The New Health (Aired 02-23-2025) Unlocking Health: Experts Share Tips for Optimal Wellness

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Welcome to the New health. As people are getting sicker at younger ages, we are bringing thought leaders that are revolutionizing healthcare in their fields here to speak with you about how they're changing the world right now. I am your host, Jessica Preston. Back with us today is Josh Rimmon, pharmacist and turned functional medicine provider who is also training pharmacists to help people with wellness and healing. Welcome back, Josh. [00:00:50] Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me back, Jessica. This is so much fun. [00:00:53] Speaker B: I'm having so much fun. I love that. All of the nuances we're getting into and today I want to get right back at it. We had talked about your wellness made simple, which is diet and lifestyle labs, supplements and labs. And part of that lifestyle factor you had mentioned before was environmental. And I know that people think environment. Okay. There are toxins in the air, but I don't think they're really thinking about it the way you are thinking about it. I'd love for you to share with us. [00:01:18] Speaker C: Sure. One of those major pillars of well being is the end one, which is environmental well being. Well, what does that mean? Right. As it relates to the diet, lifestyle, supplements and labs. So our environment, the things around us affect our well being. So we're in a toxic environment. Like we understand that our bodies are interacting. We talked about stress and how it interacts. So the environment is perceiving the stress. So those well being pillars are all affected by our outside environment, but also our inside environment. And so there's this new concept. The old thinking was I have the genetics for this. I have the predisposition for heart disease, for diabetes, for cancer. Right. But the new thinking in the functional lens, in the wellness lens is your environment doesn't dictate your genes, don't dictate your environment. The environment dictates the genes. And so how do we turn on the right genes? Because we all have the anti cancer properties in us. There's cancer running in our cells all the time. Our immune system's figuring it out and getting it through. So this concept called epigenetics is all rooted around how do we put on the good signals to do the right things in our body and innately help our body do its own thing, right. Heal its own self. And what are the bad signals that are turning on the wrong genes and moving down that effect. So now we know that what we do with our diet, lifestyle, supplements and some labs can affect our genetics for the good way. [00:03:03] Speaker B: Okay. And I love this, I love epigenetics. We've Talked a lot about epigenetics and I'd like to make this a little simpler for our audience that to me. [00:03:14] Speaker C: The simplistic part of all of this is we think that the genes dictate our health, but it's actually the opposite. What we know now, which is backed by science, is that what we do affects the genes. Now we know that there's genetic abnormalities and offshoots for specific diseases, but diabetes, cancer, all of those things can be turned on the right way with what we do. So that is, if I had to do anything to get people to really realize it's not the genes dictating your health, it's not the predisposition for all the things you're going to get, that this is the old thinking, the new science based thinking is what you do affects your genetics and that is the trigger, the signal to the genetic profile within each one of us. Our unique profile for moving in the right genetics. So nutrigenomics, pharmacogenomics, functional genomics, which is the new functional medicine, it's moving into the space of not what we're going to. So just think of it this way. Your possibility for health is not dictated by your genes only, it's actually the difference. [00:04:37] Speaker B: So this is incredibly empowering for people, I would think. I mean, I know it is for me when you can tell people there are things you can do, get your genetic profile and there are things that you can do that can actually optimize your health through your lifestyle when you get that test done. [00:04:55] Speaker C: Well, there's. What I love about pharmacists is we've survived in medicine without labs, right? You come to the pharmacy, you don't come to me with a bunch of labs, you come to me with a diagnosis and I gotta figure out what I can do to treat you for that. So the pharmacy of the future is we can do a genetic profile on you now for a couple hundred bucks you can actually fine tune through AI and all the other piece is here. It's not one gene that does this, it's the family of genes that affects your cholesterol, it affects your cardiovascular profile, affects your sleep profile, diet and exercise. All those pillars we talked about, we now have all the technology that takes all of those genes, puts them together and then spits out this process and reporting that allows us to say, well, what's the best diet for you? What's the best exercise for you? What's the best profile based on your. So you want to say cardiovascular is a big thing for me now what diet, lifestyle supplements and labs. Other labs would be beneficial based on your genetics. We now know how to do that. And so using that as a provider tool was a game changer for my own life and my children's lives and everybody else. So if you want to personalize this. Not personal is like, not personal. But going to personalized medicine is really where we're at. But we don't need the lab. That's the thing. We don't need to go to that level. What I love it is you only test your genetics once. They don't. [00:06:37] Speaker B: They don't change. [00:06:38] Speaker C: So you can do it. It's a really worthwhile investment in your health, but you also don't need it because you can see that these signals, the good signals that you're putting in your body, can affect the genes, which then gives the downstream effect to good health. [00:06:55] Speaker B: That's wonderful. I love epigenetics. As you know, we've talked about it, and we'll talk gene numbers, we'll talk about gene families. Can you give us an example? And I know a general one