Well with Arielle Lorre - 4: BETHANY UGARTE - Health Crises, Hope and Healing

Episode Date: May 8, 2019

In this episode Arielle talks to Bethany Ugarte of popular instagram and blog, @lilsipper. Bethany talks about her severe digestive issues that nearly killed her, her coma a year ago, and how she healed - and how all of the adversity has changed her perspective today. Bethany’s story provides hope that there is healing no matter how difficult circumstances get.   Follow lilsipper (Bethany) on Instagram here And find out more about healing here: https://www.lilsipper.com/ For Arielle's cookbook go here:  https://theblondefiles.com/the-blonde-files-cookbook/ Follow Arielle here on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ariellelorre/ And catch up with Arielle here on YouTubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You are listening to Over the Influence. I'm your host, Ariel Laurie. I'll be talking to movers and shakers in the world of wellness and beyond, and people who have had their own interesting journey, whether it be physical, mental, spiritual, or professional. Thanks for joining. Let's get into it. Hi. Welcome back to the podcast. I hope everybody had a good week. Today's episode features Bethany Ugarte of Lil Sipper. She is an Instagrammer and a blogger. She posts really creative, gut-friendly recipes, something that she got into after her own journey with really severe digestive issues. And I was just really curious about her story. She was in a coma a year ago, and she talks a lot on her Instagram about how she has kind of like gone to the extremes with IBS. And, you know, it was really detrimental to her health.

And she's on the other side of it. So I'm always curious to hear about other people's journeys, particularly with, you know, gut health and maybe. things that aren't readily recognized by like Western medicine, I guess, I'll say. So I hope that if you're going through something challenging, you can, I don't know, gain some hope from hearing Bethany's experience. And that's really what her story is. It's a story of healing and a story of hope. So without further ado Bethany Ugarte So welcome Bethany

Hi, thank you so much for having me So excited to have you here So before we Get into it I want to ask Why Lil Sipper Where did that come from? Well it was actually a nickname

that my father gave me when I was just a baby Because I was sipping on things So you can imagine and how many things I was sipping on as a baby. That is so funny. So it just stuck. It did. And for a while, for years, I hated the name, didn't want him to call me any sort of sipper.

And it just, he didn't stop. And so it just kind of grew on me. And, you know, now it's dedicated to him. Does he still call you that? He does, actually. And I don't even think twice about it. That's amazing. It's a good rap name too. And so you're kind of known as this proponent of gut health, and you've had such a harrowing experience in your short life, relatively short life. And I know that you work with a holistic doctor now, and that was a huge part of your recovery.

And I think you mentioned that you had worked with that doctor since you were 15. When you were younger, was your family into holistic medicine? Or did you have issues at 15 that you had to go see somebody? Or what was your environment like when you were young? That's actually a really good question. My family wasn't into holistic health. And I met him because I used to play softball for eight years. And funny enough, one of the, my teammates knew him and introduced me to him when I was 15.

And I've, you know, seen him ever since. And I did have even digestive troubles back then because when I was on a, I went on a cruise when I was about 14 to Mexico and got really sick. And, you know, I had tons of digestive issues. And even prior to the cruise, I was having digest. of issues and I think that all kind of triggers back to maybe when you're like super super young and can you start dieting and so I think I got into a lot of to put it bluntly or lightly crappy food which is filled with so much junk that I didn't realize and you're young and you don't know anything better.

And I was just fueling my body with just chemicals. And I think that's when it really all started. You mentioned dieting. I mean, were you dieting when you were young for like weight purposes? Or was it just, do you just mean like your diet in general? I would say both. Going back to my parents, they weren't into really healthy eating. We had cheese hits in the house.

