Realfoodology - Listener Q & A (Health Edition) | Solo Episode

Episode Date: April 12, 2023

141: On this weeks episode, I am answering all of YOUR questions related to health,  wellness and nutrition.  As always if you have any questions for the show, you can slide into my DM's on Instagram @realfoodology.  Thanks for listening, I really appreciate you

I am such a huge proponent for getting blood work done. I'm asked all the time what kind of supplements people should take and how much. And I tell everyone the same thing. You need to understand what's going on in your body first before you start taking supplements because you need to know what you're deficient in or if you have too much of something in your body.

And from there, then you can determine what vitamins are best for you and your specific health needs. This is why I love Healthier's micronutrient test. It is super affordable. It's $124.99. And as someone who has been getting a ton of blood work lately, let me tell you, blood work is not always cheap and not always covered by insurance, but this is $125. And there are six biomarkers tested, vitamin B12, folate, ferritin, which is iron, vitamin D, magnesium,

and calcium. It is so simple. They send you a little finger prick with a lancet and a little blood collecting card in the mail. You collect it yourself and then you send it back. It is so easy to do. And what I love about the biomarkers that they're testing, they're related to nutrition. So this kit can really help you understand where you may have gaps in your nutrition or diet. It can also provide insight into symptoms you may be experiencing that are caused by those nutrient gaps. For example, if you're struggling with low energy, it could be caused by low levels of vitamin B12 or ferritin. Also, if you are having a hard time sleeping at night or dealing with anxiety, you might need more magnesium. If you're plant-based or vegan, the micronutrient test helps you to monitor your

levels of B12, ferritin, and vitamin D, all of which are pretty difficult to obtain from a vegan or plant-based diet alone. So by testing all these biomarkers, you can tailor your diet and your supplement regimen based on your own unique needs. And you can also check and see if your supplements that you're taking are actually working for you and being absorbed so that you're not wasting your time or money on supplements that aren't giving you results. This is why I love blood work. It gives you real tangible information

about what is going on in your body specifically. To try Healthier's micronutrient test, go to behealthier.com. That's B-E-H-E-A-L-T-H-Y-R.com. Use code RealFoodology and you're going to save 15%. Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of the Real Foodology podcast. Today, I am doing another solo episode and today is a Q&A and I'm getting all the questions from an Instagram story that I posted the other day. So I'm just going to be reading off the questions that you guys sent me and answering them. So if you guys like this episode

and you like this format, please write me, like DM me on Instagram and let me know if you're enjoying this format, because I would love to do more of these because I want the chance to actually answer real questions that you guys have. And I also want there to be a chance for you guys to get to know me on a more personal level. So it doesn't always have to be about nutrition and health. I am hoping on this episode to answer an array of questions dealing with health as well as personal questions. I don't know. We'll see how the questions look. I kind of scrolled through a little bit and I saw a mix of both. And what I might end up doing is just doing a separate one of like personal questions and then one that's more about like health and wellness focused. So we'll see how

it kind of pans out. But yeah, if you guys don't know my Instagram, hopefully you do. But if you don't, it's at realfoodology on Instagram. So you guys can DM me there. Let me know what you think about the episode. And as always, if you are enjoying and loving this podcast, if you could just take a minute to rate and review it, it helps me so much. It helps the show get into more ears. And yeah, let's start getting into the questions. Okay, I'm going to try to get through as many of these questions as I can. The first one, what brought you to LA from Colorado? I have actually moved a lot in my life. I did the math one time and I basically moved nine times in 10 years in my 20s. I moved all over. For a little bit of background and context on where I grew up, I was born in San Antonio, Texas. And then I

went back and forth between Telluride, Colorado, which is this really small little mountain town in Colorado, if you're unfamiliar with it, and San Antonio my entire life up until college. My parents would pack up our Suburban and we would drive 16 hours, literally the day that I got out of school, and we would be in Colorado until the moment I had to be back at school. So I had a whole different set of friend group in Telluride. We spent the majority of my Christmases in Telluride as well. I spent every summer there since I can remember. And so for me, Telluride really feels like home. Obviously, San Antonio is where I was born. It's where I went to high school. It's where I went to school all the way up until college. But Telluride has a really special place in my heart. And I still go back there because my parents live there six months

out of the year now. And we spend every Christmas there. So I went to college at CU Boulder. So now to get back to the question, what brought you to LA from Colorado? So I moved around a bunch. I went to college at CU Boulder. And then after that, I moved to LA for a year. And then it's very funny to admit this. I hated it so much that I broke my lease and I went back to Colorado. I say that that's mainly because I was living in West Hollywood. And I realized when I moved back to LA the second time that living in Los Angeles is really all about finding your pocket and the place that you love to live. And WeHo was not it for me. So when I came back, I lived on the east side for a long time. Then I moved to the west side, which I'm really loving. Anyways, I ultimately

came back to LA because I had been living in Nashville at the time. And I just felt this pull to come to LA. I was dating this guy at the time and I couldn't even fully explain it to him. But I remember I sat him down one time and I was like, look, I am feeling so pulled. I'm feeling so called to be in LA that I really need to move there. And I would love for you to move with me, but I understand.

