Use the Right Supplements to Start Living Ageless, with Michele Drielick

Welcome to the five Journeys podcast Live like youe Matter. Our guest today is Michelle Drelich, who's a clinical nutritionist, author and educator with over 25 years in functional medicine and healthcare innovation. She's a healthy aging expert and is also the co founder and chief executive officer of Ageless lx. Welcome, Michelle.

Hey guys. It's so great to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me on.

Yeah. This is our treat.

Oh yeah. So psyched to have you.

Awesome.

So we were going to start, we had you on because I think a lot of people have a lot of questions about supplements and qualities and fads and why supplements and can you kind of let's kick this off with supplements and we'll get into the nitty gritties.

Sure, sure. So what I have found, you know, working with patients over years and years is that very often in the mind of most consumers, their trusted store, you know, we trust our targets and our publics and our, you know, those are places even our vitamin shops or our GNCs, we develop a know, like and trust of the people in there or the brand and so will then purchase from those brands or places without really understanding that in the supplement world, manufacturers want results, but they also want the right price to mark it up so that it can sit on those shelves. And so not always the best ingredients get chosen. And that's why practitioners such as yourselves and lots of other physicians around the country carry their own supplements within their practices. Because I think those, I mean, I think we would probably all agree here. We know what results we expect when we give someone the vitamin D, for instance, that we work with. Because then we know what we're looking for. We know what result we're looking for. And when that result doesn't happen, then we know, hey, there's something else going on because this should work, right? So when people buy things off the store shelf, we have no idea how it's, you know, if it, the purity of it, the, you know, there's very little requirements for producing supplements. You really are left to the manufacturer to have the integrity to do extra third party testing.

Yeah. So people, I think people think that the FDA regulates supplements.

Right.

And that's really not the fact. And quality. I know I've talked to a lot of people that do a lot of manufacturing and one of the things, even if all the stuff, all the vitamins are of relatively high quality, but the filler is a cheap filler, you're still not gonna get the supplements you need.

Oh my gosh, 100%. It's actually, you know, it's a double edged sword when we say that the nutritional supplement space is not controlled by the fda because if it were, look at the price of pharmaceuticals, right? They're through the roof. A vial of insulin for $400, you know, so in one hand we're thankful that we don't have that massive oversight that would require extensive clinical research into every single thing that we do. However, on the other side of things, it really is let the buyer beware. And you're right, sometimes you choose the right ingredients, meaning the right active ingredients. But that manufacturer may, you know, want to reflex to less expensive fillers because they know how they work and how they perform with products. Because so many people in the industry that are creating products are doing so at a really cheap price point. And because of that they're used to working with those like silicon dioxide is one that comes to mind. And magnesium stearate and things like that where, you know, rice powder works great too. And you can get organic rice hulls that are ground up to work the same way. And it's completely natural. It doesn't have a carb impact for anybody who's on a ketogenic or diet like that. And it's a much better option.

Yep, yeah, it's still the wild, wild west out there.

It is. So when people are looking at, okay, I'm going to buy supplements, I mean there's sort of a dual track. So I'm always saying, well, get the data and take the supplements based on what you need. But also people like taking supplements. They feel better when they take them. So how would people know which ones to take and which are a fad and which are really critical or core? There's anything that you can say is core versus yeah, total, total body, don't do it.

It's a great question. So I feel like each practitioner kind of has their own pillars, right? So very often you'll find a doctor that works a lot with the gut. And so they have a series of, you know, glutamine might be one of the things that's in their pillars. But in general, I think overall, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this too, but I mean, you know, multivitamin, it used to be that it's funny that the multivitamin industry took off when it did because back then people actually ate lots of fruits and vegetables and so they probably had good nutrition back then and were taking lower quality multivitamins. Nowadays we have really high potency, high, high quality Multivitamins, it's probably a good thing because as we all know and talk about, and I know as in dirty girl, the quality of our soil just isn't what it used to be. And so, you know that old adage of, you know, you want to get 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, it's really like nine now or even more because of the quality of the nutrients that are in our soil that work their way into the plants that we e. Think it's ever a bad idea for someone to take a multivitamin. Right. I know I do. I love greens drinks and greens powders as well because they're whole food based. So I always prefer to take my nutrients in a whole food form. So I add that into the regimen. I think probiotics are essential. We used to think of them as only for people that had gut issues, but we all have gut issues because of the quality.

