The Livy Method Podcast - Supplements with Dr. Paul Hrkal - Spring 2025

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

In this guest expert episode, Gina Livy and Naturopathic Doctor Paul Hrkal break down the real talk on supplements—not to sell you products, but to help you understand why they can matter when your body’s starting from depletion. They unpack using supplements as tools to support better sleep, energy, digestion, mood, and metabolism. It’s not about quick fixes—it’s about creating the best environment for your body to feel safe to let go. They also take on the all-too-common “I’m doing all the things, why isn’t the scale moving?” frustration, reminding listeners that weight loss is about more than the number. It’s about building a body that functions at its best.Where to find Dr. Paul:Instagram: @drpaulhrkalwww.paulhrkalnd.com If you are in the Spring 2025 Support Group, you can check out the full video here:www.facebook.com/groups/livymethodspring2025To learn more about the Livy Method, visit www.ginalivy.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Gina Livi and welcome to the Livi Method Podcast. This is where you'll have access to all of the live streams from my 91 Day Weight Loss program. With a combination of daily lives, guest expert interviews, and member stories, there is something new almost every day. Miss the Morning Live? Want to relisten to one of our amazing guest experts? Well, this is the place.

This podcast is hosted on Acast, but it's available on all podcast platforms, including the one you're listening to right now, Spotify, Apple, and Amazon Music. Hi, it's Morgan from Off the Shelf, and I'm here to tell you how my Google Pixel 9 helps me read more. Google actually gifted me this phone,

and now I use it nonstop. The other day, I was trying to remember the name of this book someone recommended and instead of spiraling into a 40 minute social media scroll I just asked Gemini on my Pixel. What's that romantic book with a competition and a ghost helping her through the trials? The book you're likely thinking of is Phantasma by Kaylee Smith. Here's a breakdown of why it fits your description. It's like having that one friend who always knows what you're talking about. Learn more about the Google Pixel 9 at store.google.com.

This is an opportunity to become curious. To learn some things. How do we help you feel less overwhelmed so you can continue on your journey? Keep believing in yourself and keep trusting the process. Just be patient. Supplements and weight loss. Can supplements actually make a difference and help you lose weight?

That's the conversation today. And here to have it is the perfect guest, Dr. Paul Herkel. Hello, good morning. Hello, good morning. Hello, good morning. So Dr. Paul and I have had this conversation so many times. And today I said to him, what is the conversation here? Because I think sometimes we get into the benefits of supplements and forget to talk or don't have time

to talk about the things that we are suggesting. And then I think maybe people don't have time to talk about the things that we are suggesting. And then I think maybe people don't use them because we haven't actually talked about them. And I know sometimes we go off on these tangents because it all seems really important and relevant. But what was your suggestion today about what we talk about and why? Well, I think I'm just putting myself in the shoes of people that are listening to this, maybe for the first time, maybe you've listened to this a couple of times,

but you know, there is, as part of the program, a section on supplements. And I think supplements come with some bankers. So I think we should probably just address that right off the start. Okay. So first of all, I'm a naturopathic doctor. I use this in my practice day in and day out.

This is one of the tools that I use. I've also worked in the natural health product industry for over a decade. And I've had a chance to really understand the research behind a lot of these things. The first thing that a skeptic kind of thinks about Gina is, well, you know what, I've heard that this doesn't do anything or they're unsafe or there's no research behind it. These are the typical kind of like quips that you hear from healthcare

professionals that are skeptics and people in general. But the reality is is that there is now so much research on many of the things that you find in this program specifically to help support you on your journey. So, I mean, we can go, we're going to go through each one of those. I want to touch on that evidence a little bit today. And I hope that people listening to this, Gina, are going to leave with a little bit of a deeper understanding. Not, we're not going to get in the weeds, but just a better understanding of how

this may play a role to augment their journey as part of this program. of how this may play a role to augment their journey as part of this program. You're also coming back to talk about reasons why people's weight might be slower to move. And it's way too early for anyone to tell that. And it's not like you're not gonna be able to lose your weight, but there are things like inflammation. There is gut issues, food sensitivities,

there is hormones. And so we're going to have that conversation later on, but a lot of these actually will help to address those as well. And the basic supplements, they're not crazy things, they are things that if you are deficient in them can hinder how your body is functioning on the most basic of levels. I couldn't agree more. I have this, and as you and I have talked, I've actually kind of developed what I would say, like the core five things that people absolutely need. And so the first question that we should probably ask is,

