The New Health (Aired 02-02-2025) The Future of Health: Reversing Disease and Optimizing Wellness

[00:00:25] Speaker A: To the new health. We are bringing on thought leaders as people are getting sicker and sicker at younger ages who are speaking about how they are improving health and wellness and revolutionizing healthcare. I'm your host, Jessica Preston. And today back with us is Josh Remini, pharmacist turned functional medicine provider who is changing the world through pharmacy and training pharmacists on how to educate patients on health and wellness. He's been talking with us about all of the ways and methods he's been doing this and bringing some key concepts home to us. Thank you so much for joining me again today, Josh. [00:01:01] Speaker B: Oh, thank you, Jessica. This has been so much fun. I'm so glad that we were able to do this for people. [00:01:06] Speaker A: So am I. So am I. And we've talked a lot about Daily Dozen and I know we're going to address some of these things again in health and wellness, environment, diet, lifestyle. And we had mentioned at one point in time how special stress and emotional well being is of such a major component in health and wellness. [00:01:26] Speaker B: Well, we know that the body and the mind are connected. Right. And so we. And emotional well being is at the cornerstone of almost all of the downstream effects of illness and disease or dis. Ease. Right. [00:01:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:44] Speaker B: And I feel because, well one, it's also affected my life in many different ways. And so I've studied this word stress as my own personal journey towards healing. But I also think like this whole component of mental health is a very known topic now. We talk about it even in sports, right. In professional sports and all of these places. But stress and burnout, I don't think why I put it as a cornerstone of a pillar for health and well being is we can do something about it. And I've learned this through my own journey, not just because I've learned the science. [00:02:24] Speaker A: I love that you put stress and burnout together. We hear a lot about stress, mental health and mental health is people start thinking, oh, but I don't have anxiety or depression. It's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about stress overall that can lead to those feelings or lead to those situations of anxiety and depression. [00:02:44] Speaker B: Well, we think of the way our genetics have evolved over time. The reptilian brain, the mammalian brain before this big beautiful front brain that we have for all of our creativity and thought from humans is all rooted in survival. Right. Everyone knows about fight or flight, fight, fight or freeze. But that and that mechanism is important. The problem we have in modern society is the fight or flight system is turned on about 70% of the time, right. But when we were running from the tiger back in the ca. Let's just call it the caveman age, right? When we were running from the tiger, we would get eaten or we didn't. And you think about animals, right? When animals are in the wild, they all have the same. We all have the same capacity to run, fight or freeze. Deer in the headlights. Freeze, right? Fight or run. That's an innate thing. We need to survive as a human species, as any species, we need to survive. But our evolution has. But the body, the brain doesn't know the difference between running from the tiger or getting cut off in traffic. [00:04:03] Speaker A: Right? [00:04:04] Speaker B: So our plugged in life is exposing us to many stressors, but they're the same impact. 1400 chemical reactions goes on in your body within milliseconds of a stressful event. [00:04:20] Speaker A: I'm going to stop you for a quick second because this is something that people don't usually talk about. You said 1400 chemical reactions. So when people say stress and stress is going to impact my health, they say okay, so they're going to do something about it. Will you just pick one or two of those physiologic reactions that long term can cause detriment to your body. [00:04:43] Speaker B: There's four key imbalances to stress. Blood sugar dysregulation, emotional problems. We talked about anxiety, depression and things like that. Inflammation on the body. So cortisol surges. We have called the HPA access. And so the hypopalamic pituitary axis is what the chemical which turns into so many having a thought, the thought turns into a chemical. The chemical cascade actually moves through the body within milliseconds. [00:05:13] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:13] Speaker B: So those imbalances happen with pain, with inflammation, with emotional dysregulation and with blood sugar dysregulation. So lots of problems. If you looked at all of those things, you could correlate it to all the problems we have with our chronic disease, which is why 80% of people go to the doctor. Rooted around a problem, rooted around that one word, stress. [00:05:42] Speaker A: That's it. This is beautifully said. I so appreciate how you put that because. Because I don't think people realize your blood sugar can actually change from your stress. [00:05:51] Speaker B: Well, if you look at it from a pharmacy