#84 – Do You Need Supplements, Dry Brushing, and How Do Coffee Enema’s Work? w/ Amanda Montalvo

Chantel Ray Way:          Hey guys, welcome to this week's episode and I'm so excited. Today's guest is Amanda Montalvo. She's an integrative dietician and functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner. That is a mouthful, but she's got a great website called Your Non Toxic Life, which has so many free resources. I was introduced to Amanda by a friend of mine, Autumn Smith, who we had on the podcast last month and she said, "You just got to have her on the show." I'm super excited about it. Welcome, Amanda.

Amanda Montalvo:       Thanks for having me. Yeah, Autumn is awesome. I'm sure her interview was amazing.

Chantel Ray Way:          Yeah, it was. It was really good. Walk us through your health journey. I know the past five years have been really transformational for you, and what have you learned about your body? We first have to joke about my headphones, aren't they hysterical? These are making my hair super big with these headphones. Josh was like, "I need you to wear headphones." I was like, "Okay." I'm like, these are the biggest headphones I've ever seen.

Amanda Montalvo:       It works. It works.

Chantel Ray Way:          It's like you can't even look at me and take me seriously with these headphones. If you're listening to this on the podcast and you want to watch us, it's always great, just go to our YouTube channel, Chantel Ray Way and you can see my huge headphones and my very big hair. All right. Sorry, go ahead Amanda.

Amanda Montalvo:       If I had to summarize what I've learned, especially in the last five years, I would say I just really learned to trust my body and I think that as women, that's something that's really hard for us to do because there's so many external cues telling us what we should look like, how we should feel, all that kind of stuff. Going through health issues that I had like getting off the pill, lots of acne, all that fun stuff, I finally just started taking any symptoms I was feeling as just communication and not stressing about things. Because we all have things going on. We all have maybe hormonal imbalances, thyroid issues or whatever going on with our guts and that it can feel very defeating when you feel like you're doing everything right and then you're still getting symptoms. Just kind of learning that that's like communication from my body and that my body knows itself better than I might realize has been really, really helpful.

Chantel Ray Way:          Awesome. Now I know a lot of women I've heard that are just so frustrated with the pill, the birth control pill, but they've been told by their gynecologist that they need the pill in order to keep a regular period. What would you say to those women? Where should they start if they don't want to get pregnant but they don't want to be on the pill? What would your advice be for them?

Amanda Montalvo:       I would say number one that even just feeling that way, it's like recognize that. That's your gut telling you that something is wrong and that in order for the pill to regulate your cycle, it just doesn't work that way. It's a bandaid. I think that's why a lot of women do get frustrated because when you get your period on the pill, it's just a pill bleed. It's not a real period. You're literally just shutting off communication from your brain to your ovaries the whole time that you're on hormonal birth control. I would say there are other options. When I first got off the pill, when I got the copper IUD, because I was in college, I was like, I cannot get pregnant. I had a lot of stress and a really crazy schedule. Now I use the fertility awareness method but if you don't get up at the same time every morning or if you can't take your temperature every morning, if you have a lot of stress going on, sometimes it's not as accurate. I've been using it for-

Chantel Ray Way:          For people who don't, and I'm very familiar with what you're talking about, but for people who don't know the fertility method, and what's funny is I did that fertility method and ended up getting pregnant, but it wasn't because the method didn't work. It was because what I did was I was peeing on a stick. I had these ones that said, are you in your window? I peed on a stick and it said yes. I just read it wrong and then I ended up having sex with my husband. Right after that, I don't know what, but I was thinking, oh my gosh, I just read that, that piece stick wrong. Then literally 28 days later or whatever, I was pregnant, but my son is the most amazing thing ever. That was just a huge blessing. We just weren't quite ready at that time, but it was fine. It's no big deal. Tell everyone about that method.

Amanda Montalvo:       Fertility awareness method is when you, number one, you have to track your cycle, which I think all women should do anyway because it gives you a very good sign of your health and everything. You're tracking your cycle and you're basically taking your temperature every morning before you get out of bed when you're still kind of half asleep and you're using a basal body thermometer. You need to use that one because it brings it over to the point 100th or of a 10th so that you can actually get an accurate measurement because what's happening is you're taking your temperature because after you ovulate, which is when your body releases the egg and then that's when you can get pregnant, which is what happened to you. After you ovulate, your temperature increases just a little bit. That's why you take your temperature when you see that change, you know you've ovulated. That's the basis behind it but there's a window like how you mentioned where before you ovulate that you can get pregnant.

