Well with Arielle Lorre - 399: Easy Wellness Hacks to Curb Sugar Cravings, Stop Bloating and Glow from Within with Dr. Natazia zu Stolberg, L.Ac, DACM

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

Dr. Natazia zu Stolberg is a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, known for her expertise combining new and innovative wellness techniques with traditional eastern practices to treat prominent health issues women face today. She is also the founder of Doctor Stolberg, known for its iconic Rest + Digest tea. She joins the show to discuss easy TCM hacks and swaps we can integrate into our lives to look and feel our best, including how to curb nighttime sugar cravings, how to make your smoothies more gut-friendly, how to support hormones, how to achieve glowing skin from within, why you should switch from cold plunge to sauna, dry brushing, ideal breakfast and workout times, her double dinner hack and so much more.Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Go to vivrelle.com and use code WELL for 30% off one month of membership and to skip the waitlistGo to doctorstolberg.com/discount/Well for 15% off teaProduced by Dear Media.See 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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without your Reis-Adviseur or SunnyCars. The following podcast is a dear media production. This is well, a podcast about wellness in all its forms. I'm Ariel Lori, and each week I'm sharing unfiltered conversations with people shaping how we feel, live, and look. Come for the substance, stay for the

honesty, and leave with the tools to be well, inside and out. Hi, everybody, welcome to the show. I have an episode. I think you're going to love today. It is with a second time returning guest and friend, Dr. Natasia Stolberg. And I just feel like episodes where I have a friendship or rapport with guests tend to be the ones that you guys enjoy the most. And on top of that, Dr. Stolberg is cool. She's so knowledgeable. She lives this really balanced lifestyle.

She does not get too dogmatic about anything, but she follows TCM principles. And I thought that it would be great to have her on and just talk about TCM SWE.M whops and hacks that we can make really simply and easily integrate into our days for optimal health and well-being. So Dr. Stolberg has developed a very dedicated following for her focused and integrative approach to acupuncture and herbal treatment. I know so many people who see her. She specializes in women's health and she's built a highly respected practice that marries her education and years of experience working as a doctor of acupuncture in Chinese medicine with new and innovative wellness techniques. She practices at her space that she co-founded with her

wife, Jenna, who also happens to be my trainer. If you get a chance to go definitely check it out. It's called Space 314 in L.A. It is so aesthetic. It is just such an amazing space, whether you go for acupuncture or personal training. And then another practitioner who's been on my show, Dr. Sam also practices there, I believe, one or two days a week. So check that out. And then, of course, Dr. Stolberg also is the creator of Dr. Stolberg tea. She has the rest and digest tea, which has been one of my go-toes ever since it came out. It's so amazing for bloating you guys. I've been eating all of the pizza and pasta, especially in the Tuscany region. I mean, it's just all cheese. You can't get around it. There's no way around it. And normally I would bloat like crazy. I have the tea

after dinner before I go to bed. And even if I do have some bloating, it gets rid of it in like 15 to 20 minutes. It's crazy. It's amazing. It's also low histamine. So anybody listening who has issues there, tea can be tricky for me sometimes. I have no issues with this. So it's a daily soothing streamlined formula to support digestion and eliminate bloat. It works. It's amazing. And Natazio was nice enough to give us a code. She just rebranded. It's amazing. So definitely check that out. The code is well and you will get 15% off. So go to Dr. Stolberg.com. We'll put it in show notes. Again, the code is well for 15% off. Trust me, this will be your go-to for digestion and bloating. It's amazing. And the episode is like I said full of packs easy swaps easy tips that you can incorporate into your day

that are aligned with TCM principles and I think you guys will love it so please enjoy dr. Natasia Stolberg I want to do like a lightning round to start it's been like two years since you've been on the show so much has happened I can't even a lot has happened yeah crazy so we'll get into all of that but yeah let's do lightning round just to begin so tongue diagnosis or pulse reading oh pulse okay I'm going to ask you about that later actually you can expand on that a little bit in like three sentences okay I like both pulse is a skill that has mastered over many many many years if not your whole lifetime so that's why I was slow to say that tongue is a lot easier and it's changes quicker And people can monitor it themselves.

It's really a marriage of both. It's so hard to choose. Yeah, I know. These are always tough. Guasha or facial acupuncture? Guasha. Gwasha or jade roller. Guasha.

Tung scraping or dry brushing? Dry brushing. Expand on that. We like to read the tongue coating. So it's important for me to see what the coating is on a patient. Okay, so is that bad because I tongue scrape every morning. Ideally, if you're going to acupuncture, just don't do it. that morning it regenerates overnight but it's important to see if it's really like thick greasy

coating i want to know that what does that say lots of like dampness in the body or your fluid metabolism is not as it should be oh yeah that tracks for me yeah what about dry brushing what do you like about that i love dry brushing really good for your lymphatic system but just circulation in general i think a lot of people who notice you know they have like cold hands cold feet after doing dry brushing regularly can see improvements in that. My only thing is I hate doing it before the shower because I'm cold. Like you're just standing there naked dry brushing yourself. So I almost do a version of it in the shower with like a lufa type thing because I just notice I'm more regular because I'm nice and warm in there. Liver or gut healing first?

