The Healthy Celiac Podcast

Why Your Gluten Free Diet Isn't Fixing Your Hormonal Imbalances Ep. 210

• Belinda Whelan • Season 1 • Episode 210

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Even after going gluten free, many women with celiac disease still struggle with hormone imbalances, painful periods, PMS, thyroid issues, or fertility challenges. In this episode, I’m walking you through exactly why that happens—and what you can start doing about it.

I’ll explain how celiac disease impacts your gut and how that affects your hormones. We’re talking low estrogen, estrogen dominance, cortisol, insulin resistance, and how perimenopause can complicate it all. I’m also sharing my personal story of being put on the wrong HRT for five months—and what finally helped me feel balanced again.


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Speaker 1:

Now many women with celiac disease struggle with ongoing issues such as fertility issues, pms, menstrual cycle issues and even hormone imbalances. Now the problem with this is it can happen even on a strict gluten-free diet. The symptoms are often brushed off or classed as normal and told to just deal with it. So on today's episode, I want to talk to you about some of these hormone imbalances and what you can do to support your hormones. Now, first up, we have to talk about the gut, because our gut affects so much to do with our health. Now, when you have celiac disease, your gut lining can become very, very damaged and inflamed, and you know this because you know that when you eat gluten, it causes issues in your small intestine. But ongoing health problems can occur because you are not looking after your gut. You can heal your gut, you can make your gut healthy again 100%, but your gut is causing other issues if you do not get your gut healed and balanced. Now, when celiac disease does damage your gut, it impairs your body from absorbing the nutrients that it needs and this causes ongoing ramifications. Nutrients like vitamin b, magnesium, iron and essential fats are critical for your hormone health. Having a leaky gut can cause other issues such as estrogen imbalances or cortisol problems. So it's very important to make sure that we're supporting our gut and supporting our hormones. Your gut doesn't just digest food, it literally builds your hormones. So let's talk about some of the common hormone issues in women with celiac disease Now. The first one is low estrogen, and this affects so many of us, especially those of us that are in the perimenopause stage. It can lead to missed periods, it can cause anxiety, it can cause low libido and even vaginal dryness. The next one is estrogen dominance, and when you have estrogen dominance, it can cause really heavy bleeding, it can cause PMS, it can cause fibroids and even breast tenderness. And then we have thyroid dysfunction, which is related very close to those of us with celiac disease. And then there's cortisol imbalance, and many women suffer from sleep issues and fatigue and having that extra belly weight. So cortisol or having heightened stress levels can 100% cause these issues within our body. And the next one is insulin resistance. So this is a big, big problem for those people who eat a lot of processed, gluten-free foods. Now I want you to think of these symptoms as kind of more like warning signs rather than an issue. Think of them as they are sending you a signal to take note, to sit up and listen and do something about it, because all of the things that I've mentioned here today are not normal and we can change the way that our body reacts when we get our hormones under control.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's talk a little bit more about menstrual cycle changes. Once we have got a celiac disease diagnosis and we've gone gluten-free. Now many women find that their cycles shift, whether that's better or worse after their diagnosis, but many women report changes in their cycles after they've gone gluten-free. Now the thing is, when we go gluten-free, it doesn't fix everything overnight. It can certainly improve our health, but it's not the one thing that's going to change everything. So it's about delving deeper and looking further into what it is that is causing the changes or creating these changes, and what you can do about it. Now, if your period became more regular or more stabilized after going gluten-free, this is an excellent sign. This is the goalpost. This is what you want, because it means your hormones are balancing out, whereas if your period has become irregular, that's a different story and that means there's another issue going on for you. Now it could be something simple like you are not eating enough or you're over exercising, some sort of imbalance that's going on in your body can disturb your period.

