WTH?!? Episode 117: Toxins and Their Impact with Dr. Wendie Trubow

Good.

Welcome back, everybody, to what the health. I'm Dr. Greg Eckel and we have a marvelous show for you. Today we are talking with Dr. Wendy Trubo. She's a functional medicine gynecologist with a thriving practice at Five Journeys and is passionate about helping women optimize their health and their lives. Through her struggle with mold and metal toxicity, celiac disease, and other health issues, Dr. Trubo has developed a deep sense of compassion and expertise for what her patients are facing. She's also the co author of Dirty Girl, Ditch the Toxins, Look Great and feel freaking amazing. Dr. Trubeau, welcome to what? To health.

Thank you, Dr. Gregg. It's great to be here. We never talked about this before the show. Call me Wendy.

Okay, Call me. Today we're talking. Let's discuss toxins and their impact on brain health and by extension, longevity, which are two near and dear topics for me and for our listeners. So we've got you on the right show and that's why we brought you on here. You know, you have the unique ability here because you have been through it yourself. And that is one laundry list which is very common for people to experience altogether. And I am guessing, you know, because you have gone through it yourself, it really does help you navigate with others their own health journeys and maybe talk to us about your journey here in the health world and the Dirty Girl book.

And along those lines, yeah, sure, my story really has two health crises in it. But let's back up a little bit. I have terrible genetics, terrible, like two copies of all the bad stuff. I have two copies of mthfr. I have two copies of vitamin D deficiency. I have two copies that put me at risk for celiac disease along with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. So at a young age, I was sort of a mess genetically. Although I didn't know it, I'm still a mess genetically. And I'm a child of the. Of the 70s and 80s. So I grew up with sloppy joes and microwave food and plastic. And I remember breaking a traditional thermometer and thought it was so cool how it rolled around in my hand and then absorbed into my ring that I wore. And my science teacher was like, oh, you should get rid of that. And I was like, oh, Mr. Pratt, I'll be fine. Famous last words. Mr. Pratt, I owe you an apology, if you're listening. So that was like my childhood stuff. And of course, I grew up in a house that was built before 1978, so there was lead in the Paint and, you know, and I had the mercury fillings because I'm old, and I had like five of them at one point. And so that's just the early stuff.

Yes. So the loaded gun. Because oftentimes people say, well, where is this stuff coming from? Right. And there you just listed how ubiquitous they have been.

Where isn't it coming from? Let's say, where isn't it coming from? It's really crazy. I'm from Massachusetts. I live there now. And in 1989, a study in Massachusetts said that one in every six deaths is attributable to either air or water quality or some type of pollution. That was in 1989. Now you fast forward to 2022 and you go, okay, if you look at every chronic disease, diabetes, cardiometabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, every single one of those tracks back to inflammation. And what it. What causes inflammation? Toxins. So you could say, oh, geez, you know, almost all of the deaths we have contract back to toxins. So, yeah, it's kind of everywhere.

Yeah, it is. So it is so ubiquitous. And you got it. I mean, I think you, you aptly named it in your book Dirty Girl. And perhaps, you know, the ditching of the toxins is, is our starting spot. Like, what do you find in your practice clinically? What are the top toxins that you're seeing with folks?

We do a lot of work in our practice for three categories of toxins. One is the heavy metals, and primarily we're looking at lead and mercury, although we also look at thallium and arsenic. We look at all of them, but the ones we really hone in on are the lead and mercury. And people who are listening, you go, okay, lead homes that were built before 1978 with lead paint, homes that have lead pipes in them, industrial facilities. Lead loves to hang out in your bones. If you have osteoporosis, you need to presume you have lead, mercury, fish and fillings. The best fish, right? All the amazing fish. That's the stuff you shouldn't eat. So tuna, mahi mahi, Chilean sea bass, swordfish, all the heavy mercury fish that are big predator fish and eat others. Salmon is fine. And then if you're old like me, silver mercury fillings are 55% mercury. They never stop off gassing, ever. Every time you eat, drink, chew gum, drink something, grind your teeth in your sleep, you're releasing mercury. So those are the. That's one category. Then mycotoxins, which are the, that's the toxins that mold puts out when it's taken up residence in you. So we look at all of them, and the nice way to get rid of those is through binders and stop being exposed. You know, moldy buildings, dorm rooms, schools, all those are often filled with mold. I had a patient whose car was moldy. Kind of randomly, she got rid of her car. And then the other category, which is environmental toxins. So that's like nail polish for women. Nail polish, makeup, beauty products, hair, hair products, perfumes, scented candles. Then things like. And insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, herbicides, or glyphosate, which is the most commonly used herbicide in the world. And its use is growing. So that is implicated in microbiome dysfunction as well as a number of lymphocytic cancer. So it's nasty. It's all nasty. So.

