How Humans Heal

In today’s episode, I interview Laura Paulisich. Laura is an industry-leading, toxin-free living expert, founder and CEO of TOXYFREE and the creator of the Basic Needs Method, which offers toxin-free solutions through products and systems easy to implement.

After going from struggling with a chronic autoimmune disease since childhood to thriving health, Laura has helped thousands of people find toxin-free solutions through physical products and digital classes.

Unfortunately, toxins, chemicals, and undesirable containments exist in many of the items we come into contact with in the modern world, and it can feel overwhelming to even think about where to begin. Today we talk about ways to de-toxify and simplify our lives, while increasing our performance at the same time.

Prioritizing Your Health Proactively

Understanding all the areas of our lives that are touched by toxins can feel like an overwhelming task but investing in learning more can pay innumerable dividends in your health.

When we neglect our relationship with our food, our surroundings, and our environment we believe that possibly we save ourselves some time, but the truth is that these toxins have large felt effects not only on the quantity of our lives but also on the quality.

We think we're sleeping but we're not really getting good sleep and we may think we're drinking water but we're not really getting what we need from our water.

I hope listeners will start to really get an “aha” moment from listening to this episode and really question: am I really getting my basic needs met?

Information is Power

One of my biggest goals as a naturopathic doctor is to make the information that will make you stronger, healthier, and living with greater vitality, as easy to implement into your daily life as possible.

Laura has a similar goal. At 12 she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, and like many of us, for years followed the unquestioning habits of most of our peers. It wasn’t until ten years ago when she learned that it’s especially important to avoid processed foods when you have an autoimmune disorder. Starting with that kernel of truth, set her off on a longer journey to rid herself of shame, common misconceptions, and finally learn how to give her body the nutrients and nourishment it needed to thrive.

We are Fundamentally Connected to Nature

We are biological beings who are in tune with what we need. And as is almost always the case, what is good for us is also what is good for the earth. When selecting products and foods that are as close to the source as possible, that are treated thoughtfully, and have less pesticides and chemicals, we are getting closer to the natural abundance that is widely available in our world.

It's not just about what we eat or drink, it's what we're wearing, what chemicals are on our clothes and what we're absorbing through our skin, what is in the air we're breathing, what’s in our homes, etc. If our food is that important, then our whole environment is that important.

Our most important ecosystems are our homes and our workplace and, as Laura points out, they're either making us sick or they're making us well.

We can integrate these toxin free practices into our day-to-day lives at home if we focus on how we can get back to our basic needs and get back to nature. We forget that as humans we are part of nature and that we respond well to nature. So, I hope anyone listening just has a chance to think “wow, how can I just start to bring nature back into my home, my experience, my food, my existence?”

Does Switching to Toxin-Free Products Really Make a Difference?

Yes. Making the switch can feel arduous at first, but the difference can be felt in being able to heal faster and perform at an optimal level.

Laura discovered that by switching to 100% toxin-free products she was able to outlive her autoimmune disorder.

By questioning the traditional marketing we receive every day, for instance with cleaning products, we may think that we are wiping away germs from our counter tops, but many of those products are filled with unnecessary chemicals. Another example is the usual laundry detergent that you can buy in any grocery store, these products are filled with unnatural chemicals that stick to your clothes and end up inside your body. Or, the sponge that you clean your dishes with can shed microplastics that are then absorbed into your body. Even your cookware is most likely a culprit in harboring unsafe chemicals and coatings.

All these toxins can add up and make our bodies unable to heal or recover as quickly. But, by changing the foods we eat, the products we buy, the water we drink, we can slowly but surely ensure that we are removing those harmful toxins from our environment and therefore our system.

It's especially important to avoid processed foods if you have an autoimmune disease. We have to understand that toxins can be very harmful to our bodies.

Laura learned that she would always feel hungry and until she got the right nutrients. Then the next thing was as a consumer and person trying to have less stress around food, how really difficult it was to find nutrient dense foods and cookware and other products that were free of toxins.

It may feel overwhelming at first, but it saves you stress, time, and money in the long term. And it gives you back what we all desire the most: Freedom. It’s better to spend more up front and invest in natural food and toxin free products, as opposed to spending much more after, on health issues that will inevitably arise.

Stress, Toxins and Autoimmunity

We know from research that autoimmunity starts in the gut. If we're under stress and we're exposed to toxins, pesticides, non-organic foods, plastics, etc. our digestion gets disrupted. Now, leaky gut further imbalances our gut bacteria and we know from research that when you have a combination of leaky gut and imbalanced gut bacteria this makes autoimmunity so much more likely.

Genetics can be powerful, but it’s what we choose to eat and come into contact with that can determine whether those genetics become activated or not. Stories like Laura’s are not only inspiring but also replicable. If you already have a genetic autoimmune condition and suffering from the subsequent symptoms, then it is still possible to turn off those genes by limiting your exposure to toxins.

Traditional medicine would rather have you collecting expensive diagnoses and medicines rather than resolving the root cause of the issue. An estimated one in six deaths are related to environmental toxins. But it is entirely possible to manage your exposure to toxins, your stress, and therefore your overall health.

Where Do I Even Begin?

The best place to begin detoxing your life? Begin with what’s on your plate, and how it gets there!

If you want something that is going to help you get a simple and effective complete reset on your relationship with your food and your body, then check out my New 14-Day Detox Program here.

This program includes:

- A specially designed meal plan with the detoxification process in mind. Foods that will deliver the greatest balance of your nutritional needs, while at the same time cleaning out the unnecessary waste.

- A Total Detox Support Kit including the Total Detox Powder (your choice of plant-based or collagen based), Antioxidant Support Capsules, and Complete Amino Detox Capsules.

- Your own SelfC.A.R.E. Notebook to track your experience and to learn how to get back in tune with your body and its signals.

- Recorded Q & A online group sessions.

- Instructional videos, comprehensive guide and daily emails.

- Access to online portal with resources.

Not only does this program give you easy step by step instructions on what you need for recalibrating your body, it also helps you understand what foods to avoid, why to eliminate them, and how to train your body to bounce back. I also teach you detoxification techniques and how to avoid toxins in your life.

Please also check out Laura’s incredible resources. She has classes on making your own nutrient dense bone broth, fermenting foods to restore healthy bacteria, mastering 5 recipes that will keep you satiated and nourished all day, making your own homemade cleansers, re-mineralizing your water, and systems to make it all easy to adopt habits.

If you want to reach out to Laura and learn more about how to live a toxin-free life, please check out her website or her Instagram @toxyfree. You can also check out her book: My Happy Life for Sale.

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can start taking better care of yourself and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

In my book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online.

For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

And if you have tested positive for HPV and you’re ready to transform your health and life, please start by watching my HPV Masterclass here.

We're here to help you!

Connect with Dr. Doni: 

Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND  

Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW  

-

Books and Resources: 

Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576

Stress Warrior Book (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR   

Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE) 

HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR  

7-day Stress Reset (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET  

HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/  

-

Personalized Solutions: 

If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH  

To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

In today’s episode I am going to be talking about something called autophagy. Autophagy is how our bodies, and our cells do a clean out process and natural detoxification. It is an example of a process in our bodies that is responsive to our stress and toxin exposure. Optimizing autophagy has the potential to prevent health issues and increase longevity. However, too much of a good thing can also slow autophagy, so it is a matter of learning to choose just the right amount.

Let’s dig in to understanding what supports autophagy, how it influences health, and what you can do to optimize your autophagy to work with you, and not against you.

What is Autophagy?

Autophagy is amazing to understand because it has such power and influence on our health, and it's happening all the time in our bodies without us even realizing it. And there are actually things you can do to help your body out with autophagy, but I want to make sure you know how to do them in a way that's going to optimize autophagy the most and not overdo it.

Our bodies do better when we give them just enough change and support to create a beneficial outcome, and not too much of a change that works against us.

Our bodies are made-up of 100 trillion cells and those cells aren't just sitting around. They are actively making energy for us to function. They're making all of our processes work for us without us having to think about it. Our nerves cells, our muscle cells, our organs, our hormone glands, our brain, etc. Everything in our bodies is made of cells that are working for us constantly.

So, how do our cells clean out? As we know, our bodies need to get rid of old cells and produce new healthy cells to keep us alive. So how is all this happening?

When I was getting my pre-med degree back in the early 90s, I came across this researcher who discovered autophagy and how this process works. His name is Yoshinori Ohsumi and he won the Nobel Prize for his research. He found out that our cells can identify which substances need to be recycled or taken out of the cell. Our cells break down and destroy old, damaged, or abnormal proteins and other substances in their cytoplasm (the fluid inside a cell). The breakdown products are then recycled for important cell functions, especially during periods of stress or starvation.

How Can We Support an Optimal Autophagy?

A lot of processes in our bodies are signaled by our exposure to stress. So, if we're under a large amount of stress, if we have an infection, if we have an injury, anytime our body gets a stress signal it shifts the signaling for autophagy. This is why I always emphasize that it's not about having zero stress – we need some stress to signal healthy autophagy.

Our bodies also don’t do well with too much stress. So, how do we find just the right amount of stress to signal appropriate and healthy amounts of cell turnover in a cell cleanout and detoxification? How can we give our bodies the right state and setting to create the optimal signaling for autophagy?

