Listen to the Latest Episode of The Health Detective

Health Issues: Solved!

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In this interview, Detective Ev had a blast talking with fellow biohacking enthusiast, Mollie McGlocklin!

We all know sleep is important, but very few people want to get down and dirty when it comes to the science of truly optimizing this. If you’re looking to get a level of sleep you didn’t know was possible, then you’ve come to the right podcast! 

Mollie is the creator of Sleep Is A Skill and the host of The Sleep Is A Skill Podcast. Sleep Is A Skill is a company that optimizes people’s sleep through a unique blend of technology, accountability, and behavioral change. After navigating insomnia while traveling internationally, she created what she couldn’t find – a place to go to learn the skill set of sleep. With a background in behavioral change from The Nonverbal Group, she became fascinated with chronobiology and its practical application to sleep and our overall experience of life. Knowing the difference between a life with sleep and without, she’s now dedicated her life to sharing the forgotten skill set of sleep.

You can find out more about Mollie by going to www.sleepisaskill.com

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In this episode, we get to talk with an individual who has worked with COUNTLESS individuals who have “tried it all,” Dr. Lulu Shimek. 

Dr. Lulu is a naturopathic physician and expert in genetic health. She works with patients experiencing hormonal imbalances, adrenal fatigue, thyroid dysfunction, autoimmune disease, digestive disorders, toxicity, depression, and anxiety. She believes that once we dive deep down to the root of the problem of the distortion and ignite our bodies innate ability to heal, we see unimaginable changes in our well being.

In addition, Dr. Lulu has a very interesting theory about our DNA, one that goes far past the idea of “simple” epi-genetic expression.

We had an absolute blast chatting with her, and hope you have just as much nerdy fun!

You can find out more about Dr. Lulu by going to www.doclulu.com.

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In this episode, we have the privilege of not only talking to an FDN, but an FDN MENTOR! His name is Dustin McFarland, and he is a wealth of knowledge for all things healing. 


Through his own health challenges and struggles, Dustin decided at an early age that the only way he was going to heal himself was to learn as much as possible about being healthy. While being a personal trainer and later a nutritional health coach, Dustin found his passion for helping others with their health. With his constant need for learning more and still knowing something was missing, Dustin found FDN which put all the final pieces together for himself and his clients. Dustin has always tried to lead by example with his healthy lifestyle and diet since his early childhood. His desire to be active outdoors drives him to live an incredibly healthy lifestyle every day.

During this interview, Detective Ev and Dustin covered some topics never before covered on the show. From the dangers of over-exercising, to the hidden health complications caused by root canals, to introducing the listeners to oxalates and what foods they’re found in, this episode covers a LOT! 

You can find out more about Dustin by going to www.seriousaboutwellness.com

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In this episode, Detective Ev (former night owl) talks about the things he did to finally get to the bottom of his chronic sleep problems, as well as what you can do if you feel as if you’ve tried EVERYTHING. 

If you’ve struggled with sleep issues yourself and have made progress with them/resolved them, let us know what worked for you!

Links mentioned in podcast:

Screen filter: https://iristech.co/

Bulbs/Amber Reading Light/Blue-light blocking glasses: www.blublox.com

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Have you ever wondered what human beings were actually supposed to be eating? Well, it may be hard to figure that out for sure, but one curious doctor may have been on the right track back in the early 1900s…

We hope you like this one! What do YOU think humans were supposed to be eating?

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Funny enough, Courtney and Detective Ev grew up only 20 minutes from each other, but wouldn’t meet until years later through mutual friends in Florida. Go figure! 

Add to that is that they have VERY similar health stories, especially when it comes to their early manifestation of mental health symptoms that were not trauma related.

About Courtney:

After a 15 year battle with her own health, which was both physical and mental, Courtney took matters into her own hands and discovered what a 180 degree change of healing looks like through the use of holistic nutrition. Courtney studied at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, becoming a certified holistic health coach in 2019.

After years of failed doctors visits, medications, and lifestyle habits that had her running in circles with her own health, she finally gathered the tools to not only help her turn her OWN life around, but also help other women do the same.

Socials/website:
Instagram: @courthayes_
Website: courthayes.com
Other mentioned links (Dad’s website/biz): glutendude.com

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In this short episode, we are responding to two audience questions. They are:

1) What do you think about psychedelics/plant medicines for mental health? How do you see them being integrated in the holistic health space currently and in the future?

2) “Love this ! Can you do an episode on best practices and supplements for tanked hormones ? Specifically women’s.”
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Making her second appearence on The Health Detective Podcast, it’s Jenn Malecha, aka “The Wholistic Health Boss.” 

For her full story regarding skin cancer and hashimoto’s, you can check out episode #5.

For this episode, though, Jenn and I are joined by Reed Davis, founder of FDN, to talk all about why normal blood tests often do not provide insight for those who are dealing with chronic illnesses, as well as what tests we can use instead!

About Jenn:

Jenn Malecha helps career-driven, results-focused functional health entrepreneurs who are feeling overwhelmed about getting their business going or growing, by giving them a roadmap to success so they can confidently achieve their business goals and live their dream life!

Through her (W)holistic Health Boss health coaching brand she also supports busy, health-mind professionals in taking back control of their health by giving them access to the right lab tests and resources so they can find the missing pieces of their health puzzle, actually fix what is wrong and get back to feeling like themselves again.

Using over a decade of business and project management experience, training in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, and Transformational Coaching and she guides functional health practitioners on setting up solutions to create multiple six-figure practices that allow them to heal hundreds of people while working less and taking better care of themselves.

You can find out more about Jenn by going to www.wholistichealthboss.com or following her @wholistichealthboss

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Gluten is one of the most commonly talked about things in the world of functional medicine. If you’ve been on a health journey for more than a week, you’ve probably already heard about the benefits of removing this protein. 

While it’s probably a good idea for just about anyone to remove it for at least some time to see how their body responds, it’s also important to know exactly HOW your body reacts to gluten (if it in fact does). There are relatively big differences between being intolerant, allergic, or sensitive to gluten, and there is a HUGE difference between these three things and having Celiac disease.

To add to the confusion, you can have a combination of one or more of these issues. Does that mean you can be both intolerant, sensitive, AND a Celiac patient? You bet.

If this sounds confusing to you, don’t sweat it! Check out this episode where we break everything down for you :).

Any questions after listening? Drop us a comment below or leave a comment on our Podbean channel!

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Barbara Madimenos is a functional health coach located in Montreal Quebec with a focus on women’s metabolic and endocrine disorders. How she ended up working in this space with this specialty all started when she was just 13 years old and diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. In the midst of her disorder she also developed severe hormonal imbalances such as amenorrhea, hypothyroidism, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as self harm coping mechanisms, all in which led her down a hole. 

Finally, in October of 2018, she was diagnosed with osteoporosis, and at the end of her rope, she decided to try and recover on her own by educating herself on the foundations of what it is to heal metabolically. Today, at 28, she has successfully recovered and is passionate in educating women on doing the same through a food first approach with lifestyle and supplemental modifications.

You can find out more about Barbara by going to www.barbaramadimenos.ca.

You can also find her on Instagram by going to @barbaramadimenos

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If you’re starting a new health journey for the new year, then you may get overwhelmed when you walk to the “health foods” part of the store. 

You’ll see symbols like “organic,” “non-gmo,” “pasture-raised,” and countless others. The problem is, many of these labels can be confusing, and others can be downright misleading.

So, in this episode, we’re quickly covering some of the main labels people will most often encounter in the store, as well as what they actually mean (if anything).

We are excited to get back to our normal interviews once the new year beings :).

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We are continuing our short, sweet, and to-the-point episodes for the holiday season with another solo episode from Detective Ev! 

In this episode, Ev is talking about 3 of his favorite books that help us develop the mindset/habits needed to truly complete a health journey. Why is this important? Well, think about it…

Do you know EVERYTHING that we know at FDNthrive? Of course not. Our practitioners are specially trained in this! However, isn’t it true that you probably could name at LEAST 3-5 things that would positively benefit your health if you were to start doing them today, yet you find yourself not doing them? Why is that? It’s not a lack of knowledge, it’s a mindset that needs some tweaking (and that’s perfectly normal, and something every single one of us experiences).

The book recommendations in this episode are meant to help you with that mindset tweaking as painlessly as possible.

What are some of your favorite books to help develop a strong mindset? We’d love to hear from you!

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Alright, we get it. It’s the holiday season, and you’re probably not in a rush to listen to a bunch of nerdy health content. So, tonight, we’re giving the people what they DO want… A quick, straightforward podcast teaching you how to (hopefully) get away with those few holiday drinks we know you totally won’t be having this year! 

Hope everyone is ready to enjoy some time off with friends and family!

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This is one of those episodes that most people just wouldn’t get. But, if you’ve dealt with chronic illness or are currently still battling one, then you’ll relate to this perfectly. 

Tell me us if this sounds familiar:

You’re doing great on your health journey. Your protocols have been working, you know which foods/habits work with or against your body, and things are moving in the right direction. But then, the holidays come around.

It what seems like a never-ending month, you are bombarded with junk food, staying up late, and cross-contamination galore.

After 7 years of being “that guy” at his family parties, Detective Ev has figured out a simple and straightforward strategy to dealing with chronic illness while still enjoying your holiday dinners. And, in this episode, he talks about just that!

Drop us a comment if you have any good tips for this common problem!

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In this episode, we are talking about some of our all-time favorite infection-fighting supplements! What better time to talk about these than in the midst of cold and flu season?

In the episode show notes, we have most of the supplements listed!

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To celebrate the 100th episode of The Health Detective Podcast, Detective Ev ventured cross-country to the beautiful deserts of southern California. There, he was able to interview the man himself, Reed Davis, in his natural habitat.

Having founded the FDN system over 20 years ago (long before functional medicine was popularized), Reed has some of the most amazing client successes you can imagine. While him and Ev could’ve talked for days about all of those, in this episode, they reminisce on some of Reed’s first and greatest client successes. In addition, they talk about the disturbing patterns Reed was seeing in clients that inspired him to create FDN, why Reed believes it is ESSENTIAL to run multiple, foundational labs, and more!

About Reed:

Reed Davis, Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner (HHP) and Certified Nutritional Therapist (CNT), is an expert in functional lab testing and holistic lifestyle medicine. He is the Founder of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) and the FDN Certification Course with over 3,000 graduates in 50 countries. Reed served as Health Director at a Wellness Center in Southern California for over 10 years and with over 10,000 clients is known as one of the most experienced clinicians in the world. Reed serves on the Advisory Board of the American Natural Wellness Coaches Board and the American Association of Natural Wellness Coaches. He lives in the US and when not teaching the FDN Certification Course and helping his graduates build their private practices, he is usually found gardening or riding motorcycles.

