The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - How Diets Fail Us & The Importance Of Proper Health, Sleep, & Nutrition Ft. JS Health Founder Jessica Sepel

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

#511: On today's episode we are joined by Jessica Sepel. Jessica is a 3x best selling author and the founder and creator of JS Health. Today Jessica joins the show to discuss how diets fail us and the importance of proper health, sleep, and nutrition. We also discuss which vitamins and minerals we are lacking the most and how supplementing properly can change our lives for the better.  To connect with Jessica Sepel click HERE To connect with JSHealth click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential. This episode is brought to you by JSHealth Nourish your health and confidence from the inside-out with formulas carefully crafted with care for you. Go to jshealthvitamins.com/discount/SKINNY for 15% off. Produced by Dear Media

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. This episode is brought to you by JS Health. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness.

Welcome to the Skinny Confidential, him and her. Aha! major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential him and her. Tuning into your body and works for you is like the next best way to live the healthy life you know and I think it's when we're not there yet people are still listening to everyone else people still confused and overwhelmed and listening to every other trend. I also say there's a difference between being health conscious and weight conscious and you know you really want to gear towards the health conscious because then everything else balances out anyway. You really want to eat to feel good, eat to be well. All right, you guys, this episode is really fun because I have been following Jessica since I started the Skinny Confidential years ago.

She has been so vulnerable and real with her own struggles on fab dieting. And she's really worked, and you've seen it on social media, to find balance and body love. What's so cool about her is she's a practitioner. So she owned her own private practice as a nutritionist, and she really was able to see the transformational impact and effect vitamins had firsthand on her clients. So she wanted to create her own. So she really started developing formulas that were targeting situations to common problems. I personally am a huge fan of her magnesium. I really like it at night to wind down. And I think it's one of the best

magnesiums on the market. So definitely check that out. Anyway, we'll get to that. She also is very much into the thyroid. And I think that that is something that a lot of women don't talk about. I struggled with hypothyroid after Zaza. And I went to the hormone doctor and she told me if I had literally starved myself and worked out every single day, I still would not be able to see weight loss because of the hypothyroid. So I was able to get that fixed. And what I love about Jessica is she's all about thyroid health, especially in women. And we talk about that in this episode. Jessica launched the JS Health Blog in January 2012. She spoke about her struggles with body image and bad dieting. In 2015, Jessica published her first book, The Healthy Life. She documented what she had learned

in nutrition studies at university. And in 2017, she launched her own eight-week program, which teaches the undieting approach. She now has a massive vitamin company. It is so popular. It's all over the internet. And we're going to talk all things body health, vitamins. We're going to talk about eating disorders, overcoming your struggles, and the thyroid. The thyroid is one of my favorite topics. Make sure you remember we have a code for you at the end of this episode and a giveaway with JS Health. On that note, let's welcome the owner, the founder of JS Health Vitamins, the JS Health app, and the JS Health eight-week program to the Skinny Confidential show.

This is the Skinny Confidential, him and her. I am so happy that you came all the way out here. Where are you coming from? I'm coming from Spain, Paris, San Diego. San Diego is where we grew up They're so proud of you over there They really are I think they all are very proud of you It's very true

So your accent is so unique It's one of the most beautiful accents I've ever heard I want to go back to where you grew up Because I know you've been everywhere So start at the beginning So I grew up in South Africa. Have you guys been? No. But we talked about this a little bit. You have to take the kids.

We really wanted to go and it was like we had this trip that was getting all planned and then the pandemic hit and it derailed everything. And then we had kids. You need to go. Cape Town and a safari and Londolozi, it's called. The best. Okay. So you were born there. Born there. So we really did immigrate because of the crime because it was just unsafe like you know what people say is true i don't know specifically like you like break it down for our audience if they're unfamiliar you were you were born when there was a lot of crime there they're just unsafe like i my memories of getting home from schools my mom's circling around the neighborhood because there were boom gates like like a gated community

and there would be security guards and my mom would just circle around, circle around until there was no one on the street and she felt safe enough to open the gate. That's really, and alarms. And if you go to sleep at night, there is a separate door to the bedrooms and that has to be locked. And if the alarm ever goes off, it's really scary. I know, but when you're growing up in it, it doesn't feel that way because in so many ways, it's also really idyllic. It's a really affordable place to live. We grew up living the healthy life actually. I had a holiday house on the beach. It's also a beautiful life but it comes at a cost. It sounds like it's almost it's like very beautiful and pretty but then you're also having cortisol. Exactly. It's so much cortisol. My mom yeah will tell you that a mom, imagine now that you're a mom.

No, I can't imagine. Yeah. Like, was she just out of her mind? Yeah. Out of her mind to the point my dad didn't want to go. He had his own business. He had set up his career. But now, you know, thank God.

Was there like an incident? Was there something that happened or was it just like something happened to someone else? Or like what triggered the fear? We were so lucky. I mean, my grandfather, for example, got held up laced every month or every few months, but we never did have anything happen to us, thank God. But all the people we knew always had- So she just was hearing all the stories and obviously had relations. Yes, and close relations. The crime just is so triggering and you can feel it in the energy. So when I've gone back to visit, I don't sleep. You know, it's just like a, it's the cortisol. It's literally just this feeling of unsafety. And it's sad because it is the most beautiful country and the most beautiful people

and the most beautiful culture, like the soul you feel as you land. Like it's in going with your kids, you need to go. It's the best. Are there a lot of animals there or is that like totally stereotypical? No, there are. But not like your backyard but not in your backyard oh my gosh when you go on safari you'll see everything leopard lions we had a girl on the podcast tell us once that she was on safari i don't know if it was there and she fell off a zebra and i'm just like oh my god yeah i need to go i need to drink some more of that coffee drink my God, I need to go. Drink some more of that coffee drink, please. I know, I need to go. What is the pink coffee drink?