We're alive today.

We live, we eat, we breathe.

Yeah.

And here we are. And so, you know, the gut. The last seven or eight years have really unfolded so much research on the importance of maintaining digestive health from top to bottom, but especially in the lower digestive tract. So I think probiotics are huge. We're seeing a lot of research on prebiotics emerging, which you get from your diet on, you know, some good fibers, but also this whole idea of postbiotics now are emerging. But I just think a good solid probiotic is always welcome. Fish oil always at the top of the list. Right. Because unless you live in a culture where you're eating, you know, non farm raised like wild oily fish, anchovies. So.

Alaska.

Yeah, Alaska. And you know, honestly, the biohackers, like all the male, I hate to stereotype, but male biohackers can pound sardines and anchovies like no one I've ever met. But most people don't.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I think those are the three. Yeah, three main ones.

Yeah. I think people come to us. I'm not sure what your experience is, but they say, well, why shouldn't I be on multivitamin? And I think there's different schools of thought in the sense for people that have a problem. I actually tend to not start with a multivitamin because there's only so much the body can absorb. I want them to absorb what they need and then for maintenance we're going to put them on a good multivitamin, fish oil, vitamin D, et cetera, so forth. But I have talked to many practitioners that I Respect very much. That put everybody all at once for a multivitamin. So it's definitely different schools of thought and we all get good results. So I'm not sure there's necessarily one when you're treating a problem, but it's definitely.

Yeah, I tend to target.

Yeah, you raise a great point.

X, Y and Z. Yeah.

And it's so maintenance. Right. Multivitamins are good. I think of them as just like nutritional insurance. Right. They just kind of sit at the bottom. But when you're talking about like, hey, I have dysfunction, I'm not. Well then, yeah. A multivitamin is first of all, by the time you put your targeted therapeutics on top of it, it's hard to manage different doses of different, you know, a multi might have too much calcium in it when you're trying to bump up their D and K and you know, so it creates a dilemma. I think for maintenance wise, I always like to think of it as just as nutritional insurance. And frankly for me, like I said, I prefer greens powders because they're whole food based and they're right from the source. So that's my preference. Got it.

But I think you're dead on to go back. So is there anything that a consumer can look at, at a label to see like a minimum quality that they would want to consume? If it's not supplements from a practitioner but cvs, Walgreens, Costco, all that stuff is there. First of all, is there good quality supplements that you know of from those?

And wait, we try not to be political and we're now just going to bash half. Can you retract your question?

Yeah, let me retract that question.

Rephrase.

I don't think it's about bashing the store shelves. I think it's really being aware because there are a lot of supplements that are sold online as high quality that have that same issue. So, you know, I think when we're looking at a supplement really for consumers, there's so much misinformation out there and I hate to, you know, I know we always put at the bottom of things like consult your physician, but it's really true. All consumers should be speaking with a knowledgeable physician about what's right for them and what's not. And so I think people often get, get cornered in on products that they see that deliver a promise and they want to take advantage of it, but may not know how that's going to work with maybe medications they're on or other supplements they're on. That's One thing I would say.

Yeah, no, I think that's good advice.

Yeah. I mean, I know. So I'd like to switch gears a little bit because I know you have a particular interest and emphasis on aging gracefully. I mean, I always think about, I don't want to age, but the alternative is worse. And so I want to age, but I want to age beautifully and gracefully and as much myself as possible. So the first thing is, what causes. I think we're going to ignore the men today. What causes women to age and what kicks off the process?

Yeah, well, what's interesting is it's what causes all of us to age. And if you think about it, what is the predominant difference between women and men as they get older? Right. So if you really think about our.

Stature, is this philosophy or like.