do I really need this stuff? Can I just get everything through my diets? I'm now starting to change my diet. The reality is, is that in the perfect world, yes, I'm 100% on board with that statement. The reality also is that we don't live in a perfect world. And most people as they go through this program, just come to that mindful moment where they're like, okay, so where am I doing things well, but where

do I need to improve? And historically, Gina, in our lives, we've gone through periods of time where we've had increased levels of stress, we've had to take medications, maybe we've had some chronic health issues, we've eaten poorly. And all those things conspire to lead us to where we are right now, where our body clearly is saying, hey, you know what, I'm not happy. And part of that is I'm holding on to extra weight. So I look at being overweight as a symptom of a dysfunctional metabolism. And when we correct the over of the overarching and underlying metabolic issues, this could be blood sugar regulation, this could be hormones, this can be straight up nutrient deficiencies, symptoms really get better. So yes, diets can help with repleting those things, but something like, for example, magnesium, which is one of the things we're going to talk about today, there's lots of evidence to show that it helps lower inflammation. There's evidence to show that it helps improve blood flow, improve things like brain function,

which blood flow obviously augments. And that's going to help you sleep better. It's going to help you be in less pain, less tense muscles, less anxiety, who would not want all those things. And of course they're going to help augment our journey here. So I think if you're looking to hear me say magnesium has a randomized placebo control trial that if you take 500 milligrams, you're going to lose five pounds a month. That does not exist. But we are not saying that. We're not saying that. We're saying we are to exactly as the word said, supplement your diet.

And there are many things in this foundational plan especially that no matter how much you try The research shows that you can't get enough through just food you know, I always like to share that one of the big takeaways that I have learned from dr. Paul is that People like to say well, I'm eating healthy. I'm getting all this nutrient-rich foods I'm gonna get everything I need that way and And the reality is, if you're starting with a deficiency from years of starving and depriving yourself, that's not the best way to help supplement, to give your body what it needs

until it's able to get what it needs. Also, you can be eating good nutrient rich foods and it's about how your body is breaking down and getting the nutrients from those foods. And you'd have to curate your diet, meaning be so super mindful to make sure that everything that you're eating has enough magnesium in it to get the amount of magnesium that your body would need in order to give you enough. And so ideally, yes, we would love you to not need supplements. We do not want you to spend your money on supplements. And if you took any one of these things on its

own, it's probably not going to help you lose weight just by taking it. But like Dr. Paul said, it'll help your body function on a more optimal level. Magnesium, for example, not a sleep aid, but can help you get better quality sleep. And so it's not the magnesium per se, it's the fact that you're getting a better quality sleep that can really help, especially when it comes to weight loss. So they help indirectly, directly in a roundabout kind of way. I mean, we could probably spend three hours going through each supplement and kind of breaking down all the indirect ways that they're going to help. Like, since we're talking about magnesium, let's just use that for a second.

Let's go into magnesium. Okay. You talk about things like sleep. So sleep is so important. We know that there's ample research showing that if you get a good seven, eight hours of deep restful sleep, you are going to regulate your blood sugar better. You're going to have less cravings. And the research shows that you're going to have a lower weight than people that

don't sleep well. Now magnesium, one of the constant pieces of feedback you hear through the program. And I hear through the hundreds of patients that I've seen go through the program is that as when they start taking magnesium in the right amounts, because a lot of people like, well, it's in my multivitamin or it's in my food. Yeah, those are levels that are kind of like bare minimums, Gina, there's a difference between like, keeping the ship afloat verse supplying yourselves with optimal levels.

And so when they start supplementing it, they'll notice that you know what I right away within the first couple of days, I noticed I got a deep deeper, more restful sleep. So that's a common piece of feedback. Magnesium also helps with, as I mentioned, tightness and chronic pain. So a lot of people suffer with like aches and pains and muscle issues. Magnesium has lots of evidence to show that it might help with that aspect. And that can impact

things like sleep. That can impact the ability for you to move your body and exercise. You're going to hear a lot about that throughout the program, even though it's not an exercise program. You can see how I said right in the intro video when we had all the kind of top guests on, is that this is, we start with diet and you end with lifestyle. You know, you, you end up leaving with that and realize it's, it's more than just about what you eat, even though that's, that's the foundation piece. So magnesium supports so many of these things. It also supports detoxification.

