Episode 25: The 5 Pillars of Health with Dr. Farah Sultan

Hey beautiful, it's Dr. Tabatha. I want to share something with you that I believe God is doing right now in women's health. We're in the middle of a massive movement and most people don't even know it. Every single day, 6,000 women in the U.S. enter menopause. That's over 2 million women a year, and by 2030, that's more than 1.2 billion women worldwide. So here's the thing, most of these women feel exhausted, bloated, anxious, disconnected from themselves, and the medical system is Doctors are handing out prescriptions and quick fixes, and no one is helping women heal from the root cause of their issues. That's where Fast to Faith coaches come in. As a certified coach, you'll be equipped to help midlife women balance their hormones, heal their gut, regain their energy, and reconnect their faith, the foundation that so many of us have been missing. And from a business standpoint, woo, this is one of the most lucrative untapped opportunities in the entire health coaching world. The global health coaching industry is expected to reach over $33 billion by 2023, and midlife women are the fastest-growing, highest-spending demographic in that space. Most importantly, these women stay with their coaches. They invest deeply because they are desperate for lasting transformation— body, mind, and spirit. So if you've been feeling that pull and that whisper that you're meant to do more, This is it. Now is the time to rise, to serve, and build a purpose-driven business that not only changes other women's lives but transforms your own in the process. Because when you help one woman heal, you help her family, her marriage, her faith, and her future. That's the ripple effect that we're creating with Fast to Faith. So join me, click the link to come watch this webinar. It might be the one thing that really moves the needle for you in this next— Season. I can't wait to see you in there. Hi, I'm Dr. Tabatha, the Functional Gynecologist. I'm a 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. 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. I want to be your functional gynecologist. So welcome. Hi friends. Today I'm interviewing Dr. Farah Sultan. She is the founder of Vitalogy Wellness Center and Med Spa. in Homewood, Alabama. She's going to share her story of how she came from India and found herself setting up residence in Alabama, and more importantly, how she got from her conventional medical training of family practice and internal medicine into the world of functional medicine and preventative health and wellness. I think it's so important to figure out Why things happen to us and why we get led down the paths that we do and what we can learn from it. So Dr. Farah has learned so much along her journey of reclaiming her own health and figuring herself out. She's very passionate about helping other women figure out their why and reclaiming their health. She's definitely overtrained. She not only did medical school in India and trained in London, but she also did. residency here in the United States and then went on to, to become board certified in functional and integrative medicine. She has a special interest in women's health, preventive care, autoimmune disease, diabetes, and thyroid issues. Today we're going to talk about how our immune system is affected by our lifestyle and our environment and how we can strengthen our immune system, especially in this time of COVID-19. We're going to talk about how none of our systems work in a vacuum. They all are interconnected and affect each other. One imbalance in our thyroid system can completely affect our sex hormones and our gut microbiome. All the bacteria that live in us can affect our immune system, and our immune system can affect our pancreas and our adrenal glands, and they're all interconnected. So we're going to have a good conversation about how functional medicine. and physicians look at that as you, the individual, and how it's affected your health. Once we find the root cause, we can get you on the road to healing. I am just so passionate about functional medicine and how it heals. So I hope that you enjoy her story and her knowledge as much as I enjoyed interviewing her. Just a quick note before we get started, follow Dr. Ferrara on Facebook. @FarahTSultan and Vitalogy Wellness. She also just started a podcast called the Be Well and Vital Show. So go check that out. I will have the links in my show notes. So here we go. Enjoy. Well, welcome, Dr. Farah. Thanks for being on the Functional Gynecologist Podcast.

Thank you, Dr. Tabatha. I'm so happy to be here with you on your show.

Yeah, you have an awesome wellness center down in Alabama, and I would love to hear how did you get to Alabama and how did you create a wellness center? What, you know, I would love for you to share your story with my listeners because I think how we get to a certain place in our life is just as important as why, you know, that is our why.