I know that it's a really big move and if you don't wanna go, I understand, but I have to do this. And I was like, I will forever resent you. I will forever regret it if I don't want to go, I understand, but I have to do this. And I was like, I will forever resent you. I will forever regret it if I don't do this. And I really want you to come. So I gave him the chance to come. I wasn't like trying to abandon him or like break up with him, but I just felt in my soul

that I really needed to get there and that I needed to move there. And this was eight years ago. It's so interesting how we have those pulls in our life and we can't always explain them, but there was just something about my soul that I was like, I need to be in LA. And I was right because the second I got here, real foodology really took off. I found the most amazing friendships of my life here. And I've just, I've felt, I've never felt happier living here out of all the places I've lived in all of my life, I would say Los Angeles really is my favorite. So that is how I got here from Colorado.

Oh, to wrap up the part with my boyfriend, he ended up not wanting to move to LA, which I totally get. And so we ended up breaking up. He actually ended up trying to move out here later. And at that point I was like, no, I'm, I had moved on, but I have no hard feelings towards him. He has no hard feelings towards me. We were very honest with each other. I just really felt like I needed to be in LA. So that's that story. Thoughts on Athletic Greens. I've always wondered about their natural flavors.

I can't ever get a full definitive answer about what they use for their natural flavors. I can't ever get a full definitive answer about what they use for their natural flavors. And also I have had Organifi as a sponsor on my podcast for a really long time. I'm a huge fan of Drew Canole. I love what he's doing with Organifi. I love that Organifi is glyphosate residue free and Athletic Greens is a direct competitor with them. So it's not necessarily that I don't, I don't really have like that much of an opinion about athletic greens other than I don't love that they're not transparent about the natural favors that they use. And then also, I don't think they're organic, I'm pretty sure, which also makes me really nervous. Whereas with Organifi,

the reason why I picked Organifi and why I really love them is because they are organics. They use all organic ingredients and they're also glyph they are organics. They use all organic ingredients and they're also glyphosate residue free. They're certified. So we know that it doesn't have glyphosate in there. And I don't know what that looks like for athletic greens, but I don't want anyone to misconstrue. I'm not saying that I know that they use it or that they don't have organic stuff and that they have glyphosate in there. I just don't know. So that's why I chose Organifi over them. Someone asked me, do I know anything about TMJ? I struggle with tension, headaches,

and I'm looking for help. So I've always really had a problem with clenching. I actually went to my dentist maybe like a year ago and I got a mouth guard for that to help me at night because I was like, some of my gums were receding because I was clenching so hard. I really believe I'm of the mind that this is very connected to our emotional world, anxieties and subconscious and things going on in that sense. So I have not even fully figured this out yet. I'm trying to get to the root cause of my deep anxieties and my traumas. And I've talked a lot about my trauma on some of my other episodes. If you want to go back and listen to that, something I went through that was horrific as a child, I think all of that is linked. So if you're struggling with TMJ, I would highly look into

meditation, getting a grip on your anxiety, trying to understand what's going on in your subconscious, anxiety, traumas, things, stuff like that that you're dealing with. Also get TMJ massages. That really helps to break up the tension. Is sunflower oil a safe ingredient in sunscreen? This is something that I'm actually trying to figure out right now as well. So I do not know the answer to this. I do know that there are studies that suggest that eating highly inflammatory seed oils, such as sunflower oil, canola oil, safflower oil, et cetera, all the seed oils, they actually make you more prone to burning. And I will say from personal experience that I don't really burn anymore unless if I go to Hawaii and I'm just in really intense sun like all day or like New Zealand, I don't burn anymore. And so I'm wondering, I mean, but that's for me, that's anecdotal,

but there are studies that are suggesting that people that eat highly inflammatory diets are more prone to burning. Now, as far as having it in sunscreen, I would say avoid it if you can, because we don't really know. And we know that our. But we do know this, our skin is our largest organ and it does absorb whatever we put on our skin into our bloodstream. Now, the other thing to note though, and this is something that my doctor talked to me about the other day, is that another thing to figure out is how much sunflower oil is actually in that product and then how much are you actually absorbing. So if it's a very small amount, I guess I wouldn't be too concerned about it. But this is definitely something that's been on my mind

that I'm trying to figure out, especially as far as it comes to like skincare and makeup and all of that. So I don't have a super definitive answer for you on that. Do you follow a keto diet? I skirt around the keto diet. No, I do not follow any strict diet. The only one that I have followed strictly

for the last 12 years is gluten-free. And that's because I was diagnosed with a wheat allergy when I was younger. So I've been gluten-free for 12 years to avoid wheat so that I don't break out on eczema and psoriasis. And so I don't have stomach issues and bloating and inflammation. But no, I definitely do not adhere to a strict keto diet. I like to eat keto-ish is what I call it, but I also eat paleo-ish. I like to eat, I try to eat as much as possible more ancestrally. And the keto diet is more just that I like to eat a lot of keto style foods, which are lower carbohydrate and lower sugar, because I'm very mindful of the sugar that I put in my body. I mostly eat high quality protein and

high quality fats. And then the carbohydrates are on the lower side. But if you guys want to hear more about my eating style today, go back and listen to my solo episode that I did all about my journey, my eating journey. And I share at the end exactly how I eat now. All right, this is going to be a really loaded question. There's going to be a lot of nuances happening in here. So someone asked, why is red meat called carcinogenic? I hear this is a reason people go vegan. There is a lot of misinformation about meat that's coming out from the vegan camp. This is just a fact. There's a couple different reasons why meat is being called carcinogenic. First of all, there was a study that came out of France a couple of years ago stating that we know that cured meats are linked to colon cancer. And this is very valid and this is a big concern.

