Healing, Resilience, and Radiant Skin with Alitura’s Andy Hnilo

I just love that the industry is opening up to the fact that your skin is your largest detoxifying organ. Why would you ever rub a trace element of toxins onto that organ, disrupting that process? You could say anything's all natural fragrance, but that fragrance part you got to watch out for. There's just a big misconception led by deception. I believe all you need is the zinc and then also barriers like clays. Long story short, be mindful of the ingredients that you're putting on before you go out in the sun. You don't need something that smells incredible and spreads perfectly and that you're spraying all around. Please check your ingredients.

Hey, fitmothers, this is Dr. Balduzzi. Welcome to a very special episode here on the channel. We normally publish our Fit Mother podcast in audio only format, but as you can see, we have a very special guest here today, Andy Nilow from Alitura Naturals. And I wanted to bring this episode here because Andy is an expert in skincare, in beauty, in health and fitness. And today we're going to do a deep dive into the products you should be putting onto your skin for good health and beauty, especially if you're experiencing wrinkles and mottled skin and stuff that you're not happy. Andy has a really powerful story we're going to get into on how he's fixed this and developed some of the greatest products in the world for women who want to look beautiful and really feel beautiful as well. So, Andy, welcome to the podcast, bro. I'm sorry.

Thank you so much for having me.

So how did you get into skincare? I imagine this was not like what you wanted to do when you grew up.

