Well with Arielle Lorre - 306: The Gut-Skin Connection and How to Glow From Within With Celebrity Naturopath Dr. Nigma Talib

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

Dr. Nigma Talib is a celebrity Naturopathic doctor, author, aesthetician, and leading authority on holistic health. With a focus on holistic health, Dr. Talib empowers individuals with knowle...dge that enables them to address their health issues using dietary guidance, supplemental advice, and functional laboratory testing. With over two decades of experience, she uses diverse naturopathic modalities, including principles of Chinese medicine, botanical medicine, clinical nutrition, and more, to provide personalized remedies for her patients. In this episode, she joins me to share insight into the gut-skin connection and why skin health and anti-aging start from within. We also discuss foods to avoid for skin issues, how gut issues impact hormones, a holistic anti-aging protocol, and how to lower cortisol levels. She also explains what our stool can tell us about our health!Dr. Nigma's website: https://healthydoc.com/Dr. Nigma's book: https://rstyle.me/+i4XL8v8WIARn0tW2lJGOIASinus flush: https://rstyle.me/+r2nz72K-llY1QdEmeABs9gThis episode is brought to you by Chanel.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:20 So, would auto-hue without your reis-adviseur or SunnyCars. The following podcast is a dear media production. Welcome to the Blond Files
Starting point is 00:00:32 I'm your host, Ariel Lori, and I'm here to talk all things wellness. From how to achieve optimal health and well-being to the best beauty tips and everything in between, no topic is off limits. I know there's so much information out there, so I'm bringing on expert guests and sharing my own experiences to help you sift through all the wellness stuff without the BS. Enjoy the show. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the show. I have such a great episode for you today. And if you can, I would go watch this one on YouTube or at least go take a peek because you have to see how my guest glows from within, which is essentially what we are talking about in this episode. So go see it because you are going to want to hear all of the tips and tricks and all of the knowledge that she's sharing when you see how it is when it's put into practice. So I'm talking to Dr. Nigma Talib.
Starting point is 00:01:28 She is a highly respected naturopathic doctor based here in Beverly Hills. She's renowned for her founding role in Healthy Doc clinics with previous locations in West Vancouver, New York, and London. She's not only a successful practitioner. She's the author of the bestselling book, Reverse the Science of Aging, Younger Skin Starts in the Gut, which shows her passion for creating science-backed supplements and skincare that resonate with consumers all over the world. She was one of the pioneering figures to introduce vitamin supplements to the fashion industry through Netaporte. And she has tirelessly supported her profession and colleagues by serving on examination and quality assurance committees for the College of Naturopathic Physicians of British Columbia and currently holds a significant position on the Board of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association, where she works on legislation impacting naturopathic doctors in California. She's known for her global lectureships.
Starting point is 00:02:27 She regularly contributes as a keynote speaker at seminars such as GoopHealth and Business of Fashion. And she really empowers individuals with the knowledge that enables them to address their health issues using things like dietary guidance, supplemental advice, and functional laboratory testing. So with over two decades of experience, she uses diverse naturopathic modalities, including principles of Chinese medicine, botanical medicine, clinical nutrition, and more to provide personalized remedies for her patients. And she joins me today to share insight into things like
Starting point is 00:03:06 the gut-skin connection, why skin health and anti-aging start from within. We discuss specific foods to avoid for skin issues. She can tell just by looking at somebody, whether they have sugar face, wine face, gluten face, dairy face. We talked to about how gut issues impact hormones, a holistic anti-aging protocol, how to lower cortisol levels, and so much more. So please enjoy Dr. Nigma Talib. Okay, I want to start with your party trick, which I'm sure everybody asks you to do, which is you can look at somebody's face and you can tell if they have sugar face, gluten face, dairy face, or wine face, right? I have a very specific one right now. So I want to see. You're going to see if I can read your face. I know this is,
Starting point is 00:03:55 I get asked this question. I know. You're probably like, oh my God. It's like either I'm going to insult them or they're going to just think I'm a liar. Yeah. So what face do you have? I mean, besides beautiful face. Thank you. Okay. I'm going to take a wild guess. And if I'm going to make a guess, it's going to be sugar. Maybe, but I think the predominant one right now is dairy. Really? I had a lot of dairy this weekend and I don't normally. And I feel like my eyes are swollen. I have breakouts all over, which I never get. I can't tell. Okay. Then I have good makeup on. I can see a little bit of the puffiness in the eyes. Is that sugar as well? Sugar can do that as well. Dairy definitely does it. It does it for me. Like, and most, most people I know. Because imagine it causes the sinuses to
Starting point is 00:04:42 congest and it just causes a face to look more bloated and puffy. Yeah. Yep, which is an aging quality. Like people think like wrinkles, but it's dairy face. Interesting. And okay, so what is, so sugar face, what is that one like? Sugar face, you get a bit of redness on the skin and inflammation and you can get like a salowness and like a it can cause skin sagging. You don't have the skin sagging. I didn't mean it that way. Sugar equals skin sagging. So people that continue to eat the sugar, we know that these breakdown of the collagen occur. and it causes your skin to sag sadly. And what about gluten face? So gluten face is interesting. So think about gluten, what it does to the gut. We've seen a lot of studies on gluten causing what we call leaky gut.
