How Brain Health Matters: Essential Tips for Athletes Facing Concussions. With Dr. Jamie Krzykowski

In this episode of "Spirit of an Athlete," host Amanda Smith welcomes Dr. Jamie Krzykowski, an expert in athletic training, sports nutrition, and mental wellness, to discuss concussions. They delve into how concussions occur, their symptoms, and the importance of proper protocols for recovery. Dr. Krzykowski emphasizes the role of nutrition, hydration, and gradual reintroduction to activity in healing. She also highlights the risks of undiagnosed concussions and the long-term effects of improper management. The episode underscores the need for awareness, education, and holistic strategies to support athletes' brain health and overall well-being.

In this Episode: 

[02:15] The frequency and recognition of concussions in athletes, including undiagnosed cases.

[04:30] Importance of proper concussion protocols in sports, including return-to-play and return-to-learning strategies.

[07:00] Historical and current approaches to concussion treatment and recovery.

[09:45] Nutritional strategies to support concussion recovery, including the role of protein, vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids.

[12:00] The significance of hydration in maintaining brain health and aiding recovery.

[14:30] Gradual reintroduction to physical activity and learning post-concussion.

[17:00] Long-term effects of concussions and the importance of following recovery protocols.

[19:30] The role of community support and holistic health in recovery from concussions.

[22:00] Emphasis on maintaining a healthy lifestyle to mitigate long-term risks associated with concussions.

Please connect with Dr. Jamie Krzykowski. here: 

www.drkswellness.com 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/drkswellness 

https://www.instagram.com/drks_wellness/

Watch Spirit of an Athlete on YouTube!

Check out more from Amanda:
Website: Body Whisper Healing
Instagram: @Amanda.G.Smith
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Pinterest: AmandaGSmithBWH
LinkedIn: Amanda (Ritchie) Smith

Take the Gutsy Chick Quiz to find out how your athletic mindset might be holding you back from healing your chronic health issue: https://gutsychickquiz.com