that. [00:07:06] Speaker C: A lot of people know, like methylation. Right. If people understood the whole methylation profile, which is in the Krebs cycle of the biochemistry, nobody needs to understand that piece. But if we're not methylating and putting these little methyl donors on our biochemistry, it can have a really big effect on not only our cardiovascular risk, but also our emotional problem. We talked about cortisol. Well, I know there's a genetic profile for me that says I keep that cortisol around longer, which means I'm a good thinker, but it also means I keep my stress down. So that means I'm a perfect example for how to flush out that cortisol more. Or maybe I need to use more adaptogenic herbs like Ashwagandha to help me get that cortisol out. So now I have a tool in place, which is why meditation is so good for me, because that helps the. That process. So you can see where it's kind of a. It's not really chicken or egg, but it's. You can use the profile to help you, but you can also get validation. When I do these profiles on people and I show them like they're actually. Their. Their personality comes out within their genes. [00:08:22] Speaker B: Let's do the same. [00:08:24] Speaker C: And you're like, you. You hold your stress around and you, You. You get up at night and you can start, like, being this little detective, and they're like, how did you know it's right? [00:08:33] Speaker B: It. Look, we Promise you, it's not a. [00:08:35] Speaker C: Magic trick, it's not voodoo magic. [00:08:37] Speaker B: It's so based in science that literally we can get this test done. And I would get this on my own patients coming in and I would say, do you have insomnia at night? Were your grades like this in school? Is this how your periods are? Are you having ruminating thoughts? I mean, you can just put so much together in personality. And here's the thing, it sounds like it may not be beneficial, but then there are things we can do in both lifestyle and supplementation to be able to help you optimize where you are in order to have better health and well being. [00:09:10] Speaker C: I'm glad you brought that up because when we look at those four pillars, right, supplements and labs, I can help with like, I can see the profile, I can personalize it down to your genomics. These are the supplements you need for this. Now, we're also taking it based on your goals because some people might have different goals. So if it's sleep, which is. Oh, that's on my daily dozen. We didn't get. [00:09:34] Speaker B: We didn't. [00:09:35] Speaker C: Yeah, it's the number one longevity tool, not diet, not exercise, sleep. If you don't nail your sleep, you're going to die faster. Yeah, it's a big marker for health. And also. So this is one of the genomic profiles we do. We do it straight, strictly on sleep. So longevity for sleep is. How do you move that around? The other piece is sedative hypnotics. If I wasn't a pharmacist, I have to tell your viewers here, right. Is Ambien Zolpidem, sedative hypnotics? Those people that take sleeping medicines every day because they're not getting enough sleep? It's not the right sleep. The REM sleep, the deep sleep is getting suppressed. So they've actually done studies. If you take these drugs for long periods of time, it actually makes you die faster. The morbidity, mortality for these sedative hypnotics is actually increasing the likelihood of you dying quicker. So not the right path. We think I'm getting good sleep and it's helping me, but the studies are pure. So don't take sedative hypnotics as a sleeping tool. Take them if there's a stressful event or a very short period of time. But sleep, hygiene and nailing all of those. And we use these in our programs, like red lights at night, getting out of the screens before bed. These are the things that actually help you get sleep. But I forgot to tell you, so I'M glad we're saying it like the number one longevity tool is sleep. [00:11:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that, Josh. It is very important and people don't pay attention that at all. Well, thank you again for being with us here today. I know you'll be back with us next week. Could you let everyone know how they can find you? [00:11:23] Speaker C: Sure. RxTowellness.com it's got a slew of good information for people to get started. DilworthDrug.com is our and I train pharmacists here, too, so there's like an audit checklist they use for them to help bringing wellness into their space. We do that genomic profiling for people. If people want to get there, they can go to our website and learn more about that, things of that nature. [00:11:48] Speaker B: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much. And we'll see you next week. [00:11:50] Speaker C: Perfect. [00:11:51] Speaker B: Thank you for joining us. Stay tuned after these messages for our next guest. Welcome back. Back with us today is Dr. Reagan Tilly, functional family physician. Welcome back, Dr. Tilly. [00:12:27] Speaker D: Hi, Jessica. Happy to be back. [00:12:29] Speaker B: So we've talked a lot about trauma and how you can address that with your patients to help them with whole health and wellness. We've talked about with weight loss and addiction. And so now what I'd love to talk about is how are people getting empowered in this space? [00:12:46] Speaker D: Sure. So what I have found is oftentimes we give away our power and that is what keeps us stuck. [00:12:54] Speaker B: Right. [00:12:55] Speaker D: So we've talked about relationship, we've talked about addiction, we've talked about weight and the consequences on our health. Even we've touched on that with autoimmune disease being somewhat linked to trauma, stress, all of those things. One of the things that has kind of stood out to me is when we feel like things are happening to us rather than for us. And that's a, that's kind of a foreign concept for a lot of people if they haven't been in the space of working on that holistic healing. So what I believe is that things happen for us to learn lessons from. [00:13:29] Speaker B: Okay. [00:13:29] Speaker D: Things can happen to us, but if we let things happen to us, that then we become the victim. We become something that was perpetrated on us. And that's not a good feel good. It's not a feel good