No, no, this is clinical. So it's a great. Right. If we talk about philosophy, we could be here all day. But clinically, what's different, Right? Men have testosterone typically much later into life, and maintain a significant amount of muscle mass right up and into their 50s and beyond, where women, at the age of 35, our muscle mass actually starts to decrease. Right. And so it's kind of a secret where most people think wrinkles are the sign of aging. Wrinkles are the symptom of aging. Right. It's what comes later. By the time you've seen wrinkles, the process has already kicked off long ago. And it really starts with muscle loss and losing muscle as we age, even if we're working out. In fact, you probably can attest to this. People who are chronic exercisers, cardiovascular exercise, they probably break down more muscle, right? So building and maintaining muscle is the biggest challenge of how we age and especially how women age. And so losing muscle kicks off that process of collagen breaking down. Because right now, there's a big buzz talking about supplements, huge buzz in the collagen world, which we should chat about it because it's definitely a deep place for education. It's a great example of hyperactive marketing without a whole lot of clinical science behind it. But with that said, when we lose muscle, we kick off the process of collagen depletion and collagen breakdown. And if you think about it, when we lose that elasticity and that puffiness and that fullness in our skin, the skin starts to cave in on itself and we start to see wrinkles or crepey skin in our neck and our elbows. Right? Those are common places for women. Those are all signs of. Of muscle loss and collagen breakdown.

So what can you do to prevent that? In terms of exercise, obviously, but it's really hard.

I mean, it's harder. I will say I'm an older woman and I have definitely noticed that my workouts, if I did this workout when I was 25, I would be ripped. And now all it does is keep me from looking like a complete flabby mess.

Mush ball, right? I know. That's exactly right. And it is true that our hormone, you know, the whole cascade of hormones and the hormone process of how our body produces testosterone and produces estrogen and creates those hormones is strongly impacted by our stress levels. Right. Cortisol kind of jams that circuit. And everything past cortisol, everything past stress starts to get mucked up, which is really happens much more in women than men. What happens when that happens to men is they just get that belly right up front. But for women, we really, it kicks off a real hormone process for us across the board. And so you're right. The message, like hard and clear. And I keep hearing it in my own podcast with my own experts. We continue to unravel this idea that women should be lifting heavy weight in their workouts. We should not be so consumed with cardio, right? Do cardio because it's cardiovascular fitness, for sure. We want to keep our heart healthy, our blood vessels healthy, but if we're talking about maintaining longevity and health for life, do not be afraid of lifting heavy weights. And if you're worried about bulking, you know, I'm not going to lie. If you've got a good amount of body fat and you start lifting heavy weights, there will be an interim period where you look a little thicker. But that is a short term place, right? It's the place where your muscle is increasing and your fat is decreasing. But you're catching it right here before it all happens. So it makes you look a little thicker. Your bottom might fit a little tighter in your pants for a month or two, but after that, everything gets tighter and gets smaller. So I think there's that. We've not shared that with women strongly enough.

And Michelle, I think the thing that's really important to highlight too is the why behind it. Why is it important to build the muscle? What does it do? How does that keep us healthy? Are you able to talk about that?

Totally. Totally. So, I mean, just. You're right. Most people, if you ask them why they exercise, if they're under 50, they tell you for aesthetics, right? They tell you, because I want to look good, I want to look good over 50. You start to get more into the. I need to feel good. I need exercise to release my stress. And I know that it's healthy, healthy for me going forward. So muscle is the key to metabolism. We know that. Right. So when you lose muscle, you lose your metabolism, which is why when we're older, we say, oh, I've gained weight after menopause, and it's that old menopause belly. No, you've lost muscle and you've slowed down your metabolism. Right. And so there's that process going on. But as we age, maintaining our muscle, it helps regulate our blood sugar, our blood glucose. Right. And so we know when we're managing our blood sugar, we're managing our insulin. And if we can balance that, Right. And keep that balanced into our 70s and 80s, I mean, that's usually what kicks off massive aging and that quick downhill decline as we age, which is, you know, this idea of pre diabetes, insulin resistance, diabetes, any of the neurological conditions. Right. Alzheimer's, dementia, they're all type 3 diabetes. Right. That's what we're calling them now. So it's all impacted glucose control and glucose management. That's what exercise does for you. It keeps your. Your glucose nice and stable. So having muscle mass continues to put stress on the bone, strengthen bone, it manages glucose. I mean, the list goes on and on as to why we need to be fit as we age.