Transcript

0:19

Welcome back to spirit of an athlete. I'm your host, Amanda Smith, creator of Gutsy Chick Quiz at Gutsy Chick Quiz. Com. Take this quick, fun quiz to find out what you did as an athlete might be holding you back from healing from your mysterious chronic health shit show. On this episode, I invited Doctor Jamie Kerlikowske, who is a college professor, a licensed athletic trainer, a certified sports nutritionist. A therapeutic nutrition counselor, and a certified mental wellness coach. That's a whole lot of things. But in this episode we talked about concussions. You'll learn how a concussion happens, what a concussion can do to you long term. And doctor K shares five things to consume that will help prevent post-traumatic excuse me, post-concussion syndrome. And what will help you heal from your concussion faster. Check it all out. In this episode of spirit of an athlete doctor Jamie Kerlikowske. Welcome to spirit of an athlete. Thank you so much for saying yes to being a guest on this show. Thanks for asking me. Heck yes. I mean, we're talking concussions and as as spirit of an athlete, this is something that I would say the grand majority of athletes are going to deal with at least once in their athletic career. Yeah. Okay. Yes. And sometimes they don't even know it. Oh. Mhm. Let me tell you how many times I have ran across a kid and a parent who was like, well there's something weird going on here. And they had no idea. And I was like well you know concussions don't necessarily need to come from getting banged on the head do they. Well I mean typically there's impact that's involved with a. Concussion, but does it have to be on the head? Um, well, it can be sometimes like whiplash. You can get it from whiplash. So yes, you can you can get it some other ways. Most of the time it's going to happen from some sort of collision. Whether a ball hits the head, someone's head hits the floor or someone collides and like football tackling or something like that. But yes, you can get it from like whiplash injuries as well. Yeah. I mean, ultimately what has to happen is your brain has to slosh inside the skull and it has to get damaged in some way, shape or form. That's the definition of a concussion, right? Yes, yes. The mild traumatic brain injury that temporarily disrupts normal brain function, basically. Nice. Way better said than me. Good brain. Smashy smashy. Done. Yes. Right? Right. Okay. So concussion protocol. Let's start there. So NFL has blown up what concussion protocol they do and it's trickled down to other sports okay. What are your thoughts on concussion protocol that the NFL does. And then how it's kind of played out in the lower level sports. And I'm talking like not necessarily lower level non-professional but lower level. Not as many people smashing into each other with lots of equipment on. Right. Well and with the NFL, I mean there's, there's there's just so much press with the NFL. So we really have to think about kind of all of that and the way that in the 1960s and or even before that, um, the helmets that they wore, my husband actually has one in his office and it's just leather and it doesn't have any cushion or anything. It's really more to prevent lacerations really, than it is the impact. And so not understanding enough about head injuries many years ago, plus not having the proper protective equipment, I mean, think about boxers and other athletes as well. I mean, way beyond football of all of the different head injuries and things. And so we've learned a lot over the years. And unfortunately in recent years now these these former NFL players that were playing when the helmets were not great and, and other protocols weren't great to where they would be kept out of a game or something like that now that we're seeing the effects of it, because now they have gotten older and now they're seeing these other, you know, signs and symptoms of that. And so those concussion protocols that have come down through, you know, the college levels, you know, from the professional level down into high schools and to the little leagues, those are really great. I mean, and part of it is the return to sport, but it's also return to learn. And so there's so many things that people experience with concussions. And it used to, you know, first of all, they weren't really treated. Then it was, okay, just go be in a dark room and rest, rest, rest. That's all you need. And what they found is that that's not enough. We need to get people back into little bits of activity sooner, because that will help with the healing process as well. So I think there's a lot of good things that have trickled down from these new NFL protocols, and I really hope that it it makes for a future for any athlete to not have long term effects from a concussion. And now typically to the rule is if you get three concussions, you're done with with your collision sport. And so that definitely didn't happen back in the day. You're done with your collision sport okay. So that means you're done playing football. But it's totally okay to play basketball because that's not really a collision sport, right? Not necessarily. No. And even volleyball, there's a lot of there's a lot of concussions that happen in volleyball. And um, just whether it's the ball or whether it's diving for a ball and getting kind of a whiplash injury sometimes. But I would say you're looking more at golf or tennis or something like that where rather than I mean, if you're going to place a pickup basketball, that's one thing. But to play competitive basketball, that might be something that you rethink because definitely concussions are happening there as well. I would say concussions are happening everywhere. I mean, I I was never a great golfer, but I had one heck of a slice. And I remember slicing the ball into a woman's chest in the next fairway. Oh. That's a thing, right? I feel like I'm the, uh, what is the the, uh, Prudential or whatever those commercials are for insurance. Like, this is a rare case, but we've had it. Um, yes. Not saying it's impossible. You couldn't whack yourself in the head with your own club, I guess, in