Realfoodology - Secret to Radiant Skin and a Healthier Body: From Detoxification to Skincare Regimens | Solo Episode

Episode Date: July 12, 2023

154: Navigating hormonal imbalances and their skin repercussions - think cystic acne, dull skin, and dark circles - has been quite the journey. Join me on this solo episode as I walk you through what transformed my skin. For links to everything I mentioned, scroll to the bottom of the show notes. Thanks for listening, and I hope you love this enough to share it with your friends and family. Sponsored By: ARMRA Colostrum tryarmra.com/realfoodology enter REALFOODOLOGY to get 15% off your first order. Organifi www.organifi.com/realfoodology Code REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% Off Cured Nutrition www.curednutrition.com/realfoodology REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% off Seed's DS-01® Daily Synbiotic seed.com/realfoodology Use code REALFOODOLOGY for 30% off your first month's supply of Seed's DS-01® Daily Synbiotic Products/Links Mentioned: AGENT NATEUR Holi water- hylauronic acid + rose toner Holi c - vitamin c powder  Holi bright - lactic acid mask  Holi Oil serum Holi glow - under eye Holi lift - retinol alternative Holi creme - face cream Acid wash - lactic acid face wash ALPYN BEAUTY code REALFOODOLGY saves 15% Melt Moisturizer WILD NETTLE & NIACINAMIDE FIRMING SERUM COCOKIND Resurrection Polypeptide Cream AHA jelly cleanser Vitamin C  SECRET RF - the microneedling / laser I got Check Out Courtney: Courtney's Instagram: @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database

Modern living is so hard on our bodies. We get exposed to so many things on a daily basis, whether it's pollution in the air or our tap water that has pharmaceutical drugs and pesticides and fluoride, chlorine, heavy metals. There's pesticides in our food. There's BPA also in our food, in the plastic containers that's holding our food. I mean, the list goes on, right? And I don't say this to scare you because, I mean, there's only so much that we can do. But one of the things that I think is really important that we do is we protect our liver. We take things that not only protect our liver, but also support the detoxification pathways of the liver. One of the ways that I do this is I take liver reset from Organifi. It has

tryphala in there. It also has dandelion extract and milk thistle and artichoke. These are all things that are known to protect the liver. And we want to make sure that we're protecting and taking care of our liver because all of these toxins are being filtered out through our liver. And this also helps with the removal of excess toxins and helps to support the detoxification pathways of the liver. So I'm a huge fan of all Organifi products. Everything is organic. Also glyphosate residue free, which we know is huge. If you guys want to save on liver reset or any of the products that they have on the Organifi website, make sure that you go to Organifi.com slash real foodology and you are going to save 20%. I'm always seeking ways to

improve my fitness, boost my metabolism, and get that perfect glowing skin. I mean, aren't we all, right? Well, I've stumbled upon something truly amazing. It's called Armra Colostrum. Colostrum has been long regarded as a superfood that my mom actually got me on years ago because it's really good for the immune system. But then I found Armra Colostrum and I am obsessed. It's not just a supplement, it's actually a whole food superfood. It's a proprietary concentrate of bovine colostrum. And if you're wondering what colostrum is, it's the first nutrition that we receive in life packed with over 200 essential nutrients. Since I started using it, my skin feels so vibrant and fresh. It's like I reactivated my hair growth and reduced the puffiness on my face.

And I haven't gotten sick once since I started taking it. There are peer-reviewed studies that show that colostrum is more effective than the flu shot. Wild, right? Now here's the magic. Armoring colostrum strengthens immunity, ignites metabolism, fortifies gut health, empowers fitness performance and recovery. It also with hair growth i've shared this a bunch on my instagram i went in to see my hairdresser recently and he was pointing out all of the new hair growth that he was seeing i definitely think it's from the colostrum because it's the only thing that i've changed and it's sustainably sourced from grass fed cows which we love i usually mix it with cold liquids and my favorite thing right now is to mix the watermelon flavor with matcha and then i add a little lemon electrolytes in there. It tastes like a watermelon lemonade.

