Encore Episode: Antibiotic Resistance on the Rise
Episode 140
This week on Integrative Wellness Radio, we are joined by Dr. Nick and Dr. Nicole as they dive into antibiotic resistance and why it is on the rise. Dr. Nicole identifies some of the chemicals that are contributing to the ineffectiveness of antibiotics AND impacting the bacterial diversity in our bodies. Dr. Nick shares some tips to help us reduce our daily exposure and briefs on how these toxins not only affect us physically but also take a toll on our mental and emotional health. Tune in to learn more about how to help strengthen and protect your body's immune system. Interested in working with IWG? Book a complimentary consult call to learn more using this link: https://bit.ly/IWRcall2022 Noteworthy Time Stamps: 02:03 Antibiotic exposure in your food 04:51 What is the microbiome? 06:48 The push and pull of eliminating bad microbes 9:00 Overexposure to these chemicals impacts mental & emotional health 11:22 Helping people achieve a better functioning brain 13:33 Finding the root cause 15:53 Stress is stress 20:58 Tools to create more balance in your body 25:30 Getting the bad stuff out and the good stuff in 29:03 The quality of food, not the quantity of it 33:30 What you put on your skin counts too
Topics: unknown, antibiotic, antibiotics, nick, immune, cause, stress, resistance
Key takeaways from this episode
- Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr. **Unknown:** Nick and Dr.
- Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey.
- Mm-hmm. **Unknown:** It's just healthy balance of microbiome, healthy balance of stress, healthy- Mm-hmm.
- And it's like, you know, unfortunately it can be like antibiotic-free meat, um, but it could just be the, the verbiage behind that is just that they haven't actually done any antibiotic treatment to the meat, but the actual feed that the animals had had antibiotics in it.
- So they can still say that- Mm-hmm ... getting around the fact that they s- the animal still has antibiotics in it. **Unknown:** So it's, it gets pretty tricky, um, when you look at it like that.
Pull quotes
Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems.
Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey.
Sometimes I tend to lose myself when I'm out here on my own. **Unknown:** Hey, everyone.
Transcript
**Unknown:** I've been up all night, no sleep. Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems. No sleep. Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr.
**Unknown:** Nick and Dr. Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey. I'm always dreaming. Sometimes I tend to lose myself when I'm out here on my own.
**Unknown:** Hey, everyone. So I'm here with Dr. Nick. Hello.
**Unknown:** So we are going to be talking about a topic that I think a lot of people are kind of wondering about, because there's a lot of talk about antibiotics and this, you know, scary topic of antibiotic resistance, which means that antibiotics are not working as well as they used to. And, you know, something that really ties into that is some of the chemicals that we're being exposed to that is not only compromising how well our bodies react to antibiotics, but secondarily what that is actually doing to our diversity of bacteria in our bodies, and how that's actually compromising our own immune system. It is. I was like, "Is Nick gonna say something?
**Unknown:** He's looking at me funny." No, it's just- ... um, she's saying that, my mind's going so many different places because it's, you know, on one side it is a very scary thing that, you know, we're, we were so dependent on this one, one drug, one pill, one thing to help us to heal, 'cause it kills off bacteria really well, and now it's that it's not. But at the same time, it was, it was causing a lot of other problems at the same time. So it's like there's, there's nothing in life as, you know, like dealing with the emotional side of things, there's nothing that's just a benefit in life.
**Unknown:** Um, but when you overdo one thing too much, that you'll get the opposite side, the, all the negative effects, and that's kind of what we, what's happening right now is that we overdid a quote unquote good thing, and now we're having the, the bad effects from it. And with that being said, as we kind of talk about this concept of antibiotics, this is not necessarily just about the antibiotics that we're taking when we're sick. This is also about a lot of the exposures that we're getting from our food sources. Right.
**Unknown:** And I think that that's off many people's radar is the fact that we are being exposed. But when we look at the grocery store nowadays and we look at all the marketing online, we're seeing a lot about, um, antibiotic-free chicken or poultry, and we're also seeing organic, and grass-fed, and non-GMO. And it gets really difficult to navigate what all of these different things mean, but I think the biggest thing to take away is the fact that they are advertising these better quality options because a lot of, especially the animal protein and dairy that we are consuming, has been treated with some type of antibiotic as well as growth hormone therapy. Right.