And this is because of something called nitrates. It is what's used in the curing processing. And these nitrates have been linked to cancer. So it's really important to know the difference here. It's not that all deli meats and all cured meats are linked to cancer. So it's really important to know the difference here. It's not that all deli meats and all cured meats are linked to cancer. It's the processing of it and the chemicals that they're using in order to cure the meats. So if you are buying deli meats or hot dogs or bacon, the issue there and that what you want to make sure that you're doing is buying ones that do

not have nitrates and do not have nitrites in it. So you want uncured. I always buy uncured bacon whenever I do buy it. And I also make sure that it's always organic and pasture raised. And if you want to know why, go back and listen to some of these other episodes, because I don't have time to go into all the nuances of that. But another reason also why they often say that meat causes cancer or that it's carcinogenic is that if you are grilling your meat or well really any mode of cooking it if you're burning it so you know when someone grills their meat and it gets like blackened it gets charred when it turns black like that we do know that that changes the chemical compounds of the meat and the blackened portions of it are

carcinogenic so yes those do cause cancer but if you're not eating blackened portions of it are carcinogenic. So yes, those do cause cancer. But if you're not eating blackened meat, it's not the meat itself. Diana Rogers of Sustainable Dish is quoted often saying this, it's not the cow, it's the how. It's not the meat, it's how it's being processed. It's how it's raised. It's all of the other things that are causing the issue, not the actual meat itself. As I'm scrolling through all these questions, I'm finding a lot of health questions. And then I'm seeing a couple of personal sprinkled here and there. I know I started out with a personal answer, but I'm going to go ahead and just let this episode be all health and wellness questions that I answer. And then I'm going to do another personal Q&A. So look out for that one. This is all going to be health related. Someone asked me,

what is your take on a balanced lifestyle? Do you ever eat foods you know aren't the best for you? So I also addressed this in my recent solo episode about my food journey. So I'm only going to say a couple of things about this. I think that many people try to justify their horrible eating habits by saying everything in moderation. I am not here saying that I'm perfect at all. I'm human. And also, I like to live my life. So I absolutely will go out to eat with friends. If I'm at a party and someone puts out Doritos, if I'm in a place of weakness and I really want one, then I'm going to have a bite of it. But I will say it is pretty rare for me. I never bring that kind of quote unquote food, because I can't even call it real food,

into my house. I never stop at a gas station to get any of that kind of stuff. I never eat fast food. I don't even know the last time I stepped into a fast food place. I think the last time I walked into a McDonald's was to pee and that was like five years ago or something. So in that sense, like I see fast food and that kind of stuff as Play-Doh and it does not belong in my mouth or in my body. Like to me, it's not even food. So in that sense, like, no, I don't ever eat those kinds of foods. But like I said, if I find myself at a party and there's a bowl of chips out, I might have a couple bites of something because I also do not want to completely deprive myself. And I've worked really, really hard over the span of my lifetime to work on having a good mindset and a healthy relationship

with food. And to go back to what I said about the moderation, the problem is, is that we are no longer living in times like our parents or our grandparents, where you may be exposed to all this junk food, like chips and cakes and cookies and stuff a couple of times a year, like your family's birthday parties or like a friend's birthday party.

We are no longer living in that era. So saying that moderation looks like me having a Dunkin' Donuts one day and then like having McDonald's the next day and then having Doritos the day after that. And look, I'm saying all of this with no judgment. I am not judging anyone. I'm just giving an objective view of how we live in society now. I just posted a video yesterday on my Instagram of this surgeon showing the break room at a surgery center that he works at. And there was not a single real food in the entire video. It was cupcakes, muffins, lasagna, donuts, cookies. It was crazy, the amount of junk food that was in there. So we're no longer in this time of, yeah, I'll have a little cookie or a donut here or there. It's like people are making habits out of this, eating it every single day. And that's where we really get into trouble here.

And I think a lot of people are not even making note or aware of how much processed foods they're putting in their body. Part of what I hope to do with Real Foodology is to help people understand just how much of this food that we're being exposed to on a daily basis and our kids are being exposed to it and our family members who are in the hospital and our family members who are in nursing homes. It has gotten so out of control, you guys, that it is no longer balanced. So to come full circle, answer your question, no, I do not really eat that kind of stuff and I definitely do not buy it. If I end up eating like a Dorito or something,

which like I said, is pretty rare, it's if I'm at like a friend's birthday party or I don't know, a Super Bowl party or something, it just happens to be out. But I feel very grateful that pretty much all of my friends here in LA eat the same way that I do. Everyone brings like really healthy organic snacks to our parties.

So it's pretty rare that I'm exposed to that kind of stuff now. Again, I say all of this not to shame anyone. I don't want anyone to leave this feeling like bad about themselves. This is just my experience. So do not take my experience and what I say as a way to make yourself feel ashamed because I'm not, that's not what I'm trying to do.

I'm just telling my story. So someone asked, is the Yuka app a good source for someone who is getting started with healthier food and cosmetics? Yes. So that's spelled Y-U-K-A. Yuka app is a great one. There's actually a bunch of different ones. There's also EWG Skin Deep if you want to look up all of your makeup and beauty products. There's an app called Think Dirty that you can also use to look up skincare and makeup. And then for the grocery store, there's also another one. I got to look this up. I want to say that it's called like Trash Panda or something. Yeah, it's called Trash Panda. So there's another one called Trash Panda. And then there's another app called Bobby Approved that I really like a lot.

