Latest / The Well Unfiltered with Dr. Suzanne Vester / Season 1, Episode 4: The Supplement Truth

Transcript

Season 1, Episode 4: The Supplement Truth · The Well Unfiltered with Dr. Suzanne Vester

• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hi there, welcome back.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Well Unfiltered.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Seuss, and today we're talking about something that I feel like is going to land with most of you, if not all of you.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the reason it will is because we are a part of an amazing marketing machine that tells us all kinds of things every single day.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: We have tons of input coming in.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk about the supplement truth, the market of supplements.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you today about what the industry won't tell you and what actually works.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to dive right on in.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of notes today, so bear with me.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to try to not leave anything out.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: But this is what I want you to kind of picture.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I know many of you probably have a cabinet or a drawer or a shelf or yes, all of the above.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's filled with things, bottles that you purchased thinking they were going to solve a certain problem.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: You saw them on social media, somebody swore it was the best thing ever, and you had to just try it for yourself.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Many of these you probably started and didn't finish, or they're still sitting on the shelf unopened because you're not really sure what to do with them.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Or you finished the bottle and you're not really sure if it did any good.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you didn't buy another.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: That may be you.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if that is you, I want to dive into why that is the case so often, so frequently with so many people.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to say it's not your fault.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: You've been, you have been a part of the marketing wheel for a really long time, and it's not unusual for you to find yourself here.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So there is an entire industry around getting you to purchase things that you they think you need.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Some are good, some are not so good.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think if we, if you're of my generation, you can think back to late night TV and um infomercials.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know what that is, ask your parents.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: But this is why we have been put in a position that we are in to think that the next, latest, greatest thing is right on the horizon.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we have to be on the cusp of it, regardless of whether or not we know a lot about it or we're just taking someone's word for it.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: We've not done much research, but it's an impulse buy a lot of times.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes those impulse buys aren't terribly expensive.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if you're just picking up vitamin C or something like that, not terribly expensive.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: But some of these other blends that are out in the market today are expensive.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: They're upwards of$80,$90 per bottle.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's roughly a month's worth.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's not doing you any good and you don't really need it or you don't really know why you're taking it, then let's do some investigating.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's figure that out and figure out why.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I also want to talk to you today about what actually works, what conditions are important to have in place first, and why throwing pills at symptoms without addressing the environment those symptoms are living in is one of the most expensive things that you can do for your health and one of the least effective.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the$60 billion machine and why it looks familiar.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you know that if you've been around me for any length of time personally, I'm not so much here on the podcast because we're fairly new, but if you've been around me personally, you know I have a certain feeling about how the American public is marketed to in terms of pharmaceuticals and supplements and those sorts of things.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I find that it goes back to the industry itself.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I think context matters.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the global supplement industry.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's worth over 60 billion.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that is billion with a B dollars.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the United States alone is closing in on 40 billion and it's growing every single year.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as a practitioner who recommends supplements, I am honestly and admittedly a part of that.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: However, I am very strategic with what I want my clients to use.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: We don't just throw things and see what sticks.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So this is not about it being a wellness movement.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is not something that is improving the lives and health of those people who are being uh being um marketed to.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is just that.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's a market.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: It is an industry just like everything else.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And a market of this size has its own marketing machine.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to think about for a second how many ads you've been served, how many things that you have seen, how many things you have heard, anecdotally or otherwise, that have been directly linked to some kind of supplement, some kind of quick fix remedy, whether it's natural or not, doesn't really matter.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: But just think about that for a second and think about how many you've seen recently.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now where do those come from?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they come from the motivation of profit by the companies.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: They come from lobbyists, they come from very deliberate strategies that are made to keep you buying.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: They're made to keep you in that retail cycle.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I'm gonna say that's you know, it might be surprising, come from a natural health practitioner, but the supplement industry and the pharmaceutical industry are more alike than most people want to admit.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: For sure, either camp want to admit, but they are.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's what I want to say, not to scare you, because I don't want you to be afraid, but I just want you to be aware.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: I use supplements every single day in my practice.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: I believe that they need to be deeply targeted and very strategic.