← Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark
Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark
Simple & Inexpensive Steps To A Healthier Life | Nutritionist Cara Clark
01:07:41
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- [00:00]
A
Certain body types should never in a million years cold plunge. Ever, ever ever.
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B
Every day I get asked Alex when it comes to eating better, living cleaner, I'm overwhelmed. I don't know where to start. And it also can't be too expensive and it can't be too complicated eating.
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A
Within the hour of waking up. Carbs, fats, proteins. Eating every four hours. Eating five different colors a day, always combining all three macros. When it comes to our bodies, the key to maintaining metabolic health is blood sugar.
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B
Do you feel a general confusion about what the heck you're supposed to eat? Something that we do three to four times a day? Do you struggle to stay committed to living a healthier lifestyle, knowing even just where to start and finding your why My guest today is my friend Kara Clark. No relation, just a cool last name. She is a celebrity integrative nutritionist to people like Carrie Underwood, professional athletes and Olympians. Kara is also a root cause practitioner with a certification in blood chemistry. Her new book, the Feel Good Way is out now, which is packed with healthy recipes the whole family will love and even prayers and devotions. Most importantly, she is a Christian wife and mother of four girls. Every episode is available to watch, not just listen. Watch on the real Alex Clark YouTube channel or culture Apothecary on Spotify. Spotify does video now. FYI. Whether you just started listening or you're an og, I'd love to hear when you found me and any episodes in particular that have changed your life. Share Share your story in the Cute Servitus Facebook group or in a five star review on Apple or Spotify. Please welcome integrative nutritionist Cara Clark to Culture Apothecary. Every day I get asked Alex when it comes to eating better, living cleaner, I'm overwhelmed. I don't know where to start. And it also can't be too expensive and it can't be too complicated. So what is your answer for people like that?
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A
Make sustainable habits. Create a program that works for you, that works for your family, that fits your budget. I will say the first week is always going to be more expensive. Adding in those seeds and those healthy oils. There's a cost to that, but they last. And so after that, usually the grocery list evens out. And that's something I'm really considerate of with people. Repeat meals. Don't let anything go to waste. That's the key. Sustainable habits.
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B
What is an integrative nutritionist and what is your food philosophy?
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A
I think anybody you ask would probably give you a different answer answer. But my answer what an integrative nutrition is means I'm looking at the mind, the body and the spirit. And sometimes when I work with somebody it's all spiritual. Sometimes when I work with somebody it's all emotional. Sometimes when I work with somebody, it's all clinical. So the bio individualized approach, using all different kinds of quote unquote medicine, anything from like Chinese Ayurvedic biomolecular to traditional functional. I say traditional functional because functional medicine's been so popular. And I don't even like the word medicine necessarily, but that's what it's referred to as. So I really integrate what people need to support their whole body. One of my favorite methods, which I hope we get into later, is Ayurvedic because I want to tell you more about yourself.
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B
Yeah, I don't know this word. I don't even know what it means.
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A
Okay, so Ayurvedic is ancient medicine. It comes from like 6,000 years ago. It was written not even in scrolls, but like in trees. But my favorite part of Ayurvedic is that we are responsible for supporting our bodies, for bringing balance to the body. And so many people bypass that by trying to supplement symptoms or supplement in general. So Ayurvedic is like how do we restore the body that we're given with the elements that the body is? And so it sounds like woo woo when you think of it that way. But even western culture adopted the philosophy when it came to assessing criminals. So there's Ayurveda dosha body type, and then there's this somatic body, or not somatic, that's nervous system somo typing when it comes to assessing criminals. So it's ironic that we adopted this body type when it comes to assessing criminals. But there's three different body types and they are each made up of different elements. And based on the elements that the body type is made up with is how you rebalance and restore the body. Like certain body types should never in a million years cold plunge ever, ever, ever. Who?
- [04:38]
B
Who? You.
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A
Who?
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B
I knew it. I knew it. I have been a suspect of this from day one. That cold plunge would be terrible for me. And I've been telling people I don't think all women should be cold plunging.
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A
Exactly. And you're 100% right. A Vata woman, you long lean air is your element. Should never cold plunge ever.
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B
Would that be the case for anybody with autoimmune?
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A
I will say that most thyroid, Hashimoto's and other autoimmune related to that are vata body types. So they all, they do go hand in hand. Yes. For most people with certain autoimmune, they shouldn't. But the pitta and the kapha, those are the other two body types. The pitta is really strong. A lot of business owners go getters. Fire is the element.
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B
Okay.
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A
And then the kapha is wood. Water goes with the flow, always pleasing others, but tends to be a little bit bulky, bulkier. They can cold plunge.
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B
Okay.
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A
The pitta needs to cold plunge. That's why those are the people that are raving about it and trying to get everybody to buy one because they're a pitta and they're, they need to put their fire out. But avata and air doesn't need to be any colder than you already are.
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B
Okay. This is fascinating. Yeah. I feel like you could do a whole episode just on this.
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A
I know. And I was like holding out on telling you. So my food philosophy in the feel good way that you will find that I've been teaching for 17 years. Part of what I learned was because I was a female college athlete and I wanted to take that performance energy into everyday life because I thought, doesn't everybody want to perform? And the more I'm around people that are business owners or you know, want to feel good on at their daily jobs, Everybody wants to perform, everybody wants to have energy. So I built the feel good philosophy 17 years ago and it still stands. So it's eating within the hour of waking up, always combining all three macros, carbs, fats, proteins. My philosophy for a cycling woman is 50% carbs, 20 to 30% fat, 20 to 30% protein. And the way this looks is the palm of the hand carbs, the fist protein, and the thumb fat. Because fat is twice as nutrient dense. And I'm not saying we should limit ourselves to that. This is a range, it's a, a roadmap, but not necessarily hard, fast rules. I just think that cycling women tend to undereat carbs because it's kind of the trend.
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B
So that's definitely what I'm doing. And it's not my choice. It's just I think I'm struggling getting enough carbs because I was told by so many people I need to be gluten free. So then I'm not eating a lot of bread.
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A
Right.
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B
And I feel like I am somebody that would love a huge heaping pile of grass fed butter on top of some sour bread, sourdough bread. And now I can't eat that. So it's just like, okay, is it potatoes or is it rice? I mean, what are my other options? I'm trying, but I'm. It's just like every meal.
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A
I mean, there is a bread company that I love out of Colorado that's like, so worth ordering as much as you can fit in your freezer. Yeah, tell me outside the bread box.
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B
Okay.
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A
They have vegan oat if you do good with oats. I don't do good with oats as oatmeal, personally, but I do good with oats baked in things.
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B
Got it.
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A
Their bread tastes like a croissant. I'm not joking you.
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B
Okay, that's interesting.
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A
Sandwiches with it. You can do all kinds of things now.
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B
I love awg. I've talked about them on the show before. That she makes a phenomenal gluten free bread. That's the. Actually, it is the only gluten free bread that I will eat because every. All of them I think are nasty carbs. But yeah, so that doesn't count as carbs. So. And then I had this woman, Sue Becker, who was wildly popular saying, it's not gluten. Nobody has to be gluten free. You have to mill your own flour.
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A
Right. And I don't disagree with that.
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B
Okay, so you think that there could be truth to that.
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A
I think there could be truth to that for people that are intolerant and people that aren't trying to be in a healing phase. So there's a difference between, like being in a healing phase and being all in on your choices with your food and maintaining. Okay, so if you were to get. Cuz are you Hashimoto's?
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B
Yeah.