This is the Lauren Bostic. Oh, it's the old one, I thought so, yeah. Okay, so once you moved, what was life like then? Hard, actually harder because I was 12, 13. So just imagine a teenager, everything going for me. You know, academically, I was performing. Socially, I was so set. I like had my best friends, had a boyfriend. And then all of that got taken away for me. Academically, I was performing. Socially, I was so set. I had my best friends. I had a boyfriend. And then all of that got taken away from me. I was excited

because I knew it was going to be an amazing life and be with my cousins. And it was also exciting, but I don't think I realized just how traumatic it would be immigrating at 12 or 13, the brink of teenagehood. And that's really when my relationship with food and my body started suffering. I was actually really young. The more I think about it, there was no social media, but I discovered fad dieting at that point, I think, as a way to control this changing environment in my life, immigrating, having to make new friends, having to find myself again at school, you know, academically. And I think latching onto fad diets was my way of controlling my environment and also controlling my weight became this like obsession. Again, a way to control so many changes in my life.

And so immigration was tough. I think it was just really difficult for me at the age of 12 or 13. And I think it stayed with me for life, that sense of loss. And yeah, it was traumatic. What was it like dealing with an eating life that sense of loss and yeah it's been it was traumatic what was it like dealing with an eating disorder that young so young and like I don't think any of us really understood it for a couple of years but I was really restrictive and I always say like being I was obsessed with being thin and I just say that with honesty because that was my truth and I at 12 or 13 that's young you know and my mind the numbers on the scale really did determine my self-worth 100% and this really went

on for 10 years until I studied my bachelor of health and nutrition completely governed by the number on the scale completely obsessed with fad dieting trying every single fad diet there is in the world and And the problem with all of that is that you just develop this really sad and disconnected relationship with food and yourself. You stop listening to your own body. I was listening to everyone else. And I really just developed disordered eating, really negative body dysmorphia, just the torturous cycle of fad dieting, binge eating, overeating, and then it all happens again. I feel like it's lonely too.

Yeah. And none of my friends were struggling. I've always been the one who struggles with things first. You know, a little bit like an Aries, often the first to do things. Oh, Aries. We got an Aries. I got a lot of struggles going on. Fiery Aries.

But we sometimes are like the first to do things, a bit of the leaders on. Fiery Aries. But we are, we know we sometimes are like the, the first to do things, a bit of the leaders in the astrology. Michael loves that. But yeah, so I feel like what I, just to summarize, I had developed a really disordered relationship with food in my body. It was suffering.

The number on the scale was determining my self-worth. And this obsession with being thin was absolutely taking over my life. And I could not even think of anything else. And then, of course, obsessive exercising on the side. And really, the sad part is that every single fad diet tells you something different. So by the end of it, you're actually afraid of all the foods. Because one fad diet says avoid carbs. The next one says avoid protein.

The next one says avoid fats. No, have high fats. And so by the end of it, I was just confused. I think people are still confused. Still confused. And that's literally why I started my career. 15 years ago, Jay's Health began as literally just a blog. It was my diary. I was just saying, surely there's a better way to live a healthy life. I'm feeling confused. I'm studying health and nutrition. Come on, guys. There has to be a better way to live a healthy life.

And you know what? The thing is, through this time, I actually wasn't controlling my weight very well. I was yo-yoing in my weight. My mental health was suffering. My hair was falling out. My sleep was bad. My mood was bad. So how come these fad diets aren't actually giving me the results that I'm hoping for? And that's really what led me on this journey and a pure passion project to help women find freedom with food in their bodies and really understand that fad diets fail us. We do not fail them. I can tell you now, like anyone else out there who's feeling like they're failing a diet, you are not failing. It's failing you. And diets aren't actually designed to be

followed. The brain doesn't like to follow the restriction and deprivation associated with dieting. And that began the J's Health community of just literally preaching there's a better way to live a healthy life and take care of your body. And I promise you, fad diets don't have to be in the mix at all. Do you remember the epiphany of when you started to see clearly through your eating disorder? Like, was there a moment that or you saw something on TV and something clicked and changed in your brain or was it like a slow build? It was kind of slow, but also during my Bachelor of Health and Nutrition, I actually had panic attacks in my classes because I realized as a fad dieter how I was

trashing my body. Because when you're learning about the power of nutrients and minerals through whole foods, which I had deprived myself of, like I was petrified of avocado, petrified of olive oil, petrified of protein, petrified of carbohydrates. And then you're in nutrition school and you're learning the importance of these foods and how they literally keep your body and your brain functioning. I literally had panic attacks. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm living off cans of diet Coke, cans of tuna, artificial sweeteners, black coffee with artificial sweeteners, and then realizing, oh my gosh, this is raising my cortisol levels. This is not supporting my hormones. This is not supporting my serotonin and melatonin and dopamine. And I remember going up to my lecturers at union

just saying, oh my God, oh my God, this is what I've been doing. Am I going to be okay? Am I going to die? Literally just an epiphany of I need to take care of my body. And so slowly, and I do say that was the slow thing, that I would slowly add the whole foods back to my diet. I was in therapy on the side, looking after my relationship with food and my body in a very vulnerable way. My mom is also a therapist, always encouraged us to be in therapy. And so I was taking care of the mental side as well as the physical side with adding back in the whole foods without too much fear. But also then what happened is I noticed how much better I felt.

I was sleeping better. My hair wasn't falling out. My weight started stabilizing. Whilst letting go of the fad dieting and the restriction, the deprivation, my weight actually was better than ever because I wasn't restricting and depriving myself. And my cortisol levels probably were coming down. Your mind was right too. My mind was right. I was sleeping better.

My hormones were probably balancing out after so many years of just stressing them out. It's probably like liberating relief. Totally. When you look at all the different ways that women are trying to lose weight now, and let me give you some examples. When I was in high school and still now like Adderall,

everyone talks about Adderall for weight loss. Not talking about Ad now like adderall everyone talks about adderall for weight loss not talking about adderall for ad talking about adderall for weight loss and also this new thing I'm sure you've heard about this this diabetes drug that people are trying yeah metformin met for I don't know what you guys call it here Oh Zampin like there's the same thing okay so when you hear all these like extreme ways that women are trying to lose weight everything you've gone through and like where you are now, what is your advice with that? They short term. So you will see results short term.

