1KHO 428: Uncovering Hidden Toxins: A Journey to Healthier Living with Iliriana Balaj

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast | Episode 1KHO 428: Uncovering Hidden Toxins: A Journey to Healthier Living with Iliriana Balaj

Introduction

In the premiere episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, host Ginny Yurich welcomes Iliriana Balaj, affectionately known as Illy, to explore a profound journey toward healthier living by uncovering hidden toxins in our environment and everyday products. Released on February 9, 2025, this episode delves deep into Illy's personal health struggles, her quest for solutions, and her mission to empower others to lead toxin-free lives.

Illy’s Health Journey

Illy begins by sharing her early life as an active and fit individual, deeply involved in sports and bodybuilding. Despite her outward appearance of health, she started experiencing severe health issues in her early twenties. “I was the fittest that I really ever was. I was booking modeling gigs and training gigs,” Illy recounts (03:39). However, this peak physical condition was paradoxically accompanied by debilitating symptoms such as cystic acne, chronic migraines, severe eczema, and a consistently bloated abdomen.

Frustrated by the lack of medical answers, Illy explains, “I went to doctors, and my doctor was like, your blood work looks really normal. You’re so fit… Everything looks good. Maybe go on birth control,” (03:00). Despite her active lifestyle and meticulous attention to diet and exercise, traditional medical avenues failed to diagnose or alleviate her conditions.

Discovering Hidden Toxins

Illy’s turning point came when she began scrutinizing the additives and synthetic ingredients in the foods and supplements she consumed. “These additives that we typically see in fast food… are now being found in our supermarkets, our children’s food, and our fitness supplements,” she notes (07:42). This realization sparked her transition into holistic fitness and food advocacy, emphasizing the importance of understanding what goes into our bodies beyond just calories and macros.

Transition to Healthier Living

Determined to reclaim her health, Illy made significant lifestyle changes. She ceased all supplement intake for a year, regardless of their perceived benefits, to eliminate potential toxins. “I stopped every supplement that I was taking for a year,” (08:06). Her focus shifted to whole foods, incorporating fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi, and adopting a non-toxic approach to personal care products. Over five years, these changes led to remarkable improvements: clear skin, improved gut health, and the resolution of her eczema.

Advocacy and Live Healthily

Illy's transformative journey inspired her to create Live Healthily, a comprehensive platform offering over 550 clean and low-tox products. She emphasizes, “We wanted a place that I wish I had when I started my journey,” (16:49). Live Healthily serves as a trusted resource, curating products free from artificial dyes, harmful additives, and endocrine disruptors. By partnering with brands that prioritize transparency and safety, Illy aims to make toxin-free living accessible and straightforward for consumers.

Challenges with Big Corporations and Media Misinformation

The conversation shifts to the pervasive influence of big corporations and the media in shaping public perceptions about health and nutrition. Illy criticizes the contradictory and often misleading information spread by influencers and dietitians on social media. “Journalism is such an open textbook right now… you can just pluck a doctor off of Instagram,” Illy points out (36:29). This misinformation makes it difficult for individuals to discern truth from marketing, leading to widespread confusion and the continued use of harmful products.

Discussion on Birth Control

A poignant segment features Illy's personal struggle with birth control. She discusses the adverse effects she experienced, such as severe mood swings and physical discomfort, highlighting the lack of comprehensive testing and informed consent in prescribing these medications. “I cried every single day,” Illy shares about her first year on birth control (45:20). She advocates for thorough hormonal testing and informed choices, emphasizing that birth control can have significant impacts on mental and physical health if not properly managed.

Empowering Listeners

Illy encourages listeners to make small, incremental changes toward healthier living. She stresses the importance of being mindful about product ingredients and making informed decisions. “Start making very small incremental changes every single day,” Illy advises (26:01). Whether it’s drinking more water, spending extra time outdoors, or choosing cleaner personal care products, these steps can collectively lead to substantial health improvements.

Childhood Memories and the Importance of Outdoor Time

In a heartwarming conclusion, Illy shares a favorite childhood memory of protecting ducks from coyotes on her family's farm in Albania. This story underscores the foundational role that outdoor play and nature experiences have in her life and advocacy work. “I spent a lot of my summers only outside,” Illy reminisces (56:30). These early experiences fueled her passion for ensuring that children spend ample time outdoors, contributing to their overall well-being and development.

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with a reflection on the power of personal stories in driving societal change. Ginny and Illy agree that authentic experiences, like Illy’s journey from health struggles to holistic living, are compelling forces for inspiring others to make healthier choices. Illy emphasizes the importance of community and education in combating the widespread presence of hidden toxins in our daily lives.

Notable Quotes

• Illy Balaj on her awakening to hidden toxins: “What does this look like? And with that comes the awakening of parenthood...” (01:26)
• Illy Balaj on stopping supplements: “I stopped every supplement that I was taking for a year.” (08:06)
• Illy Balaj on media misinformation: “Journalism is such an open textbook right now… you can just pluck a doctor off of Instagram.” (36:29)
• Illy Balaj on birth control: “I cried every single day for 365 days.” (45:20)
• Illy Balaj on empowering small changes: “Start making very small incremental changes every single day.” (26:01)

Resources Mentioned

• Live Healthily: livehealthily.com – A curated shop for clean and low-tox products.
• Book: Yummy Colors by Illy Balaj – A children’s book educating about hidden sugars and artificial dyes.
• Healthily University: Courses on navigating the supermarket and understanding calorie breakdowns.

Final Thoughts

Illy Balaj's journey is a testament to the profound impact that awareness and informed choices can have on personal health. Her dedication to uncovering hidden toxins and advocating for cleaner living provides a valuable guide for listeners seeking to improve their well-being. Through Live Healthily and her educational efforts, Illy offers a beacon of hope and a pathway to a healthier, toxin-free life.

Transcript

[Jenny Urch]

If fashion is your thing, ebay is it.

[Illy Balai]

Ebay is where I find all my.

[Jenny Urch]

Favorites, from handbags to iconic streetwear, all.

[Illy Balai]

Authenticated for real this time. A little supreme, some Gucci.

[Jenny Urch]

I even have that vintage Prada on my watch list. That's why ebay's my go to for.

[Illy Balai]

All my go tos. Yeah, eBay, the place for new, pre.

[Jenny Urch]

Loved, vintage and rare fashion. EBay, things people love. Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Jenny Urch. I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside, and I have a new friend with us today that I actually got to spend time with at the Kellogg's petition delivery march. Illy Balai. Welcome.

[Illy Balai]

Hello. Hello. I'm glad that we can reunite now. Virtually.

[Jenny Urch]

Yes, yes. And you were cold and I was fine.

[Illy Balai]

Very cold. Yeah, because you're from Florida.

