Breaking the Silence: Real Food Stories on Urinary Incontinence, Women’s Health, and Nutrition Insights

Have you ever felt alone in your struggle with urinary incontinence? You’re not alone—nearly one in three women experience this issue, and it’s time we break the silence surrounding women’s health! Join host Heather Carey in this enlightening episode of Real Food Stories as she welcomes Nigel Breyer, a chiropractor and expert in women’s urinary health, to tackle this often-taboo topic head-on. Together, they explore the stigma surrounding bladder issues, the physiological causes of incontinence, and the critical importance of addressing these concerns openly and honestly.

Nigel shares his personal food journey, which began when his wife faced incontinence after childbirth. This experience ignited his passion for finding effective, drug-free treatment options that empower women to reclaim their lives. The conversation highlights the staggering statistics of urinary incontinence, revealing that rates increase with age and often coincide with significant life changes such as menopause. With compassion and expertise, Nigel explains the two main types of incontinence—urge and stress—and how stress and hormonal changes can exacerbate these issues during midlife.

Nutrition plays a pivotal role in bladder health, and in this episode, you’ll gain valuable insights into which foods can support or deplete bladder function. From hydration tips to nutrition advice tailored for women’s health, Heather and Nigel discuss how mindful eating practices can transform your approach to health and wellness. They also delve into the importance of managing stress through techniques like vagal nerve stimulation, meditation, and physical exercises, including Kegels, which can significantly improve quality of life.

As the episode unfolds, you’ll discover the significance of community support and the power of sharing personal food stories. Nigel invites listeners to a seminar on bladder health and menopause, emphasizing that women should feel empowered to seek help and connect with others facing similar challenges. This episode is not just about urinary health; it’s about embracing midlife changes, fostering body positivity, and creating a supportive environment for women’s health and wellness.

Tune in for a heartfelt conversation that combines real food stories with practical advice for navigating the complexities of women’s health. Whether you’re dealing with incontinence or simply seeking to enhance your overall well-being, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways that will inspire you to nourish your body and empower your menopause journey!

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Transcript:

Speaker #0
Well, hello, everybody, and welcome back. And if you are just tuning in with me for the very first time, it’s so nice to meet you. And I’m really glad you’re here with me today. I am your host, Heather Carey, nutritionist, chef, mom, and a woman who has been around the block with food. I want to open up about real food in relation to health, weight, and our bodies so you can make peace with what you eat. Hey everyone and welcome back to the Real Food Stories podcast. I always want to talk and address topics related to women’s nutrition and health, especially the ones that we feel have to be kept secret because we are too afraid to talk about them or even say them out loud. So when I found Nigel Breyer, I knew I had to have him on the podcast and let me tell you why. Nigel Breyer is a chiropractor and a… diplomat in acupuncture, an expert in natural medicine, and a women’s urinary health expert. He developed the iron-clad bladder system, which is a drug-free treatment for urinary incontinence that combines neurological insights with traditional Chinese medicine, helping numerous women find relief from this condition. Hi, Nigel. Welcome to the show. I’m so happy to have you here because, okay. let’s face it, urinary and bladder issues for women are right up there with talking about menopause and hormones. There’s a lot of mystery and there is a decent amount of shame and a feeling that this is something we just have to live with. There’s a lot of women I know who have bladder issues and urinary incontinence, and most of them I imagine are struggling. So I want to hear from you as you are the expert in this. what exactly urinary incontinence is, how it’s defined, why it happens, and is there a certain age, and then most importantly, what we can do about it. So I want to ask you all the things about everything bladder. So why don’t we just jump in, tell me your story, how you got into this, and we’ll go from there.