You will. You'll see them. You'll see results for three months, maybe six months. But literally in the 15 years that I've been doing this, I am yet to see someone who's been able to maintain the results on any short-term diet or medication. This is the problem though, because most people, and I hate to say it, and what I try to caution everybody that listens to this show is like, most people, unfortunately, are short-term thinkers.

They're like, okay, I'm getting the results right now. I understand. Literally, as a former fad dieter, I can tell you how bloody tempting it is. I used to sit and say, I will do anything. I will try anything. I will take anything. I even took the weight loss medications. I would laxatives, everything I could get my hands on to get, to be thin, because being thin was my absolute end goal in life. And that's it. That's the end of story. And that was my only, the only thing my brain cared for. They are, that you will see results with some of them, but as I say, it's short term. And unfortunately the body just doesn't like to sustain it. It fights fights it it rebels against

it it's not natural and it's not natural and unfortunately also firstly from a diet perspective you know being on these fad diets after about six months from my time in this industry people will just go back to their old ways after about their three to six month mark and in terms of medications the results are just short-term. And sometimes, unfortunately, they're short-term and then they have a more long-term negative effect. So people actually, if they're taking those weight loss medications or caffeine or Adderall, it stresses their body out, probably does raise their cortisol levels and might affect their hormones and it might put their body into stress response and then after stopping the medication actually can be

harder to control their weight well here's the other thing too like i'm in my mid-30s now and you know like when you get into 25 30 like that's when you gotta i think you gotta start really kind of like watch what you're doing what you're eating how you're treating your body and i think a lot of young people and i'm calling out young people specifically just because they haven't got to the point yet where their body starts to just kind of like stabilize to what it will be in their adult life. And they're doing all these detrimental things at a young age. And when you become 25, 30, 35, it is so fucking hard to recover. And then you have a full life ahead of you where you're going to have to deal with even worse problems. Yeah, I think it has an actual long-term damage on the body, on your nervous system,

on your brain, on the way that you hold onto fat, honestly, on your metabolism. I think diets, and I think there's some really good research to support this now, how it affects your thyroid, which is your master of metabolism. And you and I both have a thyroid disorder. I have Hashimoto's, which is with the antibodies associated. Remember last time I asked you to get your blood results. Maybe you can get them for me. Maybe you can get them for me. I need to get them for you. Because I want to see if you have antibodies. Because people, it's going to be the next on the rising,

because people are being diagnosed with thyroid disorder or disease, like just hypothyroidism. But we need to go deeper, because a lot of people are struggling with the antibodies, which causes inflammation in the body. And that is the first thing to address. Not just the thyroid with thyroid medication but actually the antibodies wait so if i have antibodies from my thyroid condition yes then that means that i have to address the antibodies first before the thyroid

yeah and taking medication will support things because you got to get the inflammation down is what you're saying first taking medication is important because you need to basically replace that t4 which is the thyroxine that converts into T3 that then converts into the hormones that help your metabolism. But on the other side, people can still not feel as good as they should with the antibodies rising. And so there are ways to reduce those antibodies. So you sort of want to look after them both at the same time. So you want to look after the thyroid hormones with the thyroxine, which you take, and then taking care of the antibodies. But you might not have any antibodies. But what are the ways to help you want to get rid of them?

But I'm seeing so many people diagnosed with thyroid disease. My sister just got diagnosed with it and we got her bloods tested and she had Hashimoto's. I'm just seeing a lot of thyroid disease, but more so associated with Hashimoto's. So if you're seeing all these thyroid issues, what do you think the correlation, like why do people have so many thyroid issues? I actually, I'm, so my obsession, it's so funny because I've obviously loved and followed Lauren forever and I've been obsessed with cortisol the same way that you have. I actually believe stress is really causing a lot of these issues and there's no science to back me up here. It's my,

I'm a very intuitive, I used to call myself an intuitive nutritionist, an intuitive practitioner. I feel things and I feel the world is in a very stressed out state. It's really hard to have your nervous system come to a place of calm. Like what do we have to do to get us feeling calm in this world? Like it's a lot. Like I say to people, I have this really strict morning and nighttime routine, which we can talk about, to calm down my nervous system. But what I like to say to people is like, that's hard bloody work. You know, like I have to switch my phone off by 8pm. I have to have my Epsom salt bath. I have to put my eye mask on. I have to make sure I do not check my phone or emails after a certain time. Like all these

things you have to do to calm down your nervous system in the world we're living in. It's a lot. Let me ask you this though. So, because I think about this stuff a lot. So, I agree with you that everybody's running around way more stressed out than they need to be. But where my pushback and critique with this argument is, to me, the world is not any more stressful now than it's been in the past. I mean, there has been famine, there's been war, there's been disease. Exactly, that's true. Maybe it's perceived stress. So that's what I'm asking. Mental stress. So that's what I'm asking. Mental stress. The world, there's a book called Factfulness, has gotten actually better over time and more, you live longer, it's healthier, more resource, all these things.

But I think people's perceived stress is way more out of control. No, I agree with that. I wonder what that correlation is. No, I actually agree with that. I think it's just different stress. I think social media, comparison, the world we're living in, for some reason, feels harder. Like even when I grew up, and I know I would have been young and naive, but do you feel like when you guys grew up and were similar age, do you feel the world was a bit of an easier place? I feel like it was maybe an easier place because you weren't, so the world has gotten, while it's very big, it's gotten very small.

Because everybody can see everything real quick and real time. And so I think when you take that burden on and you're looking at everything that everyone else is doing and what the world, like, you know, something would happen on the other side of the world and you might not know about it for three months. I think it's called overconnection. Yes. And that is stressing out our nervous systems. I think we're living in a world, I mean, we can see it in the stats, mental health, depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD. My therapist is one of the head,

you know, she's a specialist in OCD at the moment. And not at the moment, she's the specialist in OCD. And she has never seen people struggle to this extent. This is what I think it is. I think when you're staring at a device and there's no human connection and you're looking what everyone else is doing and you're focusing on comparing your life to what everyone else is doing and you don't have boundaries around the device

it's going to suck you you down it's not just the device in 2018 lauren and i made it just we stopped we don't have cable in the house anymore and we don't even have a news channel so you know like we'll see things online but i think they're also like we're living in a time now where these channels are like constantly fear mongering right and people are watching it all day long and when you disconnect from it and you I talk to people you know like my dad or his friends older guys that are still watching all this stuff

during the pandemic we didn't watch the news once they think the world is like ending I've kind of just been living fine and everyone's like well you can't do that you're disconnected you're unaware but I actually can to protect my peace I'm a big fan of protecting my peace and I think

when I started not looking at my phone two hours in the morning and not going to bed with my phone it changed my life. I'm literally those are my two things.

