Latest / Hormone Heroes with Dr. Kelly Hopkins / Neurological Approach to Graves’ Disease: 4 Levers for Chronic Health Recovery with Dr. Matt Delgado

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Neurological Approach to Graves’ Disease: 4 Levers for Chronic Health Recovery with Dr. Matt Delgado · Hormone Heroes with Dr. Kelly Hopkins

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: The symptoms of grave disease, is it a hyper or a hypofunction of the thyroid?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, hyper thyroidism.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: So with graves, when the thyroid is uh overactive, the thought is, well, let's remove it so it's gone, and then we'll reproduce the drugs.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: We'll give the person the drugs that it would naturally make.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we just give you some sense of normalcy.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: And for those that aren't familiar, the thyroid is like right in the throat.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: So to have a surgery to remove an organ from your throat and then be put on drugs for the rest of your life as a 27-year-old, that's alarming.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Hormone Heroes, where I share testimonials from real people who have experienced bioidentical hormone therapy.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Men and women share the symptoms they have experienced and the difference proper hormone replacement has made.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: The condition later went into remission following major lifestyle changes that he made, which is an experience that led him to spend nearly a decade exploring the relationship between nervous system function, stress, sleep, movement, environmental factors, and health.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: He is the author of the forthcoming book, Stepping Out of the Grave, How to Heal When You're Tired of Trying, which is scheduled for release in January of 2027.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: So welcome, Dr.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: Matt.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for the nice intro as well.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you you've accomplished a lot.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I do want to mention you do have a clinic in Austin where you are where you treat patients on a daily basis.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: But the focus today, we really want to talk about your Graves disease and your treatment.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so tell us a little bit about where it all began.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think for me, right out of a graduate program, chiropractic school, I don't know what your experience was like, but the stress of like how ironic the stress of going through the education for a health program is so real, so extreme, I would say, too.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And after I did a three-year accelerated program at Life West in the Bay Area.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I was really burnt out after that.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think like a lot of us are.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I went right into a 75-hour a week job, my first associateship, thinking that was a good idea at the time.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: So young and full of energy.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Young and full of energy.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I thought I was uh invincible, like a lot of probably 27-year-olds out there.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: And three months into my job, I remember just really hitting a wall.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was a combination of symptoms at the time from fatigue.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I had my hair falling out, which was the thing I think probably that really freaked me out the most was the significance in which my hair was falling out.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then I, you know, I barely slept at all.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd wake up through the night.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: I was always on such high alert.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: My gut was always in some level of pain, I would say.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just really tense, and I just overall felt like crap.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: My fatigue, too, I think, just got really bad to the point where, you know, I tried to ride it out as long as I could, and I've never really quit anything in my life.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up playing sports, but I remember calling my boss in the middle of a shift, I think it was on like a Tuesday afternoon, saying I I can't do this anymore.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And we had had conversations.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: I tried to reduce my hours by a little bit, and it didn't really work for that clinic.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: So enough was enough for me.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I ended up, you know, I'd say hitting my rock bottom, if you will.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: That was about 10 years ago now.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and for anyone that doesn't know, chiropractic is a very physical job.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: You are literally bending over people, wrestling people, whatever your technique is.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like it is tough to do that 75 to 80 hours a week.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's that's awful, actually.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think I got used to it physically.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I was very physically fit, but the mental component I didn't really do so well with.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was just a lot.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: And when you care for people, that's a lot of people.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of stories to listen to, and a lot of aches and pains, and so you're absorbing all that energy as well.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: So uh you mentioned you were physically fit, and so when did the diagnosis of Graves disease and explain what Graves disease is, actually.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so an autoimmune thyroid diagnosis, so really, you know, the immune system, it's it's more of an immune system problem than anything.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the thyroid gets the blame, it's always like the end organ or the part that gets the blame, but just this chronic stress response on repeat for so many years.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And the downstream effects of that end up oftentimes showing up like the symptoms I had.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then you get these blood labs done.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, that's what I had done where I was living at the time.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was Omaha, Nebraska.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I saw a functional medicine doctor.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm glad that I did, you know, and being a chiropractor, we're a little more holistic, a little more natural focus.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't even go, you know, the traditional route wasn't really even a question so much for me.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I went into a functional medicine doctor, and I remember getting my blood labs back, and I'm really glad that I went into a functional medicine doctor because the traditional labs wouldn't have shown or I wouldn't have really had a name diagnosis.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: I would have been told your labs are fine, which I'm sure you probably see patients all the time also that say the same thing because my TSH was within a normal range.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And with anything thyroid related, that's typically what most traditional Western medicine practitioners test.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: And mine was normal.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: So TSH is thyroid stimulating hormone.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: So your physician in Omaha must have gone a deep a much deeper dive into thyroid, just trying to discover why you were feeling the fatigue and the hair loss and just, you know, dragging energy wise.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I had the it was the comprehensive metabolic panel too.