Unlocking Radiance: Gut Repair, Hormone Harmony, and Hair Revival

Guest Introduction and Health Struggles 0:00

Just before I turned 30. I feel like my life was crashing down. My hair was falling out. I had a bald spot on the top of my head. There really wasn't any way of hiding except by wearing hats or doing a nice comb over. I was bloated beyond comprehension. I was tired all the time. I had brain fog terribly, and I was really just slipping into a state of depression. I started seeing different doctors or dermatologists. They really just brushed it off as, hey, this is a part of getting older, you know, welcome to aging, which was really disheartening at the time.

This is doctor talks. Welcome back to the conversation. My next guest is Cristina McKay. She is a regenerative female health advocate in the co-founder of Ever Bella. She specializes in helping postpartum and menopausal women prevent hair loss and even regrow hair naturally using my cell liposomal technology. Arabella's products are designed to aid 98% nutrition absorption. In just three years, they gained over 60,000 customers and over 100,000 bottles sold. And I must say, I've used her hair regrowing products and they are fantastic.

Not for me per se, but for my wife, when she was going, when after we had our child. So I'm a big advocate for what they're doing. So, Cristina, thanks for joining me. Yes, thanks for having me, I appreciate it. So talk to me about why you ventured into this, this space. I mean, it sounds like you had your own health challenges. I'm guessing you lost some of your hair, so maybe you can just tell me about what that was like and what you went through. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, it kind of launched me into this space.

Was my own health struggle. So just before I turned 30, I feel like my life was crashing down. I my hair was falling out. I had a bald spot on the top of my head, no exaggeration. The size of a softball. So there really wasn't any way of hiding except by wearing hats or doing a nice comb over. But beyond that, I was bloated beyond comprehension. I was tired all the time. I had brain fog terribly, and I was really just slipping into a state of depression. I just felt awful. And then when I started seeing different doctors or dermatologists, they really just brushed it off as, hey, this is a part of getting older, you know, welcome to aging.

Which was really disheartening at the time. You were pretty young. I was young, yeah. I hadn't had children yet. So I now have two children. Age four and two. But prior to I had not had any children. So I was like, this doesn't make sense. Why am I having these hormonal issues? Why am I having all these issues when they're really, in my opinion, before I educated and taught myself a lot, was like, why am I having these issues when they're, in my opinion, wasn't this big smoking gun right? I didn't have a baby. I didn't have this or that happened.

So deep down through this process, I just knew something wasn't right. So through months of research and trial and error and just talking truthfully with experts in our industry, thankfully for them, I just learned that healing my gut, balancing my hormones, and truly fixing how my body absorbed nutrients really just changed everything. And so it fixed my hair, my energy, my focus, my clarity, and ultimately

Root Causes of Hair Loss and Hormone Disruption 2:53

my confidence when these things fix themselves. Right. So this transformation that I experienced is what inspired me to do the same for others. And yes, my focus is helping women, but there are men who I've helped as well. Because strangely enough, all the things that make us age faster and have gut issues or cognitive issues are very similar for men and women in a weird sort of way. You know, it's estrogen for one, testosterone for another. But the triggers that, you know, make these happen are very similar, you know, parts of life.

So ultimately, if you're feeling foggy, fatigued or not yourself, you notice that your hair, skin or energy aren't where they used to be. You're in the right place and my health journey pushed me to help other people, to heal and regain their confidence. Yeah. You know, it's interesting when we get into this sort of hormone story and this hormone picture and sort of coupled with that, I would say hair loss and or thinning hair, you know, we often look at like if it's a hormone issue, we just go to the hormones and we do a hormone panel and we just try to adjust the hormones.

Right. And and that's great. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, these type of things are fantastic. And and same thing with the hair. We can kind of address the hair part. But underlying that there's something going on. Right. And for sure it's it's in my experience it's never just someone's hormones are out of whack just because it's a Tuesday. Right? There's something happening in the environment. There's something happening with the behaviors, with the environment, with, what's being consumed, something going on in the gut.

Right. There's something happening deeper, to cause these things to happen. So I'm curious, you know, in your case and some of the things that you've explored in this realm, what are you finding as kind of some of these primary drivers of hormone disruption, you know, thinning hair, hair falling out either prematurely or even, you know, I think it's interesting is hormones and hair falling out or thinning hair. We might expect that quote unquote, right when we get to our 60s, or especially for women as you go through perimenopause and menopause.

Some of this is sort of natural, but but there's an other element where it's like it doesn't happen for everyone and we can reverse some of these, symptoms or these, these changes that are happening. We can help them. Right. So there's there's yes, there's aging. Yes. There's this natural decline that happens to us all. And there's other components. Right? So instead of just chalking it up to, oh, this is I'm just 55 and this is what happens. What else might be going on. Yeah. Absolutely. So something I always like to tell people is it's not just aging.

This is really a signal from your body telling you something's wrong. Right. So, you know, you've been told things like brain fog, fatigue, thinning hair is like, oh, just it happens. It happens. And in many times a lot of these medical professionals push medications on you. So my big thing was like, I don't want to do Rogaine or I don't want to do, you know, different therapies that are prescription based. I really want to figure out, as many of us at root cause, and address it as naturally as I could to see if that helped and if I had to resort to those things.