Speaker #1
Great. Thanks, Heather. This is a great pleasure, and I’m super excited for our conversation. Well, let’s get started. I’ve been named the reluctant bladder doctor, and I think I’ve really embraced that term because it’s absolutely true. I know Heather and I, you and I have spoken before, is this is not something that has been like this deep desire of mine that I woke up in a prophetic dream to address. It was purely a selfish motive that began some years ago. My wife, after our last child, started having incontinence, and I didn’t know about it for many, many months. And it took some probing and digging and probably even some pestering for her to finally share with me what was going on. And being in the healthcare field is, again, I had my specialty at that time, and it wasn’t incontinence. So through our journey, and people can read about it on our website if they like, but through our journey is we found that there’s really no good options. There’s some options, but none of them are that great, especially in the natural health field for incontinence. The typical pathways like pelvic floor therapy and Kegels and stuff, they have some value, but they just didn’t go to results that we’re looking for. you Because of that experience and really how it affected my wife and I’s relationship, just in terms of activity of our family and her ability to travel and hike and run and all those things that she enjoyed really came to a halt. So there’s a lot of facets that come up with that is, you know, why didn’t my wife want to share with me right off the bat? And of course, that led me to the understanding that this is an extremely patchy subject. And a lot of people have a lot of, I’ll call it baggage behind it. And again, I’m not an expert on that at all, but I can speculate that there’s just a lot of self-worth that goes into that condition. Is when we lose our ability to control our bladder is we have a lot of doubts of us as a human, as a parent, as a, if I can’t do this, well, I mustn’t be that. Like there’s just a lot of different pathways our minds go. So it really helped me understand. I guess where a lot of people are coming from. But then it also led me on this mission to say, okay, well, I’ve been in the natural health field for 28 years. The body’s designed to heal is there. So it pushed me to look at, well, what are the key barriers that keep most conditions from resolving themselves? So that’s kind of led me on that pathway. And that’s where the program started from. So I know I kind of gave you a lot of information there, but I was trying to summarize as best I can.

Speaker #0
Yeah, I know. I mean. Now I have more questions from that, you know, because I want to know what the statistics are, if you know this, of women who are suffering from urinary incontinence and bladder issues. And I think there’s at least I’ve had this belief that, you know, I had a twin pregnancy and then I had another one right very quickly after that. And my bladder was just like blown. And I feel like it’s just something that. you have a pregnancy and then you have to like live with like bladder issues. Like there’s this like underlying belief that, that, you know, these things happen to women and then you have to like live with, with this other, these other conditions. So let’s just start. What are the statistics for women with bladder issues? And also I want to maybe back up just a little bit more. What exactly is urinary incontinence? Cause we’re using, you know, like maybe bigger words that. people might not understand.

Speaker #1
Sure. Let’s define that first. So urinary incontinence is broken up into really two categories. There’s urge incontinence is one, and there’s stress incontinence, which is the other. And most of them go together, but let’s talk about incontinence. So incontinence means the inability to have full control of your urinary bladder. So to make it simple is you pee your pants for various reasons and you can’t seem to stop it. And there’s various degrees of some people have no ability control at all. Some have ability, but when they’re under mental stress or they’re thinking about going to the bathroom, they start to leak because the bladder or the valve starts to what’s called fasciculate, which kind of means quiver. And then there’s some that because of like you experienced Heather is there’s physical. trauma. So what I like to do for people is help them understand the bladders. Think of it like a balloon with a straw stuck in it, or a straw stuck where you’d blow it up. Now, obviously, a male’s urethra, so you think of the straw, is longer. A lady’s is shorter, so hers is about an inch long. And men have a valve, which is called a sphincter, one at the neck. That’s right where the straw would meet the balloon and right at the end, and that’s called the external sphincter. The ladies is all together. So there’s approximately an inch of a valve that’s controlled. And this is what’s really curious is 70% of that valve is what’s called autonomically controlled. Autonomic means unconscious, kind of like your heart’s beating, your food’s digesting. Those are happening without your necessarily consent. It’s happening in the back part of the brain that’s running you. And the 30% is consciously controlled. And so what that means is when you’re doing a Kegel or you’re doing a pelvic floor work is you’re really addressing only 30% of that control of the valve. So as you look deeper, that begs the question, well, how do you gain control of that other 70%? And that’s what’s so interesting about that valve itself is it’s a product of all of your experiences together. So I don’t want to go too far down the rabbit hole here, but is we think of us as a culture, we’re highly stressed, we’re highly motivated, we’re highly scheduled, we’re highly everything. And that affects every single part of us. It affects our blood pressure, it affects our heart rate, it affects our digestion, our thinking pattern. Well, it also affects our bladder. So one of the big, I guess, epiphanies that I had as I was doing my research and studying and such, is I thought to myself, If I have a way to influence the autonomic nervous system, I can start to have a much better impact on that valve. Instead of just the Kegels, which is purely physical strength, conscious, if I can start influencing that, which means I now have to start addressing bigger issues. I have to address the autonomic nervous system. I have to address the underlying stressors. And this goes back to your earlier question. well what are the causes well there’s no one cause childbirth is certainly a physical event and then twins that’s even a more physical event so there’s a physical component but then there’s also a nutritional chemical hormonal component What you eat, food is chemicals. It’s biochemistry, right? So the foods that we put into our body, our bacterial growth in our GI tract, they’re creating different byproducts that either help us or hurt us. Then we also have our mental, emotional. So there’s really three big components. It’s the physical, the nutritional, chemical, hormonal, which obviously when ladies change, their hormones change with menstruation or with menopause, that’s going to influence these same tissues we’re talking about. But then we also talk about the mental stressors. So the big picture is you have to address all of them a little bit. There’s no like, and I’m no different than anyone else. If there was a one hit wonder, I’d be all over it. Let’s do this one thing.

