4. Wade Lightheart + Matt Gallant: Plant-Based Muscle Building, Digestion Optimization + Balancing Urban Life

We have doctors out there saying legumes and beans are bad for you, and it's always bad for you. And, like, they're villainizing food groups, the real food groups.

Yeah.

Which is really crazy.

What I can just say right now is that there's this return to whole foods exactly the way that our ancestors would have eaten.

Right, Exactly. I mean, it's the prebiotics, probiotics, the fiber, the soluble fiber. I mean, we know all of that is so, so crucial. And grains are even important to some degree, you know, in terms of the minerals that they provide the body and calm down the central nervous system. I mean, these days, I hear so many people, I'm not going to eat any grains. None. You know, and, yes, and the fiber, like, upsets my stomach, and the legumes and beans upset my stomach.

I'm eating 30 different types of plant fiber in a day. Right, right. The weight fell off my body, my inflammation went down, my bowel movements became regular, my sleep was optimized, and I think that there's so much power in that. The following is an operation podcast production. You.

What? If you're not ready, can we stay.

There for an hour and a half?

Exactly.

Oh, my God.

So beautiful.

Yay. No, I know. I think it's something that we talk about so much to the people that we work with, but do you find yourself not practicing what you preach Sundays?

Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

The breathing is a little bit tricky for me.

Yeah.

Yeah. I do meditate and, you know, other things that I do well, but the. I do tend to hold my breath throughout the day.

Isn't it wild? Yeah.

That could. I get a little overexcited about things. Yeah.

And we go deep into momentum and we get busy, but we're just not in alignment. So I think that there's so much power in that.

Yeah, right.

All coming back to our breath. All right, so Alyssa Goodman, holistic nutritionist, mother, author, founder, you have your own company here in la, which we're going to talk about later today. You have an upcoming book which is about pro aging, which I feel this concept of pro aging, we should start in our 20s, because it can be something that we can embrace. Right. Instead of you and I, we went for coffee. You completely bypassed the friendship stage to, like, soul sister stage, because we could just connect on so many levels on our journey. And ultimately, what brought us into this profession as nutritionists together. And I was so excited to have you on because I thought even though we both work in the same field, our messaging, our approaches different but the foundation of what inspired us to get here is kind of the same, right?

Absolutely.

So to start off the episode, you know, the episode, you know, it's called Rooted in Wellness. For arena, it's called Rooted in Wellness for a reason. I realized that over the past decade of working with clients, ultimately what I was helping them achieve was getting back to a foundation of health. And for many of us, it means going back to our roots. We'll talk about that with you. But if you could think about it, you know, what are three things that help you feel more rooted in your body, in yourself, in your life? Maybe things that help you awaken your inner wisdom for healing. What comes to mind?

Well, I would definitely say that, you know, meditation does that. I mean, absolutely. Meditating, dropping in, you know, to my heart and just really trying to, you know, talk to my heart and see what is coming out, what really feels heartfelt for what I want to do in my life and. And also for myself and how I want to take care of my myself. And then I would say, interestingly, my green juices that I do every day, you know, for 30 years, I've been juicing and, like, drinking those just, like, really kind of lights up my world in terms of just making me feel like I'm in my body and doing something so nourishing and nurturing for my body. And yoga.

Yeah.

Is heaven.

Yeah. And what do you think it is about those? So these are things that we hear about people talking in the media all the time. But for you, what is it? What does it make you feel like? What's the emotion that's driving it all?

It really is the idea that I want to just feel like I'm thriving.

Yeah.

And I want to feel like I feel great. When I talk to people all the time, and even friends or, you know, clients, whoever it is, and you say, how are you doing? And they're like, I'm okay.

Okay. Yeah.

I'm kind of tired of that.

Right. The word fine. Yes. You're not here to be fine.

No.

Or just okay.

No. I'm looking for great energy, you know, just as I age. And I. I did hit that mark, where it is, you know, that number of 60. Because I'm 63 now. Like, okay, where am I going now? Like, I don't want. I want these last years to be really fruitful.

Last years? Last couple decades. Right.

The last couple decades. The last 20 years. 25. Yeah. That is a. That's just a goal because, you know, with my story, I just never Felt well for many, many, many years. I was always tired and always feeling emotionally not in a good place, not in a grounded place, not in a calm place, no self love. So it was a little tumultuous.

I love that you point that out because I think what a lot of people don't recognize as nutritionists, they think that we've arrived and we've cracked the code, right? But what you just said is blueprint that you used to have around not feeling good, not having energy, having brain fog and stuff like that. You've shared that in your story before too. Now those are cues, those are cues for your constitution to be like, oh my gosh, we're going back to that space again. Don't take me there. So on the flip side, I really want people to hear, you know, we do things every day in our day to day life that we don't even notice are uprooting ourselves. And they tend to be the source of our inflammation of not feeling good or even our unhappiness. So what are those three things for you? What are things that make you feel uprooted, rooted in your life?

It would be not sleeping well, you know, just really not getting a good night's sleep and not taking care of myself in that way. It would also be simply just not hydrated, you know, in a proper way, you know, just dehydrated. And also be. We were talking earlier about not breathing. You know, I'm a type A, I'm an Aries, I'm like a doer goer. Like I want to accomplish things and that can be to my detriment because I don't really take in, you know, the breasts and get myself back in my body and that just does uproot me.

I was thinking on the way over this morning, having a sense of who you are in your story, you know, we think about, if you look back in time, I noticed that there were things that I was doing prior to that were accumulating within my body. So the no sleep you and I both come from, corporate burnout, eating shitty food, maybe too much alcohol, not sleeping, expecting our bodies to keep up with it. There's the emotional piece. You have, you know, an incredible story of catching cancer in the early stages and be able to change your life around that. But do you think that that accumulation, if you could go back in time, do you think that systematic, you know, the symptoms that accumulated within you were the root cause of your suffering? Absolutely, yeah.

I mean, it just, you know, I was always tired as a kid and Getting sick a lot. I had a low white blood cell count when I was born, so at the time, people didn't know how to build the immune system. They didn't even know what that meant, or no one knew about vitamin D or, you know, thank God I lived in a place where it was sunny in Arizona, but still it was just. Nobody knew the things we know today. So I was always getting sick. I got every illness, you know, every viral infection. It was just constant. And it just ran me down as well as I. My story with two parents who were very successful and, you know, just ran circles around me, and I thought, wow, I am young and, you know, I should be running circles around them. And emotionally, I just always felt like I wasn't keeping up. So the combination of, you know, always trying to, like, self medicate with caffeine or sugar to get my energy levels up, and then also with the mental part of, wow, like, I. I don't feel good enough. I never felt good enough. You know, how much that story down regulates your immune system. Yeah, it was a constant subconscious feeling of I just never got ahead. And I think that. And then, you know, I did also just go the same route as they did in the corporate world, like you were saying, and, you know, was driving myself into the ground, and it was all about money and, you know, prestige and, you know, what kind of title I had at the company and. And I knew that. That to be the case, you know, when I woke up one day and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Did your parents ever address, like, do you. Did you ever talk to them about that and how you felt as a child?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah, I did. But I didn't really have parents that were open to listening to that. I think if they had been or were, things might have been a little different, but it was really just kind of like I was on my own. I was really on my own to figure it all out.

You know, it's so interesting. I ended up becoming an NLP practitioner because I realized that the source of the suffering for the clients that I was working with started in childhood. Right. And the way that we are trained to get love from our parents isn't intentional on their behalf. And yet it causes so much anxiety or stress within us that cause it's the demise of our own suffering. Right. This is probably a whole podcast show for, like, another day that you and I can connect with. But I just think it's so fascinating, the undoing of all that in the heat healing journey, which doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with food and nutrition.

Yeah.

But it's the integration of everything together. Right.