space. Right. It's actually very disempowering to think that all of this universe is conspiring against you when in reality, the universe conspires for you. And so one of my most interesting recent conversations in my group was about blame okay. And we were talking about how blame isn't the right word. You know, something happened to you, you know. Yes, we've experienced these things. We were going through our adverse childhood experiences. We were going through relationship issues and things that were done to us is kind of where people were coming from. And the question was, why can't I blame them for it if they did it to me? [00:14:25] Speaker B: Okay. [00:14:26] Speaker D: And it took me a moment to really articulate the answer, because surface level, if somebody did something, it's their fault, right? They did it to you. Okay. This is where we kind of move into this bigger, broader space of, again, this is one of those where it's not victim shaming. If something really awful happened to you, it's not to say you made it happen. That is not where I'm coming from at all. Okay. What I am saying is that there were a lot of things that conspired for that person to be in the space to do the thing that caused you physical harm, mental harm, or emotional harm. Okay. So it's not to say that they get all of, like, it's a free pass. It's. It's. They get a free break. They can do whatever and have no consequences. That's not it at all. [00:15:09] Speaker B: Right. [00:15:10] Speaker D: What I am coming at is when we assign blame to other, we eliminate our power. We no longer have the ability to make a decision based on this event and how we should feel, respond, or grow from it. And so that's where empowerment comes from when we're faced with adversity, when we choose to integrate it into our system as an experience instead of a wound. If we live wounded, we don't heal. Okay. This is another space of what do we get out of it? Kind of based on the last episode we talked about, what do I get out of it if I stay wounded? So if you have a wound, it's like the dog that limps, right? It's like, oh, you poor puppy, let me pick you up and carry you. So if we don't fully heal, we don't fully have to be responsible for ourselves. And if we're living in a fully healed power, think of all of the things that you could do, okay? And then we worry, oh, I'm going to be held to this new standard. I have to be a high achiever all the time because I'm well and I'm healed and I don't have any of these traumas that I need to recover from anymore. And it's not really that, because things are going to come at us Day by day, life continues to happen for us, but if we choose to stay wounded, then we really never get the opportunity or give ourselves the opportunity to fully heal. Yeah. [00:16:39] Speaker B: That's wonderful. Wonderful description. I have so many things going through my head in that, because I've done, as, you know, I've done a lot of this work and everything. And think of when people. People can even just make statements to you where you can feel like it's an insult or feel like it's wounding, where they're simply existing and being and. And just speaking their own mind. And then other people's wounds and patterns can also. Like the hurt people. Hurt people. [00:17:07] Speaker D: That's exactly true. It's exactly true. [00:17:09] Speaker B: So it's how you then take people and teach them how to be present and acknowledge that so that they can see what's theirs and what isn't. [00:17:19] Speaker D: Yes. And there's. There's another side of that coin, is you've heard the phrase misery loves company, right? [00:17:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:25] Speaker D: So how often have you been sitting with a group of folks and there's somebody that's like, can you believe such and such happened to me? Right. And the whole table, like, everything just comes down. Or they want to be identified as this wound. They have to remind everyone, well, I was a child of incest, or I was a child of abuse, or I was a this, that or the other. And when you continuously identify as that, that's how you're going to be perceived and that's how you're going to feel. And so there comes some reward with that, though, because it's the. Again, you poor thing. Or how can I support you? Or what can I do for you? Or you have this continuous perception of being wounded. Right. So staying in the wound, it's like picking the scab off. [00:18:11] Speaker B: Right. [00:18:11] Speaker D: Continuing to bleed. And then you get this giant scar. And it's so much harder to heal a big scar than it is a little scar. And so when we go through the spiritual and mental healing that's associated with this wound. [00:18:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:23] Speaker D: We teach you how to apply the salve. [00:18:27] Speaker B: Yeah. If that scar is gone, what am I going to do with my hand? [00:18:31] Speaker D: Well. [00:18:31] Speaker B: Right. Like, what am I going to do if that's actually. So I can see that in two ways. [00:18:35] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:18:35] Speaker B: If it's no longer there, who am I? [00:18:38] Speaker D: That's identity. [00:18:39] Speaker B: Because I'm identifying with that. Yes. And. [00:18:42] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:18:43] Speaker B: I think the other part is what do I replace it with? [00:18:46] Speaker D: Correct. [00:18:47] Speaker B: And what are. And I need to be. Before you get to that healing spot, I need to Be. I really need to be seen for this wound, and I don't even necessarily know what that even means, but I need you to see it and comfort me. [00:19:02] Speaker D: Right? And that's where a lot of people stay stuck. They stay with the wound. It's like wearing the cast extra long or keeping the band aid on the splinter. Right. Look what I have. I have this poo poo. Are you gonna kiss it? Make it better? [00:19:15] Speaker B: Right? [00:19:15] Speaker D: And there's nothing wrong with giving a little love to that. But when it becomes your identity, that's when it becomes a problem as well as for your healing. Okay. You'll find that your friend groups sometimes dissipate, or you get stuck with the same kind of people who also have a ton of problems. You're