Amanda Montalvo:       I use it to prevent pregnancy. I have plenty of people that have used it. A lot of people think of it to get pregnant, but it's very effective for preventing pregnancy if you know when you typically ovulate. I used that method for a year before I got my copper IUD out because I was really afraid of getting pregnant and I was like, I'm not ready. Don't want to do this yet. I made sure I really knew my average ovulation day because most of us ovulate around the same day each month. It can vary based on stress and stuff like that. For me, I usually ovulate day 16 so six days leading up to that I'm really careful because I know that sperm can survive for five days. That's when you have that little window and then outside of that window I don't worry about it.

Chantel Ray Way:          Let me expand on that for those people who don't know. While a regular thermometer is accurate .2 degrees Fahrenheit, a basal thermometer is accurate .1 degrees Fahrenheit and ovulation prediction depends on noticing very slight changes. It could be between .4 and one whole degrees. Talk about what yours normally is. Say if you were going to wake up in the morning and you weren't ovulating, what would your temperature be? Then on the days you are ovulating, what does that look like?

Amanda Montalvo:       Everyone's going to be a little bit different, but mine only goes up like half a degree. It's not a big change but because you're using that basal thermometer, it looks like a big change. If you put it on a graph you would see a big step and then your temperature is increased pretty much the rest of your cycle. Then that's how you know. I use a Daysy. I don't know if you ever heard one of that. Oh my God, it's the best thing ever. It's a thermometer that does all the work for you. You take your temperature every morning and it goes based off of an algorithm that they made and there's actually a lot of research now. They've done a lot of studies to support it and keep improving the algorithm. The more cycles you've done with the Daysy, the more accurate it gets. It learns. If you're not ovulating, it's green, it's like you're good to go. If it's not sure, it's yellow. It basically means be careful. The days leading up to ovulation, it's red. That's basically for me, I take my temperature in the morning and I know. I also know where I am in my cycle though. If I'm like all right, day 10 I'm like got to be careful now because in six days I'm going to be ovulating.

Chantel Ray Way:          Wow. Now, what else does this tell you about your overall health? Do you use it for anything else, that thermometer besides ovulation?

Amanda Montalvo:       I don't use the thermometer for anything else. If I had a low temperature because it connects to your phone so you can see all your temps if you want. You don't have to do all that work if you don't want to. If I had low temperatures I would maybe be looking at my thyroid health or something like that because that is pretty typical. I use the ovulation and my cycle length and my cycle symptoms. Those are really my markers for health. If I don't ovulate one month, it's usually related to stress. I need to take a step back and see what's going on in my life, see where I can work on destressing or if I ovulate later. If I ovulate closer to day 18 or 19 which is really rare for me but it does happen. Sometimes if I'm traveling or something like that then I know I have too much stress going on. It's literally impacting my hormones and putting off ovulation. Then my cycle length. A couple months ago my cycle was really short. As soon as I ovulated I basically got my period, which is a big red flag for me because if I know I'm usually 27 to 28 days and all of a sudden I'm getting it on day 22, that's your body communicating with you that something is off. That can also be related to stress.

Chantel Ray Way:          I love that because the truth is that, perfect example, someone like me who's married and I was so sick the last time I gave birth to my son. I literally threw up six times a day every day. I just told him, I was like, you got to get a vasectomy because I can't go through this again. I'm not worried about getting pregnant because he did get a vasectomy but I could use this thermometer for just those exact reasons. Looking at my thyroid. Thyroid is a big one, and looking at that stress. I love that you can do it for more than just, hey, am I going to get pregnant or not?

Amanda Montalvo:       Yeah, for sure.

Chantel Ray Way:          No. Go ahead.

Amanda Montalvo:       I was going to say a lot of women don't know if they're ovulating because they're like, "Well I don't really care about getting pregnant," but you want to ovulate. I feel like especially as you get older, that's a sign of health and robust hormones. If you're not ovulating, it means you have low progesterone and that's not good. It basically just gives you tons of signs from your body and just helps you instead of if you don't feel like yourself, it's like you can think back like what was my cycle like? Did I ovulate? How long was it? Did I have a lot of PMS symptoms? It's basically just like a report card.