golf, but. I my brother has done that to me, actually. Yeah. Or somebody else does it. Yeah, yeah. That happened. He was demonstrating how to how to swing, and he smashed me on top of the head with A0I think it was the driver. It was amazing. Oh yeah. Concussion instantaneously. Not my first from him. Uh, but that's the other thing. So if you're having concussions happen in sport. It's caught, right? And it's documented. But what about if they're getting concussions outside of sport and it's not necessarily documented right. Do they still get a free pass for the other 2 or 3. It depends on if they're honest or not. Mhm. Because you'll be asked by your athletic training staff at your college or high school have you had any concussions. And during your pre participation physical exam, have you had a concussion before. And if you, you know someone could lie and say no. And I definitely would not encourage that because you are promoting long term brain damage for yourself as you get older. And it's not going to be when you're 80. It's going to be when you're 30 or 40 that you're going to start noticing some things that are a little off, and then you get a little bit older, and then you are all of a sudden having signs and symptoms of, you know, Parkinson's or dementia or a variety of different things that can happen from neurodegenerative. Degeneration basically. Yes. Okay. So I can hear parents right now going, well, we didn't take our kid to the doctor because the school called us and said she she fell off the playground equipment. And if she doesn't show these signs, then she'll be just fine. And it's not like the parent is going to self-diagnose their child and declare you had a concussion. Right? So how does how do we navigate that weird space? Because I guarantee. So when my brother smashed me on the head with the driver, I did not go to the doctor. I did not do anything extra other than say, hey, Mom and Dad. Marco smashed me on top of the head with the driver and, you know, pay attention to whether I don't wake up tomorrow. Like, right. I didn't go to the doctor for that, But I was definitely in college and I was definitely playing a college sport at the time. And if they were to ask me at that pre-interview, did you have a concussion? I would tell them, I've never gone to the doctor for it, but I know without a shadow of a doubt I did. Right. Yeah. And I think that that's pretty common. And and part of it is we know that it's likely a concussion, especially if there's been some sort of collision. And if you are having, you know, headaches, disorientation, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, lack of coordination, blurry vision, short term memory loss. I mean, you don't have to have all of those things in order for there to be suspicion of a concussion. But but it's it's those things that we need to be aware of. And then it's also how did we heal from it? Because if you did the proper things to heal from it, then you are less likely to have as many of or any of those long term effects. All right, let's go there. What do you do to heal from a concussion? Well, there are a lot of things that we can do. And and really, I mean, to for me. Well, one, you got to take them out of their sport. They have to have some of that rest. But but not necessarily a dark room isolated for a long period of time. It's usually about 24 hours where it's kind of more of that kind of dark, low key space. That means no phones or iPads or things that are computers or anything as well. Nothing that's going to be stimulating to the brain. But nutrition is really a big part of this. One is the decreasing inflammation and and helping the brain to repair itself and then, you know, managing the symptoms as well. Mhm mhm. Okay. All right. I have recently had three of my athletes come to me and say I have chronic headaches. I, I would really prefer not to look at my phone. Which what teenager tells you that? And I would rather just be in a cave all the time. Yeah. Undiagnosed in some instances. Diagnosed in other instances. How often do we see concussions last? Because you brought this up longer than 24 hours. Oh, right. I'm not saying the concussion would be gone in 24 hours. I'm saying that that this those signs and symptoms that we want to just initially in the first 24 hours, sometimes maybe 48 hours, we're really backing them off, getting, you know, keeping them in a really low key environment, darker environment and no phones and things. So that would be maybe like 24 to 48 hours. I mean, if you need to send a text to just say, hey, you know, to your athletic trainer or your coach or something, hey, I'm doing okay. I mean, that's going to be fine, but, um. But the symptoms. So there's something called post-concussion syndrome. And the signs and symptoms of concussion, they can last for weeks. And that really depends on the the extent of the concussion. And there's some different ways to mitigate it. And, um, one of the things I would say would be protein, because protein really supports the production of something. It's called BDNF. It's brain derived neurotrophic factor okay, or neurotrophic factor. And, and so yes, B, d and f. And what that does is I mean not let alone that protein is is supplying amino acids. And so, you know, that are a part of so many different processes within the body. So the from hormones to muscles to enzymes, all the different processes within the body, we need the amino acids that are obviously that make up proteins. But um, but this specific thing with its supporting BDNF production is that it's promoting neuron survival, growth, maturation and maintenance. Okay. So I know so think about neurons. You know neurons are just cells but they're nerve cells. And so sometimes we think of protein and we're like ooh muscles. But but protein does so much more than that. And so when we're thinking about neuron okay our nerves their survival okay. We we want them to survive. Because otherwise without a nervous system, well we don't survive um growth. Right. Growth of of those. And that would be more growth of ones that are new nerve cells versus ones that are already at their full