**Unknown:** And it gets tricky, like verbiage is very technical when it comes into marketing. And it's like, you know, unfortunately it can be like antibiotic-free meat, um, but it could just be the, the verbiage behind that is just that they haven't actually done any antibiotic treatment to the meat, but the actual feed that the animals had had antibiotics in it. So they can still say that- Mm-hmm ... getting around the fact that they s- the animal still has antibiotics in it.
**Unknown:** So it's, it gets pretty tricky, um, when you look at it like that. And with that being said, we're going to go through just some strategies and some tips once we get to the end of the podcast so that you're able to walk away feeling more empowered and be able to kind of know what steps to take, because we know that that gets really hard to navigate. But kind of backtracking and, and talking a little bit more about this role of bacteria overall in the body is when it comes to bacteria, we are all very familiar with this concept of probiotics, and probiotics are the good bacteria. They're the good bacteria that is supportive to our immune system and supportive to just protecting us from the bad bacteria and the bad microbes.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. So when it comes down to the probiotic levels, there is a lot of things, chemicals, in fact, that we are being exposed to that are actually compromising these probiotic, or I should say good bacteria levels, which is making us more vulnerable. And we're gonna kind of go in and talk about some of those things. But one thing that I think is important to establish is that you could actually have a compromised, you know, microbiome is what it's called, or, or bacterial level in the body straight out of the gate, and that can be because you did not go through the birth canal because you were a C-section baby.
**Unknown:** Can you explain what a microbiome is? I don't know if everybody understands that. So microbiome really comes down to the balance of good and bad bacteria in the body. Because it's not that you're only gonna have good bacteria and you're not gonna have any bad, it's really just about, you know, the balance of that bacteria that really creates a really, really healthy immune system, and it also creates really healthy gut and skin.
**Unknown:** So that's something that Dr. Nick and I were talking about before we got started is we use a lot of these different things that also are constantly cleansing, cleansing, cleansing, and we're using them topically on our skin, thinking we're doing a good thing to protect us from the bad germs, but we're kind of missing the idea that we're depleting some of the good protective bacteria as well. Mm-hmm. And a lot of times, like when you do research on microbiome, a lot of the research is internally, and they're not paying attention that we have an external microbiome as well, and that's why they say, like one of the best things you can do, uh, especially as a kid, to increase your immune system, but also as adults we don't do it as much, is, you know, play in the dirt.
**Unknown:** Get, and like we're lucky we can go to the beach and play in the sand. Like, there's tons of bugs, uh, that the Earth provides us with, and be able to actually have that diversity, um, through quote unquote play. Yeah. It's awesome.
**Unknown:** And I think that became really evident, but we have two dogs, and I remember, um, our vet, who was more of a holistic vet, you know, one of the things she said was if you take your puppy to a dog park for a very, very short amount of time, you know, maybe five minutes or so, you're going to expose them to a variety of different, you know, bacterias and microbes, and in that small dose can actually build the immune system. It's pretty much acting like a, a healthy vaccine. Exactly. Yeah.
**Unknown:** So it was very fascinating, very eye-opening, because that doesn't just apply to dogs, of course. That applies to humans as well. Mm-hmm. So the more exposure, the more diversity, and the stronger the immune system can be.
**Unknown:** But unfortunately, we're, we're kind of playing this push and pull. We are getting exposed to too many bad microbes. Especially think of doctors and nurses that are working in hospitals. You know, there's obviously a plethora of, of flora, and microbes, and bacteria in a hospital, but some of those organisms are antibiotic resistant, some of them are aggressive types of bacteria.
**Unknown:** But then these are the same people that are constantly doing hand sanitizers and different types of antiseptics. So they're potentially doing this push and pull of getting rid of a lot of their good flora, obviously in hopes that they don't get the bad flora, but it's almost creating more of a weakness. Yeah, I didn't think... I mean, we've-It's ironic, but we have a lot of nurses as clients, and I never really thought of that, uh, before.
**Unknown:** That's pretty, uh- Yeah ... yeah. My mind's kind of blown right now. I was like, "Oh my God." Uh, well, it's always us that are in the healthcare field that we get exposed to all the- the- the really interesting stuff.
**Unknown:** And then, and when you look at a hospital too, and it's, you know, their and the HVAC units, like, it's just they, everything gets transferred to every single room. Meaning the central air. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
**Unknown:** Yeah, that's the thing is, you know, when you're in a hospital setting, there's- there's a lot of potential for exposure. But if somebody has a strong immune system, it's really no problem. But it's really when the immune system is compromised. And don't get me wrong, the immune system can be compromised for a variety of different reasons, but one of those reasons can be the fact that you do not have diversity in the types of bacteria you have in and on your body.