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A
Okay, so if you were to get that in remission, then I would say that you could totally have it. And I would even say that you could have long fermented sourdough. That's the trend that I see in my own community, at least. Eating within the hour of waking up, always regulating your blood sugar by eating all three macros together, eating every four hours. Again, women still cycling postmenopause can get away with five hours. So it's going to be three to four meals a day for most women keeping meal sizes consistent. This is one thing I don't see. The only exception if you're going all in on Ayurvedic and your dosha body type is some of us need a way bulkier lunch than any other meal, which is ironic because we're told to bulk the breakfast. Um, but I've noticed a huge shift in my afternoon energy by bulking the lunch. And when I say bulking, I mean like a hundred calories extra. So keeping meal sizes consistent, no small snacks. Eating five different colors a day. Having the different colors fills your gut with a diverse microbiome, but also different antioxidants and different phytonutrients. Each different color has its own set of nutrients that it's offering. So eating the, the different colors of the rainbow makes a big difference for anti aging, for energy, for, for gut diversity and all these amazing things.
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B
Okay, so on that, kind of a weird question that just popped in my head, would sometimes it be good to opt for the purple potatoes rather than the yellow potatoes?
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A
Absolutely.
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B
So that really does make a difference.
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A
It does make a difference. And the other fun thing about potatoes and like apples is the, the flesh and the, the flesh and the skin both count as different colors.
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B
Skin, the corpse.
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A
All in fleshy and skin. Okay. It's two different colors. If they are two different colors, don't go eating your banana peels.
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B
Okay. And then also this is interesting to me that you said about the. A thumb size of fat with every meal. So to me I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to eat like a whole avocado to get my fat. But you're saying it's. It was double. Your fat is double in nutrient density.
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A
Or something like that.
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B
Okay, so then for a meal, if I just cook the protein and beef tallow, does that count for fat or no?
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A
Yes, it does count for fat.
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B
Okay.
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A
And it like, again, I. It's not a hard, fast rule, but I do feel like it helps first people to have a visual of what their plate is supposed to look like.
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B
Yes.
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A
So they're not measuring their food, they're not counting, they're not obsessing over it. It's more intuitive.
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B
Okay, so literally I don't know anything about fat. It's. Is butter.
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A
Yeah, butter.
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B
Okay, so butter, beef tallow, avocado, what else?
- [10:53]
A
Seeds, all of our oils.
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B
What does that mean?
- [10:56]
A
Seeds like pepita or pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, you know, stuff we sprinkle on top of our meals or add to our smoothies, Flax seeds, all of that.
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B
Okay. How do you put seeds on just like a, you know, a regular dinner plate.
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A
So like a stir fry.
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B
Okay.
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A
I don't know if you ever make a stir fry. It's a five minute dinner. It's one of our go tos in our house. Or a sheet pan dinner. And then sprinkle it with some hemp seeds or sesame seeds. Or even cashews. Crumbled up cashews. That's another way to get in your fat. I know some people don't necessarily cook with their fat because they'd rather add it and have a little bit more control over it. I'm not that obsessive when it comes to like the ranges. I just know that for a fact that if we don't combine our carbs with our fats and our protein every single time we eat, we're going to be dealing with an irregular blood sugar. And when it comes to our bodies, the key to maintaining the metabolic health is blood sugar. And it's mind blowing that God gave us these bodies with no guide. And this is such a vital way to live. But people do it all the time. Everywhere I go I'm like, it's so hard for me to not observe, especially kids because I have four kids and I'm with kids all the time eating carbs by themselves. And an unstable blood sugar leads to metabolic dysfunction majorly, but minorly. It leads to mood swings, it leads to hormone issues, it leads to, you know, heightened emotions, it leads to stored fat. It's a low energy.
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B
Yes, that's me.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Besides stored fat, I have the opposite problem. I can't keep weight on. Yeah, I need to, I need to gain weight. But like that is definitely me, all of those things. So I wonder if that's my problem because I get so busy filming and stuff that I routinely, I'll just be like, I'll skip lunch and then I'll have a bigger dinner. I do that all the time. Yeah, but I wonder if I'm the type of person that you mentioned that needs a bigger lunch.
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A
Right. Try it. It's a game changer. I used to think I couldn't work past 1:00 o' clock. I, I would be fine from like 5:00am to 1:00pm and it's not all the way through because I have four kids and I get them off to school and pack their lunches and stuff. Ever since I started bulking up my noontime meal by like, like I said, 100 calories. It's not a big deal. But sitting down to eat it too.
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B
Yeah, you more sustainable energy.
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A
I can work all afternoon. Okay. So the other two aspects to the feel good Way philosophy is moving your body, how it feels good. I think we're so hyper fixated on results that we're not really listening to how the body feels. Like for instance, this morning I got up and I was like, I'm going to go to the gym. And then I was kind of feeling slow and a little groggy, and I'm like, that's not going to support my hormone system. I'm not going to the gym right now. I'm going to eat breakfast and then. And have my coffee and rel and pray and then I'm going to go to the gym. Okay. So an intuitive approach to moving the body. We don't have to overdo it. If we're moving the body to support the whole system, it looks and feels really different than if we're just trying to achieve results.
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B
I like that.
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A
Yeah. And so the last thing is, is drinking half our body weight in ounces of water. And that sounds so much easier than it is because we know how bad the water is these days. And so I'm seeing people that drink half their body, more than half their body weight in water. And in their labs, they're still dehydrated. So finding the water that you know is hydrating you. And you can tell this by how often you're peeing, what your pee looks like, and what your energy is.
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B
Like, how often should we be peeing and what should our pee look like?
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A
That's going to be different for everybody. For how often. But if you're just constantly feeling like you have to pee, your water is not getting into your cells. There's been some people that say you need 15% sodium in your water to get it to push through the cell membrane. So that's just kind of a rule of thumb that I go by. By adding a little bit of salt to the water or the spring water that you guys have, and then the piece should be pretty clear.
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B
Did you get into this because you were sick or because you're smart?
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A
There was two different instances of getting into this. The first time around, I just became a nutritionist. Well, actually, I became a fitness trainer and a nutritionist because I was trying to beat my own eating disorder. So. So 22, moving to California right out of college was a college athlete identity crisis, because I was the college athlete. So when I got into it, it was to help heal my own disordered eating. And it did. And then, you know, shift. Having four kids and the issues that come with having four kids in five years, a completely depleted system. Even though I was eating exactly how I teach and I was exercising exactly how I taught, then my body was failing me, and everywhere I went seeking help, it was like, take this, take that, take this, take that. And obviously it was functional and it was therapeutic, but I was like, well, my gut's not working, so what, what's the point of taking all this? So when I started out, I was a clinical and sports nutritionist. Now I'm an integrative nutritionist. I don't say holistic because not everything I do is going to be super holistic. And I feel like I, I don't want to lie. So I started studying root cause, I started studying integrative medicine. I started studying how to support the body to rebalance, recalibrate without adding all this stuff that their gut can't use. Because if we take stuff, which is why there's a peptide, peptide craze, because we're not taking it, it's not going through our gut, it's going through our blood, then our bodies may or may not be getting it. And so not only is it a waste of, of money, but it could be a direct stress to the body. So I think when, you know, when people think about stress on their body, they're always thinking of external stressors. They're like, I know, I'm overwhelmed. This happened in my life. I have this trauma or whatever it is that's external. And I'm like, you haven't even considered what's constantly stressing your body out internally. So that's why when people have like autoimmune issues or digestive issues, we're going to go like all in on an anti inflammatory approach. So to calm the body down.
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B
So you're saying when you said you're not in, you're not considering what is going on inside of the body. Are you saying it's something that you're repeatedly eating that your body doesn't react.
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A
Well to or something that, or the pathogens or infections that the body has.
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B
Okay.