When autophagy is working well it's helping to prevent aging. And aging is directly related to our bodies having more damaged cells than they need, or not being able to clean the substances that are not needed in our cells anymore. One example of this is Alzheimer's disease. When the cells are not able to clean out the debris, this debris gets stuck in the cells, and it makes the nerves not work well, and so then we it affects our memory. Another example is cancer. When our bodies are not able to clean out damaged cells, then those cells can perpetuate and that's when cancer progresses.

We need our bodies to be able to identify constantly what should be taken out or recycled and it’s our responsibility to support our bodies to keep this autophagy process running as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

What affects this process? Our stress exposure, our diet and nutrient absorption, our sleep patterns, substance abuse, etc. If we're pushing ourselves to the max and we’re not taking good care of our bodies, then this autophagy process and many others (like oxidative stress which I talk about in Episode #153 of How Humans Heal) will not work correctly, and then health issues start.

There is an optimal amount of stress exposure that our bodies need in order to have a favorable biological response, including autophagy. Take exercise for example, when we exercise our bodies trigger a stress response so we can endure the physical effort. Oxidative stress and antioxidant production like glutathione get a boost, it also signals autophagy. This is why exercise is good for us. It signals for our body to do a normal clean out process and reset all of these systems, dropping inflammation and increasing anti-aging effects. But if we overdo it, we will have too much autophagy, too much oxidative stress, inflammation, too much cortisol and we actually work against ourselves.

I think as humans this is one of the hardest things: to learn what's enough and what's too much. It requires us to be mindful and aware and to listen to our bodies and how we feel. There's not a great test for autophagy that exists now, but some good ways to support optimal autophagy are moderate exercise and fasting.

One way to get a sense of your status is with heart rate variability, which can be measured with an Apple watch or other device. If you are exercising in a way that reflects as an optimal heart rate variability, this translates to positive autophagy and hormesis. You’re likely to recover faster and feel better after the experience.

In the case of fasting (or a period of time when you’re not eating) there’s research that shows that going for 10-12 hours without eating can stimulate autophagy. Again, it's important to know your body because if you overdo it and go, let's say, longer than 15 or 16 without eating, it may cause poor autophagy, and end up damaging to cells and it could also raise cortisol levels and oxidative stress.

Another way to support optimal autophagy is cold water therapy. Doing short cold or ice baths can stimulate autophagy. This kind of therapy tells our cells that there's a need to clean things out and either recycle substances or get rid of them. This is why it can be so invigorating, boost energy and focus, and even support weight loss because it resets metabolic processes in the body. Likewise, overdoing it can cause harm instead of good. There could be a risk of increased heart rate, blood pressure, arrhythmia and even heart issues.

It’s always about balance, knowing your body and introducing changes in a gentle and safe way.

How is Stress Related to Autophagy?

When it comes to these kinds of health optimization tools, which I think are very important to know about, I always want to use them based on what I call your stress type. Your stress type is related to your cortisol and adrenaline levels. Different kinds of stress types need different things to support optimal autophagy. They need different intensity in exercise, different intensity of fasting and different intensity in cold water therapy, different supplements, and different nutrients.

Adrenaline and cortisol are our stress messengers. Cortisol is a stress hormone and adrenaline a neurotransmitter. We need a certain amount of cortisol and adrenaline to be healthy, the key here is to get them both to optimal levels. When cortisol and adrenaline are optimal, we're going to get the most out your exercise, sleep, diet, etc. and therefore your systems will be running smoothly, autophagy included.

Knowing your stress type means knowing your cortisol and adrenaline level throughout the day. If you're not aware of your cortisol and adrenaline levels, you might be trying things that could actually make you feel worse and do more harm than good to your body. If your cortisol and adrenaline are too high for example, we're going to use completely different herbs and nutrients to get it back to optimal than if your cortisol and adrenaline are too low. This is why it's so important to know where you're starting from.

When your cortisol and adrenaline are optimal, you're going to improve your health you will get more out of everything you do.

To be able to improve autophagy first you must first make sure you've optimized your cortisol and adrenaline levels, so you know which methods to use to optimize it.

You can find which stress type you are here. There is also a test to measure your cortisol adrenaline levels throughout the day. You can order it here and learn how to optimize your cortisol and adrenaline levels.

Once you know your stress type you will be able to know what to do to master it and recover from it and then improve autophagy.

How You Can Start Mastering Stress

We have to start by having compassion for ourselves. To realize we live in a human body that we need to listen to and take time to become more aware of its signals. We have to realize it’s not about perfection and it doesn't help to put too much pressure on ourselves. We have to learn how to get into stress recovery and healing mode. We are human not machines. We have to try and learn and practice. This is the human experience. This is mastery of being human.

We have to learn how our body works and then try new things each day in different routines. This is why I in my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health I really emphasize the need to fine tune your SelfC.A.R.E. routine. C for clean eating, A for adequate sleep, R for recovery activities and E for exercise. And this self-care is all based on your stress type which is your body's responsiveness to stress. By understanding how your body responds and what it needs to recover you will have the information you need to support your body better.

Stress is going to happen. We can't escape it, so we're going to be in a better position if we learn how to master it and have it work in our favor and to have it stimulate autophagy.

We also have to make sure we are getting the right nutrients and antioxidants for our cells to function correctly and to support autophagy. It's a matter of pacing yourself and start to walk down this path, or healing journey, and human mastery, and all of a sudden it starts to make sense and you start feeling better and better.

Another important aspect of mastering your stress and improving autophagy is to help your body get rid of toxins. When your body is not detoxifying correctly or has toxins that have accumulated over the years it makes it more difficult for your cells to run an optimal autophagy. Our cells need antioxidants; they need B vitamins; they need minerals; they need amino acids; and they need to be free of toxins to be able to process these nutrients and help your liver and your whole body to process the toxins.

This is why I have created a detoxification program called the 14-Day Detox Program. You can find more about it here. This program includes this Detox Kit which has in it the macro nutrients you need for optimal detoxification and autophagy. It also includes a designed meal plan with clean meals and all the guidance needed to follow this process to support your autophagy.

A detoxification process is also something that needs guidance in order for it to be safe and effective and make you feel better and not worse. There's a lot of different detox programs out there but what I find is that they don't offer the support needed to get the most benefit. With this program you don't have to turn off your regular life. It is intended for you to be able to do while still following your daily routine.

I can't wait for you to experience the changes in your health. People who have participated in the detox program are reporting improved blood sugar levels, weight loss, improvement in energy, mood, focus, sleep, skin, hair, nails, digestion, and more.

This program is perfect if you have extreme stress and trauma exposure, mold toxicity, post COVID symptoms or other kinds of neurological conditions like anxiety, depression, autoimmunity, fertility issues or even chronic viruses like HPV.

This type of autophagy optimization through detox has the ability to reprogram all those processes in your body so autoimmunity can turn off, your immune system can fend off viruses that it wasn't fending off before, your body can fend off cancer cells, and your nerves can heal and your neurotransmitters can rebalance. These things that maybe you never thought were possible, are actually possible when we give our bodies the right signals and tools. Your body knows how to correct itself. It's just a matter of supporting it in the right way.

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can start taking better care of yourself and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

In my book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online.

For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

We're here to help you!

 In today’s episode I interview Michelle Burke. Michelle is a bestselling author of Hot Mess Magic, podcaster, speaker and Hot Mess Alchemist. She specializes in helping women reclaim their power, regain their confidence, and transform their life.

Today we talk about what it means to be a hot mess alchemist and how Michelle helps people by guiding them through their transformational journey.

Michelle lives by this philosophy that every one of us is a hot mess whether we want to admit it or not, and it's through those low points in our lives that we grow, we transform and we learn the most.

Change Starts from Within

We focus so much on the outside, like bringing more abundance, prosperity, and money but we forget that change need to start on the inside. It doesn’t matter if we are doing all the things that everyone says to do - such as working with a coach, or reading all the right books, or doing the meditations and affirmations and mantras - if we don’t change from the inside out, things are not going to shift for us.

Michelle was a middle school science teacher for many years. She woke up one day and realized she could not do it for one more day. She realized that what she was doing was crushing her soul. So, she quit her job, moved with nothing lined up, and started a business in network marketing.

She realized she needed to grow, to expand, to transform, because she was not happy anymore with the life she was living. That big change started from within, and in the process she outgrew the life she had, and realized she needed more.

If you are growing emotionally and becoming more aware of yourself and your passion and purpose, then you could start to realize your life doesn't match you anymore. You’re stepping into a new and improved version of yourself.

There’s Magic in Your Mess

There are times in your life when you might feel like everything is a mess. Nothing is working in your favor, and everything seems to be upside down. It’s like if you're in a snow globe that someone just shook and all you want is for that dust to settle. You may be glad that things are changing but you don’t know where you’re going to land.

It’s within this mess that the transformation process happens. And you will see later that you will start to connect the dots and start to gain clarity, you will see your life coming together and will realize the shifts that had to take place within you to achieve this new life.

A lot of times this can be scary, because even when you could be unhappy with your job or where you live or your day to day life, it’s what is familiar to you and the unfamiliar is always scary. We are used to be in our comfort zone, but change doesn't happen in your comfort zone.