Great. But let me try to fix my body in a holistic way. Right? It's not just one thing. So what I mentioned, again, fatigue, brain fog, thinning hair these are really signs that your body isn't utilizing nutrients properly. And the cause of this is a few things. It could be inflammation, toxic overload and then again we mentioned hormone imbalance. So looping this to the gut. So when your gut becomes inflamed your body really can't absorb nutrients that it needs. So your brain starts to feel foggy.

Your energy's going to drop. And then again your skin and other parts of your body start to kind of show that your hair falls out, your skin gets really dry, it starts to get creepy extra, and you're just your glow starts to fade. So I tell people, you know, it's not aging, rather it's your body asking for support. And, you know, the wonderful thing is, is when you give your body what it needs, you can really feel and look like yourself again. So that's kind of how I break it down for people. And of course, we can jump in, you know, how the gut, the brain, the body all connect pretty soon here.

Yeah. And, you know, one of the things, too is we have infections that come into play. Right? But in my view, and I think according to many of the speakers as well, we're in agreement that these infections that we might have in the gut and perhaps elsewhere are really there for a reason. The environment is such that they can thrive, right? And oftentimes they're actually there to kind of help us help cleaning up the environment, whether it's metals, whether it's chemicals, perhaps drug residues, you know, pharmaceuticals that we might be taking, they're there for a reason.

So we have these inflamed guts because we have infections and we have toxins because we have infections, because we have toxins. Right? We our behaviors right often need to be modified, whether it's, you know, chewing more thoroughly, eating more slowly, not overeating. Right. Yeah. Of course, eating, better foods, healthier foods, cleaning up our environment, going to bed on time, you know, making sure that we're addressing the nervous system. Like there's a lot of things that we can do, but ultimately, all that stuff is going to lead into exactly what you're talking about.

You know, runaway inflammation, a gut gut dysbiosis. And, and, and, you know, these keystone strains that are so beneficial for our gut to keep us healthy and our immune system, they start to, to, decline. And, of course, when you have all that and the liver becomes overloaded with toxins and it has too much to do, right? Liver is really, really key as well as the gut in general for manufacturing, mobilizing, excreting, transforming hormones. Right. And of course, mitochondria play a role in this too.

At the cellular level, they make hormones. And when they're getting bombarded with toxins, with inflammation, with these threat signals, well, then they can't do their job and they're getting damaged as well. So we just have this metabolic chaos happening everywhere in the body. And like you said, it's this information. It's these this toxic overload. And eventually the hormones become out of whack. Right. So, so, so maybe talk to me about that. Talk to me about the body and the brain and and the gut and how all this kind of ties together from your perspective, for sure.

So basically, your gut in your brain, they're constantly communicating to one another. Right? You don't hear this conversation, but it's going on in your body. So when one is inflamed or other is stressed, they both feel it. And the the effects are just going to ripple throughout your entire body your focus, your energy, your hair, your skin, etc.. So based on, you know, what I've learned through working with other experts and for my opinion, here's here's what I see it as. You have the inflamed gut.

So when your gut becomes inflamed from those things we mentioned, other triggers, stress, poor diet, toxins, you know, all of these things, allow don't allow your nutrients to be absorbed properly in the gut. So it's blocking that absorption and then it's allowing these irritants to get into your bloodstream. So this slowly creates kind of like a low grade inflammation where it's not like you just wake up one day and you're like, I have an inflamed gut. It's kind of like death by a thousand scratches.

So slowly you'll realize your mood's effective, your metabolism, your energy, and it often will kind of rear its head is fatigue, brain fog, dull skin, or thinning hair. So that's looking that inflamed gut. Another thing is your nutrient deficiency. So when your gut not function functioning I mentioned this a minute ago. It can't absorb nutrients properly. So even if you're eating a super healthy diet, it can still fall short. That was something I was dealing with. So you can take in supplements, right?

Some of these supplements we might be taking maybe take and trying to take all this biotin. Right, for example, to grow our hair and our nails and, and just doesn't work because we can't absorb. We're not actually metabolizing and absorbing the things we're taking. Bingo. Yep. That's precisely it. So if the gut isn't able to do its job because it's basically wounded, right? It's not functioning properly. It could be eating these things and not using it properly. You could be supplementing with them, and your gut just can't do the job of getting the nutrients where they need to go because it's inflamed.

And it also we'll circle back to this later, but depending what type of supplement you're taking can depend how readily available those nutrients are. So that really is a key factor as well. So over time, ultimately if your gut is not working, it leads to things like keep recurring here you can fatigue, mood swings and overall just dullness in your your complexion. It also impacts your hormonal system. So when your body's under stress, it releases cortisol.

Gut-Brain-Hormone Connection 10:51

I'm sure many people have talked about this. So that's that stress hormone. And when it stays high for a really long time, this is a thing I dealt with. I, you know, had a very at the time I thought my life was very stressful. But again, long term cortisol, depletes a lot of those key hormones you need. So if you're a woman, it suppresses your estrogen. If you're a man suppresses testosterone, and all those things kind of, affect your energy, your mood and your metabolism, it's going to boost that inflammation in your body and just make you feel pretty awful and completely destroy, your, your body's ability to balance its hormones naturally because it's suppressing all of that.

And then you have that brain fog and fatigue. So when your, your brain isn't getting the nutrients because you're gut's not working, everything just starts to slow down, so you're going to feel foggy, unfocused, just kind of off. And then again, physical factors, you see, this is when your hair starts to fall out. Your usual vibrance isn't there. And it's just kind of like you have that dip and motivation and clarity. And just because your body's completely out of whack. But I always tell people, yes, it sounds all doom and gloom, but there is good news. Your body is designed to heal.

