Episode 80 - Goodbye DIY Health! Functional Medicine & Nutrition Talk With Lahana Vigliano, CEO Of Nuvitru Wellness, Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 80

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Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. I don't know because you tell, I think you know that hidden cause to bloat, I have a feeling you do. So tell us, what is it? What are some, you know, what's causing some of this split for all of us.

Lahana Vigliano: 0:43

So some things are simple, some things are just eating too fast. So you got to slow down, you'd be surprised how many times I have to tell people this, too, is also something simple up someone is eating, and they're constantly in a fight or flight. So they're eating on the go, they're eating in the car, there's two phases of your nervous system, there's sympathetic and parasympathetic. So there's your rest and digest, and there's your fight or flight. If you're in your fight or flight, you can't digest, a lot of people are in their fight or flight when they're trying to eat. So then they leave their meal and they're insanely bloated. Like of course, like you're not your digestive system is not working. So those are the simple things, the more intense things are usually the microbe. So having a parasite, which is also more common than you think bacterial imbalance, yeast overgrowth, those things can be happening and causing bloat. The other thing is problems digesting food, again, pretty common, having trouble digesting fats having double trouble digesting carbs and proteins. So that's why stool testing is helpful. Because we're looking at these enzymes, we're looking at fecal fat. So how much fat is in your stool, we're able to see like how you're digesting. So sometimes supplemental support is needed. But ideally, we don't want to rely on supplements forever, we want to make sure that we're optimizing just our gastric juices and enzymes naturally. And then food sensitivities. I'll say my last one, but I say this with like a huge asterisk, because I know it's super common. And everyone's testing, which is the conversation and of itself, of all the testing that I don't agree with that is 99% of tests on the market. But if you are being triggered by a lot of foods, yes, you can take out the foods temporarily. But most of the time, there's a root cause of why your body's reacting to the food. Usually it's something gut, so not being able to digest your food or bacteria, parasites, yeast, that is typically what's happening. So the solution isn't to avoid the food long term. It's to actually do a stool test and understand what's going on in your gut.

Unknown: 2:32

Yeah, that makes sense.

Amy: 2:34

That's so true, Katie, because we did an episode like in the beginning, and we both did a food sensitivity test by everlywell. Love your opinion. And it was so interesting, because I was like highly not highly but very sensitive to like, all these foods that I didn't even know. And I don't even know if it's true. And Katie had like a very limited amount. And I'm like, This is so weird. You're more sensitive to things than I am. So I was like, This is bizarre, but I don't know what your thoughts are on the I know, you probably that's probably a whole nother podcast all these at home tests. But

Unknown: 3:05

So real quick, I really well and 99% of that Mark market tests for IgG as a response to food sensitivities. Therefore, they assume that when IgG is elevated, inflammation occurs, that's what a food sensitivity is, it creates inflammation. Now, the thing is, is IgG is like the mailman. It doesn't always deliver inflammation as next step, it can just sometimes be elevated, because it's recognizing that you ate it and you eat it a lot. Now, food sensitivities can kind of happen if you overeat or eat something pretty consistently all the time. But that doesn't mean inflammation is the next step. There's also food sensitivities that are not immune globulin related, so it's totally missing those sensitivities. So I'm not a fan of IgG testing, because it just doesn't show the complete picture. It's kind of like my thyroid, like with TSH and the full thyroid panel, like it's just not enough information to actually take action on it. But again, you don't want to just be avoiding foods long term because some people that could be most foods that's not sustainable by any means. Is it true right?

Amy: 4:06

And would you then say the same thing sorry, Katie, the for the hormone tests like the like they have another one like that's like a women's health test. Is that the same thing? Are they not?