you know, things like that. And then when you're around 12 or, you know, 13, you really start to notice your body. And then certain comments really hit you. And you're like, wow, maybe I need to diet. And so, of course, like any other 12 or 13 year old, you don't know any better. And you diet the wrong way, which is really buying lean cuisines and eating those, you know, 100-calorie packs. not that, you know, you're not eating, but you're just basically eating chemicals and not true real food. And that's what I was missing. And I think, in fact, I probably know that's how it all

started. And when you, anyone, I don't think there's anyone on this earth who has not dieted. Even my dad has dieted. And because of diet foods, I think that's a huge play into why so many people these days have gut issues. Do you mind talking about what your symptoms were that precipitated you to see the holistic doctor? Oh my goodness. I was burping like a really horrible like rotten egg sulfur smell and it wouldn't stop. And then I wasn't digesting food and I was eating. but it wasn't being absorbed and digested. This went on off and on for a while and it didn't,

and then it got really bad when I was a little older. But when I was like 15, I would still have like bad stomach aches. And I just wasn't feeling right. And so something just wasn't working. And so then, you know, met him and, you know, saw him ever since off and on. And now today we're like best friends. Did you get better in your teens? And did you change your lifestyle at all?

I did. And then, you know, of course, I kind of fell off the wagon, quote unquote. And then I got trapped into what a lot of people I feel like get trapped into today is that misconception of healthy food. because nowadays healthy food is, you know, they contain stevia, they contain natural flavors, and the pagasine can be so misleading. And that's when things started to get bad, I think, again, because you think you're doing your body good by buying healthy foods or buying these things

or buying products that health gurus are promoting, not thinking twice, about it. And I think that is another thing that people these days get trapped into. And that's just the whole misconception of healthy food. Yeah, it's so common. And especially now, I feel like people really take advantage of people wanting to be healthy. And people are more health conscious now. but it seems like a lot of big food companies and not even the big ones exploit people's desire to be healthy and label things as, you know, whatever, low-fat, sugar-free, keto, but with all these nasty ingredients, not so much keto, that's a whole different subject, but yeah, it's a problem. You worked for a health food company, is that, right?

Yes and no, it was considered a health food company, sadly, but it was a vegan meat company. And it was just filled with a bunch of soy. It was filled with basically all chemicals. However, it was considered a healthy product. And I did that for about four years. I was the marketing manager. and through that all, I realized so much of what really goes on in the industry because I was able to see it firsthand of where ingredients really come from, how things are manufactured and produced, and how one ingredient listed on a product can actually have 10 ingredients in that one ingredient. And it just really opened my eyes.

and that's during the time that I really got sick in my health just plummeted. So I want to get to that, but I do want to talk to you about soy a little bit because that's a big one. I get a lot of messages from women asking whether they should eat it or not. And I try not to really tell anybody because all that I know is my experience, right? And I don't eat soy because my nutritionist told me not to eat soy. but and I do feel better when I don't and I suspect that's because of you know my hormones and all of that but can you talk about for people who don't know why soy might not be compatible with their body? Yeah well first of all if you have an allergy to soy then you should definitely stay away from it but besides that it does affect your hormones and your estrogen and you know for some people, that may be a good thing to incorporate to balance it if your estrogen is off.

However, of course, consult your doctor. But me personally, I try and avoid soy as much as possible. Definitely tofu because that's just 100% processed. And if I do ever eat soy, it may be here and there as raw like edamom. in its original form. I don't willingly buy soy sauce or things with soy, but, you know, I'm not going to, I'm not going to turn down, you know, some edamame. You know, I may eat a couple here and there, but for the most part, I do try and stay away from it as much as possible. So you said that when you were working for that food company, that's when things really took a turn for the worse.

Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, that was a very stressful time in my life because it was a super stressful job. I had a lot of responsibilities and it just wasn't a good working environment altogether. And so that all the stress with my diet, I think, really took a toll on me because during that time, you know, it was right after. my husband left me so I was already in a horrible state emotionally and then the job was super stressful that every day at lunch I would just cry in my car because of the job and the pressure I was being put under and I really feel like that was a huge factor in my overall health and and what I was doing. And then, you know, of course, my eating habits went down as well because

we had to test the food that we, you know, or that I worked for. And so it wasn't a healthy product. And so I think there were a lot of major factors. And when your gut, I do want to say this, when when your gut is impaired or when you start incorporating chemicals into your body, it tears it part and then that opens up the doors for candida to grow it opens up the doors for parasites because we we all have parasites like we will all get parasites however the main factor is if that body is strong enough to fight it off and my body because of the chemicals that it had taken in from all the food in the past it wasn't strong enough and i feel like that's why a lot of people struggle today is because their gut is so torn up, it can't fight off anything that comes

