Well with Arielle Lorre - 451: The 30 Day Nutrition Reset: Protein, Omega-3s + What Your Diet is Missing with Autumn Smith

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

Autumn Smith is a nutrition expert and co-founder of Paleovalley who completely transformed her health after years of IBS, chronic pain, anxiety, and burnout. While touring with J.Lo and training with Tracy Anderson—working out up to six hours a day—her body hit a breaking point. In just 30 days, she rebuilt her energy, reduced inflammation, and changed the way she approaches food.In this episode, we break down the exact shifts that made the biggest difference—and what actually matters when it comes to feeling good, having stable energy, and supporting your body through nutrition.We cover:    •    The exact dietary staples that changed everything in 30 days    •    How anxiety, inflammation, and food choices are connected    •    How to tell the difference between real hunger vs. boredom eating    •    Why digestion suffers when you’re distracted while eating    •    Intermittent fasting and its impact on hormones    •    Protein quality: powders vs. whole foods, and why amino acids matter    •    Why glycine is essential for inflammation, recovery, and skin    •    Collagen, organ meats, and key nutrients most people are missing    •    Signs of iron deficiency and what to look for    •    What to look for on labels when buying meat    •    The importance of your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio    •    The truth about seed oils—and what actually matters    •    Citric acid, fermented foods, and hidden dietary disruptorsIf you feel like you’re doing everything “right” but still dealing with low energy, inflammation, or food confusion—this episode will simplify what actually works.Visit paleovalley.com/well for 15% off your first purchase. Also, shop Wild Pastures and get 20% off for life, an extra $15 off your first purchase at wildpastures.com/wellThis 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.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.

The following podcast is a dear media production. This is Well, a podcast about wellness in all its forms. I'm Ariel Laurie, and each week I'm sharing unfiltered conversations with the 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. You are going to want to listen closely to this episode because it changed actually how I approach my eating and how I start my day.

specifically when it comes to hydration and when it comes to thinking about my omega 3 to 6 ratio. So you're going to learn all about that in this episode. But I am talking to Autumn Smith. So Autumn suffered from debilitating digestive issues and crippling anxiety for most of her life. She actually has a crazy story. At one point, she was a trainer for Tracy Anderson. She was working out six hours a day. Specialist after specialist told her, nothing could be done. She was ready to give up. And in one final attempt, she turned to changing her diet to whole foods. So in just 30 days, her IBS was cured. Her anxiety was gone. Her mind became sharper and her bubbly personality, which totally comes out in this episode,

returned. And since then, she has dedicated her life to helping others harness the power of whole foods to live vibrant, healthy lives. And that is what we are talking about in this episode. like I said, she has really infectious energy, but she's also so incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to things like gut health and nutrition. She actually has her doctor of science in holistic nutrition. And in this episode, we get into the exact dietary shifts that changed everything for her and how to actually support your gut and mental health through food, the small things you're probably doing every day that could potentially be wrecking your digestion and how to eat. optimally and little habits throughout the day to just make you your absolute best self. Like I said, these little tweaks like the hydration thing. She talks about electrolytes in the morning, but specifically why it's so important that omega 3 to 6 ratio, why glycine is one of the most underrated, under-talked about things in wellness.

I walked away from this conversation with so many little tweaks and habits that I have since made to my routine and I feel like they've actually made a big impact. It's also worth noting that in 2013, Autumn and her husband, Chas, launched Paleo Valley. It's a company committed to providing essential nutrients without added sugars, grains, or harmful ingredients. It's inspired by the healing powers of grass-fed pasture-raised meat, both for human health and the planet. And they launched wild pastures in 2018, which is a regenerative meat delivery service that brings 100% grass-fed pasture-raised meat straight to your doorstep. I've been taking the organ complex, and I absolutely love it. We talk about the importance of that in this episode. I also love their vanilla bone broth

collagen. My boyfriend loves the meat sticks. I love them as well. And they very graciously gave us a code. If you want to try any of their products, you can go to paleovalley.com slash well for 15% off your first purchase. And I know that you're going to love this episode. She is such a delight and this episode is just so packed with tangible, actionable tips that you can start today to feel your absolute best. So please enjoy Autumn Smith. We'll keep punchy. I love it. I'm not punchy today. I'm like, oh my gosh, crazy week. So you can be punchy. I'll just lob it to you. Yeah, I'll try to be punchy for you. I've been awake. Yeah, I've been awake for a while, but you know, it's cool. We'll do it again.

A little stick of matcha will help me. Oh, yeah. See, I don't even do caffeine. I know. How did you know? Because I do my research. Oh, you do, don't you? Yeah, I don't.

You know what? I'll use it strategically today. I find I'm so energetic. Yeah. I run a little too hot. Yeah. Things take too long. I'm irritable.

Yeah. So I just don't. What about you? I am very sensitive to different times in my cycle. So sometimes my energy is like this. And I really don't need to mess with that too much. I like the flavor of machas so much. I crave it.

So I'll have like a lot. little bit, but I'm not like a caffeine, like all day kind of person. I always have my one in the morning. Yep. This is my one from the morning that I'm just using strategically. I love it. But I'm like so sensitive to hormone shifts and things like that. So sometimes I need it more than others. I get that. I get that. I've heard you talk about highly sensitive people and bodies, and I am one of those. So me too. Yeah. Ibuprofen makes me feel like I'm flying. Like I remember When I was Tracy Anderson trainer. And I would use it.

And the people I'd work with would be like, what did you do today? Really? I just took some ibuprofen. What's like the mechanism of action on that? I don't know. Maybe like I have a low level of pain at that time that it just completely took away. Like inflammation gone. Something like that.

Yeah. I'm guessing. I mean, I did have a lot of inflammation. Yeah. We were like working out like six hours a day. Yeah. I know I heard you talking about that too. Yeah.