I mean, we had talked about, I think that's how we really connected was what I was telling you about how I finally really tapped into my subconscious and like all the things that I had been feeling and you know what, and all what I was doing to myself, you know, I had labeled myself a sick kid because the family had labeled me a sick kid. So that wasn't so healthy. And then just, you know, I had also labeled, also scared after the cancer that I was going to get another illness. And then having my husband pass away from cancer, that also was a fear. So there was just so many fears. Rotating, you know, and then the childhood was, was a tricky one.

Right.

It was just, it wasn't terribly loving and nurturing and you know, the things that I needed for myself to really be able to, you know, be able to feel calm and safe, that was a big one.

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To the meals, because I was going to say green juices, you know, have been just a lifesaver or, you know, blending my greens in the morning for most of my clients. And then I just love soups. I created that soup cleanse. And so I just love, you know, the soup cleanse has over 50 different vegetables in five days, which is a little bit unheard of. So it really is about, you know, adding in a cup of soup during the day, having a 16 ounce or 20 ounce juice, you know, just getting that nutrition in. I mean, I always do have vegetables with my meals. Always. I mean, I would say my perfect plate is half. My plate is leafy greens and non starchy vegetables, and then a quarter is starchy and a quarter is protein.

A beautiful plate. This kind of ties into the next question. So a lot of people want to know, how do you hide veggies in your meals? But I'm hearing that this goes into soups and smoothies. Yes.

Right.

So how do you hide veggies in your meals?

Yes, it goes into the soups and the smoothies, really. And then, you know, I would say, like, I mean, in my world, I don't feel like I have to hide them. I mean, because I love them. You know, I'm like a little obsessed with veggies. And so I'm, you know, I don't work a lot with young kids who don't eat vegetables. I work a lot with adults who are looking to really upgrade their vegetable intake and how to do that.

Some adults need the same sneaking in of the veggies. Right. So I think it applies to both, to all ages.

That's a hard question for me.

I know. All right, so when we think about this, the world that we live in today with healthy food. Right. Especially here in la, healthy food now is Being sold in a package with these fancy labels that say organic or paleo healthy, gluten free, all natural. So I find it's really tough to escape processed foods. When I ask my clients to avoid them, there's a sense of overwhelm. They don't know how they're going to cope because we're all very, very busy. Right. So, you know, there's a time and a place to have that conversation if someone's deep in their healing journey or not. But let's address, if there was a percentage of processed food in combination with whole foods, what would that does it look like?

I know, because I absolutely hate processed foods too.

It's trick. They're tricking us.

Really. I know, totally. So I was going to say like, you know, my first response was 10%, but I know that's awfully small.

Yeah.

So, you know, maybe it's 20 at the most. So, I mean, it is really hard to avoid. Yeah. I think if you, you know, 80% of the time, 75% of the time you're eating real food and, you know, going for things that your body can metabolize and, you know, just that are don't have the inflammatory, you know, things in them, then you could be okay, depending on who you are and what's going on with your healing journey.

So let's tap into that then. What are the non negotiables then for processed foods? Because we have people who are listening to this and they are seasoned with, you know, listening to podcasts and learning about nutrition and stuff like that. But then there's other people who don't have access to a lot of the things that we prescribe.

Right.

So what are the non negotiables then, when you're looking at processed foods?

So, I mean, it's, it really is the fillers. You know, it's like all the additives, the fillers, that, that is to me is non negotiable. You know, I would say that, you know, going over 25 grams of added sugar per day, I mean, I know that's tricky to like add all your sugar up for the day, but I think that's sugar is just, I know, you know, causes cancer, makes your body acidic. So I hate cow dairy. That is something that I feel is sometimes a non negotiable for. I feel like causes so much inflammation. I don't mind goat or sheep, but cow is really something that, you know, causes problems that people don't realize.

Yeah.

And I'm not as much of a stickler for Gluten, unless someone does have some issues.

Right, right.

So I think that it's really the additives, you know, the bad seed oils, all of those things, the fake food, soy, lecithin and, you know, just that coloring. That's where I go.

I think I'm leaning more to the, the seed oils or. I always say if there's an ingredient that you don't understand, your body is not going to recognize it at all. Right?

Yes. There's a lot of that.

Yeah.

Out there. Absolutely.

And I think a topic that comes up over and over again is, you know, sometimes I show my mom these foods or I'll, I'll send her these things and she's like, what the hell is this? Like, you know, she'll look at the back, the ingredient label, which is like this long. It's the most processed food that you could give your body. And yet they're still being stolen, they're still being sold at places Erewhile and whole foods and stuff like that. Right?

Hyper processed. Yes.

All right, so we're on the same page with avoiding hyper processed foods.

Exactly.

Yeah. Okay, give us your favorite. What's your favorite cleanse recipe? You are an expert cleanser. What's your favorite cleanser?

Really hard, Mona. That's a hard question.

I know, but everyone wants to know, like, what is it? What's, like, what's the thing? What's the thing that Alyssa does?

I mean, I have to say that there's so many. But I, I, I put together this detox tonic nine years ago, and it has coconut kefir, aloe vera, apple cider vinegar, chlorophyll, ginger, lemon. And I just, the, the drink has like, stood the test of time. And it's so crazy because we do an a la carte now and people just order these tonics like crazy. And they just feel, feel so good drinking this drink. And as well as I think it, you know, it's great for the beneficial bacteria, it's great for the enzymes. You know, it kind of the aloe vera soothes the gut. It helps you go to the bathroom. So I think, you know, all in all with that, like just kind of helping heal the gut and helping you go the bathroom is huge. You know, that's the first line of defense for cleansing is that, you know, go in the bathroom every day.

Elimination.

Yes.

Right.

Yeah.

Which a lot of people don't do every day. And they think it's normal. They have doctors that are telling them that not going, not having a bowel movement Every day is normal.

It really drives me crazy because I feel like once a day is not even enough for me.

I know. Well, yeah. Okay, another topic for another day. We're going to talk about poop. We talk about poop every single day with our clients. What I can do, think of people listening to this when they hear you describing a tonic like that.

Yeah.

Can you describe or share why it's not about committing to a tonic like that when you're doing a cleanse on how you approach cleansing? Basic things for cleansing every single day.

Yeah, absolutely. Because really, my cleanse isn't really a true cleanse. You know, it really is just about I'm teaching people how to eat healthy food. Anti inflammatory, you know, no processed food, just no inflammatory foods. And I'm giving them a ton of food, you know, so I don't want them to starve, deprive themselves. I feel like cleansing kind of relates to starving, deprivation, all of that. And so mine is just filling them up with like whole food their body can metabolize and nutrients and nurturing them. All of that is what it's about. You know, it really is about, you know, a lot of fiber, a lot of plant based protein. I'm not against animal protein at all. I'll just say that. But this is just giving your body maybe a little break from the animal. We do do a homemade bone broth. So it is animal, so it's not completely plant based, but it's just increasing the fiber, increasing the hydration, you know, also increasing the number of vegetables that.

They'Re getting per day, which we know now is a sign of a great gut microbiome. Right, right. And I love that you point out the animal piece because I'm noticing now within the past two years of the trends of paleo and keto really taking over. Yes. There's been this fe on going back to this plant focused diet and when I was looking up a lot of the recipes that you have, which are like, they're beautiful, it's food that you want to eat. Everything's colorful in your cleanse. It reminds me a lot in my healing journey going back to the ashram. And I've shared this many times on this podcast. But here I was in this world thinking that I had to adhere by a diet or live hardcore. I was on the Atkins diet at the time, but my health was at its worst. I go back to the ashram and all of a sudden I'm eating 30 different types of plant fiber in a day. Right, right. The weight Fell off my body. My inflammation went down. My bowel movements regular. My bowel movements became regular. My sleep was optimized. And I think that there's so much power in that. And what I can just say right now about your cleanses is that there's this return to whole foods exactly the way that our ancestors would have eaten.