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A
That you're not aware of or you just, you know, assume they're something else. So I got into this, I got into integrative health because I needed to solve some problems. There was some issues I didn't think people were coming to me on 30 supplements. They, the other thing that happened is I, I created a membership, I created a subscription before a membership. But people were asking me all of their questions. They, I was helping solve fertility issues, I was helping solve like oral health issues, dental issues. I was helping solve these huge complex issues. And we were doing it by balancing things in the body, restoring the body, not by taking all these things. Granted, there's still like a foundational approach. So I didn't love how like even the functional world was like, take this and that and you need the, you know, 13 things in order to get well. Because if your body is not using these things, it could actually be adding to it and contributing to the stress load.
- [18:09]
B
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- [20:37]
A
Say four kids in five years? I was nursing and pregnant for seven years.
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B
Okay. And you were feeling depleted and nothing you were doing was working and the advice you were getting wasn't working. So what did you change that helped your body get back to where it needed to be with all those kids?
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A
I regulated my nervous system. How it was a journey and I wouldn't recommend the way I did it, but eventually I was guided into this vocation which was a spiritual authority group. So it's a different style of prayer.
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B
Okay.
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A
It's praying with authority in Christ and like under and being able to listen and hear. And that was what was the end all of regulating my nervous system. If I'm being really honest. Obviously I did some work to my cortisol, like I did some work to my adrenals. I started doing some adrenal cocktails and adrenal support and cortisol support to regulate not drinking coffee on an empty stomach, that kind of stuff. Not exercising first thing in the morning. Because that's the other thing with the dosha body type that I learned.
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B
Wait, is that me?
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A
So yeah, vatas should not exercise right when they wake up.
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B
When should we be exercising?
- [21:43]
A
The key window is 9 to 1, which I know is not ideal for a lot of people that work. So just listen to your body. But that really, that was another life changing thing to me too is moving my exercise to mid morning. Okay, so regulating my nervous system with all of that obviously prayer. And then, you know, I, I hired people like I hired a therapist and I did some of the somatic work through the therapist and kind of just unlocked the, you know, what my body was able to do.
- [22:14]
B
What is the biggest misconception about healthy eating that you want to debunk for.
- [22:18]
A
Everyone, that it's a one size fits all. Because even in my philosophy there's room for variation. And what I mean by that is you can do what so and so is doing to have their same results. And each body has a very bio individualized framework and experience. So our, our bodies are shaped by our minds.
- [22:38]
B
See now what you're saying Kara is so important. And you would think that people would understand this. But one of the biggest complaints I get from the audience is, well, I'm confused because this guest said this and this guest said this and this guy. They all contradict each other. I'm like, no, because everyone is different. So that's why what you said is so important. And I try to explain this ad nauseam to people so that they. They can let go of some of this overwhelm and stress. Listening to the show is that because somebody listening needs to hear what Kara is saying. Somebody who's listening needs to hear what this guest said or whatever. And I, you know, obviously, I've got all these people listening, millions of people. Like, I am just trying to get everybody's grounds covered. So, yeah, you take what works for you and leave what doesn't. And somebody is gonna be listening to some guests and have an aha moment. Like, oh, my gosh, that's what's wrong with me. I didn't know, like, you being like, for certain body types, working out first thing in the morning is not a great idea. Well, there you go. But some people, it is a good idea.
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A
There is a body type that can work out night or day, and it won't affect their circadian rhythm.
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B
Wow.
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A
Yes. The Kaphas, the gentle ones, the golden retrievers, they can work out night and day, and it won't bother them. But if I even go to a game at night that I didn't play in, I can't sleep. And what I mean by that is there's an intuitive approach, right? So I can give you a full set of meal plans, and some of it might not work for you, some of it might be triggering. And there's emotions that go into food. And I know for a lot of, like, new wellness people, there are emotions where they think that I can't take this away because that will cause, like, my kids to think I'm too restrictive. I had a client once, and I see this a lot in the church community, where she did not want to take away her weekend Slurpees and ice cream with her kids. So she refused to follow a plan because she didn't want her kids to think that she had eating disorder issues. But the reality is, is we have to take personal responsibility because having super processed food or taking away super processed food from our whole family does not equal eating disorder.
- [24:36]
B
Yeah.
- [24:36]
A
It equals a lifesty. So anyways, the bio individualized approach goes back to what works for you emotionally and clinically. So like for some people, most people, avocado is a superfood. It is so rich in fiber. It is so it's the perfect balance of fat. But for people that are having histamine issues, which sometimes goes back to adrenal issues, avocado might cause some itching. It might cause, like a little bit of a disturbance in the gut.
- [25:05]
B
So how do you know if you have histamine issues?
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A
Rashes, generally itchiness, are the most common histamine signs.
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B
Before you start going in and overhauling your nutrition or your dietary guidelines, is it important to get blood work done in hormones first or start with the food?
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A
Start with the food.
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B
Okay.
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A
90 days of this food will save you a lot of money in labs, really, because most people will experience the changes that they're hoping to, because otherwise labs are just data.
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B
You know what? I like this approach. This is smart. That's really smart.
- [25:39]
A
Yeah. I won't even work with somebody who hasn't done 90 days of my food philosophy and my lifestyle philosophy for that matter, because it's not worth their money or their time. If they haven't done it, if they haven't balanced their blood sugars, if they're not, you know, eating every four hours macro combined meals, then yes, things are going to be dysregulated.
- [25:58]
B
When you are somebody who is starting literally from scratch. You've never cooked healthy, you've never maybe never even cooked before. What is the 30 day plan that you're putting people on for them to start seeing the biggest difference in just 30 days?
- [26:09]
A
Yeah, there's a ton of combinations that you can do without cooking. And I think some people need to build their com. Everyone needs to build their confidence in the kitchen eventually.
- [26:17]
B
Well, everybody, yeah, everyone needs to learn how to cook.
- [26:19]
A
Yes. It's another vital thing that we need to learn. Balance your blood sugars, build confidence in the kitchen. Smoothies, yogurt parfaits, beef sticks, nuts and fruit. Like, you can do so many combinations that calorically range out the same as a meal without cooking.
- [26:36]
B
What beefsteak brands do you trust?
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A
So I do like the chomp AIP version, the blue one that most people aren't familiar with.
- [26:42]
B
I eat Paleo Valley.
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A
Paleo Valley. And there's a primal one.
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B
Okay, primal. There are people who say you need to cut out vegetables, people who say you must go carnivore. Are any of these diets worth experimenting with?
- [26:54]
A
So they do all have a place, they don't all have a time in everybody's life, but they do all have a place. So if somebody is, is suffering from neurological dementia, Alzheimer's, that kind of thing, I think carnivore and keto is a good option. If that's not the case, there's not a huge place for it. And I think that we see men having great success on it. So with men, their hormones reset every 24 hours. With women, we're on like a 28 day cycle. We have to be a little bit more particular with providing our whole body the nutrients that it needs. I'm not a fan of cutting out vegetables, but I am a fan of cooking your vegetables. So for people with Hashimoto's or autoimmune, that cellular layer of greens, for instance, is a little bit harder for the body to utilize. If we break it down a little bit, boom. Bioavailable.
- [27:45]
B
Is that why I've been told I shouldn't be eating raw carrots, raw vegetables? And that's something special for autoimmune?
- [27:53]
A
Yes, that's something special for autoimmune because the body is already stressed, the body's already attacking. And so we want to take a lot of the energy out of digestion. So I've heard it say, like, upwards of 80% of our daily energy goes to digestion.
- [28:06]
B
Oh.
- [28:06]
A
So that we can get energy into the cells. So that's a lot of work on the body. So if we strip away those hard to digest foods, which are a lot of the healthy foods, the high fiber, you know, leafy greens, that kind of stuff, if we strip away the energy that it takes to digest and absorb those foods, then our body's gonna have energy to heal.