Speaker 1:

Now, perimenopause and celiac disease such a fun combination. I am in the thick of this. You might have heard me talk about this before, but many, many women are getting a celiac disease diagnosis and then they're also being thrown into the depths of living with perimenopause as well, because it starts to affect women in their 30s and their 40s and even their 50s. So it is something that can be very, very life-changing and can be very, very confusing, and the problem with this is it can make it very hard for us to decipher. What is this symptom? Is this a perimenopause symptom or is this a celiac disease symptom? Is this because I've had gluten or is this just part of the change that comes with dealing with perimenopause? It can be very, very confusing. Now, the thing here is estrogen changes and it can really affect our gut health and our adrenal health. So during this time, there is so much going on that we really need to delve deeper and look at what's going on with our hormones and finding out what's happening.

Speaker 1:

Now. You might have heard me share a while back that I started HRT for perimenopause. Now, the last update that I gave about this was not great. It wasn't great. I had got improvements from being on HRT, but I was actually bleeding more than I was previously. I was actually getting two bleeds a month. It was driving me bonkers and I put on weight and I was like what is going on? This is not right, this is not meant to be happening.

Speaker 1:

And, lo and behold, it took me nearly six months to find out that my chemist had given me the wrong prescription. Yes, so for five months I was on the wrong hormone treatment for my body. I was meant to be on a different type of treatment. I was put on one for menopause, so for someone that has already gone through perimenopause and was out the other side. So for five months I was like what the heck is going on. My doctor and I were struggling to try and work out what was going on, and it was simply by fluke that I went to a different chemist one day and they could not believe that for five separate months I was dispensed the incorrect HRT.

Speaker 1:

So now that I'm on the right HRT, I've been able to work everything out. I've been really balanced, I've been really set with my hormones and I've been really balanced, I've been really set with my hormones and all of the other things that I was doing, aside from the HRT, have really worked for me and, oh my God, I'm so much better now that I'm doing the right thing and feeling better with the right support and the right HRT. So this to me, is like the hugest thing that if you can't work out what's going on for you, take your medication to the doctor, show them the packaging and figure it out, because I cannot believe that my script was no joke. It was one word different on the package. I would never have known if it wasn't for this one particular chemist. I cannot believe what a simple change that did. So it proves that me being given the wrong hormones completely affected my health. So that's a really good example of when our hormones are out of balance, what it does to our health and what it does to our body. So having those bleeds multiple times a month and making me put on the weight and having no idea why that was happening when it shouldn't have been doing that. Now there are some steps that we can take to help balance our hormones naturally, and I'm all for working out what works for you.

Speaker 1:

Not everyone has to go on HRT. Some people don't need it, some people do. It's about doing what works for you, but I'm also all about what you can do to support your body naturally, when it comes to your health and your food and your mindset and all of the things that can make a big, big difference in the way that you feel. Now, balancing blood sugar is a huge one. It's about having, you know, a great range of foods that include healthy fats, protein, fiber, carbohydrates things that your body needs to thrive, because when we're low in carbohydrates, we tend to be low in energy. But when we can balance all of these things, this helps dramatically. Eating enough is the next one.

Speaker 1:

So many people are under eating, and when you are not eating, it affects so much of your health, particularly your hormones. So some people think that they eat a lot, and when I look at what they're eating, when they show me they've written it all down and I have a look yeah, they might be eating a lot, but they're actually under eating because they're eating foods that are not nutritious. They're eating foods that are not doing any benefit for their body. So you might be eating three meals a day. But if those three meals are rubbish and in between those meals you're starving yourself because you're so hungry but you don't want to eat something bad, or you feel like you're being naughty or something like that, that is actually under eating and that is not supporting your health goals and not supporting your hormones, so that can be a big, big challenge right there to get you know, get your eating on track and not be under eating.