**Unknown:** Um, and it also can be because you have certain chemicals that are in the body, which we're gonna talk about next, that are actually affecting that as well. Yeah. And then, I mean, not to stay on the nurses, but it's, like, compounded. It's, like, they're usually working 12-plus hours and- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** crazy high stress and all that just kinda- Compounds. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So one of the big things when it comes down to the lack of this diversity in the bacteria that we have on our bodies and in our bodies is part of it can be from using all these different types of Purells, hand sanitizers, et cetera, um, using different types of aggressive cleaning products in our homes.
**Unknown:** But interesting enough, a lot of this can come back to certain chemicals that are on the food that we eat. Or in. Yes. And one of the main topics that I think a lot of people have been hearing about is this concept of GMO versus non-GMO.
**Unknown:** Not everybody necessarily knows what that means, but, uh, when it comes down to this concept of GMOs, uh, which is genetically modified organisms, there is a piece of the puzzle there that is a chemical called glyphosate. Glyphosate is the same chemical that we use to kill our weeds in our yard. It's called Roundup. And for those of you that are kind of like, "Oh my gosh, what do you mean?" Yes, glyphosate is in and on all genetically modified food, which is a good portion of our food if you are not intentionally seeking out non-GMO, uh, when you're buying your food at the grocery store.
**Unknown:** So when it comes to this concept of glyphosate, uh, Dr. Zach Bush is really the pioneer in this topic. He has dedicated many, many years to researching the effects of glyphosate, and I know that I've personally learned a lot from him. I knew that, you know, having chemicals on our, in our food as a, as a whole was bad, but when h- I really dove into the research about what glyphosate is doing, it was actually quite fascinating.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. So one of the things that, you know, he talks about is we have a lot of amino acids that help to run our bodies, and these amino acids are necessary. They're necessary for our brains. They're necessary for our immune system.
**Unknown:** They're necessary for protein, um, meaning, like, rebuilding muscles after workouts. And but what's very interesting that I've learned as a clinician is that when you're dealing with either amino acids or you're even dealing with neurotransmitters, neurotransmitters are the hormones in our brain that make us feel good, calm us down, allow us to sleep, that having too little is a problem and having too much is a problem. So it's really about this really fine line of balance. And one of the amino acids that is actually the backbone of glyphosate, uh, which again, is Roundup, is glycine.
**Unknown:** And what's interesting is I used to do a lot of testing and evaluate these levels, and glycine I found was always very, very elevated in my patients. And at the time, I didn't necessarily know why. And l- 'Cause glycine's a good thing. Yeah.
**Unknown:** So glycine is a good thing, but in excess it's a problem. So if you have an excessive amount of glycine, you're actually going to compromise a couple other, a couple other amino acids, which one of them is called phenylalanine, the other one is called tryptophan, and then the other one is called, uh, tyrosine. And I don't wanna get overly com- uh, complicated, but pretty much those, uh, amino acids are necessary for the production of your serotonin and your dopamine, which are your feel-good hormones. So the connection here, just to sum this up, is that if you have this overabundance and overexposure of glyphosate, which is the Roundup pesticide chemical in most of our food and on our produce, if you're overly exposed to that, that is going to compromise how you feel from a mental and emotional perspective.
**Unknown:** Can I piggyback off of that? You go. Definitely really focusing on the brain and helping people have a better functioning brain, initially, it's like you wanna go to that endgame. It's like you wanna help somebody balance out whether, like, the serotonin, the dopamine, um, helping them feel good, or, like dopamine, really having them have that drive.
**Unknown:** Uh, and with that, most of the time that's not the problem. It's, you know, it's taking steps back and realizing that, yeah, there's actually a break in the pathway, and the pathway being whether it's an amino acid or, you know, even, like, blood sugar and how that can relate, and really realizing that, not to chase after, quote-unquote, the problem, but figure out what the cause is. And it could be, yeah, an amino acid, and you can help supplement somebody with amino acids short-term to get that balance, but at the same time, if you're not even digging deeper to find out that true cause of why the amino acid's imbalanced, you're never gonna truly be able to heal somebody. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** So it's, it's really, you know, always being the investigator and digging deep and trying to figure out, you know, what's actually causing this imbalance and, you know, is it eating, you know, whether it's foods that maybe have these chemicals in it and glyphosate that's causing this dis- disruption, or is it stress that's actually causing a chemical imbalance? Mm-hmm. Like, really trying to figure out what the, what the deep root cause is. But I feel like a big portion, especially in the standard American diet, is that it is-...