Unknown: 4:17

No, they're okay, but I know you brought up Dutch Dutch is the queen hands down like the best I do mine. I'm actually doing mine this month. I do mine every year. Because you get way more information. And then with the the women's health I think has estrogen and progesterone. And it just depends on your cycle because there's certain parts of your cycle that certain hormones are high so I just feel like it's It's okay. It's not the worst but like if you want to deep dive into hormones, do the Dutch Yeah, I want to do 100% Back to the bloating really quickly. Is it true that I've read this and tell us is it true that you make your digestive enzymes in your mouth and so that's why they essay, chew your food more. And don't drink water while eating because those digestive enzymes you like wash them out if you drink too much water. And if you don't chew quickly enough, if you chew, not enough, you don't produce them. Is that true? So digestive enzymes are made like all throughout. So like pancreas makes them, obviously you have your stomach acid, but there are digestive enzymes made in your saliva. And mostly, it's not really to break down too much fats or carbs, it's more so amylase, which breaks down carbs. Or I said proteins and fats. So it mostly breaks down carbs in your mouth. So that's why you do want to chew slow because it's like pre digesting carbs. And I'm not a fan of drinking water. I've never heard of that digestive enzyme, which makes sense. But more so can you know, your stomach acid is trying to ramp up, right? It's saying like, Oh, foods coming in, like, let's try to you know, optimize that. And water can obviously make you feel full when you need to be focusing on you know, eating because the under eating is an issue with so many women. So I'm a fan of like, don't try have to have any interference that can affect appetite pay. Oh, that's interesting. Why do you feel that way? Not 90% of women that come to us say I'm eating, I'm following my hunger cues. I'm eating good. I'm not starving. And then I look and I'm like, we're not huge on numbers. But we do like to take a little peek see, and have you tracked for maybe a couple days. And hands down. Women are eating like toddlers, they're eating 1200 calories. And I'm like, your body's just used to that. So your hunger cues are wrong. And so I That's my issue with intuitive eating. I do believe you can get there. But I don't think a lot of women are there to start. And maybe it's subconscious of diet culture. Maybe they've been dieting for decades. And they actually don't know how much they should be eating. And so just from experience, most women are under eating 1500 calories. And that's not okay. Like how do we expect to thrive as a woman create babies, and we're barely giving our body fuel, like our car wouldn't work if we didn't give it gas. So it's just crazy. Because some women just like, like, no, that's not me, I eat I'm not hungry. But their bodies are like, No, you girl you need like 1000 More like, that's how much more you need to be eating. And they're like, what, like, That's so weird, because I'm following my hunger cues. So it's interesting that the intuitive eating and the hunger cues because like if anything is out of whack the hormonal imbalances, it it your body thinks you're hungry when maybe you aren't, or vice versa. And like there's even hunger, hunger, hormones, leptin and ghrelin, and all of those things that tell you when to eat, and those can be totally out of whack as well, right? Yes, yes. So that's why I do believe you can get to intuitive eating, but you have to actually assess and look at my eating enough. So you may need to grow into that. So a lot of the times that's a slow process, it's just adding more slowly over time. Once you get there, once it feels good, then most of the time, your appetites up, it will trigger, it will trigger you and say, Oh, you are hungry. So that's just my little snippet there. I do believe it's, you can attain that, but it's not typically where I like to start, because women just aren't very off.

Amy: 8:20

Yeah, and this is like resonated by me so much, because I think I probably under eat even though I probably think I overeat because I've actually been tracking. So do you know that lumen device where you breathe into? So I've been tracking, I've been using it for a while just to kind of see different things and like, you know, you blowed into it every morning. And it's you know, I don't know how accurate it is. But it's it is very interesting, like when I'm burning carbs and fat. And I've just been doing it every morning and seeing how it changes throughout my week based on what I'm eating. However, with that it tells you like how many, you know, fats, carbs and protein to eat. So I've been following that. And I've just been really, really mindful of eating more protein because I don't think I'm eating enough. So I've been eating more protein, and I've been following the macros pretty much and to your point, it's probably not I'm not necessarily trying to diet but when I follow that it's probably around 1200 to 1300 calories a day just by what I'm eating. And again, to your point I'm like I don't it's I haven't been hungry or anything and I'm not necessarily trying to diet I'm just trying to see like how my body's working but I don't know it's strange because there's probably all these apps to your point including this one that maybe not giving you the right information about how much you should be eating. I mean my whole focus has been on just like training more protein but it's interesting to watch to talk more about that.