Speaker #0
Yeah, because I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I know that, you know, me growing up over the years, like the one thing, the only thing that I had ever heard about was doing Kegels. Right. It was just make sure you’re like squeezing and like doing like doing these like tightening. And never was there any connection between your nervous system, what you ate, you know, your gut, you know, health. I’m sure any any of this mental. So I want to definitely I want to like address each of these because I think that they do play a huge role. I mean, I know that they do. And you know that, too. But let me just… Are there any statistics for, you know, for women? Like, I mean, because I sometimes I see women like I know for me, like there are certain foods will get into the foods, but that are kind of like trigger my bladder, you know, and and I see women who just seem like they don’t like if I drink coffee, for example, which I’m not a huge I’m not a big coffee drinker. And caffeine, I think, like triggers my bladder to like have to, you know, like. go more and everything. And I see some women just like taking like a five mile walk with like a cup of coffee in their hand. I’m like, how are you doing that? You know, so are, so I think there’s probably women who don’t get affected by bladder issues, but what, what are the statistics?

Speaker #1
Sure. So if you look at all women, just, you know, of an adult age group, one in three women, so 33% of all women are affected. Now, when you change the time, The age factor, when we look over ladies over the age of 35 to 45, around 50% have some degree. And again, it’s all varied. And we look at women over 50 to 55, we’re talking almost 70%. So again, there’s definitely a time component. So we talk about hormones. We talk about how hormones affect tissue as the tissue integrity changes. Things that might have been more easily managed younger because elastin is reduced. Elastin is what gives everything bounce and flexibility as we’re younger. So tissue changes increase something that was already there younger. And then back to your earlier observation about the lady drinking coffee and taking a long walk is I like to think about the three stressors as a bucket. And so. And you can draw, imagine a bucket full of water and you can draw a line on that bucket anywhere you want. I like to call that the constitutional marker. So we all have different constitutions. You know, you can handle more of this. I can handle more of that, less of this, less of that. And we all have that. But all stressors affect all of us. But where that threshold is, is kind of a factor of a whole bunch of different things. It’s a factor of some genetics. It’s a factor of our general dietary habits. It’s a factor of our mental, you know, fortitude. All these things are affecting us. But the big picture is, is eventually everything affects everybody. It’s just how much of the bucket. And a perfect example, just to, you know, divergent is, I hear this with patients all the time. I never had allergies until I turned 40. How come? Well, you’re a… you were sensitive when you were 20, but your stress load got to a point where your body can’t manage that stressor anymore. And now you start to have symptoms. And that’s very similar to anything. The bladder is no exception. Is, hey, once I had my third child, everything went to pieces. Or I was fine after this, and then this happened. Or I got a flu, and then all this happened. Those are just stressors that kind of push that little marker over the edge. And then a symptom appears. But it usually happens long before that on the subtle level, shall we say.

Speaker #0
Yeah. So you mentioned hormones. You said that when women turn 50, right, and older, then like the statistics, the incidence really goes up. And you mentioned hormones. And is that? Is there an estrogen menopausal connection to bladder issues?