Yeah. I think one of the things that I come up with, come away with when I see older men or women.

Is you're very inclusive and women spoilers. But I'm looking at them.

Is really how many older people believe that going for a walk two or three times a week is enough exercise for them and that that's okay, and that they're older, so that's what they're supposed to be doing. And one of the. I believe our jobs as clinicians is to really speak to them and say, no, you need to be working twice as hard as you were when you were 40 or 50, not decrease your activity.

Wait, let's back up for a second. The first thing that you said is the most critical thing, which is we reject the notion that as you age, you are meant to decline and become decrepit.

Yes. And we treat.

Training people in that to take on that philosophy. And then within the framework of we reject the clinic. What is that? The conventional wisdom. We reject the conventional wisdom that you're meant to decline and get decrepit. And so if you're meant to age beautifully and gracefully, what are the behaviors and actions and Lifestyle and supplements associated with that behavior, as opposed to, well, I'm 70 now. What am I going to do today?

I'm supposed to have aches and pains. I'm supposed to be able to be more tired.

It's expected. I'm supposed to slow down is what I think. The conventional wisdom has passed on through the years.

And then retirement. I get to retire. What does that mean?

Yeah, that's beyond the scope of this podcast.

That's very philosophical.

Right.

But the idea of retirement back in the 50s, 60s and 70s was all about slowing down. I think retirement nowadays is more about vitality and getting out there and reliving a life that you. So I think from a mental health perspective, we're looking, by and large, we're looking at aging so differently than we ever have before. So that's encouraging, right. That a lot of people get it, a lot of people don't. Right. And are still in that. I need to just take a walk and slow down. It's the same way in medicine where we used to think after surgery you needed to lay on your back for three weeks. And now we're like, you need to.

Get up and walk within five hours of surgery. Let's go.

Yes, Right, right. Let's go. Right. And our grandparents look at us nowadays and think, that's crazy. You need to rest. So you're right, I think. And you know, there's no surprise, though, that where the 80s and 90s and 2000s have left us as women in our older women is with significant bone loss. Right. Because of that mindset of slowing down because our muscle wasted away and did not stress the bone adequately enough so that it could rise up and continue to be strong. We've done it to ourselves, in fact. So we look at things like osteoporosis. We used to think of osteoporosis as like, oh, it's happening to you. It's a chronic disease. It comes out of an unhealthy lifestyle.

When we think of that, we switch it a component. You can have a great lifestyle, crappy, crappy genes and toxins and be osteoporotic. But if all things are equal, osteoporosis is really just the end result of sedentary behavior. If everything else is optimized and poor.

Lifestyle, assuming and poor lifestyle, you could.

Be also nutrient deficient food.

Yes, Right.

And toxic and let in the bones and blah, blah, blah.

Absolutely. But I lump that all into lifestyle. Right. Like, I mean, it really is, you know, lead in the boat is probably something that Came from, you know, sucking on paint chips as a kid and doing the things I used to chase the mosquito man. Right. When I was a kid, I remember running down the street while his fumes are flying out of the back of his mouth. Wow. Like crazy. Yep.

So we've established the critical nature of. We haven't really talked about food, but particularly exercise.

Well, we're talking about bones. Right. And exercise.

Yeah.

Aging in general.

Supplements play in that.

Yeah.

So where do supplements come in?

