Realfoodology - Genetic Testing, GLP1s, Blocking Out Food Noise + Reverse Aging | Lindsey Lekhraj

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

EP. 214 Welcome back to another episode of The Realfoodology Podcast! Today we’re exploring the world of epigenetic coaching, genetic testing, and the exciting realm of peptides. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lindsay from Designer Genes Co., where we discuss what it means to be an epigenetic coach and the transformative insights that genetic testing can offer. We also cover peptides in detail, including GLP-1 and their potential benefits for various health issues. If you're curious about how peptides could impact your health journey, this episode is packed with valuable information you won’t want to miss! Timestamps:  06:36 - Epigenetic coaching  11:10 - COMT & your body’s stress chemistry  15:54 - Body By Design DNA Testing  18:40 - BDNF  23:26 - Peptides overview  32:37 - Understanding the rise in peptide use  35:13 - Impacts of peptides  41:58 - Unpacking side effects and risks of GLP1s  48:58 - GLP1 dosing  51:58 - Triceptides  55:01 - Peptide shortages & regulation  57:03 - Peptides impact on Big Food 01:00:24 - KPB & BPC157  01:04:00 - Lindsey’s favorite peptides  01:07:05 - Personal fitness journeys  01:09:36 - Cognitive function peptides  01:11:39 - Getting peptides  01:14:58 - Lindsey’s health nonnegotiables  Use Code REALFOODOLOGY for 10% off any of the following: Body By Design® DNA testing  PepSquad Peptide Therapy Course KNOCKOUT Bundle (includes testing and peptides course)   Sponsored By: Organifi Go to www.organifi.com/realfoodology and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 20% Off Cured Nutrition Go to www.curednutrition.com/realfoodology and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 20% off Paleovalley Save at 15% at paleovalley.com/realfoodology and use code REALFOODOLOGY Needed Use code REALFOODOLOGY at thisisneeded.com for 20% off Timeline Go to timelinenutrition.com/REALFOODOLOGY and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 10% off LMNT Get your free Sample Pack with any LMNT drink mix purchase at drinklmnt.com/realfoodology Check Out Lindsey: Instagram Website Check Out Courtney:  LEAVE US A VOICE MESSAGE Check Out My new FREE Grocery Guide! @realfoodology @realfoodologypodcast www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database Produced By: Drake Peterson

On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast... None of us are going old, feeling old, feeling like we're not, you know, our bodies are slowing down on us. Absolutely not. Like, not on my watch. Get in, loser. We're reverse aging.

You know what I'm saying? Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Courtney Swan. And today's episode is all about epigenetic coaching, genetic testing, and peptides. I sat down with Lindsay of Designer Genes Co. and I'm so excited for you to hear this episode. We dive into everything from what it means to be an epigenetic coach, what genetic testing can actually do for you, and what sort of insight it gives to you. We talk a little bit about BDNF,

calm tea, and then we dive into the peptides. I'm so excited. I've been wanting to do an episode about this. You guys, if you follow me on Instagram at realfoodology, you know that Hector and I have been on peptides, more specifically Hector, because we are trying to heal his psoriasis. And if you want to hear what's actually going on in his journey at the moment, stay tuned, listen to the episode. So yeah, we talk about the different peptides that he and I are taking. We talk a lot about GLP-1. My thoughts about GLP-1, and if you don't know what GLP-1 is, it's otherwise known as semaglutide or ozempic, wagovi. There's also manjaro, which is known as

tirzepatide. I always forget how to pronounce that one. But anyways, we go into extensive detail about these and she shares her knowledge about it. And I also share what my opinion is on them. And you might be shocked to know what my stance is on those. So if you are at all interested in peptides, if you are having any sort of sleep issues, gut issues, autoimmune issues, maybe you're having a hard time losing weight, or maybe you're dealing with psoriasis or eczema or some sort of skin issue like Hector is, I would highly encourage you to listen to this episode and also to check out Lindsay and her company Designer Jeans Co. She is such a wealth of knowledge and I even learned so much in this episode and I'm very excited about peptides and

what they can mean for the future. So anyways, I'm going to stop blabbing on. We're going to get into the episode. If you could take a moment to rate and review the podcast, it means so much to me and it really helps the show. And I know I say this every week, but your support really, really does help and it means a lot. And of course, if you want to take a moment to follow the Real Foodology podcast on Instagram, it's at realfoodologypodcast. We post a lot of clips there that you will not see

literally anywhere else. And then of course, if you want to tag me at realfoodology or at realfoodologypodcast on Instagram, if you're enjoying the episode. Thank you guys so much for your support. Oh, one more thing before I go. This is incredibly important. If you guys want to take the peptide course that Lindsay mentions, or if you want to get the DNA genetic testing that we talked about through her company, she has a bundle right now. If you want to do both of them, you're going to save some money. And then you can also use code

Real Foodology and you're going to save even more money. We're going to leave a link in the show notes. So all you have to do is click on that link, use code real foodology, and you can save some money. Are you looking to boost your energy and support healthier aging? I've been using MitoPure by Timeline and the results have been pretty incredible. It was developed by Swiss based Timeline. After a decade of research, MitoPure is a powerful urolithin-A postbiotic that's tough to get from diet alone. I've noticed significant improvements in muscle strength, recovery times, and overall energy levels. I highly recommend you going back and listening to one of the podcast episodes I did with the founder of Timeline. We talk a lot about

the research that they have done. And I really, I seriously, like I believe so much in this product. This is one of my favorite supplements that I have found in a really long time because I really truly noticed a difference. Our mitochondria, we all learned this in like 10th grade, probably mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. It's literally the batteries of your cell. If your mitochondria are not working properly, you're, you're going to feel the effects of it in every area of your life. So might appearria are not working properly, you're going to feel the effects of it in every area of your life. So MitoPure is essentially like food for your mitochondria. For me, taking MitoPure is more about than just feeling good today. It's about maintaining my

vitality as I age. I want to be 90 and still enjoy hiking, running, playing with my grandkids. MitoPure helps me stay active and healthy, ensuring I can live life to the fullest. Timeline also offers a delicious berry powder that mixes easily into your yogurt or smoothies. It tastes really good actually. And then they also have super convenient soft gels, if that's more your vibe. If you want to experience the benefits for yourself, get 10% off your first order of Mito Pure by visiting timeline.com slash realfoodology. That's T-I-M-E-L-I-N-E.com slash realfoodology. You ever feel like you're just swimming in a sea of toxins from air pollution to processed foods? Our bodies are constantly being bombarded,

so you're not alone. That's where Organifi's Green Juice steps in. In today's world, stress, toxins, and daily pressures can wreak havoc on our well-being, but with Organifi's green juice, you have a powerful ally to help detoxify and refresh your system. Packed with detoxifying chlorella and nutrient rich spirulina, each sip supports your body's natural cleansing processes, helping to eliminate harmful toxins that can weigh you down. Start your day with a

ritual that not only boosts your energy, but also clears the path for a healthier lifestyle. Organifi's green juice enriched with ashwagandha not only balances cortisol levels, but also helps you reclaim your vitality. Starting your mornings with Organifi's green juice can help you feel more energized and focused throughout the day. It's like hitting the reset button for your body. If you're ready to cleanse away the daily grind, go to Organifi.com slash realfoodology and use code realfoodology for 20% off. Again, that's Organifi, O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I dot com slash real food ology and use code real food ology for 20% off. Lindsay, thank you so much for coming on today. I'm so excited about this. We were actually

talking about this before we started recording that we've both been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks now. And you and I got connected actually through a friend of mine here in Denver, Blair. And I was so happy when we got connected because I immediately, I had all these questions for you about peptides. I've really been wanting to get into peptides. And so after we met and we talked, I was like, I have to bring Lindsay on because I feel like everybody is so excited to talk about peptides right now. Everybody wants to know what's going on with them. We all have questions. So all the things. It is such a fun conversation to have. And you're so knowledgeable in this field. So it's like I have to bring you on. So first and foremost, before we get into the peptides, I want to talk about what you do,

which is epigenetic coaching. So can you tell everybody what does that mean and what exactly do you do for your clients? Yeah, basically it's a functional DNA test that's pretty much beyond anything else that's on the market. So we screen for roughly 500 different genes and that's going to tell you pretty much the A to the Z of how your body specifically functions. So I think to start understanding what our testing provides, it's really important to understand what do your genes actually do for your body? Because I feel like we all have like an eighth grade somewhat introduction to what genetics is and like how that really plays a role for us.