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In this episode, we’re interviewing someone who just as easily could’ve been on a top medical mysteries show. Her name is Kathlena, and she has a story unlike any other we’ve shared on this podcast. 

Kathlena has over 200 food allergies & intolerances, including most water. The members of her household also have food allergies and special diets, none of them the same. After being told she had 30 days to live, she made it her mission to help the food allergy community thrive. Three years from her lowest point, she and her team have published cookbooks, started a bakery, done nationwide outreach, developed recipes and resources, and more.

If you want to hear a podcast that is as inspirational as it is educational, then this is for you!

You can find out more about Kathlena by going to www.theallergychef.com
Instagram: @theallergychef

Other mentioned websites: summitspring.com (Raw spring water from Maine)

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In the clients we serve at FDNthrive, we see an overrepresentation of what some may call “Type A” personalities. As a Type A personality himself, Detective Ev knows exactly how this type of personality can find themselves in a state of chronic illness fairly easily. 

A recent experience made him realize what TRULY taking a break looks like, and he wanted to share the benefits he received as well as a plan for how to truly a break for YOURSELF.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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Catharine Arnston is the CEO & Founder of ENERGYbits®. Her mission is to help the world be healthier naturally with mother nature’s oldest and original food- algae. Catharine graduated with an MBA from Ivey School of Business and a Health Coach Certificate from the Institute of Integrative
Nutrition. Her career spans thirty-three years during which she has been an international attaché for the Canadian and British Governments, publisher
of an international magazine and the Founder of three startups.

Catharine founded the algae tablet company ENERGYbits® in Boston MA after her younger sister in Canada was diagnosed with breast cancer and advised by her oncologist that an alkaline diet would help her heal. Catharine helped her sister research alkaline foods and the process led her to discover the healing properties of plant-based nutrition. This ultimately led Catharine to algae, the most nutrient dense, alkaline plant in the world with vast medicinal properties unknown outside of Asia.

Catharine realized algae could have a powerful impact on the world if it was only better understood. Catharine has devoted her life to researching algae and educating consumers, athletes, wellness, spa, fitness and beauty
professionals about its therapeutic, sustainable benefits. She is now
considered one of the country’s leading experts on algae nutrition, a sought-after speaker at wellness conferences and a frequent guest on podcasts and television.

You can find out more about Catharine and ENERGYbits by going to www.energybits.com

You can also find them on Instagram at @energybits

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Hi folks, Detective Ev here!

For all too many, the holiday season, a time of year that is SUPPOSED to be fun and joyful, can actually bring on a ton of stress for so many of us. Worse yet, for those suffering with clinical mental health issues (as is so often seen in those dealing with chronic illness), the holiday season can be downright debilitating. 

Well, I’ve been on both sides of this for sure, and so tonight’s episode is a short and sweet PSA. A reminder for how we can all truly get back to enjoying this season, especially after the wild ride all of us have been on during the last year and a half+.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you get some use out of this episode.

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In what is arguably the most heart-wrenching episode of the The Health Detective Podcast to date, our guest tonight, Steve Baum, will teach you exactly what it means to persevere.

When he was a kid, Steve idolized a boy that he thought was ripped and muscular, and he wanted to look like him. Then, on a family float trip, he took his shirt off, and the boy said, “OMG, you have t***!”

Steve could think of nothing else but transforming himself and getting lean and muscular from that moment on. So, he talked his parents into buying a weight set and devoured the muscle mags, following every program he could find.
At 16 years old, Steve started coaching and training clients, and has since added an extensive list of certifications to his education.

In 1997, Steve moved to Scottsdale, AZ. While in Arizona, he got married and had a beautiful baby boy named Steven Austin Nicholas Baum. Being a dad was a whole new ball game! Austin followed him everywhere and was always around the gym, even in diapers! He taught Steve what unconditional love was all about.

In 2004 Steve and his family moved to St. Louis, and he opened a new gym. Then, in 2010, tragedy struck, and he learned the definition of the word “persevere.” He faced the most significant battle any parent could ever have to face, the death of his precious little boy.

The stress from this had a devastating impact on Steve. He became so exhausted that he could barely get out of bed.

Steve gained over 70 pounds in less than six months, and regardless of how healthy he ate or how hard he exercised, nothing he had learned up to this point was helping him.

How did Steve turn his triumph into tragedy, eventually reclaiming his health and speaking to audiences of over 5,000? Tune into this incredible episode to find out.

Steve has given our audience both his personal e-mail AND phone number. They are [email protected] and 3142653503, respectively.

Click here to listen

In today’s world, particularly in western society, you’d have a tough time finding someone who has never taken an antibiotic or NSAID (things like Advil or Aleve) in their life. In fact, not only would it be hard to find someone who HASN’T taken those things, it’d be fairly easy to find people who take one or both REGULARLY. 

But, do these things impact mental health? Well, the studies suggest they both do, but in completely different ways. That’s right, one of these classes of drugs seems to worsen mental health issues, while the other seems to temporarily help them.

In today’s short and sweet episode, we’re talking all about which one does what, and what this means for the mental health epidemic we are facing as a society.

*Full list of references available in the show notes for this episode on any major podcast platform.*

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On this episode of The Health Detective Podcast, we have our first ever live and in-person recording! Like most of the team at FDNthrive, Ev is lucky enough to know a lot of amazing people in the holistic/functional healthcare space, including in his hometown. 

Our guest today, Anna Crescitelli, is a holistically-oriented, licensed esthetician in Pennsylvania. She graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition at only 18 years old, and is also trained in both macrobiotics and herbalism. She started studying holistic health when she began following in her “hippy mom’s” (Anna’s words) footsteps at the age of 12!

She is the founder of An’s Plants, an all-natural and organic skincare line designed to support your skin WITHOUT damaging it.

An and Ev have been great friends for awhile, so they took a much more conversational approach in this podcast. We hope you enjoy this fun back-and-forth, as well as a change in pace from our norm!

You can find out more about Anna on her Instagram: @ansplants

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Hey there folks, Detective Ev here!

In this episode, I’ll be responding to a couple of audience questions we recently received. The two primary things we’ll be addressing are what blue light glasses we recommend, as well as what someone can do in terms of getting proper light exposure during winter if they live in harsh, northern climates. 

If you just want to get the answer to the blue light glasses question, then just listen from the beginning. If you only want to hear the answer regarding what to do for light exposure in winter if you live in a harsh climate, then skip to 11 minutes and 37 seconds.

Full product recommendation list with links is listed in the show notes for this episode.

 

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The vast majority of humans live in places where there are seasons. With these seasons come changes in food, temperature, and exposure to light.

 

All too often, due to the demands/expectations of our modern worlds, despite the dramatic changes in our environment, NOTHING about our LIVES change!

 

We have a house or apartment that is the same temperature (plus or minus a couple of degrees) year-round. We throw on the TV and overhead LEDs when it’s dark early on a winter’s night. And, as is the topic of today’s episode, we eat the SAME FOOD year round! IN fact, we often eat even worse around the times when our body is least equipped to handle such food (the holiday season).

 

So, is it important to eat seasonally? And, while we’re on the subject, what DID human beings really eat, anyway? All that and more is talked about in today’s episode!

 

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Despite her impressive background, including her UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency, Dr. Courtney Hunt, MD, found herself at a loss when both she and her husband were dealing with autoimmune conditions. The things that she had been taught during her medical training helped mask some symptoms at best but never got her anywhere close to the point of being truly healed.

How could this happen? Shouldn’t someone who, statistically, has more knowledge about the body than 99% of people be able to fix just about anything? It turns out, she couldn’t. And, with this realization, Dr. Hunt went back to the drawing board to rethink everything she knew and had been taught.

In this episode, we are talking to someone who just may be the most knowledgeable guest we’ve ever had. You will not only learn about how she healed but also how she started connecting the dots of a much bigger picture involving the entirety of humanity.

How did this OBYGYN turn into someone on a mission to heal the human race? You’ll just have to tune in to find out. But, when you do, don’t forget your notebook!

About Dr. Hunt:

Dr. Courtney Hunt has spent the majority of her career as a board-certified OBGYN helping women, mothers, and their children deal with 21st Century illnesses that current medical textbooks fail to address. Most of these illnesses arise from our changing, modern environment. After many years delivering babies, Dr. Hunt grew tired of seeing mother after mother, and woman after woman, come in feeling exhausted, foggy, achy, and sad. Worse yet, she grew concerned about the growing number of sick children these women were bringing in with them; children of all ages. Dr. Hunt herself was a busy delivering obstetrician and operating gynecologist and has spent years translating that expertise into figuring out how to make surgery and pharmaceuticals less necessary and lifestyle more important in the path to wellness. She began to study nutrigenetics many years ago when she started to realize that the majority of her pregnant patients were nutrient-depleted and grew concerned over the impact this could have on the fetus.

Since childhood, Dr. Hunt had a desire to become a physician, especially when at the age of 13 her grandmother developed ALS also known as Lou Gherig’s disease. This motivated her at age 17 to attend The University of California at Berkeley as an integrative biology major with a focus on reproductive endocrinology, genetics, and neuroscience. She graduated from medical school at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine at 25 and completed her residency at UCLA, ultimately administrative chief resident.

 After practicing for one year in California, at 29, she moved to Arizona. After working with a large OBGYN group, she opened her own practice, Desert Jewel OBGYN, in 2005 as the founder and medical director. It was in this practice that she saw an increase of patients that suffered from chronic fatigue, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, horrible perimenopausal symptoms, Hashimoto’s, vertigo, migraines, memory disorders – and the more she saw, the more they came. These were patients who had previously been ignored by others, undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or had only been given band-aids for their symptoms. In an attempt to better understand those patients and their symptoms, Dr. Hunt utilized her knowledge in genetics to develop a deeper understanding of human DNA how it interacts with the environment, lifestyle, and food choices. In addition, her husband was diagnosed with Celiac Sprue shortly after they were married. A childhood disease that was missed in him despite numerous doctor’s visits until well into adulthood with almost catastrophic ramifications. This spurred her to deepen her knowledge of the gastrointestinal tract and the effect our food choices, as well as the microbiome, have on it and its connection to our brains.

On this journey, Dr. Hunt was forced to look outside of what she had been taught in medical school and residency and look deeper for answers. This led her to the pursuit of nutrigenetics. As an early adopter of BRCA cancer gene testing over 20 years ago, she realized that if we could see the genes that predict cancer we could also see the genes that will heal us. A roadmap for healing, if you will, an instruction book for the body and its environment.

