The Golden Cure: Why Turmeric May Be the Natural Remedy You’ve Been Missing

Introduction and Dr. Guptau2019s Ayurvedic Background 0:00

I think it's just incredible that one plant can do so much, that the body receives it so well, that there's this partnership between tumor and the body where the body knows where to take it. So what I've seen in 10 years is it goes after the big problem, then the medium sized problems, then the smaller ones. So it's just been beautiful to see the power of this one plant. And that's why I love sharing it with everyone because it helps me so much. I really do use it often as my immune support. is Doctor Talks, real talk from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most.

Hi everybody. It's Dr. Nancy O'Hara and I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Gupta to the podcast. Dr. Gupta is into the heart of Ayurvedic medicine. She began her personal battle with chronic illness. And then after her remarkable recovery, she was driven by Ayurvedic principles and it ignited a passion within her to explore this ancient science further. And she's now armed with a Master's in Ayurvedic Sciences and a PhD in Turmeric. And for those of you who know me, know how excited I am to find out all there is to know from a PhD in Turmeric.

Dr. Shivani refined her extensive knowledge with the help of top experts in both India and the United States. And she stands as a beacon of health in the health and wellness industry, specializing in holistic treatments and approaches to chronic conditions. And her profound commitment is to bridge the gap between the time-honored Ayurvedic practices and contemporary medical strategies. So Dr. Shivani, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. Thanks for having me. So let's dive right into turmeric.

As many people know, I love it as an anti-inflammatory, an antioxidant, but tell us all about turmeric and all of its wonderful properties. Absolutely. So when I was studying Ayurvedic medicine, I was in a class about herbology and about all the spices. And as I was sitting there listening to the professor talk about curcumin from turmeric, about coriander, cumin seeds, fenugreek,

Turmericu2019s Benefits and Anti-Inflammatory Power 2:06

ashwagandha, all the adaptogens out of Ayurveda, I realized, you know what? Our system of health and healing really deeply reaches into the plant kingdom to find these solutions that have pretty magical, potent, miraculous results. It's really the foundation of all pharmaceuticals. They came from willow bark and these kinds of plants and ingredients. When we talked about turmeric in that class, I realized turmeric was that one plant that could do so much, and in my case, really help with my family history with diseases and diabetes and inflammation and things like that.

Tumor, to me, is a powerhouse. And some of the things about tumor that I love most are it's a very powerful anti-inflammatory. So it's being studied heavily because of the number of pathways it affects. It affects TNF alpha, NF kappa B, interleukin 6, COX 2. So I have whole charts on all the numbers of pathways that curcumin can impact. And then it's also a powerful antioxidant. It's an immune modulator. It's antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal. We know that it's very supportive of our gut health.

It's anti-H. pylori, anti-candida. It's also supportive of the gut lining. It's gonna get rid of the bad and keep the good. And so one big piece of turmeric and curcumin that I love is it's the ultimate janitor. So in our body, as we age, things are going to accumulate that do not belong there. Sometimes it's our toxic burden from the external world. Sometimes it's ultra processed foods that we put in the system. Sometimes it's stress. You never know. The toxic burden is pretty significant nowadays.

And so it works that ultimate janitor that cleans house. It gets rid of malignant cells that don't belong, cells that are accumulating and misforming and misfiring in different ways. It's just that perfect solution in my mind for all those types of issues. And then we also know that curcumin has a beautiful metabolism support aspect to it because it helps with insulin resistance. It functions on the same pathways as metformin in the body. And it's very anti-obesity because if we reduce that inflammation, then we're opening up the possibility of the body to release any excess fat and excess weight.

Otherwise, we're always going to stay in those loops when it comes to weight management. So those are some of the key pieces I love. And then a few years ago, I presented at A4M in Vegas at this functional medicine conference about curcumin. And for months, I sat in the science and just pulled through again putting together this presentation for these hundreds of doctors, and it was on anti-aging. So what's also interesting about curcumin is it'll impact sirtuins, it'll impact glycation, it'll impact telomeres, it'll impact senescent cells.

So it has a lot of different supports for the anti-aging piece as well. That's amazing. And for me as a pediatrician and for our families and practitioners, listening about all the things, pans and pandas. It really is important that this is one of those nutraceuticals, one of those herbs that can be everything, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal, antiviral, anti-everything that you talk about, and good for the whole family. But tumeric curcumin is not all created equal. It doesn't mean that you can go to Amazon tomorrow and get a curcumin and it's gonna make your kid better.

