Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / #HURDLEMOMENT: A Nutritionist On Inflammation: What Is It, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Transcript

#HURDLEMOMENT: A Nutritionist On Inflammation: What Is It, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: Inflammation is a positive thing. We just want it to
0:03
Speaker 1: have its response and then calm down, and unfortunately it
0:08
Speaker 1: can stay in a heightened response state.
0:27
Speaker 2: Hey everybody, Emily Abadi here. You are listening to another
0:31
Speaker 2: installment of Hurdle Moment from Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast.
0:35
Speaker 2: Reconnect with everyone from your favorite athletes to top experts
0:38
Speaker 2: and industry CEOs about their highest hies, toughest moments, and
0:42
Speaker 2: everything in between. We all go through hurdles in life,
0:45
Speaker 2: and my goal through these discussions is to empower you
0:48
Speaker 2: to better navigate yours and move with intention so that
0:51
Speaker 2: you can stride towards your own big potential and of
0:54
Speaker 2: course have some fun along the way. For today's episode,
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Speaker 2: I am chatting with Andrea and Nakayama. She's a nutritionist
1:03
Speaker 2: and also the founder of the Functional Nutrition Alliance as
1:08
Speaker 2: well as the host of the fifteen Minute Matrix podcast.
1:13
Speaker 2: We are chatting all about inflammation. Andrea gives us the
1:18
Speaker 2: lowdown on exactly what it is, what causes it, beyond
1:23
Speaker 2: just the things that we eat, and what we can
1:26
Speaker 2: functionally do to both prevent and treat it. Lots of
1:32
Speaker 2: really helpful, actionable takeaways in here. I have talked to
1:37
Speaker 2: many many experts on inflammation during my time as a
1:41
Speaker 2: freelance journalist writing articles for all different editorial outlets, and
1:46
Speaker 2: this interview brought to lights some takeaways info tips that
1:51
Speaker 2: I had never heard before. So happy that it's going
1:55
Speaker 2: to have a permanent place in the feed. Make sure
1:58
Speaker 2: you're falling along with Hurdle over on social It's at
2:00
Speaker 2: Hurdle podcast. I am over at Emily a body and
2:04
Speaker 2: with that, let's get to hurdling.
2:21
Speaker 1: Today.
2:22
Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Andrea and Nakayama. She is
2:25
Speaker 2: a nutritionist. She's also the founder of the Functional Nutrition Alliance.
2:29
Speaker 2: How are you doing today?
2:31
Speaker 1: Great? Thanks for having me Emily.
2:33
Speaker 2: I'm so happy to have you here, and I know
2:36
Speaker 2: from doing some research on your background that you have
2:40
Speaker 2: certainly overcome some hurdles, especially when it comes to getting
2:45
Speaker 2: to where you're at in your career. So before we
2:48
Speaker 2: dive into today's topic on inflammation, I would love it
2:52
Speaker 2: if you could just give us a little bit of
2:53
Speaker 2: your backstory and let us know a little bit about
2:56
Speaker 2: your beginnings.
2:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, Cliff note, version passion for nutrition was really catapulted
3:03
Speaker 1: when my late husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor
3:06
Speaker 1: when I was seven weeks pregnant. So that really led
3:10
Speaker 1: me into what I think of as my boot camp
3:13
Speaker 1: and nutrition because of course there were all the things
3:16
Speaker 1: that were done for him and to him with a
3:19
Speaker 1: brain tumor, but there was so much more I saw
3:21
Speaker 1: we could influence. So he was given six months to live,
3:25
Speaker 1: he lived two and a half years, so he did
3:28
Speaker 1: see Our sunborn had some good imprinting time. That son
3:33
Speaker 1: is now twenty one, so that's twenty years ago that
3:36
Speaker 1: he passed. But that was really a hurdle for me
3:40
Speaker 1: in terms of interest in a career change and seeing
3:44
Speaker 1: how our medical system does some amazing things, you know,
3:49
Speaker 1: brain surgery and brain radiation, but there are a lot
3:53
Speaker 1: of gaps, and some of those gaps are in how
3:57
Speaker 1: patients are treated like their diagnosis and not like the
4:00
Speaker 1: person they are. So that led me on a quest
4:04
Speaker 1: to uncover how we fill those gaps and how ultimately
4:10
Speaker 1: I can train an army of other providers to help
4:13
Speaker 1: fill those gaps.
4:15
Speaker 2: And so what were you doing before you started studying
4:18
Speaker 2: to become a nutritionist.
4:20
Speaker 1: I worked in book publishing for fifteen years, so a
4:24
Speaker 1: really different, not health related background, So it did take
4:29
Speaker 1: me a lot of time as a single mom, even
4:32
Speaker 1: while I was working to put myself back through school.