like, oh, my gosh, they're so toxic. All they have is trouble. It's only drama. Well, did you invite that drama in? Did you ask for some of it? Because you're sharing yours, right? So if we want to do that healing and nurturing, what you really have to do is put yourself with people who are ready to do that healing. [00:19:46] Speaker B: Who. [00:19:46] Speaker D: Who can see the wound but say, I know how to fix that. I want to help you heal from that. Because staying in the wound, you're not gonna progress. Right? And so that scary part of who am I without the wound? What I want to do is ask this really challenging question, is, who do you want to be? [00:20:03] Speaker B: That's the best. [00:20:04] Speaker D: How do you want to be perceived? If you could be anything or anyone in the world and other people would describe you, Your friends, strangers, loved ones, who would you want to be? And that's how we start with that. Okay. I want you to even write that out. What is your best day ever? Who is my best self ever? How do I respond to people? How do I present myself? How do I feel inside? What do I nourish my body with? What do I take in and absorb from my environment? You know, what am I feeding my brain with? [00:20:34] Speaker B: So these are what we want to be? [00:20:36] Speaker D: Yes. [00:20:36] Speaker B: This is how I want to present. Maybe even look at somebody that you admire and say, wow, I really. Even though they have their own stuff, they have their own shots. [00:20:45] Speaker D: Everybody does. [00:20:46] Speaker B: But looking at that individual and just saying, okay, this is what I see, that I admire in them, and maybe take these from this person, these characteristics from that person. Write it out. [00:20:55] Speaker D: Yes, I would love to have you write it out. Even vision board it. You know, draw it out, whatever. [00:20:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:00] Speaker D: And what I want you to do is then answer, why can't you? [00:21:06] Speaker B: What do people say? [00:21:07] Speaker D: Well, you know, I'm not young anymore or I'm just not like that. I'm not made that way or well, I have all this stuff going on and my family wouldn't let me or I'll be ashamed or, you know, that's not very Christian of me. These are all the answers that I get. And when I really ask people to step into their power, let's take all of the excuses off the board. What if there was not an excuse to be had? [00:21:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:31] Speaker D: Okay. [00:21:32] Speaker B: How do people respond to that? [00:21:34] Speaker D: They get a little lighter, they feel a little free because there's, you know, we're not looking to create like a mass murderer with no conscience. What we're trying to do is create your highest self out of non judgment. [00:21:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:48] Speaker D: And we don't know how to do that because that's not how we were brought up. Our belief systems and such. It's very demarcated, black and white. Good, bad, happy, sad, anger, joy. You know, we have very black lines. We don't have a lot of gray. And when we start to embrace that gray where we can kind of be without shame. [00:22:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:11] Speaker D: It's very enlightening and it lifts the spirit. And so we get to play in that area quite a bit. [00:22:16] Speaker B: And it's a lot of fun smiling this whole episode because I'm loving this empowerment piece. And I think that people really need to realize it's not just when you no longer care what other people think about you. It's when you can take care of how you and the inside of you think about you as well. [00:22:34] Speaker D: Yes. [00:22:35] Speaker B: Give yourself that kindness. Nurture yourself as if you're your own child. [00:22:38] Speaker D: Right. And inner child work is huge. And nurturing that wounded you has to happen. But you know what? When we do that nurture, we go in and pick up that little you and give her a hug and say, good job. But you know what? Look what you turn into. You're amazing. You don't have to do this anymore. You get to grow up now. You actually kind of release that from you and you don't have to sit in that little headspace anymore. And on that note of the. I don't care what anybody thinks of me, okay? We're not inviting negativity with that. What we're inviting is when I am my highest expression of who I am, it doesn't matter what people think of me because I know I'm living my highest and best. [00:23:19] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:19] Speaker D: It's not the curmudgeonly old you know, I'm picturing Maxine, like, you know, giving you the middle finger and, you know, like, we're not, we're not trying to invite you to that. Some people want to live there. That's great. But there's, there's more stuck in there. [00:23:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:33] Speaker D: So, yeah, that's, that's what we do. And it's so much fun. [00:23:35] Speaker B: That's wonderful. Well, thank you for being with us again today. I'll see you next week. [00:23:39] Speaker D: Excellent. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Please let everyone know how they can reach you. [00:23:41] Speaker D: Sure. So my group program is Quantum Metabolic Reset, and you can find [email protected] I also have a direct primary care family practice licensed in Kansas and Missouri. You can find [email protected] thank you so much. [00:23:58] Speaker B: We'll see you next week. Awesome. Thank you for watching. Come back after these messages for our next guest. Welcome back. And back with us today is Dr. Latasha Hicks, family physician for over 10 years who's working to optimize hormones for men and for women. Welcome back, Dr. Hicks. [00:24:40] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you for having me back. It's a pleasure. [00:24:42] Speaker B: It's all my. The pleasure is all mine. I love the way that you are working with men and women and how you're really looking at hormones as a balancing tool prior to a lot of other things that are going to help people get well and find their health. So I know that weight loss has been a really big topic. It always is. But right now it's a very hot topic because