- [28:26]
B
Right now I'm preaching the gospel of a smoothie every morning, a protein smoothie every morning. So here's what I'm doing. I want you to tell me what you think. I've got two scoops of protein powder. They're like 20 grams of protein each, so that's like 40 grams of protein. One avocado collagen powder, creatine, colostrum, camu, beet and goji berry powder, frozen strawberries, peaches, pineapple and cherries, little lime juice. What's your opinion?
- [28:49]
A
I think it's great. I would also say maybe it's doing too much. So some of these things could be countering each other.
- [28:55]
B
Okay, explain.
- [28:56]
A
There is such thing is too much of a good thing.
- [28:58]
B
Okay.
- [28:59]
A
So I would separate some of those things from each other.
- [29:03]
B
Okay.
- [29:03]
A
And not saying you shouldn't have them all because they're all great, but I would simplify it just a little bit.
- [29:09]
B
Smoothie saved my life.
- [29:10]
A
It's like. And you can definitely keep the smoothie. I love a morning smoothie.
- [29:14]
B
Okay.
- [29:14]
A
Especially for a vata.
- [29:15]
B
But what do you not like?
- [29:16]
A
I don't not like any of it. I just think maybe you could take out the colostrum and collagen and have that in a different meal.
- [29:22]
B
Okay. Why. Why separate it?
- [29:24]
A
Because they can be competing together. Colostrum for your body to use them. Collagen at the same time, we want to break up the nutrients sometimes when they are like added supplements.
- [29:35]
B
Okay. But now this is. I'm glad that you brought this up because it's been. This has been a question I keep getting, is I don't. Should I do colostrum or should I do collagen powder? And I'm like, both, because I'm pretty sure they're both different. I mean, there's some similarities, but different. So can you.
- [29:47]
A
Pretty different.
- [29:48]
B
Can you speak to this? Yeah.
- [29:50]
A
Collagen is going to be boosting skin, hair, nail, all the things, the vanity things that we want it to be doing it. It can help with the immune system. But colostrum really helps with the immune system. It helps with human growth hormone. It's a great thing if you don't have any issues with dairy to add for kids that you want to max out their growth potential or improve their immune system. So they are pretty different.
- [30:15]
B
And colostrum does a little for hair, skin, and nails as well.
- [30:18]
A
But collagen does the most partially your immune system. So when your immune system is rock solid and not vulnerable, then your hair and your skin and your nails are going to reflect that because your hair and your nails are not vital cells.
- [30:37]
B
I remember being like 8 years old, sitting at the kitchen counter after playing Monopoly all night with my grandma, and I was craving that, you know, cereal. But the sugar crash and the chemical cocktail that followed wasn't fun. If only I knew then what I know now. Now I know about Lovebird cereal. And let me tell you, it hits that perfect nostalgic spot without the junk. No synthetic pesticides, no weird ingredients that you can't pronounce. Just real food, prebiotic fiber, rich cassava, and a touch of honey for sweetness. It's baby bear summer. It's crunchy, it's delicious. It's clean enough that I actually would want my kids eating it, too. And I love that it's made by a dad, Parker, who literally left big food to build something better for his daughter and now for all of us. And I got to meet Parker marching at another cere that's doing all the bad things when we protested. Lovebird even offers a cereal swap program so your kids school can ditch the junk. Because all these schools are serving bad cereals. If you tell them about this and want to switch, they'll help them do it without paying more and they'll get better cereal for their students. It's real food with real purpose. Just go to lovebirdfoods.com use code ALEX20 for 20% off cereal that is as clean as your conscience. That's lovebirdfoods.com code Alex20 to get cereal that lets your whole family rise and fly and also get your kids schools switched. Let's talk about bible study, book club, mom's night. Whatever your vibe is, you show up. Somebody brings grocery store cookies, somebody else brings neon orange chips. And everybody secretly is wishing, I wish there was a better option. So here's your glow up. You're going to bring Paleo Valley beef sticks and you are going to be the new group favorite. These beef sticks are not your average snack. They're made from 100% grass fed grass finished beef. No weird fillers, no refined sugar, no preservatives that sound like science experiments. Just clean delicious protein with organic spices and gut friendly fermentation. These are the beef sticks that basically every single clean food expert I've had on my show has said they loved. They're satisfying, portable, and actually support your health instead of wrecking your blood sugar and your gut. Paleo Valley, it's like bringing wellness in a rapper without being that person. Level up your snack game. Lead your crew into cleaner living. Go to paleov.com Alex use code Alex for 15% off your order. That's paleov.com SL Alex. Code Alex clean snacks for community change makers. What can you always find in your fridge?
- [32:59]
A
Different kinds of yogurts, Greek and coconut. Because I prefer coconut yogurt. My family does Greek.
- [33:05]
B
I just saw somebody saying that yogurt is like the fake, the most fake healthy food in the world.
- [33:10]
A
Yeah, I can see those guys saying that.
- [33:12]
B
What do you. Why do you disagree?
- [33:14]
A
Well, it's got a really good nutrient profile for one thing. Okay. I think. And it's fermented, so the gut utilizes it better. It's a lot easier for men to eat the same thing every day. And I think women need variation and so do kids.
- [33:28]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [33:29]
A
I'm like, do you have any kids in your house? Because I don't know if you want to be making them Steak three times a day.
- [33:34]
B
But some yogurts, I mean, I just think they're just sugar bombs.
- [33:37]
A
Yeah.
- [33:37]
B
So there's a difference.
- [33:38]
A
Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that's probably where it gets a bad reputation. So you always want to go with plain, high fat fat.
- [33:43]
B
Okay. Plain, high fat. So not even vanilla? You wouldn't even do vanilla.
- [33:45]
A
Vanilla is okay, but you're better off adding it yourself if it.
- [33:48]
B
Yeah, just like vanilla extract or something. Okay, that's interesting.
- [33:52]
A
With a little like maple syrup or honey.
- [33:55]
B
What else are we finding in your fridge?
- [33:57]
A
Seasonal fruit. So whatever fruit that is seasonal. My kids go through it so fast. Personally, I cannot keep fruit on hand. I have to like reorder it every three days. We do a lot of like grass fed or raw cheese if we can access it. Eggs, tons of vegetables, but easy to prepare vegetables. So stuff that the kids can cut up themselves. And mostly seasonal. I like to say I cook with seasonal, but like the raw that the kids are having for snacks is like cucumbers, carrots, celery. My kids like broccoli raw and usually turkey breasts, which I know is, you know, the wellness community's not fanatical about it, but it's a lifesaver for people that want to have protein. With every meals. It's process and a lot of times it has added stuff in it. Like it's like I said, it's not always ideal. But I'm going to be really honest. When you have four athlete kids living in your house, it is hard to make sure that they master adding the protein to every meal.
- [34:56]
B
What would we never find in your kitchen? And it could be food or otherwise.
- [35:00]
A
Gosh, that's a good question. Because I'm not like so crazy that I never say never, but automatically we never have artificial colors. We don't do like processed sugar. We only really, if we buy dessert, it's like dark chocolate. So we don't really do. We don't do candy. We don't do anything artificial, colored or flavored.
- [35:22]
B
What about pots and pans, cutting boards?
- [35:25]
A
Yeah, even that. I'm really non toxic. So that's another part of what I teach. So in the integrative approach, if we're bringing the stress load off the body, we're also detoxing the body by not adding more toxins in. So I think people are so focused on detox, Detox, detox again with supplements or with like other things that are expensive. But how about what you're putting in? We do non toxic pans. I haven't ever done Teflon. Thankfully I grew up with parents that were super aware of this stuff. So we were mostly cast iron anyways. And then wood cutting boards and people.
- [35:58]
B
Have got to throw out the plastic.
- [36:00]
A
Oh, absolutely.
- [36:01]
B
Cutting boards.