Do not wake up to scrolling on your phone and do not go to bed scrolling on your phone. But people are falling asleep with their phones near their head

because they're scrolling and they're falling asleep while they're scrolling. I met three people this week in my personal life who told me that they fall asleep while scrolling. But also the effect on your relationships and the importance of your sleep, the deep sleep. You can say as a nutritionist, sleep, sleep, sleep, but eight hours of sleep, deep restorative sleep. And back to why I think thyroid disease is on the rise. It's not just, it's stress, it's cortisol, it's nervous system. Could be hormones.

Cortisol has a huge impact on all of our hormones, estrogen, progesterone. But I think that feeling of unsafety and that feeling of fear is feeling intense at the moment in the world. Of course, after the pandemic, could also be our food. People are not getting those essential minerals like iodine, selenium, zinc. These are minerals that literally keep our thyroid going and performing and our food can be lacking in these minerals. I know in Australia, I used to do in my private practice is just so many tests, blood tests. And I can't even tell that's how I came up with Heron Energy. I can't even tell you how low people's iodine, zinc, and selenium levels were. And these are the three minerals that are critical for your thyroid to perform.

It's also, you know, you were talking about, you know, living in places where there's real danger, right? And there's a lot of places, like I think sometimes people, especially in the US, they take for granted how safe a lot of, I mean, maybe not now, there's a lot of places that are not, but in other parts of the world, there's danger and it's abundant. It's always, and we live in this country here where you have this kind of false sense of security.

You've had that false sense of security for everything. Everything's comfortable. Everything's convenient. You feel like nothing bad can happen. And I think with the pandemic, it kind of stripped a lot of that away.

And people are like, wait a minute, I'm not as safe as I thought I was. And now I'm stressed about everything. It's like, no, it's always been this way. Yeah. I think our nervous systems

are not responding the same way. There's just so much fear inbuilt in myself, in people that I meet. There's this extra sense of fear attached to everything, which I think rattles our nervous system, which affects our cortisol levels, which then affects estrogen, progesterone, and thyroid hormones. We know now there's some science to show the link between cortisol and thyroid hormone. So that just shows how cortisol, which is our stress hormone, which is linked to our nervous system, how it affects so many different aspects. It can affect our blood sugar levels, which can then affect our energy levels, which then can affect our sleep. It's all linked. So I think the next big thing in the health

industry is going to be taking care of our nervous system. And I think that it's actually a lot of it's going to be free advice. Go outside and get sunlight. Get off your phone. Put your feet in the ground. 10 minutes. 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at night. Minerals and water supplement. I noticed simplifying. I noticed that my hair postpartum has gotten 20 times thicker than it was before. And yes, I'm supplementing, but I'm also eating a lot of meat. That's controversial. Well, iron is really important for hair growth. I'm eating a lot of grass fed meat like every single day. And my hair, my eyebrows is just, it's so much thicker. So I think it's exactly what you said. It's going back to the basics

and simplifying everything. That makes me excited because I also started J.S. Health as a way to simplify the health industry. I felt very confused and very overwhelmed. And as Michael said, we're still confused and overwhelmed. How can we possibly be when we have come so far with the health industry? And, you know, I created the vitamins even to simplify the vitamin space. I think simplifying is the next best thing we can do for our health. Exactly what you just said. You've like nailed it on the head. It's like when I talk about morning and nighttime routine, I'm talking like 10, 15 minutes, it can be. And switching your phone off and not scrolling, these are things that are actually meant to be easy to do. Going downstairs and having a calm,

peaceful 10 minutes of making your lemon water and making your coffee and, you know, taking 10 deep belly breaths. Like that is, when you say to someone, I used to say to my clients, take 10 deep belly breaths morning and night. Do you know how hard that is for people to do? And that's the best way because we have our vagus nerve. The best way to calm down your nervous system immediately is by activating your vagus nerve, which is through deep belly breathing. So just 10 morning and night is all you need to do to calm down your cortisol. You know, like, okay, you're obviously a business owner. You run a company. I run a company. Lauren runs a company. And I feel like one thing, like the biggest thing that I champion within the business is like not to overcomplicate things.

Yeah. Right? Like everybody thinks that doing something like this or running a business or taking care of yourself is this overcomplicated equation that requires all of these things. I'm like, listen, start here. Let me know where you want to go. What are the three steps to get there? Do that.

Right? Like people envelope all of these things and they think they have to have all these different formulas and all these different answers and all these different procedures. And I'm like, you're just overcomplicating and convoluting everything. I think the same thing happens in your health. If it sounds like it's this big hoop that you got to jump through and it's all over the place, you probably don't need to do it. We didn't evolve this way. The answers are very simple. 100%. I think, again, I used to say in private practice, one to two changes a week. And they can be be the tiniest but you wouldn't believe the difference that they make people who are drinking one or two coffees a day really that can be affecting their cortisol levels and their sleep come back to one coffee a day before 10 or 11 a.m

their entire sleep and energy levels change or The sleep patterns and energy levels change. Adding more water, another liter of water. What a novel idea. What's the biggest cause of fatigue? Probably being dehydrated, yeah. Of course. I never drink water at all. Look at you. But literally, the number one cause of fatigue can be dehydration.

And people are feeling so tired these days. Being tired and low in energy is like a thing. So I think more water. One to two small changes a week. Going to bed half an hour earlier. Yeah, I mean, if you think about it in the simplest terms, again, we didn't have access to all of these complicated things in the past, right? So like, yeah, food, good food, good water, good sleep, getting some sun.

Exactly. All of these things. We've just gotten so far away and we live in these let me know all these lights for the podcast but you know what i mean like we're these like artificial boxes with all these artificial things thinking this is how we're going to be healthy you look at so much blood work out of everyone's blood work what's something that you see that's a common denominator and which vitamin is is a vitamin that you think or mineral that you think people are missing.