of the GLP1s like Ozempic and there are a number of other ones. And I know that you do some of that work as well. And I'd love to hear about you have some special techniques that you use in order to help people optimize their weight and have less side effects with their medications. [00:25:19] Speaker A: Yes. So firstly, I like to say I want you to understand that weight loss is not about weight. It's about health. Okay. What we are going for is actually making you healthy. That's the goal. We want health, not just losing weight. You know, I heard someone say you can cut off your arm and you just lost some weight. So that's not what we're going for. We want you to be healthy, but there are so many things that you can take now and that you can do now that can really, really help with weight loss and help you to get there a whole lot faster by eliminating the obstacles that your body is experiencing. That is a hindrance to you being able to Achieve your optimal health. And so that's basically what I'm doing, is helping to remove those obstacles so that your body can do what it knows to do. [00:26:09] Speaker B: That's wonderful. So before we then talk about GLP1s and using those, tell me a little bit about what you're thinking when you have someone come into your office and talk about weight loss. [00:26:20] Speaker A: Right. So when a person is coming in talking about weight loss, I'm going to be looking for any reasons that their body may be trying to hold on to the weight. I'm looking for whether there's a problem with their thyroid. I'm looking for whether there's a problem with their energy levels and they don't have a lot of energy to work out. I'm looking at whether their hormones are not optimized, their testosterone levels, especially, because that has a lot to do with it. Testosterone is one of the biggest barriers to weight loss, and people do not even realize that their testosterone levels are in the tank. And so they're trying to work out and their body is just not responding. They're doing everything, but the body is just not responding. And so that's one of the reasons that a lot of people have issues with this. And a lot of times they also say, well, I've been taking these medications. I'm taking the GLP1 or I'm taking this medication. It works great for me. I lost £20. But when I stopped using it, it comes right back. And a lot of times people don't know the reason why that it's coming right back is because they're not addressing the root cause of what's going on underlying. And so that's where I come in. So instead of just prescribing people GLP1s so that they can lose weight, I'm also helping to identify the underlying causes and solve those so that the person can maintain the weight loss. And that's what I. That's what I desire to do. [00:27:38] Speaker B: That's wonderful. So you're looking at thyroid, you're looking at energy. You said. I'm sure you're looking. You said you do some nutrient, you know, testosterone levels. So even in women, testosterone, when it's. [00:27:46] Speaker A: Low, even in women, okay. So that's one of the things a lot of women don't realize, that the testosterone. Testosterone levels are so low. And this is one of the most important ones. Ladies, let me tell you. I know that. So with men, it's a much, much higher amount of testosterone. With women, ours is lower, but we still have it and we need it. And with men, it's about 10 times as much as ours. But if you don't have it, you will feel pretty miserable and a little bit tired, sluggish. You may be gaining weight. You may be having even vaginal dryness. A lot of people never talk about that. It causes pain with intercourse, which leads to difficulty with intimacy in relationships. All of these things people never talk about. But this comes along with the decline in hormones that usually comes along with age, but also can come earlier in life. So these things are very important. [00:28:37] Speaker B: Is this, how young will you do testosterone replacement for women? [00:28:42] Speaker A: Usually I try to keep it around age 30, but it all depends on the person. So like I said, everything that I do is individualized. And so if a person is experiencing a premature ovarian failure or something where they're having premature low levels, then they can also be a candidate as well. It all depends on what's going on with the person. [00:29:02] Speaker B: When somebody. Just a personal curiosity with. Since I work in fertility, if somebody hasn't had their babies yet, is this something you can safely do up until they try to conceive, or is this something that you need to do? [00:29:15] Speaker A: Yes. So having your testosterone levels optimized, it helps a lot with the vaginal moisture, which helps with intimacy as well. It helps with the pelvic floor and strengthening of the pelvic floor, which helps as well with the testosterone. It's not something that you want to be doing actively when you are actively trying to conceive because you don't want the baby to receive too much testosterone. However, because the testosterone that I work with is bioidentical, the body will use it just like it uses the regular testosterone levels. And if you have pellets in over time, your body will just slowly dissolve those. There have been recent studies showing that the testosterone has not caused any issues with the children. [00:29:59] Speaker B: Okay. And so when testosterone ends, maybe a year later, full fertility comes back or in some point in time. [00:30:05] Speaker A: Oh, the fertility is there the whole time? [00:30:07] Speaker B: The whole time? [00:30:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:08] Speaker B: That's fantastic. [00:30:08] Speaker A: So the fertility for women, it does not affect the fertility. However, with men, when they're taking testosterone, it can decrease the sperm count. So if a man is actively trying to conceive, we will hold off on the testosterone optimization until after they conceive, and then we'll add in the testosterone optimization so that we won't hinder the process. [00:30:26] Speaker B: That's great. So I know we're talking about a lot of different things. We're talking about weight loss, but you do also have some supplements that help with testosterone in that case, that can actually help with