Autumn Smith | Foods For Stress: How To Naturally Lower Blood Sugar | Wellness Force #Podcast

I set an intention before I talk to somebody about this. And also I asked them, is this a good time to talk about something like this? Because a lot of times when people give you feedback or when you're having this dialogue, and you kind of know professionally when someone wants to change. But just, like, are you in the head space right now to receive advice, or do you still just need to tell me what's going on? And you just need support at this point in time. But then when I found them in a space where they're willing to receive that and I think act upon it, I do it in a very, very gentle way. And I just. Look, this behavior, whatever this cycle, whatever it is you're engaging in when you step out, because I know you're just stuck in it right now, and it might be harder to see the big perspective, but it's. This is not serving you. And I know you have so much potential, beautiful potential. And if we could just change this one thing, that I think it would help you make real progress. And, I mean, talk about having to do that on a daily basis. My son, I'm a mom. I mean, that is. I feel like my life, I've become so good at it. But my little guy, I always let him know first. Like, my intention for you is to be your highest self. Like, and that sometimes won't mean we're going to agree. Sometimes you're going to feel angry with me, sometimes you're going to be frustrated, and we're going to go through this life together. But what I need you to remember is that Mama is looking out for you. And just like with my clients, I'm looking out for your best interest. I want what's best for you. And from my perspective right now, this is just something that I think would really help.

Autumn, welcome back to Wellness Force.

Thank you for letting me be here, Josh. It's always such a pleasure.

It's such a pleasure. And this is the third time. This is the crown. This is the three peat. Because you always have such beautiful wisdom to share, and I love what you and Chaz have created. We partnered with Paleo Valley this year because we really believe in what you're doing. Like, people are, in my opinion. And I'm curious how you feel about this. More stressed, more in need. Actually more in deep need. Not just physically, but, like, emotionally, spiritually, of nutrients and nutrients. Yeah, we eat nutrients, and Paleo Valley is known for all of your organic and super healthy nutrients, which we're gonna go into today, but from an emotional Standpoint, like, where are you right now? When you look at the world of health and wellness from your, like, 30,000 foot being the leader of this movement, what do you see as maybe one of the largest things that is blocking people from true health, true wellness right now?

I think it's fear and just, like, not knowing. So when we're in our wellness bubble, which I live here, and even when the pandemic hit, I wasn't super scared because I knew, wow, I've got these amazing tools. But when I get out of my bubble and I talk to the rest of the people in my community, they're just deathly afraid of this pandemic. And I think that is driving, you know, exponentially increased rates of mental health issues and anxiety and depression and fear. And I think it just runs the gamut. Fear can, you know, destroy your health. And I just. That's why I'm so passionate about getting the word out is like, I want other people to feel that peace and that empowerment that comes from understanding how your body works, understanding what it needs, and understanding that it is working in your best interest.

Yeah. So if y' all don't know Autumn, you're going to get to know her a lot deeper. Today we have two episodes that are linked right below this in the show Notes where we talked about her path from holistic nutrition and certified eating psychology coach. And so the list for you runs to the floor like, your rap sheet of what you've been through personally with your own health journey and also how you've helped people now for almost seven years, I think. Paleo Valley, right? How long have you been alive and breathing with Paleo Valley?

Yeah, it's eight years now, Josh.

It's eight years.

It's eight years.

Yeah, it's eight years. So with that construct of, like, yes, you have the science, you have the training, you have the academic background. But today I wanted to create spaciousness for speaking to where we really are in the world, like, as a society, as human beings, and with my son on the way, like, and with you as a mom, and the parents specifically, are under attack. And the reason I believe parents are under attack is because there's only so much we have to give every day from an energetic perspective. Like, you only have so much chi. There's only so much time you have. And so I'd like to jump off the cliff here with you with a really safe parachute of when we look at energy, and we're gonna explore how apple cider vinegar, which is like a massive topic of Its own plugs into energy, plugs into cholesterol, plugs into weight loss. Just talk to us about energy, please. Like as parents or as just busy people, where do we begin to look at what can rob our energy centers? What robs us of energy in this current world when it comes to our physical body?

Yeah. So many things. First of all, I mean, obviously biochemically we're looking at things like caffeine, any sort of stimulants that we're thinking are going to make it better, but it's just borrowing from tomorrow, right? What did you say?

I like how you laughed. You're like caffeine. Ha ha. It's true, though. It feels good, but if you abuse it, like it's going to make you more tired. I digress. Go ahead.

I know. And I just knew I laughed because I know people are going to be mad at me for saying that. But it's one of the best ways that I found to improve my energy and create more stable energy is to get rid of that. Obviously the sugar too. You know, the food things. Just making sure that you're eating a whole food balanced diet. But then there's also, you know, the emotional things, like fear, right? Like stress, just overstimulation I found in my life. I actually have to make sure, okay. I do not look at my phone at these times. It's done at this time. I'm not thinking about work at 4pm every day. I'm done. And I'm grateful to be able to do that. And I know that's not a reality for everyone, but for me, just setting really clear boundaries. What do I want this part of my day to be about? What do I not want it to be about? And how do I kind of protect that energy? So I think you can come at it from the biochemical, but also the emotional. And I think you absolutely have to today because most people are just exhausted and exhausted. And when you protect your resources and you don't fill that bucket and also finding exactly what it is that makes you really excited and making sure that that is a part of every single week, it doesn't have to be every day. I know that it's not a reality if you're a parent, but just like knowing what lights you up and then making sure at least two to three times a week that you are doing those things. Because it's not always about getting more energy. It's about finding what gives you energy. And I think that's a different thing too.

What, like as a mom, as A as a pro of lots of things, what gives you energy the most? Like, what do you depend on personally for energy reserves to be tapped into?

Yeah, well, my number one is music. So music is just such a source of inspiration for me.

That's right. You were a dancer for quite a while. You returned the world.