And it rates foods based on their healthiness. If you're at the grocery store and you're really confused on what's good for you and what's healthy, those are some great options to check out for apps. I love this. Someone asked me if I could explain the process of how canola oil is made

so that people understand how bad it is. Okay, I don't have all the steps fully memorized, so I'm going to try to say this as best as I can. But if I get a little bit off, please don't come for me, guys. I'm just human and I'm basing this off of memory of a YouTube video that I have watched a lot, actually. If you want to see the whole process visually, I highly recommend YouTubing how canola oil is made. It is so disgusting, you guys. It's literally vile. Basically what happens is that it goes through a rigorous cycle of having to be bleached, washed, deodorized. There's a fun fact that I always like to share with people about canola oil. So the name is actually called Canada Oil Low Acid because basically what happened is

as they started creating this oil from the rapeseed, it was really high in, I believe it's uric acid. I gotta look this up. Yeah, so rapeseed is naturally really high in something called uric acid. So what they did with canola oil is they created a lower uric acid oil. And the processing, I would just

look it up on YouTube, you guys, it's really crazy all the processing that it goes through. They dry it out and then they create, it's like they create these little canola cakes and then it looks like sludge and they have to deodorize it because apparently this oil smells so rancid in the plants that they would not be able to sell it on shelves because people would not buy it or eat it because of how rancid it smells. So they have to use different chemicals like hexane to deodorize it and cleanse it and all this stuff. And by the end of the processing, it's basically like an industrial, it's like car oil. And now we're putting it all over our salads and in all of our snacks. I mean, it's like car oil. And now we're putting it all over our salads

and in all of our snacks. I mean, it's showing up everywhere and it's really disgusting. But yeah, so instead of me botching this, I would just go look it up on YouTube and you can see the whole process there. Is high oleic sunflower oil truly more healthy than regular seed oils?

No. And instead of me going into the whole process of this, I would encourage you to go back and listen to the episode with Anthony Gustin. We talk all about sunflower oil and seed oils in general and why they are not healthy for us. What supplements slash products do you take consistently daily? I have been putting collagen in either my coffee or my matcha every morning for I think about six years now. So I do collagen every day. I used to do what is called honed supplements. They used to be called Paragon and they were actually a sponsor of the podcast for

a long time. I'm a huge proponent of these vitamins. They're bio-individual vitamins based on what's happening in your body specifically. I stopped taking them only because I've been going through a health thing the last couple of months that I've not spoken about and I'm not ready to talk about it yet. So I will share it on my own time. My doctor had me stop taking everything and we went back to the basics. So all of my supplements is based on my blood work. And I think this is really, really important to note. Do not just blindly take supplements, guys. Work with your doctor. I highly recommend either a functional or a integrative doctor and get blood work done and have them guide you on what specifically you should take. And don't just be

like shooting in the dark here because it's all dependent on what your body's needs are specifically. For example, I was really low in B vitamins, especially B12. So, and on top of that, I have the motherfucker gene as it's called MTFHR gene, meaning that my body doesn't methylate. And so I have to take a methylated form of B, which is partially why I was so low energy and why my B vitamins were so low because my body wasn't registering it because it was not able to methylate. So I'm on a methylated B and I've been taking some supplements at night from bioptimizers like magnesium and their sleep stuff to help me with sleep.

Oh, and I've been taking Nutrafol because I'm trying to grow out my hair right now. So that's all I'm taking right now. But again, I would encourage you to get blood work and see exactly what your body is needing. Advice to improve your metabolism. Thank you for doing this for us. Oh, it's really sweet.

Thank you. Okay, so there could be a lot of different things happening with metabolism. First and foremost, I would always encourage people to get a hormone panel and see what's going on with your hormones, especially for women. Well, actually both for men and women

because a lot of our metabolism is contingent on what's going on with our hormones. Now, this is obviously gonna look different for women than it is for men because our hormones fluctuate so much, whereas men are on a 24-hour hormonal cycle with their testosterone. So I would highly recommend getting with a doctor that really understands this and specializes in hormones because that really may be the key for you in metabolism. A couple of other things that will help, making sure that you're eating really good

high-quality fats. I know that we have been told in the past to fear fats and to vilify them and fats quote unquote make us fat. This is not true. You really want to make sure that you're eating good high quality fats and proteins in order to stabilize your blood sugar because stabilizing your blood sugar is also the key to your metabolism. What do I mean by that? You want to be eating foods that are going to keep you full and satisfied for longer periods of time, i.e. fats and proteins. And also you want to be eating foods that are not going to cause an immense spike in your blood glucose because what happens is that as your glucose spikes, then your insulin comes in and then you crash and then you end up craving more sugar and more carbohydrates and

it's this vicious cycle and you also get fatigued. So the key here is really finding a balance in your blood glucose levels. And how we do that is we prioritize more high quality foods, satiating foods, and also some tricks around eating carbohydrates. For example, you never eat your carbohydrates naked. You always want to dress them with a high quality fat and protein. So for example, if you're going to have rice, always eat it with some olive oil or avocado or butter, something that's really good high quality fat or salmon is a good fatty fish. That's going to really help to minimize glucose spikes. Another thing that really helps a lot is eating a green salad before you have your meal.