Now that's another one just came to mind. Uh, we talk about detox, you talk about detox and you'll talk a lot more about it as people go through the program and they realize, know what I'm getting some of these symptoms I didn't I'm not realizing that uh you know I was constipated for so many times so many years magnesium helps with that so I mean like just talking about one thing Gina we can literally spend a long time going and detailing each one of these so magnesium is one of my favorites I you lifted you lifted up Magcom there, I believe, which is a power. There's also capsules, which you can do. The big takeaway when people ask me,

Dr. Paul, what's the best form of magnesium? Number one, it's the form that you take. So instead of it just having there on your shelf, number two, avoid magnesium oxide. Magnesium oxide is a laxative. That's where you're gonna find it in the pharmacy aisle. Avoidnesium oxide is a laxative. That's where you're going to find it in the pharmacy aisle. Avoid cheap magnesium oxide brands because you're really not going to get much absorption. It will still help you if you are majorly deficient, but we're now trying to optimize. So look for forms

like magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate. Magnesium L-theronate is one that's specific for your brain, which I use a lot in my practice because that's one of my focuses. So I have probably four or five different types of magnesiums that I kind of specify with patients, but those are my kind of top three, Gina. I like the natural condom powder because I use it before bed and it helps, especially like you said, it does help with bowel movement. Straws water into the bowels can help if you're having issues with constipation, not necessarily sleep aid, poop aid is what you're looking for. There are other types of magnesium, the glycinate. That's the one everyone's talking about when it

comes to menopause, especially. Yeah. So because glycine, so magnesium is attached to an amino acid genome. So glycine is part of the compound that it comes in a capsule, you can't just put straight magnesium in a capsule doesn't work that way. You need you need a compound and the magnesium has a benefit but then this these two big glycine molecules which are attached to the magnesium, they also have a benefit. So glycine has this anti anxiety effect supports detoxification, it helps you get into a deeper restful sleep.

And so when you start taking especially higher doses of it into the kind of like two gram category, because I use glycine by itself sometimes, and for this, you're going to start getting those kind of like calming and sleep effects. So that's where MagGlycine comes in. The MagCalm powder, I'll be honest, it's the one that I use before bed, just because I think it's just a habit.

It's ritualistic. I actually enjoy the taste. Not everyone does. And so that's where you have the capsule option. Again, this we talk about supplements. We're not married to, you have to take this brand. You have to take this type. You have to take this. So we're brand agnostic at this point. So we don't want to really recommend anything. So find one that works for you. But the nice thing about the MAGCOM is that you do get a good amount of magnesium and that's going to really help saturate your brain and your muscles during a time in the

night where your body really needs to relax and rest and recover. Be careful with the MAGCOM. You can overdo it. Some people's guts are sensitive. So if you wake up and you're running to the bathroom and your first bowel movement of the day is really, really aggressive, maybe dial back the magnesium and you can break it up and take it during the day too.

So a lot of patients that struggle with what I just mentioned, they'll say, okay, I take half a scoop in the morning, I take half a scoop at night, and that goes away because there's kind of a threshold, Gina, that if you push past it, it all comes flying out in the morning. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, and you can break up the dose. Again, it can help facilitate a better night's sleep, but it's not gonna, take it during the day, it's not gonna make you sleepy. Okay, so really, really important, Dr. Paul just talked about brands. So if you are severely deficient and you have issues, it's great to see a naturopathic doctor.

They have access to really great quality brands. They can talk to you about individual doses. What we have in the book on page 128 or have posted in the group today, you can also find it in your app under supplements, is a breakdown. So we talk about vitamin D. For example We talk about the pills we talk about the drops we talk about the dose

So the minimum recommended dose when to take We also any notables with any of these supplements in terms of like who might want to stay away from it So there's more information in the supplement post Dr paul and I can't go through all of that because literally we'd be on here for 10 hours today. We're just going to give you the quick overview. I would love it, but time doesn't allow. I could rip all day long. It's always a great idea to take this information away if you have any questions. Talk to your own healthcare providers, go to your pharmacist, go to the health food store, your local health food store or health food section and say,

Hey, I want to start taking this. What's a good quality brand. If you're concerned about price points, I love buying great quality brands on sale. So sometimes I'll actually switch up the brand that I'm using. So, um, it's, and it's so individual. It's so individual. I'm glad you're bringing it up because probably one of the most common reasons that I see people as part of the program is that people are coming to me with that exact question where they may not feel comfortable just starting to do this themselves, Gina.