No. So it actually starts off in college, right? I was an athlete, 6' 2, 168. I got a baseball scholarship to UC Berkeley, so I had to bulk up to play in, you know, the PAC 10. Now it's like PAC 12, or I forget what, how many teams they have in it. But I wanted to compete at a high level, so I had to put on muscle, right? So I was focused on grabbing and turning and focusing in on fat, calories, protein. Put on 23 pounds. But I was eating Marie Callender's berry cobbler, Dreyer's, you know, ice cream, pizza, Burger King, and then experimenting with supplements in my skin, dorm food, a little bit of stress in my, you know, growing into your body. That was just like this perfect storm for cystic acne on my skin. And the worst back acne that I. I mean, just crippling back acne to the point where I was changing with my locker. I would never turn around. And stuff like that really just can eat away at you and really make you insecure. So that was the catalyst. One day off in Berkeley, I went to this little herbalist right off Shattuck Avenue and bought my first aqueous silica horsetail extract supplement from Flora. I think they're still around. But this gentleman explained the importance of like, well, what are you eating? How are you? And I was just telling him and he's like, well, you know, your skin beat, your, just your overall vitality. You got to look at everything that you're eating and consuming, ingredient wise. So like, what about your products? And you know, Neutrogena Clearasal, you know, these big, heavily marketed brands that I just, you know, that's all, you know, at that age. So I switched from Neutrogena Clearasil to something simpler. Dove soap. Five ingredients, two of them coconut derived surfactants. So that right there at 18 years old, just went bing. Like, oh, natural. And ever since there, year after year, like, I went from dorm food, well over to the little salad bar and you know, start eating tuna with like lettuce cantaloupe instead of like the, you know, soft serve cheeseburgers and all that. And like, teammates are wearing me out. But like, some of those guys would go, hey, well what are you doing? You know, and brighten up diet plans. So all this started in college, but like from the skincare standpoint, I just switching from that, from the small little mosquito bites on your face with cystic acne, having that go away just, I mean, from head to toe, with the exception of my hair, I was just using Dove bar soap. Five ingredients, Just how simple is that? But that right there, the natural component of having those coconut derived surfactants and then backing that up with the. They had a night cream. I mean, I was 19 years old again as an athlete, so I was like, you know, getting worn out by teammates. But I just liked feeling good and I liked, you know, treating people well. And I think that's a catalyst is if you're, you know, you truly feel good about yourself and you don't have those insecurities. And it just really helped me set the tone on like my personal care and just being like the catalyst before you leave the door each day and just energetically, personally and professionally treating people better. Because I don't have that cloud of insecurity over me. And it was just a big part of what built me into who I am. Keep in mind, this is what, 24 years ago? And it just. Well, so I had this little thing. I became an actor after baseball and just had this little routine. Every Sunday night before a week of audition, I would do this Aztec healing clay. Clay mask, right? One ingredient, calcium bentonite clay. And just it was my little secret weapon for years. But I'm like, this is one ingredient. Let's just try to source it around. Let's see what we can do. I fell in love with calcium bentonite clay, right? So one day, just searching, trying to source that one ingredient, I found greenclays.net, a guy named Jason Eton, who's written books on clays. Just I hopped on the phone with him. He gave me like this totally put me to school on the benefits of internal cleansing with edible clays. And then also the clays that are better known for skincare. Rasul, Kaolin, Iolite, French eyelite, Montmoronite, Moroccan Rasul. And so I would order all of them, right? And then just kind of combine. Keep in mind, I had roommates, right? So all this stuff was underneath the sink. And I'd go in there, mix it in a bowl real quick and just run into my room, let it dry, shower it off. They probably knew what was going on. But like clays, I mean, that's the earth, rich in trace minerals. When it dries, it brings the microcirculation to the surface of the skin. Then you get a subtle exfoliation, but you're also removing impurities, heavy metals, environmental pollutants. I just. It was. Aside from that, that microcirculation kind of brightens your skin and lifts the skin, gets those stagnant capillaries circulated around the eye area. It has so many benefits. That's why, you know, but it's just fun to look back because in ancestral alchemy, that's what they did. Animals, when they get sick, they roll around in the mud and lay out in the sun. They feel, you know, all these little remedies just became fascinating to me in doing DIY stuff before 2011. March 20, 2011. I was crossing the street, got hit by a westbound heading Land rover, hit the eastbound lane, run over by a tundra, Clothes cut off. Me in the middle of the street. Yeah. Compound fracture, seven broken ribs, collapsed lung. Like, woke up in a morphine drip in Cedars Sinai icu. Just, you know, you're coming in and out, just what's going on. Like, no, no, don't talk. Because they want to piece the particles Back together. I'm like, what happened? Got hit and run over by two cars last night. And I, you know, that first look in the mirror because I was in the entertainment industry. I know it's kind of a funny career, but it was how I made my money. And that was jolting. But my knees, ankles, shoulders were intact. Mom and dad flew down. My sister and brother, sisters and brother flew down. After I got out of the hospital, you know, this one was like an ex Marine. He's like, hey, any day you can walk out of the hospital, it's a pretty good day. Best of luck on your road to recovery. And I'm like, I already had that little weird kind of excitement. I don't know if it was like fight or flight from the trauma release or something from that, you know, the severity of the accident. But like, I love what he said there because it really set the tone. I mean, I started going on little walks. You know, when my parents left, there was so much love in that little 660 square foot apartment. But like, yeah, my job was wired shut. And yeah, my only job was to take my medication. Basically fall back asleep. But I loved having them there. It's just so rare that we're all in one area. My sisters have their families, but we're all there and I needed that. But I put together a plan as soon as they left. All right. When the sun's down so the sun doesn't bake the scar in it, I go on little walks to get circulation from head to toe. And then at night, I'd put on that clay mask, right? All right. Jaws wired shut. So how do I build my system back? How am I going to get nutrition? I'm not going to keep drinking these Ensure shakes. So I met with different herbalists around la. I'd go Air one. And with the Dragon Herbs, George Lamoure, Crosby Ware. Truth Kalkin, Sage Dammers. Bless your hearts, because I was taking notes, jaw talking like this, you know, trying to figure out how to build my system back. And they explained the importance of adaptogenic herbs, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic herbs. And I put together this morning, tonic, gynostema, hoshou wu, schizandra, ashwagandha, spirulina, chaga, reishi, egg yolks, bison liver. Blended it up in a shake and then took it through like this little straw in the back of my mouth. But so, yeah, but I mean, dude, it was. Yeah, I stayed consistent with it. I felt incredible. About a week or two, it was a Little jolting for the system in the beginning, but I just, I believed in the process and I started to feel good very quickly. But I started to experiment with some of those ingredients from the smoothie. Let's sprinkle some into that mask. Why not your skin being your largest organ, if it's that good? Internally, a lot of things didn't work, but that's where we got the American ginseng, freshwater pearl powder, grass fed colostrum, vitamin C, organic kale powder, which is essentially spirulina. I just. Yeah. And so this, all this true story of just trying to get back in the entertainment industry and look and feel like myself again led to Alatura and just where we're at. I mean, it's such a long story. Long story made short is I troubleshooted Dave Asprey's email address from Bulletproof Coffee. Just wanted to work for Bulletproof or just like share the love and that. I really appreciate his attention to detail with ingredients. Single heirloom cacao pods and just with this chocolate powder, Ghee MCT oil. Like back then 2014 it was coconut oil, but he was talking about medium chain triglycerides. The extract of that, that's the most healthy part of it. I just loved his podcast and what he was about. I never drank coffee before, so like getting out of bed was like hopping into, you know, Ferrari for your day. And in my recovery I needed that. So what D Asprey. Bulletproof exec Dave Asprey. Like 10 different combinations of the same email. Picture me in the icu. Picture me in like men's health going, dude, you got me. Your products got me back to my career. Thank you so much. If there's, you know, any opportunity to be an ambassador for your company or whatever is EA got back to me a few months later they had me on his podcast talking about how I recovered with his products, which is true. Last 15 minutes he asked what I did for my skin and I'm like, you know, luckily, because we hadn't talked about it beforehand, had no website up, no name for a company or I don't think we had one back then. Maybe we were throwing things back around, but like it was never intended to be a business. It was just kind of like my own little side project. And he got such a response from that podcast. So did I. Like, he flew down to la, we came to terms on an agreement and then boom, had a product in his store, the aloe turiclay mask, three months later. And that's just how this all started. So just, we haven't stopped. I feel like that was yesterday. I'm not kidding. That was 11 years ago. And I just love that the industry is opening up to the fact that your skin is your largest detoxifying organ. Why would you ever rub a trace element of toxins onto that organ, disrupting that process, causing that. What I firmly believe is that disruption. That's what that. I know I'm not a doctor and I have these little weird, quirky opinions, but it makes sense. I mean, we have a 0.77 return rate. These are pretty much damn near food grade products. I do my best to use food grade ingredients from top to bottom. I want you to grab it, turn it around, and have it look like poetry to you. I mean, you can. With all these products and all my seven different chemists located all around the country, you know, it's just this is my thing, you know, manufacturing. Get an opportunity to create something. And emulsion, it's just, you know, we're a smaller team. But, man, I just really love what I do and I love that the world is kind of inching away now. Anthony, keep in mind those first, you know, five years. Does organic matter natural? It's all natural. Yeah, dude, that. You could say anything's all natural fragrance. But that fragrance part you got to watch out for. There's just big misconception led by deception, I believe. And it's just up to us, you know, Amri Gianni Mae Lindstrom, that always will give them credit because they were doing it right before me. And. But it's a short list. I can only name a couple, seriously, that are doing it right from top to bottom, locking in on all components from their packaging to how they treat people, but with dynamic, you know, clean formulas that are effective and that you can use, you know, without worrying about any trace element of toxins on something you're doing daily. You just got to be mindful of that, dude.