So our bodies are so miraculous that when we really listen to it and give it what it needs, you can restore balance. And then your gut and your brain and your hormones are really going to start to work themselves out. And then you will get that mental clarity. You will get those visible changes in your body when everything's kind of in that internal harmony. Yeah. And just to add to that kind of hormone picture, you know, it's, cortisol is a very important hormone, right? It's there to wake us up in the morning. Right.

It's there to, to trigger this sort of fight or flight response. It's really important that we need cortisol. But what happens to right is that there is, a master hormones. Right? You have DHEA and pregnant alone, and these are sort of the RA, you can say building blocks. And this is the sort of first step in the hormone production. We might be producing those efficiently, but instead of being converted into these sort of, beneficial hormones that we that are, you know, related to health, the testosterone, progesterone, the, the estrogens in the proper way, they're getting diverted.

Right? So instead of being producing these really healthy hormones, we're producing cortisol because that's what the body needs because it's under threat. Right. And so what is under threat of what is the stress. Well, things you mentioned, right. Excess runaway inflammation toxins. We might have infections going on metals in the system. Right. So and mental and emotional stress right. So anytime these threats are present cortisol is one of those hormones. The body's going to rely on as well as adrenaline and noradrenaline to meet those demands of these threats.

Right. So the key really is to reduce these threat levels to clear out this inflammation to, to to heal and got to, to balance the gut. Right. And then the body is instead of converting all this, these hormones to cortisol, we can actually start to make DHEA or progesterone, you know, estrogen testosterone etc.. Right. So so it's really prioritizes it basically. Exactly. Right. So, I want to dip into, the hair side of things. Right. Because that's something that you, are an expert in and something you help a lot of people with maybe just, but sort of track a side here.

Talk to me about hair loss. What's going on? Why do we lose hair, like, at the follicle level? What's happening? And why is it so hard when we when we start, when our hair spinning, when we're losing our hair, why can't the hair just regrow? Like, what the heck is happening? I know that was a huge thing. So, you know, we all have stressors in our life, right? It really depends on how you're managing your stress, which is something I'm definitely going to give some tips on that because we just live in a weird, weird world now, don't we were.

It's just so many things can stress you out and it's really how are you managing your stress to again counteract that cortisol. So looping it to the, you know, the fight or flight response and you're constantly in that feeling all the time internally and your hormones get all out of whack. Everything drops, your estrogen drops. So when these things happen, your follicles actually go into something called an oxygen phase, which is a shedding phase. And then literally the follicles just keep falling out no matter what you do.

So until you are able to get out of the oxygen phase, which means you've got to figure out coping mechanisms for your stress, you got to figure out mechanisms to get your hormones back in balance, whether it's through, you know, daily movement, a combination of diet, a combination of de-stressing, a combination of supplementing with things to help your hormones get in balance, your hair just going to keep falling out. And so while I wish there was, you know, because all of us, especially when we are in a state where we are losing our hair, you wish you could just snap your fingers and get your hair back.

So many women and men come to me like I'm desperate. What do I do? And some might get a little disheartened when I'm like, hey, listen, I can give you some tools and resources to help you, but it is a holistic approach. Like you really have to calm that cortisol. You really have to focus on what you're putting in your body, how you're using your body to let your to signal to your body like, hey, I'm safe. I'm in a good place. I can put my body's attention where it needs to be, which is growing hair.

Your hair, for whatever reason, is one of the first signals when there's something wrong. And to be honest, it's it's a frustrating one because I think a lot of people, notice that that that happens, right? Don't get me wrong. There are hereditary things, you know, unfortunately, there are some people that it's the inevitable. If it's hereditary, there's not a ton you can do to completely reverse your DNA. But ultimately speaking, if it really is, you know, your hair falling out due to a variety of factors, when you start fixing each one of those factors, every single day and it all kind of compounds, then your hair can kind of take a breather and start to regenerate itself, right?

So there's things you can do internally to yourself. There's things you do emotionally to yourself. There's things you can do topically to yourself, but you really have to hyper focus on that holistic approach to really get your hair back. There isn't, which, you know, a lot of marketing out there is like, oh, just do this one thing, my professional opinion and my professional experience and, you know, the thousands of people I've helped. It's not that I know this what you want to hear, but it's not the truth.

Yeah. You know, we have the ability to sort of transcend our genetic expression, right? To some degree. Right? Yeah. And, you know, especially for men. Right. There's a lot of hereditary sort of, male pattern baldness, etc., etc.. And I would say, along with that, it's like, yes. And there are things that we can do to sort of delay that, slow that down. Right. So instead of it happening at 40 or 45, you know, I'm sure a lot of men would love to have that happen at 65 and 70. Right. So we can delay that right there in our ways.

Right. And that's that's really what you educate on and help people do. Talk to me about the topical side of that. Right. Because, I know there are, you know, the first introduction I had, sort of the topical side of regrowing hair was Castro, and I was like, oh, this is interesting. And I saw data on it. Right. And and how it impacts. What are some of the things that that you found. And I think you probably put in some of your products that help to regrow hair, right, that have been clinically proven that there's research back that are not the rogue gains and the the stuff with all the the side effects.