They're like, you know what? I have, maybe you're on some medications. There definitely are some interactions to think about. The beautiful part about this, especially the introductory foundational supplements is that almost all of them are very safe with almost every medication. But I will always say 100% in this forum, we're having this discussion with a big group of people, always talk to your health care provider. That is literate in supplements. That's the key thing. So if you talk to your family doctor, they may say, I have no idea about this, or they may do the knee jerk reaction,

which is it's all nonsense. Don't take it. Uh, and so I would just be aware of either of those answers. If they'd say the honest things, like, I'm not sure I've now hearing more and more, you know, they'll say go work with a naturopath and figure out what is right for you. Because, integrated, a team-based approach to medicine, I find is absolutely the most effective way for you to get the best health. Because there's things that your family doctor's really good at, and there's things

that they just don't have any training on. And this is a perfect example. And so I guide and curate people through exactly this type of discussion. I saw two or three patients yesterday, just yesterday in my office, having this exact thing, saying, you know what? I want to lose a couple extra pounds and, uh, but I don't really know how to implement the supplement piece. And that's okay. If you're listening to this and you're like, I don't really know where to start.

Don't do something you're not comfortable with, but that those posts that Gina's talking about do a great job at really giving you more information. So if you're still wanting more info, that's a great place to start. Yeah, I mean, you and I have had this conversation for so long. And there was this really, there was this, there was this time in the diet industry where of course, the diet industry sucks. And then along that there was was all like the anti-pseudo science people

came in and they're like, oh, this is just, you know, quackery, whatever. And there's a lot, there's research, this is science. And, you know, no disrespect to doctors, but this is not where they are trained. And they're great for prescribing medications or helping you with whatever you got going on. And, you know, I hate that word root cause because it was so attached to the pseudoscience thing. But it is about figuring out getting to the root of it. What is the underlying issue and actually helping your body? That's what this is about. And we know from the recent menopause conversation because, you know because I hate to say, well, doctors weren't trained

in that, right? Like I would never want to disrespect a doctor, but the reality is just like they weren't trained in menopause. And we have Dr. Jennifer Zalawitsky, Dr. Jennifer Zalawitsky, who's an MD joining us on Thursday, and she'll share that. That was like, it was not something that she learned

about when she was becoming a doctor. And the same goes with supplements. No disrespect to doctors, but naturopathic doctors are the ones who specialize in the supplements specifically. Yeah. I'm not a believer that a person leaves my office with 10 different things. That's extremely rare in very chronic complex cases. And I really want the diet to be the foundation.

And then you use exactly as the word said, you supplement the areas that you need. And so that's where, again, maybe the list of the foundational things is like, wow, I don't wanna start with five things or six things. Maybe I start with the top two or three that are most relevant to you. So read over that list, listen to what we're saying today, and then find the

ones where you want to start with. And then you could, every week or so you can always add one in again, if you're not ready to go all in, which many people are and they do great if they do that too. Okay. So we talked about magnesium. Should we do vitamin D or omega-3 next? No, I want to do vitamin D because it is actually complimentary. Everyone thinks of vitamin D and calcium as being really connected. And it's true. Vitamin D helps control the absorption of calcium out of the gut and puts it into your bloodstream.

And therefore your bones can use it for making them hard and growing them. However, magnesium also plays a key role in the conversion of vitamin D from what the sun converts cholesterol into the active form. So if you are taking vitamin D and you're deficient in magnesium, you're actually not able to use it properly. This is fascinating to understand kind of the biochemical connections,

you'll start seeing once we get deeper into the weeds, there are these beautiful interactions that really show the complementarity of things that are normally found in nature and found in your diet. So magnesium is complementary to vitamin D. Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin, which is again, referring back to the, really the only way you can get it naturally in reasonable doses is being exposed to the sun 10, 15 minutes during the midday period of time with kind of like 50% of your skin exposed. Going outside and getting your hands and your face

and your neck is not gonna be enough to get vitamin D. Almost every single cream that we have has SPF in it, which is sun protection factor. And that means that's blocking vitamin D. So that leaves us with supplementation, Gina. So out of all the supplements we're talking about, vitamin D is the most common deficiency in Canada. It is almost 80% of people have suboptimal levels.