Wow. Powerful. Yeah, I mean, I just like, I'm looking at your life from the lens you just shared as like a creative expression of your struggles, your insecurity, your athletic desires, your natural creative impulse, your ability to get out there. And now this is an extension of your whole life and these incredible products. And where I want to go is really pick Andy's brain on foods to eat, how he actually approaches his skincare. Because, bro, your skin looks fantastic if people can't see the zoom in. But let's punch in on this, man. I mean, it's the real deal. I Mean, results don't lie in this space. Okay. So you have a process and a framework that I've seen you talk about, about how you approach skincare with four steps. Can you lay that out for us so people can get a grasp of, like, the different categories of things and then we'll talk about products and ways people can approach each.

Absolutely. So I know you can have 20 to 30 SKUs as a business, and you get, well, when do I use? What do I use? And we kind of went that way. But just recently, in the past couple years, we came up with a system. Just cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate repair.

Right, Cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate repair.

Exactly. Cleanse, you know, daily. Maybe, you know, if you have overly oily skin, maybe just. And you want to dial that down in the morning and then maybe dial it down before you go to bed. Just cleanse sometimes, you know, some people do it one time a day, but just don't overly do it. But just a nice cleanse. Finish with a cold rinse to close the pores. Follow with a good clean moisturizer, reapply if needed. Right. And then you can exfoliate one to three times a week to scrub off dead skin cells, to rejuvenate, you know, that nice cell turnover. Ideally, it has some good active ingredients that can kind of accelerate the collagen synthesis after that. But just in a good exfoliation, I think to the people out there that have done it, it just feels great. You're scrubbing off the dead skin cells that may contain some environmental pollutants. So that's. There also is a component to that. And then just one to three times a week, take a day off. It could only be once a week. That's fine. And then ideally, just. I know these are all steps that, you know, we may. It's a lot to some people, but I like to seal in the results. And just in the most important time to do so, before you go to bed, when you're in one position for hours. Right. Just with like a nice nutrient dense, thicker night cream. And then that's it. Just cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate, repair, Exfoliate a couple times a week. Just, you know, cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate, repair. That's.

I was really interested in your story in the clay mask. I mean, that was such a pivotal moment of your experimentation. And also something I can see has so many benefits. Like, I was like, man, I should probably start doing Andy's clay mask regularly. Where does that fall into the steps Is that an exfoliator? Is it, like, how does that work?

It's an exfoliator. It definitely is. So we have. I mean, not trying to sell the problem, but like, we have a meteorite scrub and a clay mask. But. So I did a little dynamic with that. I'll put on the clay mask and then in the shower, rinse it lightly off with water, and then rinse it again to that freshly exfoliated skin with the meteorite scrub. That's a treatment that's like, you only want to do that a couple times a week, but basically you're getting all that circulation to the surface of the skin. The clay mask has a light exfoliating effect as it is when it completely dries and, like, the capillaries constrict. But then you get, like, the rounded exfoliants from the meteorite scrub. Olive, cherry pick, California poppy seed, just to gently exfoliate the dead skin cells. And then you let the alpha hydroxy acids. We're using mandelic, fulvic acid, hyaluronic acid, just to completely hit that new, freshly exfoliated skin with invigorating ingredients to help, you know, thicken that collagen layer over time.