Yeah, absolutely. So it's twofold, right. So I have stuff that helps heal your body from the inside out, gives your body what needs to push new hair out and then as well from the inside out. So we have some supplements. And then we also have some topicals from a topical standpoint. I mean, I used to make my own hair serum for years. That really worked for me. And then after working with some other experts, I ended up doubling down on what I offered. And now we have a really incredible hair serum that has 12 different oils that are all clinically well, not clinically scientifically proven, some clinically proven, to, to restore hair growth.

The biggest one I by the by the way. But before you get into that too, I just want to say that I also made my own hair regrowth stuff and it was just such a pain. Yeah, it was not fun, right? Especially when I was using castor oil, which is kind of this sort of stickier oil. And I was mixing all this stuff. I mean, it was it was a lot of work. So I just want to say, like, I know what that looks like. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's not fun. No. And then that's the thing is like, you know, the reason I kind of bottled up something with, you know, high, highly recommended, like best practices, manufacturers, because it is really annoying to make.

Truthfully. Yeah. And it gets expensive. That's the other thing, too, right? Is like, if we're doing that, like, I'm an individual, I'm gonna buy these 12 oils. You're under $100. Truthfully, can't do it at scale, right? No, you can't do it at scale. So the biggest one that I tell people that is often overlooked is peppermint oil and rosemary oil. Rosemary oil has actually been scientifically shown to be more effective than Rogaine. Think about that. Like, really think about that. And so many doctors push Rogaine, and it's a chemical.

It's not natural. And the truth is, and this is a fact, if you look it up, if you stop using Rogaine, your hair will fall back out. It is a chemical bandaid. It does not heal your follicles. So I always tell people, you know,

Hair Follicle Health and Topical Treatments 19:38

go to the oils that really have the scientific data to support them. And the biggest question I always get is like, well, why isn't every doctor say this? There's a there's a big black hole to go down for that one. But the truth is, a lot of them just don't know, to be honest. Like this isn't some kind on. Yeah. They've been trained on pharmaceuticals. They've been trained on how to how to diagnose and exactly. So it's just they don't know unless they've done their own research. And look some do.

And oftentimes when that happens I'll just say in the medical world when you have a doctor or practitioner start to veer outside of that sort of mainstream Western medicine lens, they actually stumble upon a lot of like solutions. And most of them, they either turn a blind eye and they go, nope, I'm here. Or they start to venture out and they find their way into functional medicine, integrative medicine, etc.. Yep, I completely agree. I lost my train of thought. But anyway, the point is, is there are topical options that actually heal the follicle base.

So your hair. I'm trying to explain how you should envision it. Like a peg going into a hole. Right inside the hole is where the follicle lives in what needs to be healthy. So there's a tons of stuff externally that can impact that follicle from like toxic hair products. You know, between your shampoo, your conditioner, your hair spray, and just oil buildup in your scalp, etc., even just how you wash your hair, right? Are you really getting down to the root or you just kind of quickly lathering and washing it out, like, you really gotta take great care of the follicles.

And so, with these topical options, it heals the follicle, it gives nutrients to the follicle. These are things that you would I mean, raise your hand if you've put peppermint oil in your head ever. Probably never. Okay. You know, like, not Rogaine. Rosemary oil casserole, like, all these things you've probably never put on your head. And so in a weird sort of way, your follicles are like, you know, rejoicing when you put it in there because it's so collected. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And then from the inside approach.

So this is really kind of circles back. And we're talking about the gut, as I've always only heard of topicals my whole life for fixing hair. Right? I never really understood the gut element. And so when I started working with health experts there, to make a supplement for that, I was just mind blown by ingredients. Again. I've never heard of that. Have a lot of scientific evidence to help restore gut health and grow hair. So like pumpkin seed oil, cumin seed oil, selenium. Everyone's heard of biotin.

Even cinnamon. So all of these things actually have nutrient benefits that are specifically targeted to hormonal balance and nourishing your your hair. Because like, again, raise your hand if you've eaten like a tablespoon of cinnamon. In fact, there's a funny thing on YouTube called the Cinnamon challenge. You can't you can't swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon, but cinnamon has so many benefits for your hair, your hair health, and the follicle health from the inside out. And then same thing with, the other ingredients I mentioned.

It's just they're not things you cook with. You know, I don't cook with human seed oil, pumpkin seed oil, but they have so many, benefits to follicle health, hair health, as well as gut health, which I will definitely touch on when we're ready to go. There. Yeah. And one more comment here on the scalp, because this is, you know, I picked this up in, in sort of my, my study of our Veda. And one of the things that they do is they do an oil massage, right? Either a cell phone massage or they have somebody else do that, usually for hands, two people doing a full body oil massage and but they highly stress like massage your head and basically get your whole scalp covered in oil.

In oil they use various various kinds of oil. But the point is to help lubricate that tissue, and then you actually scrub kind of hard, like you get in there with your hands and with your with your fingertips. And if you got nails a little tough, but but getting in there and really, really rubbing that scalp hard. And the idea here is that you're going to increase blood flow. Right. And that's one of the things. Right? We kind of forget that our scalp is part of our body. The blood needs to go there. Nutrients are to get there.

Blood's got to deliver that. Right. So, it also helps loosen up the, the sort of, going back. Right. So there's, there's an element of just getting rid of waste and also bringing nutrients in. And to help do that, we can really scrub our hand. So for me that was like, okay, well even when I'm washing my hair this is really important. Or if I'm in the sauna, right, there's there's ways that we can just kind of massage the scalp and, and even, Deanna Hansen, who does sort of facial work, you know, she's like, grab your grab your scalp and move it around like you have a hairpiece and just get it going, like, really get it moving as much as you can.