Hi, it's Morgan from Off the Shelf, and I'm here to tell you how my Google Pixel 9 helps me read more. Google actually gifted me this phone, and now I use it nonstop. The other day, I was trying to remember the name of this book someone recommended, and instead of spiraling into a 40-minute social media scroll, I just asked Gemini on my pixel. What's that romantic book with a competition and a ghost helping her through the trials? The book you're likely thinking of is Phantasma by Kaylee Smith. Here's a breakdown of why it fits your description. It's like having that one friend who always knows what you're talking about. Learn more about the Google Pixel 9 at store.google.com

How's it gonna affect your weight? I'm going to get into the K thing in a second. Everyone's like, should we take the K, the D2, the K2, the D3? But how, if you're deficient, how is that going to hinder your weight loss? That's what it, if you're not, if you're deficient, how does that hinder weight loss? The biggest thing is you're going to be tired. You're going to be inflamed and you're going to have, we know that with that? Yeah, the biggest thing is you're going to be tired, you're going to be inflamed, and you're going to have...

We know that people that are overweight, the research shows, because again, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, you are at a greater risk to being deficient. And so therefore, all the beneficial effects that vitamin E causes in the body, you're going to be missing out on. So that's bone function, that's cardio protection, that's energy levels, that's cellular protection. So yes, it has a very complimentary effect on your overall metabolism, which is gonna help you lose weight in the long run.

Again, there's no randomized placebo control trial showing vitamin D makes you lose weight, but it's so important for you feeling good. Oh, and I even forgot, it helps you you with mood and that controls things like emotional eating. So bingo, that's going to be a big one. Rewind that y'all and listen again, rewind that piece and listen again. Um, and you know, this is where people are like, I'm doing all the things I'm eating food, drink the water and why can't I lose weight? And then their stress levels are through the roof and they're not sleeping. And they're just, ah, the D3, the D, the D3, the K2.

What's the deal? Yeah, so vitamin D comes in two forms. The cheap form that you find in milk is vitamin D2. That is the plant-based one. Vitamin D is added to certain foods like milk because it was thought to be again, complementary to bone function. We now know that you can get calcium in other ways. You can get vitamin D in much more efficient ways. Vitamin D2 is not a good form of supplementing vitamin D.

Vitamin D3 is the best form to do it. The best thing is the sun. So that is going to help you with vitamin D, but it's going to help you with other things. I'm definitely not saying be silly with sun hygiene. You need to be smart with that. However, we also do need to have some sun exposure because there's other things that sun does for us that is not directly related only to vitamin D. That's just one small thing. I'll give you one example. Vitamin D, sorry, the sun, when you look at the sun, especially I'm a big fan of going out in the morning, getting natural light, it goes into your eyes

and activates certain things like, for example, the melatonin production late at night. So if you're struggling with sleeping, morning sunlight helps with that. It also helps activate certain photoreceptors, which helps vitamin D actually be activated in the body. There's some fascinating research about that. Anyways, vitamin K is another fat soluble vitamin. It is found in some foods like some cheeses and grass-fed butter, for example, but again, not in really high amounts.

Vitamin K is complimentary to vitamin D because it prevents the overcalcification of the soft tissues like your arteries. So vitamin D pulls the calcium in, vitamin K makes sure that it goes to the right places like the bone. So it complements light magnesium, light calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K too work together. bone. So it complements light magnesium, light calcium, vitamin

D and vitamin K two work together. K one is what you find in spinach. So that's where it originally was named after K for the German word coagulation. And that is different than vitamin K two. That's where a lot of medical doctors get really frustrated because they're like, that's gonna make that's gonna give you blood clots if you take vitamin K. Vitamin K2 is based in a food called natto, that's a Japanese food traditionally used.