But most people think of genetics as being like these really rare diagnostic conditions or something like that. And it's truly like an entire different world that can help literally anyone optimize their health. So whatever is going on, there's a gene for that. Or actually, it's more like there's 50 genes for that. like an entire different world that can help literally anyone optimize their health. So whatever is going on, there's a gene for that, or actually it's more like there's 50 genes for that. So basically you swab your cheek and by understanding the way that your specific genes are patterned, there's typically four different potentials for every single gene in

your body. And truly there are hundreds of thousands of genes, but we know a lot about a few of them and a few being like roughly 500. So basically, Courtney, we can tell if you have gene number, say COMT is one of my favorites. If we know which version of COMT that you carry, you've been rocking that operating system your entire life, but the way that it actually impacts your life can depend on current state of affairs, different exposures that you have, age, hormones, stress levels, and things like that. But when you know how your operating system is wired, it's basically like having a user's guide to your body.

So essentially you take the test one time and we break down for you exactly what your turn-ons are and your turn-offs, right? So anything from like very specific types of foods to different types of supplements. Like if you need a specific type of B12 to make you feel great and have less anxiety, not more, for example, if your body needs help metabolizing estrogen, that's like a really common one that many women

have like a variety of issues with that can be really easily resolved if you know what you're working with. So even down to like the type of workouts that are can be really easily resolved if you know what you're working with. So even down to like the type of workouts that are going to be best suited for you. So some people, you know, spend all their lives doing so much cardio that they can't stand and they're actually causing more inflammation, for example, where the next person that might be their GM, like going on jogs or whatever might actually do really, really well for their chemistry. So it's truly this thing

that sets apart any sort of shoulds. So I like to say it kind of breaks through everything that you think you know that you're doing right or wrong. And it really just kind of shows what's true for you. So it's this super cool, empowering thing to see and you only do it one time and then live long and prosper kind of thing. That's so amazing. And I do want to differentiate for people that may be a little bit confused. This is not the same thing as, let's say, for example, if you're getting tested and you have the Baraka gene, and it means that you have a higher percentage of possibly getting breast cancer. This is not the same kind of thing. And so that's where it differentiates the epigenetics versus

this. And what's so cool about tests like this is what you were saying is that essentially what it is, is it's bio-individualized medicine. So we know exactly what's going on specifically in your body and your body alone. I was trying to think of an example. I think the first time I really started to understand the concept of this is when I was actually vegetarian for five years. And then I had a genetic test done. And then I had a genetic test done. And I mean, this was years after I just started to eat meat again, but I started eating meat again because I was having such horrible health issues. And I had a doctor

who was looking at my results and she was looking at it going, wow, don't ever go vegetarian because you like, I can't remember the exact, there were certain like pathways and genetic mutations that I had that she was like, you're going to get really sick. And you have certain mutations where certain proteins are not going to be bioavailable in just vegetarian foods. Like you need meat. And I just remember laughing in the office being like, well, I already, I already tried that and it failed. And now the test is telling me that. And so I love to tell, I think it's so important for people to understand exactly what's going on in their body specifically. And so I love to tell, I think it's so important for people to understand exactly what's going on in their body specifically. And this will save you a lot of pain and a lot of

time. And you don't have to do what I did, which was go vegetarian for five years, get really sick and then have to go back on meat. And then I found out years later, like, oh, that actually wasn't good for my body specifically, but I have a different genetic makeup than other people. So there may be somebody listening who they thrive on a vegan vegetarian diet based on their genes. So that's why this is so incredibly important. So let's talk about, actually, I want to talk about COMPT because that one has been coming up a lot recently. And I don't know, are you familiar with the nutrition genome test at all? Because I have my results and we were talking about like, we don't have to go over everything for people but maybe just to give them kind of an example um see if it's i know it says

something on here about my com t maybe you can explain what that means and what that would mean for totally let's start there that's actually like this is super nerdy but if i had to pick one favorite gene it would be that one because it tells us so much about a lot of different systems in the body so basically that particular gene comp to cumt it's spelled cumt if you're looking for information on it so i'll tell you my type and then you tell me yours okay my type is what we call a fast comp so mine's a type gg. And basically we are referred to lovingly as the warriors like WA, whereas the opposite genotype, the type AA is what we call a slow comp. And that's what many people refer to as the warriors WO.

Okay. So it tells us a lot about how your body actually processes stress chemistry. And so someone like myself, essentially we get bored very easily because we clear out those stress chemistries very quickly. So we're the type of people, Courtney, who like, we will sign ourselves up for being spread too thin. Like this is like textbook, this is me. But it's also because it feels really good to us. We can take on a lot of things. We're the ones that will be cool as a cucumber, no matter what, like we're a great person in a crisis situation um and it's because you know we'll have we'll have those big highs of stress chemistry but our body clears it out so fast that we're like yep bring on the next thing

cool hit me um and that also has an impact on the way that your body processes things like histamines and estrogens and even things like matcha. Okay. So this is one of the fun ones where we can really pick apart different types of trends and things that people think, oh, I should be doing all these different things from day to day and whatever the thing is. And it's like, we hear a lot of information in this day and age about what we shouldn't do, things that are good for you, things that are bad for you. And it's all such a mixed bag. And it really depends on the person. So someone with the type GG comp is going to feel really great drinking matcha all day long, where someone with the type AA on the other end of that extreme is actually going to, well, because one of the main components in matcha EGCG, we know it

actually slows down the expression of comp. So for someone who's already running slowly, the matcha is going to make them actually feel worse. And so that's, you know, Instagram goes wild for these things. It's the funnest conversation to have when people say, oh my God, you can tell me why I don't feel like everyone else does and have this like lovely, oh yeah, we quit caffeine there. We're switching to matcha and I felt worse. Well, we can tell you exactly why. And to your point earlier, it's like, we try all these things and like with the best of intentions, we're trying to do the best with what we have. And truly, I think it's like our human right. Like we should all have access to this information and this level of understanding about our bodies because it's so much validation and so much strategy so obviously things like dietary

styles things like matcha versus coffee we can tell you exactly what's going to work better um supplements galore like hit me with a a trend in supplements and we can unpack it um but yeah that's that's kind of just one example one little gene that has so many different multi-pronged impacts depending on which version you have. And so that's essentially what our team does is go through and analyze all these 500 different genes across many categories and tell you exactly, you know, your list of do's or don'ts and kind of the things that don't really matter. Right. And there are some people who come through and they have relatively air quotes, normal, very few different particulars, I would say around the types of foods

that they are going to respond to positively or negatively. Some people just have a very neutral perspective and that's great to see. They may have other concerns in different areas where it's more less of a food thing for them, maybe more of a workout thing or more of a sleep thing or more of a stress response. So it really helps you weed through all of the noise in the wellness space. Yeah. And there's a lot of noise online. It's like every day I feel like I go on, it's like, don't eat kale, eat kale, don't eat eggs, eat eggs. I'm like, oh, it's just, I mean, and even as somebody who has studied nutrition, you know, I'm still like, ah, so I can't even imagine, can't even imagine somebody that hasn't done as extensive

studying. It's really confusing and it's hard to navigate. That's why these tests are so amazing. And so I've done a couple of them now over the years. You guys test for the most genes I've ever seen in any test, which is very cool. I'm going to be honest. I kind of created a monster. I started doing this about six years ago and I used a smaller array or a panel. And very long story short, I have test driven quite a few different practitioner grades softwares on the market. And every one of them is different. Every one of them will have some pros and cons. But the thing that always felt so disconnected to me was that they're all kind of piecemeal together. And to me, like, why would

you want to do it that way when the technology is so easily robust? If you do it one time, why would you not run a more comprehensive panel? Because really it's one of those things like, as within reason, now I'll come back to that, but within reason, if you're looking at SNPs that we actually have like clinical validation for we understand the inner working so something like com we know the difference between the GG and the AA now there are millions like I said about of snips that don't have enough clinical knowledge to actually say yay or nay or anything about them so within reason if you have a more comprehensive panel it's just going to give you a more complete look at the actual function of that person's chemistry. And the more that you know, the more that you know, you know, like