This fear comes from our egos, it’s our egos job to protect us and keep us away from the danger of the unfamiliar. But we must reach that point where we get honest with ourselves and have that conversation with our ego, we thank it for keeping us safe but let it know we are doing this new thing anyway. For some people this means taking a big leap and for others it could feel more comfortable to pace it and introduce one change at a time.

What Tools can We Use to Change?

Meditation is a good way to start. Another option is something Michelle calls “body set” where instead of focusing on the mind-body connection, we approach it the other way around and focus on the body-mind connection by diving deeper into our bodies and our nervous systems and what feelings are coming up. We can also utilize traditional Chinese medicine, like acupressure points, and the concept of letting go - letting go of what no longer serves us and our purpose.

We are so used to living in our minds, constantly thinking, worrying, planning, and organizing that sometimes we forget that we're even living in a human body and that connecting with our bodies can also help heal our minds.

Being aware of our bodies and listening to them is also a way to be more present and realize the change that we need. A simple thing, such as taking a minute in the morning when we wake up to say good morning to ourselves and ask how do we feel, or making that French toast breakfast we are craving and eating it slowly, can help us connect more with our bodies.

We need to listen to what our body is telling us and analyze why is it telling us these things. If you're resisting doing something, if it doesn't feel safe in your body, ask yourself why. Why don't I want to e-mail this person? Why don't I want to make this phone call? Why do I have this anxiety that's coming up when I talk about a certain individual? This will help you be conscious about what is it that you want to change.

From my experience (Dr. Doni speaking), I see this situation come up very often for women that I help with addressing/resolving HPV (human papilloma virus) and abnormal pap results. The women who are most successful at getting HPV to negative are the most willing to really listen to their bodies and undergo a body-mind transformation. This virus is more likely to thrive in our bodies when we are out of balance. So, when they listen to their bodies, they are able to transform and get back to alignment with themselves and their purpose, and get the virus to stop causing abnormal cells.

Connecting With Our Bodies and Getting to The Heart of the Matter

By really connecting with our bodies and just taking the time to analyze things from a different perspective and opening our hearts, we can get to the heart of the matter, to the real root of our pain, either physical or emotional.

When we're feeling pain it's an indicator that something's wrong. A headache is an indicator that something is wrong. Pain in your knee is an indicator that something is wrong, but we live in a society that pushes us to the quick fix, instead of really opening up and thinking about what the real root of the problem is.

We need to allow ourselves to ride the waves of emotions. By riding those waves and truly honoring what it is that we’re feeling and express those feelings in some way, shape or form.

Normalizing Being a Mess

A lot of times we're judgmental about mess. Society tells us we are not supposed to be a mess. We are supposed to have everything sorted out and under control, and we're not even supposed to feel some of these feelings.

We should let ourselves be a mess because there’s magic in our mess. It’s when everything is a mess when we start our transformation. So, we need to accept it and be unconditional and forgiving and gentle with ourselves, and if that means you might be breaking rules, then break the rules!

We must normalize the fact that we're human and that nobody has it all figured out. Since the start of social media we've been living in this facade of perfect. Well, nobody is prefect, and nobody has it all sorted out. Nobody has a perfect life, and everybody needs help.

It's not about trying to be perfect. It's about allowing yourself to be human. To be flawed. Let's normalize being a mess. Let's take the stigma off things that are going on in your life, whether it’s a divorce, financial struggles, or family issues. These things are perfectly normal and happen to everybody.

We have to teach ourselves to let go of trying to control everything. We can’t control anything really. With the illusion of control, we are actually getting further from ourselves and we’re putting ourselves in a “tunnel vision” that will not let us grow because we will miss the opportunities that may come our way.

Each and every one of us has a gift. We're all here for a reason. We all have a purpose. It’s up to us to connect with ourselves and realize what it is and reach our full potential.

If you want to reach out to Michelle and learn how she can help you, please check out her website or her Instagram @magickshell. You can also check out her book: Hot Mess Magic.

I love this topic of emotional and spiritual transformation so much! It has made all the difference in my health, and I see if help my patients every day, so I’ve included it in my Holistic Detoxification Protocol and 14-day Detox Program. In the program, you’ll be guided to detox your body, mind, and spirit! Check it out and join in today.

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can start taking better care of yourself and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

In my book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online.

For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

And if you have tested positive for HPV and you’re ready to transform your health and life, please start by watching my HPV Masterclass here.

We're here to help you!

Connect with Dr. Doni: 

Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND  

Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW  

-

Books and Resources: 

Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576

Stress Warrior Book (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR   

Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE) 

HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR  

7-day Stress Reset (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET  

HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/  

-

Personalized Solutions: 

If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH  

To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

In today’s episode I am going to be talking about oxidative stress. I am really looking forward to diving into this topic with all of you so that you can become experts in understanding your body and why oxidative stress and antioxidants are so important to your health.

What is Oxidative Stress?

As you may know, in my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health, I talk about all the things we can do to help our bodies recover from stress. Not just stress coming from the external world or emotional stress but also the stress caused inside our bodies (due to toxins exposure for example) which cause imbalances in our systems and even in our cells. And these imbalances increase what I refer to as our internal stress or oxidative stress.

Our bodies naturally have oxidation happening 24/7 in our cells, and again it’s not about avoiding this process but trying to balance it with the opposite or anti-oxidation, so we get our bodies back in balance.

Human bodies run on biochemistry. We have chemical reactions from different substances happening inside our cells constantly. So, what can happen is that in some metabolic processes in our bodies there could be imbalances if we are stressed, and these imbalances create free radicals or unstable molecules that are made during cell metabolism. Free radicals can build up in cells and cause damage to other molecules, such as DNA, lipids, and proteins and this damage may increase the risk of cancer and other diseases. Antioxidants can help stabilize these unstable molecules and get rid of the free radicals and avoid the damage.

How Does Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants Work in Our Bodies:

When we are exposed to stress, even emotional stress or physical trauma, there is a signal sent to our cells that we are in need of more antioxidants to counter act this stress. In science this is referred to as mitochondrial hormesis, which is the body’s response and protective mechanism. It starts increasing mitochondrial function, antioxidants production and detoxification. However, when we are under more stress and toxin exposure, and the mitochondria are too overwhelmed, they can’t create this protective mechanism, and this is why we start feeling worse and worse over time.

Also, when we are exposed to a virus (cold and flu viruses, c*vd virus, HPV and EBV), and there’s an infection, our bodies create more oxidative stress to help kill the virus as a way to protect us. And sometimes these infections leave us with post infection inflammation in our bodies and so we need to help our bodies reduce this post virus effects with antioxidants. Be sure to check out my Immune Support PLUS product as an example supplement containing antioxidants for during and after infections.

So, it’s about balance, it’s about noticing if our bodies need help recovering and that’s where antioxidants can help. As a naturopathic doctor this is what I do, I help people learn how to be as healthy as they can be and in balance, so that when something comes along, we are ready to respond and recover faster.

It’s also important to know that the main organ for helping us manage toxins is the liver. Toxins in our environment, food, air, bodies are all processed through the liver. The way the liver detoxifies is with antioxidants! To some degree, we are genetically unique even down to how our liver handles toxins, so it’s our job to understand and support our bodies in the best way possible.

Where Can We Find Antioxidants:

There are antioxidants (which I like to call cell protectors because they are the ones protecting our cells and DNA from the damage of oxidative stress) that are produced by the human body, like glutathione, but there are others that we need to get from an external source (food or a supplement) like Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Zinc, Selenium and Beta-Carotene. All these nutrients are required by our bodies in their detoxification and metabolic processes.

When it comes to diet, we can find the best source of antioxidants in colorful fruits and vegetables. Think of greens like asparagus, broccoli, spinach and avocados, which are rich in glutathione for example. And reds or blues like strawberries and blueberries are rich in vitamin C. The antioxidants often give the food a color, and this is why they are emphasized in our diet. Also, plants that are made into beverages, like green tea, or spices like curcumin are full of antioxidants.

The key here is to know how to consume just enough fruits and vegetables for our bodies to be able to digest and get the necessary antioxidants while not overfeeding our gut bacteria. So, it’s about learning how much you can consume at one time without overwhelming your digestion. The more nutrient dense your food, the better, and at the same time you might still need more antioxidants, which is when taking a supplement would be beneficial. If you are following a detoxification program for example, you might need to add antioxidants supplements to your diet to complement it and help your body detoxify.

How Do We Know If We Need More Antioxidants:

One of the ways that we identify we have high oxidative stress is the signs of aging like wrinkles on our skin, gray hair, or memory loss. Also, if you have been diagnosed with abnormal cells (on your cervix or anywhere else on your body) or pre-cancer it is very likely you have high levels of oxidative stress and this is the time to work on balancing your oxidative stress and antioxidants.

Neurological symptoms like tingling, numbness, nerve pain, headaches or migraines are all signs that there is likely some oxidative stress happening. Also, anxiety and depression have been associated with oxidative stress. High blood sugar levels also increase oxidative stress. Another

place where oxidative stress happens is in your blood vessels so if you’re worried about heart disease risk or plaque in your blood vessels, it might be a good idea to start balancing your oxidative stress with antioxidants.

How Can We Measure Our Oxidative Stress:

If you want to know the levels of antioxidants in your body there are specialty labs that run micronutrient panels which tell you from A to Z the levels of nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants. This is a specialty blood test that I can order for patients to identify which antioxidants they are lacking and so we can create a plan to raise them. It is better to test instead of guess, so we know when you’re taking a supplement that we are addressing a deficiency, and this is different for everybody.

