Making Room by Gather
Hospitality. What do you think of when you hear that word?
For some it's old school 'stuffy' entertaining for others it's something to do with the hotel industry. One thing is for sure, as a culture we're not talking about it much.
Food * Design * Relationships have seemed to have taken a back seat to what our culture focuses on and values yet...we find ourselves in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. Something has to change, it's time to get back to our tables, and we're making room for it!
Making Room by Gather invites you into a new conversation on everyday hospitality. One that rewrites the way we approach opening your doors and filling your tables. Shifting the narrative from 'how does this make me look' to 'how does this make you feel' these buildable conversations aspire to inspire connection through everyday gathering.
Kayty's chic and a little quirky interview style will make you feel like you're sitting with a friend talking about how to grow in confidence as an everyday host. You can expect conversations from navigating challenging relationship dynamics to foundational cooking techniques and everything in between.
Whether you are a seasoned host or looking to develop new friendships and grow in your skills for the first time, there is a seat at the table. Join us weekly for new conversations with expert guests and with Kayty in her beloved Date with Kayt episodes. Continue the conversation @gatheritentionalliving
Making Room by Gather
Mold, Longevity, And Creating A Healthy Home
What if the missing link in your health story isn’t another pill, but intentional choices in your home, your gut, and a season of new conversations about health? We sit down with Dr. Ann Shippy, engineer turned board-certified functional medicine physician, to map a practical route from unexplained symptoms to real recovery.
When conventional care couldn’t explain a sudden crash in her health, she became her own experiment and uncovered the systems thinking that now guides her patients toward lasting change. We dig into the important conversation of mold in our homes as an overlooked driver of illness. You’ll learn how to test your space with composite dust sampling, when it’s time to move to cleaner air, and the tools that promote healing.
Whether you're interested in the conversation of longevity, pre-conception, mold and autoimmune disease this conversation is for you!
If you’re ready to replace questions with answers and quick fixes with real life health transformations, this conversation gives you hope.
This Episode is Sponsored by:
Tiny Spoon Chef- Get $100 off your customized in home personal chef service using this link!
Creative Crayons Workshop- Purchase your own coloring tablecloth for the holidays (Or to keep your littles entertained while you listen to the show!) Use code KAYTY at checkout to save.
Topics that I personally have been exploring, along with the ones that I think you probably are curious about too. And today on the show, I am welcoming on a new friend that I'm sure you'll see more of, Dr. Ann Shippy. Dr. Ann Shippy is a board-certified functional medicine physician and founder of Every Life Well and Every Baby Well. With years of experience working with patients to optimize health through personalized, science-based care, Dr. Shippy is trust a trusted authority in the field of functional medicine. She is passionate about helping people take a proactive approach to their health, particularly in the areas of fertility, pregnancy, and long-term well-being. Dr. Shippy's work has been featured on various media outlets, and she frequently speaks at health and wellness events nationwide. Guys, this conversation is so good and talks about areas of just like natural health and functional, like holistic health that really we could spend like weekends and weeks on just diving into and learning about. And so if you had any more questions, feel free to reach out to Dr. Shippy, explore her website, buy her books. She is a wealth of knowledge. And what I love about her too is she has so many layers of education to back her stance and everything that she teaches on and provides to her patients. So you are going to love this conversation as much as I do. But before we dive in, I wanted to thank our sponsor for the show, Tiny Spoon Chef. Guys, one of the areas of health that we know, a big area, is what you put into your body. And it could be so incredibly difficult to make those intentional food choices for your family in the midst of busy seasons and sports and jobs and goodness, so many layers of life. It gets so busy. And Tiny Spoon Chef wants to make it so simple for you. They want to come alongside you by providing a personal chef for your family. That's right. The everyday family can have a personal chef thanks to them by heading over to their website, TinySpoonChef.com/slash gather. And you actually get to have$100 off your first week. It's unbelievable. You could tell them I want to enjoy every single holiday flavor, or I'm wanting to reduce inflammation and eat gluten-free before the holidays, whatever your goals are, you could tell them and they will adjust the menu to meet your goals and your preferences. And we love the work that they do, the services they offer, and we know that you will too. So again, head on over to tiny spoonchef.com/slash gather for$100 off your first week. And as we are talking about the holidays, guys, I am so um aware that I am Wesley's memory maker. Isn't that so sweet when you think about the kids in your life? And now that we are, you know, gosh, it's just hit me recently that I am officially an adult, but that we are the adults creating the memories. And I love encouraging creativity, especially around the holidays. Well, Creative Crayons Workshop helps me to create these memories in every gathering that we host. And for Thanksgiving, we have a Thanksgiving coloring tablecloth that we are going to be putting on the table for Wesley and the other kids and the adults that love to be creative to sit at the table together and to create. If you are looking for a way to introduce creativity and encourage people to naturally come together at your holiday gatherings, head on over to creative crayonsworkshop.com and order a themed holiday coloring tablecloth. You will not regret it. Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitality educator and the host of Making Room by Gather podcast. I am set to see our communities get back to the table through hospitality. But it wasn't always this way. My husband and I moved to Thailand, and through it, I experienced some loneliness. And with it, I was given a choice to sit back and accept it or to do something about it. And for me, that meant two things. That I needed the healing to learn how to accept an invitation and the confidence to know how to accept one. Through this process, I developed some of the richest and deepest relationships of my life. Through making room by gather, you will hear conversations from myself and experts in the areas of food, design, and relationships. You see, there are countless things trying to keep us from the table. But can I tell you something? Take a seat because you are ready. You are capable. You are a good host. Welcome, welcome. I am so glad that you're here. I wanted to tell listeners before we dive in. Oh, that's better. Um, this conversation doesn't necessarily fall into our three main categories, but the reason I'm so passionate about it is because we are going to be talking um a bit about molds. I've shared some of our mold story with our past rental and just how that ties into home and just the atmosphere that we create. Um and then just also health is something that I'm really passionate um about in this season as we're kind of like growing our family and learning about our own health. And I know that there's so many questions in culture. And so I think it's very relevant. And so I'm so happy to have you here.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, thank you so much for having me. I love everything you're doing. It's it all does fit, it fits together perfectly for me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's holistic, right? I mean, you can't consider one without the other. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And it's it's yeah, the health of your home, the health of your relationships is integral to your personal physiology and your happiness.
SPEAKER_02:I feel like people are more receptive to that conversation now almost more than ever. Are you feeling that?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Like it's it's happening everywhere organically.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. Well, I want to start um by hearing a little bit about your story. So I find that people who are in the natural medicine world or like, you know, non-toxic people are familiar with that term, um, like the non-toxic space, um, have a specific turning point that launched them into the career or the lifestyle. What's your story?