Right. Exactly. I mean, it's the prebiotics, the probiotics, the fiber, the, you know, soluble fiber. I mean, we know all of that is so, so crucial. And grains are even important to some degree, you know, in terms of the minerals that they provide the body and calm down the central nervous system. I mean, these days I hear so many people, I'm not going to eat any grains. None, you know, and, yes, and the fiber, like, upsets my stomach, and the legumes and beans upset my stomach. And then we have doctors out there saying legumes and beans are bad for you, and it's always bad for you. And like, you know, they're villainizing food groups, the real food groups.

Yeah.

Which is really crazy. And the whole. I don't. Keto. There's a time and place for it. Paleo as well, you know, like that definitely. Just. I think as long as we don't overdo those things.

Absolutely.

Right. We don't just go down the rabbit hole and that's all we're doing.

Absolutely. So for the people listening who are just really curious about this, then introduction, and for. For people who are listening who really want to introduce more fiber into their diets, maybe they're going to try some of your recipes.

Yeah.

How do you support them that way?

It's really easy because I will give them, like a fiber cheat sheet. Like, I kind of, like, aim for clients to get 30 grams of fiber. I mean, it's just so simple. I mean, like a whole avocado is nine grams of fiber. Oh, no, it's 18.

18 grams.

I mean, it's. Yeah. So a cup of berries is like 8.5 grams. Grams. You know, like a half a cup of white beans is, I think, 9.5 grams. So Chia seeds. So I kind of like, try to get them, if it's a client, you know, add a couple tablespoons of chia seeds, their morning water or. And have a cup of berries and add avocado to their salad or to their soup or to their, you know, to their meal. Add in some legumes and beans. I mean, it's. It's not hard and all. And some of the vegetables as well have have beautiful fiber. So, you know, we're giving people almost 50 grams of fiber, so it's incredible. They have not experienced that, so they don't know what that feels like, but it's really fun. By the end of the week, after, you know, eating, sometimes it might disrupt them a little bit, but we give enzymes to help them break all this down. But by the end of the week, and then I have them going, going back to the bathroom thing two or three times a day, they're like. Like, oh, my God, I could do that. Like, and then they feel amazing.

I just. I love this so much because here we are talking about this. We work with people day in and day out on their healing journeys. And I know from your experience and mine, introducing whole foods and increasing fiber intake is a game changer for their health, especially when they're eliminating the high, refined, processed foods. So slowly, gradually increase your fiber over time. If there's distention, understand that in the initial stages, this might actually be normal for a little while. If you need some digestive support, work with a practitioner to figure out what those enzymes are that can really support you so that this becomes a way of life. Because when you experience what having 30 to 50 grams of fiber does to your bowel movements, you will never, ever go back.

Right, exactly.

You know that there's something that just feels off within your system. Right, right, right. Yeah.

And then that other. That other really important piece, I think is hydration.

Absolutely.

I think there's an epidemic of dehydration out there. And I don't think that people realize, you know, just drinking the water, and we have beautiful water at our fingertips, but we're just, I think, peeing it out, not absorbing the water, you know, and it really is creating a lot of issues.

I know you talk a lot about that. So talk to us about cellular hydration then.

Right.

And for you, you know, living in la, our water is toxic.

Right.

You know, I have to get water delivery. You've experienced getting reverse osmosis water put into your house. Talk to us about how you hydrate.

Yeah, Well, I also am very spoiled because there's a company that I got associated with, I think it was about four years ago, called Halstein.

Yeah.

And you know them. Right. I mean, oh, my God, the water is from Austria, you know, in the Alps. It's just like. Like the most incredible water. And it tastes good.

It's smooth. Yeah. And you're not running to the bathroom.

No.

When you drink a lot of their water.

Right, exactly.

Which means you're absorbing it.

You're absorbing it. I know. So I do. I do try to drink as much as that when I'm home, of course, But I got addicted to this hydrating powder called Ultima. And I know it has some natural fillers and citric acid, so it's not perfect, but it has a beautiful array of minerals like magnesium and magnesium and potassium and c. And chloride and zinc. And I just. I've been drinking it for 10 years, and I. I dilute it because it has the stevia in it, so it's a little sweet for me. So I put it into 32 ounces of water, and I drink it throughout the day. And I am not running to the bathroom. And I am so energized mentally, I feel alert. I feel like, you know, it just curbs my appetite if I needed to. It just helps with just also bowel movements as well. I mean, it just. It helps with everything.

Your skin.

The skin. Right. Also, if you're drinking any alcohol, it's great for that. I mean, it really does do the trick in terms of you travel as well and jet lag. So I'm kind of a little obsessed with. There's a lot of powders out there, but that one, for some reason, I have loved.

Yeah. The quality of the salt. Salt matters. It really does. Right. Because so many brands are hopping onto electrolytes now.

Yeah.

Have you ever tried. Have you ever tried Baja Gold sea salt?

No.

I'm going to send you a pack. So it's the closest thing that I can get to making purified water taste like Holstein, but with the electrolytes, it's the same thing. Super smooth, really hydrating. Yeah.

Oh, I love that.

Okay.

Because you can just put a pinch. Do you believe of sea salt, a really high quality in your water?

Yeah. And that can help my. That's my morning ritual. So when I has in my water, and then for my kids, I'll do a pinch of sea salt, a little bit of lemon, and then I add some trace minerals also.

Right.

Or make it my own. Yeah. Or if I'm traveling. Ultima is amazing. Right? Yeah. All right, let's talk about. What do you think is your. What's your number one nourishing food? What's your favorite?

Oh, another really hard question.

You know, there's so many that are trending. Right. Everyone wants to know, what do I eat?

Eat. Oh, my God. But one.

Let's do three. Okay. Okay.

You're gonna allow me. Three. That's fantastic. Because I Did you know for some reason I am addicted to dandelion?

No way. What an interesting addiction.

It is. I mean, it is.

I get it.

I have a juice at Erewh and it has dandelion in it, so. And then I created it like six years ago. There's a salad at Erewhon, that standalone chickpea and quinoa. Like, I mean, seriously, I've been eating that salad probably for four years now, and I really have not gotten sick of it. There's something about. I love bitter foods.

Liver loving. I was gonna say your liver must be like the happiest liver.

So that, I mean, I know people think that that is really bizarre. I'm trying to think of my other. I love beets. Yeah. Just can't get enough of golden and red beets. I just, you know, feel so incredible after eating those raw or cooked. And what would be my other. I mean, I, I, I kind of want to say salt. I mean, like, you know, salt is just, you know, it's not really a food food, but it's quality sea salt. Quality sea salt is just something that I think, you know, I've always been a little bit adrenally fatigued, so, you know, I'm always going and getting a little pinch of salt and taking it directly into my mouth during the day. So not just in my, in white water. But I do love the taste of that.

So good. And I love that you're really owning in on the bitter foods also because. Would you agree, addressing the liver.

Yes.

Is, you know, crucial. Crucial.

Right. So bitter. Especially for women's hormones too. Right. We were talking about and just detoxing and everything, you know, and all this processed food that's getting passed through our liver, all the over the counter meds that are getting passed through the liver. I mean, the liver is getting really beaten up.

Absolutely. I think just being alive in today's world, our liver is just compromised. And you know, it's a joke. But, you know, just imagine if we could see our organs, how we would love on them. Right, Right. Unless you've ever had someone in your life or been put in a health situation where you've been told that you have to address your liver. Yeah. Most people just take it for granted. They throw things down the hatch. They expect the body to heal, but it goes back to that word accumulation again. Right.

Over the years. Yeah.

Our system gets sluggish and tired. These imbalances and diseases don't just show up overnight. It's the result of things building up over time. And that's exactly how you and I got sick, which led us down this path, Right? Yeah. Okay. So when we think about that, that's a nice actual. That's a nice segue. When we think about living in today's world.

Yeah.

Do you find that most of the people that come to see you their go to is to initially think of supplements and protocols to heal as opposed to just looking at food or food sources?