That is sort of loosening up that fascia. It's really getting things moving. Right. So just to kind of highlight that point, there are things we can do if your hair is thinning. That is the most one of the most basic things that you can do just about every day is to massage your scalp, get that blood flowing right, sloughed off that dead skin, like you just really want to nourish that tissue 100%. And that's something I teach you know, all my clients, as well as the power of scalp massage and something we don't realize being in a digital world, looking at devices and looking at screens, you don't realize you're squinting when you squint. You are tensing up all these muscles here.

That's why a lot of people get, the widow's peaks and thinning along the front. It's so tense. Like if you have a muscle here, right? Your scalp has a much higher you raise and lower your eyebrows. But when you're squinting and you're not working, for example. So we want to wear reading glasses as much as they should. I remember when I had this epiphany I hadn't had. I didn't get identified that I needed glasses, for example. I didn't realize how often I was squinting, and because I was squinting, this like my scalp, like, didn't even move.

I remember I eventually met with a hair specialist and she's like, I can't move your scalp. So what do you mean? She's like, it's stiff. There's no movement. Like, you got a massage. It's so tight. She's like, have you had your eyes checked? And I said, you know what? No. So again, like, that's what's so tricky about the hair thing, right? Is there's so many factors. But, you know, I tell people that come to me, I'm like, look, I've been through it. I, you know, I have a leg up to guide you through this.

Like, have you had your eyes checked? Are you on devices a lot? Are you on computers a lot? How's your diet look? How's your stress look? You know, we kind of go through all those things and with that holistic approach, you know, you can get your hair and your vibrance back, but it is very involved is is, you know, there's a lot it's like an onion. There's lots of layers to the hair situation. Yeah. So, so taking to the gut, I think you wanted to you wanted to kind of talk about some things at the gut level.

How do you kind of heal and repair the gut? What's what have you found? What what was helpful for you? Yeah. Good question. So for me, you know, I always call it healing from the inside out, right? And so these are the steps that I go through when you're trying to, again, get your gut in balance, get your mental clarity and balance and kind of really kick your body into high gear to be proactive against all the things that are coming at you to accelerate your aging. Right. So these are kind of the steps that I go through.

So step one is repair your gut. So you need to really focus on eating real whole foods and cut back on all the stuff that really causes inflammation. So cut back on sugar, cut back on processed oils. And I'm not talking about I know a lot of people get confused when I mention pumpkin seed oil and cumin seed oil. They're like, we here, seed oils are really bad, right? That's that's the overarching term. I don't necessarily like that term. Well, when I talk about processed oils that are bad, we're talking vegetable oil, canola oil for example.

These are ultra processed. In fact, I don't know if people know this, but originally they were made as, an oil to literally grease machinery. And somehow we started eating them like, not good for you. They're not natural. They're not coming from, like a really singular, cold pressed, high quality nutrient. Right. So they have hexane is used right to I mean, there's, there's all kinds of chemicals that are used that if you take if you actually look at the process of producing some of these, these, these food oils that are, that are being used, it's it's horrendous.

I mean, you can't even really classify them as a, as a food in the food. They're all done. Yeah, yeah. And it's always to me, a huge indicator of what is wrong with what we're eating is that and other a lot of other countries don't even allow these foods in their food system. Yeah. So anyway, so when I'm talking about processed oils, I'm not talk about the ones I mentioned. Those are good quality oils. But all these things can cause inflammation in the body, and they really mess up your gut because they're toxins. Right.

And then whole foods. The easiest way to think to myself or to yourself, rather, am I eating whole foods? I tell people, when you go in the grocery store, stay on the outside and you're out. It's really what your body needs, right? The middle is just a bunch of junk. It's all processed junk. There are some good, you know, if you do some processed stuff, like go in there and pick the stuff that's really clean, like get the organic stuff, read what you're read what you're eating. Right. If it has the sugars in there, the the processed stuff in there, that's not good for you.

Chemicals that you can't pronounce, don't eat it. Okay, enough on that. Another way to repair the gut is, incorporating fermented foods. So sauerkraut, kefir. I don't know if you know what kefir is. I don't know if a lot of people do. I love it. I did not discover kefir probably till I was going through my health issues. It's just like a thin yogurt drink is what I kind of refer to as. It's a little more sour than, I guess traditional yogurt. It's really easy way to get really good quality probiotics in your body, and it is fermented, so your gut is going to love it.

And it gets that healthy bacteria restored. Kimchi is another one. So start adding fermented foods into your diet. And then of course, don't forget fiber. It's really good for your gut bacteria and it keeps your digestion running smoothly. You don't want stuff sitting in there, right? So step one was repair the gut. Step two is to rebalance your hormones. So your hormones again thrive on stability. So you need to get really good quality sleep. Daily movement and stress management make a big difference.

So to dig a little deeper on those build a good bedtime routine. People hate when I say this, but stop looking at your phone before bed. That blue light is terrible for you. It ruins your circadian rhythm. You're not going to get good sleep, so get off the devices. Even TV you might like might be controversial, but like sit with the lights off. Light. Dim some simple lights in your room, read a book, talk to your spouse. You know, journal. Do something. But like really try to get off devices before like an at least an hour before bed.