Yes. And that's the second one is dance. Like, I don't, you know, dance professionally anymore, but there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not dancing and embarrassing my son while he eats breakfast or having, like, you know, I do. We always put some music on or just I always dance. Every day I dance in my own way, the way it changes. But for me, it's dance and it's movement and it's being outside and it's great conversation. I have so many rich friendships, and that is absolutely one of my greatest sources of joy as well. Helping people, making somebody's day better. Random acts of kindness. At our house, we like to do five things we're grateful for every single morning and also plan a random act of kindness that we will execute that day. Because I think a lot of people don't understand how giving to another person, actually, you probably receive more because we have the mirror neurons and it just makes us feel good. So those are some of the things I do. What was my act of kindness for today? Yeah, it's my son's last day of school, and so we went and got his teacher flowers and an Amazon gift card. And I told her that I loved her dress and how beautiful she looked today. Wow.

And you know what's cool about that? What you just said is the same reciprocity we give our body is the same reciprocity you're giving to your son's teacher. Because it's not like you did that to get a brownie point or like to be acknowledged. And you don't want anything from her. You're just loving and giving something to her that you know will make her feel good. And you're not. You don't have any expectation in return. Is that what it feels like to truly give?

It is. And I just had this experience yesterday where I had a conversation with someone who simply took the time to say, what you're doing matters. And I know you get lost in your story and the day to day, but what you're doing is so impactful. And that left a mark on me for a deep mark. It was so impactful for me. So I just want to try and give that back to someone every day. That's another one of my goals is just to speak the compliments that I'm already thinking, just not necessarily sharing as often as I could be.

Yeah. Because there's a wheel of wellness, right? Like, and in that wheel, there is, like, the selfless act of giving. And in doing that, like, God, it's so nourishing. You know, we started this podcast about nutrients. Wow. How nourishing is it to give to someone without expecting anything back? Like, that is true love. And love is, I think love is the most nourishing nutrient on the planet, but it's the most. It's the most misconstrued and misunderstood when, like you said, people are in fear because the opposite of love is fear. And so there's many ways to remove ourselves from fear. One of them is by priming the body naturally. And this is a jumping off point for all the ways in which we can, like, honestly authentically support our bodies when we are potentially in fear. So if someone is in fear and maybe their amygdala is looping and, you know, their prefrontal cortex and their posterior cingulate and like, their brain is in alarm mode. Right. Maybe they've watched the news and they're like, what am I seeing on the news today? First of all, turn that off. Don't watch the news. But secondly, like, from a biochemical, hormonal perspective, how does different supplementation and how does different support systems come into giving us the tools so we can remove ourselves from fear and be more loving? What does that look like from a supplementation perspective?

It's such a powerful tool because, you know, some people go from the top down and they cause I have a psychology degree too, and you learn the tools and, you know, the mindset and all the practices. But for me, it was very ground up. Like, I did not have the bandwidth to go that direction because I was so all over the place. My blood sugar was unbalanced. My brain was on fire because of the inflammation that I had in my food. So from a supplemental standpoint, it's basically our product line. But a few of the things that I think balancing your blood sugar is paramount and finding out how to do that for you. We can talk about the supplements that we've created that will help with that, but also identifying your sources of inflammation and then supplementing strategically with nutrients shown to help mitigate stress. Vitamin C is one of those nutrients. It's been shown to kind of bring cortisol levels back into balance again. If your blood sugar is not all over the place you won't get that dip that you get when you have the high blood sugar spikes that then leaves the adrenal to release those hormones. So there's a number of ways. My 3 is just making sure that nutrients, your nutrient deficiency is there, finding your sources of inflammation and definitely balancing your blood sugar. And if you just have to start with one, just balance the blood sugar. I'm telling you, the world looks totally different when you have balanced blood sugar and most of us don't. I think like 8 out of 10 of us are metabolically broken or living with some degree of insulin resistance. And so, yes, if you can just start there, I think it'll make a profound difference in your life.

I love that you said bottom up, top down, and you're like, I needed to be more like from the earth, essentially, like, because we are. I just got back Autumn, we haven't had time to talk about this, so here we are. I just got back. I just got back from a 10 day Native American vision quest and talk about being connected to the earth and the laws and rules of nature. I mean, she is so wise. I mean, it gives me emotional just thinking about what I went through. 10 days being in nature will really reconnect you to what's real. Because when you're in nature and when you're out there with the trees and the animals and I was out there with no fire, no flashlight, no knife, no tent, I mean, that's part of the quest is you go out and you touch death and when you touch death, you can come home and you can really feel what it's like to live. And so when I was out there, I was just, I was thinking about so much and I was thinking about all of our partners, you included, and I was like, okay, it feels so good. And I'm so grateful to actually be connected to people that have companies that are doing something in the world from love. I mean, God, there's so many brands and so much BS out there. I would honestly be suffice to say that like 95% of brands that have good intentions, they're not doing the diligence on if they're honoring nature when they create their supplements, their nutrients and their foods. And that's why, like with you and with Bill Campo and with Cured and with Paleo Valley, like all these companies are centered around Mother Earth, around honoring her and giving her unique wisdom to us. So the reason I'm saying that is because when we try to honor nature, it's the intention of honoring nature that Allows us to honor ourselves. And when we honor ourselves, we start naturally being attracted to good products. You know, like, this is on my. I have my station here. I got a brand new studio and it's this beautiful space and I have all my supplements, I have all my stuff, and I have the ACV right here. I mean, I literally have the ACV on my desk because I take it when I start to feel a little bit jittery, a little bit like, hangry. Maybe I'm on a podcast and I can't eat something, I'll just pop them real quick and take it. I don't know if I'm taking too much. Maybe you can tell me about that. But share with us as we nourish ourselves, as we honor her Mother Nature. Where does ACV play into this? And for people that don't know anything about acv, what is it, what's it used for? And how does it weave into blood sugar?

