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The Seven Foundations For Optimal Health With Jamie Belz · Origin Matters

• Spencer Macintyre: Hey everyone and welcome back to Origin Matters. I'm joined with Jamie, who's the host of the Body Wisdom Podcast and a business development specialist for the Nutritional Therapy Association. Today we're going to be discussing the seven foundations for optimal health. And I thought before I get started, maybe it'd be good if you could introduce yourself a little bit more and maybe a little bit about how you first heard of Orivo and where we first connected. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me, Spencer. I'm excited to be here and ⁓ be a guest. It's always fun to be on other people's podcasts. It's like there's no lift on my side. I just get to show up and talk and then you have all the hard work on the back end. So yeah, I mean, I quick background. So I actually was the director of marketing for a hospital several years ago ⁓ and just kind of f ⁓ found like I ⁓ love wellness space, but that wasn't really the wellness space I thought it was. And so Spencer Macintyre: Yeah. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: I ended up, story short, you'll have to bring me back for a different episode to how I actually ended up finding the ⁓ the nutritional therapy association. But I went through their education, ⁓ their training program, became a nutritional therapy practitioner, ⁓ it just rocked my world. It changed absolutely everything about everything for me. It really did. It's like this is a whole different way of looking at it. And it was very aha. We'll talk about those foundations that I learned in a moment. But but it just it also in ⁓ In going through the education, I was introduced to so many new people and different organizations that I had no idea existed. And biotics research was one of them. And actually, during the COVID season, ⁓ worked with biotics for a period of time, loved the organization. They're a nutraceutical company. ⁓ And where I was able to be introduced to Orivo and understanding the importance of truly knowing what we're eating, the quality, because that's the hardest part. People are like, well, you know, can you eat? Like, is this healthy for you? It's like, well, it depends. it this version of that or is it this version of that? You know, a 100% organic grass fed burger that's grilled at home, you know, in my kitchen is very nutrient dense versus other burgers on the market not so nutrient dense. And so I loved what Orivo is doing and and you and still do. I I love I love knowing you guys and it's been a lot of fun getting to promote you along the way. Spencer Macintyre: Yeah, I think that from our previous discussions I've always learnt that you've been really into ⁓ where products come from, you know, what say if it's ⁓ if it's beef, what it's eating and the importance behind the sort of holistic viewpoint as well. So I think that Orivo really aligned and and I think that's why you're a a bit of an advocate for us. ⁓ Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yeah. And we have to care. They did a study, ⁓ it was actually an investigation, not even a study, it was like a legal proceeding. the New York Attorney General years ago, they did an investigation into Walmart, Walgreens, Target, and G&C and they found that eighty percent of supplements tested contained zero percent of label claims. Zero percent. And that's insane. I mean, that's so wild. And that's statistically like speaking, that's still the case. And so if people are just going and grabbing supplements, grabbing that fish oil, you know, the five gallon bucket of fish oil capsules that discount prices from Costco, that might not be real fish oil. And this is where companies like yours help us as the consumer to know what we can trust. Spencer Macintyre: that's Yeah, that's a good point. And ⁓ I think in particular supplements, because when people are purchasing supplements, that's normally 'cause they're looking to improve their their health in in one way. ⁓ it is also important in the foods that you eat because it's the same thing. You can either eat ⁓ food as medicine or as food. I think it's Steve Jobs that said that. So ⁓ trying to work out ⁓ what something actually is is Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yeah, yeah. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hippocrates said that. Spencer Macintyre: Was it all dropped? well. ⁓ got the the the last one from him. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: For Steve Jobs. It's fantastic. I love that that just that just happened. No, there's another quote. It's one I was just quoting it to my kids this morning. It's Ann Wigmore, she was a nutritional pioneer, and she said, The foods we eat are either the form of medicine or the slowest form of poison. Spencer Macintyre: It's good point. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yeah. And that actually brings us into, if you don't mind, if we ⁓ jump into the things that actually make us healthy. So at the NTA, the Nutritional Therapy Association, we call these things the foundations of health because they truly are foundational to all other things. And that's talking about whether you're getting a surgery, you're taking a supplement, you're ⁓ on a prescription, you're running a marathon, whatever it is that you are doing, you will do it more efficiently and effectively your job. Spencer Macintyre: Yeah, let's get into it. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: In life, like everything you do will be better if you have these foundations of health properly fortified. And the first most important one is a nutrient dense diet. And I will say you cannot supplement your way out of a real food diet that is made of whole clean foods that are properly prepared include a variety of animal fats and proteins, clean animal fats and proteins that some people are like, ⁓ Well, that's not healthy for you. Well, yeah. If it's, you know, conventionally, you know, feedlot beef and stuff, then then that's a different conversation. I'm talking about real nutrient-dense whole foods. We need to be eating those and the secret sauce in all of the things that I'm going to say today is per your bio-individual body, because everybody is different. There is no one size fits all approach. And so we have to make sure that the healthiest diet for me, you know, is. Likely not the exact same healthiest diet for you, Spencer, or someone listening right now. And so we have to hone in on what that is. So nutrient dense diet is foundation of health number one. Spencer Macintyre: Okay, that makes sense. So yeah, 'cause ⁓ I understand that everyone's body is different and ⁓ some people might react better to a high carb diet or a high protein diet, for example, but at the end of the day if it's high nutrient, then that's where you need to start. So that's that's number one. What's number two? Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Mm-hmm. Digestion, because if you're eating the healthiest diet in the world for your bioindividual self, but you're not properly digesting it, you're not able to actually break it down to the point where you're able to absorb and assimilate those nutrients, then that's a problem. And so digestion starts in the brain. You know, we all have you smell that good food and your salivary glands start kicking out and that. Your sal your saliva actually has enzymes that start that digestive process for you. And so while that's happening, your stomach is being bathed with acids because it's ready to receive food. This is how it's supposed to work. I have some podcast episodes that you can go back and listen to. ⁓ there's one phenomenal episode that is by our founder, Gray Graham, and he talks, it's called digestive hell because he talks about how sadly this is like the normal way of digestion nowadays. It's like just flying 80 miles an hour down an interstate highway shoving cheeseburgers. You just picked up Spencer Macintyre: Yeah. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Through a window into the backseat for your kids and the stress and all the things. That's not how it's supposed to be. We're supposed to calm ourselves so our body is in a parasympathetic state, not stressed out. We want to be calm and we want to chew our food thoroughly ⁓ make sure that we're not drinking like too many carbonated beverages. ⁓ way we do it is pretty much, you know, you sit at a table in a restaurant, you're gulping down ⁓ ⁓ or cold something, you know. No. Try to sit down, relax, take some deep breaths, and ⁓ chew your food thoroughly. And that's the best way to start digestion properly. Spencer Macintyre: That makes a lot of sense. What's the ⁓ optimal number of chews or is it just does it depend on what type of food it is? ⁓ Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: I mean, ideally we chew until it's liquid. You think of ⁓ the more you break it down, the more surface area that acid has to act upon. And so you your stomach doesn't have teeth. So you really need to to chew it to the point that that you you can. I mean, ⁓ too many people are going like chew choo gulp, right? We need we need it to be far more towards the liquid side before you swallow than that. Spencer Macintyre: It's a good way to look at it. Cool. What's ⁓ the foundation number three? Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Number three is proper hydration. ⁓ that's a really important one that we overlook. Drinking clean water with the minerals intact. Those trace minerals are electrolytes. ⁓ ⁓ there's a whole episode on that. I actually did an episode. ⁓ Spencer, you gotta go watch my water episode. It's called Dehydration Nation. You gotta see that one. I'm sorry, I will stop talking about that, but it's a fantastic one. But hydration, good, clean water. I mean, we are electrical beings. By molecular ratio, we're ninety-nine point nine nine percent water. And so that's ⁓ you know, volume we're we're ⁓ you know, we're looking at at more this like anywhere from fifty to seventy percent people will say. ⁓ if you look at it molecular ratio wise, we're we're a lot of water. And so we need to make sure that we're giving our body good clean water that helps with digestion, it helps with detoxification, it helps with all the other things too. So it is foundational as well. Spencer Macintyre: Is the number still eight glasses per day or is that ⁓ just just for adults or do kids need more or what's the sort of guidelines? Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: You're spot on with asking about the bioindividuality factor. There is kind of that ⁓ drink your body weight. So you look at your body weight ⁓ Okay. So body weight in pounds, and then divide that by two. And that's the ounces of water that you should strive for every day. That's generally what people say. ⁓ but ⁓ think start by drinking a good glass of water in the morning. Our bodies are better able to absorb water earlier in the day versus late at night. And it's actually better that way too, because we don't want to drink a bun. We don't to get to the end of the and you're like, ⁓ no, I have my eight glasses of water to drink. And then you drink it all before bed and then you mess up your sleep, you know, because you're getting out to use the bathroom. So try to drink, try to get your water in early in the morning. Put some sea salt, some lemon, fresh squeezed citrus in there. That's fantastic too. And Spencer Macintyre: Yeah. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: ⁓ trace mineral drops can be great. There are a couple different I don't I don't ⁓ I don't have any affiliations with anybody for that, but we use ⁓ a concentrace drops, it's called it's the brand is concentrace and we add that to our reverse osmosis water because that's something important to know. A lot of people are drinking of reverse osmosis water, but they're not recognizing that has nothing ⁓ it. ⁓ ⁓ and so as it's as it's coming out barren, right? 'Cause they pulled all the minerals and everything to make this good, clean RL water. So you gotta add those those minerals back in, otherwise it's it's not helping you as much as you think it is as you're drinking that water throughout the day. Spencer Macintyre: ⁓ so it can be too pure as well. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Well, and two pure to the point where it's then it's seeking out kind of like ⁓ the magnetism of it, right? It's seeking out those minerals and so it's hungry water and it can actually pull it. So it actually can be damaging. So not even just like but like actually not good for you. Spencer Macintyre: It's super interesting. And then ⁓ on to number four, what's the the fourth foundation? Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Number four is the one nobody wants to talk about. It's blood sugar regulation. We have to be ensuring that by our diets and our stress levels, because both can drive our blood sugar dysregulation. And ⁓ we see it statistically speaking, our diabetes rates are off the chart in the Western world. And so we really do need to go straight ⁓ or carnivore or you know, I'm not saying that you have to jump into those, although. If you're having some blood sugar dysregulation issues, like riding the blood sugar roller coaster, which is an example give to people all the time is we wake up in the morning and what do we do? We ⁓ some coffee, crush some carbs, tons of sweets attached to both of those things, ⁓ of sugar in there, and we head out the door and we're just, you know, tacked out. So our body is like, whoa, we've so much glucose in our system. We need to pump out that insulin. That insulin is like the key that kind of opens up all the storage spaces. So, What happens is our blood sugar plummets. So like 10 30 in the morning, we're just like dragging. So what do we do? We head for an energy drink, another coffee, some kind of sugar boost or something. And then we're back up again and we're ramped and we're good. But then our body's like, ⁓ no, so much glucose. I need to store this. We don't need this energy at this level. So it flushes it all into a lot of times it's just going straight into adipose tissue, right? People think fat makes you fat, but we gotta take a look at the sugar side of things. But ⁓ Very complex, but this is this is kind of this the simplistic overview of it. But nonetheless, so that blood sugar comes back down, ⁓ we're slumped again, but we get a boost at lunch. We slump about 2:30 in the afternoon. People are like, ⁓ I need something again. So we come back up, we crash back down, we eat something when we get home, maybe, or maybe it's dinner time, ⁓ then we get that boost again, and then we nestle into whatever our evening activity is. ⁓ Oftentimes sedentary, whether that's watching a kid's sport or sitting on the couch or whatever. And then what do we start craving? Carbohydrates. We're never hungry for steak and eggs before bed, right? We want like the popcorn and the ice cream and the cereal and the chips. And that's our body on this blood sugar roller coaster. We're just calling for that sugar because our brains have figured out we don't have to actually tap into our stored fat and like really make this so much work for ourselves. We can just call for more sugar. Spencer Macintyre: More sugar. Yeah. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: And we have all kinds of energy to go for like, you know, an hour. ⁓ gotta get off the blood sugar roller coaster. That's really important for a multitude of reasons. having having glucose levels that are at the that they are for, you know, the average person today is not ⁓ it's not for you. And ⁓ so that's a big key component to all of this is getting those blood sugar levels managed with a balanced diet. Spencer Macintyre: Super interesting. Yeah. I think it's and I guess it probably comes back to that same trying to work out what diet works best for you 'cause it's not going to be universal, but ⁓ probably adapting and playing and ⁓ testing different things. But trying to get off the roller coaster as quick as you can is probably ⁓ wise advice. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yes. Yep. that leads us into the next one. The the fifth one is restorative sleep. ⁓ ⁓ blood sugar can really just wreak havoc on our quality sleep that we're trying to get. So ⁓ as I mentioned, you have this craving sugar then at night. A lot of people will eat some carbohydrates, eat that sugar at night, ⁓ then they go to bed. And even if ⁓ able fall asleep. A lot of people wake up at like two thirty in the morning and they're not able to fall back asleep again. And that's because they've done this blood sugar dip and back up again. And that's not the only reason we don't get restorative sleep. Our bodies really desperately need restorative sleep. We have the melatonin levels are coming up in the evening to tell us go to bed. So when you hit those carb cravings at night, know that your melatonin is coming up, your cortisol is going down, and your body's saying, Go to bed. Don't give me simple sugars, go to bed. That's actually what you need. And ⁓ sleep is done best in a completely blacked out environment. Any bit of light has been shown to disrupt melatonin production. We know we we often talk about melatonin in relation to sleep, but melatonin has some anti carcinogenic properties to it. It's really health benefiting in a multitude of ways. ⁓ it's a fascinating and not entirely understood yet property in our bodies. And so, but do know that a good night's sleep, and again, that's bio individual. Are you waking up feeling restored or are you, you know, one eyed slapping at your alarm and hating life in the morning? Like get some sleep. Best pre-workout, good night's sleep. Spencer Macintyre: Hm, interesting. And ⁓ do you do you normally recommend melatonin the supplement to people that might struggle with getting to sleep? Or is it ⁓ do you find that that's not normally like a another deficiency that someone is better to try and get to the root cause of or? Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: I'll tell you what, I supplemented with melatonin for a period of time. I think, and this is the beauty of bioindividuality, right? Like be your case study of one. Try it on yourself and see if it works. I found personally that I am not in a camp of believing in supplemental melatonin. what I found was if I'm eating a good nutrient-dense diet, getting my water in earlier in the day, managing my blood sugar, getting good movement. And I have a completely blacked out room. I I sleep so well if I'm doing all of the right things to make my sleep environment good. And so there are there are school a lot of the authorities in this space are like, yes, supplement with melatonin. I'm not one of them, but that doesn't mean that it's not for anyone. Spencer Macintyre: Mm, interesting. cool, and then are we on to number six? ⁓ Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yes, number six is joyful movement. The best kind of exercise is the kind you will do. And so understanding that again, bioindividually at different phases in my life, different workouts have been appropriate. So when you're really busy, really stressed, a HIT workout or joining CrossFit might not be your best option because that's just gonna stress your body on a level that we really need to not be stressing our bodies. ⁓ so maybe you know, like. Peaceful walks outside in nature, going for a run outside, doing some gardening, dancing is a fantastic sport, swimming, all kinds of things. A variety is beneficial. I think resistance training is necessary. So get some weights, lift some heavy things. It doesn't mean you have to go to the gym even. Just lift heavy things and carry them around for a while. Get your body moving so that it, it has to, has to build itself up. It breaks it down and rebuilds it. That's a good thing for us to do versus just sitting all the time. And ⁓ and again, I say joyful movement 'cause I think if you're doing it right, you're loving it and you crave more of it. Spencer Macintyre: Sure, I guess that's probably similar advice to the best diet is the diet that you stick to, right? Because if there's a diet that you hate and you're forcing yourself not to be able to eat certain foods or ⁓ calorie restrictions or or those types of things, then it's ⁓ gonna be something that doesn't last. But if it's something that you feel works well for your body, you enjoy it. If it's playing a a a game of football or soccer or or something like that and if that's what you enjoy then it's it's probably healthy for you and and quite good for you. So Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Absolutely. And and these are all incremental steps too. You know, you probably won't enjoy any of these things if you switch from a completely like conventional diet you've been eating out at restaurants or eating hyper palatable, you know, foods that are engineered to keep you coming back for more. If you've