And we'll talk about that a little bit today. Oh, cool. I love Tracy. Yeah. I mean, I am super sensitive. I used to think that it was a curse. and I was in acupuncture a couple years ago. I was going through a really, really horrible health thing at the time.

And I would just go there and I would cry to my acupuncturist who was like such a nurturing kind of maternal presence in my life at the time. And she was like, you're sensitive, but it's also a gift because so many people aren't that attuned with their bodies. And also because I respond, you know, in a negative way. sometimes to things, I also respond really quickly to positive stimuli, like acupuncture, you know, like, and these other modalities that I'm sure you use, and, you know, we use kind of in the wellness world. So it's like a double-sided coin, you know. Absolutely. Yeah. My husband wishes. He's like,

I wish I would just respond to a supplement like you do sometime immediately. Yeah. But yeah, the good comes with the bad. Yeah. Yeah, I found it as a gift too for me. Yeah. I think that was one of the things I didn't have was like attunement and slowing down and really paying attention. And I think that's what all that has taught me. Yeah. And we'll get into all of that. Have we been recording? Great. I love that. Oh, good. Okay. I love when we just ease into it. Okay. Well, we're going to circle back on all of that. But I like to start my episodes with a little bit of like a this or that lightning round just to set the tone. So, grass fed, beef, or wild caught salmon. Oh. That's too hard. Okay. Wow. I would say right now I'm in a salmon face. Really? But grasswood beef is my staple and has been forever. And it can have omega-3s that could appreciably raise the omega-3s in your body, in your blood. And we eat a lot more of grass-wood beef. So I think they're both very, very important. But right now I'm a little bit obsessed with omega-3s. Okay. How are you making your salmon?

Oh. You know, salmon's great. I keep things simple. I'm not someone who likes to linger in the kitchen. So right now I just do salmon. I do a little bit of the mayonnaise, like the chosen or, you know, the seed oil-free ones, often some onions, a little salary, and then I just eat it with lettuce. But I eat herring twice a week. Herring has become a secret obsession of mine too. Really? And there's this one called Bar Harbor Herring, and it's like it has cracked black pepper in it. And it's actually very tolerable. And something, we were just talking about this, I feel pretty much immediately. Really? What do you feel? I feel like a little bit of like invigoration and just like a focus. Like I can tell it something is maybe the B12, maybe huge amounts of omega-3s there or in something for my brain, some sort of clarity in my brain. And how are you eating that? I eat that out of the can. Again, I'm a very utilitarian eater, especially during the day. Like I do, I enjoy my nighttime meal, but my daytime's kind of like I'm doing a lot of things. So I'll eat that out of the can. often with my ferment, those are two of the things I always eat on a daily basis.

So I'll take my sourcrout or whatever and use the herring. And that's usually my lunch. You're efficient. I love it. It's so true. That's my husband. Yeah. I mean, so many of us are busy and we'll get into this later in the episode.

But, you know, that busyness and maybe that detachment from what's going on in our body leads us to reach for things that aren't the best choices. So, you know, when you can swap that with things like that where you're taking care of your body, you're also being cognizant of your time and everything. Like, those are great. Those are great to incorporate. And we'll get to some of those, maybe tricks, like how to, like, swaps or how to, you know, be efficient when it comes to that.

But, okay, collagen or protein. Oh, geez. These are really tough. I know. Hmm. Goodness. I think both are important collagen is a protein technically. So if you're looking for gut healing and reduction of inflammation, collagen.

But I'd even go a step further and say bone broth protein, like bone broth, because it's a little more of a whole food version of collagen. And it has the glycine, right? Oh, yes. Yeah. Which we could talk all about. Oh, yeah, we will. Bone broth or green juice. Oh, it depends on the green juice.

Right? Because I used to drink a green juice that had 50, 49 grams of sugar in it. The naked green machine, I started my day with every day in L.A., I remember, and would crash so hard. For a few hours later, bone broth is my staple. But I do, if you'll see my bag, I have a green juice that. It's just like celery, parsley, just all the kind of low glycemic greens. I don't really drink sugar, even natural sugar, other than those really low glycemic greens. Both have their place.

Yeah. But bone broth is my daily. I've had practitioners on my show before who have been like, L.A. is the city of bloating and gut issues. So true. And it's the city of smoothies and green juice and salads and asci bowls and macha and matcha and like all of these things, which are fine, you know? Like I don't want to fearmonger or anything like that.

But when that is making up the majority of your diet and you're experiencing gut issues, like you need to look at that and shift your approach. And we'll talk about that too. Okay, eat for energy or eat for longevity? Eat for longevity. I think it can accomplish the same. Yeah. Supplements are food first.

Oh, food first. There is just a complexity of a food. We will never understand fully. I'm sure of that. Yeah. Parnivore or Mediterranean? Ooh, geez. I would probably say might have.

today looks more like a Mediterranean, but I will not shake a finger at carnivore for people who have severe gut issues. It's just not where I'm at right now in my life. Gut health or hormone health, which one to fix first? Gut health. Just think guts, the foundation of everything. Yeah. But I think hormones, you know, it's kind of like you have a foundation down here. You know, hormonal health, gut health and hormonal balance and stress balance. If you fix those, the hormones will fall into place. Yeah. I had and gut issues 10 years ago. And I remember the practitioner that I was working with said,

if you're not working on your gut first, forget it. Because if you are in a constant state of stress, which when you're having gut dysbiosis or gut issues, your body is in that state of stress and cortisol is running high. Exactly. And your reproductive hormones go offline. So it has a downstream effect. Exactly.