Right. You know, lately I've been in some Ubers or Lyfts and a lot of drivers have those air fresheners and Airbnbs too.

They do it there, too.

So I've been on a campaign of educating folks around, these are toxic and you're breathing them in all day long. So do you do specific testing with folks or how do you go about that?

Yeah, great question. Let me back up a second, Greg, because we do a lot of toxins work, but it's. Unless you have cancer. If you have cancer, that's a different game. If you don't have cancer and you come in because you don't feel great. Toxins are not the first thing we do. Because you have to fix the gut, you have to support the adrenals, you have to support the minerals and nutrients, food sensitivities. You have to do what I'll call the basics. We have to make sure you're sleeping, that you're not a stress ball, that you move your body. Your relationships are good. Those are the first things we work on. And then if you say to me, hey, Doc, I feel better, but I know there's more possible, that's when we get to toxins. Just so that the listeners aren't like, that's great. Do my toxins.

Let's start with the foundations because aren't sexy, but we need to discuss them because they are so they are the foundation. So, yeah, why go let walk us through the process with me.

All right, so think about it. You do detox. If you want to do detox, the best way to do detox is optimize your liver and your gut. So say you optimize your liver and your liver is just churning through all these toxins. Where does it put them? 90% of the time puts them in your gut. But if you're constipated, or if you have dysbiosis, or if you have dysfunctional absorption, inappropriate bacteria, inappropriate enzyme activity, guess what? You're going to deconjugate. Separate your toxins from their binders. That makes them water soluble. Then they're no longer water soluble. You're going to reabsorb them, and then your liver's like, I already dealt with you. Why do I have to deal with you again? So you then get on the rat wheel of doing extra work, not understanding why you're not getting better and not actually fixing the root cause. So you have to start with the gut. I mean, gut tests are gross. But my favorite tests to do, right, because it tells us all about inflammation, overgrowth, infection, imbalance, digestion. It tells us everything. You know, we can fix you through that. So fix your gut sleep. Especially Americans we're so proud of. Oh, I. I get by on five hours of sleep. Well, no, you don't really, because if you're not sleeping, then your brain doesn't have time to allow the cells to shrink and the space in between them to drain the toxins from your brain. You need time to do that in the deep sleep. You need to get enough deep sleep. Exercise. Moving your body moves your lymph, moves the toxins out of your body, sweats, gets you moving, decreases your risk of cardiovascular disease, improves your heart rate variability, improves your life. So moving your body and then relationship to self, you know, you can jack up your adrenals and shut down digestion and detox in a second by having a stressful thought like, oh, I'm going to get in a car accident. Oh, my God, they're going to hit me. Oh, my God, I hate my boss. Or whatever those thoughts are that are stressful. Those thoughts are really impactful. So working with people to actually manage their brain is very impactful. And then relationship to others, because no person is an island. So if you're isolated, if you're alone, if you're lonely, if you feel like you don't belong, that in and of itself is a stressful event and bad for your health. So you have to fix those. That's the platform.

I love it. I love it when you say so. Some nuances in there for folks that are listening, viewing deep sleep. You know, everybody's got these devices now. They're measuring. Do you have a.

See yours?

I got one on there. Have some recommendations as far as optimal percentages or.

No, I don't because I. Because it depends on your age and your weight and your. It depends on you. But if you're wearing the trackers, I have a whoop. And if you're wearing the trackers, it'll take into account your age, your gender, your hormone status, your weight. It'll take all that into account and make recommendations based on. Okay, you know, people in your group need this. But what I say to people is try to be in bed for at least eight hours. And as long as your sleep quality is good, you'll sleep for somewhere between seven and seven and a half of those hours. And assuming that it's normal, you're going to be fine. But if you want to track it, definitely track it. I love the data because we can watch as your deep sleep goes up, as you get healthier. It's really cool, actually.

Yeah, awesome. How about for exercise, movement? Any simple, like actionable steps for maybe somebody kind of stuck on the couch again?