Sure. Um, so I was born and raised in India. In a small town called Ranchi in the northeast, and growing up, I was exposed to a lot of antibiotics because my dad used to work for this engineering company where there was free medical care provided. So I would get sore throats, and my mom would take me to the doctor, and I would end up with another prescription for amoxicillin, and. But also, when I grew up, I always wanted to be a doctor, and I went to medical school in southern India. And part of our rotations involved going out in the community to these villages where there was— the drinking water may not have been very clean and may have been contaminated. So I remember getting sick from drinking contaminated water. And you were a young woman. Infected with parasites and Giardia and things like that. But being in med school, we didn't think anything of it. We would just take a prescription for Flagyl and get up and, you know, keep going and eating those same foods, drinking those same types of water from those water wells and containers. And I didn't realize what of an what impact it would have on my health later on. And so fast forward, so after finishing up med school, I wanted to explore the world and broaden my horizons. So I actually took my exams in Singapore for the U.S.MLEs to come to the U.S. But at the time, it was very difficult for especially women doctors from India to come to the U.S. in the sense it was hard to get a visa. So my plan B was to go to England. And I moved to London, which were some of the best and fun years of my life. I learned a lot. I trained in internal medicine. And when I worked, I saw it all, did it all.

We—

We're literally on our own, very, very busy practice. I really grew as a doctor and learned a lot. And after I completed my internal medicine training, while I was doing that, I met my future husband there.

Aw.

But he was visiting from Connecticut. And so he came and he came again and he came again. And so finally we got engaged and then I moved to the US and initially we were up in the East Coast and he was going to med school at Brown. So I started my residency there and then he matched in UT Houston. So we moved to Houston. And while I was doing my family medicine residency was when I was pregnant with my first baby. And this was in my last year of residency. And when I went into labor, You know, it was just a nightmare. So I wasn't—I was kind of contracting regularly, but I wasn't in full, you know, not dilating. So my doctor broke my waters. Then she had to add Pitocin drip, and then before I knew it, there was my baby was going into distress. My blood pressure was bottoming out. My oxygen was bottoming out, and they had to do something called amnio. Infusion, which I had only read about in textbooks. And, and it was just a saga. And it was 12 hours of labor. And then finally, I couldn't push my baby out. His head got stuck. And we ended up going to C-section. And at the time, my husband was in Birmingham, and I was in Houston. So he had to take a flight down While I was in labor, and my mother-in-law was with me. And so after C-section, my poor baby ended up in the neonatal intensive care unit, and that was a nightmare to see him on all these IVs and antibiotics. And and of course, I got antibiotics with my labor. And so the strange thing was that even though we made it through all this trial, we got home and. And I found that there was something very different with my body. Like every single morning I would wake up with this diarrhea and I didn't realize at the time, but I had C. diff infection.

Oh, wow.

And my tummy would be hurting all the time. And then, you know, slowly these symptoms began appearing, like I would be crying with the postpartum blues and my hair then started falling. And, you know, my weight wouldn't come off even 3 months, 6 months after delivery. And that's when I went to my OB-GYN because I was otherwise healthy and didn't find any answers. And then I moved to Birmingham because my husband had started his residency— fellowship in residency in Birmingham. So that's how we ended up in the Magic City, as they call it. And, you know, I think that's a great story. I then was pregnant 3 years later with my daughter, and this time, of course, I didn't want to wait till my labor became worse. I did want to do a trial for normal delivery. The same thing happened—her head got stuck. So I went for a C-section. And so again, I remember going back and having my labs checked this time for fatigue and hair loss and low libido. But again, didn't find any answers. So much later, I was really seeing patients now in my internal medicine practice, but not really getting to the root, getting to the bottom. My patients would come to me with the same symptoms that I was still experiencing, like hair loss and weight gain and loss of energy and libido and IBS type of symptoms, and they couldn't figure it out. And even the tools that I had in my box, like the labs that I would check or the medications that I would recommend, were very limiting. And if I couldn't help myself, how would I even imagine that I could help my patients? And that's really what led me to this journey and quest that helped me discover functional medicine. And I had always— the reason why I had always wanted to be a doctor in the first place was because I wanted to really help people heal themselves, not just— none of us go to med school so we can just write a prescription.

Right, right.

And that's exactly what I was doing. And to really spend time with my patients, to really help them understand nutrition and lifestyle and being truly healthy. And that's what I wanted even for my own self. And I felt if If I can't figure it out, how can I help others? So let me figure it out for myself and then I can help others. So in that journey, I found that I had Hashimoto's, which is, as you know, an autoimmune condition.