- [36:01]
A
Absolutely. Throw out anything plastic.
- [36:03]
B
You are literally cutting.
- [36:04]
A
Yeah.
- [36:05]
B
And chopping. And you are putting microplastics right into your food.
- [36:08]
A
Right. You know where microplastics like to go is to your brain.
- [36:11]
B
Yep, yep. They're coating our brains.
- [36:13]
A
Yep.
- [36:13]
B
What does it mean to embrace a non diet mindset?
- [36:16]
A
Eating what feels good. So when you really focus on the intuitive part or like the bio individualized part, you're going to choose meals because like I, I have two 500 macro balance meals in my member portal. My book has a hundred. I think you're going to choose meals that you enjoy that, that make you feel good.
- [36:34]
B
Now that being said, who needs to be doing an autoimmune protocol? The AIP diet.
- [36:39]
A
Yeah, I love the AIP diet and I've seen a lot of critiques on that too because people love to critique anything. But I have literally experienced so many people reverse autoimmune disease go into remission. You know, if you're going to a regular conventional doctor, they're going to call it remission. I call it reverse because all symptoms are gone and the body has restored with autoimmune approach. I have a client that healed a concussion disorder that no neurologist could help. Yes. I have clients that have healed so many inflammatory conditions and I think again going back to a vata. Vatas are not visibly inflamed. Vatas are invisibly inflamed. Vatas know they're inflamed based on brain fog, pain, you know, arthritic feelings, war, just, just not being optimal.
- [37:26]
B
And that's me.
- [37:27]
A
Yeah. So you'll never see your inflammation.
- [37:29]
B
Right.
- [37:29]
A
Unless it's in your like gut distension.
- [37:32]
B
No, that's exactly it. It's totally internal. Yeah, I can tell. And then it's an invisible illness.
- [37:36]
A
Yeah. Whereas some people, the inflammation is very visible. You can see it in the lymphatic system. Call it cellulite, call it lumpiness, call it what you want swollen. Yes. Water retention. So sometimes I put people on this heightened autoimmune protocol and now I call it because it's aip. So I call it anti inflammatory. Not just autoimmune. But we're not just doing the food, we're also doing the spiritual aspect. We're doing listening prayers, we're doing meditations, we're letting the body calm down. So it's. If you just were to do AIP and nothing else and just do clinical, you would still see results. But if you add the other elements to it and the toxic load and the stress and root cause aspect, all of that, you're going to see your life transform.
- [38:23]
B
What should women know about intermittent fasting?
- [38:25]
A
So I am not a fan of morning intermittent fasting for women. I have never seen the outcome be positive. And I know a lot of people say, well, it works for me because maybe their body is a healthy weight, but there is dis ease in the body. That doesn't mean that you're just because you're a healthy weight means that all things are well. Right. So if we're fasting in the morning, our body needs energy. What. Where's it going to pull energy from? Where does our body pull energy from when there's no food in the system? From our cortisol. So if we are spiking the cortisol because we didn't eat, then we're risking hijacking our female cycle or female hormones. So eating within the hour of waking up is really something I think works most importantly for women. I think men can get away with intermittent fasting. Again, very different, biologically different people. Right. So when I'm teaching, it's more based on what works for women. Where I do like intermittent fasting and where I think it's incredible is at night.
- [39:27]
B
You're Carrie Underwood's nutritionist. Why do you tell everyone you've got to be drinking hydrogen water?
- [39:32]
A
Carrie's actually my friend.
- [39:34]
B
Okay.
- [39:35]
A
Yeah, she does, I would say probably follow most of my philosophy as far as.
- [39:39]
B
But sometimes she goes rogue.
- [39:40]
A
Eats real. Definitely, definitely. She's definitely more my friend, never been my client actually, but definitely practices what I teach. Hydrogen water. I have seen, seen personally the recovery time enhanced. And I think for people that are trying to be really active, we're always seeking ways to improve our recovery. And the reason is, is because when we work out, it is a stress to the body. If we can get the body to respond really well, it's a really good sp. Stress to the body. Does that make sense?
- [40:11]
B
Yes.
- [40:12]
A
So if our bodies are not responding well to our workouts, meaning our we're really tired or we get headaches, or it takes a really long time for the muscles to not be sore, then it's causing more stress than it is good. So hydrogen water I've seen enhance recovery time more than any other thing I've seen with it Is it enhances recovery time. This is personally what I've seen because you see studies and you're kind of like really like, it's, is it more hydrating? I haven't seen that in labs. I haven't seen it necessarily. I love hydrogen water. I use it myself. My kids use it for recovery.
- [40:45]
B
So how do you get it? Like, is it a tablet you stick in regular water? Is it bottled?
- [40:50]
A
It's a water bottle or a canister.
- [40:52]
B
Okay. And it does something. You just pour water in it and it does something to it.
- [40:55]
A
It hydrogenates. It has a little process in it inside the water bottle that.
- [40:59]
B
Okay.
- [40:59]
A
Adds a hydrogen atom.
- [41:01]
B
Do you know a brand by heart that you like?
- [41:02]
A
I like echo. And the ironic thing is is their bottles are plastic. So that was the hard thing for me, but the glass would explode and so they make it a very non toxic plastic.
- [41:16]
B
So I did something both bold last week. Well, I do something bold every week, but I wore zebra deodorant to hot yoga. Like really hot yoga. 95 degrees pack studio, downward dog sweating bullets. You get the picture. And guess what? It held up. No stank, no stunk, no stink, no streaks, no chalky mess on my clothes. Zebra goes on smooth, feels clean and actually smells amazing. It's paraben free, aluminum free and fragrance free. Basically a unicorn in the deodorant world. But the real mvp, they've got two formulas, One with baking soda, one without. No irritation, no redness, just all day protection. Most natural deodorants feel like a compromise. Zebra doesn't. It works when it's hot, it works when you're running around and yes, even when you're sweating through a yoga mat. So if your current deodorant's not cutting it, it's time to level up. Go to yayzebra.com, use code Alex for 10 off. That's yayzebra.com code Alex. Okay, let's talk about sleep. Because if I'm going to be in my hot girl era, I cannot be waking up in a puddle of sweat tangled in crunchy sheets that feel like a tor tortilla chip. Oh wait, that is a tortilla chip crumb. But I digress. I've been there. It's not the vibe. I've got cozy earth sheets. They are the softest, most breathable sheets that I've ever slept on. Like genuinely feel the difference. Soft. They're made from 100 premium viscose from bamboo and they somehow sleep cooler than anything else I've tried. And I Need that in Arizona. Also get this. They actually get softer every time you wash them. It's like a reward for doing laundry. I also have their women's stretch knit bamboo pajama set. Feels like being hugged by a cloud. That also respects your boundaries and regulates your temperature. Cozy Earth is all about creating a sanctuary at home and I'm here for it. They give you a 100 night sleep trial by the way and a 10 year warranty. So yeah, they stand behind it. Go to cozy earth.com use code Alex for 40% off. That's cozyearth.com code Alex for 40% off. A better year starts with better sleep. So sleep better, lounge lighter and stay cozy with Cozy Earth. What do think you pack your daughters for lunch as a nutritionist?
- [43:16]
A
Well, it varies because I have one in elementary, two in middle school and one in high school and the high school is also they're all athletes but the high schooler is going straight to her sports sometimes and so it's more like packing like four meals for grown men. My, my elementary is easy because she's still in one of those bento boxes and that's totally satisfying to her. She gets frustrated though because for snack they can only grab one thing and she's like, like it's really hard to get a nut free carb, fat and protein and one thing which is true, but popcorn is kind of one of our go tos for snacks because especially if I make it homemade and I can add, you know, coconut oil and other aspects to it to make it bulkier, so to speak. Popcorn too has 7 grams of protein in it, so that's helpful. And then adding healthy fat. So it's a fat carb protein because you know kids are not going to want to snack on chickpeas.