[Jenny Urch]

It was incredible. I would love for you to tell people. For us, it was a. It was close. I mean, it pretty much was right around the corner. People were flying in from Portland. You came up from Florida, which is really far. I mean, we go to Florida in the spring a lot because it gets so cold here. You know, end of winter, we'll go down to Florida. I mean, that is a far, far, you know, distance to travel. It's a big span. And you came up here to Michigan to stand for parents and for children.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah.

[Jenny Urch]

About what's in their food. Can you tell us why?

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. So as someone who's been on a preconception journey for probably like, three years now, I got married two years ago, engaged three years ago, which is when my husband and I really decided we want to start a family and just start prepping our body, which is something I feel like I always see women who already have children talk about. Oh, I wish I prepared better, you know, the first time around. So for me, being 31, knowing I've wanted kids throughout my whole 20s, and then not finding the one until I was, like, 25, like, I knew, like, this is how I want to prepare. And with that comes the awakening of parenthood and what that looks like and what you're going to feed your children and the toxins and chemicals that are now in everything that we're touching and breathing and eating. That wasn't the, like, awakening of my health journey, but that has been, like, the biggest part of it in the past three years for me is opening up my eyes to not just the food we're eating, but what are we going to be feeding our children when that time comes. And what does that look like. And you, when you see corporations and how they blatantly don't care, you have to stand up for it in some way, shape or form. You know, we can be as vocal as we want on social media, but this is like my first opportunity, really try to make an impact and like knock on one of these corporations doors. I was obviously so honored to be invited by Vonnie. So of course, like I had to say, I was like, I will brace the cold for a day so I can do this. So yeah, it's been really important for me to you know, take my advocacy that I have online and just bring it now, now to the forefront. So I was really just, it was a no brainer honestly for me.

[Jenny Urch]

Yeah. So this has been a long journey for you because it started really in your twenties where your health took it. I mean it is wild. I think actually, Ellie, you hear a similar story from a lot of people. Health taking a downturn in the 20s, in, you know, in that decade of your 20s, which at that point you feel like life should be extremely vibrant. But you are already like in the eyes of the world, you were really healthy, right? You're like working out at the gym, you looked healthy, you're physically fit, you're paying attention, you're paying attention to your macros, to your calories. And even still you started to have these health declines. So tell us what happened.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, so I've always been the skinny, underweight, you know, 100 pound, soaking wet teenager my whole life. And I always did sports, I was always incredibly active. And then when I turned 20, I remember I was at a Starbucks during my lunch break and I got approached by these two extremely jacked personal trainers whom I've never really seen this type of, you know, bodybuilding in my whole life. And they're like, hey, do you want to join a gym? Like, okay, sure. Yeah. Because I'm not doing, you know, college sports at this point. I was pursuing a journalism degree and there was no way I was able to do both. So I was like, you know what, the gym sounds like a good alternative. And that's when I really started getting into this new way to approach the gym, which wasn't just, you know, doing the treadmill, it was really bodybuilding and trying to change my physique in a different way. And that's when I got introduced to the world of supplements, which is protein powders and pre workout powders and BCAAs and electrolytes and just all the things. And I was trying to, you know, count my Macros and my calories. And within a couple of years, I was the fittest that I really ever was. I was booking, you know, modeling gigs and training gigs, and I was literally all over the place. And next thing you know, I have cystic acne all over my jaw. I am chronically bloated all the time. I had really bad eczema on my face where I couldn't even apply makeup because it would just flake off. I had really bad, flaky scalp that came. I'm sure it was like the eczema just traveling pretty much everywhere. I had chronic migraines. So to be diagnosed with something like that is. You're getting more than 15 migraines a month practically every day. I was waking up needing to pop something like an Advil or an Excedrin to get rid of it. And my energy was slim to none because I was training so hard. And that's when I really just had this kind of awakening of, how am I so fit and so sick at the same time? Because I always just figured the people who have the abs and have the muscle, these are the healthiest people. That's what we're told. We need to look like that. We need to be skinny, we need to have abs. You know, we need to have Pilates arms, and then we're going to be the healthiest we'll ever be. And of course, you know, I went to doctors, and my doctor was like, your blood work looks really normal. You're so fit. And then I went to my gynecologist, and she's like, everything looks good. You don't have anything to be worried about. Maybe go on birth control. And I'm like, no. And then my endocrinologist was like, all your markers look great. And my neurologist, everyone was telling me everything was normal. So I kind of left there, like, what? No one looked at my diet. Nobody looked at what I was consuming, because I was physically fit. I already had the body that they would tell me, oh, you need to lose weight, because this is what's going on. But the weight was already lost. There was no weight to lose. From that moment on is when I really just had to take matters into my own hands and really assess the products that I was consuming and even putting on my body. And that's when I started to realize that these additives that we typically see in fast food, like, we're told don't eat McDonald's or don't eat, you know, Chick fil a or something like that, like, because it has, you know, we know it's bad for us, but we really understand why now. We understand that it's all those additives and all those synthetic ingredients that they're adding to them and they're making their way into our supermarkets. Those similar additives that we're seeing in fast food chains that were supposed to be exclusive to fast food chains are now being found in our supermarkets, are being found in our children's food and our cereals and our yogurts, and they're also being found in our fitness supplements. They're found in protein powders. I saw a protein powder the other day with glitter with red 40 and blue 1 and yellow 5. Why is there glitter with artificial dyes in a protein powder at Target? You know, where people are like, this is the best protein powder and I'm going to take this and I'm going to be super fit. So that's really how the down the pipeline of being super fit and healthy got me into holistic fitness and the advocacy for the food industry and how unregulated it is.

[Jenny Urch]

Wow. I think it's impressive. It's impressive that you figured it out because you said you were neglected by your doctors. And like you said just a minute ago, you went to this one, to that one, to this one, you're going to all of these doctors and not one of them is giving you what you need to fix your problems. When you actually did make the shift, what did you shift and how long did it take for things to change?

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, so I actually became so scared that I was being poisoned, which thankfully I was able to heal that kind of mindset that I had. But I stopped every supplement that I was taking for a year. I don't care if it was a multivitamin. I just felt like I couldn't find anything that didn't contain these things. So I was like, you know what? To relieve myself of the stress of searching, I'm going to just not take anything. I'm not going to take a protein powder, I'm not going to take a pre workout, nothing. And I really just started to focus on my food and upgrading the things that I was already consuming. So of course, when you're a bodybuilder, you're really just consuming chicken, broccoli and very unseasoned rice and other vegetables. So, yeah, I really just focused on that. And that was my diet for the next year. It was just trying to introduce like, okay, I'm going to add, you know, sauerkraut or kimchi or I'm going to add like another yogurt and really just try to focus on whole foods for a whole year. So that's really what I focused on for a year. And slowly I started to introduce the non toxic lifestyle side of it, which was the products I was using on my body. Because then I noticed, you know, my acne was ended up being hormonally driven. So that's when I started to look into what's in my cleanser and my shampoo and my conditioner and my body wash and my shaving cream and my toothpaste and anything that I was putting on my body. And we know now that women put about 168 chemicals on their body every single day. And we're never giving our bodies a break. So that's a really scary fact that I learned. And when we're not giving our bodies a break, this is what's flooding our lymphatic system and causing such a toxic burden on our bodies. And it's causing this congestion that can show up as eczema or acne and other skin disorders. So that's when I really started to transition and into cleaner and low tox, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. Etc. And even home fragrances. I really tried to avoid fragrance and it took a lot of willpower because you start to have your favorite perfume and your favorite cleanser that you've used for 10 years. But the payoff was so rewarding because my skin was finally clear as an adult. And you know, it took me about five years to fully transition into this lifestyle. But my skin has never been clearer. My gut health has been so much better. I can actually say I was regular at the time when I wasn't. And my eczema has never come back, which is amazing. So it's just all these like little minor things that took me a really long time to get there because I was learning and all of that. And that's when I started my health page, was to try to educate people so they didn't have to make all the mistakes and take as long as I did because I was really just learning as a, you know, a newbie. Like, I have no expertise in this at the time, so that's really how I would say roughly. It took me about a year, year and a half, two years to fully start seeing the results. But that's with all the research that I was trying to do at the same time, which is taxing and consuming for a lot of people.