They have a very important place in this space. Right. And we're seeing that in just out in our stores, where we're seeing this explosion of things like collagen and beauty supplement products. I do want to address the issue with collagen for a moment, because clinically, I'm sure you're seeing tons of patients that are coming in talking about taking collagen. And so it's funny, because I think just consumers at large are being led into this idea that you drink a slew of another animal's collagen, right. And that becomes collagen for you. Like that collagen comes into your body and goes into your joints and comes into your body and goes into your muscle. And in fact, that collagen is no different than a piece of chicken or a piece of fish. It has to be broken down into its base products, right. Like its amino acids, the compounds that your body uses to make collagen. So you drink this collagen, your body has to break it down and then make collagen out of it. So it blows me away, because we've been here in science long ago. Vitamin D, vitamin C. Right. Biotin. These products combine very well together. These nutrients come together, and they actually stimulate your body to make its own collagen. So it doesn't make sense. And that we've been. It's a little hoodwinky, right, that we've been led to believe that taking collagen makes collagen. Well, sure it does, but so does a, you know, a nice piece of tuna. But it's the same process, and we can get that through our own nutrients. But what I found. And, you know, this is a story that is kind of near and dear for me, because this is the story of, you know, I'm 53, and my parents. I've lost both of my parents. My father passed away from lung cancer, and my mother passed away from a stroke. And my mother's stroke occurred years after multiple heart attacks. Right. And so here I am, a nutritionist, and we always. You know, it's always people find their way into their profession based on what baggage kind of they bring to the table. Right? And so, you know, I would have so many conversations. You know, my mother's father, my grandfather died of a heart attack when he was 53. My age. My age, right? Like, woo, wake up. And so I remember saying to my mother, like, mom, why don't we change your diet like this and let's get out and exercise. And I remember her saying, michelle, why do you pester me like this? Why do you bother me so much? You know, did you take your fish oil? Are you taking your fish oil? And I would say, because if you could save your father, wouldn't you have done that? Like it's a no brainer, I'm trying to save you. And so, you know, that story went down the path that it was meant to go on because of, you know, old school mindset and the idea that vitamins are just vitamins and medicine is medicine. Right. And that our food plays a little bit of a role there. But what I learned from that process is just what we've been talking about all this time, which is we feel victim to the old school, we feel victim to aging. So what that left me to understand is that it wasn't just my mom, it's a whole generation of women and their children which are now my age. Right. And I see it all the time. I would have patients that would say to me, you'll understand when you're my age. And I would say, I'm older than you. Right. And so, you know, the idea that we can impact the way we age became really critical for me. So I did a, a tremendous amount of research, working very closely with physicians from the Mayo Clinic, functional medicine experts, and really diving in on the research. And we essentially found an ingredient that is almost, I mean, it's remarkable. It has NIH studies with it, it has six US patents on it. And essentially it prevents muscle loss, right? The wasting away of muscle. It's a derivative of an amino acid of leucine, right. Which is in our, which is in anywhere we get protein. It's a protein. So this is a derivative of leucine preventing muscle loss. It was. All of the research came out of Iowa State University, but was also researched around the country, including Vanderbilt and Harvard and Cornell. And so with that in mind, having all of that research, what we learned is not only did people, when they take this ingredient, not lose muscle, but they actually gained muscle faster. Right. It increased muscle protein synthesis faster. And an NIH study Showed that it actually increases muscle without movement. Right. Without exercise. Now, we don't promote it that way, but that happens to be one of the factors of being able to increase muscle protein synthesis. And so we took that ingredient, which is called beta hydroxy betamethylbutyrate. HMB for short. We took that and we married it with things that we know promote collagen, stimulate collagen production in the body. Biotin, vitamin D, vitamin K. Because we know wherever there's calcium, we always want a vitamin D, and we always want a vitamin K to protect women's cardiovascular systems, preventing plaque from invading the arterial wall. You know, there's a whole lot of science behind this, but when we started giving it to women, the results were astounding. Because not only do women typically see muscle definition very quickly, that wasn't there before, which is more superficial. But more importantly, Wendy, to your point, their workouts become more efficient and effective. I know when I feel like I can't max out at a certain weight, you know, like I'm increasing my weight more frequently, getting me to that place where I can lift heavier. But more importantly, hair, skin, nails, jawlines get tighter. I mean, there's nothing more graphic than having women who are trying your product for the first time and sending you just every day. We get emails every day, Photos of themselves. They send photos. And so it's just knowing that, you know, the tagline that we use or the thing that we say all the time is we're changing the way women age. And that's really important to me, I think maybe because I'm aging, more importantly because I watched my mom age, but also because our children are growing up in an era where just like you talk about in Dirty Girl, it's not what it used to be. And so we're wired now to age faster than ever before if we don't take control of our process.