it's Exactly. And it just it adds more tools to your toolbox to help you navigate all of this. So I was looking on my my genome test. So I just for the listeners so that they know I actually did the swab for your test. We haven't gotten results back yet. So what I'm going off of right now is an older genetic test that I got done last year. And the first thing that came up for me, conf, was that I'm warrior as well. It says I'm warrior. And it says GG. And then there's another one. So there's an RS-4680 that's GG and then 4633 that's CC. And both comps? I think, what is this? It's hard to, it says wild type in both comps.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Sometimes what they'll do is pull like smaller, different variations of the same gene. So you can have multiple SNPs on one particular gene, just as kind of like a cross-reference. And some of the RSIDs, that's where you get really nerdy, Courtney. And like, it's almost like a serial number for each different um variation yeah so you can really go that micro and in some cases we again have clinical knowledge on different snips on the

same gene um so really kind of splitting hairs in some degrees but in other ways you know again you might have five different snips on one particular gene. So again, kind of depends on the one, but that's a better picture of the overall function of that family of genes. Yeah. That's so interesting. Another gene I want to take a moment to talk about, because I actually talked about it a few times on my stories and I got a lot of responses back because everybody wanted to hear about it. What do you know about BDNF? Oh my God, I love BDNF. I'm a type CC. So BDNF is a fun one. Basically, that's another one. If you think of this the way that we described the comp, many genes, you're going to have either a fast or a slow. And sometimes it's not, it doesn't translate directly like that in all cases. But in

that case, there are ways that you can look and see if you naturally produce more BDNF or if you naturally genetically produce less. And essentially, this is kind of how we start to understand the body and start to understand where to prioritize. So there are about a million different things that you can do to boost BDNF. And that's where a lot of biohackers will talk about BDNF. So it's basically it stands for brain derived neurotrophic factor. And it's something that's really important for longevity as far as just overall cognitive health definitely has a lot to do with learning and memory. So no matter what stage of life, it could be something really impactful. But certainly from a longevity standpoint, it gets a lot of press and you can actually naturally boost BDNF with so many things,

anything from like sun exposure to hot and cold therapies to honestly like sex, like amazing. Yeah. Like there's a lot of things that we're all probably doing, you know, with some degree of intention. But truly someone who may have more of a family history of cognitive decline or other concerns in that department, that's an area that we could look and actually apply just a little bit of fun strategy in that direction as something proactive, you know? And I think that's the important thing that I wish everyone would know about genetics testing is like, we're not going to give you bad news. That's not the business that we are in. Certainly from more of a wellness perspective, literally everything that we talk about in our testing and

our reports is actionable. And so it's very empowering to know that like, hey, I don't have to do all of the things right. In fact, most people that come through into our testing, they have a, for whatever reason, they have experience on micromanaging their day, their intake, their output, their everything. And so a lot of times people find, you know what, maybe I don't have to be so rigid about this or that. And maybe I actually don't need to stress so much about the tiny things. If I'm really focusing on the big things that are most impactful to my genes, then it feels better. It feels different and it just feels more you. Yeah. And as you were saying that, I was just thinking about how many

people I know in my life that are seemingly and in their mind doing all the right things, right? And are still struggling, whether it be with weight or I've been witnessing my boyfriend go through this last year. And this is why you and I got initially connected because when I first met him, he was, you know, all the time just telling me how much he really hated the psoriasis that he's had for like, I mean, he's had it for like 10 plus years. And so my immediately, my brain's like, okay, I'm going to, we're going to solve this. And I mean, we've been doing everything for this last year. I mean, we got rid of the, the Tide pods. I'm so, I was like, why are you using Tide pods still? I love you Hector, but come on. And the dryer sheet. Exactly. And every man, this is not even to like call him out.

I feel like every woman I know has been dealing with this with her men. So, you know, we love them. We love them so much. But, you know, got him unscented laundry detergent, changed out all of his skincare products. We changed his diet, put him on a gluten-free diet, got him a shower filter. I mean, the list goes on. And we still are here a year later, and he's really been struggling. But I just shared with you at the beginning of the podcast that what we started him on recently with you was very low-dose semaglutide, which I want to get into, KPV and BPC-157. Also, just so everybody knows, I got approval from him to talk about this publicly. So he's okay with it. So I'm not sharing anything he doesn't want

me to talk about. And we just started talking or we just started realizing this morning that this psoriasis finally looks like it's starting to give up, which we're just like, yes. So, oh my gosh, it's so exciting. So I'm sure a lot of people listening can probably relate with the, they feel like they're doing all the right things. They're eating a really clean diet. They're exercising, they're getting sunlight and they're still struggling with whatever it is, whether it's their weight or their psoriasis. This is where I feel like would be a place to bring in peptides. And I wanted to have this conversation because I think peptides are very nuanced and there's a lot of stuff

or there's a lot of information coming out right now that I think is not entirely correct and they're being judged really hard right now. Yes. And so I wanted to bring a different side of the conversation into it and also share that like we're currently doing and I'm currently doing KPV and BPC-157. So maybe first of all, let's talk about what are peptides and what would somebody want

to use them for? Yeah. So peptides are pretty much God's gift. They are a miraculous new thing. Actually, they're not even really new. I hate to use the word new. They're trending, no doubt. They've been around for honestly decades. and they're basically things that your body naturally produce. So your body naturally makes peptides of all sorts of varieties. Many of them we can see in the genetic report. We can see how well your body produces X, Y, or Z sort of functions, but peptides are basically chemically engineered to mimic what your body's naturally doing. So they're not natural. They are synthetic, but they're basically copying or souped up versions of what your body's naturally producing. So something like a GLP-1, your body naturally produces GLP-1. And there are lifestyle factors that can cause more or less to be produced, but there are also genetic factors. So these are

something that we can see in our test. But truly, if you're someone who's not producing as much GLP-1 as say your body could or would want to use, then basically you can supplement via peptides. And it's as if your body was producing, you know, a younger version of you chemistry or a better version of you chemistry is kind of the best way I like to describe it. And the thing that you want to know about peptides is like there are peptides for everything. So specifically some of the ones that we started with, with you guys are actually helping to turn down some of the histamine response and mast cell activation. These are truly like nothing else you've ever seen. And so they work miraculously well because they are so specific and targeted. And also because typically you're not taking them orally, right? So if we're

using a subcutaneous injection, it's going right into the body. It doesn't have to be digested, broken down, re-assimilated, such as like an oral collagen peptide, which people are really familiar with. In this case, it's literally going right to the point. And so typically we see things that work better than anything else on the market, faster than anything else on the market. And they're just that easy. And honestly, you know, especially if you know what to do, if you know where to go for peptides, that's a big issue. You want to make sure that you are sourcing them from a responsible source. And honestly, there are about two places in the entire country domestically that I trust to source peptides from. And the other thing that there's a little barrier to entry is that

they do not come with instructions. They do not come pre-mixed unless you're getting them from a compounding pharmacy, which has its own kind of parameters. But truly they're very affordable, very effective, like nothing we've ever seen before. And so I think people are starting to understand because we've seen this craze with the GLP-1s, people are starting to understand that there's something out there that is better than what we've known before. There's something that is a different option. And yes, for some people, it's going to feel pretty wild to consider giving yourself injections. I know, like I went through that piece as well. It took me a long time. Even after I studied peptides in clinical training, it took me a long time to work up the nerve to actually try it out myself.

And really after like one or two times, it's like, oh, this is actually kind of awesome. Like it's kind of badass if you think about it. And when you see the results, when you feel the results, it's shocking. Like it is shockingly good. And so I think that's really what's taken kind of the fat loss world by storm, by understanding that this is revolutionary and then starting to look into, well, what else can we optimize? So if this is such a strong arm of an intervention for people who are struggling with insulin resistance and thinking forward about what is that going to do to our society as a whole,

when we have a significant drop in people who are struggling with type two diabetes, you know, any range of insulin resistance and the level of prevention that is there within for pretty much any known preventable disease, you know, it's really profound. And I think that's, what's really caught such a media whirlwind, crazy, all the good, the bad, the ugly has kind of hit the media for the past couple of years. And I think it's really a response of a lot of consumerism, a lot of traditional medicine that is pretty much shaking in their boots and trying to figure out how to capitalize on it, how to keep it under wraps. And, you know, with, with that, I think comes pros and cons.

And so that's, I started having a conversation around GLP-1s about a year and a half ago. I started Trezepatide last January. And I was very much someone who was doing all the right things and, and going above and beyond even, you know, with lifestyle and other peptides. But truly, when I actually fell into this one, it fixed a lot of things for me very, very quickly. So I should probably also state for the record, I did have a history of a massive weight loss over 10 years ago. So I'm no stranger to metabolic dysfunction. I lost a little over 10 years ago, I lost 150 pounds and I did it with no weight loss surgery, no medication. I did it the old fashioned way.