What I think is interesting is some of those things you just rifled off, like humic and fulvic acids, or at least fulvic acids, alpha hydroxy acids. These are things people may or may not know about. There are synthetic versions of all this stuff that people may have in their skincare right now. Can you talk about some of the ingredients in standard fare, stuff you get at Walgreens CVS that claims to be a cleanser, claims to be a moisturizer, and maybe has that function. But a lot of BS in there, like, what are the things people should look out for? And then I want to educate people on natural ways that they can get these things in.

Absolutely. So they have an app now called the UKA app or Y U K A app. You can scan it, the UPC code, and get a 0 to 100 rating on the cleanliness of your product. So I wanted that to just be out there first and foremost, because I don't expect everyone to be an expert in ingredients, but you'll see it's water, glycerin, cetearyl, alcohol, butylene glycol, propylene glycol. I mean, all these fillers and unnecessary emulsifying agents and toxic surfactants that you can find. We all, as chemists, you get the red to green rating on how safe it is. For the skin. And I even question that rating system. But a lot of these companies, 90% or above are signing off on orange to reduce, you know, sodium benzoate, benzoic acid. Like, I mean how shelf stable do you need a product three or four years. I mean you're having three or four different forms of preservatives, right? Phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate. I just mentioned sodium benzoate. Sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate. One's a foaming agent. I mean we just did a video this morning with our pearl cleanser. It killed two birds with one stone. Shaving and cleansing. I just a lot of these unnecessary foaming agents and the fragrance I believe is one of the biggest culprits. Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1 has been proven to have birth defects over time. The glycerin always in the top three. I mean is it soy based? Most likely we're using organic sunflower base. It's just there are ways to take every component of your product and just. I really hope this world gets to that point where it becomes cool to be like just have those ingredient decks that you're proud to use on your largest organ that you know, you're not absorbing any of those, you know, three or four different forms of alcohol in your formula. Definitely not organic cetera. Just I could keep going and going just on the unnecessary additives that are often toxic in the commonly used, heavily marketed products that you're favorite grocery store. It's everything I'm against, but I'm really glad that I believe the world is kind of leaning towards alright, let me figure out what I'm actually eating. Let me figure out what's in my hair care. What. That's all. I mean, I get it. It's a sensory appeal. You want that foaming. You feel like you're cleansing. A bath is like, it's like the little emoji. You're taking a bath with the bubbles that's a toxic. The bath bombs. I mean I could keep going on that but like the fragrance, you get such a beautiful aroma through organic essential oils. Explain why you left that toxic fragrance. It's such an opportunity for brands to make a big change. You know, especially fragrance like Calvin Klein go gluten free organic alcohol. You know how much you would impress your customers. I just have this theory that that combined with the synthetic fragrances can, you know, lead to a lot. I mean, you know those people. I'm sorry, I can't do fragrance. Do you know how many hundreds of People have said that to us in booths that use our aloe Torah presence because we have three ingredients. Organic alcohol, you know, a synthetic fragrance blend. But we left out the phthalates, the parabens, the mineral oil, any dyes, any endocrine disruptors. We just got it approved by EWG and it's just. I am hungry to just spread the word about what we've been about since second one with Alatura.

The new science is super clear. Mitochondria are essential for optimum health and longevity. See, mitochondria are the battery packs inside all of your cells that create ATP, giving you cellular energy. And as we age, our mitochondria become damaged and dysfunctional, leading to low energy, brain fog, fatigue and slower recovery from exercise. The good news is this supplement called Mitopure, created by Timeline Nutrition can help because it supports your health at a foundational level by encouraging the renewal of your mitochondria. Mitopure is a precise dose of a rare compound called Urolithin A that helps your body clear out dysfunctional mitochondria to create new healthy ones, giving you more energy, better workouts and more endurance to achieve any goals that you have. Mitopure is the only Urolithin a supplement on the market that's clinically proven to target the effects of age related decline and deliver increases in muscle strength and endurance without any change in exercise. I'm excited to share that you can now get 20% off your first timeline purchase. There's never been a better time to experience the benefits of Mitopure. Use my code Fit family at checkout to receive 20% off today. Dude, phenomenal. I think this is like next level for people. A lot of people reading food ingredients they know about, they don't want the stuff in their foods. And these bucket terms like natural flavors can mean basically anything. Fragrance can mean basically anything. These catch all terms.

Yeah.

So getting to your products, what are some of your flagship products that you love? Like what makes you. Let's start with Cleanse and the framework. Like what? Why is your cleanser so amazing? What's in it? And what can people expect if they try a natural based product versus maybe what they're using?

Yeah, no, great question. So I have very reactive skin, so I wanted something a little more gentle. I couldn't find one. I used Evan Healy's blue lavender cleansing milk and it was this nice milk. So I wanted, you know, I kind of use that as a benchmark shout out to Evan Healy out there. But that's where I Got the pearl powder base. I wanted something that could kind of just gently heal my reactive skin. We combine that with colloidal silver, tremella mushroom, marshmallow root to just gently but thoroughly cleanse your face without any harsh irritation. Has a nice little organic jasmine scent to it. Just completely cleanses the skin. It's our top three seller.