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: We don't just blanket, you know, we don't spray and pray.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's what people call a lot of things.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: We're just gonna throw these things at it, we're gonna see if anything helps.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the problem with that is you don't know which or any of those things helped or not.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can't dial it in.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk about the pharma industry and the supplement industry very quickly.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: So both industries profit from ongoing consumption.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think anyone can argue that.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: The longer you are a consumer in that space, the more money they make from you.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: So the goal is to have ongoing customer consumption.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Neither is particularly incentivized to get you to the place where you don't need them anymore.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Also, very true.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Both use clinical sounding language and cherry-picked research to build consumer confidence.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that we can argue with that one.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Both have captured influencer culture.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Very true.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the difference is that when it comes to pharma, they use doctors and Big Supplement uses wellness influencers.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Truth, whether we like it or not.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: But the mechanism is exactly the same.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let me put someone in front of you who has pseudo-credibility in some cases, real credibility in others, and let me have them persuade you that this is the best path for you to take without a lot of proof in some cases.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: So not only do we have a culture of, I need a quick fix, I need it now, I need it yesterday, this is what my, you know, Aunt Susie had, and she said it was amazing.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna give it a try.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And whether or not it works, there are so many mechanisms working against you in situations like that, but that's for another day.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we talk about in my office, we talk about the pill for every problem model that we have sometimes with our prescribing physicians.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: You go in, you have a complaint, they have a solution via a pharmaceutical.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: You go in, you have a complaint, they have a solution via a pharmaceutical.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, with that, and with conventional medicine, having an entire system around the idea that symptoms are problems to be suppressed with the right type of molecule, then once you find that one, you're going to be taking it indefinitely, usually doing nothing to address why that symptom showed up, which is where I sit.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then you have the natural health world that comes along and says, well, we have a better way.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: But in many respects, it's very much the same.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Client comes in, they have a symptom, we have a supplement that can help manage the symptom, but we never really discuss where that symptom was coming from.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're treating smoke, but we have no idea where the fire started.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the wrong approach, in my humble opinion.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: But somewhere along the line, a supplement for every symptom became kind of the norm.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: It became the thing that you go in to see a natural practitioner, you go into a natural supplement store, you search online, you do all the things.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: And this is this is what has been touted, again, through clinical sounding language and cherry pick research to be the best option for you.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: But that's where a lot of people's research stops.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I want to really, you know, really just kind of convict you and say, hey, let's not stop there.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dig a little deeper.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Where is it, where is it supposed to help?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: What is it supposed to specifically help?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Are there other things that need to be on board with it in order for it to work its best?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: So one thing that I wrote in my notes, and this is probably going to strike some people really um really hard, but we traded the pharmaceutical model of a pill for every problem with a supplement for every symptom and called it natural health.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that is, by and large, what has happened in many spaces.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a revolution, it's just a rebrand.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: So think about that.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many companies out there right now that started out with great intentions, natural supplement companies, different places that you can, you know, support and go buy things.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: But many of those have been bought out by the bigger conglomerates that also support pharmaceuticals.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: So they've taken their model of money making and continuous customer and they've transitioned it into the supplement space.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: That is just a rebrand.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: So be very careful with who you listen to and what you put in your body.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And the marketing machine is extraordinary.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Extraordinary.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: You don't get to$60 billion without having an amazing marketing machine.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, we are marketed to in so many different ways.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so good because it knows exactly what you've been searching for, and it's going to serve you just those specific things.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then you're going to end up down this rabbit hole and you're going to have packages arriving at your house and you're going to be like, okay, now what do I do with them?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: But here's a specific question that I want you to ask when you see a supplement being marketed to you.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Who funded the study?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because clinically studied can mean a rigorous independent trial, or it can mean the company paid for a study and asked for a narrow enough question to get a favorable answer.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say that again.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Who funded the study?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Clinically studied can mean a rigorous independent trial, or it can mean the company paid for a study that asked a narrow enough question to get a favorable answer.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: It can mean a peer-reviewed publication, or it can mean an internal document that has never been independently replicated.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: This matters tremendously.