Speaker #1
Yes. And so let’s just kind of digress a little bit so people understand how hormones work. So women have two key, there’s a lot of other hormones, but two key, let’s talk estrogen and progesterone. So estrogen starts to build at the earlier part of the cycle. It comes from the pituitary gland, hypothalamus. So what it’s doing is it’s… It’s building up the uterus. It’s building up blood flow in the preparation for implantation of an egg. So it’s the holder honor hormone. That’s why ladies will feel puffier. Things will be more swollen certain times of the month. So the body’s holding on. And then once ovulation occurs, once the egg is released, the outer part of the egg, then starts to produce what’s called progesterone. So progesterone is kind of like, this is a loose analogy, but it’s kind of like the female’s testosterone. That’s why a lot of women after the first trimester really feel awesome because they have super high amounts of progesterone, which is created by the placenta. And so that’s what’s called the secretory phase so that everything’s metabolic. You’re burning lots of energy. Everything’s really good. So what happens with menopause is all of those things start to reduce and they start to drop down. So if you think what estrogen does is estrogen holds on, it builds stuff up. Well, let’s think about it from a bladder or even a urethral standpoint is it’s building up that tube. It’s building up endothelial linings. That means the lining of blood vessels, the lining of a uterus, the lining of a bladder. So when those hormones reduce is those linings become thinner. So the integrity has to be greater, meaning other things have to be stronger to compensate because the tissue is not the same as it was before. Does that make sense?

Speaker #0
Yes.

Speaker #1
And then the progesterone is the metabolic component. So that’s increasing mitochondria, that’s increasing energy. Well, now we have less energy, we have tissue integrity that’s not as great. Therefore, if it was already on the edge when you were 30, 35, now, of course, there’s less holding back your bladder.

Speaker #0
Right. Okay. Okay. Good to know. Let’s go back to then the things that contribute to urinary incontinence. Let’s talk about food because I’m a nutritionist and I like to talk about food. So let’s talk about that first. What foods contribute to this incontinence? Are there things that we as women should avoid? Are there foods that we should be eating more of?

Speaker #1
I’m going to step back a tiny bit. If you break everything that crosses your lips into two things. It either heals us or it depletes us, right? So most of the things now, some are allergy-based, so they can be good foods, but we’re sensitive because of personal constitutional issues. So let’s put those ones aside. Most foods are either going to help us, heal us, or they’re going to deplete us. So the depletion of foods are going to be anything that takes resources away from us. So let’s just do a simple little assessment of a morning. Okay, you’ve got a cup of coffee. So first of all, we’re going to see, well, is there pesticides in that coffee? Is it organic or is it not organic? Okay, well, if it’s laden with pesticides, well, that’s very depletionary. So our liver’s got a big job to do. That’s going to suck up resources, right? Now we talk about caffeine. So caffeine’s a stimulant. So now you’re adding in a stimulant. So if we look at the stress reaction in our body, is stress causes everything to tighten and to hold on, right? Well, if you squeeze your fist for seven hours, pretty soon your hands are going to be so tired and so sore, it’s just going to start spontaneously releasing and relaxing. So a lot of people think that their bladder issues are because their pelvis is too weak. And there might be some weakness there. But because the stress response is they’re actually too tight all the time. So what happens is the body fasciculates. It’s kind of like I’m holding my fist and I just need a break. And then you distract me and I let go. Well, I’m holding my bladder and then something comes up and I can’t consciously hold it. So I let go and then I start to leak. So caffeine is going to stimulate that even more. So it’s going to cause something under stress to be more stressed. Then we look at things like it’s pretty popular for people to drink those things called bubble waters, like LaCroix’s and things like that. which is carbonation. So carbonation changes the pH of the GI, but it can also be an irritant to linings. Now we look at other things. Okay. Well, what do vegetables do? Well, vegetables tend to have antioxidants. What do antioxidants do? Well, they’re going to help reduce free radicals, which create irritation to tissues and blood vessels and also to linings, right? Is healthy proteins. If our GI tract is intact, we’re going to be absorbing proteins. and let’s say healthy fats that are going to help build us. So foods are really breaking down as, do I want to build myself up? I need healthy protein, healthy fat, vegetables, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals. Things that deplete us are going to be the hydrogenated fatty acids, which is most fast food stuff, most packaged foods. Then the colorants, the preservatives, all those things take from our bodies. So if we’re already stressed and depleted, we’re stressing and depleting our body more versus giving it a buildup. So I like to think of it like a brick, like a brick layer. If I want to build a castle, I need some good materials. Well, your body’s an amazing castle. So materials you give it are going to help support it. If you deplete it with other stuff, then it’s going to make it weaker and it’s going to become worse. Okay,

Speaker #0
good point. I mean, so it’s just another reason to up your nutrition game. right? And really focus on the healthiest fats, proteins, whole grains, probably. What about, you didn’t really mention fiber or like your GI health and you, cause I know you said that before. Is that, is that an important part of bladder health?