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you get like all the different markers showing up.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you really see how interconnected everything is when the body's under duress for long periods, because it's not just, it's never just one thing.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of people can relate to that.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was, you know, my liver enzymes were off, my thyroid markers were off.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: There's a few deficiencies in some of the micronutrients and the minerals.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I was I was a mess.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: So what what lab tests did show you that you had Graves disease?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was, you know, it's interesting because every practitioner has their own.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: You could put their last name on it.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's like whatever markers they want to test for, they can test for, right?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not going through traditional insurance.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it was this practice's, I guess, protocol, if you will.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a lot of them out there now, and a lot of functional medicine doctors will just do more of a comprehensive panel, and then they'll look at ratios oftentimes too, instead of just single values.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: So TPO antibodies, just for someone that might be wanting to ask their physician for the testing.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: The antibodies were tested in mind, correct.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I had the thyroid antibodies, uh, reverse T3, reverse T4.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where mine really showed up was the antibodies and the reverse T3.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so the symptoms of grave disease is is it is it a hyper or a hypofunction of the thyroid?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, hyper thyroidism, which it's interesting because looking back in school, I remember learning about, you know, you learn about something, the more common versions of things.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: And in school, I remember learning, okay, it's mostly females that get this.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then you see the picture of these females with their eyes popping out of their heads.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's the bulging eyes, and they're very frail and thin and lose a bunch of weight.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't have those symptoms.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't have your textbook Graves symptoms, if you will.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where a lot of people, you know, just are looking for like what's the word to best describe what I have?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: So of course, once the diagnosis was made, you were to tell us what treatment options you were offered.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: So with Graves, when the thyroid is uh overactive, the thought is, well, let's remove it so it's gone, and then we'll reproduce the drugs.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: We'll give the person the drugs that it would naturally make.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So we just give you some sense of normalcy.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And for those that aren't familiar, the thyroid is like right in the throat.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: So to have a surgery to remove an organ from your throat and then be put on drugs for the rest of your life as a 27-year-old, that's alarming.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Probably at any age.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's alarming.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I I I did not entertain that idea.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I went down just about every natural remedy and protocol and rabbit hole that I could.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: I stayed up late reading so many books.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: And in chiropractic school, you know, we we didn't learn about this.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you did, but I learned you just reverse some, you know, refer someone to a medical doctor.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: But then when they go to the medical doctor, it's like those are the options that you get.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: So you decided not to go that direction and tell us what what you did do.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I spent a lot of time on different protocols for a few months.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: The first few months, I actually kind of exhausted myself with trying everything that seemed logical.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: And there were different reps I knew from school, from these supplement companies that all had a really good explanation.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: They use beautiful analogies for things.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: I remember a guy on the phone at one point, he's like, if you have uh a leak in the roof and it keeps ruining this beautiful hardware floor, you want to repair the roof first without going to the floor.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, that makes a lot of sense.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, yeah, well, the roof in this is, and then you know, he would name, and I don't even remember at the time what it was.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: It might have been the liver or the gallbladder.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I tried protocols for liver detox to improve my gallbladder function, to repair leaky gut.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: At one point, I thought I had a parasite also, and that could be the thing causing this.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And because my symptoms fit.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I had some symptoms that you could kind of throw into a lot of these different categories.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I spent so much time, energy, and money on these supplement protocols, and I'd say they helped marginally, but they really didn't change anything long term.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that was kind of my turning point where I just thought I just need to slow myself down a little bit.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel worn out.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know why, but I said I was just gonna give myself a year to try a really simple lifestyle.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I moved to the desert in southern New Mexico, Las Cruisas, New Mexico, for those that are familiar.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I lived like a really simple, natural life for close to a year.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: I slept basically all day.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'd watch comedy movies, I'd go for walks, I ate really nothing but whole foods.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I didn't really eat a lot of sugar at all.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: The only things like, I mean, even fruit, just the low glycemic berries.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I stopped drinking alcohol.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: I stopped drinking coffee for a month, and for people that know me, I'm a huge coffee nerd.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that was probably the hardest part for me, honestly.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then I felt better little by little, and nothing drastic happened through that whole time.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was just the little subtle shifts, and probably six months in, I realized, oh I I don't know if I can say that on here, but sure.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I'm getting better, I feel better.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like this is crazy.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: The energy, like, you know, you wake up one day and you realize, I think this is actually working.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you you what you described, chiropractic school, or you know, just like medical school or any any professional type school like that, you are drinking from a fire hydrant and you're the stress level is high, you've got to pass all these exams and board exams and all these things, and then you go right into a heavy-duty uh high energy practice where you're working 75 to 80 hours a week, and you your body just was was saying, stop, just give me a minute.