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the industry knows most consumers aren't gonna dig that deep.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: We need to dig that deep.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: So if you think about if you think about your own life and you think about what's on that shelf in that drawer or in that cabinet, things that you've not really used, they're just sitting there, they don't really have a purpose.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: You don't even really remember why you bought them or who told you to or where you saw it.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they've got your money now, but you're not really getting results from it.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: So let's be a little bit deeper in our question asking.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So the supplement fix mentality can cost you more than just your dollars.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: It can cost you a lot of time, it can cost you a lot of peace of mind, it can cost you a lot of things.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: So this is what I see inside the office fairly regularly.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's probably the most important thing I can say today.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Supplements are not fixes.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, they're not fixes.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Supplements, by their wording and the definition of what they are called, are meant to supplement.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: They're meant to come alongside of other things.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're not meant to take the place of good, good, healthy living, of good lifestyle choices, of getting your movement in every day.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not meant to take those places.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's meant to supplement where you might have a slight deficiency until you no longer need it.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not how we're marketed to.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: So they're meant to be, they're meant to be support.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's they're they're meant to be something that come alongside.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I have some people who come into me and they literally bring in a tote bag full of bottles.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's nothing wrong with that.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: If they're all serving you and you feel good, I'm not gonna tell you that you're wrong.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna ask you why you're taking them, what you're hoping to get from them, and do you see a benefit from them?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, 20 supplements a day, you know, they've done their research, or some have done their social media research, if you will.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: They have a supplement for T for fatigue, they have a supplement for their hormones, they have a supplement for their sleep, and a supplement for their gut, and a supplement for a stress response.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then they want to know why they don't feel better.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And the honest answer is, you know, I have to give them gently but very clearly, is that's no supplement stack in the world that can compensate for a body that isn't ready to receive it.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where we miss the mark.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: If your lifestyle is not giving the supplements anywhere to work, they're not going to work.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: I see this a lot when it comes to people wanting to talk about infusions and they want to go in, they want to have a glutathione infusion, or they want to get the Myers cocktail, or they're exploring taking NAD.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And all of those have a great, great history, and they're very good.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if your body isn't ready for them, you're not gonna see the benefit you're looking for.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that your body is ready for what you're trying to give it.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to be really concrete, and I want to walk you through it step by step.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Your body has drainage pathways, your liver, your kidneys, your lymphatic system, your gut, all channels through which your body processes and eliminates what it no longer needs, including the byproducts of healing.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: So as you're healing, your body is processing out all the damaged material, all the trash it doesn't need, and taking it outside of your body.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: So when you start aggressive supplementation, particularly anything that's working to detoxify or to shift hormones to support cellular repair, you're generating things that need to go somewhere.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if your drainage pathways are not open, those things are just going to recirculate inside of your body.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's gross, guys.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're recirculating trash.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got to, you know, think about it in terms of they're going to contribute to the toxic load your body is already trying to get rid of.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: I hear this fairly often.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I did this cleanse, I found it online, I did it, I felt like trash, I quit.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, did you do anything to open up your drainage pathways prior to starting that detox or that cleanse?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And they look at me as though I'm crazy and I'm like, okay, well, there's my answer.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's why you felt so bad.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: All of those things that you were trying to aggressively get rid of had nowhere to go.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: So they just sat and recirculated and they contributed to how you felt.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: So as you're thinking about anything in a situation like that you've ever had, you blame the supplement.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't blame your body or you didn't blame yourself for being ill-prepared.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: You blamed the supplement.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: So a little bit of misplaced blame there.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: But the inch the issue here is sequencing.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your drainage pathways have to be open prior to you doing anything high-level in your body that is going to require the trash to be taken out somewhere.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: If it doesn't have anywhere to go, it's just going to sit there.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about this.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like we live in the South, we're in North Carolina.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Summers here are hot.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if we have standing water anywhere for a long period of time, it starts to smell because the things in it have nowhere to go.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's just going to sit there and recirculate in its own trash.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's awful.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Your body does not function well like that.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: So this is why in my practice, we don't ever jump straight into exciting protocols.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: They're never exciting, y'all.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: They are so boring.