SPEAKER_00:You're so right. Um, if you had told my 18-year-old self that this is where I'd be now, I would have been like, what are you talking about? I'm not doing that. Um, so I had this amazing career as a chemical engineer working for IBM. I was so happy and I was climbing the corporate ladder, I was getting promoted, getting to do really amazing things like get the toxic chemicals out of our manufacturing processes and leading teams to do that. And then all of a sudden, I went on vacation, I came back, and I was so sick. Like I went from doctor to doctor to doctor, and nobody could help me figure out what was wrong or how to get better. And so that's when I just really started researching for myself and I was my own little mini experiment. I tried everything that came across my path that really made sense to me. So I saw a natural path, a nutritionist. I read books on what to eat and how to cook and tried different diets. I tried all kinds of supplements and um started meditating, all kinds of things. And I finally pieced together what I needed to do to be healthy. And it got me so inspired about the human body. Like it is so magical when it's not being overwhelmed by things and it has everything it needs to heal. You can heal from almost everything with that kind of approach. And so I really I literally woke up in the middle of the night and a disinh decision had been made to go to medical school at 32. So massive. I know. And I had uh this will kind of tie into some of the conversation today, but I had already experienced some issues with infertility. So, you know, it wasn't really a well-thought out thing because I didn't, I didn't wasn't making the decision thinking I might not get to have kids if I went down this path. So I'm really lucky that I got to have my children in medicine medical school and residency, even though I had had some run-ins with infertility. And my body really has been my best teacher and and shown me that we can really practice medicine differently because I started back on um, so when I finished residency, I had a one-year-old and a five-year-old. And I know I needed to do additional training. Yeah, you're in the midst of it with a two-year-old, right? I know how demanding all of that is. So I knew I need to do additional training. I wanted the MD as the base for how I was gonna care for people, but I knew I needed to learn more about nutrition and um applied systems biology and integrative medicine, but I I was tired and I had two little kids. So I went into traditional practice where it was not what I wanted to do, but I still was really enjoying it. Like I started, I my practice got really busy, but within like five minutes of seeing each patient, I knew what prescription I was gonna write. And like I was in that model that I really didn't feel was truly gonna help people. So fortunately, I developed a couple of autoimmune disorders. I got Shogren syndrome so badly that I couldn't wear my contacts anymore, and I had to be chewing gum or have a mint in my mouth to even be able to have conversations. And so when that happened, it got me to find my path to functional medicine. It was right about the time that functional medicine was on the um on the map. And so I could do that additional training and then switch over into the medicine that I really wanted to practice, where I got to spend time with my patients and help them identify the root cause and really build their bodies back.
SPEAKER_02:Man, so much of what um you just said, we're gonna dive into more in this conversation. But I love that you said your body, how do you word it, your body was your best teacher?
SPEAKER_00:I kind of laugh because I'm a kinesthetic learner. I think it's why I liked chemical engineering, is because you get the principles and then you'd get to apply it and see how it worked, what didn't work, how things fit together. And the same thing with healing the body, it's like I get if I can experience for myself that I can totally reverse autoimmune diseases, I can hold that space for my patients to know that they can totally heal too.
SPEAKER_02:That's what I, you know, I've said it a few times on this show, but when I was the biggest like questioner of like anything natural, I questioned everything. I um had a lot of like strong opinions against it. And it wasn't until I started to try and see the changes that I'm like, oh my goodness. Like when it when it's personal, um, it changes your whole outlook, your whole approach. And so that's my encouragement to people like don't don't knock it till you try it. It's worth it's worth giving whatever you're questioning a season just to see the transformation that it could have. So um on your health.
SPEAKER_00:That's so great to hear that you've had that experience too, where you can find solutions to actually help you heal.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And, you know, I think it's even more powerful, like my part of the story, I still have so much more to learn that, you know, I I was really like reluctant to try a lot of it. And I had very, you know, if you knew me in my like high school, early college years, I had very strong things against like natural cleaners or things like that. Um, and now I'm the total opposite. Um total, total transformation. It is, it is, yeah. Um, well, I want to start by talking to people who might be in a season of we'll call them like unexplained symptoms. I think when people hear functional medicine, natural medicine, um, this is usually where their journey starts, right? They've they've they've tried every other, you know, primary care, whatever physician, and they're like, we don't have any more answers for you. Um, and that's when it gets them curious. Would you agree?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. I mean, I think it's such a part of our culture, uh, the way that medicine is now, that, you know, to go to the doctor, get an antibiotic or get a heartburn medicine or cholesterol medicine, and just and to not even be having the conversation about, well, wait, why was I having those headaches? Why was I having that heartburn? Why is my cholesterol high? Is high cholesterol actually even a problem? So that it's not part of our culture to dig in and ask the questions. We I mean, you know, back when I was initially going through my health things, I just thought the doctor was going to tell me what to do. And uh, and then that ended my part of the responsibility. And as far as getting better until I was like, wait, these band-aids aren't working. This doesn't explain my symptoms. So um, what's really exciting and what's happened um, you know, in the last 30 years is our technology for digging deeper into the biochemistry and physiology and really looking more deeply and understanding some of these concepts has been exponential. Like we can, even, you know, compared to when I finished medical school in 1999, the things available to be able to look at, I mean, technology has just gone leaps and bounds, but it just hasn't been implemented into our traditional allopathic model.
SPEAKER_02:Um, I actually am so glad that you just said that. Why do you think that is? Because I think a lot of people, I don't think they're wrong to think this, but they think the doctors are just up to date on all the new research, all the new findings, all the new technology. We assume that. And so is it really something that's up to the provider to stay current on?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And unfortunately, what's happening now is um uh there's uh uh practice uh guidelines. Like they're you're it almost takes the thinking out of the whole process for doctors. So they're not actually even being able to be encouraged to think they're just being told, like, okay, somebody's got a headache, you ask these questions. If they ask this way, then you do these tests, if you ask answer this way, then do you know this process. So it's gotten so algorithmic rather than the art of medicine and really uh using your intuition and paying attention to the subtle symptoms, the stories that the patients tell you, like so often in their story about what's led up to this point in their life, you can glean so much that's so helpful for understanding where things have gone up course. And they don't have the doctors don't have time to even listen to those stories.
unknown:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Man, that's a powerful um visual or like just like a uh the realistic side of like what's actually happening, you know. So we went, I go to a kind of more functional um practitioner for Wesley's pediatrician, and I'm so thankful that we do. And going off of what you just said about story, um, I went to like his two-year visit and I was like, oh, you know, his eating patterns have changed, you know, in this way and he's kind of itching, whatever. And I was like, Do you think it's a parasite? And she had listened to my story. We had just moved, and she was like, It sounds more like a stress response to me. And I'm like, man, I'm so glad you picked up on that. Um, and there, you know, it was a whole conversation and we went into it in depth. But I was like, wow, I'm so, I don't know, I'm thankful that you you picked up on that. Cause for a little guy, of course, who's not using his words and talking about everything, um, it makes sense. So the power of story and medicine is important. And I think it's it's important for us to change our view of health to not, we're not all um gonna follow the same medical trajectory or like health trajectory, right? Like we're not all going to tolerate the same foods or things like that, which I think culture believes, right? Like we all should be able to eat these cheeses and not have a stomachache afterwards. Like that's not it's not how medicine or bioindividual what's that term? Bioindividuality.