capacity. Their nerves are not like muscles. You can't hypertrophy, you know, you can't grow them, um, in the same way that you can of muscle and Maturation. So, so in that process of a nerve being just a little cell to then growing and becoming mature, to be able to send the right signals and then maintenance, you know, just keeping them healthy. And so when we think about that, I mean, it really the BDNF is, is is aiding in this process. And it's also part of something called neuroplasticity, neurogenesis. And so think of neurogenesis as, as nerves and generating nerves. And so it's going to help with that as well. And of course you know those protein sources lean meats fish eggs, legumes. You know there's plant based sources as well. But you just have to combine them well. And in order to get all of the essential amino acids. Eggs, I constantly go back to eggs because they're they're one of the truly superfoods that have carbs, fats and protein. And generally you want to eat those in combination so that the body actually absorbs what you're eating, right? Right. Mhm. Oh man. And there's something in egg yolks called choline. And choline is a precursor to acetylcholine. And acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter in our brain. So I know some sometimes when people have cholesterol issues they're told don't eat any egg yolks. But if you have a nervous system issue of any kind, tremors or concussion or something, then I would say, okay, if you're going to eat three eggs, then maybe take 1 or 2 of those yolks out, but keep one because you want that choline that's in there. Yes. Okay. So eggs for for concussions. Got it. Protein for concussions in the right combinations. Right. What else can we do. So another one is vitamin D. Now vitamin D for is is great for nerve protection. And so it's going to protect the neural pathways. And um, and it can actually help prevent post-concussion syndrome. So post-concussion concussion syndrome. Like I said, it's when the symptoms persist after, you know, after a concussion for a longer than expected. So we expect someone to have headaches for a few days or something. But what will happen is then we'll get some other signs and symptoms like lack of appetite, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, irritability, depression. And so those don't happen right away. Those happen more with a little bit of the of the post-concussion or longer term signs and symptoms. And so in thinking about it, um, you know, preventing that post post-concussion syndrome, that's really important. And that's where if someone's going to supplement with it, typically in that post-concussion or time, um, it would be like about 5000 international units that, that you might take per day. And or you can get it in fatty fish, especially salmon or mackerel. You can get it in fortified foods. There's milk and rice and some different things that that are fortified. You can you can actually get it in mushrooms, which is interesting. And and sometimes then even in eggs as well kind of depends on how they're raised. I love that you brought up mushrooms because, uh, it's here's my geeky gardener brain, my permaculture brain. So mushrooms absorb the sunshine that is fed from the tree. So the tree gives gets the sunshine. There are first natural solar power plant. They feed whatever they're decomposing off to the mushrooms. And the mushrooms have this this great source of vitamin D. Now, if you've got a thing against mushrooms, just remember there's a bunch of different kinds of mushrooms? Lion's mane is quite possibly the coolest one. And then there's one that looks like cauliflower. And you can totally trick your brain into thinking that it's actually cauliflower instead of a mushroom. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. I love mushrooms, they're so magical on different levels. Well and I do want to say about the vitamin D that um, you know because it's a fat soluble vitamin and there are some upper levels in toxicity that can occur with extreme 5000 international units. Shouldn't be extreme, but you would want to work with your health care provider to determine what your optimal dosage would be. They can do a blood test to see where you're at with your vitamin D levels, and for a short period of time to increase. Shouldn't be a problem for anyone, but it's always a good idea just to, um, to make sure that you're double checking that. Is there a difference between vitamin D and vitamin D3? Well Vitamin D3 is is the most absorbable and usable for our body. So is there a benefit to getting D3 with K? Yes there is. That will um that will help it to absorb. But um, with vitamin K we have to be a little bit careful if someone's on blood thinners because vitamin K helps us to our blood to clot. So I would I would not overdo it with vitamin K I would I would keep that pretty low. Okay. Good info. If you're going to go for the grocery store version of vitamin D. Yes. Okay. Um, another one I would say. Do you want another one. Yes. Absolutely. Okay. So omega three fatty acids they are going to be great for the nervous system. They help to reduce inflammation. And so think about EPA and DHA and um you they're really long words. So just stick with the with the acronyms because that's a lot easier. Yeah. But, um, but with that, they reduce the inflammation and they strengthen the cell membranes. And so, um, so thinking about that, when we, whenever we have an injury, we're going to have inflammation. And so our brain can become inflamed. And that's part of the reason why we can get those longer term post post-concussion syndrome. And so the longer term signs and symptoms. And so fish again fatty fish salmon, tuna um you can also get walnuts, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, cold pressed flaxseed oil, cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. And I say cold press because if they've been heated, then it will kill many of the natural, um, nutrients that are in it. So we want to make sure it's cold pressed so that it's not heated. I love that fish eat a boatload of fish. That's as soon as I hear those I'm like, oh yeah, fish