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: But we start with things that are not like NAD infusions or Myers cocktails or aggressive detox or anything like that.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to do the foundational work and we've got to do that foundational work for a period of time to make sure your body is ready and able and prepared to do the other things that we're getting ready to ask it to do.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: NAD is extraordinary.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Genuinely, it is extraordinary.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: But if your mitochondria are buried under cellular debris and your liver is already working overtime, your gut's compromised, you're you're pouring a powerful catalyst into a system that isn't ready to use it.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not going to see the benefit that you're hoping to see from it.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And you guys, NAD is not cheap.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to make sure that we're being responsible with how we're spending as well.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: So what has going to be the thing that happens is your body isn't ready to use it.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: At best, it doesn't work.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: At worst, it makes you feel significantly worse than when you decided that you to start it.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then you'd make the decision that that protocol clearly didn't work for you.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: But really, the timing was what didn't work for you.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got to be mindful of that.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's the lifestyle piece, which I will say as plainly as I possibly can.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: A supplement cannot fix what a lifestyle created.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're coming to me and you are you're overweight, you're tired, your blood sugar's trash, you're on multiple medications for different things.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: There is no supplement that is going to magically make you feel better.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your lifestyle choices got you where you were.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: So in order to get you to a different place, we're going to have to do multiple different things.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: But the first thing we're going to have to address is the choices that you made that got you where you are.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's a difficult conversation to have.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: But we can't, we can't look at sleeping five hours and running on caffeine and cortisol and then eating food that's inflaming your gut and you're living in chronic stress.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Magnesium is not going to save you.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Ashwagonda, not going to save you.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: The adrenal support stack is not going to save you because those things aren't really useful if the environment isn't right.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: You're asking them to literally row upstream and it's not going to work.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: So supplements are going to work with your body's system, but they can't override them.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: I tell people this very often, if they come in and they're looking for something to help with headaches, they want a natural solution to help with headaches.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: They're tired of taking an over-the-counter and said ibuprofen, acetaminophen, things like that.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: I have to be very careful to tell them, okay, like this will work.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: This natural remedy will work, but it will only work if you're hydrated, if you've had enough sleep, and you're consistent with taking it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Natural remedies, natural supplements, all of those things are great, but they don't work like pharmaceuticals.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can't take them once and expect them to have great results.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: There's a cumulative effect there that we have to take into consideration.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: And your personal compliance is a very big piece of that.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're not being compliant and taking your things scheduled regularly and making those lifestyle changes, you're probably not going to see the benefits that you're hoping for.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not the product is bad, it's that you've not really done the preparation and planning to get where they need to go.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we also see in practice that people often use supplements as permission to behave badly.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't mean this as you know, they're they're behaving badly as they're going and being reckless, but they'll take their omega and they feel like they've done something really amazing for their inflammator, their inflammatory system, something amazing for the overall systemic things that they're dealing with.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then they're not going to go to bed on time.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: They're going to stay up really late, they're going to be over-caffeinated, over-sugared, staring in a screen until midnight, and then they're going to wonder why that's not working well for them.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's because that omega cannot undo all of the things that you just did.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't work that way.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: I wish it did.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: It would be amazing, but it doesn't work that way.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got to be mindful.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: So the supplement then becomes the thing you do instead of the harder thing, which is a lifestyle change.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you can take all the supplements in the world and still be inflamed.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can take all the supplements in the world and still have fatigued adrenals.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can take all the supplements in the world and still be battling blood sugar crashes.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because your lifestyle changes haven't caught up to the supplements that you're trying to give them.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Can't override it.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: It can only support it.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not saying this to shame anybody.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm saying it because I care about you actually feeling better.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And somebody needs to tell you the truth.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, somebody just needs to tell you the truth.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: So something to take away from this is a supplement cannot fix what a lifestyle created.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: It can support a body that is doing the work.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Those are two entirely different things.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: So be mindful.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: So there's one last thing I want to name, and this one is uncomfortable for some people in my field, but it's quality.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Not all supplements are created equal.