Yeah, I can't wait to tell you that I wanted to share something too. That what you were just saying made me think of because I had a podcast with Dr. Jade Tita and the other day and he taught me about his three levels. There's like the base level human who's just worried about their health. And you know, we're all there sometimes, so that's. You don't worry about it. Then we have the culture level human who's worried about. Okay, I'm well enough to worry about. What do other people think? And then there's the next level human thinking about, you know, how am I, how do I fit into this world and what is what I'm doing, doing to the environment? And I thought, like, that is kind of our company in a nutshell. But as far as apple cider vinegar, like I was saying, that stable blood sugar is so central, they find that the people who have this most stable blood sugar actually live the longest lives. And so that's where this product came from for me. Once I got married, I realized, wow, life is amazing. I need to hold on to it. And so I want to create this tonic that would help me promote longevity just on a daily basis. So what I did was find ingredients that would A, help promote or like, reduce, bring down inflammation naturally, but also B, stabilize blood sugar. Because I know that was so central and it was something that so many people were lacking. And so apple cider vinegar was one of those ingredients that I was just blown away by. Hippocrates supposedly used it. It's been used for literally thousands of years. For so many different applications. And it's really simple and it's natural. And that's kind of a through line with our products, is that I don't want to. We are never going to be like, oh, we found this crazy molecule that's doing this amazing thing. We look at nature, the wisdom of nature, and we just bring the highest quality ingredients from nature into a version that people can use on a daily basis. So, like I said, apple cider vinegar is going to promote blood sugar stability, but also it's been shown to help improve fat burning. The number one thing I hear from people is that it takes away their cravings. So you're using it in a beautiful, beautiful way. It promotes satiety. It makes you feel fuller, longer. There's also research about cholesterol, and, you know, you can use it toxic. I mean, it goes on and on and on and on and on. There's one myth most people don't realize that it actually can damage tooth enamel. Which is why I was, oh, yeah.

We'Re going to talk about that. I have that in my notes because that blew me away. I'm like, oh, my God, I had no idea it stripped enamel on teeth. That's why you do it in tablet form. Hello. I didn't think about it. We just don't think about these things.

No. And I came across it only because a friend who is a dentist, I was kind of preaching the benefits of everyone should have apple cider vinegar. She wrote to me, she's like, autumn, you don't be recommending that. That's actually going to harm people's tooth and animal, especially if you're having them consume it on a daily basis. But like I said, I was, yeah, which people do and which I was doing. And because I wanted to have that tonic that I could have first thing in the morning to just set myself up for success the rest of the day. And so when I heard that, I was like, oh, shoot, okay, well, I'm just going to create in tablet form. So that's exactly how it happened. But I think we are in this world today where we think there's a pill for every ill. And then those are the answers that we're looking for. But our company and apple cider vinegar and our products are just about, hey, there's a beautiful wisdom and a relationship between earth and our bodies. And we've evolved using that intelligence. And somehow I feel like we've all gotten very disconnected from that. And so our product line is just trying to bring people back to that to that knowledge that your body, when it's given everything it needs and when you take away what it doesn't, can do beautiful things. And so we also added turmeric, we added ginger, lemon and cinnamon. Again because of their, you know, gas prohibitive benefits. They're carminative herbs.

What is carminative? What does that mean?

Gas reducing. So it actually reduces the production of gas in the digestive tract. Yeah, so that's like. And I came from an IBS world. That's what I was always diagnosed with. And my husband, I would look pregnant after meals when we first met. And I just, I know I hear from people I work with all the time that bloating is a big concern of theirs. And so again, rather than taking gas X or beno, which is what they always told me when I had irritable bowel syndrome, I just wanted to find a natural, natural, a real gentle push for my body in the right direction. And cinnamon and ginger do that beautifully. And then of course, turmeric is one of the most anti inflammatory substances ever studied. The Okinawans are known to have drank a daily turmeric tea, which is why we had to throw that in there. And all of them also help further stabilize the blood sugar in different ways. And so, yeah, it was really just about how can we. And spices. Who is eating that amount of spices on a daily basis? You don't want to eat curry every day. And so I wanted to give you a way, get them all into your diet.

You're like an orator of alchemy and an intelligent hippie. Like, all wrapped up into a beautiful bow. Like, the way you just articulated all that was really cool because I think people can get so heady about this stuff. Like, and I fall into it. Like, I like science, I do. I enjoy learning and knowing what hormone cascades happen and what nutrient does this and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, Autumn, like, like we have to use the report card of how we feel as the most determining factor of success. Like, if I feel in my body different, well, then that's the best way to know if something's working or not. Who cares if I've taken gut health supplements? I've taken supplements before and I've taken them for a month and I'm like, I don't really feel anything. Like, I don't actually feel different. And so I use that as a barometer, what I experience with this. And I'm curious from a dosing perspective, like, you talk about three capsules per Day, you know, for best results, take it like 30, 30 minutes or so before a meal. I do that sometimes I just take them on their own. And I notice there's, like, a slight calming effect. So I'll get more calm. I don't know if it's just my body telling me or my mind telling my body. So what's. What's actually going on there with, like, the calmness aspect? Is it because it's affecting the blood sugar? I'm really excited to wear. I have it right here. It's called Nutrasense. I just got a CGM from Nutrisense. So I'm actually gonna take the ACV and I'm gonna wear the Nutrisense. And I'll let you guys know when this comes out. And I'll tell you, Autumn, how that affected it, because I wanted to do, like, what happens if I take six capsules? Is that okay? Is it okay to take six capsules? Is it okay to take three capsules a couple times a day? So what's your recommendations on the dosing? Because it's a natural product. I'm not drinking a bunch of caffeine. I'm not trying to suppress my hunger. I'm just trying to support the natural mechanisms that prevent me from being hangry, essentially.