And it's across the board and you can't believe it. And Taylor, take notes because Taylor hasn't had a vitamin since 1999. It's definitely a Flintstone. I actually can't get over the low iodine levels that I was seeing and I'm seeing. That's why I created Hair and Energy because people are always adding in these very interesting, the same boring, not boring. Let me say that again because I'm scared I'm going to get criticism. People are just adding in the biotin, the silica, the collagen into hair supplements, right?

And what happened was I used to do people's blood work and saw that their iodine levels were really low. So I would prescribe them iodine through kelp. And I watched that their hair would grow like wildfire and their eyebrows. And I could just tell and I was like, let me look into the research. And just side note, can you have, you want to have that when you have a thyroid like mine depends okay go ahead go depends but at a small amount like 150 to 200 micrograms that's really nice and safe so I would it was just an accident how I discovered hair and energy which is our best selling hair growth formulation which really does work which is interesting to me because people in

the industry especially in the vitamin industry do go off off trends. Again, the silica, the biotin, the collagen. And what happened was I was prescribing kelp for the iodine levels because people's iodine levels were low and started seeing that the hair was growing. So we looked into the research and we actually saw that iodine has been proven to support hair growth, hair strength, and hair thickness. That's the exact research claim. And zinc as well has been shown to support hair growth, hair strength, and hair thickness. That's the exact research claim. And zinc as well has been shown to support hair growth and help maintain healthy hair. Again, the research claim is exactly that. And so I was like, I'm going to create a hair formulation

with these two minerals because in the science, this is even stronger than what I'm seeing with biotin and silicon, collagen, and that's how we let, you know, it's literally looking into the research and seeing how these minerals can help support, have been proven to support various aspects. So when it to what i think people people are often low in the minerals i think people are low it's hard to test you know essential fatty acids through the blood but people are often low in essential fatty acids people are often low in magnesium again i call it

the magic mineral because everyone is good everyone feels better when they take magnesium there are a couple of things. I like your magnesium at night. Magnesium at night. If I take your magnesium at night, I was traveling with it. It's just a way to wind down. For some reason, it signals my body just wind down. Because magnesium glycinate is the one that has been proven to actually target the nervous system specifically.

I notice it. And also, I notice it gets things moving, which who doesn't like that? It gets things moving. Magnesium is a good one. I got my blood work tested and I was really low on fish oil. And one of the things that if you're low on fish oil is you get easily inflamed. And as we know, with the products I've launched that I run Puffy. So you just mentioned that you're noticing that a lot. Can you talk about if you're low on fish oil, what you'll see happen? Well, dry skin is one. Really, that's fish oil. There are three supplements that I think people just feel much better when taking.

And I don't normally say this. I'm very careful with prescribing. And I absolutely hate talking about my own products. And I don't push them on anyone. But there are three things that, and I absolutely hate talking about my own products, and I don't push them on anyone. But there are three things that people feel better taking, a probiotic, magnesium, and fish oil. They like the three standards. We actually call them the JS Health Foundations because people just feel better taking those three things. I mean, the research behind probiotics is pretty, it's probably the best there is in the health industry right now,

the microbiome and the way. I'm taking one on air. I'm taking one on your probiotics. 100%. Sorry, go ahead. I mean, and our strains of probiotics are so carefully selected and only, we will only use the strains that have been proven in the research to actually work. You can take one to two. Should I take one or two?

You can take two. Okay, take two. Just why not? I'm trusting you. It's funny because I actually, you know, like I just know, I mean, the research is just so phenomenal at the moment. I've been taking our probiotics as well, and I'm actually sleeping better. And I did some research and I saw that there is a link between our gut microbiome and sleep.

I'm sure you guys have seen that as well. So if you're having trouble sleeping, you add a probiotic. Well, I mean, magnesium first. But it's interesting because all these things, our microbiome, I think we're just at the start of how important it is for our overall health. And we know how important it is for dopamine and serotonin and our immune system already, but it's going to get, it's pretty incredible already, the research behind probiotics. And as I said, I've started sleeping better since taking them and I'm like, hmm, something's interesting. So I looked and there is a correlation between our microbiome and sleep, which is pretty phenomenal. I think fish oil is,

you were saying that you were taking it for something. Oh, for inflammation. Yes. There are two things that are just so great at reducing inflammation. One being fish oil at a really nice dose, about two grams. We have a triple strength fish oil, so you can take one to two, so you don't have to take like five caps. And you want it to be a fish oil, though, that is really carefully sourced. That's the thing. You want it to be small fish, mackerel, sardines.

You've got to be careful, and you want to, sardines. You've got to be careful. And you want to know literally where that fish oil has been sourced from. You want to know it's sustainably sourced. You want to know it's heavy metal tested. Luckily, now we have good fish oils. But how do you know if it's a bad fish oil supplement? What do you look for? Firstly, okay.

Well, I like to look at the dose. Firstly, if it's a low dose, I don't like that. Like JS Health Vitamins, the reason, again, why I created it,, I was like, come on guys, we need hydrates. It's more expensive for us as a company, but I want you to take magnesium at 200 milligrams, which is our dose. And because I want you to sleep better. I want your bowels to move. I want your muscles to relax. You know, I want you to feel better. JS Health Vitamins was created to be solution-focused vitamins for women in particular's main pain points. But the biggest difference with J-Sol vitamins and the reason why it's had success is genuinely the little aspects,

like the dose, the forms of ingredients. Those are like little mini eggs. Those are big dose of fish oil. They are big. These are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful fish oil. And what we did is we coded them in vanilla. I was just going to ask you. Yes, vanilla, because we don't want people to have any fishy updates.

Listen, being a practitioner has helped me because I saw what people liked about supplements and what people didn't like i saw the confusion and overwhelm people felt and so we actually put the name on the supplement we tell you how that supplement is going to help you back quickly to inflammation fish oil and turmeric are the best ways to reduce inflammation i've never the research behind turmeric and inflammation is brilliant. Brilliant. Tools in your toolbox? Yes, toolbox.