**Unknown:** coming from the foods that we eat. It's coming from, like, the, the genetically modified and glyphosate, uh, derivatives. Well, that's the thing is, you know, kind of with what you're saying is anything can cause anything, and you really don't know what is going on until you do the right testing, is really what it comes down to. So if you do the right testing and you have a physician that is digging deep and acting as an investigator, then you're really able to uncover all the pieces of the puzzle.
**Unknown:** And there might be a lot of pieces to your puzzle, but that doesn't mean that all of them need to be addressed. It might be one or two foundational things or root causes- Mm-hmm ... that are creating a lot of effects. And I think that that's really empowering because people can get really overwhelmed about the thought of, of healing and the thought of, you know, seeking out an integrative approach because they think that c- that it's gonna potentially be overly complicated, it's gonna take a really long time, and they're gonna have to sacrifice their lifestyle, and that's not necessarily true with the right approach.
**Unknown:** Correct. And I mean, it's not that it's not complicated, but w- once ... It's complicated, but once you put all the right pieces of the puzzle together- Mm-hmm ... it's actually kind of like, "Oh, that makes sense." Exactly.
**Unknown:** Yeah. I always say to my patients, I'm like, "If, uh, at the end of this, if you look at me and say, 'That makes sense,' I know I did my job," and I usually do my job quite well. So, that's exciting. Um, so one piece that I do want to, um, kind of piggyback off of in addition to what we've talked about so far of how this glyphosate, as well as how is, uh, the genetically modified foods, how are they affecting our brains, is one of the other things that the research has showed is how specifically when it comes to this chemical compound getting into our gut, creating a lot of inflammation, which can cause everything from brain fog, to joint pain, to, um, not being able to necessarily recover from workouts.
**Unknown:** You know, really the, the sky's the limit when you're dealing with inflammation. It could also just be as simple as you can't lose weight. But that- I mean, when it comes down to inflammation causes all of our problems, you know? Yes.
**Unknown:** It's just inflammation's caused by stress, and the body doesn't really care what stress is. If it's biochemical, if it's emotional, if it's energetic, like physical trauma, like stress is stress and it all produces inflammation. Definitely. But it's interesting because the inflammation, uh, that the glyphosate has been connected to is creating a lot of problems in the temporal lobe of the brain.
**Unknown:** And when I go through the set of symptoms with temporal lobe decline, all of you are gonna be like, "Oh, my gosh, that's me," because it's something that so many people are suffering with. And one of the big ones is memory loss, especially it starts with short-term and then potentially progresses into long-term. And I think every single person I talk to, if they're a patient or not a patient, is like, "I can't remember anything. I don't know where my keys are.
**Unknown:** Oh, yeah, you know, my brain's not as good as it used to be." And it's always sh- short-term first and then long-term. Exactly. And then another big one is, "I'm not sleeping very well. I'm tossing, I'm turning," and then there's people that have straight up insomnia.
**Unknown:** And then the shifts in fatigue, "Oh, I feel good in the morning, but I get really tired middle of the day," or, "Oh, my gosh, I'm exhausted in the morning, and then I get my second wind at night." And it's pretty much your circadian rhythms are completely off, your melatonin levels are completely off, and this all comes back to the brain. Mm-hmm. So these are just some of the major symptoms that go back to the temporal lobe. And don't get me wrong, your temporal lobe can be ...
**Unknown:** And by the way, that's on the sides of the head. That can be compromised because you had a head injury, but it can also be compromised because you have a lot of gastrointestinal distress from this specific chemical that is in, safe to say, what? 90% of our foods. Yeah.
**Unknown:** Unless you are actively seeking out organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed, non-GMO, which a lot of us are not always doing that, and especially if we live a half, a fast-paced lifestyle and we're constantly eating out. So if you're eating out, you're getting exposed to these types of chemicals. And it's not that it's not hard to achieve a lifestyle that doesn't have these things. It's just, you know, at first having the awareness- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** uh, and then taking the time just to put a system in. Mm-hmm. Uh, 'cause once you have a system in place, it can run itself. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** Um, but it's just taking the time to put the system in, like this is where I'm gonna have my foods, get 'em, even if it's, like, your crazy fast pace lifestyle. It's like, this is where I get my food for lunch, and then, you know, this is prep for breakfast, or maybe I'm gonna intermittent fast this day. Um, and that allows you to, you know, be able to be, quote-unquote, more productive because actually it's more sustainable energy, not to get too far on that subject. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** But then at the same time, you're not, you know, incorporating those chemicals and everything. Mm-hmm. So it's- And- ... just to be able to set up a healthy lifestyle.