4:35
Speaker 1: I had a Bachelor's of Fine Arts, so I didn't
4:38
Speaker 1: have all that science. And I actually think that previous
4:42
Speaker 1: career track helps me to be the kind of practitioner
4:46
Speaker 1: that I am. I can really understand story and production
4:51
Speaker 1: and how people move through an experience, whether that is
4:54
Speaker 1: a singular experience, their own health journey, or that's some
4:58
Speaker 1: kind of curriculum. So that previous history has helped me
5:03
Speaker 1: be who I am and helped me succeed. And I
5:07
Speaker 1: think that sometimes scares us. We think we can't make
5:10
Speaker 1: these leaps or get over these hurdles, but it certainly
5:14
Speaker 1: worked for me, and the passion and the drive led
5:16
Speaker 1: me to sustain those years of going back to school
5:21
Speaker 1: and learning to build a business and be a leader.
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Speaker 1: That enabled me to build the Functional Nutrition Alliance.
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Speaker 2: You mentioned being a leader and also educating as many
5:32
Speaker 2: other practitioners as you can to get to help more
5:37
Speaker 2: and more people. Talk to me a little bit about
5:39
Speaker 2: what that part of your business has been like for
5:42
Speaker 2: you and how it feels to be stepping into the
5:45
Speaker 2: role as an educator.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, so that is it's a law. It's been a
5:50
Speaker 1: long journey. So I started out as a clinician in
5:53
Speaker 1: two thousand and nine and people were wondering how I
5:56
Speaker 1: was getting the results that I was getting. So I thought, oh, well,
6:00
Speaker 1: a little mentorship program, and in twenty twelve I launched
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Speaker 1: the Functional Nutrition Alliance's Full Body Systems, which is my
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Speaker 1: ten month training for other providers. And in Functional Nutrition,
6:15
Speaker 1: we're really serving the people who are sick and not
6:18
Speaker 1: getting better. It's really that extra effort of understanding the
6:22
Speaker 1: entire picture, which we'll talk about. But that's been ten
6:27
Speaker 1: years that I've been running the Full Body Systems program
6:30
Speaker 1: and our graduate program, and at this point we've graduated
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Speaker 1: over seven thousand practitioners in over sixty five countries. And
6:39
Speaker 1: those practitioners are everyone from doctors and nurses and dietitians
6:45
Speaker 1: who want more of that functional approach to help coaches,
6:49
Speaker 1: fitness coaches who are seeing people in their practices who
6:53
Speaker 1: are not getting better with the tried and true that
6:57
Speaker 1: work for the eighty percent, but also those who don't
7:01
Speaker 1: come from a healthcare background, and maybe they've been the
7:04
Speaker 1: mom whose kid has been on the spectrum and they've
7:08
Speaker 1: helped them or they've survived a cancer treat themselves and
7:13
Speaker 1: they know it can be weathered better. So it really
7:16
Speaker 1: is a melting pot where people are coming together understanding
7:20
Speaker 1: that symbiosis of where nutrition, diet, lifestyle modification impacts the
7:26
Speaker 1: physiological function, and how we go into the art of
7:31
Speaker 1: working with people through those challenges. So I love it,
7:35
Speaker 1: but I'm also excited to turn my attention back to
7:39
Speaker 1: the patient, not as a provider, but as an educator
7:43
Speaker 1: through my books. Am I speaking as well? Yeah?
7:46
Speaker 2: You know, oftentimes when individuals take a course like that
7:50
Speaker 2: or go through some sort of certification, they're excited at
7:53
Speaker 2: the end to gain perhaps a few different letters at
7:57
Speaker 2: the end of their name. When someone graduates you're program,
8:00
Speaker 2: what is it that you tell them that they walk
8:02
Speaker 2: away with.
8:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, so they are becoming a Functional Nutrition Alliance certified
8:07
Speaker 1: functional nutrition counselor. So there is testing throughout so they
8:12
Speaker 1: can test their knowledge. It's a ten month curriculum being
8:16
Speaker 1: released every single week, so they do become a certified
8:20
Speaker 1: functional nutrition counselor. And then we have a graduate program
8:24
Speaker 1: that where they become a functional nutrition and lifestyle practitioner
8:27
Speaker 1: and that's more intensive, more hands on, a smaller group
8:32
Speaker 1: that's using the tools and the systems that I've created
8:36
Speaker 1: and actually turning them in more like a practicum.
8:40
Speaker 2: It's so interesting as well when you become someone who
8:44
Speaker 2: has different levels of education. Oftentimes we hope that the
8:48
Speaker 2: things that we would learn, we would regularly and perhaps
8:51
Speaker 2: preventively at times, be able to put into practice, but
8:54
Speaker 2: it's not always that easy. So for you, when you
8:57
Speaker 2: became a functional nutritionist, did you start to see changes
9:01
Speaker 2: and differences in the way that you were putting things
9:04
Speaker 2: into your body and how you were fueling and going
9:06
Speaker 2: about your day to day.