Mm-hmm.

And when I look back now at my labs from way back then, my thyroid levels were literally on the brink. My TSH was literally 4.05 and it was I was told it was normal. At that time, my thyroid antibodies had not even been checked. And so once I found what the cause was, and once I knew what changes I had to make, because now I had the knowledge of the testing, then it really actually became so easy for me to really overcome all of these symptoms. And really, I can't believe now I'm I turned 49 in February this year, and when I see where I was when I was 29, I actually felt and looked much, much worse. So that's why my book, soon to be released, is called From Survive to Thrive. And so that's why I'm so passionate about women's health, about autoimmunity, about hormones, about nutrition, gut health, all of that, because the IBS, the Hashimoto's that I had, I was able to resolve. And from my knowledge, I did not know of any conventional medicine that could have helped me do that.

Yeah. Oh, I love hearing your story and I resonate with it so much. I kind of went through the same thing with my own pregnancy and delivery and developing Hashimoto's. And, you know, I think so many of us practitioners go into functional medicine because we have our own personal health journey that we're trying to heal ourselves. And then once our eyes are opened, we just have to share this knowledge with the world because it's too important. It's too life-changing. And something that you hinted at was— antibiotic use, getting a lot of antibiotics. And explain to my listeners how that changed your gut microbiome. Like, I try to explain to my patients, you know, we have trillions of bacteria living in us and on us, and they're running the show. Like, they are deciding what our metabolism is doing, how our brain is functioning, how we're feeling. Can you Explain, like, how did all of those antibiotic exposures predispose you to developing Hashimoto's?

Yeah, that's such a great question. So, uh, when I really— and that's what we look at as functional medicine practitioners, is not just what's going on now, but we go back all the way to the way you were born and the way antibiotics you were prescribed, whether it was for an ear infection or a sore throat or a sinus infection. So these antibiotics that we take so easily, we don't realize what havoc they create with our good friendly microbiome, which are wiped off along with whatever bacteria that was being targeted. And in most cases, we don't know what we're wiping off. I can tell you now, looking back, you know, hindsight is 20/20, that really most of those infections were most likely viral that I did not even need any antibiotic for. Did I have a test done to see if this was strep throat? In most cases, no. And so it was just based on symptoms. And this is exactly what I see now happening in so many of my patients. So we take antibiotics. Supposedly kill the bad bacteria, but then they also destroy the friendly flora that is really there to protect us, to protect our immune system, to really help every little organ, every little cell function at its best. And so it is only now that we are learning so much more information about our microbiome. It is so fascinating. And even our brain health, our hormone health, Our heart health, our gut health. So many aspects of our health and life are connected to these bacteria. It's so amazing.

Yeah, it's incredible.

And autoimmunity, how does that occur? So as you know, you have to have 3 prerequisites for anybody to develop autoimmunity. So number one is genetics. So yes, genes can predispose us to certain autoimmune conditions. However, Even if we have those genes, none of those genes need express themselves unless the other 2 conditions are met, which is triggers, and we'll talk about those triggers. And the 3rd one is a leaky gut. So when we lose the friendly flora in the gut lining, it's like, you know, burning down a rainforest after thunder or lightning struck it and razed it to the ground. Then, you know, it's going to take so much time to regrow that rainforest. And so when these, when the terrain, the ground is denuded of all its flora and fauna, it leads to the growth of these bugs and critters and inflammation, which then makes our immune system overreact and attack things like our thyroid in Hashimoto's and the gut in IBS and a host of other organs. Yeah.

Yeah, I would say I probably see Hashimoto's 2 or 3 times a day in my office.

Wow.

You know, it is way too common and it shouldn't be that way. It just, it wasn't even nonexistent, you know, half a century ago. So I— our— we are just destroying our gut lining and our immune system is responding, trying to support us and protect us. But, you know, over time it just overreacts and starts attacking ourselves and it's not pretty. What would you say are the other big factors that you see in your patients when you look at their history besides antibiotic exposure? Do you know what predisposes them to autoimmune disease?