Starting point is 00:05:32 So it's your gut kind of having holes in it and having perforations and causing, you know, inflammation in your body systemically. Gluten can cause autoimmune conditions. So think about like people with autoimmune conditions and fatigue. They quite often have like puffy face. You know that face you have after eating pizza the next day? It's like your face is kind of like the yeast that rises in the breast. Sometimes I like that because I feel like it makes me look younger.
Starting point is 00:06:01 That is a good point. To be fair, you're not wrong. I have had that before being 51 now. I kind of like. Yeah, you get a little of the diffuse swelling. Exactly. And then wine phase. Okay, yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:14 Wine face, sugar face are kind of, you know, wine and sugar is the same thing. Got it. Wine, more like redness on the skin. And you get these deepened nasolabial folds, which none of us want. You know, kind of the dryness around the eyes. And in Chinese medicine, these lines here in the middle of the forehead represent liver, the 11s. So more pronounced 11s. And, you know, obviously you're getting a similar to sugar face, but lots of inflammation in the skin.
Starting point is 00:06:44 And they did like a study on someone that, like, used to drink wine every day. and then stop drinking wine. And you can see the difference in her skin was like from super red and inflamed to like clear. Wow. I mean, yeah, it's sad. I know. Wines out. Not all the time.
Starting point is 00:07:01 80-20 rule. Got it. And as far as sugar, and we'll get more into this in this episode, but does that go for like a smoothie, for example, as well? That is such a good question. So can it be like natural sugars or is it added sugars, more processed things? I have smoothies for dessert. That's kind of where I'm at at the moment. Yeah. Because they have so much sugar in them. Yeah. And they're made with so many different things. And so I think you got to be
Starting point is 00:07:29 careful of your smoothies. Like if you're going to be making a smoothie at home, you can blend, you know, a handful of berries, you know, add some like fiber in there. So like ground flax seeds or chia seeds that help sort of get your blood sugar. You know, your blood sugar, you know, your blood sugar more stable. And so, and also increase your bowel movements, which we know really, really help inflammation overall. So I think with smoothies, think of fiber and maybe like berries. Like don't put bananas in there.
Starting point is 00:08:03 I mean, those are, that's basically a sugar crash waiting to happen. Yeah. Sometimes I pick my battles. Like today, I was so tired. And I didn't want to have caffeine because I'm like, then I'm going to get caffeine high. even just from macha and then crash. And so I would rather get kind of that burst of energy from the smoothie. And it has, to my credit, it has flax seeds.
Starting point is 00:08:28 It has almond butter. It has glutamine. It has B12 berries, no banana, vegan protein powder. And cash milk, I don't know, one of those. So it's not like a total, total sugar bomb. Oh, you so know what you're doing. You're on the right track. And I can only have this much.
Starting point is 00:08:46 I'm so sensitive. I can either have caffeine and be anxious and tired. Right, right. It's the worst. Yeah. We've all been down that dusty road. Yeah. So your philosophy is that skin help starts in the gut, right?
Starting point is 00:09:00 And that's your book and you have a whole plan. But how did you land on that? You know, as a naturopathic doctor, that's how we're trained, right, to start at the level of the gut. And because I've been doing it on patients for so many years, it was actually an interesting how it happened. I was, I'd already written the book because I wanted to write this book, but I didn't know how to go about getting it published or even where to start. And I randomly got an email from Penguin Random House. And they're like, would you be interested in writing a book? I'm like, I've already written the book. And they're like, what?