Got say more. Okay. That's a tough one. Liver is really important for detox. But the gut is the main place where Chi transformation starts. And I think if you don't have enough energy or healthy absorption of food, just detoxing on its own is not going to do a lot either. So I'm going to choose gut. Okay. Cold plunge or sauna? Sona. That one's easy for you, right? You have an aversion to all things cold. Exactly. I mean, I love a cold plunge from, you know, now and then, but sauna forever, heat forever. Okay, cool. Well, I thought today it would be fun to talk about easy TCM swaps. I feel like people get overwhelmed when they hear like Chinese medicine or a lot of people think that it's like woo-woo. But really there are so many things that we can be doing in our day-to-day lives from like a Chinese medicine

perspective that can really support our bodies, our beauty routines, how we look, how we feel, all of that. And you share so many of them on your social media. So everybody go follow. if you're not already. I try. It's really fun for me not only to educate or inform people on some of these small things, but also I think it makes me smarter. Like it helps me remember some of these things. Like every time I come up with a new topic, you know, I do some reading, do some research.

And I think it just keeps me like fresh and on track with being able to help my patients better. So it's a win-win. Gone are the days of just posting a picture and writing a captain. I know lazy day is like a 10 slide carousel, you know. It's so stressful. It really is. I mean, it's like every day, and I can't imagine having another job. I was going to say a real job. I mean, content creation is a real full-time job. But it's a full-time job in and of itself. So I don't know how you go and you treat people all day and run a business and then also have to do content creation. And I know so many business owners are in the same boat. All of my friends who are like doctors and nurse practitioners and have aesthetics, whatever the industry is, but they're also having to create content now. It's overwhelming. And I think people to understand how much work it is. So whenever I'm, you know, like, can you please give me a like a comment? It's a free thing that I feel like helps pay for all the work and time that we put in.

Yeah. But luckily, I do think patients help inform the content that I'm creating. Like if I'm seeing something over and over, I think, okay, this is something we should post about because it's obviously going on with a lot of people right now. What are the things that you're seeing over and over lately? I'm in a world of a lot of fertility patients right now. I feel like I kind of ebb and flow in and out of that. It's stressful, like going through IVF cycles and egg retrievals with patients. I think it's hard on my constitution sometimes, so it's not where I want to live all the time forever for the rest of my career. But it's very rewarding when we get good results.

A lot of women coming off of birth control, which is very exciting and just kind of waking up to the reality. of what hormones do to our bodies. And I think we are really the first generation where we've been on birth control for so many years, like 10, 15, 20 years. And I don't think we quite understand what that does to our body. And a lot of my patients just have never even had a regular cycle. So being able to help them through that, whether it be because they won't have a baby or they're just not feeling well on it after so many years feels great.

And I think just helping people understand that periods are cool and tell us so much about our health is really fun. Yeah, somebody with period issues, I always hate when I hear that. And when I hear that it's like the fifth vital sign. It is. Because it's stressful when you are having issues in that area. But I always wonder, I mean, I was in the era of being put on birth control when I was like 13 or 14 because I had one pimple. know, and that was just normal at the time. And I think that doing that from such a young age until I was like in my early 20s really created a lot of these issues that I still have today.

And I'm not anti. Like I always say that. Me neither. You know, I mean, there's a time and a place, right? Yes. My first question is always, why did you go on birth control? And if it's to prevent pregnancy, great, that's one thing. But I think 80% of the time I'm seeing the reason being painful, period, missing period, acne, all those things, which this is not a fix. It's just a complete band-aid and those things may or may not be there when you stop. So I think there's just like the time is now really to figure out what that is. You can't escape it. So. And then I think a lot of us are lifestyling our ways into a lot of these issues, especially in L.A. I remember last time you were on, you talked about everyone in L.A. being bloated, right? Everyone. That video did so well because

Everyone was like, what? And everybody is eating salads. Drinking smoothies. Drinking smoothies. Yeah. And doing these things that are then creating these imbalances in our bodies. What are some of the most egregious offenders? Okay.

Cold water. I feel like the big Stanley Cup probably came out after we first recorded. Like, why do you need so much freezing cold water all day long? It's not necessary. It's really hard for your body to process. It weakens your digestion. So cold water, cold smoothies, especially for. first thing in the morning. Oh my God. I just makes me want to scream. It's the worst thing you

could put in your body. Smoothie or water? Smoothie. Like if that's your breakfast, the first thing you put in is this ice cold, you know, smoothie. It's just, yeah, it's shutting everything down. Salads are really tricky on a lot of people. And I think when I say that to a patient, they kind of have this moment like, oh yeah, you're right. Eating a salad makes me feel like crap. I just think it's a healthy food and so we think it should make us feel good but it doesn't and then random weird things like chickpeas and beans broccoli cauliflower some of those things just really do not agree with people i had broccoli and cauliflower at lunch today and if you feel fine great yeah but i think they're all healthy foods and so we don't think about that as a cause to bloating yeah well i mean at

the end of the day there's so many healthy things that aren't universally healthy like i learned that in whole histamine journey. So many of the healthiest foods, quote-unquote, are super high in histamine. And don't do well for you. Yeah. And when you're experiencing like water retention or bloating gut issues, you think, oh, I'm going to add some like sauerkraut and bone broth and these things that, you know, might be great for one person. And for me, it was just throwing the logs on the fire. Yeah. We need to be better about listening to our own bodies. I think there's so much information out there. I mean, even us right now creating this podcast, but we need to be able to sift through it and actually figure out like what makes me feel good, what makes me

not feel good. And it may be different than your parent or your best friend or your spouse. That's really the key. Like how do I feel after I eat a salad or a smoothie? Okay. So I thought that it would be fun to kind of walk through the day and talk about these easy swaps that we can make so that it's not overwhelming. And again, my whole thing. Easy, simple thing. that you can do consistently that are not rocket science. And people can try them and if they feel better, great. And if not great. Yeah.