Yeah. Yes.

Like, are you like, Alyssa, just tell me what to take. Right. What's the supplement? What's the perfect pill?

I also am obsessed with supplements and I don't know how I got that way. I mean, I think 30 years ago when I got cancer and I had moved to la, there was Erewhon in those days, you know, the old Erewhan. And I just. My mom also was asthmatic growing up and she was also friends with Dr. Andrew Weil.

Wow.

So she kind of got into.

Your mom was friends with him?

Yes, yes. Yeah. So I got a little introduced to this whole world.

That was my mom's first book with her autoimmune disease when she got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Was his.

Yeah.

So, I mean, I think that, you know, she kind of turned me on to some of these things. And it was interesting because even a interesting story, my parents used to fly to Panama to get stem cells.

No way.

I mean, this was like, oh, my God, 50 years ago, 20 years ago. I know, it's. But so I was always a little obsessed with. Because of my energy levels and every city I would go to, I'd go into the health food store and kind of investigate, you know, what supplement was going to make me feel better. So I am at Lyta and I do talk a lot about it on Instagram and on my stories about supplements. So people do come to me and do say that because of it. But you're right. I mean, I really want to teach them how to eat and how to nourish themselves first and foremost. Not only with the food, but also with the love that they have for themselves, you know, and really honoring themselves first. I mean, I can't believe, Mona, how many people do not put their oxygen mask on first. Right. They just. Again, another one of those things where we were talking about their body. They're just accumulating and thinking, you know, the body's just going to keep up with me and it's going to be okay. But the same thing with, you know, sort of the mind and, you know, all of that is we're not. Not really putting ourselves first and we're not honoring who we are. And really that seems selfish to most people. Like to take care of ourselves.

Yeah. Especially as women.

Yes.

To become mothers who are working. It's like, no, no, we've got to move down here. I got to take care of everyone else.

Yeah.

First. And our cup is empty. And we're pouring empty into other people.

Yeah.

So this is really important. Let's break this down just a little bit. Okay. So we know we can't supplement ourselves out of an unhealthy diet or unhealthy lifestyle.

Hard stop.

And supplements are supposed to be supplemental. However, we're living in a world where the quality of our food is not what it used to be. Our stress levels are way too high. Coping is something that's normal for all of us every day. Even if we are privileged to do the things that we love, a lot of us are still just under stress. So there's a time and a place for supplements. But I know you like me. You work with people. When you look at their blood labs, you understand their biology first so that you can make the right prescription for them.

Yeah, right, right.

Yeah. Okay. So why should people. First, we'll get into the self love in a moment. But why should people start with food first? Like, what is your. How would you describe food to your clients?

Food is life. Food is medicine, as we know.

Literally.

So, I mean, I feel like. And the body knows how to absorb and break down the food for the most part, depending on what's going on in the gut or the stress is, you know, with people. But I think that, you know, that is first and foremost what should be important. Nourishing yourself with food. And also supplements are, you know, it's a billion dollar business. And there are a lot of fillers and additives in those supplements. Like we were talking about the processors food. So it's, it's a little tricky to navigate the supplement aisle these days and to find out which ones really are good for us. And also when we absorb supplements, we don't absorb all of it.

Absolutely.

And most likely, if our digestive system is working well, we can absorb way more of the food and the nutrients from the food if we're breaking it down.

Absolutely.

So I think it's. I think that the food is energy. You know, food is light leaf. I mean, it is grown in the sun. So there's all this beautiful energy that is related to food and vegetables and that kind of life.

Yeah. You're so good you know, I see you on social, just going on and you're so good at recommending specific foods if you're talking about a supplement that are loaded in those vitamins and minerals. Right. And I think you are the same. Like food first, right?

Yeah, absolutely.

I grew up, my dad's Indian, so we grew up a lot with Ayurveda and yoga. And the way that food is looked at there is that like food is a life force energy, just like breath, when it's grown in the elements, it has things that, you know, give us the energy that we need to show up in today's world, but also to exist amongst, you know, the seasons and stuff like that. Right. It's really designed to help us thrive. Right. But we're living in a world where we have access to different types of food, foods from around the world 24 7. And they're just not nutrient dense. Right. Can you do a quick call out too on supplements and the quality of supplements?

Yeah, I mean, I feel like, you know, like I said, it's, it's tricky because right now with social media and also.

Influencers.

Influencers, I was gonna say, you know, they're just, they're representing and selling everything out there. And so you have to be really, really careful at looking at the ingredients and again, seeing things that you don't recognize on that label and, and knowing what the fillers are and you know, knowing like it's. They're synthetics.

Yeah.

You know, they're. Unless it's a real food based supplement or, you know, that's different. But most of the stuff are encapsulated with capsules that maybe don't break down as well in your gut. And they're filled with filler fillers. And we are taking so many supplements with the fillers that it's causing all kinds of digestive issues. So I'm a big fan of liquids and powders and if they're clean, you know, I love all of that. I love, you know, instead, instead of the capsules, if you can get them that way.

And with supplements, with that world booming so much, I'm sure you've seen this too. Brands that we used to love, when they get bought out, we don't hear about them getting bought out. But all of a sudden we look at the ingredient label behind it and it's like, whoa, where did these ingredients come from? Completely changed, right?

Absolutely.

I recently got a client off of 47 supplements that she was taking. 47 every single day. Not that were prescribed.

Right.

Granted, she was Taking like, you know, vitamin D and omegas and stuff like that. But things that she was hearing that were good for you. You. And I think a really big takeaway that you and I advocate for are just because something is good for you doesn't mean it's good for you specifically. And your constitution. Right.

Absolutely. Wow. 47 supplements. How did she even get those down?

She just got used to it. It was just like her morning ritual with her smoothie and.

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm not supposed.

To live that way.

No, yeah, no, I. I would. I now am advocating, like, you. Less is more. And then again. Right. I love looking at the blood work and seeing exactly what they need.

Yeah.

And what they need to be, you know, filled up with and what they're missing.

And intuitively, too. Right. Like, we know. And I think that this is something that a lot of people have turned off. We've. We've stopped or we never learned how to trust our bodies.

Right.

And our bodies are sending us signals all the time, and we don't trust that. Oh, when I get a stomach ache or a headache or brain fog, that it's your body saying, like, hey, hey, what you just did doesn't feel good.

Exactly.

Stop doing it. So turning on your body's intuition, like, it was.

It comes with food, too. I mean, like, whenever I tell a client, like, they're like, should I eat that? Should I not eat that? You know, even nightshades or, you know, like, soy or whatever it is, and they've been really, like, scared of it, and then they eat it, and then they don't feel good. Mean, I always tell them, you really got to tune in to that intuition, whatever it is, if it's nuts. I mean, I sort of overdid the nuts, the cashews for a while. And then I knew. Like, when I kept eating them, my stomach was a mess. I had brain fog. And I did the same thing with eggplant. Like, I one day had eggplant and I couldn't even seriously, Mona, remember my name. The brain fog was so bad.

Wow.

So I went off of that for, like, six months and, you know, could eat. Healed my gut and went back on some of those foods but don't eat them as often. So I just try to rotate my foods. But we gotta tune in to what right afterwards. We don't feel good. Our digestive isn't good. Like, something is not working or. You're right with the supplements as well. If I do muscle test my supplements.

Amazing. Oh, my God.

So I Love that. And I wish I could teach my clients that more.

Yeah, yeah. Again, it's the trust.

Is it working?

Did I do it right?

Right. Should I take two? Should I take one?

You know, I'm going through this right now with almonds.

Wow, they're bothering you.

Well, I never thought of it.

Right.

We look at all these healthier options and there's no shortage of almonds in our diet through almond milk, almond butter, almond and protein powders and stuff like that. Crackers, you name it. And so look at all the almonds that I, I'm consuming. And then I've cut it out for about two weeks now. Yesterday it snuck back in. And to your point with the cashews, I was like, oh, my gosh, like complete brain fog. I felt super irritable with my kids.