What are they? Okay, so it's really my morning and nighttime routine. I know you are obsessed by that. I love it. But they are. They it is. Like starting my day with the 20 minutes of calm, not checking my phone, not checking my emails.

I actually have gone extreme in this way because boundaries are my best way of taking care of myself at the moment. And so I delete Instagram and my emails from my phone the night before. I have a time. So I set it at 8 p.m. for me. And I always say to people, especially moms, you set a time that works for you. Because I know moms sometimes have to work at night. So you have to set a time, though.

Because if you set the time, you will commit to it. If you don't set a time, you will not commit to it. So mine is 8, 8.30. That's my cut off time. No more social, no more email, no more nothing. But I literally delete the app because I've counted and it takes eight seconds to re-download it the next day. If I don't, I do have an obsessed.

But then you have to go log back in everything? No, you can automatically log back in for you. So I delete all my apps. I'm acting very lazy. I'm like, can't even put a password in. Yeah, passwords are so annoying. I agree. So my morning routine is 20 minutes. I don't have any apps all my apps. I'm acting very lazy. I can't even put a password in. Yeah, passwords are so annoying. I agree. So my morning routine is 20 minutes.

I don't have any apps on my phone. So firstly, I'll have a workout of some sort. I'll have a workout. I'll work out in a way that I feel like, again, tuning into your body and what works for you is the biggest thing. And I know you guys talk a lot about that, but that's why I started J-Souls. I'm like, I'm listening to what everyone else is doing,

all the trending exercises, the trending foods, but I actually want to listen to what works for me. And running on a treadmill for two hours a day was actually not working for me. I don't think it's working for anybody. Yeah, exactly. So Pilates, yoga, I go for a walk in nature, 20 minutes, have a coffee, take my vitamins. By that time, I also have not checked my phone pretty much. I'll have my iMessages on for anything urgent, but I haven't scrolled. And I like to start my day in a calm note. I think how you start your day sets the tone for the day. And I know you're very into that. I love that you say you read. That's something I really want to do one day. You're doing okay. You're good. So my morning routine and the nighttime routine. And I have obviously the Jay's Health smoothie in

the morning and Power Protein smoothie with my vitamins. Nighttime routine is the same thing. 20 minutes. It's called the wind down for me. It's just an Epsom salt bath, my magnesium. I take my PM plus, which is a sleep vitamin with lavender oil extract, which is again, incredible research behind calming down the mind. Because again, people are saying just sleep, but how to put your brain to sleep and sleep deeply is what I'm more interested in. You can't just say sleep seven, eight hours. It's like you need to calm down your nervous system and get that melatonin firing. Like people don't know that cortisol levels are meant to come down at 6pm. So melatonin is meant to take over at 6pm to rise up. But in this day and age, I don't think it's happening very well. So people's

cortisol levels actually rise up and that is what causes adrenal fatigue often. So people who are waking up tired, I like to ask them how, like what is happening in that nighttime evening routine and how, how quickly, no, what time are you falling asleep and how much sleep are you getting? You're a hundred percent right. I had an adrenal issue and I worked on it with my doctor and fix it. But basically my issue was, I think I was blasting him so hard to your point at night. And then in the morning when the cortisol is like supposed to rise, it wasn't strong to be able to do so and so he's like hey you like you need to actually boost the cortisol in your system because you're yes you've depleted it for so long cortisol is so

nice nice nice and then it's like that thing that you it will be it will turn very quickly so you want it in the perfect amounts and then it will but the best if anyone out there is wondering what adrenal fatigue is the the first sign is waking up tired and craving salty foods and that's sort of when you that's sort of when you like something's going with adrenals and we need to know what's happening with the melatonin cortisol cycle and that's the thing that we need to address and the minute you wake up tired beery-eyed and craves doritos so taylor are your adrenals definitely i got these things from the gas station earlier. They're like, they look like little hot Cheetos.

Wait, wasn't Taylor taking something? He's taking our collagen? Yeah, I was taking the collagen. I had the, what was it? The anti-stress? The one that was in the black bottle? Oh no, you were taking the PM+. And then I had the shit, what was the other one? I was taking three of them. I can't recall what they are, but they were great.

I ate them. I took them all. No, i remember you were sleeping better that made me really happy yeah that's why like so magnesium glycinate citrate chelate with the lavender oil extract and chamomile and passion about so again these are ingredients that have been proven in the research to calm down the mind and the nervous system to enhance sleep and so i say people who are not sleeping well please just figure out it's not about just saying to yourself i need to go to sleep for eight hours it's like actually preparing the mind and the nervous system. How can you prepare your mind and your nervous system for sleep? Think about the pre, the pre bedtime rather than just saying, I need to go to bed, put my head down and sleep eight hours. Think

about the pre bed. What is happening? What are you eating for dinner? People don't even know that protein amino acids help to make tryptophan, which helps to make melatonin. So people are not eating protein at dinner. A lot of vegans and plant-based people who I respect, I respect people who follow those diets for ethical reasons, but not getting those amino acids in can really affect their sleep and their skin as well. So, and their dopamine and serotonin. Do you want to know something that has been making me wake up with a pep in my step? Mouth taping. I tape my mouth shut

every night. Well, for people that have trouble, so a lot of people don't have this trouble, but if you're somebody that sleeps and breathes out of your mouth instead of your nasal passage, that's... So what, is it helping? Oh my god. I swear to god. I think I do that. So what, is it helping? Oh my god. I swear to god.

It makes you breathe deeper. So you're using the oxygen out of your nose as opposed to your mouth, so it's different. But I think that also has, I have a feeling that it connects with the vagus nerve better. It's also better for your jaw. Well, you go do your doctor research and tell me because

I have been taping my mouth shut. It's not a big deal. It's blue off Amazon. It's like V102. And it's these strips. I posted a TikTok on it, you guys. It's also good for oral health, too. Oh, I thought you were going to say it's good for oral sex.

I'm like, it's not good for oral sex. You can't get your dick in my mouth with this mouth tape. It's completely shut. Once the mouth tape is on too, he knows like, don't come near me, don't touch me. It's a great way like if you're just like

done for the night too, you put the mouth tape on. I love the mouth tape. It's just like at night it comes around, I'm like, good, just shut the fuck up.