And if they feel like their routine is working for them, great. You do you. Yeah. Okay. So starting when we wake up, you drink bone broth as soon as you wake up, right? First thing in my body. I mean, maybe some like room temp water for whatever reason, but I don't drink. And you're not tongue scraping.

I don't tongue scrape. I'm not against it. I'm not against it. But there's a lot of people in the camp of don't swallow until you scrape the toxins off. your tongue. Interesting. I think tongue scraping is a lot more like Ayurvedic and I'm actually curious. I'm to do research now why that didn't get pulled over in a Chinese medicine. Maybe because we read the tongue, there are a lot of similarities between those two medicines. But yeah, tongue scraping is not something that I do. I'm not against it. Okay. So tell me why the bone broth. I just, I am bone broths number

one fan you know i think one i don't drink any caffeine so for me it's like that warm thing in the morning i make my wife coffee i make my bone broth i love that right off the bat i'm getting eight to 10 grams of protein kind of varies depending on what bone broth you're drinking and i also typically eat breakfast which we can get into but even if there's nothing else that you've done that morning you already have vitamins minerals protein in your body it's definitely something to get used to because drinking like an intense bone broth in the morning is a lot. But I do chicken. I think it's a lot easier than beef.

And there's also so much collagen in it. It's great for your skin. I don't know. I just love it. You don't have to do it first thing. But I think every woman should be drinking if you tolerate it well, like eight to 10 ounces of bone broth a day. Why not?

See, I'm jealous. I wish that I could do it, especially for the skin benefits. I feel like it's the best. It's incredible. And for fertility, really, really good. Yeah, bone broth is great. Okay, let's talk about breakfast. This is a big point of contention for a lot of people. I get so many comments. Yeah, so many comments, but I think that a lot of people are shifting away from maybe like the waking up, fasted workout, coffee first kind of thing,

solely because it's not serving them because they don't feel well. I've been really open about making that switch just in this past year, actually since a podcast that I recorded in January. I mean, I used to literally need that matcha as soon as my feet hit the ground to function. Yes. I remember having to get fasted blood work. And I'm like, how am I going to wait for the person to come to my house at nine in the morning? Like, what? No. And now just making that simple swap of eating something first, water first, waiting a couple hours, do my meditation, whatever. It's like been such a game change for me. What difference do you feel? Well, when I used to do just the

macha, it would wake me up. It would jolt me awake, not as much as coffee. But then I would feel kind of frazzled awake. It was more of like an electrical anxiety. Adrenaline. And I mean, for the first like half hour, 45 minutes, it's great, right? I'm like getting so much done, like screens and everything. And then suddenly like the hunger would hit me really fast. So it was like my blood sugar and it was just it would set me off on this roller coaster and I tend to run more anxious especially with the whole histamine mcast thing that I've been dealing with that anxiety was my predominant symptom and it's very very sensitive so I think having that macha being the first thing that I would give myself every day it was just like sending me down this path of very kind of erratic

energy anxiety appetite all over the place so now I do tongue scraping water. I'll meditate. I'll do my red light. I'll do my skin care. I'll eat usually within like an hour of waking up max. Even if it's not a full meal, I'll have something. Just something. And then at that point, I don't need it really. So now I just have it because I like the flavor. Yeah. Except for when I work out, Jenna's here. She's like, yeah, I see you drinking match at four club. Double match. Just holding myself accountable. No, but if I have it later in the day, it's because have four sip for the day yeah so that's what i've noticed and just way steady your energy yes way less anxiety less fluctuations all of that i think what's really interesting about the fasting trend and i will

forever believe this is especially for women i don't know how many are intentionally fasting or intentionally started fasting for the benefits we're just busy so the fact that you can just like rush through your morning and not have breakfast and you're either like getting to work or getting to your workout or getting your kids to school. And oh, wow, there's also apparently health benefits and not eating. What a great excuse not to. I think that's what most people are doing. Like if you really understand the mechanisms of fasting and you're breaking the fast appropriately with a large amount of calories, I don't think most women are doing that. So that's my first issue with it is why are you really doing it? Is it just pure convenience?

or is it for the benefits? Second of all, I follow Stacey Sims in her research the most, and she really talks about fasting being detrimental to cortisol and hormones, which a lot of women are having issues with right now. So if that's you, fasting is probably not serving you. It's less about the actual calories and nourishment that you're putting in your body, especially in the morning before a workout. It's more about what eating signals to your brain, that you are safe.

You're going to get consistent food throughout the day. You don't need to have a spike in cortisol, and you don't need to have a spike in adrenaline. And so that's what eating is doing. It's like making your body feel like, oh, this is going to be a good day where I'm safe. And so everything else can go the way that it should. We have to remember that our bodies are still like thousands of years in the past where we had huge times of fast and running from lions and all of those things. And some of the things we're doing today are making our bodies still think that that's the case, even though it's not just. through skipping meals, being on screens, like first thing in the morning. Yeah, the lion is my email. Exactly. Your body does not know. No. And then the last part for me is if you are not having breakfast, like you're basically telling yourself, I don't have time to just make myself a simple meal in the morning.