And another thing is also taking a shot, like a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar before a meal. If you guys want to learn more about this and how to manage your blood glucose levels, the glucose goddess on Instagram is incredible. She's so good with tips like this, and she's really great at giving advice on how to improve your metabolism. Honest truth about cholesterol in food and our blood. All right, I did an entire episode about this with Johnny Bowden. He wrote a book called The Cholesterol Myth and basically laid out for us how we have gotten cholesterol so wrong. I don't want to go too into this because I really just

want you guys to listen to the episode because there's so much to be said. There's so much nuance that I did an entire episode about it. But basically his book was about how we've gotten cholesterol wrong and our brains need cholesterol. And the fact that we have given one number across the board for every single human, even though we are also bio-individual, we have given one number across the board for every single human, even though we are also bio-individual, we have different needs and our bodies work a little bit differently in different cases, depending on our weight and depending on so many factors, right? And it's just crazy that we're putting basically one range of numbers on every single human being for cholesterol. And so that was his main point is that we need to be more specific to bio-individual needs.

And a way to really figure out what's actually going on with your cholesterol is to get a D-dimer test. But again, if you guys want to hear more, listen to that episode. Also go check out his book, The Cholesterol Myth. It's by Johnny Bowden. It's J-O-N-N-Y-B-O-W-D-E-N. I've been consuming collagen for about six years now. I like to put it in my morning drink, whether that's coffee or matcha. I usually prefer coffee, but lately I've actually been doing coffee and then having a matcha a little bit later. I love to mix the collagen in with my nut milk that I put in my coffee. It's usually almond milk or coconut milk. And I'm so excited to announce that Organifi has

their own collagen now. As with all Organifi products, it's glyphosate residue free, really high quality. It has hydrolyzed bovine hide collagen peptides that are derived from pasture raised cows. It also has eggshell membrane collagen. It's taken from the thin layer between the egg and the shell. And this is collagen rich, and it may be beneficial for strong joint health. It also has hydrolyzed fish collagen peptides derived from wild caught fish. Because this collagen source is of a small particle size, it makes it easier to digest and more absorbable. And then there's also chicken bone broth protein concentrate in there. This collagen type is actually found in your gut joints and cartilage, and it helps support greater health

both inside and out. Collagen is really good for lubricating the joints. It's also great for healing and sealing the gut. Often now because of our diets, people are dealing with leaky gut syndrome and collagen actually goes in there and helps to seal the gut. So if you're having any sort of leaky gut syndrome symptoms, collagen may be your best bet. It's also great for just replenishing collagen stores that diminish as we age and may help with wrinkles and keeping supple skin because collagen also is what keeps our skin elastic. So this is why I consume collagen. I love Organifi. I love all of their products. If you guys want to try any of the Organifi products for 20% off, you can use code

realfoodology or go to organifi.com slash realfoodology. That's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash realfoodology. Okay. I love this question so much. What one food ingredient would you most like to see taken out of the US food industry? That would be glyphosate, aka Roundup, aka the most widely used herbicide on our food. It is now being called a group one carcinogen, meaning we know that it causes cancer and it's being outlawed for use on lawns, yet we are spraying it heavily on our food. We spray it on wheat after wheat has been harvested to dry it out. It's insane, you guys. So one way to avoid glyphosate as much as possible is to eat organic food, but it's even popping up in organic food now because it's being so used widespread and it's being blown onto other

farms, like neighboring farms. It's in our water as well because it's being drained out through the farms into the water. It's everywhere. So there is a recent study done that up to 80% of Americans have glyphosate in their urine now. So that would be the number one food ingredient that I would want to take out. What cookware do you recommend? Pans, pots? I'm so confused. There's a couple of different brands that I really trust. There's a brand called Extrema. It's X-T-R-E-M-A. And they're made in the US, which is really important because we do not want to be getting our pots and pans from other countries just because of the high levels of like lead and other toxic metals that are being found in cookware. And on top of that, you do not ever want to use

anything nonstick or Teflon coated. It is linked to cancer. It is absolutely carcinogenic. We know this for a fact. It is something calledcinogenic. We know this for a fact. It is something called forever chemicals, meaning that it never breaks down in the environment and it's popping up everywhere, like in our water. And we know that it's causing endocrine disruption in our bodies. And I've seen some messages from people, of people fighting me saying, well, it's fine if it's not scratched. And this is absolutely not true because not only are these chemicals being leached into our food, but they're also being expelled in the fumes, in the cooking fumes. So when you're cooking stuff and it's such high heat like that, it's also being expelled into the air and getting into our lungs. So that is a huge concern.