All of Dr. Hunt’s Links/Book:

www.instagram.com/courtneyhuntmd

www.instagram.com/geneticprotocol

www.courtneyhuntmd.com

www.geneticprotocol.com

www.geneticprotocol.store

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Spark-Light-Mechanics-Creation-ebook/dp/B096NL1JW7

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With daylight savings around the corner, it’s important to know how we can maintain our circadian rhythms, or at the very least, fix them back to normal ASAP. And yes, even though this timechange is typically considered the “good” one, the truth of the matter is, each timechange does in fact take it’s toll on the body.

While its arguable that we never should mess with nature and change our manmade clocks at all, we definitely don’t have the power as individuals to make that decision just yet. So, the next best thing is to listen to this episode!

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Have you ever talked to someone who just blew you away because you could tell that they had TRULY “done the work?” The person that has actually worked through the dark parts of their life that very few are willing to venture to?

Well, today, we’re speaking with one of those people, and her name is Skye Gallagher!

If you’re looking for an episode that gets real and raw about the truths regarding trauma, how trauma affects the body, and how we can learn to acknowledge it and work through it, then this episode is for you.

About Skye:

Skye is a former Equinox trainer & online health coach with 12 certifications, and since then, has turned marketing agency owner and now business coach. Skye’s health challenges lead her to study how certain emotions affect our function, both in terms of health and business. Skye is obsessed with helping people transform, and does this by creating mental models that help people live their dream lives and have their dream businesses! She studied why people change when she was a trainer, and now applies that to helping health coaches sell at their dream prices, using her method of paradigm shifting marketing.

You can contact Skye directly by direct messaging her on Instgram. @skyegallagher

 

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Here we go again!

As the fall season is in full swing, and with winter right around the corner, people will be buying more and more vitamin D supplements.

The question is, is that really the best way to get vitamin D? More importantly, did you know there are some notable, not-so-positive effects that vitamin D supplementation has on the immune system?

In this short and sweet episode, we talk about why you may want to think twice about supplementing with vitamin D this winter, and the best alternative if you decide you don’t want to.

1) https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/720815

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In the world of functional medicine, it can be very easy to fall in love with one specific lab test, maybe a couple of tests at best. 

The reason this seemingly works is because, if you run the same test with enough people, naturally, SOME will present with clinically useful results. But, what about the many that DON’T show up with any useful information?

After spending the past weekend with Reed Davis, founder of FDN and FDNthrive, Detective Ev gained a fresh understanding of exactly WHY we do things the way we do.

And, after listening to this short and sweet episode, you’ll fully understand why, too!

 

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Today’s episode is relatively short and sweet, with a simple but ESSENTIAL lesson that we must all learn if we’re really going to get well and stay well.

This lesson is so important, that it is a fact that every single person with an amazing health transformation you’ve ever heard (and will hear) on this podcast HAD to practice it to get to where they are today. 

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Could you imagine being told you need heart surgery in your early 20’s? Worse yet, could you imagine going through with the surgery, only to be told that IT’S NOT YOUR HEART? Well, our guest today, Rachel Smith, went through exactly that (and a heck of a lot more). 
 
Now, at only 26 years old, she is happy to say that her health is the best it’s ever been. Her and Detective Ev both agreed that their experience with the FDN system has almost felt like “reverse-aging,” since they had both been sick most of their lives prior to finding this program.
 
About Rachel:
 
Rachel Smith has been studying health and wellness for over 6 years. She has a background in healthcare administration, scientific research, martial arts fitness instruction, and is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner. She is the owner of Natural Health Rising, which is an online holistic wellness company where she helps women naturally reverse their symptoms who have been struggling with autoimmune diseases, mysterious illnesses, and other chronic health issues. She is a huge advocate of using food and lifestyle changes as medicine. Rachel is on a mission to help people rise to their healthiest, happiest selves.
 
You can find out more about Rachel by going to www.naturalhealthrising.com 

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For those that don’t know, October 10th is World Mental Health Day. And, in our world of functional medicine, mental health challenges are pretty much par for the course.

As someone who dealt with extreme mental health challenges himself, Detective Ev wanted to take today to talk about mental health, how it relates to functional medicine, and much more.

We appreciate you listening, and remember, if you’re dealing with mental health challenges in silence, there is HELP, and there is HOPE. If you don’t believe that, listen to this episode, or a variety of other amazing episodes from our guests on this podcast.

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Transcription & Show Notes

We are so happy to be sharing such a REAL and RAW story with you tonight. It is a story that includes a topic that has never been mentioned on this show yet, bulimia. 

Through her authenticity, our guest, Margot Shute, did an amazing job at breaking down the experience of those who suffer from this eating disorder. Additionally, we learned what one can do when weight issues have become a LEGITIEMATE issue, even with a history of eating disorders. This is especially important because the LAST thing we ever want to do is trigger someone’s prior history of an eating disorder through body-shaming or magic diets.

In this episode, Margot covers all of this and more!

About Margot:

Margot is a Certified Holistic Health and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition© Practitioner. She empowers midlife women to shed stubborn pounds and shrink belly fat, using her signature Midlife Weight Loss Fix for Women coaching method, so they can regain their energy, get their sexy back and learn to love their bodies.

You can find out more about Margot by going to www.shuteforwellness.com

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Transcription & Show Notes

Our guest tonight, Esther Blum, is an Integrative Dietitian and High Performance Coach. She has helped thousands of women permanently balance hormones and lose stubborn belly fat by treating the root cause of their health struggles. 

Esther is the bestselling author of Cavewomen Don’t Get Fat, Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous, Secrets of Gorgeous, and The Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous Project. She currently maintains a busy virtual practice where she provides 360 degrees of healing with physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual support. Esther believes that diet and supplements are the foundation to healing, but treating the whole person is paramount.

You can find out more about Esther by going to https://estherblum.com/

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Did you know that today is International Podcast Day? (Yes, they really do have a holiday for just about EVERYTHING nowadays, don’t they?) 

Well, we’re always up for a celebration! So, today, we did things a little differently…

In an effort to highlight some truly amazing stories on this show, and to encourage newer listeners to make sure they go check out the AWESOME guests that helped to build this podcast along the way, this episode highlights the top 5 most memorable episodes on the show!

Of course, this list is completely subjective, and its nearly impossible to pick a top 5 “best” for a show like this, as every guest has something special to offer in their own way.

However, we selected these based solely on memorability, meaning that the episode really had a huge “wow” moment!

We hope you enjoy the episode :)! Thanks for supporting The Health Detective Podcast!

 

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Are we all emotional eaters at heart? Certainly, the past year and a half of life has brought that out in most of us. That’s exactly why we brought on the AMAZING Isabel Chiara to the podcast! 
 
Coach and Author Isabel Chiara had supported hundreds of clients to actualize their life’s greatest potential, reconsider obstacles as opportunities, and how to meet challenging moments with heart. As much as she had dedicated decades to personal growth, and even though she held certifications from dozens of spiritual schools, she’d kept her lifelong struggle with food well-hidden from her work.
 
Having honed her intuition for decades, nearing her 60th birthday, she recognized the greatest gem of wisdom on her journey might not glimmer from a distant mystical star, but would be discovered by stepping more fully into the art of self-nourishment. She KNEW she had to break her own silence about her struggles in order to connect to her physical body, and to deeply explore embodiment. As it is her gift to help others to transform how they see their struggles, she realized she had to support herself similarly in this capacity.
 
The more she spoke to her community about the quandaries of food choice and body relationship, the more universal her personal story became. From this place, she created Giana Giovanni; loosely based on aspects of her own story, but presented in a relatable way so that, true to Isabel’s nature, her own healing journey could be offered to others.
 
You can learn more about Isabel by going to https://isabel-chiara.com/eat-your-words/

 

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In this episode, we reveal the big secret… The answer to a question we get asked about all of the time on our calls with people looking into joining the FDNthrive program! 

And that question is, “What diet do you suggest?”

The answer? NONE.

You, believe it or not, are a unique individual. One of over 7 billion people on this planet. When you put it that was, it seems pretty ridiculous that there are still people and health professionals with MAJOR influence promoting one-size-fits-all diet programs.

Folks, if you’re a regular listener to the podcast, you’ve heard how amazing these stories are. People restoring their health after YEARS of health issues, from autoimmune diseases, to mental health challenges, and even cancers.

Do you REALLY think this happens with a one-size-fits-all approach? Or would it be more likely that these people figured out what works for THEIR body, applied it, and their body got back into the state of health it was designed to be in?

Well, how do we go about figuring out which diet may be most optimal for you at a given time? Are there general principles you can follow today to at least get you in the right direction if you’re not quite ready for the program yet?

Both of these questions are answered in tonight’s episode with Detective Ev! 

Enjoy!

 

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Tonight’s episode is with an extremely interesting individual, Gian-Carlo Torres! 

As our current youngest guest to date, Gian-Carlo actually did not deal with any major health challenges himself. Instead, he watched his mom, someone who he was extremely close to, get sicker and sicker. The worst part (that all too many of you who listen to this podcast can relate to)? They had no idea WHY. 

Well, as luck would have it, they eventually found his mom’s missing link. In fact, it worked so well, that this became the foundation for Gian-Carlo’s career, and his passion and story has taken him to over $1 million a year in annual sales!

We’d like to thank @thisisgianco
for coming on and sharing his family’s story. This guy brings the ENERGY even through audio, that much is for sure!

You can find out more about Gian-Carlo by going to www.thisisgianco.com

 

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We’re taking a bit of a different but still very FUN route today with our guest, Andy Petranek! 

While Andy might not have the stereotypical story we usually hear on this show (that is, one of severe, long-term health issues), he IS someone that has mastered two essential pieces of one’s healing journey: Mindset and habits. 

The reason this is important is because if you want ABNORMAL results (like the ones our clients or guests on the podcast get), then you’re going to need to take abnormal action. The first step in changing our actions is ALWAYS getting our mind right, and in this episode, Andy will show you how to do just that!

A little about Andy:

He holds a master’s degree in spiritual psychology and has been the beneficiary of decades of personal self-exploration, discovery, and expansion through his work with coaches, healers, guides, and teachers. A veteran of multiple overseas deployments including Operation Desert Storm, Andy is a former United States Marine who served for four years as a combat engineer and small unit commander. A Red Bull sponsored athlete in the sport of adventure racing, he captained teams and navigated courses all over the world in races like the Eco Challenge and Raid Gauloises; in 2009 he became the oldest competitor to qualify for and compete in the CrossFit Games.

Where Andy is at now:

Andy Petranek is a professional life, leadership, and performance coach who’s been helping people create greater levels of confidence, joy, fulfillment, and success in their lives for over 25 years.