[Jenny Urch]

What a commitment. What a commitment. But it is amazing that you can actually see the change. You can see the change in your skin. And so for parents who have children that are struggling with some of these things, which they certainly are, I mean, eczema, that type of thing, this gives a lot of hope. I think I'm pretty moved by the fact that for most of us, you know, I would say the panel that stood up, and it wasn't a panel, but the group that stood up and spoke at Kellogg's and people who are commenting, they all are sharing a similar story, which is that they became sick in ways that they didn't really understand and no one could help them. And then they changed something and it changed everything. And so it just, it's. I'm always curious by the pushback. There's so much pushback and people are like, food dyes are fine and you're a fear monger and you're a psychopath. I know that's not the way they say. What do they say? You know, like, you're a camophobe. I mean, it's all those things and you're like, well, you can't really push back on someone's experience. Like, I see you, you do not have cystic acne. Like, you know all of those things. You don't have eczema anymore. And it didn't change because a doctor gave you a prescription. It changed because you changed what you are putting on in, in your body. And so I think that those stories are so powerful. So now what you. And I think this is an amazing thing because you are being such a hard time. Which product, which thing you're doing all of this research, you have brought it all under one roof where people can come and find the products that you are using, that you trust, that you've research, tell people about that. That's an awesome thing.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. So, because my journey took me so long and I really was in such a desperate place to heal, I got into that mindset where I was scared of everything. I was scared to shop at Whole Foods, I was scared to shop at Costco. I was really scared to shop really anywhere because I didn't trust, you know, our regulatory food system that, you know, we're supposed to regulate all our products. I didn't trust any of them. And obviously we know how corrupt they can be, especially with the things that they allowed, you know, and Kellogg's cereal. And we see how they justify the reasoning for why they use certain ingredients. And that was really scary to me. And I didn't trust a lot of the products. So that's why I went kind of, you know, all the way 100%. I'm not going to use anything until I can find something 100% clean. So now sharing all of these with my audience and at the time, obviously when I first started my journey, I had, you know, it's just a regular page with my friends and family, but even my friends and family were able to relate to my story and start sharing with their friends who also had issues and their family who also had eczema and they couldn't figure out why. And my account slowly started to grow and I started to introduce myself to newer, smaller brands that you wouldn't find in Whole Foods or even Target because they're so small, but they're already creating great products. So this is when I got like my first couple affiliate links and it started to become a little overwhelming having people shop like, oh, this is my get 15% off here and get 12% off there and 10% off there. And it was just becoming all over the place where like you're going to be spending so much money shopping at all these different places to get all these smaller brands. You're turning this journey that's supposed to be easy into something where you're being thrown in all different directions. So I was living in the Bronx at the time in a, you know, I had a little guest bedroom that was available to me and my husband and I, I just actually got, this is during 2020, I got laid off because I work for a travel company doing social media and they're like, no one's traveling and we definitely don't need social media right now. I'm like, okay, perfect. That's when I pursued my holist coaching certification to study integrative nutrition. And my husband who went to school for business, he's like, you know, why don't we take all these affiliate links and we just like wholesale. And I was like, this isn't even an option that I thought of, you know. So once that opportunity opened itself to us is when we really pursued Live Healthily, which is our one stop shop for all things clean and low talks. Because I wanted a place that I wish I had when I started my journey that I can shop protein powders from brands like Truvani and just ingredients, which that was in my little speech that I made there. Because these are brands and founders of brands who are exactly the ethos that we're looking for, that they're make, they're getting it right from day one. Like these are the types of companies we want. They're not getting it right because we're petitioning at their door, and now they're scared that they're going to lose money, so they have to change. These are brands that always cared from day one. And those are the types of brands that we wanted to work with. So we started with literally 15 products, where now we have over 550 and a warehouse out in Florida. So we've really expanded in the past three years. And it's been the one place that I take a hundred percent, like, so seriously, because I remember what it was like to feel lost in your journey and not know who you can trust, what you can trust, what's in my products. And I really tried to make it foolproof because you can flip things over and just understand what's in it. You don't have to, you know, get out a big glossary and just be like, what does this mean? You know, or is it safe for me? So that was really the idea behind how we started Live healthily. And it's. It's been amazing to see how many people are on such a similar path and similar journey that are like, yes, this is what we need, because unfortunately, even Whole Foods is gone to crap. These past recent years.

[Jenny Urch]

I remember the first time I went to a Whole Foods. You know, for a long time, we struggled even with finances, and we've got five kids, so, you know, we were doing the single income thing. And so I don't think I stepped into a Whole Foods for quite a long time. And the first time I stepped into one, they had Cheerios. And I was like, this is weird. Yeah, maybe they don't anymore. But at the time, I was like, you know, they had all these other brands that I'd never heard of and also Cheerios. And I was like, this is kind of odd. I don't. I don't know. So, like, you're saying you can't just pick anything?

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. And we look at Whole Foods like the elite health food store. You know, I have so many people, again, like, the naysayers, that are like, well, I can't afford to shop at Whole Foods. And it's just shocking that we're convinced that these are the epitome of where you need to shop for health. Meanwhile, they do still have Cheerios. Because every time I go. Which is like, now I go to, like, a little I'll have a farmer's market bias. But, yeah, every time I go to Whole Foods, I'm just shocked that some of the Ingredients that they allow. And this is supposed to be like the mecca of health products. And people are like, well, no wonder I can't afford to eat healthy. I can't shop at Whole Foods. And it's like we're putting this standard on a place that isn't even clean. It's not even, you know, considered a healthy place to shop, but that's how it's viewed. So there's always, I always say there's always room for improvement with those companies, but when companies just get it right from the beginning, like, those are the brands that we like to work with. And that's why I was so drawn to Vonnie's mission since day one, because she really put her money where her mouth was and created a brand that is like 100% solid. Like, real food ingredients for a protein powder is unheard of. With so many brands, you walk into Target, you can't even find that.