9:08
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think that's great question, and it really comes
9:11
Speaker 1: down to the understanding I had of what I call
9:15
Speaker 1: what's going on in there? So how does the science
9:18
Speaker 1: of physiology and the evidence of physiology actually inform us
9:23
Speaker 1: more than the evidence trap that I see people falling
9:26
Speaker 1: into when we're looking to studies of specific topics. So,
9:31
Speaker 1: you know, I've had people say to me like, where's
9:33
Speaker 1: the evidence on leaky gut, for instance, And there's now
9:36
Speaker 1: plenty of it, but back when I first started teaching,
9:39
Speaker 1: there wasn't. And if we look at it from a
9:42
Speaker 1: physiological lens, gut hyper permeability is a thing that happens
9:48
Speaker 1: under certain situations, and so I really love how we
9:52
Speaker 1: can use the science of physiology and biology to help
9:57
Speaker 1: inform our clinical care. And in functional nutrition, I'm taking
10:03
Speaker 1: us away from what I call the X for the Y.
10:05
Speaker 1: So instead of saying, oh, I have hashimotos, which I
10:08
Speaker 1: do or lupus, or I have a cancer diagnosis or diabetes,
10:13
Speaker 1: what do I do for it, We're asking a different question,
10:16
Speaker 1: which is I have these things, what is the terrain
10:20
Speaker 1: that allowed that to manifest? So the diagnosis, the signs,
10:24
Speaker 1: and the symptoms, those are just a tipping point, and
10:27
Speaker 1: they're going to be different factors that led to that
10:30
Speaker 1: tipping point for every person. So for me understanding that
10:35
Speaker 1: my hashimotos is different than somebody else's hashimotos, we have
10:39
Speaker 1: different lifestyle factors, we have different ancestry. We just got
10:44
Speaker 1: to a similar a place that led to a tipping
10:46
Speaker 1: point that was the same name. But that doesn't mean
10:50
Speaker 1: we necessarily treat it the same. And so in functional nutrition,
10:55
Speaker 1: we're looking at the soil or the terrain more than
10:59
Speaker 1: what I call the.
10:59
Speaker 2: Brand, right right, So to go back to the original question,
11:03
Speaker 2: would you say that you started to look at your
11:05
Speaker 2: own soil a little bit differently.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, great, great way to bring it back. Yes, understanding
11:12
Speaker 1: who am I, what's going on, how's my body responding,
11:16
Speaker 1: kind of unpacking the relationship that we all grow up
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Speaker 1: with around food and our bodies and really getting to
11:24
Speaker 1: the essence of what's my body telling me, what's working,
11:28
Speaker 1: what's not working. How do I put this together and
11:31
Speaker 1: create a self plan that is evolving because I'm changing,
11:35
Speaker 1: My hormones are changing, my stress levels changing, and it's
11:38
Speaker 1: not going to be static. So yes, thinking about it
11:41
Speaker 1: through my terrain, How would you say that.
11:45
Speaker 2: This hashimotos has impacted you over time? What are some
11:50
Speaker 2: of maybe the you know, symptoms that you were experiencing
11:54
Speaker 2: before that with your education maybe shifted a little bit
11:58
Speaker 2: or how does that impact regularly?
12:01
Speaker 1: Yeah? So for me, I have the hashimotoves pretty well managed.
12:06
Speaker 1: What I do know is that I have an autoimmune tendency,
12:10
Speaker 1: so my body has the tendency to attack itself, which
12:14
Speaker 1: is not uncommon for women, especially of a certain age.
12:18
Speaker 1: Autoimmunity does impact more women than men. We're more complicated
12:23
Speaker 1: internally and physiologically. So I have it pretty well managed,
12:27
Speaker 1: but that's through practices where I understand that terrain and
12:33
Speaker 1: the roots, and I have systems that help us to
12:36
Speaker 1: identify those. But for me, it could be you know,
12:41
Speaker 1: odd weight gain that's very subtle that nobody will pay
12:44
Speaker 1: attention to, because I can tell there's kind of this
12:48
Speaker 1: padding of inflammation that maybe doesn't look like anything to
12:53
Speaker 1: a provider, so it's dismissed and you get a little
12:55
Speaker 1: bit of that gas lighting. It could be fatigue, it
12:59
Speaker 1: could be like puffiness around my face. So it's very
13:03
Speaker 1: subtle because I know now how to take care and
13:09
Speaker 1: I actually think of it as like freaking take it,
13:11
Speaker 1: like it's yours to take. And so I take good
13:15
Speaker 1: care of myself, which doesn't mean I'm perfect, and it
13:18
Speaker 1: doesn't mean I'm walking a straight line. It means that
13:21
Speaker 1: I'm in tune.
13:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I love that whole premise of functional medicine
13:26
Speaker 2: right because it wants to empower individuals to get to,
13:31
Speaker 2: as you said before, the root of what's going on,
13:34
Speaker 2: to be able to take ownership over your circumstance and
13:38
Speaker 2: then hopefully be able to change a system or an
13:42
Speaker 2: outcome that you've otherwise been stuck on for who knows
13:46
Speaker 2: how long. You also mentioned a buzzword of exactly what
13:49
Speaker 2: we're getting into speaking about today, and that is inflammation.
13:54
Speaker 2: I was out to dinner with a girlfriend last night
13:56
Speaker 2: and she told me that she spoke with a functional
13:59
Speaker 2: new tritionist about this very topic and that the takeaways
14:03
Speaker 2: from that conversation blew her mind. So I was amped
14:07
Speaker 2: knowing that you and I were going to sit down
14:09
Speaker 2: today to talk about this very topic as well. When
14:13
Speaker 2: it comes to inflammation just general, let's like lay down
14:17
Speaker 2: the framework. What is inflammation?
14:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, inflammation, and it's one of the three roots, because
14:25
Speaker 1: I will always say there is no one route when
14:27
Speaker 1: we talk about root cause resolution, which I think gets
14:30
Speaker 1: us in trouble. But inflammation is the body's response to
14:34
Speaker 1: something and it's actually a helpful response. So it's responding
14:39
Speaker 1: to something with redness, with heat, with a swelling in
14:44
Speaker 1: order to deal with something that it's not accustomed to
14:48
Speaker 1: in some way or where it's gotten confused. So it's
14:51
Speaker 1: a natural body response that's about regulation, and yet it
14:57
Speaker 1: can get out of tune in some way. So inflammation
15:02
Speaker 1: is a positive thing. We just want it to have
15:05
Speaker 1: its response and then calm down, and unfortunately it can
15:10
Speaker 1: stay in a heightened response state.
15:13
Speaker 2: Let's break down why inflammation may stay in that heightened
15:18
Speaker 2: response state.
15:20
Speaker 1: Yes, can I back us up a little bit as
15:22
Speaker 1: I wont to do? Okay, So, whenever I think about
15:26
Speaker 1: any chronic sign, symptom or diagnosis, and that can be hashimotives, depression, anxiety, resistant,
15:31
Speaker 1: weight loss, whatever it is that isn't resolving, I think
15:35
Speaker 1: about it through a three roots, many branches lens. So
15:39
Speaker 1: any sign, symptom or diagnosis is a branch, and in
15:43
Speaker 1: our current way of looking at things, we want to
15:45
Speaker 1: address the branch. However, our job and the warre place
15:50
Speaker 1: we have the most agency, as you were talking about,
15:53
Speaker 1: to impact our health, is when we get to the
15:56
Speaker 1: roots and the soil that those roots live in. If
16:00
Speaker 1: any chronic condition, the roots are genes, digestion, and inflammation.
16:06
Speaker 1: Those three roots have been activated in some way when
16:11
Speaker 1: we're experiencing a chronic condition, chronic inflammation of any sort,
16:15
Speaker 1: whether it's ezema, allergies, or an autoimmune condition. Around each
16:20
Speaker 1: of those roots that I've developed or identified, I've looked
16:25
Speaker 1: at what we think of as our circle of influence.
16:28
Speaker 1: And the circle of influence is a model you know
16:30
Speaker 1: that Stephen Cubby habits of the most successful people identified
16:35
Speaker 1: where instead of being in the control which is in
16:38
Speaker 1: that center, or the anxiety, which is out in the universe,
16:42
Speaker 1: we actually have an circle in the middle, which is
16:46
Speaker 1: our circle of influence. And if we sit in our
16:48
Speaker 1: circle of influence, we're not in the tightness of control,
16:52
Speaker 1: which is an illusion we never have it, or the
16:56
Speaker 1: anxiety that we can't control it. We actually say what
17:00
Speaker 1: can I do? So for me, the circle of influence
17:03
Speaker 1: to answer your question is to clear, calm, enhance, and modulate.