perspective, yes. Prednisone is a steroidal anti inflament corticosteroid which is used commonly for inflammation, Crohn's disease. Anything that's inflamed in the body, we take a big anti inflammatory. Well, just think of Prednisone equaling cortisol. They're both corticosteroids. Cortisol can shrink the brain. This is where foggy brain comes in. This is where all the problems people are having in modern society are rooted around this surge of stress. We should be in a restful state. And by the way, we can't heal our bodies if we're in stress. [00:06:33] Speaker A: Right. [00:06:33] Speaker B: This is why they call it rest and digest. But it's really healing. [00:06:37] Speaker A: Yes. [00:06:38] Speaker B: Parasympathetic state, sympathy, sympathetic state is where we're in stress. So if you're in stress 70% of the time, how can you regenerate or heal your body? So again, how do we get in front of the main root causes of dysfunction to get the body to heal itself? Now, here's the other piece. Stress is a perception. We can't affect someone cutting us off, but what we can do is start training the body to not react or perceive that as a threat, because it really isn't. You're not. You're not threatening your life by the guy cutting you off, but your body is telling you that signal. [00:07:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:18] Speaker B: I always use the analogy. If you're doing. If you're doing yard work in your house and you step on the hose, the garden hose, but you perceive it as a snake, your reaction is very different than if it's a hose. [00:07:35] Speaker A: It's actually a snake for you. [00:07:37] Speaker B: It's physically going to harm you. Right. It's. You're completely terrified in that moment. So the body doesn't know the difference between an actual event and what your perceived event is. It's the same in the body, but we have to train ourselves as the perception. We all know perception is reality. [00:07:57] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:58] Speaker B: Really it is. [00:07:59] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:00] Speaker B: So how can we get our perception moving and how can we train that? And 95% of our brain activity is in a program. So this isn't a conscious effort like the snake perception. 0.5 milliseconds. None of that was conscious for a reason. Right. When you touch the stove for the first time when you're a kid, you immediately learn that that's not a good thing. And then your body is trained underneath in the program that as soon as you touch it, it's going to create that reaction. So we have to retrain underneath that subconscious level. This is where biofeedback comes into play. And all these things that are the fun, modern science way to do that. [00:08:41] Speaker A: So this is wonderful. We've spent a couple minutes talking about this, and now everyone is wondering, well, then how do I do it, Josh. [00:08:47] Speaker B: Well, we talked about it earlier is like simple breath work meditation. This is getting to reset the fight or flight system that breathing in for four, breathing out for eight, breathing, spending time going within means shutting down the outside world. [00:09:03] Speaker A: So to review, that was breathing in through your nose for the count of four, exhaling through your mouth through for the count of eight and doing that for three minutes. Is it three times? [00:09:15] Speaker B: At least three minutes. I just say. And then, you know, five minutes is good, 10 is better, 15 is great. Once a day is good, twice a day is better, three times a day is great. All of that's still less than one hour of your day. [00:09:32] Speaker A: Yes. [00:09:32] Speaker B: Right. So and I like bookends. You could do the breath work exercise. I use oura ring. We have talk about heart rate variability. Is bookending it first thing in the morning before you get out of bed, last thing at night before you go to sleep. Those are two bookends. You can always squeeze a little time in. So now you've got two thirds of your activity of doing this already done. So it's either breath work, heart focused breathing, which is heart math. We teach heart math in our pharmacy and I teach it to other pharmacists, which is science based heart focused coherence training. We're training the body and the mind to be in a coherent pattern, which is less stressful. [00:10:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So when you use that, and I know you brought your device with you, so I'd love for you to hold that up and share that with me. [00:10:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I brought one with me. This is the brand new advice device. This is called a inner balance coherence. You can get these on the Internet, it's through HeartMath. This is a company that's been going, doing this heart training, coherence training for years now, backed by science again, 6 weeks, 5, 10, 15 minutes, 2 to 3 times a day with the trainer now you can see it in real time. There's an app, you can see your body moving into the rest and digest. Moving from a stressful state all the way over to a regenerative state. Building those points up, building the balance over six weeks. So many effects on the body, blood sugar, all