It was an absolute blast having him on, and if nothing else, we believe just about anyone would thoroughly enjoy this interview! 

You can find out more about Andy by going to https://andypetranek.com/

 

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SUPER interesting episode for you all today/tonight!

Awais Spall is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner based out of San Diego. Prior to becoming a health practitioner, Awais worked as a formulation chemist for various cannabis companies. As a product formulator, Awais combined his knowledge of formulation chemistry with his background in Ayurvedic Herbalism. Awais has inherited much of his knowledge around Ayurveda from his grandfather, who was a renowned herbalist in Pakistan. Awais eventually left the formulation world to pursue his deeper calling in life as an alchemist of the healing arts. In his practice, at integrative Oasis- Awais combines the cutting edge science of Functional Medicine with Ayurveda to address various gut health issues.
 
Awais and Detective Ev talked about a variety of things, from therapeutic cannabis use, to Ayurveda, to how water and food in Pakistan may be notably worse and better (respectively) than water/food in the USA, and why! 
 
A huge thank you to this guy for coming on and being willing to talk about anything and everything! This is an episode we know you’ll love and learn a LOT from!
 
You can find out more about Awais by going to https://integrativeoasis.com/

 

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While Dr. Kozlowski may not have dealt with health issues in the way we normally hear about on this podcast, he certainly has a LOT to share about his journey becoming and practicing as a Functional Medicine Doctor. 

Dr. Peter Kozlowski uses a broad array of tools to find the source of the body’s dysfunction: he takes the time to listen to his patients and plots their history on a timeline, considering what makes them unique and co-creating with them a truly individualized care plan. Currently, he works with patients online and in person via his Chicago, Illinois and Bozeman, Montana based offices. Dr. Kozlowski did his residency in Family Practice, but started training in Functional Medicine as an intern.  He trained in the clinics with leaders in his field including Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Susan Blum.

It was an absolute pleasure/privilege to get to speak with Dr. Koz! Thank you so much for coming on and being REAL, exposing both sides of the truth.

You can find out more about Dr. Kozlowski or order his book by going to http://doc-koz.com/

 

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Today’s interview is with one of the YOUNGEST people we’ve ever had on the podcast, Xavi D.! 

We had an absolute blast talking with Xavi about his unique perspective on what helped him finally resolve his morbid obesity. Looking at him today, you’d have NO idea he was ever overweight to begin with!

As is the case for all too many, though, Xavi’s healing was not a simple equation of calories in, calories out. Instead, it took him diving DEEP into the worlds of functional medicine, spirituality, and general personal growth to achieve the results he did.

Check out this episode to find out how Xavi finally made his obesity a thing of the past!

You can find out more about Xavi by going to https://stokedcommunication.mykajabi.com/

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In this episode, we are talking to one of those individuals who is doing what we believe EVERYONE in healthcare should be committed to doing. What is that you ask? It’s a dedication to lifelong learning.

Our guest, Brianna Diorio, is a certified personal trainer, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, herbal practitioner, Holistic Lifestyle Coach (CHEK), and has her masters in clinical nutrition. On top of all that? In just a couple of months, she will officially have her Phd in Integrative Medicine! Wow!

Brianna believes in a holistic approach to health and fitness, in which mind and body are viewed as one, in order to achieve optimal levels of wellness.

She also advocates for a holistic & alternative approach to integrative medicine, where emphasis is placed on treating the whole person and taking an individualized approach, incorporating: Mental/emotional health, integrative psychiatry, functional medicine & alternative therapies, dietary supplements & herbs.

We had a blast talking with her as she shared her knowledge, and the most interesting part we think you’ll find is that, even though ALL of her studies, Brianna is still a huge believer in sticking to the fundamentals. You can get fancy with labs all you want, but if you don’t stick to the basics, you’re in for a bumpy ride.

Brianna also has own podcast, The Brianna Approved Podcast, which you can find here: https://www.briannadiorio.com/podcast

You can find out more about Brianna by going to www.BriannaDiorio.com

 

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In this episode, we have a very worthy repeat guest, Mel Rogers!
 
Melanie was nice enough to hop on our Instagram Live and give us an awesome rundown of what mindfulness truly is, as well as how we can instantly apply it to our lives to reduce stress!
 
It was so informative, that we decided to post it as a podcast replay. Let us know what you think.
 

In this episode, we’re talking about something you may have heard referenced before in this podcast, D.R.E.S.S. 

If you don’t understand why this is our core, then it’s impossible to understand why this system works. Yes, it’s fun and cool to talk about all of the lab work and what the individual markers mean, but the labs by THEMSELVES will often fail us if we don’t utilize their data with DRESS in mind. This is something that many of you probably know too well (ever been to the “natural” doctor that just gave you some supplements because a few markers were out of range?) 

So, what does DRESS stand for, why does it matter, and why does it account for the majority of our success when working with our FDNthrive clients? Tune in to find out!

 

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Our guest today, Monica, is the perfect example of what’s possible with the FDN system. Over TWENTY-EIGHT years of health issues are currently 80% better after only learning about the most basic concepts of functional health under 3 years ago (it also helps that Monica is a total powerhouse, too).

Monica is an FDN-P who helps mindful people struggling with gut issues and anxiety find their food freedom, digestive and stress relief, so they feel relaxed and in control of their health. 

Monica’s practice is rooted in simplicity and creativity, two things that helped her achieve better health. She struggled with severe SIBO, IBS, and anxiety. Monica tolerated her health issues while in NYC, striving to dance professionally and pay her bills by working in restaurants. After seven years of chronic stress, over-exercising, and multiple antibiotic treatments for SIBO (constantly relapsing), she changed course to become a health coach. The discovery of investigative health and holistic healing was helping her feel better for the first time in her life. She became an FDN-P, completed several courses by The SIBO Doctor, Dr. Jason Hawrelack, and the reality of health in our modern world began to sink in!

Through healing herself and now helping others, she has found that the key to healing the gut goes far beyond restrictive dieting and herbal supplements. She emphasizes stress reduction and environmental factors while using diet and supplement protocols as tools to support the “big picture” of healing. With Monica’s advanced background in movement, she incorporates creative movement and breathwork sessions that balance the nervous system, correct improper breathing, and reduce anxiety. It is a truly unique experience designed for sustainability, so people have the tools to take back control of their health. 

You can find out more about Monica by going to www.betterhealthbymonica.com

 

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In this episode, we are on the third and final part of our series with Detective Ev’s Mom!

Ev will be breaking down the many major findings on the labs, and sharing insights for HOW the FDNthrive philosophy approaches lab results.

(HINT: It isn’t how western OR natural medicine approaches labs).

Thanks so much again to Christine for selflessly sharing her story to help others ❤️.

 

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This is the second part of Episode #66. You will want to listen to that episode before listening to this one so that it makes sense! 

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In this episode, we have a pretty special guest, Detective Ev’s mom ❤️! 

Ev’s mom, Christine, is not a health professional of any sort, but she is the ultimate testimonial for just how amazing the FDN system is. Her experience has been life-changing enough that she was more than happy to share her story solely to help others. 

A brief background:

Christine dealt with chronic health symptoms for over THIRTY years before finally getting (real) help, and these were not simple issues by any means…

In her youth, she was already dealing with severe migraines and sinus problems. Then came the cystic acne. Then came the undiagnosed Grave’s Disease. Finally, a full thyroidectomy was done, as western medicine had completely ran out of options.

Is it really possible that someone like this could still benefit from the FDN system after being sick for so long? You bet. 

Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your incredible story in order to help others!

 

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Oh boy, do we have an episode for you today!

In this interview, we’re speaking with Todd Erb, Founder, and Director of Amenti Wellness.

If there was a way to describe Todd in a word, it’d be this: Brilliant.

Todd’s health journey started very early on. At the age of 12, he was at one point playing on FOUR different travel basketball teams. In just 4 years, though, he’d find himself bedridden and would finish out his high school career in that way. 

Left with nothing but misdiagnoses of both chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, Todd was on his own. This is where the brilliance comes in.

Rather than accept his fate, Todd took matters into his own hands. Having zero background in health or medicine, he got to work in his late teens, and would eventually get himself out of the tragic situation he once found himself in. How’d he do it? Well, you’ll just have to tune in!

What Todd is up to now:

Todd is a Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner (FDN-P) through the Institute of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® with specializations & continued education in HPA-Axis Function & Hormone Metabolite Assessment and Correction, Microbiome Analysis & Correction, Methylation & Clinical Nutrigenomics, Organic Acids, & Systemic Detox.

Building on that foundation of biochemistry, Todd also incorporates various energetic modalities to balance out his work. As the former In-House NES Health™ Bio-Energetic Practitioner & Trainer, he had the privilege of training and learning from hundreds of practitioners of every modality. Todd blends this experience of modern energy medicine with its ancient roots of Hermetic Alchemy, Qigong, Taoism, Eastern & Western Shamanism, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

You can find out more about Todd and his work by going to www.amentiwellness.com.

 

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In this episode, we happen to be interviewing the person who was nice enough to leave us our FIRST review (all the way back in January of 2021), Sara Pagel!

A little about Sara: 

As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner with a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice, she empowers helpers to reclaim lost health and vitality by teaching them the greatest model of opt-in self-care! She draws the helpers back to themselves by educating them on how to put their mask on first! 

2020 was a banner year for Sara as she reclaimed her life from toxic relationships, both personally and professionally, and started her Holistic Health Coaching Practice, Thin Line Consulting. With over a decade of direct client hours as a Family Behavioral Therapist, Juvenile Probation Officer, and a 911 Dispatcher, she brings a variety of skills including accountability, communication, empathy, and strategic problem solving to her clients. 

Sara combines functional lab testing with YOUR experience to identify HIDDEN stressors and healing opportunities. From these opportunities, she is trained to make clinical correlations and create an individualized plan to meet you where you are and catapult you towards optimal health… IF you are willing to do the work! Sara operates with a philosophy of Don’t Guess, Test!

You can find out more about Sara by going to https://holistichealthpractitioners.org/portfolio/sara-pagel/

 

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Grazia became a Functional Health Coach by need, not exactly by choice, as her original background had nothing to do with what she is doing now.

She was a middle and high school teacher, subsequently, she worked several years for the Italian government, but had to quit to follow her husband’s career and keep the family together. In the meantime, she also worked for the US embassy.

Grazia traveled and lived in several countries from a very young age, and recently moved back to the US. She is fluent in Italian, English, Turkish, French, and Greek, and is partially fluent in Spanish.

In her 30s, she started having some health issues which worsened over time, and this included her energy being severely deteriorated. She was always attracted to natural medicine (since allopathic or modern medicine doctors repeatedly failed her and her health). She did extensive research because she knew that something better was available out there which was also natural. She couldn’t stop wondering how the energy consciousness that governs the universe would need factory-made synthetic chemicals to treat disease. In fact, her hunch was right–there are natural ways.

