Dr. Tabitha Barber, an OB/GYN and functional medicine physician, shares three ways to boost energy: get 10-20 minutes of morning sunlight on your eyes and sleep before 10:30pm, drink a full glass of lukewarm water when you wake up, and replete vitamins and minerals to support mitochondria. She says these habits helped her patients with autoimmune conditions regain energy and improve sleep and digestion.
Questions this video answers
About 10–20 minutes of morning sunlight on the retinas.
Falling asleep after about 10:30pm is cited as likely to reduce melatonin production.
A full glass of lukewarm water; optionally with 1 teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar for digestive/skin issues.
Roughly half your body weight in ounces (example: 120 lb → 60 oz; 140 lb → 70 oz); practical target ~60–100 oz/day.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Dr. Tabitha, the gutsy gynecologist. I'm a triple board certified, OB, GYN and Functional Medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey. And I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. After caring for thousands of women, I've come to realize that your gut health determines your gyne health and your overall health. And it's a super gutsy thing for me to go against conventional gynecology practice to bring you the truth. No more band aid medicine, ladies. We're talking root cause resolution on this show. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. And I want to be your gutsy gynecologist. So welcome. Hello. Hello. Okay, this week I just want to talk about the three things that really have shifted how I feel because they're super simple to do. And you can start doing all of this stuff this week easy, and you're going to feel a shift. So the first thing is as soon as you wake up in the morning, you need to go outside and get some sunlight on your retinas. Retinas are the space in the back of your eye that respond to light and that produces chemicals in your body. It's part of your circadian rhythm and so it affects how much cortisol and DHEA you make and all of these really important hormones to be able to function and create and have energy. And so, so the game changer is when you go outside as soon as you wake up and get that sunlight onto your retina. So you're just outside enjoying the sun for a good 10 to 20 minutes before you get going for the rest of the day. So you like I just take my dogs for a walk as soon as I get up because that gets me outside in the sunlight. You don't stare at the sun directly or anything like that, but you want to make sure you're not wearing sunglasses and that you're just getting out there and getting exposed to the light. Your skin responds, your eyes respond. Everything responds to that actual sun penetration. And it sets your circadian rhythm up for the day to help you produce energy and then you can sleep better that night. So honestly, our bodies were created with these clocks. We have multiple clocks in our bodies. They're all physiologic clocks. They set our circadian rhythm and, and we need to go to bed when it gets dark. That's part of it as well, is you want to make sure that you're falling asleep. You know, if you're Falling asleep after 10:30, there's a high likelihood that you're not going to make the melatonin that you need to sleep because your clock wasn't activated. And so you really want to go to sleep when it gets dark, wake up when the sun comes up. So we really are connected to the universe in that way. That's how our bodies were created to function. And so optimizing the circadian rhythm is going to be key for your energy production. And if you're like me, I live in Michigan. And so it's not always sunny, and especially in the winter months, we might not see hardly any sun or light at all. And so that's when you have to do a little biohack and get a full spectrum white light. You can buy that quickly on Amazon and you just shine that toward your face for the first 10 or 15 minutes of the day and it will stimulate the your same clocks. So that's what I do in the winter. And I've done it so long that my circadian rhythms are really well set and I don't have to to do it every day. So I think I did it. I made sure I got outside and got the full white light for like a month where I finally felt my circadian rhythms just shift back into balance. And that really helped me fall asleep easier, stay asleep until morning and then have energy through the day. So please try those little hacks. It's a game changer. Number two, drink a full glass of lukewarm water as soon as you wake up in the morning. And if you have any digestive issues or eczema, headaches, acne, pretty much everybody should add a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar to the water and drink that down because literally you sweat out and lose a lot of water just with sleeping. And so if you start out your day already a little bit dehydrated, you're going to be prone to having stomach cramps and headaches and dry skin. And like, the list goes on and on. So our body needs to be lubricated and the best thing to do is to drink a glass of lukewarm water before you do anything else. So literally I do that and then I go outside or sometimes I take my water and I drink it outside while I'm in the sun. So that has been a game changer for me. Like I've been Able to get off my coffee addiction because I drink that full glass of water and hydrate my cells and they can start making energy. I get to the point now where I probably drink a half a cup of coffee and I only do that an hour or two later because I'm drinking my water first. I'm going outside, I'm exercising, I'm walking the dogs, I'm doing medit, reading the bible, all of that stuff before I'm even touching coffee. So drinking that glass of water in the morning, with or without apple cider vinegar has been a huge game changer for my energy. And when I feel a slump in the afternoon, I will check my water intake. And usually if I'm tired, it's because I haven't had any more water since that first glass. So literally water hydrates and helps you create energy. So really get your water in. You know, the recommendation is half of your body weight in water. So if you weigh 120 pounds, then 60 ounces of water is like the minimum that you need. If you weigh 140, 70 ounces would be the minimum that you need. So try and shoot for, for, you know, 60 to 100 ounces of water, do your best. But if you're only drinking a couple glasses of water a day, your body's definitely struggling to do its functions because water is a necessary component to do all those chemical processes. It, it gives up hydrogens and oxygen molecules for your physiology to do its processes. So super important. And number three, this has been the biggest game changer because I was very deficient in vitamins and minerals. Not only from my poor diet, but from being on birth control pills for so long that my, I wasn't making enough stomach acid, I wasn't absorbing the vitamins and minerals I was taking in with my food. And so the biggest game changer for me has been repleting those vitamins and minerals and supporting my mitochondria. All the little powerhouses inside your millions of cells that make your ATP, they make your energy. And we just, we need support when it comes to that. So every woman I've ever encountered as a one on one private patient or in my group programs or just messaging me online, like literally, we all need this basic vitamin and mineral repletion and mitochondrial support. So that's why I created Energy Lift. It has everything you need in it for at least your daily minimal requirements to produce enough ATP or energy and to get through the day. So that's been the third big game changer for me is taking my Energy lift supplements every day. So those three things give me boundless energy so that I can see patients all day, so that I can record podcasts, I can do research, I can run group programs, I can coach lacrosse, I can take care of my kids, I can, you know, watch my grandson. I can do all of those things. Exercise, hang out with my girlfriends, enjoy life, ride roller coasters like, I could go on all day. But it's because of these daily practices that I've incorporated. And I want to remind you, like, I have autoimmune conditions. I have Hashimoto's thyroid disease, I have Raynaud's, I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and all these other things. And if you at least are replacing your vitamins and minerals, supporting your mitochondria, getting your water in, focusing on, you know, supporting that circadian rhythm, you're going to get so much of your energy back and so that you can feel like you have enough energy to make better choices and choose healthier foods and prep your food and actually go out and move your body. Because if you don't have the energy, then you're not going to make the right food choices. You're not going to be able to go out and exercise. And I'm just living proof that if you make these shifts, you'll have the energy to change those bigger things. And so I hope that you are inspired and feel excited that you can do this. So I want you to get my energy lift. I want you to drink water every day, definitely starting in the morning. And the lukewarm part is because, really, cold water can stimulate your sympathetic drive or nervous system and put you in a fight or flight response. And that's not how you want to start out your day. It will stunt your digestive system, so you want to stimulate your digestive processes. So that's why we say lukewarm and then getting outside in the sun. So these are totally doable. Ladies, let me hear how it goes. I'm excited for you. All right, see you next week.