Yeah, it's. We're so obsessed with perfection, right? I have to do it right or I'm not going to do it at all. I have a kid, one of my oldest, I have four kids and my oldest was really into not doing it until she could do it really perfectly. And I was like, buddy, you got to practice. So everything is better than nothing. So if you're stuck on the couch, get up and walk around a little bit, make some rules, make it a game. Get a buddy. Again, no person is an island. Get a buddy. Now. Honestly, I feel like self care is a full time job. I don't understand how any of us have time to do anything but care for ourselves, right? Like, oh, I got to do three hours of weights a week and I got to do 150 minutes of cardio a week and I need to get eight hours of sleep and I need to connect with my friends and family. And by the way, I need to cook my food and eat it and not rush through it and chew it lots of times. And here we are, 16 hours of the day are gone and now it's time to go to bed again, right? So it's hard work. So I would say don't get stopped by trying to be perfect. Just make an improvement, right? If you're eating three meals a day and they're all processed, then pick one meal that you're going to level up, right? Eliminate anything from a package on that one meal and then when you have a win, go to two meals Go to three meals, go to your snacks. It doesn't matter where you start. Pick something and have a win. If you're stuck on the couch, go set a goal of five minutes of movement a day. And it doesn't have to be super sweaty. It's just get in the habit. If you're driving somewhere, do you know it's like a thing. Can I get the closest spot? Nope. Try to get the farthest spot. Get the farthest spot. Make it a game, right. And just see what you can do for yourself. That may not even be formal. Just make it harder. Don't take the elevator, take the stairs. Right. Get in the habit of, I'm going to try to do something to challenge myself today.

Love it. I love it. Yeah, Just build it into your day.

Yes.

Rather than having to do something outside of that. It's interesting your foundations with the relationship to self and to others. I'm imagining you do some self assessments with folks or some, you know, contemplation on what is their relationship with themselves. How do you, how does somebody get into that dialogue?

I'll bet you do it too. You may not just be thinking that you do it, but if you have a 15 to 30 minute conversation with someone, they will tell you their conversation about themselves. You know, I had a, I had this kid roll in and I've seen her for years. I love her to pieces and she has the worst view of herself. And you gotta know, so she's five' eight. Her, she has a perfect body. She has thick luxurious hair. By the way, she's 20. So like everything's perfect when you're 20, right? And she's just really lovely. Like she's sweet and she's kind and she thinks that she's like dirt on the floor. And so she comes in for her visit and I hadn't seen her in a couple of years. She comes in for a visit and she goes, she's late. She's like, oh my God, I can't believe I did that, I'm so dumb. And blah, blah, blah. And I was like, there we go. So let's start talking a little kinder to yourself because you're not dumb, you made a mistake, nobody died. And look at yourself through my view of you, not your view of you. So if you talk to people, they're going to tell you, they're going to tell you within about five minutes they'll make some kind of comment that's self deprecating or put themselves down or is isn't so nice. Then you go, oh, I got your number. It's time to be nice to yourself. Right. So especially with women, they're like, oh, I can't believe I'm not doing this. I'm so bad. I'm the worst mother. A lot of women have that refrain, I'm the worst mother. You know, hashtag parent fail. And I'm like, you're not the worst mother.

Right.

You know, in fact, I think you're an amazing mother and you're doing too much for your kids. It's time for them to step up.

Right.

Like, stop doing so much. So. So listening to people will. They will tell you their conversation. And when they talk to me, I always call them out on it.

Yeah.

Like, you're not allowed to talk to yourself unkindly in my office. Take on my view of you. Not your. Your. My view of you is always nicer than your view of you. So you have to take it on with me while you're talking to me. You have to have my view of you, which is that you're amazing. You're. You're hugely powerful, and you've got this.

Yeah.

And humans make mistakes. So be nice to yourself. Move on.

I love it. You know, and sometimes, most of the time, it is a dangerous neighborhood to go into yourself.

Very convoluted and. Yeah. God, my own brain. I'm like, dddd. Okay, no, wait, no. Gotta, like, focus.

Yes.

Get back on the path. Right?

Yeah. Right. Refocus. Take a breath, and with grace and ease. That's what. What we propose in our office out here. I love that that's on the foundational component, because I think a lot of people talk about mindset, but you really just explicitly call people out to the mat on it of like, hey, we need more kindness. Especially with yourself. Especially making the changes that you're asking them. Like, they're really, you know, we're not brought up to think critically and. Or investigate our lives and actually untangle when you're saying, you know, our exposure to, you know, cosmetics and other items that is so ubiquitous in our environment. You know, it's somehow set up that we have to work really hard to minimize our exposures to toxins. And so, you know, reading the labels and doing all of that, so that painful.

Yeah. Great. I get greenwashed all the time. I love, like, I'm always like, what's the cool product and what's new? And, man, I'm like, oh, what a great package. It looks so great. I am sucked in by that advertising. I buy it, and between the time of buying it and getting it, I always realize, oh, I screwed up, oh, I forgot to look at EWG or Think Dirty and I bought it without checking. You know, like, I do this a couple times a year, right?

Yeah.