Tell us about what is really needed about the differences between tumeric extract and things like that. Sure, so a lot of people have seen that tumor has benefits. And we know one thing I forgot to mention is neuroinflammation. I just spoke on an Alzheimer's summit. and talked about how curcumin has an impact, a tremendous impact for neuroinflammation, for tau tangles, amyloid plaques, for BDNF, mitogenesis, which is increase in mitochondria production in the body, which a lot of us need. We need that energy production for us for our health and our brain and everything else.

the neuroinflammation piece is one thing I forgot to mention. So when it comes to the turmeric plant, you can grow turmeric in your backyard. It's a rhizome. It is a plant just like ginger, and it has benefits in its raw form. It's not that it doesn't, but the thing is when we in India, in ancient India, took this plant, We dried it into a spice,

Curcumin Quality, Extraction, and Absorption 6:39

and that really concentrated it. So most people have seen turmeric the spice. They've used it in their dishes. But typically in the West, we're sprinkling a little bit on our chicken, maybe half a teaspoon on eggs and different dishes we're doing. And it was previously only thought of as a colorant agent. It wasn't even understood the pure total ramifications of this incredible plant. But when it comes to turmeric spice, what most people don't realize is 97% of that turmeric plant is turmerols and all these different good things.

But the curcuminoids is what makes up the three to five percent of your turmeric plant. And currently, the science we have now, which is about 17,000 papers in scientific studies in PubMed, those papers talk about that 5%. And so that is what the supplement world is extracting out of turmeric to give to people to deliver a profound impact in the body because we have all this science. We even have a lot of double-blind placebo-controlled trials now that show that curcumin at 500 milligrams at a 95% standardization will deliver X result when it comes to inflammation.

And so when I was doing my PhD dissertation, all I did was sit in the science for years and study curcumin for heart disease, curcumin for brain health, curcumin for malignant cells that should not form, curcumin for joint pain, curcumin for all these different issues that happen just based on inflammation in the system and based on these other issues. And so my passion is showing everyone what that 3% to 5% can do. Because when you take the curcuminoids and you extract them to that 95% standard, Unfortunately, like you mentioned, in the supplement world, people can create anything to make a buck.

And most of the supplements on Amazon and in big box retailers are not at the potency and purity that we would want. And that's why it's important to follow doctors like you, because in the functional medicine space, all the practitioners are seeking and studying and understanding who are the best supplement companies, who is really focused on quality and potency. And when you're looking at a supplement US made, extracted properly. In my case, I developed one where we extracted in the right proportion to mimic Mother Nature.

Because if we want the body to receive something, according to Ayurveda and ancient wisdom, the body has to be understanding what it is. And so that's another key piece that we kind of forget when we're in the extracting world, we just rip things out of products, forgetting that plant medicine is Mother Nature, and we're asking our bodies to receive Mother Nature for its healing benefit. Absolutely. Absolutely. And one of the other things I've heard you talk about and that I talk about with my own families is when you're taking turmeric, you also want to add, for example, a healthy fat to help absorption.

True? Absolutely. Yes. So there is two teams. There's Camp Team Black Pepper. And there's a camp healthy fat. Both are valid. There's no apples to apple study yet. I want to see that in my lifetime. I'm probably going to do it myself because I need to know. But healthy fat we know helps curcumin cross the blood brain barrier. We know it increases the absorption. And then we know that when it comes to black pepper, I actually studied in the lab in Houston where the scientists discovered that black pepper increases the absorption of curcumin by 2000%. And so I'm a very team black pepper person.

I love it with my curcumin. And I tell people, you can also eat it with a meal so you get the healthy fat in there. I've always been like weary of rancidity when it comes to packaging oil and supplements. It's just a thing with me. So I didn't want to be responsible for that and how long people keep things on the shelf, the temperature they store it at. that felt kind of complicated to me and I didn't want to ever harm someone with something that went rancid. So I go with black pepper because it's a safer delivery method, but either way, it's going to absorb and improve the benefits significantly.

Yeah. And so we use it quite readily. You know, people talk about with pans pandas, you need to use ibuprofen, steroids, IVIG. And although those have their benefits and their place, For me, one of the first things I always start is turmeric, because so many of these children have neuroinflammation. And it is neuroprotective, whether the cause is an infection like strep or mycoplasma or tick-borne disease or mold. And with those with tick-borne disease and mold, mycotoxin disease, there are a lot of joint pains.

And you've also done a lot of research in arthritis in the use of turmeric, correct? Yes. I mean, that's been the body of work I've had for the last 10 years is working alongside doctors in orthopedics and rheumatology and showing them that when they say to a patient, you have joint pain, they can offer what they're going to offer. There's great solutions out there, but offer the patient's natural alternatives as well. So the patients have those solutions as well. And I love that. I love when we can help with chronic joint pain naturally because I get hurt sometimes.

I have in the past and when I took medications and NSAIDs consistently for 10 days, I get stomach aches after and I don't want those punishments. I can't have those punishments. I've invested too much in a healthy body to then harm it from the outside. Right. And steroids even more can cause a plethora of side effects and unwanted symptoms. And we know how hard it is to get IVIG. So I really think Tumeric is one all of our children with PANS pandas should do. And we'll talk more about your specific product a little bit later, but I want to dive a little bit deeper first into inflammation.

Turmeric for PANS, Joint Pain, and Inflammation 12:24

because I think you and I also agree on the things that are really causing inflammation in all of us and in our children with pans and pandas. So what are the top three in your book? or five or however many women you can give us. Yeah, I mean, when I think of inflammation, I think of it as anything foreign that is coming at our body that's causing our body to react. And unfortunately, we live in this time and place where our own food supply can do that. So I always talk to people about an anti-inflammatory diet, really paying attention to what's inflaming you.

Is it gluten? Is it dairy? Is it sugar? Is it alcohol? For some red meat is hard to digest, so it really just depends on the person. Then there's things like industrial chemicals that exist, our air quality, our water quality. Then like you mentioned, mold and things like that. These are some of the top ones that cause inflammation. Yeah, and then sleep and lack thereof, certainly, and stress. Yep, sleep, stress. I mean, when I look at my chart, we talk about fried foods can cause inflammation, grilling your foods, doing that incorrectly can cause inflammation, water pollution, air pollution, chemicals in the home.

So I think of it as like, what's your laundry room and kitchen and bathroom have in terms of the chemicals you're going to put on your body? Where can we gently start reducing those? in the kitchen teflon glass aluminum foil these kinds of things can all add up as well and then like you said sleep and stress are big ones and sometimes sleep or stress depending on who you are is hard so for me i focus a lot on sleep because i'm a whole different human being if i can just really get that great sleep today i had last night i had great sleep so today i'm much happier but i had a week of not great sleep so i was playing with is it progesterone i took too late Should I take my sleep gummies?

Did I do sleep tea? Was I on content trying to learn way too late into the night? So from an Ayurvedic perspective, I love teaching women, let's live according to our circadian clock and our circadian rhythm. Because we are the caretakers. I have two kids and managing them in their lives while trying to teach what I teach is a lot. But I use all these tools, circadian walking, moving in nature, sleeping well, so that I'm my best to handle them. Yeah. And one of the things I've heard you talk about is that, you know, we talk so much about all the biohacking techniques and all the ways to make our self healthier.

But one of the things I've heard you say is nature is our free biohacking. It is Ayurveda is this ancient wisdom that's over 5,000 years old and this ancient wisdom taught us mother nature heals all flow downhill with the river of life flow downstream by living according to your circadian rhythm knowing your dosha or elemental constitution that makes up you and then all of a sudden things get easier and so these these concepts sometimes sound like gosh she's going to tell me to do so much self-care But really what I'm going to say is a five minute walk in nature can reset everything.

Five minutes and it's free. Going outside, taking your phone call, same phone call where you're going to call and talk to your best friend. Take it walking around the backyard in a circle. That's what I do. A profound impact. And these things are simple. So I love teaching it that way. And then yes, do I like having an infrared sauna for detoxing? Absolutely. I like some of the tools. but I'm very deliberate in which tools I pick up and how they align with the ancient wisdom I already teach. Yeah, absolutely.