Pause there for a sec. What do I do with it? So I get the cleanser in my hands. Is my face already wet? Am I in the shower? Like, really help me experience when I use this and what it looks like in my routine.

I would. Okay, so warm up, steam up the face, open the pores with warm water. Just a little rinse and then boom, two to three pumps in your hand, massage in an upwards direction, ideally behind the ears. Get those lymph nodes.

Yes. You like lymphatic massage? You're a big believer. Okay, so explain that to people. It's a good pit stop.

Absolutely. I mean, lymph nodes, lymphatic drain. This is another one. I'm glad because sometimes it's a little odd to people, but man, I do. I take my tongue on the root or in front of my teeth to open up those pathways. And I know, I'm just glad you asked about it. But everything, you know, during that massaging process, upwards, get the gravity, get the blood flowing upwards, out, and then just kind of massage right here and just kind of sit for a little. It is a good little light leave on mask. If you have irritation, let that colloidal silver and pearl powder and kaolin clay do its job. It just mitigates that irritation and can kind of tone down some discoloration. But if you're just, you know, doing a quick cleanse, you know, leave on 5, 10 seconds, do some nasal breathing and then just rinse it off. Follow with the cold, rinse to close the pores, and then boom, that's a cleanser. You can follow with the moisturizer serum.

So, moisturizing, what's the base of your moisturizing products? What are good natural products like yours having versus synthetic ones?

All right, so our gold serum, we're using Bulgarian organic Bulgarian rose water as our base. So we're not using water. We add B propolis, a little frankincense, sandalwood. We have five active ingredients in that formula. Plant derived vitamin A that we source from France. It's organic alfalfa derived. Has similar benefits to retinol and retinoids without the sun sensitivity or downtime. Commonly affiliated with retinoids, marine Collagen, copper peptide, astaxanthin and CoQ10. Those are the five active ingredients that I supplement with. If it's that good internally, if that.

Was like an oral supplement, people would really benefit from that.

Way it should be. It's the way it should be. Rose oil, a little neroli. That's our top seller, the gold serum. No, it's just gold serum moisturizer. Yeah, it's a very special product to me. Yeah. Okay.

And then I'm exfoliating a couple times a week using clay mask or the meteorite base powder.

Meteorite scrub clay mask. So the clay mask has four clays. Kaolin, French iolite, calcium bentonite and Moroccan rossoul clay. First four hour milking, grass fed colostrum. We're the only known source that has this collected within the first four hours. They did this little chart recently. A lot of companies are using stock colostrum. The nutrient density goes down to like 2% after 6 hours. Anything after 6 hours gets cut completely in half. Our 4 is up like really high. And so that's got to be some of the secret sauce. I liked it at the time when it was six and then they dialed it down to four. Just our source did, obviously had nothing to do with me, but like that. So the grass is first. Flour, milk and grass fed colostrum. 10% ascorbic acid, organic kelp powder.

Vitamin C, by the way.

Yeah, A potent form of vitamin C that I supplement with as well. Adds brightening. It's a master antioxidant. Incredible. For the skin. Organic kale powder, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, B12, sodium alginate. Like a rich, just nutrient dense antioxidant for the skin. American ginseng. That was kind of my little touch that you don't see it too often in skincare products. But I love it. It's one of the most popular adaptogens used in traditional Chinese medicine for overall vitality. And then freshwater pearl powder. The geisha has been using it for centuries to kind of just keep an even skin tone. Loaded in trace minerals, calcium. If it's that, it's, you know, it's kidney and liver tone. But it is, it's expensive, but it's one of my favorite ingredients. I would say either that or propolis overall for skincare. Aloe vera is a close third. But so yeah, pearl powder is going to be in every one of our products and pretty much is. But yeah. So that's the clay mask right there.

Well, I want to pause on a sec because I think that was really interesting. You said. So the pearl powder, one of your favorite ingredients, propolis, one of your favorite ingredients, aloe vera. Let's talk about the other two. Maybe start with aloe vera. If someone, if someone got a skin burn, is aloe vera where you'd go to and like how do you incorporate that? Why is that so great? And what are the use cases of it?

The polysaccharides. So with aloe vera now the thing is you don't want to go buy that, the gel, you know what I mean? And but you, if you have the opportunity to go to like Whole Foods and they have an aloe version, aloe vera plant, or if they sell the leaves, which a lot of Whole Foods do, just cut off the bottom that ooze that. It's usually orange if it's been, you know, it's freshly picked. But that is like gold for open wounds. Cuts healing internally as well. I mean, I throw it in my smooth. I cut out the clear inner part and put it in my smoothies. I shave with it, you know. So you cut out the clear inner part, but you still have the leaf. And then you rub the leaf around, put it in your hair. Aloe vera is very dynamic and has many uses and health benefits.

And propolis, what is this in relation to honey and bees and the environment like define what it is and how do we use it.

So propolis is like the combination of honey, the beeswax, the pollen, the royal jelly. It's like all of it. It's like full spectrum.