Because I'm human and I got excited about things. You know, I tend to be like high energy and I'm always moving too fast. And so, yeah, I mean, there's so much out there. So what I usually say is start with environmental working group or Think Dirty because they can say to you rather than you looking at every ingredient, trying to figure out like, is it good, is it not good? Just go to them, they've done the research and they, they have the data. So it alleviates a whole lot of noise around. I don't have time to think about this. And then when you find a brand, milk it for all it's worth. Right. So I switched over to Beauty Counter because it's all natural and they have a whole huge list of no's. Like there's 2100 things they don't put in it. And they're really brand and mission driven to have clean beauty. So I first bought. What did I buy first? I think I bought some eyeshadow. And then I was like, wait a minute, why wouldn't I buy everything? So now we get literally everything they buy. And my daughters, I have three daughters and one son. And my son couldn't care less about anything beauty related. But my other kids are really into makeup and so they were like, will you buy us some? And I said, yeah. I mean, this is like formative years. I'd rather buy you something that's a little bit more expensive but not garbage. Rather than have you buy garbage and have to untangle you over the next 30 years. Like, let's just not go there. So, yeah, it's really hard to stay clean, but it takes something. But once you find a brand, milk.

It, get everything and I think check in on it because sometimes then those brands get bought by conglomerate and then they change all of the formulations.

Like. Yes.

Wait a minute, when did this happen? I've been caught a couple times there myself. Okay, so anything else on that foundational component?

Yeah, I mean, that's the other thing we didn't talk about is why are you here in this earth, right? Like, what purpose, what legacy, what difference are you here to make? Because having a purpose will give you the strength to get through, you know, look, let's be real. It's kind of hard work to live a life that's Devoid of as many chemicals as possible for the purpose of being vital, vibrant, healthy, alive, able to do and interested in intimacy till at least 100. That's my goal, and that's my goal for all my patients and everyone around me, is to really live a vital, healthy life. And it's a pain in the butt, right? And layered onto that. I have celiac disease, so I don't eat gluten and I don't do well with cow's dairy, so I don't eat that either. And I can't tell you how many people say to me, how do you do it? I could never do it. Like, well, it's all about what's your why? Right. Like, what's your motivation? So having a very powerful motivation that will get you through. When you go to a party and everyone's eating cake and you. That's not something you eat. I don't actually use the language. You can't do it. You could do it, but you don't want to feel the way you feel when you do it. So I get a lot of peer pressure from people who are like, oh, my God, why aren't you eating dessert? I'm like, well, I don't feel good when I eat that. And if I eat that, it can't look like this. I'd rather look like this than eat that. That's kind of what it comes down to. Because if I eat that, it'll look like this. And I'm kind of happy in how I look. So. But there's a lot of noise and peer pressure around it often.

Wow. Right. Because it's almost like it's a reflection, poor reflection of themselves and that they feel like, oh, like, we want. We want you to join into that.

Well, right. You know, it's like water seeks the lowest level. So, like, I'm almost the mirror to say, well, why I don't ever say to someone, don't do that, or what? I mean, unless you're paying me, I am not evaluating your plate. You're not. I'm not here looking at your plate. But if you're paying me, then I'm saying, okay, what are you eating? Is that really how you want to eat? And do you feel well with. When you eat that way? And if the answer is yes, then have at it. But you're probably not seeing me if that's the case. Right. Like, if you feel amazing, you know, so. So I think what's your why? Is a really powerful thing to make.

Sure people have, oh, yeah, that I total Agree with that. And also I think having that in the discussion around their health choices, because that does. So it makes it so much easier understanding in the bigger picture what you're doing here. And I think just the thing that comes up for me is just really encouraging people to bring their gifts forth and, and not take them with them to the grave. You know, so many people don't self express and don't bring their, their gifts out to, to bear or share. And you know, it's like, that's what we're doing here. Right. That's what you came for. So thank you for that reminder and everybody listening. That is, you know, what is your why? And if you all wanted to put that in the show, note comments like, share that with us and let's start that trend because we need more encouragement together as community, which is another big piece on the longevity front for us.

Awesome.

Any others then on the foundational work.

Let'S say so your physical body, moving it regularly, treating it well, holding it straight up, taking up space, your chemistry, optimizing your hormones, minerals, nutrients, and then eventually toxins, your emotional. No, those are the foundations, what we talked about.

I love it.

And then there's the toxins, which is like the fun stuff.

The fun stuff. The fun and depressing stuff.

That's horrifying. Horrifying. But it's rewarding. It's like, oh, I can clearly see the difference and the impact.

Yeah, there is. So that you mentioned that 1989 study with clean air and water. I mean, just some basic needs.

Right.

Like clean air, clean water and organic foods would change a tremendous amount of chronic disease in North America for sure, if not worldwide. How do you, where do you start with people here?