those things they monitor, blood sugar, depression, anxiety, pain, all of that improved within that six week time frame. [00:11:13] Speaker C: Wow, that's. [00:11:14] Speaker A: I love HeartMath. We use HeartMath all of the time as well. So I'm so happy that you brought that along with you today. [00:11:20] Speaker B: And you can monitor your own heart rate variability because that's what it's training you to fix. We haven't talked about heart rate variability, but it's a marker for stress. But now these Oura rings and Garmins and Apple watches, they're all monitoring this. So now we can track and measure. So what you track and measure will improve, and what you report on will improve exponentially, and then you'll feel that as well. [00:11:43] Speaker A: Well, thank you again, Josh, for being with us today. Will you please let everyone know how they can find you and what you're working on? [00:11:49] Speaker B: Sure. You can go to rxtowellness.com it's like a nice little landing page for everybody to get started on all these things, to get a welcome kit and to help themselves the best way that they can, simple and easy. [00:11:59] Speaker A: Thank you. And we'll see you next week. [00:12:01] Speaker B: Perfect. [00:12:02] Speaker C: All right. [00:12:04] Speaker A: Thank you so much for joining us. And stay tuned after these commercials for our next guest. Welcome back. Back with us today is Dr. Reagan Tilly, functional family physician. Welcome back, Dr. Tilly. [00:12:40] Speaker C: Hi, Jessica. So glad to be back with you. [00:12:42] Speaker A: I'm so glad you're here. We talk a lot about the work that you're doing where you look at the whole person in functional medicine for the root cause, and you do a lot of work with people who have experienced trauma. [00:12:53] Speaker C: Yes. [00:12:54] Speaker A: So we had spoken off camera a little bit about how that can impact relationships or end up having you stuck in relationship. And I'd love to have you speak with our audience about what you've spoken with me about. [00:13:06] Speaker C: Of course, I find that oftentimes a lot of our pathology has to do with the relationships we're in, and it's either past relationships or current relationships. So one of the questions that I do ask over time as I get to know my patients or the members in my program is how do you feel your support system is, do you have a good relationship? Do you feel like you have a friend group that's strong? Do you have a supportive spouse or partner? And you can usually tell when somebody is like, it's fine, it's okay. And that tells me this is where we need to do some work. And what I have found through the years is that when we are creating relationship with other people, when we are meeting our partner or spouse or we're trying to find our friend group, a lot of it has to do with the way we feel about ourselves and also about how we were perceived when we were children. So one of the things that I find extremely revealing is is this the first time you've been in a relationship like this or do you have a pattern? Like, do you keep having the same thing happen time after time? And it doesn't always have to be like a romantic relationship. You can be in a job that. It seems like I have this pattern. I go in, I work really hard, I really get along with my co workers. Then it seems like everybody turns on me. Or, you know, it's the boyfriend cycling or the girlfriend cycling, where, you know, it's really great at first. And then there's always something wrong with them, like they won't tell me they love me, or they say. They say I love you right from the beginning, and I just can't. Right. So there's these toxic cycles that we go through, and when we look at why do we continue to do that, it comes back to, what are we trying to heal? What. What piece are we trying to fill? What are we missing? And sometimes we only have had bad examples. You know, we've seen abusive parents or alcoholic parents. And it's one of those situations where it's not a very great education on what to look for in a partner. Right. So we just do the best we can. But sometimes we just find that, you know, this one particular guy, he was great, and then he wasn't. And it could either be an abusive relationship, or it could just be like a neglectful relationship or just. They ghosted you. They checked, checked out, and you were still seeking. So again, I love to do research and I love to read and find different ways to understand. And one of the ways that I found extremely interesting was through a book called Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliot, PhD. And it's got a very seductive title because Kink is just a little something different. And what she does is she kind of walks you in the shadow work. Like what we don't bring to light. [00:16:00] Speaker A: Explain shadow work. Okay, people. [00:16:02] Speaker C: So shadow work is something that has to do with dealing with the parts of us that we don't want other people to know about. Essentially. That's the easiest way to describe it. It's things that are parts of us that we don't let out in the light very often. They're not all bad in some people. You know, a lot of people think shadow. Oh, that's dark and bad. Honestly, those