Okay, I have so many questions, Michelle.

Do you have before I tell you all you.

So I mean, that's one product, which is amazing. And now I'm like, oh, I want to try it, because I do it and I'm working.

Yes, of course.

Working really hard just to maintain. So how does that tie in with the rest of what people are taking? Is it that? What else should people be adding?

Yeah, yeah. So it all. You know, obviously supplements are super personal for people, and so, you know, depending on what they have going on. But I find in general, we talked earlier in the conversation about fish oil. Fish oil is like nature's anti inflammatory. Right. I Mean, we know that. And so most of us are walking around with a decent amount of systemic inflammation. Right. Not localized from an injury, but just the type of inflammation that our body creates in response to something. And as we all know, there's always something. Right. Whether it's the food you're eating, that's that greasy cheeseburger creates inflammation. Right. It sends off compounds in our body that are inflammatory, which is why people who eat greasy cheeseburgers morning, noon and night. And not that there isn't a place for a greasy cheeseburger in the world, because there is, but not chronically and Right. Everything in moderation. And so I think any kind of nutritional supplements that help curb systemic inflammation without obviously turning it off and causing a whole nother problem. So I think fish oil is a great place for. In an anti aging space. Right. Aging way. There's a lot of emerging research. I lost my thought.

Well, I have a question about the fish oil. So how do people gauge that it's clean? Because I'm all about don't get exposed to mercury, don't eat the heavy metal fish. I'm sorry, the high mercury fish. And so if you're having 3 to 5 grams a day of fish oil and it's not a clean source, how can people ensure that what they're getting is clean?

Yeah. So obviously your patients can ensure that because you only buy products that are pure. I would say most fish oil over the counter is probably not as pure, although there are some examples where they are. Right. So usually you can go to a company's website, especially a fish oil company. They tend to, they tend to, their expertise is in fish oil very often. Right. So those are the kinds of companies I gravitate toward where that's their main focus. But also they'll post online their certificates of analysis of the ingredients of their specific products. And so I look at those very carefully and so the average person, you know, can take a look and be comfortable with those kinds of products. Do you want me to name names? I'm happy to do so.

We can, I mean we. I know Nordic Natural is a very good quality supplement.

Supplement. I'm a super big fan of Nordic Naturals, but any of the lines that actually sell into practitioners offices like emetogenics or ortho molecular products or designs for health, I mean they're all high, very highly vetted products. So if you're working with a practitioner that has their own kind of green pharmacy that contains products that we just named, I know you can buy Nordic Naturals in most health food stores. And I mean I potty trained my kids on those little tiny strawberry fish oils. You know, those were their treats.

The dha.

Yeah, the DHA is brilliant.

I do want to, to put a plug in for fish oil when you're looking for maintenance. I think any of the high quality supplements you can take when you're looking for a therapeutic dose. If somebody really needs anti inflammation, you really want to look, not only is it low mercury content, but also what is your EPADHA ratio as opposed to other Omega 3s. So you want to really look at what is the total EPA dha? Not just total omega. So that's just something for people to watch out for if they're looking for a therapeutic. The higher, the better for epadha.

Well, let's put a plug in if you're looking for a thera. If you feel that you need therapeutic levels of fish oil, you probably would benefit from a functional medicine or wellness evaluation and maybe get the data and understand your body. Because we can test that stuff.

Absolutely. And we can dive in on that topic alone. Right. Even you want a good solid, you know, total of EPA and DHA together. But given your own personal, you know, health challenge that you may have going on, you might need more EPA than DHA or reverse. Right. So that's the talking about the plug for functional medicine. That's why you want to have a provider that understands the ratios of EPA and dha. I know we're diving deep on a particular topic, but. Yeah, but it's, I mean, but it acts the same. I mean most people don't realize that fish oil acts the same as an anti inflammatory pharmaceutical. Right. It blocks the same cascade in a natural, healthy way. So if you're one of those people like us that prefers to let nature take its course and use nature to help the body, this is a great first place to start. Now when you've got more chronic stuff, that's when I start gravitating more toward the, the more natural herb based, some anti inflammatories there too. But that is definitely left to a practitioner.