their way. And then with stress, I mean, people really underestimate stress's effect on our bodies and especially our guts. My nutritionist Rob, who I had on the podcast a few weeks ago, he says that that is one of the most important, if not the most important lifestyle factors. that people need to address when they're trying to heal their gut. And that if he is a client who cannot get their stress under control, doesn't mean that we have no stress because we have stress and not all stress is bad. But if we can't address it, it's very, very difficult to heal the gut. So it sounds like you had kind of the perfect storm going on at that time.

Is that before or after your IBS diagnosis? That was before and I actually had to quit that job because I couldn't, you know, can hold any kind of job, basically. And then I went from doctor to doctor, you know, all they could say was, yes, you have IBS. But IBS is so broad that, you know, really, it doesn't say anything. and they couldn't pinpoint anything until the one thing they could pinpoint was gastroparesis after many, many tests. But other than that, CT scans, colonoscopies, endoscopies, I mean blood tests, anything, you name it, I had it done. I had to go through all of that too. And I'm curious, and this isn't to put doctors down.

I talk about this a lot, and I hope that it doesn't sound that I'm like anti-doctors. I'm pro doctors for a lot of things, but in my experience, and it sounds like in yours too, it was like just one dead end after another. And in my experience, I don't think anybody ever asked me about my diet or my lifestyle. I was just put through a battery of tests. What was your experience like on the road to that diagnosis? Well, I think I can definitely relate with you on that one. And yeah, no one really wanted to know the underlying issue. And one doctor even turned me away and said, I'm sorry, I can't help you anymore.

I don't know what's causing it. Go somewhere else. I had another doctor look up on the website right in front of me, WebMD, what my symptoms were. As I was telling this doctor, my symptoms, she was looking them up on WebMD. And I was like, I could have done that, first of all. But, you know, it's just, yeah, I'm definitely, I know doctors do have their time and their place, Western medicine. But just with my experience, I have a little hard heart towards them these days. I understand that.

My dad's a doctor. He's a cardiologist. So kind of a different specialty. than all of this. So I have a soft spot and I know doctors who are amazing and I think doctors in general are amazing at what they do and at acute medicine. But for matters of the gut and a lot of other functions of the body, I've talked about this. I kind of wish that the norm was to approach it from a more holistic point of view. So when did you ultimately, so they diagnosed you, they put you through all the tests,

diagnosed you with IBS, and what did they suggest you do? They really didn't have any solution. I was prescribed some medication for, you know, Crohn's disease and other things just to kind of medicate and put a band-aid on it. They didn't have an answer of how to heal. I was just given prescription. I took this drug and I can't even remember what it was. It was so long ago and I think I took it for a day and I had a horrible reaction to it. I like my eyes were like rolling back. I couldn't even like like function and I had to stop it immediately and it I don't think I ever wanted to take any kind of medication.

And there was really no one I came in contact with that wanted to get to the underlying issue. They just were looking for ways to bandage it. So how did you get reconnected ultimately with your holistic doctor? Well, I had his number in my cell phone. and I thought, okay, I was at a point where I thought I will try like anything. And, you know, he came to mind and I was willing to go back to my roots. I was willing to work with him and try the very odd things that he suggested I do. And it was quite hard at first.

but doing that really changed my life. Actually, he saved my life multiple times, but that was the first time. What did he suggest you do? And I want to put a disclaimer on now that don't try this at home necessarily. I don't even know what she's going to say, but I just, you know, it's not one-size spitz-all. and if anybody is listening to this having their own issues go find a professional who can help you and guide you through your own recovery rather than just doing everything that other people have done I'll probably put that disclaimer on the intro instead of doing it now but yeah so what kind of

things did he have you do well not to go to go to too into things but um he basically put me at he treated me like i was a baby and he first told me to puree all my food and that i did that for a very long time and i actually still do some of the things today just because i like it now um but puring my chicken puring i mean even my rice like everything because you have to treat your gut as a newborn baby and what do they eat well milk but after that you know they eat pure-aid food baby food it's all pured and so you you have to get your digestion and your gut reset and retrained to accept food again because i just couldn't even hold food down at that point. How long did you have to do that for? I would say it was a very strict