are the things that have kept us alive. Those are the parts of us that help us survive every trauma, every hard day. Even some of those things that we need to survive from. Like, if there was a catastrophe that we needed to be secure, that shadow side of us is gonna be our victor. Okay, so there's nothing wrong with our shadow, but sometimes we need to nurture it and let it have its space while we can bring our productive, conscious self to the light. And so that's what shadow works. Shadow work is. Thank you for this. So reading that book, the examples given are really profound to me. And it was one of those things that when you start to investigate why you keep doing the things you do that you don't feel good doing. And I can equate this to weight. I can equate this to the job. You keep going back to the abusive boss or you keep going back to. Even in families, sometimes there's that toxic family member that you're like, I just have to go suffer through. And then my question is, why, Right. Why do we keep doing it? And so what she elucidates some of that is that we get off on it a little bit. Because when we keep going back to this bad boyfriend, right. Our friends are like, oh, you poor thing. He's so awful to you. Can we take you out and give you a good time tonight? Or, oh, it's just not right, you know? You deserve so much better. Listen to those words. You deserve so much better. So much better than you're getting. And there's a piece of us that wants that. We want to be told that we deserve more. So we keep taking just a little less than we deserve because we're going to get other people to recognize that we deserve more. Right. [00:17:59] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:59] Speaker C: And so this is that existential kink. This is the. I keep going back to just a little subpar so that other people recognize that I'm worth more. Right. It's just this little tiny thing that makes you feel good inside. You get that little tiny tail wiggle of like, ooh, things. Think I'm special. [00:18:14] Speaker A: I want to dig into this a little bit. Yes. So because in my head I'm going. That would be hard for me to have people say, you deserve more. When I'm in something that I am loving. But is it something then that somebody. Because if I'm in that spot or anyone's in that spot, then is it that you're really looking for? You really would rather have people say you deserve more than actually have more. [00:18:41] Speaker C: Well, this is where it becomes a pathology. Right. Or this is where you're stuck in a maladaptive situation. So what I'm speaking to is not a relationship that you feel great in. Like, if you are in a relationship. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Relationship that isn't feeling great. Yes. [00:18:54] Speaker C: That you're constantly like, why do I go back to the bad boy? Or why do I go back to the guy who cheats on me? Why do I go back to the alcoholic? Why? Why? Why? [00:19:00] Speaker B: Why? [00:19:00] Speaker C: Why? So part of that can be, what did you see growing up? Okay, you know, maybe your mom or your dad cheated on the other, or you had an alcoholic parent or what have you. That's normal to you. So you think that's the kind of relationship you should have subconsciously when maybe the forebrain or that conscious self says, no, you want a strong, masculine partner. When you're a woman, or, you know, whatever you're seeking, whatever your partner of choice is, you have your ideal. But then we start to settle for less. Sometimes, not all the time. Some of us are gifted with the most wonderful relationship that's super supportive. They see you for who you are, they're your best ch. Leader, and they love you unconditionally. Those are often sabotaged as well, because something inside tells you you don't deserve it. [00:19:45] Speaker A: Yes. [00:19:46] Speaker C: Yes. And so this is where this existential kink book comes in. There's a wonderful workbook that you can go through with it. There's some meditations. The author comes at it from her paradigm, which I love. Not everybody's going to resonate with it. And this is where we have this phrase of take what resonates and leave the rest behind. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:03] Speaker C: And so. But there's so much. And it's actually really good work. And what I have found in my. In my programs is that what we need to do is face the stuff we don't want to. The stuff that feels hard, the stuff that you're like, ew, that's wrong. [00:20:16] Speaker A: Yes. [00:20:17] Speaker C: Absolutely not. I don't believe that this can actually be true. I'm like, let's examine that. Why not? And so this is where I kind of ask people to stretch. And we're gonna push into some of the uncomfortable. This isn't going. And reliving trauma. What this is, is let's explore that feeling. Let's explore this emotion that you have with this. And how does it feel in your body? [00:20:38] Speaker A: Yeah, what is it? [00:20:39] Speaker C: How do you feel when you put yourself on this side versus that side? And. And why do you think that your body needs to be here versus there? [00:20:47] Speaker A: So is the question. And I. So I've. I was in a marriage too long. Once again, as