And that was also when I was in my twenties, late twenties, but still things are not the same when you're in your forties. And so, you know, I see a lot of women every day and men, but people who are doing literally everything right. They're in a caloric deficit, their strength training, they're prioritizing a nutrient dense protein forward diet. They're sleeping well, they're prioritizing a nutrient dense protein forward diet, they're sleeping well, they're doing literally all of the things and just stuck in the mud. And so this is where a tool such as a peptide can come in and truly rewire the body's

chemistry in a very short amount of time and be something that is a sustainable solution. So whether it's for fat loss or for pretty much you name it, I've seen a lot of people that were deep in the throes of pretty much hopelessness turn it around into getting their lives back. So it's pretty exciting. Are you ready to elevate your mental game and boost your focus? I'm very excited to share a game changer that's transformed my approach to wellness, Rise by Cure Nutrition. As someone who is passionate about wellness and nutrition, I know how crucial mental clarity is alongside your physical strength.

That's why I'm thrilled to introduce you to Rise. This nootropic blend harnesses the power of nature with lion's mane and cordyceps mushrooms, which are some of my favorite functional mushrooms. Also rhodiola, ginseng, and broad spectrum CBD. It's crafted with integrity and ingenuity. Rise provides sustained energy and sharp focus without the dreaded caffeine crash. It boosts mental cognition and it also can help you stay energized and on track throughout your day. Plus it supports brain health and added bonus you didn't realize you

needed. Cured Nutrition is dedicated to producing supplements with authenticity and passion. They're offering an exclusive 20% off just for you. Head over to curednutrition.com slash realfoodology and use the coupon code realfoodology at checkout. That's C-U-R-E-D nutrition.com slash realfoodology, code realfoodology. Elevate your mental game with Rise and experience nature's power with every dose. Your brain will thank you. I'm thrilled to share a game-changing hydration solution that aligns perfectly with our focus on optimal health. We all know the importance of staying hydrated, but sometimes finding the right product can be challenging. That's where Element comes in. Let's get to it. If you're like me, you've probably felt the effects of dehydration, headaches, fatigue, brain fog, even cramps. Electrolyte imbalances are no joke and many popular sports drinks out there are packed with sugar and

artificial ingredients. And that's why I'm excited to introduce you Element, a zero sugar electrolyte drink mix designed to tackle these issues head on. Element is based on cutting edge research showing that optimal hydration requires sodium levels two to three times higher than government recommendations. Each Element stick pack is a powerhouse of electrolytes delivering exactly what you need. Whether you're an athlete, fasting, or following a keto or paleo diet, Element is formulated to support your hydration needs. Now let's talk about the brains behind this incredible product. Rob Wolf is a former research biochemist and two times New York Times bestselling author, co-founder of Element, and he's been on the

Navy SEAL Resiliency Committee for over a decade. With Rob's expertise, you know Element is designed with science and health at its core. Rob Wolf is an OG. I have been following his work for a very long time, at least like probably 15 years now. So I'm a big fan of him and all of the stuff that he does, including Element. But don't just take my word for it. Element is trusted by elite athletes like Tia Claire Toomey, Bradley Beal, and Anders Lee. And it's the exclusive hydration partner to Team USA Weightlifting. It's also used by Navy SEAL teams, FBI snipers, and Marines, proving that Element can handle the toughest hydration needs.

Even top health experts and high-performing business leaders are on board, making it a go-to for anyone looking to stay at their best. And here is the best part. You can try Element totally risk-free. Get your free Element sample pack with any purchase at drinkelement.com slash realfoodology. That's drinkelement.com slash realfoodology. Plus you guys are not going to want to miss out on their new Element Sparkling. It's a 16 ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water, and it is so freaking good. So make sure when you're on the website that you grab some of those too. Again, that's element.com slash realfoodology. Okay, that was, yeah, this is amazing, and I'm super excited about it. And I do want to touch on this for a second because I

can already imagine that some of my listeners may have a bit of a pushback.. And I do want to touch on this for a second because I can already imagine that some of my listeners may have a bit of a pushback. And so I do want to explain where my thinking is with all of this. So first and foremost, we have a really big problem in this country right now with about 93, 94% of our population is metabolically unhealthy right now. Now, I do think that there's absolutely situations of people that are just eating bad. They're not exercising. They're not taking care of themselves. That's a whole different subset of people. My only concern, and this was my biggest concern when everybody first started talking about Ozempic was me being the person that I am.

I want to see everybody thrive and I want everybody to be genuinely healthy from the inside out. I'm not so worried about, I don't want just everybody to just lose weight and then just continue eating processed foods. So my biggest concern when I first started hearing about all these was, oh, great. So now everybody's going to continue eating processed foods and then they're going to lose all this weight and they're not going to have any incentive to actually clean up their diets and get healthy. And then they're not going to have any incentive to actually clean up their diets and get healthy and then they're just gonna i mean god forbid get cancer or something else down the line because they didn't change the in you know the terrain inside but what i've been seeing more recently happening which has been really cool is people that are genuinely trying to change

their bodies and you know get rid of excess weight or reduce their insulin resistance or, you know, get rid of their psoriasis. And they've tried everything under the book. They're eating well. I mean, you even said this yourself that you struggled with this, where you felt like you were doing everything right. You were eating the right diet. You were getting the exercise and nothing was budging. And I've seen a couple of my friends who have struggled with their weight their whole life. And one friend I'm thinking of in particular, I mean, she eats like just so strict and she was like killing herself over it and nothing was budging. And so she did, now she did Ozempic, which I think is a lot harder on the body from what I understand, because you're getting a really high dose. And Dr. Tina talks

about this all the time that people are essentially overdosing on it because they're just getting that one dose pen and they're not doing microdosing, which is what you and I are talking about. But she was able to move the needle, which she's never been able to in her entire life. She's not even on it anymore. She lost like 20 pounds. She's so happy. Everything is great. And now she's not on it anymore. And so what I think is really cool is that if we can still encourage really healthy habits, exercising, changing up our diet, eating real whole foods, and then also using this as another tool in the toolbox to move the needle, maybe you only need to do it for a month and then you can go off of it. And maybe we should talk about that because I think also people think too, like, oh, you're just going to go on and you're going to be on it for the rest of your life.

Yes. Well, I have a lot of thoughts here. As someone with a history of obesity and really starting from childhood, I was overweight from the time I hit puberty. And it's such an interesting perspective, I would say, because looking back, I always thought there was something genetically that was keeping me in a bigger body. I really thought that that was something that I was doomed to. And I didn't really think I had a fighting chance. And so having the experience of having the fat loss through just nutrition alone that many years back, I saw that, okay, something's different here. And there are so many different ways where we can control our terrain and all that that entails. Well, again, fast forward, you know, 10, 12 years where I was doing all the right, all of the tools were being utilized and nothing was happening.

It was a different ball game. And I also, at that point, yeah, well, and you know, recent status, I wasn't, you know, by all archaic metrics, I wasn't considered obese, but I had put on some hormonal weight. So understanding that there are different driving factors for why someone might be struggling with their weight. And also Courtney, I have to tell you, like, this is something that we see a lot in our reports and our genetic reports is that we don't all have the same deck of cards that we're playing with. And so there are a lot of individuals who do struggle with brain chemistry imbalances for lack of better word, chemistries that would really steer them towards overeating. Like it is a very clear thing that we can see.

It's not really rare. People who may have poor signaling in their leptin or ghrelin or adiponectin receptors, people who have a stronger genetic propensity for insulin resistance, period. So those are things that we can already see this person is going to have a more difficult time self-regulating and learning the behaviors that would align them, align with them for better metabolic function. So you take someone who doesn't know any of that, maybe doesn't have access to genetics testing, or maybe doesn't really realize that maybe I don't, maybe I'm eating more than I need to eat because my brain is constantly telling me to keep eating or just always thinking about food.

These medications or these peptides are giving those people a fighting chance for the first time in their lives. And what I started to see when I really first started getting into the GLP community, I started making friends on TikTok. And I very quickly was reminded that, holy crap, everyone doesn't eat like I eat. And so a lot of my sweet, precious TikTok friends, I was seeing like they would post what I eat in a day. And I'm like, clutching the pearls. And at the same time, I'm like, OK, you know know there's a lot of work to do here and also

isn't it more likely that this person is going to have more self-awareness when their brain has a chance to pump the brakes whether it be through a gp1 for a short time or whatever the circumstances may be isn't it possible that their eyes are opening to a different reality for themselves for probably the first time ever because there are so many people that are using these peptides as truly intervention for lifelong obesity and it's just such a beautiful space to have like a breakthrough like this come to market and you know in my groups I share all the time I don't I of course I'm not going to teach that yeah take the peptide and eat whatever you want. Of course, I would never encourage that. But at the same time, I will stand up and tell you, in my opinion, the person who's eating a standard American diet deserves the support.