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so, how how did you manage to survive in the desert?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm I'm assuming you want you you took a year off of work.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, great question.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: I had$200 to my name when I broke my lease in Omaha, Nebraska, and I had$250,000 worth of debt.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: So if people are saying that money is the barrier, I don't think so as much as it is time, and I can make a good case for that.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I I lived with a friend on her couch.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Mostly I she had a guest room, her and her fiance at the time, but I was mostly on the couch, just relaxing, and they were very, very nurturing and were really supportive of my healing, which thank God I had someone in my corner.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: And my mom at the time would became my biggest advocate.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: And like I'm so grateful for that experience with her.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: I talked to her on the phone every day, and my mom had Hashimoto's.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: So my mom was doing all the gluten-free stuff for years.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: When I was in high school, I used to think it was so weird, and me and my brothers would make fun of her.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then here I was like, oh, well, I'm actually going gluten-free now too, mom.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: And like she actually gave me more information, I'd say, than most doctors could because she had been going to naturopaths for years and she did all the lifestyle habits that were conducive for healing.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I had the the right uh like voice next to me also with my mom.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think played a significant role in that.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And she helped me out a little bit financially.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: It'd be like a hundred dollars, you know, to go get groceries.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember her saying when I get in trouble, I'd get Matthew instead of Matt.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: She was serious.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Matthew, you will rest and you know, take care of yourself and just let someone else take care of you for once.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I did.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: What what a blessing.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: That friend of yours.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously removing yourself from stress, but also removing your body from stress, meaning foods you were eating, um, what you know, you had removed processed foods, you had moved removed sugar, caffeine.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: So the gut is able to heal.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: And if your leaky gut's healed, then antigens running around in your bloodstream aren't going to be attacking your thyroid anymore, causing those autoimmune issues.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: So you you really got the the key to the kingdom there, didn't you?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I didn't understand it so much at the time.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have as much information about the mechanisms and why and how.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it took about a decade, like you said in the intro there, to really figure out how and why.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I think looking back, you know, when you talk about food, even what I did really well that I didn't measure at the time was really managing my blood sugar.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something that I've come to understand now through wearing a CGM, a continuous glucose monitor on my arm regularly, is that that's so key for health.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: And when we control that, we're literally curbing inflammation and oxidative stress and aging.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like you want to be younger, wear a glucose monitor.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: You want to have less inflammation, wear a glucose monitor.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's$40, and you get two weeks' worth of data.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: What what brand do you like?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: I like lingo.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've tried a few.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: I had a few uh tech issues with some of the other ones, but lingo has never really steered me wrong.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, interesting story, actually.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Even last year I wore a CGM for the first time when they became over the counter and readily available for pretty cheap.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually had pre-diabetic blood sugar levels when I was on my fasting glucose.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: They were right around 100 when I would wake up.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: And my swings and my glucose curves were kind of all over the place.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was spiking and crashing.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't even realize it.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's, you know, come to understand over 90% of our country has metabolic dysfunction.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a huge proponent for if you can measure it, you can manage it and just take a look.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: So let's let's talk about that for a second.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: When when you were learning about yourself and how different foods and drinks affected your blood sugar, give us an example of what you were able to remove or you know, manage.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, carbohydrates was the key thing that I didn't really realize the amount of them.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I think even when you so this is really, I'm sure, helpful for people who are in a similar position.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Eating out, carbohydrates are cheap.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: So the you know, ratio of carbohydrate to proteins to fats, you get mostly carbs when you're eating out because they're cheap.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you cook at home, I really changed the ratio.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: So it was mostly healthy proteins and healthy fat.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I had far less carbohydrates than the standard American diet.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then fiber also.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people have, you know, we severely undereat fiber.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: So just give us a quick example of a typical meal that you you now eat.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now or then?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Let me go back then, even because I think this would fascinate people a little bit.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: For breakfast, I'd eat non-breakfast foods.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: At the very beginning, I was on more of like a, if you had to umbrella it, I guess you'd probably put it in more of like a paleo diet or an autoimmune paleo diet.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: And for a while, I wasn't even eating eggs for like a month.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, but people get on these protocols and they're on them for years.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the protocols are brilliant, but they're designed to be short-term.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: They're not designed typically for us to be on them forever.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I would make like ground turkey and cooked vegetables for breakfast.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: No sauce, just salt and pepper.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: That was it.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: That was like my breakfast back then.