you had said in a previous episode, I have nothing bad to say about my ex husband. It was just in a marriage for too long, and I did a lot of this work. And that is how I ended up finding my way out. Because it wasn't what served either of us in that space. And we'll just leave it at that. So I can see that getting in that space and being stuck. So what we're looking at is really when you're stuck in something and you're not sure if it's. We just kind of become imprisoned by that space or. [00:21:23] Speaker C: And that's where we numb out. [00:21:24] Speaker A: Yeah, right. Just become this is my day to day. And that can impact our health 100%. [00:21:29] Speaker C: And I truly believe, when we start looking at that is women have far more autoimmune disease than men. And what I think that is, is that we suppress our desires, opinions and needs in order to nurture the other people in our life. Children, spouse, parents in laws, friends, all of that. This, I don't want it to be a stereotype per se, but in general, when we look, women tend to be nurturers. [00:21:58] Speaker A: It's natural. [00:21:59] Speaker C: Yes. [00:21:59] Speaker A: It's a natural to nurture. [00:22:01] Speaker C: Yes. When we are trying too hard to do both to do masculine and feminine. Right. So we want to be nurturing, but we also need to be powerful. [00:22:11] Speaker A: Right. [00:22:11] Speaker C: And when we try to push into that power a little bit, we get a lot of pushback. And when we aren't able to or can't articulate it or choose to suppress some of those things, that's where pathology and illness comes from. I'm 100% certain. My previous job and previous life, I suffered from lupus and I had incapacitating pain on a daily basis. It would wake me up from my sleep. And when I went through the spiritual healing, when I went through some meditation, when I went through some examination of these emotional things that I was suppressing and not allowing myself to express, when I did that work, my pain disappeared. It wasn't a drug that did it. It wasn't a physical therapist that didn't. It wasn't even a mental health specialist that did it. It was my spiritual work. So I dug really deep into who I am and what I need to express fully in my relationship. The thing is, is when you do that, sometimes those relationships does because you're no longer their idea of what you should be. And sometimes, you know, I was in that relationship from the time I was 17 on, so I was still very immature. And when I realized at 42, I was still feeling like that 17 year old inside and not being recognized as a powerful woman who is a mother and a physician and running the house that was a big deal to me to recognize that. And again, this isn't to speak negatively of my ex husband at all. We just were not in the same space any longer and I couldn't be who he needed and he wasn't who I needed anymore. [00:23:46] Speaker A: And I know it can be scary when we, when we look at are we going to remove ourselves from this, are we going to do this work on ourselves knowing full well that it might alter a shift to the relationship that we're in? And that can be a challenge. Thank you so much for being with us again today, Dr. Tilley. Join us again next week. [00:24:04] Speaker C: We'll be here. [00:24:05] Speaker A: Please let everyone know how they can find you. [00:24:08] Speaker C: Www.wholehealthmhk.com thank you so much. [00:24:12] Speaker A: That's easy. That's wonderful. And I know you have a quantum metabolic reset [email protected] as well for people to help lose weight and address some of these issues for themselves too. [00:24:23] Speaker C: Body, mind and spirit weight, all of it. [00:24:27] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much. I'll see you next week. And thank you for watching. Come back after these messages for our next guest. We're back today. Back with us is Dr. Latasha Hicks. She's a family physician for over 10 years now working to optimize hormone health for men and women so they can live their best lives. Welcome back, Dr. Hicks. [00:25:12] Speaker D: Thank you so much for having me. It's been a blast. We've talked about so many fun topics, very interesting topics, touchy topics. That's it's been fun. [00:25:21] Speaker A: Well, the touchy topics are the best topics. That's what everybody wants to hear about, are those things that we, we don't tend to ask our providers. So if we can get a little bit of an intro here on that, this is normal. We are experiencing normal experiences with low hormones and fatigue and low libido. And at the same time, what are those questions that I can go ask my doctor? It's really important to learn. And now that you're and you're right here local here in Houston and so everyone can come find you here to answer those questions. [00:25:49] Speaker D: Yes. Yes. [00:25:50] Speaker A: So today I would love to talk about with those hormones in mind, what is the best way for us to have these get these hormones replaced? So I know there are a lot of different ways. There are some that are more expensive, less expensive, but sometimes the more expensive options are because they last longer. The less expensive are short lived and then you still have to spend a little bit of money