And I believe that's where we have an opportunity to educate and to have compassion for someone who may have lived a different life experience, may have access to different food qualities and just, you know, have that kind of level of cognizance around nutrition in general. So I think it's cracking us wide open as a society. And I think it's an amazing thing. And, you know, I don't judge anyone for what they're eating in a day on TikTok, but maybe we'll continue to try to lead by example and educate and advocate for people to have a better understanding of the power of these peptides and to not be afraid of what they're seeing in the media. I think that there's been so many

really out of context reports and just clickbaits. I mean, wild, the fear that people have had and still continue to have about are these things safe? Is it something that you have to be on forever? And frankly, it's like, who are you listening to? You have to consider the source and you have to consider the motive behind that source. So I know that's a can of worms, but truly I think it's just,

we're just starting to really get comfortable with maybe having a conversation around what can peptides really do for us, even beyond the GLP-1 space. Yeah. And I want to get into those in a second, but I love what you just said, and I think it's an important part of the conversation. Yeah, it took me a moment to wrap my brain around this because like I mentioned, just coming from the nutrition space, I just want so badly to clean up our food system. And it pains me when I see those TikToks of people being like, what I ate in a day. And they're going through the drive-thru and they're eating donuts and all this stuff. And this is not coming from a place of judgment.

This is coming from a place of like, oh my God, you could be thriving and you could have energy and you could feel good in your body. And like, you don't even know that you're poisoning yourself right now. And so that was my main concern. And I wanted to share it with my listeners because I've really had to wrap my brain around that like, you know, we need to help everybody right now. And what we're having is a metabolic crisis. Yes. need to help everybody right now. And what we're having is a metabolic crisis. And we also have food accessibility issues. And if this is one way that we can at least lower people's insulin resistance and we can lower their weight and we can lower certain numbers and then start addressing the diet, I think at this point we need to use every single tool in the toolbox because people

are really suffering. And this is a great way to do that. And the food noise thing is a really important part of it, I think, too, that you just said, which you were basically saying that some people have a hard time calming down that desire to overeat in their brains. And I was actually just having a conversation with somebody else on a podcast about this. The food noise is like a real thing. And people struggle with that daily. And that's one of the things that people have been saying that GLP-1 has been helping with is just calming down that food noise. So you don't feel like you're just like chasing the snacks and chasing the food all day, which is a really important, helpful part of this as well. What are your thoughts on when people say that, oh, you know, you can get cancer from this and

there's all these other issues that can come with taking Ozempic or Wegovy. Yeah. What are your thoughts on that? Well, I definitely think it's dose dependent. So absolutely, I have seen more success in my clients and my coaching practice with smaller, low and slow doses, entry starter doses. Nearly everyone that I have seen come through coaching with a GLP-1 has had so much success, whether they had a very small goal weight to lose or a larger one, keeping it slow and low, and also layering in those lifestyle interventions, even just, you know, a half-assed job on prioritizing protein and real foods, you know, making it as simple as possible, as sustainable as possible, and you're going to get the results truly. I think where I see people

struggling more is if they have unaddressed digestive issues coming into using a GLP-1. So for example, for my girls that are already constipated, having bowel movements twice a week, they come in and they start a GLP-1 and maybe they jump into a dose that might be stronger than what they want to handle at that time. That's where we see kind of a rocky entry. But I will also say there's a very big difference between GLP-1s, right? So many people have a better tolerance on terzapatide versus semaglutide. And not always, but that's just kind of the trend that I've seen because they are slightly different molecules. And so I think if one isn't working, then it's worth maybe investigating a different alternative because surely some people have a night and day

different experience on the two. But yeah, I think there's just, there's so much that we need to look closer into context. The other thing I will say is the studies that came out about thyroid cancer, if you read the fine print, it was like, well, first of all, that hasn't been substantiated on any human trials. And also they were giving rats 60 times the equivalent dose. So obviously things are going to go badly when you're doing things like that. And that's not going to translate into a human experience so i think really understanding

that of course anything may have some sort of a side effect but peptides generally don't tell you the truth like it's it's more uncommon to see any sort of side effects with peptides because generally again they're mimicking things that your body naturally would produce on its own it's just again being mindful of the dosing and other types of factors there. So any pre-existing conditions, of course, might set you up for a different experience than your, air quotes, normal experience. 2024 is the year of fertility for me. I'm just naming that right now. While I am not actively trying to get pregnant, this is not an announcement for that, I do know that it can take a couple years to get your body ready and fertile for pregnancy.

And I do know that I very much desire to have kids. And I also know that pregnancy and postpartum are some of the most nutritionally demanding times in a woman's life. And a mom and her baby's health now and for years to come is influenced by her nutrient status. Also, a woman's fertility is also influenced by her nutrient status. So I am really taking this year to focus on all the things that I can do in order to set up my fertility for hopefully the best outcome that I can have. Most prenatal vitamins include bare minimum nutrition based on outdated guidance and stale research. And we deserve to thrive, not just survive. This is why I really love this company Needed. They offer radically better nutrition products, education and advocacy

rooted in clinical research and practitioner validation. I know that there's so many women's health and prenatal supplements out there, and it can be really hard to know what's truly the best option. And I get asked often what prenatal I recommend. I really like the brand Needed. It's recommended and used by more than 4,000 women's health experts from nutritionists to midwives, functional medicine doctors and OBGYNs. I even have girlfriends in my own life that have used it pre and during pregnancy as well. And this is because Needed offers products that are formulated by experts in women's health and are backed by clinical insights from their collective of over 4,000 practitioners. Their products offer the

forms of nutrients your body can actually use, dosed at optimal versus bare minimum levels. They also go above and beyond with third-party tests, testing every batch to ensure the safest product. Needed offers radically better nutrition for women from conception to pregnancy to new motherhood and beyond. If you would like to try any of their products today, head over to thisisneeded.com and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 20% off your first month of Needed products. Again, that is thisisneeded.com and use code realfoodology for 20% off. Snacks.

Let's talk about snacks. Everyone loves snacks. And I feel like it's hard to find a good snack that actually fills you up and that you really crave and like to eat. I am obsessed with the grass-fed beef sticks from Paleo Valley. If you guys follow me on Instagram, you probably saw recently that I literally went to this show downtown and my girlfriends were making fun of me because when I met up with them, I literally had a Paleo Valley beef stick sticking out of my pocket. My friend goes, are you packing meat in there? I was. I always have a Paleo Valley stick with me either in my purse or I always shove a bunch of them in my car and just leave them in there for emergencies, for snack emergencies. I'm always

bringing them places on hikes, you name it. I always have them on me because they're such a great snack. It's a great source of protein. They taste really good. They come from 100% grass-fed beef and they're really high quality. It's only organic spices in there. You're not going to find any other fillers. And you know what I love so much? Their beef comes from 100% grass-fed cows raised entirely on natural grass pastures by family farmers right here in the US. And they also are committed to supporting regenerative farms, which is really important. If you guys are not into beef, if beef is not really your thing, they also have pasture raised turkey sticks and they also have pasture raised pork sticks.

So they have a variety of different flavors and all different kinds of meats to serve your meat desires. And if you guys go to paleovalley.com slash real foodology, you're going to save 20%. Make sure you go to paleovalley.com slash real foodology. You're going to save some money. Also check out everything else they have on that website. They have super food bars. They have organic super greens. They also have bone broth protein. They have grass fed whey protein. They have essential electroly greens. They also have bone broth protein. They have grass-fed whey protein. They have essential electrolytes. They also have a superfood golden milk, which is going to be really good going into fall. So make sure you guys check it out. Use the code realfoodology and you're going to save some money. Yeah. And I think this is a really, really important

piece that people need to understand. And this is what helped me come around to this, is that it's about the dosing. I mentioned this earlier, but with the Ozempic pen, you just get one dose. And from my understanding, I could be wrong, so you can correct me on this, but I think with Ozempic, everybody just gets the same dose and they just get the same pen, right? And it's already dosed out. Is that right? It kind of depends. Well, there is a titration, a dose titration on either Ozempic or Manjaro or the Zepbound is the newer one. That's the Terzepatide. But regardless, they are setting you into like a standard dosing schedule. And this actually did happen to me when I very first started out with Manjaro. So I actually titrated my dose up quite high and actually started to feel quite bad. And so I very quickly

tapered back down and started to understand that, hey, we don't have to go by the manufacturer's suggested dosing. So I think that's really something that's quite aggressive. And again, I've seen so many people just blown away by the low and slow dosing that we're really starting to understand how to harness that. And also starting to understand that we can really sidestep any of those other concerns by doing the slow and low and still get the results that we want. Yeah, that's amazing. So in my mind, taking something like a GLP-1 is just kind of taking like a glutathione as our bodies create glutathione as well, but we can also supplement it. And that's kind of the way I'm starting to see this.