**Unknown:** And one of the things too is, like, I know we really harped on the, you know, this whole concept of GMOs and, and glyphosate, which is really important, and I, we wanted to talk a lot about it because it is so prominent. But at the end of the day, when we're talking about these other chemicals that are compromising our microbiome or our bacterial diversity, and, and that, which is a huge tie to our immune system, you know, it also comes back to alcohol, and it also comes back to, uh, smoking, or I shouldn't even say smoking because it could be secondhand smoke as well. You know, there is a- A lot of our vices. Yeah.
**Unknown:** Yeah. There's a lot of avenues that we are being exposed to these different chemicals that are compromising the biodiversity of the body- Mm-hmm ... which is then affecting our immune systems as well. Right.
**Unknown:** And then, you know, even said before, it's like a little bit of one thing isn't necessarily bad- Mm-hmm ... but more of it can have the opposite effects. And it's like when it comes to alcohol, it's like if you have a good quality organic biodynamic red wine, you know, it's, one glass of that is actually shown to cause vasodilation, so increased blood flow, which will increase- Mm-hmm ... oxygen, increase nutrients, uh, to the brain.
**Unknown:** But more than one drink actually-... causes the exact opposite to happen. Mm-hmm. So then it causes vasoconstriction.
**Unknown:** So it's the, everything constricts and everything pushes out, so you have less oxygen, less nutrients- Mm-hmm ... less everything. Um, so it's just having that, like, it all comes down to having a healthy balance, you know? Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** It's just healthy balance of microbiome, healthy balance of stress, healthy- Mm-hmm. So then let's talk about the tools. Let's talk about, you know, with everything that we've talked about today, what are some of the key factors that people need to know? And what are some of the things they can implement right away to start to kind of work on creating more balance in their systems, creating more of this diversity in their microbiome?
**Unknown:** And then what do they need to navigate around to prevent, you know, any additional issues in the future? Yeah. I always say, you know, the first, most important thing is to take your foot off the brake. You know, it's like you can start doing a lot of good things, but if you're still doing bad things, it's like you're not gonna go forward.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. So the very first thing is to take your foot off the brake. And for that being said, it's like to stop putting the bad things in the body- Mm-hmm ... and at the same time, start getting the body to get rid of them.
**Unknown:** So it's like that way you can, we can start moving forward. Like, even if you didn't put any, like, quote, unquote, "great things in", you'll start moving forward- Mm-hmm ... just by taking the bad things out of the body. So it's like doing a detox, doing some type of cleanse that's going to be able to allow all these negative stressors, chemicals to flush out of the system.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. And that's, you know, a big part of that is supporting the detox organ system. So making sure that the liver is functioning properly, making sure that the kidney and spleen are functioning properly. Um, and then, you know, your lymphatic system, uh, there's tons of podcasts that we've talked about on the lymphatic system.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Uh, really making sure that that's flowing properly to be able to release everything that it's been holding onto. And interesting enough, when you do that, uh, people lose so much weight. Most of the weight people carry is honestly inflammation.
**Unknown:** It's not fat. And the fat that people, like you'll, you'll have all, you'll see, especially this new, new time of the year, you'll have all these crazy people working out, um, New Year's resolution. Mm-hmm. And they'll get in decent shape, but they'll still have some areas that they just can't lose fat.
**Unknown:** And it's not the, it's a weight, uh, workout problem. It's that it's a toxic problem. Mm-hmm. And cellulite's the same thing.
**Unknown:** Cellulite's just an increased amount of toxicity- Mm-hmm ... that causes these dimples in the fascia. Um, so if you're able to remove these toxins, you'll get rid of your cellulite. You'll get, you'll be able to lose, quote, unquote, "burn fat" because you're not gonna have the toxins stored in there.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Uh, so that's like probably number one. Uh, number two is really, um- I wanna actually backtrack. Okay.