Totally. Yeah. And I just wanted to say, I think on the mechanistic side of things, that there is, like you said, blood sugar balancing benefits. And so that could very well be playing in. I don't know what your blood sugar looks like, but for most people, that will be a very profound benefit. But also, there's evidence that it can increase ketone production. And we know that ketone production helps gaba, our brain are calming, our natural tranquilizer. And so there could be something like that happening. It could also be some sort of, like, inflammation that is being reduced and adding this sense of calm, just improved digestion happening. I mean, there could be a lot of different things that are happening, but in terms of dose. So it depends on the application. But if you're looking for blood sugar stability benefits, usually the trials are looking at about 1 tablespoon to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Now in ours is about one teaspoon. But you have to remember that turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger, and lemon are also in there, which are further supporting blood sugar. So I felt like that would kind of be an equivalent maybe to like 1 tablespoon or a little bit under. And so again, when you're taking. It depends on your intention with the product. I like to use it for people who are just kind of getting into a whole food diet. That might not be your audience, but if it is for any reason someone's listening to that and that's their story, then I would take that first thing in the morning. Morning. And I just take those three capsules. And then if you're looking to mitigate a blood sugar surge after a meal, I would take it. Or just enhance your digestive capacity for that meal. I would take it 20 minutes before.3 capsules before that meal. If you eat a meal where you're like, oh, I just really went to town on that bread or whatever, you had a whoops meal, you can also take it after the fact. I do that a lot on the holidays. You can take three capsules. You can take it before bed. If you're looking to improve your A1C or you're like fasting morning blood sugar, you can take it before you're traveling because there's, you know, it has antibacterial and antifungal properties. And you can take it. Also, when I fast, which I do for part of my cycle, there's been evidence to suggest that it can enhance, like I said, ketone production and fat burning through the enzyme ampk. And so I take it right before I break it, or if I'm really struggling and I want to push a little bit longer, for whatever reason, I will take it. As long as I'm not fasting for detoxification benefits, as long as I'm like, primarily focused on the insulin. Because we know that any herb or anything will break that detoxification process, that autophagy. But one important thing to note is that it is a natural supplement, but it's also very powerful. And so if you're on certain medications, if you're on anti diabetic medications, or if you're taking any sort of blood thinners, that turmeric will interfere with that, and you might end up needing less of a dose with it in the mix. But you definitely have to have that be prescribed and be overseen by a doctor.

And do you take this personally, like first thing in the morning? Or like you said, it depends on when you're intermittent fasting. So really there is no exact template for this. It's more like, what's your lifestyle? How's your sleep? What are you eating? Did you overeat? Are you stressed? Is your blood sugar up and down? It's really just an intuitive process. Yeah.

Or we actually have a guide. We're creating a guide where you can see. Okay. This is. My goal is digestive. Like, because if you take it. Yeah, we have a. We have a guide for sure. We have a video, actually. So if anyone's interested and wanted to.

See it, we'll put that in the show right here. So it's below.

Yes. And then also it can improve the acidity of the stomach. So if your goal is to just improve protein breakdown and stuff, again, the 20 minutes before a meal would be really helpful. But, yeah, it has so many uses. And if you're not on medications, you can take more than one dose. Because. Because again, I didn't go full throttle. We didn't go the max, because I thought people might want to use it more than once a day. And so that's what we did. Also, there's some exercise benefits if you want, and improves fat burning, of course. So if you want to use that before exercise, I do that sometimes as well. But, yes, very intuitive. Many different applications. So whatever you're looking for, you're definitely.

Well versed in acv, because I think some people, like, they get it mixed up. Yes, it is a very ancient, I guess you could say medicine, really. It's a medicine because of laws here in America, we can't call things medicine. We can't treat or diagnose any diseases. So that's not what we're talking about. But look, y' all know now that I've said that this is a medicine. Okay, now that I've said it's not a medicine and it's not gonna treat anything, I'm just gonna share with you that there are many things in nature that are medicinal, but because of laws that exist, we can't call them medicines, but we can call something that's made in a lab medicine. I digress. You know what I'm talking about. So with that in mind, like, what are some of the things that people get totally wrong about acv, and what exactly is some of the myths that surround it? Because I know there's some confusion around, like, what exactly is it? Is it made from fermenting apples in a bucket? Like, you know, share with us. Share with us the skinny on that.

Okay, yeah. So apple cider vinegar is just basically, you take crushed water or crushed apples and water and yeast, and you let it sit for, like, 30 days. Then the yeast turns it into alcohol, then you add bacteria, and then that bacteria turns it into vinegar. And so, like you said, it's just like this ancient remedy that has so many different applications. And one myth, I think I See people getting kind of hung up on is that it's a really, really nutrient dense thing to add to your diet. That that is not really what it's about, actually. It doesn't have a ton of nutrients. What it is is its main comp. And acetic acid has all of these amazing and profound benefits like we've been discussing for your blood sugar regulation, for fat production, for decreasing the amount that you're actually going to consume at a meal. One study showed that it reduced the amount of calories you ate effortlessly from 200 to 275 calories a day. Also, if you want to change body composition, it's been shown to help reduce belly fat. And so one of them is like, I don't say to have it because it's nutrient dense. Have it because of the other amazing benefits, because of the acetic acid, one of its main components.

Yeah, it's not a lot of calories in these.

No, no. Yeah.

There's not much food in it. But the. But what's there is super potent.

Exactly. And the second one I hear people quabbling or like kind of fighting about is that there are no heart disease risk benefits. And it's true. And we've been very careful about this in our marketing. I don't really talk about heart disease and cholesterol and triglycerides ride levels because there wasn't any really great evidence outside of an animal model. Not that animal models aren't beneficial. They are.

We're animals.

We're animals.

We're animals. I don't know if y' all know this. We're animals.