I like Extrema a lot. There's also another brand called 360 Cookware. So that's another great brand. I really liked Greenpan. I've been told more recently that it may not be as clean as was once thought. To be honest, I still use my Greenpan sometimes because I think it's way better than using the Teflon and the nonstick and all that, but Extrema and 360 cookware are going to be some of the cleanest. In general, when it comes to cooking on pots and pans, you want to look for stainless steel that's not coated. So just outright stainless steel or cast iron is another good one and ceramic. But if it's not coated, that's the problem is that you want to make sure that it's not coated with these toxic chemicals. How to detox after vacation where it

is hard to control your diet eating out every meal. First of all, enjoy yourself on your vacation. You know, I mean, I'm pretty careful about what I put on my body even on vacation because I just don't want to feel like shit to be honest. And when I'm on vacation, I want to feel good. And so I'm still like prioritizing healthy foods, but also don't let it totally derail you. You know, if you go on vacation and you eat some things that don't sit well with your body. So as far as detoxing, I would sauna, focus on moving your body because it's also going to get your lymph moving and just moving your body in general is just going to help you work up a sweat, help with your metabolism. And then also on top of that, I would prioritize taking a liver supplement. I recommend everyone taking a liver supplement period across the board. Oh, that's actually the other thing I forgot to mention earlier in

other supplements that I take daily. I take a liver supplement from Organifi. It's called Liver Reset and it has triphala in it, has dandelion root extract, organic milk thistle, and organic artichoke extract. All of these are known to help with the detoxification pathways of the liver. And it also helps to protect your liver, especially milk thistle really helps protect your liver. So I recommend taking them every day, but also take them after you get back from vacation. Are probiotics worth it or a waste of money? Favorite one you take.

All right, hands down, my favorite one I've ever taken is Just Thrive. I have a podcast episode with the founder if you guys wanna hear more about Just Thrive and what totally convinced me. And it's an amazing product. And I will say it's probably the first probiotic that I've ever taken

that I really felt an overall difference in my health. Now, probiotics are interesting because it depends on who you talk to. There's a couple of different schools of thought. One being that we are being exposed to too many of them because now they're in a lot of things that you pick up a random drink on the shelf and it's like loaded with probiotics. So we're kind of getting inundated with them. And then also on top of that, our bodies naturally have good and bad bacteria in our body. And so if we're taking a probiotic every single day, after a while, it could be one, like not really working, or we could be overpopulating our bacteria with something that may not normally subside in there.

And we may be messing with our body's natural microbiome and what's going on. I used to take a probiotic every single day. Now I more so take one clinically when I actually have something going on. So like, let's say a UTI or a yeast infection, which I haven't had in a long time. I don't know why I feel like I need to say that, but those are just naming off reasons why you would take it. Or for example, if you are getting off of antibiotics, you absolutely want to be taking really high dose, a couple rounds of probiotics in order to build back that bacteria that got killed off by the antibiotics. Because we know antibiotics completely wipe out all the good bacteria along with the bad. And you're basically starting out from square one, not square one,

but you wipe out a lot of good stuff. So you want to make sure that you are repopulating, but not overdoing it. So that's my thought about probiotics. Definitely check out Just Thrive though. I really like them a lot. Someone wrote that they struggle with constipation, that their bowels do not work unless they take a bunch of stool meds. Okay, so first and foremost, I would absolutely look at your thyroid. This could be a thyroid issue, definitely could be hormones,

could also be an emotional component there. I have a friend, Christian Gonzalez, Dr. G, you guys might know him from Instagram. And a lot of his work now is around emotional components of our health. And a lot of his work now is around emotional components of our health. And if we're holding on to really deep traumas and emotions in the body, it's gonna show up in other ways. So definitely get a hormone panel done. Maybe figure out what's going on underlying with your emotions. Definitely go see a functional or integrative doctor because they're going to be

able to help you dig deeper on this because I don't know what your own personal health history is, but a doctor will definitely be able to help you out with that. What do you do when you have a day of not so good eating choices? I don't really do anything, to be honest. I've gotten to a really healthy place with my diet. And if I have a day where I'm like, damn, I kind of ate too many cookies or I ate some snacks that I'm like not super stoked about or whatever. I just, I don't know.

I don't do anything. I'm just like, okay, tomorrow's a new day. Tomorrow's a new slate. And I don't beat myself up. I don't ruminate over it. And it took me a long time to get here, okay? I'm not saying that I don't beat myself up. I don't ruminate over it. And it took me a long time to get here. Okay. I'm not saying that I haven't ever, but what helped me a lot as I was shifting that mindset is when I was in a not so great place with everything. And if I had something that maybe

not feel good or that I wasn't super stoked that I ate and I would kind of spiral out about it, I started catching those thoughts and saying, nope, we're not even going there. and I would kind of spiral out about it, I started catching those thoughts and saying, nope, we're not even going there. And I would literally say that to myself in my brain. If I caught myself being like, oh my God, I can't believe I ate all of that. Or I can't believe I ate those Doritos or whatever it was that I was like berating myself about. I would stop those thoughts in their tracks. And I would literally say in my brain, or I would sometimes say it out loud. I'd go, nope, we're not even going there. We're not even going to think that. And then after so many months or however long it took me of saying that to myself, I don't go there anymore. And in the off chance

that I do find myself going there, I just do the same thing. I'm like, no, we're not going there. Tomorrow's a new day. You're human. You're good. Don't have any shame around this. Like you're good. You're human. You know, we all, we all do things sometimes that we're not super stoked on and that's okay. It's part of being human. Do you take any magnesium supplements? If yes, which one? Yes. I take the magnesium breakthrough from bioptimizers. I love it. I take it every night before bed and it has all seven forms of magnesium in one supplementers. I love it. I take it every night before bed and it has all seven forms of magnesium in one supplement. And I love it. Love it. Love it. It's also my doctor's favorite magnesium supplement. Oh, if you guys use code real foodology, you're going to save like 10%

if you want to try it. It's called magnesium breakthrough. What's your hot take on monk fruit as a sweetener? This is my favorite question. Okay. There's's gonna be a lot. There's a lot to be said here. I love monk fruit. I put pure monk fruit every single morning in my coffee from this brand, Lakanto. They have drops that's just pure monk fruit. I've been using it for years. I also do not, I don't make anything in my house anymore with sugar.