Yeah. You have to kind of work that way. Well, I want to talk about your trajectory first. first because as you were saying before we officially started recording, you've had a really interesting career from where you started to where you are now. And also even if we rewind further and we go back to like when you were in high school, I know that you were dealing with substance abuse issues. That's something that I could relate to a lot. And just kind of hitting rock bottom and how that led you on the path that you're on today. Yeah. So we can rewind and start wherever you think is

relevant to start. Okay, I'll start when I was 10. Great. Well, I'll start when I was five and I started being a ballerina. So I started dancing pretty seriously for my whole young life. And I think I might have picked up some programming there that played a role in some of my other decisions. And then when I was 10, I started having digestive issues. No doctor really knew what to do with me. They put me in the irritable bowel syndrome category. And they just said take some beano, which I did. And it never helped or we never really looked under. the hood, so to speak. And then when I became a teen, I had this kind of intermittent pain, this physical discomfort, this programming. And so my parents tried talk therapy, psychiatric

intervention, nothing really seemed to help. And so then I started to get into substances. And I drank a lot and did a lot of other things. And I basically had a really hard time stabilizing. And I got kicked out of my parents' house. Mom hates when I say that. She. set a boundary. And, yeah, I appreciate her for it. Detach with love. That's one oh one. For real. Yeah. And she just said, you're going to come home at this time or there's a consequence. Yeah. And I didn't. Good for her. So I know. Yeah. I love her for holding that boundary. And it wasn't really until I so went to college because I love to learn. I was a dancer. Moved to L.A. and I was making things happen. It was not pretty if you looked behind the curtain. And I met my husband and then he realized, wow.

When you're around you all day long and not just for the parts that you want to show people, there's a lot that we could potentially work on and we're going to get married. And like, let's do something about this pain you're in every day and this anxiety you have every night and the fact that your skin's breaking out. And he just got online and we saw that food for some people was helping digestive issues in 2007. And that was novel at the time. And I thought that is so crazy because we've tried so many different types of intervention. This is silly. but I'll do it because I love him.

And it just changed my life in 30 days. Digestive issues gone in 30 days. And then after the course of about a year, my mental health, I was a different person. And then I just went. I was so inspired that I quit working with Tracy Anderson. Even though I love Tracy Anderson, Tracy Anderson for life, but I realized I had to understand what just happened. So how could I give that away to people? And we actually did what we did and we did it with 200 of our friends, like when Facebook groups became a thing.

and there were such powerful changes for them too. I was like, oh no, this is something, this is something big. Yeah. And so we decided to go into making products because I did a tour with JLo for seven months. And it was during that time that I found it really hard to maintain the level of the quality of the diet that I wanted and the staples that I needed. They just weren't around at the time. Yeah. So we went into manufacturing.

Yeah. Yeah. It's hard when you don't have control of your environment. And that's something that I've experienced with my own health issues. It's difficult. and I think that that's where a lot of people fall apart. But I'm curious, what were some of the things that you were doing when you were a Tracy Anderson trainer? You were working out six hours a day sometimes, right?

And you were experiencing all of these gut issues. What was the lifestyle aside from that and the diet like then? And what were the main things that you changed that had such a profound impact on you? Yeah. So early Tracy Anderson days looked like. I mean, there was a lot of processed protein powders and bars. a lot of those green machine drinks every morning, a ton of caffeine. I was just cranking the caffeine all day long and drinking a lot, if I'm honest.

So those are my early Tracy Anderson days. And it got better. Like, working out six hours a day is not compatible with binge drinking. And I found that out. So eventually we got that a little bit more under control. But when I really turned my diet around, so we started shopping at the Pasadena's Farmers Market. It was my favorite place to go on Saturdays. And it was just high quality animal products were the basis.

And then fruits and vegetables and some sourdough that they were making out there in the beginning. I've since taken out gluten entirely because I think it really matters for me. But that's what we built our diet around. Whole foods with animal products in the center. So no more protein powders, no more processed protein bars. And definitely not drinking fruit juice or assaibals. I was really hitting those pretty hard too. Yeah.

What do you think that most people get wrong when it comes to the food first? approach because I think, you know, we all hear whole foods and quality animal products and all of that. And I think that a lot of people try to implement that into their diet and into their life. And they run into roadblocks. Yeah. So I think that would be the main thing is just real food. One ingredient foods, but also the second pillar for me actually was my blood sugar. I had to figure out how to stabilize my blood sugar. And you can be eating a whole food diet and your blood sugar can still be going up and down all day long. And so I think really being mindful of protein and like cellular carbohydrates, you know

the accellular versus cellular, like when you break that cell down in a carbohydrate and you refine it, it's just the experience for your body and your blood sugar is completely different. And so really just being mindful of eating your 30 grams of protein, that's what I do, every single meal. And then fruits and vegetables, more vegetables, far more vegetables for me than fruits. And beans and grains in moderation. and when in whole food form.

Yeah. Okay. I want to talk a little bit about the protein element first. But when you say that you eat 30 grams of protein, is that 30 grams at every meal, like what are you aiming for? Because we all hear different numbers around 100 to maybe 150, depending on your weight and your activity level. I think that there's a lot of ambiguity in that and a lot of variables that go into that.

And I think for a lot of people, that's overwhelming. What is like a day of eating for you? What does that look like? Yeah. So I'm an intermittent faster. So I do two meals a day. And I opt for 30 grams of protein in those two meals. Usually that's like a can of herring or salmon, some sort of fish in the morning or actually

more around 11. And then at night is like a steak. We have a grass-fed steak or, you know, pork shoulder or some sort of high-quality animal product. And then I do collagen twice a day. Not collagen, bone broth protein powder. And that's another 15 grams each. So first thing in the morning, that's how I break my fast because it's kind of

preparing my digestive system. It also has some benefits for helping your blood sugar stay nice and stable. And then I just snack on protein. I say if I'm not hungry enough to eat protein, they probably don't need a snack. So I'll do something like a hard boiled egg, a handful of nuts, which has a lot of fat too, but is, you know, can have almonds in particular can have protein. And then our protein meat sticks. So it's really like bone breath, you know, 30 grams of protein from fish usually. And then another, actually bone broth goes at night because that drops the body temperature, the glycine and bone broth and can help you sleep really deep. Oh, it's very restorative sleep when you have bone broth right before. And then a snack in the middle, somewhere like