Speaker #1
Yeah, because I didn’t say it doesn’t mean it’s not important. So thanks for grabbing me on that. But absolutely is, is you’re looking at insoluble, insoluble fiber. So insoluble, I think of it like an SOS pad along our lining. It’s trying to get rid of the junk. that’s building up. And then soluble fiber is not only going to give great nutrients for good bacteria to grow. And remember, bacteria, they’re growing and they’re producing byproducts that actually help our brain and our stress levels. So they’re called commensal bacteria or probiotics of different sorts. So you need those things to develop and also to keep things moving and pressing through.

Speaker #0
So one of the obvious things, I think, that we haven’t talked about is probably drinking more water, but is more water too much? Is it like, you know, is how much water should we be drinking? Because I know that this is a question people ask me all the time. And what’s your opinion on it?

Speaker #1
So my first, we need hydration no matter what. And hydration doesn’t constitute coffee, beer, wine, all those other things that we like to hydrate with because they’re not really hydrating. So water means water. I generally tell people half their body weight in ounces, and there’s no hard evidence or rules on that. But to me, it just makes sense. So if you’re physically active, you definitely need more. If you’re less active, you can prefer. But I found that most people just don’t drink enough water at all. So if we look at just simple chemistry again, is the higher the concentration is of something, the more challenging it can be. When you dilute something, it becomes less. So it’s less of a stressor. And so better water. Now, I don’t encourage people to drink a lot of water when they’re consuming food, because when you dilute those stomach acids and you dilute those digestive enzymes, they’re less defective. So one of the big things that people should do, and this is one of the first steps we take when we start our program, is less water, chew more. Because as you chew, you’re… putting saliva in there, which is full of enzymes for a lot of different things. Plus, it’s getting the GI tract going. If you’re going to drink, you should drink it later, because a lot of people drink a lot of water because they’re deficient in other things, or they have other GI issues that they’re compensating for, so they have to dilute everything to push it through the whole tract, especially when it comes to the GERD and things like that, which is like a reflux issue. So the key is, drink more water, yes. but less water during meals, chew more.

Speaker #0
Okay, good point. I also know that what I’ve been, well, I’ve always had this belief that if I drink more water during the day, then I’m just gonna have to keep going to the bathroom. And sometimes I do, but I mean, also what I do now in the morning, I’m a tea drinker. So even, but just that one cup of tea with the caffeine, I think gets my bladder like going. And I… drink, I try to drink a big glass of water before I have my tea. I always thought that was going to then make me pee extra, you know, like even double time. But it actually is, I think, diluting the caffeine. And so it’s not making me go to the bathroom anymore than I was before. Does that make sense to you?

Speaker #1
It does. But something else that you might consider, Heather, just in general, is a lot of people think tea is great because it’s natural, which it is, but tea has tannins. And if everyone remembers what tannins are, tannins are found in the skins and leaves and stems of things. Is tannins break down mucus? and they irritate linings. And so the next time you have your tea, notice how your tongue feels. It’ll be a little rough. That’s because it’s mucolytic. It actually breaks down the mucus, and mucus is a protector. And so I would speculate that it’s more likely diluting the tannins, and it’s diluting some of the irritation, and it’s diluting some of the caffeine also. So just a side note, because that’s one of the things that we talk to people about in our program is you want to watch the tease. Just because it came from a flower or a leaf doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an impact on your GI tract, but more importantly, your bladder and your urethral linings, which is what we’re trying to find a balance to.

Speaker #0
That’s a good point. The reason I do drink tea is because I’m so sensitive to caffeine that it’s like the happy medium for me. I couldn’t drink a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. It would be too much. So she is… my happy medium, but I didn’t consider that the tannins could be irritants also. So good to know.