There is also a urine test called 8-OHdG which is considered a biomarker for oxidative damage of DNA and that measures the level of oxidative stress in your body. There is another urine test called an organic acid panel which assesses different metabolites in the body and shows signs of toxins in your body, like toxins from imbalanced gut bacteria and yeast in the digestion. It will also show imbalances in your metabolism, in your neurotransmitter metabolism, and in your antioxidant and detoxification levels. I can also help you get these tests from specialty labs (they are not done at regular labs).

Another sign that your oxidative stress is high is fatigue and brain fog. We first start with the essentials and see if you have anemia or low thyroid function for example, and if those are ok and yet you still feel tired and have brain fog, we start analyzing whether you have had toxin exposure. We can test for environmental toxins, mold toxins, and metals to identify whether they are playing a role in your health issues. It’s a matter of changing the balance: to decrease the input of toxicity and increase your ability to detox and counteract toxins.

If you have imbalanced gut biome for example and you have overgrowing bacteria that are producing toxins and raising the oxidative stress in your body, you can take antioxidants, but we also need to address the overgrown bacteria. We can do this by following an antimicrobial protocol with herbs that help address these bacteria. Then we make sure to get all the toxins out of your body safely and effectively without making you feel worse.

Antioxidants and Detoxification:

A lot of times when people think of detoxification or cleanse, they think they are going to feel worse, and many times this is the case if you do not do it correctly and in a safe way. It is better to stabilize the body before following a detox. It is much better to have stable electrolyte levels, stable blood sugar levels, stable sleep, hormones, and regular bowel movements. Get the basics functioning correctly and then we can start to add in gentle detoxification by giving the liver the nutrients it needs to be able to detoxify better.

In a clinical detoxification process, it’s very important to know which toxins we are trying to get out because not all toxins have the same exit route. There are certain nutrients and herbs we can use for a general detox, but if we are concerned about a specific type of toxin, we need to use the correct nutrient or binder to get the toxin out of the body. In some cases, more glutathione is needed, and in others, certain kinds of binders, like fiber are used.

I prefer to tailor your detoxification process to your unique body for it to be effective and safe, and to make you feel better, not worse. I encourage you to be mindful about how you support your body to detoxify in the best and most gentle way possible.

Our human bodies are about balance, so we need to identify when things are out of balance and what we can do to get them back to balance.

I am teaching a free detox masterclass so if you would like to learn more about this you can sign up here. We are going to be talking through how to know if you need a detox, what are the best things to include in a detox, what are the things to not include in a detox, and what are some options for supporting you through a gentle and yet effective detoxification program.

If you want to get started with a detox program, you can check out my new 14-Day Detox Program, which I designed based on my experience in an Amazon Retreat with a Shaman, and I wanted to bring this back to you so that you can do this from home and experience the benefits of getting back to taking good care of yourself, getting back to balance and learning how to support your body to heal without needing to leave your day to day schedule.

And remember that we can do a detox for a period of time but ultimately, we need to be thinking about how do we maintain our health every day of the year and a lot of that has to do with understanding the stresses and toxins that we are exposed to at different levels and what does your body need to help counterbalance that stress and prevent this oxidative stress. By preventing oxidative stress, you are preventing all kinds of different health issues and you are also improving your longevity.

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can start taking better care of yourself and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

In my book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online.

For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

We're here to help you! 

Connect with Dr. Doni: 

Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND  

Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW  

-

Books and Resources: 

Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576

Stress Warrior Book (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR   

Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE) 

HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR  

7-day Stress Reset (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET  

HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/  

-

Personalized Solutions: 

If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH  

To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

In today’s episode I interview Jenny Cohen. Jenny is an Outside In Recovery Coach, breast cancer survivor, competitive dancer, yoga instructor, and author.  

Today we talk about how dance and movement can be healing for our bodies. I’m excited to talk with Jenny because I also love to dance and have found it to be so healing for me. She also shares about her healing journey and what she discovered about herself, and wrote in her book, along the way. 

Definitely tune in to this episode if you have been dealing with a stress-filled busy life, infertility, cancer or risk of cancer, and/or a desire to heal from within.  

Jenny is also a multifaceted and award-winning artist known for her award-winning autobiographical fusion performances about universal themes and life challenges. She offers instruction in yoga, Acting for Dancers, Aaliyah Jenny Transcultural Fusion, Rachel Brice's Datura Style, and Oreet's Sharqui Workout (Master Instructor). Jenny also launched Dance to Heal Wellness in 2021. 

Jenny believes that the secret to dance is that it is this therapeutic modality and even though there’s only recently been more research about it, we actually are instinctively drawn to it because it puts you back into your body. It puts you in the present moment.  

Dance as a Form of Meditation 

When you’re dancing, you can only be focusing on that. It is hard to focus on anything else if you are really paying attention to your body position and your movement. You are really connecting with each part of your body and how it moves, and it gets you out of your head and into your body, like a movement meditation. We become aware of how life is precious and how we only have the present. 

There is such intelligence and brilliance in the specific steps, rhythm, and patterns in various forms of dance. The movement patterns, for example in belly dance, salsa, or even yoga, were determined by people (women) who spent a lot of time using movement throughout their lives and during various forms of stress, including grief, loss and trauma. In this way, as we learn a form of dance, we are also learning the movements that help the human nervous system heal.  

Dance is a form of medicine. 

Finding Your Rhythm 

Jenny shares that there is a whole branch of science called the neuroscience of dance. Any type of movement combined with music ignites your entire brain, it’s one of the few activities that can do this. Also, everyone’s perception of music is different because of our cultural and gender differences. And so, there is a movement discovery process in which you follow 3 steps:

Acknowledging with gratitude that you’re here now. Not in the past and not worried about the future. 

Being present through tuning into your 5 senses (smell, taste, hearing, sight and touch). 

Analyzing which type of sound or melodies does your body instinctively like to move to. 

By following these three steps, you will start identifying the music and movement that is going to be most therapeutic for you individually. Everybody is different because everyone’s neurology is a little bit different. For example, there are people who don’t like music at all. Some prefer the sound of birds or sounds from nature.   

You may want to try different types of dancing before you find your rhythm. This will inform you of what you want to learn more and what you want to say no to. It is also important to tailor your own journey with music and movement based on your setting, the stage of your life, and your love language, which can change over time.  

The Discover Oneself Process 

Jenny encourages listeners to get started. She sees that we often deny ourselves the healing we need by thinking that we need to make more money first or that we should just be grateful for the way things are. However, if we never give ourselves the support we need to heal, then we’ll never feel well enough to be more productive.  

She reminds us that it is a miracle that we are alive today, and to celebrate each and every day.  

Movement is essential. Everything that is alive moves, cells move, atoms vibrate. And for us to get better beyond the trauma that we are healing, we also need to move. 

The D.I.S.C.O.V.E.R. system she describes in her book, “Outside in Recovery: Dancing My Way Back to My Self after Breast Cancer,” is a process you can follow to feel like yourself again and thrive in healing by following the path to self-love. 

The acronym stands for: 

D: Discover Yourself - Acknowledging your pain and trauma and face it to be able to release it. 

I: I Move You Move - Movement is essential to healing. 

S: Somatic Intelligence - Acknowledging how our bodies are intelligent systems. 

C: Can I Self-Love? - Learning to be compassionate with ourselves and our healing process. 

O: Organic Rage - Releasing the bottled-up anger. 

V: Venn Diagram of Your Life - Everything overlaps in our lives. 

E: Elevated Self-Talk - How to overcome your debilitating internal self-imposed boundaries. 

R: Recover Yourself - How being conscious of our trauma will help us take control of it and heal. 

This D.I.S.C.O.V.E.R. process is a way to heal not only from mental issues, but also from physical problems. All health issues originate from the stress and trauma we experience throughout our lives: heart disease, autoimmunity, dementia, HPV, etc. By healing on an emotional and spiritual level we can prevent any of these health issues and live healthier and happier lives.  

But it all starts with movement. Movement brings you to the present immediately, so those who are not familiar with movement or are not moving much have to start there. And those who are already practicing movement still need to start there because this will train you not to use movement as a form of escape. 

If you are not in the present and in your body, then you will not be able to support yourself and the people around you. 

Allowing Our Life Experiences to Transform Us 

It’s ok to make choices based on what has happened to us and what our priorities are. If your priority is being able to spend time with family and be there for them, this could be something that inspires you to look closer and really figure out what you are missing and what you can do differently. 

There will always be people waiting for us to help them live their lives. We are social creatures, and we have to recognize that we can’t heal in isolation. We heal in community. If you feel that you are alone right now - you are actually not (we are all here together). If you feel alone, that’s a part of your trauma state.

As an animal rescuer, Jenny shares that even pets represent the need of other beings waiting for you to help them live their lives. In caring for pets, you will find that you have to take care of yourself first to be able to take care of them.  

When it comes down to it, we have to be in the present moment, and movement will bring us there. Then dancing will keep us there. Do your D.I.S.C.O.V.E.R. process and you will find your life is going to turn around. 