Thanks for clueing me in anyways. No, exactly. So animal evidence sometimes is sufficient. I always like to wait until it gets to the human trial level. But in 2018, there was a really good trial that actually demonstrated in at least 39 individuals that cholesterol levels, as in total cholesterol, came down, triglycerides came down, and HDL levels, the protective levels of cholesterol, were actually increased. And so that was really exciting. So most people think, oh, no, there's not evidence for that, but there is. And so that's that. Also, one of the common myths is that there are no negative side effects and you can just take it all the time. And that's what I think we addressed as well. I thought, you know, people, you know, there can be benefits for the skin and for eczema, but it has to be diluted because there's also been counts of skin burns and stuff. Right. You have to be really careful. And again, there's benefits for, you know, your. Or there are dangers to your teeth, your tooth enamel, which we just talked about. Also people have noticed burning in the esophagus and damage to the esophagus because, like we're saying it's a very acidic substance. And so I think people, the last thing, it's not a magic bullet. I just like to say that, like, it is a beautiful and therapeutic and even, yes, like you said, medicinal substance, but it isn't going to outdo a sedentary lifestyle and really bad dietary decisions. Is it going to be helpful? And could it be a nice first step and like a springboard into those other actions? And I absolutely believe that. But I don't ever want anyone to get the impression of, oh, just take apple cider vinegar and life will be good.

Yeah, that's honest. And thank you for that. Because it's not the panacea, actually, the big cure is how we live our lives, how we started this conversation, right? Like, are you living your life in love, in service to love, or are you living your life in fear? And I guess the best way to figure that out is the way that you feel, the way that your body's carrying weight, the way that your relationships are. How long have you personally been taking apple cider vinegar in tablet form? Because I wanted to talk about tablet and liquid. How long have you done it in the tablet?

I've done it in the tablet for about the last three years.

Three years. And before that you were doing the liquid? Like, is there any. Because I just want the truth. I'm just curious, when you go from the liquid to the tablet, is it a heat process, is it a dry process? Do you lose any of the bioavailability of the healing properties when it goes from liquid to pill form? Is pill form better? Like go into that a little bit?

Yeah, no, it's just like, it's just like a drying process and we don't use any sort of chemicals. And so it. And the shelf stability isn't probably that affected, but it is about a two year shelf stability. Now this is the tricky part. A lot of the benefits for apple cider vinegar or some of them, them and people want to have it because of the probiotic benefits, because of the mother. Now we've tried to see if there's any evidence that ours still contains it. There isn't actually testing for that at all right now. So I think the benefits of the capsule form are a, you can take it effortlessly. People who hate the Taste of it, can take it. You don't have to damage your tooth enamel. You don't have to damage your esophagus. And the drying process is very, very minimal. And it's not going to ruin the nutrients other than. And possibly the mother. But we don't know. And we've tried to test for it for sure. And so I think the benefits are just convenience and protecting your teeth and your esophagus.

Awesome. So you're not losing any of the efficacy or the potency of taking it from liquid to pill. And actually, the cool benefit. I don't know if anybody's ever taken a fire shot. Have you ever heard of those where you do, like, ACV with Tabasco? It's like some crazy health. I mean, it's another health craze where it's like, take the fire shot for flu and cold holds. ACV is pretty stout. Like, when you drink it, it's too much to be desired. And so. Right. I mean, the cool thing with the tablets is at least you can take them and you don't get that kind of pucker that I think happens when you drink the acv. Have you found this to be the case? Because I'm sure people write in, they're probably like, thank you, I don't have to drink that anymore.

It's so funny. A, that's not what I thought you meant by fire shot, but I'm gonna have to try that. And B, I am utilitarian person. Like, if I know it's good for me, I can make it happen. What I found is a lot of our customers. That's like, the number one thing is, thank you so much. I don't have to taste it. There's like, no after burps. Like, I wasn't able to use it until you put it into pill form. So, no, I think that is absolutely a huge obstacle for so many people. And that's exactly another reason the capsules are so convenient and easy and anyone can put this into their lives now.

Cool. And I think about that wheel of wellness I was mentioning, where it's like, okay, okay. Supplementation is a. Is a pie segment of the wheel. There's other segments of the wheel because. Let's go deep on this. Like, if people are in stress and they're experiencing maybe, like, the loss of a job or the loss of something, I mean, shoot. There's a lot of things that we've lost in the past year. We've lost a lot, you know, but when something dies, there's Spaciousness for something to be born. So, so when we look at ACV as part of the wheel, like, what are the other parts of that wheel for people? Let's talk specifically to people that are in high tension, levels of stress, maybe they're not sleeping enough, They've lost a lot. What are the other parts of that wheel in combination with the ACV specifically? I guess we could say for blood sugar.

Yeah. So first of all, I just wanted to say committing to something so simple can actually create other healthy habits. If it's just if you, if you can only do that because like you said, I know a lot of us are really struggling right now and our lives might look a lot different than they did before. But I've heard the most miraculous stories of people just saying, I'm going to drink a glass of water every morning. Okay, I'm going to just do that. And pretty soon that was on autopilot. And then you move to the next thing. And then a year later, a few months later, your life looks totally, totally different. And so when it comes to blood sugar balance, like I said, that is my absolute story. One of the biggest messages I want to get out there is I was someone who believed that a calorie is a calorie. I was a dancer and it didn't matter the quality, just so that you didn't go too high in the amount. And as a result, I was also a maximizer. I'm like, well, then I'm just gonna have big hunks and caramel apple suckers. And I had that all day, every day. And we didn't really share my story in this particular episode, but know that it got real bad. My moods were all over the place. I kicked a hole in my parents wall. I was kicked out of my parents house before I even graduated from high school. And I, I honestly, I think there were two things that contributed to that. Maybe the psychiatric medications that I was on. Also this blood sugar roller coaster that I had no idea was profoundly affecting my mood. And so once you stabilize that and once I got into school, I realized that, wow, it's not just that it's not fun to be there because you're hangry and because maybe your mood is suffering and you're a little bit more irritable. It's because it legitimately increases your risk for, for pretty much every degenerative chronic disease there is, right? Insulin resistance, of course, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and then we know Alzheimer's, and on and on and on. So if we can use Apple cider vinegar or something like that to just bring blood sugar stability back. Here you have this incredible wealth of bandwidth. All of a sudden you have more energy, you have vitality, you can slide sleep better, right? You're going to feel energized. A lot of people tell me this is an energizing supplement for them, so maybe you'll be more inclined to go out there and exercise. And like you said, this wellness wheel, those are all the other parts. And it seems crazy to say, oh, my supplement can give that to you. But in a way, if it's just what you have to start with, it could, because of all the other simple actions that are possible when you can just have stable blood sugar and commit to yourself. And commit to yourself.