Certainly, that's again such an important question because we really have to look at the history. And so other than antibiotics, I see a lot of steroids usage, which can predispose them. Birth control pills, which I was on, as well as surgeries. Like many women will say, and a history like mine, that they felt great until a certain point when especially they had a C-section or a hysterectomy or even a knee scope. It could be what may be considered just a minor surgery and then their whole life kind of unravels. And also stress. Stress is such a huge trigger. So when they go through a very stressful divorce, I see that very commonly. Of course, any death in the family, especially the death of a child, is so hard. I can't even imagine. And those stressors can be a huge trigger for autoimmunity and even ultimately cancer. Some of the other things are, you know, a car accident, a really bad motor vehicle accident, head injury I see a lot where most people tend to ignore that part of their history. And of course, lifestyle, which is diet and lack of movement and exercise and lack of mindfulness. So it's really a combination of all of these factors. And then the other biggest one is drugs. So people on antacids and PPIs for acid reflux is huge. And on statins, which affect their liver enzymes as well and cause severe pain and other issues. And so people don't realize how bad these drugs can be.

Yeah. I mean, they're taking it to suppress their symptoms and we're thinking we're helping them as physicians. Oh, we're making you feel better. We're getting rid of that symptom, but the symptom is a message from your body like, hey, something's wrong, please listen, please investigate and figure out. And I love that functional medicine understands that and really tries to get to the root cause. Like, why are you having this symptom of heartburn? You're obviously eating the wrong foods, or you're not making digestive enzymes, or something is triggering this. And so Let's stop trying to cover it up and let's figure it out. You know, I have a lot of women who are on PPIs, unfortunately, and they'll come to me 3 or 4 years after being on them, and they can't figure out why they can't lose weight and can't sleep at night. And so often it's because of the bacteria that are living or not living inside of your system, right?

Mm-hmm.

So there's a lot of investigating to do with Do you commonly see women with hormone imbalances in your vitology office?

Certainly. That's one of the main reasons that I see people in really all ages and women. So I do see teenagers with PMS issues, heavy cycles, irregular cycles, moodiness, and anxiety issues. is a big one. And then I see a lot of women in their 30s and 40s who have severe fatigue, heavy cycles, can't sleep at night. And then of course in menopause where not only are they having the hot flashes and the vaginal dryness and those types of symptoms which are commonly alluded to menopause, but also— So the GI symptoms or the brain symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, poor brain fog, and things like that. And fatigue is probably— fatigue and weight gain are probably the 2 most common symptoms that I see.

Yeah, definitely. That brings them in the door for sure. Is there something that you always tackle first when you are trying to help these women heal?

Yes, I do believe in foundational gut repair. So I tell my patients that one of the foundations that I'm going to help you with is to really help your gut to function well, even if you don't have gut symptoms, really to fix the roof of the house, which is your brain. And then the rest of the pillars that hold your house together are your hormones. And so I have developed I've developed this 5 Pillars of Health approach, which is the gut detox, the nutrition, the hormones, the stress management, which comes with the mind-body balance, and then of course movement and exercise.

That's wonderful. Yeah, that sounds exactly like how I approach things. Is there a certain diet that you find more women do better with?

I love to start people on just a simple elimination phase, and they do great with that. And also, I do, I do do food sensitivity testing because then we're not guessing and we know. Sometimes, I mean, I'm so surprised that they're reacting to things like blueberries and—

Yeah.

Which are healthy, and almonds and things like that. And I myself get headaches when I eat almonds. So even though they would be considered to be healthy foods. And so that really helps them to see it rather than someone just telling them, you should eat this, you shouldn't eat this. But I believe that when they see that data and then when they implement it and see such a dramatic difference—

Yeah.

Then I don't have to help them stay motivated.

It's self-motivating. Yeah, exactly. Once you feel better and you realize, wow, I didn't even know if I could feel this good, that's a great motivator for sure. And I love that you can individualize the medicine. You can figure out exactly what diet this person needs and what foods they should stay away from, and, you know, exactly what they need to repair their gut. I think that's so important. Do you also do hormone testing?

We do. And we do a pretty comprehensive hormone panel. And so again, we are not just looking at, say, your estrogen, but we wanna know how you break down your estrogen because that's key when— I'm sure, Tabatha, you see this in your patients too, that a lot of women that I see have estrogen dominance.