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, you could repeat that meal throughout the day as well.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I would just change my vegetables and change my proteins.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's basically I had a lot of meats and veggies, and then my carbs came from like the, you know, whether it's like sweet potatoes or squash or some of the starchy vegetables.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: So it's so simple.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: And it's so hard for people to do.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Was it like uh Warren Buffett with investing to he says the same?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's simple, it's not easy.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And the whole same conditions I put my body in, you know, the whole premise of this that I've come to understand is that the body's intelligent, it's more like a plant than a car rather than, you know, all the protocols that were repairing all the different organs.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: I went to the root system of the body, which I would name the central nervous system, and all of those conditions that I named sleep, stress management, movement, and reducing toxins, they all tie back to that one system.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: And when you allow that to heal for long enough, it's just like that plant.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: You give it the right conditions, and it's designed to come back to life.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: That is so true.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: I like the idea of thinking of ourselves as plants rather than a complicated piece of machinery because you can't.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: We're not fragile.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, tell us a little bit about your four core elements.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: So the four I just named, sleep is one of them.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I can go rabbit hole on all of them.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: I won't for you, but I'll give just a little tidbit maybe on each so people can better understand.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think we've actually forgotten what's natural.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, like with the plant, we know give it sunlight, give it water.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: But with the human body, if I say sleep, if I say stress, if I say movement, and if I say toxins, we're like, okay, I don't really know what that means.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's sleep.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: Our biology requires seven hours.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Period.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh huh.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Ideal is eight.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like we can make a case for I feel fine.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And again, the brilliance of how adaptable we are.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: The body doesn't care if it's any less than seven hours creates this sympathetic dominance, the stress mode.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: That fight or flight.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: The fight or flight.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's your start to just about anything right there.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you, you know, you keep in that mode for long enough.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: And boom, for me, it's graves for someone else.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's another autoimmune or a hormone imbalance or gut issues or pain or you name it.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's one of them.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then stress, I think, is probably the single hardest for people to conceptualize because when we talk about stress, we really mean a physiologic stress response, not just emotions.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think emotionally, if something feels rewarding to us, I'll use myself as an example.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: My favorite way probably to insult my nervous system is to overschedule my day into work because I love it.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: I find it so rewarding.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's a that wow.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: What a way to put that, to reward your nervous system.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's whatever gets those dopamine receptors and things going for us.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't think I've ever thought of it like that.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it pulls from the same account, whether it's work stress, you know, the focus.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'd I put performance as an interchangeable word with stress for people to better understand it when we're in performance mode, because performance doesn't have a negative connotation.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we're willing to talk about that more.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: So being overscheduled or overstimulated, performing, always being on, we are not designed to always be in that.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: That is not natural.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: Just like the plant the plant can be in a windstorm.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's not fragile, but if you leave it there forever, it's gonna really start to struggle.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's not designed to be in that forever.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so sleep is important.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, the rabbit hole on sleep could go on forever because that is a big issue, even in our clinics, is people will come in and they're unable to sleep.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we have to work through all the things.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and there's two right there sleep and stress.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's hard for a lot of people.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's like this is where they sometimes need some support because any less than seven hours creates this sympathetic dominance, this fight or flight.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: So to put it simply, less than ideal sleep creates more stress.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: But then more stress creates worse sleep.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: So this little loop then starts to show up, and you can see how this could perpetuate and last for years.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: So uh where does movement fit in?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: This is my favorite to break that loop.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: So movement helps build something called sleep pressure.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you think of a kid, if anyone has kids listening to this, you take them to the park, you let them play, and then they fall asleep.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing for us as adults.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: We need to be worn out just like a child at the park.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and just to play.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a lot more simple than we'd think.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a crazy workout in a gym.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm more of an advocate for foundational movement like walking.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: We recommend people track their steps as just a good indicator of success for movement and the regularity of movement.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're meant to move regularly and get up and move around.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's where our brain gets more blood supply.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's we're designed to move.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is really driven based on this movement.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, even our autonomics are, I don't get too nerdy, but the like this background system that's running the show and the nervous system that runs off movement.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: The vestibular system and the autonomics are so connected, and that runs off movement that's formed through movement in the mother's womb.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's before any of our senses.