17:09
Speaker 1: And that's about the immune system. So when the immune
17:13
Speaker 1: system is in a chronic state of exposure to something
17:18
Speaker 1: it cannot metabolize, that's when we're in a heightened or
17:23
Speaker 1: sustained state of inflammation. So do we need to clear
17:28
Speaker 1: a food that we're in that we're having an inflammatory
17:32
Speaker 1: reaction to, or a mindset that's inflammatory, or an environmental
17:37
Speaker 1: toxin or a microbial infection. So there's a way for
17:41
Speaker 1: us to think broadly. It's just not like, oh, I'm
17:45
Speaker 1: supposed to clear that by eating an autoimmune paleo diet
17:49
Speaker 1: and intermittent fasting. It's thinking like, who am I and
17:53
Speaker 1: what actually needs to be cleared and what do I
17:58
Speaker 1: need to calm in my immune system, in my nervous system.
18:02
Speaker 1: Many of us are caught in a sympathetic state that
18:07
Speaker 1: drive that fix. We cannot heal in that state. So
18:12
Speaker 1: really just stepping back and saying, what's the soil around
18:18
Speaker 1: this inflammatory root and where do I actually have some
18:22
Speaker 1: influence while I'm looking for answers or what I think
18:27
Speaker 1: is the answer, which will never be one answer.
18:30
Speaker 2: I love that you highlighted that it could be a
18:35
Speaker 2: range of things. It's not necessarily something that you eat.
18:40
Speaker 2: It could also be a state of stress that you're
18:43
Speaker 2: living in, and all of those other examples that you cited.
18:46
Speaker 2: I believe that many have a hard time understanding that
18:51
Speaker 2: fact that indeed, certain lifestyle factors could be stressing your
18:56
Speaker 2: body in such a way that inflammation is a response.
19:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, including that drive to find the answer, the pill,
19:05
Speaker 1: the protocol, the practitioner, the whatever it is. We're so
19:09
Speaker 1: caught up with so many influencers that are telling us
19:14
Speaker 1: this is the answer and what I'm finding. I mean,
19:17
Speaker 1: nutrition is kind of a dirty word these days because
19:21
Speaker 1: we're either in the hyper limited, restricted dietary patterns, which
19:27
Speaker 1: are also introducing deficiencies that impair the body from doing
19:33
Speaker 1: its healing or we're in the you know, forget it.
19:37
Speaker 1: I'm done with that the body positivity, which is all
19:40
Speaker 1: important for different stages. But I'm on a mission to
19:44
Speaker 1: figure out, like, how do we help the person who's
19:48
Speaker 1: looking for answers understand where it's not about control, it
19:53
Speaker 1: is about influence And there's so many things and so
19:58
Speaker 1: vast and so little, and so we did it yesterday
20:02
Speaker 1: and we don't do it today, and that's okay, we
20:04
Speaker 1: can do it tomorrow. That contribute to the management of
20:10
Speaker 1: that overactive immune response, which is inflammation.
20:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think just like whenever you want to
20:17
Speaker 2: make a change, the first thing that you need to
20:19
Speaker 2: do is recognize and acknowledge what's actually going on in
20:24
Speaker 2: your life, especially here with information.
20:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, thousand percent, thousand percent and hard work for people
20:33
Speaker 1: to do because we are told that it will be easier.
20:39
Speaker 1: We do think once I'm diagnosed, I'll get the answers
20:44
Speaker 1: or once I know, I'll receive something that will fix it.
20:48
Speaker 1: And with chronic inflammation, that's rarely the case that it's
20:52
Speaker 1: a one and done, right.
20:55
Speaker 2: So you mentioned some of your inflammatory kind of symptoms
20:59
Speaker 2: or what inflammation and looks like for you and your body.
21:02
Speaker 2: For someone who may be sitting here listening to this,
21:04
Speaker 2: or commuting or wherever they may be, what's to this?
21:08
Speaker 2: And they're thinking to themselves like am I inflames? Like
21:11
Speaker 2: how does someone know?
21:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean inflammation can manifest in so many different ways.
21:19
Speaker 1: So the symptoms of inflammation may be having digestive distress.
21:24
Speaker 1: A lot of people walk around with what's called IBS,
21:27
Speaker 1: which is just an umbrella term for we don't know
21:30
Speaker 1: what's happening with your intestines, but it is inflammation that's
21:35
Speaker 1: leading to those changes in how our digestive system is
21:40
Speaker 1: responding depression, anxiety, brain fog. I mean I can tick
21:45
Speaker 1: around what I call the functional nutrition matrix and look
21:49
Speaker 1: at every area. It's not just affecting the immune system.
21:53
Speaker 1: It's where the immune system is having a heyday. So
21:57
Speaker 1: skin issues, if we have eggzema or rosetatia, those are
22:01
Speaker 1: that's inflammation at its core, So it impacts any aspect
22:06
Speaker 1: of the body. And if we do have an autoimmune condition.