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: The raw material sourcing, the bioavailability of the form that's used, the manufacturing standards, the stability of the finished product, these all vary enormously across the industry.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: A magnesium glycinate from a practitioner grade brand and a magnesium oxide from a big box or shelf are both called magnesium.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the average consumer doesn't know the difference.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: But they're not the same thing.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Your body absorbs them differently, they do different things.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: The price difference between them is not just A markup.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: It has everything to do with the genuinely different product and the quality that you're getting.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people will say, I'm on a budget and I need to be mindful, which I respect absolutely.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I also encourage them to please, please do not buy your supplements from your corner drugstore, from a big box store, or online from retailers that can't verify the authenticity of the product.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Buy them from a practitioner, buy them from that practitioner's online dispensary, but please be careful of where they're coming from.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because cheap does not always equal the same thing as you're getting that you may pay more for.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: We want to make sure that the potency is correct, that the authenticity is there, that they have a COA, which is certification of authenticity, where somebody's actually gone in and said, hey, this is actually what's in the product.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: What they say that is on the label is actually what's in the product.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's really important.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because you could say, well, that supplement didn't work for me.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the reason it may not have worked because it could have had very little of the bioavailable active product in it.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to be mindful of that.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your body is going to do amazing things when you give it all of the resources that it needs to do those things in.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So let's how to let's talk about what actually works and how to supplement like a practitioner.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: So if we know what doesn't work, we need to figure out what does.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to leave you with a pile of problems and no path forward.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's never the goal.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Never the goal.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I use supplements every day in my practice.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: I personally take them myself.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: I believe in them.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: I just believe in them strategically.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: There have been times when I have taken many and times when I have taken very few.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: But using them strategically, not reflexively, not reactively, is the best way to do it.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to walk you through how I actually think about this.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the first principle is foundation before intervention.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Before we add anything, we ask: is the body ready to receive it?
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Are the drainage pathways open?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is the gut moving?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Is the liver supported?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Is the lymphatic system flowing?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are there foundational deficiencies that need addressing before we start anything more targeted?
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is not exciting.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: It is incredibly boring, but it's not the stuff that I'm going to put on social and be like, hey, I found this new amazing protocol.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's really boring, but it's foundational.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: The foundation of your house, pretty boring.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: But if you don't have it, you don't have a house.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to build that first.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: And this is honestly the difference between supplementation that works and supplementation that doesn't.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: You got to build the foundation first.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Everything else is going to go on top of that.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: I recently had a new client come in and we are like deconstructing their protocols first.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: We pulled away anything that was over the top, high level.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we we really bumped up the foundational structure.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I received a message from them just the other day and said, okay, what are we adding in next?
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, nothing for now.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to keep doing what we're doing.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like sometimes people think that that is too slow, like they want to move faster.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: But here's what I want you to remember.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I got this from a very wise person.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, slow is steady and steady is fast.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to relate this back to that.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Slow is steady.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: Slow progress is steady progress.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: And over time, that steady progress is going to get you there faster.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: We're not going to be hit or miss.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: We're not going to be throwing things at the wall, see what sticks.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be very, very strategic in how we move everything forward.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: So the second principle is test, don't guess.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I know this always isn't accessible to everyone.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: It can be cost prohibitive sometimes, but I would really encourage anyone who has not had a full panel of labs done in the last 12 months, go get them done.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Just know where you are.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: They may not tell you anything that you're you're seeing as useful, but it gives you a benchmark.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: It lets you know where you are right now.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're feeling amazing right now, even better time to go get them done.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because when you're feeling good, we love to know where you are.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because then we have something to target to get back to.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: So whenever possible, I want to know what's actually happening in your body before we start adding things into it.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: How do what are what is what are your actual levels?