**Unknown:** Get a- get after it. Primarily because, you know, when we talk about the detoxification process, not everybody is familiar with like what exactly that means and how to do it. But kind of one thing that really piggybacks off of Zach Bush, and he is the one who, again, is pioneering in the research about glyphosate. He's created a product called Restore.
**Unknown:** And Restore, the whole premise of it is to help the body to detox from the glyphosate that has gotten into the tissues of the body, especially in the gut, and he also has, uh, made that into a nasal spray to w- also work on the, um, sinuses. So that is something extremely simple that you can utilize to help to get this out of the body, but obviously, if you're someone who's already been diagnosed with something like irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, your problem might be a little bit more complex than just necessarily taking Restore. And that's when you, you do really want to kind of get the right testing done so that you can know what is the best strategy for you to get your gut to heal. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** Because, yes, it's about getting some of the bad stuff out, but it's also about repair. Right. Uh, so it is a little bit more complex when you're already diagnosed with a pretty significant inflammatory condition. If you are local, for people to also do infrared saunas and something called ionized foot baths because then you're working on the liver, the gut, and the lymphatic system.
**Unknown:** So if you work on those systems together, you're gonna get the maximum results, and this is why, uh, Dr. Nick was saying some people can lose like 20, 25 pounds in a very short amount of time because you're supporting various avenues of detox, and your body is finally able to release the things it's been holding onto. Yeah. Infrared is amazing.
**Unknown:** The, the new studies that are coming out, it's also showing that it can increase, uh, neurogenesis in the hippocampus. Uh, so it's pretty- M- Nick loves to dork out. Yeah. So neurogenesis means the brain is regenerating.
**Unknown:** The hippocampus has a lot to do with, uh, memory as well. Yep. I alway- I'm always here to interpret for him. Uh, so outside of that, um, when it comes to this whole conversation about the biodiversity of- So we, we talked about getting bad stuff out.
**Unknown:** We didn't talk about putting good stuff in, so let's make sure we don't skip that. Okay. Go ahead, Nick. So the good stuff, well, I, I mean, I just, the, it was a big component- Yeah ...
**Unknown:** because there's tons of amazing information out there, but a lot of the information is one-sided. Mm-hmm. So it's like you have all these, you know, whether it's a podcast, whether it's a documentary, like, all this awesome information, and you can learn it, and then, you know, not to judge, but then you think you're an expert on the situation, but it's actually, it was only one point of view. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** So a lot of the, these, these big scenarios like, like, like, let's not eat meat because all meat's bad. Mm-hmm. And a lot of the studies that are done on meat are actually done on toxic meat. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** You know, they're done on these animals that, you know, are humanely not treated properly and which is very sad in itself, um, because we know everything, I know that everything has an energetic component to it. So it's like, uh, if an animal isn't treated well, it has a energy, and if we eat that, we're also consuming the negative stress and energy of it and how that actually can create mutations in the genes itself, and then we incorporate that. But at the same time, just, you know, stepping back and looking at, you know, if this animal has steroids, if this animal has chemicals, if this animal has all these, you know, negative toxins in it, and then we consume that, then yeah, that's actually, we don't have to like re-Boom, I've never had, you know, a steroid or an antibiotic myself, but if you're consuming, you know, foods and these meats with it, then you're doing yourself a disservice. So it's really being able to look at, you know, what everything just really honestly comes down to quality.
**Unknown:** Yeah. And that's, like, I think the sad part, especially in America, is we're really for the most part focused on quantity and not quality. And that's- Hence why everybody loves Costco? That's why everybody loves Costco.
**Unknown:** Um, and return it. You know, whatever- ... five years later. Let's not go there.
**Unknown:** That's my dad. Um, but it's really looking at, A, you know, for the most part, depending on who the person is, you don't need much meat. I mean, we do, if you look at evolution, really it's our prefrontal cortex started evolving and growing, uh, the most, the neocortex, when we started consuming meat products. Uh, but at the same time, now we're, we're, like anything, you, we're overdoing a good thing.
**Unknown:** Um, and that's creating a lot more inflammation in the brain and in the body, and then the quality of it's crap, so it's just like more is more is more, and it's more of a bad thing. Yeah. Uh, so it's, it's really looking down to having a really a balanced lifestyle, a balanced diet, uh, with, you know, mainly vegetables, fruits, you know. A little bit of carbs, uh, isn't necessarily a bad thing.