And how does that set up your day? You're telling yourself you're the least important part of your day. And I like to compare it to like getting gas. When's the last time you ran out of gas? Probably a very long time or never. yet we let ourselves skip meals and go hungry all the time. So when it comes to breakfast, what do you like to eat food-wise? I'm kind of phasic.

I love eggs right now. I'm in just like a total obsession with having scrambled eggs with a little bit of rice because I like that there's this like carb protein combo in it. I put some butter in it. It just tastes really great. Warm oatmeal is really good. You can also put some protein powder in that if you want to get the protein. Of course, I do the bone broth.

Sometimes I just have like a little piece of high fiber banana bread. I've been seeing that on your Instagram. I need that. We're in like a deep obsession with this banana bread. Yeah. And I just started making tiny versions that are just like so cute and sweet. Yeah. Jenna last night was like, can I have one for breakfast and dessert after dinner?

I'm like, sure. And there's barely any sugar and it's like very high in fiber. Also those coconut macaroons that you have on your page? I need to try that too. So good. Yeah. We'll have a little baking party. They're all so easy to make.

And we love a little sweet tree and it's just better to make it yourself so you know it's in it. If you want to be carrying that latest Hermes bag or maybe San Laurent or Dior, but you don't want to spend the money. I totally feel you. And this is where Vival comes in. Vival is amazing. It is the first of its kind luxury accessories, members only club, providing members access to borrow designer handbags, jewelry, even watches and diamonds. Members can basically treat the VEVrel closet like their own and can borrow anything within their tier. Also, VREL has no return dates.

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The code will also allow you to skip the V-R-R-R-E-R-L-L-E-L-E.com. And the code is well for 30% off one month of membership. Okay, we're eating breakfast. We're not fasting. You're good with caffeine. Sure. Right? Have you ever drank it? No. It does not agree with me. And anyone who knows me well is like I don't want to see you on caffeine. What does it do? It feels like you drink a lot. It makes me want to jump out of my skin. It's just such an unpleasant feeling and I'll have a decaf from time to time and even that small amount doesn't really make me feel great. I don't know. I think my system is sensitive. I don't drink alcohol. I don't drink coffee and it's not because I'm better than anyone else. It's just because my body hates it. Yeah. I can relate. to that feeling. Yeah. I should probably not do as much caffeine as I do. Not that I do a lot, but it

sounds so fun to like take something and then just want to do all the things you don't want to do. I mean literally the other day, I waited a couple hours and I did my meditation, everything, and I still was just in that funk. And then I had the macha and it was like the world opened up and the birds came and they were chirping. And I was like, oh, yes. This is very much a drug. And match is strong too. Yes. Yeah. I think it just doesn't make. you feel as anxious because of the altheonine, but it's still like very caffeinated. Yeah, it's like a healthy speedball. Okay. So what about workouts? Okay. Long and lean. How do we get long and lean? That's what everyone wants to know. Yes. I mean,

of course, it's partially my body type. I'm lucky through genetics, but it's also been interesting over the years to learn what's best for me and how to train. I like to work out in the morning. I just feel like after 12 o'clock or especially after I see patients, I have absolutely no energy for any type of good workout. So my ideal morning is that I'm doing the bone broth, having breakfast, and honestly having like a full hour of time before I'm getting ready to go to work or going to a workout. I think that's something that people miss. So I'll wake up early in order to have that time. I want my digestion to be good. I joke around that like I don't want to leave the house unless I've pooped because no good day starts like that.

And it's been my routine for, I don't even know how many years, 10 plus years. Like I do the same thing. Workout wise, I'm just obsessed right now with walking, doing P-Volve. Have you done Pee-Bolve? Yeah. And then I am very lucky to get to work out with Kirstie Godso in person, like a few times a week. And then I also use her pyro app, which is just killer amazing. She was like gym and mat workouts.

But I'm right now in a phase of doing like closer to 20 to 40 minutes of working out versus full hour. Is there like a TCM approach to working out? Lifting heavy weights can deplete the spleen, which is one of our digestive organs. I think that's probably to the extreme. Like in school we would talk about weight lifters and like what was happening to them because of the toll that takes on their body like mega mega weightlifters. But overall, I think building muscle and building metabolism that way is great. But there's not really, I mean, I don't think they were like working out the way we did back then. They were just moving and grooving in nature all the time. They didn't need to, you know. Yeah, true. I know that you've

talked about working out for, I don't remember the word that you used, but energizing versus depleting. Yeah. That's a really good thing that I speak with my patients about, especially when they're trying to get pregnant or going through fertility journeys. Every single person is different. What may make me feel nourished and energized may make somebody else feel. depleted. And so I asked people to really feel into that. And my wife and I talk about that a lot, especially with weightlifting. There's a way to do it. And maybe you've experienced this now where you're having nice breaks. And even though you're lifting heavy weights, you don't feel like just crushed by the end of it, which sometimes honestly doing like an hour long Pilates class or something,

you can feel like that. And it's really surprising that weights actually may not make you feel that way. Yeah. Well, I've been working out with your wife. I don't know a few months now. I find it very energizing. And I experienced that with Pilates recently. Remember when I did that class a few weeks ago that I've been talking about now ever since I did it on multiple podcasts, including the one before this, with a trainer? It was like the hardest thing I've ever done.