Finally, she came across a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition course presentation which immediately resonated with her, and it made sense, as it was comprehensive and results-oriented.

She took the course, was certified, and besides reversing her pathologies and getting her life and energy back, she is also glad to say that her autoimmune disorders, such as arthritis, are in remission. She doesn’t have UTIs anymore, and she is not insulin resistant (pre-diabetic). She doesn’t have a fatty liver or high blood pressure, and therefore, has no need for meds or antibiotics.
Grazia now guides health-conscious, dynamic people to tune in to and figure out what their body really needs so they can feel like themselves again at any age.

She’s also a certified Holistic Health Practitioner from the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.

You can find out more about Grazia by going to https://w-holistichealth.com/my-health-struggles.

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Today, we are discussing an incredibly important topic that you probably can’t seem to escape in today’s world, the pandemic.

 

Why are we bringing this up exactly? Well, as we make great strides and advances in helping to lessen the spread, we see that our efforts are not fully effective.

 

Is it possible that the missing link is being “truly” healthy? What does that look like exactly, and what are those standards? We discuss that and a whole lot more in today’s episode!

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We had some serious fun on this podcast! 

Ev happens to be a huge fan of personality theory, and it just so happens that today’s guest, Renee Bergmen, actually incorporates the enneagram (a well-known and respected model for categorizing personalities) into her FDN-P practice.

The reason this is important is because, if you’re like the people that come to us at FDNthrive, it’s more than likely that you’ve been dealing with your health challenges for YEARS! To truly get better, then, it will usually take a lot more than just some changes in diet and some supplements. We are going to have to grow as individuals, and the enneagram system is just one of many tools we can use to engage in such growth! 

Oh, did we mention we’re also talking about how hidden infections in teeth can cause health issues? And how there is actually a “natural” form of chemo? Yeah, we covered just about everything in this podcast!

About Renee:

Renee is an FDN-P and Enneagram specialist. She supports enthusiastic fun-loving moms (and their families) who are frustrated because they’ve hit a wall, to get their excitement for life back. Through formulated food plans, functional labs and enneagram focused connection Renee’s clients get to root causes and gain back vitality.

You can find out more about Renee by following @megaphonefunctionalhealth

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The title says it all! We’d like to officially welcome you to The Health Detective Podcast by FDNthrive. We explain why we made this change in this brief episode.

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In this episode, we are interviewing one of the newest FDN grads, Falyn Morningstar!

 

Fal holds a bachelor’s degree in Business, is completing a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering, and is a Certified FDN Practitioner.

 

Her passion for physical fitness started in 2016 which led to getting a personal training certification in 2018. She competed in powerlifting and trained as a bodybuilder while working full time in a local government office, going to graduate school part-time, training clients, not to mention trying to have a social life outside of that.

 

She was eating her calculated macronutrients every 2-4 hours, she was listening to the “sleep less, work harder” community, she was a productive type A woman who was doing everything she thought was right to be successful and happy.

 

So, why did she feel so bloated and unbelievably fatigued? Why could she not recover from training like she used to? Why was she losing more body hair than usual and why did she develop an odd body odor? And, let’s not forget her missing cycle as well. Why was she not menstruating after decades of use of the hormonal birth control pill?

 

If Falyn didn’t get the help she needed, a diagnosis of autoimmunity may have been in the near future. 

 

The FDN philosophy is where she was able to heal and get the answers she needed. She was NOT crazy and her symptoms were not normal. It was then she decided to become an FDN Practitioner herself.

 

Falyn lives in Pennsylvania and works with type-A women who have hormonal disruptions and digestive issues and are just not getting the answers they need.

 

You can find out more about Falyn by messaging @falynhuntermorningstar on Instagram.

 

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Oh BOY, do we have a story for you all today…

 

In this episode, we’re interviewing Kira Whitman!

 

Kira Whitham is a Functional Nutrition Specialist, mom, and former middle school teacher. She’s a graduate of Hawthorn University and the School of Applied Functional Medicine and is now pursuing her Traditional ND. 

Her own digestive health issues led her to study nutrition, and then after her first child was born, her husband was diagnosed with two autoimmune disorders back-to-back. At that point, she made it her mission to better understand what causes the body to ‘fail,’ and what can be done to prevent it beyond just food. 

Kira combines the principles of holistic nutrition and functional medicine to help people bring their bodies back to their intended state of wellness. She is a firm believer that the body has an innate ability to heal and will do so when given the right tools.  

 

You can find out more about Kira by going to www.anourishedlifenutrition.com.

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Let’s be honest… Healthcare is complicated.

Especially when faced with a serious disease or illness, it can be hard to pick what to do. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to answer the question “What exactly DOES western, natural, and functional healthcare practitioners do differently from one another?”

In this episode, Ev is talking about exactly that. You’ll learn precisely what western medicine does, what “natural” medicine does, and finally, what FDN does. Most importantly, you’ll learn where all of these fit into YOUR healing journey. That is, they all have their place, but you need to know when and how to use them most effectively.

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If people really knew what was going on in healthcare, I think it would only be a matter of days before the entire system got flipped upside down.

A question for the audience today is if YOU think what is listed in this short episode should be legal. Not only that, but we’d love to hear your input as well.

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In this episode, we’re lucky enough to get an update from an FDN practitioner who was the guest for episode #12 of this podcast, Lori Balue!

In addition to being an FDN, Lori is an Adapt-Certified Functional Health Coach and GEMA licensed Holistic Practitioner. She is the creator of “Weight Loss like a Lady Boss.” That is her signature holistic 4-month program which helps women who are total goal-getters reverse metabolic dysfunction that leads to weight gain with a functional and holistic approach. She helps clients lose stubborn inflammatory fat, reset their metabolism, and take back control of their bodies and their brains.

Lori believes that the biggest gap in weight loss these days is not in some fancy pill or procedure, but it’s in actually discovering one’s health and having fun taking care of oneself while ALSO losing weight.

She believes that to lose weight, what we really need to do is be healthy.

Lori has been a featured speaker multiple times at the Whole Wheatery, a natural food store in Lancaster, CA, on ketogenic diets. 

You can find out more about Lori by going to www.loribalue.com

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In this episode, we’re talking to a long-time FDN who, not surprisingly, understands that the fundamentals are the most important part of the healing process. That’s why our guest, Missy Bane, will be touching a lot on metabolic dysfunction, and NOT any one specific disease!

About Missy:

Missy Bane is a Board Certified Health Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner.  She helps people ‘age healthy’ by creating a custom plan to fit their individual lifestyles, habits, genetics, and goals.

Individual blueprints are designed together to include nutrition, movement, supplements, sleep, hormone balance, libido, energy, detoxification, and gut health.  Each of these areas supports healing opportunities as well as long-term health.

She strongly believes that Taking Control of Your Health Means Taking Control of Your Life!

You can find out more about Missy by going to www.missybane.com

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In this episode, we were fortunate enough to have a BIG name in the natural health space come on the podcast, Dr. Eric Zielinski, AKA, Dr. Z!

Dr. Z is the author of the national bestseller “The Healing Power of Essential Oils” and “The Essential Oils Apothecary.” Dr. Z has pioneered natural living and Biblical health education since 2003. Trained as an aromatherapist, public health researcher, and chiropractor, Dr. Z started NaturalLivingFamily.com in 2014 with his wife to help people learn how to use natural remedies like essential oils safely and effectively.

Now visited by more than three million natural health seekers every year, NaturalLivingFamily.com has rapidly become the number one online source for biblical health and non-branded essential oils education.

You can find out more about Dr. Z and/or order his books by going to www.naturallivingfamily.com

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We have a bit of a celebrity in the house today, and her name is Kate Doubler, AKA, The “Real Food RN!”

Kate Doubler is the author behind the blog Real Food RN. A busy mom of four young children (with one more on the way!), a former ICU/ER Nurse, and a Real Food blogger. She loves experimenting in her kitchen and coming up with all sorts of new and creative real food recipes and DIYs with the hopes of bettering the health of her family and anyone who follows her blog. She wholeheartedly believes that prevention is the best medicine. Her mission is to help everyone find the path to living the best life possible!

You can find out more about Kate and read her blog at www.realfoodrn.com

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Our guest today is Stephanie Center!

Stephanie was born and raised in a quiet and charming Chicago suburb. Since her youth, she’s always been intrigued by health and wellness.

In college, she majored in kinesiology. She also fell deeply in love with bioenergetics (what happens to the body on a cellular level when it’s moving), and exercise psychology.

In June of 2018, she got really sick. She sought out specialist after specialist for about a year and a half. No one was able to help her, and her illness continued to get worse. She began to realize how broken our medical system really is.

Lets pause here, because this part is important!

She says, and we quote:

“I am a medical professional, and it took me being sick to recognize that the medical community does not (by training) treat root causes. The medical community issues medications to manage symptoms.” End quote.

Stephanie became desperate. She did her own research and educated herself on lab values and differential diagnoses. This journey of research led her to functional medicine.

Tune into the episode to see how Stephanie turned her situation completely around!

You can find out more about Stephanie by going to www.theholistichouse.org

To listen to her podcast, search for “The Daily Detox” on all major podcast platforms.

App mentioned: “Think Dirty”

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Wow! Can you believe it’s been 50 episodes?

We just want to take this time to thank you all for your support, and you can rest assured that we are just getting started.

Today’s guest is someone who did a fantastic job at reminding us just exactly how challenging these issues can be, Sally Aponte.

Sally Aponte is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner whose mission is to empower people who suffer from persistent gut symptoms with the right tools and healthy lifestyle choices so they can live a disease-free life and enjoy life to the fullest even in their senior years. 

Prior to becoming an FDN-P, she worked as a Physical Therapist Assistant for 29 years. Attending to the needs of her chronically ill patients was always a constant reminder that living an unhealthy lifestyle will contribute to disease and disabilities that can result in having a poor quality of life down the line. 

She believes catching a potential disease at its earliest stages is another important factor for maintaining health and well-being. During her earlier years, she struggled with multiple health problems and was misdiagnosed for 9 years before discovering she had Celiac Disease. The years of being misdiagnosed came at a price but it was the application of functional medicine that helped her reach a level of health that was not attainable through traditional medicine.

As a result, she developed a passion for healing the body through alternative means. This led her to pursue a career as a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Coach, and she continues to further her education in the field.

You can find out more about Sally by emailing info@sallyaponte@com

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In this episode, we’re interviewing a fellow podcaster, Erica Ziel, host of The Core Connections podcast (link below)!