Another thing I practice for good bedtime routine is box breathing. So it's you breathe in for five, hold for five,

Healing the Gut and Restoring Absorption 29:38

out for five. And if you continue that box breathing for me about 10 to 20 times through, I'm so relaxed and so zen and I could just fall asleep. And then I also like drinking a nice quality, camomile tea before bed. It just really gets your body in rest mode. So build a good bedtime routine, daily mood, and real quick on that. On that routine, I think, you know, people can sit up. There's all kinds of bedtime routines, right? There's dozens. Right? It might involve baths. Some do red light therapy or some new saunas even.

There's all kinds of routines. Right. And I think we can debate about which one's the best or what's right. It's, in my opinion, is highly individualized in other words, what do you enjoy? Right. What do you really like? And one of the most important things I think is just the routine itself. So in other words, create a routine. This is really important. It might feel kind of you have to try first to create the routine, but eventually becomes a routine. It becomes something you don't think about.

You're and the reason this is important in the reason I'm highlighting this routine factor is we're constantly communicating to our body what time of day it is. Right? And so the body thrives. It's perceiving light signals. It's perceiving stress signals. It's perceiving all kinds of things. Right. So if we get into the routine and we do this starting at 8:00 or 9:00 or whatever your routine is and keep that fairly consistent, then your body starts to anticipate that it's bedtime. So for those having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep once the body starts to recognize, oh, it's morning because I see the I see the daylight, the brain, the body, the hormones, the cells.

Everything starts to recognize this morning. Turn on all the morning programs. And then at night, when we create this nighttime routine, the body goes, oh, it's night. We've done this before. We know what time of day it is. Body can't see the clock on the wall, but it can see the clock signals that you're giving it. Right. So to me it's really setting up that that routine is really, really critical in figure out what you like, figure out what it is. Is it a meditation? Is it box breathing? You know, whatever the heck it is?

Set up that routine and keep it consistent because that's signaling your body. And that's the most important part of circadian rhythm is the body needs to know what time it is. Yep. And the whole idea of beauty sleep is not a myth like it is a real scientific biological thing. Your body needs it does the most regeneration when you sleep. So you need to get good quality sleep and you really need to, you know, give your body what it give your body that, like you said, the signals to relax. You can get that deep, restful sleep, right?

Okay. Another thing to do to keep your hormones in balance I mentioned was daily movement. So whatever that means for you, like some people get really caught up on. Do I need to go to a gym? Do I need to get on a treadmill? And I'm like, honestly, whatever that means to move your body, you need to move your body. It gets. We talked about blood flow earlier. Blood flow through everything, right? It helps get your body moving, get it working the way it needs to be, whether that's a walk. Like, my thing is, you know, I I've never been a gym person, but I move my body.

I love gardening, I go for a walk daily with my dog and my kids. You know, do I occasionally like, lift the lifts and weights in my basement or something? Sure. But just keep your body in motion. It's like, who said it? Scientists says, bodies in motion stay motion. Things in motion. Stay in motion. If you start to live a very sedentary life, everything will start to slow down. It's just it's just a scientific fact of what your body's going to do. So every day, you know, again, try to make a routine.

Is it an evening walk? Is it a morning walk? Do you, you know, watch a show and walk on the treadmill for ten minutes? Whatever it is that brings you joy, you got to get your body moving. And I promise you, if you start moving, your body are going to feel a heck, a heck of a lot better. And then the last thing is managing stress. So a lot of people, that's the hardest one. It was one of the hardest things for me was how do I manage my stress? Some people that daily movement helps them manage stress because when you do move your body, it does release endorphins, which make you feel happy and less stressed.

But some people need more than that. So for me, if you can try it, gratitude journaling was something huge for me. So part of, you know, a little bit of my bedtime routine is I get out a journal and I would write things I'm thankful for. I might recap the positive things in my day. And weirdly enough, when you really start focusing on the positive in your life, you start to see it more and you start to feel lighter every day. Again, we talked about you mentioned meditation. That's another really good thing to do to manage stress.

Just deep breathing. Quiet your mind. If you want some meditative music, just allow your body to just be at rest and be calm and quiet or spending time in nature. Just being nature is so healing. I know not everyone might have, like a beautiful outdoor space, and I totally get it. But even just getting that natural sunlight, getting some fresh air, it does the body so much good. Another thing going to back to keep keeping on the rebalancing your hormones is sunshine. I know that you're big on this, Jason. Is it?

Boost your vitamin D production, which helps regulate cortisol. It helps regulate your hormones. So yes, there are vitamin D supplements out there, but the best thing you can do is the sun like that is, you know, a big, beautiful ball in the sky that's going to make you feel great. It's going to give you the vitamins you need. An early morning sun is the best because those UV rays are the most gentle on your body. And then the last thing is for your hormones is eating enough healthy fats. So think avocado, think good quality olive oil.

All of these things help, you know, support really good quality hormone production. And then the last thing, I'm going to mention number three. So am I talking about the things you need to do to to work on your gut and get your body healthy, is restoring absorption in your body. So remember how we mentioned when the gut is not working at its best, it can't absorb nutrients properly? So once we heal the gut, we work on things to get the hormones in place. Now, you've got to restore that absorption.

So choosing nutrients that can get through the gut barrier. And we talked about supplements. So just fun fact that many people might not know I didn't know this because through my own health journey, I feel like I was trying pills, I was trying powders, I was trying all kinds of stuff, and just had very lackluster results. I learned something called my cell liposomal technology. And this is an incredible technology. If you can put nutrients and supplements in this form, because the nutrients themselves are kind of shrunken down, and then they're encapsulated in, like a vitamin E fat.