Chantel Ray Way:          Well, another piece that you've talked about in your health journey is just liver health and detox. This has been something I've been really interested in lately because I feel like we've been getting a lot of questions on your liver. Talk about how did you know something was wrong with your liver and how did you begin to heal it?

Amanda Montalvo:       That really started when I was like, I didn't feel like myself. I've always struggled with really bad acne. I was starting to get really bad symptoms and I made the connection finally that it was related to the pill when I was taking the pill. The first thing, and I learned how all this prescription medication I think a lot of us don't think of birth control as a prescription medication. I used to take prescription acne creams. I took antibiotics for my skin. I didn't realize all these things were impacting my health. I was like, okay, I'm going to learn about how they impact my body and decide if it's right for me. I realized that they're really increasing the burden on your liver. Then I started learning about how that can impact your skin. I was like, well maybe my skin issues are coming from my liver because I did take birth control for eight years. I got off birth control and I didn't know what I was doing. I just got to got off and then my skin freaked out. My hormones were crazy.

Amanda Montalvo:       I started looking at what are some natural ways that I can support my body in reducing your toxic load and supporting your liver, it was the biggest thing. I started taking steps to look at where am I getting toxins in my environment because I already ate really well and I feel like most of us that's where we come at it from. We eat well and then we're like, oh, what's in my cleaning products and stuff like that. Eventually, we get to everything else. That's really how I started and everything that I've learned I ended up going back to school for functional medicine after I got my RD because there's so much more that has such a big impact. If you're just starting out and wondering, does my liver need support? What can I do to support it? I would say, remember that everything we're exposed to it's just going to build up or you can reduce your toxic load. Your toxic load is the amount of toxins that are present at any given time in your body. They vary, right?

Amanda Montalvo:       Your liver is always going to detoxify things. Obviously, sometimes we can have issues if we don't get good sleep, that kind of stuff, but it's always going to be working. That's why a lot of people are like, well, you don't need to detox because your body is always detoxing and it is, but we also have a lot of toxic exposure in our worlds. From the foods we eat, the products we use in our skin, the things we spray in our house, all the air fresheners and stuff, all that kind of stuff.

Chantel Ray Way:          What I love is that doing this podcast is such a blessing to me because each time we have someone on, I feel like I clean something up a little bit more. The last guy came on and was just talking about nail polish. I really didn't even think about nail polish. This last time I went and I got a manicure pedicure and I told the girl, I said, I just want you to buff my nails. I mean I have had nail polish on my nails for the last, I can't even think of the time that I didn't have it on my nails. Now, if you look, I just have them buffed. Do you believe that everyone does need a liver detox? Because a lot of people associate their liver with alcohol and might be thinking, I'm not a heavy drinker so I'm probably good. What are some signs that you might have liver issues? List those for us.

Amanda Montalvo:       The first one that stick out to me because I really just work with women is like hormone issues because your liver filters all your hormones. If you have really bad PMS maybe or period issues, like an irregular cycle-

Chantel Ray Way:          Or thyroid, right?

Amanda Montalvo:       Yeah, because you convert your thyroid hormone in your liver. Thyroid issues. I always start everyone off with that or any gut issues because your liver, we actually make bile in the liver and that helps us break down fat. A lot of us think of bile in the gallbladder but it's made in your liver. If you aren't breaking down food properly, you have digestive issues, yes, you could definitely have something going on in your gut, but you could also have toxic bile from your liver. Lots of those kinds of things like acne. A lot of people like the standard like bloating, skin issues. A lot of that is because your liver works in conjunction with your gut. If you have hormonal imbalances, thyroid, gut issues, with just pretty much everything, your liver definitely needs help. The reason I got obsessed with it is because I found for pretty much everyone I was working with that they all needed to support their liver.

Chantel Ray Way:          Let's talk about some of the household products and makeup and things like that and talk about some things you have on your site to help with that.

Amanda Montalvo:       I have a beauty and skincare page and it links to all my favorite products. I only purchase from companies that I know test their products because now we're super blessed, there's so many companies out there that are making safer products that have less toxic ingredients, but a lot of them don't test them. That's where my major concern comes up a lot because you can still get heavy metals in a nontoxic makeup product. If you think about lipstick, blush, eyeshadows, anything with color, foundation, those can be exposed to heavy metals. You want to make sure you're purchasing from a company that test them. I really like Beautycounter and Cocokind skincare and Primally Pure for skincare beauty and makeup. They have really solid products and they all share their testing information. If you're trying to look for things, you can reach out to the companies. If they don't share it, there are other companies that do so I wouldn't hesitate.