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: What does your gut microbiome actually look like?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: What are your hormone patterns?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Very specifically with women, this is really important.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: The supplement that's right for one person's thyroid situation may be exactly wrong for another.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to know where you are.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: And without knowing where you're starting, we're essentially throwing things in a wall.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really challenging.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's expensive and you might end up with 20 different bottles and no better results.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: So test on guess.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: And the third is quality over quantity every single time.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I want five high-quality, bioavailable, appropriately dosed supplements that are right for your body because they're going to do more than 20 mid-grade products that aren't well absorbed or aren't the right fit for your specific needs.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: More is almost never the answer.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that goes counterculturally, but more is almost never the answer.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: Strategy is the best answer.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, fourth, timing and sequencing are not optional.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I can't say this enough.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't move it farther up the list because it does it does fit where it is, but timing and sequencing are not optional.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Some supplements compete for absorption and they should not be taken together.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: Most people aren't going to know what those are.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're not going to know what to keep apart, what to combine, what to do differently.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: And they're going to get frustrated because they're not seeing the results.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Some are better with taking with food, some without, some need to be cycled rather than taking continuously.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: Some, particularly anything working on a detox or cellular level, need specific preparation before you start and specific support while you're doing them.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not getting that specific support, it's going to feel awful and you're going to feel like it failed, but really it's that your body wasn't prepped for it correctly.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: This can be the difference between a protocol working and not working.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said before, this is kind of the linchpin.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is something that your practitioner should be giving you explicitly, not leaving you to figure it out by the dosing label.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the things that I offer in office can be combined.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I do that because simple is best, in my opinion.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, once we get to more complex things, I'm going to give you very specific instructions on how the manufacturer recommends these be taken and then how they need to be timed around the other things that you're already taking.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: So the last thing, and probably the most important, is supplements are part of a whole approach.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: They're not the approach.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're part of a whole approach.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: Never ever are they going to be the whole thing.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Lifestyle piece, not negotiable.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you're unwilling to change your lifestyle, then supplements are not your answer.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: They have to go hand in hand.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Real food, not negotiable.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: You got to eat real things.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: Those protein bars and shakes are not real food.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: They too fall into the supplement category.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: You got to get sleep.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: If your body isn't resting, then your body isn't repairing.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: If it's not repairing, it's just recirculating all that empty trash.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: You got to move your body.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: You got to move it.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that movement needs to be something you enjoy rather than something you dread.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Don't like going to the gym?
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: No problem.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Take a walk.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Don't like swimming, not my preference.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then don't do it.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Don't put yourself in a situation to move your body in a way that you don't like.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's not sustainable over time.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Be mindful of that.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: You need to have stress that is actively managed.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: Does that mean you're not you don't want stress?
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think avoiding it completely is impossible, but you want it managed.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: You want to be able to discern what is good for you, what is not good for you, and what need to know what to eliminate and what to delegate.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: Get it off your plate if it is not serving you and creating stress for you.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you're the only person that can do it, find ways either to automate it or to make it manageable in a way that it's not affecting your overall lifestyle.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: Relationships and community, faith, meaning, all important.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you're if you're not if you're not getting those things fed, I call them primary foods, they're non-nutritive.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: You don't put them in your mouth and chew them and swallow, but they feed you and they need to be a part of your daily life.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: So not all supplement stacks are going to replace those things.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like we can't replace poor sleep with a supplement.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: We can't over-caffeinate ourselves to the point of overcoming a sequence of bad sleep.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's just not going to work.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's not healthy.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's not good for you.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: What we want to do is we want to create an environment that is going to place our body in the optimal position to receive what we're giving and actually do something with it so that we see the benefit.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to make sure that you have the right relationship between your supplements and the rest of your health practices.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: So supplements should never be the only part.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: I just said that.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: Supplements are not the only part.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: They are a part.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: They are not the only part.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you're evaluating a supplement, and this is any supplement, ask these questions.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: What is the evidence based?