And I was dying for days for days. Which isn't sustainable because then you don't really want to work out for those days following. And I love Pilates. It's hard when you do a class sometimes because you just don't know what you're going to Yeah. And you get competitive and you don't want to like to be skipping, you know, half the class. Exactly. Actually, I want to rewind and go back to lunch because I know for so many people, a salad is the first thing that they grab for lunch. So what's like an easy TCM? We make double dinner.

Like me too. We're working. We're in an office that just has a microwave. And so I want to make sure that that is, you know, we're relatable in that way. We make double dinner and it's typically some type of protein, some type of cooked vegetable. And then usually rice or maybe like a sweet potato or it could also be quinoa, some type of like carb. And we just pack it up for the next day and we eat that for lunch. a warm lunch, I think is really important. Soups are a good option too. If you're going to eat a salad,

just make sure your dressing is like maybe has some ginger in it or something that's energetically warming or even a carb in it. Like I love to add rice or a cooked sweet potato to my salad. So we're just trying to balance it a little bit. But there's so many more options than salad, to be honest. Yeah, I'm a big double dinner person. It's so easy. I'm such a leftover person. Yeah. I have not always been a leftover person, but you kind of have to be. Like, if you want to eat clean food that you've made and you're working, it's your only option. Exactly. I was going to say if you're working, it's like the easiest thing to do without having to sit there and spend your entire Sunday meal prepping. Right. We don't do that. We've tried. Yeah. It takes the joy out of it, I think. Okay. And then

nighttime. Nighttime. I'm with patience all day. My biggest thing is like I have to shower when I get home. Not because my patients are dirty or anything. It's just like an energetic cleanse for me to enter my evening. So come home, shower. Jen and I usually, we'd catch up a little bit, make dinner or we have something prepped already for days that we're working late. Always rest and digest after dinner. That's your tea. Yep. Game changer. He love it by many people and many influencers. It has like cult following. Yeah. Once you start, you really can't stop drinking it. It's so nice, helps you digest your food better, reduces bloating, even if you're, you know, going out and eating like something crazy and fun at a restaurant. I mean, we never, ever eat out without having that

at home afterwards. You wake up and it's like it never happened. So we have rest and digest. Sometimes have a little sweet treat with that. Maybe it's like a piece of banana bread or a macaron or a piece of chocolate. And then biggest thing that people are missing, especially we're going talk about beauty is sleep. People are staying up so late or they're not sleeping enough. We need to be in bed. I mean, we're in bed usually by 9 or 10, but 11 is the latest because our gallbladder and liver, they function best in Chinese medicine between 11 and 3. And those are, you know, our detox organs. And everyone's doing all these fancy detox programs and juices and whatever else. And they're not even going to bed during the times to help their body process through those things. Yeah. And I think that

there's probably so many variables that lend themselves to that screens being a huge one, schedules being another stress, insomnia, things like that. But what are some TCM approved things that people can do to help them with sleep? Answer that and then I want to go back to something else. Things throughout the day that I recommend for everyone to be doing is one wearing socks, your feet should never be cold, especially if you're a woman. We have so many channels that start on the feet wearing socks is super important and again like so easy to do walking really important helps move chi helps your circulation and i'm just convinced that forward movement in that way solves like pretty much any problem that you're having massaging your ears so underrated there's hundreds of

acupuncture points in your ears so if you're not someone who has access to acupuncture regularly you can give them a little massage you'll know that you're done when they're like warm and a little bit pink. That's a good thing actually to add in the morning in the shower. And what does it do? Helps just activate all of the organs because your entire body is represented on your ear. It's kind of like foot reflexology in that way. So it's really energizing and then again just like boost wakens all your organs. Okay, I was going to ask you about nighttime sugar cravings. Oh. Yeah. I feel like that's a big one for people. Well, I am a recovering sugar addict. I talk about this a lot. Like I can't eat

gummy candies because it's just like a gateway for me. What about those ginger candies that you have? I, that you're supplying for people. I barely eat them. She's the ginger suppliers. Yeah, the ginger candies at the clinic are, nobody would come if I didn't have them.

They're so good. They're so good. But those get me too. I know. But you don't have a whole bag of those at home. No, no, no. So have no, I mean, I do. Oh, you do? I have the whole bags, but I would only have like one a day, if that. I don't even let myself have one because then when I get the one, then I want another. And I'm like, why not? You can have like a couple.

Yeah. No, but like a bag of sour patch or something like that, that's just I used to do that. And I can't because I would eat it and I would just feel absolutely sick. But having tea truthfully, I think is one of the best things. So it's really just we want something that's soothing and comforting. Even if you have a little bit of sugar in there and it's sweet and it's like your little treat and it distracts you from wanting to reach for a ton of sugar is a good move, but I'm not perfect. Like I said, we have little sweet treats, maybe like half of the nights of the week. And it feels good. You know, it's all about balance.

So, Jenna's having more, apparently. She's like, give her take, give her take the rest of the week. Is there anything in TCM that you can attribute having sugar cravings to? Yes. Actually, having weakened digestion or like the earth element, which is in charge of spleen, stomach, all of that, it makes you crave more sugar. So that and actually having some issues with like dampness and fluid metabolism. And then of course they just like feed one another. The more sugar you have, the more weakens those organs. But a small appropriate amount can also strengthen the organs. So again, all about balance. A little bit of sweet, totally fine. Too much sweet. Not great. And then sleep. Okay. What are we doing about sleep?