Full spectrum bee products. All of it.

Yeah, basically. And I just, if you look at our products, that's what I had to have as my base, like with the exception to the pearl cleanser, but that we found a family in Haleiwa, Hawaii. When I was trying to find a moisturizer manufacturer, because everybody was asking in the initial stages, what do I follow with as a moisturizer? What do you use? And I was doing my diy, you know, beeswax, cacao. So I'm like, you don't want people. I have a sharing that with them. But like, how are they going to do it? I had my little remedies I was using for years, but I called this family out in Halei, Hawaii and heard my video playing in the background. Because back then we had it on autoplay. And so they got an idea pretty quickly, like my story. And maybe that's why they took me seriously. You'd have to ask them, but I've been with them since yeah, 2014, 11 years. Their family, friends, all of my chemists are because my formulas are different. Like if you go into these, the buildings, like we have our own sections because they're all customer supplied ingredients. Because I, I just. In that. That's the part where you got to meet them face to face is just because I'm not. I mean, this is like my art, you know, like, we didn't have a business plan. I don't have a big board telling me what to do. This is creation, this is artistry, like ancestral alchemy to a different level. We get an opportunity to not only tell a story about like, what you're interested in with like, you know, frankincense, myrrh, rose oil. Clary say I could keep going on that for a while, but I won't. But like, just also just documenting the process of not listening. Three manufacturers I went to before I met the family. Well, over the phone and they. I remember this guy telling me, oh, it's like baking a cake, right? You got your water glycerin. I was like, well, I know I'm not. I kind of wanted to go, you know, like a bee product base. Oh, we got beeswax. But there was no, like, les is harp. But I didn't feel the sincerity there at all. And then there were two more of those and like, what is this? So, yeah, I connected with some really good people that are aligned with me in my mission to just like, look, this is not going to be sped up. Things may come to me later down the road. Like, the meteorite scrub was seven years, six years to make, you know, the formula was done four years. But then we spent two years on PAT packaging and I wanted a sugar cane tube. Turned out there was trace plastics in that tube, so we just went back to maroon glass that we could have done two years before. But this is, it's not supposed to be sped, just me. Like, I don't, you know, I'm not trying to be like another brand. We don't have any sped up. I don't have a price determined before I go into it. It's just I get like these little downloads, satellite, whatever you want to call it to create every one of these products. But it's the most important part is having a chemist manufacturer that you trust to duplicate that dream. And I found them luckily. And.

Yeah, that's beautiful, bro. I mean, I think like all of that, like the specs of how it's set up, but it's like the integrity and the authenticity of you Interwoven into all of this. It's immense. It's a good lesson in creation and us being very choosy. Choose about what we put in our bodies, choosy about what we put on our skins. And I want to kind of transition to food because like that's a huge part of your journey as well. You're deep into nutrition game, you keep yourself in great physical condition. And obviously some foods we can start with. The ones that you think like are inflaming a ton of people. We don't just spend a ton of time there, but what are the heavy hitters that can totally ruin people's skin in terms of stuff? Let's start there.

Ooh, processed foods, like I would say deep fried, the fish and cheese, chips, fried foods, refined sugar, grains, in my opinion, unorganic dairy, you know what I mean? I just, I think that kind of barks at the system. Peanuts, nuts that can, you know, have a tendency, have been on shelves for a little bit, have it more susceptible to mycotoxins, pain, attention to everything that you're. The water you're drinking, right? The shower you're wearing, the water you're wearing in your shower. Do you have a filter? Get a shower filter, ideally get a whole home filter and just structure your water. I mean that's a big culprit. Staying away from, you know, the, you know, the sugary alcoholic drinks that just really sets your system into overdrive into kind of putting out inflammatory fires internally. Just get as clean and as you know, ideally locally sourced as you can. Now I live in Sedona, Arizona. We have a farmer's market. I also have a relationship with a couple. FarmMatch.com is amazing. I get my raw dairy from there. Taking care of your gut, Kimchi kef. I like raw milk personally. My water, I like Gerol Steiner or I drink my mineral water out of glass. Whole Foods has one, a really good Italian spring water for $2.79. That's 33 ounces. Take out a few of those a day, it's under 10 bucks. But you're completely hydrated and mineralized. If you go Gerol Steiner high source of bicarbonate, which really help. I mean it's like baking soda, which they're finding out, I'm sure, you know, is really good for the system in your blood and internal cleansing. So if we can combine those elements, drink good clean water, eat good nutrient dense foods, get your good amount of protein in, maybe supplement with some grass fed collagen colostrum. If you Can I know these things are expensive but like you're worth it. And just staying in the sauna is a big one. Sauna cold plunge. But mine fully cold plunge if you want to do that. Like hot, cold. What I do is I just, I'll go the sauna 20 minutes literally every day. I know some people say three to five but it's kind of. It's my therapy dude. And then just follow with a cold shower and it kind of shocks the system in the best way. I'll hang upside down, inversion table, get the blood flowing the other way. Usually with the clay mask on, like it's a lot but with the red light in the background. Red light in the background, red light in the front. I just, I have this system in this routine where I get predictable energy every day. So like I look around I. I think I'm preaching to the choir but there are these things, man, these mechanisms that have changed my life. Breath work and yeah, so I know this is focused on diet but I kind of, you know, segued into a lot of other things. But man, it just, it's a lot and I'm constantly still learning of other things to either check off on. Yes, it's good for me. Yes, serves my system. But you know, I have you know, fine tuning this over the past 20 years. I kind of know what my body.