And I think the biggest issue is with the dosing. So doing the low and slow dosing, I think is the way to go. Because then also you can check in with yourself along the journey being like, okay, how do I feel now? Because you and I have been checking in a lot and you're like, how do you feel? We can up it a little bit or maybe we should take a couple days off. And we've been doing the same thing with Hector. And so far, he's been feeling great.

But we have him on a really small dose. Yes. And so I think that's really the key. Yeah, it doesn't really take much, right? Especially when you have so many other lifestyle factors dialed in, you're going to get, you're going to hit the ground running essentially. You know, and the other thing that I would say might be another can of worms, but with the prescription pens that are pre-dosed, pre-filled, they also have a preservative inside. Yeah. So I think for a lot of people, side effects, yes. Other types of long-term concerns, in my opinion, I'd be more concerned

about the preservative elements that would be in those shots to keep them shelf stable versus getting a peptide that you're blending yourself. You know that it's a purified version. You know exactly how long it's been in your fridge and you have full control over that dosing. So you can really go as micro as you want. You can increase titrate if you desire as slowly as you like, as slowly as it feels good to your body. Yeah, that's such an amazing point. And I'm so glad you brought that up because I was going to say, who knows, people are maybe also having these side effects because of the preservative that they're injecting themselves with, you know? And so I just, you know, who knows? But I feel more comfortable, like you said, getting my own and mixing it and having it in my fridge. And I feel like we have a lot of control over it. Yeah. So you've mentioned, I always forget how to say this, trizeptide. Trizeptide, yes. So it's aka TERS.

From what I understand, and I know Ozempic is semaglutide. Is Wagovi TERS or trizeptide? Wagovi is semaglutide. Those two are basically the same thing. So Ozempic is basically the branded medication that is for type two, where Wagovi is branded medication for insulin resistance or someone who doesn't have a type two or, you know, could be, you know, used for obesity on label compared to the Manjaro. So Manjaro is kind of like the top shelf version that is on label for type two. And then they introduced, the makers introduced ZetBound at probably the end of the year, I want to say, which is their version is literally the exact same thing. They have the same dosing titration. They are just marketing it for intervention for obesity,

insulin resistance, AKA someone who doesn't carry a type two diagnosis, but they're got it. Okay. So in the peptide, they're all the same thing. They're basically all the same thing. So in the peptide world- Okay, so they're all the same thing. They're basically all the same thing. So we've got semaglutide, which is the ozempic and the wagovi. We've got trisepatide, which is the manjaro slash trisepound, literally all the same active ingredient. And in the peptide world,

we're kind of getting scrappy and ordering things from research facilities and mixing ourselves and dosing as we see fit. So that's kind of the breakdown. Okay. And this trizepatide, you said you like it better than semaglutide. Do you think that it just has better side effects and you see better results on it? Far fewer side effects for most people. Although, I mean, truly some people do have a walk in the park with semaglutide, but personally I had such a night and day profound

difference with tris epitide so that's kind of my sweetheart so that's the one that I prefer in coaching practice although it did just get a little bit more difficult to actually source so a couple months back we actually saw that one being pulled from research vendors as well as maybe a little bit of slightly barrier enter entry to compounding pharmacies. But for now, that's, that's kind of the option you can still get to his appetite at the moment from compounding pharmacies, it's just getting a little bit harder to find reputable sourcing. And of course, anytime we see these changes come to market, it's like the pricing goes nuts, people are hoardinging. And I can't say I blame them because it is that good.

Like, yes, she's that girl. I know somebody that I think spent, I think they said they spent 20K hoarding a bunch of peptides. And I was like, wow. I mean. It's incredible. I can see it. Yeah.

I mean, I know. Don't check my freezer. Well, because can you store them in the freezer? Yeah. For years. I didn't know that. Wow. Okay. That's really good to know. I might have to go. Unmixed. Unmixed, you can store peptides in the freezer for like years. Wow. Okay. That's really good to know. Well, another thing I wanted to ask you is, because I have a girlfriend who was on a couple of peptides through this certain company and then this company wasn't able to get them anymore.

And what's the deal with like them, they're supposedly illegal right now or they're super regulated? What's the deal with that? Well, so it really depends on sourcing. So we saw a difference in compounding pharmacies. So late last year, again, in the fall, we started to see kind of a crackdown from the FDA,

just really wanting to put a greater barrier of entry between consumers and compounding pharmacies. And so compounding pharmacies are basically regulated by different parameters of what they can sell and what they cannot sell, but they can prescribe what they can't. So essentially a lot of popular peptides got pulled from compounding pharmacies, yet they are still available in the peptide world. Like you can find them easily. It's just,

you cannot get them compounded, which compounding simply means that they've been mixed for you and they come to your door on ice. They're a little bit more fragile or sensitive, I guess you could say, once they've been mixed with the mixing water, but that's why we do it ourselves. So it's literally the same things. It's just, you know, a different vehicle of getting it. So that's where, if you know how to use them properly, if you understand what the dosing schedule looks like for any particular peptide, which, I mean, even with that, there are very few things that are black and white. It's really depending on the person, depending on the goals and other lifestyle factors can

look a lot of different ways. So I think it's important that you have some education and not go to Reddit and figure out, you know, try to piecemeal together how to inject yourself with something like, please do not. And that's kind of the dark side of the peptide world is there's a lot of that. I know. That's why I get so frustrated when they crack down on this kind of stuff, because people are not going to stop doing it, especially if they're seeing such amazing results. So why don't we make it accessible and easy and safe for people? That's just so frustrating.

But I know why. I mean, I was going to make this comment earlier and then I forgot. And now I'm remembering. I was laughing because there was all these articles that were coming out in the last couple of months about how like processed food companies are freaking out because they're seeing less sales come in and they're blaming it on Zempic, which I mean, it's probably fair to blame it on. And I just think it's so funny because I think a lot, I think these GLP-1s are shaking up a lot of different industries right now. Yes. Including big food, even big pharma, because they're essentially these interventions that you wouldn't need those other medications anymore

and you don't need to be binging on that processed food anymore. So it is cool and it is funny because I think some people hearing this podcast will be shocked by my stance on these because they know me as being very anti-Big Pharma and I still am. I still see this as like an F you to Big Pharma because this is cleaning up a lot of things that would make a lot of that medication no longer needed. I mean, the thousands upon thousands of people who will share that they have been able to either reduce or completely come off of blood pressure medication. I mean, just the handful of things that practically every standard American is going

to be served on a silver platter at some point in their life, if they're over 50, and if they've led any shred of a standard American lifestyle, you're going to probably be given a statin. You're probably going to be put on blood pressure medication. You're probably going to hit to hit metformin you know and not to demonize those things because sometimes people don't know when they're needed you know exactly absolutely however we're seeing again like things are rattling things are just shaking that on that kind of level to where our generation is going to have a different experience in the next 10 20 30 years things are going to look different from now on because of these medications and these peptides so it's i mean of course it's not perfect of course it's not um even just the past couple months when we saw teresapetide get a little bit uh more tricky to source i said well a lot of my clients

were panicking and panic buying and just devastated that, oh my God, like, is this the end? Is it over? And I don't think that it is. And I don't think that it will be. And, you know, what I said to them was, well, it's my guess. And this is totally just my educated guess, if you will. I have a belief that they are trying to monopolize so that they can make these medications

more readily accessible so that they have inventory. There's been tons of stock issues for literally years, but I think they are making efforts to make it more available. They just want to sell it to you and that's understandable.