that. Yeah. But I also, I try to hit 100 grams. I should be. If you're listening to research, you know, one gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight, it put me at that 120. I get to about 100. And I'm good with that because I also know the other big lever of like muscle building and maintenance is exercise. And that is a non-negotiable for me every single day. So I let myself pass by with about 100. If I hit 120, that's awesome. I mean, I think that, again, like the numbers and the tracking and the data can have such a detrimental effect on people as well. So I think that you have to appreciate, like, what you're doing and not necessarily aim for perfection. You know, it's progress, not perfection. And I think that, you know, when you start to stress out about that kind of stuff, it does,

also affect your physiology. So you have to be really careful about that. And, you know, I remember I definitely fell into that trap when I was like wearing my aura ring or my fitness tracker and on my fitness pal and tracking my protein. And, you know, I had all of this data and I was obsessed with hitting all of the numbers. Yeah. And like, I felt horrible, you know. And I know for some people it's great. And like, I think, you know, tracking maybe your protein for a few days to see kind of where you fall. And like, if you need to incorporate more, that can be a useful tool. Same with the aura. Like, there's benefits to all of that.

And if you can do it, great. But I think for some people, it gets into a little bit of like a stress territory. I agree. And you know what I think it takes us out of is that kind of attunement that we were talking about before? Because if I'm always up here thinking about a number, somebody else gave me, I'm not even really listening. So for a while, I was trying to hit 50 grams of protein per meal. because I was told to do that. I felt terrible. I had a gut egg all day and I was like, but who's winning here? So yeah, just paying attention is my route. You mentioned something

before, like if you're not hungry enough to eat protein, then you're not actually hungry. Is that kind of the protein leverage hypothesis or what is that? That is just me saying, okay, maybe more questioning. Like, why am I eating? Am I eating because I am hungry? Or am I eating because I'm bored? Do I need a break? Am I looking for connection or just some sort of like entertainment? And usually like protein is one of those foods that's like not super entertaining to eat. You can't overeat. It's hard to overeat protein. It's absolutely impossible to overeat protein. That's what they're saying with the protein leverage. It's like your body's looking for amino acids. So that's a way for me to kind of filter out like what's my motive here? And if it's not nourishment in

this moment, because I'm all about eating for entertainment and pleasure in certain times. I just want to make that my default. And so that's. that's kind of my role. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And on that same line, like if you're hitting sufficient protein numbers, you are most likely not going to be having a lot of cravings or like an erratic appetite because your body is craving to your point. What's in that protein? Once you've satisfied those goals, you are satiated to a degree and you're not going to be like necessarily wanting to go, you know, snack on a million things. It was just driven by my hunger before when I was working for crazy and just fruit juice in the morning, dried mango. Oh my gosh. And yeah, I was like,

where's the whole food? You know, like in my break. And now I can go a day and, you know, I can fast if I want. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I want to ask you about that a little bit because there's a lot of conflicting information on intermittent fasting for women and hormones and all of that. Are there people who it's not necessarily recommended for or if you're doing certain things? Like if you're incorporating all of these things, collagen, glycine, you're hitting protein, you're getting really high quality good protein with all of the amino acids and the vitamins and the minerals and all of that. Then is it something that people can consider? Are those the variables that we're missing in a lot of these conversations?

Yeah, I think the big one is, are we stressed about intermittent fasting? Right? Because again, that cortisol is the basis of your hormones. So this is a stressful act. I'm not sure that it's serving you. And in different parts of your cycle, right? In the ludial phase, you need to be building progesterone, and cortisol can make that a lot harder.

And so, and people eating disorders, right? Is it a trigger? Is it going to put you in this depriving or deprivation state? Maybe not for you. But what I do is I have both genes for Alzheimer's, and so I benefit a lot from longer windows of not eating. It's very clear to me that this happens with my brain, which is why my stomach is coming right now. But for me, what I do to kind of not be hungry, I start the day with electrolytes.

Like electrolytes right away, we have like a whole food electrolyte thing. And so my body knows like nourishment is coming. And usually I'm not hungry if I do that for several hours after I wake up. So I'm not like white knuckling it. Like I'm not forcing this on my body. I think I've built up reserves. And my focus every day when I eat is nutrient density. So I have a lot of staples and things that I do, which makes it easier. So I think for me, even though, I have that past and I do have kind of a high stress life. I've also built strategies that really make it work. And that bone broth, like you said, if you're starving and you don't want to eat, because I like to eat in a rested state, you know, because it impacts your digestion,

especially mine. If I'm not calm, like it just doesn't always go well. So that bone broth gives you that protein in not a whole food form that's actually very calming. So my electrolytes and my bone broth give me that extended window in a way that doesn't feel hard. It's awesome, actually. I feel great all day long. And then my big eating is at night when I'm rested. Yeah, I was thinking last night because I have a very, very, very, very hectic week this week with work. And I have a trip that I'm going on for work on Sunday to Italy. And it's before then. I mean, it's every single minute of my day is accounted for and there's not enough time in the day. And last night, I was scrambling, trying to, to eat something for dinner. I was so overwhelmed. I was shaking internally. And I was thinking,

I don't even think I should be eating right now because this is just not going to, my body is not in digesting mode. It's so true. And I woke up this morning and I'm like bloated, of course, you know, I'm like, puffy. My face is puffy. I'm like, oh, God. You know, and I ate like a really good, whole food based meal. But I just, I knew when I was in that state, I had to eat, you know, but I was just like maybe that's when something like a bone broth, you know, or something where it requires less of my body to break that down would have been a little more appropriate. And so many of us do that. We're eating in front of our phones. We're eating watching the news. We're eating doing our email where our brain is somewhere else and our body is trying to digest this food. And there's

a total disconnect, right? Yeah. And there's research around that. So Mark David at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating was the first person who kind of got me into this world. And there's legit research where people are hooked up or they're hearing one thing in one ear. And It's called a dichotomous listening task. Have you ever heard of that? No. Which is like as stressful as it can get. Yeah, that sounds horrible.