I'm a big fan of like when my mind is going crazy, which happens often, have all my good ideas at night. I love just like a CBD gummy. I know that's not TCM, but it really works. I'm very anti-melatonin. I think people don't realize it's a hormone that's supposed to be secreted at like very small amounts in your body. And the amount that we take in a supplement is huge. Plus they're very unregulated and you have no idea. how much you're getting. But most people that take melatonin notice that they either wake up in the

middle of the night. It's like they've slept the whole night, but they haven't. They can't go back to sleep or have crazy dreams. So I try to get people off melatonin if I can. Things to help with sleep that are more natural aside from the CBD, like a holy basil tea. I love. Some people are taking L-thianine or like an ashwaganda at night. And then again, just establishing like a sleep schedule, I think is important sleeping, going to bed and waking up relatively around the same time every night. What about room temperature? Does that matter? Or is it just personal preference? I know that there's like different. I think personal. Like I don't know all the research on that, to be honest. But we typically in the summer we'll have the air on a little bit. And then I'm crazy and I sleep on a heating pad every single night.

Because I just, yeah. To me, it like lulls me to sleep. I have it on my back. I travel everywhere with it. It's my thing. And even on like a plane, I'll have one of those. back open shake moxa heat packs because I'm just like a cold little lizard that needs heat all the times haven't I seen you using a heat pad after you have a smoothie oh yeah if I eat like a hot yeah if I eat like an assay or something like that because I'm human and sometimes I want that I will have a heating pad on my stomach or my back have a sweatshirt on and I drink a tea simultaneously like in between just to try to help with the blow you know there's no time for floating. Yeah, I love it. You're committed to the cause. Hey, I'm Josh Peck. And I'm Ben Sopper. And we're the good guys. On our show every week we talk

about buzzy pop culture stories, maybe answer a couple of your voicemails. And go into a moment of the week that makes you say, what are you nuts? And I swear it's so much better than this promo. Anyway, there's a lot of guys out there. But we're the good ones. Stream good guys every Monday wherever you get your podcasts. Apple, Spotify, anywhere. You know what, don't listen. Okay, I want to ask some quick, easy swap kind of question. So if somebody wakes up puffy or bloated, what's an easy swap they can try instead of reaching for that coffee or that smoothie? They wake up bloated.

The tea, rest and digest tea. I mean, I have to say that. It honestly works instantly. I was in New York, what was that, a month ago now or so, and I ate something. I've shared this picture on my Instagram before. I saw it. That was crazy. I ate something.

no idea what because it wasn't anything strange, I don't think. And I immediately had the most painful distension. And I could hardly walk. We were trying to walk back to the hotel. And Jenna kept whining at a car. I'm like, no, the walk is going to help. I was hunched over and so much pain looked literally like seven, eight months pregnant, drank the tea, got in bed. I drank two cups of the tea. And within an hour, it was 70, 80 percent gone. I took it before and after picture. Crazy. It works. Yeah, the picture is crazy. It's on your Instagram. Yeah.

Everyone go look. Yeah. And that rarely happens to me. And I honestly was happy that it digs. I'm like, damn, this product is really good. It really works. What's in it? Coriander and cumin.

So it's helping your body create more digestive enzymes naturally, which is really nice. Because a lot of us are taking them in pill form now to help with digestion. But it also soothes, you know, inflammation and irritation from like food sensitivities. And then will help with that cramping pain that you typically have from like gas or bloating. So all those things together really help without it being a laxative or anything crazy. Like you cannot drink too much of it, which is nice. It's very gentle. Amazing.

Can you drink? I was going to say, can you drink it iced? No. No. Someone I was just working with on branding was like, oh, for summer we should do iced. And I'm like, absolutely not. We're not icing the digestive tea. You're like, do you know me at all?

Maybe room temp. Yeah. Rim temp. Yeah. Room temp could be good. What is one thing we're doing in our routines? That TCM would recommend we stop cold plunging. There's just no way around it.

I can't imagine it being approved. Again, I think you can do it from time to time, be smart around your menstrual cycle, like never cold plunge on your period. Why? It just stagnates everything. Like it's not conducive to a warm, flowing circulation. So especially with a painful period and you're cold plunging a lot. You'll notice you may get more pain.

or you may get more clots or the blood may be darker. It's just not ideal. Why? Because it's just like a shock to your system. Yeah. It is shocking. It is. Yeah.

Very. Sometimes it's good though. Yeah. And in Chinese medicine, there's certain organs where like cold can enter directly and the uterus is one of those. So in theory, that's what's happening is like through ice bathing, cold is entering directly. I mean, hardcore people aren't even going in a pool on their periods. Really?

Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. Is there a T-Stam-approved swap? for cold smoothies and salads, which you kind of gave a couple swaps. But if somebody loves a smoothie, is it just like drink the tea with it? Or just don't make it freezing cold. I think a smoothie is super convenient. You know, you can have either if you're doing it because of the protein, you can also

just have protein water. That's usually what I do. I mix my protein just with like eight ounces of water and drink it down. Or you can use fruit from like the counter of the fridge versus frozen, don't add extra ice, and then add more warming things. Like you could do like a banana and cinnamon and vanilla protein and whatever your milk is. And that's still a smoothie you're probably getting in everything that you need, but it's not cold. People just really aren't hungry in the morning. I know that that's such a thing. Yeah. Such a thing. People are like, I just can't eat. Right. But why? You haven't eaten in 12 hours. You should be hungry. And I think we've trained our bodies and turned our metabolism's off in that way, you should wake up hungry. And again, you don't need to eat a huge meal,

like, phase your way into it. But it's, I think it's telling if you want absolutely nothing to eat in the morning. Interesting. Okay. So just we want to kickstart on metabolism, you know, because if you haven't eaten and now you're skipping breakfast, so now it's like 16 hours plus, and then all of a sudden you put this huge lunch in your stomach, how do you expect your body to break that down in any efficient way? You know, it hasn't been moving and grooving for many hours. So, yeah. Are there any TCM ingredients or treatments that you like for beauty? I think hydration is so, it's so important.

I know that's not like just TCM, but having room temp or warm water more often is going to help circulation, which is going to help the appearance of your skin. blood building foods are also really important. Our skin is, you know, representation of what's going on inside, but also generally the amount and circulation of our blood. So having beats, goji berries, red meat, black sesame seeds, seaweed, all these things are like powerhouses for the skin to be able to have beauty from the inside out. We've all seen that. There's just people who radiate in like a different way. And it's not because their skincare routine is perfect, but they are just so. So we've all seen that. There's just people who radiate in like a different way. And it's not because their skincare routine is perfect, but they are just so. healthy and vibrant. I think that's what we're all trying to get at through skincare and we're missing the internal piece. Yeah, that's so true. I can think of some people who are like that and it's not like they have no lines or everything is flawless and perfect. It is like an internal it's a glow. Even your eyes like the whites. I was going to say the eyes. Yes, the whites of your eyes or like we call it the Shen like the spirit in your eyes at a patient years ago who took

this before and after picture of seeing me months apart. And his eyes were just like alive again. And it changes everything about you. It's really, really cool to see. I need to see you because my eyes are like yellow. When I wake up every morning, I'm like, that is not good. New goals is very, very white eyes. New insecurity. Unlocked. Oh my God. Are there any like Western? beauty trends that or practices that are like contradicted by TCM. I'm always I'm really on the fence about the ice rolling. Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. Yeah.

I think it works very well for puffiness. But of course, I'm like, why are you puffy? I want to get more like to the root cause of why that's happening. There's probably like food, stress, whatever else. But in my eyes and in the eyes of TCM, complexion, and beauty is all about warmth and blood flow. And the ice roller is doing the total opposite of that. So I don't love it.

I don't use it a lot. I think it has a time and place. But for me, I think I look the most beautiful when I've just been like outside or got out of a bath or something where I'm like warm. Stana. Yeah.

Yeah. You just are glowing. Yeah. What is the most underrated ingredient or food or anything in your opinion for beauty? or for that glow. And if we want to get really crazy, we should make this beauty soup together that I make. Tramela mushroom.

Oh, yeah. Snow mushroom? Yes. I'm down. It's like pure collagen. It's so good. What does it taste like, though? Nothing, really.

I make it with like a rock sugar and goji berry and dates. So it's like kind of sweet, but it really doesn't taste like anything. It just takes on the taste of what you're eating. Really, really good. Most, I think, women in Asia are eating that. And it's, you know, pearl powder is also a big one, which isn't a lot of supplements now. Is it? Yeah.

Somebody told me recently to get pearl powder. And I was like, where does one? Oh, I can source. I'm good. I was like, Amazon. I'm like, maybe not. Like ingestable? I don't know.

I didn't know what I was looking at, but I was like, probably not. And then I think ginger is a great one. So good for blood flow and circulation and digestion. Again, digestion is the root, too, of good skin. Most people right now that are having skin issues, there is at least a component that has to do with gut dysbiosis. Yeah, and I think people are so quick to blame hormones, right? But it's like if you go downstream from that, usually there's something causing. Yeah.

Yeah, there has to be another cause. Yeah, which is why the band-aids don't necessarily work. Or they work for a while and then you're just playing whack-a-mole. And it's, of course, in combination with like the way you're. you're taking care of your skin on the outside as well. Yeah, I was going to say internal or external treatments first. Internal. I was going to say you can do both, right?

In conjunction. Yeah, but I never want to miss what's really going on. I think that's why I'm also so passionate about like going off of birth control to figure out your period issues. Why our bodies are so smart, they're going to tell us what's going on. So if we're putting Band-Aids on, again, not against doing external skin care, But if there's a way that you can work on balancing from the inside, I think it's really important. We always hear that like, well, we hear two things. Stress is the worst thing for your skin or sugar is the worst thing for your skin.

I think stress. You do. Yeah. I also don't think we really want sugar if we're not stressed. True. Right. Tusha. Yeah.