Yes.

Because of inflammation, because of stress. And once we know how they metabolize their hormones based on their genes, then we can really help them balance it. The thyroid panel has to be a real thorough detailed panel. And so when you do those numbers, it's not just a question of, Let's guess and let's just try this and let's just throw this at your body. And the other thing which I find is a lot of women, especially women who've undergone hysterectomy, and even whether it's partial or total, and they are told that they don't need progesterone.

Oh my goodness. Yes. As a traditionally trained gynecologist, I'll tell you that that's how I was trained. If you don't have a uterus, you don't need progesterone because that's only to protect the uterus from the estrogen. And what a disservice we are doing women telling them that. I feel bad looking back to all the years that I only gave women estrogen. Like, I wish I could take all that back because I know they weren't feeling as good as they should. We need that progesterone. That's our happy, calming, balancing hormone.

Yeah.

And you can't sleep without it. I mean, it's I just, oh, it breaks my heart to think back to how I used to practice. But once you know better, you do better, right?

Yes.

So yes, thank you for bringing that up. Women out there need to know that estrogen needs to be balanced with progesterone and testosterone. And can you talk about how our sex hormones are kind of downstream to our major players of our pancreas and our thyroid and our adrenal glands, how that all kind of is interconnected? Because I think so many women want the quick fix. Oh, it's just my hormones are imbalanced. I just need estrogen. No, honey, like your cortisol is through the roof and your thyroid is barely hanging on and your, you know, your sugar is out of control, your insulin is spiking. I want my listeners to understand that it's a super interconnected relationship and they all affect each other. Absolutely.

Absolutely. So yes, what— so the way our body is created, it's actually such a beautiful thing. Everything works in such harmony. And that's why nothing ever that happens within our body is disconnected with something else that's going on. So if you think of just the term HPA axis, This is our hypothalamus, which is in our brain, which is the emotional center, which senses all our stressors, our emotions. And then the pituitary gland, which is the master gland in the brain that controls all these other organs that produce our hormones. And then of course you have your thyroid in your neck, which is so, so sensitive to every little change in your environment. And so you cannot simply treat the thyroid. Without addressing these other players, which are equally influential in modulating the thyroid. And as Tabatha said, you have to look at your insulin. So fibroids and heavy cycles and endometriosis, you couldn't even imagine that they would be linked to insulin resistance and weight gain and abnormal cycles. But they are directly correlated. And so no wonder women say, oh, but I don't even eat any sugar.

Mm-hmm.

And you can have a totally normal sugar level, but you can have really high insulin resistance because of stress, because of inflammation. And so imagine someone drinking Diet Coke with all those artificial aspartame and sweeteners, and then they wonder why they can't lose weight. And so really that influences our hormones. Our environmental toxins have endocrine disruptors that can also influence our sex hormones. And then of course the biggest player is— the king is the cortisol, the stress hormone. So even if we take all these beautiful hormones like thyroid and progesterone and estrogen and sex hormones. If the cortisol and the insulin are out of whack, nothing else is going to be balanced. So that's why we really do not attribute a physical illness and do not give stress hormone as much credit as it should be in terms of how much of an influence it has on our health.

Yes, it's so true. And, you know, I was thinking about the whole coronavirus thing and our immune system and how when our cortisol level is high, our immune system is suppressed, and that's why we're more apt to get sick after major stressful situations. And a great example of that is when you have an overactive immune system, say you have hives all over your body, what is your What does your doctor do? They give you prednisone, which is, you know, just like cortisol. And so for people to understand that that cortisol is suppressing your immune system, it's making you more prone to an autoimmune disease and to hormone imbalance. I just think it's super important for women to understand, especially right now with corona, because we want to— to strengthen our immune system, right?

Right.

So part of that is managing our stressors and getting that cortisol level down, getting out of that sympathetic fight or flight, gotta go, gotta go, gotta go state. And the other thing I would love for you to touch on is I've been thinking about this new normal, how we're all gonna, you know, protect ourselves and never get any bacteria or virus ever again. And, you know, you touched on this earlier, we need healthy bacteria and a microbiome on our system to protect us and keep our immune system strong.

Exactly.