It's so refreshing and it's sugar-free. It's so good, especially in these hot summery days, but make sure you do not mix it with anything hot or sugary because that can affect those bioactive compounds. All right. So here's the great news for all you listeners out there. We've scored a special deal for you. Get 15% off your first order of Armra. Just go to tryarmra.com slash realfoodology and use the code realfoodology to get this offer. Again, that's tryarmra, T-R-Y-A-R-M-R-A.com slash realfoodology to get on this offer. I hope you guys love it. Hi friends, welcome back to another episode of the Real Foodology Podcast. Today is another solo episode, so I have no guests today. It is just me, and we're going to go over my entire skin journey.

I was inspired to do this episode by you, my followers on Instagram. I have been getting DMs from people asking me what kind of treatments I do, what kind of skincare I use, asking me to go through my skincare routine, and how do I get my skin looking so clear and so bright? Well, my skin was not always this clear and bright. Okay, so let's back it up to when I was in high school, I was very lucky that I had pretty clear skin. I didn't really deal with acne or anything like that,

but I always kind of had these dark circles under my eyes and they were always just something that haunted me and I could never figure out how to get rid of them. So fast forward, I go through college, pretty much the same. My skin doesn't really change. And then when I was 22 or 23, I decided to go vegetarian. I would say for the first six months to a year, it was amazing. I lost weight that I wasn't trying to lose.

I felt energy and I felt so good. And I felt like I was doing really good things for the animals. And then all of a sudden I started getting this really crazy cystic acne all over my chin. And you know, I had not figured out the dark circles under my eyes either. So I was dealing with this really just like horrible,

deep, deep cystic acne that was really, really painful all over my chin. And then my skin just looked dull. Like looking back on my photos, I looked inflamed and I looked like I was lacking vitality. Like I didn't have this life force anymore because my skin looked so like gray and dull. Now at the time I did not make the connection with being vegetarian. It wasn't until much later after talking to many experts and talking to other people about their own personal journeys and their experiences that I realized that what happened was I was dealing with a major hormonal imbalance. And I figured this out towards the end of being vegetarian. But again, I still had not,

I had still had not made the connection between being vegetarian and my skin and what was happening. But I did eventually figure out that what was happening is I was dealing with a major hormonal imbalance. I got a blood panel done. My progesterone was very low. So I started on a low dose progesterone that I did for probably a year or two that helped balance out my hormones. But then you know what helped me the most was eating meat again. Okay. So at this point I am living in LA. I had gotten rid of the cystic acne, thank God, by not eating vegetarian anymore. I started eating organic grass-fed meats. Oh, this is actually another important thing to say too about the cystic acne. Oftentimes people dealing with

acne also have a clogged liver and this can happen for so many different reasons. Our liver, our livers are overburdened with just all of the different environmental toxins that we're exposed to on a day-to-day basis, the pesticides, the pollution in the air, stuff in our tap water, the endocrine disruptors that are in our skincare, our lotions, all of our makeup. And, you know, it can take its toll on our livers and our livers can get backed up. So one of the ways that I was able to also help with my acne is I started taking calcium D-glucarate and glutathione. Glutathione is the body's master antioxidant. It helps to flush out excess estrogen through

the liver. It also helps with the detoxification pathways of the liver. And calcium D-glucarate also holds on to excess estrogen and helps flush it out. So I think that also played a key role. But, you know, as always, if you start taking anything new, I always recommend getting blood work and talking to your doctor because this is not medical advice. But that is what really helped me. Okay, so fast forward. Now at this point, I'm living in LA. My skin is clear. But it was just really like dull and gray.