SPEAKER_00:Bioindividuality, right? Yeah, you know, you can have 10 people with similar stories come in and um as far as what their symptoms are and what they're dealing with, and it's gonna be 10 different solutions. Like by the time we really optimize how to get rid of the migraine headaches or whatever it is that we're addressing, I mean it's the that's the beauty of what I get to do is to really tune in to each patient and see what's gonna be the optimal path for them.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Wow. Um, well, I wanna, I got ahead of myself. So to someone who might be listening today thinking, okay, I've been told this, I have unexplained symptoms, the doctors have kind of like reached the end of their um, I guess, advice for me, um, what what are possible next steps? What would you say to someone in that that boat?
SPEAKER_00:Um I I would say don't, even if you have a diagnosis and you don't like the um the medications or whatever the treatment plan is that you're being offered. So if you have any sense that your body isn't running optimally, find a provider to partner with you. So I my preference is an MD that has a functional medicine background and is actually certified in functional medicine, because that just means they've done the deeper um research and training to be able to really know what the options are in their toolbox to uh help you get to where you know you need to go. And so um you know, some of these really hard things like Parkinson's dementia ALS um can can often have answers. And so even the really, really hard things, I recommend that people find somebody to help them figure out why their body's gone off course and then help them to get back. So, you know, I know you've had a mold run in. Well, when when we um look at some of these symptoms, even autism and um autoimmunity, we have to look at the environment. So mold is such a trigger for things like autism. There's other things going on in addition to that, but it's often uh the tipping point or cancer. There's such an association with toxic mold exposure in the environment and cancer and dementia. Like if somebody is having a memory issue, we can't just chalk it up to, oh, you have an ApoE4 gene, because there are lots of people with ApoE4 genes that never get dementia, never get heart disease. So it's genes, meat, environment, meat, nutrition, meat, microbiome. And a lot of times when we look and see what's actually going on with people, we can prioritize some some more holistic solutions.
SPEAKER_02:I'm so glad that you um said, and correct me if I'm saying this wrong, but like to look for a practitioner that's um, did you say certified or has a degree in functional health?
SPEAKER_00:So like I'm board certified in internal medicine. So that's you know, primary care, hospital care for adults. Um, so in addition to that, certification, which just means I've jumped through the extra hoops of taking tests to show competency. And so then the functional medicine also has one of those tests that you can become certified in functional medicine.
SPEAKER_02:How would someone find that? Like what does that look like on a website if people are filtering through?
SPEAKER_00:It's Institute for Functional Medicine. I think it's IFM.org.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. That's great. That's very helpful. You know, so when we were looking for care for Wesley, we'd started at a practice. I think I will call it, yeah, a practice. And I something just didn't sit right. And um, I realized that they weren't certified. Um and I'm sure they're one like they were wonderful people and they provided like really good care, but we did find another practitioner that um was certified, and the care just feels so different. Um yeah, yeah, it just felt a little bit more um, I don't want to say grounded, but well-rounded, maybe. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That's good. And it is engaged, it's especially with the pediatricians, it's so good to interview a few people and see who you can feel most comfortable with because there's so many times with kids you're like, am I making the right decision for my kid? And and having somebody that you feel confident that you can actually ask the questions and get answers that are going to help you to make good decisions is everything.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm thankful for all the schooling that you guys put in because that's more work, right? It's more years, isn't it? On your end.
SPEAKER_00:It's um, it it is. It's um well, and I I love your you're you're a continuous learner, right? You love contestants. That's always how you do this. I think that's part of it for me too, is this field of functional medicine. I every week I look for new studies that are in the areas that I'm particularly interested in because there's so much amazing research that's getting done every day. And I love to be up on it.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Are you taking new clients? I'm sure everyone's wondering at this point.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I am. Yes, I am. The whole goal is to get people better, get them, you know, the first six to 12 months can be a little intensive depending on what they have going on and even optimizing. But after that, then we can go to like every six months to a year and just keep fine-tuning things. So the initial start of the process with me is probably a little bit intense because we there's laps that we want to collect and and learn about their body, and it takes a little bit of iter iteration.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's good. Well, to close off this one question, so people that are like, listen, I've had unexplained symptoms. I feel like what I hear more often than not is like stomach stuff or gut gut experiences, like people say, like digestion, and I'm, you know, we hear IBS and all the you know, all of these kind of like hot words. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I guess it's just a garbage diagnosis that means nothing.
SPEAKER_02:So actually, actually talk to that for a second because I know that, but other people might not. So it's it's kind of like not a cop-out. It's it is it is right, yeah. Okay, okay. It's fair for me to say that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And so in the traditional medical model, a lot of times, you know, they'll rule out that you have cancer or something like that. So you might get scoped uh endoscopy going from the top and a colonoscopy coming from the bottom, you know, check at some basic labs like make sure your liver is okay, your blood cancer okay, things like that. But it's just like flying over in an airplane and seeing what's going on in the trees. It's kind of it's not very detailed. So, what we do in in functional medicine is we collect more data to see what's going on with the microbiome. So, do you have an imbalance of the good flora and overgrowth of some bad bacteria? Do you have a low-grade yeast infection or a hidden parasite? Are you making digestive enzymes? Do you have high histamine? We're seeing an epidemic of high histamine since COVID. So we look at like, okay, well, why are you having these symptoms and then work on reversing it rather than just um band-aiding it with um something for constipation or bloat.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Well, I feel like I could sit here for a very long time diving into all the it's so fun, right? It's so fun. Yeah. I think honestly, it just it's empowering. And um I love when things are empowering. I think at the beginning it could seem overwhelming, kind of like you were saying, like it could feel a little bit intense. It's different, it's a different model for a lot of us. But I feel like this time in culture right now, we're relearning a lot. And and when you start to feel healthier, even if it's in layers, it I don't know, the way it changes your life, it's worth it. Um, and so anything that has that kind of effect on it.