We're going to pick at like the root. It's stress. It's so hard on our bodies. You can't even. I'm amazed every day by the improvement. that patients make before we even get into anything crazy and specific just because they came to a couple sessions and they were able to just relax and enter that parasympathetic mode and so many things disappear. It's incredible. Yeah, I was going to ask you, like, is there anything that you

can think of? I'm sure you have so many stories, but like in conjunction with acupuncture, is there anything where you've seen somebody just do a really simple swap that completely changed their health or their life? I mean, I'm going to say it for like, hundredth time, but smoothies. It's crazy. I have people that come in with such insane bloating, and I have them cut out smoothies, cold water, and salads. And within sometimes, honestly, the next week. So, like, I've given them one acupuncture treatment and maybe they're on herbs, but I usually don't start those until the second week anyways. It's, like, gone. It's incredible. Yeah. That and having breakfast at a patient recently who was working out really hard at 6 a.m. every day,

and I had her just add in bone broth and the protein water, she came back. She was like, oh, my God. I can't even believe it. Same thing like you described way better energy, not only in her workout, but throughout the day. She was floored. Yeah. I was like sometimes it's just simple. I feel like for any caffeine drinkers who are listening, you just have to push through the

first few hours. Yeah. And then you kind of get to the other side. And once you eat and you get energy from the food and you're hydrated and you're kind of like moving around. you have a different kind of energy. It's not that like artificial energy, which I love. And then it makes it even better because then when you have that caffeine on top of that, first of all, you're not going to be like pounding it. And it just affects, or at least I'll speak for myself. It affects me differently. Like it's way more pleasant. And if you create that time in the morning as well, you shouldn't be doing anything that you really need that much energy for anyways, just kind of like putzing around the house or something. And if you create that time in the morning as well, you shouldn't be doing anything that you shouldn't be doing anything. You shouldn't be doing anything. And just kind of like putzing around the house or something. sitting on the couch and reading, something relaxing. Yeah, true. We don't need to go from zero to a hundred. I like blessed myself to like sit there in bed on my phone, emailing and like editing.

Get through everything. Which is like the worst when you're like vibrating with energy and not moving. Yeah. All right. Noted. Well, your tea has been around for how long? Three years. Okay. And like I said, beloved by everyone who tries it. Yes. And now you have like this whole rebrand. It's amazing. When I started it three years ago, we talked about this on the last podcast I was on with you, but I really yield my own chronic bloating through drinking a version of this tea, which was really like chalky and chunky and gross, so it's much better now. But when I started my practice and so many people were bloated, I started telling them how to

make it. People don't want to do that. They asked me to make it for them. And it really was this accidental product that I didn't realize so many people needed, not only in L.A., but just like throughout the United States. and when I made it and put it in a bag, I didn't really think much of it at all. I thought I'd sell a couple bags a month and it just would be for pure convenience. And so all that is to say, so many people ask why I did the rebrand and it's just because

I never put that much thought into the first place. And it's fun that we waited the full three years because I really knew what I wanted. And I know my demographic better. And I think I know my style like through opening my clinic and not that. that it needs to match, but I want all the worlds to make sense that if you drink the tea or you see me for acupuncture, you know me as a friend, that everything feels like, oh, that's Natasia and that's something that she would want. So I've been working really hard on the rebrand for like, I don't know, almost a year. Wow. But really seriously for six months. I mean,

you know you went through it with the podcast. It's crazy how much is involved. But we're really proud of it and I think it turned out great. It's so cool. It's just the start of kind of creating this world that so many other teas and products are going to come into that I've found help my patients. And it's just a way to like expand myself outside of one-on-one with patients because I want to be able to help as many people as I can. Amazing. Well, I always feel like after talking to so many founders and entrepreneurs on the show and just seeing what people are doing outside of here, like, The best products always are born out of like a personal need. Yeah. And just trying to create something that you couldn't find or do it better.

And I think that that's what you've done with us. And obviously it's resonated with so many people. And there's so much less pressure that way. If I just had to sit down and think what's the one thing I should make that's going to represent me? I don't think I'd ever figure that out. You just have to kind of start. Yeah. That's what everyone says.

Don't worry about like perfection. Just start. Launch fast. Yes. adjust. Exactly. But I will say rest and digest is such a hero product that I feel so intimidated to like launch any other T's because I don't know if any of them will ever stack up to be as good. But I'm really trying. So we're tinkering all the time trying to come up with new formulas, but we already have a few that are ready. Yeah. Ooh. I know. Dropping this year? Next year.

Okay. Yeah. We're going to lean into holidays and digestion. I think it's just hard end of the year to like really launch anything. Yeah, no. So, I think you early next year. End of Q1. Yeah, my marketing team is helping me with that. They're like, why would you launch it all at once? You got to spread it out.

Yeah. Amazing. Yeah, very exciting. I'm lucky to have the first actual box. It's so crazy. Yeah. Yeah, I put it together at my house for you. I feel like it should go under like a glass case and not even.

No, but I bring in a TIE to Europe. You should. Yeah. Never travel without it. No, no. No. And I always have one of my personal. purse for emergencies after dinner. I asked for hot water and pop it in there. Yeah. Yeah, I'm very excited

for everybody to see it. And I'll make sure to give you a code. Oh, a little discount code for everybody. Perfect. I'll put that in show notes. Well, thank you so much for coming back on. Where can everyone find you? I'm on Instagram at DR, Dr. Natazia Zustolberg. The T now has its own Instagram. Whole other one to manage. Great content so far. Yeah. Thank you. It's going to be really fun and very unsirious. It's Dr. Stolberg spelled out. And then I have my clinic here in Los Angeles with my amazing wife, space 314. And that's where I work out and it is the best. Yeah. All right. Thank you. You're so welcome. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed that episode. If you liked the episode and if you like the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes such a long way

in supporting the show. Follow the show over on Instagram at well. You can also follow my personal Instagram at Ariel Laurie. I'm always sharing great clips from the episodes, and we also have full episodes on YouTube as well if you want to watch in entirety. Thanks for listening. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services.

Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.