over time. So it ends up Being a lot more money, about the same or more. Right. And so I would love to hear about what are the options and what you find is beneficial. [00:26:22] Speaker D: Okay, well, you actually have a lot of options. People have a lot of options. My favorite option, I will say the one that I think is the best option or that I feel works the best is hormone pellet therapy or called bioidentical hormone pellet therapy. Basically, the hormones that are in this little tiny pellet, it looks like a little peel, it's very small, and it contains testosterone or it contains estrogen in the pellet and in different doses. So based on the dosages, the pellets will be different sizes. And I place them in a pattern that will allow your body to fully get blood flow around the pellet. That one, when you put it in for women, it lasts about three to four months, and for men about four to five months. And some of the people can go a little bit longer. The more active you are, the faster it'll kind of work, and the less active, the longer it'll last. But the thing is, what I love about it, I call it set it and forget it. You remember the old. The old commercial, set it and forget it. When you put it in, you don't have to think about taking something every day. You don't have to think about doing anything every day. And if you need a boost, all you have to do is become active, go and work out, go and exercise. And that blood, that increased blood flow around the pellets will release more hormone and have you feeling so much better. So I love that option because it helps with compliance. It helps with people who don't want to take a bunch of pills or take a bunch of stuff or have to remember things every day. It's so much better. And also when you put those pellets in, they start to slowly dissolve. And over a period of months, it just keeps your hormone levels just optimized, just steady. So it's no roller coaster ride a lot of times. Some of the other options that we'll discuss create more of a roller coaster effect. [00:28:05] Speaker A: Okay, so with the pellets, have you found that you can overdo? That's the one concern I've heard from people is, well, if you put something in my body, if it's too much, what do I do? [00:28:15] Speaker D: Right. So yes, that can happen, actually. So what happens is that a lot of the things that normally would be the good things, you just have too much of a good thing. [00:28:25] Speaker A: Okay. [00:28:25] Speaker D: If that makes sense. So say, for instance, if you have low libido. You may actually have very, very high libido. So I've actually had this to happen to where a couple went from the wife, you know, having hardly any libido to the wife, you know, running after the husband. And the husband's like, can you turn it down, please? [00:28:46] Speaker C: It's great, but maybe he needs to turn it up. [00:28:50] Speaker D: Maybe that was what it was. That's actually what it was. Because the wife said now he needs to get his hormones optimized. But all of a sudden, you know, he makes sure the wife keeps her appointments, he makes sure she comes in on time and everything. But he would not come and get his hormones optimized. He talked about it, but he hasn't done it yet. But he wants to. But I think he's just a little nervous. [00:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah, well, and that makes sense. You know, you need to. It takes a little while. Some people take a little bit longer to get into that space for someone like that. If it's. If they're concerned. If the concern may even be pellet, would one of these other options may be a good option for him? Like a short lived. Maybe we just try. So we have topical injection and troches. And troches are the things you put in your mouth. Injections we know are needles, and then the topicals we rub on your skin. So let's talk about those as well. [00:29:38] Speaker D: Okay. So my second favorite option is called troche. A lot of people have never heard of that. That is spelled T R O C H E. Some people, you may hear them say troches or something like that, but it's actually pronounced trochee. So. So a troche is just a little square, maybe about that big, very small, that it has basically compounded bioidentical hormone in it. And you put it in your mouth or under your tongue and you let it slowly dissolve. And basically it goes into that circulation that's right under the tongue because that's a very thin area where it can go directly into the bloodstream. And it has pretty much almost immediate effects. With those, though, you have to remember to take them every day. So that's the difference. The good thing about them is if the dosage is too high, you have ultimate control over it. If you feel like you're getting too much, you can skip a day, or you can cut it in half, or you can cut it in quarters. It actually has a score on it that allows you to cut it into quarters. So you can actually change the dosage and adapt the dosage. To what your needs may be. [00:30:41] Speaker A: Is it like a lozenge or what's the name of the. [00:30:42] Speaker D: Yeah, it looks like a cough drop. Okay. And to me, it's a little softer than a cough drop because you can cut it with a knife. Like, you know, you can