And I thought I was doing all the skincare stuff right. I was buying all this stuff at Sephora. I was buying the non-toxic stuff. And I just felt like, yeah, like my skin just, it lacked this like vitality and brightness. And I had hung out with a girlfriend of mine who many of you guys probably know and hopefully listen to her podcast because it's amazing, Kelly Levesque. And I remember one time sitting down with her and I was like, can you just, can you help me figure this out? I feel like my skin is just dull and gray and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Like what can I do to help with that? And she goes, oh, go get a laser done. She's like, I do a laser and then I exfoliate a couple of times a week. She exfoliates a couple of times

a week. Let me clarify that. And then gets lasers. I don't know how often she was getting them. So I can't clarify on that, but she was like, get this exfoliator and then go to Kate Somerville and get a laser. Now, before I started recording this, I was on the website of Kate Somerville. I was trying to figure out what laser I got. I couldn't tell you guys, I'm sorry. It was probably at this point, seven or eight years ago now. My guess would be, oh, I lost it. I think it was called the Moxie laser, but again, don't quote me on this. But that was the first step that I took to start to revitalize my skin. I think lasers are, if you can afford them and you have access to them, are an amazing tool to help get that brightness back in your skin. Now, of course, there's so many different lasers.

And over the years, I have gotten a bunch of different ones. And again, I'm just sharing my whole journey and everything I've done since like my mid-20s that I think over time have really helped me. So that would be the first start was getting that laser from Kate Somerville. And essentially what it does, what a lot of these lasers do, I mean, there's different variations of different stuff and they do different things, but the general rule of thumb is what they do is they create injury to the skin. And then what happens is that it initiates this reaction for your body to heal. And it also promotes collagen growth because a lot of what happens as we age

is we lose collagen, especially in our faces more than anywhere else is where we really see it. And so if you can stimulate that collagen growth, you're gonna see a dramatic change in your face. So I started with that. And then I would say maybe like a year or two later, I got a vampire facial.

If you don't know what that is, essentially what they do is they draw some of your blood and they spin it and they pull out all the plasma and then they do a microneedling on your face with your plasma. And again, what that does is that it causes injury to your skin, stimulates the collagen, stimulates your body to go into overdrive to heal.

And as a result, you end up with like brighter skin. And I noticed a huge difference. I ended up doing that twice. And I also did with, end up with like brighter skin. And I noticed a huge difference. I ended up doing that twice. And I also did with, I did with that something called PRP. And what they do is they inject a little bit of your plasma under your eyes and sometimes in like your smile lines. And essentially it's like a non-toxic version of filler. Now I will say it doesn't work as well as filler, but it's your own body's plasma. And when you put that, for example, under your under eyes, it stimulates that collagen growth. And I noticed a huge difference because I also, on top of having those dark circles on my eyes, I had bags. I had just

kind of like hollowed out a little bit under my eyes. And I've had these most of my life. And I was always trying to figure out ways to get rid of them. And I will say the PRP really helped. In fact, I am finally going to probably get more PRP again this year. And the last time I got it was five years ago, I think. So it's really lasted a long time, but I'm starting to kind of see the Halloween come in again. And so I want to get more PRP to stimulate that collagen to just kind of fill in some of that sunken-ness. So around this time that I had gotten the vampire facial, I started really, really getting into skincare because as we do, as we age, we start just kind of fill in some of that sunken-ness. So around this time that I had gotten the Vampire Facial, I started really, really getting into skincare because as we do, as we age,

we start getting more concerned about fine lines and dullness and under eye circles and all the things. And I started really paying attention to skincare, but I wanted it to be non-toxic. So I started using this brand called Agent Nature. I'm sure you guys have heard me talk about it so much because I am truly, truly obsessed. The woman who founded this company,

she goes to France to formulate all of her stuff and everything is of like the highest quality, non-toxic. She spends years formulating like one product because she wants to get it right, because she wants it to be highly, highly effective, but also really, really clean. So it's not endocrine disrupting and we're not putting our health at risk with all these products. So I started using her vitamin C powder