Because. Right. I always start with food. You do it three times a day. It's what you do with your family and friends. It's the thing that really can make or break you. So I always start with food. And I always say, wherever you are, just level up. There's no perfection. Right. Everyone is like, I got to be perfect. No. Right. Like, I probably eat. I'm Dr. Trubo. I probably eat too much fruit. You know, like, it's okay. Right. So wherever you start. Oh, and I had a bite of zucchini bread yesterday.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. It's harvest season. What do I do with five pounds of zucchini?

Yes.

I don't know what else to do.

Sous vide bread Sounds delicious.

Right. And so I looked up a recipe. It called for five cups of sugar. Greg, I haven't used five cups of sugar in the last entire year. So I was like, okay, there's not a snowball's chance in a warm place that I am going to be doing five cups of sugar. So I did one even I thought that was kind of a lot, you know, So I did one for this, like, massive thing, and it was great. And the set is, next time I'm going to go down to a half a cup and see what happens. So anyway, I always start with food for people, and wherever you are, take the next step forward. So this isn't about going from where you are to being perfect and ideal. You are never going to be perfect and ideal. And it is discouraging when you look at that gap. So you just go, okay, say you are eating three processed meals a day. Someone else is cooking your food. Make it your mission to figure out how to make breakfast. Figure out how to feed yourself something that you can make yourself that is not a bagel or a waffle or an English muffin or pancake. Like, it's actually something that you could go, oh, this looks like itself. So bacon and eggs, a protein shake, something that you can be like, oh, I made that. Right. Sometimes breakfast is a difficult food for meal for people who don't want to eat processed food. So I always say, eat dinner for breakfast. If you can't figure out what to eat, just make extra at dinner. So if you think about, you get up and you have a piece of meat and you have some rice and you have some vegetables, it's a really great meal. Have it for breakfast, okay? So wherever you are, figure out one thing that you can do to level up. And here's the truth, Greg, we all need help. If you're eating three processed meals a day, you really need to see a nutritionist, a functional medicine nutritionist, because they'll help you level up. Like, we have two on staff because food is so critical. And then if you say, oh, I'm already someone who's gluten free, dairy free, I don't need sugar. And then we go, okay, great. How do we get more green leafy vegetables and cruciferous vegetables into your eating plan? How do we keep leveling up? That's all it's about. Keep improving.

Love it. I love it. You know, we, we do talk quite a bit about the standard American diet on the show and inflammatory foods. And I like this concept of leveling up. If there were some, let's say somebody is just in the standard American diet, what would be their. What would be the first encouragement on the level of.

I would not go it alone. I think it's really hard to change a habit alone. And there's all these things out there that are like, oh, 30 days to a new you. Well, that's B.S. it is not 30 days. You might start. You're going to start feeling tremendously better. Like we have a ditch the sugar program that's free on our website and we have an eat your way to health program that's like, I think it's like 30 bucks and it's a four week program that can really help you get started. But I really think that this is done in community. Find someone you can do this with. A nutritionist, a registered dietitian, whatever it is, find someone who will help you get through it. Especially if you're on a standard diet. Then going from that to a super much cleaner eating plan, there can be some road bumps. And if you don't have support, you're going to be like, oh, forget it. You know, so, so get. Find someone who can walk you through and be like, oh yeah, that's exactly what you should be feeling. Right. When my patients do detox, I'm like, you're going to feel crappy somewhere between day seven and 12, maybe 14, and it might take a couple of days to get better. It's okay, keep going. You know, like, don't get discouraged. It's good news. You're reacting. It's good news. So I always say, find someone to do this with. Don't go it alone.

Love it. I've taken some notes for us for later, but don't go it alone.

Don't go it alone.

We're going to quote you on that. That's awesome. And so you start with the food and then we've got the water and air. And so I think people don't realize that the air quality in their homes sometimes is worse than what's outside.

Let me just say one thing about water. If you could do one thing for yourself that will level up what you drink, maybe it's two things. I'm big on debate, so I can never really just do one thing. The first thing would be don't drink anything from a plastic bottle, period. If it comes in plastic, don't drink it. Don't keep plastic water bottles in your car for when the kids get out of soccer and you're like, they're thirsty. Don't do it. Get a metal one or a glass one. So excuse me. So eliminate the plastic water bottles because the reason Is the plastic looks like our hormones and, and binds to the same receptors. We have to, we have to process them just like we have to process our own hormones. And it gums up the system. So eliminate that. And then there's two more pieces and you're not going to like this. Nobody likes us. Okay, don't drink your sugar. Don't eat your calories in sugar in drinking food, right? Like eat your food, eat your calories, don't drink your calories. And don't substitute diet, it's bad for you. Okay? You can do stevia, you can do monk fruit, those are naturally derived sweeteners. But otherwise the aspartame and I'm totally blanking on the other things, all of the unnatural sugar replacements are bad for you. And then the third thing which is really unpopular is if you're female and male, if you're interested in detox, don't drink alcohol because that's basically drinking a toxin. And then here's the response. But I'm so stressed at five o' clock, I'm like, cool, then take a five or ten minute break, right? Take a few deep breaths, drink some water or if you need the alcohol. And here's where it's visual. So you could have a spritzer with this much alcohol and this much sparkling. So it's like a 10% spritzer. So you have the experience. Because sometimes what you want, you want to hold the glass, you want to kick your feet back. It's not so much the alcohol is the experience, the ritual. Just like coffee drinkers, it's the ritual. So go for the ritual instead of what's in it.