Speaker #1
Yeah, I bet you’ll find just a little, and it doesn’t mean like a lot of people get really defensive, like I have to stop tea and answer. You don’t have to do anything, but play with it and see, and see how you feel or even transition to say, oh, I’m going to try a different herbal tea instead of a black or a green tea. Because Thank you. Black tea has higher tannins because it’s fermented. Green tea has less tannins. And then herbals, some have a little more, some have a little less. So just playing with that is kind of a neat experiment because I like to make it more of like, I’m discovering things about myself versus I can’t do this and now I’m really PO’d and I want to do something else.

Speaker #0
Right. Okay. Well, good to consider. I will definitely keep that in mind because I am a big tea drinker. So the last thing I just wanted to ask about in the world of like food is alcohol.

Speaker #1
So

Speaker #0
I mean, I know when I don’t drink anymore, when I used to drink, alcohol was like a total bladder killer. I mean, I feel like it just like weakens your bladder. What’s your thought on that?

Speaker #1
Well, I like to go back to just the anatomy. is when you understand alcohol causes things to relax and let go, all sorts of different things, obviously, but it’s doing no difference. So not only do you have the changes in the kidney, because alcohol will change your kidney enzymes and such, which will increase the amount of water coming out of you. And that’s why people who over drink are dehydrated in the next day. So you’ve got that factor. But then you also have the factor is you’re just reducing control. Just why they say don’t drink and drive because your reaction time is less. Well, it’s not just the reaction behind the steering wheel. It’s the reaction of your bladder. It’s a reaction of all tissues. Changes in heart rate is changing in blood pressure. It’s changing in blood vessel diameter. So that’s just adding fuel to an already present fire.

Speaker #0
Alcohol is one of those. I mean, nothing that we need, right? In our daily diet.

Speaker #1
Nothing that you need, but it also has a big influence on the liver. And so again, big picture is the liver plays a big role in this. It has a big role in how we process hormones. It has a big role in what comes out of our stomach, small intestine and bowel. So when the liver function isn’t as efficient, of course, that’s going to influenced our key and I call it our million dollar problem, which of course would be incontinence because that’s what the one we deal with, you know, most every day and that’s front and center. So,

Speaker #0
right. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So let’s put food aside for a minute and let’s talk about the other, the other modalities that you work with to help women with incontinence and bladder issues.So one of the biggest focal points is we talked earlier about stress. So people say, well, how do I manage stress? Well, the first thing you got to do is just understand how your body’s in a reaction mode. And so instead of going and saying, okay, well, I got to change my job and I got to change my spouse and I got to change my kids. It’s a matter of how do I start resetting? Because our body’s a product of all of these events over our whole lifetime. And so we don’t have to go and dig out into the cobwebs of every interaction. But if we just start resetting our body, so one of the key parts is what’s called vagal nerve stimulation. So looking up the vagus nerve, if people like to Google things, is you have two nervous systems. You’ve got the sympathetic, that’s the fight, flight, protect, keep you from dying today, all those things. And it doesn’t have to be real or perceived. It’s all the same. And then we have what’s called the parasympathetic. That’s the healing, relaxing, restoring part of our nervous systems. And they’re both part of us. And so which one is the most dominant? And as the old proverb goes, it’s the one we feed. So the most of us are busy feeding the stress push acquire part. So that’s very sympathetic stress fight flight dominant. So the question is, how do we start to undo that is stimulating our vagal nerve. So how to do the vagal nerve stimulation in our program, we do it. by stimulating a certain branch of the vagus nerve on the ear, it’s right on hippie top there, is by just doing specific breathing exercises and physically actually stimulating that nerve. When you do it systematically over time, it’s going to start to increase its effectiveness. So you’re going to notice the body will start to relax, your breathing will start to become deeper, your thoughts will start to become less. turning, your shoulders will start to relax. So when we do this in a systemic regular interval, then the body starts to go from this higher level of stress to start to going on a regular dropping down. And that’s kind of the premise behind meditation and humming and drumming. And there’s all sorts of different methods to do that. But I use the one which is a direct vagal nerve stimulation point. And Thank you. It’s extremely effective. But like anything is you have to do it regularly. It’s not a one and done like we always want, right?

Speaker #1
Right. So, yeah, I was going to ask you, what about meditating or just deep breathing and, you know, just getting our nervous system just calmed down? That sounds like what you’re doing with the vagal nerve is on that same path.