a couple of years ago. And I would say the lasers and the vitamin C powder, and then also using chemical exfoliators have made the biggest difference in my skin. And I'll kind of go through all the different ones that I've used. The biggest thing that helped me was starting to use vitamin C in the morning. Now there's a bunch of different ones, so you don't necessarily have to use the Agent Ator, but I think using vitamin C in the morning really, really helps to brighten your skin. And what I do is I use the Agent Ator vitamin C powder. I mix it with her hyaluronic acid, the hyaluronic acid rose toner. Hyaluronic acid is also another amazing skincare product that I started using in my lineup that really has helped with moisture and helping create that dewy look and skin. And I use the hyaluronic acid in the

morning and at night. So I mix it with a vitamin C in the morning and then I put my serum over that, which is generally the Agent Nature serum. But right now I'm using my friend Holly. If you guys follow her wealthy belly, I'm using her Yara Propolis honey oil right now. And it's absolutely amazing. So if you guys can get your hands on that, I highly recommend getting it. So using vitamin C in the morning has helped with dullness. And then at night, a couple times a week, I started using glycolic acid. Glycolic acid is a chemical exfoliator, but don't let the word chemical scare you away. My best friend, Celeste Thomas, who is a holistic skincare guru, she's also an RN, she's very, very into all this kind of stuff. And she's a huge proponent for glycolic acid. Also lactic acid is another great one. And basically what they do

is instead of you having to scrub with these little, you know, the granular, like sandy stuff in the face wash or whatever it is, this is just a serum that you put on that creates that same exfoliation without you having to like, you know, put like gritty sand on your skin. That was another thing that I had started out with years ago where the exfoliators that were just like ripping my skin apart and creating more dryness. And I just felt like they weren't really helping. So these chemical exfoliators have helped a ton. Agent Ator has an amazing lactic acid face wash that I also think has really helped a lot. And then she also has a lactic acid, I believe it's called, yeah, it's called Holly Bright mask that you put on that also has lactic acid and it will give you that same exfoliator experience that you want. And the reason why you want to exfoliate is because,

you know, over time we have buildup from all the different skincare and makeup and everything that we put on and also just dead skin cells. And so it helps eat away those dead skin cells, reveals the brighter, dewier looking skin underneath. And so it helps eat away those dead skin cells, reveals the brighter, dewier looking skin underneath. And then I would say another thing that has really helped me a lot is using retinol alternatives. I have not gotten into retinol itself yet. I'm not fully opposed to it. I just prefer the cleaner stuff right now while I can get away with it still. My favorite one is from a non-toxic skincare company called Alpine Beauty. It's A-L-P-Y-N, and it's their Wild Nettle and Niacinamide Firming Serum. It's a retinol alternative, and I really feel like it works.

So I'm a big fan of that. I use that pretty much almost every single night. And I guess while I'm talking about night, since I've given you my morning routine, I will also go through my nighttime routine with you guys. So I wash my face. Right now I'm using Clear Stems Cleansing Gel, which I'm obsessed with. It gets all your makeup off.

It's like, oh my God, your skin feels so clean afterwards. I'm also a huge fan of Dime Beauty's Jelly Cleanser. I also really, really like Coco Kine's AHA Cleanser. And then I'm also a really big fan of Agent Atour's Lactic Acid Wash, which I use still a couple times a week to get that chemical exfoliation. So I'll do that and make sure that I get all my makeup off. And then after that, I put on the Alpine Beauty Wild Nettle Retinol Alternative. And then from there, I put on my hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture. And then

after that, I spray with a hydrating mist. Right now, my favorite one is the CoQ10 toner from Indie Lee. It smells so incredible and it's so hydrating. It's non-toxic. I let that all settle in. And then after that, I put on a night cream and this kind of changes, but I will be honest, the majority of the time I'm using either Agent Nouture or Dime Beauty products. Those are the majority of the ones that I use and also Alpine Beauty. I'm a huge fan. Right now I'm using the Agent Nouture face filter cream. Oh, actually also while we're talking about it, Agent Nouture also has a retinol alternative and that's actually the one I'm using right now because I just ran out of my Alpine Beauty. So I'm using the Agent Nature Retinol Alternative. And then I'm also using

the face cream right now. And then after the face cream, I'll put on my face oil right now. I'm using the Agent Nature. No, I just finished the Agent Nature face oil and now I'm using the Yara from my friend Holly. I hope this is not too confusing for you guys. I will link all of the products in the show notes just so that you guys can go through and click through all the links. And you know, if you guys want to buy any of it, just so you're not sitting here the whole time with a pen and paper. I've really struggled with chronic anxiety most of my life. I've been really honest about this on the podcast as well as my Instagram.