Yeah, it was terrible. And their digestive capacity was pretty much shut down completely. Then they've had people just watching TV while eating. And again, that digest those enzymatic capacity, meaning how well those little scissors break down your food diminished. And your hydrochloric acid, your stomach acid again. So yeah, I mean, when you're distracted and definitely when you're stressed, you're just digesting less efficiently. And so something I try to do. I'm not perfect at it, but yeah, if you're, if you can't sit down and be still, drink some

bone broth. Yeah, yeah. It's like the trend that was going around social media a while ago that was like, unfortunately, my body doesn't know the difference between an email and being chased by a bear. It's so true. And it's like if you're sitting there watching the news, you know, which is never positive or you're in your inbox, you're thinking about work. Like, obviously we have to, you know, engage in the world. We're in a modern world. Like, we can't just completely shut these things off. But I know, I know for me again going back to being a sensitive person, I'm like, no, my body doesn't know the difference between having to shoot a campaign in an hour and being chased by a bear. So like when I'm in

that state, my body is not thinking about how to break down food. So true. I don't, I neither, I've had to get really good at how do I bring myself out of those states. It's something I, again, one of those daily habits that I've had to work really hard at. Yeah. Yeah. Even just doing a few minutes of like breathing. Yeah. Gratitude is mine because breathing. Yeah, I can do that. that's a night for me but yeah the gratitude and I do sun salutations are you at yogi okay well I used but I can appreciate it yeah and it's just like I'm for someone who needs movement move it's like a moving meditation for me I love that. Yeah different things for different people I mean whatever whatever feels good and works for you totally I want to talk about the difference between like 30 grams of

protein from salmon versus 30 grams of protein from meat from a scoop of collagen from bone broth. Like, where are the differences there? I love that question. So chicken breast, I think whole food sources of meat are very important. They're going to be complete proteins, right? All nine essential amino acids and the ratios that your body prefers. And the chicken breast, it's going to have high amounts of lucine, which is a trigger for muscle building, right? That's why a lot of people who are looking to build muscle, they have a lot of chicken breast. So love that. And then we have salmon. Oh, my gosh, obviously, great quality protein. in a mixture with a lot of really important fatty acids that 75% of us are not getting enough of.

So I think salmon is, again, in a class of its own too. And then we have, you know, steak. Oh, my goodness, like a grass-fed steak, has highly bioavailable iron and B vitamins and zinc. So, again, a whole different category. And it's going to have that complete and highly digestible protein. And then we have something like a bone rough protein powder or a collagen. And this is where I think the future is coming because I think it's about the amino acid profile too, right? So we see protein on a food label, but it's like different houses, right?

The amino acids are like the different building blocks and different houses are built in different ways. And so, yes, collagen, bone, broth, not a complete protein, but the amino acids that it does contain have very special roles, which we'll talk about specifically glycine for building collagen, which is kind of like the maintenance crew in our body, right? So our hair, our skin, our nails, our bones, our connective tissues, that's collagen. And so using that type of hydroxyproline and glycine can be the building blocks and the signaling molecules. So I think that's also really important.

Plant-based proteins, I don't think there's anything wrong with them. They're just often not, they can be complete or have lower amounts of certain amino acids, lucine, sometimes methionine. And so you have to combine them and often eat higher amounts if you want to go that route. It's just something that's harder to do, but possible. Yeah. Right. So do you recommend that people use each?

of those kind of strategically so that they're getting that full spectrum of benefits. Or some people only like to eat red meat. Some people only like to eat kind of pescatarian fish, shrimp, things like that. I know shrimp can be a good option as well, right, because it has pretty high protein content. And then like we were talking about like the mackerel, the sardines. Yeah. Oh yeah. I'm a diversity girl. Got it. I don't, you know, I want my body to be able to get as much nourishment from as many different food sources as possible. And so, yes, I love fish. Like I said, I try to do it every day now, now that I've really been digging into the research, grassed beef. Like they said, iron. So many people are deficient in iron. So many women are deficient in iron. I think red meat is incredibly important,

especially when it's grass fed because then it contains like tens, literally when we did my dissertation, 30,000 compounds in beef. It's crazy. So carnitine, answering, these lesser known compounds you find in beef, I think are also underappreciated. really important. And then collagen in bone broth, I can't say enough. I've been doing a deep dive on the glycine. And I think glycine is one of the most underrated nutrients and amino acids that is largely missing, largely absent from our food supply. If you're not drinking bone broth on the regular or supplementing with some sort of collagen, I think most of us are just eating muscle meats. And the glycine and the collagen is coming from those connective tissues that we used to get from

like a soup where our grandmother would put the whole carcass and create a soup. But it's just kind of lost favor in our tradition. And so, yes, I think bringing in as many different kinds of those as possible and of fish because of all the omega-3s. We've talked a little bit about that. Yeah. We'll talk about that a little more in a minute. But you mentioned your dissertation. I did want to ask you about that. You did your dissertation on meat. Some other things that you found that shocked you that people might not know. Yeah. So this was interesting. And I never saw my, with for Tracy Anderson to doing a dissertation on beef. I would never have seen that coming. But I did think it was fascinating. And I paired up with this really cool researcher named Dr. Van Vliet over at Utah State. So I think what was surprising

was that the meat is a photograph of the land. And it's not static. It's not like here's meat is the same from whatever production system it came from. It's similar. It's dynamic. It changes 30,000 different compounds. And so I thought that was really interesting. Plant compounds, phytonutrients, can be found in meat. Phytonutrients, they're a little bit changed in right by the liver and the microbiome, the animal, but essentially you can get a healthy dose of plant compounds, terapines, carotenoids, things that reduce inflammation, reduce antidepressant, have many different anti-inflammatory effects, anti-insulin effects in meat, raised regeneratively. That animal has to be on grass, specifically on grass that is very botanically diverse,