Starting point is 00:09:33 Wow. So I had a meeting with them and then lo and behold, I had a book deal. And this was in 2015 when no one was talking about poop and the gut and the skin connection. So I was, you know, they were excited to take this on as a, you know, working title and move it forward. So my UK version is reverse the signs of aging and the U.S. version is younger skin starts in the gut. And so really I talk about that connection, the skin and the gut connection, being super important at starting. If people are looking at skin care as your starting point, you're heading in the wrong direction. Yeah, let's dive deeper into that because we talk so much about skincare on the show. And, you know, I think that people kind of look at the tangible things that they can do when it comes to wellness, whether it's skincare through their diet, through supplements and all of those things can help. But really, we need to be looking at these foundational things, right? So talk about why you can't really override maybe dysbiosis in the gut with good skincare, good nutrition. all about.
Starting point is 00:10:41 Because you can't, yeah, you can't hide the puffiness, right? Like, you can try, you know, you can only hide so much until it starts showing up on the skin. And you can, you know, you can do that in your 20s and your 30s and maybe some of your 40s. When you get my age, you can't be, you know, messing around. It's really going to show. And even, you know, in younger age groups, you can start seeing the skin. And so you're seeing a lot of these young 20, 30-year-olds getting Botox and fillers and, you know,
Starting point is 00:11:10 because of the effects of food. And instead of focusing on the food first and then going for maybe baby Botox or filler if you have to, I think that's a better way of taking care of the skin. And my way of taking care of the skin is using really incredible technology, microneedling, radio frequency with micrneedling, radio frequency in general LED therapy, various different kinds of peals that I mix together. to help the skin overturn skin cells. So there are ways of helping the skin on the outside,
Starting point is 00:11:46 but if you don't do the inside first, you're going to be doing a lot of outside treatments on a regular basis. Whereas if you start on the inside, it's an inside job and it, you know, you can get better results with getting treatments, not as regular as you would need to. And do you do Botoxin filler as well or no? Do you stay away from all of that? I personally don't inject Botoxin patients.
Starting point is 00:12:09 Have I done it on myself? Yes. Maybe every two years I'll do baby Botox. I have, you know, my 11s, but, you know, I can get away with it for quite a number of years because I keep on the microneedling. I keep on my skincare regime. I do the inside job things that I need. I take supplements. I've always taken supplements for the last 20 years. So I think those things have really helped me personally. And I feel my patient. Your skin is insane. I mean, that's why I'm asking, I'm looking at you. Even when I met you out there, like you definitely have that glow from within. That to your point, you can't get that from a skincare regimen. You can't get that from Botox, fillers, things like that. Well, you're very kind. You made my date. Yeah. Yeah. I know you're radiant. I mean, your eyes too and your skin and everything. You can tell that you have that vitality from within that, you know, you just can't get with these topical and. you know, less invasive treatments. And you can really see once people follow my plan in my book, I have patients that have done no skin care treatments with me. They just do the plan to start with because I won't do the skincare treatments on them or give them skin care. They can start with my skincare if they want. But once they start the inside, people start asking them, what have you done? So they're on the four-week plan plus my supplements. And people will say, you literally look five years younger.
Starting point is 00:13:42 And that's all they've done. So can you imagine then adding treatments to that? Yeah, it's like the cherry on top. Right. That's what I do on myself personally. But I am naughty at times. There is an 80-20 rule. Like, I'm not perfect.
Starting point is 00:13:57 I will be seen out with a glass of wine every now and then. but it's not as often as I would like because I love wine, but it's just I know what it does. What it does, even like psychologically, emotionally, it really messes up the gut. So, and the skin. Yeah. I mean, I can even feel like after my weekend, I had a friend in town. So I was eating out every meal. I don't want to be the person at the restaurant who's like, no, I don't eat this,
Starting point is 00:14:24 that, this and that. And the other thing when we're all sharing things. So I am like dairy, you know, gluten, sugar, all the things, desserts like that I don't normally eat. So, yeah, I guess I do have sugar. Yes. So good. So good and so worth it. But I mean, I feel hungover today.
Starting point is 00:14:40 I haven't had a drink in 10 years. And I have that feeling because I think when you do live by that 80, 20, when you do that 20 or even that 10 percent, like it really affects. Yeah. So unfair. It's like a moment on the lips and the lifetime on the hips. And exhaustion after, you know, it's just like, it's not fair. Yeah. But I always say to my acupuncturist because she's like, you're just really sensitive.