**Unknown:** You know, it's like people will try to, you know, starve off candida, um, but all the study, studies show is really that if you cut out all sugar, uh, candida's gonna grow faster. Um, so it's, it's interesting that extremes are never a good thing- Yeah ... uh, in, in your life. Well, w- there's so many different diets out there, and they've all been modified as well to kind of see...
**Unknown:** I should say they've been modified to meet people with what they want to eat. Like, when you think about keto, if you truly understand keto, then keto is almost like using, you know, the Whole30 concept. So it's using a lot of fresh food that is from the earth, but then having an excess of quality fats and then quality proteins to create, you know, to cr- to allow the body not to be in this glucose-burning state, but to be in a fat-burning state because it's not running on carbohydrates. But there are many people that are advocating for keto, and they're pretty much eating bacon cheeseburgers, and nobody's talking about what is the quality of the meat, what is the quality of the cheese, what's the quality of the pork, the bacon.
**Unknown:** You know, if you're eating this ground meat that is f- completely filled with filler. By the way, for those of you that get- Mm-hmm ... those burgers that are pre-made, they're, like, already frozen, and you see the white in it. We assume that that's fat.
**Unknown:** By the way, that's meat glue. So, uh, so this is what I mean is there's a lot of issues when it comes to food. And we wanna do the quantity. We wanna go to Costco, and we wanna get the big stack of burgers for a cheap price, but unfortunately, you have no idea what you're actually being exposed to.
**Unknown:** It's actually quite scary 'cause this is our brains. This is how much we know. So food is just, like sometimes it can be stressful. But, you know, the same thing, you get that burger, has meat glue in it, then you're getting American cheese, which is practically plastic, and then you're getting bacon from, you know, who knows what brand that's completely filled with, you know, nitrates and all, a variety of different toxins.
**Unknown:** And pork, uh, pigs don't sweat, so all their toxins are trapped in their tissue. So pork is not something we should overconsume anyway, let alone the quality of it. So w- Which al- which also tells you if you're not a sweater, then all your toxins are being trapped inside of you, and that your lymphatic system- Yeah ... sucks.
**Unknown:** That's ... We always ask that question in our consultations, actually, is, "Do you sweat?" And as soon as people say no, we're like, "Okay, you're toxic." But, you know, the point of what we're saying is that when we're talking about diet, for us to go into diet right now and tell you what diet is best for you, that's very difficult because we actually dictate diets based off of people's testing. But if you were to, you know, research and walk away with looking at the Whole30, I think that the Whole30 really provides a foundation for people to kind of understand that you should be eating quality, and you should be eating real food. So that would probably be the, the blanketed concept when it comes to the diet.
**Unknown:** But if you want to avoid the glyphosate, and you want to avoid the chemicals, and you wanna avoid the antibiotics in the protein, there's a couple of things to keep in mind. When you're looking at red meat, it's grass-fed, grass-finished. It has to be grass-finished because if it is only grass-fed, you're getting protein that potentially was fed grass for three-quarters of its life, and then it was fed grain in the last quarter of its life. Yes, that's how tricky it is.
**Unknown:** So do you wanna explain why they do that? To make it weigh more so they get more money for it. Yep. So as soon as, especially a cow, it's not supposed to be eating grain.
**Unknown:** It's not what it's, you know, designed to eat. Uh, when it does that, it creates a lot of inflammation. Mm-hmm. So inflammation, as we all know, increases weight.
**Unknown:** That's just why most of us when we lose weight, uh, like doing a cleanse, it's just inflammation. Uh, so it's the easiest, fastest way to, you know, put on some pounds on this cow. Then they step on the scale, and the farmer gets a lot more money from it. Yeah.
**Unknown:** So it's, I mean, it, sadly, uh, like, the whole industry just comes back to profit. Yeah. Well, that's a lot of how things run nowadays. Yeah.
**Unknown:** But so grass-fed and grass-finished is extremely important, and that's not just for beef, but it's for all red meat. And then in addition, when we're talking about chicken, chicken's a little bit different. They're not necessarily just eating grass. They're actually eating a lot of grain and seed, but they're not supposed to be eating genetically modified grain and seed.
**Unknown:** They're supposed to be eating just, you know, traditional seed from the earth. Um, so really you'll also want the chickens to be free-roaming, so pasture-raised is kind of a key thing to look for when you're buying poultry. Um, so pasture-raised, uh, non-GMO feed is extremely important. And then when you're dealing with fish, you definitely wanna make sure that it is wild versus farmed.And with your produce, organic is always best.