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: What is the actual evidence base and who funded it?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: Very important.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: Is this the right form of this nutrient for bioavailability?
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Especially important with things like magnesium.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: Is this the right dose for my body weight and my specific situation?
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: Very important question.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Is my body currently in a state where this can be used effectively?
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: And what am I doing in my daily life that is going to support or undermine?
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: Very important to go both sides.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: The supplement is what the supplement's trying to do.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: These are going to save you hours, days, weeks, months of frustration and a lot of money.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: So in closing, I want to say something very clearly.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: And this is not me saying I'm anti-supplement.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I've told you already, I use them daily in my practice and I personally take them.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: Depending on the season of my life, my training schedule, and things like that, it will be more or less, depending on what my body needs in order to function optimally.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't just throw things in the wall and see what sticks.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: I test, I address, I change, I shift, and I do what is best for me in that particular particular season.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want you to walk away from any conversation that I have thinking that the answer is to throw everything out and start from scratch.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that is the best way.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: I do, however, think targeted, strategic, well-sequenced supplementation is probably one of the most powerful things that you can do for yourself.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: But again, it has to be targeted, has to be strategic, and it has to be well-sequenced.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, it's not going to be the best for you.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: I am very pro-discernment, like I mentioned.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: And what we want to do when we're looking at discerning what is best and discerning what needs to come next is making sure that we're asking the right questions.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: I tell my clients all the time, before you go out and buy something I don't recommend, then I want you to ask me the question, is this good for me?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then I want you to tell me what you're hoping to get from it and what you would be taking it for.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to ask you questions back.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, when I recommend, I recommend things and I let you choose.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: I make suggestions, you make decisions.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Can I dictate what you do and don't do?
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: Can I recommend based on what I think is best for you?
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: So your body is not a garbage can with good intentions.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you are wanting to do a detox, but you're not prepared for it, you're going to feel like garbage.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that is going to lend you in a space where you say, Well, that didn't work for me.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you're right.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't work for you, and the timing was off.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't mean that it won't work for you if tried appropriately again.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's another place I think we need to be very honest with ourselves and say, did it fail because I was just not prepared?
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't foundationally strong, or did it truly fail?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's hard sometimes.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: I get that often.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to ask questions and I want you to look at things as the answers to those questions don't mean that you're saying you doubt it or that it's going to fail or that you don't have faith in it.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's just saying, I want to make sure this is the best option for me in this space.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: But your body is not a garbage can for good intentions.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: You can't supplement your way out of a poor lifestyle choice.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if the promise of strategic supplementation done right sounds really appealing to you, then I would encourage you to reach out or at least do your own due diligence in everything that you're doing.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that I offer to all of my clients is a supplement review.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: Bring everything on your shelf in.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to throw everything out and start over.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can certainly start where you are, which is another very important thing.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: But I want you to think about this in terms of motivations and expectations.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: So what is motivating you to want to supplement?
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then what are your expectations of that supplement?
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: If your motivation is a quick fix or to cover up a symptom or to manage a symptom that you've not addressed through lifestyle choices, I'm going to strongly encourage you to not do that supplement at the time.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because your expectation is going to outweigh the ability of that supplement to meet it.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: And you're going to feel like it didn't work, which is going to then kind of give you a sour grapes kind of thing moving forward.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't want that.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to stay open-minded to all options as you're working through it.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: But again, ask the questions and manage your expectations correctly.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: If your foundation is not strong, then your supplementation stacked on top of that is not going to work well for you.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I thank you again for sitting and listening.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you've got questions, please reach out.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I would love for you to share this with someone that you feel like it would be helpful to you.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great day.