speaking sperm count too. You do that work as well? [00:30:36] Speaker D: A little bit, yes. [00:30:37] Speaker A: So we have all kinds of things that help to optimize the health. We have multivitamins and vitamins that also help to help your body to process the testosterone the appropriate way down the appropriate pathway so that you don't make the wrong types of byproducts that your body doesn't like. So we try to make sure to keep everything on the straight and narrow and make it go the way that your body would function optimally. So that's what we're after, really. And so we have vitamins, we have supplements, we have the actual testosterone pellets and troches and all of that. [00:31:11] Speaker B: Well, that's great. So back to our weight loss. I know that's what we were talking about today. So when it comes to our weight loss, you have a different method. You don't just put people on GLP1. So you already said that. You look and see, is there an underlying cause? And then you treat that underlying cause, like if it's thyroid or if you have a hormonal dysregulation or imbalance, and then you move on. What is your next step? [00:31:33] Speaker A: Right. So after that, we deal with, or even concurrently sometimes we will deal with weight loss medications if that is what the patient desires. A lot of times people will get the results that they're looking for just by optimizing the hormones because they never knew that it was an issue. And also what happens is a lot of doctors that have not gone through additional training for hormone optimization, you will go to the doctor and they will check your hormone levels and they will see it and say, your hormones are perfectly normal. There's nothing wrong with the hormones. And then. But you continue to feel bad. And you've done this and you've done that, you've tried this, you've tried that, and nothing is seeming to work. And I've had patients that come to me that said, look, I'm at my wits end. If this doesn't work, I don't know what else I'm gonna do. And then it works and they feel amazing. So that's one of the things I am a perfect example of that. I used to actually have trouble with my weight as well. And I'm, you know, continue to work on my health goals, but I was about 25 pounds heavier. I was sluggish, I was feeling tired, and I found myself after going through residency Training, I gained a lot of weight. It was very stressful. And so after I gained all of this weight, I just didn't feel good. So if you look at this pimple here, you'll see that on the before picture, I was actually in San Francisco living my best life, having a great time, but San Francisco is very healy. And so as I was going up and down these hills, I was so out of breath, I was having such a hard time. But on the second picture after, I had my hormones optimized. So the before is before I had my hormones optimized. Maybe a few months after that is when I first started doing hormone optimization for myself. And then after that, my hormones are completely optimized. I've been exercising, eating right, and the weight fell off. And I actually took this picture as a bridesmaid in one of my friends all white wedding. And when she sent me this picture, I didn't even recognize my own waistline. So I was so excited to see my waistline and all of the work that I had been putting in. So it was exciting. [00:33:35] Speaker B: I'm so glad you brought that picture and thank you for your own testimonial. And when we do our own work in that space, we frequently are just that we have that much more energy towards our patients to say this can be done. I'm sure you show that to your patients. [00:33:47] Speaker A: I do. [00:33:48] Speaker B: I was that too. And so you can be exactly here, too. So that's wonderful. So you do use some GLP1s. And so tell me, how is it that we that you minimize some of those side effects with your GLP1 use when you prescribe those? [00:34:03] Speaker A: Yes. So GLPs, a lot of people like them because you only have to take it once a week and it is an injectable. But it's pretty easy going for most people if they're tolerant to needles. Right. But what happens is with the GLP1s, they actually slow down your gastric emptying. And because they slow down your gastric emptying, that leads to food sitting in the stomach for longer than it used to, which can lead to you feeling a little bit nauseous, feeling like you're having heartburn or indigestion, and just feeling food full for longer, which is what it's trying to do to keep you from eating as much. But sometimes it can be very distressing to some people. And so what I've done is I've dealt with it in a very interesting way. And what I love to do is to put my patients on digestive enzymes, because your body naturally makes digestive enzymes. It's in your saliva, it's in your, your stomach contents. And the acid that your stomach's a, secretes the bile, that your, your liver secretes, the gallbladder, secretes the bile as well. All of these things. Lipase from your, your pancreas, your body is using that to break down fats and proteins and sugars. So we can help it out to do it in a more efficient way by giving you digestive enzymes so that your body will actually break down the food. And so that way it leads to your body emptying the stomach a little bit faster and leads to you feeling better. [00:35:28] Speaker B: Thank you. And then I know we waited to the very last second to give you your little bit of information there about those digestive enzymes. And you have other tricks up your sleeve. When people come see you, you can help them with that, too. Thank you so much for joining me again today. [00:35:40] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:35:40] Speaker B: So will you please let everyone know how they can find you? [00:35:42] Speaker A: Yes. So if you would like to find me, you can find me on my website, www.incertionalcareelite.com. again, that's www.incertionalcare. or you can call the office, 713-659-9309. And on Instagram Care Elite, that's ex C A R E E L I T E. And we would love to take care of you. [00:36:07] Speaker B: Thank you again for coming. [00:36:09] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:36:10] Speaker B: Come back after these messages for our next guest. And we're back. Infertility has