SPEAKER_00:I really feel like it changes the trajectory of your health. So rather than just band-aiding the migraines or the um PMS or the digestive complaints, when we actually heal them, it changes the trajectory for your longer-term health and longevity because those things take a wear and they they're wearing tear on the body that we don't need. Like it can totally um feel great, I think, into your 80s and 90s.
SPEAKER_02:So you just brought up um three letters that I wasn't gonna bring up, PMS. But I'm glad you did because along with IBS, um, people are like, oh, this is just the female experience. I didn't tell you we were gonna talk about this, but what would you say optimal health or like an optimal monthly cycle would look like if someone was operating in just like full health?
SPEAKER_00:Well, and back to the first statement on there's a lot of biochemical individuality. So what's normal for one person might not be normal for the other, like even in the length of the cycle, right? So some people might tend more towards a 25, 26-day cycle and still ovulate just fine. And other people might be 35, 38 and still be ovulating. So there's um it's more like what's consistent and what's normal for you. But you know, serious cramping, uh, serious mood shifts, serious um uh uh blood loss shows that there's some imbalances going on. So sometimes we can correct those just by reducing inflammation in the body, by changing the diet, taking some supplements to help uh to soothe inflammation, or looking for the root causes. Like sometimes there is um a low-grade infection someplace in the body, like a chronic fungal infection in the gut that doesn't cause any specific symptoms, but is there just kind of driving the immune system to be off? So a lot of times by working with some supplements, a little bit of testing, we can get things all balanced out.
SPEAKER_02:Isn't it sad? I mean, I it's not sad, it's kind of like what we've learned as a culture, but we go through the monthly cycle, you just keep adding medications, adding all of these like heat pads and lotions, and like you just add on, and it becomes so expensive and this huge layered routine, and it's like, man, we really can get to the source and change this experiment or experience, right? Um yeah, it's important to learn about. I'm glad the conversations are happening. Well, um, I want to switch just for a second to talk about um mildew and molds. I guess my first question is how common is this in our living living environments?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there's been some really interesting conversations in my life lately because um I bet uh there's some attorneys that are really trying to change what's happening in the building industry. So um there is work going on on this, but around the time that uh in the 70s and 80s, where they started changing the building code to build tight homes for energy conservation, they changed the whole way that homes have been built for 100 years. Um the building materials changed, the whole um HVAC system situation started to be different. So it unfortunately the code in most states and our country are not um the right things to have healthy homes. And they don't breathe and they don't um release the toxins. So if there is a mold problem, instead of things kind of dissipating a little bit, they actually build up in the in the home. So the problem with mold isn't the spores usually. Like, yeah, it's a hassle to have the allergy asthma things, but it's the toxins that the mold, some of the mold makes that actually are poisoning us. And so now with the way that buildings are being built, it's almost like there's a mold smoke factory in the walls or behind the shower or along the chimney that are um making chemicals that are have been studied for things like biological warfare. They are made into drugs to do things like immunosuppression. There's one in particular, mycophenolic acid, that's given to people who have had an organ transplant so they don't reject their organs. So they massive that particular substance massively uh compromises the immune system. And you don't so you're it's like you're getting a drug and you don't even know it. And then there are some of these mycotoxins that disrupt hormones. So they they can be the root cause of the PMS.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Wow. So um without going like too deep into it, so we were living in a very charming older home. It was like a hundred years old, I think. And we started to just like smell mildew and then started to see mold, and then then you know, people would come over and smell it. Like we just got so used to it, but they would smell it in the environment. And then so unfortunately weren't we weren't able to make a quick move. So there was a lot of temporary fixes. But if someone finds themselves in a situation like this, what are ways to care for your health? Or would you say something as bold as like leave now, no matter what the situation looks like? Like, how would how would you approach that? I think it's I think it's an important conversation all around.
SPEAKER_00:It's such an important conversation, and it's one that I have almost every day, unfortunately. Wow. Um, so it's I I just have to be Very frank with my, you know, what I see happening for people. Like it can be the trigger for autism or cancer, or for like me, when I I had to do the kinesthetic learning around mold, I had ALS like symptoms. So like I couldn't have held this cup without dropping it. I got my um, especially my right arm got so weak, my hair was falling out, I had pain in my body, um totally exhausted. Like I got super, super sick and I um thought I was dying because it was so bad. And um so like I prefer that people find a solution before things get that bad. You know, before they get the cancer, Alzheimer's, the autism or autoimmunity diagnoses. So but I know it's hard. Like I know it's really, really challenging to make those decisions. And you know, sometimes, especially for people that are um in a partnership, one partner might be more affected than the other, and it's kind of invisible, right? So it can be really, really hard on relationships and very complex financially to navigate. My preference is to find a place that you can be once you realize that there's a problem as soon as possible. Like, you know, go I've had people go stay with friends, I've had people like the worst case scenario was set up a tent. Um I've had people get RVs to move into, and it really just was dictated by how ill they were. I my preference is to do it as soon as possible and not wait until somebody's super ill. Um but I, you know, I have I probably still have a little trauma over it for myself. So you have to kind of factor that in when I'm um talking about it, but I've just seen so many people so ill. And one of the most important things to get better and to not, you know, get yourself in a much worse situation is to get in a clean environment. So um, you know, like when I had my ALS type run in, I was so fortunate at that my mom, my parents welcomed me into their house for a few months until I could start to get my body healing and figure out where I could be with my kids. So um not everybody has that. I realize like I was just so fortunate to to have that situation where I did have a clean environment that I could go to and then sort out what to do with my things and where to go. Um, but what I find is that most of the time when you just kind of put it out there to to God, the universe, the my spiritual side here, yeah, there's a path, there's a path. And you just have to be open to receiving it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. That really I shared um like our miracle house story. Uh I had gotten to a point where I was like, I really, I really brought it before the Lord and I was like, God, we can't keep doing this. Like, I don't know what our options are with this molt. And our house, it it wasn't an overnight people know our story, but I remember at that breaking point, God was like, okay, here's a way out. Here's this brand, it's a literally a new build. There's no no mold in the in you know any crevice of it at this point. But um, it's true. Yeah, you have to activate your community, you have to, you know, bring it to prayer, all of those things. It's so important. Um, but I want to talk just for a second.
SPEAKER_00:People want to help if you give them the opportunity.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. It's true. It's true. That is the beauty of community and one of the ways that um yeah, the community can show up in your life in a season. Um, I want to talk to the people though, maybe like us that stayed in an environment with molds longer than we probably should have. What are ways to either rest like restore or detoxify? Like, how do you approach that?