Speaker 1:

Some people tell me that they avoid food because they're scared of food, and that can be a horrible way to live. You know, cutting out breakfast, cutting out lunch and waiting to dinner to just have a meal at home that is not any way to support your body, your health, your long-term goals. And that is certainly something that I can help you with, because when you eat foods that nourish you, you don't have to be scared of them. You don't have to be worried that they're going to cause other health issues or that they're going to make you feel bloated or fatigued. They're going to actually make you feel better. So once you figure out the foods that work for you, you don't have to under eat anymore.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing how much food you can eat when you eat the right foods for your body and, I have to say it, cutting back on ultra processed foods. They spike your insulin, they can cause inflammation and when we have these issues going on, of course this is going to affect our hormones. So, cutting back on ultra processed foods I'm never going to say completely cut them out, because I still eat some processed foods it's about cutting back on them and eating more of the good foods so that they can improve your health overall, and then supporting a liver detox. So for your liver to detox, it needs certain foods, such as cruciferous vegetables, to be able to cleanse the liver of the nasties. That it needs to, because when we can cleanse our liver, that can help with our hormone balance as well. It helps regulate our cortisol levels and produce progesterone.

Speaker 1:

Then we move on to sleep and stress. These are two key areas that totally affect our hormones. If you are not getting enough sleep solid sleep, the REM sleep, where our body heals that can affect your hormones. If you are in constant stress mode fight or flight it's going to affect your cortisol and, like I said earlier, if you have so much cortisol it affects that belly fat. We hold on to so much more weight when we are in a state of stress all the time. So balancing these things out and getting on track with our sleep and our stress are huge for weight loss and keeping our hormones on track.

Speaker 1:

And the next thing that we can do is cycle syncing. So this is something that I've only really been learning more about the last few years. And when we cycle sync, it is incredible because we, as women, are not designed to be like men and go, go, go, go go all the time. We are not designed to do that. We are actually designed to have different phases of the month and listen to those cues and listen to what our body is telling us. And when we start to sync our lifestyle and our food and our exercise to our cycle, it is incredible. It is incredible the difference that it makes you feel.

Speaker 1:

I've noticed so much in myself since I've been cycle syncing. I used to get the guilts when there'd be a week where I'd be a little bit lazier and not want to do certain things around the house, or I'd let things go a little bit more. And then other weeks I'd be like go, go, go clean up, do all the things work on all the projects, and I'd be like oh, why can't I be like this all the time? Because my body as a woman is naturally not meant to be in that go, go, go stage all the time. So this is definitely a key area that is very, very important and something that I feel like has been taken away from us over the years that we're not being taught this and to really honor ourselves as women.

Speaker 1:

Now, to figure this all out, you can go to your doctor, and you can get some tests done on your bloods and find out what is going on with your hormones. You might want to look at what's going on with your thyroid function, vitamin D Sometimes you will get told. Though, when they are looking at your particular hormones, it doesn't make much difference because they do go up and down. They fluctuate over the month. Now, when I was told yes, I am in that phase of perimenopause, this was more to do with a questionnaire and answering some questions rather than my blood panel, but this is more relevant for those of you that aren't in perimenopause and just want to have a look at what's going on with your hormones and see if there's something that perhaps you're missing, but otherwise, knowing that, you can completely transform the way that your health is and your life is by doing some of these things that we talked about on today's episode.

Speaker 1:

Now you definitely deserve to feel amazing in your own body and energized, and going gluten free is just step one.

Speaker 1:

I want you to understand that going gluten-free is an incredible step to supporting your hormones and your ongoing health, and, if you would like more support and more guidance in this area, this is what we do inside the Healthy Celiac Collective.

Speaker 1:

It is my exclusive eight-week coaching program where I can help you with all of these areas plus so, so much more. So if you feel like now is the time to figure all of this out and get your body on track, I would love to invite you to check out the Healthy Celiac Collective. All you need to do is go to belindawheelancom forward slash collective. If the doors are already closed, please pop your name on the wait list for the next round, but otherwise, I'd love to support you on your health goal journey. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode, and I hope that some of this information hits home and really reminds you about what a difference it can make when you look after your health and eat the right nourishing foods for your body and I look forward to talking with you again on next week's show. Have a great week, take care. Bye.

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Belinda Whelan

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