And it's important for us as parents to model that to our children. And I say even when our kids are in a flare, when they're not doing well, just getting them outside, getting them in the dirt, taking them for a hike or walk on the beach can do so much to decrease their stress as well as yours to help you better deal with the flares of behavior you may be seeing. Absolutely. Yeah. And just going back to diet a minute, because, you know, I also preach the gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free as much as possible.

And I tell all our kids to get off the beer at breakfast. And, you know, some of our kids with Borrelia and other forms of tick-borne diseases may actually have something called alpha-gal, where they really can't tolerate red meat. So I hear you on that. Do you have any specific tips in helping families to move toward at least a gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free diet, especially in, well, in our world, but also in our kids that may have eating challenges, ARFID, frank eating disorders. You know, it's a tough one.

I have a kid with an autoimmune condition and she's had it since kindergarten. She's now in ninth grade and she will not give up gluten, dairy or sugar. And I have explained to her so clearly, like you would reverse this. We would have wanted this a decade ago. won't listen. And so I completely sympathize with every parent out there. My strategy is, since I can't win outright at my project, I work around it. So I am, let's eat a fresh food as much as possible. I cook healthy, fresh Indian food in my home or Mexican on the weekend.

So I try to stuff nutrient density where I can, like sprouted things inside the lettuce or inside of there. Or I take my own turmeric gold capsules and open them on the plate and then mix their food on top so they don't notice what I'm hiding there. I need really good vitamin D probiotics and turmeric in their body or else I know they're going to catch everything going around. So I wouldn't say I'm a winner at this, but in an ideal world, I have met moms whose kids they learned were celiac. And then they have gotten in there and figured out how to make everything so delicious.

I'm not the best chef, but as a gluten-free woman, I have found my favorites in terms of gluten-free bread. I just tried a company called Wild Grain and they had one bread.

Lifestyle Drivers of Inflammation 18:30

I didn't like anything else I ordered, but one bread was so good. I'm going to just order that for myself and then live off of that now instead of Canyon Bakehouse. Trader Joe's has some good gluten-free tortillas that are almond flour that I really like. Costco has a great gluten-free pizza. So I have my favorites. And then I just eat more rice if I can, because I don't want to eat too much corn in these things either. So it's kind of a mix and match. Yeah, well, many on this podcast may know my personal story, but I had the genetic predisposition to celiac, but throughout my life for different reasons, I was gluten light at best.

I mean, I was mainly gluten free until I started dating my husband and he was taking me to a lovely Italian restaurants with lots of great bread and pasta, et cetera. And all of a sudden I developed the rash of celiac. Never had a GI symptom in my life. And I was diagnosed with celiac. And now, of course, any gluten will throw me over the edge. But it's so different now than when I first went gluten-free, that there are great products. And I always say to my families, who's driving the car to the grocery store?

You know, get those products, find some of them that taste good, try them out yourself. There are so many good gluten-free breads, waffles, pastas, but it really is, like you said, a whole food diet. You know, good proteins, good veggies, good oils, et cetera. Exactly. Exactly. And I love things that become system wide because those are easier. So in my house, we don't use seed oil. Easy. We are only cooking butter, ghee, or coconut oil. And that's it now. So that'll impact everyone. Or you change one cleaning product out and never go back.

That's system wide. You change your pots out. It's system wide. So I like to think of the foundation first, and then we can get really specific because I can get really neurotic on this topic. Like I just ordered more air filters and I get really passionate about like everything needs to be clean, but then I'm stressed out because it's never clean enough, you know? So I think it's about like, what are the big ones that across the board will impact you day after day for years? And then let's move into these topics.

Yeah. Yeah. And I also am always conscious of how much money we are spending in all of this. And we're talking about things that, like you said, are system-wide and getting outside and are free. But I also tell parents, hey, you want to get all new pots, that's what you should ask for for the holidays, for your birthday. you know think about these things and getting the things you want as gifts or if you're not a great cook like like I wasn't until COVID I had to force myself but you know have somebody else that's offering to help you cook you a really fresh meal that's something that they can use use all the tools around you to make your life and that of your children as healthy as possible.

Absolutely. Absolutely. We have to get creative. We have to get resourceful. Nowadays, there's so much more options when it comes to food. You can buy great sauce that's clean and great, great gluten-free pasta that's great, great vegan or cleaner or better cheeses. There's even raw milk cheeses out of Europe coming in. My kids tolerate Parmesan well, so I'm always sourcing great Parmesan. Between those three things, that's a meal ready in 10 minutes. And then I got my kids into Caesar salad. So I buy bags and bags of Caesar salad.