High in vitamin K, it's going to be helpful for the things I just mentioned. It also has a whole host of other benefits like vitamin D, but that's the main one is that it prevents calcification. That's why it's complementary to vitamin D. Okay, great. I love that what you said earlier, too, these like people tend to be deficient in magnesium. They tend to be deficient in D. They tend to not get omega-3. I mean, this is sort of like we are kind of like making assumptions here that people who carry excess weight and maybe due to high stress, lack of sleep, hormones

and whatnot could benefit from these specific supplements. That's right. Exactly. And omega-3 is another good example where if you're looking at published evidence, the majority of people I'm looking at, I think you have one study, you know, I do a lot of work with brain injuries and concussions. So there's one study that I presented on where there was a group of college athletes. So you think that they're kind of at the peak of their health and athletic prime. And they, and they looked at this group of, there's a couple thousand college NCAA athletes and they found that the majority of them had deficient levels in omega threes. They had, there's something called an omega score and eight is great and

four is poor. And they were like at 4.2 on average. And so that tells us that even the people that quote unquote are getting nutritional advice and are supposed to be healthy and eating to improve their athletic performance, they're still deficient in Omega-3s because again, so many of the things in our diet are competing for the place that Omega-3 has in our cells. Omega-3s are a fatty acid and they get incorporated into our cellular membrane and the fatty fatty acid, like the omega, means that what part of this chain do you have this little kink? And if you keep eating fried foods and saturated fats

and these processed fats and these trans fats, even if you ate them in the past, they get incorporated in that cellular membrane and they start competing with omega-3s. And omega-3rees help control inflammation. These other fats and oils, they amplify inflammation. So there's this constant battle, this ratio between omega sixes and omega threes, bad fats and good fats.

And historically, if we think back, most people in North America have 20 bad fats for one good fat. And you want to be somewhere between like four and eight bad fats to one good fat. That's the healthier ratio. You'll never out compete it totally. And so that's where supplementation comes in Gina, because people don't eat enough omega-3 rich foods. And really the only good way to do that is by eating expensive fish like salmon, for example. So that's where it comes in, right? It's not cheap. In the notes, we have also listed food sources as well. Right? So people

are like, what more can I eat to get my Omega-3? We've listed food sources. You know, I take the EPA, the DHA, does it matter the combination? Yeah, it does matter. But I think for what we're talking about here, most omega-3s are a combination of EPA and DHA. I'm not going to give you the actual full name. It's a big long name, basically saying this is one form, the EPA that has more of the anti-inflammatory effect. And then there's the DHA, which has more of the structural effect. That's what's found in the brain. That's why pregnant women are recommended to take a high DHA omega-3.

So I use that a lot for brain health, but there's a lot of people that also want the mood benefits and the inflammation benefits. So most formulations, Gina, are a balance of EPA, usually three EPAs to two DHAs, and that's a good one. However, you might be looking at a bottle and say, okay, this one's 50 bucks. And then this one over here at Costco is 1999.

And it's a huge bottle. I mean, how does this compute? This is a perfect example of the variance, even in the same product that you can find on the same shelf. And it all comes down to the potency. So if you start looking at per serving, how much EPA, how much DHA between these two products, you'll notice that the more expensive ones

are much more concentrated. Doesn't mean that they're better quality, it could be. However, it usually means that you see a lot of capsules, however, they're very weak. And so the therapeutic effect is much lower. So doesn't mean it's trash. It just means that you have to take a heck of a lot more to really get any benefits. Okay.

I want to talk about, gosh, there's so many I still have left that the probiotics be complex. I want to talk about creatine and of course, collagen. But I have a comment here as we're talking about supplements from Paige. I'm so frustrated. I've been following the program, I'm not losing. Keep going up and down the same pound or a few ounces is super frustrating.

So of course, that is very frustrating. Someone signs up to do a weight loss program. Here we are, we're in week one. Oh, sorry, week two. We're in week two now. What's your, like, we're talking about supplements because it's about recognizing where you're at and what you need. And, you know, someone starts the program, it's normal for them not to start seeing weight loss right away, though

93% do lose in the first four weeks. How does this supplement conversation fit into someone being frustrated, I'm eating all the things, I'm drinking the water? Where does it fit? So I mean, the first thing I would say to Paige is like, is this your first program? Assuming this is like not her first program. I mean, just to get some context there, like it is unreasonable to expect weight loss in the second week of a program. Like, you know, I'm going to say that straight up. If this is your first time, Paige, please be patient. This is something that's going to say that straight up. If this is your first time, page, please be patient. Uh, this is, this is, this is something that's going to continue.