Likes, you know, what your body likes and I think that's each of our health responsibility to figure out like what's good for your body. Dairy inflames me but also I would not say that like raw milk is not good for a lot of people. It could be massive, massively beneficial but you got to find what works right for you. What's your thoughts on red light? You obviously say you like it and you incorporate it, but there's just so many devices out there. A lot of people are marketing this stuff and like a lot of it is for skin health and skin care. Like what's your kind of position statement on people using lights in relation to products, the importance of it protocols, etc. Red and can be infrared too.

Yeah. So I use the Joovv solo have that on, you know, laptop right here. That's hitting me. I mean I'm not. I'll throw on a clay mask and then rinse that off. That's on for what, about an hour a day cumulative but. And I'll also put on the Kenyan red light right around my neck, strap it up to get those, you know, the thyroid and just help with, you know, because of the Jaw injury, but it's, it's mitigated a little swelling over there. Like it's sunk in ever since I started doing that. There's something about the kinean k I n e o n red light that I like around the neck. And so it's meant for pain, but red light in particular. Maybe you. I'm sure you do know a little bit more about me, but I trust the system of far infrared full spectrum red light. There's something about like the, the frequency that it emits. I don't know if it's like 980 or 830. Got to check that. But I have been using the Joov red light. It's one of those things that I know when I have just in mitochondria. I'm not sure what it is, but I'll do, you know, 20 minutes sporadically throughout the day, all day, even before bed, and then combine that with Good. At least 20 minutes. 20 to 30 minutes of real sunlight. Light is so important to me, Anthony. Like it. And I also have one of those salumas while I'm doing my breath work. I get the red light behind my head. Getting that, you know, the back, the back of my brain. And then I also have the saluma, which a lot of med spas that we work with have. And I just figured, why not kill two birds with one stone. I'll put on the gold star, do my breath work, and then next I'm getting a biomat to lay on. But I mean, it's just. But all in under 20 minutes. You just lay down. Now you have like, just not. You got your skin taken care of, you're invigorating your cells, and then you go out, get the real sunlight. But mindfully, you don't want to get burnt. But yeah, light in general is just. It ignites me. Yeah.

And I see how you're like habit stacking stuff into a very personalized routine. And I think that's probably a good lesson from everyone. Like, find your way to get all these things combined together. A couple things. Talk to us about the sun. You know, I think in the whole skincare space, this conversation has typically been sun, uv, photo, aging bad, put sunscreen on. And obviously that perspective is changing in a lot of ways. And you have your perspective on it. Lay us out unfiltered. What do you think about the sun? For skin care and skin aging, do you use sunscreen? Yeah, let's talk about that.

I mean, Anthony, I have a product that I put a bow on called Alatura sol and Spanish for sun. And I literally did a post and I'm like, I just don't use it. Why would I? How do I market that in the booth? But I'm going to release it eventually because people want the cleanest. Everyone has different sun sensitivity, which I respect. I just am. There are a few in my opinion that that work. I mean it's zinc oxide, that's 1. Titanium dioxide in my opinion. Please stay away. But man, when you get the heavily the big marketed brands, just please identify that with Yuca app and look at what you're applying to your largest organ and then getting baked in. You know, I just think that's the biggest culprit to a lot of skin cancer and a lot of sun sensitivity is the sunscreen that we're putting on that we're baking in those chemicals. It's just all you need is the zinc. That's. And then also barriers, barriers like clays and pearl powder and then being mindful of the sun, maybe going to the shade. Now look, I'm not, you know, trying to stir up the pot, but at the same time I kind of am. I just, I completely disagree with these ingredient decks and them showing studies. And now luckily a lot of people are, you know, pointing out the fact that a lot of these sunscreens, sunblocks are the culprit of a lot of skin cancer and sun damage. And it just has always made so much sense to me. These heavily, you know, remember those like the coconut oil that you go out in the sun that's full of fragrance. It's mineral oil. So bad for you. I used to wear it. But let's just be mindful of what we're putting on. I mean I would if it were me and it is me all the time. I put on my gold serum and then follow with the body lotion, I'd know what's inside of it. And I believe in the, you know, the what it does, it assists with the sun. The sun is my everything. I'm the wrong person that has. As far as sunscreen, I'm out in the sun all day long. But I'm also extremely mindful of pre and post care and then my diet and then it's not like I'm out there for eight to ten hours a day. There's something to be said though about astaxanthin. You know, some people are comfortable saying I gotta be careful with my words as far as like their natural UV and sun protectant levels. But red raspberry seed Cacao butter, aloe vera, be propolis, astaxanthin, manuka honey. There are these beautiful potions that we can create these little barriers and serve the skin while kind of combining becoming a conductor with the sun. That's why we're adding gold. I could keep going on this for a while, but like, I understand it's a confusing subject, but I'm glad that the world is kind of going, wait a minute, what about the sunscreen that we're being told to spray all over our body? You go out to that aerosol loaded in fragrance and other just often carcinogenic ingredients that do not serve the skin. And you do not want that combined with the, you know, the, the rays coming from the sun. I just wish I was at a level to put these studies on, but I. Well, we're gonna do a study. We have to get that quantifiable 30 SPF for our sunscreen. So maybe we'll go a little bit more on that. I just, you know, like to practice what I preach. But if also there are a couple good sunscreens. The people, to the people that want to wear sunscreen completely understand it. We're just working on getting that white tint out of it while. And we can do that through a little sea buckthorn, which is like this bright orange. And then astaxanthin is like this rich red. And then the light gold oils that we have in that formula, as well as nad copper, peptide and gold, like we're gonna create something special. But I just. Long story short, be mindful of the ingredients that you're putting on before you go out in the sun. And if it's a little white from the non nano, zinc or zinc oxide, whatever they're using, sometimes that's kind of part of it. But you don't need something that smells incredible and spreads perfectly and that you're spraying all around. Please check your ingredients.