And like, also as a business owner, I ain't mad at it. Exactly. And so, you know, it is what it is. But in the big picture, if you can zoom out and kind of look past any of the hangups that we have for very good reason, for very valid reasons, and see that this is something that's going to change the world as we know it and give people a fighting chance at living a better life, then, you know, so good. Rock and roll. And that's, you know, I told all my girls, like, call your insurance

company, see if you have coverage. If you don't have coverage, like keep a thumb on it to see when you do have coverage, if that is a route that feels aligned to get the actual branded medications, which again, comes with its own caveats, but yeah, you know. So we've spent a lot of time talking about the GLP-1s, but I do want to talk about two other peptides and then maybe some other ones if you want to share about some of your favorites. So Hector and I are personally on KPV and BPC-157. It's hard to tell which one exactly is moving the needle for Hector's psoriasis because we have him on all three right now, the semaglutide, KPV, and BPC-157. And then I'm

personally just taking KPV and BPC-157. Now I have a girlfriend who's also on BPC-157 and she's been dealing with this really wild autoimmune disorder where she's breaking out these rashes from like head to toe and they can't figure out what the trigger is. And so they started her on BPC-157. What is that peptide exactly? And what is it being used for? Yeah, it actually has a lot of uses. And I will tell you, that was my gateway into peptides. BPC changed my life a million times over. It's one of the few that actually, too, Courtney, can be given effectively through capsules. So it's a lot of people's starter peptide. So BPC stands for body protection compound, and it's basically really restorative to any

sort of tissue issues. So a lot of people use it in the gut health space because it can really restore leaky gut and truly so much more than that. Even like old injuries, joint pains, things like that. It is profound. For me, I was definitely someone who was doing all the right things that I thought as far as gut healing. So actually when I first discovered genomics testing, my gut was in a very, very dark place. And it's because I was taking mega doses of L-glutamine every day. I was on collagen

supplementation. I was on several different things that were, you know, mainstream, you know, health interventions. I was seeing a lot of specialists and doing all the testing that you can imagine, none of the solutions were working. So truly by the time I saw my first results, I knew that those were things that were aggravating genetic pathways, took them out, replaced them with BPC,

and truly within about a week's time, I had a very different experience in my body, like night and day 180. And so that's when I really understood that this is something that I want to learn everything that I can about because it's going to change a lot of lives. So yeah, BPC is kind of an entry point for many people. I would say one of my favorites is the KPV. Definitely KPV, I think is a stronger intervention for someone who might be having histamine concerns. So anything from allergies to definitely skin issues,

it's really, really profound for those types of interventions. Also anyone who has like mast cell activation, you need to know about KPV. I will state for the record, my opinion is it needs to be given by injection because you can find KPV capsules. And I would definitely say like,

in my opinion, don't waste your money. I've seen more people who had side effects from KPV capsules. And I would definitely say like, in my opinion, don't waste your money. I've seen more people who had side effects from KPV capsules, because again, you can't control the dosing in a capsule. So sometimes you need to start a little bit slower, titrate a little bit lower, whatever the thing is. But it just doesn't have the same impact. Most peptides, I would say, don't have the same impact from capsule to injection but bpc is one of those kind of rare exceptions that's amazing for so many people so yeah these are these are two of the really main ones for healing most anything you got i would definitely throw into that hat post-covid type

symptoms or like long-haul concerns or things of that nature people who have lingering histamine issues after having a covet infection kpv can be wonderful. Just really reset everything back to a non-reactional state. Amazing. Okay. You shared some stuff I didn't even know, so that was great. I was learning alongside everybody else. Are there any other peptides that you want to talk about that we haven't mentioned yet? Oh my God. Yes. Okay. So if I had to pick a favorite peptide, I don't know that I could. I would have to pick like a top five, but in that top five, on top of triseptide and BPC and KPV, I would say MOTS-C is probably my next favorite. So MOTS is an incredible mitochondrial peptide. It has thermogenic effects and we call

it basically like an exercise mimetic. So basically your body produces MOTC in response to exercise and, or you can inject MOTC and you're going to have a very good time and make your body feel like you've been working out really consistently. Amazing. Yeah. So it's pretty cool. I would say for me, MOToths was really helpful after coming out of a season, after some surgeries that I had a couple of years ago where I was just feeling like I couldn't bounce back. That was the gateway for me that really kind of reset that system of my body, helped me get my energy back, helped with brain fog, helped with metabolic function. It was just a catalyst for so many things. And one thing I should probably mention is that we don't take all these things all the time,

right? So peptides we're typically taking in cycles of either sometimes 30 days, sometimes 90 days. The GLP is typically a little bit longer, but just something to know that like, yes, I'm talking about a lot of peptides. I don't take all of these every day. I'll take maybe two or three at a time, sometimes a little bit more, but usually like one or two at a time just depending on what the goals are yeah mozz is definitely i mean i would take mozz around the clock if it were advised but you know we take it twice a year or something like that um also you have a whole class of peptides that help your body to produce more growth hormone so those those have just a chef's kiss, a little sweet spot. I would say my personal persuasion is a CJC and epimorelin blend. And if you get the right blend,

so there's a lot of different ways you can blend those two peptides together. But if you get the right blend, then you're going to actually have better workout recovery. Your body's going to put on more lean muscle mass. You're going to sleep like a baby. It's phenomenal for your hair, your skin, your everything. It's basically like you're putting these chemistries into my 42 year old body that make me wake up feeling like i'm actually 25 again and i'm not mad about it i might need that one i have a friend you just remind me i have a friend that's taking i want to say it was sem semipropylene or what was the one that you just said? Ipamorelin.

Now, so Samorelin is another very popular one. Samorelin, that's what it was. Okay. So similar, that one's kind of like a cousin. So personal opinion,

I think CJC and Ipamorelin or really Ipamorelin is more productive than Samorelin, but Samorelin you can still get from compounding pharmacies. So a lot of people that go through compounding pharmacies are on smorlin and it's good. It's good. It's just a little bit of an older peptide. So most people in the peptide space have kind of moved over to some of the new and improved growth hormone boosting peptides, but hey, no shame. Get what you can get and get all that because you're going to feel good. Yeah. She's actually the very first friend of mine that really introduced me to this world. And it was sometime last year because she, all of a sudden it was like her body was just like banging. And I was like, what is going on here? And she was taking that and, and she was very, very open about it too. Or she was just like, oh yeah, I talk about it on my Instagram. Like,

I got to get every woman on this because she got really lean, like really lean muscle. And I was like, okay, whatever you're doing is you're killing it right now. Yeah. I've been through a lot of weird journeys with my body. So I would also add to that hat. Epidylone is one of my favorites for sleep, but also for hormone regulation. So I was having some wild cycles as, as we do sometimes when we're in our early forties. Um, and again, like doing all the things, right. Taking the herbs, you know, we we're, we're doing, we're going the extra mile. Um, my estrogen had shot up really high earlier this year. I had started taking a DHEA because I was working with, I was trying to get baby steps towards HRT. Like it did not go well. And that's just my own personal trip, nothing against it, but I, I hyper responded to the tiniest bit of oral

DHEA and my estrogen was almost at like 900 earlier this year, like back in January, February. I know like people, we were running crazy tests, like just, we were freaking out a little bit and I started a peptide protocol. So epitalon is one of my favorites for that. And basically what that does, it has kind of an adaptogenic effect, but it helps to increase endocrine receptors. Okay. So it basically strengthens the communication in the brain, telling your body how much hormone to produce and how to, you know, balance things naturally. If It's like the very nutshell explanation. But in about six weeks, I saw my estrogen go from,

it was literally 841 at the highest reading to like 250, like back to normal. Like, wow. Yeah. How do you spell that? Because I'm actually gonna write this one down. Yes, it's E-P-I-T-A-L-O-N. Okay.

And it's like the girlies love the epitomol. And like, we all need to know about these things. You know what I'm saying? We do. Exactly. We don't gatekeep here. We're sharing all the things that the girlies are doing. Yes. If you want to get lean muscle, we got you.

If you want to lose some weight, we got you. If you got to get rid of your psoriasis. Yes. The water's fine. It's like, this is what we're doing now. You know what I mean? None of us are going old, feeling old, feeling like we're not, you know, our bodies are slowing down on us. Absolutely not. Like not on my watch. Get in loser. We're reverse aging. You know what I'm saying?