just eat fish. Yes, yes. But we do want to be a little bit careful with tuna because tuna is a very big fish, so it will carry more heavy metals like mercury in it. And so it's preferable to only eat tuna maybe a couple times a week because of the mercury levels, because then we're doing some damage to our brain that we don't want to of the brain that we're trying to heal. I feel like, uh, talking about fish is similar to talking about eating the rainbow of vegetables. You should eat the rainbow of fish. Also, don't stick to just one. Yes. Get that wild caught salmon that that that I would put at the top of my list. The wild caught for sure. Yes. While I honestly I would look for wild caught in all of your fish. Because I guess. Raised doesn't get the same kind of nutrients. Just think of it like how our our mass produced foods on farms are being treated. If you're not going to eat those, don't do farmed. Fish. I guess. Right. Just, you know, but eat the Eat fish? Yes for sure. And thanks for saying that. Because yes, anything you want it to be fresh and the wild Alaskan company is great. And and we have some friends that actually sell their cod to to the Wild Alaska Company. And so you can get that nice fresh. I know that it's a very legit company that gets I know I'll send you more information. It's. Yes. Yes, that's that is by far one of my favorite companies, especially their smoked salmon. Oh my gosh. Okay. And that and it tastes so good. It's so much better. And so yes. Mhm. Okay. So I've got. One more for you. And that's hydration. So we know we know that hydration is so important for everything within our bodies and not just concussions. But when we think about concussions you know helping to maintain the cerebral spinal fluid okay. So that's the that's the the fluid that's within our spinal column. And and then also can help with concentration and energy. I would say we really want to shoot for at least half our body weight and ounces a day, and that's just our minimum. So I know sometimes they just kind of give a general recommendation of 64oz, but that's not accurate depending on the person. And so I just always go with half your body weight and ounces a day. And then if you're getting for every hour of vigorous activity then you would get 2 to 3 more cups, you know, per hour of, of activity. But if you have post-concussion syndrome, you're not getting an hour of vigorous activity. It's that's not going to be that would exacerbate your symptoms. So so at. Least hours. Of sit on the couch activity. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And you know, we really want to help with our cellular function and, you know, aid recovery, remove waste. And of course, we're we're we're also bringing in the high antioxidant foods. So we want We want those bright, colorful fruits and veggies and things and that are going to help as well. I love that. Okay. We covered nutrition and hydration. What about that? That return to activity. Return to learn. Are there any specific things that they should be doing doing to move their body to help their nervous system recenter? Yes. Well, with that, it's it's working your way back into activity. And so the the return to learn and the return to sport is okay, I'm going to study for classes. A lot of our athletes are high school and college athletes. I'm going to study for 15 minutes and then I'm going to give myself a break. And and I'm going to try and read. And again, most of our studying, a lot of it is done on the computer. And so you have to start out with those shorter amounts of time because otherwise just the lights and and just the way that it stimulates the the body. They might need to actually get some printed books instead of using their computer during that time, or maybe listen to it on an audiobook where they don't have to physically look at it on the computer. But, um, those short times and then with physical activity, it's about getting back in and maybe it's okay, I'm going to walk around the block I'm going to or go to my school, I'm going to walk around the track. And I know to an athlete, walking around the track sounds kind of lame, but. Right. But that gets your heart rate up a little bit and then that's okay. And that gets it helps your body to acclimate. And then what you can do is you can see how did that feel. Because when if we're going to do then testing to see if someone is ready for to go back to their activity, they might be doing push ups, sit ups and jogging and, you know, jogging in place or jogging around a track or something like, we're going to take it up a notch, right? And so if you can't make it just walking around a track without getting a headache, then you can't do the things that we can't progress it. Yep, yep. I would say the one other thing that I'm noticing with my clients is ocular training. So looking at some sort of eye movement training so that you're moving that trauma out of the brain through the eyes, the eyes hold a boatload of trauma, and you want to be able to remove it from that portion as well. And that goes back to you saying, you know, being on computers can be overstimulating. Maybe we have to go to a printed book. That's an indicator that your eyes need some extra therapy as well. And right. Neuro optometry, optometry is a thing. So it might be worth checking out, especially if you've got those prolonged symptoms. Yes. And and I didn't mention this, but the I mean, we have we have a whole rehab protocols for this. There's these little light up. You remember the the Simon game that has the four colors and you'd have to follow the pattern. It's kind of like that where. But they, they're movable dots and then it's going to light up. And then you have to tap it and try to get it. And it's not necessarily a pattern you're repeating, but you're following the lights and touching them. There's other balance sort of activities that can be done and some of the coordination for your vestibular system. So the vestibular system helps you with your balance involves your eyes. So you may have to hold something in front of you and then turn your head and look back and forth. Because you're