That's really what it is, right? Because there's a decision that one makes based on the level that they love themselves, that they're going to do something different. And even more importantly, they're going to keep the promise. So if we can stack the odds in our favor. Our friend Sean Stevenson talks about this. Like, stack the odds in your favor. Put the odds in your favor so you can actually succeed. Like, don't have the things in your home that you know are going to mess with you, right? Like, don't just. Just choose to love yourself and, like, not buy them. And I get it. Like, there's a lot of things, there's a lot of unfolding before people get to the wellness wheel and take an honest look at it, right? Like, they have to really look at many parts of their lives. We all do. How am I sleeping? How's my relationships? Do I still have trauma that I need to let go of? Like, there's so much there, Autumn, before people even get to the wheel, and be like, which parts are empty? You know, which parts do I need to fill? So with that in mind, share with us, like, something that you personally have added in during this time, right? Like, it doesn't have to be. Like, you don't have to tell us your life story, share whatever's comfortable or not. Like, I wanted to create a spaciousness for you, to just be you and just have fun. Like, in that wellness wheel, during this past year, what have you added in to support you?

You know, it's funny, it's been a long year, but I think one of the gifts for me has just been the gift of myself. Because before then, this, I was able. Yep, I'm going to do that for you and I'm going to take care of you, and I'm Going to take care of you as well. But suddenly when my life crumbled all around me because I had to move in the middle of a pandemic and, you know, things were just unraveling in terms of relationships and the world. And so I had to get really clear on connecting to me and to my intuition about what it is I actually want for my life. What do I want to be creating, what relationships are helping me, what relationships are holding me. And then I had to do the next thing is I actually use that to change things around me. And that's the hard piece. Right. And get really comfortable with other people being uncomfortable. That's been so. I think this year has just been getting really clear, just saying no and honoring myself in small ways throughout the day. Even though it's very uncomfortable, I know at the end of the day it's going to be allowing me to live in my authenticity way. And that is better for not just me and my health, but just for my partners and for my son and for the world.

Yeah. Especially as a responsible parent and a business owner or just a good human. In order to please people. Because I think a lot of us like you and me, or just people that are out there in the world, like going for it, like, here I am, here's me in service. And like, I want to help you. For many of us, we can struggle with at times, People please, where it's like, I need to please everyone else. But guess what? By taking a supplement, you're pleasing you. Like you're actually, you're still people pleasing. You're just pleasing yourself so that you have more capacity to please others. And not just to please them, to truly serve them. And this is the thing I wanted to unpack with you. Like, there's a huge difference between pleasing people and serving people. Sometimes what's of service to people doesn't please them, but it's so damn service. So from psychology perspective, and even with, I don't know if you still work with personal clients or not, do you? Or is that rare? You still do. Yeah. So I'm sure you still see this because you're still in the trenches with people that are struggling with the roller coaster of blood sugar and of self love and self worth. That's really what it all points to. How do you support them when somebody really needs to be served instead of. Instead of pleased? How do you have that conversation?

Yeah, I just have the conversation because a lot of times, I mean, you know. Right. And I have found.

Gently. You said what gently.

Maybe 100%. So, yeah, like I do with most other things. And even right before this interview, I set an intention before I talk to somebody about this. Right. And also I asked them, is this a good time to talk about something like this? Because a lot of times when people give you feedback or when you're having this dialogue, and you kind of know professionally when someone wants to change. But just like, are you in the headspace right now to receive advice, or do you still just need to tell me what's going on? And you just need support at this point in time. But then when I found them in a space where they're willing to receive that and I think act upon it, I do it in a very, very gentle way. And I just say, look, this behavior, whatever this cycle, whatever it is you're engaging in when you step out, because I know you're just stuck in it right now. And it might be harder to see the big perspective, but it's. This is not serving you. And I know you. So much potential, beautiful potential. And if we could just change this one thing, that I think it would help you make real progress. And I mean, talk about having to do that on a daily basis. My son, I'm a mom. I mean, that is. I feel like my life, I've become so good at it. But my little guy, I always let him know first. Like, my intention for you is to be your highest self. And that sometimes won't mean we're going to agree. Sometimes you're going to feel angry with me. Sometimes you're going to be frustrated, and we're going to go through this life together. But what I need you to remember is that Mama's looking out for you. And just like with my clients, I'm looking out for your best interest. I want what's best for you. And from my perspective right now, this is just something that I think would really help. But many times this unhad conversation or these behaviors that no one will actually tell you about, they're running your life. And so if you can learn to not only be that for someone else when you find them in the proper headspace, but also take that information in and really sit with it for a few days. Be open to what it might mean for you and how it might be helping you evolve, it's really powerful.

Being conscious to the truth is not always the easy path.

No.

I'm sure I'll learn that as my. My son, Nova, comes to the world, like, to be conscious and to be the observer in a situation of what's really true. Whether it's parenting or. Or eating healthy or taking the right supplements or having loving relationships, like, it's all the same thing. And I hate to be reductionistic, but it literally is. Is all the same thing. Like, am I aware, Am I taking loving ownership of being aware of my current moment, of my situation that I'm in? And so I think about what we talk about on the show so much, and that is this arc of true intelligence, which is like, okay, I'm going to gather. I'm going to listen to Autumn, I'm going to listen to the podcast, I'm going to read the book, I'm going to do the thing, and then I'm actually going to apply. I'm going to take the supplement, I'm going to do the breath work, I'm going to have the hard conversation. And then along the line, Autumn, we all get to this place where we embody it. You know, we embody the virtues and we embody the things that we've gathered and applied. What's something you personally have embodied as a result of the strain of this last year? What have you embodied the most within you?