Chantel Ray Way:          Have you seen any nail polish that you feel like is nontoxic? Have you found any?

Amanda Montalvo:       Yeah, Cote, I think that's how you say it. It's C-O-T-E and it's got a little dash over the E. There's no formaldehyde, there's no toxic ingredients. I would say it is more expensive, but it's definitely a better brand.

Chantel Ray Way:          Do you wear nail polish or no?

Amanda Montalvo:       Yeah, I do. I'm a real person and I think people go too crazy with like even ... You have to remember, even the alcohol thing, a lot of people were like, do I need to stop drinking or do I have to stop getting my nails done? It's like you have to go back to the fact that your toxic load is like a bucket. If you're not filling up your bucket super high, if you're eating well, if you're eating cruciferous veggies and buying organic foods, if you switched over your skincare and beauty products, having a drink isn't going to kill you. It's not going to push you over the edge. It's more of looking at all the areas of your life and looking at it that way.

Chantel Ray Way:          Let's talk about just some of the things, talk about what you ate yesterday. We always like to talk about what does your diet look like.

Amanda Montalvo:       I eat pretty similarly during the week. I'm boring, but yesterday it was, I didn't work out. It was a rest day so I ate for breakfast. I make this, I call it a breakfast bowl. It's basically coconut flour, greens powder, bone broth protein and coco powder. That's the dry mix. I mix it with coconut milk and put berries inside. That's my lazy go to breakfast in the morning.

Chantel Ray Way:          Would you be willing to share that recipe with our listeners?

Amanda Montalvo:       It's on my website.

Chantel Ray Way:          It is? Okay. If we go to your website, I'm actually there now. Which link is it?

Amanda Montalvo:       If you go to blog, in the dropdown menu you'll see recipes. I think it's called no-bake berry breakfast bowl. I bring that with me when I travel because it's all dry ingredients and then you just have a liquid.

Chantel Ray Way:          What's your favorite recipe? If you said like these are my three recipes that are to die for.

Amanda Montalvo:       Okay. That's basically what I ate yesterday so that works. The fried chicken recipe, it's like shredded fried chicken that's on there. I make that every single week. You basically you make shredded chicken in the crock-pot or I use an Instant Pot because it's quicker. Then you season it however you want. I usually do like smoked paprika, something spicy and garlic. Then you heat up avocado oil in a pan and you saute the chicken in there so it gets a little bit crispy and it's the best thing ever. It's a traditional Puerto Rican dish but I just made it a little bit healthier.

Chantel Ray Way:          Now do you eat like a paleo diet or do you just eat like fresh fruits, vegetables? What's your thing? Is there anything you kind of say, I stay away from X, Y, or Z?

Amanda Montalvo:       I definitely don't eat gluten because for me it does not work. You'll immediately see it in my skin and in my digestion. I don't do a lot of dairy but I love cheese. I love it. I might have that once a week or something. It was like a treat, but for me, I don't restrict foods for my diet because I did that for so long and it just wasn't healthy. I definitely had disordered eating habits and I feel like if you're in balance, for me, I usually don't have cravings. If I do, then I probably didn't sleep enough or I didn't eat enough that day or I'm stressed out. I try to take all that kind of stuff as signals, but gluten and dairy I pretty much don't have, but I still like ... I eat chickpeas. I love chickpeas and sometimes I'll have grains, but it's really dependent on how I'm feeling and what I'm doing for workouts.

Chantel Ray Way:          I saw your lemon poppy seed muffins. Those look absolutely delicious. Are they good?

Amanda Montalvo:       They are. I love lemon desserts. I used to eat lemon bars as a kid, the boxed ones that are terrible for you. I made those instead.

Chantel Ray Way:          That's awesome. Well, let's jump right into the list of our questions. This first one comes from Jenna in Hampton. "I feel like I'm a podcast junkie and every time I turn around someone talks about this symptom and that symptom and I'm like, OMG I have that. Then I hear a new supplement and I say, oh, I need to take that and I literally added so many supplements to my repertoire and now I'm starting to wonder if I'm overloading my liver with all these supplements. Do you think I'm overloading it? I'm wondering if I should stop all the supplements for a little while and just detox. If you think this is a good idea, just to take a break, maybe 30 days or how long should I do it or what are your thoughts?" Jenna in Hampton.