Starting point is 00:15:05 And I'm like, I wish I wasn't. But she says, no, it's a good thing. Because that also means that you respond really well to treatments, you know, whether it's acupuncture or whether it's a supplement or whether it's just removing something that's causing inflammation. So it's kind of a gift in that way. I think so. And I think that's great that you're sensitive and that you are aware because there. then you know what's happening. A lot of people don't know what's going on.
Starting point is 00:15:29 And they're like, then two months later, they're like, oh boy, why do I feel like this? What do I need to do? And now you know what to do. You know how to navigate that. Because that person could just be eating dairy and everything every day because they have no idea what's happening. So I think that's the first thing is to be aware that, you know, what is happening in your body. So if somebody walks in to your office, what is the first thing that you do? I ask them how many times they poop.
Starting point is 00:15:57 Okay. I know. I have zero shame. I've been doing it my whole career. It's just I think it's a conversation we have to have and we have to normalize these conversations. Because really the pooping habits and what's happening from what your poop looks like, what it feels like, the shape of it, the frequency, the color. All of those things can tell me so much. Okay. Like what? So it can tell me like if it's floating or sinking, for example, if you have fat malabsorption, if you have fat malabsorption, that means that you're not absorbing vitamin A, D, E, and K, which are super important vitamins.
Starting point is 00:16:32 So that person is going to have a propensity towards depression, diarrhea, stomach upset, bloating, gas, you know, alternating constipation diarrhea. I mean, those are not fun things to have. And then to top it off, they'll have autoimmune type issues. So chronic fatigue syndrome, fatigue, feeling like they're hung over pretty much every day. So what does that do to a person? What does that look like for that person? You know, their ability in their life to maintain friendships, relationships, jobs, motivation. Like it impacts their entire life.
Starting point is 00:17:06 So just knowing what the bowel movements are doing. And, you know, a lot of my patients say, nobody asks me these questions. And they're not even shy about it. They're actually quite happy or they're like, you know what? I don't know. I'm going to look. And they're like, should I take a picture? I said, no, don't take a picture. Just, you know, you can send me an email and let me know. Yeah. To a poop diary. But I don't want any pictures. Yeah. I have had patients send me pictures. Really? It's funny. You think about that saying about periods. Like the period, the period is the fifth
Starting point is 00:17:39 vital sign, right? But it sounds like maybe your bowel movements are your sixth vital sign. Yeah. It is. It's super important. I mean, your gut is, you know, the center of where health begins and death begins. You know, everything that happens in that gut, you have, what, 300 trillion bacteria in there? And there's good ones, there's bad ones, there's ugly ones, there's neutral ones, like Switzerland, you know? Yeah. But the bad ones can create a lot of problems and, you know, conditions and chronic illness. illnesses. And we're going to see, and I remember saying this over 20 years ago, and I remember saying
Starting point is 00:18:23 like, we're going to come to a point where every single disease is going to be treated at the level of the gut and it's going to be mainstream. And I think we're moving there. I don't think we're quite there. But if we can get there, we can resolve so many chronic issues. Can you just maybe tell us in layman's terms, how does it start in the gut? How is it? How is it? is it that the gut affects every system of the body? So if you think about it, a lot of the bacteria in the gut absorbed nutrients like B vitamins, all our nutrients are absorbed in the gut. Our water is absorbed in the gut. Think of the gut as one cell. So it's like this glass. It's one cell, you know, it's permeable enough that we can have nutrients absorb, but it's thick enough
Starting point is 00:19:13 that it prevents the toxins from being absorbed. The difference that separates the outside world to our inside body is our gut. So it's the only way we have a security guard at the front of our body and the back, which is our rectum, our bottom in the mouth. So there's only the two ways anything can get in, really. I mean, obviously creams, toxins get in, but generally speaking. So we have security guards at both ends. So it's about preventing toxins from going into our body because eventually it's going to absorb into our body.
Starting point is 00:19:50 So keeping that gut microbiome optimal by preventing the bad toxins from coming in. Because when we have toxins come in or we overproduce bad bacteria, they produce poop. And their poop is called fermentation. And that fermentation triggers a cascade of inflammation responses. So those inflammation responses then cause joint pain, back pain, muscle pain, that kind of hangover feeling issue. It can just make somebody just feel exhausted. It can cause nervous system issues because where are most of your serotonin receptors located?