22:10
Speaker 1: So I'll just use my situation again since hashimotoves is
22:14
Speaker 1: so popular these days and so known. What that means
22:19
Speaker 1: is I have hypoth thyroidism and an autoimmune attack on
22:23
Speaker 1: my thyroid cells. So my own immune system has decided
22:29
Speaker 1: that the cells and the tissue in my thyroid gland
22:33
Speaker 1: are foreign to them. And I don't like the word foreign,
22:37
Speaker 1: but it's a hard word to figure out how to
22:40
Speaker 1: get the point across quickly. But my body has decided
22:44
Speaker 1: that they don't belong there. And so my own immune system,
22:49
Speaker 1: when in its heightened state, which can happen through stress,
22:54
Speaker 1: can happen through me eating certain foods that my body
22:57
Speaker 1: doesn't process well. It could happen because of an exposure
23:02
Speaker 1: and environmental exposure, being on the airplane, sleeping in a hotel,
23:06
Speaker 1: lots of things can be triggers for me that then
23:11
Speaker 1: tell my immune system to amp it up. And when
23:14
Speaker 1: it amps up, it's not just on the attack for
23:19
Speaker 1: something that's not supposed to be there. It's gotten confused
23:24
Speaker 1: enough that it's attacking what is supposed to be there.
23:27
Speaker 1: And that's what auto immunity is. It's the immune system
23:32
Speaker 1: getting confused and having a heyday with your own tissues.
23:38
Speaker 1: So the more we can do to calm the system,
23:42
Speaker 1: the better off we are. However, to answer your question,
23:46
Speaker 1: it can manifest as anything. So I would say, if
23:50
Speaker 1: you're working with anything that's chronic, meaning it's not one
23:56
Speaker 1: and done, and it keeps coming up or it never
23:59
Speaker 1: goes away, then those three roots, including inflammation, are at
24:05
Speaker 1: play in the manifestation of your signs, your symptoms for
24:11
Speaker 1: your diagnosis. Got you, got you?
24:13
Speaker 2: So when it comes then we've talked about what it
24:16
Speaker 2: could look like, what could cause it. When it comes
24:19
Speaker 2: to then treating it and moving forward with a plan
24:23
Speaker 2: of attack, where does someone really begin?
24:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, so this is where I like to think about
24:29
Speaker 1: what I call the three tiers to nutrition mastery. Tier
24:32
Speaker 1: number one are the non negotiables, and I invite everybody
24:37
Speaker 1: to really identify their non negotiables. What helps you feel
24:41
Speaker 1: better and what makes you feel worse? And your non
24:44
Speaker 1: negotiables aren't just your foods like we were talking about,
24:47
Speaker 1: it's where do I have? Where do I need more
24:50
Speaker 1: joy in my life? How do I get my joy?
24:53
Speaker 1: Am I coming out of the pandemic and realizing like
24:57
Speaker 1: I've lost connections and friends and I I need that?
25:01
Speaker 1: Where do you need time to read or meditate or
25:04
Speaker 1: walk in nature? What are your non negotiables for your
25:10
Speaker 1: best feeling? And we can go back to the times
25:14
Speaker 1: we felt best in our lives. We can think through
25:17
Speaker 1: the things we know in functional medicine and functional nutrition,
25:21
Speaker 1: these are called our mediators, the things that help us
25:24
Speaker 1: feel better or make us feel worse. And I think
25:27
Speaker 1: that's a great first step because everybody knows. If you
25:31
Speaker 1: ask anybody, if you ask yourself, you likely know some
25:35
Speaker 1: things like I feel better when I run, where I
25:38
Speaker 1: feel better when I get to sleep by ten pm.
25:42
Speaker 1: For me, that's a non negotiable getting to bed by
25:45
Speaker 1: ten pm, and there's reasons for that. Tier number two
25:50
Speaker 1: is what I call deficiency to sufficiency and on the
25:54
Speaker 1: other end of that is toxicity. Right, So there's a
25:57
Speaker 1: spectrum there. So for thinking through our deficiencies. We may
26:01
Speaker 1: not know without a provider if we have deficiencies and
26:05
Speaker 1: nutrients like B vitamins or vitamin D those are issues too,
26:10
Speaker 1: but also digestive secretions. How do we slow down and
26:14
Speaker 1: eat and make sure that we're thinking about our food
26:18
Speaker 1: deficiencies Again, could be in sleep or movement, or joy
26:23
Speaker 1: or love or connection. So I invite people to think
26:27
Speaker 1: about these tiers in a very broad way. And when
26:32
Speaker 1: we as patients start to embrace the things that we
26:37
Speaker 1: can influence we show up as better partners for our providers,
26:42
Speaker 1: our medical providers who are responsible for tier three, which
26:46
Speaker 1: is dismantling the dysfunction. And I'm worried we're bypassing tier
26:51
Speaker 1: one and tier two, so the non negotiables and the
26:54
Speaker 1: deficiencies to sufficiencies for dismantling the dysfunction, but we're not
26:59
Speaker 1: doing the other work. And so it just is this
27:02
Speaker 1: like you know, habit trail of never getting to.