Outside of talk therapy and really addressing the root cause of my anxieties and getting to the root of my traumas, one of the things that has really helped me the most with my anxiety is taking CBD consistently. I am obsessed with this brand Cured Nutrition. Everything is organic. They use really high quality ingredients. And I know the founder personally, I love his mission, his desire and commitment to really high quality products is above and beyond any other CBD company that I have seen. Their commitment to quality is so high that they test all their products. So you can actually go to any of the products that you buy, look at the batch number, go on their website and see the lab results from that specific batch number. They test for heavy metal toxicity. They test for

pesticides. Also, they show that the amount of CBD that they claim is in their product is actually in there, which shockingly enough is a huge problem with CBD companies. Many of these companies are claiming that they have higher amounts of CBD than they actually do. Some companies that are really sketchy are claiming that they have CBD when they don't have any at all. So quality control is really, really important. It's super important to Cured Nutrition, which is why I love this brand so much. Also, if you guys go to curednutrition.com slash realfoodology, you're going to save 20%. Make sure that you use the code realfoodology.

And again, that is cured, C-U-R-E-D, nutrition.com slash realfoodology. Did you know that you may not be getting all the beneficial probiotic bacteria from some of your favorite fermented foods? For example, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut. Unfortunately, a lot of these probiotics and the good bacteria in these foods don't always survive the trip to your gut. This is why in addition to eating those very healthy and nutritious foods, I also like to take a probiotic like seed. And the reason I really like seed is because unfortunately not all probiotics are created equal. A lot of probiotics on the shelf also do not actually make it to your gut. So it's incredibly important that you're getting a good

high quality probiotic. Otherwise those probiotics are going to be burnt up in your stomach acid and never actually repopulate your colon. That bacteria has a lot of stuff it has to get through. Digestive acids, bile salts, and enzymes. This is why I really like Seed's DSO1 Daily Symbiotic. It's nested in a capsule delivery technology that ensures precision entry through the small intestine to your colon. I love Seed. It is well-backed, scientifically studied. I also have a podcast with the founder

if you guys wanna go back and listen to that and hear about what makes Seed truly stand out above the rest. Also, can we just talk about their packaging for a second? As someone who is really concerned about all the plastic in our landfill, I am so obsessed with their sustainable monthly refill system. They give you a glass jar and a little mini travel jar as well. And then every month you keep that jar and they send your new

refillable supplements in a compostable bio-based pouch that you pour into that jar. And this paper is made from algae that would otherwise damage fragile marine ecosystems. So all around, you can feel really good about purchasing seed probiotics because you are also helping to offset all the plastic and all the waste that we have in our landfills. So if you guys want to try seed probiotics today, please go to seed.com slash realfoodology and use code realfoodology to redeem 30% off your first month of seeds. DSN01 daily symbiotic. Again, that's seed.com slash realfoodology and make sure to use code realfoodology. Now the most recent treatment that I've gotten, I've gotten two

of them now and I'm probably going to get one more that I have seen a change. And I'm actually going to do a video and post this on my Instagram pretty soon because I really want to wait and see all the results. And it takes about six weeks for you to fully see the results of it is a treatment called Secret RF. Now it's apparently very, very similar to Morpheus. And I'm sure a lot of you guys have heard of Morpheus and what it is, it's a combination of microneedling and a laser. So you're getting all the benefits that you get from a laser while also getting the benefits of the microneedling with the, you know, the small injury to the skin. And it's amazing because the downtime is really not that bad. You just have to, you know, kind of lay low for like a day and not really wear makeup. I mean, but you can still go out and stuff because you're not even that red.