cut it, but it's not as soft as a gummy. So it's not gummy, but it's not hard either. It's kind of in the middle, like a piece of wax. [00:30:58] Speaker A: Okay. And so you can put it, like, between your gums and your cheek or under your tongue. [00:31:01] Speaker D: You can put it under your tongue? [00:31:02] Speaker A: Yes, and everything. And then how long does it take for that to dissolve? [00:31:05] Speaker D: Normally? Usually maybe about three to four minutes. [00:31:07] Speaker A: Oh, that's not long. [00:31:08] Speaker D: No, it's really quick. You put it in there and you just go about your day, you know, after you brush your teeth. Or you can put it in before you brush your teeth and brush afterwards. Most of them have, like, a minty flavor to them to kind of help a little bit. And it's not so bad. Sometimes a little bit bitter because it has medication in it. But, you know, it's not. It's not intolerable at all. [00:31:28] Speaker A: And how soon after using one do people feel a benefit? [00:31:32] Speaker D: Oh, usually within hours. Okay, within hours. So they will start to feel it, but after, if you're starting from scratch, it may take a few days, but once you get it going, you will definitely be able to feel it. [00:31:43] Speaker A: Okay. So then we've talked. Okay, so we've talked about pellets. Troche is a way that you could manage the medication a little bit easier. And then we have two other. [00:31:51] Speaker D: Yes. So the next option would be a topical. Some people like to get the creams that they rub on onto their wrist here. And those are also a good option because you're bypassing the liver. A lot of times what happens is if you take the. Sometimes they are pills that are out there, but I do not recommend those. The reason why is because if you take the pill, it. Your body will. Will digest it, and your liver will actually process it and break down most of it. So your body won't actually benefit from the full amount. So that's why I'm not so big on pills. The troche is different because it dissolves and goes directly into circulation, but I'm talking about a pill that you swallow. So the same thing with the creams. When you put them on your arm or you let it dissolve into your skin, it also bypasses that circulation through the liver. So that your body can have more of an immediate effect. The only difference is that each person's skin is different. Some people will absorb more than others. And there's no way to determine how your skin will react or how your skin will absorb. So the levels can be a little bit more hard to follow. [00:33:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So dosing, I'm sure. Is it in a pump or is it in a tube? [00:33:05] Speaker D: Yes, it's in a pump. [00:33:06] Speaker A: It's hard to dose those things. And then. Yeah, and then you might have some on your hand, Then you just wash your hands off. And so some of it might have been washed down the drain. [00:33:12] Speaker D: Yes, some of it washed down the drain as well. The other thing that you have to be concerned about with the creams is that it can get on other people. So say, for instance, you have testosterone cream on your arm, and then you have a small child and you're hugging your small child. Well, if it rubs off on your child, then your child can start to have, you know, be getting basically small amounts of testosterone or whatever cream, estrogen and things like that dosed to them. [00:33:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:38] Speaker D: And you won't know why, you know, what's going on. And then the child starts to have different issues associated with them kind of growing up a little bit too fast because their hormones are developing faster than they should be. Also, you know, with your significant other, it can also rub off on them as well. So that could cause issues. [00:33:53] Speaker A: How long after someone puts a topical on would you say it's safe to be in close proximity with a loved one, Hold a child, embrace your lover, whatever it might be? [00:34:02] Speaker D: I think let it dissolve for a few hours, you know. [00:34:05] Speaker A: Okay. That's a long time for you to be able to monitor. I'd lose track. I'd be like, I put something on and then a half hour later I'd be like, I don't even remember. [00:34:14] Speaker D: Definitely. That's why I would say that's why the creams are not one of my favorite tooth prescribe. I don't prescribe them very much at all. [00:34:21] Speaker A: Okay. [00:34:22] Speaker D: If a patient wanted that, I would definitely provide that for them. But it's not one of the ones that I'm really into as much. [00:34:30] Speaker A: Yeah. So. But you seemed. You put the creams before still, even ahead of injection. So I need to hear why. No on the injections or the pluses and minuses. [00:34:39] Speaker D: So the injectables. The reason why I don't typically like the injectables is because all of the injectables are synthetic hormone. They are not bioidentical. So when you are injecting this hormone, your body has to kind of figure out that this is kind of like testosterone, but it's not testosterone. And I can break it down into this byproduct, but it's not the byproduct that your body naturally would make. So