SPEAKER_00:So the main thing is that our detoxification pathways are very complex, but there are a few key things that really help to open up the spigots and let the toxins out. So the things that I really love are liposomal glutathione. Um, so the liposomal form of glutathione, I think, is the best because you actually absorb it and it gets into your cells where we want it to go. And then um, there's so much information on my website on this, the Anchip EMD. We've got so many blogs and resources. There's actually a mold page on there to um with like, okay, you had a leak, you painted over it, you want to know was is there actually mold behind that wall without having to open it up? There's um references for test kits and how to test yourself for mycotoxins. There's so much information. I think it's ANCHIP EMD forward slash mold.com forward slash mold. And um, because I just want people that have like have the resources that I think they need. Um, liver support is super helpful. And then one of the ongoing themes that I've seen, especially when I get to test my patients, is that these toxins poison the mitochondria, the little organelles inside the cell that help you to make energy and poison the cell membranes. So something called phosphatidylcholine. It's um, I think we even have on YouTube, we have a I did my desert island supplements and explained phosphatidylcholine, but it just helps your body to start to do that repair at a really important cellular level. And then things that support mitochondrial health, um, like mito Q is a special form of CoQ10, and then with regular CoQ10 or PQQ to help fuel the mitochondria, something called NAD, carnitine, derribose, like there's a lot of things that, especially when you're super sick, can make a huge difference towards the making the healing process happen very quickly.
SPEAKER_02:Man, um, everything that you just referenced, are those like capsule form?
SPEAKER_00:Some are capsule, some are liquid. So I do take care of some children. Um, so and then there's even a like a liposomal glutathione that I really love called glutaryl that you can use more easily on kids, but there's also the liquids for the kids.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Wow. Um, I wanted to ask another um clarifying question. So when you know we're talking about leaving an environment that might have molds, going to you called it like a clean environment. Um, do you test like your new environments? Okay. So what is test, what does testing look like? Because, you know, I was even saying the space we're in right now, I assume it's clean. Like, you know, I assume there's no molds. But um, talk to us about that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, unfortunately, new builds are really tricky in a lot of places, especially here in Texas, where the building quality just it's you build a house differently in Texas than you do, like in Colorado, where they're expecting a bunch of snow, right? Um they cut corners and don't pay as much attention to flashings and things. So um, the best way to test a house is with the dust test. Um, because some of the really bad molds like chetomium and stachybratris don't send out very many spores. And so if you don't just happen to test in exactly the right place, you're gonna miss it. So the little mycotoxins flowed in the air and the um um so and move to other places. But what I really like people to do is get a composite dust test. So getting as much dust as you can by going over the floorboards and door jams and any place that hasn't been dusted recently, get as much dust as you can and send it off to um thedustest.com or enviro biomix. Okay. And I can help you with links for the show notes. Happy to help you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. I'm like taking notes and I'm also like, wait, how do you spell that? Dust test I can handle the some of the supplements I can't spell.
SPEAKER_00:It's it's all on my website under the in the mold blogs and things too. Okay. You know, I'm giving you kind of an overview, but for people that are really looking for answers on mold, or they, you know, as they're listening to the conversation, they're curious. Oh, why my um my memory's not as good as it was, or I'm starting to have some issues with autoimmunity or whatever their like little subconscious nudges are, it's definitely a worthwhile thing to to look at because most of the time the mold is hidden. You know, it's behind the shower, it's along the wind windows where it's not getting wet enough to show through the paint, but enough to cause mold in the drywall. It's those kinds of situations that are hidden. So, like if I had my way, we all do a dust test on our homes and offices, and gosh, the schools are crazy every six months and just make sure if there's something brewing that we catch it right away so we can fix it. Because what ends up happening is by delaying it, a lot of times you it's harder and harder to actually remediate to fix.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. I remember growing up, you know, having a few people in my life that were very aware of these types of conversations and environmental things, but because it wasn't as like it wasn't as commonly talked about, it was like, oh, that person, you know, concerned about the mold or that person. And I'm just I'm just so thankful for, you know, platforms like yours and um just conversations and culture because man, I don't know, it's time. It's time to really get curious and intentional about a lot of these environmental factors.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it is because of what we're seeing around us, right? Like we're um COVID just really showed how sick Americans are. Our country did so bad from a standpoint of um the morbidity and mortality from from COVID compared to other countries. So we can see it where we're getting sicker and sicker, our kids are getting sicker and sicker. So it's unacceptable. We have to change this trajectory. And and um, the big elephant in the room are the environmental toxins that we're we keep dumping into our water and our air and our home environments.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Um again, this is like a passion, I am a topic, I'm very passionate about all of it. So I'm like, man, how deep do I go into all of this stuff? But another conversation um is okay, so when I'm at someone's house or even like, you know, somewhere where we're living or staying, we travel a lot, and I'm drinking tap water and I taste maybe a little bit of a metallic taste. How aware of that do we need to be? Like what I I guess talk to us about tap water. Like, should I be someone bringing my own jugs of water? Like, like what should what should our approach be?
SPEAKER_00:That's such a great question because that I've my thinking has changed on this recently. Yeah, no, it's really quite uh something. There's so much more data on what's happening with the tap water now. So if you go and have if you just go have dinner with somebody or at a restaurant and it happens once in a while, and you're doing the things that help your body to detoxify, you're taking some liposomal glutathione and a little bit of binders here and there, uh, just to keep up with being in the world, no big deal. Enjoy your dinner. If you're going to stay at somebody's house for a week and they don't have any type of filtration, I I would um I would try to filter it somehow. If you're um so the big thing is though, the this whole plastic conversation. Like I I try not to drink water out of plastic bottles anymore because of this, what what I see with my patients and when we measure their um plastics, it's elevated. If they're drinking out of plastic or you know, doing a lot of takeout, I pretty much quit doing takeout. If I'm gonna have restaurant food, I try to go and eat that at the restaurant because most of the food packaging is going to leach into the food because it's hot or cold and um you're gonna get a little dose of plastic. So I do like if I'm I travel a lot too. And so if I'm in the airport and I haven't brought a water bottle to the kit, um in Austin's airport, we have a there's there is a little filter station that you can fill up your water bottle. But if I haven't gotten all together, I, you know, I have to stay hydrated when I travel. I get dehydrated easily. So I'll go ahead and have the bottled water in the airport. But then when I get to my destination, I try to have some water and glass delivered.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Wow, wow. It's good. Man, so many it's a lot of work. It is a lot, but there's a lot more um like solutions now or like options for people to kind of like yeah, to be to be able to be intentional, like easier. Um, yeah, like some of these kits that are more readily available or um just different models that are available to us. All of those things just give us options um that are important. Well, I want to switch and talk about the topic of longevity a little bit. And this is something that I got curious about with the um the launch of the show, the blue zones. You know, did you watch that?
SPEAKER_00:I did see some of that.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And um, I haven't deep dived into any of like the research or those areas, but I I love like cross-cultural, I love culture, and so I love just learning that different habits um they believe kind of contributed to longer, longer life. And I was like, man, I'm really not making any intentional choices in my daily life with that in mind, but I should be, and I would like to be. And so I guess for those of us that are curious about longevity or um are realizing that we're not uh giving it enough thought, I took that a few different ways. What would you say is a good place to start? Like I think we're so focused on quick fixes, like I want to lose weight now, I want to fix my hair, hair growth now, but we don't think about like the second half of our life. So what would you what would you say to that? You could really take that any direction.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, I love this question. So um I yeah, it's health jevity. Like, how do we the point of being here if I not just have longevity, but we want to have health for a long time. And I'm so fortunate because I have um my mother and I have a couple of aunts that have definitely have had health jevity. So my mom's 94, and my um, my 88-year-old aunt, you know, it she has done these long bike rides in her 80s, like 35 miles or more. And she's gone on these um, you know, multi-day hikes. And so she just doesn't see any limitations for her physical body and just keeps active. So I would say find somebody in your life to kind of give you that pulse rather than, oh, you're gonna decline as you age. Like my mom still plays bridge and wins at 94. I love it. Yeah. And she makes sure she gets her 3,000 steps in and she has her spinach for breakfast. And, you know, it's just her thinking. So that's where I would start. But then depending on where you want to go with how to ensure your health devity, some of these tests that I see tests that I do to look for the root causes for these complex chronic illnesses can be helpful for longevity. So let's make sure your microbiome is tuned up. Those organisms have such a tremendous impact on it on the trajectory of health. Make sure your mitochondria are working really well. We can look for marker, really super detailed levels for inflammation. So if we find those, then we know we have a little bit of detective work to do in advance. It turns out that autoimmune diseases, there's evidence of them years before they actually turn into a disease. So I like to screen for those. And then we can look at some epigenetic markers. So, like how are your genes getting upregulated and down to predict that health jevity? We can look at the length of your telomere. So the little strands that help the DNA operate, like unwind and wind to do their job, those tend to shorten with the age. But it turns out we can often help them to lengthen just doing our work. So there's so much we can do to change that trajectory so that, you know, that you're actually enjoying your life and feeling good into your later years. One story I love to tell, if you'll indulge me a little bit, was Yeah, of course, a woman, 85. Her grandson had seen me, and so he really wanted his grandmother to come in. She was having a lot of pain in her body, and she wasn't able to um, you know, bend over, pick things up. So she was kind of limited in her movement. She was feeling like her memory wasn't getting um, you know, it's in the wrong trajectory. So we did the process. We collected the data to see what was happening with her, and she was great about implementing all the things, you know, changing her diet, taking the summons, the movement, the meditation. The last time she was in the office, I dropped something and she picked it up before I did. She has no more pain in her body, and she feels like her memory is great. Like she's back to winning it, bridge. So I this idea that we are in this negative trajectory and there's nothing we can do about it. It's just entropy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I think there's so much more we can do to um feel great most days, even as we age.
SPEAKER_02:That's an important narrative for us to adopt. Uh, you know, I think that we are so focused on like, you know, skincare to look more youthful today. And it's like, well, what, you know, what if we in addition to like the health care practice, you know, the health um, I don't know, our routines, you know, our daily routines, we're also considering these longevity ha habits. Would you call them rituals?
SPEAKER_00:Or you know, I I'm too actually doing that too is thinking about them as being more rituals because it makes it more enjoyable.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, yeah, you know, I and feeling the gratitude about it, right? I'm so lucky that I know the things to take to help my body be strong. Um, I've done this some really extensive genetic tests that I know what nutrients are the the biggest priority for me to kind of bad bypass some of those um genetics. And so how lucky am I to to get to know what to do to help my body to be strong?
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Wow. I love all that testing. I'm like, sign me up. Come on, I do it. I do, I love it. I love it. Um, I have a quick question for you. And I don't know, you could take this to whatever extent you're comfortable like answering, but you know, a lot of people when they hear about like functional medicine and more, you know, new approaches to health, um, often think of like a price tag, like insurance is not covering certain things. Or what would you what would you say to those people? Are there unique avenues that you would encourage them to explore? Or would you say this is worth the second job for the sake of your health? Like, how should we how should we approach that side of the conversation?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think it's all about priorities, right? Like where do we put the resources that we do have? And I guess for um those of us that aren't in inside the insurance model, so that we really have the leeway to spend the time with our patients and um to practice medicine the way that we want to, not to be handcuffed by the um insurance companies, um, it definitely is an investment. The um there are some functional medicine practitioners that have figured out how to make it in the insurance model. It's just it's very hard because they still have to, you know, have a lot of patients every day to cover their overhead. Um, but you can find that, but then when you look at the cost of being ill, when you look at the cost of not feeling good, like feeling like you're declining, it it's um it's just a different perspective on where the resources go. And you know, when I started uh working for IBM, the insurance model was different. Like we they um IBM was self-insured and not going through insurance company, and they covered 80% of our medical expenses. So we had, you know, which was great at the time, like it was awesome because um other insurance companies didn't have that level of coverage. And um, but it gave you some skin in the game, right? Like it it caused you to think about, okay, well, my I don't want to pay that 20. I don't I don't want to have the medical expenses because it's not gonna be covered. And so how do I um mitigate getting sick myself? So you know, we do have we've got this culture that's a little off, right? Where I think pretty much everybody now knows that this whole idea that red wine is good for you is wrong. Um alcohol is not good for you, and yeah, we still continue to drink it, and um, you know, the number of people vaping, and uh um, and I think there's there's some conversations to be had around the TC weed situation. Like I think there's a lot of evidence to show that maybe that's not so great on a regular basis either. Like that can for men can lower testosterone, and um, I think it's a bit of a hormone disruptor for women's women as well, and it's toxic. Like most of the, even if you're getting it through a prescription, I think there's a lot of microtoxins and pesticides in those substances. So um I guess I'm off on a little bit of a tangent, but no, I I believe I'm following.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'm following.
SPEAKER_00:Really being conscientious about what we're putting in our body and in our environment.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. It's good. No, I think the priority thing is an important, it's an important um aspect of life for us to all consider. I mean, continuously, how we're spending our money and where, you know, where our money's going and um just different like yeah, time and financial priorities. And, you know, even if it's just a season of reshifting, you know, for the sake of diving into a health, an area of health, right? Like it yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:We um prevention is hard, right? Because if you actually feel pretty good, then it's harder to get yourself to prioritize the resources if you're actually really sick. It's a little easier.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but I've loved working with different I've worked with different um would you call yourself a practitioner, like or a doctor? I mean, what would you refer to yourself as?
SPEAKER_00:I'm a doctor, yeah. So there are people that do functional medicine that are not doctors. They just have done that training and they've layered it on their expertise, the pharmacist, the acupuncturist, the chiropractor. Um, so it's great.
SPEAKER_02:But I've worked with some like doctors or practitioners that I've you know been transparent with up front. Like, this is my budget, this is what we're able to spend in this season. Like, can you help me to prioritize? And so I want people to know that that's an option too. Um, there it's not gonna be a you have to go like all in with all these tests that we're talking about or nothing. Like there is, right? Would you say that that's true in your experience? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:And right. So I'll have some people come in and and do exactly that. This is my budget. What would you prioritize based on this budget, which is great because then I know where they are and know what to prioritize for them. And then other people will come in and say, okay, I've gone through this big health crisis, or I see this trajectory, family history in my family. So I'm willing to prioritize whatever resources we need to to get the data you need to help me. So it's that fulls full spectrum. And I really appreciate meeting people where they are.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's good. I like including that as part of the conversation because I know that there is a huge range that people are, you know, different backgrounds that people are listening from.
SPEAKER_00:So um I want to and there's also a time frame with it too. Like some people are like, I want to do everything right now. And then there are other people that are like, let's let's put my toe in, let's get started. And then no, it's gonna be a longer journey together.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Yeah, it's good. It's good, it's good. Well, um, just looking at the time a little bit, I want, I don't want to, I don't want to forget this part. We are celebrating the release of your latest book. Can you remind me the launch date? Has it launched? It's coming out.
SPEAKER_00:November 18th, but it's for pre-sale. It's everywhere that you can buy books pretty much.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so exciting. Um, the preconception revolution. I I'd love to hear in your own words why was it important to you to release this book specifically? When I so I I received an advanced copy, this I looked at the size of it first and I was like, man, this took a lot of time. I just respect the amount of work that went behind a book that big. So you're clearly passionate about it. So talk to us about why this was so important.
SPEAKER_00:It's really what I wish I had before I had my kids. It's what I didn't know to that. I really wish I had been able to give them from the health of the, you know, what happens with the egg and the sperm prior to conception and during pregnancy. And it's it like I'm so fortunate in my practice. So a lot of times I'll get to see multiple generations. I'll get to see the babies, the um um parents and the grandparents. So I get this view into humanity and and what it takes to actually have healthy babies that most people don't get. And I have a way of thinking, you know, with the chemical engineering background where I like to put the um threads together, the systems together, the threads together, and bring in the latest research to really back up what I see happening with patients. So one of my early patients, I had just been in practice for a year or two in the functional medicine side, she came to me and she was 41 and she's like, I heard about you and I want to have a baby. And I think you can help me have a healthy baby. And she was so spot on because when we I, you know, a lot of times at 41, you're like, oh my God, I need to get pregnant now, right? I might be missing my window. But she was so wise to come to me and take the time to do the test because we found that she had some things going on that could have affected the health of the baby. She was really high in heavy metals, she wasn't methylening very well, and she had some microbiome things going on. So we did our process in less than a year and she got pregnant right away and had a healthy baby. So I was like, oh, okay, this actually works right right away. And then a couple of years later, I had somebody come who had failed IDF. She had um the resources, she'd gone to the East Coast and to the West Coast, tried it a couple times, and nobody would touch her again because she failed. And they just said, you know, you you just need to adopt, basically, at the time. But she also had heard about me and just like, I I I think I can have a baby. I want to try. And so now she has four kids. She like, we found some things. She had some autoimmunity brewing, she um had some issues with her microbiome with some toxins. We got her cleaned up and she got pregnant right away. And then she wasn't even finished nursing the first one, and they weren't that careful because they're like, Oh, we had had infertility before, and she got pregnant with twins.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no. She ended up in two three, three kids within two years.
SPEAKER_00:It was a lot. And then went on to have a fourth as well. So wow, wow, wow. I started, I I just learned from my patients that um when the body is in balance, it's and not getting the message that it's not a good time to have a baby, that there are things that we can do. And then I started realizing wait with this children's health crisis, where one in 31 children right now that are like, I guess that group would be 10, um, have the diagnosis of autism one in 22 in the state of California. That's 10-year-old data. We don't even know what the babies being born right now are gonna have. And then this uptick in obesity, diabetes, autoimmunity, childhood cancers. I was like, wait, this all fits together, like the health of the parents and the epigenetics, how the genes are being expressed, multiple generational. There's a huge opportunity here to reverse this children's health crisis even before people get pregnant with their child.
unknown:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:So who would you say this book is for? Everyone thinking about children?
SPEAKER_00:Anybody who ever wants to have a baby, like or growing a family. Like I really think this process is very important between pregnancies, too, to um to get your body optimized. Um, because especially after a baby, as you know, the baby takes the nutrients it needs and it can really throw. Some things off in your body. So we want to do some of the same process to really um augment that um the health and you know re refill the um the nutrients to be able to create a healthy baby. But I had this conversation. My oldest is 28 now, and he, you know, he's seen me work really hard on this book for two years, and we were out to dinner the other night. He's like, you know, mom, I think he's not he doesn't even have a girlfriend right now. He's totally single. Um, and he's like, Mom, I, you know, I really realize that this is going to be important to my future wife and I um and to my family. And I want to go ahead and do some of those tests again. We've done them for different reasons when he was younger and see where I am right now because I really want to be protecting my fertility. And so I was like, oh, okay. Like he's he helped me to think about well, this is really for anybody who knows that they want to have children at at some point to know what they can do to optimize their fertility.
SPEAKER_02:And um we can include his phone number in the show notes. No, I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. You know, I think I think it's a really beautiful perspective from them from the masculine because a lot of men, when they understand that what they are doing the three, six, twelve months uh before conception can have an impact on the health of the pregnancy, like how healthy is the placenta? Are there increased risks for complications like pre-eclampsia and even the health of the future child? They're like, oh, I'm happy to, I'm happy to cut out alcohol for three or six months, or I'm happy to make sure I'm exercising because, oh wait, my gene expression around having muscle and working out can actually impact the health of the child once they start to understand that there's things that they can be doing that are gonna make an impact. They're so interested in knowing what those things are and how to do it.