become endemic. What that means is one in five couples are struggling to conceive. That means after trying for a full year, they aren't able to get pregnant. This is a very important part of our health care that we need to be addressing. So today we have a special treat. I have with us today De Novo Fertility's somatic and relationship coach, Jessica Shuttleworth. Jessica, thank you so much for joining us today. [00:37:07] Speaker E: Yeah, my pleasure. I'm so glad to be here. [00:37:10] Speaker B: I'm really happy. It was short notice for us, but I was so glad to grab into your busy schedule. So somatics, I know that this is a newer area and if you could just describe a little bit about how somatic, what somatics actually are to start. [00:37:26] Speaker E: Yeah, I would love to. Great question. So semantics is just how we relate to our body's wisdom. You know, we live in a society that's very intellectual, very cerebral. And I know even on this fertility journey, especially when you're getting to this point point where, you know, there's Been some infertility struggles. There's so many protocols and so many things and timing and schedules and so much in the head that what's going on in the body from a stress management standpoint. And so when I talk about somatics, it's just, how are we relating to our body and how are we listening to the body's wisdom? [00:38:05] Speaker B: Thank you. That's a beautiful, concise description. I think that when people hear somatics, it just goes off in another direction. How would you say somatics is related to fertility? [00:38:19] Speaker E: Yeah, I would say it's related to fertility because when we're out of our body and when we're in a high stress environment, our cortisol is really high. We're in a chronic stress fight or flight. Our body prioritizes survival over conception and it will always do that. And so when our body is prioritizing survival because our, our stress levels are so high, it's going to be really difficult to get pregnant. So with somatics as it relates to fertility, it's what's going on in the nervous system. Let's bring our nervous system into more of that parasympathetic state. So our body is open and receptive versus when we're stressed. We're like really contracted. We're really restricted. [00:39:08] Speaker B: That's great. So stress for our audience, when we have a higher stress state, then we're in that fight or flight or that freeze state, more so than that rest, digest and procreate state. And I think what's really unique in the work that you do is that you bring in a solution, a real tangible solution of how people can take those somatics and apply them to optimize their fertility. [00:39:33] Speaker E: Yeah. So I will say what I've seen and a lot of people that I've worked with is we hold so much tension in our hips, we hold so much tension in our jaws. And both of these things are directly related to our reproductive system. So it's really just tuning in, dropping out of the mind and just feeling what it feels like to be in our body. And a good exercise that I love to do around this is called the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, senses practice. And it's really simple. You can do this anywhere, which is why I love this practice is. [00:40:06] Speaker B: Let's do it. Yeah. Can we do it? [00:40:08] Speaker E: Yeah, I would love to, yeah. [00:40:10] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome. [00:40:12] Speaker E: So just. Yeah. Finding a comfortable seat and just into your natural breath, maybe you let out a good exhale, giving your body a little wiggle. Beautiful. And then five things that you can see around you and really just name them. You know, I see a water bottle, I see a plant, I see snow, I see green paint on my wall, I see a light. And you can name them out loud or internally, but just bringing us back to the present moment, because that's what happens when we're in stress, where we're likely in our mind and we're thinking about so many things and we're not right here. So this is the first step. And so four is four things that you can touch around you. You know, I can touch my tea, I can touch the case to my AirPods, I can touch my laptop and I can touch my lap. And really just trying to tune into all of our senses. [00:41:17] Speaker B: You're supposed to feel the feeling. Like, what does it feel like? My sweater is soft and I like the surface of my remarkable. Over here. That is actually. I never even thought about it. It's actually really soft too. Is it that we're trying to pay attention to how those things feel? Yes. [00:41:34] Speaker E: It's so beautiful. And the more that we can pick up on, the more present we are in this moment, the more sensory we can tune into with all of our senses, the more it's going to bring us to this present moment. And that's the truth. The present moment is the truth of, like how we're experiencing the life right now. Three things that you can hear. Sometimes I like to close my eyes for this so I can really pick up. I have a contractor in the basement, so I can hear his music on his phone and I can hear the buzzing in my AirPods and I can hear the vent that the heat is coming out of. We're in stress mode. Our senses turn off because we're just in survival and we're hyper focused, whatever the thing is that we're stressed about. So this activity really allows us to open. Our senses are on. We're open. Right. And then two things that you can smell. And sometimes that can be a lack of smell. But I can smell my tea right next to me and I put on some lotion and I can smell like remnants of that. Right. Anything that you can smell, Jess? [00:42:52] Speaker B: Yeah. So I have a little. I have a scented lotion and that I'm just. I'm smelling that and then not much else around me actually. So I'm going to choose nothing because. [00:43:04] Speaker E: Yeah, like a lack of water. [00:43:06] Speaker B: I have water, so not tea with me right now. So I'm thinking, okay, that's. That's an absence of but it was interesting. I was smelling the water early. I. I have well water and it's like a 200 foot well and it's really a spring water that comes in and so I love the smell of it. So I was actually just thinking of that when you were talking about it. Yeah. [00:43:25] Speaker E: Was it like you