They make it themselves. And I'm like, okay, one good green got in. It's fresh. This meal was fast and we're good. So it's just, I think we're much luckier now with the access of ready to go foods that are also clean that we can pull together. Yeah, and involving the kids, getting them to do the gardening with you if you have a garden or starting a little garden even in your apartment in New York City or helping them to learn how to cook something or just open the doggone bag. True, true. My kids love to cook for themselves now.

I mean, I think that might happen naturally when they become teens nowadays, but they want that autonomy with food. And they're like, no, mom, I'm making my own eggs. I'm like, okay. perfect great okay yeah please eat some fried eggs that's i'm okay with that yeah now you you mentioned the tumor of course but you also mentioned a couple other adaptogens for instance can you talk a little bit more about those sure so i love ashwagandha ashwagandha is such a beautiful adaptogen if you're

Diet, Family Habits, and Practical Food Swaps 22:48

stressed and anxious it calms you down if you're depressed and feeling low and feeling the blues it lifts you up it's like this beautiful thermostat that just knows how to go where it needs to go in the body we talked about we talk in india about ashwagandha as Like it gives you strength. It gives you neurocognitive function. It's so supportive to the system. I think there's a study that was published that said it's as effective as 14 psychoactive drugs in the body. So when people are suffering with a lot of what we call mental health disorders right now, which a lot of functional medicine is saying these are really gut disorders, Ashwagandha can go in there and really help support as well.

Another adaptogen that I love is called Shatavari. Here in the West, we pronounce it Shatavari. I used it and built it into a tea that I designed called menopause support tea, which is for perimenopause and menopause. But Shatavari is a queen of adaptogenic herbs for our reproductive organs. And so it gets in there and it's very rejuvenative. It helps cool things down and calm things down. So when we talk about hot flashes and moods and anxiety and stress, that tea just calms you down. And I put three types of thulsi in there.

Thulsi is also an adaptogen that can calm and cool us down. Because a lot of times in modern day times, if you're a mom and you're out there trying to do everything you're trying to do, it's a lot. It's daunting and it's exhausting in my opinion. So I use different teas just to calibrate through my day. Like my green jasmine tea with adaptogens keeps me focused and up throughout the day. and then right around four, I want to just slow down to my kid's pace. I take a different tea full of Brahmi and Ashwagandha and these herbs just to calm down a couple notches.

And then going to bedtime, I need further support to wind down. And so I'll have a deep sleep tea then just to like really ease into a better quality night's sleep before I wrap around to the next day. That's great. And I love the way you say ashwagandha. We call it the herbal valium because it is better than valium in decreasing anxiety and all the other wonderful ways you talked about. And you talked about one of your teas that you use in menopause, perimenopause, et cetera. But I would think that that would be good for our adolescents also, especially our adolescent girls that are going through all their hormonal changes, yes?

I mean, in Ayurveda, we do think of our adaptogens as across all ages. I've never worked with kids directly. Here in the US, we're so much more fearful of giving supplements and herbs to kids. I have a comfort level with it because I've worked with the herbs forever. So I do use turmeric on my kids and these kinds of things. I have zero problems. I would give it to children. But it's just one of those things that's worth every parent just taking a minute and researching for themselves and making sure they're comfortable.

Because a lot of times we're doing a lot of different things with our kids based on the health struggle. So you have to watch your interactions a little bit. Absolutely. And interactions with other things they're taking. Interactions with medications, other supplements. And one of the things we do a lot in my membership program is we have whole lists of all the interactions of medications with herbals, adaptogens, things like that, because that is so important to know. And thanks for bringing that up.

Yeah, that's really good. Now stepping back again, I am very interested in Ayurvedic medicine. As I said to you before we started the podcast, it was something that I dabbled in when I was going through my own infertility. And in no way am an expert, but so love the practice of Ayurvedic medicine and want to learn more. Talk a little bit about Ayurvedic in general and the dosha types, et cetera. So Ayurveda is an ancient system of medicine. I love the way you say things. I'm so sorry. That's okay.