Ooh, I love this question. So what I'm trying to embody, and which I will admit is not perfect every single day, but is that transition for a lot of women make in their 30s, 40s, sometimes 50s, from Princess to queen. Queen. I'm sure that you're familiar with this, right?

Sure.

And so, yeah, I think I spent a lot of my younger years being that second level human, worried about, oh, how am I perceived? Am I attractive enough? Am I giving enough? Do I have enough? Am I smart enough? And just because of what has been stripped away from me as a result of this year, I've had to really just step into my queen and just say, no, I'm here to do the best that I can, to take one foot in front of the other every single day, to know that my contributions matter. And especially right now, I think everyone, even just being a kind human being matters. Just being curious about the experience instead of judgmental about someone's experience, just all of those little things matter. And just knowing I'm a queen, and I think I'm trying to embody that.

I definitely feel that from you. I think of Alison Armstrong's work. We had her on the show maybe 50 episodes ago, maybe 30 episodes ago. And she talks about For Men, the same thing that you mentioned, where she says that there's three stages for men. Right. There's the. I believe it's the first one is the. The knight. Then there's the prince and there's the late stage prince and then there's the king. And late stage prince is where, you know, a king in training is creating his kingdom. And so I think the same thing really applies to women. And I'm sure she's probably done a lot of work on that. And we'll link that episode here too. Because this is really what we're doing today with Autumn is like, we are filling up this wellness wheel one stack at a time. Like, one at a time. And the reason I brought that up with Alison Armstrong is because we're all doing the best we can. And if anyone during this conversation has felt shame or judgment of self, or maybe they're like, oh, I wish I could be like Autumn. You find yourself comparing yourself to other people. Just take a huge breath in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. Would that be okay? Can we just take a breath for them? Is that all right? Let's just breathe in rich through your nose and fill your belly and let go of shame, judgment and comparison. Because that's the truth of who we are. That's who we are. And thank you for reminding us about who we really are. What else can you remind us about? Who we really are, especially in this time, you know, in this moment. Who all. What exactly are we? And how can we be the best person that we possibly can be?

The one message that I would love everybody to know and we've talked about this is basically just, we are this beautiful, self healing, vital organism and our body is working for our best interests. Right? We are not. We don't need to be sick. Our body isn't trying to make us sick. I just wish if we could kind of reconnect to that and be in less fear, I honestly think everything about the world could change because we would be stable. We would be able to interact with people without as much fear. We would probably be kinder to people, we'd be less judgmental of people and what they may or may not be doing based upon their experiences and all of these other factors. So I think if we just remember that we've got this, our body wants to work for us. That's who we are. We are beautiful little rays of light that deserve to feel good and that deserve to have joy and experience it every single day and deserve to have really meaningful relationships and a fulfilling life. And so I think remembering that, that you deserve this, you deserve health, you deserve joy, you deserve what it is that you want in life and it's okay to ask for. So those would be, I think, what I wish everybody knew a little bit more of today, even though I know it's hard.

Well, rewind that and listen to that three times in a row, because that's all the permission that we need. Like, what you just said is actually all the permission we need. We don't need to ask anyone outside of ourselves for permission to be awesome.

Yeah, you already are.

Yes, you already are. So thanks for so many reminders in this conversation. And before we wrap and say goodbye, like, there's a few other things I want to chat with you about. The first one is, as you grow this company, as you run this company, there are so many, like, pitfalls and hurdles and roadblocks that come along the way. One of them being, and I've heard this from Paul Check, I've heard this from many people that. And also Joe from Cured. Like, there are a lot of organic quote certifications that come through or quality certifications that honestly, honestly don't always have quality and organic certification in mind. I know you talked to me about the beef sticks last year, and you were like, chaz told me that there's so many regulations and hurdles when it comes to, like, certifying things properly. Can you share from, like, a certification perspective in what little time we have the certification process for something to be organic or to be certified health, what kind of roadblocks have you experienced in that way from both supplements and your beef sticks?

Right. Okay. Well, first of all, I just wanted to say sometimes those certifications don't mean what you think they mean. Right. In terms of, like, natural, that doesn't really mean anything. What does that even mean? Yeah. And in terms of, like, organic certification, I know that we're doing the best that we can, but a lot of times there aren't, like, soil samples that need to be taken. And it's a lot of. It's just, like, about the word of the farmer, you know, because we just don't have the bandwidth right now for everyone to be doing that. And so. And of course, when we're bringing ingredients over from another country, too, we. There have been a lot of instances where, wow, some conventional GMO products all of a sudden became organic. And so there's just a lot to know. Regulation isn't always what it should be. But that's why, as a company, we do the best we can. We actually, like, work with our farmers directly, just in the instance of our beef sticks or whatever, because we're not about getting the certification right, we're about the bigger mission. So we don't want to just be organic because that's not necessarily regenerative. We found the kind of agriculture and the kind of ingredients that we want and then we work with farmers directly to make sure that they know what that means. And of course we have co ops and stuff and that everything is regenerating the environment, not just organic, because you can, you know, feed a cow grain still. That grain, you know, is raised in a way that might be still harming the planet.

And so just because it's organic doesn't mean that it's not corn fed.