27:05
Speaker 2: Results totally, and what you said about figuring out how
27:11
Speaker 2: to recognize these first two tiers being really critical so
27:16
Speaker 2: that you can be a better you know, partner, so
27:19
Speaker 2: to speak to your provider. It also, without a doubt,
27:22
Speaker 2: makes you a better partner period. When you show up
27:25
Speaker 2: and you take ownership of your circumstance, you'll then feel
27:29
Speaker 2: more empowered to show up for perhaps for your work
27:32
Speaker 2: or in your personal relationships or wherever that might be.
27:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so true and for ourselves. I mean, I
27:39
Speaker 1: truly believe that like these bodies we have are a vessel. Right,
27:44
Speaker 1: And I watched somebody, I ushered somebody to his death.
27:48
Speaker 1: I midwifed my husband through this life. And so these bodies,
27:52
Speaker 1: these vessels we have are complicated and when they are functional,
27:59
Speaker 1: you know, I'm putting a quotes when they hume we
28:02
Speaker 1: can do what we're here to do better, and when
28:07
Speaker 1: we're fighting against it, it does become harder to manifest
28:12
Speaker 1: what we want, achieve, what we want show up in
28:14
Speaker 1: relationship for ourselves, for our work, for any our children,
28:18
Speaker 1: whatever it is. That humming is something we can always
28:24
Speaker 1: work on. We don't have to wait for that doctor's
28:27
Speaker 1: appointment to be addressing those things. Right.
28:31
Speaker 2: So, as a provider, then when someone comes to you
28:35
Speaker 2: and says, what should I do now that I am here?
28:38
Speaker 2: Maybe they have done those first two steps and now
28:41
Speaker 2: they're on step three.
28:43
Speaker 1: What's the approach? Yeah, So in our clinic at the
28:46
Speaker 1: Functional Nutrition Alliance, we do a very deep assessment, so
28:51
Speaker 1: we really do honor the person's story. I like to
28:55
Speaker 1: think about it as everything is connected in the body,
28:58
Speaker 1: we are all unique and all things matter. So we're
29:01
Speaker 1: doing a very full assessment before we make any recommendations.
29:06
Speaker 1: And I am a stand for not making recommendations that
29:10
Speaker 1: are not true for the individual. So there's a lot
29:14
Speaker 1: we have to take into consideration, including their history in
29:19
Speaker 1: terms of adverse childhood experiences or adult experiences, their relationship
29:24
Speaker 1: with body, their relationship with food before we're making recommendations
29:28
Speaker 1: in addition to looking at their labs and understanding what's
29:32
Speaker 1: happening physiologically. So every single person is different based on
29:38
Speaker 1: so many factors, and we're gonna dive in and make
29:42
Speaker 1: sure we have addressed the things that we need to
29:45
Speaker 1: address while we're moving forward. And in I should say,
29:49
Speaker 1: in addition to making sure they have other providers on
29:53
Speaker 1: their team if that needs to be a mental health
29:55
Speaker 1: practitioner to address some trauma, or a medical provider who
30:00
Speaker 1: could be doing further testing or prescribing if needed, We're
30:05
Speaker 1: going to kind of sit with them in the entirety
30:08
Speaker 1: of the case so that we can see it fully.
30:12
Speaker 1: As opposed to saying, hey, get off of glutenbery and
30:16
Speaker 1: sugar and all will be okay. That could be very
30:19
Speaker 1: triggering for some folks and they probably have done it
30:22
Speaker 1: and have histories with it, and so that understanding for us.
30:28
Speaker 1: I would say, I know it's not the answer we
30:30
Speaker 1: often want, but I think when people feel heard and
30:35
Speaker 1: partnered with, it's such a relief to move forward because
30:41
Speaker 1: so many of us have not had that experience in
30:45
Speaker 1: our healthcare.
30:46
Speaker 2: Definitely, And you know, I appreciate the take on this,
30:50
Speaker 2: which is everyone is different, and I can offer you
30:53
Speaker 2: some loose guidance, but I'm not going to sit here
30:56
Speaker 2: and lay out a plan that every single person can follow.
31:00
Speaker 2: It doesn't work that way. As a functional nutritionist, I
31:05
Speaker 2: do feel compelled having been a victim, and also on
31:11
Speaker 2: the editorial side, so many times when individuals are like, well,
31:14
Speaker 2: what should I do for inflammation? What should I eat
31:17
Speaker 2: for inflammation? I know there's no one size fits all
31:19
Speaker 2: answer to this, but is there anything that we should
31:22
Speaker 2: be wary of or perhaps cautious of while moving forward
31:26
Speaker 2: with our diet in an inflammatory state?