- [44:04]
B
Have you ever tried plus pluck seasoning? Pluck is like organ meat, organic grass fed organ meat seasoning.
- [44:11]
A
Okay.
- [44:11]
B
It's so good. I mean it just tastes like, like garlic seasoning or they just have you know like spicy seasoning things like that.
- [44:18]
A
Thing to add to popcorn.
- [44:19]
B
That would be really good on popcorn. And then she get the organ meat benefits as well as you got the healthy fat in there.
- [44:23]
A
Yes. Which is so important for girls and B vitamins. So for the older ones it is like a main meal, a fruit and a vegetable. And for my oldest it's usually two fruits, a main meal, like three proteins, a bar. So the bar or like energy bites. So we live on energy bites too because they're, you know, grab and go. We can have Energy. So like a little Powerball.
- [44:45]
B
Have you seen that in it?
- [44:46]
A
I was gonna make you some, but I had to travel too far.
- [44:49]
B
Darn it.
- [44:50]
A
I know. Next time you're in Nashville, let me know. So Powerballs are like gonna be an oat based. Unless you're aip. Then with aip, we use tiger nut. Have you done tiger nut flour yet?
- [44:59]
B
Never heard of it.
- [45:00]
A
It's a good carb. Cassava flour is a good carb for you.
- [45:02]
B
Okay.
- [45:03]
A
Those are good potentials for anti inflammatory. So we use oats, I ground them up and we add honey and nut butter and protein powder. Sometimes we just do a like multi protein collagen, like the ancient nutrition. I like that. Collagen for collagen for protein. And then of course like chocolate chips or coconut, flaxseed, those kind of things. They're kind of like a smoothie where you can get away with adding a lot of stuff without anybody knowing.
- [45:27]
B
For women where it's really hard to get enough protein throughout the day, what are your best hacks?
- [45:32]
A
Well, I like using a protein powder especially because the ones on the market, like the same ones you promote, are very minimally processed without the added junk. I feel like the last 10 years Protein powders made a comeback in the wellness space because for a while they were so junky. So I do like using protein powder to supplement protein. If you can have dairy, I think cheese sticks are really helpful. Like we talked about the beef sticks, Pumpkin seeds have 9 grams of protein, whereas most seeds and nuts have a little bit less. So pumpkin seeds are. Go to those also really help to annoy the parasites that almost everybody has.
- [46:09]
B
Yes. Okay, so you are a believer in the parasite stuff?
- [46:12]
A
I'm a believer in the parasite stuff. I know for a fact. I did the experiments on myself. I always do. My husband says stop being a guinea pig.
- [46:19]
B
Okay, well, I got a text message from a friend's husband this morning actually and he said, I just listened to your parasite episode that came out recently. And my mom was a practitioner and she was somebody who really helped people do parasite cleanses. He said that she had a client. It was a 12 year old boy whose family was traveling a lot, they were eating a lot of fast food. She was convinced he had a parasite. Put him on a cleanse. He pooped out a 12 inch long, 4 inch wide tapeworm.
- [46:48]
A
Yeah.
- [46:49]
B
And I was like, that's like a turd. And he goes, he goes, well, it was more like a lasagna noodle. That is so vile.
- [46:56]
A
It is.
- [46:57]
B
And I Just don't even understand it. But yeah. So now I'm like, I, I need to do it. I haven't done it yet. I'm just like, I'm nervous.
- [47:02]
A
Prep the body with pumpkin seeds.
- [47:04]
B
Okay.
- [47:05]
A
Seriously.
- [47:05]
B
Okay.
- [47:06]
A
That will start to round them up. The, the thing that I learned and through my own personal experience, because I always have to share that part of it because I've seen it with clients. It can be very inflammatory to jump into a parasite cleanse. Foundational support again. 90 days of foundational support before jumping into the parasite cleanse. All four drainage pathways need to be open. You do not want these suckers crawling out of other holes in the body. You want them coming out through the colon, through your.
- [47:34]
B
Not through your eyes or ears or something sick. If something came out of my eye, I'm literally, I'm just, I'm gone. I'm gone.
- [47:41]
A
Yeah.
- [47:41]
B
I can't live on this planet anymore.
- [47:42]
A
I. I did testing for. I did bioenergetic testing for it and discovered because all of my GI maps always came back negative. And I see with clients a lot of times, GI maps, maps come back not negative. There's always protozoa, but no, like major parasite infection. When we knew there's parasites going on. Because based on labs, you can see patterns of infections. And sometimes those patterns show what type of infection that you're dealing with. And if you're working through a roadmap, we like to do parasites first, you know.
- [48:12]
B
And so anyways, I did my GI map testing. It said I didn't have any.
- [48:16]
A
Okay. So. So did mine.
- [48:17]
B
Okay.
- [48:18]
A
And then my bioenergetic testing said that I had. And this is physics, you're holding on to these handles and it is. And it's running wavelengths on your body.
- [48:26]
B
Okay.
- [48:27]
A
And certain parasites, certain pathogens, I should say, because it's all pathogens. It's mold, mycotoxins, it's viral. It's all these things. Okay. So they showed up in my red blood cells, in my kidneys and on my liver. And so the work for me was to get em into the gut so I could get rid of them.
- [48:49]
B
How'd you do that?
- [48:50]
A
That ivermectin.
- [48:51]
B
Okay. Okay.
- [48:52]
A
Yeah. But light therapy, like red light more intense. So the bioenergetic person that I go to has what's called firefly, and it literally like brings using even red light. Because I know you love red light and I do too. I love all light therapy. It's all physics. And the body responds so well to physics. We were able to get them into the gut and start destroying them. But this is like nine months and I have to kind of just go with the full moon process.
- [49:21]
B
Yep. Okay.
- [49:22]
A
You don't want to do it constantly, that's for sure.
- [49:24]
B
What is the correct way to stabilize blood sugar? Because you know what I think is interesting? My dad was a type 2 diabetic and his blood sugar would be low. And he's like, well, I'm. This is. The doctor said I should have a soda. The doctor said I need to have a treat. I'm like, really? Explain.
- [49:37]
A
Well, we don't want to spike it. You want to regulate it. Like the whole body, metabolic system, blood sugar, all of it. People talk about having high and low. Well, nobody. Why doesn't anyone talk about regulating balancing? Right. And so always eating all three carbs by themselves is the best way to regulate blood sugar. But I also see blood sugar being off because of cortisol, because of stress. And the stressors, a lot of times are heightened by internal stressors. So it's not just food. It's managing stress, it's mitigating stress. It's getting to the root cause of your symptoms. It's regulating cortisol. When our cortisol is regulated, our blood sugar tends to have an easier time, but they work hand in hand. If you're ever drinking a soda by itself or eating carbs by themselves, it's gonna spike your blood sugar. That could stress potentially at some point stress out the system, especially when it's chronic, which is where insulin resistance kind of builds up, which is what leads to type 2 diabetes.
- [50:29]
B
When somebody says to you, well, my doctor says my cholesterol's too high, what do you say?
- [50:35]
A
Let me see. Functionally the ranges are just different. And when you're looking at the labs from a functional lens and looking for patterns, but also like what's optimal, I have to say, like personally, so don't quote me on any studies, but for me personally, I see the most optimal body over 200, which is red flagged. So like 200 to 220 ish. That's usually when I see the most optimal body, especially thyroid health blood sugar.
- [51:09]
B
What do you tell people who say, well, I don't want to do this test or I don't want to go see this doctor because they're not covered by insurance.