Amanda Montalvo:       That's a good one. I get that a lot where like women will come to me and they're taking like a million supplements and they don't even remember why. I would say, look at your supplements, number one, and evaluate, do you need to take these and what are they for? Think about what your goals are and what you're actually dealing with. It's not that it's like overloading your liver, but you also need to look at what they all have in them. Sometimes I'll get supplements from people and they're like meeting like 250% of their needs for some nutrients and then none for others. You want it to make sense and you do definitely want to take breaks. I usually say you either want to only take supplements Monday through Friday and take the weekends off or every two to three months take at least two weeks off. It is good to take breaks.

Chantel Ray Way:          What supplements do you say, hey, you know, I definitely take breaks. I let my body heal from it for a while. What supplements are you saying kind of for yourself that you go, I definitely take X, Y, Z? Is there any?

Amanda Montalvo:       Yeah, and I'm like a very big proponent of them. I just think you should have them specific to you. I always take the Organ Complex from Paleovalley, the vitamins, the essential C that they have. I take a probiotic and I do a vitamin D, like I have a liquid one that I like that has K2 so you absorb it a little bit better, and I take magnesium. That's about five things that I take regularly, but I still do take break, and fish oil, those in the fridge so I forget that that's a part of my supplements. I do take those regularly, but I do take breaks like I'm traveling in a little bit, so I'm just not going to bring them with me and that's my break. Make it work for you, but it's fine to take breaks and if you're struggling with knowing what to take or if you should take something, I would say try tracking your food in Cronometer for at least five days and it breaks down all your vitamins and minerals, your fatty acids and everything. Then you can see what am I getting, what am I not. Obviously, food is the first choice to try to get it, but it's not always practical. I would try to use that as a way to assess.

Chantel Ray Way:          That's great. Okay, next question. This is from Laura in Minnesota. "I love this podcast. I feel like you answer so many of my questions that I haven't even asked but lately I've been listening to my body and I feel like my thyroid is somehow connected to my digestion. I can't even quite figured out how, but say I do a three day smoothie detox. I will feel like my thyroid is on overload but working really well. Another time I may eat a big meal with starches and my body just doesn't digest the food and I feel like my thyroid is not functioning. Something like a simple meat and veggies I do completely fine. Is this all in my mind or do you think my thyroid is somehow tied to my digestion?"

Amanda Montalvo:       I'm guessing that she has thyroid issues if she's so aware of her thyroid. I would say number one, if you have hypothyroid, it usually is tied to your digestion. A lot of times you'll get constipation, stuff like that. Based on what she's saying, and I'll say the three days for the detox probably isn't actually detoxing your liver, but that's okay. Doing smoothies for three days, probably eating a little bit less, she feels better and then it sounds like when she adds in starches is when she's having this heaviness bloating. That makes me think of SIBO. Obviously, you would have to get a breath test done, talk to your doctor, see what's happening. If you have thyroid issues, SIBO is very common. That is just when you have an overgrowth of bacteria in your small intestine.

Amanda Montalvo:       We're not supposed to have bacteria there. If we do, most of your digestions happening and absorption happens in your small intestine so it makes sense because for you to get bloated after starches because those bacteria are eating the starches, and then off-gassing and then you have bloating. It sounds like that could be what's happening. I would say consider getting a breath test with your doctor and if you're going from like not eating as much and then eating a heavier meal, you might need to break up your meals a little bit more.

Chantel Ray Way:          Okay. Good. Danielle in Redmond. "I'm all about the detox and I know you are too. Lately I've been looking at gallbladder flushes, which is something new. I'm not even aware of gallbladder issues, but I know it's tied to so many things. Same with the liver. Should I flush my gallbladder and liver? If so, what do you recommend? Doctor Google told me about a liver flush but it had mixed reviews. Some good, some bad. What do you recommend?"

Amanda Montalvo:       I love this question. Gallbladder flushes, I would not recommend doing that unless you have a specific parasite like Giardia that can live in your gallbladder. That's really the only time I have someone do a gallbladder flush but I love coffee enemas. Do you do coffee enemas?

Chantel Ray Way:          You know, I've done one before and we actually gave one away on our show one time. I don't do it regularly. Do you?