I'm assuming that it's not because, um, this is, this is basically the question that I see with all my patients is that they're, they're having some of these, these, these frustrations, I'll say. And you know, we'll get to a lot of those things in future conversations at this point in time, right now, what a person's 100% focus laser focus should be is I'm doing the program to the best of my ability. And that means I'm committing all in. I'm not limping in with a half kind of efforts. I'm going to commit fully.

And you are now building habits, Gina. This is what we're doing in the first four weeks. We're breaking bad habits and we're building new ones. It takes 30 to 40 days to break a habit and create a new one. And the effects of a poor habit, like eating late at night or emotional eating, whenever some stress comes up, uh, that is going to be ingrained for many years and it's sometimes difficult to do

that. And so I'm going to say supplements is perfect timing for the conversation now to introduce them because at this point in time, we are trying to put as many good things into your body so your cells are properly fueled, so you have every opportunity to break those bad habits. I'll give you an example, B vitamins. If you're deficient B vitamins, Gina, you are going to be at a higher chance to experience cravings, for example, you're going to have more energy fluctuations because B

vitamins help with neurotransmitter production. And when you have fluctuations in those neurotransmitters, mood issues, anxiety, poor focus and cravings happen. Acetylcholine with memory, dopamine with focus and cravings. So dopamine is massively important. Serotonin for feeling happy or sad. And then epinephrine and GABA. GABAs are calming neurotransmitter. And so when we don't have magnesium and B6, you can't make GABA properly. So this is setting the foundation.

So that's why I really like the conversation now, because think of this as I'm building a house or maybe I'm rebuilding a house or maybe I'm rebuilding house and I'm making sure all I have all the tools before I get started. I'm bringing it all to my construction site. Think of you as a constructing work in progress. We're creating this new metabolism. Make sure you have the right building blocks there. And it's always big picture, right? Like it's big picture in how everything all works together. I love what you just said about that.

So B complex, I know we've listed all the different Bs in the notes itself. B12. Yep. That's the most common one. That's the one that's most common because it can be tested by your family doctor. You can test B6, you can test B1, B2, that's much more rare. I do it in certain examples and cases. However, B complex is one of the most popular supplements on the market because number one, they work together as a team. So you

have B12 in there, but B12 also uses folic acid and B6 for a lot of the same functions. So because they're found in nature in small amounts in certain foods, the best food, the one that is richest in B vitamins, can you take a guess, Gina? I'll put you on the spot. Do you know which food is the richest in B vitamins? I know, and maybe people can throw it in the chat real quick. See if anybody knows.

Who think who what is it? What food? Richest in B. It's liver actually. So like, Yeah, I knew that. I knew that. No. So nobody wants to hear that. So when you say, well, then you have a supplement as an option because there really isn't any other good food other than, you know, good quality, you know, grass fed meat has some B vitamins for sure. But by far it's liver. Nobody wants to eat that. Nobody does eat that anymore. So that's where supplements come in. You see why I said that Gina? Because everyone's like, but that is really a great source of vitamin D and B vitamins.

I was just at a restaurant actually, and they offered liver and onions. And I was like, no, my mom made me eat it once. And I just am like, no, with some ketchup on there. Someone just asked, you know, is taking supplements a lifelong thing? And you know, no, like, yes and no. Like I, it's all about right now, what can you do to help your body focus on fat loss? So I would stay focused on that. Actually, Dr. Paul comes in to the maintenance program and talks about supplements after weight loss.

And all of these, like I take omega-3 for brain health. I take probiotics for my digestive system and my microbiome. I take, you know, vitamin D just like everyone else because I have absorption issues. I'm stressed as fuck. So I take my magnesium every night. Like, I, you know, like, I still take them. We need to be having a hardcore conversation right here. You, everyone needs to tune in because I'm sure people are like hands up with that. Every single one of my patients is probably channeling that vibe right there, Gina. Uh, we absolutely need to talk about it. Okay.

You know what? And since you brought that up, I just want to give everybody a little pearl, a little tidbit here. Okay. We'll, we'll leave people with this. Okay. If you're feeling stressed out, if you're feeling overwhelmed, it's the most common thing I hear over and over again.