**Unknown:** Um, it's funny 'cause I take, take some things for granted, but my mom was helping me with, uh, shopping for Christmas and she goes, "Can you believe that all the organic produce starts with a nine on the label?" She's like, "I had no idea." And I was like, "You didn't?" So that's actually really interesting. So most of the time when you're picking up your produce, it has a little label on it. It'll start with a nine if it is organic, um, it's a five-digit code, but if it starts with a four and it's a four-digit code, it's genetically modified. So just kind of, those little tools are really, really helpful when you get into the grocery store so you actually know what you're buying, but you're also not spending extra money on things that are actually not that great of quality.
**Unknown:** So, so outside of food, then it comes down to the things that we are putting on the body, and that really comes down to not being terrified of germs and being terrified of, you know, bacteria and constantly whipping out your hand sanitizers and washing your hands over and over again. I'm not saying not to, you know, have proper hygiene, but if you are someone who is constantly using really harsh chemicals in your home, you know, everything from bleach to, um, you know, other types of, of products in addition to tons of hand sanitizer, you may be depleting a lot of the good bacteria that is actually protective to you. Yeah, and it's just like, you know, when you think, we talk about sweating, sweating gets toxins out. So if you remove that microbiome, you know, skin goes both ways.
**Unknown:** Toxins can soak right through the skin, and it's like if you're using these, quote-unquote, "toxins" to make ourselves, quote-unquote, "look beautiful", then, and it's removing the microbiome, those toxins are also seeping through our skin and just, you know, getting into- Well, your skin is your largest organ. Mm-hmm. I think a lot of times we forget that the skin is an actual organ. You know, I had a- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** woman who was really kind of challenging me on her personal products and her makeups and her, um, her lotions and saying like, "Is it really that big of a deal? You know, I really, I, I don't really wanna give up a lot of these different things that I use." And it's interesting 'cause she was the same woman who was using a bioidentical hormone that she was putting onto the skin. And I was like, "So you obviously feel that your bioidentical hormone is working quite well for you, right?" And she's like, "Yeah, it, it works great." She's like, "If I don't use it, I have a lot of hot flashes." And I was like, "Okay, so that's obviously absorbing into your skin directly into your bloodstream, right?" And she's like, "Well, yeah, I guess." And she's like... I was like, "Why do you think that the chemicals you put on your face aren't doing that?" And she was kind of like, "Oh." So i- it's just, again, it's just perspective and we, you know, we're kind of doing one thing knowing that it works, but then we're thinking that, oh, it's not possible for the hair dye that we put on our hair and the things we shampoo our head with, that's not getting into our bloodstream, and it is.
**Unknown:** And even you can look at it just from the opposite, like, you know, they have these chemicals that remove stuff. Uh, a lot of these harsh scrubs can do the same thing. You know, it's just gonna remove your microbiome physically, so you can like, it can be a removal, whether it's chemical or- You're talking about like salt scrubs? Yep.
**Unknown:** Yeah. All these things. So it's like, you know, a little bit of stress is a good thing- Mm-hmm ... but too much of a stress, whether it's chemical or physical- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** is going to remove that microbiome. Yeah, and like doing a scrub, do we enjoy a scrub here and there at a spa? Yeah, but if you're doing it like every day, every week, that's just a, it's e- excessive- Yeah ... and it can create an imbalance.
**Unknown:** So, all right, Dr. Nick, any final thoughts? As with everything, you know, just get a balance in life, whether it's- ... you know, a balance of eating well, balance of thinking well, balance of moving well.
**Unknown:** Uh, just don't do too much of one thing, and, uh, diversify is key. All right, guys, we hope you enjoyed this. We thank you for being a listener and subscriber to Integrative Wellness Radio. If you're looking to learn more about Integrative Wellness Group, as well as Dr.
**Unknown:** Nick or Dr. Nicole, you can check out integrativewellnessgroup.com. All night, no sleep. 'Cause I feel like I'm always dreaming.
**Unknown:** Wide awake, that's okay.
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Integrative You Radio is a root cause medicine and integrative medicine podcast hosted by Dr. Nicole Rivera and Dr. Nick Carruthers — two integrative doctors who build personalized wellness protocols from your DNA, minerals, hormones, gut, and nervous system rather than from a population template. Looking for an integrative doctor who reads your labs together instead of in isolation? This is the show.
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