Amanda Montalvo:       I do. I'm obsessed with them. It sounds very strange to put coffee up your butt, but it's actually really effective for liver health and for that bile that I kind of talked about before. Coffee enemas are much more related to your liver. They're not going to do much for your gallbladder other than it can stimulate the bile to release. Say you have like a toxic liver or just more burden on your liver, which is basically everyone. When you do a coffee enema, it releases that toxic bile and then you get it out of your body. A lot of times if people have like digestive issues, if they feel like they don't digest their food well then I'll recommend trying a coffee enema. It's also really just good for boosting glutathione, which is a really powerful antioxidant for detox. They're great. Unfortunately, there's not a ton of research on them. We know that they're great for pain relief and inflammation, but there's not a lot with detox. It's basically just something that we consider and we know the bile thing is true. I would say if you're going to do anything, try coffee enemas.

Chantel Ray Way:          Not to be gross, but I want you to ... Because some people when they picture a coffee enema, I want you to try to be as descriptive as you possibly can. What does that look like for you? When you do one, what does that look like?

Amanda Montalvo:       Okay, when I do a coffee enema, I use bulletproof coffee, number one, because they test it for mold. You always want to use an organic coffee and make sure it's a good quality. I brew two tablespoons with water, so it's not as strong as your typical coffee and you want to do about four cups. I use a stainless steel bucket because I don't want to mess with the heat. You can use silicone, but the heat in silicone just, it can leak out chemicals. Get a stainless steel bucket on Amazon, it comes with a silicone tube or it's like specifically like chemical or medical grade tube. There's a little spout at the end. I use a nontoxic lubricants. I like Sustain as a great brand if you're looking for one. Then you lay on your side, you put the bucket up about like two feet, two to three feet off the ground. Find a chair or something to kind of ...

Amanda Montalvo:       If you're doing it in your bathroom or something like that. I put a towel down. Then you lay on your side and relax and you put the little tube, it's very small. Make sure it's got something on it. You can use coconut oil if you want. Then you put the tube in. It's got a little clip. When I first started doing them, I like really slowly release the clip because I was terrified of what was going to happen. Now I don't have to do that but if you're first starting, really slowly release that clip and let it go into your body really slowly. Then you let it sit for 10 or 12 to 15 minutes if you can. If you can't do it the first time, it'll get better the more that you do it. Then you go to the bathroom and you poop it all out.

Chantel Ray Way:          You said about four cups of coffee is what you're putting in and then how soon does it come out?

Amanda Montalvo:       You would lay there for about 12 to 15 minutes. The goal with this is because that means that it will circulate because your liver circulates all your blood. Then it filters everything so then that way it filters through your liver like three to five times. 12 to 15 minutes if you can. When you first start, you can use less coffee. You could start with two cups and then work your way up if you're nervous, that's totally fine because remember, the more that you can hold it, the better that you're going to get at it, the more you're going to get out of it.

Chantel Ray Way:          Okay. This next question is from Allie in Virginia Beach. "Literally every podcast that I listened to and everyone that I follow on Instagram has been talking about dry brushing. So I ordered it on Amazon and I'm in love. I've only been using it a week. I just liked the way that it feels. It's so revitalizing, but the main reason I got it is because I heard that it helps with cellulite and with my lymphatic system. Do you believe that it's true or proven or do you think it's all in my head? How does brushing your skin work to benefit your lymphatic system and cellulite?"

Amanda Montalvo:       It works by boosting your lymphatic system. Our lymphatic system is, it's basically transporting a liquid called lymph and that's mostly has white blood cells and different nutrients in it. If we think about our circulatory system that moves our blood around, it has a pump, our heart pumps it, but our lymph system doesn't, there's no pump so the fluid can become stagnant and then it can build up in your fat tissue. Then that's where the cellulite comes from but everyone has cellulite. Cellulites, it can change based on how big your fat cells are, which sounds weird, but if you have really large fat cells, that means that more can be stored in there and then you can get a more bumpy appearance. Usually, the fat cells are increasing if you're gaining weight or something like that, they actually increase until they multiply.

Amanda Montalvo:       For cellulite, if you have a lot, or say you noticed that all of a sudden it's getting a lot worse. It could be related to your toxic load. I would say, look at the products you're using. Look at your lifestyle, look at your food. That's number one. Then doing things like dry brushing, it does stimulate your lymph so it moves that lymph. You want to do it every day if you really want to see results with it, but other things you can do for your lymph system are just walking, moving, jumping, rebounding on a trampoline, going into a sauna even, even though you're not moving, it still can stimulate your lymphs. There's lots of other things that can get that moving too.