That's been a resounding theme for sure. Now as we wrap this up, I want to make it like back to like simple and practical. So let's say someone's inspired by this and they want to pick up a couple of your products, one or two or a couple key takeaways in the most still impactful but deconstructed routine. Like what's, what's the simple takeaways that people can take away in terms of aloe cherry products to use or simple routines to implement.

So I would recommend the pearl cleanser, clay mask and gold serum. If you're just getting into kind of a routine. The clay mask is one of the most effective single use treatments. It's a back bar treatment and hundreds of med spas worldwide. You just add filtered water, apple cider vinegar, your favorite essential oils, and just apply toothpaste like consistency. Let it dry, go outside, let the sun bake it in, take a shower, shoot me an email on how you feel afterwards, please. And then if you pick up the gold serum, follow that clay mask treatment with the gold serum. Two to three pumps in your hand. That color that we got with the Coq 10 is like this also fiery orange. And then the at as Anthin's like this rich red. It kind of adds like a little glint. We had to dial it down. It looked like a sunrise for a little bit, but it's just. But they're nature's elements and then it just. I just know what I'm getting every single time with those. And a lot of us have little issues and little, you know, kind of, you know, that little red spot, that clay mask will pull that infection out over time, Exfoliate your skin, you know, brighten it. And then that's the system right there. Pearl clay, gold.

Nice. Absolutely love that, bro. I learned a lot. I'm inspired. I'm taking my skincare to the next level. I'm going to be using your products. I appreciate you coming on and inspiring me on many levels. Education about skin for sure, your passion for creation and life. And I see where you're going as well, like through this creation, hoping to steer this industry in a way that's guided by integrity, guided by science and like understanding natural law and how we integrate this into products and like respecting nature and awareness. Like, there's a lot of deep stuff happening here. I'm seeing it.

Thank you.

Thanks so much. So for people who want to learn more, you want to check things out, we're probably gonna have a discount code fit family. That's always a way. You can go to alituranaturals.com Is that the right domain?

It's just alatura.com a l I T U R A. It's Latin for feeding and nourishing, by the way. So your skin being your largest organ, you want to treat it like another mouth. So I really appreciate you having me on, man.

This was amazing. You crushed it. Thanks so much everyone for tuning in. Andy. Nilo. Wow, what an episode. Hey there, my friend. Thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode of the Fit Mother project podcast. If you love what you heard, I have a favor to ask you, Please consider taking 60 seconds right now to leave us a rating and review on our podcast. Leaving us a review is super quick. It only takes a minute and it's so, so helpful to us as it really boosts this podcast to reach more people who need this information and this message. If you're listening on Apple Podcast, you can leave us a star rating and review. If you're watching on YouTube, you can hit the like button and leave us a comment. Overall, I truly appreciate you being with us here on the podcast. On behalf of me and my entire Fit Mother Project team, we truly feel honored and grateful to support you and your family on your journey to fantastic health. I thank you for your support of this podcast and of this mission. Also. If you're interested in joining our Complete Fit Mother program and becoming an official member of our community, you can Visit our website fitmotherproject.com and on the FitMother site you'll be able to see our Complete Fit Mother program along with our online store with the best supplements designed for busy moms. And you'll also find a ton of free resources like recipes, workouts, meal plans and more. God bless you and your family. This is Dr. Anthony Balduzzi signing off. I'll catch you on the next episodes of the Fit Mother Project Podcast.