Starting point is 00:20:29 They got it. So depression starts there. So anyone that comes into my office that says, Doc, I'm depressed or have depressive like symptoms or anxiety, I can. put it 10 out of 10 that they're not having that beautiful sausage shape poop every single day. So what are some of the first things that you do with somebody? Do you have them do a stool test so that you can analyze everything? Are there things that you would recommend people immediately take out of their diet if they're
Starting point is 00:21:01 incorporating them? Like if they are eating dairy, gluten, sugar, just have them eliminate that for the time being. Are there supplements that are universally helpful? Like, what does that look like? That's a great question. And so I will literally get them to do a crappy job, which is the stool test. But someone's got to do it and they've got to do it. Pretty much every patient of mine does a stool analysis.
Starting point is 00:21:25 Because I want to know who is actually living in the gut. All the good guys living there. I want to see how your short chain fatty acids are, which are some butyrates that are protective. I want to know about fat malabsorption. I want to know if there's any parasite. which bacteria are there. And then accordingly, I'll put together a plan. I'll clear out the bad bacteria.
Starting point is 00:21:47 I'll correct the gut microbiome imbalance. And then I'll use protective supplements to ensure that we get that gut lining rebuilt. I'll also do food intolerance tests. I'm old school. I've been doing food intolerance tests for over 20 years and I find them very effective. It's not the full treatment,
Starting point is 00:22:05 but it's a good starting point, what to remove. I wrote my book really for my patient. if I'm really honest because I kept there there are some common tenants in there that if you can't see me as a patient Please read the book because it has so much information in it. It should have been two books, but But I got carried away because I get so passionate about this. So the book I will always give my patient a starting point. This is where you can start until we can actually find exactly what your intolerances are and what your imbalances are in your gut. So yes. And I would also run full lab work. And what that means is not just a basic cell blood count. I would look at markers such as, you know, ANA for autoimmune conditions, TSAH, T3, T4, any bodies to the thyroid, Cereactive protein, homocysteine.
Starting point is 00:22:55 I add a lot of different blood work markers that a conventional doctor sometimes might not add, although there is the tightest turning. Medical doctors or conventional doctors are now taking that step to do more blood work because they're seeing that. they're missing things, you know, with their patient. So I always like to be as thorough as possible, so I have a baseline. Yeah, I was going to ask you, why do you think that is? Is it because they're missing things? Or is there kind of a shift away from traditional, you know, MDs to naturopathic doctors and more integrative practitioners or just an amalgamation of all of those things? It is. You're right. But it's really coming from you. It's coming from people like you that do these podcasts, that educate. and patients, you know, patients are now demanding to have blood work done.
Starting point is 00:23:43 And, you know, I can tell a lot by looking at lab work. So I quite often tell my patients, hey, send us your, you know, last two years of blood work. And I can see deficiencies that are forming before they've even happened when their medical doctors said, oh, just go home. You're fine. I'm like, no, your iron deficiency anemia. And they're like, how did you know? I'm having such heavy periods.
Starting point is 00:24:08 How would you know that? I'm like, I can see it in your blood work. And they'll just be like, why didn't my medical doctor tell me that? I don't have an answer. I never say anything bad. I just say, I don't know what to say, but we're fixing it now. And, you know, iron deficiency, anemia is debilitating. And it's a large group of the population.
Starting point is 00:24:28 Any woman that's menstruating, you need iron for so many biochemical reactions in the body. So I think it's important to read lab work. and really understand it. And that's where naturopathic medicine is, you know, the king of all of that. We really, really know ourselves when it comes to biochemistry. What are some other pillars of overall health aside from like the lab work, the stool testing, obviously the nutrition. I know that, you know, oftentimes there are other things like acupuncture incorporated and more of like an emphasis on the mind, body. So could you talk about that a little bit? Absolutely. I'll, I will work, I'm a traditionally trained naturopathic doctor. I use every tool in my toolbox from what I learned over 20 years ago. So I will use homeopathy. I'll use Chinese herbs. I'll use botanicals. I'll use it all. I also do treatments on my patient like energy work with cupping. That really is helpful. I'm trained in acupuncture or in the state of California. I cannot perform acupuncture.