three month thing. And then I started incorporating different solid foods at different times. And also eating little tiny bits all throughout the day. So it wasn't just a huge meal, you know, because just like a baby, they're eating constantly. So, and that's what I had to do. That sounds like my ideal situation. Just eating all day. I don't know about the period part, but. So after you implemented that, were you on the road to recovery or were you recovered? Well, with that, your body, and I think this is true with so many other things as well,

but you don't see recovery externally for a while because I was, you know, I was so thin, but things were going to, were recovered and being recovered internally first because weight is something that is excess and that comes after your organs and all the vital parts of your body are being treated well and being maintained. So obviously the nutrients and the vitamins, they're not going to go towards your skin or towards your outwardly looks. They're going to go towards your vitals first, and that's your heart and your liver and your organs.

And so after those are repaired, then you start seeing things outwardly change for the better. So I just, if anyone's listening right now, I want to give some encouragement that if you're in a road to recovery and you're not seeing something outwardly, that doesn't mean you're not recovering internally. Yeah, that's really important to note. Like, even in my experience, I, when things kind of hit rock bottom for me with my gut issues and I started working with Rob, I saw. a very quick turnaround. Like, I feel like maybe within three weeks to a month of eliminating a lot of foods and incorporating other foods and taking some natural supplements.

I, the really bad symptoms went away, like the brain fog and the debilitating nausea and the debilitating fatigue. But there were other changes to, like, my skin was getting better. and sleep was getting better and energy and things like that, that, I mean, skin is external, but there were so many factors that were improving other than just outwardly, like you're saying. So that's really good encouragement for anybody who's struggling. And in your experience, recovery was not linear, right? Let me tell you just so many things.

You know, I think in anyone's recovery, whether that's health-related relationships, you're going to have bumps in the road. And so, you know, of course, you still have flares and you have flareups. And I personally, till this day, I can get a flare just because of stress and it affects my gut. And because my gut is, quote unquote, the weakest part of my body because it's been through so much. so that when stress happens, it attacks your weakest part of your body. And for me, that's my gut. For someone else, it may be their skin, you know, and they break out when they're stressed or something.

But so, you know, you're going to have some flare-ups here and there. But I think it's good to have the tools to know how to manage that and to recover fast and quick so that you're not in that state for such a long time. How long after you initially... began healing your gut. Did your coma happen? And can you talk a little bit about that? Because that's a very big life event. So my gut was doing so much better for quite a few years. And the whole coma situation, that was a year ago, actually, like almost like spot on a year ago. And that happened, obviously, I didn't see it coming about.

And my electrolytes and my sodium levels just completely dropped, like, instantly almost. And I went into a state of shock. And I wasn't feeling well that night. And I called my holistic doctor and I said, this was like, I don't know, 9 o'clock at night. I said, I'm just not feeling well. I just don't feel right. And the sweet man that he is drove over an hour from where he lives to come and see me at 10.30 at night. And I don't even remember this because I was so out of it.

And he looked at me and he said, okay, and he called my parents. And he said, you need to take her to the emergency room right now. and so my parents drove me there and this is of course what I've been told because I was just I wasn't you know mentally there and um and yeah and then I went into a coma in the emergency room waiting room and um I know this for a fact God is good and if my holistic doctor would have said okay let me see you tomorrow, or if he hadn't come over that night and directed my parents to take me to the hospital, I would have went into a coma at the house, and it would have been too late. Wow. I have goosebumps right now. It's crazy. And it sounds like, did you always have faith before

this happened, or did you kind of develop faith after the coma happened? Well, I have always been a Christian. Well, I shouldn't say I've always, but when I was really young, when I was five, and my parents are both Christian. So I was blessed to be brought up in such a home. And I got serious when I was in junior high. And so, you know, through all that, I had him to rely on waking up in the hospital in his white room, not knowing where he was. Do you remember what it was like waking up other than, you know, you were in a white room? You know, the doctor came up to me. My parents came up to me and asked, do you know who I am? What's my name? I thankfully knew who they were. I said mom and dad, and the nurse came up and asked if I knew who the president was.