31:30
Speaker 1: Yes, there are foods that are more inflammatory than others,
31:34
Speaker 1: and there are food categories that are more inflammatory than others.
31:38
Speaker 1: So for each of us as individuals, there are going
31:41
Speaker 1: to be some distinctions. However, there are categories like sugar,
31:46
Speaker 1: refined sugar that can be very inflammatory and also impact
31:52
Speaker 1: of the immune system's ability to do its jobs. So
31:56
Speaker 1: white blood cells do get suppressed in the presence of
32:00
Speaker 1: refined sugar. So I like to help people find other
32:04
Speaker 1: ways to get their sweet tooth filled because we need
32:07
Speaker 1: that joy, and we need sweetness in our lives. But
32:10
Speaker 1: looking at refined sugar and processed foods and even alcohol
32:15
Speaker 1: in relation to our symptoms is helpful because of the
32:20
Speaker 1: body's response both from an immune function and a hormonal function,
32:25
Speaker 1: and really starting to make those connections between how we feel.
32:30
Speaker 1: I could go further with other inflammatory food categories, but
32:34
Speaker 1: it does get tricky into the recommendation area where I
32:38
Speaker 1: think people either get hyper vigilant or shut down because
32:44
Speaker 1: you just don't want to hear it anymore and it
32:47
Speaker 1: didn't work for you. But it can. It just needs
32:50
Speaker 1: to be with the right support and understanding.
32:53
Speaker 2: Right right, So instead of immediately jumping in and I
32:57
Speaker 2: love that your takeaway from the concept of that these
33:02
Speaker 2: sugars can be inflammatory is not well get rid of
33:06
Speaker 2: every ounce of sugar in your life, because we know
33:09
Speaker 2: that that's not realistic for many.
33:11
Speaker 1: So how can.
33:13
Speaker 2: We integrate the things that bring us joy in a
33:16
Speaker 2: way that's responsible and then in turn can help us
33:19
Speaker 2: feel better in our bodies. That is what I am
33:22
Speaker 2: all about.
33:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so many more options these days than when
33:28
Speaker 1: I started in practice and had to make everything by hand.
33:32
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm in Portland, Oregon, and I got an
33:35
Speaker 1: ice cream sandwich at the grocery store that's made like
33:39
Speaker 1: in small batches, from a women owned company in San
33:42
Speaker 1: Francisco that had no refined sugar at all. It was
33:46
Speaker 1: coconut sugar and some maple syrup. And like, how delightful
33:51
Speaker 1: to be able to enjoy an ice cream sandwich on
33:54
Speaker 1: my porch, but know that I'm not going to wake
33:57
Speaker 1: up with my swollen eyes the next day.
34:01
Speaker 2: We love it. We love avoiding swollen eyes whenever possible.
34:05
Speaker 1: Is there anything.
34:06
Speaker 2: Else that we should add to this topic of inflammation
34:09
Speaker 2: before we start to wind things down here?
34:12
Speaker 1: I think it's just that notion that we can calm
34:17
Speaker 1: the entire system through our ability to come into the parasympathetic,
34:24
Speaker 1: the rest and digest, and to recognize, especially women, especially,
34:32
Speaker 1: you know, people who are driven, that we're often in
34:35
Speaker 1: a sympathetic driven state, and that that is not supporting
34:40
Speaker 1: our immune system or our inflammatory response as well. So
34:44
Speaker 1: an invitation to rest and digest we love that.
34:48
Speaker 2: We love an invitation to rest and digest and articulating
34:50
Speaker 2: for yourself what that looks like, what our habits or
34:53
Speaker 2: practices in your regular routine that don't need to take
34:56
Speaker 2: up a ton of time, but that can help you
34:57
Speaker 2: come back to center so that you can show up
35:00
Speaker 2: not only be a better you, but then your body
35:02
Speaker 2: you can also be a better body. I am so
35:05
Speaker 2: excited that we were able to do this. Andrea, thank
35:08
Speaker 2: you so much for making the time. How do the
35:10
Speaker 2: hurdlers follow along with you? How do they keep up
35:13
Speaker 2: with you? Give us your details?
35:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you for asking. You can always find me
35:18
Speaker 1: at Andria Nakayama dot com. That's a lot of a's
35:22
Speaker 1: and that'll lead you to the Functional Nutrition Alliance, the training,
35:26
Speaker 1: the blog, also my podcast, so everything can be found
35:30
Speaker 1: there in addition to any work that I'm doing to
35:34
Speaker 1: further support patients.
35:36
Speaker 2: Perfect I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle
35:38
Speaker 2: Podcast Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.
36:00
Speaker 1: Attatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatas