0
SPEAKER_05
This is the story of how a group of people brought music back to Afghanistan by creating their own version of American Idol.
0
SPEAKER_05
The joy they brought to the nation.
0
SPEAKER_05
You re free completely.
0
SPEAKER_05
No one is there to destroy you.
0
SPEAKER_05
The danger they endured.
0
SPEAKER_04
They said my head should be cut off.
0
SPEAKER_05
I m John Legend.
0
SPEAKER_05
Listen to Afghan Star on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0
SPEAKER_00
Hey everyone, this is Molly and Matt, and we re the hosts of Grown Up Stuff How to Adult, a podcast from Ruby Studio and iHeart Podcasts.
0
SPEAKER_03
It s a show dedicated to helping you figure out the trickiest parts of adulting.
0
SPEAKER_00
Like how to start planning for retirement, creating a healthy skincare routine, understanding when and how much to tip someone, and so much more.
0
SPEAKER_03
Let s learn about all of it and then some.
0
SPEAKER_03
Listen to Grown Up Stuff How to Adult on America s number one podcast network, iHeart.
0
SPEAKER_03
Open your free iHeart app and search Grown Up Stuff.
0
SPEAKER_04
Guess what, Will?
0
SPEAKER_04
What s up, Mango?
0
SPEAKER_04
I ve been trying to write a promo for our podcast, Part-Time Genius, but even though we ve done over 250 episodes, we don t really talk about murders or cults.
0
SPEAKER_04
I mean, we did just cover the Illuminati of cheese, so I feel like that makes us pretty edgy.
0
SPEAKER_04
We also solve mysteries like how Chinese is your Chinese food and how do dollar stores make money?
0
SPEAKER_04
And then, of course, can you game a dog show?
0
SPEAKER_04
So what you re saying is everyone should be listening.
0
SPEAKER_04
Listen to Part-Time Genius on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
0
SPEAKER_01
Hey, everyone.
0
SPEAKER_01
Welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world.
0
SPEAKER_01
Thanks to each and every single one of you that come back every week to listen, learn, and grow.
0
SPEAKER_01
And I m so excited to be talking to you today.
0
SPEAKER_01
I can t believe it.
0
SPEAKER_01
My new book, Eight Rules of Love, is out, and I cannot wait to share it with you.
0
SPEAKER_01
I am so, so excited for you to read this book, for you to listen to this book.
0
SPEAKER_01
I read the audiobook.
0
SPEAKER_01
If you haven t got it already,
0
SPEAKER_01
make sure you go to 8rulesoflove.com.
0
SPEAKER_01
It s dedicated to anyone who s trying to find, keep, or let go of love.
0
SPEAKER_01
So if you ve got friends that are dating, broken up, or struggling with love, make sure you grab this book.
0
SPEAKER_01
And I d love to invite you to come and see me for my global tour, Love Rules.
0
SPEAKER_01
Go to jscheddytour.com to learn more information about tickets, VIP experiences, and more.
0
SPEAKER_01
I can t wait to see you this year.
0
SPEAKER_01
Now, if you ve been listening lately, you ve been hearing me repeat this mantra, happy, healthy, and healing.
0
SPEAKER_01
This is something I ve been repeating to myself a lot recently.
0
SPEAKER_01
I m happy, I m healthy, I m healing.
0
SPEAKER_01
It s been making a big difference in my life.
0
SPEAKER_01
And I know that you re here because you want to be happy, you want to be healthy, and you want to heal.
0
SPEAKER_01
Now, today s guest is someone who talks about that in such a phenomenal way, and everything from the gut
0
SPEAKER_01
to the brain, to what we digest every day, to our feelings and our traumas and how they affect the chemicals inside of our body and our mind.
0
SPEAKER_01
I m talking about Dr. Will Cole, a leading functional medicine expert who consults people around the globe, starting one of the first functional medicine telehealth centers in the world over a decade ago.
0
SPEAKER_01
Named one of the top 50 functional and integrative doctors in the nation, Dr. Wilcol provides a functional medicine approach for thyroid issues, autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, and brain problems.
0
SPEAKER_01
Dr. Will Cole is also the host of the popular The Art of Being Well podcast.
0
SPEAKER_01
Make sure you check it out.
0
SPEAKER_01
The New York Times bestselling author of Intuitive Fasting, The Inflammation Spectrum, and the brand new book, Gut Feelings, Healing the Shame-Fueled Relationship Between What You Eat and How You Feel.
0
SPEAKER_01
If you don t have that book yet, I want you to go and order right now.
0
SPEAKER_01
feelings.
0
SPEAKER_01
We are going to put the link in the show notes.
0
SPEAKER_01
Make sure you grab a copy as you re listening right now or watching.
0
SPEAKER_01
Dr. Will Cole, thank you for being here.
0
SPEAKER_01
I need you to be my hype man every day, man.
0
SPEAKER_02
That s a great way to start your day.
0
SPEAKER_01
Oh, thank you, man.
0
SPEAKER_01
Thank you.
0
SPEAKER_01
Well, I always say to my guests, I m like, you had to live all of that.
0
SPEAKER_01
So you actually had to do it.
0
SPEAKER_01
Thanks.
0
SPEAKER_01
But I also want to... Can I call you Will?
0
SPEAKER_01
Of course, yeah.
0
SPEAKER_01
I just want to say, for everyone who s watching, Will took a flight this morning from Pittsburgh to New York City to be on the show.
0
SPEAKER_01
I appreciate him so much for doing that.
0
SPEAKER_01
Of course, of course.
0
SPEAKER_01
I really, really value that.
0
SPEAKER_01
I love connecting with people in person.
0
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I m happy to be here.
0
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, and I can t wait to dive in.
0
SPEAKER_01
I was just saying to you earlier that our community, our audience here at On Purpose really loves learning and really loves getting really practical, applicable tools when it comes to their health.
0
SPEAKER_01
I think one of the things that, by the way, I love the name of the new book, like Gut Feelings.
0
SPEAKER_01
I think the gut has often been so ignored in the conversation.
0
SPEAKER_01
We often talk about, how do you feel up here?
0
SPEAKER_01
What s your head saying?
0
SPEAKER_01
And then we feel about the heart versus the head.
0
SPEAKER_01
And I feel like the gut was forgotten for so long.
0
SPEAKER_01
Why is the gut so important in that conversation?
0
SPEAKER_01
And why should it not be ignored?
0
SPEAKER_02
You re right.
0
SPEAKER_02
And even, I think we ve come a long way in the past 12 years since I ve been in functional medicine.
0
SPEAKER_02
people growing awareness, but we re still scratching the surface.
0
SPEAKER_02
I realize I m probably talking to more of the health nerds, and it s not the general population.
0
SPEAKER_02
So we have a far way to go.
0
SPEAKER_02
And our gut is a major part of our health, but you don t necessarily have to have extreme digestive symptoms to have underlying gut components to why you feel the way that you do.
0
SPEAKER_02
So your gut and brain are actually formed from the same fetal tissue.
0
SPEAKER_02
So when babies are growing in their mother s womb, they re formed from that same fetal tissue, and they re inextricably linked for the rest of our lives through what s known as the gut-brain axis, or the connection between the gut and the brain.
0
SPEAKER_02
95% of serotonin, our happy neurotransmitter, it s made in the gut, stored in the gut.
0
SPEAKER_02
50% of dopamine is made in the gut, stored in the gut.
0
SPEAKER_02
And if you think about it, the intestines kind of even resemble the brain.
0
SPEAKER_02
And the vagus nerve is what really innervates and connects both the gut and the brain.
0
SPEAKER_02
Researchers call the gut the second brain.
0
SPEAKER_02
We have to understand, to understand so much of what ails modern society, we have to understand gut health.
0
SPEAKER_02
And it s no coincidence that most of probably your listeners would know, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, he said, all disease begins in the gut.
0
SPEAKER_02
Well, if disease begins in the gut,
0
SPEAKER_02
So does healing begin in the gut.
0
SPEAKER_02
And it s also home to 75% of the immune system.
0
SPEAKER_02
Inflammation is a product of the immune system.
0
SPEAKER_02
And you look at the epidemic rise of autoimmune problems, and really inflammation is a commonality between just about every health problem, autoimmune issues, metabolic issues, hormonal problems, to
0
SPEAKER_02
really researched looking at what s known as the cytokine model of cognitive function, how inflammation impacts how our brains work.
0
SPEAKER_02
So things like anxiety and depression, fatigue, all have their roots in not only inflammation, but also the gut-brain connection.
0
SPEAKER_02
So it is the far-reaching implications of this is vast.
0
SPEAKER_02
We have to understand it to deal with it.
0
SPEAKER_01
And what are some of the biggest mistakes we re making when it comes to our gut?
0
SPEAKER_01
Like, what are the things that I think you would say that we re just so unaware of or unsure about that are causing gut challenges?
0
SPEAKER_01
I think the interesting thing about gut issues is that when you figure out that you have something you re concerned about, and you start talking to your friend or someone, you realize everyone has it, but no one talks about it.
0
SPEAKER_01
It s not like one of those things that people share very openly.
0
SPEAKER_01
But you start recognizing, wow, everyone has digestive issues.
0
SPEAKER_01
Everyone s having some sort of inflammation.
0
SPEAKER_01
Everyone s having this kind of thing.
0
SPEAKER_01
So what are some of the habits, traits that you think have kind of become widespread that is actually taking us down this road that maybe we re just not aware of enough?
0
SPEAKER_02
What I m always telling my patients is just because something s common doesn t necessarily mean it s normal.
0
SPEAKER_02
Just because it s your everyday doesn t mean you should settle for it.
0
SPEAKER_02
And I really can t tell you how many times when I m talking to somebody online and we re going through their systems of their body and they have these aha moments of, whoa, I thought that was just me.
0
SPEAKER_02
I thought that was just
0
SPEAKER_02
my lot in life because I have it every day.
0
SPEAKER_02
But I think they need to, we as a human race need to take inventory and kind of get in our bodies and know that you teach about this eloquently of just being aware and mindful of how our body works because it may be your every day, but it doesn t mean it should be normalized.
0
SPEAKER_02
So, I mean, we could talk about digestion and you re right, people don t want to talk about it.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s very normal for me to talk about poop at my office.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s like,
0
SPEAKER_02
And then I look across the telehealth, across the internet, and I realize it s not as normal as I think it is.
0
SPEAKER_02
I see their partner like, oh, we ve never talked about this before.
0
SPEAKER_02
We get real, real fast.
0
SPEAKER_02
But it s important because it s a window into probably lots of other things in your body.
0
SPEAKER_02
But it s normal to have one to two, we say, snakes a day, as far as bowel movements are concerned, on the Bristol chart.
0
SPEAKER_02
Many people go two, three days without a normal bowel movement, or it s always loose, or always really
1
SPEAKER_01
and like pebbles, that s not normal.
1
SPEAKER_01
Your bowel movements are a window into your overall health.
1
SPEAKER_01
So we start there, but then we look at energy levels throughout your day.
1
SPEAKER_01
Do you need lots of sugar and caffeine to get through the day?
1
SPEAKER_01
That s not normal, but that s a lot of people s everyday, certainly.
1
SPEAKER_01
Do you have ravenous cravings of food?
1
SPEAKER_01
Do you have trouble losing weight?
1
SPEAKER_01
Do you have hair loss?
1
SPEAKER_01
Do you have skin problems?
1
SPEAKER_01
These are all, we call them functional medicine.
1
SPEAKER_01
These are like check engine lights.
1
SPEAKER_01
Check engine lights on, but why?
1
SPEAKER_01
The body s telling us something.
1
SPEAKER_01
We have to go upstream or get to the root cause of why you have the problem in the first place.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and I think for a lot of people it becomes hard because I found for a long time as well that as I became more aware of these things, and as I sought after help,
1
SPEAKER_00
It was really difficult to find good personalized advice because you ll see everyone say, well, you have to drink this one thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
You have to do this one thing, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
It becomes this fad.
1
SPEAKER_00
And some things help and some things don t.
1
SPEAKER_00
And you don t know how they re all interconnected.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I feel like people get quite stuck.
1
SPEAKER_00
And that s why I love books like yours and podcasts like yours, because people can kind of follow along and go, OK, I m dealing with this challenge.
1
SPEAKER_00
One of the things that I love that you talked about was the process you call shameflammation.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I wanted to talk about how can one begin to confront that?
1
SPEAKER_01
So shameflammation, you know this, as writing books and educating people and speaking, you ll wake up in the middle of the night like, oh, that s a good way of conveying what I m trying to say.
1
SPEAKER_01
Because you see it play out in people s lives all the time.
1
SPEAKER_01
I see it on an hourly basis when I m consulting patients.
1
SPEAKER_01
People that eat really clean, they are working out.
1
SPEAKER_01
They re doing all the wellness stuff.
1
SPEAKER_01
They go to Air One.
1
SPEAKER_01
They do all the things you re supposed to do.
1
SPEAKER_00
That s me, by the way.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I m one of those people that I m like, I eat cleaner than 99% of my friends.
1
SPEAKER_00
I work out.
1
SPEAKER_00
I stay healthy.
1
SPEAKER_00
I don t drink alcohol.
1
SPEAKER_00
I don t smoke.
1
SPEAKER_00
Like, I have a very clean life.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I still had high forms of inflammation.
1
SPEAKER_00
I work with Mona Sharma.
1
SPEAKER_00
I don t know if you know Mona.
1
SPEAKER_00
I love Mona, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
So Mona s my health coach.
1
SPEAKER_00
I love her.
1
SPEAKER_00
And my wife is my health coach, too.
1
SPEAKER_00
She s been a dietician, a nutritionist, and Ayurvedic health practitioner.
1
SPEAKER_00
So my wife and Mona kind of tag team on my life.
1
SPEAKER_01
You re in good hands.
1
SPEAKER_00
I m very fortunate, but, you know, so yeah, let s talk about that because I m actually that person.
1
SPEAKER_00
I m that person who s, I m like, guys, I pretty much don t have any bad habits.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
So let s talk about inflammation.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, so that s 99% of my patients as well.
1
SPEAKER_01
You re not alone.
1
SPEAKER_01
You have very erudite people that are trying to do the best things that are probably most of them better off than they would be if they weren t doing these things.
1
SPEAKER_01
But there s these missing pieces.
1
SPEAKER_01
And what I explore with my patients and what I get to talk about in gut feelings is these missing physiological and psychological missing links.
1
SPEAKER_01
to what is keeping you stuck at that plateau, what is keeping you back from leveling up how you want to feel.
1
SPEAKER_01
So shameflammation is this convergence of the mental, emotional, and the physical.
1
SPEAKER_01
And really, the conversation that I get to have with patients, and I also get to have in this book in Gut Feelings, is the fact that mental health is not separate from physical health.
1
SPEAKER_01
Mental health is physical health, and our brain is a part of our body just as much as anything else is.
1
SPEAKER_01
And as I mentioned earlier, the implications of the vagus nerve, the gut-brain axis, and inflammation and its role in our health.
1
SPEAKER_01
But our thoughts and emotions, on one end of that coin, stress, shame, trauma, even intergenerational trauma, that esoteric, non-measurable stuff impacts the measurable, meaning it will spike inflammation levels.
1
SPEAKER_01
It ll impact how your vagus nerve works.
1
SPEAKER_01
It ll impact how your hormones are expressed.
1
SPEAKER_01
So we have to look at what I call for my patients, shameful nation.
1
SPEAKER_01
And what is our relationship with food?
1
SPEAKER_01
What is our relationship with our body?
1
SPEAKER_01
What is our relationship with ourselves?
1
SPEAKER_01
And start shifting paradigms around how we live life.
1
SPEAKER_01
Because you could be doing amazing things for your health, eating good foods, working out.
1
SPEAKER_01
But if you re going into it with such a sense of dread and obsession, and something that I say in the book is you can t heal a body you hate.
1
SPEAKER_01
You cannot shame your way into health.
1
SPEAKER_01
And many people try to.
1
SPEAKER_01
and they re doing good things that even make sense on paper, but they re going into it with such a negative sense of- Intention.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, intention.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s sabotaging.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s producing a completely opposite result.
1
SPEAKER_01
So I want to bring good things, but let s do it with a good intention.
1
SPEAKER_01
And that s what shameflammation, that concept, is all about.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, understood.
1
SPEAKER_00
What are some of the quick things that if anyone s thinking, I m feeling inflammation, what are some of the things in our physical, like, things that we re consuming that are likely to cause inflammation?
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, so there s the physiological and the psychological again.
1
SPEAKER_01
So the physiological, let s go on that side.
1
SPEAKER_01
So we start with the foods that we eat.
1
SPEAKER_01
I mean, every food we eat either feeds inflammation or fights it.
1
SPEAKER_01
There s no neutral food.
1
SPEAKER_01
There s no Switzerland meal.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s serving your physiology.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s doing something.
1
SPEAKER_01
Maybe in incremental ways, maybe in negligible ways, but it s some in very major ways.
1
SPEAKER_01
So we have to take inventory of every food we eat.
1
SPEAKER_01
Every meal is another opportunity to bring inflammation up or bring inflammation levels down.
1
SPEAKER_01
So what I call the inflammatory core four are the four
1
SPEAKER_01
foods or food ingredients that are most likely to disrupt that gut microbiome, all the trillions of bacteria in our gut that regulate our inflammation levels, regulate hormones, regulate our brain and neurotransmitters.
1
SPEAKER_01
So that s going to be gluten-containing grains would be number one.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I have a nuanced conversation about this.
1
SPEAKER_01
There are better versions of gluten.
1
SPEAKER_01
You can get ancient grains.
1
SPEAKER_01
You can get sourdough bread that ferments some of this.
1
SPEAKER_01
A lot of the foods that I m going to be talking about here are what we ve done to the food, not necessarily the food in and of itself, but for the sake of simplicity, gluten-containing grains, looking at that in your life.
1
SPEAKER_01
Number two would be industrial seed oils, things like soybean oil, vegetable oil, canola oil.
1
SPEAKER_00
Palm oil.
1
SPEAKER_01
Palm oil.
1
SPEAKER_01
Exactly.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
I ve just been taking off a lot of those because that was somewhere where we hadn t got to yet.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I m off palm oil, canola oil.
1
SPEAKER_00
I can only eat things in olive oil or avocado oil at the moment.
1
SPEAKER_01
Love it.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Thanks, Mona.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
Thanks, Mona.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Conventional dairy, I would say that, and added sugar, which is no surprise.
1
SPEAKER_01
I m short of people.
1
SPEAKER_01
But even the nice-sounding euphemisms for sugar that are hidden very cleverly on labels, that they may be better for you options.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I m not demonizing the entire sugar industry, but I m saying, look at the amount of added grams of sugar you re consuming in a day.
1
SPEAKER_01
You may be surprised.
1
SPEAKER_01
So, decreasing that, and if I could make the core for a plus one, I would add alcohol to that list, as people oftentimes eat cleaner.
1
SPEAKER_01
They clean up that diet.
1
SPEAKER_01
They know about the inflammatory core four, but they keep in alcohol in their life as like, oh, that s my one vice, but they are kept back.
1
SPEAKER_01
Their guts are still struggling.
1
SPEAKER_01
Their mental health is still struggling.
1
SPEAKER_01
Their energy levels, their weight loss resistance still struggling.
1
SPEAKER_01
So I would at least look at alcohol as a role into these as well, because it s becoming quite normalized within the wellness world specifically.
1
SPEAKER_01
And at the end of the day, there s no,
1
SPEAKER_01
healthy amount of alcohol.
1
SPEAKER_01
There are better-for-you options, certainly, and I have to be pragmatic, but it s something that I would take into consideration.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, that s great.
1
SPEAKER_00
I mean, that s so practical, and I think everyone who s listening to that, I think we ve all heard about a friend, I m gluten-free too, but I ve heard about friends being gluten-free and this and that, and we often laugh about these things, but it s interesting to hear just how simple it can be, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
These are not huge changes.
1
SPEAKER_00
None of these changes are like,
1
SPEAKER_00
hard to find necessarily.
1
SPEAKER_00
These things are becoming more and more common, at least at a grocery store.
1
SPEAKER_00
And we can start making healthier choices in a simple way.
1
SPEAKER_00
Let s talk a bit about gut microbiome.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I recently had a surgery and I had to take Tramadol and a bunch of other stuff, like painkillers, to try and deal with the pain.
1
SPEAKER_00
And Mona was like, all right, we re going to have to start with your microbiome all over again after this is all over.
1
SPEAKER_00
What is that relationship between
1
SPEAKER_00
painkillers and all of that with our gut microbiome as well.
1
SPEAKER_00
Like where s the connection there?
1
SPEAKER_01
Well, I mean, your gut is just a major regulator of so many different pathways in the body.
1
SPEAKER_01
So it is such a central role, but when you re taking either NSAIDs or antibiotics or other pain medications, they can really do a number on your gut.
1
SPEAKER_01
They can really impact the gut lining as well as the microbiome metropolis, this gut garden within
1
SPEAKER_01
within our gastrointestinal system.
1
SPEAKER_01
So that doesn t mean we shouldn t be on those medications when they re properly prescribed.
1
SPEAKER_01
There are surgeries where you need to be on things like that.
1
SPEAKER_01
But just as Mona said, what are we going to do afterwards?
1
SPEAKER_01
What s sort of the long game here to start supporting gut health again?
1
SPEAKER_01
Because pragmatically, those
1
SPEAKER_01
Medications just like certain foods and either everything we do in life Influences this gut garden.
1
SPEAKER_01
So there s some things that hurt it more than others and Especially people that are on medication some medications long-term Specifically antibiotics and some pain pills as well.
1
SPEAKER_01
They really can do Quite good damage on the gut that we have to work on rehabilitating over time.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah
2
SPEAKER_05
And so that s just something to be conscious of as well.
2
SPEAKER_04
Yes.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s something to be conscious of.
2
SPEAKER_04
Talk with your doctor about, because oftentimes there isn t a conversation about gut health when it s just, no, take this, see you later.
2
SPEAKER_04
But I would just want to be empowered as a patient and be informed as to your options and have choice.
2
SPEAKER_05
Yeah, and you ve talked a bit about how the connection between alcohol and intuition, and I was intrigued by that.
2
SPEAKER_05
What have you seen as the connection there?
2
SPEAKER_04
Well, I think again, as I mentioned earlier, I think alcohol, people don t want to go there, right?
2
SPEAKER_04
That s how they socialize.
2
SPEAKER_04
That s how they hang out with their friends.
2
SPEAKER_04
That s how they wind down.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s how they deal with the background.
2
SPEAKER_04
anxiousness, and they don t really want to see how this drink can impact how they feel and how they truly can know what their body loves and what their body doesn t love.
2
SPEAKER_04
So alcohol can impact your body on both a physiological and a psychological level.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s going to impact your gut microbiome, certainly.
2
SPEAKER_04
What s it doing?
2
SPEAKER_04
What s happening?
2
SPEAKER_04
It could do a few things.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s going to disrupt the microbiomes.
2
SPEAKER_04
The microbiome is, depending on the study that you look at, it s upwards of 100 trillion bacteria.
2
SPEAKER_04
And we have about 10 trillion human cells.
2
SPEAKER_04
So we are all about 10 times more bacteria than human.
2
SPEAKER_04
And when we drink alcohol, especially people that are consistently drinking, it is quite disruptive to this microbiome balance.
2
SPEAKER_04
And it can breed things like bacterial overgrowth.
2
SPEAKER_04
A lot of the times people that I talk to, they have something called SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
2
SPEAKER_04
And alcohol is a component, certainly not the only driver of that, but it is a disruptor and breeder of bacterial overgrowth by messing up the balance of this microbiome component.
2
SPEAKER_04
And it also can increase intestinal permeability or what they call leaky gut syndrome.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s when the things are passing through the gut that shouldn t be able to pass through the gut.
2
SPEAKER_04
like undigested food proteins, bacterial toxins called lipopolysaccharides.
2
SPEAKER_04
And then that s the seminal event that a lot of things, when the immune system sees undigested food and bacterial toxins in the bloodstream, then there s something called molecular mimicry.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s sort of the case of mistaken identity when the immune system starts this cascade of inflammation, and that s what can trigger autoimmunity.
2
SPEAKER_04
When the immune system loses recognition of self, which I think
2
SPEAKER_04
that s happening on a physical level.
2
SPEAKER_04
But then you think about what s happening on a mental, emotional, spiritual level with so many people losing recognition of self.
2
SPEAKER_04
And we have this epidemic rise of autoimmune conditions.
2
SPEAKER_04
50 million Americans, at the very least, have an autoimmune disease.
2
SPEAKER_04
Millions more are somewhere on that autoimmune inflammation spectrum.
2
SPEAKER_04
So alcohol s implication in that is it really is something that allows
2
SPEAKER_04
It can be a trigger for a lot of people, not only on a mental, emotional level, we know.
2
SPEAKER_04
But I think people s relationship with alcohol exists on a spectrum.
2
SPEAKER_04
And you may not be a full-blown alcoholic.
2
SPEAKER_04
People need to look at themselves and say, how am I using this tool in my life?
2
SPEAKER_04
And is it in alignment with how I want to live my life?
2
SPEAKER_04
Is it in alignment with how I want to feel?
2
SPEAKER_01
A new season of Bridgerton is here.
2
SPEAKER_01
And with it, a new season of Bridgerton, the official podcast.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m your host, Gabrielle Collins.
2
SPEAKER_01
And this season, we are bringing fans even deeper into the ton.
2
SPEAKER_01
Colin Bridgerton has returned from his travels abroad.
2
SPEAKER_01
Is Betrothal written in the stars for the eligible bachelor?
2
SPEAKER_01
Meanwhile, the ton is reverberating with speculation of who holds Lady Whistledown s pen.
2
SPEAKER_01
We re discussing it all.
2
SPEAKER_01
I sit down with Nicola Coughlin, Luke Newton, Shonda Rhimes, and more to offer an exclusive peek behind the scenes of each episode of the new season.
2
SPEAKER_01
Watch season three of the Shondaland series on Netflix.
2
SPEAKER_01
Then fall in love all over again by listening to Bridgerton, the official podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
2
SPEAKER_01
Subscribe to catch a new episode every Thursday.
2
SPEAKER_03
When the Taliban banned music in Afghanistan, millions were plunged into silence.
2
SPEAKER_03
Radios were smashed.
2
SPEAKER_03
Cassettes burned.
2
SPEAKER_03
You could be beaten or jailed or killed for breaking the rules.
2
SPEAKER_03
And yet, Afghans did it anyway.
2
SPEAKER_03
This is the story of how a group of people brought music back to Afghanistan by creating their own version of American Idol.
2
SPEAKER_03
The danger they endured.
2
SPEAKER_01
They said my head should be cut off.
2
SPEAKER_03
The joy they brought to the nation.
2
SPEAKER_01
You re free completely.
2
SPEAKER_01
No one is there to destroy you.
2
SPEAKER_03
I m John Legend.
2
SPEAKER_03
Listen to Afghan Star on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
2
SPEAKER_00
Hey everyone, this is Molly and Matt and we re the hosts of Grown Up Stuff How to Adult, a podcast from Ruby Studio and iHeart Podcasts.
2
SPEAKER_02
It s a show dedicated to helping you figure out the trickiest parts of adulting.
2
SPEAKER_00
Like how to start planning for retirement, creating a healthy skincare routine, understanding when and how much to tip someone, and so much more.
2
SPEAKER_02
We re back with season two of the podcast, which means more opportunities to glow up and become a more responsible and better adult, one life lesson at a time.
2
SPEAKER_00
And let me just tell you, this show is just as much for us as it is for you.
2
SPEAKER_00
So let s figure this stuff out together.
2
SPEAKER_00
This season, we re going to talk about whether or not we re financially and emotionally ready for dog ownership.
2
SPEAKER_02
We re going to figure out the benefits of a high yield savings account.
2
SPEAKER_00
And what exactly are the duties of being a member of the wedding party?
2
SPEAKER_02
All that plus so much more.
2
SPEAKER_00
Let s learn about all of it and then some.
2
SPEAKER_00
Listen to Grown Up Stuff How to Adult on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
2
SPEAKER_05
Yeah, that s a great message to get people to reflect on.
2
SPEAKER_05
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_05
That was the physiological.
2
SPEAKER_05
What are some of the psychological things to be aware of?
2
SPEAKER_04
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_04
Well, I think the research around stress is very fascinating.
2
SPEAKER_04
I mean, we know when your body is in a state of stress, and look, the stress is normal.
2
SPEAKER_04
It is good in measured amounts.
2
SPEAKER_04
What I m talking about here is chronic stress.
2
SPEAKER_04
I m being chased by this tiger, but there s no tiger.
2
SPEAKER_04
Many people are stuck in various degrees of sympathetic fight or flight stressed state, and their body s in overdrive all the time.
2
SPEAKER_04
And we need a balance.
2
SPEAKER_04
We need the sympathetic nervous system just as much as we need the parasympathetic, the resting, the digesting mechanism.
2
SPEAKER_04
But many people are just an over-accentuation of a sympathetic nervous system response.
2
SPEAKER_04
And cortisol levels coming up because their body is in that fight-or-flight mode.
2
SPEAKER_04
Cortisol is not inherently bad, just like inflammation is not inherently bad.
2
SPEAKER_04
We need inflammation to fight off viruses and bacteria and heal wounds.
2
SPEAKER_04
but it s the chronic inflammation that s a problem.
2
SPEAKER_04
Same with chronic stress.
2
SPEAKER_04
Cortisol being high for too long is not good.
2
SPEAKER_04
That is, cortisol by itself is an endogenous immunosuppressant, which means it s a natural anti-inflammatory.
2
SPEAKER_04
So inflammation comes up, cortisol comes up to try to abate and attenuate the higher inflammation levels and to
2
SPEAKER_04
help you to actually get you out of that stressed state.
2
SPEAKER_04
But it s just unsustainable because there s no real threat for many people.
2
SPEAKER_04
But they re not sleeping well.
2
SPEAKER_04
They are eating out of alignment with what s working for their body.
2
SPEAKER_04
And they are, I would say, unhealthy relationships with technology.
2
SPEAKER_04
And all of this will be what researchers call an evolutionary mismatch.
2
SPEAKER_04
There s a genetic epigenetic mismatch.
2
SPEAKER_04
Our genetics haven t changed in 10,000 years.
2
SPEAKER_04
But yeah, our world has changed very dramatically in a very finite period of time.
2
SPEAKER_04
And you re putting that into context with the totality of human history.
2
SPEAKER_04
So if our genetics haven t changed in 10,000 years, just think of how much our world has changed in a few generations, whether it s the foods we eat or the foods we re not eating, our stress levels, our exposure to toxins.
2
SPEAKER_04
collective and individual trauma.
2
SPEAKER_04
All of these things are the confluence of factors, the perfect storm of variables that are giving rise to these inflammatory autoimmune brain health, mental health problems.
2
SPEAKER_04
So the psychological side of how I see these stressors play out in people s lives is chronic stress, but it s a lot more nebulous, right?
2
SPEAKER_04
It s a lot more
2
SPEAKER_04
insidious because it s easy to say, don t eat those four foods because they re going to spike inflammation.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s another thing to say, well, don t stress.
2
SPEAKER_04
And then they re stressing about not stressing.
2
SPEAKER_04
So you have to really like bring context and practical tools.
2
SPEAKER_04
And what I call them in the book is metaphysical meals.
2
SPEAKER_04
Because you need to treat these acts of stillness just like you would mealtime, which I know we re on the same page here.
2
SPEAKER_04
You have to, just like you show up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or you show up to the gym, you need to start feeding your head and your heart just as much as you feed your body.
2
SPEAKER_04
And it s very much a part of healing.
2
SPEAKER_04
And you have to deal with both sides of the coin.
3
SPEAKER_02
but the physiological and the psychological.
3
SPEAKER_02
So stress, and whether that be bringing healthy boundaries in, or having a better relationship with technology, or prioritizing your sleep, or bringing in self-care practices in your life that are nourishing to you, that are feeding you on a mental, emotional level.
3
SPEAKER_02
That s just one, but there are many levels to that, but we have to look at both sides.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, definitely.
3
SPEAKER_00
Thank you so much for walking us through those.
3
SPEAKER_00
And when, if anyone s like me, while I m listening to that, whenever I sit down with someone who s an expert in this space, I m like, there s a part of you that just gets more stressed because you go, Oh God, I m doing all this.
3
SPEAKER_00
things, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Like, and I m sure people are listening or watching at home or at work, or if you re traveling and you re going, gosh, I need to change so much.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I think that s kind of where our problems perpetuate because we go, okay, I need to change everything.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then we end up changing nothing.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I think that s always the issue, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
When you feel you want to change everything, you end up changing nothing.
3
SPEAKER_00
as people are listening to this, like, where s a good place for someone to start?
3
SPEAKER_00
Like, and I m sure you work with so many people who are on this journey.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I always say to people, like, I don t think we have, the real crisis we have in the world today is a crisis of habits and conditioning.
3
SPEAKER_00
Because most people I know know what they want to change or know who they want to be or how they want to change.
3
SPEAKER_00
They just can t
3
SPEAKER_00
make it through that path, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
They can t stick with it.
3
SPEAKER_00
So where s a good place for someone to start?
3
SPEAKER_00
They re listening right now and they re saying, Dr. Will Cole, I can hear that I have a ton of those physiological and psychological challenges.
3
SPEAKER_00
I need to figure this out.
3
SPEAKER_00
Where does someone start?
3
SPEAKER_02
I would first start with your headspace because it is
3
SPEAKER_02
you do not have to be perfect, quote unquote.
3
SPEAKER_02
You don t have to have it all together to start making positive action in your life.
3
SPEAKER_02
And if you re waiting for the right time, it s now, because there s always going to be some reason why we should put it off.
3
SPEAKER_02
There s a vacation, a holiday around the corner.
3
SPEAKER_02
There s a birthday party.
3
SPEAKER_02
There s a whatever, holiday around the corner.
3
SPEAKER_02
And that is, many people have that paralysis of analysis.
3
SPEAKER_02
Oh, I ll start at the new year.
3
SPEAKER_02
Oh, I ll start at this date.
3
SPEAKER_02
But the reality is, I find that there s exceptions to that rule of maybe there s a certain date within the next few weeks that s practical for you.
3
SPEAKER_02
But if you re looking at really putting it out in the calendar, I very rarely see people need to do that.
3
SPEAKER_02
Because I need you to realize that how are we going to navigate through those times?
3
SPEAKER_02
Because there s always going to be something.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
Really, what I say is just lean into it.
3
SPEAKER_02
You don t have to have it all figured out.
3
SPEAKER_02
Because what I find is when you get the ball rolling and people get their head a little bit above water, they want to keep doing the things that make them feel good.
3
SPEAKER_02
And they start to realize, what I call in the book and for my patients, I call it food peace and body peace.
3
SPEAKER_02
Because I want people to
3
SPEAKER_02
not come into this wellness thing, whether improve their energy or improve their digestion or improve their brain health, I want them to see this as a form of self-respect, using self-care as a form of self-respect.
3
SPEAKER_02
Because it s the sort of toxic dieting culture that tells us, well, you can t have that.
3
SPEAKER_02
There s a lot of shame around that, right?
3
SPEAKER_02
That s like very much breeding ground for shame inflammation.
3
SPEAKER_02
That s the antithesis of sustainable wellness.
3
SPEAKER_02
The genesis of sustainable wellness is really realizing that you get to do things that make you feel good.
3
SPEAKER_02
And I said recently on social media that I think is the paradigm shift that I want to say here is that the continually eating foods that don t love you back is like staying in a toxic relationship and wondering why you re still miserable.
3
SPEAKER_02
But avoiding foods that don t love you back isn t restrictive, it s self-respect.
3
SPEAKER_02
And if you want to talk about the first thing, it s having that pivotal paradigm shift to say, look, oh, I thought it was about all these things I can t have.
3
SPEAKER_02
No, have whatever you want.
3
SPEAKER_02
But I want people to love feeling great more than they thought they were going to miss something that dimmed their light.
3
SPEAKER_02
So from that place of self-respect, I find people make better choices for their life.
3
SPEAKER_02
Because the analogy that I use in the book is like, if you realized
3
SPEAKER_02
You were a Lamborghini and not an old beat up jalopy.
3
SPEAKER_02
How would that impact how you fueled yourself?
3
SPEAKER_02
Owners of luxury vehicles know how to take care of their car.
3
SPEAKER_02
They don t need to be taught that.
3
SPEAKER_02
They re parking it way in the back.
3
SPEAKER_02
They are cleaning it.
3
SPEAKER_02
They re fueling it appropriately.
3
SPEAKER_02
Many people see themselves as the old lemon.
3
SPEAKER_02
and not the luxury car.
3
SPEAKER_02
And that s the paradigm shift that I want people to have because then all the rest falls into place.
3
SPEAKER_02
They don t have to be perfect because they just want to continue to pick themselves up and their why is bigger than their excuses.
3
SPEAKER_00
That is such a good point.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m so glad that you went there because there were a few points that I just want to unpack for everyone.
3
SPEAKER_00
The first was you said to start with the headspace.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I think that s really powerful, and everyone who s listening to On Purpose right now is already naturally doing that by being here, is because if you re stressed, you eat badly.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then when you eat badly, you get more stressed, and you get inflamed, and then everything else they re using, and then you get more stressed.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it s just this never-ending cycle.
3
SPEAKER_00
And so when you figure out what s going on up here and then you can start changing what s happening here, it s a great way.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I think that was a fantastic point.
3
SPEAKER_00
The second thing that I really took away from that is this idea of self-respect and how we see ourselves.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it took me a long time to recognize what that really meant personally.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I grew up addicted to chocolate.
3
SPEAKER_00
I ate, and sugar obviously, so I ate a chocolate bar, a chocolate biscuit, a chocolate yogurt, and a chocolate ice cream pretty much every day while I was a kid.
3
SPEAKER_00
Up until when I went to university where I would eat a chocolate bar and like a liter of Sprite every single day.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like that got me through university.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I was healthy, and I was lean, and you know, whatever that meant, and he thought I m fine.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then you start to see things not catch up with you, but you start to see the impact of certain things.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I think people still have this in that, well, I just want to have fun.
3
SPEAKER_00
I just want to enjoy life.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I don t want to have to think about this.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I think what s so interesting is what you re saying is that that actually isn t enjoyment because it s damaging.
3
SPEAKER_00
And when you start realizing that the fun you are having is actually not fun genuinely for what s happening inside, you just can t see that part.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I think that took me a long time to connect that it s not like starving yourself from what you want.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s actually like your body doesn t actually want that.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
Which takes so long to kind of fix our mind because we re so conditioned to believe that, oh, I love pizza, and I love this, and I love that.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it s like, well, you don t.
3
SPEAKER_00
You ve just been conditioned through your tastes.
3
SPEAKER_00
I always talk about one of my friends, their kids look forward to blueberries and grapes as their reward, because that s how they ve been brought up.
3
SPEAKER_00
For them, blueberries are like Sour Patch Kids.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s their Sour Patch Kid, whereas for me, it was Sour Patch Kids, which I still love, which are terrible for me, and I still love them.
3
SPEAKER_00
And when I go to the theaters, my wife really has to, and so my wife was the one who helped me change my habits.
3
SPEAKER_00
When she met me, she goes, you can t eat chocolate every day.
3
SPEAKER_00
You can t have that.
3
SPEAKER_00
She was like, once a week.
3
SPEAKER_00
You can t have it every day.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it took me ages.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then we got there and then she replaced it with monk fruit.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I used to eat these cacao nibs sweetened with monk fruit.
3
SPEAKER_00
And now I ve got to a point where if I m at home, I don t remove refined sugars from my diet.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it took a long process.
3
SPEAKER_00
And now I found, actually, when I go back and have an indulgent dessert, it doesn t taste as good to me.
3
SPEAKER_00
And that was a huge journey for me.
3
SPEAKER_00
I was like, oh, wow.
3
SPEAKER_00
And sometimes I ll still crave a burger, a really juicy fried burger.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I m plant-based, so I m talking about plant-based burgers.
3
SPEAKER_00
And when I have it, I ll actually not enjoy the feeling afterwards.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m like, I actually didn t miss that at all.
3
SPEAKER_00
And so I don t know if that aligns with what you ve been saying, but I was just trying to give a very genuine reflection of dealing with a lot of these vices myself.
3
SPEAKER_02
Absolutely.
3
SPEAKER_02
And I think a lot of people can resonate with that.
3
SPEAKER_02
And like, that s that.
3
SPEAKER_02
repairing that gut feelings connection that I m talking about.
3
SPEAKER_02
You know, the gut and the feelings, there s things that were changing on a physiological level when you start cleaning up your diet, eating nutrient dense foods, regulating your blood sugar, lowering inflammation levels, supporting your gut health.
3
SPEAKER_02
And then also when you make that connection, you go back to those foods and you may not like them at all.
3
SPEAKER_02
I hear that many times for patients and they re shocked.
3
SPEAKER_02
Things that they loved, things that they thought they couldn t live without, they say, I could take it or leave it.
3
SPEAKER_02
That s food peace.
3
SPEAKER_02
It s like you re not bound by that food.
3
SPEAKER_02
If you want to have it, have it.
3
SPEAKER_02
But I would just say, use all food as a mindfulness tool.
3
SPEAKER_02
Eat it consciously.
3
SPEAKER_02
Did it love you back?
3
SPEAKER_02
Maybe it didn t love you back.
3
SPEAKER_02
you love socializing with your friends, or it brought you some enjoyment in the moment, and it was worth the payoff of maybe the bloating or the inflammation, then eat it and move on.
3
SPEAKER_02
Shame is worse than any food.
3
SPEAKER_02
But maybe you take it and eat it mindfully and realize afterwards, no, it actually wasn t worth it.
3
SPEAKER_02
So maybe next time I ll have less of it, or I
4
SPEAKER_01
won t have it at all because like you said, like cacao nibs and monk fruit, there s so many better options that taste really freaking amazing.
4
SPEAKER_01
Absolutely, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_01
You don t have to eat like a boring rabbit to be healthy.
4
SPEAKER_00
Absolutely, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
I ve been loving the Who Kitchen bars as well.
4
SPEAKER_01
They re so good.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s one of the sad parts of New York City is Who Kitchen closed down.
4
SPEAKER_01
I mean, they had a restaurant here.
4
SPEAKER_00
Oh, no way.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I remember that place.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_01
The pandemic took it out.
4
SPEAKER_00
Oh, wow.
4
SPEAKER_00
But their bars are amazing.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, they re still alive and strong with the chocolate bar.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, yeah, the chocolate bars are great.
4
SPEAKER_00
But yeah, I feel like you re so right that there are so many other alternatives, so many other places that you can discover new things.
4
SPEAKER_00
And even spending time with friends, like recently I ve been trying to, and of course there s access here and things that are in your city, but I found like, like my wife, she ll go to a workout class with a lot of her friends and that s like their way of socializing together.
4
SPEAKER_00
or me and my wife will go do a cold plunge together, or go find an infrared sauna together, or something like that, where even doing health and wellness with friends has actually become a fun way of socializing, where it was easy to be like, oh, let s just all go out for dinner, which, by the way, I still love to do, and it s not that we don t do it, but it s the idea of there are so many alternative ways to spend time together where your friendship actually improves, too, because now you re not just doing dinner and a movie every time.
4
SPEAKER_00
I just think the idea of experimenting is healthy.
4
SPEAKER_00
Whether you went to a cold plunge and enjoyed it or not, that s up to you.
4
SPEAKER_00
But the idea that you went and tried something new with your friends, I promise you, whatever you do, trying something new with the people you love is going to be a win either way.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, absolutely.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I think that that s a key point too.
4
SPEAKER_01
When people want to start making healthy choices, they re afraid of it changing what they do for fun or changing their relationships.
4
SPEAKER_01
You mentioned alcohol.
4
SPEAKER_01
Well, if everything I do with my friends is centered around unhealthy food and alcohol, what s that going to look like?
4
SPEAKER_01
If they re your true friends, they re going to be there for you.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I ve seen so many people start bringing the healthy food to the party and really being a light.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s my wife.
4
SPEAKER_01
You basically described my wife.
4
SPEAKER_01
And people are like, wait, what?
4
SPEAKER_01
This is healthy?
4
SPEAKER_01
What the heck?
4
SPEAKER_01
Because it really shifts hearts and minds around this.
4
SPEAKER_01
Or maybe you go to the Cold Plunge and they never, they thought it was weird at first.
4
SPEAKER_01
But now they all want to do it.
4
SPEAKER_01
People want to feel good.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s just, just because it s been done over and over again doesn t mean you have to keep doing it.
4
SPEAKER_01
Like start leveling up and be the leader for your friend group.
4
SPEAKER_01
Because it really... Everyone thanked you in the long term.
4
SPEAKER_01
For sure, for sure.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I ve seen whole family and friend groups change because of one person deciding, I want to live a different way.
4
SPEAKER_01
I want to start doing things that love me back.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, trust me, in the beginning, my male ego with my wife telling me, my wife would see me grab a chocolate bar, put it in my mouth, and she d be like, she d just give me the look.
4
SPEAKER_00
And everyone would be like, Jay, are you literally going to let her do that?
4
SPEAKER_00
And I m like, she s actually doing it for my own good.
4
SPEAKER_00
I feel so much happier since I ve let go of refined sugar.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s made such a big difference in my life.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I ve still got a long way to go.
4
SPEAKER_00
I m working on lots of different things.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, I love that.
4
SPEAKER_00
I wanted to ask you, because I feel like you re one of the few people that actually talks about this connection.
4
SPEAKER_00
How are hormones the internal communication system for the body?
4
SPEAKER_00
Because I feel like hormones are not talked about enough, and there s not enough of a conversation about them, but that s been something you ve been leading.
4
SPEAKER_01
Sure, and that s part of the physiological side of things that the psychological can impact.
4
SPEAKER_01
So hormones are kind of,
4
SPEAKER_01
akin to biochemical emails.
4
SPEAKER_01
And if you look at your body as this sort of corporation, the different systems of the body are not always communicating appropriately.
4
SPEAKER_01
They re either communicating too much because the body s in that sympathetic nervous system overdrive where its cortisol levels is being really
4
SPEAKER_01
secreted quite a bit.
4
SPEAKER_01
We have what s called the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis.
4
SPEAKER_01
So this is something that we can quantify on with patients via labs and see cortisol levels and cortisol circadian rhythm issues.
4
SPEAKER_01
Cortisol is too high when it should be low, it should
4
SPEAKER_01
be a nice S-shaped curve, or it s always low, or it s always high.
4
SPEAKER_01
And it s that imbalance, that breaking up the Goldilocks principle.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s homeostasis.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s you don t want hormones too high, you don t want hormones too low, but you want them high when they should be high and low when they should be low.
4
SPEAKER_01
Just like our gut microbiome bacteria, just like inflammation levels, it s all subject to this law of Goldilocks principle.
4
SPEAKER_01
So it s really, hormones are a major influencer in how we want to feel.
4
SPEAKER_01
both the physiological and the psychological impact how hormones are expressed.
4
SPEAKER_01
So if somebody has an unhealthy gut, if they have things like chronic infections, I deal a lot with people that have chronic Lyme disease and people that have mold toxicity.
4
SPEAKER_01
quite often because they have different genetic variants that make them more sensitive to things like autoimmune problems.
4
SPEAKER_01
So we can find and measure this on labs, higher levels of mold toxins, Lyme bacteria, different environmental toxins like glyphosate in their body.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s shifting their nervous system in that stress state as well.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s going to really impact hormones tremendously.
4
SPEAKER_01
So then I can measure hormones on a hormonal test, which I would.
4
SPEAKER_01
And you ll see cortisol levels all off.
4
SPEAKER_01
You ll see typically estrogen, progesterone, testosterone very low.
4
SPEAKER_01
Sometimes estrogen will be high with estrogen dominance.
4
SPEAKER_01
But for the most part, when you re in a sympathetic fight or flight stress state, most hormones will be sluggish.
4
SPEAKER_01
They ll be on the low end of normal or really low.
4
SPEAKER_01
But then if you just saw the hormones happening in a vacuum, you d think, well, it s a hormonal problem.
4
SPEAKER_01
Well, no, there s a bigger context as to why the hormones were off in the first place.
4
SPEAKER_01
So that s why context matters when it comes to all these different aspects of health.
4
SPEAKER_01
But supporting hormones are certainly imperative when you re talking about somebody s mood.
4
SPEAKER_01
When you talk about somebody s gut feelings, hormones are those biochemical emails.
4
SPEAKER_01
So I have to measure them.
4
SPEAKER_01
I have to optimize them.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thyroid is another major player too, because many people...
4
SPEAKER_01
They re just getting basic thyroid labs.
4
SPEAKER_01
They re not really getting complex thyroid labs.
4
SPEAKER_01
So we have to really look at the complexity of thyroid hormone metabolism.
4
SPEAKER_02
Guess what, Mango?
4
SPEAKER_02
What s that, Will?
4
SPEAKER_02
So iHeart is giving us a whole minute to promote our podcast, Part-Time Genius.
4
SPEAKER_03
I know.
4
SPEAKER_03
That s why I spent my whole week composing a haiku for the occasion.
4
SPEAKER_03
It s about my emotional journey in podcasting over the last seven years, and it s called Earthquake House.
4
SPEAKER_02
Mango, I m going to cut you off right there.
4
SPEAKER_02
Why don t we just tell people about our show instead?
4
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, that s a better idea.
4
SPEAKER_03
So every week on Part-Time Genius, we feed our curiosity by answering the world s most important questions.
4
SPEAKER_03
Things like, when did America start dialing 911?
4
SPEAKER_03
Is William Shatner s best acting work in Esperanto?
4
SPEAKER_03
Also, what happened to Esperanto?
4
SPEAKER_02
Plus, we cover questions like how Chinese is your Chinese food?
4
SPEAKER_02
How do dollar stores stay in business?
4
SPEAKER_02
And of course, is there an Illuminati of cheese?
4
SPEAKER_02
There absolutely is.
4
SPEAKER_03
And we are risking our lives by talking about it.
4
SPEAKER_03
But if you love mind-blowing facts, incredible history and really bad jokes, make your brains happy and tune in to Part-Time Genius.
4
SPEAKER_02
Listen to Part-Time Genius on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
4
SPEAKER_00
But is this something that, at least, and I m asking as somebody who was born and raised in London, obviously, how much of this is accessible in the United States or across the world?
4
SPEAKER_00
How do people ask for these labs?
4
SPEAKER_00
Where do they get them?
4
SPEAKER_00
Because I was one of those people for years that got checkups done and got my blood tests done and things like that.
4
SPEAKER_00
And they d always be like, Jay, you re fine.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, but I don t feel fine.
4
SPEAKER_00
I know something s going on.
4
SPEAKER_00
And they d be like,
4
SPEAKER_00
No, maybe you re a bit stressed.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I m like, yeah, I m sure I am, but it s more that I can feel something.
4
SPEAKER_00
And it took till I started working with Darshan at Next Health.
4
SPEAKER_00
I don t know if you know Next Health.
4
SPEAKER_00
I ve heard of them.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, Next Health is an incredible facility in LA.
4
SPEAKER_00
But again, it s something that requires access, and it s expensive, and it s not easy.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s in LA.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s in Miami.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s not something that everyone can access.
4
SPEAKER_00
And so I go, well,
4
SPEAKER_00
How does someone get those tests?
4
SPEAKER_00
And the same as me, I was just told for ages, I was told, oh, maybe you re stressed, you know, just relax a little bit.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I m like, no, I don t feel right.
4
SPEAKER_00
So yeah, how does someone get those tests?
4
SPEAKER_00
How does someone get that detail?
4
SPEAKER_00
I know Viome s a great source, the gut test that they send to your house and you do the stool test.
4
SPEAKER_00
But yeah, how do people get access to that?
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I think,
4
SPEAKER_01
We re living in a time where there s still a massive gap to democratize this where it should be.
4
SPEAKER_01
But in the past 12 plus years, I ve seen a lot improving.
4
SPEAKER_01
And the reality is most of the thyroid labs and the hormonal tests actually are conventional tests, meaning they re mainstream tests that if you ask your doctor, your conventional PCP GP.
4
SPEAKER_00
They will do it.
4
SPEAKER_01
They have to do it.
4
SPEAKER_01
They can do it.
4
SPEAKER_01
They can decline doing it.
4
SPEAKER_01
But if you have a decent relationship with your doctor, and if it s clinically appropriate, they should be able to run this panel, even if it s slightly outside of what their routine labs.
4
SPEAKER_01
Because look, the conventional model of care is largely trained to diagnose a disease and match it with a medication.
4
SPEAKER_01
The extra labs, the other labs that we run in functional medicine, is slightly superfluous to a conventional medicine doctor because if it s not going to change the treatment, why would they run it?
4
SPEAKER_01
For example, to use the thyroid as an example, they just need a TSH, a thyroid stimulating hormone, and maybe a T4 to give the person that levothyroxine, that synthroid, that pharmaceutical thyroid replacement hormone.
5
SPEAKER_00
Okay, so that s all that they need.
5
SPEAKER_00
So if we want to look at all the other conventional thyroid labs, they are available.
5
SPEAKER_00
But if the end result is still going to be that medication, then why would they run it?
5
SPEAKER_00
So I understand it from a model side of things.
5
SPEAKER_00
But these are conventional tests.
5
SPEAKER_00
Most of the ones that I m talking about are very widely accessible.
5
SPEAKER_00
offset through insurance or completely covered by insurance.
5
SPEAKER_00
They just have to be ran and coded appropriately and be clinically appropriate for you.
5
SPEAKER_00
So full thyroid panel, something called thyroid stimulating hormone, like I mentioned, T4.
5
SPEAKER_00
But then what we would add in functional medicine is total T3, something called free T3, free T4.
5
SPEAKER_00
and then what are called thyroid antibodies.
5
SPEAKER_00
The leading drivers of low thyroid function in the West are autoimmune in nature.
5
SPEAKER_00
Hashimoto s disease or autoimmune thyroiditis is the most common autoimmune disease as a whole, let alone the most common driver of low thyroid function.
5
SPEAKER_00
So we have to run thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin to see, because in that case, it s not truly a primary thyroid problem.
5
SPEAKER_00
The thyroid problem is because the immune system has lost recognition of self again, and it s attacking it.
5
SPEAKER_00
So engraved disease is the other type of autoimmune thyroid problem.
5
SPEAKER_00
And then I have to run what s called reverse T3, which in states of inflammation, your body can make these basically thyroid break molecules that slow down thyroid function.
5
SPEAKER_00
So the point being, it s a lot more complex than just a TSH.
5
SPEAKER_00
And to make it more accessible and, you know, I mean, that s what we ve done for the past 12 years is try to make this
5
SPEAKER_00
as democratized as it can be, to decentralize this so people can have agency over their health and be empowered with this information.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s their body.
5
SPEAKER_00
They have a right to know.
5
SPEAKER_00
So we have different telehealth models to make it accessible for people.
5
SPEAKER_00
And there s a lot of direct-to-consumer labs, to be honest with you.
5
SPEAKER_00
Even if you don t have access to a functional medicine doctor, or if you don t want a functional medicine doctor, there are great labs.
5
SPEAKER_00
There s one called InsideTracker.
5
SPEAKER_00
I have no connection to these brands.
5
SPEAKER_00
Inside Tracker and Bass are two.
5
SPEAKER_00
I ve had them on my podcast before.
5
SPEAKER_00
They are brilliant and you don t need a doctor for it.
5
SPEAKER_00
So you could just order it yourself.
5
SPEAKER_01
And this is good to know, right?
5
SPEAKER_01
This is so useful because I think it s good to A, know what to ask for, what to look for.
5
SPEAKER_01
I think as someone, I consider myself someone who s fairly uneducated,
5
SPEAKER_01
as a recipient, as a patient of these things.
5
SPEAKER_01
Because until you study yourself, I would say, until I started studying myself and reading myself and interviewing people that I wanted to learn from, I had a very limited understanding because that s how I grew up.
5
SPEAKER_01
And so I think for me, at least I find it very interesting to be like, okay, well, these are the tests I need to ask for.
5
SPEAKER_01
These are the tests I can do.
5
SPEAKER_01
Because even the other thing I want to ask you is what are the most missed healthy food intolerances?
5
SPEAKER_01
Because that s a whole nother thing that I think we re not aware of.
5
SPEAKER_00
So the inflammatory core four that I mentioned, that s an obvious one, but I wouldn t even call those healthy foods, right?
5
SPEAKER_00
I mean, most of them are really processed, refined, boxed foods.
5
SPEAKER_00
But I would say the healthy food sensitivities or food intolerances, the food reactions, and this is really pertinent to most of the people that I talk to because they are eating better than most people, but they re still struggling.
5
SPEAKER_00
So the number one, and let me bring a caveat to all of these foods, it s not necessarily these foods  fault.
5
SPEAKER_00
The heart of what I do in functional medicine is bio-individuality.
5
SPEAKER_00
And even healthy foods, what works for one person may not be right for you.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I would say also, what serves you today and what your body loves now, if we re actually fixing the problem of why you had the problem in the first,
5
SPEAKER_00
case, then over time, you ll be able to do more things.
5
SPEAKER_00
So I m going to say these foods with that preface of don t be fearful of these foods.
5
SPEAKER_00
Don t become orthorexic, which is a massive problem within wellness.
5
SPEAKER_00
Orthorexia is sort of disordered eating around healthy foods.
5
SPEAKER_00
That is not what I m trying to convey here.
5
SPEAKER_00
So that s important to know.
5
SPEAKER_00
But also,
5
SPEAKER_00
for the people that are struggling with these issues, it could be a massive game changer for them.
5
SPEAKER_00
Because they may be thinking, oh, I ve been doing what I thought was healthy, but I was unintentionally sabotaging my health.
5
SPEAKER_00
So number one, people that have SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth that I mentioned,
5
SPEAKER_00
It s linked to things like anxiety and depression.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s linked with other autoimmune problems.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s also the leading cause of things like IBS, irritable bowel syndrome.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s linked to bloating, like uncomfortable bloating.
5
SPEAKER_00
People will tell me they feel like they re nine months pregnant, even though they re not pregnant as far as uncomfortable bloating and things like acid reflux and GERD.
5
SPEAKER_00
So there s a class of foods that are known as higher FODMAP foods.
5
SPEAKER_00
FODMAPs is an acronym that stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols, which is just a verbose way of saying fermentable sugars.
5
SPEAKER_00
So things like onions and garlic
5
SPEAKER_00
really healthy foods, right?
5
SPEAKER_00
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, really healthy foods, but they re all higher in these fermentable sugars.
5
SPEAKER_00
So people that are thinking they re doing the good things with SIBO.
5
SPEAKER_01
I ve done that for so long.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
I ll be one of those people.
5
SPEAKER_00
Onions and garlic.
5
SPEAKER_00
And they re getting so bloated.
5
SPEAKER_00
They re getting so much gastrointestinal upset.
5
SPEAKER_00
So look, is the problem the iPod?
5
SPEAKER_00
You have to heal the SIBO so you can bring those high FODMAPs in.
5
SPEAKER_00
So FODMAPs would be a lot for our people that are probably a lot of our listeners right now.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s just people that are very well read, but they re still struggling with these problems.
5
SPEAKER_00
They re eating healthier, but they re still struggling.
5
SPEAKER_00
So look at higher FODMAPs and potentially look at SIBO as the driver of that FODMAP intolerance.
5
SPEAKER_00
I am mentioning a lot of people that have mold toxicity.
5
SPEAKER_00
Mycotoxins is what they re called.
5
SPEAKER_00
Higher mold foods can perpetuate flare-ups too.
5
SPEAKER_00
So a lot of grains, even healthy grains, even gluten-free grains can be higher in mold.
5
SPEAKER_00
Coffee can be higher in mold.
5
SPEAKER_00
Wine
5
SPEAKER_00
other alcohols can be higher in mold.
5
SPEAKER_00
And people that have a sensitized immune system should look, if they have a mold problem, look at foods that could potentially contain mold.