So I would love for you to talk about how important it is not to live in a sterile environment. So we need to find some kind of balance, right? We cannot be losing our minds over this coronavirus and Putting ourselves in a bubble and never touching each other again, right? Wouldn't you agree?

Yeah, so I love that book Eat Dirt. Yes, so really even our kids, like, we just live in this super sanitized atmosphere, and especially right now with this pandemic going on, we have taken it to the other extreme and forgetting the basics. Which is to improve our immune system. And how do you improve your immune system? You start with your— with the things that your immune system needs to strengthen it, which is food. Food is medicine. So the things that you eat can support your friendly bacteria. And when you go to the grocery store today, what do you see? The only thing in stock is the healthy foods. The rest is flying off the shelves because we're stressed.

Oh, it's heartbreaking.

eating, and we're eating the very things that we shouldn't be eating to support our immune system. And the best fighting chance we have right now against this virus— and next fall it could be some other virus— and how can a virus just shut us down like this? Have we taken a step back to really look at why is our American healthcare system in the state it is in now, being the best of the best, why have we found ourselves in this situation? So we really have to look at the why and see how are we living our lifestyle, how are we eating, how are we cleaning our environment. Yes, you don't have to— it doesn't mean you have to be dirty, but everything we put on our skin is directly absorbed into our system. And the more toxic our environment, it is directly going to influence our gut, the lining of our gut, which is the immune system, the bacteria that line our gut, and ultimately our ability to fend off and fight infections.

Yes. So we need to focus on building strong immune systems and getting back to being healthy. I think that will protect us against the next COVID more than anything, you know.

Mm-hmm.

I really hope that's the way it goes. I hope it's not all about vaccinations. I hope it is about building our natural immunity and getting back to being healthy. And you hit on something so important with the food. Our food is so important to our health. It can make or break us, and we need to be eating real clean, whole Whole foods that God created, you know, out of the ground from Mother Nature. We don't need to be eating these science projects, you know, from boxes and bags that man created. It's not helping us at all. No, and that's exactly what's happening.

In fact, the people who have overcome this are the people— and it doesn't really matter what age they are at, even though they said That people 60 and older are at higher risk. Even some young people can succumb to it. Why? Because what's the underlying theme? It is how robust their immune system was. So why not focus on that, like you said, rather than just artificially putting some other toxin into your body?

Yeah, exactly. Are you doing IV therapy in your office or any Any kind of immune boosting biohacks at this time?

We do. I totally believe in IV therapy, especially when you don't have a gut that's working very well. So I use a high C, which I love for people with cancer and for autoimmunity. We've used glutathione and Myers cocktail. We do chelation. for not only heavy metals but for heart disease. And also I have ozone with UV light because I do see mold and Lyme and Candida and these chronic inflammatory conditions that they've done the antibiotics for the Lyme and now their gut needs to be fixed because—

Right.

It's in a ramshackle. And so Those therapies have proven to be so beneficial in helping to boost the immune system.

That's wonderful. Your, your community is so lucky to have you there. How long have you been there?

In this practice for 6 years.

Okay, that's awesome. And what would you say, you know, people are worried about at this point? Is it mostly their immune system?

Yes. I mean, one, certainly that, you know, the immune system and how to keep themselves from getting sick. And of course the second thing is the stress and anxiety.

Mm-hmm.

Because nowhere in our history have we gone through a period like this where we are socially isolated. And that's why I hate the term social distancing. I prefer to say physical distancing. say physical distance.

Right.

You can still be connected even if you're physically apart. And that's led to tremendous anxiety. I do see people calling me and saying, what should I do? I am very anxious. I'm almost panicking. I can't sleep at night. My routine is disrupted. I don't know if I'll have my job because financially it's such a strain. The kids are being homeschooled. And so that's why I feel gratitude and mindfulness and stress relief and good sleep plays such a huge role, even in really boosting our immune system, but really just to help with the day-to-day.

Yeah, definitely. We got to get back to mindfulness and gratitude. I personally love to do, you know, at the end of the day. I like to really focus on my breathing and try to clear my mind— or not necessarily clear it, but focus it and ignore all the useless thoughts that are jumping in, right? And try to focus on just being present, being with my body, listening to what it needs. And I I think if we did that for 5 or 10 minutes every day, it would kind of help clear the clutter. I think that once you're able to get control of what thoughts are coming into your mind and realize they're just thoughts, they don't— you don't have to act on them.