About Erica:

Erica Ziel, mom of three, received her Health and Human Performance degree from Iowa State University. She is and FDN Practitioner, certified personal trainer, Pilates instructor, health and nutrition coach, and a core exercise and pre/postnatal exercise specialist whose mission is to help women live a healthier life and heal their body through movement, wellness, intuition, and breathwork.

Inspiring women to regain hope but also experience true, life lasting results. Erica is the founder and creator of Core Athletica®, The Core Rehab Program, Knocked-Up Fitness® prenatal membership, instruction trainer courses, and host of The Core Connections podcast. She believes that anything you want to improve about your health and life, you can!

You can find out more about Erica by going to https://knocked-upfitness.com/

Listen to the Core Connections Podcast here.

Listen to this podcast here

This short excerpt you’re about to hear is a story we hear wayyy to often. It needs to stop, and it needs to stop NOW!

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In this episode, we’re interviewing someone who brought the ENERGY, baby!

Her name is Mel Rogers, and she has an awesome story and impressive background.

About Mel:

Melanie Rogers is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, master Pilates trainer, former professional ballet dancer. She holds a Masters degree in traditional Chinese Medicine. She spent several years as an acupuncturist and herbalist in numerous multidisciplinary health clinics in New York City and San Diego.

Currently, Melanie coaches Pilates and functional health clients both virtually and inside a well-known human performance center, FItness Quest 10 in Scripps Ranch, CA. She has over 20 years of experience training clients in the Pilates method including well-known elite pro athletes.

Melanie is passionate about empowering men and women to take sovereignty over their own health and to be an active participant in their own healing. SHe believes in the power of natural methods of bringing the body back to balance and urges everyone to seek out not only medical advice from their medical doctor to feel good, but to work with someone like herself to improve all areas of their health. She hopes that through her work she can help people heal. prevent illness and live thriving, energetic and joy filled lives!

Utilitizing a functional health approach that includes ancient wisdom and science-based lab testing, she incorporates customized nutrition, targeted supplementation, and needle moving lifestyle hacks to help people overcome unwanted symptoms and optimize their health. You can find out more about Melanie by going to www.melrogers.com

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In this quick episode, Leslie breaks down the differences between three things that are so commonly confused: food allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances. We also talk about different testing you can use.

You can find out more about Leslie by going to peacexpiecewellnesscoaching.com/about-leslie/

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There is a LOT that goes into what we do at FDNThrive. But there is one core principle we follow that allows us to get the results that no other system does: We do NOT treat anything specifically.

If western medicine sees a disease? They give medication or use surgery. Even many of our natural-minded friends do the same thing. But they just do it with supplements and alternative therapies.

What we do is different. This brief episode explains that difference!

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In the world of healthcare, cancer is just a different beast. 

The word alone gets our adrenaline going, and if we receive a diagnosis, it can make it hard to think about WHY we might have cancer in the first place.

But, our guest today, Frankie Leigh, talks to us about how she was able to use TWO cancer scares in her twenties to completely switch her mindset around, eventually HEAL the cancer, and become an amazing, functional practitioner.

You can find out more about Frankie by going to https://radiate-wellness.com/about/

The organic farming program referenced in the show can be found by going to https://wwoof.net/

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At FDNThrive we DO utilize functional lab testing. However, the core of our success always lies primarily in addressing LIFESTYLE principles. A basic lifestyle principle is to be getting enough sun which, in addition to countless other benefits, can give you optimal vitamin d levels when done correctly.

But, this can leave us with a lot of questions…

Is vitamin d all it’s cracked up to be? Do you HAVE to get it from the sun? Can you simply take a supplement? We discuss all of that and more in this episode of the FDNThrive podcast.

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Go to ANY person in your life, and ask them if they think they have good sleep. Some will just plainly acknowledge that they don’t, but others will say yes.

For the second group, ask them if they think their sleep could be BETTER, and see what the responses are. We can almost guarantee that 95%+ percent of people will say yes, it could be better. 

So, what’s the big deal? Why does EVERYONE feel they aren’t getting the best sleep possible in today’s world?

In this episode, sleep expert Martha Lewis, FDN-P, tells us all about the hidden causes of insomnia, and why people are simply not sleeping in our modern world.

About Martha:

Martha Lewis is a sleep consultant to people who want to sleep but can’t. As a certified sleep expert and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner, she addresses both body and mind with stress resilience techniques and testing for hidden health issues to get to the root cause of her clients’ insomnia. She has been featured in numerous publications, such as Thrive Global and the Jackson Hole News & Guide, and various podcasts around the world and is also a passionate speaker on the topic of sleep.

You can find out more about Martha by going to https://www.thecompletesleepsolution.com/

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What if I told you that organ meats (yes – liver, kidney, heart, and more…) were missing staples in our modern diet? Did you know organ meats are actually some of the most nutrient DENSE foods known to man?

In this episode, we interview Autumn Smith, co-founder of both Paleovalley and Wild Pastures, and learn all about why organ meats rock (and a whole lot more)!

About Autumn:

Autumn Fladmo Smith is the co-founder of Paleovalley and Wild Pastures, holds a Masters in Holistic Nutrition, a Certified Eating Psychology Coach, and a Certified FDN Practitioner. Her passion for health began with her own struggles with IBS and anxiety: despite a career as a professional dancer and celebrity fitness trainer, Autumn’s own health was in shambles.

Desperate for a cure, she and her husband Chas stumbled upon the paleo diet in 2011 and within a month of beginning it, her health was completely transformed. Autumn then made it her mission to share the information she had learned with as many people as possible: she is the co-founder of Paleovalley, an organic whole-food supplement and paleo snack food company that prioritizes nutrient density and food quality. In 2018, she took things a step further and launched her second business with her husband: Wild Pastures, a regenerative pasture-based meat delivery service. Wild Pastures makes supporting sustainable agriculture and local, small farms easy for consumers. She lives in Boulder, CO with her husband and their son, Maverick.

You can find out more about Autumn’s businesses by going to www.paleovalley.com or www.wildpastures.com

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In this episode, we talk to the BRILLIANT Torea Rodriguez!

After completing her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry, Toréa has embodied transformation and self-discovery. She’s worked at some of the leading dot-com Silicon Valley companies and has held executive positions. And she used to be a professional pilot flying jets for private families and charter companies out of the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Her diagnosis of two debilitating autoimmune diseases brought her back to biochemistry. She not only achieved full remission but also obtained certification as a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner. During that time discovered her love of coaching.

Today, she coaches her clients through their own unique transformational experience that helps restore health, vitality and balance the immune system so that they can focus on their dreams without sacrificing their health.

You can find out more about Torea by going to https://www.torearodriguez.com/

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Today we are talking to one of FDN’s own mentors, Elizabeth Gaines!

Elizabeth Gaines is a Functional Health Practitioner and Burnout Recovery Expert that specializes in understanding how stress and disempowerment lead the body out of balance and into disease. Elizabeth combines functional screenings that analyze the body’s core systems with holistic lifestyle changes to bring about long-lasting and personalized healing to her clients. Her role is not to mitigate symptoms but rather to create health.

Driven by a belief that health is the ultimate form of self-love, she helps those helping themselves out of chronic disempowerment reclaim their energy and tackle the root cause of their health issues so they can return to their naturally vibrant state of being.

Elizabeth is passionate about helping people understand that the powerful feeling of hating your life is often simply the body’s way of asking for help. She helps promote a deeper understanding of burnout, the stigma and isolation that surround it, and how to understand it from a physical perspective.

In addition to her own practice, Elizabeth is thrilled to have joined the Mentor Team at FDN in 2020.

You can find out more about Elizabeth by going to https://breakthruburnout.com/

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Did you know an estimated TWENTY MILLION people have thyroid issues in the USA alone? Even more interesting, we’d estimate that around 80%+ of the people we work with at FDNthrive have thyroid issues, too. Our guest for this episode, Angela Brown, knows this story all too well. In this episode, she shares how she managed to overcome debilitating hypothyroid symptoms after years of battling them. 

A little bit about Angela:

Angela is a holistic health coach from St. Louis, MO. She is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P), a licensed physical therapist, as well as a personal trainer. She specializes in advanced testing and thyroid healing for women. She has recovered from hypothyroidism herself after being diagnosed at the age of 22. She used her experience and education to create her program called “The Sexy Thyroid Solution” to help women no longer suffer like she did and get to the root cause of their health issues.

You can find out more about Angela by going to https://www.instagram.com/angelabrowncoach/

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In this episode, we’re talking to the first registered dietician to join us on the podcast, Mallory Gonzales!

Mallory Gonzales is the Head of Nutrition at Kencko – a company that offers no-fuss and healthy instant smoothies. Mallory is also a registered dietician with her Master of Science who specializes in nutrition plans and diet coaching, to ensure all her clients are the healthiest they can be.

You can find out more about Kencko by going to www.kencko.com

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In this episode, Health Coach Ev is nerding out with Dr. Jeannie Lopez!

Dr. Jeannie Lopez, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist who recently became a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner.  She is also pursuing graduate studies at The Intuitive Way which focuses on energy healing.  Jeannie has worked in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings with children, adolescents, and families with a variety of learning and health-related challenges.  Jeannie has a long history of personal and family health-related issues which have impacted her and her family’s life significantly. 

After seeing more and more children in her neuropsychological assessment practice with serious learning and medically related issues, trying all kinds of treatment for herself and family members, visiting a myriad of health professionals, and listening to many podcasts/ webinars and reading books, Jeannie decided it was time to do it herself and obtain more training with the goal of helping others with the holistic FDN coaching method.

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WARNING: This is NOT your typical weight loss podcast! In fact, I can just about guarantee you’re going to learn MANY new things about fat that you didn’t know before. 

This is all thanks to today’s amazing guest, Dr. Sylvia Tara!

Dr. Tara holds a PhD in biochemistry from the University of California at San Diego and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research results and approach quickly piqued the interest of doctors and scientists worldwide skyrocketing the book onto bestseller lists and serving as the focus of an episode of NOVA on PBS called The Truth About Fat that aired in April 2020.

You can find out more about Dr. Tara by going to www.thesecretlifeoffat.com

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In this episode, we’re talking to Suzanne Healy!

Suzanne Healy is a Certified Integrative Health Coach and a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner with extensive training in functional medicine for coaches. After finding her own root causes, she was able to not only lose the extra weight, but also heal her digestion and skin naturally. Suzanne helps women who are sick and tired of yo-yo dieting to find their root causes so they can lose weight and heal naturally without dieting or counting calories or points.

You can learn more about Suzanne by going to www.suzannehealy.com

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In this episode, we’re talking to a big-time podcaster, Megan Blacksmith!