Our Subconscious Creates Our Reality 

If we do not pay attention to our subconscious, it will just re-create what we have experienced in the past, because that is what we are used to and what we are familiar with. So, if we want to create something different in our health, our lives or our relationships, then we are going to need to take some actions to shift that state. We are going to need to process what we don’t need anymore, let go of anger, resentment, grief, etc. so then we can choose more intentionally going forward. 

We need to recognize that we need to get into a process of knowing ourselves again, to let go of things from the past and then choose more intentionally in the future. 

It’s also necessary to be compassionate with ourselves when we set these goals and we are not achieving them. We can ask ourselves: do we have a script for our lives? If you practice the movement, dancing and being present and then ask yourself these questions you may be surprised with some of the answers that you weren’t aware of that your subconscious will answer for you. 

You will attract what your subconscious thinks you need but really the Universe is conspiring for everything to work out in your favor, so by recognizing the patterns and taking action like being more in your body with movement and dance you can really change your life.   

If you want to reach out to Jenny and learn how she can help you, please check out her website or her Instagram @jennyccohen. You can also check out her book: Outside in Recovery: Dancing My Way Back to My Self after Breast Cancer. 

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can start taking better care of yourself and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.  

In my book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online. 

For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

We're here to help you! 

Connect with Dr. Doni: 

Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND  

Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW  

-

Books and Resources: 

Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576

Stress Warrior Book (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR   

Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE) 

HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR  

7-day Stress Reset (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET  

HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/  

-

Personalized Solutions: 

If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH  

To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

In today’s episode I am going to be sharing with you my experience and insights about recovering from stress and trauma by attending a shamanic journey in the Amazon in Peru.

I recently returned from my third trip to Peru in two years. I have attended numerous other retreats with a shaman in various locations outside of the United States mainly because the psychedelic medicine used in shamanism, called Ayahuasca, is not legal in the United States at this time. 

Why would I choose to go all the way to Peru, away from my family and my practice to stay isolated in a remote location in a little cabin for 16 days with no electricity, WIFI, cellphone service, no running water or plumbing, with just a mesh separating me from the Amazon jungle?

To research the effects of spending time in nature, following a fasting mimicking diet, and taking several Amazonian herbs/plants, including psychedelic plant medicine.

For my own healing, of a chronic inflammatory condition, grief, and trauma. 

To teach first aid in a shamanism apprenticeship and prepare to teach my colleagues in the use of psychedelics for recovery from stress and trauma. 

I have so much to share – I filled an entire SelfC.A.R.E. notebook! 

One of my insights is that there are ways for people to experience many of the benefits of a healing journey, such as this, without even having to go to the Amazon. That’s what I want to tell you more about in this episode. Of course, if you would like to go on an Amazon experience, and are drawn to that experience, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and I would be happy to tell you more about it.

I’d like to start by saying that I’ve been researching how humans can recover from the effects of stress and trauma for over 25 years. In my research, I have identified effective ways that we can indeed restore balance in our body, mind and spirit. I developed a protocol – the Stress Recovery Protocol – and wrote about it in my most recent book, Master Your Stress Reset Your Health. In that book, I reviewed studies related to dietary choices, sleep optimization, and activities and natural substances known to promote restoration of optimal cortisol and adrenaline levels, including psychedelic medicines. 

The Healing Power of a Psychedelic Medicine Retreat

When it comes to stress, what I’ve learned over the years is that it’s not about trying to get to zero stress. I saw this clearly in my experience in the Amazon. Stress is inevitable and even healthy at a certain level. There are always going to be challenges that we face every day or guidelines we need to follow. The goal is to live our lives and do what we love, pursue our purpose and our passion, and at the same time, support ourselves to recover from the stresses that we’re exposed to in our human life existence.

That’s exactly what happens in a psychedelic medicine retreat or what is referred to as a “dieta.” I realized one day that my one-room cabin with mesh walls was my healing clinic in nature. Each day, and with each Ayahuasca ceremony (8 ceremonies in 16 days), I experienced healing from stress and trauma. Physical and emotional pain melted away as I spent time surrounded by nature, listening to the sounds of nature, bathing in the creek, meditating, journaling, and listening to and playing music as I learned to play the charango. In some cases, stress and trauma involves what we’ve put ourselves through, and sometimes it’s what others have done to us. We get stuck in a state of stress – mentally and physically – with our cortisol and adrenaline quite literally in stress mode even once the stress has passed. In this state of stress, resentment, anger, criticism and negativity about what we’ve been through (traumas, abuse, substance abuse, addiction, toxicity, etc.) can prevent us from healing. To heal, we need to find a way to be present with our feelings and our body, and to feel and release. And in that process, we also learn to forgive and accept ourselves, and to give ourselves love and compassion. 

From my research and experience, there are very few substances or techniques that have the ability to support this process. Yes, forms of therapy and meditation can make a significant difference, especially with time and consistency. Ayahausca, from my observation, has the ability to help humans heal from trauma in a more efficient manner, and for that reason, I am inspired to share my experience and to continue to research the use of Ayahuasca.

We heal from stress and trauma exposure not by dismissing it, and not by pushing it under the rug, but by pulling up the rug and saying yes, I have been exposed to stress and trauma and by being present with it, by feeling the feelings, by dropping our masks and dropping our protected selves and facing this stress and trauma so we can embrace it, accept it and heal.

If we keep going with these masks and trying to cover our stress and trauma, we will keep attracting more stress and trauma because that is what is familiar to us since our childhood or experiences we had growing up. And we know that stress and trauma cause imbalances of cortisol and neurotransmitters, digestion issues, gut bacteria and microbiome imbalances, blood sugar levels, hormone imbalances, everything is out of balance and those imbalances create illness, anxiety, depression, mental health illnesses, migraines, physical pain, autoimmunity, dementia, heart disease, diabetes, etc. All the diseases we experience come from unresolved stress and trauma.

It's worth it – if you are tired of being in pain – to surrender to the experience and to make the changes that have the potential to help you heal.

The Detoxification Diet

On the dieta we follow a diet that is no sugar, no caffeine, no chocolate, no alcohol, gluten free, and dairy free. It is an anti-inflammatory diet and is mostly plant based. There was an option to have some animal protein on 4 of the 16 days. Otherwise, the diet was mostly brown rice, quinoa, potatoes, eggs, occasionally avocado, carrots, broccoli and sometimes cucumber.

This diet is very consistent with what is called a fasting mimicking diet which is higher in carbs and lower in protein and fat. While a fasting mimicking diet is associated with increased longevity, this is not a diet to follow all of the time. A fasting mimicking diet should last for 5 to 10 days and may be repeated a few times a year. It is also best to decrease your activity level during this type of diet. 

What I’m researching and creating is a version of this diet that you can do from home. I want you to be able to benefit from following an anti-inflammatory diet, that stimulates detoxification, resets your metabolism, and supports you to recover from stress and toxin exposure. I am developing a 14-day detox program so that I can guide you to implement this from home and in a safe way.

With the 14-day Total Detox, you’ll also increase autophagy, which is when the body is stimulated to release old cells and build new healthy cells with new healthy mitochondria. This is very good for the brain and nervous system, as well as the whole body, and increases longevity by preventing health issues. It is perfect for fending off viruses, such as HPV, and improving fertility, mood, focus, and sleep.

The Psychedelic Medicine

Ayahuasca is a traditional plant mixture brewed drink which has been around for centuries and used as medicine in countries that have access to the Amazon. The brewed drink is prepared by boiling a mix of two plants, Ayahuasca vine and Chacruna leaves. Both plants are native to the Amazon Rainforest. This brewed drink contains DMT, which is the psychoactive component. DMT or N,N-Dimethyltryptamine occurs in many plants and animals, including human beings.

When you take Ayahuasca you drink a rather small quantity of dark-colored liquid (around 20-40 ml) dispensed by a shaman in a ceremony. It is considered a very sacred experience because it causes not just visions from the DMT, but also a process of understanding yourself, what you have experienced in your life, and provides many insights. Many people report feeling the spirit of the plant as nurturing, like a mother. The traditional view is that Ayahuasca gives us access to the spiritual realm. It is known to help us connect with our intuition and sense of self.

In an Ayahuasca ceremony, between 5 and 35 people sit around a circle, each on their own cushion and personal space. There is no touching allowed because it is a very personal and deep experience and so everyone has to respect each other’s space. It’s a very internal process. You are noticing your feelings, thoughts, visions and you are 100% conscious throughout the process, which can take up to 5 hours while the shaman runs a structured process, singing Icaros and playing medicine music, guiding everyone into the spiritual realm, and bringing them back when it’s over. All this is carried out in a very safe manner by the shaman.

The indigenous and mestizo communities regularly use ayahuasca to treat physical ailments, mental problems and frequently handle their social issues and spiritual crises with the help of the brew. Research shows that the psychedelic effects of DMT help with cognitive impairment and symptoms of posttraumatic stress and trauma disorder, depression, and anxiety.

So, this plant medicine really has the ability to heal us on a physical, emotional and spiritual level, all at the same time (by acting directly on the nervous system) in contrast to conventional psychotropic medicine (pharmaceuticals) which are chemical substances that treat by modifying receptor activity on the physical level only, without resolving the underlying issue. 

Ayahuasca is anti-inflammatory and an analgesic (decreases pain). At the same time, ayahuasca is not addictive. It’s an intense experience but it’s not an addictive or habit-forming substance. You don’t need to take it ongoing, and you will not experience withdrawal symptoms after going to a retreat. The only reason you may want to attend more ceremonies is if you want the healing process to continue.