Speaker #0
On that same, exactly, exactly the same path. And so I’m using the one that’s most kind of backed on. the neurology and neuroanatomy, but we know that meditation has value. We know that singing on a regular basis, just the vibration of the vocal cords, because the vagus nerve runs on either side of your throat. So those things consistently stimulate nerves that haven’t really been used. So I use the analogy of when I touch my funny bone, I can feel it, you know, light up my little finger. If I don’t touch it, It doesn’t. So when I stimulate that nerve and I do it enough, my little finger is going to feel buzzy for a long period of time. Well, any nerve is the same way. So if you stimulate it regularly, then it’s going to be encouraged to function differently in work. And that’s a big key to just taking those stress levels and dropping them. And in our case, for the key purpose to start to get that bladder, that’s that clenched fist to start to relax and just kind of be at ease.

Speaker #1
Yeah, right. Okay. Got it. Is there any place for Kegels and all that traditional stuff that we’ve been, as women, taught to use?

Speaker #0
Absolutely. So it goes back to past conversations. A lot of people are like, if that isn’t the answer, then this must be. And the real answer is they’re all pieces of the answer. So let’s just go back to the anatomy again. We got 30% of that nervous controlled by… consciousness by you actively doing it. Well, let’s do the best we can with that 30%. So I developed a technique called the squiggle because remember, some women are too tight from scarring and trauma or surgery or whatever. Some have too much laxity because of hormone imbalances or trauma. There’s a bunch of stuff. So we want to do two things. We want to strengthen, but we also want to stretch the perineum. We want to gain flexibility in there. That’s where our program also, we work on the muscles of the inner thigh, the adductors and the abductors, because those muscles are attaching into the pubic area. And their tone has an influence on the tone of the pelvis too. So all of those tissues in that region are influencing the uterus, the bladder, the vagina. All those are kind of in the same region and they have to be addressed. But they’re not all the perfect answer like we mentioned before.

Speaker #1
So I’d say in some, I mean, there’s these three points, right? What you eat, your food, you know, what you take in, the mind-body connection or your stress connection, and then this physical part.

Speaker #0
Absolutely.

Speaker #1
Anything else?

Speaker #0
No, those are the three main stressors of maybe galactic radiation. I’m just throwing that out there to be fair. But those are the three big ones that we’re looking at. That’s also the three big ones for most of the problems that people experience. Okay. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, whatever that might be.

Speaker #1
And you tell me about your program that you have that addresses all of these things, because I think that this is really almost groundbreaking. I mean, if you went, you know, if you’re having bladder issues and then you, what your first thought would be to go to see a urologist who would then prescribe you probably some medication. I think most people don’t want to have to take a medication. They don’t have to. And I don’t even know how effective that is anyway, you know, to helping this bigger problem of incontinence. So tell me or tell us about your program that you have.

Speaker #0
So it’s really based upon those three things, Heather, we just talked about. So first of all, is I can give anybody information so anyone can go out. spend the hours of researching and they can come up with all the stuff that I came up with. I’m not terribly special. I just had a lot of time of studying and I’ve worked with many patients over the years. So, but I also know that information and implementation aren’t the same thing, right? So we all get information all the time. It’s like, oh, that’s so cool. I should try that. And you do it like once and then you lose interest or, and you don’t know if it’s right or Dr. Oz does it. So you end up buying it and now it’s in your cupboard, right? Hey guys, what’s up? This is Shia. So I think the big thing about our program is I’m taking the three facets, the physical, which we’re addressing via the squiggle. Then we’ve got the neurosomatic, which means the nerve and the body connection. And we’re addressing that by retraining the autonomic nervous system. And then we’re also doing some key acupuncture point stimulation. So those are the three like bread and butters of it. But then the next thing is. and this is where it’s kind of cool, is we’re leading people through a process over 30 days. And that 30 days first allows us a couple things. It answers the questions and it starts on a simple little journey that takes three to five minutes a day. But also in the program, I’m holding them not so much accountable, but we’re meeting on a weekly basis as a group. I’m saying, hey, how’s it going? Do you have any questions? Then each week, I add in a new facet. So week one, we’re really learning about the nuts and the bolts of those three factors. And then week two, we’re starting to look into, okay, how do I start to make dietary changes that are going to influence not only my bladder, but my whole health, my whole body. Then the next module, we’re going to look into hormones. Okay, let me understand how hormones work and how to affect them. What can I do to help my liver function so I don’t have what are called xenoestrogens, which means estrogens that are building up and negatively affecting me. So we’re kind of leading this through a path of making goals, learning. And of course, in my experience is once somebody has a little success, then it encourages them to have, take the next step. Right? So it’s kind of like somebody who goes to the gym and they’re like, Hey, I lost three pounds and I’m not as pooped out at the end of the day. I’m going to keep going. And then they’re going to like, Hey, I lost a little more. I feel stronger. I think I’m going to eat a little bit better. So health is kind of a progression. It’s not like a switch. And that’s one of the big problems that we have with medication. And I’m not against medication when people understand what it’s for. Because medication’s design is to treat a symptom. It’s not to make you healthy. It’s to treat a symptom. So sometimes we need medications to treat a symptom in the short term, but medication can never make us healthy. with the rare exception of maybe we have an infection that needs to be eradicated. So when we understand that there’s no magical health pill, there’s only a health progression, then that’s where real success comes. So the exciting part about the bladder is yes, we have great bladder results. But we also have really exciting results where people become healthier. They feel better. That inspires them to keep moving forward versus I’m frustrated. I’m going to take another pill and I went on an antidepressant and now I’m on a weight loss drug. You just see how that builds up into a big mess.

