What’s Going on Down There?

Hey, it's J.J. here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating, and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order. Hey, JJ here. Can you believe how fast the holidays are knocking at the door this year? One minute it's pumpkin spice season, the next you're getting your guest room ready and wondering where their wrapping paper went. And that's when I turned to Wayfair. From bedding and towels to holiday decor and last minute stocking stuffers, Wayfair has everything you need to get your home and holidays together fast. And for way less. With Wayfair, I know I can refresh my guest room in no time. Maybe I'll add a soft new comforter or a few holiday throw pillows. With Wayfair, it's so easy and everything arrives super fast. Plus, there's free shipping for any order over $35 easy and total peace of mind. So whether you're hosting, gifting, or just adding those final festive touches, Wayfair has your back. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less, head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair. Every style, every home that's W A Y F A I R.com this episode.

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With your host, celebrity nutrition and fitness expert and New York Times best selling author, JJ Virgin.

Okay, so one of the lines I'm kind of known for for is poops you can be proud of. And I'm sure that even though you might giggle a little bit, you know exactly what I mean. So here today I'm going to talk to you about what you need to do to make sure that you are having poops that you can be proud of. And by the way, no need to send photos, okay? This is not an Instagram topic. So first thing that I want you to focus on is magnesium. Now, magnesium is a hugely important mineral anyway, and it is the big mineral that we tend to be deficient in. We all focus on calcium, but magnesium is responsible for 300 different things in the body and we just don't get enough of it. So it is one you definitely want to supplement with. And you're not going to get it in an all in one pill because in order for you get enough of magnesium, you probably have to take two magnesium capsules to begin with because you're going to want to get somewhere between 250 and even 1000mg per day. One other easy way you can get magnesium, besides taking a supplement of it and of course having a great diet with nuts and seeds in it by taking a bath every night with Epsom salts. And I love this. You know, your skin's a sieve and Epsom salts are fabulous because not only are you going to get magnesium, they're also very detoxifying and they also help with muscle soreness, which is one thing magnesium does. Magnesium also helps you get a great night's sleep. It's very relaxing and calming. So magnesium is first and the thing that I like to couple with magnesium. And especially you can travel with this if you're having any issues with constipation. Trimagnesium and vitamin C. So how do you know how much vitamin C you really need? Now this is a fun thing to do if you happen to have a day at home. One of those Things that everyone should do once is because we really don't know how much vitamin C we need. And the needs can vary dramatically, especially depending on how much stress you're under. Because your adrenal glands use up vitamin C when you're under stress. So the real way to find out is to do something called a vitamin C flush. You can Google this, you're going to find a whole bunch of information about it. Going to tell you briefly how you do it. You take a buffered vitamin C powder, it just should be buffered vitamin C, no other stuff in it. And every 15 minutes, you're going to take vitamin C until you pass a watery stool. And then you go and take 75% of what you took every 15 minutes. And that's how much you need. And then take that in divided doses throughout the day. So let's say that you discovered that you needed six grams of vitamin C. Take two grams three times a day. So again, what I would tell you to do is google that. You'll see exactly what type of vitamin C you need and the proportions to do. But that's one that you want to be home for. Don't do this while out or traveling. All right? But magnesium and vitamin C, there's actually products that combine the two. Magnesium, scorbate, magnesium citrate. They're great to travel with. That's when you hit yourself with night, at night, usually fixes the problem by the morning. Another thing that can really help you and one of the reasons I see that people are constipated is they're just not getting enough fiber in their diet. You know, the average American gets 5 to 14 grams of fiber in their diet a day. And I say that you should have 50 grams a day. Now, if you're at 5 now, we're not going to go to 50 tomorrow. You want to increase your fiber over time, not overnight. But here are some simple ways to help you move the needle on your fiber. First thing is I have a fiber supplement called Extra Fiber. I throw that into my shake every single morning. And there's other simple things like chia seeds, freshly ground flaxseed meal, other nuts, legumes, loads of non starchy vegetables, berries, squashes, avocado, Crazy Avocado is loaded with fiber. Half an avocado, 10 grams of fiber. And what's so great about fiber is not only it's going to help you feel full and help with appetite, help balance blood sugar, but it creates bulk in your stool. Again, giving you those poops. You can be Proud of. And also increases transit time. You know, we want to slow down stomach emptying so we feel fuller longer, but then we want to move things through the intestines. And fiber helps keep things moving through. But you need to make sure that when you're having fiber, you're also adding a lot of water in, too, otherwise you're going to probably be mad at me. So fiber plus water, bulk to the stools keeps things moving along. And you want to be drinking a lot of water anyway. Start the day with water, end the day with water, keep drinking it in between meals. And this is one of those things that is an easy metabolic booster, but also critical to do to help you not be constipated. Exercise is another one. I know it doesn't make SIDS sound like it, but it's going to help keep everything circulating and moving along. So make sure that you're exercising. Burst training is key here. Okay. Burst to blast fat. And then taking good gut health supplements. Probiotics, prebiotics, and bacteriophages. So I'm sure you've heard of probiotics and prebiotics, things like inulin that help the probiotics take hold.