as I'd say, so a lot of different species of pasture. I thought that was crazy. I also thought the fact that beef could be a good source of omega-3s, that was my blowing to me. Like many people say, oh, the absolute amount isn't that large, so it can't be meaningful. But when they eat that beef for a period of time, grass fed versus grain fed, the levels of omega-3s in your red blood cells and your blood change dramatically. So, and we eat a lot more beef than we do salmon. I love fish. We've been trying to tell people to eat a lot of fish in the whole list. You know, it might just not happen for some people. And for beef to be a meaningful

contributor, I think is really interesting. And I also thought it was interesting that the saturated fatty acid profile could change too. And there's this whole conversation around saturated fat. And it's a very diverse category of nutrients. It's not just saturated fat. I thought that was really interesting too. And then I also thought last thing, grass fed is not grass fed is not grass fed. And the regulation around that term is really can be very misleading because the omega ratio can be anything from like a 28 to 1, which is much higher than most people would be aiming for, all the way down to below one to one in the grass fed. So we just need better regulation and better ways to kind of describe the way that animals are raised so that consumers can make

better choice. Yeah, I think it's so confusing for the layperson to navigate that, you know, and you see grass fed, but is it grass fed and finished? Is that what somebody should be looking for? Like, what should the consumer be looking for when it comes to label? or when it comes to their source of where they're getting their meat. Yeah, I love grass-fed and grass finish. So, 2016, the USDA stopped regulating grass-fed. So, and every cow eats grass at some point in their lives. And that's essentially what it meant, right?

Like, oh, they eat grass at some point. It can. It just depends on who's making it and how, you know, ethical they are, how they want to label it. But yes, every cow starts their life on grass. It's what they eat in, like, the last 90 to 120 days. That's the fat profile that's actually going to end up on your plate. So grass fed and grass finished better.

The best case scenario is a third party certification of sorts like the American GrassFit Association. That's what I really like because they come in every 15 months and they actually inspect things. Usually we're just using affidavits. The FSIS, the food safety and inspection service, they let the farmers and the producers put on paper what they're doing and nobody really checks it. And there have been analyses to show that, you know, upwards of 80% of those affidavits. lacked sufficient substantiation. So it's just a, it's kind of a gamble, unfortunately. But grass fed and finish is better than grass fed, I would say. And American Grass Fed Association is the certification that I really appreciate. And is there anywhere that the consumer can find

that ratio that you were talking about, like the 20 to 1 versus the 1 to 1? Like where you'd find that information? Oh, this is interesting. Have you ever heard of Dan Kittridge and the bionutrient Food Association? No. Okay, so this is why he partnered with Van Vleet to do this beef nutrient density project that I got to be a part of that was part of this research. But what he's trying to do, because his parents wrote some of the organic standards, and right now, our agricultural production is based on yield, right? How much food can we produce how quickly? And he knows that if we reprioritize nutrient density, farmers will grow things differently and ranchers will. And if consumers could choose the most nutrient dense food, then it would force a flip in the system.

So he's creating a handheld meter, kind of like Star Trek, where consumers can go to the store and scan a piece of produce and a piece of meat, and it will show them these nutrients. And they're starting with the omega-6-3 ratio. So that's why this research was really, we focused on that. So that's coming. It's not here yet. My friends at Utah State are doing a lot of these studies, too, like Joseph Baird. He's looking at different, like the omega-6-to-3 ratio of different animal products and publishing. papers on that. So if you read papers on that, but if you, in my YouTube channel, I will have him

there. So if you want a deep dive on that kind of stuff, I'll be there. That's so fascinating. Yeah, you've mentioned the ratio quite a bit. So I want to dive into that a little bit. This ratio kind of feels like maybe it's been like a well-kept secret in the industry for a while now. So I know that my audience really appreciates the science, but maybe tell it to us, like we are like third grade scientists. Absolutely. I love that. Okay, well, I haven't almost. I have a fifth grade scientist. So I get you. So basically, our body is the food that we're eating, right? And so when we eat, specifically dietary fats, they become our cell membranes. And our cell membranes are kind of like little factories. And depending on which fats are in that membrane, your body will produce more inflammation or potentially less inflammation or potentially compounds that resolve inflammation. So when we eat, say, in omega-6 which is coming from things like a seed oil, and now it is an essential fat.

It's just the amount that we're eating today is wildly out of, it's discordant with what we've been doing historically. So historically we'd have maybe a two to one ratio in favor of omega-6 to 3. Today it's more of like a 20 to 25 ratio. And the amounts that we're eating changed that composition of the cell.

So when you eat a lot of omega-6 fats, you end up with more in your cell membranes, and they produce, this is an oversimification, but just for the purposes of keeping things a little more digestible, they'll produce more inflammatory compounds. So each cell would potentially produce more inflammation. Now, if you can get more omega-3s in that membrane, you'll produce compounds that will resolve inflammation.

So imagine that, like your trillions of cells potentially producing less inflammation and being able to resolve inflammation once you bump yourself, get an infection. It's when you can't shut that off. Imagine the implications because we know most, chronic diseases have an inflammatory component. And so if we can turn that off simply by eating a little bit differently, I think that's really powerful. Yeah. Are there foods that we are eating, maybe even for health, that are contributing to that omega-6 portion of the ratio? Like you mentioned seed oils. Yeah. I'd imagine seeds are different, right? The seed oil, it comes from the processing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's just an amount thing. Like you said, linoleic acid is an essential fat. And your immune system, your skin health, that suffers if you don't get enough. It's just that most people today are getting way too much. But yes, seed oils are going to be a concentrated. It's like so many seeds into an oil, right, that the amount is just higher. But you will have a little like acid in seeds and nuts. But I'm not someone who's avoiding those for that reason. I think the more powerful lever is actually focusing on your omega-3s and getting more of those, especially if you're someone who doesn't want to deprive yourself. So seed oils is one thing that you could definitely eliminate. Some people will even say, you know, high, high amounts of animal products have a lot of arachidonic acid.