It is an emotional experience too, because you are processing all the feelings you have deep inside by accessing them and recognizing and accepting them as part of who you are and the stress and trauma you have experienced in your life. There is also a deep feeling of gratitude as well as a feeling of connection with yourself and the people you love.

So, if you find yourself living with stress and trauma, emotional pain, physical pain, feeling like you are stuck in your life, and if you feel like you have tried everything else, then attending an Ayahuasca retreat or ceremony might be an option for you to consider. 

Healing from Trauma at Home

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can overcome trauma and stress and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. approach so you get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health. 

In the book, I share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take the Stress Type Quiz online.

If you are interested in learning how you can implement aspects of the Amazon experience and detoxify from home, I welcome you to sign up and listen to a FREE Online Detox Masterclass: Detox Yourself! How to do it Right. In the class, I cover everything you need to know about how to do an effective detox – mind, body, and spirit - without stressing yourself more.

For the most comprehensive support, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

We're here to help you!

Connect with Dr. Doni: 

Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND  

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Books and Resources: 

Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576

Stress Warrior Book (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR   

Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE) 

HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR  

7-day Stress Reset (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET  

HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/  

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Personalized Solutions: 

If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH  

To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

In today’s episode I interview Carrie Rowan. Carrie is a Certified Mindset Energy Coach and an International Best-Selling Author of Tell A New Story: 5 Simple Steps to Release Your Negative Stories and Bring Joy to Your Life. She is also an award-winning singer and songwriter, a Reiki Master and Host of the popular Podcast, Look for the Good. 

Carrie specializes in coaching women who want more from life to go from humming a sad song about their situation to finding their voice and whistling a new upbeat tune as they skip along their journey with joy as the soundtrack of their lives. 

From a very young age Carrie was a self-help junkie. She was surrounded by this growing up with her family and developed a profound interest for self-improvement. As she grew up she went into the corporate world for 10 years but found out that it did not fulfill her life. So, she went back to what was her passion as a kid, which is music. Now she finds it very fulfilling to help people find their passion, which in most cases is what we did as kids. 

Her next natural step was to write her book, which is based on her deepest personal stories. All the tragedies, good times, trauma, and things that she wished did not happen but did happen are expressed in her book. Through her book she hopes to help people see how she went through all that and what she did to heal. 

Accepting Our Stories 

We do need to share our experiences and stories but often times we get stuck in repeating them and going through those feelings again and again, making you feel even worse. It’s important that we acknowledge that we can’t change the past or what happened to us, but we can choose to take control of our minds and the way we tell our stories because many times it’s these stories (and the way we tell them and feel about them) what holds us back from achieving what we want in life. 

We might be seeing this impact in our physical health or maybe in not accomplishing a goal we have, and we tend to ask why is this happening to me? And many times, we don’t realize it could be these experiences and stories that we can’t let go of and allow ourselves to heal. 

All these negative stories like the “woulda, coulda, shouldas” or the “if only” or “shame” type of stories definitely affect our mind, body and spirit because these stories contain a lot of our negative and limiting beliefs from things that happened a long time ago in our lives. 

Releasing The Negative Impact of our Stories 

Step one for this is get a notebook and start writing down your stories. Once you become aware of your stories you can’t go back. You will start realizing which stories are the ones that are holding you back. 

The second step is using the acronym mentioned in the book Tell A New Story: S.T.O.R.Y. which are the 5 steps to follow to release the negative stories in your life: 

S: State of Mind – Learn how to manage your state of mind so it doesn’t manage you. 

T: True Intention – Understanding that all of our stories have an intention. 

O: Outcome – Beginning with the end in mind. Realize how our stories impact others. 

R: Reframe – Looking for the good even in your messiest and ugliest stories. 

Y: You had the power all along – The power to change our minds has been within us since birth. 

As you progress, those stories start to change themselves because you realize that these stories have been holding you back and that maybe you don’t want to keep telling them. And you’ll find yourself pulling back whenever you are telling those stories again, and that is progress right there. 

If you really think about it, what is happening in our lives is essentially a repeat of our past experiences until we get enough awareness to realize that we want to change that pattern. 

How Energy Balance and Creativity can Help 

Spiritual and energetic activities, as well as creative ones can help because it’s all happening in our heads. When we use these tools, our bodies are more capable of releasing that stress related to our negative stories. Whether it’s reiki or meditation or a morning ritual, this will help with balancing your body’s energy and then the mind will follow. 

Other activities like singing, journaling, or dancing are also necessary to release the negative impact of our stories. We must allow ourselves to do these and not hold back. When we engage in a creative activity a positive energy flows through our bodies and we get connected to the universe. We spend so much time in our minds worrying about everything, and we need to bring this down to our hearts and celebrate who we are as humans with some joy. 

The Power of Gratitude 

Our brains are pre-disposed to look for what’s wrong because that’s what has kept us safe through evolution. We need to stop for an upgrade now and start looking for what’s good in our lives. In order to do that we have to re-wire our brains. We have to teach our brains to start noticing what is important to us and feel genuine gratitude for the things that happen in our lives. 

It’s really important to understand the science and the physiology behind this. This isn’t just something that sounds good. The science behind it shows that the vibration of gratitude is way higher than other states of being and that if we choose that state on purpose and put our focus on that it can be very healing for our bodies and our minds. 

Using Meditation to Release Negative Stories 

Meditation and mindfulness can help us have more awareness and train our brains to focus on what we want them to focus on. 

There are so many types of meditation, the key is finding one that works for you. By being proactive and meditating every day, the benefits will accumulate over time, just like stress does with the negative impact on our bodies and our minds. And so, you will be more prepared and calmer in the moments of stress. 

Remember that this doesn’t have to be overwhelming for you and that you don’t have to start meditating every day for 30 minutes starting tomorrow or start writing all your stories and aim to finish in one day. It’s important that you find a pace that works for you and that you start implementing small changes in your everyday life, because it’s those small daily steps that will lead you down the path of where you really want to be. 

If you want to reach out to Carrie and learn how she can help you, please check out her website or her Instagram @carrierowanauthor. You can also check out her book Tell A New Story: 5 Simple Steps to Release Your Negative Stories and Bring Joy to Your Life. 

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can start taking better care of yourself and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.  

In this last trip that I made to the Amazon in Peru I took out my notebook and started writing my life story, as part of the R in my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol, which stands for Recovery Activities. I found this experience to be so liberating and it really helped me be more compassionate with myself. 

In my book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online. 

For the most comprehensive support, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here. 

We're here to help you! 

In today’s episode I am going to be diving in deep to talk about the gut biome vagina connection. That’s right, there is an interconnection between gut health and vaginal health.

As a naturopathic doctor and midwife, specializing in women’s health as well as a naturopathic doctor specializing in gut health, I’ve been observing this relationship between the gut and the vagina for many years.

It wasn’t until recently, in 2019, that studies starting to come out that demonstrate the relationship between the gut and the vagina. So, I want to help you to understand why there is an interconnection between them and how understanding this connection will help you heal.

A lot of times, if you are having female reproductive issues or vaginal health issues you would normally go see a gynecologist, but they don’t deal with digestion issues. Or if you would have digestive issues, you would go see a gastroenterologist and they don’t deal with the vaginal area. So, when you’re seeing different specialists, they might not understand or address the connection between these two areas of your body.

The other thing is that the way to address it is not with medications. The way to heal and optimize the gut-vagina connection is through diet, herbs, probiotics, and natural substances. And this requires for you to be evaluated by a functional practitioner that evaluates your body as a whole and use an approach that is outside the standard medical approach.

What are the health issues related to this connection?

One of the key health issues related to this connection is the predominance of HPV. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease so most of us are exposed to this virus. Now, most people will clear the virus within a couple of years so we know the human body can fend off the virus by itself and it doesn’t always cause cancer. But for some women this virus does cause abnormal cells on the cervix or vagina. So, the question is why are these women susceptible to this virus? Why is HPV not being cleared by their bodies?

This risk of HPV is associated with imbalances in the gut biome and vaginal biome (microbiome or commensal bacteria), as well as inflammation in both the gut and cervicovaginal area. Also, I have witnessed that fertility is related with this biome too.

When we focus on healing leaky gut, imbalanced gut bacteria and inflammation caused by food sensitivities, we will see an improvement in the ability of the body to fight the HPV virus and an improvement in fertility. This is why women who follow my protocol for healing HPV – which involves addressing gut health - see an improvement in their ovulation and ability to get pregnant.

Other health issues related to the gut and vaginal biome are Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS, irregular menstrual cycles, menstrual cramps, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, vaginal infections, urinary tract (bladder) infections, and autoimmunity.

This is why it’s so important to pay attention to your gut health.

Digestion influence on our bodies

We have a sense about how this works: we eat, we digest our food, we get the nutrients out of our food and any food that we don’t absorb gets eliminated in the stool. But sometimes we are racing through our days, and we don’t pay attention to our body’s digestive needs. In fact, when we are very stressed, our digestion gets turned off and therefore, we are not able to absorb the nutrients in our food and we could develop a condition called leaky gut which is when the intestinal cells are not as healthy as they should be.