5
SPEAKER_00
And then another one that I see are higher histamines.
5
SPEAKER_00
Foods that are higher histamines or histamine liberators or histamine-releasing foods can definitely be problematic for people that have SIBO, these gastrointestinal gut problems, and people that have, I mean, there s other symptoms of histamine intolerance, like anxiety.
5
SPEAKER_00
because your gut and brain is gut feelings connection again here.
5
SPEAKER_00
People that have lots of kombucha, people that have lots of bone broth, people that have lots of fermented pickled foods, even avocados can be higher in histamines.
5
SPEAKER_00
So these are the gray areas that we need to look at because- But that s where you need to diagnose yourself effectively because, yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
Or if you re doing all the things and still struggling, these are the areas you need to look at to say, what are these check engine lights in my life?
5
SPEAKER_00
Why is my body reacting to kombucha?
5
SPEAKER_00
It s not kombucha s fault, but is it the body telling me that this is releasing histamines right now?
5
SPEAKER_00
And then I have to ask the question, why do I have histamine intolerance in the first place?
5
SPEAKER_00
Which unresolved trauma can be part of that?
5
SPEAKER_00
SIBO, mold toxins can be a part of that.
5
SPEAKER_00
Chronic Lyme, the psychological and the physiological.
5
SPEAKER_00
So this is what I see, sadly, play out in people s lives.
5
SPEAKER_00
But it s only sad until you find out and give them answers.
5
SPEAKER_00
Then it s anything but sad.
5
SPEAKER_00
Because then it s this aha moment of like, wow, I can do something about it.
5
SPEAKER_01
I mean, that s exactly how I feel.
5
SPEAKER_01
Like everything you ve been talking about, I m like, this is the journey I ve been on.
5
SPEAKER_01
Because it s that feeling of I feel healthy to that feeling of recognizing, wow, there s so much about health that I did not understand.
5
SPEAKER_01
then getting accurate tests that actually tell you what s going on, because I think there s a lot of like, oh, you just need a bit of this, or you need a bit of that, and that doesn t work.
5
SPEAKER_01
Like, the accurate testing is such an important part of this, because then the recommendations can be healthier.
5
SPEAKER_01
I think a lot of recommendations are just based on basic symptoms, and that doesn t necessarily always go the right way.
5
SPEAKER_01
And then, of course, consistency in the recommendation.
5
SPEAKER_01
That feels like the full journey.
5
SPEAKER_00
Absolutely.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I think, look, if what you re doing is working for you and you feel great, don t look for problems where there isn t any.
5
SPEAKER_00
Of course.
5
SPEAKER_00
But I think we have an epidemic rise of people that are doing all the things, that are really compliant people, that are doing things their doctors are telling them to do, but they re still spinning their wheels.
5
SPEAKER_00
That s what I m talking about here.
5
SPEAKER_00
We have to do better here.
5
SPEAKER_00
So I think that these are what I find clinically to be missing links for people.
5
SPEAKER_00
then they fix a few things and it really kind of allows their body to take their health to the next level and start feeling the way they want to feel.
5
SPEAKER_00
And when you start repairing these things, whether it s repairing their gut health or regulating their nervous system or whatever we re talking about here, all of those foods I just mentioned, almost all of them can be reintroduced.
5
SPEAKER_00
So temporarily, maybe avoid them, but longer term, let s fix the problem that drove it in the first place.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, everyone make sure that you grab the book Gut Feelings and subscribe to the Art of Being Well podcast by Will.
5
SPEAKER_01
Dr. Will Cole, I just wanted to ask you, is there anything that you haven t shared on today?
5
SPEAKER_01
Something that is on your heart, your mind, or in your gut that you feel like you need to share that we haven t touched upon?
5
SPEAKER_00
No, man, I really appreciate the opportunity.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s been great.
5
SPEAKER_00
I have to have you on The Art of Being Well.
5
SPEAKER_01
I d love to.
5
SPEAKER_01
I d love to.
5
SPEAKER_01
But no, this has been so useful because I think you ve given us a very 360-degree approach of so many different aspects of our health.
6
SPEAKER_01
so everyone can read the book, Gut Feelings, to go in depth in all of this and listen to the podcast to understand more about everything we ve discussed today.
6
SPEAKER_01
And I hope this is the first of many times we ll sit down and get to do this.
6
SPEAKER_01
But thank you so much.
6
SPEAKER_01
We end every episode with a final five, which are the fast five rounds.
6
SPEAKER_01
So you have to answer these in one word or one sentence maximum.
6
SPEAKER_01
So you can do one sentence.
6
SPEAKER_02
All right, one word or one sentence.
6
SPEAKER_02
Kind of nervous.
6
SPEAKER_02
Let s go for it.
6
SPEAKER_01
Okay.
6
SPEAKER_01
Question number one, what s the best health advice you ve ever received or heard?
6
SPEAKER_02
It s what I actually said earlier.
6
SPEAKER_02
It s one that I m always telling myself and I m telling my patients is you can t heal a body you hate.
6
SPEAKER_02
It s a pointer to work that we need to do as reframing our relationship with our body and with food and with wellness itself.
6
SPEAKER_01
Love that.
6
SPEAKER_01
Question number two, what s the worst piece of health advice you ve ever heard or received?
6
SPEAKER_02
Well, the antithesis of that, that somehow you re going to shame your way into wellness.
6
SPEAKER_02
It s not going to work.
6
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
6
SPEAKER_01
Okay, question number three, something you used to value for your health, but you don t anymore.
6
SPEAKER_02
Probably taking tons of supplements.
6
SPEAKER_02
I have a simplified version.
6
SPEAKER_02
I know what I feel the best on.
6
SPEAKER_02
So to me, food is first.
6
SPEAKER_02
Supplements are a great bonus, targeted 100%, but food is primary.
6
SPEAKER_02
So I think streamlining and figuring out what are the biggest needle movers for myself is definitely that for me.
6
SPEAKER_01
That s a great answer.
6
SPEAKER_01
Question number four, what s your current purpose in life?
6
SPEAKER_02
Hmm.
6
SPEAKER_02
It s hopefully being a light for God.
6
SPEAKER_02
And it is, and what that means for me is just hopefully staying in my lane in the best of ways and just enabling me to bring hope to people that are really struggling with silent health problems.
6
SPEAKER_02
And I get to see it play out all the time.
6
SPEAKER_02
This is more than a sentence, but I love what I get to do.
6
SPEAKER_01
That s beautiful.
6
SPEAKER_01
Fifth and final question.
6
SPEAKER_01
If you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be?
6
SPEAKER_02
Be kind and think before you speak.
6
SPEAKER_01
A health law?
6
SPEAKER_01
I have any health laws?
6
SPEAKER_02
that will help people as social diseases, right?
6
SPEAKER_02
As social relationship disorders bring about physical disorders too.
6
SPEAKER_02
But if you want something a little bit more on a micro level, I would say a lot, you said a lot to people should live by.
6
SPEAKER_02
I would say use food, eat foods that love you back and find out what they are.
6
SPEAKER_02
Be curious about what they are.
6
SPEAKER_02
Because when you focus on that, the rest of the stuff kind of is put into perspective.
6
SPEAKER_01
I love that.
6
SPEAKER_01
Dr. Will Cole, everyone.
6
SPEAKER_01
The book is called Gut Feelings.
6
SPEAKER_01
The podcast is called The Art of Being Well.
6
SPEAKER_01
Dr. Will Cole on Instagram as well.
6
SPEAKER_01
Make sure you follow him.
6
SPEAKER_01
Everyone who s been watching or listening, make sure that you tag me and Dr. Will Cole on Instagram, on TikTok, on Twitter.
6
SPEAKER_01
Let us know what resonated with you, what you re going to try, what you re going to try and shift.
6
SPEAKER_01
Remember, you don t have to change everything all at once.
6
SPEAKER_01
You just got to try to put one thing into practice and watch how your life changes.
6
SPEAKER_01
Thank you so much for being here.
6
SPEAKER_01
So grateful for you.
6
SPEAKER_01
And I love this conversation.
6
SPEAKER_02
Likewise.
6
SPEAKER_01
If you love this episode, you ll enjoy my interview with Dr. Daniel Amen on how to change your life by changing your brain.
6
SPEAKER_00
A new season of Bridgerton is here.
6
SPEAKER_00
And with it, a new season of Bridgerton, the official podcast.
6
SPEAKER_00
I m your host, Gabby Collins.
6
SPEAKER_00
And this season, we are bringing fans even deeper into the tun.
6
SPEAKER_00
Watch season three of the Shondaland series on Netflix.
6
SPEAKER_00
Then fall in love all over again by listening to Bridgertim the official podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
6
SPEAKER_00
Subscribe to catch a new episode every Thursday.