Can people hurt themselves with supplements?

Oh yeah, right. It's a great question and it is 100% true. Yeah, absolutely. Especially because there's a lot of things out there that work the way they're promoted to work. You know, adaptogens I think are a great example. Adaptogens like Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, Eleuthero, Holy basil. These are adaptogens. And the cool thing about adaptogens Is they do what you need them to do. If you need them to upregulate, they will. And if you need them to downregulate things, they will, Right? They do both. They're kind of brilliant that way. But if you take. They're very subtle differences. But when you read them over the counter, everybody thinks they need all of them. Right. But they're very specific and very subtle. But also you can take them and they need to be rotated. They need to move around a little bit more. Right. And working with a practitioner that can help, you know, how that works is one thing and really important. But there are also things like. Let's say there are people that are undergoing chemotherapy, right? So the basis of chemotherapy requires what we call oxidative stress. It creates a lot of inflammation on purpose. Right. And we're not here to debate the value of chemotherapy, but the reality is a lot of people in America are on chemotherapy at one point in their lives, and it works by creating inflammation. And so the thing we don't wanna do is stop that process, right. By using supplement that can interfere with that process. So really working with people that understand everyone's unique individual, you know, people. Another thought comes to mind. People that have diabetes, you can take nutritional supplements that work that could lower your blood sugar too quickly. You know, there's. It's all. There's absolutely. It's medicine, right? Our nutrients are our medicine, and so we can always hurt ourselves. Calcium is another one taking straight calcium. Women in the 80s, 90s, I remember my mom, my grandmother, right? Even patients today, I'm sure, walk into your practice and they bring in that giant honkin bottle because calcium is so huge. And they take their calcium religiously every day. And you're thinking, oh my. Right. Because calcium by itself is not good.

Yeah. And it's been drilled in so much that it's very hard to change people's thought process on that.

Just like yearly Pap smears. I'm like, you don't need a Pap every year. And they're like, what? What?

Right, right. But like calcium, we know vitamin D is way more important. And the more vitamin D you have, the more calcium gets absorbed, so you don't actually need as much. And people still want to take their 1500 milligram horse pill, right?

Well, and greasy cheeseburgers and calcium supplements don't. Don't play well together, Right? Because that gives you cheeseburger.

I'm like, I want to do cheese.

You're making it sound good.

She said it.

Surprised. Yeah. But we know that inflammatory foods that can have an arterial wall issue. Right. Create atherosclerosis. We know that taking calcium with those foods and with that inflammation can lead to hardening of the arteries and a worsening of their cardiovascular system. So, I mean, again, I keep going back to, you need to talk to somebody that knows what they're doing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Michelle, where can people find you? What's your website? Where are you on social? Where can people find you?

I am. I am. I'm on Instagram as michellelivingageless. So I'm easy to find there and always happy to share kind of what's going on, trends, and what you can do to essentially evolve Ageless. Speaking of which, I have my own podcast called Evolving Ageless, which I'm excited to have the two of you be a guest on my show.

We're honored.

We can't wait.

Thank you. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun because, again, women own this. We can own this. So, yeah, evolvingageless.com is the best place to find me and the podcast.

Awesome.

And then you had mentioned that you might be offering a surprise discount to our listeners with the product.

Absolutely, yes, for sure. And so, you know, like I said, for me, it's about spreading the knowledge and the information that women understand that they can control the way they age. And so I want to remove barriers and allow women to try that out. So the name of my product, which I haven't talked about because really, I want to focus today on supplements and doing what's right for women and managing our health. But also the age aging space is my space. And so Ageless LX is the name of my product, agelesslx.com and so we are excited to give your listeners a discount if they are interested in trying the product. So the discount code is DirtyGirl15, and you'll get 15% off of anything on the site.

That's amazing.

Thank you for offering that to our clients and listeners.

Absolutely.

Michelle, it's been amazing.

My pleasure.

It's been on. Thank you so much.

Thank you for being with us.

Wendy and Ed, thank you so much for inviting me. This has been wonderful. You guys are so knowledgeable.

We'll talk to you again soon. Michelle.