Yeah, I do shut up. And then my daughter, and when I wake up in the morning, she like rips it off my face. She wants it off my face, but it does work and you got to get the right one though

because there's different brands. Does Erewhon have them? I'm sure. I'm sure Erewhon has them. It's nice. We have a little ritual at like 5.30 p.m. I pull out the mouth tape and I put it over her mouth. And I'm like, that's it for you today.

Let me tell you something. I wake up with so much more energy because of my magnesium. Yeah, magnesium really helps with energy in the morning. People do not know that. Can we just talk about that? Yes. Because people are worried that magnesium will make them feel tired. Magnesium actually is involved in 300 different biochemical pathways in the body.

You can imagine just how much it helps with energy production. And actually, because I look into the research so much, magnesium has a research claim that helps to support energy production. That is literally the research claim. Supports energy production. So magnesium is so brilliant because it works on calming down the nervous system, calming down muscle relaxation, but also energy production. Can you distinguish real quick on the magnesium front? Magnesium, glycinate versus citrate. Yes, I'm obsessed. I actually like both. I like

glycinate. Both at night or do you take them at different times? So ours has all three. The three favorite forms of magnesium that I love, which are glycinate, citrate, and chelate. They have different functions. What about 3 and 8? L3 and 8. Magnesium L3 and 8. Is that something? No, I don't like orotate that much. I don't like oxide that much. Okay. Okay. Which one is yours? Maybe it's an American. No, no, no, no. Keep going. Keep going. So magnesium, we like, we want to have the most bioavailable forms of magnesium. Now,

let me tell you, they're also much more expensive. If you're seeing a supplement with magnesium glycinate, this is a very good sign. Magnesium glycinate in our vitamin industry is an expensive ingredient, but it's the best when it comes to calming down the nervous system. And chelate and citrate are really good for bowel movement and muscle relaxation. But it's okay to take citrate at night, even with the bowel stuff? Yes, absolutely. And also it really helps people in the morning. That's why I like it.

The thing about magnesium, it's not very instantaneous when it comes to the bowel movements. It takes time because you know what it does? It relaxes the muscles, the bowel muscles, but also draws water into the bowels to help. For some reason I thought and maybe I was just ignorant, it probably was,

that I knew the glycinate was great for night, but I thought the citrate was like if you wanted to eat it or take it in the day and then like go have a workout. It can because it's really good for your muscles and energy. But this is what I say about magnesium. It's a mineral that's so beautiful because it doesn't have, it's not intense in the body. It really just supports it. So it's not going to be instantaneous energy.

It's not going to be instantaneous bowel movement. It's not going to be instantaneous muscle relaxation. That's why you want to take it probably on a regular basis for most. I can't prescribe and I'm careful with prescribing, but you also want to take magnesium at a good dose. So it's okay if you take it at night because you're getting enough in that night for the next day. Oh my gosh. People take our magnesium and our PM plus that has the three different forms, magnesium citrate, glycinate and chelate, and they sleep better. But the best thing about magnesium is you sleep better, but you also wake up more energized. And I think it also has a nice effect on the adrenal glands. It really does feed the adrenal glands, but it also

helps our hormones. Magnesium, when people used to come and see me with any sort of hormonal imbalances, my three favorites were magnesium, B6, and fish oil. The three together, like gives me chills when I talk about vitamins because I just have seen the way that they help so many. Anyone out there struggling with hormonal imbalances, magnesium, fish oil, and B6 for a nice chunk period of time. And as I say, doses matter in vitamins. So the thing is, you will go through the aisles of Whole Foods or Eroine and you'll see a magnesium, but if you look at the back and it has 50 milligrams of magnesium, that's just not enough. That's not a therapeutic effect. So you want to find a company that is interested in investing in therapeutic doses and forms of the ingredients. So you want to find a company that is interested in investing in therapeutic doses

and forms of the ingredients. So is it magnesium orotate or is it magnesium glycinate? And is it at 50 milligrams or is that 200 milligrams? Therapeutic dose is what you want because that's how you're going to take a supplement and actually notice a benefit or result. What should our children be taking? Listen, we have a nice kids multi, but i love kids to get their nutrition through food yeah i think we keep it again like simplifying and i know you guys i'm sure feed your kids really wholesome food and modeling off the parents you guys she was eating cheese it's the other day for breakfast though like i'm not i'm not gonna pretend to be like like listen i

do what i can do exactly i mean my my mom let us have mcdonald's twice a week growing up you know it's like it really is. And it was boring to say this in the health industry at this point, but the 80-20 approach is like I really aim to eat well 80% of the time. Why? Just because I want to feel good. I want to wake up energized. I want to sleep well.

But I absolutely want to have my rosé at lunch today. I absolutely have my truffle pasta at Il Pasto. I absolutely want to have my gelato on a Saturday night. I want to go, you know, it's like, it really is. And I think the body likes that though, in terms of honest weight management. It's so fascinating because I used to, I had the book, my books and my eight week program and it was all about letting go of fad dieting, stopping to weigh yourself. Like literally part of my philosophy was people have to throw out the scale for three months, throw out the scale,

stop fad dieting, stop restricting. And I used to actually say to people, you have to throw out the scale for three months. Throw out the scale, stop fad dieting, stop restricting. And I used to actually say to people, you have to go out on a Saturday night and indulge in something you're craving. Wine, gelato, pasta. And the fascinating thing to me was that people started balancing out their weight by being more relaxed, by being kinder to themselves, by being more flexible, by calming down that nervous system and having a better relationship with food.

People's weight started balancing out. I know you know that and talk about that. I could not lose weight with my first baby because I was so stressed out every single day. And your relationship with food, were you restricting and depriving yourself, do you think? I was intermittent fasting. I was exhausting my adrenals. I was complaining about it. I look back on that time and it was just like I was taxing on my nervous system,

whereas this time I've taken the approach of like, let's weightlift. Let's take walks. It sounds to me like you're tuning into your body and actually listening to it. Like the problem in the world we're living in is we're listening to everyone else. We've stopped listening to ourselves and what works for me. What works for me is very different to what works for you guys. Well, Lauren and I both have the same blood type. And that blood type, you know, if you go through it, like our blood type does very well with red meat. It just does. Right.