But I believe that there's more to be gained from animal products. And so I just, again, focus on that omega-3 component and just making sure that I'm getting a lot of those every single day, whether that's from supplements or from food. Where do things like organ meats come into the conversation? Do they apply here? Oh, yeah. Organ meats, I mean, organ meats will contain, actually, if you can get like a grass-fed liver, that will have as many omega-3s as some, you know, fish, like a haddock. Like we're cooking it or we're taking it in a capsule?

Yeah, so capsule is a little bit different, but if you are cooking it, yes, those omega-3s are there. And, you know, some people can do that. I couldn't ever do it. I did it in a capsule. Yeah. Yeah, so that's how I do it. I'm not sure that the omega-3s will translate necessarily if you're not eating is fresh. But organ meats are nature's multivitamin, and they have so many bioavailable nutrients in

them, especially iron. Have you heard about the Nobel Prize? Okay, so this is interesting. The Nobel Prize went to, in 1934, went to three scientists that found out the beef liver cured pernicious anemia. Oh, I have heard about that. Yeah. So, yeah. So if you're a woman with iron related issues, I think organ meats are game changing, especially because iron supplements and always listen to your doctor, obviously, but iron supplements aren't always well tolerated. And so having a food that you can go to to raise your iron levels is really important. But no, I don't think, I think if we can eat organ meats, it's one of the best things you can do for your body. It's one of the best kinds of proteins that I prioritize every single day, even though I don't eat them because I couldn't bring

myself to do it. I was going to say, how do you prepare that? You know, my husband tried many different ways. And what we do now, we actually have a primal blend. Have you ever heard of that? Yeah. Yeah. So you do like a ground beef and then you put a little liver in there. Hearts actually, yeah, pretty mild if you want to do heart. And chicken liver is far more wild than beef liver. Tongues also, you know, like there's just certain organ meats that you can like dip your toe into the water. But you also can just take capsules if you want to. What about like a bison or like some kind of venison versus cow? Are there different benefits? Yeah. So venison, we have a venison stick actually. And it's higher in protein, lower in fat.

And so and the omega-3s are higher actually in venison, probably attributable to all of the grass that they're eating on native pasture. And bison will vary depending on how it's raised. Again, a lot of the bison, many people, and there's a guy I know Kenneth Hamilton will say, oh, they think bison's always better, but a lot of bison is fed a lot of grain. And so it will kind of just depend on what the bison is being fed. Yeah. I have to say, because you mentioned your sticks, they're so good. I'm so glad you liked that. So, so good. And I learned about what goes into them. And I was a little appalled at some of the things that are in other sticks. And as somebody who has, I have mast cell activation syndrome, very histamine sensitive, certain things like citric acid is a huge trigger for me. And it's very difficult because it's in so many things. And I learned, is it derived from corn?

Oh, I love that you said this. Okay, yeah, let's talk about it. Yes. Okay. So it's like one of the main ingredients in processed food. I think it's like number four. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And. And it's derived from mold, like an aspergillus Niger mold. And genetically modified corn a lot of times is where citric acid comes from. The manufacturing used to be, you know, lemon juice. Yeah. And then it kind of got taken over by these larger companies that were like, oh, we'll just do this better more quickly.

But the problem is nobody knows. Is it what they call manufactured citric acid? Or is it actually citric acid from like a fruit? And most of the time, it's manufactured citric acid. And I don't know, there's a paper of four case studies with people with inflammatory conditions and digestive issues who could trace their symptoms specifically to the manufactured form of citric acid. But you're right.

It's in everything. Yeah. And encapsulated citric acid is another one of those ingredients in most meat sticks. Yeah. And so they take that citric acid and then they coat it in hydrogenated oil and then it melts into the stick and it drops the pH and it preserves it really quickly. And then when we got into the manufacturing business, they'd say, oh don't worry no one's asking it no one it's citric acid and I'm like well I don't care if no

one's asking I care what's the end result are people eating an ingredient they might not fully understand and be aware of so and they don't have to differentiate between manufactured or what it just citric acid is just the blanket term yeah and that's all they have to cite that's wild it is wild and I'd love to know what are your what are your symptoms what are you experience oh my gosh I mean it's taken me like two and a half years to figure out exactly what are the things that contribute to when I have a flare. When I have a flare, it's mostly neurological. So, vertigo, terrible panic feeling, but not mental panic, like physiological, like your body goes into fight or flight. I explain it,

like, you know, when you almost get into a car crash, but you don't, and you have that surge of adrenaline. It's that, but 24-7. And then I also get, like, puffy swollen eyes. I get rash on my legs, things like that. I'm so much better now than I was two and a half years ago. My mindset also the whole time has been like, I just don't think. about I don't focus on it. I haven't let it stop me in anything that I do in life. And I've learned how to like navigate when I do have flares and kind of push through and I've learned what works and what doesn't. And I've conditioned my body to be able to tolerate exercise again and all these things. So I'm doing very well. However, there are certain things. And that is one of them

that is so tricky for me. And there are so many of these kind of quote unquote healthy things that I think people who might have some of these conditions or sensitivities aren't aware that they are consuming, whether it is in a meat stick, whether it is in some kind of electrolyte mix, whether it is in whatever. It's in everything. All like low calorie beverages. Yeah. It's so, it's crazy. And I know that it's a common one for people with MCAS and it can be really, really frustrating. So when I learned that your sticks didn't have that, I was like, thank God, because I love a meat stick. So yeah, it's good to know that we have those options. Yeah. there. But it's important for people to learn, you know, because we...