It's really crazy. Like you're kind of, I mean, you're definitely red when you leave, but I would say within the hour you go home and you're like, oh, I'm fine. It just kind of feels like a little like mild sunburn. And then the next day, like you're good to go. You know, they say 24 hours, you don't really want to put makeup on. After that, like I would say within two days of me doing both rounds, I was full makeup, you know, filming videos again. So downtime is not too bad. You just want to make sure you have

a ton of sunscreen on and you're not, you know, getting yourself in too much sun because you could cause some damage to your skin. I will say the interesting thing about some of these lasers and no one had warned me the first time I ever got it, got it. There was that fractional laser that I did like years ago and it creates this grid-like structure on your face. I was making jokes because after the secret RF, who's calling them my grill marks, because they kind of stay there for a little while. It was like the fractional laser that I got years ago. Those grill marks were there for like a minute. I was actually nervous because I was like, what did I do to my skin? They eventually go away. The secret RF ones, it took like a week or two for the girl marks to go down.

And what I love about Secret RF that I'm really excited about is around my chin and my jawline, my skin has just started to kind of sag a little bit, you know, the joys of aging. And it's not too crazy, but I don't want it to get to a point where I have jowls. And that's one of the amazing things about this Secret RF and also the Morpheus is that it kind of, it lifts everything up, lifts everything up, tightens it a little bit. And then you also get the benefits of, you know, helping with collagen production, helping with dullness of the skin. And it just helps your skin to look, you know, brighter and more youthful. All right. I hope all this made sense. It's kind of hard to do this in podcast form because I'm not in a video showing you guys

all the different products that I use, but I was thinking about it the other day. I wish when I was younger that I had had someone lay all this out for me because I spent a lot of my twenties being really bummed about my skin, you know, with the cystic acne and the dullness, the grayness. I remember I was just loading makeup on when I was, you know, in my 20s, just trying to get like some brightness in my skin because I looked so dull and gray. And, you know, I will say, obviously, you know, the lasers really help a lot. The skincare really helps. But guys, you know, the biggest factor in all of this is your diet. And looking back when I was vegetarian, like I mentioned earlier,

I was really, really inflamed. You know, I just was lacking this vitality, this life force because my body was really nutrient deprived, unfortunately, you know, and it wasn't until I started eating meat again that over the years I started kind of seeing that vitality and that life force come back because my body was just screaming for nutrients for me. So if you struggle with this at all, I would definitely look into diet. And, you know, of course, eating a whole real food based diet also really helps a lot because we want to eat the whole rainbow, right? All the vegetables and fruit and just really whole nutritious foods. We want to eat the whole rainbow, right? All the vegetables and fruit and just really whole nutritious foods. We want to eat foods that are alive because that's where we get all the

nutrients from. And what we see in our skin is a direct reflection of what's going on in our body. So if we are not taking care of ourselves from the inside, it's going to be reflected on the outside. So I would say number one, that is the biggest, most important thing. And also staying hydrated, starting to drink more water and putting electrolytes in my water every day really helped me a ton. Making sure that I was drinking at least 80 ounces of water a day has helped me a ton with, you know, keeping the hydration in my face and yeah, and just making it brighter and dewier. So anyways, well, I hope that you guys enjoyed this episode. If you liked it, please take a moment to share it on Instagram and tag me at realfoodology.

It means so much to me or write me a little message. Let me know how you guys are enjoying these solo podcasts and I'll talk to you guys 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. Bethany also delivers a weekly segment every episode called Bite of Knowledge, where she highlights an ingredient commonly used in food, skin care, household cleaning, you name it, and gives you the lowdown on the benefits or dangers that ingredient might have in your everyday life. From Botox, potassium, olive oil, and magnesium, all the way to those ingredients you can barely pronounce

on the back of your cereal boxes, Bethany has you covered. There's a reason why it debuted at number two on Apple Podcast Nutrition Charts. Check out Digest This on your favorite podcast app. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Produced by Drake Peterson and Resonant Media.