now your body has to figure out what to do with that. The other thing I don't like about the injectables is that it creates this roller coaster effect. So the injectable usually lasts only about two to three days when it peaks out and comes back down. So men may feel that they feel great and then they don't feel good, and then they feel great and they don't feel good, and it's a roller coaster effect. Some men take it maybe once a week, but then you have some people that only take it once a month, and they are really not getting the benefit that they think that they are. Because by the time a month comes, that testosterone is one. Well, gone. It's gone, it's been gone, and they don't even know why. But the people who are taking it, you know, every few days, they're experiencing the ups and the downs of that hormone, which can lead to moodiness, it can lead to a little aggression, irritability. So it's not my favorite one, but a lot of men are familiar with that one, so they like that one. But a lot of people actually don't like needles. So that's one that a lot of men I find shy away from, actually. [00:36:06] Speaker A: What do you find? Do you do more pellets than anything else? [00:36:09] Speaker D: I do more pellets than anything else. [00:36:10] Speaker A: That's wonderful. [00:36:11] Speaker D: And then secondly would be troches. [00:36:13] Speaker A: Okay. Well, that's great. Well, thank you so much for this, and this was really valuable information, I think. So thank you again for joining us here this week. We'll see you again next week. [00:36:22] Speaker D: I would love to be back next week. [00:36:24] Speaker A: And please let everyone know how they can find you. [00:36:26] Speaker D: Yes. So if you would like to find me, you can find me at www. Exceptionalcareelite. Again, that's www. Exceptionalcareelite.com. or you can call the office, 713-659-9309. If we are not unable to catch your call, please leave us a message and we will call you back so that we can get back with you and help you to take care of your needs. We also offer telemedicine, so if you are not immediately in the Houston area, we can still take care of you. Also, you can find us on Instagram @ex c a r e elite x care elite e x c A R E E L I T E We would love to take care of you. [00:37:07] Speaker A: Thank you so much again for coming. We'll see you next week and thank you for watching. Please stay tuned after these messages for our next guest. [00:37:25] Speaker C: Sa. [00:37:53] Speaker A: Welcome to the new health. As people are getting sicker at younger and younger ages, we are bringing on thought leaders in their field to tell us how they are revolutionizing medicine. I'm your host, Jessica Preston. Today we have a very special treat. We have Dr. Youssef Elyaman who is here with us to give you an introduction about what he's working on. Dr. Elyaman, welcome. [00:38:18] Speaker E: Thank you. [00:38:19] Speaker A: Dr. Ellioman and I started learning functional medicine together in class. That's where we met, what, a decade? A decade ago, I believe. [00:38:27] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:38:29] Speaker A: I would love for you to give everyone a little bit of your background and what you're working on. [00:38:35] Speaker E: Awesome. So I am an internist, so I take care of people that are 18 and older, but I'm also a pediatrician, so I take care of people that are younger than 18. So I'm kind of like a super family doctor. And I started to, I started taking care of patients and I started to get a little frustrated because I realized that all I was doing was just throwing medication at people for symptoms or for abnormal blood work or abnormal tests. And what I realized was that sometimes they weren't even feeling better. And I felt like there had to be a better way. So I started looking for different ways of helping my patients. And I found this whole concept of functional medicine. That's when I ended up getting to meet. That's where you and I met. And I certified in functional medicine and I have not looked back since. So I have a functional medicine primary care practice in Ocala, Florida, where we focus on just getting to the root. [00:39:40] Speaker A: All right. And I think that's a general idea. If you were to give a one sentence ish on functional medicine, how would you describe that to people? [00:39:49] Speaker E: Yes. So, and I could make it a run on sentence too. So getting to the root of disease by figuring out what the body is or what's hurting the body, removing what's hurting the body and giving the body what it needs. [00:40:04] Speaker A: That's great. So I know I want to just dive right in with you. And we've talked a little bit ahead of time about what we're going to talk about. And so you had mentioned that there are actually seven underlying imbalances for all disease. And this is a good way for people to get a basic understanding of how functional medicine works and how we look at disease. [00:40:26] Speaker E: Yeah. So what's interesting is if you look at researchers, if you look at pharmaceutical companies, when they are trying to come up with a new medication or a new treatment, what they do is they go down to what the imbalance is that's causing the disease.