Go ahead. Everyone says it differently. I honestly think Ayurveda would be much more famous if the word Ayurveda was easy to say by everyone. Because in India, we take a D and we turn it into the. And that's the only difference. It's Ayurveda. And so it's a beautiful system of health, healing, and medicine from India. It's been practiced as long or maybe longer than traditional Chinese medicine was there. So these parallel beautiful wisdoms were running alongside each other in two different countries.

And in Ayurveda, we love to teach everyone that your preventive daily lifestyle is the thing that is going to help you bring body, mind, and spirit into alignment. And that's our goal for everybody, is that alignment so that you can be at your highest vibration and have that access to universe, God, whatever energy you believe in. And so in Ayurveda, I love to teach about the doshas, the mind-body constitutions. I love to teach digestive fire and how this gut digestive fire is the center of everything.

Then we teach about sattvic diet, a yogic diet, and how that's an easy way to stay peaceful and calm. Then we also teach about self-care rituals and how those self-care rituals are your daily detox opportunity to keep the body clean and clear. And then we also teach circadian rhythm, living according to your circadian rhythm to stay balanced. And so one big concept you mentioned is the dosha is where We want everyone to know that they are primarily driven by one element. It's either air ether, that's a vata, or fire with some water, which is bita, or earth and water, which is kaffa.

And so each person has this template where you came into the earth.

Adaptogens and Ayurvedic Daily Support 28:30

with a primary and a secondary dosha and knowing that is really important. So I have a dosha quiz on my website at drshabani.com and people take that dosha quiz and they email me back and they're like, how did you know that about me? That's crazy. And I'm like, if you're a bit that you're like me and we are pretty similar, it is what it is. This is ancient wisdom. I'm not some magician. I just know this wisdom that I got to study. And so it's cool to know that because then you can self-navigate and self-manage yourself better.

You'll understand when you're getting overheated as a fire and you're going to explode and how to calm that down. As a fatah, if you're too airy and all over the place and anxious and stressed and overwhelmed, you learn how to ground yourself. And if you're a guffa and you can't get off the couch and get moving, we show you how to move your energy, that Mother Earth energy, and get yourself in motion and get that metabolism moving. So each of us has our own template. And it's really cool when you take that wisdom and apply it to your family as well.

So I know my kids' templates. So interesting. I know my spouse's template. So because I married a bit that I'm a bitha, if he's about to leave the house with the kids, I'm like, let's make sure I feed him because he's going to need some patience with if he's going to be all day on a Saturday. So let's set up the kids for success by feeding the bitha. Then I'm like, OK, my guffa kid never wants to listen to me. I'm going to let her father know all the agenda so he can get that in motion. And the vata kid, I need to move him in nature and ground him and feed him more so he's settled.

So I'm really kind of full court press managing all the energies. And I know myself so well that I can manage myself with tea and food and things like that as well. So that's kind of the artful play of knowing your constitution and that of the people around you. so you can navigate the whole situation better. Yeah, that's so vital. And does that impact, the dosha archetype impact the nutraceuticals, adaptogens that you might think about for each child? It can, it absolutely can. Because if you have a vata or a pitta, you're gonna lean into Ashwagandha and different adaptogens more.

Gaffa doesn't need any help calming down. There's a different approach there. It's like put the fire under them, get them in motion. get them supportive foods that are easy to digest as well. So a lot of times what we call healthy is not healthy for everybody. And that's where Ayurveda is really beautiful because just because I love green sprouts and green salad and green everything, I'm a bit that I can play with that more. We don't want to drop raw foods into a pork guffa who's like, I don't have the digestive fire for this.

And so that customization is really beautiful. Yeah. And I think that's so important. I mean, we often talk about our N of one, that we really have to look at the child in front of us. And this gives a lovely framework. to maybe help parents to see, you know, my kid that's laying on the couch, he's not lazy. That's his constitution. We don't want to give something to, like you say, calm him down. That wouldn't be a kid we want to give ashwagandha to, but we may need to give him more fire, but turmeric could still be good, more anti-inflammatory.

Yeah, knowing each kid, not having a protocol for every child that walks in the door for the practitioners that are on this podcast is really important, I think. Absolutely. Now, one of the other things that I wanted to share with everybody is your fusionary formulas, because I think you've done a lot of work on those. And could you talk a little bit more about the products you have there, the teas and the turmeric? Sure. So about 10 years ago, I was in my PhD, I was trying to wrap it up, and I happened to be married to an all-MD surgical family in South Florida.