And I said Bill Clinton. So I wasn't fully, you know, there yet. But I had no idea why I was in the hospital. And I was like freaking out. Like what the heck happened? Why am I in this bed? And of course they had to explain everything to me. Did you have any kind of experience that you can talk about when you were in the coma or is it just?

No, I mean, I didn't go anywhere. I don't remember anything like that. It just was, yeah, I don't remember anything. I'm always curious about that. As you recovered from your coma, and it's crazy that that was only a year ago, like, blows me away. If you guys could see Bethany now, she's healthy and vibrant and energetic, and it's just so hard to imagine that. I mean, it's such, it's so traumatic and dramatic and dramatic, and it's really phenomenal. nominal the recovery that you've had. So what was your lifestyle like after and I guess since that?

Well, ever since then, I've definitely been appreciating life so much more and realizing that just the little things that we worry about don't really matter in the end and that life is just so precious. It's definitely been a crazy year. And, you know, it took me a few months to really get back into the swing of things after that. Learning how to write my own name again, learning how to just remembering different things. But slowly my memory just came back, writing, typing, things that you don't even have to think about today. I really had to concentrate on and work on hard. And thankfully, everything is fine now, and I'm not having any trouble.

But even after that, I worked with my holistic doctor and he worked with me on brain function and different foods to help with that and different techniques and being adjusted and pressure points. And so I guess all this to say, you know, obviously, hopefully you haven't been through a coma, but we all have had our little traumas. And I don't want to say little, our big traumas in life, whether that's of relationships or diet or, you know, death. You know, there's hope. And it's not over until it's over. I really love that. And I also, like, almost died five years ago from my drug addiction and alcoholism. And that definitely changes a person. And I understand what you're saying about the little things not mattering as much anymore. And it just changes your perspective. It's so much easier said than done, but the obstacles in life are lessons, right? And we grow from them. And without. them, we wouldn't, we wouldn't learn and we wouldn't. And like, I, I'm grateful that I went through what I went through before I started working with someone to heal my gut. And I'm grateful that I

had that experience with the dead ends, with Western medicine, because it made me willing to go to the lengths that I had to go to to heal my gut. And I'm great. for the adversity because I learned about my body and about healing my body and that's what happened for you too, right? I mean, without these obstacles, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about this. So maybe that will provide hope for any listeners who are struggling with anything hard. It's hard to have that perspective when you're going through it and when you're in the middle of it. But it really, those are, you know, it's like that cliche quote, like diamonds are made in the rough or whatever, you know. So what is your diet like now?

Well, now, you know, someone actually asked me that just recently. And it's, of course, always clean. There's no preservatives. I do make a lot of my own food. but I get asked what a typical day looks like for me and there's really no typical day because some days I do a lot of recipe testing and with recipe testing comes recipe eating and you're testing all day and other days I have more rounded meals some days I'm just snacking I really have to listen to my body some days I crave a little bit more sugar and maybe

that that's a signal that my blood sugar is low. So I make sure that I honor that signal. And other days, I crave more carbs, more fats. So I just make sure that I get into my body what it's craving. And I really try and be in tune with it. And other days, I'm so hungry. And then just, you know, like a couple days ago, I just wasn't really hungry. And so I just didn't force anything. And, you know, You just kind of go with each day is different. Are there any foods that you will not eat? Yes. Do we have time to listen?

I'm kidding. You know, I have a lot. I have a pretty good list on my blog as to what I avoid, aside from chemicals and all that junk. I don't eat pork at all. And I don't eat peanuts. So those are two key things that, you know, I definitely stay away from. Okay, so I want to do some listener questions, and I think this is a good time to ask this one. Somebody asked if you feel like you're promoting food fear.

I think that that is a really good question. And I hope that I'm not. My goal is to educate people. in what's going into their food to better their health. So I definitely don't want to promote food fear, but more food education. Okay, this is one that I was curious about too. What happened to your hormones when you were going through all these gut issues? Oh, my hormones were so whack when I was going through it.