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's the first thing that even forms is this vestibular apparatus.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we're designed to move.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I think when we look at even what so just to get an idea, like a milestone of what's natural, not too long ago in time.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you just rewind in time, as humans, we would move anywhere from maybe 15,000 to 20,000 steps a day as a species.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now 3,000 is the average.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, unfortunately.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm no saint.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm some days yesterday.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: I was at 4,000.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: I was exhausted, and I just didn't want to do it.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I've, you know, it's figuring out ways to take these little micro walks and little thousand here, two thousand there.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that tends to be so much better than this big all or nothing swings.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: And they say sitting is the new smoking.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: I yeah, yes.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd say a more correct would be lack of uh regular movement is the new smoking.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because even if you're standing all day at a standing desk, it's the same thing.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: You don't get the movement to really drive all this ideal optimal function that we were just talking about.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: So standing desk will kill you just as you know, just as much as the sitting, I'd say.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little better.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: I worked with a guy once that had a treadmill desk.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like this.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh I I tried it.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: It was to me, it was distracting, but I guess you should use to it.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have one, but I like the idea.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then last is avoiding harmful exposures.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us a little bit about that.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the I think the world has become probably more toxic than it ever has.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, even there's a food documentary my friends just made Breaking Big Food.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really good one.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Patrick and Ashley, shout out to them.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: They have a supplement company also in Scottsdale.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Is it on YouTube?
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Jigsaw Health.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's on, I think, Apple and Prime, Apple TV and Prime, this documentary.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: And they do a good job of just showing how broken this food system is.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: And they have Casey Means, um, who's a big name, and then you know, the policy side of things as it relates to big food or big tobacco.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: And you just really, it kind of pisses you off by the end, rightfully so.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: So you see how broken the system is and how there's a lot of people profiting off of a sick system.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: And whether it's the ingredients that are sprayed on or the chemicals, you know, like glyphosate sprayed on our crops, or just the additives and just about anything.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: So when we talked about whole foods earlier, I think that's important.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: But then also controlling blood sugar, because I would argue that, and I haven't heard many other people talk about this so much, and I hope more do.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: That is a toxic internal state, is this blood sugar that's out of balance and it's alarmingly bad.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why the body will even like thank you, body, what a smart design for it to get rid of this excess glucose by storing it in whether it's the liver or the muscles, which doesn't have much room for it.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: So then it stores it as fat.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: What a brilliant design to get rid of a toxic state.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: And that once again, the continuous glucose monitor is and you like lingo.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'll just do a little reminder for that.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a caveat, one thing I would love to say actually, while we're here, is that there's this, I was talking to a patient of my office yesterday actually that had been on a protocol for 10 years.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: And this pennant was supposed to, from a holistic doctor, was supposed to block all these pathogens and all these chemtrails and things.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: And while I think there's a lot of validity in that, and I'm not saying that's wrong whatsoever, sometimes we get caught up in so much defense that we forget of the intelligence within this natural defense that's built in, that as long as that immune system's functioning optimally, and that's the whole point of like the plant, right?
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: We don't obsess about putting a plant in a bubble because all these new pathogens that may be exposed to in the air, as long as that plant's resilient and healthy, it's good.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's so true.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to get back to your website, which is drmattdelgado.com.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: D-R-M-A-T-T-E-L-G-A-D-O.com.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: And if you if you go to Dr.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: Matt's website, you can learn more about him and his story, but also about the book that's coming out.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: And d tell us the focus on the book.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is it.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: We've been talking about it.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: The body's more like a plant than a car.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: You put it in the right conditions long enough and it heals.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it'll give a lot of people some understanding as to why certain things haven't worked for them.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: I talk about my own story.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: I am totally fine with being vulnerable and just showing my humanness because I've found that we're all we all have something.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: If someone's telling you they don't, they're lying.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll be really honest with people.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's hard, it's hard.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's not easy, but it I would argue it is far more simple than what we're making at.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think we're really complicating health.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I know you have a hormones podcast.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the things that I like to say to people is that these hormones don't misbehave out of nowhere.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: They're actually obeying the command center, which is the central nervous system.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think a lot of people will really be able to tie all this together by reading this book and to finally have some agency and take their power back so that they don't have to be propped up for the rest of their life on some of these protocols or medications or supplements.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I think that's beautifully put.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: So you can purchase Stepping Out of the Grave on your website, drmattdelgado.com.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Is there any other place it it will be available?