Lovely. Yeah. Anytime that you're dependent on a substance or something outside of you for your state of being is never a good thing. So that's, that's great. Mocktails are awesome for that. Get the fruity, you know, umbrella in there, put some fruit in, you know, make it special. I love that. I love that.

Yes. And then to answer your question about air quality, I think the biggest, you know, some of the. We don't reckon, we don't realize how much things off gas. So when you think about all of the things in your environment to make them, the companies needed some type of chemical to make the vegan leather, the vegan purse, the clothing that we wear, the bed that we sleep on, the furniture we sit on, the couch, the chair, whatever, the computers we use. You know, you open up and there's that smell. So all of those chemicals are in our air. And so, yeah, the air we breathe can be particularly bad for us sleeping on a bed. If you're using a down comforter, there can be dust mites. The bed can have flame retardants. It just goes on and on, Greg. So what I would say is if you go to bed and you wake up and you feel worse when you woke up than when you went to bed, something in your bed or in your bedroom is making you sick because you spend, you know, eight to 10 hours there. So if. If you don't feel well when you're there, it can be making you sick. And that's either some type of chemical. There can be mold in the. In the environment, or it can be construction materials. But then it can be more subtle. Like, I had a patient who I just could not get a handle on what was going on with her. And I kept saying, are you sure that your school's not moldy? She was a teacher, and schools are moldy. They're always moldy. And I said, are you sure? Like, are you sure that it's not moldy? She said, no, there's no difference when I go home for the summer and then go back to work in the fall. But then Covid hit, and she was out of her school for a whole year. And then she went back into her school in the fall of 2021, and she got sick. And I was like, man, it took that long to really see the impact of it. So sometimes the exposures we're having can be subtle enough that they can be easily missed, but air quality is tremendous. And I always say if, you know, pay attention to how you feel when you go places.

Yeah, that component of, like, walking down the chemical aisle at the grocery store. You hear that often. Or, you know, some can't be around perfume or cigarette smoke or diesel fuel. All symptoms of your cup is full here.

Yes.

You know, I always feel somewhat like a hippie talking about clean air and water, but I think they had it right with clean food, clean air, and clean water. Simple truths that our bodies do well with.

Can we talk about that for a second, Greg?

Yeah.

So think about it. Okay, let's back up a step. There are about 150,000 unique chemicals that companies have developed. And of those, about 500 have been tested and proven to be safe. So I think the people can do the math as well as you are. Like, Holy smokes. It's 149,500 chemicals that have been tested, and we come out with about 1500 new chemicals every year. So it's Just piling on. And the issue that we really have is that even if it's been studied, which it's unlikely that it has, every chemical has only been studied in its own lane. So one chemical exposure, but throughout any given day you can be exposed to 250 to 350 different chemicals. Women get exposed to like 150 chemicals before they walk out the door. Between the shampoo, the hair products, the makeup, the clothing, the perfume, the lotion, 150 chemicals easy. And so what's not been studied but really has a profound impact on us is that all of these micro exposures add up to macro problem because it's additive. It's not like, oh, our bodies are fine with just a little bit of everything. Our bodies might be fine with just a little bit of one thing, but we're getting a little bit of 350 things. That's a lot. It's a lot of exposure and it's very difficult for the liver to deal with. Layered onto the food we eat, the stress we have, the sleep we're not getting, the alcohol we're drinking. It's just too much for most of our bodies. It was too much for mine. It's too much for life.

Yeah, that component, then you add in a heavy metal burden or, or mold and mold sensitivity on a specific genetic platform like you were mentioning, like the deck was stacked against you before you even started. And you know when we wonder where chronic illness comes from.

Yeah, I told my parents, I'm so happy you reproduced but you should not have literally, you should not have reproduced like the worst genesis.

And you know, with that said, now you know, we, you can do. I always put a big asterisk around that component. Right. Because just because you have the genes doesn't mean you're expressing them. And especially with what you're sharing with.