So when it gets into your gut, your gut has acid to kind of, while your stomach, stomach acid to break down nutrients. But because it has this protective barrier, it allows the nutrients to actually go through the gut wall into your bloodstream. So when you take a pill or a powder, they don't have this protective barrier. It's only, supplements and nutrients in my cell liposomal technology that have this protective barrier. So when you do take something in this form, it really can get to the bloodstream.

And it has been scientifically proven, proven and even patented, that it's up eight times more absorbable. So if you can't figure that out, 800% more absorption. So if you've been taking supplements to, let's say, you know, help with cognition or help with gut health or help with your hair or your skin, etc., if you're not taking it in this form, I'm not saying you can't. You can. It's just not as effective if you try something this other format. So if you want to repair like boundaries, you say it also just kind of acts as a as a taxi, right?

It's sort of like the nutrients inside this little, liposome, this little sort of bubble. And it sort of acts like, like, like a VIP at the, at the club with the, with a big line. Right. It just kind of like Letterman. Right, right through the door. Right. So it's, it's and it absorbs the, the mucosa. Right. So these things are really cool. Right. This liposomal technology, we don't need as much to get the same effect. And if we're taking it the same amount, we get, an inordinate number of, times more. Right.

So this is, it just helps it get into the bloodstream so much faster, 100%. And, you know, I, I work with a lot of different scientists and health experts to help me manufacture what I do. And I was shocked when I found out that just like conventional pills, powders, you only absorb about 30%. So, like, you might think to yourself, oh, I'm taking 1000mg of this, but your your body isn't actually getting that. It's only getting 300mg. So if you're going to take something in a pillar powder format, you kind of have to double triple down to really get what you intended.

So anyway, that's kind of a quick sidebar, but, yes, my cell liposomal technology for me was a game changer and is, for the most part, is really how I try to take any supplements that I take at this point in my life. Yeah, and I talked about biotin before, and this is kind of a big one that, you know, a lot of people lean into if they're looking to improve the health of their nails or their hair or their skin. And Biden's great. And oftentimes you just find it in a sort of bottle by itself. Biotin. Right.

But I know you have a have you created a product that is a little bit different? Right. It contains a little bit more. I'm curious about that. Why you, incorporated sort of some of these other elements with your, with your biotin product. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, a product that I created, it's actually called Complete Biotin Plus to kind of insinuate it's more than just biotin. So, you know, I mentioned early on all the different health issues I was having. So when I designed this product, I really wanted it to support the gut.

I wanted to to support my brain hormonal health while also giving me, obviously, the outer glow that most people think of. When you think of biotin, you know, your hair, skin, nails. And then of course, once I learned about the myself liposomal delivery system that was just like a non-negotiable for what I was creating. So I'm going to kind of go through some of the, the nutrients that are in this product and how they help the gut, how they help cognition, how they help, anti-aging hormone support, etc..

And again, whether it's through my product or other supplements, I just want you to know what these ingredients do and how they help in these areas. So if you're looking for gut and cognitive support, here's what biotin is going to do. It's going to fuel your metabolism. It also supports neurotransmitter function in your brain, which means clear thinking. Steady your energy throughout the day. Vitamin D3, for the brain is huge for your mood, focus, and overall brain clarity. I kind of joke that it's sunshine for your nervous system.

Then you have selenium, which is a really powerful antioxidant. It actually calms inflammation in both the brain and the gut. So it just creates a healthier environment for nutrient absorption. And then the oils I mentioned, black cumin seed oil and pumpkin seed oil are amazing for soothing your gut lining, reducing inflammation, which again helps restore that balance from the inside out. Now how these same ingredients help for hormonal or anti-aging support. So biotin what it's most known for is how it can build keratin.

It's the main protein that is in your hair, your skin and your nails is keratin. So biotin is essential for building that. So it's the foundation of strong and healthy growth across the board in your body for those types of things. D3 again is going to support actually healthy estrogen and testosterone levels. So it's going to again help your mood, your energy and your hair growth. And then back to that pumpkin seed oil and cumin seed oil. It actually helps to block excess DHT, which is a hormone that actually really contributes to thinning hair and accelerated aging.

So those are like superhero ingredients. There. And then selenium really helps to regulate your hormones and metabolism naturally. And then going back to that, my cell liposomal technology, when all these nutrients are mice lysed again, wrapped in that protective barrier that your gut can see and recognize, like that VIP pass, right. Getting into your bloodstream, it's going to have that 800% more absorption, which means less waste, faster results and deeper nourishment at a cellular level. And so at the end of the day, what I'm really trying to convey is, is that there's no quick fixes.

You really need to just restore your body's ability to heal, absorb, and thrive so that ultimately you look and feel your best from the inside out. Yeah. So I'm curious, you know, for you and for others that you have talked to you, once they start seeing some progress, right, healing their gut, you know, their their absorption is starting to come back.

Key Takeaways and Product Recommendations 41:28

They're starting to metabolize these things. What did you notice? You know, what kind of changes in yourself did you notice as these things started to heal and maybe some others too? Yeah. So I always tell people, you're going to feel it before you see it. So first you're going to feel more energized. You're way more focus. And then you're going to start seeing changes in your body. Right? So if you had digestive problems, those are going to start to clear up. And for whatever reason, you know, our image is something we see every day, something that gives us confidence.