Megan Blacksmith is a certified holistic health coach, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and also graduate of Chris Kresser’s ADAPT Practitioner training and is currently training to become an NLP practitioner.

Her own postpartum health crash (what she calls falling off the hormone cliff) came after her first child 10 years ago, and all of her regular lab work said that she was “perfect,” even though she felt miserable.

After finding functional medicine. holistic nutrition and the power of the mind/body connection, she was able to see that there really was an imbalance, and more importantly, there was something she could do about it!

In the Zesty Ginger duo of Megan and Dr. Alex, Megan focuses on the power of our thoughts, beliefs, energy, and frequency in a health journey.

Megan is one of the founders of the Healthy Hormones group program, Flight or Flight Fix and Zestier as well as co-host of the 4 Phase Cycle Podcast.

You can find out more about Megan by going to www.zestyginger.com 

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We are lucky enough to interview incredible humans on a weekly basis, and this guest is certainly not an exception to that truth.

Heather is a TROOPER, and if you need a little inspiration today, THIS podcast is for you.

About Heather:

Heather is a marketing executive turned nutrition consultant and educator. Heather advocates for informed consent, bodily autonomy, and healthcare authorship. She speaks and writes on nutrition and lifestyle design interventions for health recovery. Heather successfully recovered her health from vulvar cancer, Hashimoto’s, and lichen sclerosus. She reversed estrogen dominance, insulin resistance, arteriosclerosis, and fatty liver utilizing a food-as-medicine and integrated clinical treatment approach. Heather is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner and Nutrition Therapy Practitioner.

You can find out more about Heather by going to https://heathercooan.com/

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In this episode, we have yet another international guest! This time, out of Portugal!

Christian Yordanov is an author, health researcher and educator, and practitioner who specialises in autism, children’s health, preparing for a healthy pregnancy, and longevity. He is author of the book “Autism Wellbeing Plan: How to Get Your Child Healthy.”

You can find out more about Christian by going to www.christianyordanov.com

Order Christian’s Book Here: https://www.amazon.com/Autism-Wellbeing-Plan-Child-Healthy-ebook/dp/B084GBBDL9

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In this episode, we are talking to Raewyn Guerrero!

Raewyn has lived and worked in London since 2001. She founded a Virtual Wellbeing Practice, Well Works, in 2017 which offers bespoke nutrition and psychotherapy programmes for high-achieving executives to recover from burnout, so they can feel energized, aligned and unstoppable. Prior to 2017, she spent 6 years as the Global Wellbeing Manager at a multi-national bank, developing group wellness programmes for those struggling with 21st Century chronic health conditions, such as stress, anxiety, depression, IBS, back and neck pain, and obesity. In 2012, she introduced 6 week Mindful Awareness workshops to employees with the aim of reducing stress, and improving focus, clarity and creativity, and facilitated regular Balance at Barclays weekly drop-in meditation sessions.

She was also a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Mindfulness in the

Workplace from 2015 – 2016 tasked with making stress reduction and anxiety a priority for Government Policy and Public Health. At Well Works, she now integrates Personalized Nutrition with CBT and Meditation to bring about rapid transformation in the mental and physical health of individuals and organizations.

You can find out more about Raewyn by going to https://well-works.co/

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While hosting the FDNthrive podcast, Health Coach Ev has been asked quite a few times when he’d be sharing his own story. Well, today’s the day. We hope you all enjoy!

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Breast implants causing illness? Say WHAT?

Yup, you read that right. Our guest in this episode, Sarah Phillipe, shined so much light on this topic for us, and even told us about her own journey of dealing with breast implant illness. This is one you don’t want to miss!

A little bit about Sarah:

Sarah has a passion for restoring health that has taken her along a path from RN, to becoming a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner, True Cellular Detox™ Practitioner, and Breast Implant Illness Expert. She believes the solution to Reversing Breast Implant illness is about more than just the explant and that we all need to take personal responsibility for restoring our health by addressing all of the root causes that contribute to chronic illness. It is Sarah’s believe that the body has an innate desire to heal if given what it needs, and she focuses on teaching women how to unlock that innate intelligence and heal themselves.

You can find out more about Sarah by going to reversingbreastimplantillness.com

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In this episode, we’re continuing Health Coach Ev’s mini-series where he talks about why the lab tests we use in the FDNthrive program are chosen with great care.

We are NOT lab tests salespeople, so we are mutually interested in spending our client’s money intelligently and usefully. 

Today, we’re talking about why not all stool tests are created equal, and what technology YOUR stool test needs to have to get the best results!

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Laini Gray is a Functional Health Practitioner and Healthy Living Enthusiast. She has a Master’s Degree in Holistic Nutrition and is a Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner. In addition, she is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach and Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach. 

She helps clients restore and rebuild health by investigating diet and lifestyle factors, as well as underlying hidden causes and stressors at the root of their complaints, symptoms and lack of well-being. As an FDN Practitioner, Laini uses functional lab tests which allow clients to take a deeper look at their health and uncover opportunities for healing in the underlying systems. 

Laini believes that having vibrant health and feeling good is the foundation of happiness.

She helps her clients restore and rebuild health so they can reconnect with their natural, happy, energized state of being and get back to living a life they love.

In her practice, she specializes in helping women take control of their hormone health by optimizing digestion, supporting detoxification, incorporating functional nutrition and healthy lifestyle practices.

You can find out more about Laini by going to https://graystarhealth.com/

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With so many food sensitivity tests on the market, it is easy to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars! Worse yet, each test is only testing for ONE of the countless ways your body could have an immune response to a specific food.

BUT WAIT…

What if there was a test that actually looked at all of the ways your body could react to a food, and it did so in a non-specific way? Well, such a test exists, and it’s a staple in the FDNthrive program.

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In this interview, we talk to the guest who currently holds the record for the best headshot used for the podcast social media photo (she is wearing a “Test Don’t Guess” shirt), Jessica Del Pino!

Having dealt with an autoimmune condition, that being Ulcerative Colitis, for over 20 years, Jess embarked on becoming a certified FDNP in order to help her own health first. After dipping her toe in the field of one-on-one coaching she realized that she could actually bring more value to the wellness community by offering her expertise in customer service, branding, and social media to other coaches and companies, which she formerly honed for over 10 years in the entertainment industry in California.

Now, she works for FDN as their in house brand strategist as well as with other health coaches and small wellness companies to help them get a hold of the branding look, feel, and messaging to make sure they are able to bring their vision to the right audience through strategic marketing efforts and social media. You can follow her on Instagram @wholefunctionwellness to inquire more info about how she can help with your branding and marketing strategy!

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In this episode, we talked to Leslie Parran, who is an absolute wealth of knowledge! When you read her bio, you’ll see why this is the case:

Leslie Parran is a Board Certified Functional Wellness Coach, Functional
Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, Licensed Ecclesiastical Holistic Practitioner, health coach, and Registered Nurse. With 40 years of nursing experience as well as certifications in Nursing, oncology, gluten sensitivity, emotional freedom technique(EFT), and essential oils, Leslie’s mission is to help physically active, motivated mid-life individuals who are struggling with chronic pain and losing confidence in their body, to naturally reverse pain and find peace so that they can live their fullest lives.

Leslie helps clients identify their potential healing opportunities through functional lab testing, analysis, and individualized natural healing protocols. Coaching sessions address client-centered health goals related to diet, rest, stress reduction and supplementation strategies.

Leslie’s personal experience over-coming challenges with auto-immune disease and arthritis pain as well as her nursing experience with helping patients with chronic pain, has inspired her journey to help others overcome their health challenges more naturally. Her mission is to move others from pain to peace so that they can feel better (less pain), move better (less inflammation), and live better (a more active, engaged life).

We’re especially excited to share this conversation with you all, as Leslie is the EXACT type of person we like in our world. She is someone who understands the benefits of both the western and functional side of things, and when to use both appropriately. Get out your notebooks, because you’ll definitely learn a thing or two in this show.

You can find out more about Leslie by going to www.peacexpiecewellnesscoaching.com/

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In this episode, we interviewd Dr Beverly Yates, and discussed everything and anything you need to know about type-2 diabetes!

Here is a little bit about Dr. Yates:

She is a diabetes expert and author who has over 27 years experience of working with those who struggle with blood sugar issues related to type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, and feel like nothing works for them. By addressing the lifestyle factors that trigger blood sugar spikes, Dr. Yates creates breakthrough changes in the habits that cause blood sugar issues. This allows her clients to finally get off of the blood sugar rollercoaster, have more energy, and create the level of health that lets them live the life of their dreams.

She is the creator of the Yates Protocol, a simple and effective lifestyle-based program, for people who have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, to lower blood sugar levels, achieve healthy A1C and fasting blood sugar levels, and have more energy to live life the way they want to.

She’s worked with 1,000s of people, helping them to lower their blood sugar levels to a healthy range and get control over their health. She was chosen as the lead doctor for a new 3-doctor panel TV show on ABC. They filmed 2 versions of the pilot episode, and the network decided not to greenlight the series. Her journey in Hollywood was fun and taught her a lot of things.

When most of us in the health space think about type-2 diabetes, our  minds go immediately to carbs, especially processed ones. But, is there more to the type-2 diabetes epidemic in our modern world?

You bet. And, that’s exactly what we dive into today. Check out the interview to learn more!

You can find out more about Dr. Yates by going to https://drbeverlyyates.com/

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In this episode, we talk to Luna Hart, FDN-P.

Luna’s journey to health and wellness began at the age of 20 in 1999. She decided to do something different and make incredible changes from what she knew growing up. She began to change the way she approached her health.

She took the time to actually understand her body. “What does it like and what are my sensitivities?” These were just some of the questions she was asking herself.

Then, she began to cleanse and rebalance her body. She eliminated processed sugars, foods, and carbohydrates from her daily diet. She found healing with whole foods. This was a journey, and she realized she had a LOT to heal.

How did Luna go from having a constant supply of her own personal antibiotics as a kid to having vibrant health in her 40’s? You’ll just have to listen to find out! We hope you enjoy the episode.

You can find out more about Luna by going to hartofhealth.com

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In this interview, we’re talking with Dr. Achina Stein.

She is the author of What If It’s NOT Depression? Your Guide to Finding Answers and Solutions. She has a busy private practice called Functional Mind LLC in Riverside, Rhode Island where she sees patients primarily for functional medicine, but also sees patients for psychotherapy.

She is a board-certified psychiatrist and has been in practice for 25 plus years. Propelled by her son’s health crisis in 2010, she found functional medicine which resolved all his health problems as well as her own. Since then, she has been practicing functional medicine.