Folks, you know, I mean. Yeah, let's talk about that. So yeah, one, there's certain genes that yes, you are going to. How do I language this? If you have mthfr that impairs your body's ability to take B vitamins from their inactive to active form. And the reason that matters is that when they're activated, they donate their methyl group so that you can bind it to toxins, make them water soluble and get them out of your body. So it's important, it's like critical for detox and heart health that you have this methyl stuff. But that's not going to kill you, you know, and knowing that if you know that then you go, okay, Cool. I'll just take methylated B vitamins for my life and then we're done with it, we'll move on. Like it' going to. It's not a big deal. I mean, it's a big deal, but it's not going to kill you. If you recognize it, then there's things like the BRCA gene, which can be transmitted in an autosomal dominant fashion, meaning you only need one of them. And it can make you really sick and increase your risk for breast and ovarian cancer. And so if you have that, knowing that allows you to make different choices. For example, if you know you have that and you're going to reproduce and then you can say, okay, well, my risk of breast cancer is 50 to 90% depending on the gene, and my risk of ovarian cancer is 15 to 90% depending on the gene. I may not want to pass that along, but there are technologies available that will allow you to sort an embryo based on it has or doesn't have the gene. It's called pre implantation genetic diagnosis, which allows you to say, hey, I really want to have kids who are my genetic material, but not pass that along. So that's absolutely possible. And I guess it depends how serious it is. Right. Like 40% of the population has the celiac gene, but only the chosen few like myself express it. And that's just like a bad combination. Right. You know, totally bad. Perfect storm.

Love it. Yeah. That's a great discussion to have because I think so many people are still of the right. Not all genes are created equal and there is a weighting of what is, what is the percentages that we're talking about certain disease states. So thank you for that. Yeah. Back into the mold discussion. You're seeing, you know, school, teachers, most buildings, I mean, we see some statistics greater than 50% of buildings in North America have some mold and mold issues. There really isn't any escape from mold. It's everywhere.

It's everywhere. Yeah.

It is. Mold is everywhere. And we have co evolved with it. But it is, you know, it's not just mold either. Right. I mean, there's also then the way that it interfaces with our immune system and creating mast cell sensitivity and.

Right, right. It's the same issue genetically that there's a group of people in the population. I seem to only see those people because, you know, if you're, if you're 100% healthy, most people don't come to see functional medicine, doctors, because what do you need them for? Right. So yeah, there's a genetic component to mold reactivity that then can lead you to have just crazy head to toe symptoms that include brain fog. It's implicated in degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, straight up dementia, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis. Anyone who walks in with a degenerative autoimmune disease. I'm like, you need to deal with your toxins. Not just mycotoxins, but then things like thyroid dysfunction, mood disorders, multiple chemical sensitivities, mast cell issues. I mean, it really just goes on and on. Gut dysfunction, overactive gut, irritable bow, you name it, Mycotoxins is implicated in it. So I think it's. I think what's critical is to figure out, are you a welcome host to mycotoxins or do we check that off the list? And often if you're sick, as sick as a dog, then yeah, that's something you're dealing with. Or even if you're walking well, but not really well. Right. Walking wounded, I call them.

Yes, yes. So many people not realizing, thinking like, oh, I'm just getting old, or no, I'm aging this way. Can you speak into that?

I do. So I fully, 100%, wholeheartedly reject the idea that you're meant to become decrepit and degenerate as you get older. And we say you're meant to be vital, vibrant, healthy, able to participate in and interested in intimacy till you're at least 100. As a side note on that, my partner's male and he used to always say, vital, vibrant, healthy, able to have sex till you're 100. And I said, you legit have just alienated and pissed off half the population because women are able to have sex, but they are not interested because they are too tired. So I was like, can you please amend that to say able to and interested in. And not just sex, but intimacy, connection, being with others. Yeah. And so he did. But it was just funny for years he would say that and I'd be like, oh, you just irked all the women in the room. That's not what they're thinking.

Yeah, well. And yeah, right. Without that intimacy, you know, the acts that just not so interesting. Right. You know, to over half the population. So it is. That's really great. And I love having that conversation on this show and raising that. The intimacy word. Because we all are looking for that. I mean, we thrive on intimacy. I mean, I feel, you know, very fortunate and privileged as a physician and humbled with the intimacy that we have with our patients. But that's also a very safe space and sacred space that is set up, but carrying that out then onto the airwaves and sharing that with the general population public is, you know, it is how we create the more beautiful world our hearts know and desire and, and create that heaven on earth space for, for us is through that connection, communication and intimacy. I love that like into me see is one way that I like to write that out for folks. Yeah.