Also, stress and trauma exposure affect the balance of bacteria. And we have bacteria living throughout our whole bodies, in our gut, intestines, vagina, uterus, ovaries, skin, etc. All these bacteria influence our health in many ways starting with our immune system. So, the gut biome really affects our ability to fend off infections. Also, when we have an imbalanced gut biome, we are more susceptible to autoimmunity illnesses like celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.

If you have any of these health issues you should immediately pay attention to your gut biome. Additionally, you should pay attention to your stress and trauma exposure. Not trying to ignore it, but help your body recover from it. For example, if stress and trauma are causing leaky gut and an imbalance in the gut biome then we can focus on healing the leaky gut and gut biome in order to recover from stress.

If you have leaky gut, then your gut lining, specifically the intestinal wall cells, are not healthy, so your food “leaks” through, triggering an immune response which causes inflammation that spreads everywhere, including in your reproductive system.

What affects our gut biome?

The foods we eat determine the bacteria living in our gut. If we are eating too much food and not digesting it correctly it ends up overfeeding the bacteria and then we have too much of certain bacteria and that also causes inflammation and more disruption in our bodies.

The gut biome and vaginal biome are also affected by other things like if you were born by vaginal birth (this is how babies get the bacteria to seed their digestion and intestines) so people who are born through a C-section are not getting all the bacteria they need for their gut biome to work correctly.

Your age, where you live, occupation, diet, stress and trauma exposure are also factors that affect your gut biome. Also exposure to antibiotics, because they kill bad and good bacteria

disrupting your healthy gut biome. The use of laxatives and other medications like contraceptives, toxins, chemicals, and pesticides can all affect the gut biome.

So if you have been suffering from recurring vaginal infections or even HPV for a while now it could be that you haven’t addressed your gut health and may have leaky gut and/or an imbalance in your gut biome.

What to do to have a healthy gut biome

If you want to know if you have a healthy gut biome there is a specialty test that you can do through my office. It’s a stool panel that is a DNA analysis to show which bacteria are predominant in your intestines. This really helps to see if there is overgrowing or undergrowing bacteria, if there’s yeast, leaky gut, inflammatory reactions to gluten and the overall health of your gut biome.

So, if you’re having a lot of digestive issues like bloating, gas, irregular bowel movements, constipation, or diarrhea or even autoimmunity and HPV that is not going away, then this panel will show what is out of balance and then I can help you rebalance your gut biome. You can schedule your test here.

One of the first things I recommend is to do a leaky gut test. To me, the best way to check for leaky gut is with a high-quality food sensitivity panel that you can do at home. This test will show you which foods are leaking through your intestines and triggering an inflammation response in your body. You can order this test here. Remember that healing leaky gut is the first step to rebalance your gut biome. If you want to start right away you can order my leaky gut pro package here and begin creating the foundation for rebalancing your gut biome.

Taking probiotics also helps promoting a healthy gut biome but it’s not about just swallowing a lot of probiotics. This will not solve the problem if you haven’t addressed leaky gut and inflammation first.

Another important thing to consider is your diet. If we always eat the same foods we are only feeding and promoting the growth of certain types of bacteria. It’s important to have a healthy diverse diet eating vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, fiber, different sources of protein and healthy fats. This way we are feeding a diverse population of bacteria.

Taking time when you’re eating is important too. Chewing your food well, taking deep breaths, feeling relaxed, telling your parasympathetic nervous system and your vagus nerve that you want to digest and absorb your nutrients and feed your healthy gut biome. If we are racing through our meals, we are not going to be able to feed our gut biome correctly.

Having a healthy gut biome will help with the health of your intestinal cells and therefore reduce inflammation in your body which will translate into having healthy bacteria living everywhere in your body including the vaginal area so you are going to be preventing HPV and

cervical cancer. So the strategy specifically for HPV needs to be to reduce inflammation vaginally and rebalance the healthy bacteria living there. And this also applies for preventing BV and yeast or improving fertility even.

If you want to learn more about this be sure to check out my Leaky Gut Masterclass here. You can also download my Leaky Gut Guide for FREE.

I will also be hosting a FREE Online Workshop: 5 Days to Heal HPV so make sure to sign up here. And here you can find my FREE HPV Recovery Guide.

If you are interested in a detoxification, I will soon be hosting a FREE Online Detox Masterclass: Detox Yourself! How to do it Right, where we will cover everything you need to know about how to do an effective detox.

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can overcome trauma and stress and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. approach so you get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

In the book, I share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take the Stress Type Quiz online.

For the most comprehensive support, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

We're here to help you!

Connect with Dr. Doni: 

Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND  

Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW  

-

Books and Resources: 

Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576

Stress Warrior Book (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR   

Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE) 

HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR  

7-day Stress Reset (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET  

HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/  

-

Personalized Solutions: 

If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH  

To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

In today’s episode I interview Mira Dessy. Mira is known as The Ingredient Guru. She is the author of The Pantry Principle: how to read the label and understand what’s really in your food. She is also a speaker, holistic nutritionist, and real food advocate. She emphasizes the importance of a healthy lifestyle through whole foods.

After experiencing years of debilitating digestive issues and health challenges, Mira realized the healing strength of food after she learned to eat right, slowly but surely regaining her health.

Mira was inspired to share the knowledge she gained on her journey to better health, and now her mission is to help people feel balanced, healthy, and to support them as they work to achieve their health goals.

Eat Well, Be Well

One of the things we tend to forget is that many of the health conditions that we experience, including the more serious ones like ulcerative colitis or arthritis or diabetes and the not so serious ones like body aches or bloating, are the result of years of exposure to non-food ingredients and not nourishing our bodies the way they need it.

It’s important to know that every body is unique, exceptional and one of a kind. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. And many times we end up having this low-level unidentified disruption in what is really going on. And the truth is that it’s not just what you eat, it’s what you absorb. So, if your gut is not in good shape, you are not going to be able to absorb the nutrients your body needs.

If you eat foods with no nutritional value, your body is going to have to do something with it before it can get to the things that it actually needs. So, there is this whole paradigm of beginning to recognize that the gut is the key to what’s going on with our health and well-being.

Our food can be our medicine, but we have to recognize that we live in human bodies our bodies require us to digest the food, absorb the nutrients and metabolize those nutrients and so, if we are missing those steps and putting whatever in our mouths thinking that our bodies will handle it, we are likely to end up with some serious health issues.

It’s only when we come back and analyze what we are really eating and if our bodies are digesting these foods correctly (and also absorbing the nutrients), when we will see the benefits in our health.

One of the things that is so important to keep in mind is that there are so many different systems and processes going on in our bodies but the best place to start is at the foundation. Regardless of what’s going on with your body, if your gut is better, you’re better. There may be

other things like sleeping well or exercising or taking care of your mind but when we start at a foundational level, it provides the body with all of the basic building blocks it needs. After this is done, we can layer in the other things to find out what works best for your individual self.

Where to Start

The best place to start is in your own pantry. I encourage people to build the habit of reading the label in their foods and very best place to do this is in your pantry, go look at what’s already in there.

We as humans have our 20 favorite foods and we tend to shop on autopilot. And unfortunately, there are probably things in your pantry right now that you don’t want in your body. When you start reading the labels you realize there are things like artificial colors, or artificial flavors in your foods and you definitely don’t want to be putting these inside your body, if you want your health to be as good as it can be.

I also encourage something called brand disloyalty. Don’t buy the brand, buy what you need. This is because companies change, they merge or they get bought, and many times in these processes they don’t change the brand, they just change what’s in the package. Be loyal to yourself.

5 Things to Avoid

First of all, avoid anything that has the word artificial on the label. If it is artificial, it’s not real, it is not food and our bodies do not need it. This includes artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, artificial colors, etc.

Another thing to avoid is high fructose corn syrup. It is not good for our bodies, especially for our liver. There are substitutes that we also need to watch out for that are as bad or worse, like agave nectar with higher fructose by volume than high fructose corn syrup.

You also want to avoid crystalline fructose because it is just dehydrated high fructose corn syrup. These tend to be in desserts and baked goods.

Carrageenan is another thing you want to avoid. This is an emulsifier and thickening agent extracted from red edible seaweeds. The type of process followed to extract it results in a byproduct that is not good for our bodies. It has a negative impact on our gut health, it can cause ulcerative colitis like symptoms in the gut and in laboratory studies it was shown to cause renal bumps.

Another sweetener to avoid is allulose. It is found in nature in very small quantities and now it has been replicated in laboratory settings to produce large quantities of it. It is really bad for the gut and makes you bloat. Unfortunately, it has found its way into many keto and paleo diets and protein bars also.

Lastly, stay away from anything that is not a real word. If it is just letters like BHT, BHA, EDTA, TBHQ, etc. All those are abbreviations for really long chemical names and these chemicals are used to preserve foods so they can sit in shelves for longer. These are not foods for the body. It is better to stick to ingredients you recognize as foods.

So next time you go to the supermarket just pick one category that you want to clean up, like non-dairy milks or canned soups or pickles or condiments. This way you don’t have to spend 10 hours at the supermarket reading every single label. Once you have one category cleaned up you can move to the next one the next time you go grocery shopping.