Speaker #1
Right. Yeah. So small steps, small goals, and then have other good. consequences, like maybe you’re getting healthier as a result of eating better foods and changing, switching your diet or just calming yourself down, right? Addressing your parasympathetic nervous system and it reverberates, right? Into other areas of your life.

Speaker #0
It does. And one last thing I wanted to note too, and this is what I’m super excited about is when people, first a dialogue like this is really cool because most people think they’re alone with their problem because they think I’m the only one on the world. And again, it’s not reality, but we all think that way. We include it. So I’m the only one with this problem. Nobody really knows how I feel. But when you get involved in a system like this is you get to connect with other people. And that is hugely validating. Like, oh, you mean you felt that way? Or you mean this happened to you? And it removes that isolation part. And what’s really exciting is as that isolation part starts to dissolve, then people have conversations like this. And it just branches out. And then people start to really, not to get all out there, but they start to live their real life instead of like, I’m hiding. I have to protect. It’s like, hey, this used to be a part of me. Now I can go do my thing and I can share my story and I don’t have to feel bad about it. Yeah,

Speaker #1
I totally agree with that. I think for women, especially, or maybe men too, but for women, community, I think is very, very important to feel less alone with some of these issues that are… embarrassing or shameful or think that we should keep a secret. And I think that that is a really important part of healing.

Speaker #0
I agree 100%.

Speaker #1
And you are having a upcoming talk?

Speaker #0
Yes. So this Thursday, that would be the 17th of April at 8 p.m., we’re having a… bladder and menopause seminar. So we’re going to have some of the similar discussions we had today, but it’s going to be a little more formatted with the goal of helping people understand a little more in depth their bladder, help them understand how hormones play a role, and then just giving them an opportunity to get started on the ironclad bladder program if that’s something they want to do.

Speaker #1
Great.

Speaker #0
So super excited.

Speaker #1
Yeah. So you send me the link. I will put it in my show notes. so everyone could… Get that. And that’s just on Zoom. That’s how do you how do you connect with that?

Speaker #0
So if you go to my website, it’s dr.nigelbrayer.com. There’s a link there to sign up for the free seminar. And then once you’re signed up, you’ll get the free the link, the Zoom link, and then it’ll start at 8 p.m. on the 17th.

Speaker #1
Eastern Standard Time.

Speaker #0
Eastern Standard Time. Thank you for that. OK.

Speaker #1
Okay, well, great. Well, again, I will put all your links in the show notes so women can get access to that. And I think we’ve covered a lot about bladder and we’re dispelling the secrets and the myths around bladder issues, urinary incontinence. And that’s what I, that’s the whole goal of my podcast too, is just not have these things be secrets and feeling like you are alone in things. I appreciate all of your information, and I think this is going to help a lot of women.

Speaker #0
Yeah, thanks, Heather. I really appreciate you and putting up this platform for others. It’s really awesome.

Speaker #1
And as always, if you loved this podcast, please consider gifting me with a five-star review. It is so helpful for me to get the word out on real eating, our real bodies, and real food stories. Thank you so much and have a great week. Bye for now.