And they looked at me and they were like, why do you keep telling everyone that if their throat hurts or their knee hurts, they can take tumor? That makes no sense. Like that's not the tools we use. And I said, yeah, I just studied all of Ayurvedic medicine and tumor can do that. And they were like, no, it can't. And I said, oh, you watch me. They are like, you should prove it because I don't think that's true. And if it is true in orthopedics, at least there's this huge gap where people are given NSAIDs or they're given PT and surgery and stem cell options.

But there's a huge place where they're running to GNC and these stores looking for a joint pain solution that works. And I said, tumor can absolutely fill that gap.

Ayurveda, Doshas, and Personalized Wellness 33:00

So people like me aren't told to take NSAIDs 24-7. And so I went about and created a formula. And when I went to the factory that I met with here in Florida in the US, I said, listen, I just want to prove my point. I actually am not creating this for any other reason than to prove my point. And so when I found my first ingredients, they were like, you can't use those ingredients. And I was like, why? They were like, these are medical grade, very expensive ingredients. That's not how you do supplements.

Supplement companies are built to make a multiple. You need all the money for the marketing. Trust us, you can't do this. And I said, no, no, no, no. Now that I found a 98% grade Kirk Gimmon, I'm gonna use it because I wanna see, can we truly move the needle? And so I built my company. They were like, you are absolutely silly. You're going to lose money hand over fist. This will never work. I said, just let me try. I happen to be lucky. I don't need an income from this idea. I just want to build this thing.

It's my dream. So I built Fusionary and it lost money for seven years straight. And I am so lucky I'm at year 10 now and that I survived because now it's thriving. Now it's growing. Now it all makes sense. It just took a long time to get there. But we are third party tested, made in the United States. We test pre, mid, and post production. I use the same Kirkman from 10 years ago. I will not dare change it because it's so good. And all the doctors are astounded. They always say, your product works so well, the patients run in here every month to buy your stuff, and they don't even come to see us.

That's insane. You really helped that patient who used to just come in and complain, and all I could do was inject them, and I couldn't really fix the problem until it was surgical. And so that makes me really happy. And then we've able to cut opioid use down as well in those practices. So really formulating something out of love made a huge difference, which makes me happy. My orthosurgeons combined my two formulas. I built Turmeric Gold as what the science says. So when you're in PubMed, it says 500 milligrams of curcumin, 4 milligrams black pepper extract.

I added 50 milligrams of turmeric into each capsule because I wanted the mother earth synergy of whole plant with extract to increase that absorption for each person. The turmeric gold's like my number one. And we know that that's so effective for everything I talked about. But I also wanted to create something from ancient Ayurveda. So if you went to your Ayurvedic doctor, village doctor, they wouldn't have given you such a powerful extract. Like that's a very Western mindset to go at the problem so hard.

In Ayurveda, we would have given you two primary herbs to do the main job, secondary herbs in equal proportion to help those herbs go where they need to go in the body and do the job. Next set of herbs, it mitigate the impact of putting strong herbs in the body in the first place. So Ayurveda is so holistic, even in a capsule. And so my second formulation was inflammation relief. When you know you are inflamed, you take inflammation relief. And my doctors put them together and they gave them both to the patients and said, that is actually your pain solution.

And so we went all day at pain with the both of them. When it comes to my kids, I use turmeric gold. So I know that that's well tolerated. It's very clean and simple. So I reach into that one a lot to open it into their food. Now they're just old enough to swallow pills, thank goodness. Then I created a bunch of teas because in Ayurvedic wisdom, we love making a great tea to deliver the solution. We want that whole plant in its whole form. And so I went and created a deep sleep tea first because I really wanted to help everyone calm their mind and calm the digestive system for a better quality sleep.

I love deep sleep tea. I needed a beautiful tea for myself for bed. Then I made menopause support tea because I'm in my mid 40s. So perimenopause menopause is on my mind and I wanted that support. Then I created one called unwind tea because my best friend and my COO who we work together in the office, we are both moms. And when we switch over to mom time after we leave work, that part of the day is hard. It's a lot of times you're reaching for like chocolate something I fight with my kids and I just want something that's something feeling or that I want a glass of wine on a Friday night feeling.