If any recipe requires sugar, I always use monk fruit in place of it or stevia, but I don't like the aftertaste of stevia. So I pretty much only use monk fruit. And this is why I love monk fruit because it is sugar-free and it does not have any weird aftertaste like stevia does. And you could like never tell. I can't tell when monk fruit is replaced with sugar. Now there's a lot of controversy right now about that brand Lakanto. Well, actually most monk fruits are actually blended with erythritol now. And I want to speak to this because there was a study that came out recently claiming that erythritol consumption is linked to

heart attacks. And there were a lot of flaws in the study. First and foremost, there was only eight test subjects. There were only eight people in the study. And on top of that, a lot of people feel as though this is actually just another way to keep the public from actually looking at what's really happening in our food system. The rise of heart attacks that we've had in this country, and then you compare that to the amount of people that are eating erythritol, like, I'm sorry, it's just not even comparable. But you look at the amount of people that are eating erythritol, like, I'm sorry, it's just not even comparable, but you look at the amount of people that are subsiding on fast food and hyper-processed, highly palatable food-like products, and it's undeniable that there's a connection with what's happening with our processed food diet, and erythritol is not really the issue. There's not

people consuming massive amounts of erythritol on a really the issue. There's not people consuming massive amounts of erythritol on a day-to-day basis. They are seed oils, glyphosate, processed food, all the fillers and all the additives and all the other crap, just sugar, white sugar in general. All of that stuff is being consumed on such a high level. And there was some thought with this study that they didn't do a great job of collecting what was actually being made in the body by these people versus how much they were consuming. And on top of that, erythritol was probably being produced in these bodies because all the test subjects were super unhealthy. All the people that were in the study were super unhealthy already.

So there's something to be said. And again, why are we not actually looking at the underlying issue, which is our dependence on food-like products? We're not eating real food anymore. And that's really the big problem here. Now, I say all of this not to defend erythritol, to be honest. I don't eat it that much anyways. I've always been of the mind that I like to err on the side of caution regardless. And I've always felt a little bit uneasy about erythritol. I don't totally avoid it. I have the Lecanto mix that has erythritol and monk fruit mixed in there. But there's also a couple of brands that use just pure monk fruit, which is actually an extract from a fruit and I love it.

The Now brand makes one. There's also another brand called, I believe it's called You Are Loved and they have a pure monk fruit extract. And then if you go to Lakanto's, just their liquid drops, that one is just pure monk fruit without the erythritol. So if you want to fully avoid erythritol, I totally get it. I think it's better to err on the side of caution. And I'm not here to say that it's healthy for you because I don't really know, but I'm a huge proponent for monk fruit. I love this question. Someone said, how did you learn all this stuff? Have you considered petitioning the FDA? Let's do it. Yeah, let's fucking go. Let's go. I would love that actually. At some point I will probably start doing more of that. Oh, I feel like I have so much on my plate and there's so many things I want to do. I just started learning about this because I got this insane

passion about our food system as I started reading about it. I really believe that this was my soul's purpose to be here on this planet was to fight our food system and to help people wake up to the reality of it and to be a part of the shift and a part of the change. I don't know how else to explain it. It's just this deep soul connection that I feel to what my soul's purpose is. And I got really into nutrition in, I don't even know what year that was. It would have been like 2006 is when I started. And it was just like peeling back an onion. As I started reading more and more about our food, I started learning more about our food industry. And I became slightly obsessive about learning just every little thing that I

possibly could. Because as I started learning about corruption in one corner, then it would peel back another layer. And I'd learn more about more corruption happening here and there and the funding and the lobbying in Washington and the policies that are getting pushed through Washington and being okayed by politicians that are being paid off by large food corporations. Also the studies that are being funded by companies that have vested interest in selling their products. I mean, the list goes on and I just started getting really passionate about it and I started digging into it and I started finding the work of people like Dr. Mark Hyman, Michael Pollan, all these people were

speaking out. Vani Hari, who's known as the food babe, and all these people started speaking out about it and I was so inspired and it really lit a fire under my ass and here I am. So I would love to petition to the FDA. I don't even know what the process of starting to do that would look like. I've always been of the mind that if I can garner a grassroots movement and I get people really fired up about this and voting with their dollars and spending their money in places that we know are good, like companies that are actually doing well

for the health of the planet and well for the health of the people and for the ethical treatment of animals. And we're seeing this. I mean, since I started this in 2006 versus now in 2023, I mean, we're seeing just an explosion in the sale of organic food. Regenerative farming is on the market now. People are really starting to wake up and care about the food that they're putting in their body and where they're spending their money. So it's definitely

happening. And the reason why we're seeing an explosion in organic food is because these corporations are listening to us. I was walking through Costco the other day and I was blown away by all these brands that have been around forever that are all creating organic foods now. It was like Triscuit has an organic thing now, organic crackers, Reese's is making organic chocolate. And look, I'm not saying that these foods are healthy, but they're healthier versions. I mean, the Triscuits had like three ingredients. I was really blown away by that. So they're definitely listening to us. We are making a difference. Can you speak on caffeine? How should I approach my relationship with caffeine? I have always been of the mind that caffeine is fine for us in small amounts. I love coffee. I

