. The fiber in foods is what we call prebiotics. So most people have heard of probiotics. The fiber in food is what we would call prebiotics. And their role is to help the microbes in our gut thrive because these probiotic fibers are resistant to digestion. So they are what helped to feed and fuel our gut, like good gut bacteria to help them thrive and proliferate. So I like to use the example of like a fish tank. You're not going to buy these expensive fish and put them in an empty tank with no food and no like healthy water and things like that. They're just going to die. So similarly to, a gut that needs work, if you just dump all the probiotics into your gut, whether it's through a supplement or through fu food sources, if they don't have much to feed off of and they don't have much to thrive off of, they're, they're not going to proliferate. They're just going to starve and die. So I think the best first step would be getting all those good fiber sources in there and a variety of them. This could look like, well, for women specifically, a great goal for fiber total in one day would be at least 30 grams, which is a lot more than what the typical American diet has.

Chiara Estes, RD:

And so, 30 grams, that's great. But what does this look like in food? This would look like, including a variety of fruits and vegetables, they all contain both soluble and insoluble fibers that would look like, having a variety of whole grains, legumes like beans, and lentils, nuts and seeds, all of which are great foods for your fertility because of the nutrients they contain. But they're also really, really good because they're easy ways to throw in fiber in many different sources to help get your total fiber up and feed your happy gut pets.

Caitlin Estes:

Okay. So you're saying just by introducing more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, we can lay a strong foundation for good gut health?

Chiara Estes, RD:

Yes, absolutely. Because, you know, I'm sure even somebody who has poor gut health, they have some good guys in there, they're just not thriving very well. And so getting them what they need to help thrive will help whatever is in there to help replicate and make more of so that they are what's dominating our gut over the bad guys, if that makes sense.

Caitlin Estes:

Okay. So if someone does that, they start adding all of those things to their diet, how quickly would they start seeing a change in the health of their gut?

Chiara Estes, RD:

I suppose this could be very dependent on person to person, like how, how poor their gut health was to start. but I do have a, a client that I can think of who, when she first started working with me, she came in with, you know, some of the classic symptoms of poor gut health where she had a lot of, indigestion, bloating, like, GERD symptoms. And, but she also didn't tolerate a lot of foods. Well, she could not eat eggs, she could not have peppers and onions or tomatoes, things, which just pained me because I know how good they are for fertility. But, so clients and I work together for three months and usually adding variety of fibers is one of the first things we get started on because I know how foundational it is. and at the end of working together, so three months later she could have eggs and she could have peppers and onions and her skin issues were no longer. Wow. So I'll, she was able to reintroduce foods that she could not tolerate before, and that was after three months. So. Wow. it can, I mean, I guess relatively quickly Yeah. Compared to other things, I suppose, depending on how, strict you are with it. So like how well you stick to like being consistent about the fiber that you're doing, on top of other helpful changes.

Caitlin Estes:

That's fantastic. I think three months is relatively quick. . . So that's really encouraging. Now is there a way to give us a guideline about roughly how much 30 grams of fiber is, like how many vegetables is that a day? How many whole grains, you know, how can we get an idea of what 30 grams could be?

Chiara Estes, RD:

Yeah, so it is kind of difficult to say because the, it ranges a lot. A really good, I would consider a very high fiber piece of whole grain bread may have two to three grams. okay. If you'd put like, say you did half of a plate of broccoli or something like that, that would be probably about five grams. So you're thinking having half of a plate of fruits and vegetables with each meal will get you about halfway there. Okay. And then the rest of it could be filled in with, sprinkling nuts and seeds onto snacks, or having things like toast or, I mean, there are some really great whole grain, high fiber type cereals out there. I'm not knocking, I'm not knocking processed foods by any means.

Caitlin Estes:

Okay. So there are a variety of ways we can include that fiber, but it sounds like we do have to be intentional about making sure we're taking in enough every day. But we'll see results within three months usually if we, if we stick to it, we'll see a difference. Well, that's really exciting and really helpful and I really appreciate you sharing all that with us, Chiara, and for taking the time to be on the episode today.

Chiara Estes, RD:

Thank you. It was such a joy to be here and I hope this information is fruitful for people who listen.

Caitlin Estes:

Most definitely. I believe that it will be. So if you'd like to learn more about nutrition and fertility from Chiara, you can follow her on Instagram at natural.fertility.Nutrition, or you can join her Feed Your Fertility program. That's a nine week group program where they dive into all topics regarding nutrition, lifestyle, and fertility. That starts on February 16th, but registration ends on the 13th so you can learn more and register@naturalfertilitynutrition.com. And if you'd like to stay up to date with all we do through woven well podcast and woven natural fertility care, I would love to invite you to join our email list. One email a month, shares all about our workshops, free resources, episodes, and more. You can sign up@wovenfertility.com. Thank you so much for listening. As we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.