Unknown: 9:48

That's a goal for sure. I most women don't eat enough protein at all. So it definitely needs to be something that's worked on. Lumen actually does have a lot of science behind it. Yeah is typically the gold standard. I have like measuring metabolism in that way. And I was actually going to incorporate that and give people that in our practice instance, because I feel like it can get a little obsessive. And ultimately, again, I don't, I don't think people need to be obsessing over that to show how they eat in the long term. But yet, like I said, like you said, you might not give you the right information based on your whole person. So like, when we do our first session, we're going back to elementary school, you're telling me physical abuse, sexual abuse, antibiotic usage, you were always SEC like, I mean, we're looking back at the full person. And I feel like those type of apps are technologies, that can be great, but just take it with a grain of salt. Like, don't let that be your Oh, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

Amy: 10:51

I've tried it myself, too. Yeah, I've been using it directionally. And I what I've noticed is, I've just been doing it in the mornings. And it's so interesting, because sometimes, like if I have a night where like, I just eat whatever, and I binge and I have wine and whatever, and I'll blow in it, I blow like a one. I'm like, How is that possible? And then on a day where I'm eating like, really good and protein and clean a blow when it's like a three and then most of the time, it's like a two or three, just depending on mostly a theory. And like literally everyone was telling Katie this every single day since I've had it and I flooded it. It's pretty much a good two or three, mostly three. And it's like today's a low carb day. I'm like, like, every single time I'm like, Alright, see?

Unknown: 11:29

I used to Yeah, same thing. It's very it's hardly day to

Amy: 11:34

day. I'm

Unknown: 11:34

like complicated. Yeah, nice. I don't know. I know.

Amy: 11:37

But it is interesting. It is just like puts you a little bit more in tune. But I think to your point Lohana. Like, if I knew more about what else was going on, then that would be a helpful tool. But now it's just kind of like I'm using it just to kind of like experiment. But yeah, I think in tandem with like, a real team of doctors, then it would be better for me.

Unknown: 11:56

Sure. Yeah. It's also interesting. I I'm really curious, you know, out of everything that you've told us, what are the some of the big takeaways like what are the keys to improving your metabolism and feeling good in your body and kind of bouncing your your hormones out. I mean, if you could just give our listeners a few pieces. Yeah, definitely eating enough. We'll we'll go through on that. If that's like my biggest thing, please eat enough. That is hands down. The most important thing you can be doing building muscle strength training as the anti aging key, that's the secret is building muscle, we lose it naturally as we age. So there's we can't go against that. It's just our natural aging process. So the more rebuild, it will boost our metabolism, and it will make us look good and eat good. So that's a huge fan. Optimizing protein amounts for sure. Most women, it's very different. But most women should be over 100 grams, at least. And then from there, it's just different based on activity and goals. Gentle walking, I think a lot of people like underestimate walking for metabolism, but it's amazing, and it's gentle, and we definitely should be active and then optimizing your thyroid. So that could be making sure you're repeating any nutrient deficiencies you have reducing stress because stress blocks going back to the stressor, it blocks thyroid conversion and thyroid production, addressing any gut issues that can be triggering for autoimmune thyroid, because your thyroid is the little gem to host your metabolism. So supporting that is really important. Okay, that's great. Yeah. And to your point earlier, you can have a healthy thyroid that is in range, but not optimal. And I know just from experience with hypothyroidism when I like I have my own optimal that is even like smaller than what maybe a functional medicine providers optimal would suggest, but I just know my body. So it's something to keep in mind because I know Amy, you've dealt with that with like higher TSH levels, and your doctor said it was fine, but Maybe for you it's not optimal. And something like something like like zinc or selenium supplementation. Lohana Is that where you point your patients to that are trying to optimize their thyroid with supplementation? We like to test we have a test that does all vitamins, amino acids and minerals. So I just like to test to see what you're even deficient in. And even things that might be borderline. I'm a huge fan of like food first and so just focusing in on those foods a little bit more. So that's typically our like next step because I hate blindly messing with like supplements, even though some supplements are kind of harmless. I just don't know. I just don't like wasting money and like potentially dangerous Yeah, yeah, just like yeah, yes. For sure. So yeah, I like repeating nutrients because you could even have perfect TSH, perfect thyroid hormone, but turning it into active thyroid hormone T three could be sub optimal. And every woman is different. So ideally, we'd like that to be above a three, but women who are like to point A can feel like crap. And to them that's really low and so optimizing that and they feel great once they get above 3.2. So every woman is different. So even with optimal ranges, there's still that bio individuality that roll.