She is also a certified practitioner of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and was awarded the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award by NAMI-RI(Rhode island) in 2008. She has lived in Rhode Island since 2000 with her husband and has three adult children.

This is an exciting time for her, as she recently launched her online health coaching program, What If It’s Not Depression? Bootcamp as a companion program to her book to provide an alternative to medication for people with chronic depression-like symptoms that don’t respond to antidepressant medications.

Ev and Dr. Stein talk about her amazing family story of how her own son’s mental health issues made her change the way she looked at psychiatry forever, which eventually led to managing her own health differently!

How cool is it that she was willing to keep an open-mind even after years of being taught one thing? We need more Achinas in the world!

You can find out more about Achina by going to https://fxnmind.com/.

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Samantha Lander found her way into the health industry through years of working on her own health. She has always struggled with weight, IBS, and hormone imbalances.

 

For her just going to the gym and eating a perfect diet wasn’t cutting it. She was determined to figure out what was wrong. She finally found out she suffered from food sensitivities, adrenal fatigue, leaky gut, and pathogens. 

She has healed herself and is on a mission to help others find the root cause of why they just don’t feel right. Her own personal experience drives her to help others feel good again. She is certified with Functional Diagnostics Nutrition, Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology Holistic Lifestyle Coach, National Academy Of Sports Medicine as a Personal Trainer.

You can find out more about Samantha by going to seefitpt.com.

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Ben Azadi, FDN-P, is on a mission to help 1 billion people live a healthier lifestyle. Ben is the author of three best-selling books, The Perfect Health Booklet, The Intermittent Fasting Cheat Sheet, and The Power of Sleep. Ben has been the go-to source for intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet. He is known as “The Health Detective” because he investigates dysfunction, and educates, not medicate, to bring the body back to normal function.

You can find out more about Ben by going to https://www.benazadi.com

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Ooh, baby! It’s time to dive into some bloodwork! Kurt Stradtman is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, Certified Fitness and Nutrition Coach, Holistic Life Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and a Level 1 Precision Nutrition Graduate. Kurt is board certified with the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. He entered the holistic health arena with the desire to help as many people as possible change their lives for the better. He takes a functional approach to lab test interpretations and creates a bio-individualized healing protocol unique to each individual client.

You can find out more about Kurt by going to www.stradtmanfamilywellness.com

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In this episode with Rika Keck, FDN-P!

Rika, a holistic health coach, specializes in chronic infections such as Lyme disease and mold sickness. She brings more than 20 years of experience into this arena, and diligently maintains ongoing education.  In her health practice, her endeavor is to explore possible root causes that contribute to symptoms and prolonged sickness, rather than suppressing symptoms.

It is for this reason, that she considers herself a “health investigator”. She is a trusted health advocate to her clients in the US and in Europe.

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In this interview, we’re talking with Heather Gray, FDN-P.

Heather has a full-time job. She is not here to share her business or self-promote. She came on SOLELY to help people with her story, and that’s pretty cool if you ask us!

Heather found FDN shortly after being diagnosed with Lyme disease which she had had for over 27 years. She was working with doctors to help address the Lyme, but nobody was helping to address all of the OTHER issues that this disease had caused. So, how did she get to the bottom of things after all this time? Tune-in to the episode to find out!

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In this episode, we talk with Shannon MIller, FDN-P!

She’s the founder of 3 Leaf Health + Wellness and is obsessed with all things hormone, digestion, and immune-related. She works with driven women who want to get to the root of their fatigue and female issues so they can fall in love with their bodies again.

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In this episode, we talk to a brand new author, Carly Herter!

Carly is a seasoned, Board Certified FDN-P with experience in working with clients all over the world, primarily with late-stage Lyme disease and autoimmunity. Her new book is titled, When Conventional Health Care Fails You, which is available by clicking here.

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In this episode, we talk to the incredible Lori Balue!

Lori is one of those people who has been studying the topic of natural health for awhile now. These are my favorite types of people to talk to, simply because you get to see what actually works overtime, and skip all the fluff that the quick-fix people of the industry try to sell you.

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In this episode, we are talking to Justine Altman!

Justine teaches people how to find & eliminate root causes for their symptoms so they can get well and stay well naturally. She believes that you absolutely have the power to be as fit, energetic, and pain-free as you want to be.

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In this episode, we’re talking with Jodie Ellenor, who is an FDN-P, Clinical Social Worker, and yoga teacher.

She started off dealing with some minor health symptoms, but her adventurous self got into some trouble after traveling in her 20’s. She picked up a bug (or two, or three) while in Tanzania, and no one was able to help. This would be followed by exposure to mold, as well as mental health challenges.

Thankfully, Jodie was able to turn this around. She is now an anxiety expert on a mission to help women heal anxiety holistically so they can spend more time enjoying life and less time fearing it.

You can find out more about Jodie at www.healingjourneyservices.com

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One month into his Family Medicine Residency Training Program (August 2004), Dr. Hirsch met his amazing wife Stacy. She was full of life, social with friends, a great cook, traveler, small business owner, and committed to growth through self-examination. 

Four months later, she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and he had no tools to help her. She had adrenal fatigue, her cortisol levels (the main adrenal hormone) were non-existent and she was told to rest up and she would be better in one to two years. She purchased a sauna, took adrenal supplements and coffee enemas, and worked on her psycho-spiritual side and she was mostly better in 3 years.

Dr. Hirsch felt powerless and began his path of learning everything he could about fatigue.

After he graduated residency in 2007, he started his own practice. He realized that his energy wasn’t like it was prior to residency. Dr. Hirsch was able to function, but he was tired. He didn’t have much energy for exercise, nor did he prioritize it. Dr. Hirsch had worked long and hard for his opportunity to create the kind of integrative medical practice that he wanted, so he pushed ahead. He thought it was a post-residency issue that would resolve on its own in a few months.

But these problems didn’t just resolve, and Dr. Hirsch would end up having to do some deep dives into the world of functional medicine to truly understand the causes of fatigue. He shares those insights with us in this amazing episode, and we couldn’t be more grateful!

You can find out more about Dr. Hirsch at www.fixyourfatigue.com

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Candace is the daughter of a health food store owner. She thought she had health all figured out by the time she was about 13 years old. She ate lots of fruit and vegetables, didn’t eat hardly any fat, and even became a vegetarian!

She was a shy and low-energy child but figured that was just her personality. Unfortunately. she started having some minor health issues which continued to get worse through her college years. This mostly involved getting an inordinate number of cavities, along with some other teeth issues. Also, she would get very light-headed upon standing, have terrible stomach cramps after eating certain foods, and suffered extremely painful menstrual cramps.

Throughout these years, Candace also struggled with many low-grade mental health symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and OCD symptoms.

You can find out more about Candace at www.sweetwateroffering.com

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Jennifer Woodward is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and a Board Certified Functional Wellness Coach currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Integrative Nutrition. She works with women all over the world to help them soothe their digestive woes, speed up their metabolisms, and stabilize their hormone imbalances.

She is also the Executive Director of the Association of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Professionals and loves getting to help new FDNs thrive professionally. She was recently a quarter-long guest lecturer in graduate Endocrinology at Parker University.

This year, her free time is well spent homeschooling her four children, but when she can sneak out, she loves to play ultimate frisbee or walk with her dog Baxter.

You can find out more about Jennifer at www.jenniferwoodwardnutrition.com

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever dealt with seasonal allergies!

Oh, wow! Most of you, it looks like.

Now I want you to take those allergies, multiply them by 100, and you get the symptoms of our dear friend, Tamy Anderson.

Tamy is a functional health coach who helps people who suffer from allergies and asthma achieve long-term relief from their symptoms. Allergy and asthma sufferers come to her when they are seeking answers to why their symptoms keep getting worse. 

You can find out more about Tamy at www.tamyanderson.com

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Imagine this:

You walk into the doctor’s office in your twenties. You know you aren’t feeling so great health-wise, but since you’re into fitness and eat “clean,” you figure whatever is causing this can’t be that bad-until it is. Instead of being told you have something minor, you get told you have skin cancer.

Now, I have zero ideas what I’d do if I was faced with such a diagnosis. But Jenn Malecha? Well, she took a not-so-conventional approach to this diagnosis. And as a result, she got some not-so-conventional outcomes.

Thankfully, this meant her no longer having cancer. This one you DEFINITELY don’t want to miss!

About Jenn Malecha, AKA the “Wholistic Health Boss”:

Jenn supports busy, health-minded professionals in taking back control of their health by giving them access to the right lab tests and resources. Then they can find the missing pieces of their health puzzle, fix what is wrong, and get back to feeling like themselves.

You can find out more about Jenn at www.wholistichealthboss.com

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In this episode, we have the privilege of interviewing someone who does So much for FDN. Her name is Brandy, and she is the definition of a trooper! When you hear what she’s been through health-wise, you’ll see why.

Brandy’s health struggles started early on. As a child, she struggled with chronic ear infections, chronic colds, and chronic tonsilitis. After having her tonsils and adenoids removed when she was 8 her symptoms seemed to improve for a short while. But within a year or two, she began a long-term struggle with digestive issues and weight gain.

She was diagnosed with IBS when she was 16 and followed the standard advice of eating more fiber, exercising, and worrying less. In her early 20’s she started having severe anxiety and depression. She spent over a year trying several different medications but soon become frustrated by the side effects. And with the help of her holistically minded grandmother weened herself off the medication with amino acids and herbs.

After seeing how amazing they worked, she became passionate about learning anything and everything she could about holistic and alternative health.

You can find out more about Brandy at www.bbhealthcoaching.com

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Whitney Morgan is a licensed acupuncturist, FDN-P, and the founder of Whitney Morgan Nutrition. She also serves as a clinical advisor for FDN where she assists other practitioners with their client cases.

You can find out more about Whitney at www.morgannutrition.com

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Ryan Monahan is an FDN-P,  Clinical Advisor to the Medical Director Program at FDN, and Certified AIP Coach. He has a passion for uncovering hidden stressors that contribute to thyroid disease. He spent over 10 years visiting more than 40 health professionals to find answers to his chronic health complaints until being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in 2012. Since then, his mission has been to change the dialogue about chronic disease towards a holistic, functional approach while helping others restore their health to normal function.

Typically, his clients are people who have struggled with finding relief from their autoimmune symptoms. Oftentimes, they feel that they’ve “tried everything”, and that traditional medicine hasn’t served them. In his experience, there is a better way.

You can find out more about Ryan at www.themindfulnutrivore.com

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Welcome to the first official episode of the FDNThrive podcast. In this episode, you’ll get a chance to meet the hosts, Reed Davis and Evan Transue, and understand why this health podcast is GUARANTEED to be unlike any other you have listened to.

We are so excited to share this information with you!

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