Not a One-Size-Fits-All

You don’t need to have a disease like IBS or Crohn’s to be impacted by any of the non-food ingredients in many foods out there. It is true that if you have IBS or Crohn’s the symptoms are going to be amplified and you may be in pain and trying to recover for weeks after being exposed to a certain non-food ingredient, but perfectly healthy people can also feel discomfort, bloating, constipation or diarrhea as a result.

There is so much information available online that can be conflicting, overwhelming, or just plain wrong for your particular body.

Part of the challenge we face is that for many of us it depends on how quickly our system responds. We could have slow motility and so the symptoms would not show for a while, or it could be also a matter of how much we are consuming of a specific ingredient.

Also, some things affect certain bodies in different ways than others. In the end, it’s a matter of being conscious about what you are eating and how that makes you feel. Each body’s response is different and it’s our responsibility to keep track. As we previously said, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The important thing to remember is that no matter what your story is, if you are conscious and you nourish your body, that’s always going to be better than not doing it at all.

If you want to reach out to Mira and learn how she can help you, please check out her website or hes Instagram @theingredientguru. You can also check out her Masterclass: The Preparedness Pantry.

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can apply Clean Eating (The C in my SelfC.A.R.E. protocol) so you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

In the book, I share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take the Stress Type Quiz online.

For the most comprehensive support, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

We're here to help you!

Connect with Dr. Doni: 

Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON  

YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND  

Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW  

-

Books and Resources: 

Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576

Stress Warrior Book (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR   

Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE) 

HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR  

7-day Stress Reset (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET  

HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE) 

HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/  

-

Personalized Solutions: 

If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH  

To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

In today’s episode I am going to be diving in deep to talk about detoxification. This includes whether you are considering a physical detoxification and/or a spiritual and emotional detoxification.

We will be talking about why you might be thinking about doing a detoxification, what is it? what does it mean? What does it include or what you might want to include in your detoxification? and what to consider when thinking about doing a detox for your body, your mind and spirit.

Why do people detox in the first place?

Whether we like to admit it or not, it’s clear that as human beings we are affected by the stress that we are exposed to, including trauma (even from earlier times in our lives) and those stresses and traumas affect us on a spiritual, emotional, and physical level. Also toxins from our environment, whether from air, food, water or other toxins like mold, affect us as well on all of those levels.

Often times we find ourselves overconsuming substances like alcohol, food, sugar or other medications or substances and this is a sign that our body is in need of a detoxification.

We might have been under a lot of stress or exposed to toxins and we end up seeking out something to help us feel better or to numb the discomfort and the emotional/physical pain. So we end up choosing substances that are even more toxic to our bodies.

Another sign that our body gives us when we are in need of a detoxification is when we start developing health issues. Whether it’s fatigue, anxiety, sleep or digestive issues, infections, HPV, weight gain that you can’t lose or skin rashes, autoimmunity issues, etc. All this tells us there is unresolved stress, trauma and toxins underlying.

What I do as a Naturopathic Doctor specializing in this area is help people get to the bottom of that. Sometimes people do not want to become dependent on medications and substances to deal with what they’ve been through; they want to really get to the root cause and resolve it so they can get back to feeling good without having to be depending on medications and other substances. So, if you’re listening and you really want to change things and effectively address the underlying cause of your illness then you are in the right place.

What does detoxification mean?

It can mean literally getting the toxins out of your body, so a lot of times when you hear about a detox or a cleanse it will involve avoiding substances that we often overconsume like alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, refined sugar, fats, etc. that we often choose to feel better and cope with

stress. But we can help our bodies recover from stress, so we are not feeling the need to overconsume these substances.

Other times it will involve avoiding getting exposed to toxins in air or water.

So, a detoxification can involve avoiding foods, substances, or toxins in our environment for a period of time in order to help our bodies get these out and recover because a lot of these toxins stay and build up in our bodies once they get in. So think about what can you do to stop putting in that’s toxic, and what can you do to help your body move the toxins out. This is how we generally think of a detox on a physical level.

Also, there is so much you can do to support your body’s natural detoxifying processes. Toxins in our body are processed and eliminated through the liver by utilizing enzymes that metabolize toxins, from there, toxins go into our bile and then our intestines to get out of our bodies. So we want to support our effective liver and digestive tract function. We also release toxins through breath, sweat and urine, so breathwork, exercise and drinking enough water are key to help our bodies with detoxification.

What can we do to help our bodies detoxify?

We can help our bodies with its natural detoxifying process through nutrients. Nutrients help our liver detoxify our system. B Vitamins and Methyl Folate for example are essential for helping our liver with its detoxifying process (you can learn more about this in How Humans Heal Episode #145: Efficient Methylation and Its Impact on our Health), you can find a good source of Methyl Folate here.

Antioxidants are also necessary for our detoxification process. Oxidative stress is how stress looks inside our cells. When stress throws off the balance in our cells we have a rise in oxidative stress which causes damage to our cells and DNA if we don’t have antioxidants in our bodies. By raising the antioxidants levels in our bodies, we can help improve maintain oxidative stress low in our cells. You can find a good source here.

Also, for our bodies to be able to function properly and detoxify we need to make sure we are eating healthy and by healthy I mean giving your body the three macronutrients that it can’t produce by itself: Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats. These are found in the foods you eat every day and they are necessary for our bodies to produce energy and have all systems work efficiently.

Of course, if you are under stress your body will not be able to absorb these nutrients efficiently. If you notice digestive issues, you could be suffering from leaky gut which is exactly our bodies inability to absorb nutrients correctly. You can find more about it here, and a good set of supplements to heal from this condition here.

It’s important to consider also that detoxification is not a one-size-fits-all process. It must be based on your unique body, your genetics, your nutrient status, your stress exposure, and the toxins that are affecting you as an individual. So, if you do not have the help of a practitioner, you can get yourself into a tight spot. If we make big changes too quickly, if we don’t take into account everything we need to and if we don’t individualize it we can cause more harm than good to our bodies. I can help you individualize your detoxification so we make sure you are doing exactly what your body needs.

How do we start with an effective detox?

If it’s your first detoxification it’s important to start in a gentle way. So, what should you include in your detox as a starting point? First of all, I am going to use my C.A.R.E. acronym as it helps us to think about what we should be including in our lives every day. C is for Clean Eating, A is for Adequate Sleep, R stands for Recovery Activities and E for Exercise.

When you are going to do a detox or reset the main thing is to think about your diet, how can you shift to what would be considered clean eating. It might mean decrease your alcohol intake for a period of time, decrease or avoid caffeine, sugar, gluten and dairy (which are two of the most inflammatory foods), it could mean also avoiding eggs, nuts and soy depending on your food sensitivity (you can find your foods sensitivity by doing a food panel home test, which you can find here). Also choosing organic foods and complementing them with good supplements, vitamins and herbs, drinking mostly water and tea, and thinking about the fasting part of it too.

This is what I have put together in my 14-day detox kit which includes a protein powder (animal or plant based), antioxidants, and an amino acid formula to help your liver to detoxify. You can find it here.

What about an emotional/spiritual detox?

This is where we can bring it all around. Instead of just focusing on the physical we can also focus on the emotional and spiritual. There are different ways in which you can do this and I am happy to guide you more on this.

I have been working on this for many years in different forms, travelling around the world and especially in Peru working with a Shaman and also working with spiritual healing and so I integrate all of that into my 14-day detox program to guide you on how you can start to address some of the emotional stresses and how this is affecting your whole body as well as your mind.

It is so important to learn how we can connect with ourselves in a spiritual way (you can learn more about this in How Humans Heal Episode #146: Getting to Your Best Mental, Emotional and Spiritual State with Matt Belair), if you feel like you could use a chance to reconnect with yourself, with your purpose, what you value about yourself and your sense of self love then that’s where spirituality can really make a difference.

Sometimes the stresses that we are exposed to in our lives have to do with the emotional and spiritual level, but it is possible to address this in combination with the stresses on the physical level, without it being overwhelming and that’s the key to me, I want to help you recover from stress without adding more stress in the way.

An emotional/spiritual detox will also involve the other 3 letters in the acronym C.A.R.E. If you are following an emotional detox it is very important to focus on getting enough quality sleep, doing recovery activities (like having some time to yourself in silence, spending time in nature or with your loved ones or your pets even) and doing some kind of physical activity to help you feel better on an emotional level.

How can we include a detox without affecting our daily routine?

My 14-day detox program is designed for you to follow while still doing your day-to-day life, while still working and taking care of children or taking care of other tasks. You do not have to completely separate from your everyday life in order to do this 14-day detox.

You can also set aside some time in your schedule to just focus on detox activities if you want to. This can be 3 days, two weeks, a month, etc. Whatever fits your personal schedule. The key thing here is to set that time aside and be able to communicate this to the people in your life so that everyone knows that you are taking this time to focus on detoxification. This is even more powerful and transformative.

The important thing is that you begin in a gentle way and incorporate new things at a pace that works for you so you can build your specific detox strategy as something that you feel comfortable following and that makes you feel better in the end.

If you want to learn even more about this be sure to check out my FREE Online Detox Masterclass: Detox Yourself! How to do it Right, where we cover everything you need to know about how to do an effective detox.

If you want to learn more about my approach on how you can overcome trauma and stress and apply my SelfC.A.R.E. approach so you get back to feeling your best, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

In the book, I share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take the Stress Type Quiz online.

For the most comprehensive support, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.

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