if you're used to the chemical taste in those foods and then you switch to an entirely natural diet, you might not find joy in that. The movement space is the same thing. And so Ease into it, meet yourself where you're at and make incremental steps, always targeting your optimal way of doing it. But I'm thankful that you brought that up because that is really true. It's find something that you will do, but set your sights on where you want to be. Spencer Macintyre: No, and that's a good analogy that you brought it back to even swapping across to different types of food because there is a a ⁓ of joy that having a cheeseburger combo or something like that brings. And a in a milkshake it it can be ⁓ it will release a lot of ⁓ dopamine or or these types of feel good ⁓ feelings in your brain. And then I'm sure that the initial period where you ⁓ if you try to switch completely over will be quite challenging, but it doesn't mean it's bad though, right? ⁓ Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yes. Sometimes food like grandma grandmas make food sometimes it's made with more love than nutritional value. But there's something beautiful for the soul that it does when you're eating those delicious treats from grandmas, right? on to the last one. You ready? Spencer Macintyre: up. Yeah, I'm ready for the last one. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: All right, the last one is our stress. And say it in a variety of different ways because we talk about like balancing stress or managing stress. But the truth is, what we really want to do is offload as much of our toxic load, our toxic burden, the stressful burden that we have that we carry from your traditional stressors that we think about, like work stress or financial stress, relational stress, those types of things that are ⁓ more mental and emotional. But we also are living in a world where we're kind of slimming in toxins nowadays and it's coming at us through our food and our water and our air and the things that we're putting on our skin and the things that we're allowing into us through our eyeballs and the screen, the doomsday scrolls, you know, the the reading the news or you know, our s I talk often about our phones, our like the job of advertising is to make you feel inadequate without whatever they're selling you. And like putting all kinds of toxins into your body is going to Spencer Macintyre: Yeah. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: create an inflammatory state. It's gonna bog everything down. And so, so trying to do whatever you can to reduce the toxins going in and thereby manage your overall stress burden is going to be a fantastic foundational thing to do as well. Spencer Macintyre: That's super interesting. And think you're so right that stress comes in many different forms, even like ⁓ running puts a stress on your body and your body needs to repair it. But that's sort of quite a healthy one. But you're that you can go onto Instagram and see lots of ⁓ successful that you think you should be achieving at this ⁓ age you don't realize it, but it sort of subconsciously puts a layer of stress on and yeah. So how how what's the sort of steps of of how you would try and identify or reduce stress or try and work out like what the initial steps are there. What does that sort of typically look like? Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Such a great question, and ⁓ honestly, we just have to become students of ⁓ really think that you know, finding time to have peaceful silence, prayer, and meditation every single day is a fun fantastic place to start with just quiet of the noise, the distractions, and really just sit with yourself and our creator for a period of time, right? Like, like have that, but I also I really think that educating ourselves so that we know this food versus this food. This one's toxic and this one's not, or these ingredients I respond terribly to, or you know, those types of things when it comes to our food, understanding what's in our water, making sure that we're drinking good, you know, all of these things. It's it it's about educating ourselves so that we're not unknowingly poisoning ourselves, because that's the case for a lot of people. I'm I'm I'm sorrowful to say that it it really is about educating ourselves so we can avoid those things. Beauty products, you know, man, I think the average woman is putting in like 15 things a day. the majority of them are not life-giving healthful nutrients. So so educate yourself in this space so you know what you're putting in and on your body. And and that's a good place to start. Spencer Macintyre: Hm, interesting. Well, fifteen products is a lot. Yeah. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Yeah. Yeah. It's expensive too. Spencer Macintyre: Sure it is, yeah. Yeah, was just gonna say it's been great having you on and and thanks for sharing these seven foundations for optimal health. It's been really nice ⁓ catching up with you, Jamie. And I'm sure we'll see each other at a at a conference coming up shortly. And ⁓ yeah, I really appreciate you stopping by and and helping us with the podcast today. Jamie Belz, FNTP, MHC: Sounds good. Tell your team hi, Spencer. Thanks for having me. Spencer Macintyre: ⁓ day. Thanks a lot.