[Jenny Urch]

And there's like no emulsifiers. There's a whole thing. And in fact, our kids, and we've got teens, so they request hers. Like, you know, my son's like, hey, I've tried all these other ones, but really I want the Truvani one. Can you get me that? And our daughter, we gave her a couple bags for, for her birthday.

[Illy Balai]

Oh my God.

[Jenny Urch]

Because they like it so much and they notice the difference. The kids are smart and perceptive. They notice, and so that's what they want. There's all these different flavors. And her story is similar to your story, which is that she had all of these random health things and no one could help her. And she changed her diet. And then she started a very small blog for her friends who were asking, and it grew from there. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. What are some of your relationship green flags? We often hear about the red flags in life that we should avoid. But what if we focus more on looking for green flags in friends and partners? If you're not sure what they look like, therapy can help you identify green flags. Actively practice them in your relationships and embody the green flag. Energy yourself. Whether you are dating, married, building a friendship, or just working on yourself, it's time to form relationships that love you back. Therapy has so many benefits. It's helpful for learning positive coping skills and how to set boundaries. It empowers you to be the best version of yourself. And the value is far reaching. It isn't just for those who have experienced major trauma. Better Help is fully online, making therapy affordable and convenient, serving over 5 million people. Worldwide. There is a diverse network of more than 30,000 credentialed therapists with a wide range of specialties, and you can easily switch therapists anytime at no extra cost. Discover your relationship green flags with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com 1000hours today and you'll get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelph.com 1000hours hey there. At 1000hours outside, we aren't anti screen. We're just all about balance and making wise choices when we do turn on the TV or pick up the tablet. So if you're a parent who is trying to be intentional about your child's media choices, check out Minnow. Minnow is the number one source of Christian content for kids with new shows like Young David, Minnow's Laugh and Grow Bible for Kids and the Dead Sea Squirrels. The Minnow streaming service is full of high quality, faith filled, engaging shows that kids love. It's fun, it's funny, it's meaningful and after a day of hopefully adventuring outside, Minnow gives parents values driven screen time that you can trust when it's time to unwind. Minnow was created by a team of parents who know how hard it can be to manage the media our kids consume. With Minnow, it's easier to carve out strategic moments for family screen time, knowing that the content is safe and life giving for little ears. You'll be amazed at how much little ones can learn about God and the Bible, all while having a whole lot of fun. If you're looking for a streaming service full of awesome fun shows that kids love, there's no better place than Minnow. Download the Minnow app or visit go minnow.com to become a member today. That's G-O-M-I-N-N-O.com to sign up. Okay parents, let's be honest. Raising a family today feels like navigating a maze of unhealthy options. Between all the hidden sugars, artificial ingredients and misleading labels labels, it's hard to know what's actually good for our kids and not just a marketing gimmick. That is why I love Love Love Thrive Market. It's like having a personal guide to healthier living for my entire family. Thrive Market makes it simple to find trusted family friendly brands without spending hours in the grocery store. From snacks and school lunches to pantry stables, everything they offer is 100 non GMO and with their on site filters, you can shop based on what matters most to your family. Low sugar, gluten Free organic or high protein options are all just a click away for us. I love using sugar and organic filters to find better snack options for when we are on a hike or for packing lunches to take on a picnic. The Healthy Swaps scanner in the Thrive Market app is also amazing. Here's how it works. Scan a product that you're used to buying and it instantly recommends cleaner, healthier alternatives. We've made some great swaps. Instead of snacks filled with junk, we're stocking up on brands like Siete Chips, Annie's Organic Crispy Snack Bars and Chomps Beef Sticks. Are you ready for a junk free start to 2025. Head over to thrivemarket.com 1000hours and you'll get 30% off your first order plus a free sixty dollar gift. That's T H R I V E market.com 1000hours thrivemarket.com 1000hours so people can find these 500 products from 15 to 500 [e-mail] and I'll put the link in the show notes because it's really clever because your name is Ilriana but you've always gone by Illy. Yeah, and so healthily is I L L I E at the end and that's your Instagram tag Healthily. I mean, come on.

[Illy Balai]

I know it's, I love that serendipitous. When I like, was trying to figure out like, what is my new Instagram Persona going to be and it was like, healthily. Oh my God. Because like to be healthily is a actual word. Like to, to live a healthily. It's actually more used in the uk, which we were looking into when we used it. I say like to live healthily with an ily. So it's just like a really funny play on words because that's really what my page is about, is like, okay, how do we live a little bit healthier every single day? And that's our store's motto is another day, another chance to live healthily. Because it, that's all it's about is taking those very small steps. Like, I don't, I never encourage people to just get into this, you know, fear mongering state where, you know, it didn't take you overnight to get sick. It took you probably years of doing things that you didn't understand or at the time that we're contributing to this toxic burden. You know, so when we don't have our detox pathways open and we're not, you know, doing the basics of getting sunlight every day, or being outside in nature for, you know, a couple hours a day to mitigate how much time we're inside and to exercise and just move your body and have a sense of community. Like these are all basic things that we should be doing and we don't. And then we Wonder why in 10 years. Well, also we wonder why now 25 year olds are feeling like they're 45 and 45 year olds are feeling like they're 75. It's because we spend so much of our teen years. This is also why, like so much of what your messaging is, is that we just spending so much time doing things that are so unnatural for us to be doing. Like we're not meant to be doing half the things that we are. So people really wonder, you know, why do I feel so bad at such a young age? And it's becoming more and more common. It's very rare that you see a teenager or a 20 year old in general that isn't struggling with hormonal problems or very painful periods or cystic acne or even depression. It's becoming like a true epidemic in this country. So we really have to think about like, it's not going to take overnight to heal. Just as it didn't take you overnight to get sick. This is going to be a long process and there's no reason to rush and just say, okay, I have to throw everything out because everything is making me sick. It took a really long time for you to get there. And I always encourage people to start making very small incremental changes every single day. Whether it's drinking a little bit more water or spending an extra hour outside or just taking your laptop outside and working there. Those small things people aren't even doing. So I always encourage people to just start there.

[Jenny Urch]

That's really good advice. And what, what I see and what I've heard and more so heard from people's stories is that the body does tend to start to heal fairly quickly. It's really a cool thing. Like if it took you five years to get there, it probably won't take you five years to get out.

[Illy Balai]

No.

[Jenny Urch]

Yeah, I've heard people say, you know, within a week or two, I started to feel better. You're not completely where you want to be, but you're feeling better and you're noticing the changes right in front of your eyes. And what a, what an amazing thing about our bodies. Tell us about the products. So, okay, you're gonna, you can go to livehealthily.com to find the shop but 15 products to 500, you talk about the things that you're looking for, like in the personal care products and also the supplements. So what are the things that we don't want or some of the things that we don't want?

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, this is when we were creating our list of ingredients we want to avoid. Obviously it's, you know, we want to avoid as many synthetic artificial ingredients. And for me it's more about what makes sense for the product. Right. You know, people make this very, these very grandiose claims and very, you know, that lack a lot of nuance on social media. And I think this is what contributes a lot to the fear mongering that a lot of people see. Because we see one thing and we say sugar is bad. And then we're here saying, okay, well we need to avoid sugar. And then sugars and fruit and sugars and all these things. And now we have a plethora of people that are just scared to eat, you know, a strawberry. So it's always, I'm always trying to educate people around, you know, what makes sense for that product. So a protein powder, for example, there is no reason for a protein powder to have artificial dyes. So we don't want products that have that ingredient. I mean, there's no reason any ingredient should have, or any product should have artificial dyes because it's simply cosmetic and it makes no sense for the product. And of course it has more harms than it does good. So that's one ingredient that we always look out for in every single product is no artificial dyes. And the biggest thing is watching out for the flavoring. People overlook this ingredient all the time. But people don't realize, especially artificial flavor, and in many, even natural flavor is, it's such a vague term that is not regulated by the FDA and it's actually protected by something called the recipe law. So brands legally do not even need to disclose to you what is in their flavoring at all. So what I have noticed through my research, especially when we try to acquire, you know, bring on brands to live healthily, is I always reach out about their flavor so I can get a little bit more transparency. And there have been brands that blatantly will say that they have sweeteners that they don't have to disclose that is in their flavoring, that is not on the label. And this is not always a bad thing. But we have to think if you are someone that is on a, that has PCOS or something that's insulin driven, you're going to want to be very aware of what types of sweeteners are going to be hiding in your flavor. And this is such an important thing that we're always looking out for. That I get to do on the back end, as you know, CEO and founder is I get to talk to these brands about what is in those ingredients. So it's something that I tell people. It's very hard to do when you're at the supermarket, because you can't just call up a brand and be like, hey, what's in this? I'd really like to buy it, but it's something I get to do for our due diligence, for live healthily, which is talk to these brands and ask. And if it's something that I don't feel comfortable with, we just simply won't hold it. Flavoring on top of that is something you want to avoid because it has something called exitotoxin, which are toxins that can excite your neurons to the point of something called up to the point of death. So this is what causes addictive patterns in people, essentially. So these are things that are going to cause people to have this insatiable craving for these products. And we see flavoring in everything from yogurt to protein powder. It's quite insane. And we wonder why people are like, I can only have this electrolyte, and chances are it probably has some sort of flavoring in it. And in that flavoring is some sort of excitotoxin that is messing with your neurotransmitters and your taste buds that is causing you to have this craving for it, essentially. So if you're someone who struggles with cravings, I always say, like, we need to be careful about how many flavors are in the products that you're consuming every day. I don't think it's always a bad thing, but to just be aware of. Of how much you're actually consuming, because it's not just in supplements. It's in everything from Mac and cheese to pasta sauce. I've seen natural flavor in pasta sauce. So we're always very aware of anything artificial, any type of weird synthetic flavorings. We're also aware of what types of gums and the sourcing of those gums, because a lot of them can come from GMO sources and we want to avoid glyphosate GMO products for sure.

[Jenny Urch]

Can you clarify gums? Because obviously my first thought was, like, chewing gum, but you're not talking about.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, so gums can be anything like a xanthan gum or like A locust bean gum. What gum is, is exactly what you would think like a chewing gum. It's what helps keep products together. So you usually find these in protein bars. What happens also what we see with people is that gums aren't always a bad thing. They serve a purpose for the product. And this is why you're gonna have like, you know, something like a Nature valley bar that as soon as you, you know, breathe on it, it crumbles all over the place. You know, like with just, just a problem. That's what happens. Usually we don't have gums and stuff. It's also found in protein powders because you're not going to want that clumpy consistency. You want it to be kind of smooth. So the gums just kind of help everything stick together and be a little bit smoother. The problem with gums is where they're sourced from because a lot of them can be sourced from GMO corn, you know, other types of glyphosate sprayed products. So I always look at the quality of what those are. So usually I like to go for something that's like a non GMO gum product if it's in that. But also on top of that, we always tell people, just be aware of how many you're consuming because just as it's sticking things together for the product, when you consume that, it can cause kind of like sticky intestines. So that's why we see a lot of constipation in people, is because they're just consuming a lot of gums. So we want to be careful. And that was a problem that I dealt with. Obviously that's tmi, but we're here for a good time. But you know, we have to think about like why we have so many people that need, need much more fiber to supplement with fiber and laxatives. People are like, this is the most. I feel like everyone's always asking me like, do you have a laxative? I'm just like so constipated. And we see, I'm like always you have to be aware of how many gums you're consuming and how many products all the time. Because again, gums are even found in milk. So if you're starting your every day putting creamer or milk in your coffee and it has a lot of gums and you're wondering why you're constipated throughout the day, this could be a reason why. So there's like so many like little ingredients not to be fearful of, but to just be aware how Many you're consuming in a day and how often? Because if we can make these connections, like, I actually am very constipated. You know, what could be going on? And then you start flipping over products. You're like, wow, I actually do have this creamer every single morning. And then I have this yogurt in the middle of the day that also have. Has gums. And then I have this protein powder in the middle of the day that also has gums. And then we're starting to connect the dots here. And then we can start to minimize the exposure to these ingredients. So they're not always bad. They do serve a purpose, but it's just about being aware when you're having certain uncomfortable symptoms, which is the connections I wish somebody made for me when I first started, because I was struggling and my doctor, my GI doctor wanted to put me on stool softeners. And I'm like, all I had to do is just remove some of these artificial additives from my food and I would have been a. Okay. So, yeah, those are a couple that we look out for in physical products that you're just consuming in that way. And then obviously topically, we always want to avoid fragrance because fragrance can hide thousands of chemicals that can be endocrine disrupting and endocrine disruptors. I think we're seeing a big influx in teenagers that are struggling with hormonal problems, painful periods and cystic acne, which. You're spraying these directly on your thyroid. You're putting them right around your lymph nodes. These are all things that people forget about that. It's not just like this innocent thing. They're being absorbed directly into your breast tissue, into your lymph nodes, around your armpit, right onto your thyroid. So it's just about what are we actually absorbing? Because they absorb quickly.

[Jenny Urch]

Wow. So, I mean, there's a whole list of things. So you're going to go to live healthily. And like I said, I'll put the link in the show notes, but it's I L L I E at the end. This is going to help you to avoid the synthetic fragrance of parabens. Coal tar, formaldehyde. You're kind of like, wait a minute.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. Why are these. Yeah, the coal tar is the petroleum jellies. And the coal tar can also be from artificial dyes. They're coal bait. They're coal tar based. So we have to, wow. Be wary of, like, where are these ingredients coming from? It's industrial byproduct.

[Jenny Urch]

Wow. Formaldehyde. Which reminds Me of like dissecting a frog. So I'm like, well, I don't really want that on my skin. Ammonia, oxybenzone. I mean, so many things. The list goes on and on. In the foods, it's artificial flavors and dyes, which actually I just learned illy from Vani because she was talking about this book called the Dorito Effect. Because I was always like, well, what? You know, these colors. Why do people care if it's brightly colored? But it's because it tricks your brain.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah.

[Jenny Urch]

That it's a healthy thing. That brightly colored things, you know, eating the rainbow, it tends to be a healthier option. And then the flavorings would do the same thing. Right. Something that's highly flavored, then that leads to the addictive nature of it. So you're talking about canola oil, sucralose, all of that stuff. So over 500 products that you can find and just starts to teach you about what you should be looking for. Hydrogenated oils, aspartame, GMO ingredients.

[Illy Balai]

All the artificial sweeteners that we're told are better than the. Than just having, you know, good old sugar. It's.

[Jenny Urch]

Yes.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. And it's in everything. You can find it in energy drinks. And I saw artificial sweetener the other day in ketchup. Artificial sweetener in. In a mouthwash, which is interesting. You're just washing your mouth with artificial sweeteners.

[Jenny Urch]

Oh, gosh.

[Illy Balai]

Horrible.

[Jenny Urch]

Yeah. That's one thing our kids know to look for. And I'm surprised. They'll be like, it's in this. You can't have it. You know, and obviously anything that says sugar free usually has that in it. Okay, so then this leads us to the fact that this is really confusing. And you talk a lot about this, how the media causes confusion. What. What do they do and why. Why?

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, I mean, we know we've been, you know, educated the audience, like, just in general, the media has been bringing on, you know, people like Callie and Casey means to just really educate on all the lobbying that goes on in the system. And it's so obvious. But what happens, especially in the media, is journalism is such a open textbook right now. It's very different than when I did journalism and studied journalism in college, where you really had to have the degree and the background to be able to just write articles and, you know, everything had to be fact checked in a very particular way. So now in the rise of social media, we're seeing that you can just, you know, pluck a doctor off of Instagram to now Write this very grandiose article about how horrible eggs are for you. While on in another breath, they pick a different article with a different, you know, Dr. That says, no, eggs are actually so amazing for you. And everybody's contrad. Addicting everybody. And we're just like, so are eggs good or eggs bad? Because this one's saying it's can kill us if we have two a day. And this one's saying you should have at least five a day to get in the protein. Am I going to die? What is going to happen? So that's like, the one big thing is, again, there's just so much with social media today that anyone can have a voice, which has been amazing in so many other ways, because we're seeing topics being spoken about that haven't normally been spoken about, but then we're also seeing, you know, issues with who's doing the speaking. And then when you go down the pipeline, there was a very interesting kind of expose that happened last year where there was a bunch of dietitians that are very popular on Instagram, being some, I guess, summoned by the ftc, the Federal Trade Commission, that they are not disclosing sponsorships that they have with brands like General Mills. So this is a really big problem because we're looking to accounts to give us, us truthful, unbiased nutrition education. We look at them. These are registered dietitians who have dedicated their entire education and life to educating people on how to eat healthier. And they are not disclosing that they are being paid by big food corporations to tell us what to eat. So when we see it, a dietitian, and this is one of the videos that I saw that really shocked me was saying that the a box of Cheerios and a bowl of Cheerios every single day is the equivalent to taking a multivitamin. So almost encouraging people to consume a bowl of Cheerios every day.

[Jenny Urch]

They've got them at Whole Foods.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, find it at Whole Foods. At your local Whole Foods. You know, that, that, that this is the same as taking a multivitamin every single day, which obviously is such an issue. And unfortunately, the comments are, this is genius.

[Jenny Urch]

Because there's a whole cohort of people.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. And this is a bunch of people. I think there was like 15 of them that were all round up.

[Jenny Urch]

And it's a. It's a lot of money. This is what I'm starting to learn. I'm like, I'm not sponsored by anyone. So if someone would like to like someone that's healthier, the Trees. Can the trees sponsor the show? I don't know. You know, so you don't really know, like, when you're not in that world. But then we had this experience just in our, you know, talking with. With this group of people that was at Kellogg's, and there's different influencers that are putting out videos that are pro for this stuff. And we're talking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars like it. It is a lot of money that is coming in to sway public opinion and just to create a lot of confusion.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. Especially with the, you know, people who have the degrees. Because now it's like people, you know, how many doctors did we have standing in front of Kellogg's giving real science behind why these products aren't good? And then you have doctors and dietitians coming up on social media saying everything that these doctors and dietitians are saying is wrong. So it's like, how do we trust? And this is exactly how it causes this confusion, because we rely so heavily on influencers. I know, I'm sure for both of us, you know, we've had people following our journeys for years, and they come to trust us and know us and, and they know our families and they know everything about us, and they can't imagine that we would be, you know, lying to them about something. And this is how people feel about all of these influencers. So these big corporations know what they're doing. They're going to have way more of an effect hiring and paying influencers with degrees, hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote something to their very trusting audience versus putting up a billboard in Times Square. It's going to be way more effective for them. And we're seeing that because we're seeing even so much pushback with the Kellogg dogs thing, where I'm like, this feels so obvious.

[Jenny Urch]

It's so obvious it's a die that.

[Illy Balai]

They'Re already making it without the dyes somewhere else. Like, yeah, we're not asking for much here. We're just asking for a little bit of equality. And people are up in arms and it's. It's sad to see. And it's. You get. I'm so thrown aback by, like, I was like, there's no way anyone would disagree. And here we are.

[Jenny Urch]

And here we are. Yeah. That's why, to me, that's why the stories are the most powerful, because no one can argue with the fact that you had migraines, chronic, chronic migraines, more than 15amonth, and you had eczema and couldn't even put on makeup. Like you can't argue with that stuff. And that's why I think those are the things that start to change the world. Like the To Die for documentary where they talk about how their preschooler was kicked out of preschool. Who gets kicked out of preschool? And all they changed was getting rid of the artificial dyes and it changed it for him. And I think who doesn't love the good things in life? Even though I enjoy a little luxury, it doesn't mean I can always afford it. Until I discovered Quince. Quince is my go to for when I'm trying to step up my luxury essentials game, but doing so at affordable prices. Quince offers a range of high quality items at prices within reach. Like 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters from $50, which I got and absolutely love washable silk tops and dresses, organic cotton sweaters and 14 karat gold jewelry. The best part? All Quince Items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. I love that. One of my favorite things is the all black puffer jacket I got. It's super cute and most important, nice and warm for these cold winter days here in Michigan. Give yourself the luxury you deserve with quince. Go to quince.com outside for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com outside to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com outside with new McValue at McDonald's.

[Illy Balai]

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[Jenny Urch]

So even if gas prices go up.

[Illy Balai]

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[Jenny Urch]

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[Illy Balai]

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[Jenny Urch]

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[Illy Balai]

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[Jenny Urch]

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[Illy Balai]

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[Jenny Urch]

Since you're new to H and R block, we'll look at your returns from the last three years for any money your last guy might have missed for free. I could get money back from last year.

[Illy Balai]

You could. We'll find any mistakes.

[Jenny Urch]

Could have really used that two years ago when I dated that mistake for five months.

[Illy Balai]

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[Jenny Urch]

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[Illy Balai]

All tax situations are different. Different fees apply. If you have us file an amended.

[Jenny Urch]

Return, Obviously, everyone's story is going to be slightly different. And for some kids, it's not going to affect them as much. And I feel like that's part of the confusion, too, though. Like, it does. Well, it doesn't affect this kid or that person. But I think these stories, they are really, really leading to change because people are going to stand up and say, look, you cannot argue with my experience. You can't argue with my experience at getting my kids outside for a thousand hours a year for the last 12 years has completely changed our life. Our kids are different. I see it. You know, you can't argue with that. So I'm so glad. And. And almost everyone I talk to is coming from a story like Dr. Josh Axe. He was like, I had a 2.0. I had ADHD. You know, I. I hardly made it through school. I changed my food, and it changed everything. Okay. When I want to switch gears, because I don't want to run out of time for this. We've never talked about this on the show. Birth control. Don't talk about birth control. We've never talked about on the show. We've got a lot of moms. My experience with birth control. I have two thoughts.

[Illy Balai]

Let's hear it.

[Jenny Urch]

And then I want you to take it away.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah.

[Jenny Urch]

My first thought is, kids are wonderful. And, well, we got married. We got married in our early 20s. And there was this societal. I don't know who said it. I don't know where it came from, but there was a societal idea that you're supposed to wait five years before you have kids. Kids. And I just wish someone, anyone would have pushed back on that. That's just from a purely. Kids are wonderful stance. And I have a couple friends who, for whatever reason, like, didn't get that messaging. They got married, they had kids within a year or two. They just were excited to have babies. And I felt pressure. Like, you're supposed to have these five years and you're supposed to, I don't know what, travel. Build a foundation of your marriage. I'm like, it didn't work. So I, you know, I. I don't know. And so from just from the standpoint of I just think kids are great, and I don't like that messaging and that Messaging is often what leads to birth control. Right. Like you're supposed to wait five years. So I did go on birth control for the first year of our marriage and I cried every single day. Every day I cried. And then I ended up going off of it because I felt so awful. It's just interesting because you brought up earlier, it's often the answer that's given for acne or it's the answer that's given for painful periods. I just wish I would have known more about it before someone just handed me the pills. It cost me $2 a month through my school teaching insurance. I mean, it was like barely any money and yet I feel like it wreaked havoc on my health. I mean, I cried every, every day for 365 days. First year of marriage.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

[Jenny Urch]

So let's talk about it.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. Birth control is one of those things that so one, one thing. A lot of people, I mean, my audience definitely knows about this about me, but my entire element, most of my family's in the medical industry at some point. My mom works at a cancer hospital, my grandma worked. My grandpa and my grandfather before he passed away, all worked at hospitals before. So I've been around and I've been very pro till this day. I'm very pro medicine when needed because it has a time and a place. So going on birth control was a no brainer for me. And it's funny actually that I look back because when I first was offered birth control, I wasn't even sexually active yet. I was 18 years old. And I went on it strictly for acne and painful periods. So I was just given it as a. This is a cure. This is a cure to your acne and your painful periods. I wasn't tested, I wasn't given blood work. I wasn't asked about my history, my family history of breast cancer. Because now we know that birth control can increase the risk of breast cancer. My grandmother had it. So these are all questions that I was wasn't asked. And the biggest part is I was never tested. They didn't test my hormones prior to see what could be causing my acne. What could be causing my painful periods. Yeah, that was the biggest shocker to me. But after the fact, because I was very pro. This is just what you do. Every girl that I knew in school was on birth control. I didn't learn what ovulation was until I was 25. So I had no clue. We're not taught this. It's actually ironic now because we do understand now that Once you decide that you want to get pregnant, all of a sudden it's like, okay, now you have to track your ovulation. And then you were never taught about that, that before. So it's like, we all know that this is how it's done. This is how babies happen. But we're never taught that when right before we're being put on birth control as a teenager, and we're put on it, and it's handed out like candy. So what people don't realize about birth control is it's not curing anything when you get off. A lot of women experience what's called post birth control syndrome, which you can lose your period, you can get all the symptoms that you had before that you went on. So that's exactly what happened to me. My periods came back after six months. I had no period for six months after birth control, and they came back with vengeance. My acne and the skin, my. My skin texture changed tremendously. My skin was like sandpaper. Everything changed. My mood was different. I went through, you know, a little area of depression. And there's also science to suggest that it changes the type of people that you attract and the men that you attract. And it's just so ironic that the year that I got off birth control was the same year that I got out of a toxic relationship. It's almost like the blinders got pulled up from over me, and I'm like, oh, my God, I can see clearly now. And then a couple months later, I met my current husband. So it's like, hello, if you are on birth control, you're probably with the wrong person right now.

[Jenny Urch]

So.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, it's crazy. Actually. Dr. Jolene Brayan spoke about that a lot, that it can literally change who you're attracted to. So there's so many that we're just. So many things that we're just not told about the pros and cons of birth control. We're only told about the pros. Like, it's so good, you know, it's gonna. You don't need a period. Who? You don't need a period. It's not a big deal. And, you know, your acne is gonna go away and your, you know, skin is gonna look amazing. And I gained a lot of weight on birth control. I was depressed. So many things. I got the complete opposite effect. And I know it can be so beneficial for so many women. And I'm not talking about, like, the group that it does. We cannot deny that it is given out like candy and the proper testing and treatment aren't taken into consideration before it's being prescribed.

[Jenny Urch]

Yeah, it's really good. A lot of moms listen. So this is the point where, you know, when you're in your kids become certain age, you're passing on information to them. You're passing on information about just to be aware. I had no idea.

[Illy Balai]

So many ways. I think I was just talking to my husband about this too, about, you know, because obviously the topic of, like, you know, what are the IDA wasn't spoken about as a child about, like, you know, what ovulation and what my period was. It was one of these, like, taboo topics that you just don't speak about. But I'm like, how powerful would it be if young girls and young boys were educated about the ovulation window? And I think this could be such an amazing preventative measure and such a opportunity for parents to connect to their children in a different way where they actually understand the process in which these things happen. Like, I wasn't taught that, and I wish that I knew. I can't even imagine a world in which those are normal conversations. But I just encourage all parents, parents to start having these combos because I think it's a shame that I learned how to, like, what even my ovulation was at 25 years old. I just think that's way too old and not enough children and, you know, teens know about it as soon as she gets her, you know, her first period. I think that's an important conversation of what is a menstrual cycle and what will your body be doing through these flows. It's normal to get a pimple here and there at certain points of your cycle. And I think just having that connection to your body is. Makes all the difference.

[Jenny Urch]

Yeah. And I mean, I, for me, I'm like, what? That was actually a really awful way to kick off marriage. Like, I cried every day. So, I mean, it just totally messed me up. But no one talked about it, so I just went off it. I was like, I. I wasn't crying before. Now I'm crying all the time. So I went off of it. But it's. It's really come out. I feel like in the last couple years where people are saying, if you don't really need it for something specific, it can really mess you up.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah. And just seek like, other oper. Like other options, you know, functional testing and has been a life changer for me. And I've been able to find things years later that my endocrinologist never found when she was running my blood work. You know, I didn't find out I was borderline hypothyroid until three years after my endo ran blood work on me. And my current practitioner was like, did she ever tell you this? And I'm like, no. So I was just living with, like, undiagnosed borderline hypothyroidism for three years without a clue. So, yeah, I always just say, like. Like get second opinions. Especially if you're a little hesitant on, you know, maybe your family history or the reasoning for why they want to put you on it. It doesn't hurt to just get other opinions and ask for the testing.

[Jenny Urch]

Help us debunk this. We can wrap it up here. If it wasn't safe, it wouldn't be sold. It's one of the things people say, if it wasn't safe, it wouldn't be sold.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, my biggest thing we know that the FDA is so unregulated, and they need. Need better people in place to start doing more of this regulation. But especially when it comes to, like, birth control and now, like, the products that we're putting, we have to think that not everything is being tested properly before it hits shelves. You know, with. Especially with grass. Generally recognized as safe. As long as a product, an ingredient works similar, similarly to another ingredient, it's pretty much gonna end up on your shelves or in your medicine cabinet.

[Jenny Urch]

I think that is really a ridiculous phrase, isn't it?

[Illy Balai]

Yeah.

[Jenny Urch]

Generally recognized as safe. It's like, would anybody ever do that? You'd. We're gonna go to this place is zip lining, ziplining. I mean, we're gonna go out over the, you know, out of the water, over these, you know, through these fields, these trees. It's. It's generally recognized as safe.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah, it's generally safe. Or imagine like, I make you dinner and you're like, oh, is this good? Oh, it's generally safe. Most people have had a good experience, like, eating my food. Okay. No, it's very interesting that we don't like bat. And I. I thought.

[Jenny Urch]

I think this is something that everybody needs to understand and be aware of. And I just started reading. It's actually, like, super fascinating. I started reading this book called Propaganda by Edward Bernays because Dr. Kate Shanahan talked about it in her book, which is called Dark Calories. And he. He's like the father of propaganda. That's what they call him. And so it's been. I mean, that's an. He has actually a couple books. I'm like, these are things that should be a part of childhood reading.

[Illy Balai]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenny Urch]

So that you're aware. You have to be aware of what is sold as correct or truth or.

[Illy Balai]

Expert advice or even like how these systems came into place. You know, like when you start looking into like the Rockefellers and, you know, you really go down those rabbit holes. You're like, everything had to start somewhere. How did it start somewhere? I mean, I think it was even shocking for all of us when I forgot who read the quote. You could remind me. But someone read the quote from Kellogg's. Mr. Kellogg's himself.

[Jenny Urch]

Yes, yes.

[Illy Balai]

And we're like, it's shocking what has been, what has transpired since and how the company has changed.

[Jenny Urch]

Yeah, his brother. His brother is the one who changed it.

[Illy Balai]

Yeah.

[Jenny Urch]

I don't know where I read that, but I did read that, that it was like his brother is the one.

[Illy Balai]

Who started at the. At the Kellogg thing. They used it as a. Like an intro and we're all like. Everyone was like audibly gasped and I was like, oh my God, it's. Yeah. So we have to think, like things change and we have to understand why they change. And like that shot to this day, I'm shocked about that. Like, I need. I need to talk to somebody.

[Jenny Urch]

What an event. I am so honored and thrilled that we met there. People can find [e-mail] your one stop shop for all things clean and low tax. You also have a kids book. It's called Yummy Colors. I mean, the conversations have to start with our children. And these are really important things we're talking about that they're trying to trick you with these colors in Fruit Loops and they. And Apple Jacks. Apple Jacks, these brightly colors. Is trying to trick you. So you definitely want to check out Illy's book, Yummy Colors. Like I said, I'll put a link to that. You also also have the Healthily University with a couple courses there. Learn to navigate the supermarket like a pro, which is a really big deal because it is hard to find clean products and it's very confusing out there. You also have the calorie breakup course. So lots of further information for those who are listening, if they are needing some extra help and support is wonderful what you have, Illy.

[Illy Balai]

Thank you.

[Jenny Urch]

We always end our show with the same question. And that question is, what's a favorite memory from your childhood that was out.

[Illy Balai]

Oh my gosh. So actually just told one of my friends this story. We. I. So I grew up going to Albania every single summer and we had A farm. And I would stay there for three months out of the year. So I didn't really have a lot of friends in New York because I would always be in Albania with my grandma and my cousins. So we had a lot of chickens and sheep and cows and everything, but we also had ducks and. And ducks at night are. It's just funny because we were always with them, and they were my favorite out of all the animals on the farm because they were just so cute and so friendly. But unfortunately, they would get eaten by coyotes. So I'd always try to stay outside with them, like to be their guard, you know? So I was always outside all the time. And then one night, I got this glorious idea because the duck gave birth, and I was so scared that the ducks were going to. The baby ducks were going to get eaten. So this is like an indoor, outdoor experience. But it's just funny because I just felt like I needed to protect these little babies. So I decided to put on my bathing suit, run a bath, and bring the ducks into the bathtub with me until, you know, it was safe again in the morning. And my grandma just thought I was absolutely ridiculous, and she's like, they need to stay outside. So then I was stuck having to be their guard outside. But that's, like, one of my favorite, like, just tells me me the type of person I am to this day, because I'm like, I'd rather bring the baby ducks in my bathtub than fighter. I know.

[Jenny Urch]

Fend off the coyotes. You're gonna do whatever you need to.

[Illy Balai]

Do, whatever it takes. But they were so freaking cute. And we'd make. You know, I had a little kitchen outside with, like. You'd make mud pies. And me and my cousin, we would pretend we had a little mud bakery, and we would try to sell it to the cows because they're the Walter you're gonna give it to. See, I would make, like, grass pies and mud pies and. Yeah, so we. I spent a lot of my summers only outside. So that's, like, one thing I'm very, very, very grateful for, because a lot of children don't have that same experience. But, yeah, I was out in the farm saving ducks, making mud pies, making a living for myself, selling mud pies to cows.

[Jenny Urch]

Those are such wonderful memories. And then you just have strong relationships, and you have, you know, big memories with your grandparents and family. I love that. I love that. Fending off the coyotes. And now you are fending off Kellogg. So this has been an amazing journey, Arianna. Thank you so much for being here.

[Illy Balai]

Thank you so much for having me. What a pleasure. Thank you.