trying to teach your vestibular system that it's okay. You don't need to get dizzy or nauseous. That movement is all right. And so there's a lot of different things that we do. Are. I'm so happy you brought that up because it's there. There are. There really are so many different ways to reintegrate and unwind. And that's something else to mention here, is if you've had a concussion and you didn't have the opportunity to do return to learn and return to play, you just went right back in because your school or your program didn't have those tools. There are still ways to unwind that concussion later down the road so that they don't show up in old age. Doctor Jamie, remind us what are some of the things to look for when it comes to later on in life? And we've had concussions and we didn't necessarily have the right protocols in place when we were kids like me. Right. Well, I would say that go, go back to these nutritional principles, right. Making sure that we are getting adequate protein, which, you know, typically is going to be between at least 1.0 to 2 point 0g/kg of protein. And it kind of depends on if you're an athlete and and if you have a kidney disease, you need to be careful. And so you need to work with your doctor on that. But um, but making sure, you know, the Omegas, the hydration and um, there's things that we need to avoid as well. So some of the things that if we're noticing because signs and symptoms that that maybe there is a concussion that we are having some symptoms from maybe later on from that damage would be tremors, you know, that's where your hands are going to shake. It could be maybe the the onset of dementia or Alzheimer's or, or Parkinson's, other sort of neurodegenerative sort of ailments. Right. And so some of those things and that and those things, by the time you get to Parkinson's. You've already had a lot of signs and symptoms before that, and some of that could be less coordination, could be the the inability to maybe you start to like you trip and you start to fall and you can't catch yourself. And sometimes it's just because of strength. But sometimes it can be that lack of coordination to be able to put your foot out quick enough to catch yourself. And so, so some of those things we can see now, going back to the things to limit alcohol is one that can exacerbate cognitive cognitive issues. And so for memory concentration and learning it promotes dehydration. And so you know we definitely want to avoid it during recovery. But um and it's also a depressant. And so that wouldn't be good as well during the recovery process. But as we age it's just you know, we want to have alcohol usage in, in moderation. Um, minimal, minimally. Now moderation is supposed to be one drink per day for, uh, one. Like one. 12 ounce beer, one six ounce glass of wine, and one one ounce shot. Yeah. Um, I think is, you know, those are all equivalent, but, um, one for females and two for males per day would be considered moderation. Uh, but we can also we should limit our processed sugars and so that those are inflammatory, the fried and the salty foods I know they taste good, but it can raise blood pressure. It can decrease our BDNF production. So remember that BDNF that's so important. And then caffeine you know it can be dehydrating and it can disrupt sleep which can impact our brain recovery. Um caffeine has been shown to have some brain benefits, but we really want to keep it to no more than like 1 to 2 cups in a day. And and so with those, it's not that you can't ever have fried food or you can't ever have dessert or something and have some processed sugar, but it's really about being conscientious of what you're doing and making sure that it's kind of the 8020 rule 80% of the time. Be good. Do the things you know you're supposed to do. And exercise is another thing. Getting your blood pumping is very important, and that sweating helps us to release toxins. And oftentimes our exercise, you know, it should make us sweat. And so those things can be can be really beneficial as well. Fantastic. Doctor Jamie, where in the world can people find you and where do you want them to go come January? Yes. Well, um, so I have a website, Doctor K's wellness.com. That's DRC's wellness.com. And, uh, in January, we actually have a group that is going to be kicking off. It's my Thriving Together community and it's a community of holistic Health and support. And so we will be tackling nutrition and fitness as well as our emotional, mental and spiritual wellness because holistically, we we need to be able to be at our best in all those ways. Now it is. It's a six month program so that we can build the community so that we can support each other, and then we can take our time to build the habits. And I know sometimes we can do short little challenges and things. And, um, but this is meant to be something that we build these habits for a lifetime. I love that holistic. That's how that's how I operate, and that's who I bring in to the to my show. Because if we're not looking at the whole kit and caboodle, we're not doing the body justice. Doctor, thank you so, so much for coming on spirit of an athlete and sharing your wisdom around concussions. We're going to have you back on the show to talk soft tissue injuries. I can't wait for that one to go out in January. So you guys look for that episode in January so you can learn how to heal bumps, bruises and well, we're going to talk a little bit about concussions in there too. Yes. Thank you so much for having me on I appreciate it. I love it. Thanks for listening to spirit of an athlete podcast. If you're struggling with your own gut issues and want more direction, you can get an initial body scan from Amanda at Body Whisper Healing Comm. In 20 minutes, you can find out what's wrong. Get clarity, map the path forward, and get on track to get back in your game. If this episode hits the spot, please let us know by rating, reviewing, and sharing it with a friend. Subscribe now to hear more inspiring stories from other female college athletes who overcame their health issues. Want more Amanda? Get inspired by finding more at Body Whisper healing.com.