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a wait list right now.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a wait list right now.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be out in January.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'll have a pre-order this fall, and then it'll be on Amazon for people.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do an audio book also.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: I get a little animated and sometimes sorry, I drop a swear word here or there.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I love the word ever done.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, me too.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: It means something to me.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: I give a crap about it.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not making it up.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: Well, before I let you go, Dr.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: Delgado, so you can get to clinic, do you have any stories from any of your patients or anything you'd like to share?
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's one that was just recent, and I'm glad you asked, because I'll I'm gonna bring a hormone one in.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I think also it's a really brilliant way to show the interconnectedness of everything in the body, similar to a plant.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: You don't prop all the branches up, you go to the root system.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: So she came in with some, and we see probably 50% like this that are, I'd say, more traditional chiropractic cases that haven't gotten success, more like pain focused.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then 50% tend to be more like autoimmune or hormone or digestive, but it all ties back to the same system.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: So either way, they're, you know, they're getting help.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't really change what we do.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: But this woman came in with both of her feet just killing her in a lot of pain.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: And she threw out multiple diagnoses and itis this, itis that, tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, and then her shoulders as well.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: And she was going to a myofascial release chain where they would do treatment on one of her shoulders, then the other one for a few visits, then one of the feet, then the other feet.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: So treating the body like a car.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it was happening for years, and she spent literally thousands of dollars on this.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so she came into my clinic, she was looking for a path out of that, and pretty quickly the pain went away.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: She was amazed, she was dumbfounded, and it was, I don't know, maybe six, seven sessions in.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think she said 80% better at that point, and she was amazed, like she could walk normal again.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then the thing that she told me that she was shocked about that she didn't realize was even connected or related was her hot flashes went away and they haven't come back.
• 33:57
  unknown: Yeah.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: So 20, 20 hot flashes a day, she'd say that she would get.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: And again, had tried like the kitchen sink she had thrown at it, and they went away.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it really ties back to creating less stress in this central nervous system, which is what we do in my office.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: We quantify that.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: Our adjustments are focused on that, on changing the neurological system, not necessarily the downstream things like the muscles and the joints and the tendons and the ligaments.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the body's designed to heal.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, so often it's really cool when people tell us I'm coming off my drugs for this or for that.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't even know it was related to this at all.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: What a story.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it it it just goes to show you how much the body has memory and holds trauma, and just through that myofascial release and things, she was able to get rid of that stress on her nervous system.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: And if the nervous system is healthier, the adrenals can kick in and help with hormone levels and things like that, even if the ovaries have gone kaput, you know, because they do.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just we're we're such a beautiful, complex being.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: And but there's so much good that can be done just by following your core principles.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're designed to heal and it gives us our power back.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: It gives us agency all of a sudden, so that we're not outsourcing all of our power to our doctors.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I have a guide that's even on my website, on my clinic's website.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: We give these four things and teach people how to see us less before they ever even see us.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it was the same really design that I use to reverse an autoimmune diagnosis, but it's the same pretty much for everyone.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's little variations and there's definitely a lot of strategy that goes into it, but it's, you know, it's the taste of it is the starting place to getting your power back.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I see University of Texas stuff on your wall.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: Are you a UT fan?
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: I am a UT fan.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's a helmet behind me here.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the UT football players for years I've had the privilege to care for.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then the basketball one right back here is from the Texas women's basketball team.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: And same design to a bunch of them wrote something nice on there for me.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a little personal keepsake, just of like, you know, reminder of the impact that you get a play in people's lives, and very rewarding.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: And uh being in Austin, that's perfect.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Dr.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: Matt, thank you so much for your time today and uh for your messaging.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's been a a different sort of message that you know the people don't necessarily hear hear that much.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: And the the focus on the central nervous system is something we haven't talked a lot about on the podcast.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that was going to be an amazing, helpful topic.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening to Hormone Heroes.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: Take a moment to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss the next episode.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: While you are there, help us spread the word by leaving a rating and a review.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: If you would like to share your bioidentical hormone story or need help finding a physician in your area, please email us at drkelly at hormoneheroes.org.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's D R K E L L Y at H O R M O N E H E R O E S dot org.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_02: We want you to be a hormone hero.