I would also say we can't pass up, you know, mentioning that there are peptides for cognitive function. So for my anxiety girlies, we got you too. There are some that can be given through nasal sprays. So, you know, there's, there's literally peptides for everything. And I think once you start to dabble, uh, Samax and Solanke are both good for cognitive function. Definitely. Um, Samax is typically leaning more towards an anti-anxiety. Solanke is typically leaning more towards a little antidepressant. And obviously like consult your doctor. This is not medical advice, but they're just research peptides and the research is good, you know? So those are some fan favorites in that department and many others. Those are just kind of like, I would say some of the heavy

hitters in those categories. But what it's done for me, Courtney, has really helped me to understand that like, there's something better out there than just taking 7 million capsules or having to pay through the nose to go to get like an IV or whatever the case is. Like, this is just kind of the new frontier. And I think it's fun. And it just feels like, yeah, like it feels like a little girls club coming together, even though I think traditionally peptides have been kind of male dominant. And I think it's our turn and like, you know, I mean, and like what you just said, like get in loser, we're reverse aging. I love that. It's like, we don't have to give into this, like, Oh, you know, I'm turning 40 in a couple of weeks.

Actually, I'm trying to make my good. It is, It is like the best season of life, I guarantee you. Okay, good. Because I'm like trying to make my peace and like also wrap my brain around that because I don't feel... I literally feel like I'm like 27. Yes. That's another story for another day. But, you know, as I'm going into my 40s, I'm starting to become more cognizant of like, okay, like I want to make sure that, you know, I'm still on my game and I don't have fatigue and I don't have all the things that like they say that you get,

you know, when you turn your forties. And I'm like, no, no, no. We're not going down that route. We're going to do things like protect our health. So I love that. I have one more, well, actually I have two more questions for you. One being, so for everybody listening,

I'm sure everyone is going to be like, okay, now we want peptides. What do we do? Like, how do you find a practitioner or yeah. Well, soft pitch for my peptide course. So I'm all about empowering people to take their health into their own hands and feel really safe and feel excited about having some different modalities. And also, I think that's, it's not always for everyone. So some people are going to prefer a more guided experience. experience some people want someone to hand them over exactly what they

need and that's there's a place for that but if you're someone who's a little bit of a vigilante and maybe has a little bit of a scrappy personality and you want to be able to source these things for yourself and make those decisions in real time then i do offer a peptide course and basically i teach you everything that you need to know how to order peptides directly to your door, how to mix them perfectly and safely, and how to actually dose them in a way that's super responsible, as conservative as you can imagine, and also be able to have some help along the way. So I think that this is something that doesn't need to be done alone. I think we need to be talking about these

things and sharing little trade secrets and just having community and just getting better as we go. So that's one of my favorite parts about our community inside Pep Squad is that people are just kind of coming in. Everyone's a beginner. So everyone's coming in nervous. Everyone's coming in thinking, have I actually lost my mind that I'm going to start doing injections?

No, you have not. It's going to be worth it. Yes, you can do it. And it's actually no big deal. You're going to be doing it a lot and you're going to love it. And that you have not. It's going to be worth it. Yes, you can do it. And it's actually no big deal. You're going to be doing it a lot and you're going to love it. And that's the thing. I think people come in sometimes with one big thing that they're looking to resolve and maybe thinking outside of the box, if that thing is uncomfortable enough for them to explore a new modality. And that's where a lot of people find us. And then once you see how easy it is and how effective and just wildly magical, like unicorn tears peptides can be, then you're like, oh,

well, what else? Okay. So we fixed my gut and my anxiety feels remarkably better. I'm sleeping like an angel. What else can I do? How good can it get? And that's kind of the season that I'm in. It's a very good time. I love that so much. Okay. Well, we will leave a link in the show notes so that people can check out that course. And also if they're wanting more support, I think maybe they might be able to book one-on-one with you. I'll let you speak to that. Yeah. So I do make myself available for one-on-one calls. So if you're just in the weeds, you just want a little eyes on your intake and overall lifestyle, we do offer a private coaching call inside the membership. So that's available for members of the course. And certainly it's something that there's over 100 women inside

now that are using peptides and starting from scratch and just getting scrappy about their own health. And they're very, very happy. So come on in. I love this so much. I feel like this episode is going to help a lot of people. I hope so. That's truly my main mission is just getting this information out. I think we've been shorted about a lot of things in women's health. And these are the conversations that I have every day with women who are in their forties or just about to be. And we don't know what's going on. We don't know that our progesterone or our estrogen or whatever the thing is, like we just don't know what the hell is happening. And it's unfair. And I think it's time that we really take the reins, you know? Amen. I love that. Okay. So I want to ask you a personal question, which is what I ask

all my guests at the end. What are your health non-negotiables? So these are things that you prioritize no matter how crazy your day is. Oh my God, breathwork, no doubt, like number one. So really I would say in the throes of my health journey, when I was going through a lot of issues with digestion and hormones and struggling with metabolic health and things like that, one of the biggest tools that I learned to help support myself and just lift the fog was learning how to do breath work. And it's something that's been a pretty constant pretty much every day for the past, I don't know, probably going on like 12, 15, maybe 12 years or something like that. That's amazing. Yeah. I went really deep into it at one point. I went through a Kundalini yoga and meditation teacher training, and it was epic, life-changing, all the things.

And one of the things that really was striking to me about that experience was that they incorporate a lot of breath work. And it was like, it rocked my world, to be honest. And it's very challenging. And I like that being the comp to GG, like we're signing up for stress every day. Like, yes, thank you. That's my flavor. And so I think it's just about learning some of these tools that drive your body in a different

direction than maybe you've had an experience with before. And it was really kind of a beautiful process of understanding that everything that I knew to be true about myself was questionable. And that includes especially parameters that I had placed on my old health and the stories that I had believed about myself, about what I was capable of and what was possible for me. And as cheesy as it sounds, breathwork was really one of those things. And it still continues to be that daily reminder of you got this. Like this is all is well and just relax. Take five minutes.

Take care of your nervous system and life will take care of you. Wow. I mean, that really just spoke to me. As someone who has done, I've done a couple of breathwork sessions. I haven't done it consistently ever. I feel like you've just convinced me to get back into it. Anyone listening, if they don't know where to start, Open has a great app that you can do breathwork on and I really like them. I used to go to their studio when I lived in LA. Yeah. Right. I think there's so many great tools on the market that everyone should try it. And my note would be, it's not supposed to be easy. You might hate it. And you have to get to the other side. And I think that's the whole point

of doing it. That's the nervous system rewiring is that you're doing something challenging and you're self-soothing as you go through that stressful moment. And what's on the other side is honestly euphoric. And also from a genetics perspective, I will also say one of those really kind of nuanced, nerdy things that I learned from my genetics test was that my body runs low on nitric oxide, which can lean towards anything from brain fog. It's poor circulation. It's a vasodilator.

And so one of the best ways to boost your nitric oxide levels is through nasal breath work. So the little breath of fire, a couple minutes every day. And I'm telling you, when I sit down to do my breath work, I am a different person when I stand up like without fail. So, and even today, even after this many years of doing it, there's always that little mental resistance of like, oh, I don't have time for this right now. I'll come back and do it later. Or, okay, maybe I'll just do one minute instead of five minutes. And it's like, no, sit down, like sit down and just do it. Yes, exactly. Do you really think you're going to win this? Because you are not. I literally did. And so, yeah, that's kind of the little slay the dragon thing. I know it's going to be better

when it's done. Exactly. Exactly. Well, we got to do hard things in order to get the... Oh my God, I just completely blanked on what I was going to say. To get the reward is what I was going to say. I'm about to start my period. I'm literally having period brain fog today. And I'm literally having like period brain fog this today. And I'm like, we have a peptide for that? Yes, me to piddle on. Courtney, me to piddle on. I think we're going to need to talk after this episode. Well, anyways, thank you so much for coming on today. This was like one of my favorite episodes that I've recorded in a while.

This was so fascinating. And I think so many people are going to get so much out of it. And I'm just so grateful for the work that you're doing and just how much you're helping women. So can you please let everyone know where they can find you, your website, just drop anything you want to drop? Yeah. Thank you so much. Well, it's my pleasure. This is truly my life's work and wouldn't trade a minute of it. So you can find me at thedesignerjeansco.com or thedesignerjeansco

on Instagram. Can't wait to see you there. Yay. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to the Real Foodology Podcast. This is a Wellness Loud production produced by Drake Peterson and mixed by Mike Fry. Theme song is by Georgie. You can watch the full video version of this podcast inside the Spotify app or on YouTube. As always, you can leave us a voicemail by clicking the link in our bio. And if you liked this episode, please rate and review on your podcast app. For more shows by my team, go to wellnessloud.com. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute

a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first.