It gives us our sense of being. But that's the last stuff to show up. When you start to heal the gut and give your body what it needs. So then your hair is going to grow back thicker and stronger. Your skin is going to have a nice glow to it. You're not going to have that inflammation puffiness in your face. You know, your nails are going to grow faster. They're going to be stronger. And then even your metal metabolism, right. You know, when you get your hormones in balance, you don't have that, those digestive issues as bloated issues.

You might, you know, you might go down a pant size. I'm not even kidding. I know for me, I had such terrible bloat. And once I really got everything back in balance again, it was my my gut was heal and I was able to absorb things again. Like I trimmed down too. So again, you kind of feel it first. The energy, the clarity, the focus. You know, then you start to feel better if you or kind of person it's tummy issues that feels great. And then you see it, your hair, your skin, your nails, etc.. Beautiful. Yeah.

I mean, we've covered a lot today, so maybe you can just kind of give us a quick recap, like what are the main things that you want people to to take away from this? Because again, we've kind of we've gone I know we went over this. It's amazing. I mean, this is this is fantastic. I just want to make sure that we highlight like kind of these key takeaways so that people can, you know, take some action with regard to healing their gut, fixing their hormones. And really, again, a lot of people want like if they have thinning hair to regrow their hair, right.

And sort of have this just more illustrious, brighter skin. Yeah, absolutely. So I guess trying to pin it all down, big takeaways for everyone is, you know, just always remember everything is in your body is connected. Right. Your gut, your brain, your hormones, your skin, your hair, your nails, they all influence one another. So that holistic approach is very important. Healing your gut and balancing your hormones. Helps your body use the nutrients that it need. So again, your body won't absorb what it needs until you address those root issues.

Poor nutrient absorption is often the hidden reason you have this fatigue, this dulled skin. You know, this this brain fog, thinning hair, etc.. And then ultimately, when you do heal your gut, at the main base of it, right then your energy, your focus, your natural glow will return when you give your body what it needs. And at the end of the day, there are no quick fixes, right? You really have to do this holistic approach that we that we outlined together. Yeah, I couldn't agree more, especially when people are trying to regrow their hair. Right.

It's like, yeah, you can't just go right at it. But that said, again, I am a fan of your product. My wife loved it. It worked for her really, really well. So please, maybe just give us the name of these some of these things. Right? The the hair serum. And you mentioned the complete blight. Biotin plus. Yeah. Where can they find these things? And, you know, again, tell people the name of the hair serum so they know. Yes. Yes, absolutely. So, complete biotin. Plus, I do have a little pouch handy here.

This is a product that I kind of mentioned that the ingredients, like, hey, you can go buy them on your own, but if you want something easy, here it is. So that has, the vitamin D3, the biotin, the selenium, the pumpkin seed or the cumin seeds or the cinnamon. It's on this little pouch. All you do is tear out off the top. I guess I didn't say this, but my cell liposomal means liquid, so this is great because you can just eat it right out. Now, when this tastes like cinnamon, I think it tastes like a nice little cinnamon roll.

There's no sugar in it. And it's just squeaky clean ingredients. So nothing weird in there. And it's at my cell liposomal technology. So this is a really good a really good resource if you want that, internal, supplementation giving your body the nutrients it needs in an easier way than having to eat a bunch of stuff. Right? So that's called complete biotin plus. And then the other product, which of course, I don't have it in my hand, is called Essential Growth Hair Serum. And that's like a little bottle of hair serum, that has those 12 different ingredients that are proven to kind of awaken your hair follicles, give your scalp what it needs to grow hair from the outside in.

It's called essential growth hair serum comes in a peppermint scent and a lavender scent. And both of those items you can find at my website, which is ever Bella. So everbella.com. Very easy website to to look up and in fact, I wanted to share with everyone today that if you are looking for that extra support and you want to learn more about these products, if you go to my website and just use a code. Jason 35 so jason 35 I'll actually give you guys 30 for 35% off your entire purchase. So if you want to check them out, Tryon would love for you to do so.

No pressure. And I do back everything with, 180 day money back guarantee. So truthfully, if you're not thrilled and have incredible results in six months, like, I genuinely want to give you your money back because for some reason it didn't work, I rarely do that. So if that gives you some faith that these things are going to help you, that that's what I can do. Awesome. I mean, that's amazing. So everyone go to everbella.com use code Jason 35 to get 35% off. And again, you know, I love your message because it's not like, hey, use these products and everything will be fixed.

The main core is like, we got to do this stuff to heal the gut, right? Like we got to really focus on that. Lower inflammation balances hormones. And then these products have a really good chance of of accelerating that that net healing process. Right. And so that's that's been my experience with no matter what I've dealt with in my life and I've dealt with skin stuff, and even even sort of joint pains. And what I find is that there's an internal component that is probably 80 to 90%, but there's an external component that, if we get that right, can make a huge difference as well.

Most of us go to the external component first and we say, okay, this didn't work. I've tried everything and I can't get it fixed. We got to get to that internal component and make a huge difference there. And then when we use these the right products, they work remarkably well. Right. So we got to get rid of those blocking factors that are really creating that, that the preventing that healing response. So again, Cristina, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on today. Yes. Thank you so much.

Pleasure to, always chat with you. It's always a joy. So thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you for tuning in to 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 but empower your wellbeing. For more insights and strategies, subscribe to our podcast and visit our website.www.drtalks.com. Stay connected, stay healthy and join us next time on Doctor Talks. Real talks from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most.