Amy: 15:14

I have a last question about the hormone stuff for our listeners. So if someone is on birth control, or an IUD, can you properly test for hormones or your hormones kind of like screwy because of that?

Unknown: 15:27

No, it is impossible. And I don't do that a lot to balance hormones. When you're on a hormonal birth control period, it's always going to shut down your natural hormone production. It's exogenous form. So it just kind of takes on that. So even your bleed that you have, if you're on birth control to regulate things, it's not getting regulated. It's just truly a bandaid. So the moment you get off birth, control all your issues, you're gonna come back, so no waste of money, please do not test like the Dutch and stuff. I always when people want to do. I'm like, Nope, you're on birth control. It is a waste of money. Don't do.

Amy: 15:59

Okay, now, that's a really good note and even an IUD.

Unknown: 16:03

Yeah, if it's hormonal, yeah, interesting. Okay. Not the copper. The copper is not hormonal. So you could test right. And but obviously, that in and of itself can cause issues and heavier bleeding and copper toxic. So

Amy: 16:15

how do you then work with people? I mean, just because there's I'm sure a lot of people out there that are on an IUD or birthing, like how do you work with people that are on that? Or do you tell them to go off of it?

Unknown: 16:25

No, I feel like technically, most people that come to us are people trying to get off of it or are off of it, basically. But if they are on it, and they really want to stay on it, we just have to change expectations and say we're not bouncing hormones, it's impossible. But what we can do is support your body in different ways. We can be on top of nutrients, testing your nutrients regularly, because birth control depletes you of nutrients. We can support gut health because there is connections with birth control affecting intestinal permeability, which is leaky gut. So working on gut health and then optimizing liver, because there is a higher risk of liver disease and stuff for people taking birth control. So liver, gut nutrient depletion, that's where we'll focus. We can not focus on hormones, though. Okay, unfortunately, no. Okay. All right, well, Lohana where can our listeners find you you are at new V true wellness in Austin? Yes, yes. And that's our website and UV true wellness.com. We openly share how we work our pricing. So if you're interested in becoming a patient, we're virtual, feel free to check us out there. And then Instagram is our favorite. So Instagram Stories is where you see more behind the scenes, but Instagram is our favorite platform. But I believe that we're everywhere. Facebook, tick tock,

Amy: 17:39

I don't you do do virtual. So for our listeners who are all over, they can contact you. Okay, that's great. Yes,

Unknown: 17:44

yes. Yeah, testing is really easy. We can just ship you a kid, the only state that's a little bit funky as New York. They have very, very strict labs. So we can't run Labs in New York and stuff. So just FYI. Interesting. Okay. All right.

Amy: 17:56

Good to know. So before we close out, let's get into our quick wrap session. Okay, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Unknown: 18:04

Right now? Red light therapy. I love it. Yeah. Or ice rolling?

Amy: 18:09

Yeah, have a good ice good ones. Good ones. We love those. Both. Yeah,

Unknown: 18:12

this next one is your five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dry it off and you over pings you there five minutes away? What are you going to do to get yourself together and out the door? eyelashes and just a vitamin seems nice? Which one? Do you? What's your fav Vitamin C Serum? I think I've used lately, the cocoa chi and I think I just grabbed that one from Target, which is great when I can find a good brain at Target. So I think that one's the one I've used mostly.

Amy: 18:42

And I hope some luck because you're in Austin. Yeah. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily nirvana.

Unknown: 18:50

Being in the word is really important to me, especially in the beginning of the day. It's that's my whole days. It's my whole week. So I'm connecting spirituality is probably my most important thing that I can do. That's nice. That's beautiful. Alright, so before we go, let's close with our mantra of the week. Amy, do you have one for us?

Amy: 19:10

I do have one. So this is one I saved from a brand called weather urban that I follow. And I liked this quote it was or this affirmation, I guess we could call it and it's the whole point of life is to change to evolve to grow. Don't resist it. Embrace it. Oh, yeah.

Unknown: 19:28

I love that. Yep. Hopefully this episode helps our listeners do just that. Much. I think it will. I Ilana, thank you so much for being with us today. Yes, thank you so much for having me.

Amy: 19:41

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