I got five kids. They were, I was up to one last night. It's probably why I look like this, uh, you know, with kids and we all have our thing. These supplements help you become a little bit more resilient to stress. We haven't talked about it from this angle before, but we've always talked about it from, okay, you're missing something. We have this kind of like bare minimum mentality in our current medical system where it's like, we're not going to really deal with something until things are broke, rather than what can I do to make you more

resilient and to protect from the effects of things like stress? So I look at a lot of the things we just talked about as kind of like an internal shield to help us cope with that. And in fact, when you look at the things like magnesium, especially, and B complex, it's going to help protect you from the stressors that you're going through. When you're under stress, you're using your B vitamins and magnesium in a lot higher levels. There's lots of research showing that in various forms of stressors People become more deficient. So if you have lots of stress in your life, you definitely need more magnesium You definitely need more B vitamins

particularly those two Because they're required to help make all the things the hormones the neurotransmitters that are going to keep you functioning in those periods of high stress So the challenge I'm going to give to everybody now listening to this is that if you resonate with that, if you resonate with I got stress, as Gina said, try to look at optimizing B vitamins and magnesium at the doses that are recommended on the bottle

for two weeks and see if you notice a difference. Just do that as a little bit of a challenge. Maybe that'll be one of the takeaways from our conversation. There are a lot of great supplements in the foundations. I believe B vitamins and magnesium, along with vitamin D are part of the three foundational. And when I say foundational, Gina,

these are things that we simply don't get enough in our diet and our current high pace lifestyle requires that we have more of these. So that I actually think that those three supplements, almost everybody should be on at some point during the year. So that piggybacks on the question of, do I have to be on this for the rest of my life all the supplements? No, you don't you can definitely take breaks. I talked about that. However If we're really being real with ourselves We're all

probably Overstressed and under recovered and this is where supplements can help you It's not a magic bullet, but it's gonna help you manage that does that make sense, you know Are you are you are you that make sense, you know? Are you hearing what I'm saying there? Yeah, overstressed and under recovered is a big one. In fact, next week we have the ladies joining us, Dr. Beverly, Dr. Olinka and Alana McGinn to talk about sleep and stress.

And so I think this is a great kind of segue into that conversation next week. I know there are supplements that we didn't get to. I mean, like Dr. Paul said, we could literally take hours on every single one, especially when it comes to your microbiome, probiotics, prebiotics. I think we'll get into that next time we talk. That's another one. That's one of my foundations too, is probiotics. No, I think, and then I want to talk about creatine because that's a big one. That's a hot topic these days and of course collagen and whatnot, but we'll leave that for another day. We'll talk about it next time. Let's put it on our list. I think we can have that in

a supplementary conversation. We always say we're going to stick to half hour. We never do. We just keep like just forging along. I don't know. I love this conversation, Jean. I hope everyone found it helpful. We touched on the most important things and hopefully listening to the takeaway is you have a better understanding of where these fit in as part of the program, where they fit in maybe for your health. Maybe you've had two or three that were a takeaway. Your homework today is to go back and read those supplement sections. And really, if you've written off this section before, maybe it's time for you to look at this. you've written off this section before, maybe it's time for you to look at this. Yes. Thank you. Dr. Paul, always a pleasure. I'm so honestly, truly grateful that you take the time. If you want to reach out to Dr. Paul and his team, you can find him over on

Instagram at DrPaulHerkel. That's DrPaulH-R-K- K a L. Or you can head over to his website, Paul Herkel nd.com he's gonna be back. He's gonna be back more than a few times. Throughout the rest of the program kind of guiding us through the program and leading it the conversation, everything that you need to hear and didn't know you needed to hear go back rewind, listen to this again, pull out that supplement post, read it over, walk away, talk to your healthcare providers. You do not need to run out today

and start taking all the supplements. Give some thought to it. We're going to continue the conversation next time. Have a great day, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Thanks. and now I use it nonstop. The other day, I was trying to remember the name of this book someone recommended, and instead of spiraling into a 40 minute social media scroll, I just asked Gemini on my Pixel. What's that romantic book with a competition and a ghost helping her through the trials? The book you're likely thinking of is Phantasma by Kaylee Smith. Here's a breakdown of why it fits your description.

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