SPEAKER_02:What an incredible resource to have. Thank you for all the work that you put into it. We will attach the link in our show notes that everyone could pre-order if you're listening um before that date, or just order wherever books are sold um after November. Anything else that you're particularly excited about with the book or anything else that you would want readers or potential readers to know about it?
SPEAKER_00:I um I want them to know that this conversation that's happening in the media, uh, especially for women and aging, I mean, it's happening now with around the sperm thing too. I want them to know that to not get caught up in that conversation that they're gonna need IBF. In fact, I think a lot of people can really avoid needing to do any kind of uh reproductive therapies by doing this work. So my oldest patient right now is 47. She got pregnant. We did three months of work and then she got pregnant on the first try and five months. So I'm, you know, still like seeing how things are gonna turn out for sure. But she feels great. She feels so good. She got her body really tuned up. And um, it's very common for people in their early and mid-40s to be very fertile after doing this process. So I I just want people to feel hopeful about this fertility comp uh conversation. Same thing as with functional medicine when we look at how we can optimize the physiology and what the body really needs and how to get rid of the things that it doesn't, then you can get really fertile.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. I love conversations of hope. That's so important for people listening in so many different um seasons of life. So very good. We will include that link in our show notes, in addition to all the links to the molds, conversations, and blogs and supplements once I get all the spellings correct. Um but we end each of our conversations with the same three questions, and I would love to hear your answers as well. Um, the first one is something you have eaten recently and loved.
SPEAKER_00:That's such a great question because I'm such a foodie, but I have all these food allergies, so I have to avoid gluten and dairy. And um, the thing that I loved was it was so sweet. It was um my son made a cake for my sister's uh belated birthday. We had a little brunch with her and my mother. Um, we had missed the uh the actual birthday, and I could taste the love in his cake. So he made it gluten-free, dairy-free, you know, made the frosting, the everything out of his love for his aunt. Like it was just so sweet, so special. Um and and really full circle because a lot of times um my mom or my sister would make his birthday cakes. And so for just for him to have that love and care and pour it into the cake for her and just cared how much she loved it was so special.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, I love that answer. How about a gathering you attended that made you feel a strong sense of belonging? And if you could pinpoint it, what it was that made you feel that way.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, another great question. Uh, this happened um last week. And, you know, it's a really big push right now to get to launch a book. So I'm working some kind of long days. But I had a friend who had a book come out last week and she flew into Austin to have a book party one night. And you know, it started at like 6:30. By the time I got there, it was a little after seven because I just couldn't get there any sooner. But I felt like I needed to go and support her. And but I just kind of expected to make a little quick stop and be there for her and then exit. And I got there, she was so excited to see me, even though I was late. And then there were a few other people that I hadn't seen in a year or two that had also they flown in for it. And I think the thing that made me feel the sense of belonging and the what was so special about the moments was how excited people were to see me. Like I was kind of showing up a little tired and like, oh, a little weary. And that excitement that they expressed, either, you know, with the warm hugs or the big smiles or the kind words. It's like, oh, wait, I thought I was going for my friend. And I ended up like just receiving so much love there. And so the takeaway for me is um, you know, sometimes we're a little muted in our responses. Like we don't want to like be overwhelming to other people with our excitement or you know, try to kind of calibrate to the situation. But I think it's this moment, these moments gave me more permission to be more expressive when I when I'm so excited or happy to see people.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, that's really good. I had a similar situation recently. I was in Nashville for an event with a community that I love being a part of. I only see them a few times a year. And I came home and I told my husband almost the same thing. I said, it was so refreshing to me, like, you know, the hugs from behind, like, you know, people running down the hallway. It's like, you know, it's it is so true to um give ourselves the space to express ourselves in the same way towards other people because um, yeah, it's a memorable experience for sure.
SPEAKER_00:As as you're describing that, I could see like the childlike excitement coming through in your with your colleagues and friends, like permission to like go back to that point where we didn't have such strong filters and oh wait, am I is this gonna show up right? Or what you know, how somebody could have received me. But just childhood enthusiasm.
SPEAKER_02:It's beautiful. Definitely, it is beautiful. It is. I'm so glad we both had that recently. And uh last but not least, I feel like y'all have a fun answer. Something you've discovered lately that you think everyone should know about, something random like a Netflix show, an Amazon purchase, a supplement, a health, whatever, anything.
SPEAKER_00:That's a really good one. Good. So the nerdy researcher side of me has um there's so much data now on um vagus nerve stimulators. So the vagus nerve is the nerve that helps you to go into the parasympathetic, the relaxed digest state versus the sympathetic state, the run from the tiger, get stuff done that I think most people have been, especially since COVID, kind of stuck in that sympathetic state. So the vagus nerve stimulator really helps you to regulate that back down into more of a balanced state so that you can rest and digest better, but then still go, you know, do your exercise or work on the project or those kinds of things. So there's a company that I really love called True Vega. Um, so you can buy it online directly. You don't need a doctor's prescription. And um, it's two to three minutes a day. So you can like pretty much everybody can fit it into their routine. It's not I love meditation and things like that, but though, you know, that takes time, usually at least 10, 20, 30 minutes to um get the benefits. But the vagus nerve stimulator, a lot of times you can even start to feel a difference right away, or definitely within a week or two, and just where your where your stress response is idling.
SPEAKER_02:Um, what is it, a supplement or a machine?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, it's a little, so it's like$500. Um, and it's a little like little electrodes that you put right on your neck where the vagus nerves runs through, and it just gives it a little juice so that then it's a little bit more active. Um yeah, and what's so nice about it too is yes, there's an app on your phone that you can download, but um you can share it in the family because it's two to three minutes uh per session. So um yeah, the teenagers and adults can use it.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Oh my gosh. I'm a health, I'm definitely a health gadget enthusiast. So that's helpful. I haven't heard of that one yet. Oh man. Well, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01:You're gonna love it.
SPEAKER_02:I think I think so too. You don't have to tell me twice anything you say. I'm like, here's my credit card. Um, well, thank you so much. I feel like ending this conversation, I'm so thankful for all of your wisdom, but also there's so much more that I would love to learn. Um, but the beauty of that is you have your website and the book available that we can all dive into. And thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. I appreciate it so much.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, thanks for having me. It's such a delight to feel like I just got to hang out with a girlfriend for the morning. It's really it's it's really, really lovely to chat with you. Such a um wonderful way of pulling the questions and making it relatable. So thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, of course. That means a lot to me as well. Well, guys, I'm gonna chat with Dr. Shippy for a little bit longer, but we will see you next week. Thanks for being here.