Starting point is 00:25:35 patients, even though that's one of my gifts. You know, we don't call it acupuncture. We can sometimes inject homeopathic remedies into different meridian points, which is what I'll do for people with pain. So I use a lot of my tools in my toolbox. And I love these, my patients love it because I can treat them for almost anything using all the tools in my toolbox. IV intravenous therapies. really, you know, I custom make IV therapies. It's not just like mainly fluid. It's not just, it's not just mainly saline rather. It's, you know, it's putting nutrients in for you that you need. Like, for example, if you're feeling not great today because you had all that dairy, maybe we need to work on an IV that's going to not just hydrate you, but allow your
Starting point is 00:26:24 body's liver to eliminate that inflammation that occurred as a result. So I'll do so. I'll do, something like that, just some energy work on the patient. And they'll literally leave feeling so much better. So we'll go do that after this. Sure. Come on over. I'm like, what do I have? I'm sure you have time. Just kidding. No, that sounds amazing though. And, you know, I think it's so important because we tend to isolate everything in the body here, right? And we look at each system as its own thing. And really, they're all working in concert together. So you can't really treat the one. thing, especially, I mean, the gut, right? I had somebody on the other day and we were talking about hormone health and, you know, how so many people go, okay, I'm going to fix my hormones.
Starting point is 00:27:10 But then they have this gut that's, you know, in dysbiosis and they have SIBO or, you know, candida or whatever. And I learned years ago when I was going through that same thing, like, you have to treat the gut first because when your body is under that chronic stress of having the digestive issues and the overgrowth, you know, your reproductive hormones are going offline. potentially, right? 100%. You're bang on. And it's so funny, you said this.
Starting point is 00:27:35 Because this is what I'm going to give you sneak peek. My second book is on if I can get there. It's like the gut and hormones. Oh, wow. Because you can't separate them. And you're one of the first people that really have talked about this, because I don't hear a lot of people talking about the gut and hormone connection. Because you can't fix your hormones if your gut's a mess.
Starting point is 00:27:56 You're going to end up at square one all over again, if not worse. Right. talk a little bit about the mechanism of that and how it interacts, like how the gut and the hormones interact with one another? Well, if you think about it, the liver and the gallbladder work together, the liver 100% clears estrogen. And if you have a sluggish digestion, you have a sluggish liver. So think about a lineup back in the day when we used to go to clubs. Remember we used to line up and get into the club? And then if it's too long, we leave, right? The only analogy I can can think of, I'm missing my good old days, but that we leave that lineup, and that's like
Starting point is 00:28:36 toxins waiting to get into the liver. If the lineup is too long, they just leave. And when they leave, they recirculate. What happens when they recirculate? They become even more toxic. So your body ends up with a high toxic burden. And that's what happens with hormones. When you're giving hormones to a person who's already congested with such a long lineup, they're going to be worse. So it might work initially because they're so low that it's like it's like the desert you can get to plant some water but it overflows after a well because you you really need to fix the root cause which is exactly what you said and if you fix the gut treating the hormones is very easy in the same way as skin if you get a clear face right like from avoiding the toxic foods then when you get a
Starting point is 00:29:28 face treatment, it's going to work so much better. Instead of trying to combat the acne or the redness, you've already got an anti-inflamed face. So you can really work on then lifting and glowing and, you know, all the things that we want. Yeah. God, I'm like, this is music to my ears. What are some of the biggest offenders when it comes to inflammation, whether it's in our gut, I guess it will, yeah, in our gut because it would start in our gut as far as food, environmental toxins. Yeah, I mean, you're right. It's toxins from the environment that we can't control. But we can control. I want to focus on things we can control because it gets quite daunting to think that, oh, gosh, you know, you can do things like don't buy supplements in plastic bottles. You know, that's why I made my supplements all in glass
Starting point is 00:30:20 bottles, it was not easy to do, but the microplastics you end up getting is, is hardcore. Avoid collagen powders that are not tested for mercury. And, you know, these are the things we can control. Limit your sugar intake, you know, increase your fruits and vegetables. Vegetables are easy to do. You just throw it in a soup and you make a soup. That's what I do once a week, especially vegetables that are going to be expiring soon. you know, try to get as much vegetables and cook vegetables because we're all really hard to
Starting point is 00:30:56 digest. So there's really simple things that one can do to, you know, get rid of the offenders, you know, like sugar preservatives. We all know packaged foods are really, really unsafe for us to consume. We know what happens. So, you know, I think we're all awakened. I think there's a lot of people that are awakened to this. And it's exciting that, you know, I've been doing this for 20 years. And I've seen the evolution of even people now calling themselves functional practitioners, which is really naturopatic medicine. Yeah. Functional is a very sexy word right now. Functional food, functional drinks, functional practitioners, functional beauty, right?
Starting point is 00:31:36 It's like attached to everything. I just wish they would credit naturopathy because that's where it comes from. And I'm excited about it. But at the same time, I think we need to address the roots. Like functional medicine is coming from naturopathy, because of. medicine. And so, you know, I think we need to acknowledge that as naturopathic doctors being the founder. It's just me loving my profession. But I'm excited. And the thing is, is that there is a lot of knowledge that these functional medicine doctors need to, you know, I was schooled in this.
Starting point is 00:32:09 So, you know, a six-month course in functional medicine isn't going to make me feel comfortable referring my patient to a doctor that doesn't really know, you know, because I can see them. trying to fix part of things and then I always have to go over it again or another naturopathic doctor but hopefully we'll we'll all be able to work together in that capacity and and I think that naturopathic doctors really do inspire you know functional medicine practitioners in general what inspired you to start your own lines with your supplements and your beauty well it was just that I didn't want my patients taking supplements out of plastic bottles and I don't think people think about that. I know. When you said that, I mean, I'm thinking about most
Starting point is 00:32:54 supplements. Most of them are either in plastic bottles. I know. They're in plastic pouches. I love those, by the way. I do too. I call those my bedtime dessert. I'm like, I love it. Yeah. You know, think about a vitamin bottle that's been sitting on a truck, especially here in Southern California. You're having those every day to better your health. And meanwhile, back at the ranch, they have microplastics in them. So I really, I made my supplements not into plastic, into glass. They're third party tested. They're clinically tested in the sense that I've been using them clinically in my practice, you know, for over 10 years. So I know that they're safe and they're effective. And those are, I think, the key two points when you're looking at supplements. And that's why I made
Starting point is 00:33:44 mine. That's incredible. Do you have any? celebrity secrets or like award season secrets. We just kind of got past the award show time. Yeah. Like what are people doing that we don't really know about? Hmm. A lot of my patients are amazing. They will go on the four week plan before award season. So they'll get their face, their body. You know, if they've kind of slacked off, they'll get back on the four. They'll start, you know, four weeks in advance. They'll come in for Dr. Nigma Face Treat. Iceing really helps the skin, the face for inflammation as well. I think, like I said, it comes from inside.
Starting point is 00:34:25 So they'll do that. They'll come in for an IV and a face treatment at the same time. So I'll do both. Amazing. I'll give them an IV. They'll lie back and I'll look at what their skin needs and I'll give them a Dr. Nigma non-surgical face treatment. So they'll come in maybe the day before the Oscars or the Golden Globes
Starting point is 00:34:44 or the day of, you know, depends on their skin. schedule and they'll get a treatment every time before. What are some, if you can think of any, what are some like really egregious beauty or wellness trends that you've seen out there? Oh, dear. Yeah, there's a lot of different trends right now. I mean, I think snail peptides are coming back. So in one of my serums, I have snail peptides. They're not real snails mucus in there, but I've mimicked the exact peptide found in the snail mucus. But I think that's kind of coming back. I think guasha's coming back because I think people are really realizing the importance of lymphatic drainage in the face. Yeah. As getting like the toxins out of the face. And I think it's a
Starting point is 00:35:27 good thing. It's an easy thing to do. Full body lymphatic drainage is the rage. Everybody is doing it. Capping, you know, is super cool and effective and safe. Also getting it from a practitioner who knows what they're doing. It's even better. I don't know. What have you been seeing? As far as good things. I mean, I don't really know. Like, I try anything. Right. You'll try anything once. Yes. I will try anything. I mean, I see a lot of beauty trends that I know for myself wouldn't necessarily work. Like, I know like slugging was a big one with like the Vaseline all over your face. Oh dear. Yes. I heard of that. Some people love it. And I'm like, I would actually, I got Fraxel in December and I put Vaseline on and I had like dermatitis all over my face. Oh my gosh. Because he's got petroleum in it. So yeah, I have to be careful.
Starting point is 00:36:20 Yeah. But I feel like there is this kind of trend back to natural. I feel like the pendulum always kind of swings, you know, to extremes and then settles somewhere back in the middle. But at least from what I see, you know, on social media, it seems like people are being more cognizant of like what they're putting in their bodies and what they're using topically. And also just trends as far as aesthetically. Like you're not seeing. the frozen Botox look now. I think people are wanting to have some movement back. I feel like we're seeing less filler and people opting more for things like microneedling and LED masks and things like that. So it's, I don't know, it seems like natural as far as like the look and as far as the approach. What are your three main anti-aging tips? If you have sleep disturbances, that's when your body regenerates. So you've got to have a good sleep hygiene. And that means really shutting down everything, the phone, your thoughts, meditating. I like to lie on my PEMF bed at night. I just got one of those yesterday. Did you? Yes. So I use one from Healthy Line. Okay. They have this
Starting point is 00:37:34 rainbow chakra and they have like different crystals in them. Yeah. And you know, I used to think, oh yeah, whatever. Now my dog fights me for it. No way. He wants to be, I have all these videos of the second I turn it on, he jumps on there. Really? And he knows where the energy starts. It's so, he's so intuitive. So I love lying on that. How long do you do that for?
Starting point is 00:37:56 I do that at least for 20 minutes. And then I'll do the Kirtin Kria meditation, the satanama. And that like puts me in this state of ready to then sleep. Not so that I'm so tired that I pass out. people that do pass out from being so tired will quite often wake up at one or four in the morning because their adrenal glands are burnt out. But that shutting down before you go to bed, I think is super important. So that's my ritual. I'll take a bath with absent salts and magnesium salts. And then I'll get on the chakra and I'll listen to a curtain crea and I'll doze off.
Starting point is 00:38:33 Sometimes I'll put a face mask on if I'm like really like have that, you know, I feel like my skin is needing it. I do it once a week, the treatment mask. I create it. I brought for you as well. I just love it. I love doing all these self-care. I think it's so important, just even the ritual of doing it. Because it's self-love, self-care, you know, and it feels like you're receiving from you, which I think is the most important. So sleep is being the most important. Sorry, I went into a long diet. I love it. No, those were great. So sleep, I think, is super, super important. I think one of the most important things. Because when you sleep well, your cortisol is not all over the place. And then you're not craving naughty foods and, you know, feeling grumpy. And, you know, it just sleep, I would say,
Starting point is 00:39:18 is one of the, so whatever you need to do to get your cortisol levels down if we're going to bed and sleeping well, I think that's one of the most important. Yeah. So not scrolling on TikTok. I know, I know. I know. Until one in the morning. I'm, listen, I, I'm not going to lie. I do sometimes do that. But I am really making a conscious effort not to. Yeah. I'm more than halfway there. Any other gadgets? I mean, the PEMF, Matt, this brand who sponsors my show, Bon Charge, who I love, I love their infrared son blanket. They sent it to me. And I was like, what is this thing? Right. I didn't even know. I was like, looking at it. I see the crystals and I see the infrared. And I'm like, I don't understand. And then I figured it out. But any other little tips or hacks like that? I love my hyperbaric chain.
Starting point is 00:40:07 have an hyperbaric chamber in my house now. Oh, wow. I know. I've kind of gone over. I know goals. Actually, people, you can't own one. You can't have one in your house. I find, I bring my dog in there too because he has irritable bowel disease. Of course I got the dog with the gut disease. Bless him. I like to steam. Steaming is really, really good. And in L.A., there's so much pollen and the Santa Ana wins. I think steaming is really good. And, okay, I know this sounds crazy, but nasal flushing. There's this thing called neal med. You can get it at any pharmacy.
Starting point is 00:40:41 It's the best way to depuff your face. Yeah. Really? So cleaning out your sinus cavities. Because guess who resides in the sinus cavity, viruses, bacteria. So I love using that to depuff. I love the neil med. It's a little trick.
Starting point is 00:40:56 Sorry. Ever since I got a rhinoplastie in 2017, he had me doing the neal med. And I was like, I feel great when I do this. I just feel like it's cleansing. It is. You can even do that after having dairy. Oh. You can do that tonight.
Starting point is 00:41:12 I'm doing all the things tonight. I'm doing my PMF, steam. Send me a picture. Yeah. I will. Well, thank you so much for coming on. This was so fun. Tell everybody where they can find you and find your products and your book and all of that.
Starting point is 00:41:28 Yeah. They can find my products on healthy dock.com. That's my website and my online shopping. And yeah. My book on Amazon, if you want to have a look, younger skin starts in the gut. And we'll link everything in show notes. Thank you. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed that episode. And if you liked it, and if you liked the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes a long way, and it's actually the best
Starting point is 00:41:55 way to support the show. Also, if you want to see more about each episode, you can head over to The Blonde Files podcast on Instagram. You can go to Ariallori.com. And I'm always posting about each episode over on my personal page at Ariel Lurie.

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