- [51:16]
A
That's a hard one because sometimes that's all people have to fall back on. And so I always, I always say you can get most labs run by insurance. And so if you can get These blood labs run by your doctor go that route. If you can't, sometimes your life depends on it. So, like, what can you cut out in your life so that you can afford these services? Because I do think that we're a little bit indoctrinated to think that we have to go to the doctor rather than, like, understanding our own bodies. Like, intuitively, we can heal a lot of things ourselves with having the right support, with having the right help. But starting with food as the foundation, I tell them, like, what's it worth to you? We pay for our cars to be serviced. We pay for oil changes. We pay for our houses to be improved, remodeled, and restored. But we don't spend money on our bodies. Like, it doesn't make sense to me to maintain our body. There's a cost, and our bodies are the most important thing that we have. They're more important than our house. We can fix our houses. They're more important than our cars. We can fix our cars. But if your body falls too far down the health spiral, sometimes it's hard to fix. So it's important to maintain.
- [52:29]
B
And can you speak a little bit to these more functional, integrative doctors versus conventional medicine and why conventional medicine is missing so much and why it is important to potentially move things around financially and prioritize going to see these alternative health professionals?
- [52:46]
A
Yeah, and I wish a lot. I wish more of them were able to take insurance, but I get it. Like, it's not a fun process. And I like, I know so many incredible doctors. I'm gonna just say that I know so many incredible, regular, conventional practitioners, surgeons, you name it, that really are kind of thinking outside the box from what they were educated on. So when you go to the regular doctor, they're going to make you do step one to do step two. And most of these are treating symptoms. Like, for instance, with somebody with ibs, IBS is a symptom, not a condition. Right. And so a lot of times you go to the doctor, they say you have IBS and they give you medicine for it, and it really just treats the symptom of the condition and not the condition itself. Whereas integrative practitioners, functional practitioners, root cause practitioners, we're looking for what caused the ibs, what is stressing out the gut. A lot of times this doesn't work in insurance because, like I said, with insurance, you have to do A to do B, for instance, like you have to for somebody with type 2 diabetes. You have to take metformin in order to get a GLP one you know, and so like there's this process where you can kind of bypass the process, get to the root of it a lot faster sometimes with way less stress and money, if you can believe that. If you can put, you know, that forward thinking to healing the body rather than just treating the symptoms.
- [54:02]
B
You've personal experience with this, right? Because didn't you lose a sibling at the hands of conventional medicine? Can you talk about that?
- [54:09]
A
I can a little bit and I, I think I can without crying too because it was, I was sitting 16, so I was definitely old enough to see what was going on. It was my mom's seventh child. It was number seven. Lucky number seven, huh? And they just basically said like it was my mom's fault. And like you've done this so many times before, like you should have just been able to push out this big baby rather than giving labor. A bio individualized approach. Yeah. There was a mechanism used that caused brain damage and so he wasn't forced.
- [54:43]
B
Okay.
- [54:44]
A
Yeah. And so I saw that happen and it really made me lose a lot of trust in the system. And then once again, when I had a kid with my, one of my daughters when she was 4, she was struggling and was jaundice and not super jaundice, but yellowing and distension in the gut and eczema. And when I went to the doctor, they acted like I was is crazy. And they said, white kids have eczema. What? Yeah.
- [55:12]
B
Didn't you didn't.
- [55:13]
A
And then did you just pediatrician that told me that. And again, they're not all bad because the other one at the same practice was like whispered in my ear, you're doing injury. She said, you're doing everything right, but you can't come here anymore.
- [55:26]
B
See, this is the stuff that's crazy that nobody wants to be honest with moms about.
- [55:31]
A
I mean even me. Like I went to the, to go to a traditional appointment to you know, woman appointment obgyn. And it was supposed to be like a pretty neutral practice, like integrative care. And I was like, you know, I have been spotting for many days before my period. And she was like, oh, it's just a fluke, like what? So I go on these path of self discoveries. No, kids shouldn't have eczema. This is not just a demographic issue.
- [56:00]
B
Right.
- [56:01]
A
This is a gut issue.
- [56:02]
B
So I was just at dinner the other night when I was in DC for this Maha report at the White House. I went to dinner with a bunch of pediatricians and stuff and they that are all holistically minded. Yeah. And they brought up this conversation. I was like, floored by this. I'm sitting there listening to all this, like, oh, my gosh, it's Christmas morning for me to hear this conversation. But they were all saying how eczema is a vaccine injury. Do you agree with that?
- [56:23]
A
I would say that was the case for us. Wow.
- [56:26]
B
See, I never knew that. I figured gut, you know, there's an allergy, there's something like that. But to. To draw the line to it's a vaccine injury is very interesting.
- [56:34]
A
And I would say it's not always the case. Yeah. Because I have a nephew that hasn't even been vaccinate, vaccinated that has had it, but he was also a C section, so he didn't necessarily get the same biome from the birth canal that a natural birth would have had. So there's, there's, you know, and stuff is inherited in vitro.
- [56:52]
B
If we're feeling burnt out or at the end of our rope or overwhelmed, how can we get recommitted to living healthier?
- [57:00]
A
And it's hard to say to somebody when they already have low energy and they don't feel good that, hey, you need to prepare more meals. But the trade off is so worth it. The energy trade off happens in, like four days. You start to feel results in four days. So if you can push yourself through those four days of feeling burnt out and feeling tired and not wanting to clean one more dish in the kitchen, there is a huge trade off. Day five, you start to not think about the dishes you're cleaning anymore because your body feels so good. The energy output feels amazing. Day 10, you start to see a difference. Day 20, it's become a lifestyle change. And then you're never worried about that burnout again. Or you sense it that you need rest, not that you need to take away from the health that you're providing yourself.
- [57:45]
B
I love that in only four days. And I feel like anyone can commit to that. If you can just say, I'm gonna just do four days.
- [57:50]
A
Four days.
- [57:51]
B
And then what Kara's saying is that your body will naturally. You're gonna be able to do it after that.
- [57:55]
A
Yeah.
- [57:55]
B
You say that it's not about having a certain diet, but a lifestyle. What do you mean by that?
- [58:00]
A
That. That it goes on vacation with you. You combine your macros when you're on vacation, even if you're eating at a restaurant and really wanting to enjoy your food. Eat the dessert with the meal.
- [58:09]
B
Eat the dessert with the meal?
- [58:10]
A
Yes. What are you talking about, like, don't save it for two hours afterwards and eat sugar all by itself. Eat it with the meal as your carbs.
- [58:17]
B
I love you. I will absolutely. I will have my ribeye and I will have my ice cream.
- [58:22]
A
Skip the potato and have the dessert. Oh, so that's how you make it a lifestyle. You combine your macros in unique ways that. That are. That takes you on an airplane, it takes you to another country. You can always combine your macros. That's the lifestyle aspect of it. And like I said, you don't have to restrict dessert.
- [58:38]
B
How do you approach nutrition for kids versus adults, especially when, you know, picky eating or different family needs come into play?
- [58:46]
A
Yeah, there's so many things that go into picky eating that are outside of my realm, meaning like occupational therapy type of things. But generally, the more a parent repeats a habit, the more the kid's gonna be inclined to wanna try. It's harder to do with another parent. Not throwing my husband under the bus. It's harder to do with another adult than kids. I feel like kids fall in line and then they get to a point where they have something that makes them tick, whether it be a sport or being like high academics or whatever the kid is into. They might wanna get faster, stronger, and grow. And that's their motivation. So then they start becoming curious about what makes them feel good. And I feel like that change kind of happens around third grade. So pretty young kids where they can make these decisions based on not only what you're telling them to do, but how they want to feel, so they're going to follow suit. If you're the parent that has a picky eater, let them fill their own plate. That's the biggest thing I teach. Stop stressing them out with a giant plate of food that they may not want.