Yeah.

So I know. There you go.

I know.

We're on elimination. Yes, yes. So with that intuition then, I'm curious because you, you brought it up. I would say, you know, food, supplements, yoga, you know, they did play such a crucial role in my healing, but ultimately I had to figure out how to love myself first. And working with my clients, I always talk about creating the environment, cultivating an environment within you so that your body will heal. Right. And I know within your story too, talk to us about that. Your journey to self love. Acknowledging self love.

Right, right. Well, my journey to self love was four years ago. I had really, really bad insomnia where I just tried everything I knew how to try. Hypnotism, you know, more yoga, no caffeine, like supplements. And I could not get rid of the insomnia. And so I ended up doing a plant medicine journey and I did mushrooms with a shaman, a friend of mine. And. And after that first journey, I mean, I really experienced a lot on that journey because that's what we were talking about. Very early on in the podcast, I went into the subconscious and I saw, you know, how hard I was on myself, how I didn't love myself, how I was living in fight or flight and fear, and I just really did not put myself first. And it was so eye opening and I was. Was thinking to myself, oh my God, who would want to live in this body?

Right. If I could go in there, do I want to hear what's happening?

It was awful. And it was such a beautiful experience because I was able to viscerally feel how awful that felt and then release it and be like, okay, what would self love feel like? What would, you know, calm feel like? What would putting myself first and not living in fear. Feel like, I mean, it was heaven.

So powerful.

It was so. So I'm not advocating that you have to do, you know, psilocybin and psychedelics and all of that. But for me, I just, I had to go to that place and it changed my life forever. In, in regards to. Then I started to really tap into those things with meditation, with my yoga, you know, with my healers that I work with. Like just, you know, I have to constantly work on it. It doesn't. That whole self love and being in that place, I mean, I can't say like that one journey and I'm, you know, all gung ho, loving myself and you know, in a really great place every day.

But it's like trauma. Right. Like you realize that you've lived so much of your life in this trauma and it's self imposed. And so I think when you're committed to doing the work, to healing and when you notice that you're going back to an old way of being, it's just the mindfulness around that that helps you shake it. It.

Yes.

Right. Yeah. And it's funny.

Yeah. It's beautiful. I mean, it's a beautiful thing when you grasp onto it and then you do have some tools to be able to get yourself back.

Yeah. But the process is the undoing and it takes time. And I'm with you. You know, for people to think that we've just arrived, it's chaos in here sometimes and I, you know, I catch myself the things that I say. But when the mindfulness there, it's. It's everything.

Yes.

And with plant medicine too, there's a time and place. And I hope that the education with plant medicine comes with guidance and like reintegration afterwards.

Right.

Because I had a similar experience. We talked about this when we went for lunch that day.

Yeah.

For me it was like breaking out of the confines of my mind and then all of a sudden in this place of expansion and self love and like, oh my God, you can heal yourself. You can actually heal yourself. But no one ever taught us how to or that we were capable. Right. Of it.

Right, right.

It's not wild.

We are so powerful. Like, I mean, I think that's also what I grasped in all of this is that the body is. Wants to heal and it wants to be in a good place. You know, it wants to take care of us.

Yeah.

We just need to like tap in to feel the same way about it.

Absolutely. You know, and what it needs.

Right.

What it's asking for.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's not rocket science. Like, I feel like, you know, we both know that people. People feel like, oh, my God, this is going to be like a hard journey to get myself over cancer or over an autoimmune or, you know, all of these issues. But when you really can tap in, in all these ways that we're talking about, you can heal.

Absolutely. And I really think that's the greatest work for all nutritionists, dietitians, health coaches that are out there, and hopefully eventually doctors also for the foundation to be. You are your greatest healer, period.

Yeah.

Right. That's really just the.

The dream and not you. You can look outside for guidance and help.

Right. There's a time and a place.

There is a time and a place, but really to believe that you can heal.

Yeah. Yeah. All right. So what are some health conditions that you're seeing that can really be healed or at least where the symptoms can be lessened with food? What are some common things or symptoms?

That's another really hard one, too, as you know. I mean, cholesterol, all blood sugar. Like, blood sugar is crazy out of control.

Pre diabetes coming up for you?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And also, numbers aren't quite like, where doctors say they're pre diabetic, but they are close. Right.

On their way. Yeah.

And then I would say the hormones.

Yeah.

I can't even believe how much fun I've had working with women and being able to tell. Test not just the typical testosterone, estrogen, or estradiol and progesterone, but really tapping into their pregnenolone and their DHEA and, you know, their cortisol levels and just their iron levels. All these things that could come into play for helping them even go into menopause in a smoother way, you know, and not have all these hardcore symptoms or crash. I would say that automatically immune has been huge. You know, being able to help them, you know, rebalance their immune system and heal their gut. I mean, that has been a game changer.

Yeah. So this is kind of like a, you know, it is a big topic, and we know that it's personalized for each individual based on the issues. But we keep hearing about, you know, these key foods to lower inflammation. If we know that inflammation is the source of all of these imbalances and diseases within the body, you know, if you really had to list off three things, then to lower that inflammation, what food sources would you declare?

I would. I mean, it's. You know, it really is increasing your nutrient intake of vegetables. I mean, that's Huge. Also the fiber we were talking about to like, you know, clean out the body, lower the inflammation. But I mean, I feel like, like, you know, just the nutrient dense vegetables and you know, fiber and also. I just lost my train of thought on that.

That's okay.

So I would say let's say inflammatory food. I mean, like I basically to lower inflammation. I think personally taking out the inflammatory foods in the diet, you know, it is again, the cow, dates, dairy and. Or foods that aren't agreeing with you. And also it could be it's the sugar and it's the gluten potentially, and it's the processed foods and the bad seed oils. And maybe sometimes it's the unhealthy meats that we're getting animal protein and maybe we're eating too many eggs, 365 eggs a year. We're eating like crazy. So we're overdoing foods. And maybe it's the coffee with the mycotoxins. So there's a lot.

Right? Yeah. It's not always about what people need to add in. It's what they can remove. Right. And I think that if it was a trifecta. So if we're looking at things for people to remove, it's the fried foods, it's the fast foods, it's the sugary foods that are out there. Right. So when we think about. People know, they should know that those are things that are fueling inflammation. Especially with the types of oil oils, seed oils and vegetable oils. The way that they create oxidative stress in the body is fueling inflammation. Right, Right. If you want to lower inflammation, cut out those three categories, period.

Yes.

But what are some. Some surprising foods that you see that are also fueling inflammation that people wouldn't expect? Like when you're going through someone's cupboard, like, you know what, you should probably not take this anymore. Not eat this anymore.

I mean, I feel like eggs could be that if they're eating a lot of eggs.

Yeah.

And they're not really buying really quality meats or fish. You know, it could be the, you know, they're eating too much fish and they're even eating tuna and having our are like mercury in their system. Or they're eating a ton of chicken and rice and they're having arsenic levels. Right. So I think that is really fueling information. Is the heavy metals that no one really testing except for probably you and me for that. But I would say that coffee is coming up a lot. Really cheap, bad coffee. And they're drinking it every day.

Yeah. And they're drinking it from those cups that are plastic and, and also the.

The Splendas are still out there like, and Truvia even is, I don't think is great. So it's those, you know, sweeteners and artificial sweeteners that are just drive me crazy as well.

That drives me crazy too. And I'm sure you and I could do a full episode on this, but on reading food labels because something might say stevia on the front and then you look at the back and it's cut with erythritol. Right, Right. So it's just, it's so frustrating. Yeah.

The alcohols.

Alcohols, right. And you know, I would say like gluten free foods also. You know, a lot of people are declaring, I'm gluten free, I'm gluten free. And then I go and I look at these gluten free products. Products. The ingredient list is this long. There's so much sugar in it. I've got these clients on glucose monitors and their glucose is like spiking like crazy and crashing from these healthy gluten free foods. But Mona, I got it from Whole Foods, right. Which is detrimental.