Nicely said so with.

Okay, so we've got that. Let's talk a little bit more in the longevity sphere because we've talked about the foundations, we've got the toxins. And I love that you brought up early on the purpose component. And I like to couch this in on like, well, what, what is this all about? I mean, it's for the individual, but it's also for community. It's for society, it's for our kids, it's for all, all of the intertwined beings here. Where do you go in the longevity discussion here when you get to this point in the show?

Where do I go with. I mean, I'm all about longevity.

So where like, you know, some people say, oh, you know, I was talking to a, an 80 year old neighbor. He said, why do I, why would I want to live that long?

You know, he's likely to live that long. The question is whether you want to live that long, decrepit in a nursing home with no brain or if you want to live that long, independent. Here's the thing that whenever you say longevity, people go nuts. They think, live long without health. Who the hell wants that? I know who the health wants that.

Yeah, right. Not the general population. Aging is not what we're talking about.

This is not your grandparents getting older.

Yeah.

This is not what they did. This, this is aging in a way. It's so funny. I have a patient who's like 79. She's a great grandmother. She's super spry. She lives on her own. She's just intrepid. Okay. She, she's into all of the functional medicine work. When I said to her, hey, you got lots of toxins. Because she's 79. She grew up in that, in that time she got all these toxins and I was like, hey, hey, you know, I'll call her Michelle. I was like, hey, Michelle. Which isn't really her name, but okay, hey Michelle, you got all these toxins. Here's the thing. Make sure you exercise. Can you get sauna? She's like, no, I'll put one in my house. Okay, so she, she redid her basement, put in a sauna and now she sauna is because she wants to get rid of her toxins. She, she is the way to age. Right? Yes. Her hair is white, but that's not what this is about. This is about vitality, right. And interest in life and contribution and purpose. And she's doing it. I'm like, I can't wait to be like you when I'm your age. Right.

Yeah, yeah. That is, you know, that component around perhaps our ageist society of, you know, really bringing the wisdom of these wisdom keepers and our elders and really honoring them in the full fashion. You know, I don't think we do that well in the west and our kind of youth oriented culture. It's, you know, I really am a big proponent of bringing back because they have so much to share and have such wise wisdom from living and to be able to be vibrant as we get into our 70s and 80s and our 90s hundreds. I mean, heck, I've gone on to national television saying I want to be 150 years old. And you're right. People look at you like their heads go sideways.

Why would you want to do that?

What are you talking about? Or the neighbor. So that component, it really is changing the game. I mean we are living at an amazing time in history where there's a lot of the foundational work has been the same, but there's a lot of new technology coming as well that can really be game changers for, you know, I mean, heck, I was just talking with Dr. Atala from Wake Forest and he's growing organs from skin cells in 40 days in the lab. You know, it's like, wow, you can get a new heart or kidney. Of course our job is to prevent that from happening in the first place. But there is, there's some amazing text. What do you see? What do you, what are you most excited about in the future here?

I would say two things. I'm maybe two. So I'm most excited about the ability of humans to improve their lot in life.

Right.

And to continue because we're humans innovate and change and grow like as this. And I just think that's amazing. So I'm super inspired for, by and look forward to the ways in which humans will create and create things that are tremendously beneficial to others. That's one. And then I'm inspired by the existing technology that allows us to get pretty darn close to 100 and do it. Well, not just do it for the sake of doing it, but Doing it and doing it well. Mm.

Yes. I love it. Yeah. Any last parting words that you'd like to share with our listeners and viewers?

Yeah, I actually really do this. This is not where you're asking me about, like, how to reach me and stuff. Are you. This is really, truly last words. Okay. So I think it can feel very overwhelming when you listen to this and you go, how am I gonna map this onto my life? Right. So what I always say to people is pick something you can win at and it doesn't matter what that thing is. Just pick something to have a win and go from there. Really. And don't go crazy if you fail because you're gonna. I'm gonna tell you something. I'm gonna tell you a secret. You're gonna screw it up. The trick is not to not screw it up. The trick is to keep going when you do screw it up. Right?

Yeah.

Like humans aren't perfect and you're not meant to be. You're meant to make mistakes. And the trick is to try not to make the same mistakes over and over. Make new mistakes. That's my last words. Make new mistakes. And be nice to yourself when you make them.

Love it. Thank you, Wende, for your wisdom sharing and your open heart here on what the Health. Everybody, if you like today's show, please share it with two people that come to mind. Right. When I say those two people. And give us those five star reviews and write down what you are going to implement from this show. What did you learn? Write it down and share it because those matter. It is how we get the word out. It is why we created this platform. We wouldn't be doing it without you. Tune in next week to what the Health. We'll see you then.