And we do, and we're both the same. And I've had, you know, my dad is almost 80 and he's been a big meat eater, almost no vegetables entire life. And very healthy, like cholesterol for all these things. And I'm like, listen, you have to kind of actually go into your point, your blood work, your genetics, see what works. You can't just go and say like, this person does it this way so i'm gonna do it that way and i'm not gonna and can i be honest like even if you don't do the blood work and stuff if you give yourself some time to tune into your body you will figure out quite soon what works for you because if you start eating meat and starting feeling starting to feel good and energized and sleeping better and all of that you will figure out yourself that wow that works for me right and you know what i'm saying is that sometimes i think

it scares people when you have to say go get the blood work go get the hormone test go get the stool test it's overwhelming but actually if people could have the freedom to go and eat what they're craving and not feel so much fear around food and start realizing wow i'm actually feeling really good that works for me and giving yourself the permission and the freedom to say yay sometimes i won't have a vegetable for like four days straight and have like literally eight servings of meat like and then you feel good yeah but you have to be careful of that because you get under eye bags if you don't have enough vegetables no but that since when i don't know i wanted to tell jessica that you did the stool sample test

where you in the bag can you break that down for everyone who wants to know about that i don't know if we needed to go we did There's an episode we did with Dr. Daryl where we go through all that. I don't need to put people through that again. He shit in a bag and sent it off. So this was interesting. I'll do this quick for people that have listened for a while. My blood work came back pretty stellar, honestly.

It was pretty great. I was a little low on zinc, like borderline, so I bumped that up. I was a little low on vitamin A, so I bumped that up. I was a little low on like vitamin A. It had more oysters. So I like bumped that up. But so the reason I say this is that the blood work and I had been working, I was sober. I was doing all of these things to like really take care of supplementing, you know, taking care of myself.

So I was like, that looks good. I was like, let's take it a step further and do the gut work. And then the gut works like, okay, there's some candida, like some inflammation. I'm like, I would have never caught it if I just did that. So then I did some things and I got on this, um, like got a protocol with him and now I feel way better. But I think this is why people need to kind of look at both things. Right. Totally. And also like, just to give yourself permission to say that works for me, you know, like I used to feel so scared to be like, I love to eat meat too. And I love rice and I love foods that make me feel good.

So like, but that might not work for someone else. I just think tuning into your body and works for you is like the next best way to live the healthy life, you know? And I think it's, we're not there yet. People are still listening to everyone else. People are still confused and overwhelmed and listening to every other trend out there and following influences or, you know, following trends, which I appreciate because I used to be one of those people who loved it and would do anything to achieve a better looking body. And I also say there's a difference between being health conscious and weight conscious. And you really want to gear towards the health conscious because then everything else balances out anyway. You really want to eat to feel good,

eat to be well, and then you start figuring out which foods suit your body and your body type. You talked a little bit off air about mental health. What are some vitamins that you use to support mental health and what have you gone through? I'm pretty obsessed with vitamins at the moment to support mental health because of saffron. The research says 22 plus clinical trials right now to show the effects of saffron on anxiety, depression, and sleep.

It has blown my mind. I'm literally happy to send you guys the research. I actually haven't seen research this solid in the industry for a vitamin when it comes to mental health and well-being. Saffron at a really nice dose. We actually use affron, which is the extract that the studies have been conducted on itself. We use the standardized extract. Saffron with fish oil, magnesium, and we have an anxiety plus stress formulation, which is a combination of very calming herbs, but also adaptogenic herbs, which I know you love, adaptogenic herbs like Romania, ginseng. I love our anxiety and plus

stress vitamin because it has the yin and the yang, so it calms you down, but also really feeds the adrenal glands. Romania is one of my favorite adaptogenic herbs because it really does just juice up the adrenal glands and people feel much more energized when they take it and so do your own ginseng as well. And then passionflower. So if you are feeling like you're struggling with anxiety and sleep and your mood, really look at saffron, fish oil, magnesium,

and then we also have a formulation called anxiety plus stress that has a combination of herbs and minerals that can really support your mental health and well-being. Can we do a JS Health giveaway for the audience? Yes, of course. You tell me what you want to do. Whatever. We give away like what can we give away? Can we give away like a bundle?

Yeah, we can give like one of every product. Oh my God, you guys. That's so major. Definitely have to include the magnesium that I like. I'm a big fan of the magnesium at night. If you have not implemented magnesium into your routine at night, I do it every single night. I did it my whole pregnancy.

I did it. I do it now. It's helped postpartum. It helps me sleep. It's part of my routine. Yeah. So let's give away that. Let's definitely include the magnesium.

All you have to do is follow at... JS Health Vitamins. JS Health Vitamins on Instagram. And then do you want to do a code for the audience? Yes. What do we do? Let's do code skinny and tell them the exact magnesium I like if they want to go check it out. It's called Magnesium Plus. JS Health Vitamins Magnesium Plus. Easy. Double strength. I think that what you're doing for this industry is incredible. Your products are amazing. I am such a fan. Thank you for coming on. Pimp yourself out. Where can people find you? I've been following you for so long. Me too. You were one of the first bloggers I think I followed. Oh, I'm so glad. Me too. I'm just so proud of you. I walked into the office today and I'm like, go Lauren and Michael. I'm so proud of you.

Honestly, it's unbelievable. JS Health is my Instagram, my personal Instagram and JS Health Vitamins is our products. And to win the giveaway, all you have to do is comment on my latest Instagram at Lauren Bostic, your favorite part of this podcast and follow at JS Health Vitamins on Instagram. Thank you for coming on. Thank you guys so, so much. Thank you for making the trip. Your accent's lulling me to sleep with the magnesium. Oh my gosh, I know. This episode was brought to you by JS Health. Be sure to use code SKINNY at jshealthvitamins.com.

And if you want to win the giveaway, all you have to do is follow at JS Health and tell us your favorite part of this episode on my latest Instagram. I hope you guys learned as much as I did. I definitely am about that thyroid.