I wanted to see if you could appease it with a tea. And so an unwind tea, I put all these adaptogens to just unwind the body unwind the stress in the system and kind of create that feeling that we're craving. And so that's what unwind tea is for, is the downshift of motherhood, that we both needed the downshift support. And then I made one called detox tea. So if people want to detox the support, it has trifola, it has turmeric ginger, it has Jemima to reduce cravings for carbs and sugar. So it's a fun like pre-workout, post-workout or detox tea.

And then I started playing with gummies as well, because a lot of times people get pill fatigue from swelling too many pills. I take like 20 a day if I'm focused in doing my protocols that I'm supposed to do for myself. And so I made a sleep gummy that's super effective. So if you can't sleep, you can take the two gummies. If you wake up in the middle of the night, you can just take one gummy and get the rest of your night's sleep. And when I've traveled, I've used that one on my children. So I'm like, you have jet lag, and I need you to go to bed.

And I'll use that on them. Again, I create a supplement line for adults, so I can't technically say that anyone can use it for kids, but I create everything very clean and pure and potent.

Fusionary Formulas and Product Line 38:18

And we know children are not young adults. They need to be treated differently, but we also know that in a safe thousands of years studied product like Tumeric, if starting with literally sprinkles, And, you know, it should be with a practitioner. We're not trying to, you know, necessarily train anybody or provide practice guides for anybody, but this is just information that even sprinkles in a smaller child could be safe and effective from all the years of ancient study, not to mention your PhD in it.

Yeah, I mean, I love turmeric. I think it's just incredible that one plant can do so much, that the body receives it so well, that there's this partnership between turmeric and the body, where the body knows where to take it. So what I've seen in 10 years is it goes after the big problem, then the medium-sized problems, then the smaller ones. So it's just been beautiful to see the power of this one plant. And that's why I love sharing it with everyone because it helps me so much. I really do use it often as my immune support.

So one of my kids got neurovirus, one of them catches colds and I don't know what that one is. And I just start taking more turmeric and I don't catch anything that's going on. So that's a lot of times how I use it. Yeah. And I'm sure your teas taste good, but I'm sure also depending on people's tastes, their palates, you know, adding a little bit of honey or something would be okay, correct? Absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So how do they get these products? Sure. So my website is ShivaniGupta.com.

My name, S-H-I-V-A-N-I-G-U-P-T-A. And my supplement company is called Fusionary Formulas, F-U-S-I-O-N-A-R-Y, formulas.com. And I made a special code for your audience. Dr. O'Hara, so D-R-O-H-A-R-A, will give them 15% off at FusionaryFormulas.com. That's great. I think I'll use it myself. And I really appreciate your passion for both this way of practicing, but also for this particular product, because I think it really can be a game changer in the lives of many people. And like you said, thinking about the family as a system and thinking about everybody in the family, dad may have joint pain, mom may need stress relief, You know, big brother may want something for recovery from workouts.

You know, there's a lot in one basic. but very helpful and safe product. True, true. It's so multifaceted in that way. And I love it for that reason. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Now, I appreciate that. And so you know where you can find her. And for those of you who want to look at the products, the D.R. O'Hara discount code, we thank you very much. And any last words you want to leave our listeners or viewers with, Shivani? Yes, I encourage everyone to look up Ayurveda. I have a ton of videos on YouTube where I teach about it, but this system is such a beautiful preventive health system to incorporate into your life.

Closing Thoughts and Where to Find the Products 41:30

I truly have changed my entire life using Ayurveda. the quality of my life, the peace in my life, the peace that I need as a mother, honestly, to raise kids in this world, the energy that I create of and around my home for the kids that I'm raising. And so to me, Ayurveda is the greatest gift and my wish is for everyone to know about it and practice this wisdom in their own lives. Well, thank you for giving us that gift today and for sharing your wisdom with us. And really look forward to seeing you again in the future.

And thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for tuning into Doctor Talks. We hope today's episode has enlightened and inspired you on your path to optimal health. Each day is a new opportunity to make choices that empower your wellbeing. For more insights and strategies, subscribe to our podcast and visit our website, www.doctortalks.com. Stay connected, stay healthy, and join us next time on Doctor Talks. from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most.