Master Your Minerals with Amanda Montalvo, RD

Are you getting the right minerals? It’s common knowledge that minerals are an important part of a healthy diet. What isn’t as well known is how they affect hormonal health. Today’s guest is a wealth of information about the role of proper mineral balances and your health.

About Amanda Montalvo, RD

Amanda Montalvo is a women’s health dietitian that helps women get to the root cause of hormone imbalances and have healthy menstrual cycles. Amanda started off her education in nutrition with the traditional route, but after dealing with her own health problems after getting off hormonal birth control she quickly realized the value of functional medicine. After healing her acne, balancing her hormones, and learning the value of her menstrual cycle, Amanda found her purpose to help women create a body in balance and not settle for anything less.

The Importance of Minerals and How to Test for Them

In this episode, Amanda goes into depth on just how important your mineral levels are. There are also many things that can disrupt them, including common forms of birth control. But before you can properly treat a hormone deficiency, you need information. To that end, Amanda discusses testing, particularly hair mineral testing, and how it can give you and your practitioner a window into your health. If you find that you have period-related symptoms or a history of thyroid issues, a hair mineral test will likely be very informative.

Often, modern diets lead to unnecessary confusion. For instance, many women are often told to consume more iron. Amanda explains why this is not good advice because our bodies actually recycle iron. What we need are the minerals and vitamins that help our bodies with this process.

Focus on Food, Not Supplements

While many people turn to supplements to get their minerals, Amanda would rather you focus on what you’re eating. Taking supplements often leads to further imbalance. But when you and your practitioner focus on eating a properly balanced diet, you’ll get a well-rounded dose of what you need.

What would you like to know about the minerals in your diet? Leave a comment on the episode page!

Got a question you’d love to hear me answer on the show? Leave me a voice message here!

In This Episode

How Amanda became an expert in women’s hormonal health [3:20]
Why minerals are an integral part of hormonal health for women [7:00]
The role of hair mineral tests in measuring your mineral levels and health [11:40]
How to use your diet to maximize your mineral intake [22:50]
Why iron deficiencies are not actually that common [24:30]
Why Vitamin A more important than many think [33:45]
Resources to take advantage of to improve your mineral levels [37:00]
Considerations for using castor oil packs [46:22]

Quotes

“Minerals are applicable no matter what. Whether you’ve been on birth control, had a copper IUD, or if you just have symptoms.” [9:49]

“It’s really showing you the why. Why do you have that hormone result?” [14:14]

“I think that you can build your own and have a more balanced approach that’s not going to create more imbalances in your body, and you’ll actually absorb it.” [30:13]

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