Educated. Yeah. Yeah. And there's so much, I think, that's glossed over in the industry that, you know, people, we just don't know. Like, and it's by design. We're not supposed to know. Exactly. And they don't think you need to know. Yeah. Mine's garlic. So I had to, took a long time. Not that that's like a manufactured ingredient, but that's the one that was causing me trouble. That's why I like to start with... With your digestion. One ingredient. No, my skin. It is so oddly specific. My digestion is fine. My digestion is fine. But here and here, I will break out. Like a dermatitis or just?

No, acne. And it is so strange. I've tried to get somebody to tell me like what is happening, but it is. It's weird. But you're okay with other FODMAPs? I am. Interesting. I know.

That's why just stay aware and use one ingredient of foods and there could be something that's seemingly innocuous, you know, and you could find it. Well, that's the beauty of being attuned to your body is that you're able to connect the dots with that. Are there certain foods, maybe? be we were talking about foods that contribute to some of these issues, digestive issues, skin issues, maybe on the flip side, what are things that people can incorporate into their diets? I mean, obviously everything that we've been talking about, but what are foods that you've seen with people that have like moved the needle so quickly? So quickly would be obviously

high quality animal products. I just think for women. I just, I came from that plant-based mindset. And I think mostly for my mood. Yeah. That changed a lot. And the second thing is bone breath, I have to say it. I just think I, when I did those deep dives on glycine and saw the research on its ability to act as a trigger lock for your macrophages and in amounts that we are not consuming today, it could potentially prevent inflammatory responses all day long. And I think that's really profound. And most people are not having that.

And there's just thousands of comments from people taking glycine, reducing pain is a big one, sleeping better, just less inflammation in their body. I think glycine is so underrated and I want to tell people that. Fermented foods also. I do a ferment every single day. I'm trying to work up to at least three times a day because I'm not sure you talked about there's a Sonnenberg study where they gave people six servings of fermented foods a day. Now don't start there. Yeah. Because that can be you want to work yourself up over time. Talk about floating. But if you work yourself up, it was more powerful, it dropped down 19 different markers of inflammation, essentially, and when they compared it to fiber. So I think fermented foods, and then, you know, obviously, omega-3 fatty acids, and fish,

and herring, and DHA in particular. I just interviewed this researcher, Dr. Michael Crawford, he's 95, and he studies DHA, and he thinks our brains are shrinking, and they are good, and our IQ's going down, and our mental health is going up. And he believes a lot of of it has to do with the fact that these omega-3 fatty acids have been thrown by the wayside, 75% of us are deficient in them, and they're literally building the structure of our brain. Yeah, we focus on so many other things. Yes, and this is a clear frank deficiency. So, yeah, I think those are my staples.

And of course, leafy greens, I do a lot of those too because there was a trial that showed people who ate, I think it was like two servings of leafy greens a day, had brains that were 10 years younger. Wow. I know. And just, I thought, that's a lot. very feasible. That's attainable. Two servings of leafy greens. I can do that.

And so that's another stable. Amazing. Okay, I want to ask you some lightning round questions to close out here. Okay. What is your favorite food for skin health? Oh, liver. Liver is known as nature's acutane. Sounds weird. It's not like I enjoy eating it. But, you know, retinal is the active form of vitamin A. Liver is the world's greatest source of retinal in its active form. Okay. So, grass-fed liver.

Okay. And supplementing if you need to. Absolutely. I need to. Okay, okay, got it. What's the most overrated health food? Whole wheat bread. Yeah.

I just think, I mean, for, and it's not, maybe not for everybody, but I just think for a lot of people, I've seen a lot of people that I work with, gluteness is a big problem. And I just don't know that a lot of grains need to be in a diet. Yeah. I think grains have benefits. Just not, doesn't need to. to be the foundation. Yeah. What about gluten-free sourdough? Hey. Yes. I like a little really sweet. Hossi, that brand. They make a great one. H-A-S-I. Oh, I don't think I know. Okay. It's like a swirl. They have turmeric in it and it's like a blue and yellow swirled sourdough. I get it at the

farmer's market, but they have it at Airwan and some other specialty markets. Yeah, it's so good. Shout out Hotsie. Okay. What is the biggest green flag on a food label? Ooh. Hmm. I guess if it's like a meat product, I love that. that American Grass Fed Association. I love a third party verification. So that'd be that for me. And then if it was another food, I guess I really like organic. I'm just kind of a purist.

I just, yeah. Biggest red flag on a food label. Ooh, natural when it comes to meat. That really means nothing. Just the things weren't added after the fact. And also just like over 10 ingredients. I just try not to try not to do it. What's a wellness trend you wish would die?

A wellness trend, I wish would die. Oh. Maybe just, and I don't know that, I think this is changing, but just this idea that we need to be shrinking, our portions, our diet, ourselves, our calories. I just think we just need to think about food and women and our bodies so very differently. Yes. Yeah. Very, very trendy right now. Yeah.

Best thing you've ever did for your gut. Ooh. Hmm. Hmm. Well, obviously, bone broth is one, but the second is learning to regulate my nervous system. Because, again, gut and brain are connected. They're talking. More text messages are actually going from your gut to your brain than the other way around. But if you can go top down as well, if you can control your thoughts and the status of your nervous system.

I think that's really powerful. Amazing. Well, thank you so much. That was so fascinating. I learned so many things that I've actually never heard before. And I've been doing this for seven years. Thank you for making it easy. Thank you so much.

And your products, Paleo Valley, which we touched on a little bit, so thoughtful, so intentional. So we're going to link everything in show notes. And we have a deal for everybody in the audience so that they can try everything. But why don't you tell everybody where they can find you and all of that? Yeah. Find me at paleo valley.com. You can always email me, autumn at paleo valley.com. We also, wild pastures.com.

And yeah, and we'll put the links, I'm sure, below. Yeah, and wild pastures, then people don't have to think about the labels. That's exactly right. Yeah. So American regenerative meat. All of that part, just disregard. No, just kidding. Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you. This is amazing. 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. pod. 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.