Like, it was ridiculous. I mean, and I was breaking out too. I was getting hormonal acne and, I mean, everything. My attitude was just off the wall too. So it definitely affected my hormones. I don't know if this was TMI, but did you lose your period? Yeah. Yeah, I did because, I mean, I got so thin.

It just, obviously, you know, it just goes away. But it does come back over time. How often do you eat and do you feel tied to your kitchen? I kind of just answered that one. Do you feel tied to your kitchen? I would say I'm only tied to my kitchen because it's part of my work. And with any kind of work, you're kind of in your element. So the kitchen is my element, which I love.

Are you taking any prescription medicine at all? No, I am not. Are you taking any supplements? I don't take supplements. on a regular basis. Because I'm preparing for my ex-plant, I am doing goat milk colostrum, and that's just to build my immunity in preparation. But I don't take anything on, like, a regular basis.

If I do ever do supplements, it's for a purpose, and then that's it. Okay, I have a question. What is your favorite recipe that you've come up with if you had to just pick one? Oh my goodness, that's so hard. That's so hard. I honestly, this is going to sound cheesy, but cauliflower cheese. I love a pun. I love a good pun. Are you a sweet or savory person? You know, a lot of people would think I'm sweet, but recently, I've been making the savory switch.

I'm with you. I think a lot of people. would assume that because I'm like a chocoholic, but I would take savory any day over sweet unless I'm getting my period, then just give me everything sweet. Do you drink? I don't. And that's just because I don't feel well afterwards. I feel it's super dehydrated. And so, you know, that's my take on it.

I don't have anything against it if you want to. have a glass of wine, but for me, no, I don't. You like CBD products, right? I do. I'm a very, I'm very pro-Cbd. I'm jealous. I can't get on the CBD bandwagon. Even though it's non-psychoactive, just because of my sobriety, I can't do it. And I'm envious because I'm like, God, not even like a bath bomb. Come on.

Or oil. No. it's just kind of, I don't know. I mean, I guess the rules of sobriety back in the day, there's no way that they could have foreseen, you know, CBD and the kind of products that we have now. But no, I just, I got to stick with meditation. That's it. Well, you know what?

I honor that. And I'm very proud of you for sticking to that. And no shame in the game, right? Thank you. Well, how can everybody find you? I am on Instagram and it's L-I-L-L-S-I-P-P-E-R. And that's a Lil-S-I-S-Sipper or my website is also Lil-Sipper.com. And you can find tips, tricks, and recipes for digestive health on both sites. And it's just kind of a fun environment. I welcome everyone. I'm so honored. that Ariel actually found me and she made one of my my recipes and I was like, who is this girl? Like, let me check her out. And I just immediately fell in love with her, her mission, her past, her present and what she's all about. And it's, you know, social media can definitely have its pros and cons. But the pro is that you get to meet so many amazing people and connect.

with so many others and hear other stories to be inspired. I just want to say I was definitely inspired by yours. That is so sweet. And yeah, I mean, I've really been thinking a lot about social media and how to use it for maximum good, right? And it's all about the connection. and I love meeting people and connecting with other women and men, but, you know, mostly women, who have something meaningful to share and your journey is so inspiring and obviously your recipes are bananas. I mean, guys, go to her Instagram. I don't know where you come up with these things, but she's like a wizard, like a recipe wizard. They're all, like, clean, minimal ingredients, easy to make and just insane.

So do yourselves a favor. Go check it out. And thank you so much for coming on the pod. Thank you, Ariel, for having me. It's been a pleasure. All right. I hope you enjoyed Bethany's story and found it as interesting as I do. I think the takeaway is just to try to have hope, whether you're going through something with your health or personally or professionally, whatever it is, there is something on the other side and we can learn from our struggles and learn from adversity and it can make us better, more fulfilled people.

It's certainly been my experience and I just love to hear from other people who have experienced that in their lives as well. So, thank you for tuning in. As always, please rate and review, share, spread the love, do all the things. I really, really appreciate it. And I will be back next week. Actis-vercure, verdwine, vacancy can chaotish but who

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