Right.

They're not controlling you. You can let it go. I think there's a lot of power in that. And I think it's really helpful at this time because we're so alone, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. What type of meditation or mindfulness do you like to practice?

And actually, this has been a blessing because it has given me the time to really do it even twice a day. So I do it first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. So mainly, I just love to focus on my breathing and to just do about just 10 to 15 minutes of mindfulness to start my day. Strong and in gratitude, and then end the day in gratitude and mindfulness as well. So I do it sitting up in the morning and lying down at night.

Good. Yeah, and you don't have to be frustrated when your mind starts to wander, right? Because it's going to— the thoughts are going to come in. And I always just say, begin again, begin again. Like, refocus, go back to your breath, Because it's like a training session for getting those thoughts to just go away. It's—

you can't do it wrong. I used to be that person. I would say, oh, meditation is not for me because I'm a Type A personality. I'm on the go. But then I realized what— this was when I was just building my new practice, and I would be up till 2 o'clock because my mind wouldn't stop.

Yeah.

And then I realized it was so self-destructive. And then now that I've gotten into meditating, if for any reason I miss even the few minutes of it, I really can tell I miss it.

Yeah, you feel— oh, that's great. Yeah, I know personally I feel more scatterbrained, and then I realize, wow, I really haven't been doing any mindfulness. I haven't been focusing on myself. And, you know, I just did a video today saying it's never too late to restart. Like, we, we're all gonna fall off the wagon. We're all human. You know, I've been eating more baked goods in the past 3 weeks than I have in my life because that's what we're doing. But it's okay to try again and get back to your smoothies and get back to your yoga and try again, right?

Yes, that's what I tell my folks too, that don't beat yourself about it, you know, it's okay. Give yourself some grace and give yourself some room.

Yeah, I love that. Give yourself some grace. That's perfect. Will you run through your quick 5 pillars one more time for my audience so that they know what to work on?

Certainly. So the first pillar is detoxification, and I say it's an act of kindness to yourself. And then the food and nutrition, but personalized to you, because there's no other you in this entire universe. So that's why your friend may do great on a diet and you may not, because she's different from you.

Yes.

And then the third is hormones. So without balancing hormones, you cannot balance everything else and keep it that way. You can go to Weight Watchers and do a crash diet and feel You may be so, so happy that you've lost weight, but you've been eating cookies and chips and just counting points. So nutrition, but not so much how much, but what quality and what's right for you.

Mm-hmm.

And then the hormones, of course. And then the mind-body balance, which comes with stress management, which is really our emotional health, our sleep, which is so important because, you know, when you don't sleep well, you can't have your day go well. 100%. And then, of course, movement and exercise. So you don't even have to go to the gym. I know all the gyms are closed right now, but there's so many simple things we can do in the house, outside the house, that are great.

Yeah, I love that. So focus on those 5 pillars. I think that's so important. That's awesome. Well, it has been so great talking to you. I think that you are just such a blessing and your patients are so blessed to have you. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us today. It's been wonderful.

Thank you and stay blessed and thank you for listening.

Take care.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Well, thanks for tuning in today, you guys. I hope you enjoyed that. I think you can never hear it enough that we need to get back to basics. We need to stay hydrated. Eat the right foods, move our body, be mindful, stop to process stuff, and just do some self-love. So I'm probably going to say that on most of my podcast episodes, but I'm really hoping that you're getting something out of this. If you can pick out one little nugget that you can incorporate into your life, one little change that you can make to start reclaiming your health, Then I've done my job. That would be so amazing. So try not to get overwhelmed. I know it's a lot of information, but pick one thing that you want to work on and focus on and just start doing it. It's gonna be an accumulative effect. You pick one thing each week with each podcast, and, you know, 6 months from now you'll be feeling like a whole new woman. So don't give up. Keep giving yourself love. Keep trying to figure out how to heal yourself and make yourself the best that you can be. All right, go out and have an amazing week. Hopefully this COVID situation is almost over for most of us. So love your neighbor and love yourself. Bye guys.

Bye.