And the non dairy cheeses, you know.

Cheeses, oh my God.

That have all the extra ingredients in them. So. So yeah, they're thinking, okay, I'm not going to eat cheese. I'm going to, you know, like I'm going to eat something like made with just non dairy, that is cashews or almonds or you know. But they do have a lot of additives in them and almost. And the meats. What about our fake meats?

Yeah. Knowing where your food is coming from, where it's processed. Right. Look at videos on how these foods are made. Right. If you're trying to get off of something. Right?

Yeah, absolutely.

All right, so the trifecta, let's actually point this out. As you're speaking, milk and dairy people are going to say, well, what about, what if it's raw milk? What if it's grass fed? What if it's organic? How do you feel about that? What are you seeing? Because it's really our experience, right. When we're working with people. Right.

I mean, I really have been seeing that even grass fed and even raw, like hasn't been great. When I take people off of dairy in just five days, they are different people.

Yeah.

You know, that's what I see. The same with gluten, the same with the sugars. You know, the process. I mean, five days they reset and they're just happier, you know, more alert, just like you were saying, sleep better, digestion is better. So I. I don't know. That casin molecule with dairy is really hard to break down.

That's actually one of the biggest ones that comes back for me, too, on food sensitivities, like high sensitivities to casein. Right. And bowel movements. Again, we're talking so much about bowel movements today, but go off of dairy for five days and notice the difference in the quality of your bowel movements.

Right? Absolutely.

Yeah. They're less sticky and all. All the things.

Yeah. That's a hard one to get people off of. They're like, I love my milk. I'm an Indian.

Like, I grew up, we put milk in everything. I remember my dad in the 80s mixing Coca Cola with milk because he thought it would make it healthy.

Oh, my God. That doesn't even. I can't Asian. I can't even relate to that.

Yeah. So the dairy thing was a big thing, but again, it's not the dairy that our ancestors were consuming. Right, right. All right, so the trifecta. How would you say that wheat is. How would you say that wheat is affecting our health?

Well, I think that wheat is grown differently these days, so I think that there's a hell of a lot more chromosomes in wheat than there should be. So that's also really hard for us to break down. And I think that these days that everything in America is like any of the breads and croissants, and anything that's being sold needs to be bigger and fluffier. So they're adding more gluten as well to the. These wheat products. So the combination of the wheat and the gluten is just doing a lot of damage.

Have you figured out. I agree with you. Have you figured out? A girlfriend of mine sent me a client that she had in Europe who could do a blood lab for glyphosate. Have you seen a biomarker test for glyphosate? So I went to try to order it, but they wouldn't ship it to the U.S. wow. So maybe by the time this comes out, I can put a link and you and I will be into that.

Yeah, I know. That is fantastic. I know. And the gl. You're right. The glyphosate surges.

That's the next thing.

Yeah.

How is meat affecting our health? I'm gonna piss off all my vegans and vegetarian. I know.

And some of my friends who are just like, pro, pro, meat, core.

Meat?

Yes, yes. You know, one gram of meat per body weight. Like a pound of body weight. Like it's, wow, a 200 man eating 200 grams of protein. Protein. But I just, I really feel that, I mean, I, I'm just a middle of the road girl. So I know as I've aged, I have craved more animal protein in my diet. I don't do know that I need the complete amino acids, you know, just for my skin and muscle and just everything. Muscle repair in terms of. So I think that it's, you know, know a little bit can go a long way. I feel like it's hard to break down it's saturated fat. So you want to make sure that you are breaking it down. Because I was told at one point that it takes about 14 hours for animal protein to go through your small intestine, which is a hell of a long time and putrifying. Yes, exactly. I was just going to say if it sits in there and ferments. And so I feel like, like, you know, we do need to make sure we are, you know, moving food through our system and then. But I do think that it's important part of the diet if you're not just religiously vegan.

Absolutely.

I do love the fact that it is really helped me with, with you know, building muscle and skeletal muscle and I think it's really been beneficial for my skin as I've aged and all of that. So I just think, you know, we, we've got to make sure that we are breaking it down and we're eating clean animal protein or fish or whatever. We really do enjoy. Yeah.

And I'm guessing too, like, you probably trust your body, your body's intuition. When you're craving a different type of animal protein, chances are you need something within that.

Yeah.

And this is something that you can turn on. And yeah. I think for a lot of my clients who are jumping on this high protein, animal protein train, just ask yourself how it makes you feel. Right, right, right. If you don't feel good, there's a poor time. After I had babies, whenever I ate or tried to eat animal protein, I instantly just thought of like the animal screaming or the death around it. And you know, I can imagine for a lot of women who really want to be vegan for ethical reasons.

Yeah.

Then they hear people like us and these really renowned health practitioners saying, you got to eat animal protein. If you want to live a long time, you got to eat animal protein. Protein. But it's like so out of alignment with who they are. So I think that there's a time and a place, and if you want to be vegan for a little while, do it. And it feels good. Great. Stay there. If you want to turn into a meat eater for a month after that, because it feels amazing. Maybe you have to ebb and flow with these foods and understand, like, look at your biomarkers. Right. See how they impact your health so that you can make the right decisions.

Absolutely. And if you. I just find that a lot of times with the vegans and vegetarians, they're. There aren't, as you know, on it, in regards to looking at how much protein they are getting.

Yeah.

You know, they probably can, you know, facilitate the amount of protein they need with their diet, but they're not there. And the animal protein eaters, of course, are probably getting way more than they need.

Right. I agree with you. All right, so when we think about some basic food principles, then I know, definitely with your company, you know, there's, there's key factors that you consider. How do these really return to our roots and how our ancestors ate?

Well, it really is simple because I think that, you know, there was more about farming and buying foods from farmers markets and really, you know, get the grassroots of really eating the food that just came out of the ground. And I'll never forget, you know, years and years ago that I got into the medical media medium, who I'm not into now, but did help me heal from Hashimoto's, which was kind of very cool, but was when he first started out. I mean, I'll never forget him saying, you know, picking kale out of his garden or out of your garden and having that white film that's on the outside of the kale, which is probiotics, full of probiotics, you know, getting probiotics from food and, you know, not washing the kale with. Which probably seems very strange to most people, but, you know, that is where it's at like that, you know that. And also having some dirt in your food is not the end of the world.

You grew up on a farm. You, I, I know you remember the taste of food right off the vine.

Right. It was a little bit of a farm, you know, it was like more of chickens and, you know, like horses and things like that in Arizona. But yes, you know, I know we, we did eat more wholesome, and my mom did have a little garden. And it, it's exceptional, you know, and the taste of foods and herbs and things that come from those gardens or your garden is also exceptional. You Know, they don't travel across the country and they're not. Not that frozen isn't. Is not bad for you, but you know, the fresh is pretty beautiful. So. And again, we're going back to. Your body knows what to do with this food.

Food. Absolutely. Yeah. The taste, I would just say is just so different. Just going. Picking something right off the farm versus what we get in our supermarkets just night and day.

Yeah, yeah. Especially the herbs. You know, all of that. I know. It's exceptional.

So when we think about nature, like nature really is giving us tools that are supporting our constitution. One of the biggest ones is our gut health. Right. Our gut health continues to deteriorate. You and I are seeing people with gut health. Health. Gut health issues day in and day out. So what are some of the easiest ways to give your gut a reset? You have a whole program behind it, but simple takeaways that people can incorporate into their lives with that they could start today.