Chantel Ray Way:          Awesome. This next one is from Pat in Florida. "I really enjoy your podcasts. You always bring on the best guests. I do intermittent fasting in a six hour window, but most days I do a longer fast, 24 hours to sometimes three days. When I do these long fast, my skin is excellent. It's so perfect, but as soon as I start eating again, I notice that everything from psoriasis, to eczema, to acne starts coming back with a vengeance. I eat really clean for the most part. I'd say 90% Paleo, 10% whatever else I want, but it's still not good enough. Nothing compares to fasting. Unfortunately, I can't fast forever. Do you think my skin issues are tied to digestion? If I'm already eating clean, what can I do to improve my skin besides never eating again?" Pat in Florida.

Amanda Montalvo:       You're right, you cannot fast forever. That's really important. When I hear that, two things come up. I think blood sugar and I think gut health because if your skin is clearing up when you're not eating, that means that okay, it either has to do with maybe your blood sugar is more balanced obviously because you're burning more fat for fuel. Then it makes me think, are you maybe eating foods that you're sensitive to? The reason why we get sensitive to foods is because our gut has some dysfunction. I would say step number one is get your gut tested, do a stool test with your doctor. I really liked the GI map. I think that's the most accurate and you're going to get the most information because if you have any parasites or pathogens, you'd be surprised, they're much more common than you think.

Amanda Montalvo:       I think that's going on and that can make you have leaky gut, make you sensitive to foods so even though you're eating really well, you're still getting all these reactions with your skin. The eczema and psoriasis make me think food allergies. I would definitely, if you can eliminate gluten all the time, I know like you said 10% you do whatever but eliminate it all the time if you can. Get your gut tested and see if that helps. If it doesn't, then you might want to look at blood sugar.

Chantel Ray Way:          Okay. This next one is from anonymous. "I'm 28 years old and my husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for the past two years. We've tried everything natural under the sun it seems. One of my friends told me about seed cycling, saying that it can help. She had a friend that said that she did it and got pregnant. I've never heard about it before and I'm always a little hesitant of trying something just because it worked for a friend of a friend. Is this something you recommend and can you talk about how it works?"

Amanda Montalvo:       Yes, I love seed cycling. I think it's really helpful. The whole idea behind seed cycling is that you're eating specific seeds at certain times in your cycle. They break it into two phases and the seeds that you're eating, the reason you're having them is because they have specific nutrients that are going to boost certain hormones at different times in your cycle. Our hormones fluctuate throughout and certain fluctuations are really good for fertility, like making sure you have enough progesterone. The seeds in the first phase are black seeds and pumpkin seeds. Then the seeds in the second phase are sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. They contain these nutrients, they boost the hormones that are supposed to be boosted so they're really helping to support a natural cycle. I mean, I would say it's worth a shot, especially if you feel like you've tried everything else but I would also go back to are you tracking your ovulation? Do you know when you ovulate? Because you can't just have sex the day that you're ovulating. You need to have sex all leading up to that to make sure that you're not going to miss that short window when the egg is passing through. I would really consider that and then get your hormones tested.

Chantel Ray Way:          Awesome. Well, Amanda, it has been such a pleasure. If you guys have not gone to her website, I'm telling you you've done such a nice job. Those recipes on there just look absolutely amazing. I'm going to just start going down and I mean you've done such a great job with it. That website again is yournontoxiclife.com. If you have a question, before I forget, we're going to do a Facebook post and you have a free giveaway. Talk about that giveaway real quick on that Facebook post, Amanda.

Amanda Montalvo:       It's actually a guide to seed cycling, which works out perfectly, we had a question on it. It basically just breaks down how to seed cycle. It's got a ton of frequently asked questions and recipes so that if you want to get started with seed cycling, you can easily start doing that.

Chantel Ray Way:          Okay, great. You go to yournontoxiclife.com and then where do you go to get that?

Amanda Montalvo:       If you go under blog and then you'll see hormones-

Chantel Ray Way:          Why don't you send me the link and I'll throw it in the show notes? That will be best and we'll put it on the Facebook post. Does that sound good? Okay. We'll send that link. Well, again, it's been my pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you so much. If you have a question that you want answered, go to questions@chantelrayway.com. We'll see you next time. Thanks so much.