And.

But this is all about restoring balance in your microbiome, that is the flora in your gut. You want to make sure that you have a lot of good flora and not too much bad flora. If you have too much bad flora in your gut, you actually extract more calories from the food you eat and store it as fat. Good flora is going to help boost your immune system and help keep things regular and help extract nutrients from the foods you eat. And one of the ways to help maintain good flora is by taking bacteriophages. Phage, which means to eat, actually eats up the bad bacteria in the gut. So I have a product called Microbiome Balance that's got prebiotics, probiotics, and bacteriophages in it. But probiotics have been shown to help cure constipation. I know I shouldn't say the cure word. So let's say helps support healthy bowel movements. We'll do it that way. All right. Next thing is taking time for this. You know, you're not going to be able to poop if you're rushing out the door in the morning. So if you, in the morning, you get up, you know, you have some bulletproof coffee or have some hot water, and you just make sure that you have time to go to the bathroom. Now you should be doing a good bowel movement. A Couple of times a day, two to three times a day. Here's what's important here. It should be well formed. It should not go slamming down to the bottom, nor should it float. A lot of times it's floating. It's a sign of gut bacterial overgrowth. It shouldn't be skidding and leaving lots of marks. Or you're seeing a lot of oil in the toilet. That could mean that you're not digesting your fat well. And you want to make sure too that you don't have any sense of urgency if every time you eat, you have to run to the bathroom. You've got some issues with irritable bowel that you need to resolve. I would tell you to start first with the virgin diet there and also look at microbiome balance. But one of the issues you might have is we are really not set up well to poop. We've got really poor biomechanics with our potties. Now you can Google the squatty potty. Do you not love that name? The Squatty Potty.

I saw that.

I'm like, oh, okay, I know I'm a little fixated with poop. But, you know, when I lived in Japan, it became very clear to me that they have very good bathroom habits. I mean, I don't know if you've seen their toto. It's like the best potty on the planet. But basically we have really poor biomechanics that are not helping us along here. So if you are having challenges, make sure you take time, make sure you build a habit in. But also check out that squatty potty. Now, I find a lot of people at tougher when they travel, their whole circadian rhythm gets off. They don't have the time. And that's again, try that magnesium and vitamin C. Look for magnesium ascorbate or magnesium citrate. And make sure you stay on your fiber. When I travel, I travel with my all in one shakes. I add into my shake mix. I add in their raw cacao nibs which are loaded with fiber, chia seeds, which are loaded with fiber and my extra fiber. So. So my shake in the morning, besides the all in one shake mix, which has fiber in it, I've added all that. I get like 20 grams of fiber at least right there. So you want to make sure when you've traveled, you're still getting a load of fiber in, you're drinking your water. And try the magnesium and vitamin C at night because I know sometimes you're not necessarily going to be carrying bags of Epsom salts with you. But again, you want to make sure you're also building in time. And I want to leave you with this one amazing visual or it's really more sensory. So if you went number two and left it in the toilet and did not flush it, what would happen? Hmm. It would stink, right? So if you are not going to the bathroom every day, a couple of times a day, what's going on? You know, I've had people say, oh, you know, I go to the bathroom every three days and my doctor says that's normal for me. No, that is not normal. You need to be regular here. This is critical for your overall health. So pay attention here. Get into this. And one more big elephant, pink elephant in the room. If this is not working for you, I want you to go to your doctor and have your thyroid function checked because one of the signs of having low thyroid function is being constipated. So if these things aren't working, could be that you have low thyroid function. Go to your integrative doc and have them check your your free T3 and T4 and TSH. And a great resource for that is Dr. Alan Christiansen. My buddy Dr. Alan is awesome for all the thyroid issues. So there you go. Here's to having poops that you can be proud of.

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Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I tag all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately, and I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything. You'll learn something about yourself as a reader, and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next Week? Subscribe now, wherever you're listening to this podcast and Visit our website, whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to find out more.