could pick up on like the minerals in the water? [00:43:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like nature. The water that comes out of my faucet smells like nature. [00:43:33] Speaker E: Yeah. And then think about when you pay attention and slow down to smell that and then what comes to like what. How do you feel drinking well water that you can like pick up on nature and the minerals. Right. Like for me, I'm like feeling calm. Yeah. Like peaceful and like, like one with nature. And that's already bringing me down into like this more relaxed state. And then the last one, number one, is one thing that you can taste. And sometimes I really need to hone in on this, bringing all my attention here. And I ate breakfast, a late breakfast not too long ago that was really flavorful. So I can pick up on like some garlic leftover. [00:44:12] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:44:13] Speaker E: And then just noticing how you feel after you do this. And like I said, you can do this anywhere. You're on a subway, you're in the office, you're picking kids up from school and it's really loud. You can do this practice anywhere. Just to bring you to more of the present state and bring our body more into this receptive and open place and really tuning into what the body is communicating with us. [00:44:37] Speaker B: I love this. So it's five things you can see, four things you can touch. [00:44:42] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:44:43] Speaker B: Three things you can hear. Hear. Two things you can smell, and one thing that you can taste. [00:44:53] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:44:54] Speaker B: And then once you've done that and you've come to a present moment, what next? [00:45:01] Speaker E: Yeah. So with me, it's just tuning in. So after I go through the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, senses practice, I'm going to take a deep breath. Maybe I place a hand on a heart and a belly and this is just noticing. And so with somatics, there's nothing to fix. There's nothing to do. When we're in our body, it's just noticing what is present. And so often when we're out of touch with our body, we're very much in our mind. We don't even know what's being communicated. And maybe from this place I'm like, oh, wow. I'm like, I'm hungry right now, you know, or man, my body is so tired and we can just tune into the truth of our experience and then take some steps from there. Like I said, Somatics for me is bringing us back to our body's wisdom. Our body has so much wisdom for us. If we can slow down to just really listen. [00:45:56] Speaker B: This is so great. Jessica, can you give me an example of like, tell me a story. Tell me a story about someone you've worked with and how this impacted them and how they feel it helps. Helps their fertility. [00:46:08] Speaker E: Oh, this is great. Yeah. Well, this is a good question. And I'm just thinking, okay, so I was working with a couple the other day, and my girlfriend that I was working with, she's in a really high stress job. I mean, she has meetings from 7am to like 6pm most days. And I met up with her right after and she was so in her mind, she was buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. And so we were going for a walk together. And she's on her fertility journey and has been trying for the last six or seven months and she's very stressed. And so we took a pause and I invited her to just close her eyes and just to notice where her breath was in her body and it was really shallow, was really in her chest, it was really shallow. So I invited her to bring more breath to her belly and just to pause and take in the surroundings. And I could instantly see her body, like her shoulders were up here. Right after this, like really stressful day, she was sitting in a computer, like at a laptop most of the day with just noticing and just taking a beat a minute or two, her shoulders started to come back, her chin came up, you know, her stance got a little bit wider. Oftentimes you can feel like, I know we have a coach on the team that talks about like a butthole being clenched, and that's so true. We can feel that. And you can feel like I couldn't necessarily see this with her, but I could sense that her whole body just opened from this really tense place to this open space. And then from that state, her and I were able to have a beautiful connection. But before then, she was so in her mind and so scattered that it was hard to even make connection together. And that's a whole other topic. But think about if you're trying to conceive and you're with a partner and both of you are in this like really high stress state, the lack of connection that you're able to have. Right, so that was one example that happened recently. [00:48:28] Speaker B: No, that's great. And as we mentioned before, when, when we're stressed like that. Our cortisol is high. For women, your progesterone ends up low. And then there is an infertility aspect there. For men, cortisol is high, then their testosterone is low. So that's. It's very impactful. So thank you so much, Jessica, for coming and giving us this exercise and talking with us a little bit about somatics and infertility and how we can get past that infertility and thrive in our fertile state. Can you give us a information about what you're working on and how people can find you, please? [00:49:02] Speaker E: Yeah. So I'm one of the coaches with De Novo, so you can find me on the De Novo website, and I have availability to work with some clients. And, yeah, right now I'm working on some creative projects around archetypal work and bringing people into different energetic states by embodying different archetypes. So, you know, like the nurturer, the warrior, and how these archetypes and energetic states are so important for us to really come into that aligned wholeness within ourselves. [00:49:34] Speaker B: I love that. So it's de novofertility.com the de novo website, and I'm sure we'll have that. We'll have that for everyone here as well. Well, thank you, everyone, for joining us once again for the new health, and we're really happy to have you back next week on our next episode. So stay tuned. This has been a NOW Media Network's feature presentation. All rights reserved. It.