- [59:48]
B
So, like you, they're building their own plate, but the options that they're allowed to choose from to build it are all going to be healthy options. Okay, I like that.
- [59:55]
A
And say they don't want the sweet potato because a lot of kids don't love sweet potatoes. Unless they were born eating sweet potatoes or squash or whatever it is. Then they can have a fruit in the. In the place of them.
- [60:07]
B
Where are you getting the majority of your groceries? Are you going to a grocery store? Are you going to a farm? Are you going to the farmer's market? You grow your own?
- [60:14]
A
Yeah, in Tennessee. It's tricky because it's not. I used to live in California and that was. Was the best food bread basket of America. So I do mostly get it from the store. Costco, even Aldi, but obviously, mostly, like, sprouts and Whole Foods is where I do most my shopping. We have farmer's market every Wednesday right now in my neighborhood, which is really cool. So we get a lot of stuff from that, especially, like, eggs and greens. And I would love to grow my own garden, but I'll be really honest, we're gone a ton in the summer because we can't really endure the southern heat. So it's really hard to grow a garden and not be there to harvest it. But one of these days, we'll be doing our own garden, and I think that's really the best way to do it, is growing your own food.
- [60:58]
B
What does a meal plan look like for, you know, breakfast and dinner? We'll say for your family, because I.
- [61:05]
A
Have so many things in stock at all times. Like, I always have four different kinds of meat. I always have, like, I'm saying four because that's what fits in my fridge and freezer. Like, I have, like, four different meal options at all times for almost every meal of the day. We kind of can pick and choose a little bit. When you're first starting out, start with planning dinners. Eat the same smoothie every day, kind of like you do, and plan those dinners to be variable, and then use the dinners for leftovers for lunch. So that takes down one less meal. And it's really satisfying to eat dinner for lunch and not just, like, a green salad, by the way. But meal planning is one of those things that not everybody needs it. So I don't want, you know, our type B moms to think that they have to. Meal plan. You don't have to.
- [61:50]
B
I don't. Meal plan.
- [61:51]
A
Yeah.
- [61:51]
B
But I also. Full disclosure, I'm a single woman living on my own now. Maybe that would change when I have a bunch of kids, but right now, I don't. I just. What do I feel like, okay, I'm gonna run across the street. I'm gonna, you know, go to the grocery.
- [62:02]
A
Yeah. And I do that. My family has to contribute. They have to tell me what they want for the week. They have to. To sometimes even help do it or help me shop for it, because most of our shopping is online.
- [62:13]
B
Yeah. How do you recommend people navigate conflicting nutrition advice, especially on social media?
- [62:18]
A
I think they have to learn what makes them feel good. And I know I keep saying that, and that's why my book is called the Feel Good Way. But when people are going based off of other people's experiences, they're never going to learn for themselves. They have to. Maybe they do have to try things out. Maybe they do have to intermittent fast and see what their labs are saying about that for them. Maybe they do need to go keto and see what their labs are saying, see what their energy levels like, see what their skin and their hair is like. If you have to experiment, experiment, you're always going to come back to a more balanced way, most likely. Unless you're like, of the, you know, 5% that don't need certain nutrients. I am all for people trying things to see how they feel, but they have to understand how they feel. What is their sleep like? What is their energy like? What do they have brain fog? So if, if your food is causing this, then it's a problem.
- [63:10]
B
Why do you tell people that praying before their meal is essential to a healthy lifestyle?
- [63:14]
A
There's a couple reasons. I love that you brought this up because it's something I'm very, very, I don't want to say proud of because I know that's not the right word, but really happy with how my book came out because people have forever asked me, like, how do you pray? When do you pray? How do you know when to pray? So I added that into the book as a point of reference. But always, always we should calm our systems down before we eat. We don't want to be in a stress state before we eat. So not only does prayer help bring Jesus into that moment, which is, you know, all healing, all restorative, it also calms down the nervous system. So it's very much twofold. And for people that, you know, aren't there in their prayer life yet, you can do like box breathing or another form of breathing to really relax the system so digestion isn't fighting against your own nervous system.
- [64:03]
B
Tell us about the book. Because it's a recipe book, but then there's other stuff in there.
- [64:07]
A
Yeah, I feel like the book was going back in time for me because I do so much more than just nutrition now because it's all this integrative work, but it is a hundred amazing recipes. I really chose, like, my favorite and added some new ones. Like a lemon cake that everybody is like, like dying. It has a glaze on it and everything. And because it is so macro balanced, it could be a meal.
- [64:28]
B
Lemon cake, that could be a meal. The book is worth it for that alone.
- [64:31]
A
Most of the desserts could actually be a meal and. And some of the snacks are desserts. I'll be really honest. But it was really to reach a broader audience. Right. Cuz books are really accessible. They're 20 bucks. Even though you put so much work into it.
- [64:45]
B
And it is beautiful.
- [64:46]
A
Thank you. And then my publisher was the ones who encouraged more prayer. They're like. And because you're working with.
- [64:52]
B
You worked with a Christian publisher, right?
- [64:54]
A
Yeah. From Penguin Random House though.
- [64:55]
B
Cool.
- [64:56]
A
Yeah, I know. I don't think people understand totally how like imprints work when the. With the big publishing world. But each imprint has like a different way they facilitate books. And so they're like, no more prayer. Let's add prayer here. Let's add nervous system work here. Let's. So I got to kind of include a touch of what I do with my membership community, which is like we do body scans, we do prayer work, we do understanding what. What part of the body is holding on to certain things and releasing that.
- [65:25]
B
And it's the Feel Good Way by Kara Clark.
- [65:27]
A
Yes.
- [65:28]
B
No relation, but amazing last name.
- [65:29]
A
Yes. The Clark girl.
- [65:31]
B
If you could offer one remedy to heal a sick culture, physically, emotionally or spiritually, what would it be?
- [65:37]
A
It's hard for me to say one, because there's two. Okay. I can say them both. Regulating blood sugar rating. Regulating your parents blood sugar. Regulating your blood sugar and your kids. It's a multi generational thing that really can help heal the metabolic issues in our culture. And the other thing that's twofold is healing the nervous system. Regulating the nervous system, using the nervous system to help heal the body.
- [66:02]
B
Okay, beautiful. Where can people find you on social media?
- [66:04]
A
They can find me on Instagram mostly is where I'm most active. Facebook, Pinterest. We have tons of recipes on Pinterest too.
- [66:11]
B
Thank you, Kara for coming on Culture Apothecary.
- [66:13]
A
Thanks for having me.
- [66:18]
B
I love Cara. I need to have an excuse to go to Franklin to visit her because her husband is very handsome and he has an identical twin apparently who's single. So I found that out after the show wrapped when I was going through a cookbook and I said, who's this cute guy? Is this your husband? She said, yes, and he has an identical twin. Anyway, I'm just being funny. But not. But also. Anyway, leave a five star review, tell others why they should listen to Culture Apothecary. I'd love to know your story on how you found us and why you stick around. Kara also gave me something super cool for you guys. If you're ready to feel your best this summer without the stress, check out the Feel Good Summer challenge from Kara Clark. Nutrition. It is a two week Real Food Reset with simple family friendly recipes, grocery lists, wellness tools that actually fit your life. And just for cute servatives, you can get $20 off with the code ALEX20 at checkout. So if you want to do this two week program caraclarknutrition.com code ALEX20 to join and feel good all summer long, we're on a mission to heal a sick culture. Twice a week, guests bring their own unique remedy to do just that. Subscribe to Real Alex Clark on YouTube. Follow me on Instagram at realxclark or at Culture Apothecary. You can Also find merch tpsamerch.com and code Alex Clark will get you 10 off there as well. New episodes every Monday and Thursday, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. I'm Alex Clark and this is Culture Apothecary.