Right. And so we really, and also some people today were waking up and we realized we need to look for those labels and for those certifications processes, even though they might be faulty in a number of ways. And that's okay. But what we've found is even more impactful for the people we work with is like we just connect you, we're very, very transparent. We will give you all the different analyses that we've done for our products like the organic certifications and the pesticide tests. We'll just provide those to people whenever they ask for them. Then if they want to know more about our farms, we'll of course offer that information as well. And when it comes to like regenerative certification, you can't really know. There's the E certification that the Savory Institute does, it's ecological outcome verified, but you know, they're not everywhere. And there are still farmers maybe in your backyard that are doing things in alignment with regenerative principles, but they didn't have the certification, they didn't necessarily know about it. So certification isn't the only part of the equation. It can be helpful. There are definitely flaws, but when it comes to our products, we will always provide you with all the certifications. Everything will always be organic. Everything is coming from a regenerative farm. And we could not be more passionate about that because the minute we had our son, Maverick, we realized even though we already had a bigger picture view, we realized every single choice we're making is affecting not only our health, but the health of future generations. Our planet is in trouble now. And so we really need to just be mindful of our power and know that we cannot wait for regulation to protect us and to encourage us to make the kinds of dietary choices or lifestyle choices or environmental choices because they are way back. Sometimes I'd even say they're asleep at the the wheel. But as consumers as private companies, we have the power to actually transform this system and the health of our planet and the health of our bodies just by deciding what we eat every single day.

Well, that was like the ultimate mic drop I could have ever asked for. I think we're done. I think we're done after that. No, but you brought up so much in me. And, you know, since I got back from this vision quest, I've really. We've rebranded everything. Like, it affected me so profoundly. And I noticed you have some nature on the wall behind you. You have. It's no surprise you have trees right above your head. I mean, I'm having, like. Like a full body chill moment. Because when I came back autumn from the quest and I was in deep harmony and resonance with nature, touching death in nature will make you understand and appreciate life in a way you never even could comprehend. And coming back, I literally. I called my videographer, I called my engineer, I called my executive. I was like, we're changing everything. Because the one thing, the one thing that had been missing in our marketing and in our branding and the way we show up to serve was Mother Nature. We hadn't been honoring her enough, and I just didn't see it. I did the best I could. I'm not shaming myself. I just. I just wasn't seeing it. And so we've changed. We've put the abstract fractals to honor the future generations because, let's face it, technology is the future. Like your son. Oh, my God. He's going to basically be a whiz at all things tech, right? And so we also put in Mother Nature and the trees and the stars in our marketing because it honors our ancestors and where we came from. And this earth that we are supported by, the mother that's always held us. Ever since we've been here, she's always held us. And so there's so many cool synchronicities that have happened in this conversation. The trees behind you, the way you've stated Future Generations and Maverick, and the way that we've been changing. We look at the shirt that I have from Force of Nature meets, like, all of these brands. I'm happy and I'm grateful. I'm really just. What I feel in this moment for you is I'm grateful. I'm grateful that we can partner. We can make money together and make a difference in the world by giving people things that will actually help them and help the planet at the same time. Like, that's the kind of, I guess you could say hippie 2.0 that the world really, really needs. So we covered a lot of ground. Autumn, super grateful for you to be on the show. The third time was honestly, in my opinion, the best time. This was the rich conversation. I loved it. Is there anything that we didn't cover that you really want to be known? If so, cool. If not, that's fine. Just answer the question now. What is wellness? Right, so those two things. What is your definition of wellness and is there anything we didn't cover that you really want to speak the truth? Truth out on?

Well, my definition of wellness is knowing yourself and honoring yourself every day with everything you do. And then the last thing I want to say is we've kind of talked about this Mother Nature. We need to be, you know, mindful of her and her health. But in case anyone doesn't know, regenerative agriculture is one of my biggest passions. And there are three massive problems that I see it's able to kind of address. And I know it's a very intimidating topic, but I just challenge each and every one of you to be the person who teaches other people or at least puts a little buzz in their ear, because we are just learning how the soil works. We didn't know it for a really long time, and now people are waking up to it. And you can be an advocate, even if you don't know all the complexities. You can be someone to put that on someone's radar and really move the needle. So there are estimates that if we just transition 10 to 20% of agricultural lands to regenerative practices, we can begin what's called drawdown. And that's just where we're taking enough carbon out of the atmosphere to actually make a really significant difference. But the other thing I don't think people understand is that we right now in history are at the lowest levels of nutrients in our food ever recorded. And it's not because the nutrients aren't there, the minerals aren't there. It's because the soil biology has been destroyed. The fungi and the bacteria that take the nutrients and give plants access. So regenerative agriculture is great for that. Regenerative agriculture is also really great for just reducing the levels of pesticides, herbicides, environmental degradation, but also, like I said, it can bring down carbon like those. The grass acts as a straw and it can trap it underground. Soil is actually the best place for us to trap all this excess carbon. And so for all of those reasons, choosing to support regenerative agriculture, whether it's with my company, I don't care. Just get excited about it. Tell somebody about it. Meet your local farmer. I just think it's a really important thing today for everyone to be aware of and to be a part of.

Autumn, love your presence and thank you for the generosity, by the way. You know, you've been supporting me, us, and we love supporting you back. So you guys, this product, I take it personally. I mean, it's in my stack. I have like 50 supplements over here. But this one right here, this ACV, take this in the way that Autumn described intuitively. Learn how to use it so that you can feel good so you're not on this freaking roller coaster all day long. It's wellnessforce.com Paleovalley and just use the code. Josh. J O S H Autumn gave us 15% off, which is super chat generous because I know in the supplement world, like, you know, you have to make a living and anytime that you're giving discounts, it's an act of generosity. So thank you for being on the show. Thank you for the discount, thank you for supporting us. We love supporting you. And to everyone, until Autumn and I see you again, we are both wishing you an honoring of the earth, of mother earth in honoring of our future generations and spaciousness right here, right now so that we can all have love and wellness. So thank you, Autumn, for coming on the show.

Thanks, Josh. It is always, always a pleasure. I love the show and I love everything you're doing. So we are so grateful to be a part of that.

Likewise, It.