Yeah, I mean, I would say the first thing is hydration, you know, for the gut, because the dehydration is. Really does a number on our gut. And I always say this a lot to clients and it's a little. Little blows their mind because it's so simple. But I think when you wake up in the morning, you should drink two cups of water. And most people don't do that. They go right to their coffee or their tea or their matcha or whatever. And we're so dehydrated when we wake up because we've been detoxing through the night. So, you know, rehydrating ourselves is crucial for the gut. I mean, also I would say that the stress, you know, when we're stressed and we're eating, we. Our digestive system completely shuts down, so we're not able to digest our food. And you know, the energy goes to the extremities, not to the digestive system. So that's used to try to get into a de stress mode when you're eating and try to enjoy your food to some degree. And I mean, I would say that fiber is another one. You know, like we talked about, I think, you know, increasing your fiber is. Is prebiotics. Fiber is really crucial. I mean, another one is, of course, probiotics. I'm always talking about probiotics and I do love probiotic foods. I love probiotic supplements as well. But you know, to get it from your food, like we're talking, is beautiful. Like the Coco yo, you know, unsweetened. Four ounces is 100 billion probiotics or inner Eco is this drink that, you know, also 1 tablespoon is 100 billion probiotics.

Yeah.

You know, so. And then all the other beautiful foods that you can get to load up with probiotics.

Hydration, lowering our stress, focusing on fiber and probiotics.

Right.

Easy takeaways for, for everyone. How do you support your clients in getting enough probiotics and prebiotics in their, their diet every day? Right. Food sources, things again that are free, no supplement needed. Right.

So I would say, you know, really it's. I mean, we, I love some of that. I mean we're lucky because we live in California and the stores here do sell these products. They don't always sell them across the country. But I love the Coco Yo's, you know, the yogurt full of probiotics or Coco June or the Inner Eco drink. I don't know if you ever tried that. It's beautiful. A woman in Colorado makes it. Then there's also tonics which we use on the cleanse. T O N I X so she home does her, you know, probiotic drinks. I think that that's really crucial for, you know, getting the food based. Probiotics, Prebiotics is the fiber, you know. And also, of course, all of the, you know, artichokes and also a slightly green bananas I feel are like really amazing eating them, not. Not throwing them in your smoothie, but are really beautiful for pre bio products. And there's all the vegetables and all the, you know, legumes and beans and fiber. It's soluble fiber.

Absolutely. And I'm sure you consider this too. So I'm thinking about the things that you're recommending. I'm thinking about how our ancestors naturally did all of these things. When you look back at a lot of like, you know, whatever culture you come from, they were fermenting food prior to eating. They were including fermented foods. Right. Every single day. I know that you do in your cleanses also, but it's something that's kind of. It's inherent to us in the way that we used to cook when we had more time. Right, Right.

Yeah.

Do you ever. You're a sauerkraut fan, Kimchi fan. Love.

I'm not a lover of kimchi. I would. I want to be.

I want to be and I cannot do it.

No, I can't either. I know. I can't do it. I know. But the sauerkraut is a no brainer. Yeah, we love it.

We put sauerkraut out Every single night on our table. And it's like the amuse Boosh.

Yeah.

So I just figured if there's no other way to get it, then at least it's out there.

I wish more people did that. Yeah. We have sauerkraut on the gut cleanse.

Oh, there you go.

It is. Yeah. It's really fun. We have fermented vegetables on the regular cleanse. So yeah, fermentation is really crucial too. Yeah.

I love that you address that because, you know, we talk so much about gut health and I think for a lot of people, again, they go to what protocol can I go to instead of what can they simply start incorporating? And I just wanted to own in on that because I know it's such a big piece of what you do in your cleanses.

Yes.

When you think about the worst foods for bloating. Right. So people, they have compromised digestion, their gut is off, they still consumes, consume specific foods. What in your mind are the worst foods for bloating?

I would say cow dairy. Sugar.

Sugar.

Yeah. And I would say gluten can be really, really bad. You know, I would say also just, you know, the bad seed oils. I feel like people are walking away from places that we know very well that are using bad seed oils and having a stomachache right away. And bloat.

Yeah.

So sodas, I mean, I can't believe how many people still drink soda. Diet Coke and you know, even some of my own family does that.

I know.

Yeah.

Media brainwashing. Right. So I'm thinking the people listening then how, how would people listening without working with you or I or any health coaches out there, you know? Well, how do I know that I have gut health issues?

I think it's so easy. It is, you know, you know, if you're not going to the bathroom regularly every day, that's first and foremost. Also I feel like if you eat something and you bloat right away way you start to feel not only bloated, but just your stomach feels upset. And that really says it all.

Yeah. And it seems like a no brainer. And the reason why I wanted to dive into this is because I think that a lot of people, for me anyways, I have this insane intake form. I'm sure you do too. But a lot of people, when they're checking off the digestive issue, more like, oh, well, I guess I do have that every day. I do have bloating every day. I do have. Have heartburn every day. I do have, you know, irregular bowel movements. So a Lot of people are getting used to living with these symptoms, and they're recognizing that they're normal and part of their life. Oh, it's how I've always been.

Right.

But they're not normal. No indication to heal.

It's so fun, isn't it, to be able to, like, give them a few tools, to, like, be able to, like, change that so quickly. I think that's what I love about what we do, you know, and when I put people on the gut cleanse when their digestive system isn't doing well, I mean, in five days, to reset a gut is miraculous.

Absolutely.

You know, and whatever you can do for them, you know, I mean, it's just like it's life changing and that it changes everything for their life, not just the digestive system, which is basic.

Yeah. Like, what I love about your cleanse more than anybody else's is that it's a return to how our ancestors ate. It's back to basics. It's using real food. It's nutrient density. Colorful, fresh foods.

Right.

That are going into our body.

Exactly.

It's just so powerful. So looking at your clients biomarkers, what are some of the common foods that you're seeing? Food sensitivities to the most?

I would say soy is popping up a lot. Eggs.

Yeah.

Or wheat, dairy and nuts. You know, like what you were saying with the almonds or the cashews or. Or. Yeah, it's interesting. It's a lot also, too. It's. I also find out, like, wow, they're eating a lot of certain things, like, we were talking earlier, and they're coming up as well. So if they're overdoing the foods. Yeah, they're definitely coming up.

Yeah. And it's great that we can check in now on this inflammatory response. And it's interesting, like, if you and I are seeing the same types of sensitivities, I'm also seeing coffee. We talked about mycotography, toxins in coffee, almonds and coconut, which are now, like, in everything. Right, right. So paying attention. And I always want to stress, like, these food sensitivities, it's not that you have to go off of them forever. Right, true. So what. What's the power of eliminating food sensitivities then?

It's just. It's hugely powerful. I mean, I think that, you know, you got to give your body a break, and in order to heal, you just really need to. To step away from those foods. And I know for me, it was. There were a few things like chicken and Eggs and, you know, the cashews and the eggplant and, you know, I stepped away for six months with them. But I also did step into really healing my gut as well. You know, I did do a GI map. I do. I do love doing those things. I know you do too. Right. Or even via Biome is a great place to, you know, find out what's going on with your gut. And I did find out that I had a lot of fungus and bacteria and I also have viral loads.

Yeah.

So, you know, I had to work on lowering those pathogens, as I call them, and re. Heal and, you know, really rebuild and rebalance my gut so they can go back to eating a variety of foods. Because I do not want to leave, limit the amount of foods that I eat.

Absolutely. So it's special because I think that there's some people out there who are like, yeah, I want to do these things. They're seekers. They want to find new ways to heal. And I think that for you and I to do our jobs, our best, the more data that we have, we can better really customize a protocol for somebody. Right. And for people who don't have the time or the ability to invest in stuff like that.

Yeah.

I think it just goes back to diversity. Right. Variety and diversity, like, just avoid being a creature of hab it. And I think for all of us who are busy, we end up eating the exact same foods every single week. The grace, the grocery shopping list does not change. Buy what's on sale. Right? Buy what's on sale. So it forces you to eat different foods. You're going to be taking in a variety of different nutrients from different foods, but also the soil that they were grown in. Right. And that will help optimize your health too, right? Totally. Yeah.