think that if you don't overdo it and you're not drinking like four cups of coffee a day, that coffee actually has a lot of benefits. It's really high in antioxidants. Just make sure that you're getting good organic coffee that doesn't have mold on it. And I really like the taste of it. I gave up coffee for a little bit and honestly, I missed the ritual of it so much. And I love the taste so much. I literally go to bed at night, sometimes getting excited about my coffee the next morning. So the way that I do my coffee or my caffeine consumption in general is I have one cup of coffee and that's it. And I have it early in the morning so that it doesn't affect my circadian rhythm and doesn't affect my sleep later in the day. Sometimes I'll have a matcha around like 11, 12, 1. I can't really

have one past like 1 because even the caffeine in matcha can affect me. But matcha caffeine doesn't really affect me and it's not that high. It also has L-theanine in it, which is a component that helps to calm you down actually. It really helps with anxiety. So that's how I approach caffeine. I think everyone needs to find their own balance with it. As with anything in life, you can overdo anything. You can overdo water. So I would just be mindful of how much coffee you're having every day. But in my mind, if you're just having one cup a day, it's totally fine. I got not one, but two of these questions from two different people. And there were one after another, which I think is so funny. Can you recommend a

clean mouthwash? There's a couple of different brands that I like. I really like the brand Lumino. It works with the pH in your mouth and doesn't kill off all the bacteria in there. And this is something really important to note. Max Lugavere goes really hard on this. There's a lot of studies to show that mouthwash is actually really bad for us because we have an oral microbiome and similar to what we have in our gut. And it's a microbiome of good and bad bacteria. And we do not want to kill off that good bacteria in our mouth. It's there for a reason, guys. It serves a purpose. So I really like Lumino because it does not kill off the bacteria, and then I also have a friend, Cody Levine, who has a company called Twice, and they have a rinseless mouthwash, and I really,

really like their mouthwash a lot. It leaves your mouth feeling really good and clean, and it doesn't kill off all the bacteria in your mouth because you actually want that. Someone asked, what are your thoughts on Kangen water machines? I'm not a fan of them. I don't even know if I said that correctly, but there's a woman who I follow who I really respect on Instagram. Her name is Vitally Melanie, Vitally and then M-E-L-A-N-I. And she is just a wealth of information. And she has looked extensively into water filters and actually said that theirs does not do a great job. And it's, she didn't say this, but like basically said that they're like kind of a scam. The type of water filter that you want to be using is reverse

osmosis. The one that I really like is a brand called Aqua True. And I'll leave you a link in the show notes that gives you a bit of a discount. If you guys are interested, they have an under the sink one and then they also have a tabletop one and it's reverse osmosis and it removes so many different things. Breda water filters, do not cut it guys. We have pharmaceutical drugs like birth control and SSRIs. We have fluoride, chlorine, pesticides. I mean, we have so much crap in our tap water now and we need a really good high quality water filter in order to filter all that out. Okay, someone asked, how do you avoid touching receipts?

I just don't get them. I just say, no, thank you, I'm good, I don't need it. And in the rare case that someone hands it to me, I'm not gonna die or I'll put my sleeve up and put my sleeve around the receipt if I like have to take it. But also I'm like, sometimes I'm just like full send, whatever. I'll just take it and put in the trash. It's fine. But yeah, I normally just say, no, I don't need a receipt.

And a lot of you guys are probably wondering, okay, but why would you avoid receipts? This is why. A study showed that there's more BPA in a single thermal paper receipt than the total amount that would leach out in a polycarbonate water bottle that's been used for many years. BPA is one of the toxic chemicals that's found in plastic that we now know is a endocrine disruptor. So it messes with our hormones. It can lead to infertility, cancer, hormonal imbalance, all sorts of issues. And BPA easily rubs off of the receipt papers and studies show that it can be rapidly absorbed through the skin from receipts. So you get a really high dose of BPA from the receipt paper. And then they also found that if you use hand

sanitizers before touching the receipt, it can actually increase the absorption of BPA into your body by up to a hundred times. That is insane. So yeah, I try to avoid receipts as much as possible, but also like I'm human and I am not perfect. So sometimes I get exposed to them. All right. This was really fun. I basically got through all the questions. I get exposed to them. All right. This was really fun. I basically got through all the questions. I'm going to do another episode answering more personal questions. So look out for that one. And thank you guys so much for listening. Love you. See you soon. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of the Real Foodology Podcast. If you liked the episode,

please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know. This is a resonant media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie. Georgie is spelled with a J. For more amazing podcasts produced by my team, go to resonantmediagroup.com. I love you guys so much. See you next week. 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. Do you suffer from IBS or other digestive issues? Are you looking for a new podcast to listen to? From the producer of the Real Foodology podcast comes the all new health and nutrition podcast,

Digest This, hosted by Bethany Ugarte. You may know Bethany as the face of the popular Instagram page, Lil Sipper, or you may have even read her book. Now you can find her wherever you get your podcasts. On Digest This, Bethany examines topics such as gut health, nutrition, the food industry, and highlights specific ingredients that can be beneficial or harmful to your gut health.

She also explores non-toxic options in beauty, home, and cooking essentials. If it has to do with your health, Digest This is talking about it. Each episode features an interview with health experts, doctors, and wellness advocates, and delivers you information that is, well, easy to digest. Thank you.