Just tricky, you know, that is. That's a hard one for people because, you know, the stress level, the. The amount of busyness and workloads and, you know, it's hard to, like, really break out of the mold of, you know, having a variety and not having that same shopping list every week, you know, and like, how do. How do we get people to expand their horizons? And I feel like what is happening, helping me in that regard is more the emotional component. Like, if we can get people more energized and like, brain fog is, you know, helping and feeling good about their bodies, I think that it is helpful in terms of, wow, I want to make changes, I want to try that. And, you know, when they feel like they're in their body and they Just have energy and they want to try cooking or trying new things. I mean, I just think when they're tired and they're stressed and, you know, they're just strung out, they don't do that.

That is such a good point, because I feel a lot of people, you know, they listen to podcasts like this, they hear experts, just do this, just go do that and just go do this. Go spend money on this thing. And it's like. But no, I just, I don't feel good. Right, right. And this is a really good opportunity just to close things up. When we think about this, this, you know, spiritual and emotional connection to healing, my heart goes out to the people who just, they genuinely just don't feel good in their mind or in their body. It's like telling a depressed person, just go eat some salads. Just eat some whole food salads. You're going to feel amazing. It's like, I can't get off my couch. Don't tell me to go eat a salad. Right, right. And, you know, we, you and I shared on our lunch together, there was suffering, like we were suffering when we were sick. And you shared a great story about finding a doctor that asked you, well, tell me what's going on in your life.

I mean, that doctor. I had two things that happened for me when I got cancer. The first one was getting a massage and sitting upright. And the massage felt a lymph node on my collarbone. So if I had been laying down on a table, that might not have happened. But she did, did see a lymph node that was swollen on my collarbone. So that was miraculous. And the second one was a doctor that was a radiologist oncologist who said to me, do you love your life? What's going on emotionally? Are you happy with your job? Are you happy with your husband? You know, like, what's happening in your life? Are you stressed? And I mean, Mona, it was 30 years ago and today people still don't do that. Doctors don't do that, that, you know, and it just blows my mind and I just will never be. I, I will always be thankful for those two people because that just changed my life in regards to, you know, really stepping into my power and then also starting to really heal and really feel like, okay, I've got to get my. Together with myself and really figure out how to get better, you know, mentally and, and physically. So that was a absolutely beautiful thing.

Like, God bless that doctor. You know, like, and I always say to people, find a doctor that is your partner in Healing. And doctors aren't asking this question, God bless them, but they're trained on how to treat a symptom.

Yes.

You know, for me, it was just bawling my eyes out on an ayurvedic massage table when somebody was asking me about, well, you know, this is off here. Tell me, when did the sadness start? Start. When did the stomach ache start? And it was when I was a little girl. Right. All of a sudden you release these things and you recognize, like, oh, yeah, I'm happy inside.

Yes.

Let me deal with the unhappiness. And then use food as the medicine to help heal my body and replenish.

Absolutely.

I love you and your story. Like, it's just. It's so powerful. Your message is just so unique. And I'm so grateful, super grateful. About your book. I'm gonna have you back on to talk about pro aging. I think that this is something as women, it's our responsibility to do for a younger generation today so that we can step into health. So thank you for being just such a spokesperson out in the world and talking about this, because you also look 35. Thank you. I feel it. But, you know.

I know.

I know you do. I know you have more energy than me. I know you feel it. Okay, so I want to wrap up this episode by asking some. Just rapid fire questions. What are some of the most common mistakes or misconceptions, exceptions that you're seeing women make with their health?

They don't believe in themselves.

Good answer. What is one way that women are making health and healing way too complicated?

Taking too many supplements instead of getting.

To the root cause. Right. Tuning in.

Yeah.

What is your favorite ancient healing remedy?

Self love all the way.

Do you think our ancestors were in villages where it's like there was just. There was so much love.

Right.

Where it was a reflection. Like, I just imagine going back in time and if you knew someone in the village was suffering from sadness. Yeah. That the village would have come together to help that person. Absolutely. Right. We just don't have that anymore.

There was intimacy and connection and. Right. Support and people loved each other. There wasn't so much, I think. You know, I mean, sure, there was infighting and all of that stuff, but I think there was more connection and more love for each other and really valued each other and, you know, women just supporting women and all of that. I mean, that is just so. Still so crucial today for us.

I love that you're the first person so far to say self love as an ancient healing remedy. Magic if you were to pick something about modern medicine that excites you, what would it be be?

I am obsessed with doing blood work these days, the biomarkers. And just like the opportunity that I even get to do that, you know, today that I get to do a full panel of biomarkers for, I, I will say $246. That is crazy. You know, it's so thorough and people are kind of blown away that they're able to get this done and, and then find what is, you know, at the root cause of what's going on with them. If there is or isn't do it.

I think modern medicine, it's going to be the greatest gift that we can use for prevention.

Yes, right.

Use Rupa. Is that right? Incredible. All right, what are the top three things that we can start doing right now to optimize our hormones?

What I would say, first of all is, you know, I love doing the biomarkers with the DHA and pregnenolone and all the hormones because I even am doing that for young girls and I'm seeing that a lot of the DHEA and pregnenolone are very, very low. So I think that is something that's really important to get those levels to a place where they're supposed to be to help support the hormones. And I would say that also just, you know, also really eating real food and nutrient dense food, you know, that I think that is really important for hormones. Hormones. And I would basically say, I think what comes up a lot is for some reason, liver, you know, really clean your liver, you know, make sure your gut is healthy and, and clean your liver.

Absolutely.

So that all of this can, you know, so we can detox. I think a lot of the, maybe some of the dirty, you know, estrogen, estrogens in our body that are needing to excrete. And I think that, that, you know, the liver is important and really there's. The gut is very important for hormones as well.

But again, starting within instead of adding. Yeah, right. Yeah. All right. If you could leave our listeners with just one takeaway with something that you're the most passionate about right now, what would it be?

Well, I was going to say because I've, I'm, I'm really, really passionate. Can I say one more? More than one?

Yeah.

I mean, I'm absolutely.

You're a passionate person.

I'm so passionate about my two girls in my life. It's, I have the, I have a 29 year old and a 25 year old, almost 26 and I can't believe how lucky I am to have them as, you know, friends, as partners, as just supporters in my life. And they just are something that just keep me going. And I feel like I, I'm so lucky because they're teaching me.

Yeah.

These young girls are teaching me what it's like in the world, you know, to like move ahead and really be strong and be loving and just also, they're just, they're just a light of really beautiful source for me. So I'm a little obsessed with them at the moment. It wasn't always so easy with our relationship because their husband or their, their dad died when they were young and you know, it was really a struggle time. But now as they're older, I can't believe how lucky I am to have these two women in my life. Life. But I also am massively, like passionate about what's going on with, you know, Peptides and Nad and Ozone and Hyperbaric Chambers. I mean, you know, there's some very, very cool stuff that's going on that is that I am doing myself that I feel like is really helping me like elevate to a whole different level. Level. We talked about this.

It's health spin. I will see you on the mountain when we are in our hundreds, right?

Exactly. Like, absolutely.

Thank you so much for being on.

Thank you.

And just knowing your daughters, they're a direct reflection of you.

Thank you.

I want you to know that you're such a beautiful soul. I'm honored to call you a friend and a soul sister and I'm so excited for what's to come. I feel like you're just getting started it in so many ways. So we're going to link out. How can people find you and stay.

In touch with you? Yeah, I'm on Instagram and face and I'm on my homework. I will start that again on Facebook. Yeah, I. I have my own website and also I'm an Instagram. So it's on. It's Alyssa Goodman dot com.

Amazing.

Easy to find me and I feel very lucky to be a friend of yours and be in your tribe as well because I learned so much, much from you as well. And I just, I look up for you, look up to you as a lot and just you're really, you are. You're a soul circle and inner girl that I just love a lot. So I agree. Thank you.

Thank you. Adore you.